TWW Marketing Seminar: Chuck Sambuchino

Chuck Sambuchino, author and editor, was the guest speaker at Trinity Writers' Workshop seminar Marketing Your Writing. He's the author of How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and could provide information from both an author's standpoint and from the editing side.

Deb McNeill and Rosie Povar discussed writing, publishing, and the challenges both present today.

Randy Cook and Alton Bostick - well these two are trouble. You just don't know what they are talking about. Tall tales, that's for sure.

Rich Ochoa, author of Life Rolls Onand One Way Ticket to Anywhere hawked his books. His humor and humanity shine through his memoirs.

Lots of mingling and enthusiasm. Everyone came away with a greater appreciation for the effort needed to write and publish.

One key - Put down the remote, get the butt in a chair, and WRITE!

Book Launch

It's been a journey and an adventure both in life and publishing.
My Zoo World (If All Dogs Go to Heaven, Then I'm in Trouble) is available to buy, read, and chuckle as you turn pages.

As an animal fearing woman, Joanne Faries laughs at her acclimation to an animal loving world. She stares down swans in Sweden and a guinea pig in the washroom, but averts her eyes for the wombat in Australia.

My Zoo World is a humorous memoir of animal encounters with a twist. Among published animal tales, very few are skewed with a touch of fear and laughter on every page. Unlike books written by pet-loving authors, these chapters introduce the reader to a manic menagerie of animals: a snapping Shetland pony, a bowling ball playing pit bull, and a terrified turtle that tolerates distress. Meet Benji, the cat, Muff, the dog, and more. Friends are convinced they can overcome Joanne’s concerns with their precious pets. Join them and root for the animals as you read My Zoo World.

Enjoy!

Halloween Flash

Happy Meal Horror

A ghost plunked gobs of worms into the All Soul's decay stew. The witch stirred her delicacy. It simmered, deadly toxins wafted through the dreary unforsaken mansion. The lid clanked. "I must slay a man tonight," she cackled. "Conjured from alleyways, an insalubrious alcoholic."

Daemons reassured her, "We'll add toadstools in one hour." She nodded, whisked her broom to the docks plucking a ripe sailor. She returned. Goblins contributed nightshade salad to the impending feast.

Brandishing razor sharp fingernails, the witch slashed her victim's neck. "Bloody rum toddies for all." Midnight chimed. Vampires raised goblets. "To death."

Happy Halloween!

Louder

Game 5 2011 World Series. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Texas. Rangers versus Cardinals. Series tied 2-2. This is a huge game, the final one in Arlington. The stadium is a sea of red. The crowd is loud. Palpable energy. To be good, you've gotta have a lot of little boy in you. Roy Campanella.

Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa. Casey Stengel. St. Louis was up 2-0 and the crowd noise diminished. Then Ranger bats heated up, silly mistakes were corrected, pitching held it together. Talk about ratcheting tension. The plot thickened and Rangers leaped ahead 4 - 2.

Most ball games are lost, not won - Casey Stengel. Have to say, the Rangers held it together, and the Cards made some dubious moves.

Everyone on their feet. Towels waving, hands clapping, cheers and groans. World Series baseball is a whole 'nother beast.

It's the Year of the Napoli. Mike Napoli, Ranger catcher, has done everything right. Big loud home runs, zooming pick-off throws. The stadium's collective chant Napoli, Napoli, Napoli sums it up. The man behind me wore a t-shirt, ...and they lived Napoli ever after ... Let's hope that's true for the Texas Rangers as they head to St.Louis for Game 6 on Wednesday. Up 3 -2 in a best of 7 series. Drama, tension, and characters. Baseball literature is alive.

Recital : Di Wu

I'll be honest. I know nothing about classical music. Wish I'd taken a music appreciation class in college. But, the City of Bedford brought a world class Van Cliburn finalist to the Old Bedford School. Small venue. Amazing acoustics. And WOW! The young lady's fingers were a blur as she played a very French theme of her choosing. As a graduate of Juilliard, Di Wu has presence and passion. She explained our journey with the composers she chose, and it was a revelation for me.

Sad birds chirping in the trees - her fingers transformed the feelings to notes. A boat on the ocean - adrift with waves pounding and then under control. Fireworks - oh, yeah - the fingers flew for the explosion of sound. This was an extremely entertaining evening. Creativity abounded. All I can do is stand and applaud.

Share

I wonder if Gutenberg had as much trouble with his press as I've had with my format issues for my book. Self publishing is an adventure, a challenge, and yes I do appreciate the big NY brickhouses more. However, I soldier on and (shameless plug here), I am on Amazon Kindle - My Zoo World is available for download. Print edition coming soon (fingers crossed).

Back to Gutenberg. An article caught my eye (Dallas Morning News 10/15/11 p. 14A) about Germans in Cologne who have set up free-for-all libraries. Street corners, city squares, and super markets - shelves are available and books are donated and shared. Very cool concept. No questions asked. Take a book, leave a book, read and enjoy.

The project is open and financed by donations. Volunteer groups care for the shelves. The branch manager of Cologne's Mayersche Buchhandlung book store, Elmar Muether, said, "If books are present everywhere, it helps our business, too.". It's promotion versus competition. If someone gets hooked on an author, he or she is more likely to seek out and buy other books.

Anything to promote reading has to be a positive for society as a whole. Das ist gut!

Bronte: Not the Sisters

Bronte, Texas - far from the Bronte sisters' treks on the moors. No Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre here. I volunteered to help my husband at his deer lease. City girl in the country. I was "useless with an opinion." Also, I don't do gates. For those in trucks at deer leases, you'll know what I mean .

Hardscrabble land. We saw no critters. Just shadows on dirt. I liked the name of the Frosty blind. Apparently it can be a bit chilly on a November morn.

Water. That says it all in west Texas. This stick looked like a claw and I could picture a poor frontier pioneer scratching his last words. Brutal.