This week, Mary Tyler Moore will finally be honored by the Screen Actors’ Guild with a Liftetime Achievement Award. That’s wonderful and long overdue, but she deserves so much more credit than that.

In a time (not so long ago really) when women were still viewed as only one of two things—married or unmarried—she became through her endearing television role as “career gal” newswriter and producer, Mary Richards,  an outstanding role model for many a young girl with loftier goals and higher aspirations.

I was one of them.

I adore you, Mary Tyler Moore, and threw my hat way up in the air today, just like you always did decades ago. Congratulations on your prestigious award; you’ve certainly earned it. (By the way, I became a writer too, though not for television!)

Francine Saint Marie

What? You’re an Amazon Prime member, you say?

Then this new novel’s on me.

(Borrow it today for nothing, and for as long as you like!)

]]> http://b00kster.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/kindle-owners-lending-library/feed/ 0 "B00kster" http://b00kster.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/steal-a-stolen-kiss/ http://b00kster.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/steal-a-stolen-kiss/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:50:21 +0000 Francine Saint Marie http://b00kster.wordpress.com/?p=1364 ]]>

ONE DAY ONLY

A belated holiday present, or perhaps an early gift for the coming new year, here is a heads up to those who have Kindle e-reading devices (whether new or old) that my novel The Stolen Kiss will be FREE tomorrow, December 30th, in Amazon’s Kindle store.  This is the third book in my popular series The Secret Trilogy and the conclusion to this epic story.

By the way, if you’ve got a “Prime” membership on Amazon then, for a limited time anyway, you can simply ”borrow” the e-book for as long as you like. Won’t cost you a penny that way. (My memoir of sorts is also exclusively listed in the Kindle lending library and, at the moment, is a current bestseller. You might enjoy that book, too.)

I thank you for visiting my blog today and wish you a happy New Year!

—Francine Saint Marie

W R I T E    N O W !

SOME TRICKS OF THE TRADE:

PART ONE: JUMP-STARTING

Whether you’re struggling to write your debut novel or experiencing a writer’s block, you are not a writer if you don’t write, so let’s try to fix this today. It’s going to be a lot easier than you think. You just need someplace to work, a pencil and paper (or computer) and an hour or so per day to get started…

As you’re already aware by now, writing is a craft, a discipline, and you’ve probably also heard that you should undertake to do it every day. I’m not going to contradict this because it is essentially true—the more you write, the better you become at it. But, for some writers, even the most prolific ones, writing on a daily basis can prove to be a daunting task. And, since writing is such a solitary activity, there’s no one else on earth that can make us do it. Here are a few useful tools and some simple tricks that I rely on to keep myself focused and motivated everyday:

1. ENVIRONMENT IS A FACTOR. The phone’s ringing, the TV’s blasting, the dog’s yapping and your partner’s grumbling about dinner—YOU’RE RIGHT, it’s absolutely impossible to focus on your novel with all this stuff going on in the background, so, first things first, you need to find yourself a decent size hole to work in, preferably with a door on it, and get in there once a day. ALONE.

I deliberately write (and write deliberately) in a very small room. My modest study is only about 8′ x 9′ square and, aside from one stalwart black cat and a stoical houseplant, a desk, a chair, a computer, four walls and some reference books, there’s nothing else in this tiny universe but me and my manuscript. This is, of course, the ideal setup for a novelist, a quiet room with a door one can close and even sometimes lock when necessary, but, if you don’t have access to such a luxury, then just pick a peaceful setting, such as your public library, and choose a peaceful hour to regularly and ritually work there. PEACE is an operative word in all this, because you need to CONCENTRATE to write well. And to hear what you and your characters are thinking.

2. AVOID WINDOWS. Windows are for watching out of, for daydreaming in, or even, on special occasions, for jumping from, but you know you can’t write a novel if you’re staring out the window, watching traffic or about to take a flying leap, so just pull the curtains on those babies if you have to. Or, even better, sit with your back to them. By the way, if you consistently find that what’s going on outside is more interesting than what’s going on inside, it’s a sure indication that it’s time for another REWRITE.

