Random things I've learned while researching Hunters and Hunted

The cool thing about writing is that I'm always learning something new--whether I want to or not. This is because my characters have much more interesting lives than I do. They travel around, have talents, hobbies, stuff like that.

I'm working on a really cool book called Hunters and Hunted. In it, my character goes to Antarctica, Boston, Egypt, and England. I was actually planning a trip to Egypt, because I've always wanted to go and this seemed like the perfect excuse.

But yeah, now there's all that social unrest.

So once again it's me and a bunch of books and the internet. But here are some cool things I've learned so far:

Ramesses the Great had red hair. How cool is that? He had something in common with Henry the Eighth--besides the fact that they both had a lot of wives. Ramesses had over a hundred children. Henry had what? Just Elizabeth? (I'm not researching the Middle Ages right now, so I don't know.)Still,

You have to fight a lot of wars to be considered "the Great". Ramesses the Second (Of Moses fame) had the title and so did Alexander. Everybody else is just, you know, So-So.

There are approximately a ka-jillion species of beetles on the earth. Some scarabs will fly for up to ten miles to find their favorite kind of poop to eat. The ancient Egyptians thought that all scarabs were male. Can you blame them? I mean, would you expect girl beetles to eat poop? I bet scarabs also have burping contests and scratch themselves in public.

Paul Revere didn't actually ride through the streets of Boston yelling, "The British are coming!" It would have been very foolish if he had, as most of the people at the time considered themselves to be British.

Things I still need to research:

How long Boston blocks are. I'm not sure if they're really short like New York blocks or really long like Arizona ones.

If there are surveillance cameras in the Oxford libraries.

What the security is like at the Great Pyramids (Oh, that's another way you can be great: be bigger than all the other pyramids)and the Valley of the Kings. Do they have security guards patrolling the area?

If you happen to know any of these facts, please let me know.

More Book Trailer Music

It’s time to make a book trailer for the next book in the queue. I’ve spent two days listening to over a hundred and fifty different sound tracks and have learned one very important thing. When you listen non stop to action/adventure soundtracks you lose all objectivity about them.

At first they all sounded too urgent and too noble. They brought to mind Frodo and Aragorn fleeing on horses in Middle Earth. Then I was thinking, no, these are actually all good. So now I'm turning it over to you, my objective blogg fans, to tell me if any of them work.

Slayers isn't one of my usual romantic comedies. True there are some funny parts and my heroine is often snarky, but it's really an adventure. Here's the script for the book trailer thus far:

17 years ago, a dragon keeper secretly brought a pair of dragon eggs through the DC area.

It was a mistake.

Because the dragons emit a pulse that turns certain children into dragon slayers.

Tori doesn’t know why she’s always had a fascination with dragons. They’re not something a socialite, senator’s daughter is supposed to be interested in.

But she finally convinces her parents to let her go to Dragon Camp.

She finds a group of teens who are keeping secrets,

and playing games,

and risking their lives to protect DC.

She has to find her power before the dragon finds her.

Slayers

Here are the background music choices:

http://audiojungle.net/item/movie-trailer-credits-intro/156037

I like this one because it feels more like an actual song then just a building crescendo. (But then, maybe I need a building crescendo?)

http://audiojungle.net/item/cinematic-metal-trailer/176324

Although I'm not a fan of anything heavy metal, and routinelly make my eldest son turn it off and then give him lectures on screechy-devil-music, I sorta like the brief switch to heavy metal in this piece. If it was timed right to come in on the secrets/games/saving DC part it would be a nice emphasis.

http://audiojungle.net/item/cinematic-pack/126710

This one is actually three songs put together, and it is a tribute to my sudden unobjectivity that I'm like, hmmm, maybe that one would work . . . or that one. Or maybe Trailerbook can just mix and match parts of the music to match the words. I really don't know anymore.

So let me know what you think.

And thank you, thank you, for weighing in.

Vote for the Worst Song Pick-up Lines: The Enrique Award

At my last writing critique group, we were sitting around talking about bad song lyrics. My friend, Melinda, told me that Enrique Iglesias's song I want to Love You Tonight actually was called I want to--insert the crassest term you can think of here--You Tonight. I looked it up on Youtube, and yep, she was right. (Side note: Enrique Iglesias and Paris Hilton are proof that nobody should grow up rich and famous.)

