Three Cheers for the Library!

Know what day it is? It's the day I start bugging everyone about the library event this Saturday. Yes, this Saturday, August 15th, I will be part of the Summer Reading Celebration at the Placentia Library, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Of course, I will be there with plenty of copies of Freezer Burn to sell, but mostly I'll be there to support my local library.

According to the flyer, there will be fun! There will be games! There will be pony rides!

No, not like this. Pony rides that the kids will enjoy.





See? Kids LOVE pony rides!







I love libraries! That rich smell of paper and glue and, I don't know, book dust, the je ne sais quoi quality of eau de bibliotheque. And the extra special sounds of quiet. The soft padding of feet, the swish of books being pulled from shelves, opened, put back. Whispers, no cell phones. Peace. Ahhh.

I remember my first library trip. Actually, it was a two-step trip. I was in 1st grade and had just learned to print my name (I knew how to write my signature, but the teacher insisted I put on the brakes and learn to print first). My dad took me to the library to get a library card. I don't know if my dad wanted to take me, but my mom didn't drive, so he was stuck with the task. This is what the Decatur Public Library looked like in 1960:

Except it was called the Carnegie Library. I still remember climbing all the steps and walking through the columns and thinking it was the most gi-normous building I'd ever seen.

The room had floor-to-ceiling shelves crammed with books, and there were more rooms on more floors; the possibilities of the worlds I was going to see made me want to dance with joy. I walked up to the desk and the lady gave me a card to print my name, and I was nearly vibrating across the floor. And then the worst thing happened - I printed my name too big for the card.

Now that I think about it, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. All the lady had to do was give me another card and let me try it again. But she didn't. She told me to go home and practice until I could fit my name onto the card and come back.

Witch.

I did as she asked and talked my dad into taking me back that afternoon. It took all my concentration, but I printed small and made it all fit and went home with a library card and several books. I wish I could remember how many, or the names. I just remember the victorious feeling of having a library card of my very own.

Later, I discovered the joys of the Bookmobile. It was a condensed version of the library, and had completely different books every week. Yummmmmmy.

Today's Decatur Public Library looks like this:

Call me nostalgic, but I prefer the old one. It was torn down, in the 70's I think, to build a metal-and-glass branch of the Soy Capital Bank and a parking lot. Yeah, that's better.

So, tell me a library memoir - what do you remember about your library experiences?

And - if you're anywhere near Placentia, California on Saturday, come celebrate a library with me!

New Contest! Get it while you're hot!

I promised you another contest for a free, autographed copy of Freezer Burn, and here it is. It's not as hard as the last one was; I won't make you write about pictures of strange women or vampires or cute kitties, etc. I won't make you create anything.

You do have to do a little work, though. Call me a Puritan, conservative, workaholic, but… actually, call me any of those things and I'll slap you into next week. I'm no task-mistress. It's just boring to have a contest where nobody does anything. What kind of contest is that?

This time, all you have to do is wander around in my website, and answer six questions. The answers are all there, easily found, in black and white and read all over.

Ready?

1. What are the names of my two horses?
2. Who would my husband like to play him in the movie?
3. What TV show inspired me to write "I Know What She's Thinking?"
4. Name one Freezer Burn item you can buy on Zazzle.
5. What's the name of my grandpa's hunting dog?
6. Where do I think the (possibly) first drag wedding was held?

The first person who emails me (gaylecarline@sbcglobal.net) the correct responses gets a free book. C'mon, it'll be fun!

Does the shoe fit?

Before you read today's post, go to Murderati and read Toni McGee Causey's post, about trying to do things in our lives that don't fit our fundamental natures. By the way, if you write, and especially if you write mysteries, you should be tuning into the Murderati blog every day. It's a great group of authors with interesting things to say.

Today, Toni is describing a meeting with her friend who has become a vegan and looks great; Toni wonders if it's just that easy, but in the end decides it's not who she is. Being a vegan doesn't "fit" her.

This started me thinking about characters, on the stage, screen and page, and how we complain when they are not real, not fully dimensional human beings. In other words, they do/say things that don't "fit" them. I struggle in my own writing, between trying to make a character do and say the things I need for the plot and keeping them true to the personality I've given them. I'm afraid, if I take a misstep, readers will call me on it. Mean readers.