3. LOOK FOR SOME GOOD SIGNS. I’ve got these four posted in my study. Yes, right over the window. There are a few other signs in there, too, of course, and I’ll get to them below, but here are the ones you need to begin with, what I would consider to be the essentials:

• Describe, describe, describe…

• Advance the [goddarn] plot!

• Edit, edit, edit.

• Wrap it up!

Type these out, click the ‘print’ button, and post them today. Or just make flashcards of them for whenever you’re writing away from home.

4. CHALKING IT UP. (Now for the really fun part. You’ll need a box of chalk for this…and, quite possibly, an inner child.) I don’t know about you but, on those days when I can actually locate my notebooks, I usually can’t decipher very much in them, either because I don’t have my reading lenses handy, or simply due to the fact that my handwriting is so sloppy. I’ve tried to compensate for these shortcomings by relying more heavily on my mental notes, but sometimes that’s just not enough to go on. Thank god, then, for four virtually blank walls and some chalk! Actually, you can chalk-up your notes just about anywhere. I also use my desktop and the doors. I make sure to keep plenty of the stuff around the house, too, so now, as long as I don’t misplace my study (hah) I can always find my notes and diagrams when I need them. Moreover, everything’s in super large print and, when I’m finished, it’s all perfectly washable.

(Go get yourself some chalk today. A wall is as good a place as any to start writing your novel.)

5. NOW THAT THE WRITING’S ON THE WALL. With the other half of my brain, I’m a visual artist, and, as a matter of fact, I even used to instruct drawing in a one-on-one course I designed called Advanced Drawing For Beginners. One day, while teaching, a student of mine who was making particular good progress asked me out of the blue, “What is art?” That caught me off-guard a bit and I hesitated before answering. What is art, I repeated to myself. Wow, what a question.

What is it that makes a sketch more than just a nice picture or a good illustration? What makes it rise above that, to the level of a work of art? After some consideration, I finally told my student that ART is, in essence, the profoundly unique and masterful expression of a human-being commenting somehow upon the human condition, a work that manages to transcend what it’s made of. “Ah,” she replied thoughtfully, and went back to her drawing. The following week she asked me, “But how do we create art then? Where does art actually come from?”

Where, indeed? It took me much longer to answer that one:

The brain has a tendency to fixate on those things that stimulate it and it’s very stimulated by conundrums. That’s why we seem so obsessed with our problems sometimes, because our brains are fastidiously attempting to solve them for us. This fixation is only natural. It’s precisely what the brain was made to do, to problem-solve, doing so with all the information it’s been fed, so that it can arrive at some reasonable conclusion and, whenever possible, actively CREATE a solution for us. Thus, because our experiences and our knowledge vary so widely from person to person, you and I might be faced with the exact same problem, but the way that our brains approach it and the ultimate solutions to it will be, necessarily, uniquely different.

When we regularly set our minds to the creation of a work of art, be it a drawing, a piece of music or a novel, we pose ourselves with a truly fascinating problem that our brains cannot resist tackling, that they are, in effect, utterly and artfully compelled to solve for us. And the beauty of it all is that, they will continue to work toward their profoundly unique resolutions even as we sleep.

So, all we are really required to do in this formula is to be present in the creative process and to faithfully devote ourselves and our minds to it, because:

DEDICATION = DISCIPLINE = MASTERY = ART

download the complete guide here for 99 cents

*content summary of the rest of this eBook below

PART TWO: (CONTENT SUMMARY) 

KEEPING YOURSELF ON TRACK & WRITING WELL

This second section contains fifteen quintessential do’s and don’ts for maintaining your concentration and for advancing steadily and positively toward your goal of a finished and professional manuscript:

1. TRUST YOURSELF

2. APPLES ARE NOT ORANGES

4. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT DISTRACTS YOU

5. BIG WORDS, FOREIGN PHRASES AND SLANG

6. THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

7. STICK TO YOUR STORY

8. ADVANCE THE [GODDARN] PLOT

9. DESCRIBE, DESCRIBE, DESCRIBE

10. PACE YOURSELF

11. TALK NATURALLY

12. GIVE EVERYONE A CHANCE TO SPEAK

13. WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW & RESEARCH THE REST

14. BEGINNING TO END

15. WRITING WON’T HURT YOU

PART THREE (CONTENT SUMMARY)