The amazing thing to me is why anybody would write a song with those lyrics. I mean, what half-educated and moderately sane man thinks this is the way to impress women?

Unfortunately, Enrique isn't alone in his horrible lyrics. In fact, I'm going to start a new blog tradition called the Enrique Awards. The award will be given to songs with the worst pick-up lines ever.

I have five contenders for the first award, taken from songs from the last few years. Blog commenters, you will choose the winner.

Entry number 1
Ticks by Brad Paisley


Okay, we never expected country music to be sophisticated poetry, but there's a limit to what country songs can get away with, and this song sadly reached it with the lyrics: I'd like to check you for ticks. How romantic. As long as your at it, check for lice too.

Entry number 2
Baby by Justin Beiber

Justin is adorable. I want to wrap him up in a box and take him home. For some reason, he brings to mind that Shawn Cassidy crush I had as a teen. But these lyrics don't work: I want to play it cool, but I'm losing you. I'll buy you anything, I'll buy you any ring.

Um, come again?

This song is about a guy who is trying to buy a girl's love? Because that's what you want in a girlfriend--someone who's willing to stay with you if the money is good enough.

Entry number 3
In My Head by Jason Derulo


I love this song. Catchy tune, awesome beat, and if you want to sing something that will embarrass your teenage children, look no further! But someone needs to take Jason aside and explain a few things about women to him; as evidenced by the lines: Some dudes know all the right things to say. When it comes down to it, it's all just game. Instead of talking, let me demonstrate. Get down to business and skip foreplay.

Jason, my friend, you need to talk to one of those dudes who know all the right things to say--because this isn't it. And that's why all of this is going to stay in your head.


Entry number 4
I Need You Now by Lady Antebellum


I know, I know, this song was song of the year, or some such thing, but that still doesn't make the lyrics good.

It's a quarter after one; I'm a little drunk and I need you now. Translation: I love you, but only when I'm drunk enough.

Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now. Translation: That restraining order doesn't apply after midnight, does it?

Entry number 5
I added this one just to show that girls can sing horrible pick-up lines too.


Don't Cha by the Pussycat Dolls


(Okay, this is a representational picture of the pussycat dolls, since the girls on the cover of the actual album didn't look like freaks, they looked more like, um, hookers.)

So how about those great lyrics:Don't ya wish your girlfriend was a freak, like me?

We can safely assume not. Last time we checked, there were more than enough freaky women to go around for everyone who wanted one. Women with intelligence and class--those are a little harder to come by.

Maybe we should write songs about those types of women.

So those are the contenders for the Enrique Award. Place your vote!

Book launch photos and fairy visitors

It always cracks me up to see pictures of myself while I'm presenting. I'm sure these facial expressions made sense at the time, but looking at them after the fact, you have to wonder what I was saying.
Here I am clearly explaining just how the eensy weensy spider got up the water spout.

Anyway, it all went well and I met lots of awesome people. Here are some:
Awesome!


And of course all the cool fairys dropped by.


Fairies are big readers


and writers.

And this is, of course, how I will be writing my next novel--by magic wand.

My Unfair Godmother is here!

Or at least it should be. If it's not, you should stand around your local bookstore and in a loud voice say, "I demand you get me a copy of My Unfair Godmother forthwith!"

It's 12:35 AM. Just for the heck of it I went on to Amazon to see my sales rank. It's at 32,854 which is actually better than I expected. There are already nine used copy for sale. Where do these people get their copies? Mine are supposed to show up tomorrow. Are Walker interns pocketing the books or something?

Anyway, today's give-away is a copy of My Unfair Godmother--complete with a bonus mistake left over from the whole straw/hay debacle.

Here's the deal. My good buddy, Random.org, and I will choose a winner at the end of each day. (The end of each day depends on when I go to bed, so comment early.) Commenting will get you one chance. If you're also a follower you get two chances (be sure to tell me you're a follower in your comment), and if you put something about this giveaway on your blog or facebook status you get four chances. (Put the link to your post in your comment.)

***But today in order to get the extra points for blogging/tweeting/facebook statusing you need to have something that says the book is released today. Oh, and you can comment on Facebook, Goodreads, or my website blog. I will be counting all of those comments.

May the Random.org be with you!

