Andi Marquette's Blog: Andi Land, page 19

My New Mexico mystery series: some news

Howdy, all –

As some of you know, I’ll be in New Mexico in a couple of weeks at a groovy author event. More info HERE.

I’ll be doing a reading from my latest and forthcoming book in the series, Day of the Dead. It’s a Chris Gutierrez mystery, in case you wondered. There are two main characters in the NM series. K.C. Fontero stars in odd-numbered books and Chris Gutierrez stars in even-numbered books. Anyway, we’re hoping for a fall release (start looking in November) for Day of the Dead, so fol...

Still dreaming after 50 years

Hey, all–

Today is the 50th anniversary of the epochal March on Washington. There are all kinds of things going on to commemorate this event and hopefully that will get us thinking and planning for all the work that still needs to be done.

source: Documented Rights, archive.gov

Here are some links that might interest you.

The March’s 50th anniversary website. This is the “I was there” section. Some oral history.

Live updates, ABC News.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered th...

New Mexico gathering, September 14th!

Hey, peeps!

I’m now going to start reminding folks about the gathering o’ authors in New Mexico September 14th. That’s a Saturday, and we’re meeting outside Albuquerque at a campground for burgers n’ books. Authors who will be there to do readings and answer questions and serve up burgers are: moi, , Nat Burns, Barrett, Karen Badger (scroll down), and Bett Reece Johnson as well as some others in attendance like R.G. Emanuelle.

So click HERE for the original info/flyer.

And here’s a link...

Contract killers: more on publishing

Hi, peeps –

I’ve been thinking about publishing contracts over the past few weeks (ooo! Exciting!). Not because I want to sign you up for one. But rather because I’ve seen a lot of them and I’ve even drafted a few of them during my publishing days. And one of the things I’ve noticed is that a lot of times, they’re heavily weighted toward the publisher.

source

I bring this up here for authors to think about, but also so readers can get a sense of a little bit about a publishing contract and what...

Angst

Hey, peeps.

All writers, I think, go through periods of angst.

Mine usually happen after I turn a manuscript in to a publisher (or, if it’s a self-published work, when I turn it over to the editor) and I start thinking that said manuscript sucks giant horse ass and WTF was I thinking, turning it in like that?

source

The angst gets even worse when I start another project or resume work on one. Generally, after I finish writing a novel, I usually take about a week or two off from writing, and let m...

Questions Answered: Music and Writing

Hiya, peeps.

Whew. Another busy week. Got through the edits to Day of the Dead (you can read more about the upcoming Book 4 in my New Mexico series on my “Books” page — cover image and excerpt to come!) and now the manuscript is going through a second edit to make it all sexy-time (one hopes).

So I thought I’d do another quick Q&A. Every once in a while a reader asks me if I listen to music when I write and if so, what kind?

Yes, dear readers, I do. Every book and story have their own soundtrac...

What’s in a name?

Greetings, peeperas y peeperos –

Hope you’re having a groovy day. I got to thinking about names and characters after the Royal Baby’s was announced. His name is still garnering some discussion on social media. “George” has a long history in the British monarchy, so that wasn’t too surprising. And most of the comments about it were along the lines of “good name,” “strong,” “masculine.” That sort of thing. The prince’s next two names are “Alexander” and “Louis,” which also got approval from the...

Gearin’ up for Walking Dead

Hey, peeps!

If you were lucky enough to get to Comic-Con in San Diego, you probably saw a bunch of Walking Dead Heads around.

Here’s the link to the trailer for Season 4.

Holy crapamoli, peeps. As if the show hasn’t been a roller coaster already!

So Season 4 premieres Sunday, October 13. Put that in/on your calendar.

Happy Tuesday!

Inspiration

Hiya, peeps –

Hope everyone is doing well. I was thinking about things that inspire me. I’m not talking about writing. I’m talking about life. About what makes us keep going in spite of all the nasty, brutish, ugly things out there, and in spite of all the crappy things we as a species do to each other and to other species.

And I saw a couple of videos yesterday that summed up the word “inspiration.”

Here’s the background. Sportscaster/newscaster/awesome woman Robin Roberts was honored with the...

Different types of editors in publishing, cont.

Hi, kids. Since people seem to have been interested in the last post I put up about editing, I thought I’d put this one up, too. This, as well, was previously posted at Women and Words, where I am an administrator.

At any rate, the last post I did here on my site about editing dealt a lot with the PROCESS a manuscript goes through prior to publication. Here, I’ll talk about all the different TYPES of editors you might run across in the publishing world, including those who might call themselve...