Book meme

Lisa tagged me, and since it's about books, I can't resist.

Total number of books?

Between hubby and me, somewhere over a thousand, would be my guess.

Last book read?

Lottery, by Patricia Wood.

Last book bought?

No Place Safe, which I got from Amazon yesterday. It is a page-turner!! Stay tuned for a chat with the author, Kim Reid, right here on Monday.

Five meaningful books?

This is a hard one. I'm going to surprise you with my first one and say: Valley of the Dolls. It, itself, wasn't so meaningful, but it represents all the trashy books I used to read in junior high when my family was falling apart and I needed a place to hide. My mother and her insurance office co-workers used to trade books by writers like Jacqueline Susann, Harold Robbins, and Sidney Sheldon. I'd read whatever she brought home. Most people had To Kill a Mockingbird and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for their YA reading. I had The Other Side of Midnight. Thankfully, she moved on to Stephen King, and I spent 10th grade reading The Shining and The Stand, amongst others. I used to go to gym class and tell the girls his stories in the locker room.

Another YA shocker: Gone with the Wind. Weird, I know. Weird for a young black girl to be enamored of a book that puts such a false gloss on slavery. The happy singing slaves made me cringe, but I loved Scarlett. She was smart and strong in a world that didn't want its women smart and strong, and I related to that. And the ending used to make me weep for her. Now I'm with Rhett: if they take that long to love you back, the hell with 'em.

Your Blues Ain't Like Mine, by Bebe Moore Campbell. My role model.

A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson. When my mother was dying of breast cancer, we saw Williamson on Oprah, and my mother got all excited about this book and decided I could read it to her (cancer had spread to her brain, blinding her). I ordered the book from a little indie (this was before Amazon). It came in about a week later, but by that time, my mother had lost interest in most things attached to this world. I read the book myself after she died.

Waiting to Exhale, by Terry McMillan. It's the one that opened the door for writers like me. I remember buying it in hardcover soon after my mother's death, and wanting it because the protagonist starts out in Denver and works in PR. I live in Denver and worked in PR at the time! It was a match made in heaven.


Five people to tag:

Sassy Sistah
Tayari Jones
Iyan and Egusi Soup
Judy Merril Larsen
Jamie Ford

Hope y'all can play!

Did you know...

Lighthouse has posted audio of the first part of the Tobias Wolff talk? Hear him read "Bullet in the Brain" and part of Old School.

about Dearreader.com? She's got a dozen or so different online book clubs (she emails you samples from books), and one of them is a pre-pub book club, so you can read the book before it's released.

that TwoMindsFull is serializing their first book on their blog? Another way to get a story in bite-sized pieces.

the post office has pretty flower stamps? I'm thinking they'll help get through the winter.

there's still plenty to do in the garden in fall? Fernlea Flowers has excellent fall gardening tips.

Tayari's got a great post about the trauma of reading good books? YA authors, especially, will be interested.

Another event*

Saturday, March 8, 2008, an evening of books and live jazz at Westside Books, 3434 W. 32nd (Highlands neighborhood). "Stories for All Seasons" will begin at 7:30 p.m. Free admission and refreshments.

*Next time, I'll wait and post groupings together. Got a little excited today! :)

Save the date!

Book launch party

Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at the LoDo (lower downtown) Tattered Cover.
6-7:30: Party featuring Crystal Collins and pianist and bassist (hubby) doing jazz & pop standards, and free food and drink (because I am not above bribing people to buy my book)
7:30-8:30: Reading/Signing


We'll be celebrating writers and readers and Nina Simone's birthday (February 21st).
The Farmer's Almanac says February is going to be cold, but normal snowfall. Let's hope! Wear something orange; it'll keep you warm.

Be there or be square (or do like me and be there AND be square)!

More to come!

What would be your last message?

The Writer's Group has a link to a video of Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie-Mellon University. He's dying of cancer and gave this lecture to his students. It's not morbid. It's extremely touching and inspiring. He's got an amazing spirit. Pausch's website has this link to advice on writing. (Thanks One Heart Dancing for the writing link!)

