tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944025607884101112024-03-13T14:52:17.124-07:00JennyRedbugWords and pictures about writing, books, and life aboard a sailboat.Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-73592370850236207992024-01-01T09:32:00.000-08:002024-01-01T09:32:44.654-08:00Happy New Year—See you on Substack!<p> Here is the link to my Substack newsletter and site, <a href="https://honeymoonatsea.substack.com/" target="_blank">Honeymoon at Sea</a>, where you can read all the archived posts from this website, plus see new posts each week. </p><p>It is free to subscribe, so I hope you will join me there, so I can welcome you aboard on this new voyage!</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-60118286973371613312023-11-20T12:49:00.000-08:002023-11-20T12:50:18.584-08:00SO Much to be Thankful For—Especially You!<p> This has been a wild and wonderful year, and it is becoming more and more clear to me each day how much I owe to all of my followers and friends—not in that order!</p><p>I hope you will join me over at my <a href=" https://honeymoonatsea.substack.com/" target="_blank">Honeymoon at Sea Substack</a> site and subscribe to my free newsletter so we can continue the conversation we began in 2010 when this eclectic monthly blog of mine began. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbhiwYq2kBnBtj3VEESMMdvaZQ54xJpgcoWXvsdZJmcySi4e_-udfq6U3SyOfK9zEql5FqaKpdOL1CwWnK-Ff-5GLKRQtuG1wrzCzNbKgoIbwhyphenhyphenMTQEFAqZlz3RZ7swNG7rTFQN6d_bse_VlhedM_SFZCnddmG7MA4ojZy_pN31L3gFVy2DHGXtS0vunS/s1284/Landscape%20image%20Final%20cover%20HaS.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="1284" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbhiwYq2kBnBtj3VEESMMdvaZQ54xJpgcoWXvsdZJmcySi4e_-udfq6U3SyOfK9zEql5FqaKpdOL1CwWnK-Ff-5GLKRQtuG1wrzCzNbKgoIbwhyphenhyphenMTQEFAqZlz3RZ7swNG7rTFQN6d_bse_VlhedM_SFZCnddmG7MA4ojZy_pN31L3gFVy2DHGXtS0vunS/s320/Landscape%20image%20Final%20cover%20HaS.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I hate to have this site simply forward to my Substack, as this site has such history for me, not to mention being a quick way to get in touch with me and learn more about me, my work, and my editing clients.</p><p>So, for now, I will keep them both alive and kicking, and try to remember to come on once in a while and say hi to the JennyRedbug faithful, and of course, say thank you for coming along with me on this wonderful journey of life, books, and writing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEp80R8FovJqD_D_SibXW3kDX2W6u2kU384JdZ0jP1AacXPTKmvY70asuzULXafRPmUYi5CU640H3zKbj3udiIaBG9TUOV01gYJP74rSAPV89Nz-Gqkt202AmNi8e3GtDzf8-DGh6CpTTA-F6vP3QRTRtQpSmTiJLGyASIZQmQjjailXOlB29lCVCV8pN/s1369/HaS%20Final%20cover%20Aug%2015,%202023%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEp80R8FovJqD_D_SibXW3kDX2W6u2kU384JdZ0jP1AacXPTKmvY70asuzULXafRPmUYi5CU640H3zKbj3udiIaBG9TUOV01gYJP74rSAPV89Nz-Gqkt202AmNi8e3GtDzf8-DGh6CpTTA-F6vP3QRTRtQpSmTiJLGyASIZQmQjjailXOlB29lCVCV8pN/s320/HaS%20Final%20cover%20Aug%2015,%202023%202.jpeg" width="210" /></a></div><p>If you haven't already seen the excellent reviews that my memoir is getting, please jump over to the book's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Honeymoon-Sea-Jennifer-Silva-Redmond/dp/1738945200/ref=sr_1_1?crid=14WFGGNT0RV5K&keywords=honeymoon+at+sea+by+redmond&qid=1700513158&sprefix=honeymoon+at+sea%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon page here</a> and check them out. My friends all have a way with words, so these 5-star reviews read like poetry.</p><p>Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday season and that we get a chance to meet up in person very soon in the new year. I'll be posting my upcoming events on my Substack page as well as here, as we get closer to the start of my Southern California Book Tour.</p><p>hasta pronto!</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-66595180372668069772023-09-25T09:11:00.003-07:002023-09-25T09:14:41.506-07:00Honeymoon at Sea is Launched; the Reviews are Starting to Come in<p>Hola and Ahoy! </p><p>My memoir <i>Honeymoon at Sea: How I Found Myself Living on a Small Boat</i> is out from Re:books of Toronto and there's plenty of buzz.</p><p> Check out <a href="https://medium.com/independent-book-reviews/a-review-of-honeymoon-at-sea-dcdc47829a33" target="_blank">this excellent review</a> written by Joel Dennstedt on the Medium platform. </p><p>There are also plenty of editorial reviews on the book's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Honeymoon-Sea-Jennifer-Silva-Redmond/dp/1738945200/ref=sr_1_1?crid=14BFE0168EPV8&keywords=honeymoon+at+sea+by+redmond&qid=1695657931&sprefix=%2Caps%2C896&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon page</a> and some reader reviews are coming in, too. </p><p>Follow my book marketing journey, including links to the podcasts and interviews I have done so far on my Substack page <a href="https://honeymoonatsea.substack.com/" target="_blank">Honeymoon at Sea</a>—it is free to join!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK11uuAu6tVuh-mO5h3Ct2mGFS6jK1_YpDoBYCpFjLMbDwEZgvc0gd18fwqxSCl0vLftYe4RnLptRql8AiucKeYqXCbN7u24o6NkLujG6QTSBPRQCuRUoUt6Zle4339B2RIRtnJM9slb9VAoYmthIsmD4Qr8O9X3o6M_p5Z9fkCJulp7U58DXCzpVzi_Te/s1369/HaS%20Final%20cover%20Aug%2015,%202023%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK11uuAu6tVuh-mO5h3Ct2mGFS6jK1_YpDoBYCpFjLMbDwEZgvc0gd18fwqxSCl0vLftYe4RnLptRql8AiucKeYqXCbN7u24o6NkLujG6QTSBPRQCuRUoUt6Zle4339B2RIRtnJM9slb9VAoYmthIsmD4Qr8O9X3o6M_p5Z9fkCJulp7U58DXCzpVzi_Te/w263-h400/HaS%20Final%20cover%20Aug%2015,%202023%202.jpeg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><p>I hope to see you <a href="https://honeymoonatsea.substack.com/" target="_blank">on my Substack page </a>or meet you at a conference or a book talk in the near future.</p><p>hasta pronto!</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-48444543471795766862023-07-15T08:17:00.000-07:002023-07-15T08:17:07.500-07:00The Big Cover Reveal Post is Here!<p><span style="background-color: #dff2ff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">Click this link to visit my new Substack newsletter site, </span><a href="https://honeymoonatsea.substack.com/" style="background-color: #dff2ff; color: #5593aa; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Honeymoon at Sea</a><span style="background-color: #dff2ff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;">, where you can see the full book cover, read all the archived posts from this website, plus see new posts each week. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTZuMdAhzdytOVu5xhvlq2O4nY_XYTM46XJWqGUrzUJzG1bi5amj4O8dyf0qCZOxt6rN9b3x-ZSuVF4WtrdtCOm6GcXkXgPdjmWHYMNnHG0oL6cp5XJ_wmUoiQCBmLwtz7n1LOyuSXdIaTuof8CLUsAbPjhiBAHq2CK3lovQ6xhmHbDYy7sH-YwOqrYwl7/s1284/Landscape%20image%20Final%20cover%20HaS.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="1284" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTZuMdAhzdytOVu5xhvlq2O4nY_XYTM46XJWqGUrzUJzG1bi5amj4O8dyf0qCZOxt6rN9b3x-ZSuVF4WtrdtCOm6GcXkXgPdjmWHYMNnHG0oL6cp5XJ_wmUoiQCBmLwtz7n1LOyuSXdIaTuof8CLUsAbPjhiBAHq2CK3lovQ6xhmHbDYy7sH-YwOqrYwl7/s320/Landscape%20image%20Final%20cover%20HaS.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: #dff2ff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><p></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-20214677721440444822023-06-30T11:51:00.004-07:002024-01-01T09:33:03.043-08:00I've moved to Substack, please join me there!<p>Here is the link to my Substack newsletter and site, <a href="https://honeymoonatsea.substack.com/" target="_blank">Honeymoon at Sea</a>, where you can read all the archived posts from this website, plus see new posts each week. </p><p>It is free to subscribe, so I hope you will join me there, so I can welcome you aboard on this new voyage!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaCnC_WPAyEIkZNZb-NJapG7iC6S7Bhop33pZ5Zz8G-QGsnqCKSNmCEwwAAiXdgYYh0Xt6P616rNliyex85LiBgIw7HUc5Xd9JGsaovPDJAxQKlRXNGJfJPmj3-Bs1j3NUZyWe1eoZncJI3LQFFnk6-ooi4Dt7bAdCYl-r1-dBTxtAhFMLJT9_a8zUo5l/s1802/Screenshot%202023-06-30%20at%2011.50.15%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1294" data-original-width="1802" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaCnC_WPAyEIkZNZb-NJapG7iC6S7Bhop33pZ5Zz8G-QGsnqCKSNmCEwwAAiXdgYYh0Xt6P616rNliyex85LiBgIw7HUc5Xd9JGsaovPDJAxQKlRXNGJfJPmj3-Bs1j3NUZyWe1eoZncJI3LQFFnk6-ooi4Dt7bAdCYl-r1-dBTxtAhFMLJT9_a8zUo5l/s320/Screenshot%202023-06-30%20at%2011.50.15%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-39051094423608688542023-06-18T07:15:00.000-07:002023-06-18T07:15:18.366-07:00What We All Lose When We Ban Books<p> Recently, I was writing the Acknowledgements for my upcoming memoir, <i>Honeymoon at Sea: How I Found Myself Living on a Small Boat. </i>Before I got into<i> </i>the myriad people and groups who helped me, I wrote this: "<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">My first and last gratitude is to my parents, who taught me to love reading and writing. They read a lot. They read widely. Most important, they </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">never forbid us to read any book</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">." I wasn't expecting that last sentence when I started typing. Sometimes, we don't actually know how important something is to us, until we start writing about it. </span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In the last few years, I've been appalled to see how large swaths of our country have been slipping backwards in terms of human rights, by limiting the personal rights and freedoms of certain citizens. One way this is happening is through banning books. Let's face it, banning books is basically banning <i>thought</i>. As someone wisely said, "</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">If you're afraid that books might change someone's thinking, you're not afraid of books, you're afraid of thinking." </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWILoVZzR7PjLkIotwwnqgBXFEOHM1SZ5S9zZ1W7ykXAsbxXG1ELwq3BBO_EWs66bQktAYu1FH6BogdYw2laZeepjQfyyK0ajdQc4pcKPwqFE7m_nj5HB_oNq_x_hkZhfkVrrWfIN36j1gZ3j7tmRla_xK_eOCxdhYhHlVEy_l4eU0bhIa0tDR7LwLtg/s1920/Book-Ban-Slide-Lit-Awards-2022-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWILoVZzR7PjLkIotwwnqgBXFEOHM1SZ5S9zZ1W7ykXAsbxXG1ELwq3BBO_EWs66bQktAYu1FH6BogdYw2laZeepjQfyyK0ajdQc4pcKPwqFE7m_nj5HB_oNq_x_hkZhfkVrrWfIN36j1gZ3j7tmRla_xK_eOCxdhYhHlVEy_l4eU0bhIa0tDR7LwLtg/w400-h225/Book-Ban-Slide-Lit-Awards-2022-2.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"> Looking back, I can't imagine my childhood without books. Certain books I read helped me to deal with issues in my own life, like Judy Blume's <i>Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. </i>I would have hated to have that book be unavailable, deemed too <i>adult</i> for my ten-year-old self. Or Blume's book <i>Forever</i>, for that matter, which I read a few years later. I've always believed that shielding children from reading books on controversial subjects is like bleeping out "bad" words; it makes no sense, since kids who already know the word won't be harmed by hearing it, and neither will those youngsters who don't know the word—though it might trouble the parent who has to deal with the question of what <i>that word</i> means, when they are asked. And of course, <i>troubled</i> parents are the people who most often start these book bans, often backing up their fears with religion.