Lisa Angle's Blog

Book Review Experiment

A friend asked me to write an Amazon review for his memoir. I did listen to his audiobook but didn’t know what to say in the review because it’s not the type of book I usually read. So I asked ChatGPT for help. No, I didn’t post the review just as ChatGPT wrote it. I edited it quite a bit and made it sound more like myself. Turned out wonderfully. 

So, I thought I’d see what this AI said about my book. 

(Note from ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I don’t have direct access to external content s...

A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to an Audiobook

About ten years ago Whiskey and Old Stogies only existed in draft form. Every week I took 1,500 words of it to Toni Lopopolo‘s writers workshop and brought my pages back with lots of notes scribbled on them. I also attended Screenwriters Association of Santa Barbara, now defunct, meetings because I figured learning about screenwriting equals learning about writing. 

One SASB member, Guy Goldstein, talked about a website he developed, readthrough.com. On the site voice actors volunteered to perfo...

My New Southern Obsession

I want to tell you two things about myself you may or may not already know.

First, I’m on TikTok and post some good info for fellow writers. I always thought of TikTok as a place where millennials hang out but my older sister encouraged me to check it out and the rest is history.

Yes, I follow other writers but my favorite accounts to follow feature cats. That’s the other thing you may not know about me…I love me some cats. My favorite, of course, gives a heaping helping of southern charm: 3sout...

A Mistake and a Solution

Don’t they say that if life gives you corn and sugar, make moonshine? Oh, well, I reckon most people say if life gives you lemons make lemonade. In any case I love the concept of making a good thing out of a not so good thing. 

You might remember that last year I participated in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC. Anybody who bought a book received either a shot glass or a chocolate cigar. I didn’t sell as many books as I hoped. I’ll chalk that up to going outside my target market. G...

How to Celebrate National Moonshine Day

Last year I celebrated National Moonshine Day, the first Thursday in June, by releasing the paperback version of Whiskey and Old Stogies. So what do I plan for this year’s event? Maybe I’ll try a new variety of whiskey. Or perhaps read somebody else’s novel that features a bit of moonshine. 

How about you?

If you want to add some reading pleasure to this day that calls for some sipping whiskey, I’ve got a deal for you. For a limited time only I’m offering the ebook version of Whiskey and Old st...

How to use a shot glass if you don’t drink

Come see me on Sunday, April 24 at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in the Writers and Publishers Network both #200. 

If you visit me and buy a copy of Whiskey and Old Stogies you receive a complimentary shot glass or chocolate cigar. I posted a few swag ideas a while ago on Facebook. People pegged the shot glass and chocolate cigar as their top choices. Interestingly enough my sister chose the shot glass, and she doesn’t drink. So I got to thinking about ways to use a shot glass that doe...

“Moonshine: The Eternal Spirit”

Last month I attended a virtual presentation by Kevin R. Kosar author of Moonshine: A Global History. His website offers a lot of info about all sorts of booze. The book, and presentation, explores the 600 year global history of moonshine. The word moonshine isn’t American, it comes from the British Isles circa 1425. Starting in 1780 publications used the term to mean illicit brandy and gin, not just whiskey. The illicit, unlicensed, nature seems to over shadow the type of liquor. Kosar pointed ...

My 2021 Reading Journey

Let me start with how I ended the year then circle back to how I began my 2021 reading journey. The year ended on a high With West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. I didn’t only like this novel because a female author wrote it from a male point of view, which I appreciate after tackling that challenge with Whiskey and Old Stogies. Not a romance, but West with Giraffes shows how Americans, and especially one dust bowl boy, fell in love with a pair of giraffes heading from a east coast hurricane t...

What the Buck

While working on the second novel in the Cedar Springs family saga, titled Strawberries, I needed to do some research. I plan to write the revival scene in Whiskey and Old Stogies from a different point of view and wanted to make sure I remembered what year I put that event in. A couple of Amazon reviews said they found the timeline in Whiskey and Old Stogies a bit difficult to follow. I agree and probably should’ve put dates with chapter numbers.

When I looked up the revival chapter I saw that...

What’s the deal with pre-orders?

Why did I ask people to pre-order the ebook for Whiskey and Old Stogies? Because all the sales accumulated over the last month will appear as happening the day the ebook drops, causing it to rise in the rankings in its assorted categories.

One thing I believe hurting book sales right now involves the Look Inside feature Amazon puts on all books unless the publisher opts out. I did not opt out of this feature and yet it doesn’t show up on the book’s page. I contacted the KDP support team and got...