Tracey Garvis Graves's Blog, page 11

Fiction Friday And Some Big News

Happy Friday, everyone!

I know I've been missing in action lately, and I haven't given this blog much attention over the last couple of months. I'm doing my best to respond to all the well-wishes I've been receiving via Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail, and I'm hard at work on my next book, Covet. I appreciate all the comments you've left here at funny in the 'hood, and I'm so thankful that you're still dropping by.

I've received a large number of inquiries from readers asking if On the Island will ever be turned into a movie. Many of you have cast your vote for who should play T.J. and Anna, and I always smile when I think of seeing my characters on the big screen.


Especially him. Hello, Taylor Kitsch. You'd make a fantastic T.J.

Could Anne Hathaway be any lovelier as Anna? I don't think so.

I love you, John Goodman. You'd be wonderful as seaplane pilot Mick. Sorry about killing you in the first chapter. 

All kidding aside, I received some fantastic news yesterday and I'm beyond thrilled to announce that On the Island has been optioned for a feature film by MGM. I never thought I'd ever type those words.

I want to give my heartfelt thanks to my agent, Jane Dystel, of Dystel and Goderich Literary Management, and her co-agent in Hollywood, Steve Fisher, of the Agency for the Performing Arts, for making this happen. I couldn't be in better hands.

I want to thank all of you, especially those of you who have been with me since I started blogging almost four years ago. You were there when I announced I was going to spend my blogging time attempting to write a novel so I could cross it off my bucket list. The result of that endeavor has been a dream come true, and my gratitude is endless.

I also want to thank the readers who have written to me to say that On the Island made them laugh and cry. Your wonderful feedback has made me laugh and cry, too, and none of this would have been possible without you.

Thank you.

xoxo,

Tracey

P.S. Some of you may have noticed that all the pictures have disappeared from my blog. If you're ever on Google+ and you want to delete a photo album and you get a warning that says, "If you delete this album all pictures contained within will disappear from the Internet completely - do you still want to delete?" Don't be a ding-dong and think, "Eh, that probably won't happen, click!" Because, yeah, it will.

A Tale of Many Reviews blog tour for On the Island - Giveaways! Lots and lots of giveaways!

Happy Friday everyone!

I've been on a virtual blog tour this week, hosted by the awesome Julie at
A Tale of Many Reviews. Click on over and enter the drawing for a signed paperback of On the Island. Julie has also included my dream cast post so you can see who I envisioned in the movie version of the book.

I wasn't sure of the best way to share all the stops with you but finally decided that a link round-up would work best. The bloggers are all doing a giveaway of the book (print or electronic) so head on over, check out their blogs, and enter to win.

These women are a truly fantastic bunch, and I've been overwhelmed by all the wonderful things they've said about On the Island this week. I've mentioned it before but it bears repeating: readers are the game changers in publishing right now and book bloggers are so very important in spreading the word about books they love. On the Island is a word-of-mouth book, and these wonderful bloggers have shouted their love for the book from the virtual rooftops. I am forever in their debt.

Please click on each blog for a chance to win a copy of On the Island.

Jana at That Arty Reader Girl
Damaris at Good Choice Reading
Shawna at Dreaming in the Pages
Racquel at The Book Barbies
April at Sim ~ Sational ~ Books (and a trailer!)
Autumn at The Autumn Review
Asheley at Into the Hall of Books
Andrea at The Bookish Babe
Amy at Book Loving Mom
Chandra at Unabridged Bookshelf

And a massive THANK YOU to all the tour participants. You made my week.

xoxo,

Tracey

A Special Giveaway!

Hello everyone!

The absolutely delightful Shana is talking about On the Island on her blog A Book Vacation today.

There will also be a giveaway for 7 copies of On the Island (5 ebooks and two signed paperbacks) because she's awesome like that.

Please head over and check it out!

Tracey

Book Clubs!

Last month, I was thrilled and honored to be the featured guest at two book club meetings. The first was at the Principal Financial Group, a financial services company in downtown Des Moines. I used to work there and my husband still does; he's been there since the ink was barely dry on his college degree. He was the one that told the book club about On the Island, and I was thrilled when he said they had selected my novel for January.

I drove downtown over my lunch hour to join them and I was kind of nervous. It's not like I'm shy or anything, and - hello! - I'm a talker, but this was my first book club and I wasn't sure what to expect. I needn't have worried. Stefanie met me at the reception desk and from the minute I walked into the conference room I felt at ease. I signed some books and they asked me lots of questions about the writing process. I also talked a little bit about Covet (the book I'm working on now) and explained the difference between contemporary romance and women's fiction. They were all so nice and they made me feel very comfortable; I had a blast. I did, however, forget to take a picture of them and didn't remember until I was on my way back to work. *face palm*

The next book club meeting I attended was with the members of A Novel Idea. Linda had read the book and then pitched it to the other gals. Linda and I used to work for the same company and we'd once been in a meeting together although I have no memory of this for several reasons: one, it was 13 years ago, two, our tenure at the company overlapped by only a short time, and three, I was suffering from a horrendous case of the PREGNANCY STUPIDS. This is the same affliction that caused me to jump on the wrong shuttle bus when the shiny new park and ride system opened during the final month of my pregnancy. I spent a lovely 15 minutes touring downtown Des Moines until I finally shouted at the bus driver, "Hey, that's my building. Stop!" He let me out and probably wished I had taken another bus (the short one, I bet).

