Trisha Sugarek's Blog, page 96
November 17, 2013
Trisha Sugarek, Guest Blogger on FreshFiction.com TODAY!
This author is a guest blogger on FreshFiction.com TODAY! Telling the story behind "The Art of Murder" and how it went from an idea to a book to a series. Trish is currently working on book 2, "The Dance of Murder" in the series The World of Murder.
Click here: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=5447
Book 1 of The World of Murder series
Win a chance to receive, FREE, one of Trisha’s latest novels.
In a special ‘give away’ 10 visitors to FreshFiction.com will win a book, “Wild Violets” or “The Art of Murder”.
"Wild Violets" is also available in Audio Books!
November 14, 2013
The Grande Dame of Historic Fiction was so much More!
Yes, the snobs of the literary world might have scoffed at her pink signature Chanel suits, her poofy hats, her Pekinese dogs, and her silly romantic stories. But, they can't quite get around her fifty plus years of writing, resulting in over 1,000 million books sold, or the fact that she spent her life making the world a better place.
Her name was Barbara Cartland. I know I must have started buying her books somewhere around 1972 because one of her letters to me was dated 1975. So I have been reading her historic, romantic fiction for forty years. Collecting hard covers when I could find them! I would send them to her and she would autograph them and always, always send a nice note and a little gift back to me. Most treasured gift was a gold-gilded oak leaf from an oak tree on Barbara's property. The "Deer Oak", which is said to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth the First in 1550, at the spot where she killed her first deer, is on the estate.
More bits of trivia that I found interesting as I followed this grand lady is that (by marriage) Barbara ended up being the step-grandmother to Princess Diana. Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, was the daughter of Barbara Cartland and married John Spencer, the 8th Earl. Diana was his daughter. Let's just say that her step-grandmother was not Princess Diana's 'cup of tea' and leave it at that.
Barbara also lived at Camfield Place, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The family still own the Estate which was originally settled on by a Knight in 1275. It once featured a Tudor Manor House which was pulled down by Beatrix Potter's (Peter Rabbit fame) Grandfather who rebuilt the house in 1867. Beatrix Potter wrote that Camfield was the place that she loved best and where she wrote "The Tale of Peter Rabbit". The estate features an Oak Tree, planted by H.M. Queen Elizabeth in 1550 whilst she was imprisoned at Hatfield.
'Not only was she a successful and well-loved author but she also lived a truly amazing life which spanned two world wars.
During the Second World War Barbara Cartland was Chief Lady Welfare Officer in Bedfordshire looking after 20,000 service men and women. She had the idea of gathering as many wedding dresses as she could for hire, (she hit up her debutant friends for their cast offs) so that service brides would have a white dress to wear on their wedding day. She bought 1,000 second hand gowns without coupons for the ATS, the WAAFS and the WRENS and made many brides’ big day, very special. In 1945 Barbara Cartland received the Certificate of Merit from Eastern Command.
In the early 1960’s she campaigned for the rights of gypsies' to have a permanent place to live which resulted in an act of Parliament. One of the first gypsy camps was opened by Barbara Cartland in 1964 and called Barbaraville and there are now 14 in Hertfordshire. This has meant thousands of gypsies and their families have a place to call home and their children can be educated in their local area.
One of Barbara’s passions was fighting for better conditions and salaries for midwives and nurses. Through this cause she became a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, The first woman in a thousand years to receive membership. ' (contributor: BarbaraCartland.com)
This was, in my opinion, an extraordinary woman by anyone's standards.
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! "The Writer's Corner"
In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Jeffrey Deaver was October's author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!
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November 12, 2013
Do YOU Learn Anything from History or Make the same Mistakes...Again?
I looked up this quote to be certain I quoted it with accuracy and low and behold! Today is the day that Winston Churchill (you all know how much I love him) and Charles Bukowski (you know I am obsessed with him) meet. Considering it's my blog I guess it was inevitable.
