Tag Archive for: Jessica Park

Lori’s Reading Corner

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by Lori Gondelman

I never had any intention of becoming a book blogger. I had no idea where to start, what it should cover, how it should look, or more importantly, if anyone would even care. At the time I started my blog I belonged to a book swapping site called http://www.paperbackswap.com/. Basically you post books that you no longer want, and when another member requests your book, you mail it off to them. Once they receive your book you earn a credit, with which you can then order a book that you want. Nice and simple, right? I soon had a new group of friends, fellow booklovers. It got to a point that my friends started calling me “the book pimp” because my book recommendations would cause their wish lists to grow out of control, and their piles of books would transform from small hills to massive mountains. Several of them started bugging me about doing a book blog. I put it off because I honestly felt like I had nothing worthwhile to say. And again, would anyone really care? I finally “caved,” and Lori’s Reading Corner was born, just about three years ago. It’s taken off in ways that I never dreamed possible.

My blog started off as a way for me to share my love of reading and my thoughts on books with others. I love seeing comments that say, “I bought this book on your recommendation, and I loved it. I’ll be back to see what else you’ve got for me.” It warms my heart to know that I’ve given someone else the same joy I got from reading a book, a book they might not otherwise have read if they hadn’t seen my review.

What has really surprised me though, are the amazing contacts I have made. I know there are thousands of bloggers out there, and that I’m just one tiny little fish in a big pond. Having said that, I’ve been fortunate enough to make some amazing contacts at Harper Collins, Random House, St. Martin’s, Penguin/Berkley, and several other publishing houses. Publishers, publicists, and authors who have “stumbled” on my blog and would like to send me advanced reader copies to review. Really? Little ‘ole me? Why? Most importantly, I’ve developed some terrific friendships with some fantastic authors. Authors that have been extremely supportive of my blog. They have offered encouragement and advice. Jessica Park has been an amazing, encouraging friend to me. Whenever I find reviews that I think make mine look like they were written by a two-year-old, she reminds me that everyone has their own writing style, and that as long as I stay true to myself, my reviews are just as good, if not better, than the others out there. Jessica has also helped me get started with some editing/proofing work. Not only did she ask me for my feedback and proofing help on her latest book, she’s also mentioned me to other author friends of hers, possibly opening even more doors for me. That she thinks that much of me and wants MY feedback means more to mean than I could ever put into words.

When I first started blogging, my goal wasn’t to meet authors, make amazing contacts, or get advanced reader copies of amazing books (although those have been unanticipated bonuses). It was simply to let others know what I thought about the books I was reading. To hopefully spread the word about some amazing books and some incredible authors. And I hope (and think) that’s exactly what I’ve done.

We Welcome Jessica Park!

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“I Want To Be In Your Book.” “No, You Don’t.”

When you’re an author, everything around you is fodder for creative writing. The crazy characters you run into, odd experiences, etc. We get to take moments from real life and twist them into fictional fun, reworking them to suit our story needs. (Of course, not everything in our books comes from real life, and every writer will tell you that nothing is more irritating than having people assume that an entire book is based on reality. We have creativity, damn it!) There have been several occasions when I’ve been out with my mother and something offbeat has happened… and then both of us will simultaneously yell, “I get that one for a book!” Then one of us takes it and warps it to our needs. We’re all just power hungry.

People often claim that they’d love to be in your book. They ask you to write about them. They beg you. “I want to be in your book!” I always think, “No, you don’t.” The truth is that the fictionalized version of that person might not be so flattering. Writing about someone completely mentally sound, totally “normal,” or incredibly sweet is not always that interesting. So if we do want to write about you, there’s a good possibility that you should be offended. What we keep our eyes out for is quirky, complex, and bizarrely enticing. Weird. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but if you have legions of writers penning you into novels, you may want to grab a seat on a psychoanalyst’s couch. I may develop a character around someone that I know, but the fun in being a writer is that I get to then re-form that character as I want or need for my story. I have yet to actually put someone as they are into anything I’ve written, although some characters have hit pretty close to home. No, I’m not telling you which ones.

My son has asked me a million times to put him into one of my books, but I’ve never had a good opportunity to fit him in. But then, after doing a hundred Facebook status updates about funny things that he’s said, I started a blog called “What the Kid Says (And Sometimes What I Say).” I wish that I’d started keeping this record of our conversations earlier, because it’s going to be so fun to look back on this years from now. And use it against him when he has girls over. No, no, I wouldn’t do that. Fine, I probably will, but it’ll be funny and serve as good leverage when he’s in trouble.

Some of our conversations are sweet, some ridiculous, some sad, and others nonsensical. Here is a blip into life with my kid:

Love and Soda Hats
Kid: Mommy, I love you.
Me: I love you, too.
Kid: My heart is open.
Me: What does that mean?
Kid: It means that my heart has been taken.
Me: Where did it go?
Kid: My heart went to yours because I love you.
Me (trying not to sob over this adorably sappy exchange that is about to be unceremoniously cut short): I absolutely love you, kiddo.
Kid: Can we get one of those soda can hats?
Me: Um… what?
Kid: You know, those hats with the tubes so you can drink–
Me: NO!

