M.L. Rowland's Blog, page 2
December 31, 2015
For 2016
Pray for peace.
Act with kindness.
Be fearless and relentless in your fight for what is just and good.
Look back with forgiveness and understanding.
Look forward with faith and hope.
And never NEVER stop learning, growing or dreaming big!
Happy New Year!
October 26, 2015
Got Rejection Dejection?
In the doldrums because your latest book (or poem or screenplay or article or play or essay) has been rejected by a publisher (or editor or agent or production company or magazine)?
Remember this: you’re keeping company with Dr. Seuss.
Yep. That Dr. Seuss.
According to this great blog, One Hundred Famous Rejections: “Who could reject Dr. Seuss?” it turns out, lots of people.
During his lifetime, Dr. Seuss won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and a Peabody Award.
He sold over two million books including some of his most popular: “The Cat In The Hat,” “The Sneetches,” “Green Eggs & Ham,” “Oh, The Places You’ll Go,” and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.”
His first book, “And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street,” was rejected 27 times before it was finally accepted.
One of his most famous rejection letter excerpts read: ‘This is too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.’”
Who else’s work was rejected at some time or another?
According to this same blog: F. Scott Fitzgerald. J.K. Rowling. John Grisham. Beatrix Potter. Ernest Hemingway. Ray Bradbury. And a lot more writers whose names you would recognize.
So next time you’re singing the rejection blues, remember you’re in truly GREAT company.
Maybe that’ll give you a little hope.
And drive.
Then momentum.
On to success!
Keep writing!
October 25, 2015
October 22, 2015
“Truth, Like Gold…”
“Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth,
but by washing away from it all that is not gold.”
— Leo Tolstoy
Photo by M.L. Rowland
October 20, 2015
Calling All Readers!
Send me a photo of yourself
(and/or your spouse, significant other, friends,
yoga group, book club, chorale, etc.)
reading any of my books,
Zero-Degree Murder
or
Murder Off the Beaten Path,
or
Murder on the Horizon
and I will post it on my website
in the Readers Gallery.
Fame and fortune not guaranteed.
Have fun with it!
Be creative!
If you’re from a country other than the U.S., put your nation’s flag in the photo.
Let’s see how many different countries we can get!
My e-mail address: mlrowland@ymail.com.
Or you can access the e-mail on my website: http://www.mlrowland.com
Rules:
Each person depicted must be reading his/her own copy of either book.
Attach them to the e-mail in jpg format.
If you send me a photo and don’t see it up on my website within a week,
please try again. Possibly your e-mail went into my spam box.
Thanks!!
September 15, 2015
Bouchercon 2015
Honored and excited to be selected to be on a panel at the World Mystery Convention, Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh, NC (Choosing Your Voice in Mystery Fiction: 1st, 3rd or Omnipotent).
Looking forward to it!
M.L. Rowland is the author of the Gracie Kinkaid Search and Rescue Mystery Series. “Murder on the Horizon,” the third book in the series, was released August 4, 2015. The first two books, “Zero-Degree Murder” and “Murder Off the Beaten Path,” were released in 2014. Available at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, as well as Barnes & Noble and other local bookstores.
August 28, 2015
August 4, 2015
“Murder on the Horizon” by M.L. Rowland Releases Today!
Available now at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com,
at select Barnes & Noble book stores,
and in local libraries and book stores.
If they don’t carry it, ask them to order it for you!
August 3, 2015
Coming Soon to a Radio Station or Book Store Near You
Here’s a list of interviews and books events coinciding with tomorrow’s release of “Murder on the Horizon.” Hope some of you can tune in or to see some of you in person!
Radio Interviews
WMT, Cedar Rapids, IA, Aug. 5, 6:25 AM MST
WMST, Mt. Sterling, KY, Aug. 6, 7:00 AM MST
KCMX, Medford, OR, Aug. 6, 9:15 AM MST
WNCT, Greenville, NC, Aug. 11, 1:15 PM MST
KJFF, St. Louis, MO, Aug. 18, 8:40 AM, MST
WILY, St. Louis, MO, Aug. 19, 8:30 AM MST
KHEN, Salida, CO, Aug. 28, 1:00 PM MST
Book Event/Signings
Barnes & Noble-Denver, 960 S. Colorado Blvd., Glendale, CO, Aug. 15, 1-3 PM
Barnes & Noble-Pueblo, 4300 N. Freeway Road, Pueblo, CO, Aug. 29, 1-4 PM
Dies Librorum, The Book Haven, 135 F St, Salida, CO, $10. Dinner included. RSVP: 719-539-9629, Sept. 8, 6-8 PM
Barnes & Noble-Colorado Springs, Citadel Mall, 750 Citadel Dr E, Colorado Springs, CO, Sept. 12, 12-3 PM
ReadCon–Books & Brews, Zoe’s Café, 715 10th Street, Greeley, CO, Sept. 12, 6-8 PM
Tattered Cover-LoDo, 1628 16th St., Denver, CO, Sept. 15, 7-9 PM
July 31, 2015
Turning Lead into Gold
“What has influenced my life more than any other thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature.”
W. Somerset Maugham said these words.
Instead of Cambridge, “Of Human Bondage.” In spite of a stammer, “The Razor’s Edge” and “The Moon and Sixpence.”
What’s your “stammer?” What’s your “club foot?” What holds you back? In your writing? At work? School? In personal relationships? In life itself?
Disapproval? Self-doubt? Embarrassment? Self-pity or self-love? Fear? Anger? Shyness? Bitterness?
What would happen if you looked at whatever your stammer is from another angle? What if you stopped playing those same old damaging scripts in your head–those scripts that tell you you’re not good enough for this? Or too good for this?!
What if you stopped listening to and believing those negative influences in your life? What new possibilities can you see? How can it be used to your or someone else’s advantage? How could it turn your life around? How would it influence what you write? Or how you write?
What would happen if you took control? If you did it anyway…regardless?
What if you said, ‘No?’ What if you said, ‘Yes?’ What if, instead of saying “Poor me,” you said “Poor you,” then did something about it?
What if, instead of reacting in anger, you acted with kindness? Instead of self-pity, with generosity? Instead of fear, strength? What if, instead of judgement, you sought to understand?
What if you did or wrote what you wanted to instead of what you thought you should? What if, instead of standing back, saying nothing, you spoke out or wrote in support of someone or something about which you feel passionate? What if, instead of letting a wrong or cruelty or indifference slide by unchallenged, you spoke or wrote against it?
What if…?
Think about it.
Imagine it.
Practice it.
Do it.
Somerset Maugham turned the lead of his stammer into solid gold prose.
Lucky him.
Lucky us.
Lucky world.
