A Novel Use of Twitter

“Suddenly, it seems as though all the world's a-twitter.” - Newsweek

I read about another interesting marketing technique on thebookseller.com. Author R.N. Morris has begun the “Twitterisation” of his novel, A Gentle Axe. It’s an experiment where the author will be posting his crime novel in doses of 140 characters or less on Twitter “a few times a day.” His followers can receive the updates online or on their mobile phone. Read the entire article here.

He hopes to keep old fans happy and pick up new fans while waiting for the release of his next book, A Razor Wrapped in Silk, due out March 2010. The idea may work. The article was published on March 17 and stated he had around 200 followers. When I checked, the number was up to 378.

Intrigued, I am now following him on Twitter. I have some catching up to do as he’s been at this since mid-March. It’ll be an experiment for me to see if I can read a book in such small doses. I think I may be too impatient.

What do you think of this idea? Would you be willing to read a novel in this unique manner?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Newsweek, Twitter, R.N. Morris,

Picking Winners

“I know nothing about racing and any money I put on a horse is a sort of insurance policy to prevent it winning.” – Frank Richardson

While at the track in Hot Springs, Arkansas, my racing experience is a lot like Mr. Richardson’s in the above quote. I’m sure my poor results are due to my unscientific method of trying to pick a winner. I don't see the point of betting on a ‘sure thing.’ My strategy is to place money on the long shot with the best or funniest name. So today, while I’m off deciding which horse to ‘insure,’ I’ll leave you with my list of ten funny book titles for you to pick a winner. Bear in mind that these are actual books:

If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?! by Cynthia Heimel

When Your Phone Doesn't Ring, It'll Be Me by Cynthia Heimel

Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth, I’m Kissing You Goodbye by Cynthia Heimel

Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: How to Make a Tiny Person in Only 9 Months, with Tools You Probably Have around the Home by Dave Barry

Things I Heard While Talking To Myself by Alan Alda

The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits by Celia Rivenbark

Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped by Tony Perrottet

Life Doesn't Begin 5 Pounds from Now by Jessica Weiner

Is This Thing On?: A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and the Kicking & Screaming by Stokes, Abby, Sloan, Michael, Yule, Hunt

I selected these ten after visiting laughitout.com, edclibrary.com, and Readers Digest.com. It was difficult to pick only ten, so if you’d like to read more funny titles, drop by those sites.

Which title is your favorite? Or, do you have a funny book title that you’d like to add to the list?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Frank Richardson, heimel, Dave Berry,Alan Alda, Horse races, Hot Springs, Funny Titles,

Funny Headlines

“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.” – Mark Twain

It’s the time of year when my husband and I make our annual trip to the horse races in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We meet a group of wonderful friends, eat great pastrami sandwiches, watch with disbelief as our ‘sure winners’ come in last, and laugh a great deal. I thought I’d try to do a post or two that will leave you laughing (or at least smiling) too. Maybe with enough laughter in the air, we can change the doom and gloom atmosphere.

Here are a few from the 20 Funniest Newspaper Headlines Ever on Oddee:

Alton Attorney Accidently Sues Himself

Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons

Statistics show that Teen Pregnancy Drops off significantly after age 25

Ten Commandments, Supreme Court says some OK, some not

Tiger Woods plays with own balls, Nike says

From Funny Newspaper Headlines on alphaDictionary.com:

Situations Vacant: Cleaner required, must be contentious

Autos killing 110 a Day; Let's Resolve to do Better

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures

Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Ax

Eye Drops Off Shelf

Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan

Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung

Miners Refuse to Work after Death

Never Withhold Herpes from Loved One

Do you have a favorite headline you’d like to share?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Twain, funny headlines, horse races, Hot Springs,

A Day Among Booklovers

“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” -Anna Quindlen

With all the dire reports about the demise of books, the lack of readers, kids interested only in video games, and the changing world of publication, it warmed this author’s heart to see so many adults as well as children eagerly snapping up armfuls of books from an eclectic group of writers at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival. I believe many of the children I saw this weekend will grow up concerned about their bookshelves.

I have not read any estimates as to the size of the crowd, but the festival was very well attended with no slow period at all during the six-hour event. The presenting authors, such as Tess Gerritsen, Dennis Lehane and Jeff Kinney, had standing room only crowds and never-ending lines of eager fans patiently waiting for a turn to have their books signed. Jeff Kinney had so many children waiting for him, that he may still be at the Harborside Event Center signing away.

