• About Jane
  • Jane’s Writing
  • candid photography

jane, candid

~ just one jane's thoughts on life

jane, candid

Tag Archives: J.A. Konrath

{Books to Ponder} April

23 Thursday Apr 2009

Posted by Jane Bretl in good reads

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Anne Lamott, Christina Katz, J.A. Konrath, Jack Kilborn, Maria Bailey, Nora Ephron, The Ultimate Mom

Current Reads:

Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott

And, of course, since I had read the story that I wrote but not the other 257 pages:  The Ultimate Mom, an anthology by Maria Bailey (I’ve heard the story on page 34 is worth a look)what a great book!

Recently read:

Whiskey Sour, J.A. Konrath

1/2 page of Afraid, Jack Kilborn

Writer Mama, Christina Katz

On Deck:

I Feel Bad About My Neck, Nora Ephron

Get Known Before the Book Deal, Christina Katz

*

Recommendations, anyone?

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

is wordling a word?

23 Monday Mar 2009

Posted by Jane Bretl in Writing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

J.A. Konrath, Jonathan Feinberg, Wordle, Zebra Sounds

I like the wonderful blog Zebra Sounds where I always find fun, inspiring, and thought-provoking word bites.  This author pulls together information from diverse sources and she weaves it in an entertaining and enlightening way.

I particularly enjoyed her post about Wordle and how it is being used to make a statement in politics, advertising and elsewhere.  Here is the explanation of Wordle’s basics from the official website:

“Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.”

Here is a Wordle of jane,candid:
janecandidwordle

Wordle can even be a handy gizmo for writers.  Because the size of the word is correlated to the number of times that word appears in the text, I can see which words I use most often.  For example, it is clear to me now that I just use the word “just” too often.  I also must have been writing about the author J.A. Konrath quite a few times, because he and all his aliases, as well as his new book Afraid (to be released on March 31st), appear all over the place.  Scary!

I like the back story of the inventor of Wordle, Jonathan Feinberg, and how shares his toys with the world.  On his Wordle Blog, he tells how he made a Word Vader for his son.  I make up little stories at bedtime about flying lawn care machinery — he creates mind-blowing visuals with some code he just had lying around.  That’s a Cool Parent.

I normally do not like little gadgety internet things, but this one makes words into art, and those are both good things.  Plus, if Zebra Sounds says it is interesting, I usually agree.  I like wordling.  Beware though, it is addictive.  You can randomize your chosen word cloud an infinite number of times — and before you know it, time got wordled away…

I made a collage of Wordles for the Little One, filled with adjectives about him, his hobbies and interests and collections and words that make him smile.  I framed them and hung them in his room.  Free art that is personalized, and a person who shares his toys.  What could be better?

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

scaredy-pants

18 Wednesday Mar 2009

Posted by Jane Bretl in good reads, Writing

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, Afraid, blog tour, J.A. Konrath, Jack Kilborn, Katherine Battersby, scaredy-pants, The Well Read Rabbit

How did I ever get mixed up with a guy like Jack Kilbourn?  It started out innocently enough…

One of the very first comments I ever received on my blog was from a lovely children’s book illustrator and writer.  Katherine Battersby had stumbled upon my blog in its first few weak-kneed days and was kind enough to leave a note of encouragement.  Her blog, The Well Read Rabbit, became a favorite.  I loved its gentle tone, captivating illustrations, and her inspiring words for writers.  I check it every day because it makes me smile.

Perusing her calm oasis of a website one day, I read this post as my first introduction to J.A. Konrath’s blog,  A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.  (Irony alert.)  Katherine wisely urged her readers to read all the way to the end of Konrath’s “cheeky” comments, lest we miss his true intent of encouragement.  I did read the whole thing, and was hooked — now Konrath’s Newbie blog was on my blogroll as well.  I trolled through lots of his past blog posts and found a wealth of helpful information about getting started as a writer.  He’s a successful novelist already, with the Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels suspense series and many other publishing credits.  Plus, he was just scary funny (insert foreshadowing music here).  He made me smile in a completely different way.

Then he turned a whole different cheek of cheeky.  J.A. Konrath launched an ambitious blog book tour, creating lots of buzz for his new book  Afraid along the way.  This horror novel, set in small town Wisconsin, is to be released on March 31st.  Every day in March, he has been on a break-neck-paced blog marathon that makes me wonder if he is going to make it to 3/31 in one piece.  And, who is this Jack Kilbourn?  Just his pseudonym for when he wants to write the hard-core horror.  If you have not been following along, it is worth a look to watch J.A./Joe/Jack in action.  As I have mentioned before, I see blog tours as a fun ride for us as readers to follow.  I find so many interesting people…

But, how did I wind up in this story?

afraidus

Afraid is billed as the scariest horror novel ever written.  He invited anyone to read the book before it’s released (he’d send you a copy) and write a review.  I have since read many reviews that sound convincing.  “Carnival of carnage?”  “An absolutely unrelentless nightmare??”  I am convinced I would not sleep for weeks if I attempted to read this book.  This is not my genre.  I feel much more comfortable hanging out in the blogosphere with a well read rabbit.  Preferably one that does not have blood dripping from its fangs cute little bunny teeth.  I wrote Joe Konrath a note saying I was too big a scaredy-pants to read his novel but I wished him luck anyway.

