By MAGGIE LILLIS
VIEW STAFF WRITER

Author Carolyn Schneider will be sharing memories of her Uncle Bing on April 28th.

 The month of April will make you laugh all the way to the library, if Reading Las Vegas: A Sure Bet organizers get their way.

The ninth annual adult reading incentive program will include authors known to spin a phrase while tickling the funny bone, program co-chairwoman Leah Ciminelli said.

The monthlong program also will include writing workshops, a murder mystery event and a book festival. Absent from this year’s festivities will be prizes, giveaways and the popular Reading Las Vegas tote bag due to budget cuts within the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Jennifer Schember, adult services coordinator, said this year’s theme, For the Love of Reading, emphasizes getting back to the basics of reading, without the frills of prizes and other incentives.

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Stephens Press donates books to a variety of charities throughout the year. However our largest yearly donation in terms of books, advertising, and author involvement is Library Tree Lane which benefits the Friends of the Henderson Libraries. Stephens Press has been a partner since the event began in 2005. Held each December at the Paseo Verde Library, guests mix, mingle, bid on auction items and meet SP authors. Over the years, many authors from our own R-J family have participated, including Jorge Betancourt, Norm Clarke, Heidi Knapp Rinella, Geoff Schumacher, and Joan Whitley. We just learned that the 2009 event raised a total of $21,000. Funds will go towards the purchase of books for the early-reader collection of the Henderson Libraries. Thirty-five of the books purchased will have a special label recognizing Stephens Press, LLC. I have had the honor of working with the event committee for the past five years and it is really a wonderful event for a very worthwhile cause.

To help ensure an enjoyable experience for all involved Chuck Thompson, author and bookstore-appearance veteran, recently shared with ShelfAwareness his tried and true “Six Rules for Better Readings.”

1. Don’t Read for More Than Five Minutes at a Time. Ever!

For the book I’m promoting now, To Hellholes and Back, I usually spend 10 minutes giving a little behind-the-scenes background on the book, then read two segments from different chapters. The first segment takes three minutes to read. The second takes four or five, depending on the audience member dragooned into service for Rule 2.

2. Get the Crowd Involved

Q&As are nice, but events are much more lively when you find creative ways of engaging the audience.

For Hellholes I’ve been doing a couple different bits. Often I recruit someone from the audience (there’s always an itchy extrovert at these things) to read a piece of dialogue with me from a section about haggling with street vendors in India. I have my ad hoc confederate take the part of wily merchant and read from a script with their lines in bold-face. I make sure they get the best lines–jokes often come off funnier when someone from the audience reads them for the first time.

I also occasionally ask for a die-hard soccer fanatic in the crowd to offer a rebuttal to a two-page screed in which I delicately point out that soccer is evil, stupid and anti-American, a corrosive influence on our nation’s vulnerable young. Soccer fans get extremely uppity when you criticize the lamest sport in the world, so this gambit also tends to yield superb emotional results.

3. Easy on the Visuals

More than 15 travel slides and it starts to look like you’re bragging, not edifying. Any PowerPoint feels like a business presentation.

4. Hand Out Gift Certificates

The first thing I do when I walk into a bookstore is buy two or three $20 gift certificates. This is a good way of conveying appreciation to the store for hosting me and a way to thank audience members brave enough to pretend to be sleazy merchants or debate soccer with me. Anyone who gets on stage with me gets a gift card.

When promoting a book called Smile When You’re Lying a couple years ago, I passed out index cards and had people write questions for me on the cards. I told them to be sure to include their names on the cards for a gift-certificate drawing at the end of the Q&A. This kept people around and interested until the end of the event.

5. Cut Off the Q&A Early

Don’t mistake a few questions for mass interest. Some blowhard or aspiring writer will always hang around asking questions until the lights are turned out. Most people get fidgety after 35 or 40 minutes. By that time, they expect to be getting their books signed and on their ways to the 20 other things they have to do before the night is out. If your mother never told you, I will: it’s always better to leave a party 30 minutes early than 30 minutes late.

6. Don’t Be Afraid to Say Something Stupid

Writers are expected to be smart, which can make getting in front of an audience intimidating. The typical writer reflex is to become overly thoughtful or cautious when speaking off the cuff. At readings, this makes them about as appealing as a damp sock.

