How refreshing it would be to spot this silhouette on a truck.
Tag: reading-is-hot
OutSmart!
From the earliest days of our writing as Timothy James Beck, Houston’s OutSmart Magazine has been good to us with articles and reviews. When Tim talked to them about the releases of our edited anthologies Foolish Hearts: New Gay Fiction and Best Gay Romance 2014, they not only got David Goldberg to interview us for an article, but they made it a cover story that also turned the spotlight on the rescue organization where Tim is a founding board member.
A few days ago I showed you a photo I took of adoptable dog Stouffer, who was the canine model for the photo shoot. Here are more shots I took that day:
The magazine is available in Houston now, but you can also read it online and see photographer Theresa DiMenno’s wonderful photographs. We’re excited to think of all the people who might read the outstanding tales in the two collections thanks to the publicity. We also hope Stouffer and all the other rescued animals find their forever homes soon. Those would be the happiest tails of all. =)
Click here to read the full article.
Friendship and Books: Two of My Favorite Things
Saturday I went for the first time to the River Oaks Bookstore because my friend Trish was signing her contemporary Christmas story The Night the Animals Talked.
Trish and I were reminiscing and realized we’ve been friends since 2000. When we first met, I was trying to get that first TJB novel published! Since then, we’ve both experienced a lot of changes and had more books published, and in her case as a playwright, more works performed, than we’d have ever thought possible back then. This particular book, the tale of three generations in a blended family, comes with a CD of two original Christmas songs by Rock Barry and Sammie Ammons. The book received a Silver from the Mom’s Choice Awards (MCA) for Juvenile fiction (9-12 years old) in the Religion and Spirituality category. You can read more about it and order your own copy here.
Another event I wouldn’t have missed if I were actually in Ottawa was my friend ‘Nathan Burgoine’s booksigning at After Stonewall Bookstore and Art Gallery for his brand new debut novel Light. First off, Canadian writers are among my favorites, and this novel’s protagonist Kieran Quinn is a bit telepathic, a little psychokinetic, and very gay–three things that are going to result in a very interesting Pride Week, including a bit of danger, potential romantic interests, and a meeting with an overly enthusiastic dog. Clearly, Margot approves.
‘Nathan’s book is available everywhere online or you can ask your local bookseller to order it, as I did.
The Big “One”
On Wednesday I went to Louise Penny’s signing at Murder By The Book. Her latest novel, How the Light Gets In, is the ninth in her Chief Inspector Gamache series. Just hours before the signing was scheduled, she received word that the book debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Every published book is cause for celebration, but this is spectacular. I love this series and am so grateful that Johnny at MBTB recommended it to me several years ago.
The first time I went to a Louise Penny signing, she drew a blind pig in my Moleskine (which I take because all but one of her books that I own are eBooks I’ve purchased at MBTB for my Nook–nothing for her to sign). This time, she drew three pines over her name, because Three Pines is the fictional town where many of the characters live and where Gamache goes to nourish his soul and do some of his best thinking. If you haven’t read any of these books, I highly recommend that you begin with the first, Still Life, and read them in order. Though they are mysteries, they are also compelling stories about the best and worst of human nature.
Looking forward to many more visits (and revisits) to the Quebec village of Three Pines. Join me there!
If you’re not local to Houston and can’t visit Murder By The Book, you can still go through the store for your eBooks. Read how here.
Happy Book Lovers Day
The things I learn from Twitter…
In fact, one day on Twitter someone shared that it was Penguin Books’ 75th birthday. Then I found out that if I tweeted a photo of a Penguin book, I might get a free title from the publisher. FREE BOOKS? Sure!
Here’s the book cover I tweeted:
Then Penguin got in touch with me and asked if there was a genre or any titles I was interested in. I perused their lists, sent some possibilities, and a few days later, received this in the mail.
It’s on my stack to read next. Thanks, Penguin and Christina Castro, and again, happy birthday. To the rest of you who love to read and write books, happy Book Lovers Day! Find your favorite publishers and their reps on social media; they’re always sharing details about new works and often even holding contests with their titles as prizes.
