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}