8.07.2006
TRAMBLINGS. . .
GCC author MARTHA O'CONNOR tours this week with the paperback edition of THE BITCH POSSE. You can read an excerpt HERE. In the meantime, O'Connor's response to the following question was very, very interesting. I think I might start asking this of all authors when they stop by the blog for a visit.
1) What is a question that you've never been asked in interviews that you always wanted to answer in regard to your writing?
What is on your desk? My desk is known as Crap City and I would like you to meet a few of its residents. The variety of items on this desk shows that I have an open yet cluttered mind. It also shows that I put my writing first, ha ha.
Scissors
Small tape recorder
Soda glass
ALPHASMART.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS cap
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS
Wireless mouse (no transmitter)
Kids swim team pictures
Cozmanager insulin pump software
Records for family's new dog
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF IRELAND by RA Stewart Macalister (out of print since the 1930s. It was a devil to find)
Electronic labeler
Stationery set
Weight Watchers journal (stop laughing)
Draft of memoir
Bursting file of my son's blood glucose numbers for the past several months
Mailing tape
Recipe for pork chops with Dijon sauce (it was hideous, don't try it)
WORDS TO LIVE BY by EKNATH EASWARAN
Envelope with pledge to JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Fabric for curtains that I will sew someday even though the fabric has been here for close to a year
Notecards for current novel
List of things to do (which does not include clean the desk).
# # # # #
Made a trip to the library this weekend. A pile of books came in all at once. Love when that happens. So excited as a matter of fact, that while the Crown Prince (who will be a Guest Blogger in the next couple weeks) went to see TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY I dragged my books to a nearby restaurant and chilled for two hours. Will Ferrell cracks me up. (Remember the scene in OLD SCHOOL where he backs into the car - ass first - while naked and mutters, "Let's go to KFC."). Anyway, I passed that up to read the jacket copy, the acknowledgement page and the first chapters of the following books. And since my taste is all over the map, I'll give a little sentence as to what attracted me to the book. Sometimes it's the cover, sometimes I'm a fan of the author, and sometimes it's too random to put into words. On to the list...
ONCE UPON A DAY by LISA TUCKER. Opening sentence: "Stephen Spaulding was happy, and you can't say that about most people." (I read Tucker's SHOUT DOWN THE MOON a couple years ago. I enjoyed the book and picked this one up when I saw it on the New Book shelf).
THE STOLEN CHILD by KEITH DONOHUE. Opening sentence: "Don't call me a fairy." (I've read at least ten positive reviews about this book and the premise intrigued me. I love a good fable, or fairy tale, so I'm looking forward to this one).
PEGASUS DESCENDING by JAMES LEE BURKE. (Okay, I paid cash for this one.) Opening sentence: "In the early 1980s, when I was still going steady with Jim Beam straight-up and a beer back, I became a part of an exchange program between NOPD and a training academy for police cadets in Dade County, Florida." (Well, if you been coming to this blog you know James Lee Burke is one of my favorite mystery novelists. I buy anything he writes).
THIS BOOK WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE by A.M. HOMES. Opening sentence: "He stands at the glass looking out." (This book received a lot of mixed-reviews, some were mean as hell but I got my ass whipped my the Washington Post too, so I didn't hold it against Holmes. Besides that, I was creeped out and intrigued by her earlier book, THE END OF ALICE. Also, this is an L.A. book and I've been reading books set in Los Angeles for the past few years).
NIGHT OF THE JAGUAR by MICHAEL GRUBER. Opening sentence: "Jimmy Paz sits up in his bed, folding from the waist like a jackknife with his heart pumping so hard he can almost hear it over the whine of the air-conditioning." (This is the third book in a series that I've enjoyed so far. I'm hoping it holds).
SAVANNAH BREEZE by MARY KAY ANDREWS. Opening sentence: "He was introduced to me as "Reddy" - short for Ryan Edward Millbanks III." (If you want light, breezy, funny and southern - Mary Kay is a safe bet. SAVANNAH BLUES and HISSY FIT are great summer reads).
THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS by NANCY PICKARD. Opening sentence: "Abby Reynolds braked her truck on the icy highway, startled by what she imagined she saw off to the side of the road." (Grabbed this blind off the shelf. Not sure why. Hadn't heard of Pickard, didn't love the cover, but the storyline is right up my alley. Looking forward to this one).
THE FLAMENCO ACADEMY by SARAH BIRD. Opening sentence (from Chapter Two): "It was early summer in Albuquerque, when the city rests between the sandblasting of spring winds and the bludgeoning of serious summer heat to come." (It's set in New Mexico. New Mexico is one of my favorite places. That simple.)
Lastly, what is up with those crying-ass twins on HGTV DESIGN STAR? They cry at the drop of a hat. The show is entertaining but it's no PROJECT RUNWAY. Great episode last week, by the way, but I miss Santino's imitation of Tim Gunn.