This is possibly why Peri is 50 years old and not 30. In my youth, I tried on a lot of things that didn't fit me - scuba diving, skiing, marriages to the wrong men. By my late forties, I was finally wise enough to decline suggestions to go skydiving and river rafting, because I knew what I liked, and neither tossing myself from an airplane nor being tossed into white water did it for me. At 50, Peri knows what fits her. She likes running and old movies and her independence… although life does intervene to make her question her choices.

By juxtaposition, I'd like you to take a look at a book I just read, The Belly Dancer by DeAnna Cameron. I don't normally read romances, but not only is DeAnna a friend of mine, the cover and jacket blurb was so intriguing that I had to have a copy. Her protagonist is a young girl, a new wife, who is desperate to join the elite Victorian society of Chicago. But what she thinks she wants doesn't fit her. I liked the story, even when I wanted to shake Dora by the shoulders and tell her to stay away from those awful society women. The story rings true, even while the character is being false (to herself). BTW, good job, DeAnna!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Do you prefer a main character who is still trying to figure out what they want in life and is tossed about by the storyline, or do you want your protagonist to be the stable one in the story, the person you can count on when everything else seems to be falling apart?

Perhaps some of you can even extend this discussion on your own blogs… we'll make a chain post!

Bet you thought I forgot

The thousands of you who submitted flash fiction for the Freezer Burn contest probably thought I was never going to wade through all the entries and find a winner. Well, maybe the five of you.





For those of you who don't remember, I asked for a 100-word story about this picture. To see what I wrote about it, go here.



The winner will receive an autographed copy of Freezer Burn. Since there were only five entries, and they were all so good, I thought I'd share them with everyone.




From Jim Thomsen (aka Ninja of the Mundane):

We didn't dare breathe a word until Lizzie Borden was convicted. Then, Agnes and I went to the barren apple tree under bleak morning light, and dug up the silver and fine things we stole from the Borden House.

The ax, we buried deeper. And planted a fresh apple tree atop it.

Tonight, we take the midnight coach to Boston. And then the dawn sailing to Lisbon.

The Bordens should have been nicer to their housemaids. That is all I will say.



Chilling, yes? And Jim, I'd have loved to provide a link to your website, but I don't know what it is.



K. A. Laity wrote:

The picture was taking longer than Elizabeth thought strictly necessary. Why did it take her brothers and her father to make sure that her mother and she were properly framed by the lens.

It wasn't just the discomfort of standing side by side, pretending that her mother was proud, pretending that she was basking in a warm glow. While the afternoon sun threatened to turn the September afternoon to sultry heat, she knew it wasn't simply the sun that was making her head ache.

"I'm so proud," her father had said when she received the letter. The first woman they were admitting to medical school in the whole of the state.

"Some young man is not going to medical school," her mother had said, staring out the window as if he were standing out there somewhere. All summer they had sidestepped one another in silence.

"I think we've got it now," her father laughed, Edwin tugging at his sleeve carelessly. Elizabeth tried to smile, looking down at the carpet bagged, packed for the train ride to the east.

"You'll probably meet a man and get married," her mother said quietly. "But you can always come home."

"Thanks, mama," Elizabeth said, her voice barely audible, but she knew she would not return.



Okay, technically, Kate's entry is not eligible because it is longer than 100 words, but - CHICKS RULE!



Nick Valentino entered this:

The airship rumbled through the sky. Victoria stared at the photo of her mother and grandmother vibrating in her gloved hands. Two days after the picture was taken, the town behind them was bombed, killing her entire family.

Since she was seventeen, Victoria joined up with sky pirates looking for every opportunity to quiet the anger inside her.

Victoria jumped up and slipped her goggles over her eyes. She could see the ship they were going to board through the porthole. She gripped her cutlass with one hand and her revolver with the other. Today she would have her revenge.



Argh, mateys!



Cynde Hammond plotted revenge in this piece:

Why does father insist we stand so close together when we have our photos taken? I am never going to accept her as his wife—not after I saw what she did to mother.

