STANDING UP THERE TALKING ABOUT STUFF

FYI: I will be speaking about THE ORCHARD at two places this week, Gethesmane Lutheran Church in Hopkins, MN, on Tuesday, April 16, 7:00, open to the public, and Ridgedale Library in Minnetonka, MN on Thursday, April 18, 7:00. Books can be purchased at both events.

BOOK CLUB EVENT

LIBRARY EVENT 

THE PARTY IS OVER

The party is over, and I'm back to work. It was tough making myself get on a flight that was heading straight into winter.  When I got off the plane in Minneapolis, I thought I'd stepped into a Charles Dickens novel as beaten-down winter people trudged past me in their wool coats, black stocking caps, heavy boots. I expected someone to lift a bowl and beg for food (More, please.) so I could give the poor soul my airline pretzels.

Back to work.

I'm what is now called a hybrid writer, which means I traditionally publish and I self-publish. But what this really means is that I'm working harder than I've ever worked. The self-published books are my bread-and-butter, so I can't slack off in that area.  And man does it take a lot of work to self-publish.  I figure I now spend something like 90% of my time formatting, editing, promoting, advertising, etc, and about 10% writing.   I once saw a one-man band at my uncle's bar. This guy played guitar, drums, harmonica, horn, cymbals, keyboard, and maybe some other stuff. And all of these things were strapped to his body so he could switch from one instrument to the other as he played, and he often played two or three at a time.  I feel like that guy.

And somewhere in here I have to find time to write, so I've actually blocked out all of May to work on nothing but the Play Dead sequel, due to publishing house September 1.  And darn, there's the cat book. I hope to pick it up again before the year is over, because a lot of people are asking about the second book, Geek with the Cat Tattoo. I've been so happy with the response to the first book. Most of my books are dark, and it's been so rewarding to have people tell me Girl with the Cat Tattoo made them happy and made them laugh.

On the traditional side: This week and next I have several book events for The Orchard. These will probably be my last appearances for The Orchard, most dates set up almost a year ago.  We set up the April dates because it's fairly safe to think roads will be okay. Ha!  Endless winter.  I think we are paying for last year, where I recall sitting outside drinking beer in March.

Now I'm off to work on my event presentations.

Last day of beautiful trip

Heading back to winter, but here are some photos from our last day in Georgia. I'm really happy with the picture I took of my daughter on top of the St. Simons Lighthouse. It was a total
accident, but sometimes the accidents are best. Also included: lighthouse steps and a live oak tree.

RESEARCH

Snow and ice and bone-chilling rain in Minnesota and Wisconsin this week while I'm in Georgia visiting friends and doing research for the Play Dead sequel due to the publisher September 1. Yesterday was a boat trip to Daufuskie Island, South Carolina (The Water is Wide, Pat Conroy).

NOW AVAILABLE IN MORE JOINTS

For those interested in reading it on their Nook, iPad, or other devices, The Girl with the Cat Tattoo is now available through iTunes, B&N, Kobo, and Amazon.

Links:

iTunes

B&N

Amazon

Kobo 

Praise for The Girl with the Cat Tattoo:

DABWAHA (Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hella Good Authors) 2013 Finalist!!!

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Dear Author Recommended Read:
"It isn't until the end that I realize how powerful the story I've just read is, and how much it has affected me. And that's when I know that if Theresa Weir decides to write her next book from the POV of a not-very-bright goldfish who lives in a studio apartment in Omaha, I'll preorder it as soon as they let me." Grade: A- ~Sunita, Dear Author

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Romance Around the Corner:

5 stars: "One of the best stories I've read this year." 

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Wonk-O-Mance: Certified Wonktastical! "It's just enough heart-wrenching. Very sweet, emotional, with no melodrama. Okay, there were some intentionally melodramatic parts. But the silly parts were silly and the sweet parts were sweet."

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Dear Author Top Reads of 2012

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For cat lovers everywhere, this sweet, quirky, and delightful romance is about a young woman and her matchmaking cat.

A little bit of mystery, a whole lot of whimsy. 

Brief synopsis:

When a matchmaking cat takes it upon himself to find his young mistress a new mate, he accidentally stirs up memories better left forgotten.
Melody's husband was murdered by what seemed a random act of violence. Two years later, the killer hasn't been caught, and Melody is coping in unhealthy ways. During the day she's a mild-mannered children's librarian, but at night she's a party girl, hanging out in bars, drinking with new friends, and often bringing home strange men. Although acquaintances have tried to keep in touch, Melody has cut herself off from most of the people in her old life. Max, her eccentric cat, doesn't approve of her new friends, he's tired of the parade of losers, and he finally takes it upon himself to find Melody a new man.

This book is 30,000 words, which equates to about 150 print pages.

Enlightened and The Walking Dead

On the surface, my two favorite TV shows don't seem to have much in common.

Enlightened and The Walking Dead.

Enlightened has been cancelled, which I guess is why I'm writing this. I'm really bummed, and I wish more people had tuned in. I almost didn't tune in, because the title didn't appeal to me. I thought it was going to be some sappier version of Touched by an Angel, so I went almost the whole first season without watching. One  night when I could find nothing on, I stumbled across E and was amazed by the honesty, the directing, the acting, and the writing—the voiceover being some of the best writing I've run into in a long time.  And I discovered that Mike White was the genius behind the show, and then it all made sense. So I started telling people about E, and their reaction was the same as mine… Didn't think it was anything they'd like. So yeah, I think the title was…while appropriate, also misleading. I also think HBO did a poor job of advertising. They didn't see to know how to portray such a quiet, internal gem.

It took me longer to get into The Walking Dead.  All the silly blood and gore mislead me for a while, and it took some time for me to recognize that this show is really well-done, and the character development is pretty damn awesome.  The best horror is a commentary on society

 and The Walking Dead does that very well.  And both shows deal with redemption and strength-of-character.

I'm sorry Enlightened will be no more, and my heart goes out to everyone who worked so hard to create such a beautiful piece of art.

 This is what I think they should do. I think a mashup of The Walking Dead and Enlightened would make for a delightful baby. The characters from The Walking Dead end up at Abaddonn. Or if that seems too hard, just put some zombies in Enlightened. Chop off some zombie heads, stomp some zombie heads, then blow us away with a philosophical voiceover that shines a light on the very core of who we are, or at least who we'd like to be.

DABWAHA

You don't know how many times I've started a post about DABWAHA, but I can't figure out where to begin because it's so hard to explain.  It's a March Madness tournament for books, and The Girl with the Cat Tattoo was one of the 64 books chosen to compete. My cat book won the first bracket, but it's struggling in the second round so I'm begging for votes.  I hear that anything is acceptable in this tournament. Writers bribe and trash talk and make videos.  My online friend and fellow writer explains it a million times better in her blog post:

Ruthie Knox

It's hilarious, so be sure to check it out.

The thing is... I'm up against Ruthie today, and I don't think Cat Tattoo has a prayer, but I'm begging for votes.

Voting ends at noon Central Time today, Saturday.

You don't have to register to vote. Just pop over and hit the vote button.

VOTE HERE

I told myself I wouldn't beg for votes, but it's close, Ruthie is winning, and I'm on my knees.