Liz Michalski's Blog, page 19

An Earful

Good morning!  (See, my early tv show experience has made me perky before noon!)  I have lots more to tell you about last week, but today I am over at the fabulous Tartitude for the second part of my interview with Jan O'Hara.  There's lots there about Harley too, and a cute picture in which both his ears are intact. (There's also another chance to win my book!)  If you get a chance, please head over and say hi!

Wounded! (And Last Week, Part 1)

Poor Harley came back from the kennel missing a small chunk of his ear.  Apparently he was rough-housing and it got a little too … rough. It's very strange — he's the third dog I've had of this breed (he's a mix) and every single one has wound up missing a section of his ear the same way.  He now officially has 'character' (as if he didn't already).

So, last week, I was lucky enough to do TWO television shows.  The first was for WTNH News 8 in New Haven.  (There may or may not be video of it floating around the web — I ain't saying.) I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the whole thing, and tried to distract myself by trying on everything in my closet.  My  friend knows this, and called me up to see how I was coping.

Me: "Oh, fine.  It's just a little television show, and it's probably taped, so how bad can it be?"

Her: "Right.  You know it's what we all watch here, right?  Plus, I'm pretty sure it's live."

Me: "No, no, it's taped, I'm sure.  Otherwise somebody would have told me."

Her: "You think that if you want to, honey."

Of course it turned out that she was right on both counts, and I tried on more outfits in a mad panic and then perhaps devoted several hundred hours to practicing what I might say.  My friend and her husband were kind enough to take me out to dinner the night before, then tuck me back into my hotel room.  Around six a.m. the next morning my phone rang.

Me: "I think I've changed my mind."

Her: "Yep, okay, too late for that.  Let's go.  Let's go. Let's GO!"

And she stayed on the phone with me while I skated across the beautiful frozen sleeping city that was New Haven at that hour, right up until I walked in the door of the station. And I have to say, if you have to be on TV live for the first time, that station is the place to do it.  People were UNGODLY happy and perky and professional, even when the cameras were not pointing at them.  The crew behind the cameras were exactly the same way — all smiling and joking and way too competent for an hour when it is still DARK outside.  Seriously.

There was an adorable couple outside the station with me, and it turns out they were also guests.  They run a photography studio and brought some of their gorgeous photos – tiny little perfect moments captured on film.  I couldn't stay to watch their segment but I looked at their website after, and it is so beautiful and romantic it made me want to get married all over again.

Then I was on television, and the Very. First. Question. the host asked me was a GEOGRAPHY question.  Geography, let us say, is not my strongest subject.  (If you know me at all you are laughing right now.)  But there I was, on LIVE TV, trying to explain where a fictional town was located. Nightmares do come true, people.

But I somehow survived, and the host was overall quite lovely, and then I walked back to my hotel room, and I SWEAR I got the fish eye from at least one woman who was heading off to church.  She looked at me, all made up and dressed fancy, and automatically assumed I was doing the walk of shame.  (Obviously she is not a fan of early morning television.)  And my friend called to congratulate me on surviving.  And I saw a beautiful fantasy dress in a beautiful store window that may or may not make it into my next book, we'll have to see.  All in all, a lovely morning, and quite a change from tending to injured dogs, which I must go do now.

 

A BIG THANK YOU

Last week was a crazy week.  I went places I do not usually go, and did things I do not usually do, and I will write about them (and post pictures) over the next few days.  But before I do that, I first have to say an enormous THANK YOU to every single person who showed me such kindness and support.  To everyone who told their friends about Evenfall, put my signing dates on Facebook, tweeted about me, let me hijack their blog, bought a copy of my book, came to a signing, put me up for the night, or simply told me as my knees were knocking that it would be fine, thank you so very much.  Being a debut author is turning out to be kind of fun, and the best part of it is meeting up with all of you.

Where You'll Find Me

My cyber self and I are both home, and happy about it.  (Not that gadding about hasn't been lovely, but truly, I'm a homebody.)  Tonight though, I'll be reading and signing books at the Andover Book Store in Andover, MA at 7 p.m..  There will be chocolate cookies with two solid pounds of chocolate in them (minus a few ounces that got misplaced in my mouth on their way to the bowl) mini bookmarks, and secret codes for my website.  And possibly the raffle of a large slobbering beast, depending on how the rest of the day goes.

Sunday I will at R.J. Julia's in Madison, CT, for more of the same.  (Note:  Raffle of small active child may be substituted for that of slobbering beast.)  Perhaps I will see you there?

