C is for Collins, Suzanne

Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games was one of those books that hit the zeitgeist like a bomb. Pegged as a YA dystopian author after Hunger Games, she was formerly known for her fantastic quintet of books in her Overland Chronicles series. It's a quest story, a story about finding and fulfilling one's destiny in a strange world beneath New York City. Gregor and his little sister (called "Boots") are terrific characters, and the way Boots bonds with the giant cockroaches (they love her and treat her like a princess) is endearing. The series goes on maybe one book too long, but if you love fantasy, you owe it to yourself to check out the Underland Chronicles.
YA, it pretty much blew up the genre and set off a publishing frenzy that supercharged the movies based on the trilogy. But before Collins wrote

When I was reading Hunger Games, I found myself thinking about readers and why some books succeed while others fail. Dan Brown wrote a couple of novels before hitting it big with The DaVinci Code. Now the Robert Langdon books make up one of the top ten best-selling series of all time. Something to think about when your books aren't selling and you're contemplating going back to grad school or taking that job with your sister-in-law's accounting firm.

B is for Bling

I like jewelry, I always have. I used to sell and buy (or really buy and buy) jewelry on eBay and I ended up with a really nice collection of Matisse copper and enamel jewelry to go with the pieces I inherited from my mother and grandmother. But once I stopped working in an office, I got rid of most of my bling because it felt kind of silly to be sitting around in a t-shirt, bicycle shorts and a silver charm bracelet. But I still love looking.  And I especially love looking at Etsy, where you can now buy vintage stuff as well as hand-crafted items.  And the way I justify buying things is that I'm looking for swag I can use to promote my writing. (Yes, I can justify anything.)
Yesterday, on Twitter, one of the Etsy shops I like put up a lot of four vintage (60s) rose brooches for a really good price. And the moment I saw them, I thought of Fairy Story, one of the short stories I used to have up on Amazon.
I've taken the story down to rework it into something longer and I've been thinking about what I might offer in the way of promotions. And then I saw the ad for the four roses and KNEW.  It was destiny. It was kismet. It was a really good reason for cruising Etsy. so I bought the roses and when Fairy Story is rebooted, there will be promos.  The roses came from a shop called Grand Vintage Finery. Check it out.

Be is for Beardsley, Aubrey

I grew up a writer in a house of artists. I can't draw a straight line with a T-square. But I've always (mostly) been content to claim the writing niche for my own because there aren't that many people who are good at more than one thing. Aubrey Beardsley was an artist and a writer. His illustrations (like the one from Le Morte d'Arthur here) were memorable. Then he wrote The Devil's Dictionary, which is as snarky as they come. (I image Aubrey was rarely short of dinner invitations.) But more than that, he wrote one of the most memorable short stories ever, "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." That story is right up there with "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Lady or the Tiger." As long as there are English classes, that story will be remembered. And he was only 25 when he died. Doesn't that make you feel like a slacker?

B is for Book 'Em

Another indie bookstore is closing!!  This mystery bookstore in South Pasadena has been open for 24 years but now the owners rae retiring. The store will close on April 30th and they will host a "farewell signing" on April 6 for three writers--Naomi Hirahara, Wendy Hornsby, and Sue Ann Jaffarian. Naomi won't remember me, but I met her at Book 'Em when Kelli Stanley was there signing her books. If you're in the area, go by and buy!  Sales on everything. check out their site here.

A is for Alcott, Louisa May

Like so many other girls in America, I devoured Little Women when I was a kid, and then went on to read the whole series, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and all the rest. I loved those books. But when an unknown book  by Louisa May Alcott, A Long Fatal Love Chase, surfaced in 1995, I found it almost unreadable. It's basically a supernatural thriller but for me it wasn't particularly thrilling. What I did discover, though, was that Alcott wrote a lot more than just books about families. Who knew she was a secret thriller writer? (You can find a collection of her thrillers in Behind a Mask.)

Look at this portrait of Alcott. She has the same haunted eyes as Edgar Allan Poe. What if she'd only written supernatural tales? What classic would she have left behind in that genre?

A is for Amazon

Up until a few years ago, if you said the word "Amzon," I'd picture someone like Wonder Woman. But now, it means the megasite where I publish my writing, spend my money, and while away my time browsing. I found myself wondering why Amazon was named "Amazon," and I did a little Googling around to find out. According to Wikipedia, the site was named after the Amazon River, which was named after the Amazon tribe of warrior women. (Under the file "I did not know that" is the factoid that the company was originally created under the name "Cadabra.")

The April A to Z Blogging Challenge

I started out in January with the intention of keeping up with my blogging and what with one thing and another, I've fallen behind. Not that the world is dying for daily updates from my little corner of the blogosphere, but I find that keeping to a regular schedule on the blog helps me meet my other deadlines as well. And since I have a backlog of projects waiting for my attention, I really need some more structure in my writing life. Otherwise, it's much too easy to let the day-to-day bill-paying stuff take over.

 I thought that the A to Z blogging challenge sounded interesting, so I've signed up. My "theme" is going to be writers. I hope you'll find it interesting.