Category: Swallow reviews / awards / mentions / events

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I’m Interviewed Today at the Frugal eReader

Hey you guys,

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I just got back from North Carolina late last night. I hope to post some pics soon – hopefully later today, and chat a bit about some great books I finished over the holiday, and write about what all I’m excited to see during Alvin Ailey’s upcoming City Center season, which begins tomorrow night! So excited!

For now, here’s an interview I did over at The Frugal eReader. This is one of my favorites, as Elizabeth, the blogger, asked such excellent questions! And she excerpted one of her (and my :)) favorite passages from Swallow, which you probably haven’t seen if you haven’t read the whole book (since the excerpt is not from a beginning chapter). The Frugal eReader is, by the way, an excellent site to visit if you’re looking for good indie books to try that are available in inexpensive ebook format.

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Paperback Dolls and Nutrackers

I have a guest post up today at the Paperback Dolls blog! They’re currently featuring New York authors and bloggers as part of their “Passport to New York” series. So, since I’m both, I talked about both my novel and the blog.

Regarding the blog, I gave their readers some recommendations on what to see in New York for the next couple of months dance-wise. I then realized I haven’t done that for my own readers yet, because I’ve been so blasted busy. But of course everyone who regularly reads my blog knows what I’ll recommend: Alvin Ailey, upcoming at City Center for the month of December (it’s Judith Jamison’s last season as artistic director so there will be lots of tributes to her); New York City Ballet’s Balanchinian Nutcracker which has already begun and continues on through the beginning of the year; and ABT’s new Nutcracker, which begins December 22nd and will be at Brooklyn Academy of Music.

I didn’t have a chance to write about it but I saw a small sneak preview of ABT’s new Nut at the Guggenheim’s Works & Process event a couple weeks ago, at which choreographer Alexei Ratmansky and conductor Ormsby Wilkins spoke. Several excerpts were performed including Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes dancing part of the final Clara and the Prince pas de deux, the Russian dance, and some of the snow scenes. Ratmansky and ABT representatives had said earlier during a press conference that it would be pretty much traditional, but from what I saw it looks very modern. The costumes and sets – which are gorgeous and are made by Richard Hudson, the Tony award-winning set designer of the Lion King – are period, but the movement looked very modern to me, not at all classical. The pas de deux looked like lyrical and more romantic (without a capital “r”) and less fairy tale-like than I’ve normally seen, and the Russian dance looked folksy and even a bit slapsticky rather than the classical bravura dancing we’re used to with “Trepak.” Anyway, Ratmansky had noted that the original choreography for this ballet is no longer extant so that’s why there are so many different versions. The only two versions I’m really that familiar with, I guess, are Balanchine’s and the San Francisco Ballet’s two-year-old version, the DVD of which I reviewed a while back.

Anyway, I think the new Ratmansky Nutcracker is going to be a departure from the ordinary, and it will be interesting to see the whole and see how audiences react!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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Big Holiday Book Giveaway!

Hey everyone, I’m participating in a big holiday book giveaway on the Quiet Fury Books blog. There are many authors participating and many books being given away, so if you’re a book lover, do check it out. Also, the giveaway is international, so you don’t need to have a U.S. address to enter.

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I’m Interviewed at Smashwords Blog, Iranian Publishers, and SYTYCD Auditions

I am way behind on blogging again, you guys, and again I’m sorry. It seems like for the past year book issues always seem to be popping up to keep me from blogging. I’m several dance reviews behind and I will try to catch up this week.

Anyway, today I am interviewed at Neil Crabtree’s excellent Smashwords blog! My sales have been so much stronger at Amazon – and I realize that’s probably because I’ve done so much promotion on the Kindle blogs, so I’m really trying to get the word out about my ebook’s being available at Smashwords and their distributees – iBookstore, Kobo, Nook, Sony, and Diesel – as well. So thank you, Neil!

Yesterday, I’d planned to blog about the Dance Times Square ballroom showcase and the Guggenheim’s preview of Ratmansky’s new Nutcracker for ABT, but one such aforementioned “book issue” popped up. I’d exhibited my novel with ForeWord Magazine’s small press collective at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. (I was a finalist in ForeWord’s Book of the Year Award and they gave me a very good review in their online magazine. Frankfurt is the largest book trade fair in the world, where foreign rights are often negotiated.) Anyway, an Iranian publisher saw my book at Frankfurt, spoke to the ForeWord rep, and gave her his contact info to send along to me and the others whose books he was possibly interested in acquiring foreign rights to. Curious to see what kinds of books his company publishes, I went to look up the publisher on the internet, and couldn’t find anything. I called ForeWord and they had no further information but said the rep did meet with him and he expressed interest in several of their titles; he was legit.

