Ruby Winkle, Rockford, and Bad Car Decisions

Writer and illustrator Meghan Killeen has a post about myself and A Taste for Red up at her blog. Meghan attended the Art Institute of California in San Francisco and hung out with the circus, which sounds cool. But what really sounds cool (at least to me) is that she once worked for a detective agency.

I was a huge fan of The Rockford Files when I was a kid. I wanted to grow up and wear sport coats and sideburns and cruise around town behind the wheel of a gold Firebird thwarting bad guys and tossing off clever remarks.

What person in their right mind wouldn't?

But I kinda shot myself in the foot when I bought my first car, a 1982 Toyota Tercel.

Powers Of Ten

I had a sneaking suspicion that I was insignificant, but this is ridiculous...

"Powers of Ten: A film dealing with the relative size of things in the universe and the effect of adding another zero."

This is a fantastic little film from Charles and Ray Eames (just under nine minutes). I might've viewed this as a young student and then needed about 30 years to appreciate it. Or maybe I didn't see it, but it certainly reminds me of the short movies we watched in science class back in the day. Do you remember the clack-clack-clack of the projector? And the sound of the film finally tearing apart, like it always seemed to do?

Nice Review from The Miss Rumphius Effect

Kind words for A Taste for Red can be found at The Miss Rumphius Effect!

I like this part:

"There was one twist that I didn't see coming that was both stunning and hilarious. When things got to the nail biting stage I found myself cheering for Svetlana and her friends. You will too. This is an enchanting romp that middle school kids will thoroughly enjoy. I hope Mr. Harris is hard at work on a sequel, because I'm ready for one."

I'm ready, too. (Sandpapers palms together in an anticipatory fashion. Attempts to manifest twinkle in eye, but probably doesn't.)

Advice For Newbie Writers

A fellow writer asked me for advice today. Unfortunately, and surprisingly, I seem to have offered up a straight answer (for the most part). Straight answers really kill the entertainment potential, but do make for a nice break.

I've written most of my life, but only sought publication about three years ago. Up until that time, I'd written journals, poetry, and short stories. I'd always wanted to write and sell a novel, and fancied I could if I put my mind to it. I love crime thrillers, so I tapped out a Jim Thompson-type noir. It took me about six months to polish the novel into something that I believed was good enough to send out. I researched the book biz and realized publication would be a tough nut to crack, still...I was pretty confident. I'd written a great story after all.

I decided that the best way to get my story published was through an agent. I'm talking mainstream publishing. You can self-publish and create a quality book, but I wanted to be a writer, not a publisher. The best tool I found for locating an agent was agentquery.com and the best tool I found for writing a decent query was Evil Editor.

I sent out queries and no one was interested. And it was a great story! Thrills, chills, spills, and all that...
But a great story is not enough. Luck and timing are involved. And sometimes the story needs more work. And sometimes it needs to go into a drawer for a few weeks or months or years. Everyone says it, and it's true: Keep writing, keep re-writing, keep polishing, and keep submitting. When you get feedback, listen to it. You don't have to agree, but listen to it.

So I sent out queries and collected rejections. Mostly form rejections and the occasional form rejection with a personalized scribble at the bottom. I decided that while I was submitting the crime thriller to agents that repped crime thrillers, I could write another novel to send to agents that repped other novels. Like what? I'd read somewhere that the thing to sell was a romance novel. So I tried my hand at romance...and didn't have much luck. It wasn't fun. I'm not a romance reader and I didn't enjoy writing it. And you have to write something you enjoy. I have three chapters of a romance titled TRAIL TO LOVE that I hope no one will ever see.

As a kid I was a big reader, so I took a stab at a story for young readers. I cooked up a middle grade adventure and loved it. I loved writing it. I sent it out and collected more rejections. I wrote a second middle grade work and began sending that one out. I collected rejections, refined my queries, filled the occasional request for sample chapters and manuscripts, and refined my queries even more.

Next I thought I'd give horror fiction a try. I was in the middle of writing a novel about underwater vampires when the notion of an eleven year old girl who only "thinks" she's a vampire entered my head. That idea eventually became the story that is currently sitting on shelves in libraries and bookstores around the country.