<br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"> I was so moved by reading the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-formerly-published-as-GEORGE/dp/1338843419" target="_blank"><i>Melissa</i> </a>(previously published as <i>George</i>), and I kept thinking, as I read it, of the immense good it could do to some scared, lonely child who read it and figured out why they were always so confused and unsure about their gender. I cannot imagine that any book could <i>make</i> someone confused and unsure about their gender, but reading about the subject might engender some empathy for other people, or it might raise questions about gender, and aren't caring and curiosity still considered good things?<br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"><span> The strange thing about all the fear people have about everything from "dirty" books to the supposed "grooming" and "sexualization" of children is that untold generations of people have grown up surrounded by nothing but heterosexual role models and a significant percentage of those generations of people have grown up to realize (and some have realized long before they were grown) that they were different, that their life was going to diverge from the lives of their parents and their peers. No one knows why, but what does that matter? It is clear that, over many many years, most LGBTQIA+ people were raised by people who were heterosexual, or at least behaved as if they were.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"> Naturally, not all book banning has to do with sex. Lately, books have also been challenged due to the inclusion of what some people call "woke ideology." Often this means simply that the subject of the book —perhaps an unvarnished aspect of actual history, such as slavery and genocide in America—makes an adult uncomfortable, or guilty, and they want to spare their child the same feelings. But isn't the ability to experience the trials and woes of someone who is not like you one of the wonders of reading? I remember crying as I read<i> The Diary of Anne Frank</i>, and I wouldn't want to have grown up without that experience. I also cried when I read <i>Sounder</i> as a child, and, in my teens, when I read <i>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings </i>and<i> Roots</i>.<br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"> How will we move forward as a society if we are unwilling to accept that <i>all</i> of our history, good, awful, and tragic, was a part of what led us to the present day? If being <i>awakened</i> to that is considered a bad thing, then what are we, as a people, to celebrate—staying asleep under a comforting blanket of ignorance? That is not a society that I want to be a part of, and I am willing to fight to keep future generations from growing up uneducated, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">unconscious,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;"> and unaware. I hope you will join me.<br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;">One way we can fight back is by joining groups who are actively resisting censorship and book bans. One of those groups is <a href="https://pen.org/fightbookbanswpen/?utm_source=google_cpc&utm_medium=ad_grant&utm_campaign=donate&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1rqkBhCTARIsAAHz7K2lkr6vvIQZq47ChWAj9YVXG_ok6O7i-v0TVrUiRKN74OYjz9vj_2caAtw2EALw_wcB" target="_blank">Pen America</a>, others are <a href="https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/" target="_blank">Unite Against Book Bans</a> and <a href="https://www.everylibrary.org/bannedhelp?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1rqkBhCTARIsAAHz7K3klLMUHjKaa1Pt5fh9LZ2sYFxMNG1PzlNrWdEpXNaAnE_KWOECmbsaAqAfEALw_wcB" target="_blank">EveryLibrary</a>. There are many others, both local and national; please search out a group in your community and support them in whatever ways you can. I will be grateful, and so will future readers.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;">I'll be posting more about my book's upcoming publication, along with a couple more book reviews, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">very soon</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;">. Hope your summer is going swimmingly.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit;">Hasta pronto!</span></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-40146866055670282572023-05-10T13:54:00.003-07:002023-05-10T13:55:20.825-07:00The Perfect Summer (Beach-and-Poolside) Read: "Most Hated" by Kara Alloway<p><span style="font-family: arial;">For those of you who want to reconsider what a "summer read" really is, and what it might also be or become in our changing times, check out this great <a href="https://lithub.com/what-lies-behind-the-postcard-jasmin-iolani-hakes-on-the-new-meaning-of-summer-reading/?fbclid=IwAR1L9UOzULf2OtxLatJPYNxslxoGP_tZtVsWpzB_kpwRCrSla2oXJHG0E8U" target="_blank">LitHub article</a> by my friend and client Jasmin Iolani Hakes, author of the debut novel <i>Hula</i>. You know from my last post here that I am a big fan of <i>Hula;</i> I highly recommend the article, which really resonated with me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For those of you who just want me to recommend a fun, light, catty summer book for reading by the pool or ocean (or lounging by the fire, if you're in New Zealand or Australia), you are in luck, since the debut novel by Kara Alloway, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Most-Hated-novel-Alloway-Kara-ebook/dp/B0BX3N3BCN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1683749048&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Most Hated</i> </a>will fit the bill perfectly. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Alloway, the self proclaimed "</span><strike style="font-family: arial;">villain</strike><span style="font-family: arial;"> protagonist of the Real Housewives of Toronto" is also a former fashion and beauty editor, television and radio host, and most important in the context of </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Most Hated</i><span style="font-family: arial;">, a reality TV show producer. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3hPUWdaaM_p4uhDr0h1c8Vz6mcNinUlDVcE8bEqHh9HMzm8CMM38QvMJhwVq9SOnF0IoHvNTyf5WSOtdQNxogAMn_2c2vY_vq9dw6e4wej3eyuam7TEVg9xDYnYs2UZ6cIVV8ZgzBA_VJNO0rlNf01z_EASA8brfNPrUr_G9gDpJ9xLwnwYP1ZZcEg/s500/Most%20Hated.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3hPUWdaaM_p4uhDr0h1c8Vz6mcNinUlDVcE8bEqHh9HMzm8CMM38QvMJhwVq9SOnF0IoHvNTyf5WSOtdQNxogAMn_2c2vY_vq9dw6e4wej3eyuam7TEVg9xDYnYs2UZ6cIVV8ZgzBA_VJNO0rlNf01z_EASA8brfNPrUr_G9gDpJ9xLwnwYP1ZZcEg/w251-h400/Most%20Hated.jpeg" width="251" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Clearly, the woman knows her stuff. The book has all the drama—and melodrama—of a reality TV show, but with plenty of insight into what makes someone choose to air their dirty laundry (and clean lingerie!) on air for the whole world to dissect their actions and reactions. So, if you like your beach books to be full of intrigue, and to keep you guessing until the last few pages, pre-order <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Most-Hated-novel-Alloway-Kara-ebook/dp/B0BX3N3BCN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1683749048&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Most Hated</i> </a> right now; it </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">hits the streets May 30.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">I have to add that this fast and funny read is as timely and perfect for the zeitgeist as some much more serious (and truly boring) books out there. The moment we are in might just be the perfect time to examine our society's obsession with not just reality TV and influencers, but the pursuit of perfection </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">in our bodies and in life</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">, as it is viewed/judged by an audience. And the price we all risk paying, as far as our mental and physical health.</span></p></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial;">In case you wonder what else I've been up to, when I am not reading books for review, it is quite a lot, which is why you didn't see a post in April (was there an April this year?). This soon-to-be published author has been hard at work with Deanna, my editor—who I thankfully respect and admire—doing the final content edits and rewrites to my memoir, currently titled <i>Honeymoon at Sea: How I Found Myself on a Small Sailboat</i> (get the double entendre?). </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial;">The manuscript is going off to the copyeditor this week to correct all the little errors my final content corrections have no doubt introduced, and also has been sent to my first pre-production reviewers. Now I wait...for the next pass, for some feedback, and hopefully for some positive blurbs for the book cover. Waiting is something I am very good at. NOT!</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial;">Stay tuned for more on my book's progress, and perhaps next time a blurb or two. And then there's the fun of seeing the book cover. Needless to say, I'm very proud and excited, and I h</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial;">ope you'll be here with me for all of it.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial;">Hasta pronto!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>In the interests of full disclosure, </i>Most Hated<i> is the next book coming out from my fabulous publisher </i></span><b style="color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://rebooks.ca/" target="_blank">re:books</a></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">, a woman-owned small press based in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Toronto, Canada</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">. Re:books is the brain child of Rebecca Eckler, a prolific author who has a great sense of humor, which is one of my prerequisites for any team I join, in any pursuit. She's also a dynamic book coach, so for those of you who need an extra push to help you get that darn book out there, check the link on the </span><b style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://rebooks.ca/" style="color: #0f1111;" target="_blank">re:books</a> </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">home page.</span></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-80466805111200879192023-03-09T15:13:00.007-08:002023-03-09T15:32:47.751-08:00Two Book Reviews and a Bit More News from Me<p><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Years ago, at SCWC, I met agent Jennifer Herrera and gave her some very positive feedback about her writing. We definitely clicked and have remained friends since then, and the main reason I remember about the feedback I gave her is because she told me recently. She credits me as being one of the first professionals to give her encouragement as a writer. All I can say is that was very perceptive of me!</span></p><p><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her book<i> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Jennifer-Herrera/dp/0593540212" target="_blank">The Hunter</a> </i></span><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">came out in January, </span><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">and it is a absolute winner. It grabbed me on page one and never let my interest flag to the very end. And the book's main character proved a point I made recently on this blog about contradictory characters. I didn't use the title when I posted some of these comments before, as I didn't yet have a link to the book to share; now my review is here in its entirety.