Remembering Harry Whittington

Well,  I'm pulling an 8 hour Saturday on the new novel, all but the mini-break I am taking to write this post. My work as a sales consultant aside from being a wife, mother and daughter consumes most of my hours. Writing is very hard work when you strive to do a solid job and then you're still not sure.

I have been reminiscing about my mentor, Harry Whittingon, a master of pulp novels, westerns, screenplays, romance novels and more. I hope you are with me in spirit today, Harry, because I could use your fortitude!

Harry was a full time author and wrote as a means to feed his family. That's a tough job in any era. Just the pressure of being the breadwinner is enough to squash the creative process. It's hard to believe 22 years have passed since we worked together.

I just did an internet search and found a picture that I took of Harry. See above. I took that picture when I was writing for a local beach paper! I was surprised to see it and it made me go on a hunt for the article I wrote. Naturally, I have my clippings stored in boxes and my first search didn't produce the article and I haven't the time to continue the hunt til another weekend.
The website does a nice job of reprinting Harry's bio from his Black Lizard books.
 http://pulporiginals.com/Contents-pulp/Whittington-remember.html

Anyway, I'll save my Harry stories for a book tour once I'm done with "St. Blair: Children of the Night." I've got to get back to writing.

"Marquel" on the Shelves of Turnrow Books in Greenwood, MS

I took this picture last summer while visiting our daughter who worked on the movie "The Help." I love the fact that the movie is based on a bestselling novel. The film was shot on location in the small southern town of Greenwood, MS. Blair lived there from July to November and I had the chance to make 2 trips up to see her. Turnrow Books was a hub for many of the cast and crew to grab a bite and something to read during the long breaks in a town with no movie theater.

My novel is pictured in the middle of the store shelf.  I'm not the best marketer of myself, I do a much better job for my clients, but I am getting better. I was very appreciative Turnrow stocked "Marquel."

As we travel more, I am making a solid effort to visit independent booksellers and also promote my work. With the closure of many units of  larger bookstore chains, I feel the smaller stores will have a better survival rate. Call me naive, but I think the more unique the store, the more likely the public will drift in, especially with the big guys absent.

Just a week ago my husband and I drove to a very quaint Micanopy, Florida to "antique." We love going to antique shops/malls and eating in local diners and I am always on the hunt for vintage novels by my mentor, Harry Whittington, but more to come on that subject.

Anyway, where is your favorite bookstore? What makes it special? I'd love to hear from you.

The Film Mom at the film festival

I attended and volunteered for the Sunscreen Film Festival this past weekend and much to my surprise, the films I did get to see, weren't as interesting as prior years. But I didn't get to many. Our daughter Blair The Moviechic actually made very good connections at the Sunscreen Film Festival 2 years ago and has since worked for Harbinger Pictures/Dreamworks on "The Help."

She did all the hard work, networking, staying in touch and landing the job. It's not an easy business to break into if you are timid. Blair is not. She is constantly meeting new people in various aspects of the industry and trying new jobs and braved moving to make it happen. Her short film, "Relative Eternity" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKXCmkYlTQY&feature=digest will be entered into festivals in the latter part of 2011 and 2012.

So I began to ponder what we learned from our earlier research of film schools, UCLA and USC. They stress that the filmmaker's main job is to tell a great story. Many film hopefuls are not writers but visionaries. Like many parents, I thought film school were focused on the technical aspects of production, camera technique, special effects, but in truth, those processes don't mean a thing if you don't have a solid marketable story and that's where the hard work comes in!

Take the block of short films I had the chance to view this weekend, I disappointed at the "lack" of conclusion in many of the comedy shorts. I was spoiled by the quality I saw 2 years ago. The films I saw this year reminded me of the "rushed" but talented films of the "48 Hour Film Competition" we crewed as volunteers for Blair's production. It's understandable that a 48 Hour project would have a less than perfect story, but a festival entry in my view, has to be more.

Now, I do appreciate the filmmaking process and heart that goes behind the shortest of films, but I feel the tweaks these films needed would likely have been stressed through several viewings by family and friends. Afterall, we all spend money to watch entertainment and some quality feedback would go along way in making a promising movie a great short.

The take away for me:

• Lottery stories are overdone and I don't challenge anyone to prove me wrong!
• Don't bring a baby/cute kid or dog into a story without telling us where they went?
• I don't like dance remixes and I definitely don't like movie remixes. Example: one story was basically the "pina cola song" in a non-musical video with few scenes changed around.
• Don't go high quality on the intro if the story doesn't match. I was swept away by the opening of one film only to be bored by the final product.
• Do make sure you have good sound quality. My favorite film was hard to hear.

Ok, I'm just a fan of films, so give me stories to rave about and I'll glad do so.

