Friday Rants: Britney, Thain, and all that junk

I'm tired of thinking, so I'm going to post today on all the ridiculous things I come across. Feel free to add your own rants, too. Get it off your chest and have a good weekend!

Heard: What? Britney to get millions for a book (well a three-book) deal? (Can she write? Meow.)

Huh. Well Searching For A Starry Night is only $10. Ebook is $6. A bargain and I wrote it myself. I'm not making millions so please buy one.

Heard: Greedy Bank of America CEO John Thain ousted. But not before spending millions (gee, remember the bailout??) on office redecorating, an $87,000 rug, and, oh the best - something like $37,000 for what's being called a "commode on legs."

Let's call it what it is - a toilet. The question: why is it that ill-spent money always goes towards lavish lavatories? Remember Saddam Hussein's gold toilet? I know there were others who did much the same whom I can't think of at the moment. I'm sure there's enough tar and feathers left for him and Madoff.

Heard: Names we've already heard too much of barely a month into 2009: Madonna, Tom (and Katie), Clint's rehash of Dirty Harry without a horse; spoiled Hollywood kids; Brangelina and their brood; stars who died and now are elevated to sainthood. Enough already. RIP.

Okay rant over (for now). Feel free to add your "favorites."

Inaugural and Other High Fashion by Designer Jason Wu

Besides the Inauguration itself, there was plenty of anticipation over what First Lady Michelle Obama would wear to the Inaugural Balls Tuesday.

While Obama's choice of the pretty, sparkly white gown by designer Jason Wu has been both applauded and derided, what's interesting is that there has been little mention of the young designer's previous experience.

Although he came out with his first fashion collection in 2006, not many people realize that Wu has been a recognizable name in the collectible fashion doll world since 2001. These are not "toy" dolls, as one columnist sniped. Far from it.

Wu's Fashion Royalty line features poseable fashion dolls with originally designed wardrobes that would fit right in any life-sized fashion show.

Of note is the new Hollywood Royalty line featuring dolls with amazing likenesses.

The line features Lana Turner (2008, 1000 edition, $89.99 for basic doll) and Josephine Baker (2009, La Baker, $99.99), along with some incredible costumes. The Premium Lana doll comes dressed in a gorgeous black-and-white embroidered gown from her movie. (500 edition, $179.99).

Pictured: Left, La Baker, basic Josephine Baker doll. Right, Premium Lana Turner dressed doll

See the Integrity Toys site for other fashion doll lines and dealers.

The dolls, available in limited edition collections of 300 to 1200 editions, (these dolls are usually 15-15.5" tall compared to the standard 11.5" Barbie doll size).

The wardrobes of these and other collectible dolls, like those from designer Robert Tonner of Tonner Dolls, are definitely tempting. Very tempting.

Writing Tip 15: Make friends, says Morgan Mandel

Morgan Mandel, author of GIRL OF MY DREAMS (Hard Shell Word Factory, Jan. '08), is a writer's writer.

She enjoys helping promote others; she reaches out to other writers. No lonely writer moping in the attic for her. She's a gregarious writer.

Writing Tip 15: Don't Do It Alone.

Morgan says, "writing is a tough business. Don't do it alone.

"Join a writing organization, such as Romance Writers of America (RWA), if you're writing romance; and Sisters in Crime or Mystery Writers of America (MWA) or both, if you're writing mystery.

"Support and mentoring will help you along and keep you sane. Without my local Chicago-North RWA Chapter, I never would have gotten published."

-- Christina Wantz Fixemer of Wantz Upon A Time reviews says of GIRL OF MY DREAMS, A Cinderella Story featuring an assistant turned reality show contestant:

“Blake Caldwell is furious that his plain-Jane assistant went behind his back to get on his show. Even worse, she's hands-down gorgeous when made up, and the show's millionaire star isn't blind.

"How can he get Jillian off the show when she is easily the most popular contestant, and maybe even the girl of his dreams?"

* Visit Morgan Mandel's blog.

* What's your favorite writer's organization and why? How has it helped you as a writer?

Promotion: How to Prepare for Radio?

Today's post is selfishly motivated. I want to look into doing some radio book promotion for Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery. Having never done that before, I figured it'd be a good idea to do some preparation beforehand.

Besides the fear of sounding stupid, I also am not sure what questions would be asked. So if you have appeared on radio before, what questions do you advise being ready to answer? I will compile the answers in another post and add some others that I find.

* If you have appeared on radio, what did you think was your best answer or best move?