And this one:

Ex-cuuuuu-se Me!
I walk into my bedroom and find the kid stretched out on my bed, watching his TV show, and using my laptop.

Me: What are you doing? You’re supposed to be getting ready for bed.
Kid: Well, ex-cuuuuu-se me!
Me: Ex-cuuuuuse-se you for what?
Kid: Excuse a guy for wanting to hang out with his mother!
Me: Nice try. Go to bed.

And possibly my all-time favorite:

Lake What…?
So I’ll confess that we were watching the best of the worst cheesy movies ever. But so what?

Kid: What movie is this?
Dad: “Lake Placid.”
Kid: “Lake Acid”?
Dad: “Lake PLACID.”
Kid: “Lake Flaccid”?
Me: “LAKE PLACID”!!!

What a difference one letter makes…

The kid is pretty thrilled and honored that I have a blog devoted to him, and that I put an expanded collection of these pieces together as an e-book. He has yelled at me on a few occasions for putting up what he considers embarrassing things, but like I said, I now have excellent leverage for those teenage years.

-Jessica

Jessica Park is the author of five Gourmet Girl mysteries (written as Jessica Conant-Park), the YA novel RELATIVELY FAMOUS, and two e-shorts, FACEBOOKING RICK SPRINGFIELD and WHAT THE KID SAYS (AND SOMETIMES WHAT I SAY). She grew up in the Boston area and then went to Macalester College in frigid St. Paul, Minnesota. During her freshman year, there was a blizzard on Halloween, and she decided that she was not cut out for such torture. So after graduation, she moved back to the east coast where, she’d forgotten, it still snows. Oops. She now lives in New Hampshire with her husband, son, bananas dog named Fritzy, and two selfish cats. When not writing, she is probably on Facebook, pining over 80s rock stars or engaging in Gleek activities.

http://yaauthorjessicapark.blogspot.com/
http://whatthekidsays.blogspot.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/conantparkmysteries/
Facebook: jumby24
Twitter: JessicaParkYA
http://www.cafepress.com/RelativelyFamous

Book links:

Facebooking Rick Springfield (and Other Musings of a Scattered Writer)

What the Kid Says (and sometimes what I say)

Relatively Famous

The Word Count

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I’ve been writing about “counts” a lot–pitch counts, word counts…when I get to “blood counts,” cut me off, okay?

A friend of mine, Jessica Park, author of the delightful Gourmet Girl mysteries, posed a question on Facebook a few weeks back. She wanted to know what her fellow authors’ daily word count was. In other words, how many words does each author aspire to write every day? People chimed in with a variety of responses, from “1000words is a great day for me,” to “any amount as long as they’re good.” I’m paraphrasing, but you get the drift. My response?

“If it’s the week before deadline, 45,000. Otherwise, 10.”

I’m really hoping my editor, also a Facebook friend, didn’t see that confession.

Due to the fact that I work full time—or maybe because I have Attention Deficit Disorder—I have a very scattershot approach to writing. If the mood strikes, I’ll put everything aside for an hour or two and write away. For instance, I had a great idea for the current work-in-progress last week, and banged out 5000 words, some of them pretty good, the rest just okay. That’s what revision is for. To my mind right now, though, they are there and they are words and they count. Other weeks, I won’t touch the WIP at all, focusing instead on my paying work, for which I have rolling deadlines and obligations that eat up anywhere between eight and twelve hours every day.

My deadline every year for a new Alison Bergeron mystery is New Year’s Eve. Generally, by about October, I have three quarters of a first draft which I mull over between Halloween and December 1st. Then, once December hits, I kick it into high gear and write the rest of the first draft, focusing on revising while trying to Christmas shop, meet work deadlines, and decorate the house for the holidays. All in all, December is a very stressful month. I usually finish the shopping, I always finish the book, and I never decorate the house to my liking.

I wish I was one of those writers who could sit down and bang out a thousand or so words every day, regardless of whether or not they are good words. I find that the more I write, the better I become and the more I want to write. But life—and work—keep intervening and I have a hard time finding a routine that works for me.

There are things I should do in order to establish a writing routine. Let’s ignore them for the time being and focus, instead, on things I won’t do to establish a regular writing routine:

1. Get up at 4 a.m. Some things are just not worth the bother.
2. Stay up until midnight. How would I get my ten hours of beauty sleep with that bed time?
3. Write on the weekends. This will only happen between the dates December 15th and December 31st. (Remember that yearly deadline?)
4. Write during my lunch hour. Lunch hour? What’s that?
5. Write at the local coffee shop to avoid interruptions. That would involve leaving the house. And that’s just not going to happen.

What do you do to establish a writing schedule? And what is your daily word count?

Maggie Barbieri