Anyway, I showed up at the book club meeting the other night and Linda said, "We weren't sure you were coming. I saw your tweet. Didn't everyone in your house just have the stomach flu?"

Um, maybe?

Curses! Foiled again by social media. Must remember what I've announced and who might see it.

Me: Oh yeah. We're totally over that. I went back to work yesterday and everything (possibly sparking a company-wide flu pandemic). I brought crack dip (great! flu-girl shows up with food). The members of A Novel Idea weren't scared off by a little recent norovirus so they ate the crack dip and said it was awesome (and so are they).

We drank wine, I signed more books, and we talked about On the Island. They also shared some of their previous book club selections and talked about next month's pick. And this time, before I left, I remembered to take a picture.


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I had a wonderful time with both of these groups, and I sincerely appreciate that they selected On the Island and invited me to join them. Writing is a solitary endeavor and sometimes I need a little incentive to put down my laptop and get out of the house.

And an excuse to make crack dip, of course.

Readers Are The People I Care About

I know, I haven't blogged in a really long time. Things are crazy right now, and I have half a dozen posts in draft stage that I just haven't found time to finish. But I need to write this one because I have some things I really want to say.

For those of you not familiar with the publishing world, huge changes have occurred in the way books are brought to the marketplace. With the explosion of e-books and the advent of self-publishing programs like Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing and Barnes and Noble's Pubit!, it is no longer necessary to have an agent or a publishing contract in order to make your work available to readers. With this change has come controversy. Who will be the gatekeeper of the tsunami of self-published crap that will surely flood the marketplace? Who will vet the work and make sure it's good enough? Writers who are traditionally published, who worked hard to obtain an agent and a publishing contract, might not be happy that writers are allowed to bypass this vetting process. Self-published writers may view this differently and appreciate that just because they don't have an agent or a publishing contract, doesn't mean they didn't write a good book. Writers are lumped into one group or the other and assigned all the characteristics, positive or negative, of whichever group they fall into. And honestly, the arguments for both sides have merit.

However, this debate is something many readers simply aren't aware of and probably wouldn't care about if they did. Readers want one thing: books they can fall in love with. People are so up in arms warning everyone how they should feel about how books arrived at the marketplace, that they've forgotten all that matters is that the book is enjoyed by the very people we write them for: readers. If a story resonates with a reader and they tell their friends or post a positive review, that's a wonderful thing. If someone mentions how much they love a book on Facebook or Twitter, or they feature it on their blog, that's the kind of feedback that makes a writer's day.

I've had the good fortune to connect with an increasing number of readers in the past two weeks, and I'm still on cloud nine because of it. I've interacted with some phenomenal folks on Twitter and Facebook, and I'm blown away that many of them took the time to leave positive reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and their blogs. I've messaged back and forth with people who live in India, Germany, France, and Scotland. How totally cool is that?

Does everyone like my book? Of course not. That comes with being an author and putting your work out there. It won't resonate with everyone and not everyone will embrace it. But the readers are the game-changers now. Their opinions matter and to try and tell them they won't be able to find anything to read because they have to wade through all the millions of horrible books out there is ludicrous. Readers don't have to wade through anything (unless they truly enjoy the hunt). They rely on reviews and word-of-mouth. They're active on Goodreads and they follow book review blogs. If readers in other countries can find On the Island, everyone can.

Most of my reviewers won't see this post, so my heartfelt thanks may not reach the people who deserve to hear it the most. But I'll say it anyway. I want to send a huge thank you to those who have supported me on my publishing journey by buying On the Island, leaving positive reviews, and recommending it to others. I am truly humbled by your kind words. You, the readers, are the people I care about. You are the people I write for. No one else's opinion in the publishing world carries the weight that yours does, at least not to me.

The future of publishing belongs to the reader. I think it would be wise for everyone to remember that.

Crack Dip

Every now and then, I look at my blog diagnostics to see the search words and phrases that bring readers to funny in the 'hood, read by approximately 30 people each day (and I LOVE you folks, by the way).

The two most popular words that are leading people to this blog, at least in the last eight weeks, are CRACK DIP.