I posted a query on a publishing website I belong to just asking if anyone had heard of the company, and no one had, but several people expressed disbelief that I would even consider sending my book to an Iranian publisher. People said: with 9/11 happening in the book, you shouldn’t send it to an Iranian publisher; there’s an embargo, you could get in serious trouble for entering into a business agreement with an Iranian company; the publisher couldn’t possibly be serious about acquiring American books with the censorship committee there; and – my favorite – oh my god, are you trying to get your name on Homeland Security’s “people of interest” list sending a package to Iran???

I knew about the embargo but am certainly not anywhere near any stage at which I’d be entering into any business agreement. The publisher just wants to see the book at this point. If I ever was at such a stage, I would definitely have an agent do that. As for the 9/11 stuff, I mean, I don’t know. I didn’t write about it in a political way at all. You just never know how someone from a completely different culture will view something you write. There are sexual connotations as well in the book – who knows; it’s not something I ever thought that much about before. The whole censorship thing made me interested though, and I spent yesterday doing a good deal of internet research on publishing in Iran, and there is supposedly a big backup because of all the books waiting to be inspected by the committee.

It’s all very interesting. This whole year has taught me so much about publishing, book-selling, book buying, publicity, marketing, advertising, trade shows, rights, agents, ebooks versus physical books, Amazon versus everyone else, self-publishing versus traditional publishing versus small presses versus foreign presses, bloggers versus professional critics, etc. etc. etc. – it’s all so much. But it’s really been one of the most educational years of my life I have to say.

Anyway, back to dance: I’m off to see a So You Think You Can Dance audition at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. At least I think I am. After I signed up, I received my verification tickets, which said that it didn’t guarantee a seat; it was first come first served. If it’s the type of thing where people are lining up for hours beforehand, I’m not getting in. But I figure I’ll give it a try since I’ve never been to an audition. Wish me luck 🙂

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Swallow Discounted for the Holidays

Just letting everyone know I was able to reduce the price of the paperback version of Swallow to $9.99 on Amazon. The price of the ebook is still 99 cents; Amazon and Kobo have it discounted to $.89. I intend to raise the ebook price after the beginning of the year though. But I will probably keep the price of the paperback as low as I can for a while. I know not everyone has, or likes to read with, an ereader 🙂

Thank you again for all of your tremendous support you guys!

Here is the link to the Kindle edition (above is the paperback version):

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Stacey Cochran’s Book Chatter Interview Is Up!

Here’s the Book Chatter interview I participated in last night! The show is hosted by popular Claws author Stacey Cochran, and the hour-long interview includes a total of five indie authors: Zoe Winters, R.J. Keller, P.A. Woodburn, Lynda Hilbrun, and me. It was great fun – and R.J. revealed her hugely exciting news! Several viewers IM’d in questions about that, so if you’re an author, seriously, watch the video.

I haven’t watched it yet but I probably sound so squeaky-voiced and nervous! My apartment is always SO loud on Friday nights – guy and girl upstairs clomping around in hard-soled shoes and blasting music, guy next door blasting TV, guy and girl under me blasting music, etc. etc. etc. So I decided to go the Writers Room, where I have a membership, and use their designated “phone room” to do the phone-in interview. Well, for the first time EVER it was insanely loud there on a Friday night. Usually, no one is there at that time; everyone is out having a life. But last night it was packed; people were coming in and out of the phone room like mad, making calls, talking to themselves and what not, noisily picking up and rattling keys to the ladies’ / men’s rooms. Then, a person came in to re-paint the kitchen. And of course the supply room they banged around in just had to be right off from the phone room. I finally ended up in the building’s lobby where ringing bells from the elevators signaling floor stops abounded. All the noise made me so nervous! Someday, I will have to leave New York, so I can have peace and quiet in a room of my own…

Anyway, it was a blast chatting about our books and the publishing process and ebooks and Amazon and self-publishing with four other authors and Mr. Cochran. I don’t think he’s ever had that many on the show at once 🙂

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I’m Going to be on Stacey Cochran’s Book Chatter Show This Friday, 10/22

So psyched – I’m going to be on popular Claws author Stacey Cochran‘s internet show, Book Chatter, this Friday, 10/22. The show begins at 9 p.m. EST. It’s live-streamed so you can participate if you want by going to the website where you can send in questions or comments via IM Chat. I’ll be on the show with a couple of other authors. I’ve never done this before (not a live-streamed show anyway), and have no idea what to expect, so it should be fun!

