...the contest to win a copy of ALL ABOUT VEE at Harmony Book Reviews ends Feb 2nd!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Congrats to the Winner of All About Vee!
At The Story Siren, Kristi hosted a contest for a signed copy of ALL ABOUT VEE as part of my bookish experiment to release the sequel to Vee, THE RISE OF GINNY COOPER. And the winner is:
Kory!
Kory, I will send you a copy signed to you, unless you tell me otherwise. I'm happy to sign it to a friend or school, whatever you choose.
Yay! Many congrats! And thanks so much to everyone who entered, all 212 of you - wow!
And big thanks, as always, to Kristi the Story Siren herself, for hosting the contest and the sequel release. It'll be available on her site until Februray 12th!
Kory!
Kory, I will send you a copy signed to you, unless you tell me otherwise. I'm happy to sign it to a friend or school, whatever you choose.
Yay! Many congrats! And thanks so much to everyone who entered, all 212 of you - wow!
And big thanks, as always, to Kristi the Story Siren herself, for hosting the contest and the sequel release. It'll be available on her site until Februray 12th!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Is it the end...
Or THE RISE OF GINNY COOPER?
Today at The Story Siren, Kristi is posting the 4th and final installment of the sequel to ALL ABOUT VEE. As before with parts 1, 2, and 3, it's available exclusively at her site and for absolutely no cost. And you can enter to win a copy of ALL ABOUT VEE there too - today's the last day for domestic and international entries!
This has been so much fun - I've learned an awful lot about the process, about how I might do things differently if I were to do something like this again, and what I might recommend to others. In a few days or so, I'll post about that. And in the meantime, I'd love to hear from readers of any of the parts! Please feel free to post here or to email me at leigh at leighpurtill dot com.
Cheers, everyone, and extra special thanks to Kristi for being my fabulous host!
Today at The Story Siren, Kristi is posting the 4th and final installment of the sequel to ALL ABOUT VEE. As before with parts 1, 2, and 3, it's available exclusively at her site and for absolutely no cost. And you can enter to win a copy of ALL ABOUT VEE there too - today's the last day for domestic and international entries!
This has been so much fun - I've learned an awful lot about the process, about how I might do things differently if I were to do something like this again, and what I might recommend to others. In a few days or so, I'll post about that. And in the meantime, I'd love to hear from readers of any of the parts! Please feel free to post here or to email me at leigh at leighpurtill dot com.
Cheers, everyone, and extra special thanks to Kristi for being my fabulous host!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Contest info!!
Harmony at Harmony Book Reviews is giving away a copy of ALL ABOUT VEE at her blog. You can enter by posting a comment on this post about the contest or this post which was my guest blog. Contest ends Feb 2nd! Thanks, Harmony! And thanks to all who enter!!
Kristi at The Story Siren is giving away a signed copy of ALL ABOUT VEE at her blog also. This is part of the "bookish experiment" I am doing there with THE RISE OF GINNY COOPER - the fourth and final part of which will be posted on Monday. Her contest ends Monday, January 25th. Enter to win! Thanks, Kristi!!
Kristi at The Story Siren is giving away a signed copy of ALL ABOUT VEE at her blog also. This is part of the "bookish experiment" I am doing there with THE RISE OF GINNY COOPER - the fourth and final part of which will be posted on Monday. Her contest ends Monday, January 25th. Enter to win! Thanks, Kristi!!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Random Thoughts on a Friday
So-called news stories
1. Conan v. Jay - another late night hype. As of yesterday, Conan was walking away with $45 million for himself and crew and a vacation for 9 months, because you know someone is gonna snap him up for their own network in September. And Leno gets his old job back, which is fine with him because he's a workaholic who couldn't spend all the money he has in 50 lifetimes.
While HH, a Conan fan, has sworn to never watch the Tonight Show again, I could not care less. I find it unbelievable that late night ratings are so important that NBC has to pay out an incredible amount of money to someone to NOT work for them. Really? I mean, really? The people I know watch all the funny bits on YouTube the next day and never even see the commercials or whatever that the networks want them to see. What is so gosh-darn valuable about late night?
Frankly, I think it's a holdover from the Dave v. Jay days when the networks were much more powerful and late night ratings actually meant something. I'd rather watch repeats of The Simpsons as I fall asleep. And to be honest, I was always a Letterman fan - I'm from the east coast, what do ya want from me? I like snark. And my fondest memories of the Tonight Show were watching Johnny Carson with my grandmother in the summer time. Clearly, I'm not the demo anyway.
