Doesn't it feel great when you're talking about music-tv-movies-books to someone and find out you have the same taste? "I love it too" -- four words that connect us with each other. Having something in common is a unversal Superglue that unites people.
Not having anything in common can be interesting, too, and sometimes you can convince a friend to try something new. Or by liking something unique, you feel unique, too.
So I thought I'd share my list of things I like that are POPULAR or SHOULD BE.
THINGS I LIKE THAT ARE TRENDING IN POPULARITY:
BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES:
Girl with Dragon Tattoo (Swedish translated to English) plus upcoming movie
The Help
HUGO
TWILIGHT
TV SHOWS
Terra Nova (not sure if this is popular or not!)
Glee
Two Broke Girls
Survivor, Amazing Race, Project Runway,Big Brother
MEGA-STAR BOOKS
Harry Popular...I mean...Potter
Twilight -- yeah, I liked them which is less popular now than last year
Hunger Games-soon to be as popular as Twilight once the movie comes out
BOOKS THAT ARE GAINING POPULARITY AND IF THEY AREN'T THEY SHOULD BE:
Ruby Red
Emerald Atlas
Liesl and Po
Drizzle
The Future of Us
Terrier trilogy by Tamora Pierce
And a picture book called PIRATE NAP by Danna Smith which is so fun to read that kids will beg "Again!"
Under the topic of "chocolate"...I love chocolate which is always popular especially at holidays.
Cats. Writers and cats, we just understand each other.
Music -- I have an odd mx of popular (Katy & GaGa) & Coldplay) and vintage (Beach Boys, Abba) on my Pandora app.
And I love musicals -- already have tickets for my family to go to see WICKED in June -- with a great song called "Popular."
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Sunday, December 04, 2011
A CHRISTMAS BOOK GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING.....
A CHRISTMAS GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING....
A book, of course. But add a childhood story to the book and it becomes more than a book; it becomes a never-ending story (which was an amazing movie of the same title by the way...but I degress....)
The story of this Christmas-theme book begins when I was 13 years old. I was shy, unpopular, insecure and bursting with creativity that often came out in the inventive crafts and games my best friend and I created (but that's another story). When I couldn't hang out with my best friend Lori, I spent time with my other best friend: books. I loved reading so much and had discovered girl mystery books. My favorites were the Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton series (rivals in publishing, but best friends on my bookshelves). So I wrote two fan letters--the first went to Carolyn Keene care of Grosset & Dunlap. I never received a reply (ghosts can't write fan letters after all). So I wrote a letter to my other favorite author, Margaret Sutton, original creator and author of 38 Judy Bolton mystery novels. And Margaret wrote back.
I was SO thrilled to have a letter from my favorite author. I showed it off at school the next day and will never forget that thrill, especially when I get the opportunity to give the same thrill to a fan of my books. Well, my relationship with Margaret didn't end there. She recognized something in me, maybe passion for writing, and we kept sharing letters. I met her in person at my high school graduation party (just my family in the kitchen, with Margaret as the celebrity guest).
PHOTO: Linda (age 17) Margaret (age 71)
As adults Margaret and I kept in touch mostly through holiday cards but when she moved to Berkeley, just an hour away, I visited her. On one visit she gave me the address for a group of her fans who had started a newsletter, The Whispered Watchword. Meeting other Judy Bolton fans was amazing. Even more amazing, through serendipity, one of the other fans has been given the beginning chapters of a new Judy Bolton mystery by Margaret and told she could do whatever she wanted with it. She gave it to me.
Now to understand how HUGE this was, imagine your favorite series and how you felt when it ended. I'd read all 38 Judy Bolton mysteries many times and longed for more. Just one more mystery, I wished. And now I had the opportunity to make it happen. But I had no synopsis or outline to go by, only 3 chapters that ended dramatically with a ambulance siren. I knew these books so well, better than I knew my own writing style. And I was thrilled for the chance to finish this book. So I reread Judy's and studied the style. I typed like I was possessed, and in three weeks had finished the book which Margaret titled THE TALKING SNOWMAN.
