BOOK GIVEAWAY

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   
   

     

          The Man Who Left
     

     

          by Theresa Weir
     

     
     

         

            Giveaway ends May 25, 2012.
         

         

            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         

     

   

   

   
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EMOTION

This is something we know, but sometimes those things we know become the things we forget because of the too familiar. Like a beautiful view you begin to take for granted. Or the pile of dirty dishes that have been there for a week. You just get used to it, and it becomes normal, and it doesn't register anymore. So sometimes when I'm writing I forget. I forget the very core of what this is about is emotion. Doesn’t matter what you're writing. Fiction. Nonfiction. Suspense. Crime fiction. Fantasy. Romance. We are all looking for that emotional ride. We want our breath to catch. We want our heart to pound.

The best music, the best visual art, the best movies, the best books are, at the very core, about taking the reader on an emotional journey.

 Carry on.  Just put this up as a reminder to myself. 

But…wait.  What about connection?  What about reader connection?  Isn't that at the core of all good writing? That recognition of yourself in a piece of someone's writing?

Yes, it is.  Which is why the shared experience between the writer and reader is so darn complex. 

CRAZY CAT LADY

I've been working on what I call my cat romance, and I think it will be ready in about a month.

A not-so-brief history:

Several years ago I wrote The Orchard and my agent at that time didn’t think it was worth submitting so I decided to put it away and work on a romance since many loyal romance readers had been after me to write another romance. I wasn't sure I had another romance in me, but I came up with this cat concept that I really liked. A trilogy about cats from the same litter, each book to feature one of the cats.  So I pitched the idea to my agent, he liked it, and I wrote a few sample chapters. Then he didn't like it. Ha. So at that point I sadly made the decision to leave my agent of 20 years.  Really, really hated to do that.  Was in no-agent limbo for about a year and a half.  Couldn't get any agents to read The Orchard. One agent finally read a few chapters and wanted me to add a murder and turn it into fiction.  He said it wouldn't sell as a memoir because I wasn't a celebrity, which is kind of true. That relationship lasted a few months.  And he never read the cat story.  At that point, I queried a few agents about the cat trilogy. One lone agent bit and asked for three chapters and a synopsis.

 Her response once she read it: "That was definitely the weirdest thing I've ever read. I'll have to pass."

Me: "I also have a memoir. Would you like to see that?"

"No."

So the first book of the cat trilogy has been languishing on my laptop for years.  This spring I decided to finish it and publish it myself.  I'm almost done with the final polish, will send it to a copyeditor, then bug friends to proof it. Then it will be available on Amazon, and later B&N and iTunes, ebook only. And if people like it I will write the other two books.

The cover is being designed right now, so stay tuned. It's pretty cute. And yeah, this is a light, quirky book about a funky librarian and her cat. And the guy her matchmaking cat brings home to her.

And if you are an editor dying for a cat trilogy, call me. 

HER CIRCLE INTERVIEW

Interviews are such an art.  I love when I'm asked questions that no one has asked me before. Questions that make me think and analyze and speculate. The interview with Her Circle was just such an interview. 
Her Circle is a magazine of women's creative arts and activism. What an honor to be featured there. 


Her Circle Interview

5-2: CRIME POETRY WEEK

April is National Poetry Month, and I'm participating in Thirty Days of Poems, the brainchild of Gerald So and Poetic Justice Press.  In honor of Thirty Days, I'm showcasing  a poem published by Poetic Justice Press. So many good poems to choose from! Here's one I really liked:

Peter Ivey

JENNY BROWN

Who knows about Jenny Brown,
That woman who went missing
On the other side of town,

Walking across Essex Square,
To catch the bus at the deli,
And meet her sister there,

Who knows about Laura Lee,
That lady who went missing
Down by Essex and Eastern Quay,

Whistling her way past the water,
Her arm clutching a gift
To give to her daughter,

Who knows about Heidi Jones,
That girl who disappeared
While on her way back home—

Somebody knows, and somebody lied,
About the underground homicide,
And nobody sees, and nobody knows,
The monster who stalks our lovers so;

Reduced to a few lines on page six,
A girl's shade lingers,
And the clock ticks, and ticks.

Read more about Poetic Justice Press and poems on crime.

My poem, Home (Anne Frasier), was published in The Lineup 3, which is now available on Kindle and Nook. 

NEW RELEASES AND NEW COVERS

What a lovely cover for the paperback  of The Orchard, coming September 4, 2012.

Writes of Spring will be available in a couple of weeks.  All  royalties go to Memorial Blood Centers. Memorial Blood Centers is an independent non-profit that saves lives by supplying blood products and biomedical services. This book was compiled and edited by Gary Shulze and Pat Frovarp, owners of Once Upon a Crime bookstore in Minneapolis.  Published by Nodin Press. If you're in the area, stop by the for the big book launch party April 7, 2012.  My short story, Red Cadillac, is included in the anthology. 

The Man Who Left is now available in digital format through Amazon and B&N. Some people are calling this a prequel to The Orchard, others are calling it a companion. But it can definitely stand alone. Early readers are saying they like it as much or more than The Orchard. 

MAILING LIST

I've gotten so bad about posting to my blog!  I'm going to try to write a few newsletters a year, along with blogging. Couldn't get Mail Chimp to accept my mailing list, so I'm starting over with this newish thing called TinyLetter. Sign up over there:
                                                                    
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