Did you publish a book in October?

If not, you were in the minority! I think the writers I know decided that if the Democrats could have twenty plus candidates for president, the writing community would enter into competition with them. And they did. Here are three. I’ve read and reviewed two; the third is on my TBR list.

MY REVIEW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON	TBR LIST AVAILABLE ON AMAZON	MY REVIEW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

And then there’s one called Not Guilty, which I’m guilty of writing. No one else can take credit or blame for the prose, but there are a lot of bloggers and readers who can take credit for helping me send this book into the world. I thank every one of you who read, reviewed, and encouraged me along the way.

AMAZON. EVERNIGHT. SMASHWORDS. KOBO. NOOK. APPLE

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And now for the November Question.

Remember, the question is optional!

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever googled in researching a story?

The awesome co-hosts for the November 6 posting of the IWSG are Sadira Stone, Patricia Josephine, Lisa Buie-Collard, Erika Beebe, and C. Lee McKenzie! (That’s me!) Please stop by all the others to say hello and see if they answered this question.

If I tell you the truth I may be arrested. In fact, I had to go incognito to google this information, hoping my search wouldn’t be stored and used against me in a trial. That’s when I decided I should write about something else. Okay, I’ll say it, I’m a real coward when it comes to prison time. I’d unravel in a trial of my peers. So I’ll tell you my next to strangest google experience, and leave to guess my strangest. In fact, I’ll give you three searches done almost consecutively, and you can guess what was going on in my life that day. It was an interesting one.

Do NCB agents make arrests?
What kinds of cosmetic covers are available for prosthetic legs?
Where’s the closest place to buy dry ice?

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Today on my Email Connect I’m sharing some rule changes I discovered on Amazon. If you review, you might want to check these out.

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IWSG News

Don’t Forget to Pitch!

Winners will be announced in the #IWSG December first Wednesday post. 

Quote of the Month: “Winning isn’t getting ahead of others, it is getting ahead of yourself.” Anonymous

Well, I made it through March–barely. If you saw my FB post, you’ll know my computer crashed on Friday! Anyway, this is my last post for the month, and next month I’ll be posting on Tuesday, April 3 for the #YASH (Young Adult Scavenger Hunt). Come see. There are over a hundred book being given away. AND IT’S FUN.
On the first Wednesday–#IWSG–I’ll be at Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime. We have a super blog, so please come for a visit. I’ll leave a reminder here with a link, so I hope you’ll pop over and see what’s up there.

I’ve featured authors who are in that anthology, and today we have the last author of the month and a chance to chat about the publisher, Dancing Lemur Press. Take it away.

This is the third Insecure Writer’s Support Group anthology we’ve published, the first two being Parallels and Hero Lost. There are both challenges and delights when dealing with an anthology.

 Juggling all of the authors can feel like herding cats sometimes. We have to keep track of each story’s edits, author information, and coordinate marketing with a group rather than an individual.

 What’s refreshing is the variety that comes with so many viewpoints. Ideas pour forth in terms of promotions. Each writer is in a different location, broadening the marketing reach. Yet they all come together into one powerful dynamo.

 For some of the writers, it’s their first publication, and that is just a joy to behold. Plus the stories are unique, which adds a little spice to the editing process. That will also add some spice for the readers.

Thanks for back story from the publisher’s point of view! And what you wrote about spice is so true.  I read all of the stories, and each of them has a unique take on the theme. There’s something for every reader, and yet all will appeal because they are well-written.

And now here’s Mary Aalgaard.

 A little about my story, One More Minute.
The short story I wrote for the Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime anthology is about a woman who is making a major change in her life. She faces great danger in doing so and has a limited amount of time to pack up her life and leave.

I can’t believe I agreed to get a puppy! Honestly, I have enough people to take care of. The boys are only 8-years-old, and they can promise until they’re blue in the face that they’ll help take care of him, but I’ve seen their room! Ha! They can’t even remember to make their beds in the morning or put their dirty underwear in the clothes hamper in the bathroom – come to think of it, neither can their dad! If I had a dollar for very pair of dirty boxers I’ve handled!

Of course, Grayson got the boys’ hopes up by talking about the dog and showing them pictures of Golden Retrievers. I hope he doesn’t try to push all the work off on me like he does with the boys. I could count on one hand the number of dirty diapers he changed or school lunches he’s packed. He’ll have to be the one to train him for hunting. 

Later that day…Well, who can resist a face like that!?! The boys absolutely fell in love with the puppy as soon as the owners introduced us to him. After much debate, and a family vote, we decided to name him Bo. Jake wanted to name him Cheerio and Justin was pushing for Vader. Grayson shot those names down, a little unkindly, IMHO, but when I said, “Bo,” he actually said he liked it. 

Bo napped tucked up against my leg this afternoon. I couldn’t help but fall in love

Mary Aalgaard is a playwright and piano/theater teacher, living in the heart of Minnesota. She writes theater reviews and supports the arts through her blog Play off the Page. She teaches youth theater workshops in the Brainerd lakes area, writes articles for regional magazines, and works with both seniors and youth in multi-generational programs to enhance quality of life and build community. Her website is PlayoffthePage.com. You can follow her on her Play off the Page Facebook page, @MaryAalgaard on Twitter, and email her at Mary@playoffthepage.com.

I’m not doing a quiz this week…I know how disappointed you are, but it’s time for a spring break. Class dismissed.

Did you guess the authors for each of these justice themed books? Here are the answers.

A. Absalom,Absalom! is William Faulkner’s masterpiece. Its complex, fragmented structure is a reading challenge, but wow, does it belong among the literary greats in America.

B. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee hits the themes of  racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. This author went to core issues of “class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the American.” 

C. The Dispossesed by Ursula K. LeGuin tackles the fight for social justice, economic inequality and racial inequality in this futuristic novel.

S. In The Crucible Arthur Miller used the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory for the anti-communist Red Scare and the congressional hearings of Senator Joseph McCarthy going on in the United States in 1953.

Quote of the Week: “I tend to be drawn to the weirder, darker stuff. Horror and sci-fi anthologies.” Unknown