Give-away and Very Cool Book Trailer

Okay, yes, I know I've sort of messed up the whole orderly system of give-aways that I was trying to do. I've learned that one shouldn't do give-aways when one is traveling around the country as you never know what the Internet situation is going to be. Seriously, today when I tried to open my email, it told me I had a mailbox full of messages from 12/31/2069. Apparently I've been time traveling

(And I'm way behind mailing the said books to my winners--sorry about that, they will get to you!)

But before I list the next give-aways, you need to look at my awesome new book trailer. It sparkles! I love it. (I am still thinking of putting one version out with the other music though)

If you're interested in getting a book trailer made yourself (I know some of you followers are writers too) go to his website at trailerbook.net and fill out an information form. He does book trailers from cheap to expensive (mine was mid-range)

Anyway, so the books on the give-away schedule are: signed copies of Black Sand, by Lisa Finder and Haunts Haven, by Joan Sowards. These are copies of books that I bought from other authors while I was doing book signings.

Leave a comment for one chance, tell me you're a follower for two, if you include a blog/facebook/twitter link about the give-away it's four chances, and if you follow me on twitter it's five.

Until tomorrow--Internet providers providing--I'll chat with you again.

Internet Problems

Just for the record, I wanted to let you know I tried to pick a winner last night or rather, at 4:00 a.m. That was the time we finally got situated in our hotel room after our flight was delayed for hours coming out of Phoenix.

Ah, the joys of flying.

(But lest there be any of those Internet thieves we're always being warned about, I must add here that there are currently more people at my house than would normally be there, along with my vicious gaurd dogs and troops of ninja cats.)

But even at the late/early hour, I tried to get online to pick a blog winner. Unfortunately, my lap top couldn't pick up any networks, despite the fact that it was sitting two inches away from a sign that read: Free WiFi!

Ah, the joys of technology.

So then we had to get up five hours later to go to my nieces wedding. (Congrats Michelle! Yeah, I'm sure she's taking time to read my blog today.)

Anywho, so today's winners are late, and because of that I'm choosing two winners for the ARC. See my friends, sometimes bad technology can work in your favor.

(typed by nephew Marc Hemeon on his iPhone follow him on twitter @Hemeon)

My Unfair Godmother ARC giveaway/ weigh in on the song

I'm having a book trailer done for My Unfair Godmother, and I have to say it's going to be awesome. I'm having special effects. Things sparkle. I can hardly wait to show it to you. But first I need to choose background music. I'm torn between two different songs, both by the very talented Tim McMorris. One has lyrics, one doesn't. I like the song with lyrics better, (It's a love song about taking an adventure) but I worry that if people are listening to the words they won't be reading those few sentences on the trailer. (Obviously I didn't worry about this before. All of my other trailers have lyrics.)

And the instramental is also a great song.

So here's the ARC giveaway deal. Listen to the links for both songs and tell me which you like better. Random.org will choose one of the commenters to give the ARC to.

Oh, and by the way, that female voice that pops in every few seconds and says, "Audio Jungle," that's just Audiojungle's way of keeping you from stealing the song. That won't be on the trailer.

http://audiojungle.net/item/successful-business-venture/154097

Or

http://audiojungle.net/item/youve-got-my-heart/157876

Top Ten Jury Duty excuses

I have to say that some people use some pretty unimaginative excuses for getting out of jury duty. Things like, “I can’t speak English.” And “It would create a financial hardship.” And “I’m a police officer.” Come on, people. It’s not like you’re ever going to see the judge again. (At least we can hope not, because hey, wouldn’t that be ironic?) So here’s a list of reasons with a bit more imagination.


1) I have a very important World or Warcraft quest to finish and my guild is depending on me.

2) I committed a felony, I just wasn’t caught.

3) I’m psychic and so I already know the outcome of the trial.

4) Pick me! Pick me!

5) Yes, I know the defendant, and the prosecutor, and the bailiff. I know ALL of you!

6) My entourage needs me.

7) Can you repeat that, Judge? I’m twittering the whole thing.

8) Can I be impartial? As long as impartial means any fool can see the man is guilty.

9) I’m a writer. By nature we’re shiftless, unreliable, and we make stuff up for a living.

10) This man is clearly a baby eater! And i will see that he is punished for his crimes.

What not to give her for Valentine's Day

Perhaps it's just my husband who needs help picking out Valentine's gifts, (which is why I buy my own. Thanks Dear, for the lovely doll!) but in the interest of helping men everywhere, I am putting together a list of things not to buy your loved one. These are items I found when I googled Valentine's Day gifts.