Tart and Sweet

My cyber self continues to get around — would that I could log frequent flier points for these trips and escape the frozen tundra!!!  Today you can find me over at Tartitude, a blog I love to read.  Jan O'Hara asks the best questions of anyone — her interviews are always insightful.  (And boy, being on the receiving end of those questions is tough!)

I'm also over at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales, a sweet and spicy writers blog.  The group there is so welcoming — please stop by and say hello!

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

I am one of those annoying people for whom nothing is ever good enough.  YOU may be fine, but I am always too fat, too short, too shy, too whatever.  I'll never parent well enough, run fast enough, or write successfully enough to be happy with myself. And nothing you can say will make me change my mind.

BUT.  SECRETLY.  I am vain about one thing — my research skills.  Silly, I know.  But several of my first jobs required copious amounts of research, which had to be done precisely.  And a later boss (with whom I am meeting this week — YAY!) was a stickler for research.  You might be dead, embalmed, and living in Peru, but he would still expect me to track you down for a direct quote if I mentioned you.

So tonight I am writing thank you notes to the many, many people who have been kind to me this week, and one of them appears to only exist in cyberspace.  Do I let this go?  Noooooo.  I spend an hour cross referencing every possible combination, and after researching college (!) job history (!) and phone bills, I do in fact find my person.

Husband:  So, did it ever occur to you that they may be hard to find for a reason, and will be freaked out by your note?

Me: Crickets

Husband:  I thought not.

FlyBy

Shhh.  I'm still not here.  Instead, I am over at one of my very favorite places on the internet — author Joshilyn Jackson's blog.  Stop over and say hi, then take a look at her post from a few days ago called "I Pinch" — my son now walks around quoting it.

No Pajamas for Me

I am not doing writerly things this week.  (Writerly things roughly translating to mean hiding in my office in my pajamas until noon, attempting to put down words and surfing the internet in hopes of inspiration.)  I am out and about doing the opposite of writerly things, and I promise to share those things with you later this week.

In the meantime, my blogging self is also acting the part of gadfly.  Today you can find me over at Writer Unboxed, one of my very favorite writing sites.  I'm thrilled to be a small part of it.  Take a gander and let me know what you think.  I promise to return soon.

I'm Mr. Snow Miser

 

I'm Ms. 10 below

We lost heat yesterday.  Around 6 p.m. I realized my fingers were numb and went to check the thermostat.  Calls were made, technicians arrived, and heat was restored temporarily.  Around 1 a.m. I woke up and couldn't feel my nose.  The burner has given up the ghost and expensive parts must be installed, hopefully  soon.  Only one of us is not bothered by this problem, and I'll let you guess which one.  (That would be the one with his own fur coat.) The fun has officially been sucked out of  winter.

 

It's too cold to hang around here, so I'm somewhere else:  Over at Magical Musings.  Come on over and read about how the character of Frank in Evenfall came to be.

And when you are done there, head over to The Heroine's Bookshelf.  Erin Blakemore is giving away a prize a day from February 1 to 17, and I am lusting after the portrait that is up today.  It's beautiful and would look fabulous over my fireplace.  (I'm ignoring the fact that it looks as if Jane is heading off into the snow.  It's overcast because she's at the beach, right???)

 

A Winner, And an Apology (Not in that order)

So if you've ever watched a television award show, you what I'm talking about – those people who go on and on thanking everyone from their pool boy ("for providing an environment in which I can relax") to their hair stylist ("for always making me look good!") all the while completely forgetting to thank somebody important (their agent, spouse, or partner) who happens to be sitting right in front of them?  Sometimes it has to be on purpose — you know because they break up the next day.  Sometimes, though, the person is just a dumb @##, or somebody who is just overwhelmed by the moment.

I'm hoping I belong to the latter category.  If you've gotten your copy of Evenfall, you'll see the acknowledgement section extends to almost two pages.  And while I managed to hit most of the highlights (Agent: Check;  Editor: Check; Spouse: Check) I did, with absolutely no malice in mind, manage to leave a few people off.  So herewith, my apologies and my eternal thanks to Julie Wu, who read and offered fabulous feedback multiple times (expect to hear lots more from her — her own book, The Third Son, will be coming out in the near future, and it is a wonderful read).  Also, thanks to Mary Akers and Katrina Denza, established writers who read early chapters. (And I love pretty much everything they write.  So there.)  Thirty whacks with a paper towel roll on the head for me.

On a happier note, we have a winner!  Shveta gets the copy of Force of Habit. (If you were intrigued by Alice, there's more on her over at Tartitude – she's very funny and I think her series is going to be a big hit.)  And there's a fun giveaway that I'm coveting — go check it out!