A memorable part of my day started with my first customer who came by minutes after the fair opened. We talked for a while and she said she’d come back later to buy a copy of The Ride and started to walk away. Then she said, “No, I think I will buy it now before there are long lines.”

I laughed and said, “I haven’t exactly suffered from the long line syndrome in my career—yet, but I do dream about the possibility.”

I loved watching the steady stream of avid booklovers of all ages. Even if I had not sold a single copy, ending the day with restored confidence in the future of books, a renewed dream of success, and a reignited desire to finish my second novel, I’d consider the day an outstanding success. Selling copies of my book on top of all that was like icing on the cake. Thank you Lee County Library System, coordinators, volunteers, sponsors and readers.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tags: Anna Quindlen, Lee County Library, Southwest Florida Reading Festival, Gerritsen, Tags: Lehane, Kinney, The Ride,

One More Post on Libraries

“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” – Harry Ward Beecher

I’ve covered the buildings and content of libraries so today I’m writing about accessibility because I think we tend to take our well-lit, air-conditioned and heated libraries or the large mobile buses that might service some of the more remote areas of America for granted. In Kenya, a camel may be your library source or a donkey in Ethiopia, or perhaps, a boat in Indonesia. In Peru, more that 700 libraries are located in farmers’ homes. In Santiago, Chile, small libraries are located in eight different metro stations and in two train cars were converted to libraries and placed in two of their busiest parks. The point is, regardless of the size and scope, it is obvious that libraries are one of the necessities of life worldwide.

If I were to do a tour, I’d want to include a few of the quaint and remote libraries. And, if I hit the lottery or make it to #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List, I’d consider starting my tour by spending a night or two at the Library Hotel in New York, where each of the 10 floors is dedicated to a reading category and rooms have a collection of books relating to their theme.

For the time being, however, I’ll be content to tour the previously mentioned sites or Library Servers via www while sitting in front of my computer. The Library Servers site lists over 7900 pages from libraries in 146 countries.

Libraries have been my theme this week because of the upcoming Southwest Florida Reading Festival on March 21, in Fort Myers. This festival is now celebrating its tenth year thanks to the Lee Country Library and their sponsors. The event has something for everyone including a storytelling tent, children’s crafts and activities, a teen zone, author presentations and book signings. I’m hoping for large crowds because it makes me happy to watch people enjoying book related events. If one or two folks wander by and decide to purchase, The Ride, I’ll be even happier.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Beecher, libraries, Kenya, Ethiopia, Library Hotel, Reading Festival, Lee County Library, The Ride,

Special Collections

"To those with ears to hear, libraries are really very noisy places. On their shelves we hear the captured voices of the centuries-old conversation that makes up our civilization." -Timothy Healy

Monday’s blog was about the most beautiful libraries. However, a ‘library tour’ should also take into account what the library has to offer other than a beautiful, interesting or unusual building. Libraries' Surprising Special Collections, an article from the Smithsonian magazine, lists eight interesting collections, such as a chess collection in The John Griswold White Reading Room in Cleveland; America’s largest collection of Arabic papyrus, parchment and paper documents at the J. Williard Marriott Library in Salt Lake City; and, at the University of Delaware in Newark, you will find a collection of books, manuscripts and other materials on forgers, hoaxers and other literary frauds.

To me, the most interesting sounding collection is at the Boston Public Library. They believe they have the largest collection of fore-edge painted books. When a fore-edge book is closed, gold leaf hides an image that can only be seen when the pages are fanned in a particular manner. Because of the age of the books, I can’t imagine that anyone is allowed to touch them much less fan the pages. However, here are a couple of demonstrations I found on youtube. They only take a few seconds to watch. I found them fascinating.




Pictures of fore-edge books can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by.


Tags: Healy, Smithsonian, fore-edge books,

The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries

“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.” -Walter Cronkite

I don’t know of an author who doesn’t love libraries. Researching online, while convenient, doesn’t have the same appeal or ambience as a stroll between towering bookshelves. Okay, I admit it, my local library does not have towering bookshelves, but overall it’s a nice place to visit.

In the past, money must have poured in for the building of libraries. I say this after viewing the photos on Curious Expeditions. This site has what looks to be close to 100 fascinating photos of the world’s most beautiful libraries.

Originally built in the 1100s, the library at the Strahov Monestary in Prague now houses over 200,000 books and is divided into the Theological Hall and Philosophical Hall. Both are equally breathtaking.