It should go without saying that you shouldn't buy your sweetheart holiday themed toilet paper. (What says true love better than restroom items?) It's nice that you love me from top to bottom, but not that bottom. And while I'm listing things, also forgo any Kleenex that says, "You blow my mind!"


Yes, stuffed animals can be cute--and even appropriate if your loved one happens to be in junior high. For women older than that, no. Just resist the urge to buy one of these things. And whatever you do, don't go for the more bizarre stuffed animals like this one:


Happy Valentine's Day! I want to bite your head off!

And this? Only if your girlfriend is in medical school.



If you tell your loved one that you're giving her a diamond, it had better not be one of these--or you might not want to stand behind her car. Just saying.


And if you give her this, it had better turn into a prince after she kisses it. And the prince should look like George Clooney.



And to end this list--I'm not even sure what this picture is, but I somehow find it very touching that the restroom symbols will be spending a romantic day together. I hope you are so lucky.

Doll Wrecks

Anyone who's ever been to my house knows that I have a thing for dolls. Baby dolls, fashion dolls, American Girl Dolls. Truth be told, my daughter’s Magic Attic dolls have better wardrobes than I do—and more expensive ones too. But that’s a completely different subject.

The point is, I occasionally look at dolls on the Internet. You can find some dolls that are works of art on eBay, and they fetch artwork prices. For example, take a look at this one of kind “reborn” doll that is currently going for 820.00

Amazing right? Or how about this one?

I’m convinced some of the artists are just snapping pictures of their kids and posting them as dolls. But some of the one-of-a-kind dolls aren’t as charming as the first two I’ve shown you. In the constructive spirit of the Cake Wreck blog I'd like to offer some don'ts to the doll artists of the world.


Don't make your baby doll look like it is posing for a mug shot. This doll brings to mind all of those pictures of celebrities who are being carted off to jail for drunken behaviour. Is that the role model we want for Junior? I think not.

Don't make your dolls look like they are some sort of half-human half-alien cross breed. One can't help but think that these dolls might come to life sometime during the night and zap you back to their mother ship.


Crying dolls can be cute, but there is a difference between a few pleasantly pouty tears and a face that is scrunched up like the doll is suffering from a ruptured spleen. Really, this is not a moment in childhood that I would want to capture and keep.

My cousin once told me that all babies looked cuter if they had hair. Sadly, this is not true with dolls. There are some things hair is not going to fix. Like this next one.

And sometimes hair can actually make a doll look worse. Take for example, this one:
Yeah, he sort of looks like the Little Dutch Boy who has been seeing far too much of Little Debbie, Betty Crocker, and Captain Crunch.

And for the next doll . . .

All I can say is, "What the heck?!!" What is this even supposed to be? An impressionistic version of a baby doll? A broken mold? A method to scare young women into not having children?

And speaking of those horrible nightmares you have when you're pregnant where you dream you give birth to a goat, or kitten, or some other creature you weren't supposed to have--we don't need this sort of thing, doll artists, we really don't, so stop with the reborn monkeys. They're just creepy. That's why the makers of the Wizard of Oz gave monkeys wings and used them to terrorize Dorothy and generations of young viewers.

Okay pregnant women, look away, breathe deeply and tell yourself that you will give birth to a beautiful baby, not a furry creature or a half-alien spawn. I promise you it won't happen. And just so that you can get those images out of your mind, I'll post a picture of my one-of-a-kind artist created doll. But sorry eBay shoppers. He's not for sale.

In which I get interviewed in wings

Singing Lady Gaga, caught in a bad romance novel.

Maybe I’m just getting old (okay, there’s no maybe about it) but the last few paranormal romances I’ve read have really bugged me.

I’m not going to name names here—and I’m not bashing the paranormal genre. After all, one of the stories I’m working on is a paranormal romance. But I swear certain authors just took the Twilight characters, put a coat of varnish on them, and dropped them into their own novels. Hey, if it worked once, it’s bound to work again, right?

And okay, I can enjoy a Where-Have-The-Twilight-Characters-Popped-Up-Now book as well as anybody else. But there is one aspect of these novels that drives me crazy. I can buy paranormal beings and their assorted powers: vampires, werewolves, fairies, dragons, your basic undead sorts of guys and gals, whatever. The romance in these books, however, is too unbelievable. Here is the romance plot of these books in an ultra condensed version.