TROUBLESHOOTING YOU & YOUR MANUSCRIPT

This final section addresses the most common stumbling blocks writers might encounter as they regularly work on their projects. It also endeavors to answer the most frequently asked questions about the ongoing creative process so as to divert potential stall-outs and pratfalls:

1.      “I’ve been sitting in this dark hole for hours, but I just can’t write today.”

2.      “Editing is boring.”

3.      “Everything was going fine and then I hit a brick wall.”

4.      “If I write this next passage, no one will ever speak to me again.”

5.      “If I write this next passage, I’m going to feel totally naked.”

6.      “There’s so much going on in my story now that I’m getting confused.”

7.   “I dunno. Shouldn’t I brush-up on my grammar and punctuation first?”

AFTERWORD: As with all other undertakings in life, the ability to start a book and to successfully bring it to completion does not solely depend upon talent and inspiration alone. It is also requires some self discipline, sound organizational skills, and effective time management as well. For, without cultivating these often lesser-rated talents, even the most meritorious literary endeavor can flounder or outright fail. WRITE NOW is predicated on my belief that everybody has an important story to tell—at least one great tale harbored someplace deep inside them—and the guide is organized to help accomplish that feat. A current international bestseller, you can find it just about anywhere eBooks are sold for less than a dollar. It is, of course, also available for Amazon’s popular Kindle:

(the second in this series on writing dialogue will be released soon)

Thanks for reading this post today and best of luck to you!

In the News: Yet Another Dubious Dumb Distinction

I don’t know what kind of a man would publicly lay claim to being fourth in anything, and I’m not going to play semantics here and pointlessly argue that this is not exactly what Obama said the other day—he did in effect assert to the national media that he was the fourth best president of the United States, so it is this latest and most audacious fabrication of his that I now take issue with.

Full disclosure first: I’m not and never have been an Obama supporter. A virtually unknown, inexperienced statesman, he propelled himself into the office of the presidency backed by the very same special interest groups he was always deriding, doing so on a tangled web campaign of deceit and lies aimed largely at a youthful constituency who his handlers knew had limited knowledge of the beast called Politics and thus could be easily fooled by the man. [Question: "Can we trick a massive but traditionally non-voting population to vote us into the White House this year?" Answer: "Yes, we can."]

Meh. Considering his appalling record on free speech (Wikileaks or otherwise), his continued endorsement of torture/rendition and his palpable contempt for civil liberties in general; that he and his cabal steered our economy into the greatest depression since, well, since the Great Depression; that he gave (and gives) huge taxpayer-funded handouts to big business bandits while at the same time refusing to deliver to “we the people” decent-paying jobs and true national healthcare (as he swore he’d give to us, remember?); and that he’s turned the USA into nothing but a mega murder-for-hire corporation, his presidency may in fact represent an all time low in the democratic experiment—fourth to none, I’m sorry to say, including Herbert Hoover’s failed administration.

The only good news in all of this is that it’s highly unlikely, since Obama couldn’t, wouldn’t and didn’t deliver on any of his sweeping promises, that he will ever win office again, even if, in a belated effort (read: re-election bid) he does bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But, sadly, this still offers very little solace to the American people now, old or young, when we’re faced with seemingly incurable double-digit unemployment and related hardships, record shortfalls, debts and deficits, global climate disruptions of biblical proportions, and strife and instability without end.

So, faced with the realistic prospect of a bigger bungler taking over the helm or maybe even a religious right-wing nutter, shouldn’t we all just resign to reelecting—as the supposed lesser of those evils—the nation’s worse president since George One and George Two slithered out of the bushes?

Um, no, we can’t.

(May I suggest, instead, of making sure your passport is up to date?)

NO SMALL FEAT

Okay, so unless I include here a blatant reference to the famous multi-toed Hemingway cats, then this post is not one of my typical writing pontifications.

