When I think of my favorite writing resources, I think of it two different ways. First are the resources that help me actually get the book written, finished and readable, and second are the resources that helped/help me learn about and understand the business of publishing.
When it comes to the first set of resources, my most valuable resources are my early readers. My first reader is always my husband, which is interesting because he’s not generally a reader at all, and I could probably count all the books he’s read (aside from mine) in the last five years on one hand. But in some ways this makes him the best resource. He’s not looking for trends or comparing me to other books. And he’s unflinchingly honest. He’ll freely point out any dialogue that doesn’t sound real or any characters that don’t ring true, and he’s looking at it with a totally different eye than I ever would. I should also mention here that my husband is a great writing resource because he gives me the time to write by watching the kids, and constantly reminding me that it is more important for me to write than clean the house/cook dinner/sleep/grade papers/or a variety of other things that I probably should be doing instead.
My second reader is my mom. She’s read more books than anyone else I’ve known. Ever. And she reads fast. She’ll read a draft of mine in a few hours, then call me to tell me which parts she likes and which ones she doesn’t, though, she generally has no idea why. Which is okay, because then I take a new look at the parts of the book she doesn’t like. I also know she’s read so much that she can compare it to other things out in the world, and she’ll tell me honestly whether or not she thinks my book is readable by other people.
But as we writers know, getting the book written is only half (or maybe something like 1/8) of the battle. And like Maureen, I turn to the Internet for all my publishing business resources. My favorite place when querying agents, as I’ve mentioned here before, was agentquery.com. I also found a lot of useful information on Miss Snark and on agent Kristin Nelson’s blog. I still read Kristin’s blog just because I think she always has something fresh and interesting to say about the publishing business.
Publisher’s Marketplace is my favorite place to find out about deals/agents/editors. It’s a great tool to see what’s selling, who’s selling what, and who’s buying what. Publisher’s Weekly is another great (and free) resource for reading reviews, publishing news, and deals. I’m just going to stop myself here for a second to add in that the sale of my adult novel made it into Publisher’s Weekly yesterday – something I was so, so excited about! You can click here to read it.
I also think book reviewer’s blogs are a great resource because you can get a sense of what people are reading and enjoying and what’s getting buzz in the publishing industry. The Story Siren’s blog and Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Cynsations are two of my favorites. Both are great, always informative, and honest.
I probably could go on and on. In fact one of my new favorite procrastinating tools since becoming a published author are reading blogs, checking publishing sites, and checking out other author’s websites. But it’s not really procrastinating if it’s writing related, right?!
PS. Another great resource for all things YA, YA Fresh, is doing a giveaway for three copies of THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS this week! Click here to enter.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Novel Girls Welcome ERIN GALLOWAY!
We have a special guest post today! A graduate of the master of publishing program at Pace University in Manhattan, Erin Galloway is the Manager of Marketing for Dorchester Publishing. Erin has the pleasure of working with many talented authors, ranging from debut authors to veteran New York Times best-sellers. A romance reader for over a decade, Erin now counts herself lucky to work with her favorte books and numerous wonderful authors.
Erin was kind enough to share some amazing promo info with The Novel Girls. We asked her questions, and she gave us some terrific answers!:
TNG: What's the most effective promotion for a debut author? Giveaways, ads, etc.?
EG: I believe there are certain things that tend to have mass appeal, such as giveaways--whether gift certificates or books--and promo materials like bookmarks and chapter booklets, but the truth is that the same thing doesn't work for everyone. What is incredibly successful for one person may have absolutely no effect on another. Really try to keep your audience in mind, think about how to reach them and what they may appreciate.
Do you want to hit the very web savvy crows and have them talking about your book virally? Offer them something they can use like exclusive content or excerpts. Introduce yourself to as many reviewers and bloggers as possible and take advantage of any opportunities you are offered. Importantly, make sure to give a personal touch to whatever you are doing--thank bloggers with a personal note or email for any promo they have given you, always reply when readers write to you, meet as many people individually as you can at conferences and get the email addresses of anyone who attends your book signings and send them a thank you note for attending.
