Larry M. Edwards's Blog, page 18

‘Nebraska’ screenplay delivers poignant prairie ride

“Nebraska,” the movie: Hurray for director Alexander Payne, actors Bruce Dern, June Squibb and Will Forte, and especially screenwriter Bob Nelson.

Nelson’s story depicts a slice of American pie with a sideways view as the ingredients ooze out from under the crusty shell. Woody Grant, an aging mechanic living in Billings, Montana, believes he has won a $1 million sweepstakes and must get to Lincoln, Nebraska, to claim his prize—even if he has to walk—because he “can’t trust the mail.”

After a br...

Author Reception at San Diego Public Library — Good Fun!

Larry Edwards at San Diego Public Library’s 48th Annual Local Author Exhibit.

Good fun at the reception for San Diego Public Library’s 48th Annual Local Author Exhibit last night at the brand-spanking-new Central Library on Park Avenue. Truly a remarkable monument to learning and literature, and a delightful place to hang out. (It even has a whistling dome.)Many thanks to Library Director Deborah Barrow for hosting the event.

The local author exhibit runs through the month of February.

L-R: Milt...

Author Alert: Amazon to begin screening self-published works for commercial viability

Amazon.com’s publishing arms CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing will soon be more selective, a la the traditional publishers in New York.

Using software that evolved from research by a group of computer scientists from Stony Brook University in New York, CS and KDP will analyze each submission; if the submission doesn’t pass muster in terms of potential for literary or commercial success, then it will be rejected. The author then has the option of revising the manuscript and resubmitting...

Amazon Rep’s Advice to Writers: Hire a Professional Editor

Music to my ears: When Thom Kephart, Community Outreach Manager for Amazon.com, spoke to the Publishers + Writers of San Diego on January 25, he hammered home his most critical bit of advice to authors: Hire a professional editor.

“I’ve seen more authors fail from lack of editing than anything else. Don’t have your family and friends edit your book,” Kephart said.

L to R: Sonia Marsh, founder of Gutsy Indie Publishers, with Thom Kephart, Community Outreach Manager for Amazon.com, author/editor/...

Six Monthiversary: “Dare I Call It Murder?” Still Best-Seller; New Book Coming: “Murder 101”

(click on the image for a larger view)

Six months since the launch of Dare I Call It Murder?: A Memoir of Violent Loss, and it remains highly ranked (#32) on Amazon.com’s Top-Rated Books in Biographies & Memoirs—sitting alongside Mayou Angelou’s Mom & Me & Mom.

It’s been a good run for the book, and for that I thank all of my supporters. However, as I’ve said before, the success is bittersweet. I would have preferred to never have had to write it. Nonetheless, based on the overwhelmingly positi...

“Dare I Call It Murder?” in Good Company on Amazon

Nice holiday surprise today: Dare I Call It Murder?: A Memoir of Violent Loss is in good company on Amazon.com’s Top-Rated Books in Biographies & Memoirs.

Thanks to the generally positive comments by reviewers, it’s nestled among books by two of my favorite writers—Mark Twain and Tobias Wolfe—and books about two of my favorite historical figures—Twain and Abraham Lincoln.

Solstice Summit, Solstice Solitude

Not a human in sight, nor a human sound to be heard, no jingling bells,no frantic shoppers, no “We wish you a ... ”

Just critters and silent trees sharing frosty mountain air, greeting the moment of winter—and the new year.

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Hints of snow remain.

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Fire-scarred trees on Lightning Ridge surrounded by fallen brethren.

Yet life persists—sprout to bloom—as Mother Nature completes one cycle and begins anew.

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Jays about, pecking the ground; croaks from a pine—raven?

Raucous calls of acorn...

Good Yule, Best Wishes for Happiness in 2014

Good Yule

December 20, 2013

Good Yule . . . and may you smile more, laugh longer and attain new heights of happiness in the New Year.

Thank you, again, for your support, encouragement and kind words for my book, Dare I Call It Murder?: A Memoir of Violent Loss, and for helping to make it one of the top-rated and best-selling memoirs at Amazon.com.

Larry

PS: Marking the December/Winter Solstice—Dec. 21, 9:11 a.m (PST). (conspiracy theorists, please do not try to read any significance into that)

PPS:...

Survivors of Violent Loss Honor Loved Ones, Sandy Hook Victims

Larry Edwards and his wife, Janis, at the SVLP Holiday Memorial.

Today, I attended and spoke at the Survivors of Violent Loss Holiday Memorial in San Diego. This event is always a bittersweet gathering, because the people in attendance have all lost a loved one—child, parent, sibling, niece/nephew, or dear friend—to violence, and in most cases murder or suspected murder.

However, we do not do this to express outrage at the injustice of the deaths of our loved ones; we get together as a show of...

Thanksgiving: Words of Gratitude

This gives new meaning to the term “acorn squash.”

On this Thanksgiving, four and a half months since the launch of my book, Dare I Call It Murder?—A Memoir of Violent Loss, I am thankful for my family of friends. I am thankful for the support, encouragement, and kind words I have received regarding this book.

I could not have completed this endeavor on my own. It took critical and brutally honest feedback from my peers as well as friends and family members (those who still speak to me) to get...