Pajama Chat with Kim Reid!

Coming soon to the Pajama Gardener: a chat with Kim Reid, author of the memoir, No Place Safe. Here's an overview: The summer of 1979 marks the start of the Atlanta Child Murders, when a serial killer began hunting black children, taking twenty-nine lives in two years in a case that remains controversial to this day. That year, thirteen-year-old Kim Reid’s life changed forever, along with that of her mother, a lead detective on the investigation.

Publisher's Weekly says, "Reid maintains a lively sense of dialogue and characterization, and her memoir is an affecting tale of a girl's transformation in a climate of fear and pervasive, bleak Southern racism."

Elyse Singleton, author of This Side of the Sky, says, “Though a child herself, Kim Reid sat on the edge of a front row seat to one of the twentieth century’s most bizarre and baffling murder cases. With No Place Safe she delivers her experience as a compelling story told from a sensitive gut and a formidable intellect. A narrative woven with strands of threatened innocence and Southern gothic gives No Place Safe the texture of a modern, urban To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Sounds intriguing, yes?

Kim's pub date is Oct. 2, but the book should be in the stores starting tomorrow. How exciting! Look for her chat here Oct. 1.

Happy Fall!

Chinese Goldenrain Tree

(drought-tolerant, blossoms yellow flowers in July and you get fall color!)

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

From nonfiction to fiction

Amy asks why I decided to write a novel after writing nonfiction. In case anyone else was wondering, I'll answer here. I always wanted to write a novel, but for a while I didn't have the confidence to believe I could. With a background writing articles, I figured I could write nonfiction, but my dream was always to write a novel. I've always loved to tell stories.

A couple of things happened that gave me the courage to try: One, I married a man very supportive of my writing. Someone who believed I could write whatever I wanted to write. He didn't say, Write a novel, but with him around playing music, I was inspired to write more. And the more I wrote the more I started to think maybe I could pull it off.

Having people in my life who believe in my writing is a gift beyond words, and I'm very grateful for it. Some people find it threatening when you pursue a dream. It makes them have to look at why they aren't pursuing their own dreams. So to all those who have NOT been threatened, but rather inspired and encouraged, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart!

The thing that made me start writing in the first place was that my mother died. I knew many of the stories I would tell would come from the ghosts of my childhood, and I couldn't imagine writing for publication (fiction or nonfiction) when she was alive. Three months after she died, I wrote an op-ed for The Denver Post. Told the whole city my opinion. About six months after that, I was writing my first nonfiction book. That was fifteen years ago, and as I've gotten more accustomed to exposing myself through my writing, I'm less afraid of what others think. And, because my family has been so supportive of my writing, I'd like to think my mother would be too. I know she would be proud: I got my love of reading from her.

The biggest surprise to me about writing fiction is that it feels far more revealing than nonfiction. Anybody else feel that way? With nonfiction, I know I'm choosing what parts of myself to show. But with fiction, things come out that I have no control over, and that's a little scary. But I love it and I hope to write many more novels.

Disconnecting

Ello's a lawyer and she's got a must-read post about legal issues involved with blogging.

Yesterday, I found a groovy new place to write. I will not divulge because I don't want it overrun with Denver writers. :) It was great to be away from all the things I allow to distract myself. I don't have wireless access, so no blogosphere or internets. No fighting cats. No chores. Just me and my lap top (and a guy doing homework and a few women having a business meeting). I actually got some work done. I'm going back next week.

Deadlines are good for you!

Here's excellent news from the September/October issue of Wild Oats Marketplace:

To maintain a healthy immune system, "stay somewhat stressed." The article by Tony Farrell goes on to state:

Scientists have recently discovered that although passive stress (like watching violent TV shows) will generally lower your body's production of certain immunity proteins, more active stress, such as trying to meet a deadline, can actually increase your levels of disease-fighting immunoglobulin. to give yourself some "good" stress, set goals (for hobbies, work, or redecorating) that require some effort to reach them.

