When Books (and Food) Turn Spooky

(Photo: http://FreeDigitalImages.net)

It's hard not to think of Halloween with the stores already filled with pumpkins, skeletons and eyeball-decorated goodies.

There's something fun about dreaming up new foods that are on the gory side. But although I got a big laugh out of the bag of Body Parts Gummies I spotted in the grocery store, I usually leave my horrible recipes to my miniature projects.

But if you prefer your real-life food on the weird side, how about some Kitty Litter Cake? Funny! (I have a miniature one, albeit non-edible)!)

Given a choice, I think I'd rather have a slice of this tamer Goofy Spooks Cake with its ghosts, crawlies and what-not. Don't forget to wash it down with one of the many creepy cocktails listed here. (Wormy ice cube anyone?)

Besides eating holiday related foods (don't forget the candy corn and candy pumpkins at Halloween, gingerbread cookies and fruit cake at Christmas), I usually try to find a holiday mystery or two to read.

Even though I get a kick out of Halloween, I never really read any Halloween stories beyond the classics like Edgar Allen Poe, Dracula (cool - read it online!), or something from Stephen King.

This year, I plan to change that by specifically looking for some Halloween mysteries. So grab an eyeball cupcake, turn the lights low and join me with a few of these suggestions:

* A Catered Halloween, Isis Crawford (Kensington Sept. 2008) - who can resist a book with a severed head rolling down the stairs?

I wanted to try one of the books in the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries featuring a ghostly 1940s detective. * The Ghost and the Femme Fatale(Berkley May 2008). Who can resist a noirish ghost?

I admit to being hooked on Nancy Drew (and the Hardy Boys) as a kid. (I loved the recent Nancy Drew movie!) Well, some readers claim Judy Bolton was better. I don't remember reading her books, but they're reissuing the series. * The Haunted Attic (Applewood Books, Aug. 2008) looks like a good place to start with Judy moving into a haunted house and trying to solve the mystery of the ghost in the attic.

You can't go wrong with spooky hotels, dark waterways, moving corpses, ghosts and Venice in Wilkie Collins' * The Haunted Hotel and Other Stories (Wordsworth, June 2006)

** Your Turn: Have any favorite Halloween mysteries or spooky stories you recommend? What are your favorites?

Daily Blog 31: Art Come to Life in Miniature

(Photo: 1640 nobleman, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Costume and Fashion, page 47)

Miniature of the Month:

The realism, beauty and mastery of the work of such masters as Michelangelo, Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn, is not only unequaled, but continues to inspire artists working in a range of media today.

Most unique, may be a project recently undertaken by Massachusetts artisan and doll maker Lucie Winsky. Winsky, an artisan with the International Guild of Miniature Artisans (IGMA) was commissioned to recreate several notable figures and scenes from famous paintings as 1-inch-scale porcelain figures. (NOTE: 1-inch or 1/12th scale is 1 inch=1 foot, with men measuring 6" tall and women about 5"-51/4" tall.).

The figures Lucie has recreated so far include a generic nobleman, circa 1640, several figures depicted in famous paintings, and the artists themselves.

The famous figures and paintings include:
* The captain and lieutenant from "The Night Watch," Rembrandt van Rijn


* "Self-Portrait with Two Circles" by Rembrandt


* A child in Jan Steen's "The Feast of St. Nicholas"


* The man in "The Merry Drinker" by Frans Hals


* The milkmaid in Johannes Vermeer's "The Milkmaid"


* The model (and artist) from Johannes Vermeer's "The Art of Painting"


* She is now working on the legendary "Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Vermeer


* And the "Portrait of a Jester with Lute," Frans Hals.


The Creation

Like many artisans, Lucie gets nervous starting a project - "I always worry about commissions because the customer never knows what they will get," she jokes, but she surely didn't have to worry. The resulting figures (see below) look like they just stepped from out of the picture frames, don't they?

A stickler for detail, Lucie studies photos of the original painting and costume sources to determine how best to replicate the figures and their clothing. She uses commercial doll molds, but manipulates the porcelain in the firing stage to get the pose or features she needs as with Vermeer's 'Milkmaid.'

"I had a lot of fun doing this one," she says. "She started out as a Janna Joseph mold, but then she was cut up and reassembled and her face was altered to look like the painting. She took three months to make. I enjoyed sculpting those eyes!"

The dolls are then painted, dressed and wigged. She next must decide on the best fabrics to replicate the clothing, often going so far as to paint and print her own fabrics if needed, as she'll need to do with the Jester. Other times, it takes a little more research and imagination to achieve the desired results.

"Rembrandt's paintings are always on the dark side so I had to lighten them up in Adobe to see his clothes better," she says. "I had to guess at the lower half of his costume and referred to what was worn at the time of the painting. I am always haunting my local library. I found out that Rembrandt did more self-portraits than any other artist which is great for us who want to make a doll in his image."