Let the reader, bookseller and/or librarian know you appreciate them. It goes a long way toward remembering you and your books in the future.
TNG: Is the promotion a debut author should do different in any way from a more established author?
EG: Yes, a debut author is just at the beginning of building his/her career, so it's important to immediately begin branding yourself and to work toward establishing an audience of readers. You can start smaller and build bigger as you go.
TNG: What should a new author's web site have on it?
EG: The vital things that a new author's web site should have are: author bio, photo, contact information, information on your newest book(s) and an excerpt chapter or two. Include any other fun things you can think of--if your book has a lot of food in it, have some recipes on your site. If your book contains something crafty like scrapbooks, have scrapbook tips on your site. It could even be in jest. Perhaps your heroine is a klutz or always getting into trouble. Include a "Top 10 Places to Avoid if You Are a Klutz."
TNG: How much should a new author focus on libraries in promotion efforts?
EG: It's always good to have a librarian in your corner, especially because some people are more likely to try a new author from the library before choosing to puchase. You may want to start locally within your area or state, particularly if the book has regional appeal. Once you've begun to build your audience you can think about expanding.
TNG: How important are pre-order sales?
EG: It depends on the kind of preorder sales you're talking about. Preorder sales on Amazon.com are no more and no less important than a sale after the on-sale date. In this case, a sale is a sale.
When you're talking about preorder sales at a bookstore, there is a potential for real impact because if the store is only planning on ordering 10 copies of a given book and they receive 20 preorder sales for that book, the amount of books they'll be ordering for the store has already more than doubled, as they'll want 20 to cover their preorders as well as additional books to have on hand. With that said, you don't need to kill yourself encouraging readers to preorder your book. Not all readers want to preorder, and that's okay. Just sending out an email to your readers you have on your email list the day the book is available saing "you can now purchase your own copy of (name of your book)" goes a long way in reminding the reader how much they enjoy your work and encouraging them to purchase.
Thank you to The Novel Girls so much for having me on the blog. I wish you and all of the authors out there the best with your promotional efforts!
Thanks, Erin!
Erin was kind enough to share some amazing promo info with The Novel Girls. We asked her questions, and she gave us some terrific answers!:
TNG: What's the most effective promotion for a debut author? Giveaways, ads, etc.?
EG: I believe there are certain things that tend to have mass appeal, such as giveaways--whether gift certificates or books--and promo materials like bookmarks and chapter booklets, but the truth is that the same thing doesn't work for everyone. What is incredibly successful for one person may have absolutely no effect on another. Really try to keep your audience in mind, think about how to reach them and what they may appreciate.
Do you want to hit the very web savvy crows and have them talking about your book virally? Offer them something they can use like exclusive content or excerpts. Introduce yourself to as many reviewers and bloggers as possible and take advantage of any opportunities you are offered. Importantly, make sure to give a personal touch to whatever you are doing--thank bloggers with a personal note or email for any promo they have given you, always reply when readers write to you, meet as many people individually as you can at conferences and get the email addresses of anyone who attends your book signings and send them a thank you note for attending.
Let the reader, bookseller and/or librarian know you appreciate them. It goes a long way toward remembering you and your books in the future.
TNG: Is the promotion a debut author should do different in any way from a more established author?
EG: Yes, a debut author is just at the beginning of building his/her career, so it's important to immediately begin branding yourself and to work toward establishing an audience of readers. You can start smaller and build bigger as you go.
TNG: What should a new author's web site have on it?
EG: The vital things that a new author's web site should have are: author bio, photo, contact information, information on your newest book(s) and an excerpt chapter or two. Include any other fun things you can think of--if your book has a lot of food in it, have some recipes on your site. If your book contains something crafty like scrapbooks, have scrapbook tips on your site. It could even be in jest. Perhaps your heroine is a klutz or always getting into trouble. Include a "Top 10 Places to Avoid if You Are a Klutz."
TNG: How much should a new author focus on libraries in promotion efforts?
EG: It's always good to have a librarian in your corner, especially because some people are more likely to try a new author from the library before choosing to puchase. You may want to start locally within your area or state, particularly if the book has regional appeal. Once you've begun to build your audience you can think about expanding.