Winston Churchill was one of the greatest 'coiner of phrases' that the world has ever seen. He said, 'those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it' back in the early 1900's. Not much has changed and it seems that we are, indeed, doomed to repeat and repeat.
Ironically, Bukowski wrote this prose back in the early 1950's. It could have been written yesterday; we're still at war, the politicians still suffer from the malady of greed and power. Government still disregards the weak, the old, the impoverished, the helpless........
putrefaction © (Bukowski)
of late
I've had this thought
that this country
has gone backwards
4 or 5 decades
and that all the
social advancement
the good feeling of
person toward
person
has been washed
away
and replaced by the same
old
bigotries.
we have
more than ever
the selfish wants of power
the disregard for the
weak
the old
the impoverished
the
helpless.
we are replacing want with
war
salvation with
slavery.
we have wasted the
gains
we have become
rapidly
less.
we have our Bomb
it is our fear
our damnation
and our
shame.
now
something so sad
has hold of us
that
the breath
leaves
and we can't even
cry.
'Oh no!' you cry, 'Trish is going all political on us'. Not at all. It's still about the writing and the wordsmiths of our time.
I just found it so poignant that these two great men, so very different in their calling and their craft would come to the same philosophical place decades apart. One man was a great statesman, a world leader and a wordmaster at the highest level. The other man, a dissolute, drunken, promiscuous, wild genius of a writer. One pronounced wisdom in a pedantic, clear statement, leaving nothing to interpretation or misunderstanding. The other's rantings makes you see it, breath it, taste it, feel it.
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Start your month off right!! DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! "The Writer's Corner"
In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Jeffrey Deaver was October's author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
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To receive my posts sign up for my Go to the home page; On the right side you'll see a box where you can enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!
November 7, 2013
'Slainte, Prost, Cheers!' Whatever the toast.....Part 2 An Interview with author, Patrick Taylor
Patrick Taylor's characters, Fingal O'Reilly, M.D. and his young protege, Dr. Barry Laverty play word games over a pint. Trying to out do each other with trivia. And my readers all know, by now, how much I love words.
Over a couple of whiskeys, at the end of a long day, Barry toasts Dr. O'Reilly, "Slainte".
O'Reilly responds, "Prost!" and then continues, "Did you know 'prosit' is the third-person singular present active subjunctive of the Latin verb Prosum or the Maltese prosit, meaning 'bravo'"
"I did not know that." Barry replied. "How do you?" O'Reilly chuckled, "I learnt the Latin grammar in school, and a good thing too, because when I was a student at Trinity some lectures were delivered in Latin."
My Interview with Patrick Taylor
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from "no book" to "finished book" look like?
A. You start with a blank screen. I have been writing a series for what seems like forever so I know my characters and the setting. Then I ask myself a question. What if characters A and B were faced with ??? and that is the beginning of the plot. Then I let the characters loose and see what happens and feed in supporting characters and sub plots as required for about ten chapters (20,000 word approx). Then my editor reviews, suggests (or tells me it’s not so good in which case my collection of waste paper increases.) Then it’s rewrite, resubmit, rewrite until we are both satisfied. If the first ten are OK then I’m usually creating the following chapters as she edits the older material. The process is repeated until there are somewhere between 100,000 and 140,000 words and the story has come to a satisfactory conclusion. A truly “finished” book is one on the book sellers’ shelves and the on publication royalty cheque is in my account.
Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters ?
Patrick's catch of the day
A. Mostly in my head as amalgams of people I have met over the last fifty years or more. I certainly do not use real people as my central characters, but may need to introduce historical figures for accuracy.
Q. What inspired your story/stories ?
A. I like to write. Initially I was asked to write humour columns so acceded. Then a friend, Jack Whyte author of a best selling series, suggested I try my hand at fiction. I’m from the North of Ireland and so all my works are set there and initially I was determined not to use my medical background as a kind of performance enhancing aid but rather delve into the lives of ordinary people in the Ulster Troubles. The result was a collection of short stories. The next step was to try a novel; and again it was non medical. I then tried to get my editor to bind my collected medical humour columns. She said she would—if my name was Garrison Keillor, a polite way of saying, “Who’s ever heard of Pat Taylor?” but she liked the characters. Could I try a novel about them? I did and hit the jackpot when the book was acquired by a major US publisher.
Q. When is your next book coming out? (or) What are you working on?
A. The next in the Country Doctor series Fingal O’Reilly, Irish Doctor will be published in October 2013. The Wily O’Reilly my collected humour columns wil be released in February 2014, the sequel to Pray for Us Sinners my first thriller, Now And in the Hour of Our Death will reappear in June 2014 and I am waiting to get final approval from my editor for Fingal O’Reilly: in Peace and at War so I can deliver it to my publisher to be ready for next October. Only Wounded:Ulster Stories is slated for re-release in June 2015 and that’s as far ahead as I can see.
Q. Have you? Or do you want to write in another genre`?
A. I have written both medical humour and techno thrillers. I still have to finish the Country Doctor saga with at least one more book for 2015 then I am intrigued by certain aspects of Irish history and the heroes who fought in the air in the Second World War. Time will tell.
Q. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
A. Just that if they are readers of my books a million thanks. If they didn’t buy them there’d not be much point in my writing them would there?
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Click here to read more (Part 1 of my Interview) Read my confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!
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November 5, 2013
Sure'n It's Off to an Irish Village, You'll be goin'...an Interview with author, Patrick Taylor (1 of 2)
This blogger was in her home place of Ireland for a month....and each time I read another 'Country Doctor' book by this author, I revisit the home of my heart. Patrick has given me this opportunity to interview one of my top favorite authors!
AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR, PATRICK TAYLOR
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. In my study when at home. In rented accommodation when we winter in California.
Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)
A. No. I usually sort out the admin stuff like e-mail then edit what I wrote yesterday and then get on with the new stuff.
Q. What is your mode of writing? (long hand? Pencil? Computer? Etc.)
A. Computer. I used to be a doctor. Nobody can read my handwriting—including me.
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?
A.I write every day seven days a week if I’m not on holiday. Get going on the new stuff about 10:30 break for lunch and quit about 4--4:30
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
A. I’ve no idea. I just get on with it. If you are a bit stuck go for a walk, but at the end of the day writing’s a job not religious orders. People get on with their jobs unless they hate them in which case they should look for another job. One cause of procrastination is lack of self confidence. Tell yourself, if an old gynecologist can do it, a single mother on state support can do it and become billionaire I can do it and then simply go for it
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?
A. Even when I’m not typing unless I am actively involved in something my mind is usually somewhere that I’m writing about.
Patrick's workspace when at home
Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment ?
A. I don’t work on anything as lofty as inspiration. I’m a simple storyteller. Having a substantial mortgage can be highly motivating too.
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
A. When I was about sixteen then after medical school, see my bio, I had to write research papers and textbooks. I did humour columns about 25 years ago and “serious” fiction beginning in about 95.
Q. How long after that were you published?
A. Two years.
Q. What makes a writer great?
A. Not being a great writer myself I can’t tell you from personal experience, but the great writers first and foremost understand and control their language of choice with the skill of a true artist and are constantly refining their choice of words, sentences, and paragraphs. They also can balance character plot and setting in a seemingly effortless manner so that as a reader, and in my case a very critical reader, I am unaware of the writing but entranced by the story. I think that probably as with any skill constant application to their trade is also a prime requirement.