Agreed.

Moreover, as pertains to world records and the world of writing, probably the only one I would hold myself is being the author with the most number of books censored by Amazon at any given point in time, to the date hereof.  Or, perhaps even, the author most frequently censored by Amazon—this past week they saw fit once again to freeze the sales ranks of my paperbacks, a routine approach that proves quite effective for hiding them, and which requires a great degree of “prompting” from my team in order to get the ranks re-activated and moving once more. (Five years and counting we’ve been required to do this!)

But, ANYWAY, my article today is not about books and bully booksellers and their bogus ‘bestseller’ propagandizing. My article is about CAT TOES. How many, who has them, and the current Guinness World Record for the most number of feline little piggies.

But first, for those who don’t already know this vital statistic, I should tell you that the average garden variety housecat usually has only 18 toes in all: five each on their front paws and four each on their back ones.

Second, I need to make clear that I’ve never in my whole life heard of, nor imagined, that there was such a silly record in existence. It only came to my attention a few days ago when I happened upon a news story about a sweet cat named Daniel who showed up at a shelter recently with all 26 of his toes in tow—quite a “rarity” the reporter expertly asserted, and, not incidentally, just “two shy of the world record” I was also thus informed.

Well…30 is certainly more than 26 and it’s more than 26 + 2,  so…

Naturally, when you’ve got the world’s most adorable thirty-toed cat (see Princess above) which you’ve had for years and years, as I’ve been lucky to; and when you’re a natural born competitor, as I am still wont to be at times (meh), then you can understand why someone like myself might just drop everything they’re working on to investigate such a prestigious, but, sadly, false distinction.

And that is what I did this week, instead of finishing work on my latest writing project.

And here is what I’ve discovered:

The current Guinness World Record holder for the cat with the most number of toes is a rather tubby tabby from Toronto named Jake, and in that lofty perch he has remained undefeated for approximately a decade with a total toe tally of 28. That’s an evenly balanced distribution of seven digits per each of his cute furry paws.

Weighing in with those giant clodhoppers of his, it appears Jake handily ousted the former reigning toe champion of the world when that one found himself one short of his contender with a mere 27 digits in all.

Belated congrats, to both pussycats!

But, alas and alack, the Guinness World Record for the most number of cat toes remains a hotly contested race, believe it or not, and King Jake himself has to be constantly on the alert these days, for many, many a proud parent of a purring polydactyl is endeavoring to dethrone him even as I write this. NONE of which, by the way, has a challenger with as many toes as my own Princess…

We’re getting somewhat long in the tooth now, my darling kitten and I, and we have to choose our battles very carefully, as a consequence.  This blog post then will serve as my only notice to the toe champ and the wannabe toe champs of the world that, be they a tabby from Toronto or a Siamese from Seattle, their victory is, and always will be, largely symbolic. Because, as I’ve said before, my cat has 30 toes, eight on each of her front paws and seven on the ones in the back.

And, let me assure you, them is no small feat, folks!

=)

Once and for all: There is a distinct difference between protesting and loitering. In America, participating in a peaceful protest is a constitutionally protected activity which cannot be infringed upon or suspended by anyone for any reason. It’s also a right that necessarily has to be demonstrated in public places, as it cannot be fully invoked from the privacy of one’s own living room. (Duh.)

On the other hand, loitering is, well, loitering. Not the same at all as excercising the right to public assembly and free speech.

In certain cases, of course, you may arrest an individual for loitering, especially if that person appears to be a physical danger to themselves or to others…

But, no doubt about it, under the articles of the U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, IT IS ILLEGAL TO ARREST CITIZENS FOR PROTESTING.

(Just saying.)

Paternity Psshaw

Don’t usually comment on such absurdities but puhleeeze everybody, this phony Bieber paternity issue—currently drowning out real news stories—is just plain ridiculous and smacks of a hoax fabricated by the boy’s handlers in order to distract Bieber’s female fans from the obvious (or soon-to-become obvious) issue of his emerging sexuality. A sexual persuasion which, as most people posting remarks on any news thread concerning him have already observed, may not involve girls or women.