For other figures like Vermeer's, Lucie had to rely on her imagination. "I can't find a painting of Vermeer's face," she says. "I guess he didn't do self-portraits. Mine is going to look like Colin Firth who played him in the movie 'Girl with a Pearl Earring.'"

Lucie's first finished figure was a nobleman circa 1640, the striking costume was based on an image from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Costume and Fashion (Page 47)

The last figure? Judging from the results, who would wish for such a project to end? But Lucie admits that she, too, is just as eager to see the final project: "I am curious to see them all together." (So are we!)


Paintings Come to Life

The Night Watch (De Nachtwacht) - Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The painting, also known as "The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch," features Capt. Cocq (in black with red sash), his lieutenant, and members of the militia moving out. One of Rembrandt's largest works at 11' 10" x 14' 4", it is also noted for its suggestion of motion.



Self-Portrait with Two Circles, Rembrandt, 1665-1669, Kenwood House, London

Rembrandt painted more than 90 self- portraits from the 1620s to 1669.


The Feast of St. Nicholas, (Het Sint Nicolaasfeest), Jan Steen, c. 1665-1668, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The charming scene features a family celebrating the feast day at home on December 6. Several stories are revealed as you look closer at the oil on canvas, 33.5" x 27".



The Merry Drinker, Frans Hals, 1628-1630, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam


The Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, 1658-1661, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam


The Art of Painting, Johannes Vermeer, 1662-1668, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna,


Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer, 1665, The Mauritshuis, Hague, The Netherlands


Portrait of a Jester with a Lute, Frans Hals, 1620-1625, Musee du Louvre, Paris
(c) 2008 C. Verstraete http://candidcanine.blogspot.com

Daily Blog 30: Favorite Writing Moment & Quote

One of my favorite sections I like to use in interviews is to include the author's favorite quote from their latest book and ask them to share one their favorite (or least favorite) writing moments.

I've already shared my favorite quote about Petey the Dachshund from my book, Searching For A Starry Night in a my Daily Blog 25, but one of my other favorites has to do with Sam and her friend Lita's scary movie-like moment waiting for Sam's mom to come back to the shed they've been working in:

...Petey flew forward in a spasm of barks. His legs left the ground with each violent growl. Sam wasted no time and jumped off the chair almost into her friend's arms. The two hugged each other and watched, wide-eyed, as the doorknob slowly started to turn. The panic threatened to choke Sam.

"Lita," she whispered, "please tell me I locked the door..."

My Favorite Writing Moment:

I've worked in newspapers a long time and as a reporter, you get to meet a lot of interesting people. Picking just one favorite story is hard. I think one of my favorite stories was writing about the local legendary shoeshine man in my Chicago neighborhood and getting it published in GRIT when it was still a newspaper. What made it special was being able to get an interesting person recognized and letting him have his well-deserved place in the spotlight.

** Your Turn: Share your favorite quote from your latest book or short story. Include your title and web link. Don't forget to share your own favorite writing moment or special memory.

Daily Blog 29: Do Gimmicks Work?

(Note: Still revamping the site with the new design so there may be a few glitches yet. :>) )

Becoming a published author means you not only have a book, but you suddenly have to get all this author "stuff" - bookmarks, pens, biz cards, etc. Some is necessary - like the biz cards. Some isn't.

Some authors take this promotional stuff a step further, dressing in costume, or sending out prizes or pens and other things. Do they work?

Well, maybe. Sometimes. It depends.

The big no-no, of course, save the gimmicky stuff for your appearance table. Do not send it to newspapers, where reporters joke about this kind of stuff. The Chicago Tribune's Q section occasionally has a giveaway where people write in for assorted weird "junk" the paper's staff collected over time. Most often, though, this kind of stuff gets thrown out or passed around. Save your money.

The best tools are free: a good press release and author information; a press kit with some fun q & a's about you to fill in interview gaps or for fun background; a sell sheet on the book; book blurb and biz cards.

Bookmarks are great promo tools also (for extra savings: design two bookmarks on an oversized postcard and have them cut in half. Don't forget to flip the design on the other side so it lines up right.) Your book cover makes a nice front on a business card with your information on the back. Sign up for the Vista Print newsletter for various freebie deals for the cost of shipping.)

Above all, make connections. I've found that talking to people, even connecting again with old contacts I've interviewed before for my own newspaper writing can have advantages. You never know how someone can help or what kind of advice they can offer.

And the costumes? For some it can work. That's a personal decision. But I'd forget the whoopie cushion with your name and book cover on it.

** Your Turn: What kinds of promotional book items do you like to use as an author? What kinds of things do you like as a reader? What's the worst items you've seen? Funniest?