</span></p><p><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reading about a detective who wants to solve a crime but also understands that the person she is interviewing has a deep need to keep secrets—a need the detective shares—means I am hooked. If this same detective considers fidelity to her husband to be the most important promise she has made in her life, but she finds herself attracted to another man, almost against her will, then you will keep turning pages, even late into the night. </span></p><p><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The author skillfully weaves place and plot, along with the above contradictions, in a way that feels real and grounded. The small town in this book came alive through its inhabitant's words and actions in a way that Stephan King's small towns do. The book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, and in places it actually scared me, without ever being exploitative or gruesome.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmkW9yTyTVui_hw9rJ7c70b1DnlvoNMIS7B-iajfkb9zacs5L-0qIuoPAT27FbZYAr-RzDlb5q74SWhFyo6pkajeK0xAMcSMdAy_crWpDvO4_oP0iDbfZH9zUIj2Bc-sz_YVY64o5XhHM0l9jtwpSN4unpLFMFJrgjeL7hiGnZ06IDsLwDIxX97jYCQ/s346/the%20hunter.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="230" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmkW9yTyTVui_hw9rJ7c70b1DnlvoNMIS7B-iajfkb9zacs5L-0qIuoPAT27FbZYAr-RzDlb5q74SWhFyo6pkajeK0xAMcSMdAy_crWpDvO4_oP0iDbfZH9zUIj2Bc-sz_YVY64o5XhHM0l9jtwpSN4unpLFMFJrgjeL7hiGnZ06IDsLwDIxX97jYCQ/s320/the%20hunter.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBaHN3Fab4qIFW0UjrQZ8u7-PkWbiwang7Lh4_P18v-iB-oYP4DvhPS9BtnktNdTH2Dbn9MaYNuQYgjW1pA747tknkE7vrc3ypUnfKj16-zleFTH3VWnDH2cZfJ9XVFOnRrrQirJzJ9QKJVXfwZSj-k3-yBWSh352gIyd8pCD7g7zzcTX0nG7NaYOnGA/s499/Hula%20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBaHN3Fab4qIFW0UjrQZ8u7-PkWbiwang7Lh4_P18v-iB-oYP4DvhPS9BtnktNdTH2Dbn9MaYNuQYgjW1pA747tknkE7vrc3ypUnfKj16-zleFTH3VWnDH2cZfJ9XVFOnRrrQirJzJ9QKJVXfwZSj-k3-yBWSh352gIyd8pCD7g7zzcTX0nG7NaYOnGA/w212-h320/Hula%20.jpg" width="212" /></a><p></p><p><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another great read that you can pre-order here is </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hula-Novel-Jasmin-Iolani-Hakes/dp/0063276984" style="font-family: Raleway-Regular, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Hula</a><span face="Raleway-Regular, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Jasmine Iolani Hakes, who I also "discovered" at SCWC. And yes, I meant discovered to be tongue-in-cheek since she didn't need me to point out or validate her talent. Anyway, I just read an advance digital review copy from Net Galley, and agreed to review the book, but just so you know, I would definitely have reviewed it anyway.</span></p><p><span face="lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;">Brilliant, captivating, immersive and illuminating, Hula is the novel we have all been waiting for about Hawai'i, whether we knew it or not. Members of my haole family spent many years living on the islands, so I knew a little about the history and culture. Most of what I thought I knew was way more fictional than this steeped-in-history novel about a matriarchal family based in Hilo.</span></p><p><span face="lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;">Weaving her plot together with myths, stories, and recent history, the author gave me a comprehensive education but it never felt like homework because I cared so much about these women. I cannot recommended this book highly enough. Just jump in, the water's fine.</span></p><p><span face="lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;">You can <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hula-Novel-Jasmin-Iolani-Hakes/dp/0063276984" target="_blank">preorder Hula now</a> on Amazon, and buy <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Jennifer-Herrera/dp/0593540212" target="_blank">The Hunter</a> anywhere fine books are sold.</span></p><p><span face="lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;">As to my own news, I've signed a contract to publish my memoir of the first year Russel and I spent in Baja on our little sailboat, <i>Honeymoon at Sea. </i></span><span face="lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;">More on that, including a pub date, </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">very soon</i><span face="lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;">.</span></p><p><span face="lato, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14px;">hasta pronto!</span></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-50725190077978487562023-02-09T13:15:00.008-08:002023-02-09T13:17:52.461-08:00It's Almost Conference Time—and Almost Time for Some Big News!<p><br /></p><div class="post-header" style="background-color: #dff2ff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1738942761974959712" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: #dff2ff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The <a href="https://writersconference.com/sd/" style="color: #5593aa; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="s1" style="color: #45819a;">Southern California Writers Conference</span></a> begins in San Diego on Friday, Feb 17. I love this conference and always look forward to it with "anticipatory glee" as Russel would say, and that is even more true this time. I am anxious to be with my tribe as as I celebrate a big milestone in my life—I have big news which I will be sharing very soon, but not today. Sorry to tease but I have a very good (legal) reason not to share too soon...I can give you a big hint, though, and say that I am waiting to have a contract in my hand before I give you all any more info.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I am also excited to teach a new workshop on spotting and eliminating sexist and racist writing, and my new favorite 3-part workshop on on writing compelling nonfiction. In fact, this year's conference is going to be full of new workshops, from our amazing industry leaders. And we are going to be back at the Marriott Mission Valley which was so nice last year and will no doubt be again. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I am super busy with all of my advance submissions, plus the rest of my writing life (more on that soon as I said before!). So, I hope you'll pardon me if I repeat something I feel quite strongly about...</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Here are my top reasons to attend SCWC:</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">1. To find your “tribe.” This is the key way in which this conference changed my writing life—we all need people in our life that "get" us and our writing...You will have plenty of opportunities to find those folks who resonate with you, and vice-versa, at SCWC.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">2. To meet industry professionals. Where else can you chat with agents and editors and successful authors in an informal setting like after workshop and panel discussions, small read-and-critique groups, plus meeting over coffee or drinks? At too many conferences all the pros and workshop leaders hang out together and you never actually meet anyone except other first-timers.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">3. To get eyes on your work. Your manuscript isn’t done just because you are tired of working on it. Whether you take pages to read and critique meetings or go to late night “rogues” (or early ones like the one at 7am on Sunday) you'll learn what works—and what doesn't.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">4. To learn more about craft and story in hands-on workshops like my new classes, and to learn what's new in the industry. From workshops on craft and creation, to marketing, & promotion for your published book—all from great speakers who have a wealth of experience to share with you.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">5. Because it's so dang fun! We all need to get out and meet other writers and socialize once in a while. And who doesn't want to hang out with a talented, inspiring, upbeat group of creative souls? So, show <i>yourself some love </i>and take yourself to SCWC—your work is worth it and so are you!</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Don’t wait to register, though you can do it as late as Friday; I hope to see you there next week—hasta pronto!</p></div>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-64608353273150793332022-12-03T15:21:00.001-08:002022-12-03T15:21:38.472-08:00My One Book Recommendation for the Year: "Cradles of the Reich"<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I like to do a wrap-up of my "Top 5" books each year, but this year I struggled to find enough books I was passionate about. I kept making lists and deleting them, then starting over—
only one book kept making the list, and I never got to five. So I am going to devote this
final blog post of 2022 to the one novel that I read this year that I think you (all of you!)
really should read.</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section" style="background-color: rgb(100.000000%, 100.000000%, 100.000000%);"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p><span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">As usual, I am not going to choose any of the books I edited this year, though you just
might want to check out Gayle Carline's new historical-romantic-fantasy-with-dragons-
and-pirates trilogy that starts with </span><span style="color: rgb(0.000000%, 0.000000%, 93.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Dragon-Rising-Shadows-Book-ebook/dp/B09XQV24DW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3I6GI3JAY7JQA&keywords=blood+dragon+rising+carline&qid=1670109536&sprefix=Blood+dragon+rising%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Blood Dragon Rising.</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">I am not going to choose a book that you've already seen over and over in every 2022
Top Ten Books List, nor any book from the Big Five Publishers. I am all about
supporting indie publishers, such as Sourcebooks, and their Landmark imprint.
</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The one book I am recommending that you read is </span><span style="color: rgb(0.000000%, 0.000000%, 93.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cradles-Reich-Novel-Jennifer-Coburn/dp/1728269830/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1670109565&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Cradles of the Reich</a> </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">by Jennifer Coburn.</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeia-0uDZeUxE-wjZjKOehHDWWoyBhMn6r9kk6RKWGJh5x7yCLzFe7LksqBwH8Z8UgnvbZEIO__S9HIhYdjx8wRtflnldJKHnE7RntE11REOA6Hfi7gq5ztw-7ik_PLMB450PUD7N-9A4kodnMzTcqcTeclxstyBv3C_sQL_Paqtj2ctlDryksTw8_A/s500/COTR%20cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxeia-0uDZeUxE-wjZjKOehHDWWoyBhMn6r9kk6RKWGJh5x7yCLzFe7LksqBwH8Z8UgnvbZEIO__S9HIhYdjx8wRtflnldJKHnE7RntE11REOA6Hfi7gq5ztw-7ik_PLMB450PUD7N-9A4kodnMzTcqcTeclxstyBv3C_sQL_Paqtj2ctlDryksTw8_A/s320/COTR%20cover.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Some literary works are blessed to be brought into the world at exactly the right<br />
time; </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Cradles of the Reich </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">is one such work. This is a novel that completely captures the
zeitgeist of a crucial time in human history, by focusing on a very specific slice of life.