* Worst thing you did? How did you prepare?

* Do's and don'ts? Any tips?

Thank you!

Eye Candy: Magical Miniature Tables

Guess it's my turn to share since I actually got a couple things finished.

Many of you may (or may not) know that besides writing, I make and collect dollhouse miniatures.

I have been planning several projects including a greenhouse with odd plants and a witch's bakery. I also have a wizard's room to finish. You can see my wizard at the bottom of the link page.

For fun, I recently finished these magical tables. The grey table is two-sided with room for magical scrolls and a place to stash books. The top contains some potion containers, a magic "moonstone," a "glass" bowl of magic clear crystals and other potion bottles. The wood bowl holds essential quartz crystals.


Pictured: Top of grey table.Below, side of table has a medieval illustration from The Book of Kells


The red table is wood on a base of two carved plastic pillars. It contains several magical elements including one of my original handmade medieval spellbooks, an opal star, magic crystals and potion bottles. I made everything myself except purchased items like the beads, candlestick, etc. I enjoy making this and also sell them. Contact me for special orders. They can be personalized. (Items based on availability). The tables are both about 4.5" wide and 2 3/4" high.

Pictured: top of red magical table


(c) 2009 C. Verstraete, Candid Canine

Writing Tip 14: Map it Out - Larry Karp

Author Larry Karp (THE KING OF RAGTIME, Poisoned Pen Press), offers maybe one of the most unique writing tips.

Karp says, "looking for a way to add authenticity to your historicals? Try Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. These are accessible online, but you'll need a card from your local library to do the work at home.

"Once logged in at your library's site, choose Sanborn Maps from the list of databases and web sites. It's then an easy matter to choose a state, city, and year. Not all years are represented, but there's usually one close enough to serve the needs of an historical novelist.

"There will be an overview map of the entire city, a list of streets to key the user to maps of specific regions, and a list of major businesses and public buildings.

"Not only can you locate particular streets, but many buildings are described as to dimensions and type of construction, and in many cases, the occupant at the time and his/her type of business. In addition, there are useful details, such as the location of alleys, where nasty work could be carried out.

"You can print copies of the maps for continued reference away from the computer

"I learned about Sanborn maps from Jeanne M. Dams, author of the Hilda Johansson series (INDIGO CHRISTMAS), set in South Bend, Indiana a century ago. South Bend jumps off the pages into the reader's mind, in full color and in three dimensions.

"The maps tend to be more useful for smaller cities. They were a tremendous help in setting scenes and following characters around Sedalia, Missouri in 1899, in my novel, The Ragtime Kid. The maps were less helpful for New York City in 1916, for The King of Ragtime, but came back into heavy use for Sedalia and Venice, California in 1951, for The Ragtime Fool, my current work-in-progress.

"Give these maps a try. You may be surprised and pleased."

--Larry Karp, author of THE KING OF RAGTIME (Poisoned Pen Press, Oct. '08) opens the window to the world of ragtime.

Scott Joplin leaves a major musical composition with Irving Berlin, but Berlin claims he never received it. Then, Joplin is found in Berlin's company offices, crouched over a blood-soaked body.

Music publisher John Stark and his strong-minded daughter, Nell, need to get around their edgy relationship to find the manuscript and exonerate Joplin.

Check out Larry Karp's blog.

Miniature of the Month: Miniatures of Christa Chayata

Today I'm featuring the charming miniatures of Dutch dollhouse collector Christa Chayata.

Looking at her work, which is full of character, you'd never know that Christa has only been collecting and creating dollhouse miniatures for three years. The work shown is in the standard 1-inch scale (1" = 1 foot).

Finding herself unable to do much becase of an injured arm, Christa decided to look on the Internet. She found a site with little bears and decided to try to make one. Then she made a real discovery.

"I looked more on the Internet and discovered that the bears could live in dollhouses," she says.,"Wow! What a discovery. I wanted that too, but wanted to try and make everything myself."

She wasn't sure if she could, so she decided to try to do something smaller. Her first project was this
beautiful Rose Garden.

The flowers look real, don't they?

She did make everything herself, such as the bricks from egg cartons, flowers from paper, a painted pond, and soldering the seats, table and bow from metal. (Not bad for a beginner!)

Go to her workshop page to see how to make the water lilies and more. (Her pages are in Dutch, but the pictures show the steps and what she did.) *

Victoria Miniland also has some tutorials on how to make stones and bricks from egg cartons.