Daily Blog 28: Making Reading a Habit

Following up on my recent posts on reading and not reading, I decided to explore the topic of building readers. Some kids grow up as reading adults, many don't. Why, you wonder?

Reading, like anything else, can become a habit - a good one. It can be taught by example - adults who read usually have kids who read. But then the opposite happens - nonreading adults have reading kids, shooting that theory in the foot.

Is it genetics? Maybe more creative-oriented people enjoy reading. Those who think in pictures and can "see" the story unfold in their head enjoy reading.

The barriers to reading enjoyment can vary, ranging from lack of skills, and bad school experiences, to simple disinterest. As one previous commenter said, people will pay anything for a movie and balk at the price of a book.

But how do you price literacy?

Movies are fun, but they require nothing more than to sit and enjoy. Reading engages the mind in analyzing the words, making you think on what you are reading. Is that it - people simply don't like to think?

Maybe it's Bill Gates' fault. In a recent newspaper column I read, the columnist mentioned that computer use made people's attention spans shorter. He even noticed it with himself. Funny, though, that most of us can spend hours, all day and night practically, at the computer, but everything is in small bites. Small bites over time - compare that to a book with its many pages.

So read a book in small spurts right? The answer isn't in dumbing down books so they reach the level of most TV shows or vapid movies that pass for entertainment. It's not in relying on Google and the Internet.

It's cheering to see kids reading. Maybe it's Harry Potter, and now it's the vampires in Twilight, but kids are reading. Maybe a few will latch on to Searching For A Starry Night and find a funny Dachshund "helping" a couple kids solve a mystery. Or maybe they'll find someone else's book. That's the key - find a book and read.

Six Tips to Building Readers:

1. Expose kids to reading.
Share stories with them when they're growing up. Read stories they'll look forward to.

2. Use the library.
The Internet has made researching easier, but the library still has a place. Get your child their own library card. Make it a special event, a parent-child trip to pick out new books.

3. Make reading special.
Whether it's at bedtime or an afternoon read, have that special ritual with your child. They'll know after brushing their teeth and saying their prayers that it's a special time, a few moments to unwind with mom or dad and listen to a good story.

4. Make reading familiar.
Don't make books unfamiliar objects. Even if parents (gasp!) aren't readers, they should at least make the effort to show their children that it's a worthwhile activity. Maybe you don't like to read novels, so pick up a book of essays or a nonfiction book about gardening or a favorite hobby. On shopping trips, be sure to stop at a bookstore or the book section. Encourage the child to pick out a new book instead of a new toy. Alternate if needed.

5. Have books in your life.
Make books a part of your life. Even those who don't read fiction can pick up a nonfiction book occasionally. Have a home bookshelf with your favorites. Build a small bookshelf in your child's room to hold their favorites.

6. Share your favorite books.
Even if you didn't grow up to be a big reader, most of us can remember those books we loved as kids. I loved horses and read every book there was, like Misty of Chincoteague, Black Beauty and others.

Share your favorites with your child. They may like them, too. Or encourage them to share their favorites with you. It's a good way to learn more about your child and enjoy hearing more about what interests them.

(c) 2008 C. Verstraete

** Your Turn: What do you do to encourage your kids to read? What are your favorite childhood books? Please share!

Daily Blog 27: Reading is better than TV

To contrast with my previous blog 26 on why people say they don't like to read, I thought I'd be fair and talk about those who do. Me, for starters. I was the kind of kid that was told "a fire could start and I'd have my nose in a book." True.

I still love to read, but have developed a bad habit of having several books going at once. But if it's a book I really get hooked on, then I will read it straight through as I'm unable to put it down. Others I enjoy but save for bedtime or carry around in my bag for those moments when I'm waiting and have nothing to do.

Do I believe reading is better than TV? You bet. (Most people might say that). There are several TV shows I do love to watch (Dancing with the Stars, Smallville, Supernatural), but usually finding something to read is easier than finding a favorite TV show (and you can finish it before they take it away like they discontinued that new vampire show Moonlight!)

Books can also be reread, and unlike reruns, they are just as good the second, third, or more times around!

I have several favorite books I do go back and reread now and then. To name a few, they include: Gone with the Wind, Dracula (cool read it online), Salem's Lot, The Stand, The Agony and the Ecstasy (about Michelangelo), Emmeline (an amazing novel with a shocking end)....

** Your Turn: What are your favorite books? Share the books you like to reread more than once.

Daily Blog 26: Top 10 Reasons People Don't Like to Read

At a recent event where Echelon author Margot Justes and I tried to sell our books for the first time, we were surprised to find that the majority of people didn't have much of an interest in reading. We took an informal survey and began asking passersby one question – do you like to read? For kicks, I thought I'd share some of their outrageous answers. (And most of these answers did come one right after the other.)


10 Question: Hi, do you like to read?
Answer: The woman laughs and points to her toddler. "I'm not much of a reader." (Blame the kid. Not a good start.)