Guy walks in. Girl seems him. He’s hot. Really, really hot. Other girls are drooling but hot guy likes our heroine. In fact, he instantly loves her, which works out well, because she instantly and passionately loves him too. Why? We don’t know. Neither of these characters knows anything about the other except that they are eternally and irrevocably in love with each other. Oh, and at some point the girl learns that the guy has a dark, tormented side. This may or may not involve killing things. No matter, it’s love. They make-out a lot.

The guy buys the girl expensive gifts, watches her when she doesn’t know he’s there, and does other things that could classify him as a stalker. But it’s okay because he’s really, really hot.

Their love is so certain that a bad paranormal character wants to destroy the girl to hurt the guy. At this point in the book, I’m wondering why he cares since it's very easy for him to fall in love with near strangers.

Villain is conquered, but all is not well because guy and girl are sort of different species.

Maybe I’m just cynical in my old age, but that all-consuming-love-even-though-I-hardly-know-you just doesn’t seem believable to me.

I should probably go back and study Twilight and see why the love story worked for me in that book and doesn’t in the Almost-Twilight books.

Either that, or I need to incorporate that sort of love story into my paranormal romance. Come to think of it, the Almost-Twilight books have done pretty well . . . You and me, baby, we could write a bad romance.

Just wondering . . . and a Changing Hands Event

So I was looking through my daughter's latest Scholastic flyer and I saw this book by Stuart Gibbs. Is it just me, or did the rest of you suddenly wonder whether George and Martha had wandered into a bad neighborhood?



I bet it was George. He did, after all, have that gold tooth.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm going to be at this year's YAllapalooza on January 29th, at 4pm with a bunch of cool authors. Here's more info:

Changing Hands Bookstore presents YAllapalooza 2011, a literary extravaganza for tween and teen readers featuring free pizza, games, prizes and chance to mix and mingle with your favorite YA authors! We'll have a live game show that tests contestants' knowledge of young adult and middle-grade literature with games guaranteed to amaze and amuse. Attending authors include Lisa Mangum, Bree Despain, Karen Hoover, Cameron Stracher, Jessica Day George, Obert Skye, Janette Rallison, James Owen, Angela Morrison, Tom Leveen, Jon Lewis, Adam Rex, Laurie Brooks, Lisa McMann, and Kofi O. Okyere.


6428 S McClintock Dr, Tempe, AZ 85283

Come if you can!

Which reality show should your favorite princess be on?

A lot of reality shows have a sort of train wreck appeal to them. It's like a view into the underside of society.

But it occurred to me that it isn't just the Maury Povich Show rejects who end up on these shows. In fact, some people that you know, love, and grew up with could qualify as candidates. The Little Mermaid: Sure, her voice could put her on American Idol, but she's also got a dirty little secret that could land her on Hoarders.
Yeah, Ariel, your collection is more than complete.

Or how about Snow White? That frantic rush through the forest as she ran away from the Queen's huntsman could have been an episode of ManTracker. Or maybe she could do a spin off of Kate Plus Eight.
Snow Plus Seven. It could work.

Here are some other likely pairings.

Aladdin: Cops
Sleeping Beauty: Mystery Diagnosis
Jasmine: The Bachelorette
Beauty: Mr. Personality (Okay, probably most of you never watched this TV show, but I actually liked the premise, even if those dorky masks did make all the guys look like super villains.)
So who are your pics for the best celebrity pairings with reality TV?

What you could have gotten for Christmas

One of the harsh realities about Christmas is that you always end up getting something that you would never have bought for yourself. If you're really lucky, it's some decorative thing that you have to put up in your house somewhere because the giver will visit and wonder where it is.

But don't fret. It could always be worse. For example, your loved ones could have gotten you an Obama Chia Pet. Isn't America great? Where else could children dream about growing up to have their face on a Chia Pet?

Or how about these lovelies:

They're Worry Kitties. You're supposed to whisper your worry to one of the sympathetic Worry Kitties and then tuck the adorable critter 'neath your pillow before you go to sleep, and in the morning your worry will be gone!

Is it just me, or do the rest of you think that if you put one of these underneath your pillow, it would come to life sometime during the night and gnaw your ear off? That's what I'd worry about.

Need something even creepier? How about skeleton yard gnomes. Really, I am trying to imagine the new-product-meeting where some genius came up with this idea.

