Sandra Gulland's Blog, page 45

Awesome: podcast interview technology

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I recently had a telephone interview with charming Marjorie of MyInnerFrenchGirl.com, which she recorded as an MP3 file and posted on-line as a podcast.

I've not had a podcast interview before. What's nice is that I can post it, too.

http://bit.ly/SGpodcastinterview

Tra la!

I dare not listen to it myself: too painful!

To-Do-List Disaster

.. [image error] This is just a quick post to 1) apologize for being so long between posts, and 2) to observe that "write the book" wrecks havoc with a To-Do-List. Everything gets pushed off the list until "after"--and that after can be a Very Long Time.

I'm closing in on the final second draft (officially draft 2.3). Soon I'll send it off to one of the editors I work with—the amazing Dan Smetanka—and then I'll dive into all the other things on my To Do List, which includes: organizing a research trip to Fr...

Come on board our Google Lit Trip!

..I've been excited about the Google Lit Trip developing on my Facebook Page for The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. We now have basic instructions and a streadsheet for collecting the data. Once that is done, we'll create a Google Lit Trip map for the book that will be of educational use to students in High School and University classes.

We have a good core team, but we need more hands on deck, so if you are at all interested, or simply curious, please join in. You can take on as...

Book cover design in 55 seconds (NOT!)

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Click HERE for a wonderful short video on the process of designing a book cover. (I love the cover!)

On YouTube: http://bit.ly/BookCoverDesign
Blog on the design process: http://bit.ly/BookCoverDesignBlog


*****
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3xzbgv
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland

Street vendor wanted

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A street vendor plays a part in the novel I'm writing, but I haven't settled on what that something might have been in 17th century Paris. A quick Google search reveals street vendors of:

penny ices
blank verses
kindling wood
ink
neckties
yams
straw
oranges
grilled chicken
boot laces

I have yet to find what I'm looking for. I'd like it to be something tasty, so for now I may settle on yams.

Suggestions welcome!

Barbara Kingsolver: Turning on the lights

..I have piles of notes from my weekend at the wonderful San Miguel Writers' Conference. Very briefly, from Barbara Kingsolver's keynote address on how The Lacuna evolved:

1. She first asked: what are the big questions? 
2. She wrote pages and pages on what the novel would be about.
3. As she was doing this, scenes begin to "pop up" and characters appear.
4. She asked: Who will tell the story? To find the voice, she did a lot of practice-writing.
5. She started, but in bits, not chronologically.
6...

Rules for writing fiction, from writers and one reader

..The UK Guardian recently asked a number of well-known novelists to give their top tips for writing fiction. The results range from the quirky to the deadly serious. Wonderful!

In response, Laura Miller at Salon.com, posted her list of what she, as a reader, advises writers of fiction. Excellent, and to the point.

Links:
The Guardian survey: http://bit.ly/10rulesforwriting
Laura Miller's article at Salon.com: http://bit.ly/bTKS7J

*****
Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/
Blog: http://sandragull...

Google Lit Trip: student guides wanted!

..I just found out about Google Lit Trip and suddenly I'm thinking (with a bit of fatigue, I confess) that I could make a "Lit Trip" for each of my books.

I already have a Google map for all the places mentioned in Mistress of the Sun. It probably wouldn't take too much to turn it into a Lit Trip.

My imagination takes off: embedded photos, both old and new. Passages from the novel. Travel notes!

It's meant to be a great tool for educators — and it is, clearly — but I think the general reader wou...

Writers' conference high

..This is going to be a short post, because I've had a long and very stimulating day at the San Miguel Writers' Conference, and another one tomorrow to come.

Tonight, at Barbara Kingsolver's speech (fantastic!!!), I sat next to a young woman, who told me that she had young children at home in L.A. She was working on a novel, and this was her first time away.

"It's an important step," I told her, remembering the first writers' conference I had gone to in Kingston, Ontario, the kids at home in th...

Bookplate fun!

.. Readers write asking for signed bookplates, and I've long been meaning to make something special. I'm pleased with this one!

To make it, I scanned an old bookplate image, cleaned it up with Photoshop and printed it out on a 4x6 self-stick label.