I try to speak at readings the way I do with friends over drinks. Even if I wind up saying something dumb, audiences are generally forgiving, and it rarely makes them like my book less. If all that people wanted was what’s in the book, they’d just stay home and read, so I’ve never seen the point of giving them more of the same when they’ve come out to see me.

By following these rules I’ve managed to have, if not always good crowds, at least a good time at readings.

Read the full article here.
Excerpt from ShelfAwareness 2/10/10

John L. Smith said, “In school I often got into trouble for failing to work well with others, so I wasn’t optimistic that I could cooperate on a story with six  writers. Collaborating on a writing project was pretty new for me. But it was intriguing to participate in a collective creative writing project. And I think the story works.”

RESTLESS CITY will debut at this year’s Vegas Valley Book Festival. A signature project of the festival organizers, editor Geoff Schumacher invited seven of the area’s best-known authors to each write a sequential chapter in a yet-untitled book. The only provisions were it had to be set in Las Vegas, be fiction, and each chapter was limited to 3,000 to 4,000 words. Oh, and they’d have a short couple of weeks to write their chapter.

H. Lee Barnes. John Irsfeld, Brian Rouff, Leah Bailly, John L. Smith, Constance Ford and Vu Tran were game for this admittedly experimental project. Barnes set a high standard with the first chapter, and introduced his colleagues to a story we’ve come to label Vegas Noir. By the time John Irsfeld added his contribution, the title RESTLESS CITY was coined by editor Geoff Schumacher.

The concept of a serial novel was recently a bestseller in THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT by thriller-master Jeffery Deaver and a team of likewise bestselling mystery and suspense writers. I read THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT with great curiousity, wondering if I could sense the different voices from chapter to chapter. Yes, I could.

As I can in RESTLESS CITY. But not in a negative way. It is more of an undercurrent that something has shifted as the story moves on. Too, there was a greater anticipation as to where the story would go next as each new author took the reins.

According to author Brian Rouff, RESTLESS CITY required him to “step up my game”. Rouff said “Chapter three was a great opportunity because I got to delve into back story. John Irsfeld gave me a lot to work with. In turn, I finished my chapter with an old-fashioned cliffhanger for the next author. I hope the readers had as much fun as I did.”

THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT was such a success, that Deaver and his colleagues have produced THE COPPER BRACELET. Deaver was fascinted to “see how a group of authors with vastly varied writing styles and approaches to creativity produced such a cohesive thriller with a relentlessly fast-paced narrative”.

Vu Tran, the final chapter author said, “Writing the last chapter and trying to tie up everyone else’s plot and character threads was in turns a unique, infuriating, and fun experience. Complementing and resolving other people’s ideas was even more difficult than I thought it would be, but I ultimately found it very satisfying and educational.”

RESTLESS CITY is available at www.RestlessCity.com and will be available on Amazon and in local bookstores shortly. Both a print and eBook formats are being published. The book will debut at the Vegas Valley Book Festival with a reading by final author Vu Tran on Saturday, November 7 at 4:00 PM at the Historic Fifth Street School (on Fourth Street). Authors will be available to sign books.

I have recently taken up a new hobby. Well, not exactly new, I am just pursuing it in a different way. Always an extremely avid reader, I have joined, or more like was recruited into, a book club. My mother loves to tell the story that I was so consumed with reading as a child that she would ask me to set the table for dinner and I would try to do it while devouring every word of a Nancy Drew mystery. She would watch in distress wondering, “How did I manage to raise such a little nerd?”

As for my newest bibliophilic pursuit, I belong to a very young book club having only just completed our third book. We started out with extremely high aspirations and read the textbook-like Twelve Caesars – about what else but the twelve Caesars – which was not a favorite of the book clubbers and was universally panned if even nary a cover was ever opened. Next there was the self indulgent opus The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch that is at 730 pages as thick as a phonebook. It was an improvement over our first book, and offered much insight into the Dutch culture, but still was not dearly loved.

This month we finally went for a more mainstream choice that was more manageable in size as well as an Oprah pick – Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was a pretty good read but it wasn’t exactly a page turner. But as I have found in my limited book club experience, that’s really not the point. The idea is that because someone different picks the book each month, we are introduced to reading material and, in turn, ideas we would have never taken the time to pursue on our own.