He never should have married beneath his station in life. How could he betray our mother by marrying the very maid that she had begged him to dismiss? Mother despised her. She must have sensed she was up to no good.

I will see to it that she pays for murdering mother, but her death will be much worse than merely being shoved down the stairs.



Yikes.



And Karen Brees should get an award for brevity:

She was the Chosen One.



As you can see, the choices were tough. Everyone had a great take on the two women in that stark landscape. Ultimately, the one story I kept coming back to was Nick's. What can I say? I love pirates.



Nick, get me your address offline and I'll ship your autographed copy of Freezer Burn.



And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an idea for the next contest.

I'm back!

Did you miss me? I missed you. Yes, especially you - the guy in the back row with the Buddy Holly glasses and the fake vampire teeth.

Those are fake, right?

We got home about 8-ish last night, there's no food in the house, and I'm feeling the very special lethargy that accompanies an 8-hour car trip home from a week's vacation and the desire to sleep in when you know Real Life awaits. There is unpacking, laundry, groceries - oh, yeah, and book "stuff" to do.

So here's a quick snapshot before I start separating the whites from the colors:

1. New column - if you want to know more about the book launch party, check out my column in the Placentia News-Times. The fun thing about being a columnist is that, if you're any good, you get a following. The bad thing is that, when I asked my editor for press coverage, she sent... me. "Since you're already going to be there, can you just cover it in your column?" Sure.

2. Guest blogging - Please do check out the I Love Dino Martin blog today. Mr. Dino Martin Peters (may I call you Pallie, DMP?) allowed me to blather on about why my character, Benny Needles, loves Dean Martin so much. Mr. Peters is being an absolute darling about promoting Freezer Burn on his site, and I'm insanely happy that he loved the book. He even reviewed it on his blog here.

3. Vacation ops - while I was up in the mountains, I wasn't just resting on my laurels. I contacted three bookstores about ordering my book and having me come back to do a meet 'n' greet. High Sierra Books bought three copies I had with me, and I gave Epilog Books and The Book Haven complimentary copies for their review. I figure, if the store owner reads it and likes it, she'll want to stock it, yes? All three stores were very positive and I now have to plan a trip back for early fall. Yes, they are small stores, but I'm going to try for the larger cities in the (Sacramento) area as well.

4. Reviews - In addition to Mr. Peters' lovely review, I actually have a (positive) review on Amazon, which is good to see. I've also had two reviews by local Placentia residents, who had this to say:

"Watch out Travis McGee and Kinsey Millhone, Peri Minneopa of Placentia is about to knock your socks off with her gum shoe skills. She may be 50, but it is a young 50, thank you. Her latest adventure was a fast, fun read. The reader picked it up at 11am today and only put it down when interrupted to take care of visitors and do the manly Sunday meat preparation thing. He finished at the sound of D-Land fireworks at 9:30. He normally watches the PBS mystery at 9:00 with his wife, but tonight it was pre-empted by a do-wop program, allowing him to finish before bed. He is anxiously awaiting the next adventure. He did make the mistake of telling his lovely wife that Peri was having lunch at Zov's. Ooo, we haven't been there in a while, she cooed. Thanks Peri, that'll cost you.
"I really enjoyed Freezer Burn. I really felt you did a fine job of developing the characters. I liked the character Benny, a kind of creepy Peter Lorie type as I visualized him. Peri seemed a stretch at first - a 50 something in a new career, but I see a character similar to Ambulance Girl, a book made into a movie. Kathy Bates played a true to life character who becomes an EMT. Skip gets a little too close, but manages to keep his distance and maintain most of his professional distance, sometimes. It was fun to read and identify Placentia places and streets."

-Warren and Claudine Emens

"I took Freezer Burn over to my Dad last Saturday at 8:30am since he's a faster reader than I am and has no problem foregoing laundry and dishes to sit and read -- I think I need to be more like him. Anyway, he called me at 1:30pm on Saturday and said he finished your book and really liked it. He wants to know when your next book is coming out!"

-Colleen Neidiger

Okay, peeps, I got so much stuff to do and so little energy to do it, I'm off to find my motivation. Is there such a thing as a vacation hangover?