Kindle vs. Nook sales

I am very new to e-publishing. My Nook sales over the last 10 weeks are about 91 total sales and Kindle is only 3?


Now in fairness to Kindle, I just got started a couple of weeks ago. I do know that I can only in list 2 categories for Kindle searches and the Nook I can list in 5 categories, so the opportunities to be found are greater on the Nook. I have to say, this is the most exciting time to be a writer. My nephew, Erik Williams, is doing fabulous with the various short stories and novels he sells. He is really my inspiration. Please look for the link to his blog "Drunken Monkeys and Angry Penguins" to learn more.

What I am now preparing to do is determine my best strategies to write more. I am much disciplined in my sales and marketing job. Now I need to focus the limited spare time I have to write. Since I write in both fiction and non-fiction genres, I am trying to determine how to reach both audiences.

Visiting the Moviechic

Blair and Aries Spears of Mad TV

Just got back from Los Angeles and visiting our film maker daughter, Blair. We stayed at her place for a few days while she spent the first part of the week house sitting at the opposite end of the city. We love LA and I think we helped the economy by eating out and parking!

1. Here's an overview: Got in on Friday evening around midnight 3/26 and had a late snack at Norms somewhere in South LA, a local diner/dive, but not the Guy Fieri kind. Saturday hubby had to go to Hooters to watch the Gators. The Burbank Hooters has a Gator alum section, so we had a good time, though the Gator's lost. Bummer. We later went to the Bookstar on Ventura which is an old movie theatre that Barnes and Noble has converted to a bookstore. Loved it! I always open my book on the Nook sample display.
2. Sunday we slept in, we were time-challenged from the 3 hour difference. We all had pedicures in the UCLA area and just relaxed. Blair and I had manicures as well. There is place called Top Shoes that is in the college area that has great deals on shoes, so this was my 2nd annual visit to the store. :) Later we went to The Ivy and had a late brunch. We were cautious of where to park and read all the signs before we got out and walked to the restaurant. But we still ended up with a $65 ticket, though we don't know why?
3. Monday was an early morning at "The Price's Right." We were to be there at 8:30 am. We parked at The Grove shopping mall around 7 am, a beautiful center, but expensive. We didn't think to get validation at one of the stores and spent $24 to park. It took 3 to 4 hours for all potential contestant to get interviewed. We didn't make the cut, but regardless, it would go much faster if they processed everyone as they arrived. It was fun to watch and I would go again someday if they sped up the procedures. We met a lady who had made it to the Showcase Showdown the week prior and lost. Contestants aren't allowed to play again for 10 years, but her husband was there to try out. We ate later at Maria's Italian and I was bummed they were out of eggplant, so I wasn't in the mood to have more than a few meatballs and a side salad.
4. Tuesday we moved into the Best Western on Sunset and loved the nearby restaurants and comedy clubs in walking distance. We decided to go to Rodeo Dr. during the morning and walk around. I was looking for a shop I had gone to before, but it had moved. So we treated ourselves to The Blvd restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire and noshed on some delightful breads and Blair had the Sea Bass and Tom and I had salads. YUM! That evening we walked to the LePetit Four and had a beautiful cool evening dining outside as the they surrounded the tables in towering heaters. I had a Cobb salad and a wonderful layered apple dessert and coffee. Tom and Blair had ?? I don't remember. We strolled to Book Soup and glanced at the offerings. Loved the design of the store. It has its own unique system of categorizing the books.
5. Wednesday was Blair's day to get her hair colored and cut, Tom also got a cut as I sat and read "The Help" on my Kindle. Since Blair's hair was an hour process, Tom and I strolled and got coffee. All the Starbucks and Coffee Bean's in LA are just packed with electronically-focused patrons sipping and surfing the web. We ate at the Saddle Ranch which Blair tells us will be featured in a reality show and we went down the street afterward to Tom Arnold's gig at the Laugh Factory and also saw Aries Spears of Mad TV and Maxcomedian.com (well, just Max Amini, but I gotten give him a plug). Anyway, we sat in the front row and Blair is younger looking than her 20s, so it was interesting to say the least. Naturally, we got picked on for bringing our kid to the show and naturally Blair was the center of many of Aries jokes, as he made her well aware of how we brought her into the world. It was all good fun and fully expected. Afterward we walked to Mel's Diner for a milkshake nightcap before heading back to the hotel. The Best Western has breakfast included in the hotel offerings, so we started our day with coffee, fruit and cereal each morning.
6. Thursday we went to the Craig Ferguson show and that was less time consuming than The Price's Right. We parked at The Grove again, but smartly got our parking validated, which brought the cost down to $10. Paul Giamatti was Ferguson's guest, promoting his new movie "Win-Win." I am a big Giamatti fan, so it was a treat. I was also on a mission to deliver a gift to Ferguson that my 75 year old mother wanted him to have. I wasn't able to accomplish an interaction with the Scot, so I left it in the studio, hoping he would receive it. My mother is feature on Youtube segment: "Nana Loves Craig." She has a major major MAJOR crush on Craig Ferguson. Thursday night we went to Casa Bianca with Blair's friends the Yuan twins (currently doing a stint on "Rules of Engagement") and Frank (the a television show editer). We enjoyed anti-pasta salad, pizza and cannolis. It was so nice to meet some of our daughter's friends. They are all so helpful and generous. The twins are making a slasher short film, Blair has just begun editing her dramatic short that Frank is also producing and they are all looking for projects for the future. It's truly a project-based business.
7. Friday we moved out of the Best Western and went to the Urth Cafe for lunch. The only celebrity sighting we had was Chris Farley's brother (who was in line with us). What great food!! I had a chicken curry sandwich that was my favorite meal of the trip. We then went to the Landmark Theater to see "Win-Win." LA movie theater's rock! I just loved picking out our seats before going in and the cleanliness of the theatre, the sound quality and comfortable seats. The movie was great and afterward we drove to the Santa Monica Pier for our final evening in California. We ate a Bubba Gump's since most of the pier restaurants were closing. Afterward, we went to Blair's for a few hours of napping before our morning flight Saturday. We had time to sleep on the flight. Now we're home and back to work. We miss our daughter, but we'll be back soon! We still didn't hike to the Hollywood sign or catch any plays and of course, we'll have to go out when Blair's film "Relative Eternity" is released!

