In which I promote another person's blog...

Namely, In Bed With Books whose fab writer/reviewer/reader extraordinaire is Liviania. Recently, she has begun a feature that I think is a terrific idea. She calls it "Best Authors You Aren't Reading." Her post today is about Patrice Kindl whose books and whose name I have never heard before.

From a reader's perspective, I love getting recommendations for books and authors whose names are not widely known. I often get disappointed with the big books that everyone is reading. Inevitably, they become so huge that you have to read them but they can't possibly live up to your expectations. The unknowns can pleasantly surprise you and then you have a new favorite author and their backlist!

From an author's standpoint, I love hearing about unsung writers. I want to know the gems that got swept under the publishing rug for various reasons. Maybe it was a small press without a lot of marketing push, maybe it was similar to another book that was more popular, maybe it preceded a trend but didn't start it. Who knows? Sometimes in reading the author's work, you get a sense of what might have gone wrong for him or her.

Great idea, Liviania! Can't wait to read Patrice's work and to hear about the next author you'll discover for us!

The winner is...

Chelsea!

Yay, Miss Page Flipper! Congrats on scoring a signed hardcover of LOVE, MEG from the In Bed With Books' contest. Just in time for the holidays - I'll sign to you or someone else if you want to give it to a friend.

Ah, I love giving things away. If only I could give away some of the chocolate-frosted Devil's Food cupcakes I made yesterday so they're not tempting me with their devilish-chocolate-y scent...

Random Thoughts on a Friday

Did you...

1. Enter the contest at In Bed With Books to win a signed copy of LOVE, MEG? Even if you have a copy already, I will sign it for a friend or relative - makes a great Christmas gift (which is coming very very soon!).

2. Get your Halloween candy? I love this season even though HH and I never get any visitors. Ever. Even when we lived in Brooklyn, Maurice would buy bags of candy in preparation for an onslaught of kids but never a single soul rang our bell. So he'd end up eating it all. Moved to LA - same thing. Now we don't even buy a single bag and instead we go to the massive Halloween Carnaval in West Hollywood.

3. Rent "Bolt"? Second only to "Wall-E" in my recent favorite animated movies and far superior to several Pixar flicks. Great voice cast, terrific story and my god, the animation is perfect! Take a look at the pigeons and the way they move their heads and flap their wings. CG animation has come a very long way.

4. Sign up for your flu shot? Me? No. It's not that I'm afraid of needles (like some people I know) and it's not that I think there's a conspiracy involved (like some other people I know - yes, really). I've talked to some people I trust who say this first vaccine may not be ready because it was rushed through the process and the proper clinical trials were not conducted. Honestly, I'm really not afraid of needles. I'm not.

Contest and Guest blog...

...at In Bed With Books!

Check it out.

Read. The blog.

Comment. As directed.

Win. A signed hardcover of LOVE, MEG.

Easy-peasy.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

Loving and Hating LA
1. Pro - The camaraderie of weather. When it rains here, just as on the east coast when it snows, people sort of wave to each other, shrug their shoulders at the traffic, wince at the accidents, and cautiously move along.

Con - It rains every year, people! Why do you all act like this is something brand new falling from the sky? It took me over two hours to travel 18 miles one evening because there were 2 massive rain-related accidents.

2. Pro - A reminder that movies are made in this town. When a movie can shut down a major boulevard for 4 nights in a row and blast humongous lights from cranes just to create a piece of entertainment for the masses, it makes you realize you live in a pretty unique place.

Con - hello? That road is a primary thoroughfare and you're shutting it down in both directions? For 4 weeknights in a row? And what about all those people who live in the area whose homes are being lit up from 9PM until 5 in the morning?

3. Pro - Dodger fever! Just when you think LA is so jaded about its sports teams, it catches Dodger fever, sending people into a frenzy just thinking about the possibility of a win.

Con - seems to me like fair weather fannage. Oh, they're winning? Yeah, sure, I love the Dodgems...I mean, Dodgers.

4. Pro - 90 degree weather after it's been cold and rainy. I love sun and being warm.

Con - um...there is no con. This is awesome.

Bonus randomness: next week is Teen Read Week! And this year's theme is Beyond Reality. I wrote a guest blog for In Bed With Books that she will post next week and you can even win a signed hardcover of LOVE, MEG! Whoo-hoo - free books!

Also, if you're in the area, I will be visiting Cypress Park Library with author Susan Casey on Tuesday at 4PM. We'll be talking about creating characters and inventing stuff. And yes, there will be a raffle there - free books and snacks too!

See you there~

Heehee, I won a book...

Check it out! I never win anything, I swear. I never enter contests or buy lottery tickets because I'm just not lucky that way. But thanks to Liviania's blog, In Bed with Books, I've won 2 books this year: John Marco's "Starfinder" and JK Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

I think the key to winning both books (in separate contests) was not realizing I had entered. I follow Liviania's blog simply because I love her posts so I'm always there to read and comment.

Voila! We have a winner!


And check this out: along with the HP7 book, she also sent a very cool HP 10th Anniversary pin!

Thanks, Liviania!!

Blogger-Author Relationships

I have been following Kristi's and Steph's blog posts about the on-line relationships between book bloggers and authors. They, and their readers, bring up some really good questions and concerns. For instance, can we really call these connections "friendships"? If so, what happens when one "friend" reviews another "friend"? Must you be kind to them out of respect for the relationship?

Let me add my .03 (.02 adjusted for inflation):

I should clarify my comment on Steph's post, when I noted that I don't think bloggers and authors can be friends...of course they can be! Friendships are based on so many different things: favorite television shows, common classes, hobbies like knitting or dancing, dislike of Paris Hilton...and yes, favorite books.

