The Lazy Bloggers Blog Post

Yes, I know, it's been more than two weeks and I haven't posted, but I am sorry to say that tonight is not the night to make up for it.
I do have a good excuse though: I have been writing! I am not only working on my novel, "Dog Beach" but also reworking the short version of our script for "El Camino" which we'll be shooting this summer sometime--the short version, that is.
Just wanted to post this link to a cool short article about lesser-known new books that was just on NPR. No, I have not read any of these--except the Hemingway book, which I of course liked...But did not love, which is par for the course for me and Poppa H.
Other than that, life is good, our new mooring has a great view--even when fireworks are not going off over the city--and we are well and happy aboard.
Hasta pronto!

"Spring" Cleaning and Summer Reads

Finally got some "Spring" cleaning done on this site--by which I mean I just got around to updating the other pages you see here on JennyRedbug; I even added a page of Testimonials by some of the authors I have worked with over the last few years. Even though it's already officially become summer--a couple days ago--this seemed like a good time to arrange and update these pages. Maybe it is just to avoid actually doing any writing!
As to Summer Reading:
Drusilla Campbell's newest novel Little Girl Gone...gripping and set in such a real, evocative place that you will feel you have lived this story, rather than read it. Read an excerpt of Little Girl Gone on Campbell's site and you'll get hooked.
I also highly recommend Wildwood, an earlier novel by Campbell. This is a perfect summer read...not only because it is set in California during a drought, but because the author's vivid characters and their intertwined lives will entertain you and keep you turning pages, which is what summer reading is all about, no?
Another author I love that has a new--out last year but new to me--novel out is Marisa de los Santos. Her debut work, Love Walked In is one of my all-time favorite books--just try reading the first few pages and see if you can refrain from reading it aloud to someone. Funny and so true. Her new title is Falling Together and it is a gem. So nice to read about love and grownup life...Even if not all the characters are adults.
The last recommendation is an audiobook, and I urge you to listen rather than read it...The book is called Agent to the Stars and the author is the witty and amazing John Scalzi. (His blog is also witty and amazing--check it out here.)
BUT, I have to say that the real star of this audiobook is the narrator--though that word seems so tepid a word to describe his work here--Wil Wheaton...Yeah, the kid from Star Trek: Next Generation is all grown up and he is THE BEST narrator of an audiobook I have heard yet. Those there are many I love and admire, his reading of Agent to the Stars is genius. Get it on Audible or rent it, or borrow it somewhere. Listen. Laugh. Enjoy.
hasta pronto!

Lucky Me--A Writer's Life

Okay, I'm sitting at Lestat's Coffehouse, writing away on this as part of "Blazing Laptops" the 9-hour writing marathon, to benefit San Diego Writers, Ink.
Lucky me, I sat down at an empty table this morning at about 8:45 and who should sit beside me but Judy Reeves, one of my favorite people (and writers) in the world. Then someone sat on the other side of me and it turned out to be Drusilla Campbell, who I have "known" for years but never met--and who is a new "must-read" author I am telling everyone about.
Both women have great websites, full of interest and excerpts. Look them both up--I'm busy writing here...Actually, I am doing a writing prompt for the group in a minute or two, so I'd better prepare.
hasta pronto!

Jenny Redbug at Blazing Laptops June 10th

I'll be at the annual "Blazing Laptops" event on Sunday, June 10th. Blazing Laptops is a nine-hour writing marathon to benefit San Diego Writers, Ink. You can contribute as little as $5, and every penny goes to support their great writing programs.
San Diego Writers, Ink, or SDWI, is one of the great local resources (along with SCWC) that is helping to make San Diego into the world-class writing/reading city we know it can be; this kind of event helps to make everyone aware of how many great writers--published and not yet published--we have here in San Diego.
You can sign up yourself--the venue is Lestat's in Normal Heights--but you need to get at least $100 in pledges to attend. It is a benefit event, after all. The marathon starts at 9am (great coffee is handy for those who need it) and goes until 6pm. There will be writing tips and cues given throughout the day--I'll be doing one midday.
Or, if you have plans already that day, you can help support SDWI--and my own efforts at supporting them-- just click to pledge on my page.
Lately, I've not only been working on editing projects, but I've started working on a novel of my own--tentatively titled: "Dog Beach: A Love Story." So I can really use the day of just writing!
hasta pronto!

Three New Books for Spring

Okay, I'll start by saying that none of these books is a particularly cheery read...So if you're reading this post because you wanted New Books For Spring to mean sunny bunny books, you can stop reading now. It was simply that three recent books--published just weeks or months ago--inspired me to put together a short list of "must reads" for Spring. In no particular order, here they are:
Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell. The taut, concise read shows what a master of prose Campbell is--she gives us a young woman courageously questioning her life choices, an even younger boy embroiled but not paralyzed by grief, and a supporting cast of characters that run the gamut of motive and type. Amazingly, these people are all fully realized on the pages, as are her Southern California settings...if you live, or have lived in San Diego, you'll find it even more intriguing, but either way, you won't want to put it down. Check out her site here.
Black and White, by Wes Albers, is also set in San Diego, and also explores a modern exploration of the human condition, but there the resemblance ends. This book is a no-hold-barred tale of life and work (often the same thing) on the streets for a "regular cop" driving a black-and-white patrol car.  The title has at least one other meaning but I'll leave that to you to discover. Wes Albers, a veteran cop himself, writes like you know they talk--even if you don't know. The story of this man's inner life colliding with his hard-won persona really hit home for me. Black and White is available from booksellers, and on Amazon--and the Kindle edition is, at the time of this writing, available for only ninety-nine cents!
And, last but definitely not least, Tincture of Time, by John Rosenberg...This book will keep you up nights, if you are silly enough to start reading it in bed...But it would be equally compelling by the pool or at the beach. If you like stories with exotic settings, passionate and obsessed people, and wildly fantastic but somehow believable events, you'll love Tincture of Time.
In the interests of full disclosure, I have to say I was involved with this book from early on--I heard John give an superb pitch for this book (a medical thriller set in Brazil) in a pitch class I was giving at SCWC a few years ago, and immediately wanted to read it. I introduced him to an agent friend and the usual circuitous path to publication followed...The book is out now, though not yet available on Kindle, and I highly recommend it.
hasta pronto!