TNG: How important are pre-order sales?
EG: It depends on the kind of preorder sales you're talking about. Preorder sales on Amazon.com are no more and no less important than a sale after the on-sale date. In this case, a sale is a sale.
When you're talking about preorder sales at a bookstore, there is a potential for real impact because if the store is only planning on ordering 10 copies of a given book and they receive 20 preorder sales for that book, the amount of books they'll be ordering for the store has already more than doubled, as they'll want 20 to cover their preorders as well as additional books to have on hand. With that said, you don't need to kill yourself encouraging readers to preorder your book. Not all readers want to preorder, and that's okay. Just sending out an email to your readers you have on your email list the day the book is available saing "you can now purchase your own copy of (name of your book)" goes a long way in reminding the reader how much they enjoy your work and encouraging them to purchase.
Thank you to The Novel Girls so much for having me on the blog. I wish you and all of the authors out there the best with your promotional efforts!
Thanks, Erin!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Pod Person
I do so love my iPod.
It is my friend. My companion. It is a conversational-engagement-deterrent to the people on subway who are crazier than me. It is my writing muse. My noise-dampener. It is purple and it is shiny.
It is chock-full o' aural goodness.
My pod was given to me by my boyfriend. Twice. He has given me two of the things, in fact, upgrading me when the shiny purple model came out. And on both occasions, he was the one who loaded it up.
See... way back in the day, John used to make me the most awesome mix-tapes. Now, he compiles playlists for my writing projects. I don't know how he does it - because, with one or two exceptions, he picks the songs and puts them together before I've written the books - but they are always so cool and perfect and inspiring! And frequently funny - for those of you who've read the book - is the Ben Folds song "Bitch Went Nuts" not completely appropriate for someone like Queen Mabh? (And I giggled like a maniac when I got to REM's "Me In Honey" - right, Bob?)
Anyway, here is a sampling of the list he compiled for the writing of Book the Third:
"Irish Boy" - Marc Knopfler (from the "Cal" soundtrack)
"I Saved The World Today" - Eurythmics
"Let it go" - Blue October
"Slave to Love" - Bryan Ferry
"It Can't Rain All The Time" - Jane Siberry
"Crush" - Dave Matthews
"My Mirror Speaks" - Death Cab for Cutie
"Big Romantic Stuff" - Bob Geldof
"Lawyers, Guns, and Money" - Warren Zevon (somehow feels appropriate in a bizarre, extremely abstract way!)
"Your The Only Love" - Payolas
"Rebellion (Lies)" - Arcade Fire
"Wake Up" - Arcade Fire & David Bowie
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" - U2
"Pavement Cracks" - Annie Lennox
"Fallen Angel" - Robbie Robertson
"You Only Live Twice" - Nancy Sinatra
"Wrapped Around Your Finger" - The Police
"The Whole of the Moon" - The Waterboys
"The Soul Cages" - Sting
"Moonlight" - Beethoven
"Sick Muse" - Metric
"Manhattan" - Kings of Leon
And that's just a taste! There's a whole bunch of other stuff in there, too. All of it interesting, eclectic, and inspiring.
Oh - and there is one more piece of sheer inspiration that I listen to no matter which book I'm working on. A dear friend was actually inspired by WONDROUS STRANGE to write and record a piece of music for ME. It is cool and ethereal and urban and magical all at once - I don't know how he did it. You can listen to a version of it here and it is awesome.
Yup - I am a pod person, all right.
It is my friend. My companion. It is a conversational-engagement-deterrent to the people on subway who are crazier than me. It is my writing muse. My noise-dampener. It is purple and it is shiny.
It is chock-full o' aural goodness.
My pod was given to me by my boyfriend. Twice. He has given me two of the things, in fact, upgrading me when the shiny purple model came out. And on both occasions, he was the one who loaded it up.