Several months later, I met Margaret along with some of her fans in Pennsylvania at a Judy Bolton reunion. I showed Margaret the manuscript, and while she pointed out things that would need to be edited, she was very positive, even impressed that I came up with solutions to the mystery and also guessed much of what she had planned. Of course, I couldn't include her trademark "something that really happened to the author" so she took the manuscript from me and added this scene herself, making editing marks and returning it to me for completion. And years later, I self-published THE TALKING SNOWMAN, a new Judy Bolton mystery co-written by Margaret Sutton and me.
Fans were so thrilled to have this book that I didn't need to advertise. Word spread and they found me. It didn't feel right to profit from a work of love, so I priced the book low; enough to cover my expenses. The first 500 books sold out so next time I printed 1,000. And I continue to sell these books to fans who stumble upon the www.Judybolton.com website and are stunned to find there are more than 38 books.
I wrote an introduction to SNOWMAN which begins: THIS BOOK IS A GIFT.
THE TALKING SNOWMAN is a Christmas story that keeps on giving to readers who love Judy Bolton; the girl heroine who wasn't perfect like Nancy Drew which endeared her to readers like me who watched her age from 15 to mid-20's; a teen to a young married woman.
And the 38 books of the original series have all been reprinted by Applewood Books so new readers can fall in love with Judy, too. Go online and search for Applewood's reprint of the first Judy Bolton book: THE VANISHING SHADOW, based on a real flood.
WIN A BOOK!
Make a comment on this blog and I'll randomly pick a winner who can choose one of my books as a prize. I have copies of my SEER, DEAD GIRL, STRANGE ENCOUNTERS series, as well as TALKING SNOWMAN to choose from.
A book, of course. But add a childhood story to the book and it becomes more than a book; it becomes a never-ending story (which was an amazing movie of the same title by the way...but I degress....)
The story of this Christmas-theme book begins when I was 13 years old. I was shy, unpopular, insecure and bursting with creativity that often came out in the inventive crafts and games my best friend and I created (but that's another story). When I couldn't hang out with my best friend Lori, I spent time with my other best friend: books. I loved reading so much and had discovered girl mystery books. My favorites were the Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton series (rivals in publishing, but best friends on my bookshelves). So I wrote two fan letters--the first went to Carolyn Keene care of Grosset & Dunlap. I never received a reply (ghosts can't write fan letters after all). So I wrote a letter to my other favorite author, Margaret Sutton, original creator and author of 38 Judy Bolton mystery novels. And Margaret wrote back.
I was SO thrilled to have a letter from my favorite author. I showed it off at school the next day and will never forget that thrill, especially when I get the opportunity to give the same thrill to a fan of my books. Well, my relationship with Margaret didn't end there. She recognized something in me, maybe passion for writing, and we kept sharing letters. I met her in person at my high school graduation party (just my family in the kitchen, with Margaret as the celebrity guest).
As adults Margaret and I kept in touch mostly through holiday cards but when she moved to Berkeley, just an hour away, I visited her. On one visit she gave me the address for a group of her fans who had started a newsletter, The Whispered Watchword. Meeting other Judy Bolton fans was amazing. Even more amazing, through serendipity, one of the other fans has been given the beginning chapters of a new Judy Bolton mystery by Margaret and told she could do whatever she wanted with it. She gave it to me.
Now to understand how HUGE this was, imagine your favorite series and how you felt when it ended. I'd read all 38 Judy Bolton mysteries many times and longed for more. Just one more mystery, I wished. And now I had the opportunity to make it happen. But I had no synopsis or outline to go by, only 3 chapters that ended dramatically with a ambulance siren. I knew these books so well, better than I knew my own writing style. And I was thrilled for the chance to finish this book. So I reread Judy's and studied the style. I typed like I was possessed, and in three weeks had finished the book which Margaret titled THE TALKING SNOWMAN.
