GOODWEATHER
REPORTS
GOODWEATHER
REPORTS
XI. ~ May 2008
Sending this early so that you can take advantage of the following:
Remember! Get wet in the first rain of May and you'll be healthy all year! That's what my grandmother did and she lived to 91.
There were lots of you who emailed me to say my little April Fool's vignette of Elizabeth renouncing the farm for Ferragamo took you in, at least at first. One reported a coffee-on-the-keyboard moment. And a couple of you said you were cheering for Elizabeth .
Well, I expect the poor woman does occasionally get tired of her life (especially with all those corpses and bones popping up every year), but somehow I don't see our girl in Palm Beach . Or in high heels either. But it was fun to imagine.
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I was thrilled to hear from my editor that French foreign rights for the first two Elizabeth books have sold and I said so on my daily blog at
http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/2008/04/ooh-la-la.html
Likewise, I received the news that Old Wounds was nominated for the SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance ) 2008 Book Award for Fiction. http://www.sibaweb.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,272/ Twenty four books were nominated by booksellers around the South – and though Old Wounds didn't make the short list, I'm proud to have been in such company. The SIBA website says “the list of award winners represents some of the finest examples of Southern literature”( the trade paperback edition of Charles Fraser's Thirteen Moons was the winner last year, with Lee Smith's On Agate Hill one of the short list).
And, what the heck, here's a last bit of blatant self-promotionn: In A Dark Season is one of three June TOP PICK!s for mystery at Romantic Times.
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AND NOW A COMMERCIAL BREAK which you may wish to ignore.
In a Dark Season hits the bookstores May 20. Like Public Radio, I'm going to ask for your support. Mystery series continue only so long as they are increasing in sales year by year. Though my books have received some very positive notices, plus the good news above, my sales have not been up to the numbers that big publishers like to see. Thank goodness, my editor seems to believe in me and I've been pleased to have that third contract to cover the Miss Birdie book and the next Elizabeth book. But beyond that . . . beyond that, dear reader, depends on how the books are selling. Because, in the end, it's the bottom line that wins. So, again like Public Radio, I'm going to ask you to cast your vote to keep Elizabeth coming to you by buying a copy of the new book – for yourself or a friend (nice affordable gifts for any occasion!)
Many bookstores will stock the book when it comes out. But (and this is something I didn't know till I got into writing), h ow well a book sells in the first few weeks of release determines if the booksellers will keep the books on the shelves or ‘return' them. (In the case of mass market paperbacks such as mine, all they return is the front cover. The books themselves are thrown out. (Which is the reason for the warning: If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.)
But I digress. What would help me greatly would be for lots of folks to go buy or order the book on the 20 th or very soon after. A lot of you may have pre-ordered online and that's wonderful too. The bean counters care a lot about those early sales. So many thanks, in advance, for whatever support you can give!
END TACKY BEGGING AND WHINING
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QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM YOU ALL
(or ‘you uns,' as Miss Birdie would say)
Eileen N-B says : Should the French really insist they must change Miss Birdie's cornbread, I'd vote for croissants or a good baguette – they both sop up gravy real well!
Chick S. writes re the April Fool story : What a great scenario – followed by the story of coming to one's senses when that pair of Ferragamos was tried on and she tried to walk across the shoe department.
Kristen H. writes re Signs: Your novel has brought back those memories of the language of my childhood. My parents moved here (Waynesville, NC ) as medical doctors back in 1951, and I well remember waiting in the car while my dad did house calls to the various coves and lees, and hearing the cadences of speech you have on paper in your book from his patients. He has always been a thin man, and many of his female patients were excellent mountain cooks who, knowing that his wife worked, decided that she must not feed him well, and were determined to fatten him up on their victuals. We kids were the benefactors of lots of good desserts, pickles, jams, and jellies on that accord .
Eileen N-B sent me a picture of her bottle tree – a lucky tradition in parts of NC. For more about bottle trees, go to http://journals.aol.com/ancidkb47/DebrasDailyDose/entries/2005/01/09/bottletree-bakery/1335 and scroll down for a good picture.
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Recent Reads
Some books I've enjoyed
Many of these are re-reads. When I'm trying to write, I want to be able to read a bit then put the books down and get on with my work. So I avoid books that will keep me turning pages, unable to break away. I'm always amazed by people who never reread, no matter how much they liked a book. For me, that's like listening to a wonderful piece of music only once.