Writers must be some pretty healthy folks! :)

And speaking of healthy immune systems, I had my first fall bowl of oatmeal yesterday. I added a few drops of almond extract to the cooking water (along with a dash of salt and a few dashes of cinnamon). I served it with sliced peaches and a little milk. OMG. So good. Going back for more.

The ARC is here!!!

I came home and found a lovely UPS package from Random House on my doorstep. My ARCs. Very cool. It's really a book now! Though, as you may know, this is not what the cover will look like. The advance reader's copy is for promotional purposes. The tentative marketing plan:

National review and feature attention

National and local radio interviews

Author tour

Author available for phone chats with book clubs

Advertising in African American Connection

Online promotions

Reader's Circle marketing

Feature in the One World Spring 2008 sampler sent to bookstores and beauty salons across the country

Whaddya think? Time to get with a publicist and get to work!

Seeing, pt 3

On my writing walk yesterday, I had an idea so central to my story I literally bonked myself on the head. I'd explain, but I'd have to go into too much detail about my story and even then, I'm sure you'd just think Duh! It's so obvious and solves such a huge problem (at least I think it does now) that I can't believe I didn't think of it before...except that's how these things work.

Going down a familiar street, in a new direction, I noticed that someone's garage door had been tagged. The homeowners spray-painted this over the grafitti: Love, Kindness, Respect = Power.

On a different topic, here's Lalita Tademy on getting into the heads of her ancestors while writing Cane River:

It took me nine months to write the first draft of this book. And I spent those nine months everyday, never a break, on a plantation, during the Civil War, during the reconstruction, or in the Jim Crow South. I was totally immersed in this world.

Immersion. That's what Patricia Wood spoke about too. That might be the key, rather than amount of time spent. You can read the rest of Tademy's interview about her two novels at LitMinds Blog.

Women in prison need books

Tayari Jones has a great post up now about the Women's Prison Book Project. I'm going to send some books, and I hope you will too. Tayari's got the address.

Seeing, pt 2

So, I'm trying to see better, to broaden my horizons as a person and as a writer. The other day I took a writing walk and mixed it up a bit by heading south on the street I usually take north (and vice versa). It's amazing how different things looked.

Speaking of seeing things differently, check out this image by Mark Fischer. It's a picture of what a whale song looks like. Yes, an image of sound. He uses a technique that processes digital signals and turns them into visual art (many of them mandelas). He's got images of the sounds of birds, whales and dolphins. Very cool stuff!

Patricia Wood speaks

Ello's got an interview with Patricia Wood, author of Lottery. Check it out. She answers the $64,000 question: How the hell do you write a book in 3 months?

Writers on the town

(Hi Olufunke!)

Yesterday's Lighthouse event with Tobias Wolff was a great success. He read from "Bullet in the Brain," a short story in The Night in Question, and from his novel Old School. Then he talked about his life as a writer and teacher (he taught with Raymond Carver). He was thoroughly accessible, kind, engaging and funny.

After his Q&A with Eli Gottlieb, author of The Boy Who Went Away, we went to Tamayo's rooftop for a private fundraising dinner, which was also fab.

Highlights of the night? I met Lisa at Eudaemonia! (If you look very closely, Tobias Wolff is standing behind us in the picture.) And Andrea Dupree was kind enough to announce my forthcoming book (along with several other Lighthouse writers' new book deals), which led to Tobias Wolff applauding me.

It came. I saw. I conquered.

It came yesterday with a slight whish through the mail slot. It used to enter the house like a bomb, like fireworks, like a gospel choir. The See's Candies catalog. I used to go through it and circle my favorites (sometimes numbering them in order of deliciousness) and crossing out the ones I hated (chocolate-covered ginger sounds good, but bleeck; tasted like medicine!). Seriously. I was like a kid with the Toys R Us Christmas catalog. (A quirk of mine that tickles my best friend so much I'm going to see if it works in my book.)