And here is what he sent back to me:  A Top Ten List to help readers like me who are horror challenged.  Under his alter-ego pen name Jack Kilborn, he writes a sick, gory story — but I am starting to suspect that this J.A./Joe/Jack fellow is really just a nice fuzzy bunny inside.

I hope.

I’m leaving all the lights on while I keep hoping.

Top 10 Ways To Get Through Afraid by Jack Kilborn if You’re Just a  Scaredy-Pants

by Jack Kilborn

10. Keep repeating “It’s only a book, it’s only a book.”

9. Read it in the daylight, surrounded by people you trust.

8. Get the audiobook version, and listen to it while driving or working out, so your attention is divided.

(Note to self: I don’t think I should be operating a motor vehicle while listening to something that might make me wet my pants in terror.)

7. Stop every five pages for cookies and milk. You can’t be frightened while eating cookies and milk.

(Finally, an appealing idea!  Except what if I toss my cookies after reading about the woman’s toe being gnawed off?)

6. Give it to a brave friend, and have her cross out all the scary parts with a marker. (added benefit: you’ll be able to read the whole book in eight minutes.)

(Anyone? Anyone?)

5. Visit www.JackKilborn.com and play the Afraid game. You’ll realize the writer is a goofball, and not scary whatsoever.

4. Keep the phone nearby, with 9 and 1 already dialed.

3. Make sure the doors are locked, the lights are on, and your gun is loaded.

2. Read it drunk. Then you won’t remember the scary parts.

1. Don’t read it at all. But for heaven’s sake, buy a copy. The author wants to buy a Porsche.

So, there it is, compliments of the scary man himself.  A big, happy, fuzzy bunny hug to Joe for including me on his blog tour.  I am honored.  I may not be brave enough to read Afraid, but I am now a loyal reader of his other work.  AND, I’ll always remember that when one blog leads to another, there is no telling where I might end up.

Afraid comes out March 31. If you think you’re brave enough, give it a try…

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

tour guides

06 Friday Mar 2009

Posted by Jane Bretl in Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

blog tour, book tour, Christina Katz, J.A. Konrath

Authors go on book tours to promote their work.  I am always surprised by the stream of authors that make an appearance at the little Barnes & Noble near where I live.  We are off the beaten path, a bit.  They must travel to quite a few stops before this burg rises to the top of the list.

Recently, I learned about blog tours by authors.  Whether this is a truly revolutionary concept, I don’t know;  I had not heard of it, but since I am a newbie to the publishing world, everything is brand-spanking new to me.  Either way, the idea of “traveling” to reach the readers (and potential readers) via blogs seems to be an exciting and potentially game-changing marketing approach for writers.

For me, following these blog tours is like doing a ‘beautiful home tour’ in my favorite city.  Someone else has looked through lots of places and picked ones that were unique in style, content and creativity.  The organizer won’t put a house on the tour that is in C.H.A.O.S. Everything will be neat and tidy and I can just look around as long as I want and find new ideas I may want to try at home.  I get to peek inside some very creative, inspirational, thought-provoking little corners.  I could have found these places on my own, but I would have had to crack open some scary doors. (Do you have any idea how much crap is on the internet??)

Speaking of S-C-A-R-Y, one of the blog tours I am following now is J.A. Konrath, who publishes the blog A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, and is the author of the Lt. Jack Daniels thriller novel series.  He is promoting his new horror novel AFRAID, which is frankly too scary for me to read, but that is because I am just a big scaredy-pants.  Even without reading his new book, I can tell you that I have already learned a great deal from his own blog, and have thoroughly enjoyed visiting the ones he is picking for his tour.  Whew!  So many ‘houses’ to see!

I am also following the blog cyber-tour of Christina Katz, author of “Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids” and “Get Known Before the Book Deal“.  Her blog, The Writer Mama Riffs, has also been a wonderful source of industry information (and humor), and the blog stops so far in March have been lovely.  Christina’s tour is planned to celebrate the two year anniversary of the release of “Writer Mama”, and it is inspiring to see what all those other writer mamas are accomplishing every day (plus it is always just fun to peek around in someone else’s house).

In the meantime, Kitty continues to wait her turn for some attention.  The In-Box seems a logical place to pass the time while SOMEONE sits reading blogs all day…

kitty in box

So many great blogs, so little time.  Anyone have another blog tour they recommend?

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

jane, candid

In 2009, I started this blog to share my sometimes thoughtful, sometimes funny, occasionally irreverent thoughts on motherhood, writing for publication and myriad creatures that got along as cats and dogs.

One day, I felt like stepping away from living out loud for awhile. Eh, life happens.

Fast forward five years -- I'll gloss over the details for now -- save to say that lucky for me an unexpected detour has provided some new material.

So here I am, standing at the corner. I've been here before, wondering which way to go. This time I choose living.

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 137 other subscribers

topics to peruse in either the traditional or modern sense. You get to choose.

  • cancer, weirder than I thought
  • Foodies
  • get along like cats and dogs
  • good reads
  • Motherhood
  • Photography
  • seasons
  • something important, I'm sure
  • Writing

Posts from back when

Follow jane, candid on WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • jane, candid
    • Join 43 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • jane, candid
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: