Stone Age R Us

I'm leaving for the Romance Writers of America National Conference in half an hour. For the next eight days, I will not have access to the Internet, and my phone does not have a data plan. So the only way to get in touch with me is to find me through the hotel's phone system or to call and text to my cell phone or to run into me. I'll be back with gossip, photos, and news.

RWA: Literacy Autographing

This year in Washington D.C., the RWA "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing will be on Wednesday, July 15, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the Exhibit Hall of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Nearly 500 authors are expected to participate; go here to see the list of authors.

Every year, book publishers, authors, and Romance Writers of America come together to raise tens of thousands of dollars in donation to ProLiteracy Worldwide. Since 1991, RWA has donated more than $600,000 to literacy charities.

This event is free and open to the public. Expect the resulting din of excited readers meeting long-cherished authors to raise the roof.

Here's my list of authors I want to meet (in reverse alphabetical order). This is aside from authors, such as The Riskies and The Banditas, whom I will be meeting at other events. These are authors some of whose books I want to buy and some of whose signatures I want to solicit to put in their books that I already own.

Pearl Wolf
Lauren Willig
Michelle Willingham
Robin Wells
Sherry Thomas
Pam Rosenthal
Nora Roberts
Julia Quinn
Mary Jo Putney
Barbara O'Neal (Samuel)
Brenda Novak
Sophia Nash
Cathy Maxwell
Deb Marlowe
Debbie Macomber
Julie Anne Long
Julia Latham
Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick)
Vanessa Kelly
Julie James
Karen Hawkins
C.S. Harris
Ann Gracie
Barbara Freethy
Tessa Dare
Jacquie D'Alessandro
Susan Crandall
Nicola Cornick
Julie Cohen
Kathryn Caskie
Robyn Carr
Emily Bryan
Allison Brennan
Joanna Bourne
Mary Blayney
Jo Beverley
Elizabeth Bevarly

Do you think I will be able to meet them all? Who is on your list?

Picture Day Friday

My collection of Mills & Boon books from the 1960s.

Julia Quinn Giveaway Winners

Ms. Random Selector has chosen A C True and Froggie as the two prize winners.

And Ms. Random Selector has chosen Zeee and Arianna Skye as the two runners-up.

Please send your snail mail details ASAP to keira (at) keirasoleore (dot) com

Rubber Duckie: a history

According to The Mini Rubber Duckie Book by Jodie Davis, the same comfortable companion of childhood bubble baths, the rubber duckie, has now made a reappearance as the collectible.

The early origins of the rubber duckie are shrouded in mystery. No patent can be found for the first definitive creation. No toymaker fairytale, no child genius inventor, nor any memorable storybook character. What occurred was a confluence of the fascination of little minds with baby animals and aquatic animals, bathtimes, and the material rubber. The first recorded findings are from the latest nineteeth century.

Whether the name is a duckie or a ducky is a hotly debated topic. One recent poll puts the votes bill-to-bill with 51-percent with ducky and 48-percent with duckie. But the decisive vote has been cast by Seasame Street's Ernie, whose signature song references a duckie.

Aiding Science

In January 1992, a storm washed 29,000 toys overboard from an ocean-traveling freighter. They bobbed and weaved on the whim of the ocean currents and the wind, while oceanographers around the world scrambled to track them. Now, more than ten years later, computer projections show some ducks swam to the North Atlantic coast and to Greenland, while the hardier toys continued on to Britain and Africa. They migratory patterns havehelped accurately delineate the ocean currents at various times of the year.

Racing for Charity

The Great American Duck Race is the brainchild of Eric Schechter. It is one of the wackiest and fastest growing fund raising scheme in the nation. The company leases ducks out to various charities who then require each participant to pay a sponsorship fee for adopting a duck. At a top speed of nine mile per hour, the ducks can take anywhere from two to sixty minutes to finish their races, with prizes for the winning sponsor.

Building a Collection

Tips to build a thriving collection:
0. Have fun!
1. Decide where you want your collection to have a specific theme.
2. Research on the Internet for reliable stores to buy from via duckie collectors.
3. Keep the box and tags of a brand-new duckie in a pristine state to retain its value.
4. Online auctions are good sources of old ducks.
5. Set up an appropriate display for your collection.

Are you a rubber duckie collector? If so, how many do you have in your collection. How about a link to some photos? If you've never thought of starting a rubber duckie collection, had this posted vetted your interest in these stalwart elastic beauties?

Interviewing Skills vs. Writing Skills

The other day I was listening to an interview of former Seattleite, well-known, modern dancer Mark Morris on National Public Radio (NPR). While Morris is an unparalleled dancer, choreographer, and teacher, he is also thoughtful and articulate on all aspects of dance and dancers.

Add to that Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air and her interviewing style, and the result was a witty, informative hour.

It also brought home to me the view Terry Gross espouses as an interviewer: The goal is not to show how much of the subject matter the interviewer has grasped, not how much she knows, but rather how much (in breadth and depth) can she get the interviewee to tell her and the listeners during the interview. Constant interruption and restatement, or very rigid questions, always limit the scope of the answer. Especially when you have a locquacious articulate guest, give him space to speak so long as he stays to the point and on topic.

This rumination led me to thinking that like the interviewer, the writer has the same job. It's not the writer's writing talent or grasp of the English language—King's English vs. grammar, which is the Queen's English, according to @mcvane—that the reader is there for, but to be drawn into the story with a ring-side seat as it is unfolding.

Booker prize winning Midnight's Children remains one of Salman Rushdie's last best fiction work. He has pubished other fiction, but they're all hampered by his intellect and fantastic writing talent. He gets so caught up in the virtuosity, that the main thrust of story, character-building, etc. all fall by the wayside. As Pico Iyer says in Tropical Classical, "No writer I know has seemed more captive to his gifts: his powers of invention and imagination are so prodigal and so singular that he often gives the impression of not knowing when to stop."

Such unrestrained proclivity sounds the death knell for any novel. A story where the characters don't get to breathe and to live their lives in all their successes and foibles is a travesty of a story, for all you get for your money is the author showing off.

The focus of a novel should always be on the story and the people inhabiting the story. The language is in service to the story, an upstairs Regency maid if you will, who helps her lady to always put her best foot forward.

As a writer, if you're ever in doubt that you're showing up too much in a story, then always follow Robert Benchley's (1889–1945) fine example: "Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing."

Illuminated Manuscript Prizes

Announcing the Lucky Four !!!

But first and foremost, thank you to JULIA QUINN for writing these marvelous stories that we all love to read and talk about for years to come, and for her generosity in gifting these great prizes.

Thank you also to everyone who visited. It sure has been good to be in the company of equally enthused fans of JQ these past two days.

You can hear JQ talk about her book on Romance Radio, where she also discusses thoughts of killing folks, experience with voyeurism, and adoring lively gossip. She also dishes on her next book and her favorite authors.

I'm confident that those of you who haven't yet read JQ's WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON will do so lickety-split.

Without further ado, Ms. Random Selector has chosen the following two prize winners.

....drum roll...

A C True and Froggie

Ms. Random Selector has also chosen the following two runners-up.

....drum roll...

Zeee and Arianna Skye

Please send your snail mail details to keira (at) keirasoleore (dot) com, and I will get your fabulous prize packs in the mail!


{Illuminated Book Of Kells, Folio 292r, Gospel Of John, Circa 800}

Rare Julia Quinn Giveaway Prizes

In honor of the release of her 19th full-length novel WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON tomorrow, Tuesday, July 30, the amazing JULIA QUINN is giving away TWO fantabulous prize packs: one book from her backlist, one collectible Bridgerton bookmark, and two extremely RARE coverflats. This is one contest you do not want to miss. In addition, TWO runners-up will receive one collectible Bridgerton bookmark each.

Comment here on this blog till Tuesday, July 30, midnight U.S.P.T., and Ms. Random Selector will choose the four winners whose names will be posted early Wednesday morning.

What is it about JQ's books that we all love so much? Is it the humor? The crackling dialogue? The warm and wonderful people in her stories? The hard, realistic problems that they overcome? The message of hope that people from all walks of life with all sorts of issues can find the Holy Grail: true love? The answer for me is—definitely all of the above. What about you? Why are you such a great fan of hers?

What Happens in London follows on the heels of JQ's first manuscript, published in 2007 and winning the RITA in 2008, The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. Have any one of you not read Diaries? If so, you're in for a real back-to-back treat.

Those of who've read Diaries, did you think JQ would write Olivia Bevelstoke's story next? As the hero's sister, Olivia was present throughout the first book, subtly adding tension where needed, dialing it down for the heroine where necessary, and tweaking her brother's manner in dire circumstances. I remember being vaguely disatisfied at the end of Diaries that there was no indication of a possible future HEA for Olivia. So, of course, when JQ first announced the opening and closing lines of Olivia's story, there was the first glimpse of her hero Harry and her naughtiness at the end.

JQ then proceeded to tantalize us with back cover copy lines, such as: "When Olivia Bevelstoke is told that her new neighbor may have killed his fiancée, she doesn't believe it for a second, but still, how can she help spying on him, just to be sure?" and "Sir Harry Valentine works for the boring branch of the War Office, translating documents vital to national security. He's not a spy, but he's had all the training, and when a gorgeous blonde begins to watch him from her window, he is instantly suspicious." What sort of personality impressions did you form of Harry and Olivia from those two lines and then this back cover copy?

How was your opinion changed by: this book video trailer, or this soundtrack, or the first chapter?

I didn't have an image for Olivia, she was a bit amorphous from Diaries, but then I saw the trailer. Now, the actress Talia is Olivia in my mind, and I'm rooting for Talia's HEA. (More of my thoughts about JQ's book trailer here.)



As a rough guide to finding kinks in distribution channels, when and where did you pick up your copy of London, if you were able to find it? I was lucky that my Target tends to stock a little, ahem, early (Saturday before). My eyes saw the red cover, my hands shot out and picked up a copy, and my brain just went, "Of course! Gotta have it!" Unfortunately, the area Barnes & Noble are always late with the mass market paperbacks even for mega bestselling local writers like JQ. So on Tuesday, I'll do my bit: Tool around to the stores, drop off a couple Bridgerton bookmarks, and remind them to stock the shelves.

[Video and images are copyrighted by Julia Quinn.]

Alice Hoffman Tweets Her Meltdown

[Edit 6/29 7:30am: Hoffman deleted her Twitter account. Tweet-by-tweet screenshots are available via Gawker.]

This is a good example of What.Not.To.Do when a writer is introduced to a negative critique of his or her work.

One Roberta Silman reviewed famous author Alice Hoffman's latest The Story Sisters for The Boston Globe, saying, "...this new novel lacks the spark of the earlier work. Its vision, characters, and even the prose seem tired. Too much of it is told rather than shown..."

To this, Alice Hoffman responded via Twitter with: "Roberta Silman in the Boston Globe is a moron. How do some people get to review books?." She followed this up with: "Now any idiot can be a critic. Writers used to review writers. My second novel was reviewed by Ann Tyler. So who is Roberta Silman?" and "My single bad review in my hometown. This is a town where a barking dog is the second top story on the news." and "Girls are taught to be gracious and keep their mouths shut. We don't have to. And we writers don't have to say nothing when someone tries to destroy us."

Are you cringing yet? Are you shaking your head about how a writer should NOT be responding to a critical review? Because if not, then this tweet will do it: "If you want to tell Roberta Silman off her phone is [phone number]. [e-mail]. Tell her what u think of snarky critics."

Ron Charles, fiction editor for the Washington Post, tweeted back: "@AliceHof Posting reviewer's phone & e-mail address and encouraging hate mail is just plain immature. Write a sharp, witty response instead."

Freelance op-ed writer and critic Edward Champion offers a scathing analysis: "Silman’s review and Hoffman’s disproportionate reaction is the intellectual equivalent of confusing a few droplets of water hitting your skin with a torturous session of waterboarding. Hoffman has gone out of her way to invade Silman’s privacy. And maybe this is a desperate form of publicity or a desperate cry for attention. But I’m with Ron Charles on this. You write a sharp, witty response instead. Or even better, you develop a modicum of humility."

To answer @AliceHof's question about who Roberta Silman is: She's an essayist, short-story writer, novelist, and critic. She's been a recipient of the Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships and won the National Magazine and PEN awards.

[Edit 6/29 11am: The New York Times covered Hoffman's apology forwarded by her publisher Shaye Areheart, an imprint of the Crown Publishing: "I feel this whole situation has been completely blown out of proportion. Of course, I was dismayed by Roberta Silman’s review which gave away the plot of the novel, and in the heat of the moment I responded strongly and I wish I hadn’t. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. Reviewers are entitled to their opinions and that’s the name of the game in publishing. I hope my readers understand that I didn’t mean to hurt anyone and I’m truly sorry if I did."]

[Edit 6/29 9pm: The LA Times reports Silman's gracious response to Hoffman's allegations: "I wouldn't change anything about my review. I have written many reviews for The Globe and say what I believe, and, in this case, I praised her earlier work, which was clearly better. I'm sorry Alice could not take pride in the good things I said, and perhaps mull a little on the criticism. That is what I have always tried to do when professional people have criticized my work."]

Picture Day Friday

Christianity came to the celtic lands via the Isle of Iona. The island's greatest saint Colomba was responsible for converting the Scottish and Irish peoples of 500 CE and also of sending waves of missionaries over to eastern Scotland and northern england, particularly to the celtic Bretons. Iona Abbey was the See of the early Christian faith in the British Isles.

HEAs, Heroes, and Chocolates

"I want my own Barack Obama" has become the shorthand for a tall, handsome, educated, well-mannered, eloquent, sensitive, sexy, family-oriented, ambitious, down-to-earth hero with integrity and character for a happily ever after (HEA).

Listen up, American Women: If I were to ever write such a hero, I'd be the laughingstock on the NYC publishers' slush pile. Not even in fiction, can one such as he exist. He may have shades of many of those qualities, but he's not perfect, nor is he immune to missteps and aggregious unpopular choices. No one outside a family can really know what is truly going on within the family, but this family has weathered the rough times by valuing each other and the good times and compromising for the better good of the family. If one must have a role model, none is better than he, not because he is perfect, but because his character stems from how he manages his missteps.

A man may not be perfect, but chocolate can be. Here are two examples: Truffili di Pellegrini and Tammy's Tastings.

What is your definition of perfection in a box?

Home is Where They Understand You

My hometown Seattle is known for its evergreen trees, majestic mountains, temperate rainforests, wilderness backpacking abundance, eleven months of rain, grunge music, plethora of vegan/vegetarian/organic choices, software nerds, our very own Fremont Troll, mind-numbing public transportation battles, and excruciating politcal correctness.

Here are some little known nuggets...

Henry David Thoreau once said: "I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." Well, in Seattle, we have lots of single chairs. In his Myth of Seattle Nice, Knute Berger of crosscut.com writes: "We're friendly, but not so friendly as to actually want to get to know each other very much. Being too friendly could result in a restraining order."

If you value your life, don't you dare ever say: Recycling's a hassle. Be prepared to sort your trash 37 different ways and do it with a sun-break of a smile, otherwise you stand of being accused of planetary death.

Bellevue might be an up and coming smartly planned city, according to national urban planners, but to Seattleites, it's nothing but that gas-guzzling, environment-killing suburban sprawl on the other side of Lake Washington. (Albeit with a great mall, not that anyone would admit it.)

You like driving more than biking? What is it with you and the destruction of Mother Earth? Cars aren't meant to be washed, waxed, enjoyed, or shown off. Oil changes and emissions control are performed on the pain of death. Cycling is good for you—leads to weight loss, thereby reducing the burden on the Good Ship Earth. Besides, "if you have a coronary riding up a hill," says Berger, "be reassured that Seattle is the 'Best Place to Have a Heart Attack' according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. So bike it and like it."

In our lauded city, pets are people, too, even if they go on your shoe while clogging up your sinuses and scaring your child into a crying jag. So be mindful—in fact, this makes a good slogan for the city: Be mindful of everything no matter how transitory or miniscule—that the frou-frou doggie under your table on your feet could be a lawsuit waiting to happen if you open your mouth to complain.

What are some of the extreme characteristics of your city? If you've been to Seattle, do you agree with my assessment above?

Picture Day Friday

Since I've been off nursing the head-attack and the neck-attack that necessitated doctor visits, and since I have much adoration and respect for my doctor, I thought this picture would be illustrative of how doctors were deserving of love in the medieval ages.



Red Hot Poker—the use of searing heat to treat a wound. These are three scenes of surgery in the Middle Ages showing cautery as a means of treatment. You can see: the healing of a cataract, the treatment of hemorrhoids, the removal of nasal polyps. Operations like these were frequently performed by medieval surgeons with a fair chance of success.

Copyright © The British Library Board

Picture Day Friday

Prince Regent George the IV recruited Antonin Carême to preside over this lavishly scaled Great Kitchen and its vast batterie de cuisine at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England.

Pomegranate Chicken

Today for something a little different on this blog that I haven't done before. Khoresht-e fesenjān is chicken in a thick stew of pomegranate sauce and ground walnuts.

The ancient custom of combining meat with fruit occurs most notably in the cooking of Armenia, Georgia, Morocco, and Iran. This traditional Iranian khoresht originated in the province of Gilan, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, its swamps the nesting place of delicious wild ducks. It is often served at Ramadan with the buttered rice dish chelou.

The recipe below is modified from Persian recipe by using the Pomegranate Sauce Recipe by Anne Gracie and my additions.

Ingredients:
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large red or yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup POM 100% Pomegranate Juice
1 tsp salt
water, as needed
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/4 tsp saffron
1 1/2 Tbsp molasses
2 cups walnuts, finely chopped or pulverized
1 yukon gold potato, finely chopped
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts OR skinless chicken thighs

Directions:
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Fry onions & garlic until soft. Add all ingredients, except chicken, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chicken. Turn heat to med-low. Cover and cook for 40-60 minutes, until chicken is falling to pieces.

For Persian recipes with a more authentic flavor, visit Iran Mania.

"Buy the pomegranate when it laughs—
its laughter reveals the secret of its seeds.
The garden answers the laughing pomegranate with bloom;
In companionship with the friends of God
you will bloom as they do."
—Rumi