Devorah Fox's Blog, page 36
May 4, 2014
The suspense mounts
Vote for Your Favorite
CONTEST UPDATE and REPAIRED LINKS
Naked Came the Sharks and The King’s Ransom are on the short list for IndieAuthorland’s 50 Self-Published Books Worth Reading, thanks to those of you who submitted nominations and helped them get this far. In many ways I already feel like a winner.
The final 50 books will be selected by taking the top five books from each of the 10 categories. Halfway through the voting, contest organizers IndieAuthorland won’t say who’s winning. However they have reported which books are in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th positions in each category. Mine aren’t which means they’re either in the bottom 3 or, let’s be hopeful, are among the top 3 candidates. Either way it’s important for you and everyone you know to vote! You don’t have to register or sign in, just cast your vote.
You can vote to make those books the winners in their categories, Thriller and Fantasy. You can vote a total of FIVE times for each book, until May 18. When you access the ballots, you may find another candidate book preselected. Just click on mine instead. And if you tried to vote before and found the links broken, please try again. This time they should work.
Here’s the link for Naked Came the Sharks. http://www.indieauthorland.com/vote-50-self-published-books-worth-reading-201314-thriller/ Yes, this is one time we want the sharks to win.
Here’s the link for The King’s Ransom http://www.indieauthorland.com/vote-50-self-published-books-worth-reading-201314-fantasy/ When we win, King Bewilliam will be so grateful he’ll want to knight everyone.
Let’s win this. Think of how much fun it will be to brag about your friend, the award-winning author.
May 2, 2014
The end
I’m the kind of person who likes to finish what she starts so you may be surprised at how much trouble I have wrapping up a writing project.
When you visit Cinta’s blog you’ll also have a chance to meet other fascinating authors, read book reviews and discover some new favorite books.
May 1, 2014
Already a winner
I can’t say it too often: the encouragement that I get from readers is what keeps me writing.
May Day! May Day!
OK, now that I’ve got your attention, I’d like to introduce you to C. Desert Rose whose novel, If Death Should Love Me has been signed on for the Fate’s Endeavor Series, a Youth/Young Adult Paranormal Collection of books published by All Authors Publications and Promotions.About If Death Should Love Me:
A dull roar, that’s all I could hear. Souls, that’s all I could see… So many people. Some good. Some bad. Some breathing. Some barely breathing. All souls. It was funny what you could see when you stood in the middle of the Emergency Room. Who survived. Who didn’t. All of them, every one, a soul. A soul for the taking.
So begins the introduction to the floating, clustered world of souls that will have such influence on Sophia, the young Puerto Rican-American girl who has just lost her closest ally, her grandmother, “Abuela”. It is just after the funeral, at the cemetery, where Sophia meets the tall, almost angelic man who will play the most unexpected role in her life.
A love story. A fantasy. An adventure. If Death Should Love Me tells a tale of “fate” far beyond the normal meaning of that little four letter word. How else would you explain why Sophia wonders what would happen If Death Should Love Me?
To keep up with C. Desert Rose and a heads up about the book’s publication visit her site at http://cdesertrose.com.
April 23, 2014
Festival of flowers
You can revel in a lush floral display on Saturday, April 26. The first annual “Festival of Flowers” will be held at the Allegro House, 29 Mazatlan Drive, on Key Allegro in Rockport from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This exhibit of paintings in any medium includes a competition, all with a unique focus.“The Coastal Bend area, and Rockport in particular, is famous for its artists and galleries,” said Patricia Luce Chapman. Pat is president of the Key Allegro Garden Club, organizers of the festival. “However most of the paintings are of boats, fish, palms, live oaks and birds—and relatively fewer present the beauty and variety of flowers. We hope with this annual celebration of flowers to bring a new vitality to our paintings.”
The paintings will not only be on exhibit for all to enjoy, they’ll also be judged and prizes will be awarded. Viewers will have a chance to vote for their favorite and The People’s Choice award of $300 will be decided at noon from a majority of votes cast. Shirley Blackman will select the other prizes and Carla Krueger Rinche will award them at 5 p.m. on the day of the festival. Entries are eligible for the Krueger Prize (Best in Show) of $400, the Allegro Rose (second prize) of $200, the Founders Prize (third place) of $100. Three Honorable Mentions of $50 will also be awarded.