February Photo A Day: Upside Down
After checking today’s photo prompt, I planned to go outside to take photos of some roses so heavy on the branch that they’re hanging upside down. But it’s cold (for Houston), and after spending a night without heat and getting our furnace replaced today (Remember that thing about how I have art to sell???), I couldn’t seem to motivate myself to go back outside. That’s when I realized everything on my desk had been placed upside down from my perspective. And while reading is best done right side up, I have a bookmark that shows how reading is also hot from every angle.
Today, it’s all about heat. Thanks for the bookmark, ‘Nathan!
Prompt from FMS Photo A Day.
My Ideal Bookshelf
Each year we exchange names for Christmas on Tom’s side of the family and send our Christmas lists to Santa (some people call Santa “Mom”) to distribute the right lists to the right people, since only she knows who has whose name until gifts are exchanged. This past holiday season I emailed her my list, and directly afterward, my friend Johnnie tweeted a picture of a group of books he called “my ideal bookshelf.” Further information from him indicated there was a book by this name. I looked it up and saw that more than a hundred “leading cultural figures” submitted a list of books they had to have on their shelves, and these lists were turned into illustrations for My Ideal Bookshelf.
“Dammit,” I muttered. “I already sent off my Christmas list.”
I began to write random titles of books that would be on my own ideal bookshelf, but the list grew insanely long. That’s probably why I have so many bookcases. I don’t have any memory of mentioning the book to anyone else; I made a mental note to look for it the next time I was in a bookstore.
Then we received a box of Christmas goodies in the mail that included a beautifully wrapped package for me. When I ripped off the paper, I found:
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Santa is not always called “Mom.” Sometimes Santa is called “David and Geri,” and I LOVE THIS BOOK. My 2013 masthead is a photo of my ideal bookshelf (a larger version of the photo is here if you can’t read all the titles). It tormented me to condense my list, leaving off some of the books that I did: Andrew Holleran’s Dancer From The Dance, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and specific poets come to mind immediately. I tried to include books that changed something in me: the way I see the world, the way I see myself, the way I read and write fiction. Even though I’m one edition behind on my dictionary and two editions behind on my style manual, if I were lost on an island in the middle of the sea, those two books could keep me endlessly preoccupied.
Thank you, Geri and David, and indirectly, Johnnie, for My Ideal Bookshelf.
Feel free to add your favorites in comments, or if you put them online somewhere, give me a link. Book love is great love–and reading is hot!
Button Sunday
Some way overdue thank-yous here. First, to my buddy Rob E in St. Louis, who sent me a scarf with a bold print for possible doll fashion along with bottle caps for my paintings. The scarf is already packed away with my fabric, but it sat on the desk next to me for a couple of days before I really scrutinized it, and then I started laughing because I was reminded of Diane Wiest’s character in the movie The Birdcage as she puzzled over a provocative design on some dinnerware. The scarf depicted people doing all kinds of naughty things, so the fabric must surely be used for some future fashion event. Thanks, Rob.
Another friend, writer Jeffrey Ricker, has temporarily relocated to Canada to pursue his MFA. But he sent me a couple of St. Louis mementos to add to my collection:
Pressed pennies from the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Thank you very much, Jeff! And the dog card makes me happy, too.
It’s funny how old and dear friends come back into our lives when we need them most, and such is the case with a good friend from my high school and college years, Jim S. I won’t embarrass him by describing how much our ongoing conversations mean to me. Recently, he sent the most wonderful package of goodies to Tom and me: these clever steeping tea mugs, along with some tea blends, and honey from BACK HOME to sweeten our tea.
The honey is from a beekeeper in a rural area where I lived many years ago, though I don’t think Jim knew that. Check out the tea products and blends from The Tea Spot. If there’s not a retail supplier near you, you can also order from them online. Saturday morning provided the perfect chilly weather for Tom and me to enjoy the Bolder Breakfast blend of Black Tea, Pu’erh, and Chocolate. It was divine and went well with our brunch of eggs, grits, bacon, biscuits (with more honey!), and grapes.
By the way, from The Tea Spot: Our full leaf teas include organic and Fair-Trade Certified™ estate teas and signature blends. Committed to giving as we grow, 10% of each sale is donated in-kind to cancer wellness and community programs. A gift with heart from one of the best hearts I know; thank you, Jim!
Our friend, writer and blogger Josh Helmin, was in Houston last week and came by The Compound to have dinner with us. He and Tim graciously agreed to pose for a Reading Is Hot photo holding two new novels by other author friends of ours.