Excerpt from his Biography: www.patricktaylor.ca Born in 1941 and brought up in Bangor, Co. Down, Northern Ireland Patrick Taylor managed to hoodwink the examiners in Belfast in 1964 and London in 1969 to become a physician and then a specialist Ob/Gyn. He spent 37 years in Canada, working in the field of human infertility, teaching at a series of universities and churning out a string of texts and research papers, more remarkable for their quantity than quality. These led to a misapprehension that his chosen genre was science fiction…at least according to scientific peer reviewers. Because so many people laughed at his research (take Infertility Treatment in the Lowland Gorilla, [Gorilla G. Gorilla] as an example) in 1989 he turned his hand to writing humour columns for medical and sailing magazines, a pastime he follows to this day. A keen offshore sailor his account of his 2000 Victoria to Maui race is his most prized race report.
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Don't miss Part 2 of this wonderful interview ** November 7th.
And at the request of Patrick's publicist I was pleased to
In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Jeffrey Deaver was October's author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!
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November 3, 2013
Don't Miss my Interview with author, Patrick Taylor! Begins this Tuesday!
This blogger was in her home place of Ireland for a month....and each time I read another 'Country Doctor' book by this author, I revisit the home of my heart. Patrick has given me this opportunity to interview one of my top favorite authors!
AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR, PATRICK TAYLOR begins this Tuesday, Nov. 5th in a two part Nov. 7th.
To Read My Review Click here
October 31, 2013
You needn't Suffer Waiting for the New Season of Downton Abbey -- a Review
HEIRS and GRACES Newest book in the Royal Spyness series
by Rhys Bowen
Impoverished, royal Georgiana Rannoch is set another task by HRM, the Queen. 'Get thee gone....'to a grand country house and help an uncooperative Heir adjust to his new station in life and a mammoth fortune. Said heir, Jack, has been snatched from a sheep station in Australia, brought to England, and is the most reluctant of future Dukes.
'Jack jumped to his feet. "How can you talk calmly of eating when your son is dead and everyone thinks I stabbed him?" he shouted.
"Such an outburst, the dowager Duchess said. "Hardly seemly for a duke, John. Really you will have to learn to control your emotions. Of course I'm upset at the loss of my son. I am outraged that somebody chose to murder him. But I am also aware that it is up to us to set a good example, chin up, best foot forward and all that. This household will continue as usual, except for the fact that we be in mourning for the requisite amount of time....'
It is deliciously Great Britain back in the day. Set in the 1930's, young ladies of the aristocracy had no training other than 'playing the pianoforte, running a household and servants, and throwing lovely dinner parties. Georgiana has no skills in the work place and if she lands a job she doesn't last very long. Until she finds her calling.....she is an amateur sleuth and quite good at it.
I never saw the end coming and would never have guessed who the killer was.
Rhys Bowen's series, (the Royal Spyness Mysteries), is great reading and I highly recommend that you begin with the first book (Her Royal Spyness) as there is a definite story thread through all the books.
I have to say my favorite new character is Georgiana's maid, Queenie. She is so outrageous and funny and is a terrible lady's maid! Yes, I know, I said Georgiana is poor and she is. Queenie is such a misfit she works only for her keep.
You'll never be disappointed by Bowen's witty, clever writing.
Click here to read my interview with Rhys Bowen
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NEW release "The Twelve Clues of Christmas" Nov. 5th
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! "The Writer's Corner"
In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Jeffrey Deaver was October's author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks!
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October 29, 2013
More from the Opera Singer/AudioBook Narrator/Producer (part 2)
In Part I, I told you how I got started formatting my existing books into audio books with the help of my producer/narrator Carin Gilfry. Here is the rest of Carin's story.
Carin as Estrella in Life is a Dream at the Santa Fe Opera
Carin Gilfry, narrator: I always knew how each character should sound by the way the dialogue was written. Cheets in particular, the mischievous and very effervescent elf, quickly became my favorite. I always wanted to be a Disney princess, but in reality, I think I was more like Cheets as a child. Eager, loud, and always wanting to be everyone's friend. I always intended to narrate books when not in a production, but I actually narrated EEElf, while in rehearsals for Offenbach's La Perichole with New York City Opera. It worked surprisingly well. Though, I did get locked in a hotel closet, trying to find a quiet space to narrate... Adventures of audiobook narration on the road!