But even better than opening up our minds to new cultures, reading genres and stories we might have ordinarily dismissed, is the camaraderie created by a group of women who come together each month. Gathering with my fellow book clubbers and discussing the month’s reading material to glean their opinions, comments and interpretations has been a very gratifying experience.

Although at first resistant to joining the book club as I love the solitary aspect of reading, I have found it still allows me to find my escape while at the same time delve into and explore the book at another level. It has even led me to the conclusion that I probably would have enjoyed many a book a lot more had I incorporated group discussions.

But that’s not where the learning ends for this ambitious group of book lovers. We have been called high maintenance because we also insist on broadening our culinary horizons. Based on our chosen book, we also bring a dish along that relates to it. For instance, this month because Eat, Pray, Love takes place in Italy, India and Indonesia, a dish from any of these cultures could have been in the offing. I made an Indian dish that I would have never even considered making before, if not for this activity.

As the dog days of summer ensue, spend some time with yourself. Broaden your world and take up a new hobby or put a twist on one you already enjoy.

Beth Schwartz is the editor of Luxury Las Vegas magazine, also part of the Stephens Media family. She blogs at www.luxurylv.com/truly-scrumptious.

“I write because I can’t do normal work like other people.”

Orhan Pamuk, winner of 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature

“Words on a page give the world coherence.”

Alberto Manguel, Into the Looking-Glass Wood: Essays on Books, Reading, and the World

Photo courtesy Scriatic (CC)

Writers write. If you’re a writer, you can’t help yourself. Putting words on paper, or onto a computer screen, is part of who you are. Writing helps us understand and give order to our chaotic lives and to a turbulent world.

Most writers want others to read their work. We want attention, validation, reassurance, fame. We want to be praised, questioned, challenged. We can’t help but write, but we like it better when our words are disseminated widely.

Despite our economic troubles, there never has been a better time to be a writer, because there never have been so many avenues to publication. Consider: You can set up a Facebook or Twitter page in about two minutes and start publishing your words to your friends and colleagues. Or you can set up a blog in about five minutes and start publishing for all the world to see.

These may seem like mundane forms of publishing, but I disagree. I have 255 friends on Facebook. If I write an essay and post it on my Facebook page, it is immediately available for perusal by 255 people who, because they know me, are likely to take a look at it. How would you have accomplished such an endeavor 30 years ago? If you wrote an essay and wanted to share it with your friends and colleagues, you would have had to make photocopies and either hand them out or put them in the mail to reach those 255 people. That’s a lot of copies, a lot of envelopes, a lot of addresses to track down and a lot of stamps. This process also would take a lot more time – days, maybe weeks.

Of course, we also would like to be compensated for our writing. We want our writing to be a money-making venture, not just an obsession or hobby. This complicates matters, but it’s not an unreasonable request. In order to be paid for writing, though, we must write something that a publication is willing to buy. This often means writing that is substantially different in style and substance from what we might post on Facebook or in a personal blog.

More often than not, what we’re talking about is journalism: facts, figures, interviews, research. We must be thorough, accurate. We must explore multiple perspectives. We must delve into subjects we might not otherwise care about. And then, once we’ve gathered the materials we need, we must organize all those facts, figures, quotes and multiple perspectives into a coherent and entertaining piece of writing.

It looks easy. It’s not.

But it’s also not brain surgery. Journalism is a craft that requires a set of skills that can be developed by most people who know how to read and to write a clear sentence.

The most important trait of a good journalist is curiosity. Successful journalists are innately curious about how things work. They follow a road to see where it leads. They ask lots of questions and genuinely want to know the answers. They aren’t afraid of talking to strangers. They aren’t satisfied with the conventional wisdom.

Successful journalists also are persistent. When they ask questions, they expect answers. They aren’t deterred by roadblocks. They know there is more than one way to get the information they seek.

Sometimes, journalism isn’t such a serious business. But writing a restaurant review or reporting on a ball game still demands the same skills needed to uncover the Watergate scandal.

4-27-09

Geoff Schumacher, a veteran journalist, is the director of community publications for Stephens Media. He is also the publisher of CityLife and Big Island Weekly. He has written two books, Sun, Sin & Suburbia: An Essential History of Modern Las Vegas and Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue (Stephens Press) and is working on two more. Schumacher was recently named editor of CityLife Books, a Stephens Press imprint. He writes a weekly column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. For more information, see www.geoffschumacher.com.