See... way back in the day, John used to make me the most awesome mix-tapes. Now, he compiles playlists for my writing projects. I don't know how he does it - because, with one or two exceptions, he picks the songs and puts them together before I've written the books - but they are always so cool and perfect and inspiring! And frequently funny - for those of you who've read the book - is the Ben Folds song "Bitch Went Nuts" not completely appropriate for someone like Queen Mabh? (And I giggled like a maniac when I got to REM's "Me In Honey" - right, Bob?)
Anyway, here is a sampling of the list he compiled for the writing of Book the Third:
"Irish Boy" - Marc Knopfler (from the "Cal" soundtrack)
"I Saved The World Today" - Eurythmics
"Let it go" - Blue October
"Slave to Love" - Bryan Ferry
"It Can't Rain All The Time" - Jane Siberry
"Crush" - Dave Matthews
"My Mirror Speaks" - Death Cab for Cutie
"Big Romantic Stuff" - Bob Geldof
"Lawyers, Guns, and Money" - Warren Zevon (somehow feels appropriate in a bizarre, extremely abstract way!)
"Your The Only Love" - Payolas
"Rebellion (Lies)" - Arcade Fire
"Wake Up" - Arcade Fire & David Bowie
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" - U2
"Pavement Cracks" - Annie Lennox
"Fallen Angel" - Robbie Robertson
"You Only Live Twice" - Nancy Sinatra
"Wrapped Around Your Finger" - The Police
"The Whole of the Moon" - The Waterboys
"The Soul Cages" - Sting
"Moonlight" - Beethoven
"Sick Muse" - Metric
"Manhattan" - Kings of Leon
And that's just a taste! There's a whole bunch of other stuff in there, too. All of it interesting, eclectic, and inspiring.
Oh - and there is one more piece of sheer inspiration that I listen to no matter which book I'm working on. A dear friend was actually inspired by WONDROUS STRANGE to write and record a piece of music for ME. It is cool and ethereal and urban and magical all at once - I don't know how he did it. You can listen to a version of it here and it is awesome.
Yup - I am a pod person, all right.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
This Thing Plays Music?
I’m the kind of person who has to think about things for a while before buying them. It took me so long to buy an iPod that it kind of became like a running joke between me and my husband. It was something I always wanted to have, but wasn’t sure how much I’d use. I love listening to music, but I hardly ever have time to do it.
So awhile back, I announced that I was going to buy myself an iPod if I ever sold a book. Then I sold THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS and went as far as walking into the Apple store to check the iPods out, before deciding to think about it a little more. I read some reviews on Amazon, trying to decide which one I wanted, but I still wasn’t convinced I’d use it. I waivered for another year, thinking about it every so often when I’d walk by the Apple store in the mall, but never enough to dive in and make the commitment.
Then THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS came out, and my husband made fun of me for still being iPod-less. A few weeks later he told me he read an article about the second generation iPod Touch, which could be used to check e-mail and get on the internet wirelessly. Add the fact that we were about to go on a cross country trip, and I was feeling some anxiety pangs about being out of touch, and I was sold. I bought the iPod Touch that night.
Now that I’ve had it for about two months, I honestly am not sure how I lived without it before. For one, it was great for traveling. It was so easy to check e-mail/use the Internet at the airport, and so much smaller and lighter than a laptop! And with all the apps and games that I downloaded, it kept me (and my son) entertained for hours on our really long flight. At home, I can pick it up, check my e-mail, check out a website, etc. anywhere in the house, any time of the day. Maybe this just makes me lazy, that I like the fact that I don’t have to walk upstairs and sit down at my computer to be connected with the world. But those of you with small kids know how hard this is to do when the kids are awake.
And oh yeah, it does play music. But I, um, haven’t used it very much for that yet at this point. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have only a few songs on there, and the only one I’ve really listened to is "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. See, as I was revising my adult book two months ago, I thought of this song as the theme song for my revision, and since I bought the iPod just as I was finishing up revisions I bought this song from iTunes to keep me motivated. Or actually, my husband bought it from iTunes for me with a giftcard he had.
Which brings up another thing, I still haven’t exactly figured out how to use iTunes yet. But it’s on my to-do list. Along with getting some more music on the iPod. And finding the time to actually listen to it. In the meantime, I’ll be very happily checking my e-mail.