The festival is supported by the Rockport Center for the Arts, the Austin Street Gallery, the Estelle Stair Gallery and the St. Charles Gallery, all of Rockport, and in Aransas Pass, the Mathews Gallery and Studios. Narice Hopp, KRM Consulting, Sigwald Services, Luce Properties, Helen Hough, Prosperity Bank, Lippke Cartwright & Roberts, Key Allegro Marina/Chartroom, Sandy Jump and Parkie Luce all sponsored prizes.
Among the artists who have already entered are:
Sylvia Ramsey. Recipient of many art show awards around the Coastal Bend, Sylvia’s work is on exhibit at the Art Center of Corpus Christi; the KSpace Contemporary Gallery; the Antonio E. Garcia Arts and Education Center; the Texas A&M University Islander Art Gallery; the Beeville Art Museum and Coastal Bend College.
Carol Koutnik: Carol has lived in many places in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and travels to Great Britain, Mexico and Guatemala which have inspired her art. Working mostly in watercolor and graphite, Carol is also experimenting with oil paint. Her recent paintings are of edible plants. Educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, Illinois State University and the Art Institute of San Antonio, Texas Carol’s work was in an exhibition at the Wind Way Gallery Group earlier this year.
Shirley Blackman: Shirley won her first art award for drawing at just six years of age. As Miss New Mexico in the Miss America Pageant she was the first contestant to name art as her talent. She graduated from Baylor University, going on to do advanced studio work in Paris with Reynold and Marthe Arnould. A full time artist since 1970 she has exhibited in numerous solo shows nationally and internationally. Her work is in many private and public collections in the United States, Central America and France.
Christi Mathews: Named for Corpus Christi, Texas, Christi makes both Offset Litho prints and Giclée prints. Christi herself supervises every step of the print process to ensure that the print is as true to the original painting as possible. The Fort Lauderdale area where she lived for many years inspired her art but in 2002 she and her husband returned to Aransas Pass and rediscovered a love for the Texas Gulf Coast. Her work is available from her own studio, Mathews Gallery & Studios, and in galleries throughout Texas and the eastern U.S.
Susan Wax: Susan recalls that her mother always wanted to be an artist but “life got in the way.” Susan traveled the world with her husband and when they finally settled in Rockport she decided to see if any of her mother’s talent lay undiscovered within her. With the support of the local art community she took up watercolor.
For more information about entering art for the festival contact Key Allegro Garden Club Vice President and Artists Liaison Lovelyn Hughes by phone at (316) 729-7188. There is an entrance fee of $20 for one painting or $30 for two. Artists may list their paintings for sale and will receive 100 percent of any sales.
To learn more about the Festival of Flowers contact Patricia Luce Chapman at (361)-790-5715 or send an email to patchacha@me.com. I’ll see you there.
April 17, 2014
“Swamps” accepted for publication
You can read a sample right now, then eagerly await the launch to read the rest.
Congratulations, Mike. This is great news. I hope this is just the first of many Frank Nagler stories.
April 16, 2014
In the spotlight
Thanks, Nikki Vision.
I hope you enjoy the interview. Be sure to check out all the other goodies on the Review Board’s site and blog: author interviews, book reviews and a chance to sign up for the All Authors Magazine.
April 14, 2014
Vote vote vote!
VOTE VOTE VOTE!You did it! You got Naked Came the Sharks and The King’s Ransom on the short list for the 50 Self-Published Books Worth Reading. Thank you thank you thank you.
Now VOTE VOTE VOTE to make them winners in their categories, Thriller and Fantasy. You can vote a total of FIVE times for each book. Here’s the link for Naked Came the Sharks and here’s the link for The King’s Ransom.
If King Bewilliam from The King’s Ransom wins he’ll probably want to knight everyone. As for Holly Berry from Naked Came the Sharks, well, this one time she wants the sharks to win.
Enter….
Click here to enter for a chance to win any number of prizes. Winners will be announced on April 28th.
April 9, 2014
Ephemeral art
SandFest 2014 brings a festival of ephemeral art to Port Aransas Friday through Sunday, April 11 through 13, 2014. This is the 18th Annual Texas SandFest.More than a dozen world-class master sculptors and hundreds of amateurs will create stunning works of art using sand and water. One huge wind gust or wave can easily destroy these fragile creations and by the end of the weekend they are gone forever, making them all the more special.