Author Lander Marks takes The SPQ. Ms. Marks is the author of Artist’s Proof, a debut novel filled with mysteries, plot twists, and shocking secrets that keep the reader trying to guess how the story will end. An automotive industry executive, Marks is also the author of Reservations Required: Culinary Secrets of Las Vegas’ Celebrity Chefs (Huntington Press).

1. How long did your manuscript take, start to finish? Eight years.

2. Did you do special research? I traveled to Europe, New York City and contacted experts in the most specific areas of the books content, i.e.: Holocaust art restitution, Vatican, cruise business and art auction professionals.

3. How long before you held the first copy in your hands? One year two months from contract signing.

4. How do you write? When the mood strikes or certain time of day for writing? Word count goals? I am a sporadic writer but constant note taker, article clipper and outline modifier.

5. Do you outline first? Yes, and constantly revising.

6. Do you listen to music while you write? If so what type of music? I listen to music (all kinds) when meditating which often leads me to thoughts and feelings about my writing projects.

7. What is your favorite adjective and verb? Be creative. Think. Create.

8. Which book have you read again and again? My own.

9. What is your favorite book title (not the book, just the title)? STICK

10. Which author would you most like to meet, living or dead? Walter Mosley or Lillian Braun.

11. Would you rather get paid to read or get paid to write? Paid to write.

12. What is the strangest comment or experience you’ve had about your book or writing? The ultimate ending to my recent book, Artist’s Proof. I discovered the painting by Hungarian artist Bela Kadar among my art collection, after the book was completed and at the printers. It was as if Bela had been haunting me for eight years to get this story finished and only after it was done did the painting reveal itself, and another chapter in the tale of Artist’s Proof became a legacy to this period of art, literature and heritage. Amazing.

13. Your best advice for novice writers? Plan your story and really think it through before you begin. Outline, outline, research, research. Begin with the end in mind. Otherwise you will waste seven years!

14. Your best marketing techniques? Face to face appointments with meeting planners and bookers involved in the subject matter of the book.

15. The future of printed books . . . ? Good stories or great timely information will always be in demand. A printed book will always be treasured. The Bible is a great example. Still the Number 1 bestseller every year, since record keeping began.

16. What piece(s) of fiction gave you that “Ah ha, I know this is what I want to do” realization? MetroGirl by Janet Evanovich.

17. What are you reading now? Buddhism without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor.

18. What is your biggest reader pet peeve? Predictability! Cliché storylines, lack of character development.

19. What is your biggest writing pet peeve? Lack of time and solitude.

20. What’s the best piece of writing advice you ever received? Kill your babies.

21. What writing tool can you not live without? The EDITOR!

22. Many writers say that until they decided they didn’t care what their mommas would think, they held back. And when they let go of that concern, they felt free to write. Did this ever apply to you? It didn’t until I published a book and began to wonder if my perceived audience didn’t appreciate my character’s language and attitude.

23. Do you have a website/blog where readers may learn more about you and your work? www.readartistsproof.com

Today I’m interviewing author Betty Auchard. Betty’s first book, Dancing in My Nightgown, the Rhythms of Widowhood is her memoir of losing her husband of 49 years, getting through the grief, and learning to live again—in a whole new way. Far from being a morose downer, Betty’s stories are touching, inspiring, upbeat, and even funny. Betty had a lot to learn having married at 19, and never having lived as a single person before. Betty’s quirky, loving, and funny personality makes her one of my favorite authors to know and to work with. In this interview she shares her thoughts on the writing process:

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started writing. Did you always have a secret desire to be an author?

My secret desires were to be invisible, to fly, and to play the piano. My unconcealed desires were to be a movie star and an artist. I became an artist, so I still have time to become a movie star. But all my life I loved writing letters and telling true stories because I saw, and still do see stories in everything. And I’ve always jotted things down that I didn’t want to forget—sort of like a grocery list for my life.

Becoming a widow at 68 when I had never been single before meant I had more to write about than ever. I wrote about everything that was happening to me because life felt like the twilight zone. It was unreal. I had no way of knowing then that writing was my tool for healing.

