my world is round

claiming my blog on technorati

Technorati Profile

rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

My dad has always said "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit" on the first day of the month, saying it is supposed to bring good fortune. Have always blown it off as a random Dad thing -- you know how they like to make stuff up just to mess with you -- but have also felt the compunction to say it every month on the first. And have passed this annoying habit on to my kids.

Well I be darned if he didn't have a basis for rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. There is even a Wikipedia entry on it. And the variations are great! One version says:

Saying "white rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit" as the first words of the month, before getting out of bed -- and the speaker must first reverse position, so that speaker's head is at the foot of the bed & vice versa.

Go figure.

Oh, and since today is the second, you'll have to wait until August for your good luck.

icky thump rox

In the search for something different, we find White Stripes. Their new CD Icky Thump is a great ride from a couple that doesn't take themselves too seriously -- just want to have a little fun. My fave is You Just Do What You're Told, although Conquest is a close second just because it is so over the top.

Check out their recent interview.

And speaking of talented musical couples, Kelly Willis is playing at the Mucky Duck on Thursday touting her new CD. Can't wait! The Houston Chronicle did a great cover piece on her today. I am both impressed and envious of her success while raising kids. Hubby Bruce Robison is a big fave around our house too. Despite the number of artists that have sung Wrapped, no one does it quite like Bruce.

Couldn't find her new CD at Target today -- yes, I am that old that I buy my music at Target. Looks like I'll have to make it to her party on Thursday. See you there!

Laura Albert found guilty of fraud

The jury has sided with the film production company in the Laura Albert, a/k/a JT LeRoy, case.

Antidote, which paid $110,000 for the rights to Leroy's 2000 book Sarah, was suing Albert for fraud, saying that they bought the rights to the book, in part, because of JT Leroy's unique life and background. The jury also awarded $6,500 in punitive damages.

So guys, pimp your platform -- but don't make it up.

real-life tragedy resembles fiction

So I like to write crime fiction, specifically with a technology edge. The latest twist in the WWE Benoit murder-suicide has spawned facts straight from an electronic detective novel.

Investigators are looking into who altered pro wrestler Chris Benoit's Wikipedia entry to mention his wife's death hours before authorities discovered the bodies of the couple and their 7-year-old son.

Benoit's Wikipedia entry was altered early Monday to say that the wrestler had missed a match two days earlier because of his wife's death.

A Wikipedia official, Cary Bass, said Thursday that the entry was made by someone using an Internet protocol address registered in Stamford, Connecticut, where World Wrestling Entertainment is based.

Weird stuff.

Update: Now the user claims to have made a terrible, poorly-timed joke. Do we believe him? And who would make this kind of "joke" in the first place...

plumping your platform

At the WLT conference two weeks ago, there was a lot of talk about using your platform to market your book. Your platform is your personal knowledge or experience that will help market your book, sometimes even intangible or seemingly irrelevant facts that make for a good author backstory. We heard one story of an author who was a short-order cook in the northeast. His novel was not based on his chosen career, but the publishing house was disappointed when he quit his job to pursue writing as this took away their publicity angle.

With more and more of the marketing responsibilities falling on the authors' shoulders, pushing your platform has become even more important. What can you bring to the table? And where are authors stretching the truth? Sort of like padding your resume to get a job.

James Frey was publicly outed for his mispresentations, exaggerations and nontruths in the book, A Million Little Pieces. He walked a fine line between his background for the book and the content itself. Did he lie to the public? If it was marketed as a novel, no. Novel=fiction. But it was marketed as a memoir, so yes.

The jury is out on Laura Albert. Writing under the male nom de plume, JT LeRoy, Ms. Albert wrote a novel based on "childhood experiences of being pimped out by his/her mother at southern truckstops." She then had others wear disguises and appear as Mr. LeRoy in public, instigated written communication throughout the entertainment community as Mr. LeRoy and even spoke via phone with a psychologist as Mr. LeRoy. When her identity as a woman was revealed, her movie deal fell apart amid the public scandal. The studio is now suing her for fraud. She is one up on Frey as her book was marketed as a novel. And again, novel=fiction. But the artist's deception in trying to get her book published crossed the line.