And who doesn't need a solar powered waving queen figurine? (At least they didn't make her into a chia pet.)

My last aren't-you-glad-you-didn't-get-it-gift will need a bit of explanation. I love dolls and spend far too much time on eBay perusing through doll listings. I especially love looking at the reborn dolls. This is not a religious movement, but a way of painting dolls into one of a kind masterpieces that could pass for real children. Take a look at the next picture for an example of what some artists can do:
Gorgeous, right? (It's on eBay right now for 125.00. I'm so tempted.)
Well, for some reason that is beyond me, people can't leave well enough alone, and this apparently applies not only to yard gnomes, but also to reborn dolls. Because the horrible new trend in the reborn dolls is--get this--reborn orangutans.

Yes, let's take something precious and make it creepy. Here's a reborn orangutan on eBay right now.

I am pretty sure this would frighten small children.

So then, your Christmas stash really wasn't all that bad, was it? And hey, if you need to go out and buy yourself a gift, I know of some great books you could buy. Just saying . . .

Far Fetched? I think not.

I've heard on more than one occasion that my plot lines are far fetched. Take My Double Life. A girl meets another girl who looks just like her, and thereby figures out that they share a father--a famous singer.

Couldn't ever happen in real life, right?

Apparently, wrong. My friend just sent me a link to Liv Tyler's biography and that is exactly how she figured out her father was Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler.

Here's the excerpt from People's biography:

Discovering Daddy Tyler
When Liv sees Mia (Steven's daughter with his first wife Cyrinda, who is a splitting image of Liv) at an Aerosmith concert in 1988, she realizes Steven is her biological father.

Yeah, that must have been some ride home with her mom after the concert.

Mia's a plus size model now, but I still think she looks a lot like Liv.


It's weird really, how even when you think you're being original, you're not.

interview and free books

A few blogs are giving away ARCs of My Double Life right now so I thought I'd let my blog readers know so they can enter. I'll update the list this week if google tells me of more blog giveaways. There's also a blog that's doing an interview, and since I know you're all memorizing Janette Rallison trivia and crave these sorts of details, I thought I'd add three of the questions here--sort of a teaser that will make you want to read the whole thing.

If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?

Well, according to the latest novels (and we know authors are always right) the future is populated by dystopian societies that will do things like make you fight to the death in hunger games, choose your spouse for you, or put you in a deadly maze. Whereas the past was populated by numerous hot dukes, lords, and viscounts who were always looking for spunky heroines to settle down with. Taking that into consideration, I think I would visit the past.


If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?

That depends whether my choices were limited to the living or if I could invite the dead too. (Although really, the dead don’t usually make good dinner guests.) It's too hard to choose just five, because George Washington gets all bent out of shape if you invite Abraham Lincoln and not him. So I’ll tell you which five writers I’d choose to have to dinner. Jane Austin, James Herriot, J.M. Barry, Ellen Conford (she was my favorite author growing up) and Charles Dickens

(Janette's note: I just finished reading The House of the Seven Gables and I can tell you right now that Nathaniel Hawthorne will never be invited to one of my chic and exclusive dead-author-dinner-parties because that man just drones on and on and on about the most pointless things.)


What is one book everyone should read?

Mine. Definitely. Just pick one—everybody should read it.

To read more of the interview, and a chance to enter the book giveaway go to:

http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/2010/12/bir2010-book-giveaway-my-double-life-by.html

You can find other book giveaways at:

http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com/2010/12/janette-rallison-my-double-life.html
http://areadersramblings.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-ive-read-2010-day-6.html
http://www.bookscompleteme.com/2010/12/bir2010-book-spotlights-giveaway-my.html
http://www.onceuponatwilight.com/2010/12/bir2010-janette-rallison-interview-my.html

The Next Worry: Printing Mistakes

I just sent off the galleys for My Unfair Godmother--which basically means I will not see that manuscript again until it shows up on my doorstep as a hardback novel. You would think my worries about the book would be over.

But alas, no. Because now I get to worry about printing mistakes.

This deep-seated worry probably had its origins back when I worked in a bookstore. We got a shipment of Bill Cosby's book Fatherhood and proudly set them up in a display case. Not long afterward, a customer came up and showed me one of the books. It was completely full of blank pages. The customer wanted to know if it was supposed to be some sort of gag book--as in, this is all I know about fatherhood--nothing.

Nope. It was just a printing error.

That would be a bad mistake, but there are much worse.