The festival features another ephemeral art form: live music. Think about it: you no sooner hear music than it’s gone, not to be performed live exactly the same way ever again.
Various bands will entertain throughout the three days but I am most looking forward to hearing the Sand Band.
I first heard the band at the now-shuttered Tarpon Ice House during SandFest last year. The Sand Band was awesome and the place was packed. Now that I’ve learned the secret behind that performance I’m even more impressed.
The Sand Band is a five piece musical group whose origins are in Port Aransas. In September, 2012, Alan White was lying in bed in Yukon, Oklahoma one night and began thinking of a way he could play his congas and bongos more frequently. At the time, he was playing with a Dallas based TropRock band called The Bad Monkeys. So the next day Alan called Kelly Brown, the front man for the Bad Monkeys and Mike Eiras, an incredibly talented vocalist and guitarist from Austin. Alan asked them if they would be interested in playing somewhere in Port A if the opportunity arose. Both said they would love to do that.
Alan’s next move was to find a place in Port A for them to play, not an easy thing to do while in Yukon, OK. However one day White called the Tarpon Ice House , explained the situation and, knowing the odds were remote, said he was looking for a place to play on Friday of SandFest. The answer was an immediate yes. Alan was surprised to have booked an unknown, unnamed group on that day. Of course it helped when he said the band would be bringing 60 or 70 Parrotheads (Jimmy Buffett fans) from all over Texas. (Alan’s a member of both the Parrot Heads of Port Aransas and the Cedar Creek Lake Parrot Head club.)
Fast forward to April, 2013. Upon arriving in Port A, Alan contacted Paul Fain, the owner of the Tarpon. Paul said the booking was good to go. During the course of that month, Kelly Brown talked the bass player and the keyboard player for the Bad Monkeys into coming also. Paul Fain needed a name for the band. Alan said, “Well, we’ve never played or practiced together, but since we are playing during SandFest, we will call ourselves The Sand Band.
The group put together a set list of cover TropRock songs and many of Brown’s and Eiras’s original tunes, plugged in at the Tarpon, and commenced to rock the place. The group was so on that night, that in addition to Parrot Heads, many people came in off the street to see who was playing. Alan says “Inasmuch as we had never played together it was the quintessential jam session. Louie Chambers, keyboardist, said it was the most musical fun he had ever had.”
From where I rocked out in the audience, all I heard was great music. I had no idea then that the evening was essentially impromptu.
The Sand Band is made up of:
Kelly Brown – the frontman for The Bad Monkeys. Kelly is the rhythm guitarist and vocalist. Many of the songs played by the group were written by Brown. (For a sample, check out this YouTube video, http://youtu.be/KzXj0bxyxnw, which features Kelly Brown and his original “Song of the Ocean.”) He has been a musician in the Dallas area for over 20 years. As the driving force of the Monkeys, he has performed all over the country.
Mike Eiras – Mike’s musical roots go back 20 years. He has played in groups from Alabama to Texas and points in between. Mike is a virtuoso guitarist. Alan said he would put him up against any guitarist he has ever met. In addition, Eiras is a gifted singer/songwriter.
Randy Brooks – Randy is the bassist. However, he also plays the guitar and banjo. Randy is a regular in the Nashville music scene. He has written many, many songs for himself and others. His most famous tune is “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” (yes, that one!). He currently travels all over the United States singing his tunes and delivering his homespun humor.
Louie Chambers –Much of the lead instrumentation not performed by Eiras is done by Louie, the keyboardist. He has played for many Dallas groups; however, the most famous artist he toured with was LeAnn Rimes.
Alan White – Alan plays all kinds of percussion but for The Sand Band it is congas and bongos. There are no other drums in the band. He has the unique ability in any given song to make his hand drums sound like a regular drum kit and back to hand drums and does so without an audience noticing there are not two drummers. He also plays the guitar and piano.
The Sand Band will perform on Friday night, April 11, from 7 to 11 at Stingray’s, 401 Beach Ave., and again Sunday, April 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the SandFest tent. They’ll also play in September, 2014, for the Parrot Heads of Port Aransas WINGS 2014 fundraiser with the Bad Monkeys. This full seven- piece band features vocalist Sharon Oefinger. I’ll see you there. —http://devorahfox.com