The lives of three very different women, in this case, who are all are caught up within the
machinery of a fascist regime.
</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The historical era is World War II, and the setting is Heim Hochland maternity home in
Bavaria, the headquarters of the Lebensborn project—a Nazi "breeding program" that
was designed to create a so-called master race. The echoes of </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">A Handmaid's Tale </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">are
plentiful, but this project was truly stranger than fiction, and our ignorance of it is both
shocking and dangerous.
</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Though </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Cradles of the Reich </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">is not the first book written by Jennifer Coburn, I believe
that it is the novel she was born to write. Not only because few authors would have done
such excellent research, or cared so deeply about bringing this horrific story to light, but
because few people could have crafted such a compelling story, allowing us three all-too
human windows into this repellant reality.
</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">What makes this book particularly impressive to this editor/reader is the author's sure </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">hand with expository. For example, when introducing the character of Gundi, a </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">stunningly beautiful young woman, she writes:</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10pt;">"People seemed to know all they needed to when they took in Gundi’s angelic face. Even her one
imperfection, the sliver of a gap between her two front teeth, seemed disarmingly appealing. Gundi had
enjoyed the attention when she first started to blossom into a woman, but now, by the age of twenty, she
was starting to realize that her beauty didn’t give her any actual power but rather the illusion of it. Fewer
and fewer people seemed interested in what she had to say these days; they smiled and nodded as she
spoke while creating their own version of who they wanted this beautiful girl to be."</span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">This not only captures the backstory of Gundi, but perfectly encapsulates the society in
which she's grown up—one where appearances are far more important than actions,
where the collective regards banal superficialities as superior to deeper meanings, and
where insistently repeated promises can supersede truth (sound familiar to anyone?).</span></p></div></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section" style="background-color: rgb(100.000000%, 100.000000%, 100.000000%);"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column">
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">I'd already chosen this book as my 2022 recommendation when the latest spate of
highly promoted hate and bigotry hit the morning news. Naturally, that only made me
want to rush to get this blog post out sooner.
</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Ask for </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Cradles of the Reich </span><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">at your favorite bookstore and at your local library. If they
don't have it, recommend that they get it! Meanwhile, buy it for you and for someone
else—maybe as a Hanukkah, Xmas, or solstice gift.
</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">I wish you all the best for the rest of this year, during whatever holidays you celebrate. I
hope we all keep writing and reading and celebrating the incredible richness of
humanity and the beauty of our world.
</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(13.333330%, 13.333330%, 13.333330%); font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Hasta pronto!
</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-10000715939223363242022-10-18T08:38:00.002-07:002023-02-09T13:19:09.989-08:00Sunrise, Sunset, Sunbelt Books<p><span style="font-family: Georgia;">As most of you may know, I started writing professionally by writing plays and acting in them, which took me from San</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Diego, to Los Angeles, and then to New York City. In 1989, I re-connected with Russel Redmond, who quickly became my life partner and co-conspirator in all things. For our honeymoon we sailed south to Baja California’s Sea of Cortez. Eventually, we sailed on to Florida and back to</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">San Diego, but we returned on our boat to the Sea in 1996. There we founded the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia;">Sea of Cortez<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i><i style="font-family: Georgia;">Review</i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">—an eclectic literary journal of writing about Baja, which I edited and Russel illustrated.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span> </span>That labor of love led me to <a href="https://sunbeltpublications.com/" target="_blank">Sunbelt Publications</a>, where I spent over a decade happily editing, packaging, and marketing their books about Mexico and California. That was fun and challenging, but when I became Editor-in-Chief I started spending more time with grant proposals, P&L statements, and budgets, which meant less time with books and authors.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span>At Sunbelt, I was lucky enough to work with the witty and brilliant short-story writer Daniel<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Reveles and the esteemed historian Harry W. Crosby, plus Baja buffs Judy Goldstein Botello and Greg Niemann, dry-land plant guru Maureen Gilmer, San Diego historian Richard Carrico, and many more, for over a decade.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Not to mention meeting co-workers with whom I became fast friends.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTt1HxN6JjjaXByJFbI_CDljMRTRD2EhTDx_fOtVFZO6rYjFn-3xWYShqEd66iUT_fR_xrB8-TYsuvpiDiuRbQ7A320cFHgLQGQBz5Xr8iOzJAneOBXoVq312VEKlnPzFKn_-jN6X-gp_aXeq9Jd7OjIzyuwAhRbrX1fNyhdIS0mMOEug0X20YFvURVw/s500/Better%20PS%20Gardening%20.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="500" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTt1HxN6JjjaXByJFbI_CDljMRTRD2EhTDx_fOtVFZO6rYjFn-3xWYShqEd66iUT_fR_xrB8-TYsuvpiDiuRbQ7A320cFHgLQGQBz5Xr8iOzJAneOBXoVq312VEKlnPzFKn_-jN6X-gp_aXeq9Jd7OjIzyuwAhRbrX1fNyhdIS0mMOEug0X20YFvURVw/w200-h184/Better%20PS%20Gardening%20.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>On my own as a freelance editor since 2011, I work directly with authors on their books which continues to be a joy to me. <p></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> Recently, my old friends, Lisa Gulick and Maria Groschup-Black opted to take over <a href="https://sunbeltpublications.com/" target="_blank">Sunbelt</a> from the retiring Lindsays who founded the company in 1984. With Maria's wife Nichole, and long-time publications manager Debi Young, they are trying to keep this regional publisher and distributor not just afloat, but expanding.<br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span> I can't resist such "quixotic adventures" as my old friend Harry Crosby would say, so I pitched in to help. I am going to be editing a new Baja book, and I am going to be helping their new marketing and promotions intern, Emily, with some crowdfunding for new books, plus doing a bit of social media promotion and marketing when I have the time.</span><br /></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span><span> All this to say that while I am still working with authors and teaching and writing my editing book, I am also returning to something I love—helping new books get published and celebrating their emergence into the world. Stay tuned for more on all this. </span></span></span></span>Hasta pronto!</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-89164378957781238442022-08-14T14:16:00.000-07:002022-08-14T14:16:59.408-07:00So I'm Writing a Book, Among Other Things...<p> The non-fiction book is about writing and editing, since I have been doing one since I was five and the other for over twenty-five years. I hope to finish it this year, and publish it next year. I'm thinking it will be short, like 100 pages. I'm pondering quirky titles, like <i>Tips and Tricks from the Editrix</i>. Stand by for more on all that. In the meantime, here's an excerpt, which may or may not be Chapter 1.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">First Off, Forget all the Noise and Write</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The more we know about writing—what some famous author or writing teacher said or wrote, what the critics seem to like, what our writer's group liked when we shared last month—the harder it becomes to simply write. And I didn’t choose the word <i>simply </i>at random. Most of the time, our first drafts are very simple and clear, lacking subtlety, intriguing plot twists, and sparkling dialogue. We <i>simply</i> get down the gist of the story. The germ of the idea that’s been bugging us when our mind wanders from our open book or screen, and waking us up at night. And that is fine.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There is time enough to weave more layers into the plot, flesh out the character’s movements and motivations, and make the book’s settings come to life. One day, your characters will begin to talk to each other—if they were not already doing so while you are writing the first draft. When that happens, you'll gain insights that help you to envision and enliven their conversations. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span> </span>Each time we re-read our first draft, we have the opportunity to add elements that clarify the structure or deepen the impact of the text. No first draft I have read (or heard of) ever arrived with all of the compelling complexity of the author’s final draft. And once again, that is perfectly fine.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As far as revising, there is also a time and a place to put on the editor’s visor, to judge and reject words and phrases, to attempt to “omit useless words” as a great editor once said. There is time to employ our computer’s search and replace tools, to carefully count our use (and overuse) of our favorite words, phrases and imagery, along with the mostly unnecessary thought verbs and filter words (more on those later). All of that judgment and consideration has a time, a season as it were, and can take as long as you have the patience for it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What I do suggest, and I am far from alone in this opinion, is that you don’t concern yourself with any of the above when writing your first draft. This is because the very act of thinking about the book’s eventual structure, story and character arcs—not to mention grammar, spelling, and punctuation—is usually the kiss of death to creativity. When I write a 500 word essay for publication, I write a slew of words, maybe 1500, trying to get to the heart of what I am “arguing.” Sometimes, when I reread that first draft, I find I have repeated myself a few times, but one of those times<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(usually the last) is stronger and clearer than the previous iterations. If I tried to just write a “perfect” 500 words, I would spend twice as much time and effort, all to get nowhere new, with the result being 500 words that lie lifelessly on the page, sounding either trite and hackneyed, or stilted and forced.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Here’s my suggestion: When you are writing the first draft, <i>simply</i> write. Save all the thoughts of revision and judgement for a later date. Just “keep your hand moving” as Natalie Goldberg would say; if you do your first drafts by hand, you’ll know what she means. I type my first drafts, so both of my hands keep moving, but you get the point. Keep writing, stop thinking. Just let the words flow. Let characters say and do things you hadn’t yet imagined; let events take place that you never pictured occurring. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span> </span>Refuse to allow your intellectual, know-it-all, left brain, self-doubting, linear, critical mind to interfere in your creative time. See what your unconscious, right brain, big picture, confident, trusting, accepting, and curious mind has to say. See what happens on the page.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Your characters may surprise you.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>You may surprise yourself.