Take for example Penguin's recent mistake in a cook book where instead of calling for freshly ground black pepper, the recipe instructed cooks to add freshly ground black people to the dish.

As you can imagine, this caused a costly recall and reprinting of books.

Although at least if you get that sort of mistake, people will understand it was a typo.

But take Anne McCaffrey's collection of short stories called Get of the Unicorn (as in, offspring of the unicorn). The publisher misspelled the title, calling it: Get off the Unicorn. They never fixed it, and a generation of readers has read it wondering: Was someone on a unicorn? And why were they supposed to get off?

Still, it probably is good advice. If you're on a unicorn, get off!

Here's crossing my fingers that there won't be any embarrassing printing mistakes in My Unfair Godmother . . .

Reminder--Book Party tonight.

That title sounds like a bunch of novels will be standing around the vegatable tray making small talk and complaining about their bindings.

But no, I'm hoping people will be involved in this event. Oh--and not only will there be a few books to giveaway--two of those books will be ARCs of My Unfair Godmother. If you have teen daughters--or if you just want to come to a book party--please stop by the Hamilton Chandler Library
Monday, Nov. 29 6:00 p.m. for the My Double Life Book Party

I'll do a reading, give some interesting back story on the book,and we'll be taking pictures in front of the paparazzi poster. Enjoy a Double Dutch demonstration, double snacks, and dress as your "celebrity double" for a chance to win a doubled prize!

10 reasons to be thankful you're an American writer in 2010

If you’re a writer in 2010 you have a lot to be thankful for. Here on Thanksgiving Day I thought I’d provide a list of the top ten reasons to be glad.

1)The computer.
Can you imagine writing out your manuscript by hand? And then having to rewrite it every time you made a change? I shudder at the thought. Typing it on a typewriter wouldn’t have been much different. No wonder Jane Austen only wrote six books. I’ve been writing for fourteen years and I'm writing book number nineteen right now. Thank heavens and all those geek inventors who came up with the computer.

2)Spell check.
It keeps us from looking like total idiots in front of our editors. (There are enough other ways to look like an idiot in front your editor. Not knowing the difference between hay and straw comes to mind.)

3)The Internet.
Not only does the Internet make it easy to send off your manuscript. (Who wants to wait in a line at the post office and pay postage for every draft?) It connects us to other writers. When my first book was accepted for publication in 1995, I didn’t know a single other published author. I had no one to ask about contracts or marketing. Now I’m on lists with over a hundred different authors. When I needed a new agent, I asked for recommendations and within minutes had answers.

4)YouTube.
Seriously, YouTube has been a blessing for researching things. Because—for some bizarre reason that escapes me—people out there have a desire to put every event and mundane task up on the Internet. When I needed to know how to use a spinning wheel, I found it on YouTube. When I needed to know what it looked and sounded like to shoot a rifle, it was there. Ditto for different martial arts moves, horse jumping, arrow shooting distances, and what sort of ground cover was in the Shenandoah forest.

5)Wikipedia.
If you need the facts on just about anything (like how many books Jane Austen wrote), it’s there. Before the Internet, it took weeks to research things that I can find out in seconds now.

6)A literate population.
Granted, they had cool clothes, but it would have been pretty darn hard to make a living as a writer during the Middle Ages.

7)Laptops.
I can write anywhere now—even in the comfort of my bed. (Well, I would be able to write anywhere if my cat didn't think the keyboard was an appropriate place to sit on.)

8)We’re not censored.
Oh, I know authors are crying censorship all of the time, but what they mostly mean is: “Hey, somebody decided not to buy my book for their school!” If that’s the case, I should be on the banned list because apparently there are a lot of schools out there that don’t buy my books. (Although mostly it’s just because they’ve never heard of me.) Nobody is telling publishers that they can’t print our books, or stores that they can’t carry our books, or shoppers that they can’t buy our books. If you want to know what real censorship is, try to set up a printing company in a middle eastern or communist country and see how far you get.

9)E-books.
Actually I have mixed feelings on this one, but I can’t deny that it’s a good thing that you can buy books instantly from your computer or that authors can put up their backlists.

10)Weird people.
With the amount of wackiness out in the world, we’re never going to run out of ideas.

And the winner is . . .

Shari--who is not only a follower, but a stalker as well!

Send me your address at jrallisonfans at yahoo dot com and I'll send the book to you.