(Pomona Public Library)


WRITING STUFF: SAY THANK YOU! AND SUPPORT YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARIES

My friend SUE ANN JAFFARIAN just had her most recent book, The Curse of the Holy Pail, reviewed in Kirkus. This is cause for celebration, as hundreds of thousands of Acquisitions Librarians in the US read Kirkus and Library Journal when deciding what to buy for their public – and private or school – libraries. Sue Ann's first book, Too Big To Miss, also features plus-sized sleuth Odelia Grey and features my name in the Acknowledgements, something I didn't know until I read the book.

Which brings me to: Always Say Thank You. When you write a book, there's always someone you can thank, be it for ideas and encouragement, cake and hot soup, a little peace and quiet, emotional support, new ink for the printer, or the day job that feeds you and your dog while you type away in the evenings. Maybe Aunt Letitia gave you a pen or a book for your tenth birthday. Maybe your Significant Other gave you a hug and told you how proud he/she was of you. Maybe that gorgeous detective down at the local cop shop gave you some sound advice and let you look at a real police station up close from the visitor's side of the counter. There's always someone you can thank.

Do it – it doesn't cost you, your agent or your publisher to put in a Thank You to everyone who helped make your book a reality. And make sure it's something they'd be proud to have their name in. (It goes without saying – or maybe not – to never badmouth anyone in the Acknowledgements, no matter how sleazy or despicable. You can always kill off characters you don't like in works of fiction. I've murdered dozens.)

Support Your Public Libraries. It's where people learn to appreciate the written word. It's where your reading public finds you and everyone else. And sales of your book to public libraries can mean the difference between a keepsake edition of a few hundred and a third printing with a six-figure royalty. Be nice to librarians and library workers and you might find it's also a fine place to give a talk and promote your latest opus.

I'll be at the Cerritos Public Library next Tuesday evening at 7pm with a bunch of my fellow authors from LAndmarked for Murder discussing – what else – murder in Los Angeles!

LAndmarked for Murder
Featuring:
G.B.Pool, A.H.Ream, Jinx Beers, Darrell James, Michael Mallory,
Paul D. Marks, Gay Degani, Arthur Coburn, Kate Thornton,
Pamela Samuels-Young

Date: December 5
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Place: Cerritos Library, 18025 Bloomfield Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703
Phone number: Phone: (562) 916-1340.

Hope to see you there!


THREE BEAUTIFUL THINGS

The naked and smooth skin of the eucalyptus trees along the freeway. I roll down my window and can smell their sweet, spicy scent.

All three cats on the porch last night. It is colder out now, and even the picky one tolerates the warmth of the others.

A nice cup of hot tea this morning – ginger peach. The peachy smell is a reminder of the summer past and the hot liquid makes my slightly scratchy throat feel as smooth as a eucalyptus branch.