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Georgia; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font: 400 11px Georgia; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-25231345364569913422022-07-02T12:29:00.002-07:002022-07-02T17:26:39.927-07:00Contradictory Characters Come to Life<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">What makes a written character interesting to readers? There are plenty of answers, of course, from honesty to loyalty to the ability to laugh at oneself. I think all those rank high on the list, but for me, what makes a character feel real is contradictions. If I am reading about a detective who is trying to solve a crime but also has a deep need to keep secrets, even when revealing one of those secrets will help bring a criminal to justice, I find that intriguing. If a character says they are doing everything in their power to help someone, but we see them take actions that clearly impede that assistance, that piques my interest.<br /></span><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">This illogical, irrational behavior makes us able to relate to characters because, very simply, contradictions are in our DNA; they are a huge part of what makes us human. We constantly use our big brains to rationalize our behavior, because what we do—not just the actions we take, personally, but our influence and downright manipulation of others’ actions—so often goes against what we have professed to believe or know, and may even be in opposition to what we believe to be true about ourselves.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">That’s why when a character says one thing and does another, or thinks one thing, says another, and does a third, we sit up and take notice. We may or may not empathize, or even sympathize with the actions they take, but we are able to connect with that person on a level that we can’t reach with characters who are so squeaky clean that they don’t even think thoughts they wouldn’t articulate aloud. (Those people may work fine as secondary characters, because we won’t be likely to know their innermost thoughts, anyway, and will have to simply take their actions and words at face value.)</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yx_NTW9vKn3GhneBHdW2tIrNiZ7H0V8lHsEHU71t7ToQ5iAKjqt9aUsdp5_m4Csa7iNanWB1RXybT1L9InF6UrcbzJqXqgqfJPyQ705DqkJwPLSA8IkvlLDy0qqekoodjijMjS1nkbdTTs8xMGhGQ-MrV_i1Xiq3efRmT68RmZzjU8GuXSIacEGCzg/s350/Writers%20and%20LOvers.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="231" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yx_NTW9vKn3GhneBHdW2tIrNiZ7H0V8lHsEHU71t7ToQ5iAKjqt9aUsdp5_m4Csa7iNanWB1RXybT1L9InF6UrcbzJqXqgqfJPyQ705DqkJwPLSA8IkvlLDy0qqekoodjijMjS1nkbdTTs8xMGhGQ-MrV_i1Xiq3efRmT68RmZzjU8GuXSIacEGCzg/s320/Writers%20and%20LOvers.jpeg" width="211" /></a>But our protagonist and hopefully, our antagonist as well, should be three-dimensional—living, breathing people who most often reveal their inner yearnings obliquely, not directly; the kind of people who don’t say everything they are thinking at all times, the kind of people we instinctively relate to, because we know them intimately and have been privy to their secrets all of our lives. Our parents, our brothers and sisters, our best friends, ourselves.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">So, when your heroine has to make a tough decision between equally compelling arguments—one of which will benefit her more and the other option that is the right thing to do, don’t skimp on the moments when she vacillates. Show the inner struggle before she rises to the occasion and does the right thing (or the wrong thing for the right reason). And if she is required to show courage in the face of danger, don’t skip over the part of her that wants to cut and run, to save her own skin, to protect her precious loved ones at the expense of strangers. Because that is what makes simply “doing the right thing” into something righteous, and what makes a kick-ass fight scene meaningful as well as exciting.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">This kind of complicated and contradictory inner life is what makes characters written by skilled authors like Elizabeth Strout, Jennifer Egan, and Lily King—I highly recommend <a href="https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/writers--lovers_lily-king/26779524/item/39079633/?gclid=CjwKCAjw2f-VBhAsEiwAO4lNeLL52eNIATGNsX7N9IsDLNVG5m12J234AuvSVegksNAM0S59xB7OUhoCfN8QAvD_BwE#idiq=39079633&edition=23197158" target="_blank">Writers and Lovers</a>, pictured here— so very intriguing and so darned likable, even when what they do and say is not always likable.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">We humans are flawed. We are selfish, often defensive, and easily scared by change. In an age of better and better artificial intelligence, those foibles might be the final thing that we can cling to, as proof of our kinship with the rest of the animal kingdom. One thing is for sure, though, our insecurities and our self-doubt, and our willingness to rationalize away our bad choices are all a huge part of what make us—and the people and worlds we create on the page—so very interesting.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Keep writing, keep challenging yourself, keep growing. <br />Hasta pronto!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-3320220304895220952022-05-30T15:17:00.002-07:002022-05-30T15:21:53.639-07:00Summer Reading and #1000WordsofSummer<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">First off, Summer reading has to include the compelling new book from Leslie Johansen Nack, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Butterfly-Novel-Marion-Davies-ebook/dp/B09CDB1MV8/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1SWURNGOG9BEI&keywords=the+blue+butterfly&qid=1653946355&sprefix=The+Blue+B%2Caps%2C590&sr=8-3" target="_blank">The Blue Butterfly: A Novel of Marion Davies</a>. What could be better beachside or poolside reading than the story of this bright, beautiful, talented and scrappy woman, and her relationship with the (at the time) richest and most powerful man in America? The author has captured her voice to the point where you absolutely believe that Marion is speaking to you, telling her "glad rags" to riches story. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQA6eF1-yt7zk9W8gvjYGyLcG4AkZOFHDihDZvH2yhwLLvrKjwZXHxecmGpHM7aFoRGPfnbWQa3WXh3aY4tHgN-ELe2_Yut-UHk2LnSnXbeKU0GIQjfkh5nyuyVZ0bczlgAm4fVzFLZKW4Ips_WP1LIT32J4bMHP6GkqnB6k3gSWa0gwtAL9JRG1Usdw/s820/BB.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="820" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQA6eF1-yt7zk9W8gvjYGyLcG4AkZOFHDihDZvH2yhwLLvrKjwZXHxecmGpHM7aFoRGPfnbWQa3WXh3aY4tHgN-ELe2_Yut-UHk2LnSnXbeKU0GIQjfkh5nyuyVZ0bczlgAm4fVzFLZKW4Ips_WP1LIT32J4bMHP6GkqnB6k3gSWa0gwtAL9JRG1Usdw/w400-h175/BB.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another winner for summer is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Chief-Horace-Button-Book-ebook/dp/B09LJ21P72/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2D6PKY06JU8YX&keywords=eric+peterson&qid=1653947278&sprefix=Eric+Petersen%2Caps%2C1769&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Sunshine Chief by Eric Peterson</a>, which just took home the Silver Medal in Popular Fiction at the 2022 Ben Franklin Awards, sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association. The second in the Horace Button Series, which began with <i>The Dining Car</i>, Peterson's second is a whole new genre (mystery), but still just as much fun, with Horace's requisite (lavish) amounts of great food, strong drink, and top-notch living in private train cars. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Speaking of genre-bending, check out <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Light-Uncommon-Stars-Ryka-Aoki-ebook/dp/B08QGJDSCK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=18OTKHG14TMX4&keywords=light+from+uncommon+stars&qid=1653947706&s=digital-text&sprefix=Light+From+Un%2Cdigital-text%2C274&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki</a>, which is a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Awards for Science Fiction. This book bends genres, genders, space and time. You won't know what hit you, but you won't want to put it down either. It is as hard a book to define as I have come across in my 25 years of writing book/story pitches, because it truly it is not quite like anything else out there. Suffice to say, it's got space travel, classical music, and donuts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Enough</span> about books, let's talk writing: I am going to take on, for the second year, the exciting and fun challenge of #1000wordsofsummer, the brainchild of author Jami Attenberg, whose new memoir,<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Came-All-This-Way-Meet-ebook/dp/B0928XW3HN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NAJ0ZQDVOM6Q&keywords=i+came+all+this+way+to+meet+you+writing+myself+home&qid=1653948402&s=digital-text&sprefix=I+came+all+this+way%2Cdigital-text%2C491&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span class="a-size-medium a-color-base a-text-normal" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; text-decoration-line: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">I Came All This Way to Meet You: Writing Myself Home</span> </a> </span></span>is right at the top of my "to read" list, in fact it is next on my list. Find out more about <a href="https://1000wordsofsummer.substack.com/about" target="_blank">the two week challenge,</a> which starts June 4, supports great charities, and could get you two weeks into your newest writing project.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love the accountability of having said "I am going to do this," and I love knowing a whole community of other writers are signing on, too. I really like a challenge, and I like being part of a (virtual) gathering of writers. But whether you do or don't pledge to yourself to write 1000 words a day for the first two weeks of summer, I hope you will decide to take on some new writing project this summer, or will recommit yourself to your current writing project. Why? Because it is what writers do. We write.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">hasta pronto!</div><p></p><p><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-73775861309214249662022-04-20T15:25:00.003-07:002022-09-01T09:26:53.362-07:00Some Publishing News<p>I have been in the same writer's group for about ten years now and someone is always publishing something. The brilliant editor Laurie Gibson is working on a very cool rock-and-roll novel set in London, entrepreneur Carol Burt is working on her years-in-the-making memoir—just like me!—and graphic designer/writer Kara is working on some humorous short pieces while working on their new ranch-in-the-city and a child (she and hubby Mark are expecting in May). </p><div>But the biggest news <i>this week</i> from our writer's group is that the other two members, Lisa Gulick and Maria Groschup-Black, have taken over the reins at Sunbelt Publications. If you don't know Sunbelt, then <a href="https://sunbeltpublications.com/" target="_blank">click on this link</a> right now and see their books and a lot more. If you are interested in Nature, Baja, Deserts, Flora and fauna, Hiking, Biking, California (and Baja) History and Natural History, or Native American Culture and Heritage, among other subjects, then Sunbelt has something for you.</div><div><br /></div><div>You may know that I worked at Sunbelt for over a decade and I still love their history, their books, their ability to help small publishers get out in the world, and their overall mission. I truly believe that the company has an important place in the world of California book publishing and distribution. I wish Lisa and Maria and the whole family at Sunbelt a hearty <i>felicidades </i>and wish them all the best of luck in this transition.</div><div>hasta pronto!</div><div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-7356558978593618112022-01-26T14:44:00.000-08:002022-01-26T14:44:32.340-08:00 Bloat, or The Power of the Shaggy Dog Story<p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">I recently watched “The Power of the Dog” and could not believe I was watching the same movie that had been touted and lauded for so many weeks. The acting was fine, and the cinematography was beautiful, but the film's pace was <i>glacial</i>. The script was somewhat intriguing, but so spare as far as the actual story that it could have been the plot of a short subject, maybe thirty minutes in length. As a feature film, it was </span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">tedious</i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Over the last few years, I have noticed something similar creeping into much of our visual and written arts. I think it may have started with Netflix, which is why it was dubbed “Netflix Bloat.” This awful tendency is, simply, the desire to stretch things into a longer format than their inherent story demands. TV shows are fattened up into endless miniseries, and single films are sold as the first installment in a series—to be written, if there is any demand, very soon.