What I mean is that *sometimes* authors hang out at blogs, commenting, becoming buds with the readers and blogger, in the hopes of getting a positive review from the blogger or selling books to her readers. A blogger can be forgiven if she thinks this author wants to be her friend. After all, she's certainly acting like one: she reads every post, she comments, she emails, she gets involved...but she wants something.

Now not all authors do this. I hang out at book blogs as market research for the most part and also because I find a lot of them very entertaining! They're fun, the girls are lively and opinionated, and they don't hold anything back when it comes to reviewing. I'm certainly happy when they review my books positively - and I make it a point to thank them when they do - but if they didn't, well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. I never thought they owed me anything and in fact, have worried that they wouldn't want me "hanging around." I'm an adult, after all, not a teen, and ya know, that can be interpreted kind of creepy.

Look, the thing is that the internet is a big place. There are lots of authors, lots of bloggers out there. Sometimes it's hard to navigate the waters and so you look for a friendly face. I know I do! That being said, if a reviewer trashed my book, I'd probably move on and find other blogs to read. I'd be hurt, sure, like any bad review hurts but I doubt I'd spread that word. Who wants to give anyone else any ideas? LOL!

I have enjoyed getting to know some of the bloggers aside from the whole book review process. I made Liviania a pair of leg warmers simply because she admired the ones I had posted pictures of on my blog - I pretty much love connecting with dancers or former dancers because that's the other part of my life that's important to me. I have emailed Chelsea the Page Flipper about her writing about Laurie Halse Anderson because I think good writing and a passion for writing needs to be encouraged. And I always make sure to read Taren's Chick Manifesto and comment on the brilliance that are her VC Andrews' recaps.

Are these 3 bloggers my friends? Ya know, I'm not sure I even know their real names. :) But I like hanging out with them. As I said above, there are a lot of blogs out there and I don't waste my time following ones I don't like. If I'm a follower of yours, it's cuz I dig you and what you have to say. If I'm not, then I might just not know you yet!

Random Thoughts on a Friday

4 Superbly Random Things

1. Don't forget to visit In Bed With Books where you can enter to win a whole mess of awesome books simply by reading and posting on the terrific interviews. During the month of March, Liviania is celebrating her blogiversary and her big 2-0!

2. I invite anyone in the LA area to come try my new ballet classes on Monday mornings at 9AM and 10 AM at the brand new Downtown Dance Loft on Spring Street between 5th and 6th Streets. The studio is gorgeous with big windows and a view of downtown. It's on the fifth floor and feels so NYC when you're in there! And bookmark this link for my dance class calendar.

3. HH and I watched the strangest batch of Netflx movies this week: Videodrome, Cat People, Curse of the Cat People, which in fact, has nothing to do with its predecessor. Normally, I like to call attention to movies I think are underrated but these are, well, they're rated and that's enough.

4. I seem to have lost all track of time, day, date lately and I wonder if that's happening to other people too. Do you ever wake up and have no clue what day it is?

50 Facts About Barbie

To commemorate Barbie's upcoming 50th birthday on March 9, writer Kathy Flanigan of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrote up 50 fun things about Barbie.

Hands down, #45 is my favorite.I owned a Barbie when I was a kid (of course!) and a Malibu Skipper doll. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I realized Malibu was a place in Southern California; I thought it meant "tanned."


I didn't have a ton of accessories but I did have the Country Camper which I recall was kind of cheaply made. The door never slid open and shut properly.

I also didn't collect clothes or shoes for the dolls and the last outfit I can picture Barbie in was a little crocheted thing my grandmother made for her. I think she was barefoot all the time since I lost all of her shoes.

One thing I did covet was the giant Barbie head whose hair you could style and whose face you could paint. Never did get one.

Sigh.

[P.S. Don't forget to check out the interview Liviania is having with me at In Bed With Books!}

Where else is C. Leigh Purtill?

Aside from my blog and my website and my Facebook and my MySpace and Goodreads...

...that sounds sooo egocentric, doesn't it? And yet, other people have even MORE of an online presence with multiple blogs and Twittering, etc. I barely have time to keep up with myself on these few sites.

On Wednesday, March 4th, Liviania will be posting an interview she did with me on her blog, In Bed With Books. I have to say, she asked some amazing questions! I know it can be hard to come up with questions for authors, especially when we are all over the place, talking to different reviewers and posting things on our own websites and blogs and honestly, most of us (and I mean me, really) don't have that much going on to discuss.

Seriously, this is why we write: so we can make up cool stuff. So when a blogger comes along and asks great questions and really makes you dig inside yourself for the answers, the effort is truly appreciated.

So head on over there and check out the interview as well as her schedule for a full month of birthday/blogiversary fun!

In Bed With Books Likes Vee!

This is a fantastic review from Liviania at In Bed With Books. I have always enjoyed her reviews because they're insightful and unique. I never feel like I'm reading a rehash of a bunch of other reviews. She seems to find the nugget of truth within a book and reveals it for all of us to see.

Her review of VEE is just as special. I adore this review, not simply because it's a positive one, but because Liviania really got the book. She understood the important relationships in Veronica's life and that Veronica was not simply trying to find a job as an actress. And I especially love that the book surprised Liviania, that her assumptions at the beginning were challenged.

Not-so-positive reviews, I should mention, can also get the book but simply not enjoy it. When the two come together - the comprehension and the appreciation - as in this one, it really makes me feel good, like I've written a good book. And really, that's all you ever want as an author: to write a good book.

Thanks, Liviania, and thanks for the picture of the leg warmers! They look fabulous on you!