So awhile back, I announced that I was going to buy myself an iPod if I ever sold a book. Then I sold THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS and went as far as walking into the Apple store to check the iPods out, before deciding to think about it a little more. I read some reviews on Amazon, trying to decide which one I wanted, but I still wasn’t convinced I’d use it. I waivered for another year, thinking about it every so often when I’d walk by the Apple store in the mall, but never enough to dive in and make the commitment.
Then THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS came out, and my husband made fun of me for still being iPod-less. A few weeks later he told me he read an article about the second generation iPod Touch, which could be used to check e-mail and get on the internet wirelessly. Add the fact that we were about to go on a cross country trip, and I was feeling some anxiety pangs about being out of touch, and I was sold. I bought the iPod Touch that night.
Now that I’ve had it for about two months, I honestly am not sure how I lived without it before. For one, it was great for traveling. It was so easy to check e-mail/use the Internet at the airport, and so much smaller and lighter than a laptop! And with all the apps and games that I downloaded, it kept me (and my son) entertained for hours on our really long flight. At home, I can pick it up, check my e-mail, check out a website, etc. anywhere in the house, any time of the day. Maybe this just makes me lazy, that I like the fact that I don’t have to walk upstairs and sit down at my computer to be connected with the world. But those of you with small kids know how hard this is to do when the kids are awake.
And oh yeah, it does play music. But I, um, haven’t used it very much for that yet at this point. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have only a few songs on there, and the only one I’ve really listened to is "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. See, as I was revising my adult book two months ago, I thought of this song as the theme song for my revision, and since I bought the iPod just as I was finishing up revisions I bought this song from iTunes to keep me motivated. Or actually, my husband bought it from iTunes for me with a giftcard he had.
Which brings up another thing, I still haven’t exactly figured out how to use iTunes yet. But it’s on my to-do list. Along with getting some more music on the iPod. And finding the time to actually listen to it. In the meantime, I’ll be very happily checking my e-mail.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
School's Out!
My baby is completely finished with high school as of 11:30 this morning.
And my heart feels like a sparkler's poking up out of a bleeding hole. On one hand I am totally elated and on fire for him. And on the other I'm broken-hearted. It means I'm an empty-nester. WOW. I used to hear that term and think that's only for old people. Well . . . I don't feel old. Especially since the first song on my IPOD today is the iconic rock and roll anthem, "School's Out" by Alice Cooper. Will doesn't know it yet, but when he slides into his car after his final, and turns the key, that song will be blaring in all it's sportive glory.
I realized some might not know what song I'm talking about since it came out of the 70's but it's so worth spending .99 cents on an iTunes download. Especially if you have teenagers. It brings to mind my own senior prank. On our last day, part of the plan was to place speakers all over the school and crank them up to their highest volume. As soon as the last pen was laid down after the last exam, we turned on "School's Out", raced out into the halls and sang this song at the top of our lungs. Ahh, the youthful joy of not a care in the world!
Okay, I was the one who suggested this topic so I should be the one with the most to say about iPods, right? Uh, I don't think so. My iPod is one of those sixty-five dollar jobs called a shuffle. I only use it for exercise purposes, but I have to say, it's makes the Eliptical palatable.
Now just because I don't have a Touch or a Nano, doesn't mean I don't love my music. On the contrary, music keeps me sane. Music runs through my veins. I made my living in the music industry for over 20 years. Both of my sons, REAL iPod owners - purchased by moi - are eaten up with all things music. Guitar, piano, music festivals. Try living only 40 minutes from the granddaddy of them all. Bonnaroo. My boys started begging to attend that one at only 15 and 13.
So what's on my iPod? I'm embarrassed to admit this but I only knew two of Maureen's choices. No shocker it's Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. Both bands are on mine but I'll list a sampling of what's also on my shuffle.
Stones - "Give Me shelter"
Beatles - "I've Just Seen A Face"
Van Morrison - "Into The Mystic" - This one's also featured in Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter. Leelee has a very romantic moment while dancing to this song.