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Of course, I am aware that this change was driven by money. The success of franchises drives Hollywood, I get that. Obviously the LOTR trilogy was amazing in its multiple film form, and some long TV series are wonderful—I am as guilty of binge-watching “Downtown Abbey” as the next PBS devotee, but those exceptions only prove the rule. Most series episodes are fattened up with long minutes, and even whole episodes, of what can only be called “filler,” with the characters talking about things that don’t reveal anything new about themselves, or further the plot in any way.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Once upon a time, writers wrote to be serialized over a period of weeks or months, in popular magazines that paid by the word. The result was often quite enjoyable, in the hands of a master of prose like Charles Dickens, but <i>Bleak House </i>has a fairly limited readership<i> </i>today—actually, it is probably being developed as a not-very-limited series as I type these words.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Not surprisingly, we editors have been in agreement, over the years, that less is usually more. When rewriting, we attempt to always “omit useless words,” as the quote goes. Editing is about cutting the chaff and keeping the wheat, as well as taking out the colorful but pointless tangents that take readers nowhere.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But then someone told an author that “to sell well, you need a series,” and every writer took that as marching orders. If they had an idea for a book, they assumed it could be turned into a series. And so stories that had a fairly simple story arc, that could easily be told in one book, become a series of three or four or even five volumes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Next, authors will be paying editors to <i>expand</i> their word counts and suggest tangents.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Bottom line: More is not always better, and quantity is not the same as quality; readers will recommend your one or two books if they contain compelling stories. Period.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Hasta pronto!</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-33930333450164523802021-12-18T10:37:00.002-08:002021-12-18T10:37:29.926-08:002021 Book Roundup—and more!<p>As you may know, I usually do a Favorite Books of 2021 list-post about now. My rules are not to review books I have edited (Like the wonderful new <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Chief-Horace-Button-Book-ebook/dp/B09LJ21P72/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Z3FPFIAIRJTB&keywords=Sunshine+Chief&qid=1639852307&s=digital-text&sprefix=sunshine+chief%2Cdigital-text%2C368&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Sunshine Chief </a></i>by Eric Peterson which I highly recommend) and not to talk about books that have gotten talked about plenty, like the caustic, moving, and sobering <i>Maid</i> by Stephanie Land. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnG-7sfuucpWWZuVJIMo3wRTg9_TVEtoAY4Zwv-hUBpCZWg77trMJmgmt2QrLQNCfmUdniY2Ev2B0Gf3_Ud6icVPGEGSQOyIfnDc59qVdLjQa8mqVEormnt9ug_mBqHEp6C2Rm-iDRnz8rMYptWnpGZC6Uc0irBluseFznLYMIhH16fGMgykwuRun5uw=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnG-7sfuucpWWZuVJIMo3wRTg9_TVEtoAY4Zwv-hUBpCZWg77trMJmgmt2QrLQNCfmUdniY2Ev2B0Gf3_Ud6icVPGEGSQOyIfnDc59qVdLjQa8mqVEormnt9ug_mBqHEp6C2Rm-iDRnz8rMYptWnpGZC6Uc0irBluseFznLYMIhH16fGMgykwuRun5uw=w266-h400" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p>Since I recently did a blog post in August about a handful of great books I read this year (by one of my long-time fave authors, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Michael-J-Vaughn/e/B002IP76E8?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&qid=1639852223&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Michael J. Vaughn</a>), I am going to forgo writing another list.</p><p>I read 90 books this year, or that is the number that Goodreads has for me; I am sure there were more, and of course I also read two dozen or more manuscripts. If you are curious to see my full Goodreads list, you can find it on a new tab, right <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2021/26273562" target="_blank">here.</a></p><p>If you wonder why almost all of my Goodreads book reviews are 4 stars and above, it is quite simple: I seldom review a books I don't like, and I don't normally like to "damn with faint praise," either. And sometimes, now that I am in the "twilight of my youth" as Russel would say, I don't even finish a book I am not enjoying or intrigued by.</p><p>A great list for books read in 2021 can be found at this link to my favorite weekly newsletter, <a href="https://elizabethmarro.substack.com/" target="_blank">Spark</a>, written by Elizabeth Marro, which will open in a new tab and which I highly recommend. We all need to find and celebrate joy and wonder as much as possible, and I find that celebration—among other places—weekly in my inbox, courtesy of Spark. Betsy talks about her writing (and non-writing) life, interviews authors (and their dogs!). She also refers me to some very fine books that I would otherwise have missed, like Lyn Kanter's <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Her-Own-Vietnam-Lynn-Kanter-ebook/dp/B07DKF5NNH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1946SVL6PP2ZW&keywords=Her+Own+Vietnam&qid=1639852179&s=digital-text&sprefix=her+own+vietnam%2Cdigital-text%2C1329&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Her Own Vietnam,</a> </i>which I loved, and which opened my eyes as much as Betsy's own <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X593EXI/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" target="_blank">Casualties</a>.</i></p><p>Don't forget to buy at least one person a book for the holidays, if you haven't already. If you can't find the perfect title for that loved one, send them a gift card (or electronic ecard) they can use at <a href="https://www.verbatim-books.com/gift-cards" target="_blank">Verbatim Books</a> or <a href="https://www.powells.com/gifts/giftcards" target="_blank">Powell's</a> or whatever your favorite bookstore is. Word to the wise: If you don't support your local independent bookstore, then don't be surprised if one day it is gone when you need it.</p><p>I look forward to plenty more reading and writing and editing and blogging and traveling in 2022. I hope you'll continue to join me here, monthly.</p><p>Hasta pronto!</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-80532738540912260112021-11-27T14:30:00.004-08:002021-11-27T14:33:06.886-08:00 Changing Course and Holding Steady<p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">I’m sitting on my boat at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, and it's every bit as nice as it sounds. The views are stunning, the shops handy, and the weather is what everyone promised us for November in SF Bay—perfection.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;">Yesterday we sailed over from Point Richmond on a calm sea, under sunny skies, and we never even took the Bimini top down, the breeze was so light. But around here, you have to be ready to wheel about or speed up at any moment, due to the maritime traffic—ferries constantly criss-cross the water, a massive tanker is always steaming ponderously across the bay, and a zillion pleasure craft, tugs, fishing vessels and excursion boats fill in every gap in the parade.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We handled it all nicely but were glad to be approaching our destination in the early afternoon. Twilight comes early at this time of the year, and we were looking forward to dinner and drinks with some new friends. The yacht club site had a map that made the approach to their guest dock look pretty straightforward, and we’d been promised a long empty “end tie”, meaning we could simply pull up alongside and tie up. The only problem was, we couldn’t see over the sea wall to confirm that the guest dock was empty, so we had to enter blindly, hoping for the best.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Needless to say, once we’d entered the tiny harbor and saw the dock was full, it was almost too late to get turned around and get out. A power boat was heading out at the same time, making the narrow entrance between the sea wall and the jetty feel even tighter, while a people-packed ferry foamed and smoked at the passenger pier nearby, warning us that it might soon join the fray.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Of course, Captain Russel was able to back up, spin around and get us clear without any problems, but there was a bit of tension aboard and a few colorful phrases were bandied about. I soon got the harbormaster “on the horn” and he promised to get the other side of the dock cleared for us promptly instead. I changed all the dock lines and bumpers to the starboard side as Russel motored us back in. We landed safely and all was well.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h6lI7kLfxRM/YaKwE13ZbWI/AAAAAAAAMbQ/p09-_dqlAxwDrH3L2vJNQuTJBevCXl6rgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/View%2Bfrom%2BCYC%2Bwith%2Bheron.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1291" data-original-width="2048" height="253" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h6lI7kLfxRM/YaKwE13ZbWI/AAAAAAAAMbQ/p09-_dqlAxwDrH3L2vJNQuTJBevCXl6rgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h253/View%2Bfrom%2BCYC%2Bwith%2Bheron.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> <i>View of SF and a heron last night from the Corinthian Yacht Club</i><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">What does this have to do with writing? Well, we writers often head rather blindly toward an unseen goal in our work, guided by our strong opinions of where we’ll end up. Sometimes, even once we see that the anchorage is untenable, or won’t work nearly as well as other options, we plow stubbornly onward, trying to make this new reality fit our long-cherished preconceived notions.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">My advice is to keep navigating toward your destination, but always be ready to change course to avoid unexpected obstacles or to take a new tack due to a sudden shift in the wind. trust me, you will eventually be safely moored with all your loose ends tied up neatly (I couldn’t resist).</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Hasta pronto!</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-82365243887253089542021-10-06T12:58:00.002-07:002022-09-01T09:29:14.586-07:00A Little More About Expository<p>Since I did not teach my usual expository workshop at SCWC in Irvine last month (the conference was great, by the way!), I thought I'd do a little recap rant, um, lecture about the subject here.</p><p>First, what is expository? Expository is everything that happened to your characters before page 1 of your novel, and everything that happens between the book's chapters (or "offstage") during the course of the book.</p><p>Nothing makes me quite so crazy as expository dialogue that simply states a bunch of facts about the character or situation; the spoken lines may be within quotes, but it is not written in a way that any human being would actually speak to a friend, spouse, or family member. </p><p>Often these clunky lines begin with "Remember when we...?" and unless the person who's being addressed has dementia, they probably do remember when that happened, or the character who is asking wouldn't be asking.</p><p>This sort of "info-dump" is often found early in a novel and is the reason that I could eliminate—sight unseen—every first chapter of every first draft on the planet with no loss to modern literature.</p><p>To make this sort of thing work, you need to either keep the dialogue incredibly brief, or have your characters speak in "code" such as having a wealthy person say to their spouse "It's time to bang on the radiator" in reference to their early poorer days, instead of "turn up the heat, won't you, dear?" Do NOT get overly detailed and tedious by stating how they used to bang on the radiator to get heat back on East Fourth Street walk-up apartment they shared way back when.</p><p>If this memory is crucial to the plot or set up, have it happen in the character's thoughts, or at least have them recall it out loud to a stranger, not someone who was there, experiencing it.</p><p>Dialogue isn't the only offender when it comes to expository, of course. Writers have so much information stored up in their heads about their main characters that starting on page one they want to share (dump) it all with us right away. When this is included sparingly in thoughts or in descriptive prose, it can be very effective, but all too often it makes the novel feel old-fashioned and amateurish.</p><p>Remember that we only need enough info in Chapter One to read Chapter Two and so forth. The reader doesn't need—or want—to know everything about the book's protagonist or their present life situation right away; we want to "get to know them" just like we do with a new person we've met. Someone who tells you their life story in the first encounter is often viewed as a narcissist, or just a bore.