No Trailer Trash

I was going to blog about one thing (me me me!), but I got distracted.

I'm not a huge fan of the book trailer. I should back up one step. I'm not a huge fan of the movie trailer. I do love previews in a theater, in fact, they're one of my favorite parts of the whole movie experience, but I rarely click on a trailer online to determine whether I'm going to see a movie. I'd usually rather just read the reviews and other promo info. On the other hand, if I really like a movie, I might go watch the trailers after I see it. (Once, anyone?) Gives me the warm fuzzies, sentimental fool that I am.

I've seen a few book trailers I thought were done well (Diane's Before the Storm trailer, for instance), and I'm sure others will improve over time as they become more and more a critical part of an author's promotion plan. Most of the ones I see now, though, honestly make me want to lie down and nap. They're usually too slow and just don't give me the kind of information I want to know when I'm considering whether to purchase.

But tonight, I went to the site for a book that released this week, The Lace Reader, and got chills as I watched the trailer. Now, I also watched another promo video on the site about the author, and the deal in Publisher's Lunch intrigued me months ago, so I was already engaged. The premise of the story seems an out-of-the-park home run, if you'll excuse me for using a sports metaphor for a story about lace.

Go watch it, and come back.

Something about the completely appropriate music (was this written specifically for this trailer?) and quick images combined with a sustained one, and just a hint of the story was pretty mesmerizing. (On the other hand, the next click to enter the website was not as intriguing. I don't like slow loading sites, no matter how pretty they are.)

What do you think? I'll be reading this book as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Are you my mother?

In need of a good laugh?
Go read my post over at my family blog.

Who me? What? Where?

I submitted a short memoir piece to a literary e-zine a few months ago. Friday morning, I woke in the wee hours thinking I ought to go check the site out because I hadn't heard anything and knew their current issue released last week. I hadn't really thought of it for several weeks and was curious what pieces they selected instead of mine.

Imagine my suprise when I went to their news blog from July 9, scrolled down the page, and saw my name and title in their announcement of the new issue's contents.

I booked on over to the e-zine and sure enough, there it was. I've been floating around for a few days feeling all bubbly and such, and realized tonight I should probably blog about it!

So, check it out ...

Perigee: Publication for the Arts

Click on "Current issue" at the bottom of the page, then "Memoir" on the left, and then my story is ...

Final Sale on Tires by Julie Layne. (It comes up in Flash--hope you have it)

This certainly can't hurt on the query letters. Whee! Perigee has had several Pushcart prize nominees, design awards, and various other honors in their six-year history, many recently, so I feel honored and humbled to have a simple story about my Grandma and her influence on me appear in the pages of this issue.

Got the RSS blahs?

So, my experiment in RSS has truly changed my internet habits in the last three weeks. I'm not sure they're all for the better, though mostly that would be a matter of opinion.

I'm spending way less time surfing, which means more time to do other things, and thus, have gotten a decent amount done on revisions--though not sure how much more proportionately. (It's summer, the kids are home ...) But I also feel a weird sense of "disconnectedness" (is that a word?) from the folks whose blogs I've frequented over the months or even years in some cases.

It would seem, then, that doing this might increase productivity, but decrease a sense of relationship. Both of these are important things for a writer. All the books say to limit your time online to increase your productivity, but be sure not to isolate yourself from the world. Sure, I realize the point is to actually get OUT and see real people, talk to them, observe them, get your senses working, and so on. Because, how can you write a book about the world if you don't live in it? I get that.

But, there are also a limited number of writers in my "real world," and I miss that interaction. The element of surprise when I browse to a fellow writer's blog and see they've updated. My tendency to read their post with a sense of expectancy--there will be something I want to say back at least half the time. Not to exclude blogs of those who aren't writers, because I usually have a similar reaction. But, these are my "co-workers," my partners in crime, the people who "get" me, and believe me, there aren't that many of those people in the world if I do say so myself. :)

So, what's a girl to do? Right now, I feel like I'm reading a blog magazine every day. A magazine that magically gets new articles periodically throughout that day, but a magazine nonetheless. Magazines don't have names and faces that feel quite as tangible as a person's blog page. I can't "hear" the conversation that goes on after I read a magazine article like I can after I read a blog post that piques my interest, where I go to the comments and check them out. (I don't seem to do that as much, even though I can click to the actual post from the RSS delivery.)

I will have to think on this. What's the balance?

Are you finished yet?

Finally finished my contract work and can really get back to into the swing of writing again. And blogging, even! Here's how my poor cat, Yentl, looked today while I was ignoring her for the fourth or fifth day in a row. I had to sit in a different spot in my house because I needed to be able to hear clearly from a recording, and she followed me, as always. I think she enjoyed watching for lizards outside the window, but she was trying to bite me tonight, so I think she's ready to get back to our old spot in the family room.

To see how my children dealt with it, go to my other blog.