Kim Carnes - "Gypsy Honeymoon"
Michael McDonald - "Hey Girl"
John Mayer - "Gravity"
Allman Brothers - "Blue Sky"
Carol King - "Natural Woman"
Crosby Stills Nash & Young - "Helplessly Hoping"
REM - "The One I Love"
Tom Petty - "Here Comes My Girl"
Willie Nelson - "Angel Flying Too Close"
Bonnie Raitt - "Anglel From Montgomery"
Indigo Girls - "Closer to Fine"
Soundtrack to Les Miserable - "On My Own"
Marvin Gaye - "Distant Lover"
Peter Gabriel - "In Your Eyes"
Police - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
Ray LaMontagne - "You Are The Best Thing"
Christopher Cross - "Walking in Avalon"
Monkeys - "I'm A Believer"
What's on yours?
And my heart feels like a sparkler's poking up out of a bleeding hole. On one hand I am totally elated and on fire for him. And on the other I'm broken-hearted. It means I'm an empty-nester. WOW. I used to hear that term and think that's only for old people. Well . . . I don't feel old. Especially since the first song on my IPOD today is the iconic rock and roll anthem, "School's Out" by Alice Cooper. Will doesn't know it yet, but when he slides into his car after his final, and turns the key, that song will be blaring in all it's sportive glory.
I realized some might not know what song I'm talking about since it came out of the 70's but it's so worth spending .99 cents on an iTunes download. Especially if you have teenagers. It brings to mind my own senior prank. On our last day, part of the plan was to place speakers all over the school and crank them up to their highest volume. As soon as the last pen was laid down after the last exam, we turned on "School's Out", raced out into the halls and sang this song at the top of our lungs. Ahh, the youthful joy of not a care in the world!
Okay, I was the one who suggested this topic so I should be the one with the most to say about iPods, right? Uh, I don't think so. My iPod is one of those sixty-five dollar jobs called a shuffle. I only use it for exercise purposes, but I have to say, it's makes the Eliptical palatable.
Now just because I don't have a Touch or a Nano, doesn't mean I don't love my music. On the contrary, music keeps me sane. Music runs through my veins. I made my living in the music industry for over 20 years. Both of my sons, REAL iPod owners - purchased by moi - are eaten up with all things music. Guitar, piano, music festivals. Try living only 40 minutes from the granddaddy of them all. Bonnaroo. My boys started begging to attend that one at only 15 and 13.
So what's on my iPod? I'm embarrassed to admit this but I only knew two of Maureen's choices. No shocker it's Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. Both bands are on mine but I'll list a sampling of what's also on my shuffle.
Stones - "Give Me shelter"
Beatles - "I've Just Seen A Face"
Van Morrison - "Into The Mystic" - This one's also featured in Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter. Leelee has a very romantic moment while dancing to this song.
Kim Carnes - "Gypsy Honeymoon"
Michael McDonald - "Hey Girl"
John Mayer - "Gravity"
Allman Brothers - "Blue Sky"
Carol King - "Natural Woman"
Crosby Stills Nash & Young - "Helplessly Hoping"
REM - "The One I Love"
Tom Petty - "Here Comes My Girl"
Willie Nelson - "Angel Flying Too Close"
Bonnie Raitt - "Anglel From Montgomery"
Indigo Girls - "Closer to Fine"
Soundtrack to Les Miserable - "On My Own"
Marvin Gaye - "Distant Lover"
Peter Gabriel - "In Your Eyes"
Police - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
Ray LaMontagne - "You Are The Best Thing"
Christopher Cross - "Walking in Avalon"
Monkeys - "I'm A Believer"
What's on yours?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
My Eye Pod
Ahhh...this post will make my siblings laugh. See, I'm the oldest of four siblings, so generally I'm regarded as an"old woman." Nevermind that I have yet to hit 30, but whatever. I'm told that I act like a grandma because I don't use Skype (thought it was a type of vodka until recently), my cell phone is an ancient Razr that doesn't allow me to check email, I've never used ichat, I've never taken my iTouch I got for Christmas out of the box and last year, I threw my iPod across the room because I couldn't figure out how to program it.