</p><p>Portion out info slowly, like you were rationing hard to find staples during war time...don't use up all the butter on day one of the month. Make us wonder, keep us curious. We keep turning pages, after all, because of what we DON'T know, not what we know.</p><p>Authors should always self-edit their first (or fifteenth) draft as much as they can prior to sending it to their friends or Beta readers. Try to get as many eyes on the manuscript as possible before you start spending on an editor. </p><p>Not only will it save you money and time, but we editors can do a much better job if we are not hired to simply improve something that is clearly flawed, but rather asked to make something good into something great. </p><p>This should be obvious, but getting more eyes on a project is especially important when one is self-publishing.</p><p>hasta pronto!</p><p><br /></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-52499334833004432142021-08-08T13:05:00.005-07:002021-08-23T12:36:32.880-07:00A New(ish) Book, by an Author You May Not Know<p> One of my favorite things about reading for a living is discovering authors. Sometimes, I discover an aspiring author while working on their first or second manuscript, and then I get the pleasure of watching others discover them, with some not-so-gentle prodding from me. </p><p>Often, I don't "discover" a "new" author until they have written a dozen books, and already have plenty of fans. Such a case is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Michael-J-Vaughn/e/B002IP76E8/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1" target="_blank">Michael J Vaughn</a>. Those of you with great memories may recall me gushing over MJV's book "Popcorn Girl" a few years ago, and he hasn't stopped writing or publishing his quirky, all-too-human novels.</p><p>I recently found some of his books on Kindle and was lucky enough to snag two of them for a bargain price. I loved the cosmic romance and gritty beach world of "Frosted Glass" and was intrigued as hell by "Figment" (I can't begin to explain this book so I won't try, but art is central to the plot and its incredible cover is pictured below; I wouldn't recommend starting with this book, as the many references to past works will just confuse you. Save it for an odd, tangy, flavorful dessert after a dozen other MJV titles.)</p><p>I am a huge Tom Robbins fan, and if you are, too, you may just fall for MJV. For me, seeing the ways in which a talented author can bend, fold, and even gently mutilate the parameters of novel writing and play with (and within and without) the rules of literature is a joy. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Zhs0Z7AOto/YRAytVXVw1I/AAAAAAAALgU/0vSU1-BFFKwXmXeWKnp_4Ir7hWKQFvB5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s346/Figment%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="217" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Zhs0Z7AOto/YRAytVXVw1I/AAAAAAAALgU/0vSU1-BFFKwXmXeWKnp_4Ir7hWKQFvB5wCLcBGAsYHQ/w251-h400/Figment%2Bcover.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br /><p>His latest work is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/East-Cookie-Tree-Michael-Vaughn-ebook/dp/B08NWKCBB6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=East+of+the+Cookie+Tree&qid=1629747357&sr=8-1" target="_blank">East of the Cookie Tree </a>and it sets off with yet another of his beloved road trips. California is a favorite setting for his books, but so is southern Washington—you may find yourself in many lovely coastal spots in Oregon or in a dozen other locales. Having recently done some road trips to Washington and Oregon, I was charmed by the echoes of actual locations, as well as the feel of the places he captures. MJV loves people (at least his characters, maybe not humanity) and he enjoys having them enjoy each other physically, spiritually, emotionally, and more.</p><p>Art is another theme that runs through all this author's books, along with music in many forms, including popular and classical and opera. Did I mention there's singing? Even some karaoke—pick a song and jump in, it will be fun!</p><p>If you've already discovered MJV, which book of his was your favorite? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below. If you haven't discovered him yet, start with the new book, or if you have a romantic bent, try "Popcorn Girl" or "Frosted Glass."</p><p>Take care, stay safe and hasta pronto!</p><p><br /></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-33164136251661154142021-07-05T11:28:00.003-07:002021-07-05T11:28:45.113-07:00The City By the Bay, and an Editing Tip<p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm busy editing, but finding time to enjoy being back in San Francisco. <a href="https://twitter.com/karlthefog" target="_blank">Karl the Fog</a> rolled in last night just in time to obscure the fireworks, but we still enjoyed sitting out in the cool night air seeing the "fogworks" and the lights of the city all around us. Oracle Park was lit up for the holiday too, though the Giants were in AZ. They are back home today, and I'm excited to finally be able to witness a 2021 home game later today. No need to get a ticket—I can see right into the ballpark from my boat; we have a great view of the city, too.</span></p><p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXDlSSkS-AU/YONOHsC1JhI/AAAAAAAALP4/8JGyNec8CMoY2RceSeMbkyYGUSXni_kGACPcBGAsYHg/s3264/20201027_071408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="3264" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXDlSSkS-AU/YONOHsC1JhI/AAAAAAAALP4/8JGyNec8CMoY2RceSeMbkyYGUSXni_kGACPcBGAsYHg/w627-h285/20201027_071408.jpg" width="627" /></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the joys of my work is reading manuscripts by first-time authors. And one of the most appalling parts of my work is reading manuscripts by first-time authors. I have posted quite a bit about the craft of writing, and given you all a few pointers here and there, but there's nothing quite so helpful as a workable, hands-on technique, and I have one for you in this post.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>One of the difficult parts about writing a novel is knowing how much of your expository can be left for later—or left out, if it has already been said or implied. But as writers, we tend to forget, by the time we are working on Chapter 5, what we have already said, in Chapter 2.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>If your friends or Beta readers tell you your book is "slow" at the beginning or that the opening chapters didn't "hook" them, what they are probably saying</span> is that it is front-loaded with expository, meaning that there's too much information about the character(s) or the setting before the character(s) or the story itself has intrigued them. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Authors tend to be excited, and rightly so, about their main character(s). That leads to a sort of transferred narcissism, the kind of non-stop "me show" that would turn you right off in person, from a live human being, but that we can be blind to when writing about our protagonist. This can be true about describing our setting as well—we're so excited to show the reader how much homework we've done about Bangor or Seattle or the Okefenokee Swamp, that we go on and on about it, ad nauseam. In craft circles, this is known as an "info dump" and it translates to boredom.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, at the beginning of your next rewrite, try this tip: Print out the first two or three chapters. Then go through each of the chapters, armed with a yellow highlighter pen, and mark all the <i>facts</i> that readers need to know, anything that is <i>integral</i> to the story. Then look at the pages and highlight in pink (go over the yellow) anything that the reader doesn't have to know<i> at that point</i>; see how much of the page is pink—you need to move a majority of that later. Highlight all repetitions in blue so you can decide where to leave it for the most impact. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Usually the answer to where to give a reader key info is...later. Remember, in Chapter 1, the reader only needs enough information to be able to understand what is revealed in Chapter 2, and so on. If the character's first job is crucial to a key plot point that doesn't come until Chapter 25, then we don't need to learn that fact in Chapter 1 or 2. (Obviously, don't do an "info dump" with that knowledge at the tail end of Chapter 24 either; find a spot for it to come out organically, when your protagonist is talking to someone about her work history or her past).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Look over the color map of those chapters. You will not only have a very clear idea what needs to be revealed when, you will have a clear visual diagram—all the non-highlighted paragraphs and pages—of how much of your writing is inconsequential details that don't always further the story. A lot of that can be eliminated, or trimmed way down, so it adds life and color to your characters and setting, without becoming a drag to the book's opening chapters.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Hope that helps a bit. Keep up the good work. Hasta pronto!</span><br /></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-67382079638047550612021-06-03T08:44:00.001-07:002021-06-03T08:44:26.898-07:00Off the Grid, But Not Out of Provisions<p>We have been "off the grid" a few times in the last couple of months, so I have not been in touch as much as usual. We are in wi-fi range today, anchored in an unnamed anchorage on a slough in the Sacramento River Delta. Here's a photo from the other day, when one of our neighbor boats got an unusual visitor!<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTfQ-wDL1_s/YLj3JHYWYVI/AAAAAAAALB8/Jq3F4swao1QQU7bCBnNXJmjUJuDMBd1bgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Cat%2Band%2BSeaplane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTfQ-wDL1_s/YLj3JHYWYVI/AAAAAAAALB8/Jq3F4swao1QQU7bCBnNXJmjUJuDMBd1bgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cat%2Band%2BSeaplane.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>The trick with being "anchored out" instead of at a marina is to make sure you don't run out of provisions, so I stocked the boat with fresh veggies and fruits, along with heads of cabbage and a big bag of potatoes . Don't worry, we also have lots of dry goods like beans and rice for when all the green stuff runs out (luckily I have a <a href="https://www.wonderbagworld.com/shop-us" target="_blank">Wonderbag</a> for slow cooking). Our recent Delta record is three weeks between trips to the grocery store...we may break that record this month!<br /></p><p>In May, I celebrated my 60th birthday with a road trip and a couple of great get-togethers with friends and family. Like most of you, I am also celebrating being vaxxed and able to hug and chat with those people I have missed seeing! </p><p>The road trip was out east of here, first to Auburn to see a dear old friend, then to historic Sonora and out across Stanislaus National Forest (with a stop to see friends and hunt for fungi) to the "Hot Springs Highway" aka Highway 395; We stayed at the Virginia Creek Settlement (which I highly recommend—we loved the food at their restaurant!) just outside charming Bridgeport, and drove out to see Bodie ghost town, and south to the wild and incredible Mono Lake.</p><p>We drove through amazing landscapes, stopped to view breathtaking vistas, and yes, we soaked in natural hot tubs. Most were in very secluded settings, so I could even wear my birthday suit! </p><p>My work continues apace, with some fine authors joining my family of writer clients. I was so excited about one new dystopian work that I sent it off to a NYC agent friend with the plea that she read it ASAP! I love finding great new voices and sharing them with the world.<br /></p><p>Russel has the summer off for the first time in years, so he is working on his book project (turning one of his screenplays into a novel) and I am hard at work on my thirty-years-in-the-making memoir of our first year sailing in Baja while on our honeymoon.</p><p>We plan to be off the grid again much of the month of June, so if I don't reply to your comment here, know that I appreciate hearing from you, and that I will reply when I get back into wifi land. July will find us in San Francisco Bay once more, where internet connectivity abounds. Meanwhile, we will keep on writing and creating and enjoying the joys of our peripatetic life.</p><p>Hasta pronto!<br /></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-72384963083040830472021-03-24T13:45:00.007-07:002021-03-24T13:46:40.994-07:00An editor's (not very serious) rant<p> Life has kept me busy lately, which is why my last post was well over a month
ago. The conference went great and I am busy with work. Requests for manuscript evaluations and content edits are steadily pouring
in, and my schedule is full through June.</p><p>And then there's the future to prepare for. We are going to be hauling our boat to Washington state in 2022 (we get to spend another year in SF Bay Area before that--Yay!)