After The Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf, I narrated Bertie the Bookworm and the Bully Boys. This book has about 20 different characters in it, all with very distinct personalities. Typically with ACX, a narrator submits the first 15 minutes of a book for approval by the publisher, and within those first 15 minutes a lot of the characters appear, and the publisher can decide if they like the characterizations or not. For Bertie, I had a LOT of characters to give voices to, and may of them were not in the first 15 minutes of the book.
I decided to record a 20 minute long sample of all the different voices I was thinking of, and send it to Trisha. Doing that first gave me a great blueprint for how the book would come to life. Listen to Sample (Bertie, the Bookworm...)
Every time I record one of Trisha's books, I can't help but smile. Her stories are so charming, so sweet, so fun, and they are full of characters I adore. It is so wonderful to get to take on the voices of all these characters. Especially after a long day of singing modern opera or narrating poorly written spy
Carin as Thelma Yablonski in Later the Same Evening at the Glimmerglass Festival
novels! I feel transported in to their world. I know it's strange to say, but Cheets, Emma, Donald, and all the rest of the recurring Fabled Forest gang, feel like a part of me. I get excited when they do, I laugh when they laugh... literally and figuratively. I have been a part of their world for 7 months now, and I absolutely love it.
I have just finished working on the first book of the Fabled Forest Series, Emma and the Lost Unicorn and re-recording Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon. Listen Emma Sample It is available now on Audible.com, Amazon.com, & www.iTunes. I can't wait to go back to the forest tomorrow!
ListenElf Demo (The Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf). Since this writing, I have completed the audio book for "Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon" and it will be available in a couple of weeks.
TS: My narrator had some nice things to say about the latest in my audio books that we have worked on together: "I love this story. It is so sweet and has a great arc. I'm currently working on four books but yours are always my favorite, and this one is at the top of my list. There is nothing like narrating a really fun kids book with lots of crazy characters after a long day of poorly written spy novels... (ugh!)" THANKS! Carin
To read Part I of How to Create an Audiobook, click here
Carin has recently been vetted by audible.com and is an: Audible.com Approved Producer and Narrator
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Visit my store here or go to www.audible.com
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! "The Writer's Corner"
I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview with one once a month . These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! September will feature Tasha Alexander. Jeffrey Deaver is October's author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
To receive my posts sign up for my Go to the home page; On the right side there's a box where you can enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 26, 2013
FREE Audio Book: "Bertie the Bookworm and the Bully Boys" by Trisha Sugarek
A story book with full color illustrations
FREE!! Have you got a child, grandchild or great grandchild under the age of ten?? www.Audible.com is offering 25 coupon codes to get a FREE audio-book of "Bertie the Bookworm and the Bully Boys" (One per family)
And I would like to share this with you.....first come, first serve. Just send your email address to me at:
trishsugar@aol.com and I will send you the code and the instructions on how to get a FREE copy.
Listen to Sample of the book by clicking here
Bertie, the bookworm is the fabled forest's elder and teacher. Every week he has a spelling and reading circle where everyone is welcomed. Slam, the badger and his gang of bully boys are forever teasing, disrupting, and bullying Bertie and the group of faeries and woodland creatures.
Pansy, the pixie is a new character in this third of the Fabled Forest series. She is a defender of reading, truth, and Bertie. Cheets, our beloved elf from past books joins the wrong crowd and his friends are worried that he will become the newest member of the Bully Boys.
The story teaches gentle lessons about literacy, bullying and ageism.
This Book is also available in paperback with full color illustrations.