Grief recovery was the hardest work I’d ever done in my life and grievers must be allowed to babble about the same old things over and over. It’s the only way we can accept that our loss is real. Writing was like talking to paper. If I felt good I wrote about it. If I felt bad I wrote about it. One day I saw that Postum (Denny’s favorite beverage) was on sale and I almost put a jar in my cart. I was so blindsided by that unconscious act that I had to abandon my grocery cart and run outside to cry. Naturally, I wrote about it. I knew that someday I would look back on my experiences and realize how far I had come.

Writing was more important to me than eating. Naturally I lost weight, but gradually, I regained consciousness and the act of writing took on a life of its own. I became aware that my journaling on junk was starting to use a lot more paper and my writings were becoming pretty good stories that I liked a lot. One thing led to another and I started taking writing classes. This all happened over about six months. By six months I was in love with telling about life from my point of view which sometimes made me cry, but it felt good; like vomiting from my eyes. Sometimes my quirky point of view made me laugh at myself. As hard as I tried not to come off as a widow I always revealed that I was one. It made me feel vulnerable. I may as well have worn a talking T shirt that shouted, “This Lady Lives Alone.” But, to be honest, I liked my stories so much that I practically forced strangers to read them. I knew then that Betty, the Writing Beast had been born.

2. Tell us about your writing habits. When you write do you need music? Or quiet? Is there a special place, time or ritual you use to get in the groove? And has this changed over time? For example from the time you wrote the first draft of the first book until now as you work on the second?

Eleven years ago when I wrote all day long in my nightgown, I didn’t know how to use the computer so I did a lot of writing in bed where the light from the window was perfect. If not there, then I wrote in my lounge chair where the good lamp was located. I wrote on a lined tablet on a clipboard, and used only a fine tip Pilot Precise pen. My thoughts landed on paper as easily as I talk.

Once I learned how to use the computer I relocated upstairs to what used to be my art studio and is now my computer room. I first TELL myself the story out loud a few times and then I start typing without stopping, typos and all. It’s still a lot like free writing but it’s on the screen and I feel as though I’m still talking.  I write best in the mornings when my brain is awake and lively. But I still write at night or any old time I’m in the mood or when I know I won’t be interrupted.  Sometimes that’s into the morning hours. I let other things go unattended, which is slothful but true.

My best writing time was two months ago when I treated myself to a hotel room. I checked into a Holiday Inn Express, 25 miles away so I wouldn’t be tempted to dash home for any reason. I told my children not to call or e-mail unless it was really important and a request for a recipe was not important. It was wonderful. I stayed one week, went home for one week, and returned for one more week. I ate sparingly and used the small fridge and microwave in my room for simple food.  I managed to get ahead on my second manuscript. The cost? About $2,000, but I told myself that I deserved it.

When I think a story is finished, it’s imperative that I read it aloud. Only then do I hear what is clunky or awkward. The sound of the words and the cadence of a sentence are critical. A radio is distracting and never on when I write, which means that it is never on. I watch TV only when I eat something or to watch Dexter or The United States of Tara. The truth is that I sit way too long at my computer because I’m in love with it. And where the day goes I’ll never know. Time just races by when I’m in the writing zone.

3. For most writers time management and “getting their butt in the chair” seems to be an all too common theme. You seem to have the freedom to write when the mood strikes. Do you think that you could have written a book in the midst of raising your family and working? What advice do you have on time management for writers who can’t write as a vocation? (full-time)

I’m out of my element regarding this question—but I can’t imagine myself writing a book while raising a family. I did, however, manage to do my college homework and art assignments when my children were preteens and teenagers. But my husband took over in the kitchen in the evenings whenever I was studying for a test or working on an art project. He and the kids fixed meals and they either called me to the table or brought the meal on a tray to my bedroom upstairs. After graduating I got a fulltime job as a high school art teacher, so we were all busy. All four of our children were in competitive swimming and somehow we managed to do it all. I’m in awe of young mothers who manage to get any writing done. It wears me out just writing about it.

