"The notion that such persons are gay of heart and carefree is curiously untrue. They lead, as a matter of fact, an existence of jumpiness and apprehension. They sit on the edge of the chair of Literature. In the house of Life they have the feeling that they have never taken off their overcoats."
- James Thurber, My Life and Hard Times

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Want another tease?

I have the cover art for the other two books, but of course I'm only going to show you one. Patience, folks, have patience. 

I was going to show you the cover for my Placentia-centric book, "You're from Where?" but when I uploaded it to this post, I discovered something interesting: I had misspelled "you're." Who does that? So while I quickly email Joe to correct our mistake, let me show you what I have planned for the holidays.

Presenting:





Happy-Merry Thanks-Christmas-New-Giving-Year!
When columnist Gayle Carline thought of a holiday-centered book, she intended to include all her holiday essays, from New Year’s musings, Mother’s Day fantasies, all the way to the inevitable Christmas.
Then she counted how many she had written in her 10 years as a columnist for the Placentia News-Times. There were over 80 essays. Which jolly holidays should be included? She decided on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, and noticed two common themes: gratitude and hope.
She is grateful for the opportunity to write for the paper, as well as for the feedback from readers, whether it is praise or criticism. She hopes these essays resonate with you as much as they have her Placentia friends, and that none of them are turkeys.



Stay tuned for a look at the third book. As I said in the last post, they're all scheduled for release on October 10, 2015 at the annual Placentia Heritage Festival.

In the meantime, don't you want to win some prizes? So far, I've only had one entry into my "Name that Chicken" contest. I can hardly hold up one name to a vote. Enter your choice for my rooster's name (in the comments) and you can win the following:

1. A $10 Amazon gift card.
2. Your choice: one of my mysteries, or all three of my new books, either in paperback or e-book format.

Here's another look at the chicken.



Incidentally, this chicken reminds me of someone. Have you seen Wallace and Gromit in THE WRONG TROUSERS?



Feathers McGraw, notorious criminal mastermind... separated at birth?

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

A sneak peek, and a contest.

THE SNEAK PEEK

Remember those three books I'm going to be releasing on October 10? I have two of the covers! But I'm only going to show you one of them today. I'm a tease like that. 

Drum roll, please... Presenting:


RAISING THE PERFECT FAMILY AND OTHER TALL TALES 

Gayle Carline does not believe in perfect families. She does believe in tall tales, however, and is willing to stretch the truth until it’s paper thin.

She’s been writing a humor column for the Placentia News-Times, a local paper affiliated with the Orange County Register, since 2005. Aiming for slice-of-life, Erma Bombeck-style stories, she tells tales about her husband, their son, and their various distractions, from pets to car repair.

At first, she thought she was writing to entertain people. After she heard from readers telling her how much their lives mirrored her own, she realized why she was writing—to feel like part of a community.


Her stories of gentle wit and family absurdities should be recognizable to every perfectly imperfect family everywhere.

Like I said, it'll be out on October 10, in paperback first, and only available to my readers who come to the book launch, which will be in Tri-City Park at the 2015 Placentia Heritage Festival. If you're in the area, come on around! I plan to have a lot of fun stuff!


THE CONTEST

Meet my chicken.



One of my friends deposited this chicken on my front porch with the following note:




The story of the chicken came about when I shared a blog post on my Facebook page. http://thebloggess.com/2011/06/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/ It's a funny story, plus I love this woman's chicken. What's not to love about a 5-foot-tall metal chicken? I mentioned on FB that I wanted one, and one of my friends got me one. It's a lot smaller, and a little more elegant, but damn, he's one fine rooster.

(BTW, I'm still trying to cross-reference the friends with my sense of humor with the friends who know where I live. It's still a long list.)

So here's the contest: What should I name him?  

THE RULES -

1. Submit your idea for the chicken's name either in the comments below, or on my Facebook page, or as a message on Twitter.

2. I will gather all the names and put them to a vote.

3. Winner receives a copy of one of my books, plus a $10 Amazon gift card.

Ready, set, name!


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