Josh is holding Greg Herren’s Timothy. Greg sent me a copy before anyone else could buy it, and I was honored to read that he dedicated the novel to me because of our shared love–as teenagers and beyond–of romantic suspense writers like Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney, the incomparable Mary Stewart, and Daphne du Maurier. Tim’s holding Famous Author Rob Byrnes’s third in his hilarious caper series featuring Grant Lambert and Chase LaMarca and their entire gang of misfits, Strange Bedfellows.
To bring this full circle, I received a photo from Rob E who reminded me that reading is also sensible WHEN it’s hot, as this was what he was enjoying in the middle of the Midwest’s recent drought.
Y’all know how I love writers, and I want to share Indiegogo projects from a couple of my writer friends.
Author, webmaster, and columnist Linda Gentile founded Markeroni in 2003. Markeroni is the oldest website that helps people find and record historical markers and landmarks. Markeroni is a history resource with more than 150,000 landmarks in their database and 31,000 with a Catalog entry. Markeroni is in need of an upgrade, so Linda’s raising funds at this Indiegogo site. If a few people contribute even a modest amount, this resource can be updated and made more accessible to the public. If you can’t contribute, you might become a Markeroni member, or share the link on your Facebook and Twitter sites. Linda and all the Markeroni volunteers are a fun and passionate group, so thanks for any support you can give them between now and October 31.
Another Indiegogo project with funding that will close on October 31 is Michael Thomas Ford’s prospective novel Lily. Here’s how Lily begins:
On the morning of her thirteenth birthday, Lily kissed her father and knew that he would be dead by nightfall. The image of his death dropped into her mind suddenly and without warning. As her lips touched his she saw behind the thin skin of her closed eyes his face, pale and wet, rising up from the waves surrounded by caressing fingers of sea grass, and she screamed.
Mike is an award-winning novelist who’s written more than fifty books for both young readers and adults, in genres ranging from humor to horror, literary fiction to nonfiction. He’s one of my favorite writers, so I really want to see Lily happen. It’s a bold new endeavor that won’t happen without funding; you can read more about what you’ll receive at the different levels of giving at the Indiegogo site. Again, if you can’t give, please share the link on your social networking sites.
Thanks on behalf of Linda and Mike.
Blind Pig
A couple of weeks ago I went to Murder By The Book for Louise Penny’s signing of her new novel The Beautiful Mystery. This Canadian author has included MBTB on her book tours for most of her releases, I think, and I first learned about her through one of their newsletters. And oh, what a fortuitous thing that was, because I love all of her Inspector Gamache mysteries. This was my first time to hear and meet her, and I–along with a standing-room only crowd–enjoyed her so much. By turns funny and touching, always respectful toward her writing and her characters, and an engaging oral storyteller as much as with her writing, Louise Penny is a don’t-miss if she comes to your city.
My dilemma as I prepared to go to her signing was this: All eight of the Armand Gamache mysteries are on my Nook. What could I ask her to sign? My only physical book was an import I’d picked up at MBTB once that was already autographed, a GoodReads Canada Literacy copy of The Hangman. I did take this with me so Ms. Penny could inscribe it to me, which she graciously did.
It also occurred to me that I could take my Moleskine, put my “buyer number” in it, and ask her to sign that page. She was more than happy to do so, and went me one better. She said they keep a guest book at home in which visitors draw a “blind pig.” The pig is not blind, but the artist closes his or her eyes to draw the pig. She asked if she could do this in my Moleskine, and of course I was thrilled to say yes.
Louise Penny, you are the best. Thank you for your wonderful novels and for your charm, wit, and grace.
Legacy Writing 365:204
For the past few weeks, I’ve been importing some old photos into my iPhotos for various reasons. I found this one from 2009: one of Tim’s early foster dogs, Tyson, with the late Rexford G. Lambert and Tim on the couch with a mystery. Remember the Reading Is Hot Campaign? Whatever happened to that? You don’t send me photos anymore…
I would like MORE PHOTOS, please. Do I have to do all the work here just because it’s my blog?
You, your favorite animal, your child, a sexy stranger at a table in a sidewalk cafe–I want to see what they’re reading. Because READING IS HOT. And my email address is right there on my sidebar.