Since we all live in a world were being gay is not ideal, these growing speculations about Justin Bieber’s identity are no doubt a pressing concern for the Bieber money-making machine as the teen superstar fast approaches puberty.

In any event, right now we can all see that Justin Beiber is still only a young lad and that he looks very much like a GOOD young lad, so…if this is indeed what it seems to be, a faux-paternity PR stunt by his reps, it’s a tremendous disservice to him and for his future well-being when he will finally come of age and make his own romantic decisions.

Moreover, in this era of five-second secret keeping, a stupid, thoughtless scheme, such as this appears to be, is bound to backfire horrifically, ruining him anyway when it does implode and alienating his female fanbase much sooner than feared or anticipated.

That’s my opinion. Have a nice day.

Without a doubt, and without providing too many sordid details or examples, ’The Man’ has been stealing from me since the day I was born. Stealing money. Stealing property. Stealing unstealable things that had no real value to him but which, for me, could never be replaced. Stealing like this from everybody all over the planet. The 99% of us.

Every year I’ve been alive, my country, the good old US of A, has been at war with itself and the universe. Expensive wars, not incidentally. Cold wars. Wars against third world peoples with too much oil and not enough savvy. Wars against drugs. Wars to ‘end welfare as we know it’. Wars against terrorism. Wars never declared in the first place. Wars announced with bullhorns and costly marketing campaigns.

It never ends, all this warring.

When I was a very young girl, maybe six or seven, I routinely sat at the back of the schoolbus with the hippy highschoolers, admiring their long hair and tie-dyes and free speech. They were so beautiful to me and I was so enthralled with them, with their plans to change the world, to make it a better place for me and my brothers and my sisters, to bring us all peace and that ever-elusive prize guaranteed in the U.S. Constititution: equality.

But these wonderful things, they never actually came to fruition.

Today, many decades later, corruption in our government and in our mega-corporations goes hand in hand, and, with our national economy now nothing but a shell game and the highest offices in the country going to the highest bidders in the land, it has reached epic proportions. At this rate, very soon, people will have to be millionaires in order to run for Dog Catcher.

And we are going to the dogs, if we ain’t there already.

I had, by this point in time, long given up on the idea that we, as a people, would ever be outraged enough to turn off our television sets or log off the internet and say ‘enough, we’ve had it’,  to say ‘these inequities must be addressed and redressed ASAP’,  to finally demand a full and honest accounting from our public and corporate officers…

The cops are a piece of work here, too, by the way, and most citizens have a pretty healthy fear of them–except for the criminals, of course, and the CEOs and the politicians and the 1% aristocracy. Crooked and rascist and bigoted as can be, and on the take as well, the police are up to their elbows in their own criminal activities these days, *working* overtime not to ensure law and order and our Bill of Rights, as they’re supposed to be doing, but to protect the interests of the rich few at the expense of the poor many.

And now they have the shameless audacity to intimidate, tear-gas, and even arrest those citizens who show the courage to peacably assemble and protest our corrupt democracy.

What next? Heard of the Kent State massacre, anybody?

In any event, I just wanted to weigh in and say viva la revolucion. Believe me, it’s been a long time coming, so don’t let the authorities’ present ‘shock and awe’ fool you. They ain’t all that surprised by it. Quite frankly, with the Amazon corporation persisently stealing tens of thousands of my e-Books and royalties, and illicitly rigging their website algorithmns and search engines to marginalize the little guy and independents, I’m sure to be joining the ranks of the unemployed soon as well. And the protests shortly.

FSM

So…another major Amazon Fail event underway right now?

Or is it just a mini-fail type thingee whereby only certain authors’ titles are alternately being stripped of their sales ranks, bestseller lists, and catalogue searchability…?

Like mine.

(Totally with the anti-Wall Street protestors all the way–been robbed lots of times myself, but never by a poor person! Hope the crowds manage to drop by Bezos’ house soon, too.  (You know, his warehouse…factories…headquarters…mansions…)