You are the C.E.O. of your family finances!

I spent the better part of Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday and Sunday evening working on our taxes. I am not a Turbo Tax filer. It's okay if you are in the bracket to get it processed free, but I don't see why I should pay to upload my tax return to the government when I can mail it in for a few postage stamps.

Even if you are getting a refund, there isn't a big delay in I.R.S. processing.

I learned taxes by taking the H.R. Block tax course many years ago as we had family members in the business. I actually worked a season or two doing taxes at Sears and I have been doing our personal return ever since.

This helped me learn so much about how to plan for the next tax year. I am no Suze Orman, but I do listen to Suze and Clark Howard. My husband and I each take ownership of various projects, he handles insurance and household repairs, I'm finance and groceries. I cook, he does the dishes, etc.

And we didn't agree on our family finances when we first go married. We had credit card debt and separate accounts to start and now many years later we are a great team! We tithe, save, plan and do our best to steward everything, right down to recycling most of our household trash and donating things to help others in need.

At first my husband was annoyed at all the swapping and trading and giving things back and forth that my family did. We grew up children of divorce and had to make due with less, so there is hardly a visit even today my siblings don't bring something to the other a garage sale or cleaning out their closets.

And I think family's need to embrace that they should run their households like a business and take a hard look at where they are spending and how to grow their family empire! Yes, I said empire. Look it up, it's about wealth controlled by families and businesses. It's not about greed, it's about helping your child(ren) and your children's children and beyond.

Each time I sit down to pay the bills, save on a purchase or put receipts aside for the upcoming tax year, I do so knowing I am helping our family get and stay strong. The economy has tested many, but it's also helped people pool their resources and get back to basics.

Even if you are unemployed and rebuilding your life, what is your strategy to make a "comeback"?

Internet Ads That Target Your Interests

OK, I sell advertising for a living and I was just watching a news story that discusses new tools for search engines who send you ads or place ads on sites where you shop or read blogs, etc. The funny thing is, I honestly believe most consumers won't click on these ads.

Today's consumer isn't enticed by content links that could contain a virus that will shut their computer down. We've all experienced some pop up that took over or loaded viruses on the home or work computer. Most of these were clicked on by mistake and taught a lesson to stay away from links. PERIOD!

Instead we search for what we want. It's all about the organic search. It's just like SMS text advertising. People opt in what is of interest and if they get a text from a provider that they didn't contact they opt out immediately. We don't waste time.

I text with my kids and on rare occasion, a client. I don't want to text anyone else. I have a Facebook that says I don't Facebook, but I have it to see family members photos as they ask me to take a look. I don't want all the clutter of a Facebook and I'm not interested in seeing everyone's friends photos and reading the chatter. Just send me an email and I'm up to date.

I love TWITTER! It's fast. It's short. It's fun. I don't want to converse, I want to share and observe. I guess what I'm saying is the challenge of the internet's future is how to create the TIVO experience for the web.

I don't TIVO either, but my friends swear by it. They love the shows it chooses based on their interests. I would rather HULU. The internet ads are trying to do for the consumer what TIVO does, but we don't trust clicking outside the box. The organic search box or outside the website we're reviewing.

So I think the web has a long way to go. The engine(s) who can keep the pirates out and develop an adware/virus-free experience, guaranteed, will be the king or queen of content/ad sales. May the best company win.