Just send me the funny YouTube clips.
2. Cindy McCain supports gay marriage - I think it's terrific when formerly conservative political figures come out in favor of liberal domestic policies. Wonderful. Enlightening. And far too late. It's very nice that McCain and her daughter approached a website supporting gay rights in order to volunteer their faces and names to their NoH8 campaign. Wonderful. Enlightening. But where was she when her husband was the governor of Arizona and put the smackdown on gay marriage there? And where was her voice when he was running for president on a pro-family platform?
It does this country far more harm than good when political figures and their spouses keep their real beliefs hidden only to espouse them long after the campaign is over. For the average citizen who may have been debating the issue internally to hear after the fact that the person they held up as a role model or political influence had contrary personal views to their public ones actually stifles the possibility of change.
3. Religious references on military weapons - a manufacturer of rifle scopes has been putting references to Biblical scripture on weapons supplied to the US military. Um, what? One company, who shall remain nameless because why give them any more facetime than they already have, has been inscribing Biblical references such as, JN8:12, apparently referring to John 8:12: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' "
This goes against the Constitution's very definition of separation of church and state, not to mention the discrimination of non-Christian soldiers. Plus, it's just all-around icky to associate the Bible with weapons (don't get me started on the actual contents of the Bible!). It's kind of like saying, "God wants you, his child, to go out and kill." Yeah, no.
4. Various sex scandals - John Edwards had a baby with his mistress. Tiger Woods had affairs with just about every woman he met. Who cares and who cares again? Humans are flawed. They will do what they have to in order to preserve themselves and their places in society. Get over it and do the right thing.
Okay, that's Leigh's "Eye on News" for this morning. LOL!! You know what I'm excited about? Part 4 of THE RISE OF GINNY COOPER is coming to the Story Siren on Monday, January 25th. That's the last section! The final part! When you find out the answers to all of your burning Vee-related questions! No, seriously, just enjoy it.
1. Conan v. Jay - another late night hype. As of yesterday, Conan was walking away with $45 million for himself and crew and a vacation for 9 months, because you know someone is gonna snap him up for their own network in September. And Leno gets his old job back, which is fine with him because he's a workaholic who couldn't spend all the money he has in 50 lifetimes.
While HH, a Conan fan, has sworn to never watch the Tonight Show again, I could not care less. I find it unbelievable that late night ratings are so important that NBC has to pay out an incredible amount of money to someone to NOT work for them. Really? I mean, really? The people I know watch all the funny bits on YouTube the next day and never even see the commercials or whatever that the networks want them to see. What is so gosh-darn valuable about late night?
Frankly, I think it's a holdover from the Dave v. Jay days when the networks were much more powerful and late night ratings actually meant something. I'd rather watch repeats of The Simpsons as I fall asleep. And to be honest, I was always a Letterman fan - I'm from the east coast, what do ya want from me? I like snark. And my fondest memories of the Tonight Show were watching Johnny Carson with my grandmother in the summer time. Clearly, I'm not the demo anyway.
Just send me the funny YouTube clips.
2. Cindy McCain supports gay marriage - I think it's terrific when formerly conservative political figures come out in favor of liberal domestic policies. Wonderful. Enlightening. And far too late. It's very nice that McCain and her daughter approached a website supporting gay rights in order to volunteer their faces and names to their NoH8 campaign. Wonderful. Enlightening. But where was she when her husband was the governor of Arizona and put the smackdown on gay marriage there? And where was her voice when he was running for president on a pro-family platform?
It does this country far more harm than good when political figures and their spouses keep their real beliefs hidden only to espouse them long after the campaign is over. For the average citizen who may have been debating the issue internally to hear after the fact that the person they held up as a role model or political influence had contrary personal views to their public ones actually stifles the possibility of change.
3. Religious references on military weapons - a manufacturer of rifle scopes has been putting references to Biblical scripture on weapons supplied to the US military. Um, what? One company, who shall remain nameless because why give them any more facetime than they already have, has been inscribing Biblical references such as, JN8:12, apparently referring to John 8:12: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' "
This goes against the Constitution's very definition of separation of church and state, not to mention the discrimination of non-Christian soldiers. Plus, it's just all-around icky to associate the Bible with weapons (don't get me started on the actual contents of the Bible!). It's kind of like saying, "God wants you, his child, to go out and kill." Yeah, no.
