Laura VanArendonk Baugh's Blog, page 57
January 22, 2013
On Signings – Autograph Woes
I remember laughing when Patrick Rothfuss confessed to book-signing performance anxiety. (I suspect he’s rather over that by now, by simple necessity.) I hadn’t ever practiced my autograph, either. But I did read Pat’s final word on the subject: So before I go to bed, I’d like to give you aspiring writers out there some [...]
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January 9, 2013
From 0 to 60 in One Launch Day! My new bestseller.
If I sound a little dazed or in shock as I write this, it’s because I am. Monday morning my non-fiction book Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over-the-Top to Under Control released. I hadn’t really prepared much in the way of release; a number of people knew I was working [...]
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January 7, 2013
Book release: Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out!
Today’s the day:Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over-the-Top to Under Controlhas hit the shelves. Well, virtual shelves, as it’s online for now… but it’s out! Of course I’m ridiculously excited about it, but I’m not the only one; so far it’s been called “a gem,” “very accessible,” “great,” and “kickass.” [...]
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January 1, 2013
A Game Not For One Night, But For A Thousand and One Nights….
My friend Mark gave me a new board game for Christmas. The setting is the world of the traditional 1001 Nights, in which Scheherazade is weaving tales to amuse Shahryar and keep herself alive. Players are story characters, with literally thousands of game paths (very re-playable). It’s a bit different, as games go, rewarding not [...]
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December 30, 2012
What’s It Like, Being a Writer?
What’s it like being a writer, you ask?Well, there’s several different aspects to it all, of course. Here’s a quick glimpse into a writer’s head. Watch your step…. Note: This is more than a bit self-mocking. Feel free to laugh and don’t take any of this too seriously. A Writer’s Mind “Oh my gosh, this [...]
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December 28, 2012
Authors banned from reviewing books on Amazon?!
The latest publishing industry kerfluffle is Amazon’s banning of authors from reviewing books in their genres. You can read more about it here. This is of course ridiculous, and there are so many reasons why. Authors are good at writing. Authors are also good at writing about writing. Who better to assess a book’s success [...]
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December 27, 2012
Embarrassing True Story
I wrote a parody short story. It was a parody of high fantasy, meant to play on tropes and cliches and the sheer over-the-top ridiculousness of itself. It probably wasn’t very good, but there it was. It had sword fights, chain mail bikinis, haunted swamps, chases on horseback, the works. I worked hard on my [...]
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December 18, 2012
The Twelfth Day of Kitsune – Mizuhiki
Arriving early to give a panel on Japanese folklore, I found Emilia (author of our guest post on kimono) teaching a workshop on tying mizuhiki. A perfect follow-up to the post on furoshiki; you can now decorate your traditionally-wrapped packages as well! What is mizuhiki? Mizuhiki is an art of decorative knot-tying. This style dates [...]
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Choose Your Own Hamlet Adventure?!
I’m not making this up. Check this out.Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a choose-your-own-path book. With lots and lots of illustrations. I really love Hamlet, and I also really love parodies of Hamlet. This sounds kinda awesome. …unlike Shakespeare I didn’t skip over the pirate scene in Hamlet. You get to fight PIRATES. With SWORDS. And yes [...]
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December 17, 2012
The Eleventh Day of Kitsune – the Kitsune Code of Conduct
When I asked on my Facebook page what people wanted to know about kitsune or the setting, a reader asked: Are the kitsune faithful to any kind of code, other than obedience to those they serve? I mean, are they faithful to their friends, or more live-by-what-best-serves-the-moment? Great question! And the answer is, yes. Sort [...]
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