4. How do you maintain the stick-to-it-ive-ness in the face of self-doubt?

For some reason I don’t recall ever doubting myself during this 11 years of writing. If I’m stuck and unsure how to resolve a story, I know that it means a whole lot more work is ahead. I’ve recently been stuck as to how to rescue certain stories that I am determined to keep, and that’s where I am right now with a second manuscript. With help from my writing coach (I consider myself still a student.) I’m learning how to remove myself from the first draft of a stubborn story and approach the whole thing from a different angle. The only way I can do that is to dialogue with someone else about why this story is important to me—or I write an e-mail to either my coach or my editor. Since they each have an interest in my work, they usually can brainstorm with me until we find a solution. Once in a while, though, I have to admit that I’m riding a dead horse, and I just set the story aside in the deep freeze in case there’s a chance of reincarnating it in the future. Of course this means that some of my revisions are endless, but revising does not bother me one bit. It’s not finding a way to revise a piece that drives me crazy. I hate admitting defeat with any story that is too dear to my heart. But not all of my ideas are meant to be stories. Thank God for good coaches and good editors. Lucky me…I have both.

5. Do you, or have you ever, belong(ed) to a writers critique group? If so, is it valuable to you?

I’m sure that critiques groups help a lot of people, but I’m not one of them. There are too many things that get in the way of my appreciation of a critique group. I don’t like all the time it takes to give feedback to everyone in the group. It means a lot of extra reading and responding to the work of other people. And…if I don’t like what they write, I sure am not going to value their comments about my work. And there are so many different opinions from one group that it’s just plain confusing. Instead, here’s what I do: there are four people whose judgment I trust, and they are always honest. The two women are my daughters and the two men are my friends.  They are my muses, and not writers but avid readers. We never meet as a group, but I take turns asking them to read certain stories. I used to attend English teachers’ conferences and I learned a technique from them that is very student-friendly. There is no discussion about a story that is read aloud. Instead, each listener writes down only two comments on a piece of paper to be given to the reader and no one else. The listener writes down something that he liked a lot (a word, a phrase, a description, etc.,) AND any question he has about the story. That’s it. It is constructive and helpful and takes very little time. If I did belong to a group, I would want them to use that method. Now, THAT I could handle.

6. Do you ever outline first, or are you a “seat of the pants” writer?

Never do I outline. Even as an art teacher I never sketched out my art work and then painted on top of the sketch. I created it as I went along. When I write, I have an idea of what I want to share with the reader, and I even write a “pretend” letter to one of my muses mentioned above so I can write the new story for them. OR, I tell the story out loud to one of them. Telling the story first does seem to help bring it to life. Another reason I don’t outline is because it’s too confining. It means I have to “stay inside the lines.” The thing I love about not outlining is that a story comes alive and suggests other directions. I’m never sure where it’s going to end up. So after it seems to be finished, I know that’s only the first step. I use my mental check list to see what might be missing and eventually (after perhaps 10 edits and revisions), everything falls into place…if I’m lucky.

7. Many writers hate editing and would rather just write the draft and consider it done. Others like the polishing. Which are you, and why?

I love going over a story with a fine-toothed comb, making sure that all the verbs are active and that all the sentences are succinct with no extra words. Or I simplify sentences and paragraphs. I like the challenge.

8. What are you reading now? (Or before you got into the thick of what you’re writing now.)

I have several books going at one time and they all have bookmarks in them. Some, I finish. I just finished Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. Now I’m reading Eudora Welty’s memoir, One Writer’s Beginnings. It’s excellent. I’m a slow reader so I don’t mow through books very fast. And I savor every word and often take time to underline or write in the margins.

9. What is your favorite book? Why?

Whatever I’m reading at the time is my favorite. I’m fickle, because while I’m reading a new book, I fall in love with it and forget how much I loved the previous book that I just dumped.

10. What is your favorite title? (Not the book, just the title.)

What comes to mind is the sound of Teacher Man, by Frank McCourt. I also like the quirky nature of The Liars Club by Mary Karr. I also enjoyed reading both of those books. I’ve never read the book called I Hate My Neck, but the title cracks me up. Now that I think of it I think I like the title of my own book more than any. Dancing in My Nightgown, catches the attention of women and men alike. Men think that it’s a sex book until they look at the sub title: The Rhythms of Widowhood. Yes, I do like my own title a lot, and that’s the truth.

