Tampa Book Buzz

no wonder kate’s blog gets more traffic than mine

How to drive traffic to this blog…mmm, let’s think for a moment….

Provide celebrity author gossip and insider news…nope, that would require knowing celebrity authors and paying sources for info and probably not living in Tampa (no offense to local celebrity authors intended).

Use all the marketing ideas rolling around in my brain to form an actual, official marketing plan and then implement said marketing plan? Ugh, too much work, too much time.

Hmmm…posting sexy photos of scantily-clad women should draw traffic…but I once chastised a fellow blogger for doing that exact same thing…plus I don’t have any photos like that of myself…not to mention that I wouldn’t post them even if I had some…what to do, what to do…

Eureka!! My friend Kate — activist, wild woman, writer and former Tampa blogger who is currently causing trouble and raising consciousness in Colorado — rebutted a blog commenter’s accusation of pudginess by posting this photo of herself on her blog yesterday. You go, girl!

Enjoy! And check back often. You never know when the local book news and other assorted ramblings here will be interrupted by a post like this. Really, it’s in your best interest to read this blog every day. Would I lie to you?

back in a few days

Four weeks after surgery and *now* I’ve developed a sinus infection (my allergist blames the hospital) and *now* my surgeon thinks that the problems I’ve been complaining about since the surgery have been there all along, pre-surgery, and I’ve just “never noticed.”  (WTF?)  (Note to my doctor: it’s ok to use the phrase “I don’t know” instead of making up crap.)

So I’m off for another round of tests and bloodwork — fun, fun — so I’ll see you sometime next week.

All things being equal, I’d rather be blogging. 

ephemera:exploring the world of old paper (and good blogs)

“Ephemera” is one of those words that I know the meaning of but could not define in words if pressed.  The dictionary definition is “printed matter of passing interest.” (That wasn’t so hard; why couldn’t I come up with that?)  Ephemera could be postcards, photographs, booklets, hand-written letters, newspapers, magazines, maps, promotional flyers, club membership cards, record labels, matchbook covers, playing cards and more.

Collector and author Marty Weil writes about finding, buying, selling, collecting, pricing, and most importantly, enjoying ephemera of all types at his blog Ephemera:Exploring the World of Old Paper.  Weil says “Along with posts on pop culture, history, collectibles and art, the blog often features interviews with authors who write about ephemera-related topics and themes.  The site also profiles artists who use ephemera in their work.”

Stop by www.ephemera.typepad.com and enjoy the printed matter of passing interest.  My faves (so far) are the 1969 p0rno movie waiver, the Civil War coloring book, and the Weeki Wachee Mermaid Show slide.

tgif!

Damn, what a week.  It’s budget-planning time at the Real Job, a friend of mine was recently diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, and my mom passed out and is in the hospital.

There were a few bright spots, including the debut of my FANGRRL column at www.crazedfanboy.com.

I’m heading out of town to visit my mom.  I’ll catch up on my blogging over the weekend.  Please check back soon!

at least i don’t have drug-resistant tb

Sorry to disappear for a while, folks.  Real Life has been kicking my butt, as usual.  My surgeon has informed me that at the end of the summer she’s finally going to slice me open and scoop out all the tumors (non-cancerous) that are attached to my insides like a swarm of lovebugs on a windshield. 

After my initial concerns of how much pain (a lot, accompanied by morphine and various other wonderful drugs), losing my job (won’t happen, thanks to FMLA and my great Real Job) and length of recovery time (6 weeks’ recovery time from the end of August means I should be back to normal just in time to kick off the holiday season — maybe I’ll go trick-or-treating to celebrate), my thoughts turned to books.  OMG, if I’m on doctor-ordered bed rest and sofa duty for a few weeks, think how many books I can read!!!

Spoken like a true book buff, huh?  Ok, enough about boring personal stuff.  My manila file folder is overflowing with papers and I have over 200 emails in my in-box.

Let’s hit the books….

i didn’t inhale, i swear

I had big plans for this blog today.  But instead, I spent the afternoon keeping tabs on a fire that has been smoldering very near my house today.  (By “keeping tabs” I mean standing around with the other spectators watching firefighters hard at work protecting us all.)  I’m smoky, sunburned and very tired. 

Blogging will have to wait until tomorrow.  My favorite jammies are in the dryer and a stack of Netflix envelopes arrived in the mail today.  Later, alligator!

local author news:llewellyn, boucher, nappier

• Local author Kimberly Llewellyn is guest blogging at Literary Chicks during the month of May. (My apologies for the delay in posting this; it was accidentally shifted further down on my Pending Posts list.)  Congrats!
• Kudos to local author Wendy Boucher for her recent interview in the Tampa Trib. 
• Local author K.L. Nappier’s short story The Thing Most Precious appears in Volume 2 of the anthology series Twisted Tails II, Volumes 1 and 2.  Click here for more info on this recently-released collection.  Bitten, Nappier’s sequel to her book Full Wolf Moon, is being released later this year.  Congrats!  (I started reading Full Wolf Moon this past weekend and managed to get through one whole page before the phone starting ringing and Real Life demanded attention.  But that one page was good!  I’m turning off my phone and trying again this weekend.)

miscellaneous:library of congress blog, joy v. smith, brandon books-a-million

• Library Journal reports that the Library of Congress has started a blog.
• Local author Joy Smith’s story The Trees of Home is in the current issue of the magazine Sorcerous Signals.
• I’m told that the recent grand opening of the new Books-A-Million in Brandon was a big success. The store has signed books from the following authors who appeared opening weekend: Kimberly Llewellyn (Tulle Little, Tulle Late and The Quest for the Holy Veil); Karen Hawkins (How to Abduct a Highland Lord); Rachel Hauck (Lost in NashVegas and Diva NashVegas); Tim Dorsey (Hurricane Punch).  In addition, the store will host a Poetry Night at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Friday of every month. Beginning in June, there will be a coin collectors meeting the second Tuesday of the month.

back on monday

The local film festival frenzy is almost over. One more film fest this week and then I’ll have time to read more than five pages at a time (and write about it here!).  I’ll be back to my bloggy self on Monday.  Please check back then.

book news: sarasota fwa’s blog, jerry cowling, linda mackall

• For you writers a bit south of the Bay area, the Sarasota chapter of the Florida Writers Association now has a blog at http://fwasarasota.blogspot.com/.
• Local author Jerry Cowling (Lincoln in the Basement) sent me an update:  “I have a speaking engagement with the Brooksville chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a table at the Parrish Train Raid near Bradenton April 28-29.  There are two train rides daily that are “raided” by Civil War cavalry.  I have also started writing for the Brooksville Belle, a bi-weekly which covers local government, arts and entertainment and civic activities.”
• Massachusetts author Linda Mackall wrote to let me know about her debut science fiction novel Moon Over Key Biscayne.  Her book “addresses the ever-changing challenges that face the world.  As we struggle to survive on earth, we must continually adapt to our environment.  Moon Over Key Biscayne brings life, love, despair and triumph together.  This challenge is culminated by a world-changing apocalyptic event.”  Visit www.booksandmore.4t.com to learn more.