Then I went off sugar and I feared the catalog. I came home and found it with the rest of the mail and picked it up and raced it to recycling, holding it away from me like a stinky diaper or a vial of crack (does crack come in a vial?). I didn't want to be tempted. Let me be clear: Godiva, Ghirardelli, Cadbury, Hershey's, nothing next to See's. If you can eat sugar and you haven't had the See's experience, hustle on over to the website now. You'll thank me (or hate me, depending on how hooked you get). If you need to limit sugar, like moi, try this. You'll really thank me.

But yesterday the catalog arrived and I opened it, flipped through the pages, and felt nothing. No happy memories about the last butterscotch square (chocolate-covered brown sugar and butter; #1 in deliciousness) that melted on my tongue. No desire. No craving. It had no hold on me. I looked at it and put it in the recycling bin like any other flyer. And today, going to the site to get the url, I noticed this. My holiday chocolate-ordering just got a whole lot easier. Life is sweet, my friends.

Good news

There's a philosophy amongst "new age" folks that to protect one's own emotional and spiritual health, one should avoid the bad news of the day. That reading or watching news about war, genocide, natural disasters, poverty, homelessness, rape and murder negatively affects our moods and mental and physical health.

To some degree, I believe this is true. There are days when the front section of the NY Times is so grim it jeopardizes my sanity and the health of my heart. (For example, how could Bush even form his lips to use the word "success" about anything related to the war in Iraq?!) However, checking out too much can't be the answer. In fact, a checked-out citizenry is why we are where we are today. Like the bumper sticker says "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."

But today alongside the grim, there's good news on the front page of the Times. San Francisco is making sure all it's citizens have health care. And this "interesting and unusual" (as C would say) item about a building in the Silicon Valley that has good karma. For those who don't have Times' accounts, an excerpt:

The building at 165 University Avenue here has been so good to the Amidi family that Saeed Amidi says it is blessed with good karma. There are some high-technology entrepreneurs who would agree.

Over the years, the nondescript two-story building, which the Amidis have owned since the early 1990s, has been home to a series of Silicon Valley start-ups that became stars. The Amidis, a family of Iranian immigrants, along with their partner Pejman Nozad, also own an Oriental rug store here that has put them in contact with many more entrepreneurs and investors. The store and the building have helped them forge an unusual path into the ranks of Silicon Valley’s kingmakers.

“We believe in good karma, good energy, good feeling, and we believe some buildings have good energy,” Mr. Amidi said, speaking in a slow, accented lilt.

Like many other landlords in the dot-com boom, Mr. Amidi demanded a chance to invest in some of his tenants. One was PayPal, the online payment company, whose sale to eBay for $1.5 billion gave the Amidis a multimillion-dollar payout and a taste for more technology investing.

Logitech, the maker of computer peripherals, and Danger, which created the T-Mobile Sidekick smartphone, have also been tenants. And it was in that building that Google went from toddler to budding technology titan.

This article made me smile.

I can't even imagine the karmic damage of these wars, but as I said, sometimes, it's necessary to look away just for a bit so that when you look back you can see with clear vision. How do you handle the news these days? Shut it out or let it fuel you for action? Anybody writing about the issues of the day?

One more

Since we've been thinking about first lines over here, thought you'd want to know about the First Lines contest that Ello blogged about. Over 400 first lines to learn from!

Links

Here's a good idea: Be a tourist in your own town. October 5-12 is Denver Arts Week, with dance, theater and concert performances (what no readings?!). If you're in the area, check it out.

Urban Conjure Woman is blogging about re-doing her apartment. As usual, I'd be happy to achieve the "before" look.

My American Melting Pot is blogging again. (Sustenance Scout, you might especially like this site if you don't know about it.)

Jennifer Weiner's daughter has nappy hair. Embrace it Jennifer (Anne Lamott did), and get her this book.

And Elizabeth's got boogie fever.