Six years ago (maybe longer), I entered a contest to win a free book at www.TCM-CA.com. I didn't win, but after looking over the site, I decided to apply to be one of Tami Brady's reviewers. That was almost 150 book reviews ago. Tami recently made a decision to close down the website this coming July. There's a bit of sadness for me in this news. Reading and then thinking seriously about each of those 150 books certainly made me a much better writer and probably helped me as a reader too. What I didn't expect were the positive connections, even friendships I made with several authors as a result of reading, then reviewing their books. Timothy Hallinan, Laurel Dewey, Anna Del C. Dye come to mind. In fact, Laurel's publicist just sent me her new book Betty's Garden, which is a dandy departure from her crime series.
There will always be book reviewing opportunities; Librarything, Goodreads, School Library Journal and small presses eager to get the word about their new releases, but I'll always have a sentimental attachment to TCM Reviews. The one thing I wish I were better at is calling in a marker or two and get some of the folks whose work I reviewed to read and comment on The Wizard of Simonton Pond, but that's MY issue right now, not theirs.
I spent most of yesterday completing my latest short story to be added to Hardscrabble Kids. This one is called Blue Chipper and is about Billy Wadsworth a six foot seven inch high school basketball star in danger of getting kicked off the team because of poor grades. It's based on the last idea I got from Maine librarians several years ago when I solicited plot suggestions. At 2200 words, I thought it might be one of the shorter entries, but when I finished at 5 yesterday, it had grown by another 4000 words. A lot of that had to do with the amount of romance and feeling stuff I added and I think it worked. I read the whole story at writer's group last night and everyone thought it worked, even the semi-open ending. I'm two stories away from having what I feel will be a dandy collection with a nice novella as the centerpiece.
There will always be book reviewing opportunities; Librarything, Goodreads, School Library Journal and small presses eager to get the word about their new releases, but I'll always have a sentimental attachment to TCM Reviews. The one thing I wish I were better at is calling in a marker or two and get some of the folks whose work I reviewed to read and comment on The Wizard of Simonton Pond, but that's MY issue right now, not theirs.
I spent most of yesterday completing my latest short story to be added to Hardscrabble Kids. This one is called Blue Chipper and is about Billy Wadsworth a six foot seven inch high school basketball star in danger of getting kicked off the team because of poor grades. It's based on the last idea I got from Maine librarians several years ago when I solicited plot suggestions. At 2200 words, I thought it might be one of the shorter entries, but when I finished at 5 yesterday, it had grown by another 4000 words. A lot of that had to do with the amount of romance and feeling stuff I added and I think it worked. I read the whole story at writer's group last night and everyone thought it worked, even the semi-open ending. I'm two stories away from having what I feel will be a dandy collection with a nice novella as the centerpiece.
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