I wouldn’t call the photo of the Hereford Cathedral Chained Library, Hereford, England, beautiful, but the chains hanging from the shelves make it interesting looking. Rare books were once kept chained to the bookshelf to prevent stealing, which I find rather ironic as the library is in a church.

The building, furniture, and much of the original collection at the Library of St. Walburga, Zutphen, Netherland, has been preserved from the 16th century.

I intended to select what I thought was the most beautiful library, but I couldn’t do it. Perhaps I need to see them in person to decide. If flying had not been turned into such an unpleasant experience, I might consider planning a library tour vacation. But, for now the photos will have to do.

Have you visited a library in this collection or visited one you think should be included?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Cronkite, Curious Expeditions, libraries, Strahov Monestary, Hereford Cathedral, Library of St. Walburga,

BlogTalkRadio and #Queryfail

“Radio is the most intimate and socially personal medium in the world.” – Harry Von Zell

Harry Von Zell began his career as a radio announcer in the 1920s. He didn’t live long enough to hear about BlogTalkRadio but I think he may have been impressed by the technology that allows those who wish to host their own radio show the ability to do so. Here’s a little bit about BlogTalkRadio from one of their press releases:

“Launched in August 2006, BlogTalkRadio is a free, web-based radio talk show platform that allows any user with a phone and a computer to host a live, interactive radio show – no downloads or extra equipment needed. Hosts call into the service by phone to broadcast. Each show can accommodate unlimited live listeners. Upon completion of the live broadcast, each show is automatically archived as a podcast. Since the company’s launch, thousands of hosts have broadcast more than 200,000 shows. Many businesses are also utilizing the platform as a tool to extend their brand on web. Notable hosts include brands such as: Woman’s Day; Harper Collins; Hachette Book Group; PBS; Walmart; Sun Microsystems; and the Department of Defense.”

I bring this up because Wednesday night I was a guest on Christine Rose’s radio show. Christine is the author of Rowan of the Wood. Other guests included Heidi Thomas author of Cowgirl Dreams and David Odle, who recently acquired an agent and is now working with her to find a publisher for his book, Blue Redemption. It was great fun. The discussion first centered on agents. David had a good agent story and I had the bad agent story. Heidi and Christine are both still in the process of finding representation.

The other topic was #queryfail, where agents got together in real time on Twitter to discuss actual query letters while keeping the author’s identity anonymous. Read the March 5, 2009, The Swivet blog for more details.

Though my immediate response would be embarrassment had my letter been among those aired, I’d be so happy to find what I should have done better or shouldn’t have done at all that I’m confident I’d quickly forget about my mortification. The end result would be a much better letter to send out to a different agent. Though the four of us agreed on this subject, a lot of people are quite hostile to the agents that participated. I find their view shocking and fascinating.

Katherine Owens has written a blog on this subject which I think is not only right on but it’s also very funny. I’d recommend reading it.

Although being a talk show host has never been on my list of things I’d like to do, I enjoy listening when I have time and being a guest when invited. The programs don’t feature only new, relatively unknown writers. I ran across an interview with on Topp Shelf with Janet Evanovich. There are also many shows on topics other than books such as health, politics and music.

You may want to check out BlogTalkRadio for yourself. I’m not familiar with many of the shows, but along with Christine Rose’s show, I can recommend Morgan Mandel and Robert Reid. If you click on December 12, you’ll hear Robert interviewing me.

Would you want to host your own show? Do you listen to BlogTalkRadio? Do you have strong feelings one way or the other for #queryfail?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Harry Von Zell, blogtalkradio, queryfail, Christine Rose, Heidi Thomas, David Odle, Evanovich, Robert Reid,

Ten Sites for Combating Writer’s Block

“You don’t build a story, you allow it to explode.” - Ray Bradbury.

Allowing a story to explode is great when the juices are flowing. But what do you do on those occasions with the explosion fizzles and inspiration is needed to rekindle the flame? What happens when you are unable to write an article or blog because your muse has chosen a most inopportune time to take a leave of absence? Are there days you stare into space making demands on your imagination only to have your brain refuse to participate in the exercise? Or, have ever looked at your computer screen and discovered you have typed “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” two hundred and sixty three times?

Speaking as someone that has suffered from all the above afflictions at one time or another, I’ve compiled a list of ten sites (in no particular order) that had helpful, unique and interesting ideas or prompts:

Creativity Portal has beautiful photos offering excellent visual prompts. They also have a list of other resources for blogging and writing ideas.