Also, Swallow has recently received several more interesting blog / website reviews, at: Read All Day; A Nut in a Nutshell; Spellbound by Books; and Style Substance and Soul. I’m really grateful for all of the reviews I’ve received, both positive and more critical. I’m really thrilled that people are taking the time to read it closely and really think about it.

Several reviewers now have said they found the part about 9/11 very compelling – in fact one of the most engaging parts of the book. I’m so glad because before I published, some had told me they thought including 9/11 in the plot may be a big turn-off to readers. So I’m glad readers have felt drawn in by that part of the narrative, and that they felt like they were there. My next book is about, not 9/11, but something unsettling as well that’s based on an event that really happened. And I feel that most of this next book is written in a style similar to the latter part of Swallow.

Anyway, maybe I’ll hear from you Friday night. If the time is not good, he records the shows and keeps them on the Book Chatter website, so I’ll link to it!

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“Read ‘Swallow’ Instead of Seeing ‘Sex and the City'”

I’ve been spending a rather ridiculous amount of time on YouTube lately (am trying to make a short video about my book and need ideas), and just saw this. It’s author and book review podcaster (if that’s the proper term) Christy Leigh Stewart talking about several books she’s been reading, including Swallow. Ha! I love the images she used for mine!

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Brooklyn Book Festival, Part Two

I had such a nice time at the Brooklyn Book Festival yesterday, despite the rain. I’ve gone to this festival for the past several years; they have readings, panel discussions, and other various quirky little things throughout the day. This year I was planning on listening to a crime fiction panel moderated by Michael Connelly, a set of debut author readings that included Sean Ferrell and Tanya Wright, another set of readings that included Elizabeth Streb – who is an  innovative choreographer and now an author too, and a panel discussion about the economic crisis and what to do about it, amongst other things.

But I ended up doing none of that because my friend, Goodloe Byron, and I ended up getting a last-minute table he’d requested earlier from the organizers. So, I sat outside all day with my books, meeting book lovers, chatting with them about my novel, and personalizing their books. It was my first time ever doing this and I had no idea what to expect, but people were so amazingly cool! People were congratulating me for publishing my debut novel, remarking on the cover, asking me about the novel’s plot, about the publication process. After a couple hours, I ran out of books and my friend, Nicole, graciously watched my half of the table while I ran home to get more. When I returned she told me she’d sold my last copy by telling people who’d approached the table about my awards and reviews, and kind of sweetly reprimanded me for not having that info on a sheet at the table. Methinks sometimes your friends are better sales-people for your books than you, the writer, are 🙂

Anyway, unfortunately at that point it began pouring, and I didn’t even want to take the additional books out of my bag so as not to ruin them (we didn’t have a table with a tent). And it ended up raining the rest of the day, pretty hard. So I left early. Still, I had one of the happiest publishing days of my life. I haven’t sold many print books – the vast majority of my sales have been on Kindle – and there’s something so incredibly cool about selling an actual, physical book — watching people regard the cover curiously, peruse the back, flip through it, and then being able to sign it for them, watching them walk away with it in their hands.

And just meeting people! I really had a blast. I want another festival. Soon.

Anyway, literary blogger Edward Champion has some interviews of BBF participants posted at his blog. The third one happens to be of my friend, Michael Northrop, talking not about his own novels but about his participation in a One Story magazine promotion at the festival. Fun!

Oh and photo above, by me, is of a non-festival-related protest against police brutality that happened to take place on the courthouse plaza, where we were.

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Blog Talk Radio Interview Today!

I’m going to be interviewed by Arizona author Leslie Kohler on her Blog Talk Radio show, “The Writer’s Inspiration,” today at 11 a.m. Phoenix time (PT), which is 2:00 p.m. EST. You can dial 347-945-7939 to listen in to the live conversation. The interview will focus on my novel, on inspiration for characters, etc., on book marketing tips, etc. etc. If you want hear the interview but can’t tune in at that time, no worries; it’s taped and will be up on the BTR site for a while. I’ll link to it when it’s up!

Okay, here’s the recording!