4. Various sex scandals - John Edwards had a baby with his mistress. Tiger Woods had affairs with just about every woman he met. Who cares and who cares again? Humans are flawed. They will do what they have to in order to preserve themselves and their places in society. Get over it and do the right thing.
Okay, that's Leigh's "Eye on News" for this morning. LOL!! You know what I'm excited about? Part 4 of THE RISE OF GINNY COOPER is coming to the Story Siren on Monday, January 25th. That's the last section! The final part! When you find out the answers to all of your burning Vee-related questions! No, seriously, just enjoy it.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Guestblog at Harmony Book Reviews!
Today, I'm guest blogging at the fantastic Harmony's blog, Harmony Book Reviews.
My post: "When Characters Blog"
Check it out! You might learn a few things you didn't know...
Thanks for having me, Harmony!
My post: "When Characters Blog"
Check it out! You might learn a few things you didn't know...
Thanks for having me, Harmony!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Jealousy and the writer
Recently, the American Library Association awards were announced (the Printz, Caldecott, Newbery, etc.) and some truly amazing writers won prizes. Congrats to them all. I wasn't familiar with most of the books on the lists since some were picture books and others were for young readers but I did recognize many of the names. That's the thing about this writing business: it's a small one. It just has a very wide reach. Or it can if you're lucky.
When you first begin writing seriously, you see the many books in your genre and think, "I can write as good - no, I can write better than that!" You see people getting published every day, new books arriving on store shelves every week and think, "If that guy can get published, so can I!" But the longer you go without being published, you begin to get jealous of all the writers who do, especially if they're your friends. You wonder if certain wheels were greased; whether there was a personal connection, a previous relationship, a media platform you don't have.
You are the green eyed monster. And that's okay - we all go through that.
But the more time you spend pursuing this crazy idea of yours to become a professional writer, the more words you get under your laptop, the more you realize that your friends getting published and becoming successful has less to do with them and more to do with the business itself. Over the course of a career, so many things can change for a writer: one year you get a multi-book deal at auction but the next year, the contract is canceled because the first book tanked. You may sign with a high-powered agent only to have her drop you when your book doesn't sell. A beloved agent or editor could leave the business just when you thought you were hitting your stride. These things happen to everyone all the time.
And that's when you realize that there is a massive element of luck (I think it's being added to the periodic tables soon) when it comes to writing success. You could have it this year and your friend could have it next year. Both of you could sell books - or neither could. Sure, my eyes used to be a little green. I would get frustrated when people I knew were getting deals and I wasn't - or they were getting more of an advance or more marketing dollars or awards or fan emails - but now I know my luck could change too. I have every shot at getting those things too but it's nothing I can count on. I simply have to keep writing, keeping imagining, and keep supporting my friends. Their success is good for us all. It means publishers are publishing, readers are buying, and if my friend hits it big, maybe she'll write me an awesome blurb for my next book.
Win-win.
When you first begin writing seriously, you see the many books in your genre and think, "I can write as good - no, I can write better than that!" You see people getting published every day, new books arriving on store shelves every week and think, "If that guy can get published, so can I!" But the longer you go without being published, you begin to get jealous of all the writers who do, especially if they're your friends. You wonder if certain wheels were greased; whether there was a personal connection, a previous relationship, a media platform you don't have. You are the green eyed monster. And that's okay - we all go through that.
But the more time you spend pursuing this crazy idea of yours to become a professional writer, the more words you get under your laptop, the more you realize that your friends getting published and becoming successful has less to do with them and more to do with the business itself. Over the course of a career, so many things can change for a writer: one year you get a multi-book deal at auction but the next year, the contract is canceled because the first book tanked. You may sign with a high-powered agent only to have her drop you when your book doesn't sell. A beloved agent or editor could leave the business just when you thought you were hitting your stride. These things happen to everyone all the time.
And that's when you realize that there is a massive element of luck (I think it's being added to the periodic tables soon) when it comes to writing success. You could have it this year and your friend could have it next year. Both of you could sell books - or neither could. Sure, my eyes used to be a little green. I would get frustrated when people I knew were getting deals and I wasn't - or they were getting more of an advance or more marketing dollars or awards or fan emails - but now I know my luck could change too. I have every shot at getting those things too but it's nothing I can count on. I simply have to keep writing, keeping imagining, and keep supporting my friends. Their success is good for us all. It means publishers are publishing, readers are buying, and if my friend hits it big, maybe she'll write me an awesome blurb for my next book.
Win-win.
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