Rivals and Friends

This is a story about two women in competing businesses in the same town (just happens to be Phoenix, Arizona). There is no denying they are in direct competition with each other.

However, beyond the surface is the fact of friendship. The two women tip each other with information that is useful to both. Despite the fact they should be fierce competitors, they are more likely to assist each other.

As time has a way of doing, personal hardships came and went, and the two women helped each other through those too. They went to lunch and talked shop. They participated in industry activities together - these competitors.

One day one woman emailed the following to the other:

One of our books, Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, has just been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The other is very happy for her friend and rival. If you haven't visited here, then you should right now. http://www.chaletpublishers.com/index.html

Please celebrate with me for my friend and Phoenix Publisher, Joy Collins, her business partner and authors. Best wishes to all.

Author Photos

How do these measure up?

Kathryn's Beach:



High Tide:



Storm Surge:


Now compare them to these:

http://flavorwire.com/117566/against-promotional-author-photographs

The Brown Wrapper Is Gone!

Look! http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/

I Dare Ya!

Most people admire those who dare to do things that we'd like to do, but for whatever reason, don't.

We love to read adventure books where the main character does exciting things and risks everything, including self, to resolve the conflict of their journey (storyline).

So why is it we aren't daring with our writing? I thought about the people I know who would read my books and left out elements I knew they would not appreciate me writing. In retrospect, that wasn't daring of me.

We tend to write in third person, a recognized safe place, because that is what most people do. We write more or less the same stories over and over. (Oh yes, we do. There are several well respected books that recommend comparing our ms to books already published.)

While we will grumble about an injustice or the woes of the industry over a cup of coffee, we rarely dare to do much more than grumble.

This is one exception on two counts. One to dare to write about contemporary topics in YA books, and the other is the support of fellow writers.

Please read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/07/authors-boycott-cancels-teen-lit-fest

Andrew Revels Remembered

My kids came to visit for the holiday weekend and we talked about Andrew. They had met him, so his passing was more to them than reading my blog - which they don't do.

As it turned out, Andrew's uncle posted a comment on my blog today. See below:

Hi Nadine.....I am Andy's uncle and just wanted to share that on August 28th Live Long, Live Strong, a celebration of Andy Revels took place and was a great success. 10 bands played until the wee hours, the local news was on hand, we were able to videotape the final episode of Andy's PRTV, and 100's of people shared Andy's memory. It will take a month to edit the final PRTV but I will let you know when it gets posted. I am sending a youtube link to a slideshow from the event and from PRTV....it will be in the final PRTV, but I decided to share a sneak peek. Enjoy and I will keep you informed on the release of the full episode in about a month.

You might want to go back to the original post and refresh your memory, listen to Andrew read his poem on YouTube I posted. Here is the link:

http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/2010/08/andrew-revels.html

This is the YouTube Andrew's uncle mentioned. I will post the final version.