Krista Van Dolzer's Blog, page 28

What Channel Surfing Has Taught Me About Writing

I'm not a channel surfer--if there's a show I want to watch, I watch it--but Honey Bear is, and I've started to notice a pattern. Sometimes he stops because he knows the show, but sometimes he stops because the scene simply refuses to be ignored. The conflict is easy to grab hold of, and it's interesting enough that he wants to see what happens. Heck, I want to see what happens, and I'm not usually paying attention.

In other words, the best scenes are the ones that don't require you to know wh...

Who Won ALL FOUR STARS?

If your name is Kiriojo Karen lee Hallam, you did!

Congratulations, Karen! Please e-mail me at kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address so I can get your signed copy in the mail.

Happy Release Day, ALL FOUR STARS!

Today is the day! Tara's ALL FOUR STARS is officially out. To celebrate, I'm reposting a classic from my now-defunct "Massacring the Art of French Cooking" series. It was great while it lasted, and this post was the first. I hope you enjoy! (I'm also giving away a signed hardcover of ALL FOUR STARS, so don't miss the details at the bottom of the post!)

Today is my birthday, the big two-six. Now I tell you that not to solicit your happy birthdays (although you're welcome to leave your best...

A Few Thoughts on the Ongoing Debate Between Hachette and Amazon

You've probably heard of the ongoing debate between Hachette and Amazon, so I'm not going to give you the blow-by-blow. Suffice it to say that these two behemoths have been wrangling over terms for several months, and a long list of authors have been caught in the crosshairs. Tensions flared this week when Douglas Preston started circulating this open letter to readers and a group of self-published authors responded with a petition of their own.

Before I go any further, I should point out that...

Some Great Thing

I have crazy eyes. I don't know the name of my condition, but suffice it to say that I got glasses when I was three and contacts when I was thirteen, but I haven't worn corrective lenses since the summer after I turned fourteen. My vision had improved--which is to say that my brain had learned how to discard all the input it got from my bad eye--and though my mom didn't believe me, the ophthalmologist confirmed it.

But there was a catch: according to the ophthalmologist, my vision would go bad...

New Look Courtesy of Icey Designs

The blog has a new look courtesy of Icey Designs! It took us a few tries to get to this design, but I love how it turned out. I told Hafsah I wanted something in neutral tones with pops of color, and that's precisely what she gave me. The old-fashioned typewriter was the perfect touch.

You'll notice that I've taken down some of the preexisting pages. I know that makes it harder to find interviews and past rounds of "An Agent's Inbox," so I'm trying to figure out how to include those references...

Winner of RED BUTTERFLY!

Random.org has spoken, and the winner of RED BUTTERFLY is Leandra Wallace!

Congratulations, Leandra! Please e-mail me at kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address so I can pass it on to Amy.