Christa's dolls, though, have a charm all their own. She says the beautiful lady in black (at top) is probably her favorite, but she is also drawn to making child dolls.



Christa says, "I try to do my best on making the dolls look as alive as possible."

I think she succeeds, don't you?



* See Christa's amazing Alice in Wonderland and be sure to check out the rest of her website and blog .

Crime and Punishment, Fiction and Real Life

Money talks, huh? Especially when it's other people's.

Every time I see that crook Madoff on TV - he who swindled millions - like old people and charities - and tried to mail $millions in jewelry to family and friends - it gives me an idea of why such seemingly awful punishments once flourished.

The first thing that comes to mind as I see his smirking face, trying to duck TV crews, is tarring and feathering.

I used to think, how barbaric. It is an awful punishment, but now I understand. How do you punish one of the worst thieves in society who sneers at everyone else from his penthouse jail? (Justice? An ankle monitor? What was wrong with that judge?)

With the wide range of hurt and financial devastation this man caused by his own greed and lust, you can see the anger simmering. No, I didn't have anything invested and yes, vigilantism is wrong. Hopefully the courts do better at sentencing than this judge who thought a penthouse a fitting jail cell before the trial.

Does this relate to writing? Yes. Most fiction stems from real life. Seeing a real life incident play out, you can easily imagine the feelings that go with such an act. You can see how one crime can initiate others. You can feel empathy with the victims. You can put a fictional face on the suffering. It can inspire a host of other stories and plots.

** What do you think? What real life crimes or incidents have inspired your writing?

Writing and Non-Payment - What would you do?

Many publishers, like other businesses, are facing financial difficulties. I came across an interesting situation that I thought was worth some discussion.

The dilemma: what would you do if a magazine published your story and then said they had no money to pay you?

This happened to one writer, as described in a letter published in a recent Funds for Writers newsletter. The company, which publishes several children's magazines, shall remain nameless.

The writer was told after her story was published that the magazine was having some financial problems and had no money to pay her. Would you accept that?

My take: sorry, but the publisher is a business. If they chose to publish a writer's work, that writer should expect to be paid as the guidelines state and not have the editors suddenly say, gee, sorry, we can't pay you.

The editors likely knew the financial situation before they chose to publish the writer's work. Ethically, the editors could have been honest and told the writer upfront, giving her the option to pull her work or let it be printed gratis. They didn't do that. But even if they didn't know about the budget problems until later, unless the publisher is legally bankrupt, the writer is still owed.

Angela Hoy with Booklocker.com also recently addressed this same issue of nonpayment in one of her newsletters. Her point was that you can be sure other staff and bills were getting paid. I'd ask the editor if he/she got a check that week. (You bet they did). Did the printer and other vendors get paid? Were the lights and cable still on?

Writers shouldn't let themselves get pushed to the bottom of the pack. If a publisher is still doing business, they are paying their bills (or at least some of them).

Unless writers choose to write for free, they should be paid for their work, just like anyone else. And they should keep asking - via emails, certified letters, etc. - until they get that check.

** What do you think?

Writing Tip 13: Exercise, says Clea Simon

My guest author today is the real "cat's meow."

Clea Simon, author of the four-book "cat-centric" mystery series featuring freelance writer Theda Krakow, likens writing to exercise. Use it or lose it, right?

Writing Tip 13: Write every day, Monday through Friday

Simon says, "the ability to write is like building a muscle. The more you exercise it, the easier it will become.

"Set a goal for the day – 500, 1,000 words, two pages, three, or five – and make yourself do that every workday, five days a week, even when you have other things due. Do it even when your day job goes into overtime.

"Some days you'll have absolutely no ideas and you'll end up trying to come up with a space-filler scene in which your protagonist eats donuts and watches TV. But some days you'll have something to write – and you'll have the discipline to do it.

"If you keep at it regularly, you will cobble together enough raw text to make a first draft. And that's when the fun starts."

** How much "writing exercise" do you do each week?

-- Clea Simon is the author of CRIES AND WHISPERS, and the upcoming PROBABLE CLAWS (Poisoned Pen Press, April '09).

In PROBABLE CLAWS, the fourth Theda Krakow mystery, cats start getting sick and feline-loving freelance writer Theda Krakow suspects an accident is to blame. But her shelter-owning buddy says the kibble was poisoned.

When Theda starts looking at shelter politics, she finds a litter of suspects. Now she must find the real killer before she, and Musetta, become the next victims.

* Previous: Writing Tip 12: What Inspires You?