Several months later, I met Margaret along with some of her fans in Pennsylvania at a Judy Bolton reunion. I showed Margaret the manuscript, and while she pointed out things that would need to be edited, she was very positive, even impressed that I came up with solutions to the mystery and also guessed much of what she had planned. Of course, I couldn't include her trademark "something that really happened to the author" so she took the manuscript from me and added this scene herself, making editing marks and returning it to me for completion. And years later, I self-published THE TALKING SNOWMAN, a new Judy Bolton mystery co-written by Margaret Sutton and me.
Fans were so thrilled to have this book that I didn't need to advertise. Word spread and they found me. It didn't feel right to profit from a work of love, so I priced the book low; enough to cover my expenses. The first 500 books sold out so next time I printed 1,000. And I continue to sell these books to fans who stumble upon the www.Judybolton.com website and are stunned to find there are more than 38 books.
I wrote an introduction to SNOWMAN which begins: THIS BOOK IS A GIFT.
THE TALKING SNOWMAN is a Christmas story that keeps on giving to readers who love Judy Bolton; the girl heroine who wasn't perfect like Nancy Drew which endeared her to readers like me who watched her age from 15 to mid-20's; a teen to a young married woman.
And the 38 books of the original series have all been reprinted by Applewood Books so new readers can fall in love with Judy, too. Go online and search for Applewood's reprint of the first Judy Bolton book: THE VANISHING SHADOW, based on a real flood.
WIN A BOOK!
Make a comment on this blog and I'll randomly pick a winner who can choose one of my books as a prize. I have copies of my SEER, DEAD GIRL, STRANGE ENCOUNTERS series, as well as TALKING SNOWMAN to choose from.
Friday, November 25, 2011
FOR KID-MYSTERY BOOK LOVERS
I have over 5,000 books in my (mostly girl mystery) series collection.
I love to find current books, aside from vintage titles like Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and Judy Bolton. Of course, Judy just came back in print in affordable paperback editions for a new generation of readers (and book collectors).
So here are some you may want to check out.
1. The JUDY BOLTON mysteries (38+ extras) are back in print from Applewood.
These are the mysteries that inspired my childhood love of books and my ambition to write.
Begin with THE VANISHING SHADOW and HAUNTED ATTIC: http://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Shadow-Judy-Bolton-Mysteries/dp/1429090219/ref=sr_1_12_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322238698&sr=1-12
I probably should add that I co-wrote another Judy, TALKING SNOWMAN, with Margaret Sutton before she died a decade ago, which I self-published for fans. (No Kindle on this one -- paper books only).
2. Not a series but a gem of a middle grade which I loved:
FROZEN IN TIME by Ali Sparkes. Time travel & mystery
3. TOMORROW GIRLS by Eva Gray
Paperback series for those who liked Hunger Games but hunger for younger with a cast of girl characters.
In this series, US is at war with Canada and girls are shipped off to a secret boarding school.
4. BUDDY FILES by Dori H. Butler
Very young chapter book series for starting kids/grandkids off with mystery.
For a short book, these are surprisingly well-crafted with building mystery & animal fun.
5. SAMMY KEYES -- This (Trixie Belden-like) series has gone from midgrade to young YA
with about a dozen titles. I consider it a must-have for any girl series collection, and I
buy them new. Love the "clue-styled" dust jacket.
6. EMERALD ATLAS by John Stephens. Sort of Harry Potter-Narnia mix. One of my
favorite books of 2011, and I'm very eager for the next one.
