Sydney Avey's Blog, page 17
March 5, 2014
Writing California: Los Altos
Los Altos in the Fifties was a great place to grow up. As many of the authors in this blog series have done, I set my novel The Sheep Walker’s Daughter partly in my hometown. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in my grandmother’s dance studio on Lundy Lane listening to her stories about life during the Depression and World War II. She saw a past. I saw a future.
photo contributed to cinematreasures.org by Gary Parks
The story of Los Altos winds through the narrative:
It’s deceptive, this quiet Va...
March 3, 2014
The Narrow Path: A different journey
Just when I assure myself that my ten-year writing plan and slow-build marketing strategy will work well for my
© Andres Rodriguez | Dreamstime
purposes, I open an e-mail and read about a hard-working author fighting feelings of failure because her first book sold less than 16,000 copies. I know better than to compare my experience with hers; she’s playing in a six-figure world where the stakes are high. Shake it off.
I close the email and page through the Wall Street Journal Books section. My e...
March 1, 2014
MailChimp and MicroDwellings
This little guy arrived special delivery, mail dropped from Barbara Haiges to Stan and Mary Bruederle. They brought him to me from California along with my Writer’s Magazine and my Chico’s catalog. Chimpie comes courtesy of MailChimp, my email list management and delivery service who does such an awesome job for free on my enewsletter. Now that’s a lot of e’s, and probably more than you want to know, but he’s so cute I wanted to introduce him.
MailChimp, meet the lovely people who read my blog...
February 26, 2014
Writing California: Sacramento Delta
James L’Etoile
James L’Etoile is a crime fiction writer with a cause; his upcoming release,Hollow Man, is set in the Sacramento Delta because Northern California has found itself center map for human trafficking. (I did not know that!)
The story involves a police detective trailing an organ harvesting serial killer who faces a choice–capture the killer, or make a deal for a kidney the detective’s son needs to stay alive. (He set his first human trafficking novel,Little River,in Jamaica because...
February 21, 2014
Book Review: Pillows for your Prison Cell
Author Mark D. Bullard
Many writers find themselves doing book reviews. I’m picky. I will only review books on my blog that advance themes that interest me. What is gained and lost in a prison economy, in both the political and spiritual sense, interests me.
I love fables. Pillows for your Prison Cell by Mark D. Bullard is a fable. In this age of confusion over what to do about a megalomaniac who has killed the soul of his people, how to deal with the sticky tangle of behaviors that threaten co...
February 19, 2014
Writing California: Marina Del Rey
Pirate Tales takes place on a houseboat in the busy recreational harbor of Marina del Rey. The book is one in a series that keeps author Rick Stephens Murphy busy. Perhaps that’s why he let atart-tongued, “it’s all about me” cat named Salty Tail narrate his bi-coastal tale of love and intrigue.
Salty lives with his human, marine surveyor and sailing instructor Stormy McGuire. Readers are transported to Ventura Harbor, Catalina Island, and sunny Santa Monica Bay, with a brief trip to the San F...
February 12, 2014
Writing California: San Joaquin Valley
Frank Tavares
Frank Tavares learned to love the culture, climate, and creativity of the San Joaquin Valley when he used to drive the stretch of road between L.A. and San Francisco on Highway 101, a personal therapy he misses since relocating to New England. Author of a short story collection,The Man Who Built Boxes (Bacon Press Books 2013) hischaracters deal with limitations–self-imposed or self-inflicted.
Frank says, “…until I saw all of the stories together, I didn’t realize how much the plac...
February 10, 2014
Hangout places
With the demise of so many local bookstores and coffee houses, hangout places to meet and talk are becoming scarce. Places like Dori’s Tea Cottage and Mountain Sage in Groveland and Schnoogs in Sonora, where locals relax and stay awhile are dear to my heart.
I’ve been working on a short story collection where a place is a character. The place is the Beanpunk Caféwherethe hammered copper double doors at the front swing open and shut all day, letting in heavy hot air to do battle with the hard w...
February 5, 2014
Writing California: Pasadena
courtesy www.homeworkshop.com
You have to love Pasadena to appreciate the special burn of sun, brand of smog and desire to be part of something beautiful it offers–and Caitlin Hicks does. Caitlin set her story, A Theory of Expanded Love, in the Sixties in the Southern California town she lived in during her formative years.
In Caitlin’s words
We attended St. Andrew’s Catholic school with the big red bell tower, right on the edge of a sketchy inner-city section of town. I remember the warm, somet...
January 29, 2014
Writing California: Corporate mystery, criminal history
Midwesterner Brian Lutterman‘scorporate mystery Downfall practically begged to be set in California, with its larger-than-life characters, fortunes made and lost overnight, and oversized schemes and speculations.
Brian on why he sent his main character Pen to LA
In crime, as in so much else, the Golden State is very much on the cutting edge, a natural setting for a sophisticated corporate sabotage scheme. Pen Wilkinson, a paraplegic young attorney who is a putting her life together after a tra...