11. As a reader, what is your biggest pet peeve? (Stock characters, pat endings, unresolved conflict, etc.)

When descriptions go on too long. As much as I enjoyed reading the Clan of the Cave Bear series, one of the books went on for pages describing the ground, rocks, plants, cliffs, flint, tundra, etc., I finally scanned the pages to see when the tour ended and started reading again.

12. As a writer, what is your biggest pet peeve—or stumbling block?

Being interrupted. It takes too long to get back in the zone and pick up where I left off. Another thing that bugs me is if a writer friend wants to know what I’m writing and I share a story with them, and then they say, “Do you mind if I make some suggestions?” Yeah, I do mind but I always lie. Or, the story comes back all marked up with edits that I never asked for. I never give suggestions to another writer unless she begs me to. Even then I say that it is only my opinion and may mean nothing.

13. What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?

Three things: 1) Read your stories aloud because that’s when you hear what sounds klutzy or good. 2) When you think a story is finished put it aside for a week if possible, but at least for several days before reading it again. It seems like a new piece which you either love or not. 3) Hire a professional editor for your work and not your cousin who got good grades in Language Arts classes.

14. What advice would you give writers just starting out?

Just get that story down as though you’re talking to paper. Don’t think of it as “writing. “ Talk to the paper and DO NOT EDIT AS YOU GO.

15. Do you have a website or blog where readers can find your book(s) and learn more about you?

Yes indeed. www.DancingInMyNightgown.com. Everything is there about my availability as a speaker and more. On every page is a link to the publisher. In an enthusiastic moment a visitor can order the book that minute. Within a week the book will arrive.

16. How long before your next book comes out?

I’m guessing, but the manuscript is almost finished and I hope that by summer the finished book is in my hands.

17. Many first time authors think that when their book comes out their work is done. We know better. What kinds of things have you personally done that have been effective in marketing your first book?

I’ve always had a love affair with a live audience, so since 2002, I’ve been speaking to groups and selling my book after the programs. Before my book was published in 2005, my short memoir stories were included in five anthologies and I sold them. Now, I sell only my book. Every person attending gets a flyer and I ask them to please share it with any group needing a speaker, so my advertising is by word of mouth.

18. Is there anything I haven’t asked that you’d like to tell us?

Yes, I would like to add that Dancing in My Nightgown received a 2005 IPPY Award when it was first released. IPPY stands for Independent Publisher. That year I think there were over 2,000 entrees in many different categories. My award was one of three in the memoir category. And one more thing: I am the dancer on the cover while wearing a silk nightgown that was made for the cover. I will never sleep in it. The two-hour photo shoot was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had. In fact, the first thing people say about my book when they see it is that they LOVE the cover. And so do I. The cover is so upbeat and attractive that it helps people know right away that it is NOT a sad book, but instead a very joyful and humorous collection of stories. One widow who read my book said, “It felt so good to laugh again.” One widower said, “Your book makes me want to start flirting with women again and going out on a date, and THAT’S a good feeling.” So he asked me out.

SC: Thank you so much Betty for doing this interview with me. I always enjoy chatting with you, and hearing your insights on the writing process. I’d like to add a couple of things about Betty’s cover. The photos were taken by Fred Armitage. The photo shoot for the cover was directed by Chris Wheeler of Ignite Design. He admitted to me that he was a little nervous about directing the shoot with a “lady dancing in her nightgown,” but afterward he said, “She really got into it. Betty’s a pretty good dancer! One of the most fun shoots I’ve done.” The photos that came out of that shoot were great, and I had more than enough to work with. I wanted to convey the vitality of Betty’s bubbly personality—and one static image didn’t seem enough to do that. So I composited several images tilting and blurring parts of them to get across the dynamo that she is. People may ask why I chose to cut off her head… yes that was deliberate. The book IS a personal story of grief resolving itself into a more hopeful present and future life for Betty. But the message in the story is universal to all who suffer, or who know one who is coping with loss. I wanted the reader to see themselves in Betty’s place. As pretty as Betty’s photos turned out—I still wanted this cover to be more special. And I found that quality in a lovely pearlized paper stock we used for the cover. This paper has a subtle iridescent glow with a soft pearly sparkle. We simply can’t show that here on the screen. But it was just the right touch and this cover, for all its simplicity remains a favorite of mine—both for the paper’s unusual visual eye-candy, and most especially, because it represents a lovely lady in more ways than one.