A TASTE FOR RED. (Does happy dance)

So my advice to newbies is simply a regurgitation of my own experience: Write things you LOVE to write, read all the time, listen to informed feedback when you're lucky enough to get it, set reasonable goals, and don't be discouraged.

It's hardly original, but there you have it. One nugget I'll offer that veers slightly from the run-of-the-mill is this: If you have a day job, quit. Even if you don't want to be a writer, quit your day job.

Work is silly.

Book Review and ARC Giveaway

Over On J. Kaye's Book Blog, an advance reader copy of A Taste For Red is up for grabs.
She's even thrown in a nice comment about my book! Simply post a comment at her blog for a chance to win.

Book on the Brain

I dreamed about A TASTE FOR RED last night. I could relate to you the specifics of the dream--I'm sure that you can be trusted--but best not to risk it. Someone we don't know might read this post and then--wham!-- I'd find uniformed men brandishing enormous butterfly nets banging at the front door.
Best to be safe.
And best to take a break for a few days...or at least after today. Later I'm heading to a couple of bookstores and then to the Ocala Library, but after that I'll be laying low for the weekend. I'll be trapped in the Parent Zone, where nothing productive can happen anyway. I see lots of sausage and cake and baking soda in my future.
Surprisingly, it sounds just right.

Fuzzy rabbits, underwater vampires, and Lewis Harris

I like the above title, but it's not mine --it's from Bartography where Chris Barton has a nice interview with me posted at his blog.

Thanks for the great questions, Chris.

And congrats on your recent starred review from Kirkus! (along with the many other rave reviews for The Day-Glo Brothers)

BookPeople Recommends A Taste For Red

Svetlana Grimm is a favorite at BookPeople !
Thanks Emily for the kind words. Here are a few choice tidbits:

"...wonderful, funny read..."
"...perfect for girls and guys..."
"...not one you want to miss this summer."

Definitely not :^)
Check out the full skinny at BookKids Recommends.

A Taste for Red is Released!!

I went into the wonderful Inkwood Books in Tampa and it's available there. It's at BookPeople in Austin. It appears to be in stock at most Barnes and Noble. It's available online wherever fine books are sold online. It's on my mom's coffee table. It's in the trunk of my car. It's in libraries in Arizona, Vancouver, Boston, Tallahassee, and on and on and on. It's propping up the wobbly work bench in my brother's garage.

If it's not available on the shelf at your favorite bookseller, just ask. They'll be happy to order it. Seriously...they'll be "very happy." By simply requesting A Taste For Red, you'll be spreading thick spoonfuls of joy! You can't put a price on that (although for business purposes, your local book retailer might.)

I have to thank Clarion Books and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for doing a fantastic job getting A Taste For Red out into the world.

But mostly I have to thank my wonderful friends and family who have supported and encouraged me along the winding path to this happy moment. I thank the folks who've bought the book and the one's who will buy the book and those that will tell their friends about the book and that they must buy the book even if their children have to go without a meal to offset the cost of the book. I know...it's cruel, but really, what's one meal? Or two? A Taste For Red is distracting and oh so nutritious--they won't even notice.

Postcards From The Edge

I've been working on postcards and bookmarks lately. Do I need these things? Sure, I guess...everything says that I need them. It makes sense. I need something to show that I was there...I need to leave a trail.

I picked up an order of postcards the other day and they look terrific. I've been working on my bookmarks this afternoon and I've finalized the design. Haven't I? Well...at least for the moment. I've talked to some printers and then some more printers and then spoke to some other printers and now I'm ready to call a printer. I'm trying to determine if I want gloss or matte or one-sided color or two-side color or coating --whatever coating is...

It's just a bookmark...relax.

Just pick something and pay for it--big deal...but a get a receipt.

I'm a page folder anyway. Bookmarks are...well, for other folks. I love to fold the corners of pages. The top corner, the bottom corner, left page or right--it doesn't matter.

I used to worship books, and still do, but with less reverence. Now I like to abuse a book a bit. Take ownership of it. Leave a nice fat thumbprint or mustard stain. While backpacking, I've even ripped the pages from books to start a fire--then burned the rest of the book to lighten my load. Self-help books burn best.

I think it's the fumes.