I'm not surprised. I've blogged about crack dip before, in this post. And since the holidays are upon us, everyone probably wants to take the dip to their office potlucks and holiday parties. My co-worker, Jess, made a batch the other day, just for the hell of it, and we decided crack dip made a fine breakfast indeed. If you've never had crack dip, don't judge. If you have, you're probably nodding and thinking, "Yeah, I could totally eat that for breakfast."

If you want to make crack dip, here's what you need:

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Go to Super Target and buy their Archer Farms brand habanero and roasted pineapple dip (it's in the same aisle as the pickles and olives). Buy three or four jars so you'll always have it on hand. Dump the whole jar into a medium-sized bowl.

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Next, add two packages of Philadelphia brand cream cheese. Leave it out for a couple hours so that it's very soft. Really mix this together well. You don't want big chunks of cream cheese, and sometime it helps to use the back of a big spoon to smooth them out.

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Use the reduced-fat kind if you want (it won't affect the awesomeness of the dip).

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Do not, under any circumstances, use the fat free crap because I'll be notified telepathically, my head will explode, and zombies will eat my brain. So don't do that, okay?

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After you've combined the cream cheese and the habanero and roasted pineapple dip, add an 8 ounce package of shredded Kraft sharp cheddar cheese. Mix well.

This next part is important. You're going to add diced red onion, but not too much (start with a few tablespoons and add from there). I once thought that if a little red onion was good, a whole lot would be better but all it did was overpower the dip and I had to throw it away and start over which made me cry. So be careful. You can always add a little more, but you can't take it out once it's in there.

Mix, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

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Serve the dip with Ritz crackers. I am partial to the festive snowflake-shaped version during the winter holidays.

No matter where you go, if you bring this dip people will love you. They'll stand around the bowl raving about it and you'll have to give everyone the recipe. My friend Wendy gave it to me back in 2008 and I've been making it ever since. Occasionally, someone will turn their nose up at crack dip when you tell them what's in it, but after you force them to try it anyway, they'll be the one parked next to the bowl shoveling in dip-covered crackers like it's their job. I guarantee it.

My friend Bethie texted me the other night to ask what kind of salsa you need for the crack dip. My BlackBerry was dead or in my purse or something and I didn't get the message in time. I knew she wanted to take crack dip to work the next day and I felt bad because even though I texted her back the next morning, it was probably too late for her to make the dip. No worries, though. She texted back that if you google Tracey Garvis Graves crack the recipe comes right up.

*Excellent*

So do me a favor. Make the dip and then come back to this post and leave a comment letting me know if you liked it.

Happy holidays and enjoy!

Tracey

Happy Release Day for Amanda Bonilla's Shaedes of Gray!

I met Amanda Bonilla last winter on The Twitter when we were both participating in an #askagent session. She took the time to answer one of my questions and when I checked out her profile and noticed she lived in Idaho (which people are always confusing with Iowa), I felt an instant kinship.

Over the course of the next six months, Amanda and I began to chat on Twitter and we started following each other's blogs. We became friends on Goodreads and we corresponded on Facebook. Amanda's friend Cassy was the very first person to like my Facebook fan page and I got to know Cassy a lot better when she started guest posting on Amanda's blog Swords, Boots, and Shadows. I'm a major fan of both Amanda and Cassy and one of these days I'm going to have drinks with them.

Today is the day that Amanda's debut novel Shaedes of Gray is being released. I bought it as soon as I fired up my laptop this morning and I'll be reading it at lunchtime and after work. I really need to read about Tyler and Xander, and I will more than likely read this book straight through and be exhausted on Wednesday, but I don't even care.

If you like urban fantasy and want to buy Shaedes of Gray, click here.

Happy release day, Amanda.

xoxoxoxoxox,

Tracey

My Favorite Things

Like Oprah's list, only way more awesome and a heck of a lot cheaper.

1. Fuggs. These are fake Uggs from Target and since I'm not a pretentious suburban poser, I have no problem wearing them. In the interest of full disclosure, I have a pair of real Uggs but they're not waterproof and since winter in Iowa is snowy and wet, wearing them outside is like ripping a twenty dollar bill in half each time I step into a slushy pile of whatever Mother Nature has dumped on us. Fuggs aren't waterproof either, but they're cheap enough to be almost disposable when spring arrives. Lately, Lauren has been asking for a pair of real Uggs. My response? "Oh, hi. You're eight. No."

So, Fuggs. Get some.

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2. No-chip nail polish. You know I love getting my nails done (despite what happened to me back in 2002. I mean, what are the odds of that happening again? Probably high, but that toenail grew back juuuuust fine). No-chip manicures are the result of a product called Shellac which is guaranteed not to come off for 14 days. That's two weeks of ignoring your nails and doing other things with the time you used to spend at the salon. Plus it dries almost instantly. You can dig in your purse for your keys or accidentally bang you hand against the car door when you leave and there will not be so much as a smudge.

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This product, it is revolutionary.