7. RUBY RED by Kierstin Gier-- this one is my favorite of 2011. Time travel with a clever, interesting heroine.
8. WHITE CAT/RED GLOVE by Holly Black - mysterious, magical, intriguing. Feels like a detective novel in style.
9. POISON STUDY/MAGIC STUDY...everything by Maria V. Snyder
10. THE AGENCY, historical girl spy mystery by Y.S. Lee
Linda Joy Singleton www.LindaJoySingleton.com & www.facebook.com/lindajoysingleton
#1. DEAD GIRL WALKING/DEAD GIRL DANCING/DEAD GIRL IN LOVE (Flux/) YALSA Popular Paperback
Ghosts Whisper to Psychic Sabine in THE SEER series (Flux)
THE SEER #6 MAGICIAN'S MUSE (Flux)
BURIED - A Goth Girl Mystery March 2012 (Flux)
Follow me : www.twitter.com/LindaJoySinglet
I love to find current books, aside from vintage titles like Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and Judy Bolton. Of course, Judy just came back in print in affordable paperback editions for a new generation of readers (and book collectors).
So here are some you may want to check out.
1. The JUDY BOLTON mysteries (38+ extras) are back in print from Applewood.
These are the mysteries that inspired my childhood love of books and my ambition to write.
Begin with THE VANISHING SHADOW and HAUNTED ATTIC: http://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Shadow-Judy-Bolton-Mysteries/dp/1429090219/ref=sr_1_12_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322238698&sr=1-12
I probably should add that I co-wrote another Judy, TALKING SNOWMAN, with Margaret Sutton before she died a decade ago, which I self-published for fans. (No Kindle on this one -- paper books only).
2. Not a series but a gem of a middle grade which I loved:
FROZEN IN TIME by Ali Sparkes. Time travel & mystery
3. TOMORROW GIRLS by Eva Gray
Paperback series for those who liked Hunger Games but hunger for younger with a cast of girl characters.
In this series, US is at war with Canada and girls are shipped off to a secret boarding school.
4. BUDDY FILES by Dori H. Butler
Very young chapter book series for starting kids/grandkids off with mystery.
For a short book, these are surprisingly well-crafted with building mystery & animal fun.
5. SAMMY KEYES -- This (Trixie Belden-like) series has gone from midgrade to young YA
with about a dozen titles. I consider it a must-have for any girl series collection, and I
buy them new. Love the "clue-styled" dust jacket.
6. EMERALD ATLAS by John Stephens. Sort of Harry Potter-Narnia mix. One of my
favorite books of 2011, and I'm very eager for the next one.
7. RUBY RED by Kierstin Gier-- this one is my favorite of 2011. Time travel with a clever, interesting heroine.
8. WHITE CAT/RED GLOVE by Holly Black - mysterious, magical, intriguing. Feels like a detective novel in style.
9. POISON STUDY/MAGIC STUDY...everything by Maria V. Snyder
10. THE AGENCY, historical girl spy mystery by Y.S. Lee
Linda Joy Singleton www.LindaJoySingleton.com & www.facebook.com/lindajoysingleton
#1. DEAD GIRL WALKING/DEAD GIRL DANCING/DEAD GIRL IN LOVE (Flux/) YALSA Popular Paperback
Ghosts Whisper to Psychic Sabine in THE SEER series (Flux)
THE SEER #6 MAGICIAN'S MUSE (Flux)
BURIED - A Goth Girl Mystery March 2012 (Flux)
Follow me : www.twitter.com/LindaJoySinglet
Monday, November 21, 2011
I poster my first ever video on YouTube
With my iPod I've been playing around taking a few mini videos of mostly family.
This weekend I went to a retreat and had a wonderful sharing, encouraging time with 16 other authors. We did a few fun activities aside from writerly conversTions. We enjoyed a word game and also a few of us got crafty with collages.
So I filmed the collage fun and experimented with YouTube and it actually worked. Not great filmi,ing, I'm still figuring this stuff out. But it's fun and only 2 minutes. If youre in SCBWI you may recognize a few of us.
Check it out here: http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?feature=mhee&v=Lfr-LjVHgcs
Or just under my full name on you tube...still figuring this stuff out.
This weekend I went to a retreat and had a wonderful sharing, encouraging time with 16 other authors. We did a few fun activities aside from writerly conversTions. We enjoyed a word game and also a few of us got crafty with collages.