Until next time. . .
GCC author MARTHA O'CONNOR tours this week with the paperback edition of THE BITCH POSSE. You can read an excerpt HERE. In the meantime, O'Connor's response to the following question was very, very interesting. I think I might start asking this of all authors when they stop by the blog for a visit.
1) What is a question that you've never been asked in interviews that you always wanted to answer in regard to your writing?
What is on your desk? My desk is known as Crap City and I would like you to meet a few of its residents. The variety of items on this desk shows that I have an open yet cluttered mind. It also shows that I put my writing first, ha ha.
Scissors
Small tape recorder
Soda glass
ALPHASMART.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS cap
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS
Wireless mouse (no transmitter)
Kids swim team pictures
Cozmanager insulin pump software
Records for family's new dog
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF IRELAND by RA Stewart Macalister (out of print since the 1930s. It was a devil to find)
Electronic labeler
Stationery set
Weight Watchers journal (stop laughing)
Draft of memoir
Bursting file of my son's blood glucose numbers for the past several months
Mailing tape
Recipe for pork chops with Dijon sauce (it was hideous, don't try it)
WORDS TO LIVE BY by EKNATH EASWARAN
Envelope with pledge to JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Fabric for curtains that I will sew someday even though the fabric has been here for close to a year
Notecards for current novel
List of things to do (which does not include clean the desk).
# # # # #
Made a trip to the library this weekend. A pile of books came in all at once. Love when that happens. So excited as a matter of fact, that while the Crown Prince (who will be a Guest Blogger in the next couple weeks) went to see TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY I dragged my books to a nearby restaurant and chilled for two hours. Will Ferrell cracks me up. (Remember the scene in OLD SCHOOL where he backs into the car - ass first - while naked and mutters, "Let's go to KFC."). Anyway, I passed that up to read the jacket copy, the acknowledgement page and the first chapters of the following books. And since my taste is all over the map, I'll give a little sentence as to what attracted me to the book. Sometimes it's the cover, sometimes I'm a fan of the author, and sometimes it's too random to put into words. On to the list...
ONCE UPON A DAY by LISA TUCKER. Opening sentence: "Stephen Spaulding was happy, and you can't say that about most people." (I read Tucker's SHOUT DOWN THE MOON a couple years ago. I enjoyed the book and picked this one up when I saw it on the New Book shelf).
THE STOLEN CHILD by KEITH DONOHUE. Opening sentence: "Don't call me a fairy." (I've read at least ten positive reviews about this book and the premise intrigued me. I love a good fable, or fairy tale, so I'm looking forward to this one).
PEGASUS DESCENDING by JAMES LEE BURKE. (Okay, I paid cash for this one.) Opening sentence: "In the early 1980s, when I was still going steady with Jim Beam straight-up and a beer back, I became a part of an exchange program between NOPD and a training academy for police cadets in Dade County, Florida." (Well, if you been coming to this blog you know James Lee Burke is one of my favorite mystery novelists. I buy anything he writes).
THIS BOOK WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE by A.M. HOMES. Opening sentence: "He stands at the glass looking out." (This book received a lot of mixed-reviews, some were mean as hell but I got my ass whipped my the Washington Post too, so I didn't hold it against Holmes. Besides that, I was creeped out and intrigued by her earlier book, THE END OF ALICE. Also, this is an L.A. book and I've been reading books set in Los Angeles for the past few years).
NIGHT OF THE JAGUAR by MICHAEL GRUBER. Opening sentence: "Jimmy Paz sits up in his bed, folding from the waist like a jackknife with his heart pumping so hard he can almost hear it over the whine of the air-conditioning." (This is the third book in a series that I've enjoyed so far. I'm hoping it holds).
SAVANNAH BREEZE by MARY KAY ANDREWS. Opening sentence: "He was introduced to me as "Reddy" - short for Ryan Edward Millbanks III." (If you want light, breezy, funny and southern - Mary Kay is a safe bet. SAVANNAH BLUES and HISSY FIT are great summer reads).
THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS by NANCY PICKARD. Opening sentence: "Abby Reynolds braked her truck on the icy highway, startled by what she imagined she saw off to the side of the road." (Grabbed this blind off the shelf. Not sure why. Hadn't heard of Pickard, didn't love the cover, but the storyline is right up my alley. Looking forward to this one).
THE FLAMENCO ACADEMY by SARAH BIRD. Opening sentence (from Chapter Two): "It was early summer in Albuquerque, when the city rests between the sandblasting of spring winds and the bludgeoning of serious summer heat to come." (It's set in New Mexico. New Mexico is one of my favorite places. That simple.)
Lastly, what is up with those crying-ass twins on HGTV DESIGN STAR? They cry at the drop of a hat. The show is entertaining but it's no PROJECT RUNWAY. Great episode last week, by the way, but I miss Santino's imitation of Tim Gunn.
Until next time. . .