9 Q: Do you like to read?
A: "Not right now, but thank you."

8 Q: Do you like to read?
A: One woman said she liked sci-fi and she doesn't like a book "if (something) doesn't blow up or someone doesn't die." (Margot mentioned that her book has a dead body in chapter one. I had mystery and horror books; she had romance and suspense. Darn, how did we miss sci-fi?)

7 Q: Do you like to read?
A: "Not really." (Score one point for truthfulness.)

6 Q: Do you like to read?
A: The woman asks, "You wrote this? Is it free?" (No comment.)

5 Q: Do you like to read?
A: "I don't have time to read." (Hmm.)

4 Q: Do you like to read?
A: The woman walks up to the table. "What's going on here today?" (Authors turned concierge - we let her see the brochure and told her what she'd just missed. Oops, forgot the tip jar.)

3-2 Q: Do you like to read?
A: Two for one - Two women, one shakes her head, the other answers, "No, we don't read." (Birds of a feather…)

And the #1 most incredible answer of the day:

1 Q: Do you like to read?
A: "I like to read religious books. I read books by Rev. So and So. (I didn't get the name. Then I asked:)

Q: Do you read fiction?
A: "No, I wouldn't waste my time."


© 2008 C. Verstraete

Daily Blog 25: Making Your Stories Live on (Beyond You)

The highest praise someone can give a writer, I think, is to make their work live on and become "quotable" beyond the page. Think Rhett Butler's famous, "Frankly, I don't give a damn," from Gone with the Wind. Or "To be or not to be..." from Shakespeare's Henry VI.

While you don't often write with such lasting legacies in mind, sometimes a phrase pops to mind that you latch onto. While the first graph is often the one in your story or book that should produce the best zing, you also hopefully have a few nuggets scattered throughout the story.

While others may have their own choices, one of my favorite sections from Searching For a Starry Night, is Sam's description of Petey the Dachshund:

Sam sprawled on her cot with a pencil, opened the book, and started a puzzle. Lita fell onto her cot and scribbled in her notebook. Next to them, lying on his blankets on the floor, Petey snored and turned over on his back, sticking his legs up in the air. Sam tried not to giggle as he rolled over to his side, reminding her of a Vienna hot dog without a bun. All he needed was relish, she thought.

The idea of making a story live on is to give readers something to latch onto, be it a mental image, a memorable quote, a funny remark, etc. - just give them something that will stick in their minds. Then the book itself becomes not only quotable, but memorable.

And if all else fails.... well, how about changing history?

Wonder what Juliet or Snow White would say if they had been called by your name instead? Have fun making your own quotes! This generator lets you put your name into classic stories. (And beware of the famous first lines quiz and other time wasters, um, sources.)


** Your Turn: What are some of the memorable parts in your own book or your favorite quotes? Please share them!

Daily Blog 24: Promoting, promoting and...

Winding down. To those of you who may be tired of reading about writing, I will be getting back to miniatures soon. I have a great miniatures story coming up that I will run as the Miniature of the Month and for my last daily blog. But I will continue to write about writing as well at least a few times a week.

Today's discussion: promotion. BSP (Blatant self promotion) and other forms is part of becoming a published author. You tweet, share, brag, on and on. Some people hate it. Some like hearing about other writer's successes and news. I know I like to hear about new books. I read excerpts and often find some that I put on my to-be-read list.

But other than authors selling to other authors as goes on a lot, as a newbie myself, I'm wondering what works and what doesn't. So authors, share what you've done for promotion; what materials you've purchased; what results you've had.

** Your Turn: What have you done to promote your book? What's worked best? What hasn't? What materials do you use? What advice do you have to promote a book? Share your experiences!

Daily Blog 23: Weekend Writing?

Most of us slave over a hot computer all week. The computer has helped blur the work week so the standard 40-hour week really no longer applies. We write, blog, email, surf, etc. all hours of the day and night.

Is there time off for good behaviour? Well, there should be, but writing is an occupation that can't be necessarily pigeonholed into specific hours. You write when you can, when you want (or don't want), when you need to. (Or if you can - for fun, I found this page with links to computer-generated writing. I didn't read any. Afraid? ha! Not that I think a computer or the "trained monkeys" can outwrite a writer.)

Weekends, you hopefully try to take some time off - at least a few hours to catch up on other stuff like housecleaning, shopping, and just plain relaxing. But even then, it's hard to stay away from the computer completely, isn't it? Or do you? Me? Well, I need to continue working on the book, but I also need to do some serious weeding in my office. Stuff piled everywhere and no room, so some stuff has to go - somewhere.

** Your Turn: For fun, I thought I'd ask today how much you use the computer and/or write on weekends. Are you able to stay away - completely? How do you not write and do computer stuff after the so-called "work week" ends?