Let's see how a panel of her peers votes.

the austin collins band

Tuesday night we went down to one of our favorite Houston haunts - the Mucky Duck - to see The Austin Collins Band. They are relative newcomers to the Texas singer-songwriters circuit, only a few years old, but their sound is pure gold. Check out Emily, 22 Hours and Restless and Lovely for a taste. They head back to the studio in the fall to work on the next CD. I can't wait!

They were also cool enough to pose with the fam for some photos. Thanks guys!

music anthology

Okay. So I have been busy this week. Mind-mapped a plot for book two in the Maggie computer-sleuth series. But that is hard to blog as it is a big scribbly graphic on a sheet of notebook paper.

My other project for the week started last Friday on my way to Austin for the WLT conference. The premise is each band, one song. Doing this all from memory, no research allowed. Some are tough -- how do you pick the best of Eric Clapton, Zeppelin or Santana? And some bands just don't make the cut -- you won't see any Loverboy, CCR or J. Geils in my list. And finally, if the band is too new, they don't go on, yet.

Here are my B's. (The Beastie Boys and The Bee Gees are in the "T" section. I had to make a decision.)

Billy Idol    White Wedding
Billy Joel    Piano Man
Billy Squire    Stroke
Black Sabbath    Iron Man
Blondie    Rapture
Bob Seger    Turn the Page
Bon Jovi    Wanted: Dead or Alive
Boston    More Than a Feeling
Bruce Hornsby    The Way It Is
Bryan Adams    Cuts Like a Knife

Who have I left out that needs to be recognized?

WLT Conference Session: Writing the Query Letter

My final session at the conference (seeing as I went straight to the bar after my agent pitch on Saturday) was Sunday morning on writing the "perfect" query letter. And as we quickly found out, there is no such thing.

This session was led by Dan Conaway (aka the infamous Mad Max Perkins) at Writers House.

He started off by saying two very important things. First, agents are completely subjective in what they want to read. This is based on personal taste, current affairs, what they had for breakfast, etc. So you can have a great book but if they aren't interested, they are going to say no. And second, agents view their query letter piles as a necessary evil of their jobs. There is always a big groan and a big sigh before they site down to tackle the pile. That means you have to catch them quick or into the trash you go.

Letters with grammatical errors, the wrong agent name, too much information and stupid phrases like "fictional novel" are easy marks for culling the herd. Those are the easy ones. Just no.

Dan is very big on brevity. You should be able to sell him in four to six lines. Yes, lines. (Non-fiction is a whole nuther beast.) Compel him with the story and ask if you can send more. That's it.

He doesn't want a whole plot summary. Nor does he want your platform or background unless it is essential to the story. (Again, most typical of non-fiction. I climbed Mt. Everest therefore I can write a story about a hike on Mt. Everest). He doesn't want genre (can figure that out for himself), nor word counts (irrelevant), nor market research (he knows it better than you).

Many attendees were baffled by the lack of info he wanted. All the books say to include this other stuff. Dan wants it simple. Sort of like the 10-minute pitch. Interest me.

A few more tips:
1. Mention awards/contests the book has won.
2. Throw a reference line if you have one. ("Agent X told me contact you.")
3. Include the first few pages as a writing sample.
4. Ignore generic requests for exclusivity. Although if an agent specifically requests it, you must decide whether to grant them the right and contact any other agents to whom you have submitted.

And finally, he gave a clear shout out to Miss Snark as the ultimate online resource for dealing with agents, particularly with respect to writing query letters. We expect no less from Mad Max.

WLT Conference: Editor Pitch

As part of these conferences, attending authors can sign up for a ten-minute slot with one of the attending agents or editors. The object of these is to pitch your book and have the agent/editor request to see more. Ten minutes isn't a long time, but if you can't get them interested in 10, chances are you won't be able to talk them into it in 30. Think of it like speed dating.

I met with Toni Plummer, an assistant editor at Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. Not knowing what to expect, I was pretty nervous going in, rehearsing my one-sentence blurb about the book over and over again so it would come out smoothly. I was escorted into a conference room with three small tables set up. Two had potential authors at them, working their spiel. The other had Toni. She was very gracious, a real professional, made me feel comfortable right away. We talked for our ten and she wanted to see my work! Woo-hoo!

I feel that contract coming on... :)