Monday Morning Musings

Heading into a busy week for me. Later today I will be visiting with some writers who want me to share my series "bible." That term is most often used for television series, and a bible for screenwriters is a reference document that is used for information on a series' characters, settings, and other elements.  I have developed my own version of the bible for my Seasons Mystery Series, using 5-subject notebooks, in which I keep track of character names and other information that is important for me to reference from book to book.

Folks much more computer savvy than I am, do remind me that there is great software available for doing the same thing, and some day I might consider trying that out. For now, however, I do like the process of picking up a pen and making notes. Maybe because I started out eons ago writing longhand in notebooks. I love notebooks and have way too many of them. (smile)

This coming weekend, I will be near Austin at the Georgetown Public Library. There is an Art and Author Fair on Saturday, May 10 from 1 to 4 in the afternoon, sponsored by the Central Texas Authors organization. If you live in or close to Austin, come on by. It would be so much fun to meet some of you in person. I love what they are calling the event, "Look in the Book." Clever, don't you think?

My daughter made this new banner for me to use for my flyers that I hand out at events. She does such a terrific job, and most of those book covers are her designs.

See the larger images on my Amazon Author Page

Yesterday I met with my troupe of Young Players at the Winnsboro Center For the Arts to plan the Nite of Comedy. This is an annual event we started a few years ago, and many of the kids who have come through the Summer Drama Camp are part of the troupe. They are a talented group of kids, and we have so much fun putting this all together. Here is a picture from a rehearsal last year,

The Nite of Comedy kicks off the year of theatrical productions at the Art Center, so I will be busy from now until December, with only a week or two in between closing a show and holding auditions for another.

Now to start your week off with a chuckle, here is a joke:

How much deeper would the ocean be, if SPONGES didn't grow in it?

Now it's your turn. How is your week shaping up?

Preview of Coming Attractions

Tomorrow I will have a guest blog from Julie Lomoe who has been named 2009 Author of the Year by the Friends of the Albany Public Library. She’ll be honored at a luncheon on November 14th, and she’s scheduled her first Blog Book Tour to help celebrate and spread the word about this achievement.

Julie self-published her two mystery novels, Mood Swing: The Bipolar Murders (2006) and Eldercide (2008). She tried the traditional route to publication for both books, but after a limited number of rejections, she found the process inordinately depressing and turned to print-on-demand technology instead, using the Texas publishing company Virtual Bookworm. She loves the control and involvement she’s had over the published product, including the fact that she was able to use her own cover illustrations for both books. Although she still hopes to land a traditional agent and publisher, she intends to do so on her own terms when the time and the match feel right.

The library’s selection committee for the Author of the Year award chose Julie especially for her novel Eldercide, because of its relevance to current issues surrounding health care reform and our nation’s treatment of the elderly and of end-of-life issues. The award has been given for decades, but this is the first time the committee has chosen a self-published rather than a traditionally published book.

In May, 2009, Julie joined the online Blog Book Tours group. Since then, much to her own amazement, her blog, Julie Lomoe’s Musings Mysterioso has generated over 14,000 visits. She thanks Dani Greer and the other writers at the BBT Café for encouraging her in this new challenge.

Julie Lomoe knows home health care from the ground up. As President of ElderSource, Inc., a Licensed Home Care Services Agency in upstate New York, she became certified as a Personal Care Aide and filled in frequently for absent aides. The experience inspired Eldercide, the first in a mystery series featuring the staff and clients of Compassionate Care, an agency in the fictional town of Kooperskill, New York.

Julie’s first published novel, Mood Swing: The Bipolar Murders is set in a social club for the mentally ill on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The work was inspired by her many years of mental health experience, both as a professional and as a consumer. Both books are available online from Virtual Bookworm, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Barnard College, Julie received an MFA from Columbia University and an MA in Art Therapy from New York University. She lived in SoHo for many years, exhibiting at the Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum, and many Manhattan galleries. She showed her paintings and won a prize at the Woodstock Festival of Music and Art in 1969, an experience she blogged about in a three-part series this past August.

Julie has published poetry as well as articles on home care, mental health, aging, and women’s issues. Visit her blog, Julie Lomoe’s Musings Mysterioso (http://julielomoe.wordpress.com) to learn more and read the first chapters of her novels.

Random Thoughts

This has been a disjointed day for me as I have a lot of things going on. Started this morning when I decided to plant beans. Seemed like a good thing to do since we are getting a lot of rain here in East Texas over the last few days.

While I was out working in the garden, I discovered that something ate my peas. I had several coming up and had just put up a trellis to support the vines. Too late to replant now. Drat. Guess I will plant a few more beans and hope something doesn't eat them, too.

I am getting ready for an all day event at a library tomorrow, so I am working down a to-do list to make sure I have everything else taken care of. I will have to leave early in the morning to drive almost two hours to the library in Tyler.

If any of you reading this live near Tyler, do stop by from 10 until 4:30. There will be a number of authors there with a wide variety of books.

This event is called "Azalea Tales" and is running in conjunction with the annual "Azalea Trails" that takes place when the flowers are in their full glory.

I have a few azaleas blooming, but they are not as full and lush as the ones in this picture. I guess I need to add more compost for them.