The list of 25 Unique Places to Find Story Ideas on Writing-World.com suggests TV guide listings, the yellow pages and even browsing through a card shop.

An article on eHow.com lists five useful ways to come up with ideas such as combining two of your favorite stories to come up with a third. Their example used Pride and Prejudice combined with Clan of the Cave Bear.

How to generate hundreds of writing ideas on Daily Writing Tips suggests setting a timer for five minutes and jotting down as many ideas as you can.

How to come up with new ideas on HubPages advises reading forums and message boards as the questions people ask can spark new ideas.

Zen Power Writing 15 tips on how to generate ideas and write with ease on Write to Done offers the idea of meditating five minutes before starting to write.

300 Writing Topics on About.com divide ideas into sections such as narrating, comparing and describing.

In The Big Time Attic Blog there’s a suggestion to randomize by selecting a Pictionary card or opening to a random page in a dictionary or novel.

On Grammar Girl, Story Ideas and writers block is an interesting post dividing ideas for non-fiction and fiction. My favorite fiction idea recommends reading Twitter posts.

Though the article 50 Places to shop for story ideas on Reporting Resources is geared towards journalists, there are good general ideas for writing prompts such as eavesdropping in the grocery line or reading the classified ads.

What method(s) do you use to combat writer’s block? Do you know of other sites that have helpful advice for generating ideas?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Bradbury, writing prompts, writer’s block, generating ideas, Twitter, Pictionary,

Almost as Good as Chocolate

“Tis pleasant sure, to see one’s name in print…” –Lord Byron

Last week my daughter was flipping through the March edition of the free magazine, Southwest Parent and Child during her lunch hour. When she turned to page 79 she said to herself, “That looks like the cover of my mother’s book.” She stopped, looked closer, and continued the conversation with herself, saying, “That IS my mother’s book.” After reading the article, she notified me of her discovery.

The following day, I picked up one of the magazines and found a picture of The Ride along with an article about the upcoming Southwest Florida Reading Festival. After mentioning a few of the young adult and children’s authors that will be at the festival, the article read, “Other authors include Tess Gerritsen, Dennis Lahane and Fort Myers mom Jane Kennedy Sutton, who is promoting her first book, “The Ride,” an imaginative journey about a housewife rediscovering herself.” My name mentioned in the same sentence with Gerritsen and Lahane was a special treat—almost as good as chocolate.

I am flattered, bewildered, and excited to have received a mention at all with so many well-known talented writers planning to attend. Click here to see the list. Many other authors (including myself) are not on the list but will also be present to sell and sign their books.

I’ll be sharing a table with author Tina Murray. Tina wrote A Chance to Say Yes which is a sophisticated celebrity romance set in tropical Naples, Florida. It’s about the volatile private life of the exclusive beachfront community’s most celebrated son.

The festival takes place on Saturday, March 21, 2009, from 10am to 4pm at the Harborside Event Center and Centennial Park in downtown Fort Myers. Click here for more information on this event. This is a great opportunity for authors and readers of every age to meet and enjoy the wonderful world of books. I hope to see you there.

Prior to this event, on Saturday, March 14, 2009, I’ll be signing books at the Barnes and Noble located at 5377 Tamiami Trail North, Naples, Fl. from 2:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. Please stop in if you’re in the area.


Tags: Lord Byron, Parent and Child, Southwest Florida Reading Festival, Harborside, Tina Murray, A Chance to Say Yes, Barnes and Noble, Gerritsen, Lahane, The Ride

Word Trivia

“Words are all we have.” – Samuel Beckett

Often when I run a across a new word, I am more interested in its origin than its meaning. Such was the case this week. The word I looked up was ‘eonism.’ It is a term used in psychiatry and means the adoption of feminine mannerisms, clothing, etc. by a male (according to my Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

Because of Chevalier Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Thimothée d'Eon (1728-1810), this word was coined. According to The Encyclopedia of Useless Information by William Hartston, d’Eon was a diplomat, spy, dragoon officer, swordsman, lady-in-waiting, chess player and part-time nun. No one was sure of his/her sex. In the 1760’s a whopping $230,000 was wagered on the matter. A judge declared d’Eon a woman and she was ordered to always dress as one. However, the doctor who certified his/her death announced d’Eon was definitely a male, causing the woman he’d been living with for twenty years to faint. The news is said to have also caused King George III’s madness. You can read more about Chevalier d’Eon at Wikipedia.

D’Eon may be responsible for this one word. Shakespeare, however, according to wikianswers, is responsible for creating 1,500 new words, including the upstairs, bedroom, belongings and bandit.