3. Aquaphor - In the wintertime, when the offspring are sick and have chapped lips and cheeks, I tell them the Aquaphor fairy is going to pay them a visit. I sneak into their rooms before I go to bed and rub it all over their faces. Then, I rub it all over my feet and put on super-thick socks because you know what's not sexy? Dry, cracked heels. My friend Karen uses it on her lips and I know of someone else who was fond of applying it to her elbows. It's universal. Rub it anywhere you want.

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4. Clinique Superbalm moisturizing gloss. I used to be a cherry ChapStick girl. I had it in my car, my purse, the bathroom, my nightstand, and my makeup bag. Seriously, I had it everywhere. But then Clinique had one of their bonus buy thingies and I happened to be walking by and now I have about 10 tubes of this lip gloss.

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Well played, Clinique. Well played.



5. Victoria's Secret Incredible bra. My friend Lisa told me about these. "The straps self adjust!" she said. I was intrigued. According to the product description, it's the most comfortable bra in the universe. Yes, yes it is. Buy one today.

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You too, can look like a supermodel.

6. E-readers. Or eReaders. Or ereaders. Or EReaders. I'm not going to debate which one is best *cough*Kindle*cough* because I think the important thing to point out is that you will love whichever e-reader you choose. I know some of you are all, "But I want to hold the book in my hand," and to that I say "blah, blah, blah, save some trees." I turned my friend Kendra into a Kindle lover the other day when I let her take mine on a business trip. She loved it and even though she texted me from DFW to ask, "Can you get People.com on this bitch? I need to know what's going on with Demi and Ashton," and I had to write back and say, "No, ding-dong, it's not an iPad," she's buying one anyway. At around a hundred bucks (or less), the Kindle is a freaking steal. Hey, you can pick one up at Target when you're buying Fuggs and Aquaphor. You're welcome!

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7. Starbuck's skinny peppermint mocha. 100 calories for a tall. Tastes just like the regular version. We have a Starbuck's at work, but I don't usually indulge because I drink an astounding amount of coffee every morning when I'm writing and if I had more at work, I'm fairly certain my aorta would explode. But my friend Jen, who sits right across from me, said the skinny peppermint mochas are to die for so one of these days I'm going to buy one, strap on my heart rate monitor, and see just how high I can get my beats-per-minute.

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8. Yoga pants. To clarify, I don't do yoga in yoga pants, I write in yoga pants. And the reason I don't do yoga is because it bores me silly. I'd rather spend an hour in my basement on my treadmill or NordicTrack (which is a cross-country ski machine that no one in the entire world owns or loves but me) with my iPod at an eardrum-splitting decibel level than contort my body in a room with a bunch of other people who may or may not be making sounds I don't want to hear. Amy tried to sell me on The Yoga and I went to class with her, but OMG, the time, it stood still. It was way too quiet and I kept looking for a clock which apparently they hide because of people like me.

9. Trader Joe's peeled and cubed butternut squash. I have a great recipe for butternut squash soup, but peeling a squash and cutting it all up is a major PITA and a good way to slice your hand open. Thanks to Trader Joe's, making soup is no more difficult than opening the bag and dumping the squash onto a sheet pan for roasting. I also use an immersion blender because I found out the hard way what will happen if you try to puree a big, hot batch of butternut squash soup in a regular blender. The mess, it was epic.

10. Honda. Okay, so this one might be a bit more expensive than the other items on the list. It's no secret I'm a Honda girl. When your dad owns a Honda motorcycle dealership, and has for the last 44 years, it's hard not to be.

But the real reason Honda made this list is because I am now the proud owner of this:

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A Honda CR-V. Mine is black and I got it a couple weeks ago. After driving a full-sized SUV for 9 years, I am very excited to have something a bit smaller. It's not quite as cool as the 5-speed Acura I drove in my pre-offspring days, but it's got everything I need (4-wheel drive, XM radio, and an iPod dock). It also has about 73 air bags and some other important stuff I wasn't paying attention to when the salesman explained it which is why I did something wrong with the defrost the other night. Also, I'm pretty sure a new car means I'm guaranteed to hit an eight-point buck. Any day now.

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"I love new cars, and I live in your 'hood."

So, what are some of your favorite things?

Tracey

Look What Happened While I Was Out Having Dinner

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#69 on the Genre Fiction, Romance bestseller chart.

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#23 on the Genre Fiction, Action and Adventure bestseller chart.

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#16 on the Fiction, Action and Adventure bestseller chart.

It may not stick for long, but I'm having a fabulous evening.

T.

Winners!

The offspring drew two names this morning and the recipients of a signed paperback copy of On the Island are Jody and Lyn!

Thank you to everyone who shared the news about my book. I really appreciate it!

And to Lyn and Jody - I'll get your books mailed out tomorrow, ladies :)

Tracey