so we took a road trip up to look at boatyards and talk to boat haulers. It was lovely spring weather, with only a couple of days of rain. We hiked, explored, drove a lot, and generally stayed away from everyone but an old friend or two, who I visited with from a distance outdoors. No, I have not gotten a shot yet!<br /></p><p>Today, though, I'm back at my desk, editing and sighing. I love my work, but I do get tired of correcting the same old punctuation errors. I usually go on a bit about missing commas, but the funny thing is that today I am finding extra commas. Lots of them. So, here's a good tip: If you can add an "and" between two adjectives, or reverse them, then you can use a comma instead of the "and" there. So you would not put a comma in "bright white Thunderbird," because you would NOT say "white and bright" unless you were writing copy for a toothpaste ad).<br /></p><p>On another subject, there are certain words that almost every author I've ever worked with
has misspelled once or twice in their manuscripts; these misused and
abused words crop up in the work of the aspiring and the (nearly)
expiring author. And there's a very good reason why: they are
homophones—words that sound just like the word you meant to type‚ so
they won't be corrected by spellchecker software, or easily caught by
reading your work aloud. </p><p>Wikipedia has a long list of these commonly misspelled homophones <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Lists_of_common_misspellings/Homophones" target="_blank">here</a>. For today, I'm going to limit myself to four sets of misspelled words:<i> Peak, peek, and pique;</i><i> Poor, pore, and pour; </i><i>Teem and team; reign and rein</i>. These seem to occur in my clients' work more than any others—perhaps
because they sound so darn good, whether they are spelled correctly or
not!</p><p>I suggest you search for these in your manuscript and see whether you've
used them correctly. Peek means to look furtively; a peak is a
mountaintop or metaphorical height; and pique is a feeling. You don't <i>pour </i>over documents, you <i>pore</i> over them, <i>poor</i> you...so <i>pour</i> yourself a
drink! And there's no "i" in <i>team</i>, but there is an "a," though the
<i>teeming</i> masses in the stadium might not know how to spell either one. I <i>reign</i> supreme here at my desk, but I'll <i>rein</i> myself in from further examples.<br />
That's my rant for the day—now, back to work...<br />
hasta pronto!<br />
<br />
</p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-11197295917799495892021-02-02T13:13:00.000-08:002021-02-02T13:13:37.330-08:00Looking forward to SCWC online (with you)<p> <br />Yes, it’s February and that means it is almost time for my favorite weekend of the year, the Southern California Writer’s Conference, on Valentine’s Day Weekend, aka President’s Day Weekend. <br /> </p><p>I’m particularly excited this year as we are doing the February SCWC virtually, which means there’s no excuse to not attend—there’s no air travel costs or headaches, no traffic hassles, and no hotel room needed (unless you are like one conferee I know who is willing to pay to have a private room with no kids in it!).<br /> </p><p>As you can see from the schedule (<a href="https://writersconference.com/sd/san-diego-schedule-at-a-glance/" target="_blank">here</a>) the conference is just as chock-a-block with workshops as usual, not to mention three great speakers and even a fun happy hour time set aside to kick back and visit. I will have two workshops to teach, plus two “Pitch Witches” book-pitch workshops with my favorite witchy woman, Marla Miller.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XaYOpamI_QA/YBnARkMkKRI/AAAAAAAAJok/g4QhXaaW4iMchmFJIkiT1ayidsaHvpaXACLcBGAsYHQ/s744/Me%2Band%2BMarla.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="744" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XaYOpamI_QA/YBnARkMkKRI/AAAAAAAAJok/g4QhXaaW4iMchmFJIkiT1ayidsaHvpaXACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Me%2Band%2BMarla.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br />Both of the workshops I am teaching are subjects that are near and dear to me. First will be POV—what is it and how do you make it work best for your story? I always enjoy sharing insights on this important subject with new and emerging writers.</p><p><br />My other workshop is about Content Editing, and that’s the one I feel most strongly about. I am primarily a content and structural editor, though I do line and copy editing as well, for select clients. So, what is Content Editing and more importantly, what isn’t it?</p><p><br />In this workshop I’ll break down the different types of editing and give you some tips for how to ready your work to be edited. The more you prepare, the more money and time you save—not to mention how much better the process goes for both of us, if I’m not overwhelmed by issues that can be dealt with by you in advance.</p><p><br />One persistent problem I have talked about before is expository—every writer wants to how much is too much, and how to weed out the excess in an efficient way. In my workshop, I’ll be describing how to employ the “highlighter trick,” a process many of my author clients are already familiar with, and giving you all one more tool for preparing your manuscript to be edited.</p><p><br />Those are just a few of the opportunities that abound at SCWC—I hope to see you there. <br />I mean here. Right here. Online. Check it out.<br />Hasta pronto!<br /><br /></p>Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494402560788410111.post-47426682964266928762020-12-11T13:29:00.000-08:002020-12-11T13:29:16.513-08:00My Top 5 Books of 2020<p>I’m up a river (specifically, the Sacramento), without a paddle—of course I don’t have a paddle, we live on a sailboat. Anyway, I realize I have been a bit out of touch the last couple of months (haven’t we all?) but now it is time for my Top Five Books of 2020 list.<br /><br />As always, I am not writing about books I edited, so I won’t be including <i>Murder Bytes</i>, the newest smart, lively thriller by Gayle Carline or the oh-so-readable <i>Angel Flight </i>by R.D. Kardon. And I don’t promote those titles you already know, I try to focus on books from smaller presses—you might never have heard of these five, if not for this post, and I don’t want you to miss them. Not all of these were published in 2020, but close enough (I didn’t include <i>The Vanishing Woman</i> from 2012, though it should be required reading).<br />In no particular order, here they are:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Blue-Novel-Isla-Morley-ebook/dp/B0847TF2GJ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Last+Blue+by+Isla+Morley&qid=1607721084&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>The Last Blue</i> by Isla Morley </a>(2020) This book absolutely transported me. Not always to somewhere comfortable, but the world she created felt so true and was so visually compelling that I felt I was watching the story play out all around me. Set in a tiny town in the Appalachian Mountains in the 1970s, with long flashbacks to the 1930s, Morley’s novel is about prejudice and skin color, but not at all in the way you might think.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eZV25gz_aHs/X9PiAlgDffI/AAAAAAAAJk8/6XpUrVA6nQoR3qknm_kzWtcSsZM0AGuuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s327/blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="218" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eZV25gz_aHs/X9PiAlgDffI/AAAAAAAAJk8/6XpUrVA6nQoR3qknm_kzWtcSsZM0AGuuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/blue.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Murderabilia-Carl-Vonderau/dp/0738761303/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Murderabilia+%282019%29+by+Carl+Vonderau&qid=1607721851&sr=8-2" target="_blank"><i>Murderabilia</i> (2019) by Carl Vonderau.</a> Think dark. Think creepy. Think chilling. Even after all that, you won’t be anywhere near this work of fiction with all too many real-life resonances. The protagonist is a wealthy banker who’s also the son of a renowned serial killer; now he himself is wanted for a grisly murder. The only way for him to escape prison (maybe even death) is to find out whodunnit, with the help of guess who? It'll be hard to find, but you may see a used copy.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crux-Cross-Border-Memoir-Jean-Guerrero/dp/0399592393/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2MNCC07K71TKF&dchild=1&keywords=crux+a+cross-border+memoir+by+jean+guerrero&qid=1607721613&sprefix=Crux%3A+A+Cross-Border+Memoir+by+Jean+Guerrero%2Caps%2C308&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir</i> (2018) by Jean Guerrero.</a> An award-winning reporter with years of experience covering Latin America, Guerrero is a true child of the cross-border experience. Born in San Diego, she’s the product of a tumultuous marriage between her Puerto Rican mother and Mexican father. Somehow, she managed to draw me in and make her life and her crazy family feel just like my own.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Second-Coming-New-God/dp/1947392956/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=First+Second+Coming+by+Jeff+Pollak&qid=1607721678&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>First Second Coming</i> (2020) by Jeff Pollak</a>. First off, God (or NTG as he likes to be called, short for New Testament God) is retiring. The replacement deity was hired by Milky Way Galaxy, Inc, because he’s a pro at bringing planets back from the brink. He threatens to eliminate Earth’s biggest problem, humanity, if they can’t rise to the challenge he poses to them on a popular news broadcast. There’s a love story, too, between two of the news anchors, and plenty of thoughtful laughs. Oh, and there's gonna be a sequel.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Past-This-Point-Nicole-Mabry/dp/1948051338/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Past+This+Point+by+Nicole+Mabry&qid=1607721719&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Past This Point</i> (2019) by Nicole Mabry.</a> Oddly enough, this book is the one that feels the most like 2020, and it was published last year—in August of 2019, before the world changed forever. The tale of a young woman desperate to avoid catching a killer new strain of flu who ends up trapped in her NYC apartment as the dead pile up and the government cracks down, was gripping and ultimately quite moving; the writing wasn’t fast paced, but its honesty kept me turning pages.<br /><br />(Another wonderfully prescient novel for 2020 is the dystopian <i>Midnight in New California </i>by Lisa Renee Julien, though it’s is not as well written or edited as <i>Past This Point</i>.)</p><p>Hope you can find one of these you love, and want to share with others. And I hope you have a quiet, calm, restful holiday. Next year will be here soon, with more books...</p><p>hasta pronto! <br /></p><br />Jennifer Silva Redmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05043978480663414167noreply@blogger.com4