So I filmed the collage fun and experimented with YouTube and it actually worked. Not great filmi,ing, I'm still figuring this stuff out. But it's fun and only 2 minutes. If youre in SCBWI you may recognize a few of us.
Check it out here: http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?feature=mhee&v=Lfr-LjVHgcs
Or just under my full name on you tube...still figuring this stuff out.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Win a free Don't Die Dragonfly and article on Ebooks
http://theelectricalbookcafe.blogspot.com/2011/09/bb-guest-post-contest-linda-joy.html
A decade of ebooks. Win a free book!
A decade of ebooks. Win a free book!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Reading a really cool fantasy
I'm reading ENCHANTED IVY by Sarah Beth Durst and loving it. It's set at Princeton University. It's cool how the author used the real setting yet turned it into a fantastical place where gargoyles and a key opens into a parallel world. Totally recommended!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Will Book Collecting Survive E-Books?
As an author whose books are selling more e-reader copies than paper copies, I wonder about the future of book collecting. Downloading a book doesn’t mean you own it. You can’t loan it to a friend. You can’t display it on a shelf. And how reliable are reading devices for protecting your e-library?
Read more here and see a photo of my vintage girl-series book library!
http://thespectacleblog.wordpress.com/
Read more here and see a photo of my vintage girl-series book library!
http://thespectacleblog.wordpress.com/
Monday, March 28, 2011
Why I don't post here more often
I would love to use this blog more, but even though I've had this blog for many years, I only have 48 followers, while on Facebook I have around 2,000.
But I will post when I have something to share.
Here's what's been happening lately. The biggest news is that I saw the cover for my next book. This book, BURIED, is a spin-off from THE SEER series starring Thorn. She moves to Nevada after her family loses their house. KC moves with her family and gets a job. Thorn meets a dangerous guy with a big secret who intrigues her. She has contact with Sabine by phone. And she solves a murder mystery. The cover is classy with a rusty background and the frame of a portrait with a Goth girl peeking out. I'll share it when I get permission.
I'm writing a futuristic book and am around 200 pages into it; 2/3rds finished.
Come back in May -- I'm going to announce which of my books will be a free Amazon download for the month of May.
But I will post when I have something to share.
Here's what's been happening lately. The biggest news is that I saw the cover for my next book. This book, BURIED, is a spin-off from THE SEER series starring Thorn. She moves to Nevada after her family loses their house. KC moves with her family and gets a job. Thorn meets a dangerous guy with a big secret who intrigues her. She has contact with Sabine by phone. And she solves a murder mystery. The cover is classy with a rusty background and the frame of a portrait with a Goth girl peeking out. I'll share it when I get permission.
I'm writing a futuristic book and am around 200 pages into it; 2/3rds finished.
Come back in May -- I'm going to announce which of my books will be a free Amazon download for the month of May.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Saturday, January 01, 2011
FREE BOOK!!!
It's available! NOW! I have been hoping so much this would really happen -- a way to reintroduce my THE SEER series to readers.
THE SEER #1, DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY is a one-month-only FREE download from Amazon/Kindle.
And the cool thing is you don't even need a Kindle -- I downloaded the free app to my I-Phone. Lots of devices can get a free Kindle device. And for January, readers can get my book too -- the first book where Sabine is introduced, she rescues Josh, sees ghosts, talks to her spirit guide and meets Dominic.
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Die-Dragonfly-ebook/dp/B001KYEZRE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
I would really appreciate it if you could repost this to your blogs. Thank you.
THE SEER #1, DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY is a one-month-only FREE download from Amazon/Kindle.
And the cool thing is you don't even need a Kindle -- I downloaded the free app to my I-Phone. Lots of devices can get a free Kindle device. And for January, readers can get my book too -- the first book where Sabine is introduced, she rescues Josh, sees ghosts, talks to her spirit guide and meets Dominic.
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Die-Dragonfly-ebook/dp/B001KYEZRE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
I would really appreciate it if you could repost this to your blogs. Thank you.
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