The King's General ~ Daphne Du Maurier
Nobody does it like Daphne. Romantic tale of the English Civil War
In This House of Brede ~ Rumer Godden
I must have read this a dozen times. Life in a modern day Benedictine convent. Much, much better than the movie. Beautiful writing.
Southern Fried Women ~ Pamela King Cable
A quirky collection of stories about a quirky collection of characters
Young Men in Spats ~ P.G. Wodehouse
Ukridge ~ P.G. Wodehouse
Divine lunacy. British humour from The Master
The Hundred Days ~ Patrick O'Brian
Blue at the Mizzen ~ Patrick O'Brian
(audio – read by Patrick Tull)
I almost always have one of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series (there are 22 of them ) on deck, either in my car or on the boom box I carry around as I do housework. Tull's reading is a dramatic performance – that man could read the phone book and I'd listen – and I continue to learn from O'Brian about writing. Plus, it's a great story – a combination of Jane Austen and Horatio Hornblower
The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed ~ Lee Smith
Lee Smith is one of my idols and this, her debut novel, written in 1968 while she was an undergraduate at Hollins College, shows how good she was from the beginning. A beautiful evocation of childhood.
Treasure Island ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
My copy is one given to my mother for Christmas, 1928 by her parents. I've read it many times over the years and always see something new.
All Mortal Flesh – Julia Spencer-Fleming
It was one of many free books we were given at Malice and it kept me awake quite late and I had to wake up early to finish it. Really powerful.
One Coffee With – Margaret Maron
The opening book in her Sigrid Haraldson series.
Hard Row – Margaret Maron
The most recent book in her Deborah Knott series.
Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
A sort of spiritual memoir – the author attempts to make sense of her life by eating great food in Italy, meditating and chanting in India, and bringing it all together in Indonesia. (Thanks, Diann!)
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Vicki's Schedule
Sunday, May 11, 3 pm. Tony Earley will be at Malaprops Bookstore reading from The Blue Star. What a treat! I'm going!
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TUESDAY, MAY 20 - IN A DARK SEASON is out !!!!!!! !!!!
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May 23 – 25 – WNC Woman Writers' Retreat at Lake Logan . Presenters: Kay Stripling Byer, Lavinia Plonka, Peggy Millin, and Vicki Lane http://wnc-woman.com/events.html
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Saturday, May 31, 7 pm at the Madison County Public Library, Marshall , NC . Vicki will be talking about her new book, In a Dark Season.
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Sunday, June 8, Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe, Downtown Asheville , NC . 3 pm. Vicki will be talking about her new book, In a Dark Season. www.malaprops.com
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I think I'll be at City Lights in Sylva, NC at some time in June but the date is not yet confirmed. I should know by the next newsletter.
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Saturday, June 14, 7 pm. Osondu Books, Waynesville. Vicki will be talking about her new book, In a Dark Season. http://www.osondubooksellers.com/
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Friday,June 20, 7 pm . Accent on Books, Merriman Avenue , Asheville , NC . Vicki will be talking about her new book, In a Dark Season. www.accentonbooks.com
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Monday, June 30, Madison County (NC) Public Library, 6:30. Vicki will join the book group for a discussion of In A Dark Season. Open to the public.
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Thursday, July 24, The Open Book, Greenville SC. Vicki will speak at the meeting of the Upstate Chapter of Sisters in Crime. 7 pm. Open to the public. More info to come.
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Sept 12, 13, Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, Burnsville , NC . Vicki will be doing a workshop. More info to come. http://cmlitfest.org
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October 9-12 ~Bouchercon ( The mystery convention), Baltimore, MD http://www.charmedtodeath.com/
More info to come.
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2009
Sunday, March 1, 3 pm ~ Vicki is speaking at the Troy, NC Public Library. Sponsored by the Montgomery County Friends of the Library.
Contact: David Atkins, Manager
Montgomery County Public Libraries
215 West Main Street
Troy , NC 27371
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To email me: vicki_lane@mtnarea.net
To visit my website: www.vickilanemysteries.com
To visit my Amazon blog: more or less monthly postings
http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A2MQM33N9H56R1/ref=cm_blog_dp_artist_blog
To visit my new blog: Brief (or not) and daily (unless I'm traveling) words and pictures http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com