According to the an article in the Guardian, “The oldest words in the language, such as "I", "we" and the numbers one, two and three, have barely changed over the past 9,000 years, probably because they are so fundamental to everyday communication. The most resilient words were found to be those that are used most frequently, but are also likely to be nouns or numerals.

“Other types of words, such as adjectives and adverbs, evolve more quickly, making them susceptible to dying out and being replaced. Half of the words we use today would be unrecognizable to our ancestors 2,500 years ago.”

If you are interested as to how new words make their way into the dictionary, stop by Worldwide Words.

Do you have any word trivia to share?

Thanks for stopping by.



Tags: Beckett, Chevalier D’Eon, Shakespeare, King George, word origins,

Unfinished Stories

“Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun.” –Christina G. Rossetti

I have come up with ideas that I think will make brilliant short stories or books only to realize after the few sentences, paragraphs or pages that the plot simply won't work. It dies a natural death and I move on to something else. I recently read an article in the Independent, Greatest stories never told: Ten famous writers reveal their works that never made it to print. I learned that unfinished, dead-end projects were not an uncommon problem.

According to the article, “Herman Melville, finding he was making no headway with a novel called Agatha, passed the manuscript to Nathaniel Hawthorne, who tried his best with it before sending it back – and the two authors passed it back and forth, issuelessly, for years.”

Will Self talks of a project he worked on about four average people that gained superpowers but then said the TV show Heroes came out and he figured this undertaking was now pointless. The idea had been done. Obviously, timing can mean everything to the success or failure of a book.

According to Amanda Craig, her never published space opera was, “A mixture of magniloquent philosophy and stilted pornography, its climax involved a lot of intergalactic explosions and a hermaphroditic elopement. Really, I just needed to live longer, calm down and get out more.”

Joseph Connolly said of his first book that he never wrote, “After a few awful stabs at weather and lambing and reddlemen and strong, independent women in long rustly dresses, I had to admit that my grasp of 19th-century rural life and romance was less than total.”

Have you started something that you couldn’t finish? For you readers out there, have you read anything you thought should have been stuck in a drawer somewhere and never published?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Rossetti, Melville, Hawthorne, Will Self, Heroes, Amanda Craig, Connolly,

Innovative Marketing Idea

“Exposure and attention make a work famous - the more you talk about it, the more attention it gets, the more validity it achieves.” -Andy Warhol

In my opinion, writing a novel is the easiest part of an author’s multi-tasking career. As an introvert, becoming a confident, creative marketer is by far the most difficult. Therefore, I am always looking out for new and original marketing ideas.

At telegraph.com, I ran across this innovative plan. Last year, Tao Lin offered a ten percent share of the royalties of his unfinished second novel for a mere $2,000 to six investors. He thinks the novel will sell at least 13,000 copies and that investors should turn a profit within 40 months. Not only will selling shares bring him immediate income, but he thought it would boost his motivation and help him focus more on the unnamed novel.

According to Lin’s blog, he did this because he was quitting his job. He also thought it was an idea which would have people talking and that in itself is promotion. The six investors would also have incentives to talk up the book and promote sales. The book should be out by fall 2009 or spring 2010. As though it’s an extra incentive to investors, he promised not to kill himself within five to ten years.

In trying to find out if there were any updates on this story, I ran across an interesting interview with Tao Lin on The Urban Elitist written by David Nygren. I particularly liked the summary at the end of the interview. The first item, “Even with media attention most writers would kill for, it is still very difficult for a writer to earn enough to live on through book sales alone.” I’m sure this is the reason Lin is forced to come up with such interesting marketing ideas. According to this article, Lin has also tried to sell selections from his Twitter account in an effort to raise funds.

Lin sounded like a gregarious entrepreneur to me so I was very surprised when I read the following in an article by Sam Anderson in the New York Magazine. “When I visit him in person, in his Bushwick apartment, he is almost catatonically shy—he looks like he might actually die, just wither and expire, under the force of direct human attention.”

Whether the stock idea works (the Guardian said Tao Lin sold the 6 shares within 6 days), Lin has managed to stir up quite a lot of talk. Though I am not ready to take follow his lead by selling stock in my works in progress, I do admire the impressive manner another introvert is managing to obtain name recognition.

Would you consider buying stock in an author’s unpublished manuscript? What about selling shares of your unfinished manuscripts?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Warhol, Tao Lin, marketing, introvert, name recognition