The entire series from the Fabled Forest are all now available in Audio-Books. "Emma and the Lost Unicorn",
"The Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf", and "Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon"
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! "The Writer's Corner"
In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Jeffrey Deaver was October's author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
To receive my posts sign up for my Go to the home page; On the right side there is a box where you can enter your email address. Click on "join my blog". You need to confirm in an email from 'Writer at Play' . Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 24, 2013
How to Create an Audio Book! It's Easy! (part 1 of 2)
How I got started...Producing audio books was a really good idea and it wasn't even mine........ One day, a friend asked me, "when are you going to create audio-books? Your kids' books would do great. Anyone under the age of 25 is 'listening' to books not reading." This friend even found www.acx.com (Audiobook Creation Exchange) for me so I had no more excuses as to why I wasn't putting my books on audio. Since acX.com was an Amazon company, I knew there would be quality there and a great distribution plan in place.
It's a pretty easy web site to use and they have a very large 'stable' of narrators to choose from. As the author, you are in control every step of the way. You start by posting an audition excerpt from your book. Professional narrators then send you their audition. I have always received 8-15 auditions for each book, so I had many to choose from. You can pay them outright from a sliding scale (which is my preference) or give them a percentage of the book sales. It took me two tries to find the ideal narrator, Carin Gilfry. She is open and friendly and extremely patient making any changes I want, no matter how small. After you find your narrator and
they accept your terms of the contract, there are very easy steps you go through as they narrate your book. You proof chapter by chapter, (on line) ask for the corrections or tweaks via acx.com email or personal email. It's been a positive wonderful experience with Carin helping me create my characters with her fantastic character voices.
Tip: You should always review and edit the manuscript that you are converting to an audio book before giving it to the narrator. I find that with an audio book, I delete about 50% of the: 'she said.' 'he replied.' 'she exclaimed.' 'he told her.' They are just not necessary because you have a voice telling the listener who is speaking.
Mastrilla in La Perichole New York City Opera
As I considered writing this post about audio books, I thought 'what an interesting topic if I could get Carin's prospective on this process' and she generously contributed to this blog.
Enjoy!!
Carin recording Trisha's kids' books
Carin G. I am an opera singer by day, and children's book superhero and audiobook narrator by... well, also by day. I have two jobs. Half of the time I travel around the world performing the operas of Mozart, Offenbach, Verdi, and all the other famous old dead guys, and the other half of the time, I narrate audiobooks. I love both my jobs. I went to school for years to study opera. I got a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California, and then spent two years in New York City at Julliard getting my masters. I even worked one year under Placido Domingo at the Los Angeles Opera in their Young Artist Program. But... the opera world is getting smaller and smaller. I found myself making enough money as a singer to survive, but so bored with all my free time. Worse, some of my contracts started to get canceled because of lack of funding. Money for opera is a problem all over the world, even in Europe, where opera is almost as popular as hockey in the US. (Which isn't saying much, I know!) I love singing opera, and I have worked so hard to make it my livelihood, but the jobs are getting fewer and fewer for everyone in the business. So, while I pursued opera, I decided to also turn to my second dream.
To become a Disney Princess...
Yes, I know, it's even more unrealistic than being a full-time opera singer, but hey, a girl can dream! I started taking character voice acting classes, voice over classes, and asking friends in the cartoon business if they had any job leads. A friend pointed me to ACX, an Amazon.com company which connects voice over actors with rights holders for books.
Zweite Dame in The Magic Flute at The Juilliard School
I started narrating Trisha Sugarek's Fabled Forest Series in March, with the third book in the series, The Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf. Have you ever had one of those moments when it feels like you have discovered a part of yourself you hadn't really cultivated, but had always been there? That's how I felt when auditioning for The Fabled Forest Series. Somehow, everything just came together. Trisha's characters just jumped off the page......
Join us for Part II of Creating Audio-Books on Thurs., October 29th!
Audio books are available at www.audible.com, www.amazon.com and www.iTunes.com
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DON'T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! "The Writer's Corner"
I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview with one once a month . These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers' special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! September will feature Tasha Alexander. Jeffrey Deaver is October's author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
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