The iPod thing really wasn't my fault though. My husband and I have had horrible luck with computers lately. We've gone through four laptops in two years--thankfully all under warranty. And apparently, when you switch computers, your iTunes gets all messed up and then you have to force the songs that are already on your iPod back onto the new computer via some strange contraband program and then shove them back into the iPod again.
Or something like that. I remember googling the instructions, being extremely confused and just tossing the thing across the room. So, consequently, I haven't updated my iPod in about two years. And my husband put a bunch of random songs on it, so I'll be happily working out, bopping along to Pink, when it'll switch to quoted lines from Napolean Dynamite or old SNL sketches.
Argh.
But, have faith. My sister is home from college now, and she promised to program my iTouch for me. With lots of cool "apps." Groovy.
And even though none of these songs are actually on my iPod, I'll share my playlist for my YA book (that I'm revising today for the 1,345,678 time). The book has lots of fun Celtic mythology and folklore in it, so thus the heavy Irish music.
I'm Shipping Up to Boston--Dropkick Murphys
Green & Red of Mayo--Brendan Loughrey
Rush--Big Audio Dynamite
Paint it Black--Rolling Stones
Tuesday Morning--Pogues
Paralyzer--Finger Eleven
Danny Boy--Brendan Loughrey
Another Brick in the Wall--Pink Floyd
Fields of Athenry--Dubliners
How Soon is Now--Love Spit Love
The iPod thing really wasn't my fault though. My husband and I have had horrible luck with computers lately. We've gone through four laptops in two years--thankfully all under warranty. And apparently, when you switch computers, your iTunes gets all messed up and then you have to force the songs that are already on your iPod back onto the new computer via some strange contraband program and then shove them back into the iPod again.
Or something like that. I remember googling the instructions, being extremely confused and just tossing the thing across the room. So, consequently, I haven't updated my iPod in about two years. And my husband put a bunch of random songs on it, so I'll be happily working out, bopping along to Pink, when it'll switch to quoted lines from Napolean Dynamite or old SNL sketches.
Argh.
But, have faith. My sister is home from college now, and she promised to program my iTouch for me. With lots of cool "apps." Groovy.
And even though none of these songs are actually on my iPod, I'll share my playlist for my YA book (that I'm revising today for the 1,345,678 time). The book has lots of fun Celtic mythology and folklore in it, so thus the heavy Irish music.
I'm Shipping Up to Boston--Dropkick Murphys
Green & Red of Mayo--Brendan Loughrey
Rush--Big Audio Dynamite
Paint it Black--Rolling Stones
Tuesday Morning--Pogues
Paralyzer--Finger Eleven
Danny Boy--Brendan Loughrey
Another Brick in the Wall--Pink Floyd
Fields of Athenry--Dubliners
How Soon is Now--Love Spit Love
Monday, May 18, 2009
Ipod? What Ipod?
Not only do I not own an Ipod, I have never used the MP3 player I do own. I know, sad, huh? My MP3 player is currently being used by my older son, as his was stolen from school many months ago. So, as of now, he has it loaded with all sorts of stuff I am very unlikely to want to listen to. :)
I do, however, have plenty of CDs and music downloaded on my PC. The thing is, I'm sort of a freak of nature...I don't listen to a lot of current stuff. I'm a fan of the past more than the present. Well, except for American Idol. Mostly, however, I listen to:
I do, however, have plenty of CDs and music downloaded on my PC. The thing is, I'm sort of a freak of nature...I don't listen to a lot of current stuff. I'm a fan of the past more than the present. Well, except for American Idol. Mostly, however, I listen to:
- Rick Springfield -- both his older stuff and his newer stuff.
- ABBA -- because listening to songs like Mama Mia and Take A Chance On Me just make me smile.
And yeah, that's really it on a consistent basis. Sad? Not so much when you consider I'm not in the car that often, and I can't write while music is playing (and I'm nearly always writing), so my music listening times are scattered in small doses here and there. Usually when I'm cleaning.
I hope everyone has a terrific Monday, and wow...I think I've just written the shortest post I ever have.
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