Austin S. Camacho's Blog – September 2008 Archive (25)

Lessons Learned

Last week I talked about sharing my experience. After this week I can add: call ahead to bookstores and prepare for the weather. I didn’t, and paid the price.

Bottom line: Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 30, 2008 at 10:25pm — No Comments

Author Update

In some ways the last week has held its disappointments. A schedule malfunction caused my presentation on Book World News to be postponed. Then Friday I turned up at the Borders in Reagan National Airport only to learn that the general manager neglected to mention my signing to anyone else, so they didn’t have books for me to sign.

Saturday it poured all day so the Baltimore Book Festival’s author's tent didn’t get many visitors. Plus, we had the challenge of keeping our wares dry… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 30, 2008 at 1:18am — No Comments

Reminder and a writing tip

I've already told you that I'll wind up the weekend today signing books at the Borders Express in St Charles Town Center from 2 pm to 6 pm.

Meanwhile, it occurred to me the other day that teaching writing can be a bit like teaching driving. I tell fiction writers that in order to create good prose they have to be living in the moment they are writing. It's the same kind of focus you need to drive a car - living in that moment. And yet, you should always have some idea of the… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 29, 2008 at 12:48am — No Comments

Find me in MD this weekend!

I already told you that I’ll spend today at the Baltimore Book Festival in the author’s tent.

I’ll wind up the weekend tomorrow signing books at the Borders Express in St Charles Town Center from 2 pm to 6 pm. The Mall is at 5000 Highway 301 S Waldorf, MD.

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 27, 2008 at 11:54pm — No Comments

Meet me at a Signing OR a Book Festival

I already told you that today I’m signing books at the Borders in Reagan National Airport from noon to 4:00 pm.

I’ll spend tomorrow at the Baltimore Book Festival in the author’s tent. I’ll be one of the 200+ authors at the Festival, including Bishop T.D. Jakes, Walter Mosley, Michael Ian Black, Mark McEwen, Chef Martin Yan, Omar Tyree, and those lawmaking sisters, Congresswomen Loretta and Linda Sanchez. You’ll want to check out… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 26, 2008 at 10:11pm — No Comments

tomorrow's signing for travellers

Tomorrow I have a book signing at the Borders in Reagan National Airport. I’ll greet the travelers from noon to 4:00 pm at the one airport store that people can access without going through security.

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 25, 2008 at 10:50pm — No Comments

Correction and Author Update

Yesterday I told you that I’d be on the BlogTalkRadio show Book World News tonight but we’ve had to reschedule my appearance to October 15. And in all the confusion I haven’t told you about all the fun I had last week.

How I wish I had teachers when I was in school like the people I met Friday at Charles Carroll Middle School in New Carrollton, MD. They were so positive and upbeat, I wanted to join in on the school’s 25 book campaign. All of their students will be expected to read at… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 24, 2008 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Listen to Me tomorrow

My full week starts tomorrow night when I get to be the radio star. You already know I host a BlogTalkRadio show called Book Bridge: From Authors to Readers every Monday night. Well Wednesday night at 8:30 Eastern time I’ll be the guest on another show - Book World News. The ironic twist is that I’ll be there to get interviewed about Book Bridge: From Authors to Readers. You are all invited to call in live by dialing 646-200-4071.

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 23, 2008 at 10:41pm — No Comments

Vote for ME!

Hello, Blog readers!

Please excuse the shameless self promotion, but I’m asking all of you to please

take 3 minutes of your time to vote for my podcasts – “Book Bridge: From

Authors to Readers” - in the Podcast Awards.

Just go to this website:

http://www.podcastawards.com/

and vote for my show in the Cultural category. You can listen to

archived episodes of “Book Bridge: From Authors to Readers

at this web… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 23, 2008 at 6:27am — No Comments

Blurb Me!

By attending writers’ conventions and being personable I've been able to get some pretty nice folks to write blurbs for some of my books. Warren Murphy and Ken Bruen have blurbs on my published works, and people like Libby Fisher Hellman and David Hagberg have given me blurbs on manuscripts that are still making the rounds. In the same vein, I've written blurbs for other authors whose work impressed me. I always thought this was simply one good way to give a book s little more credibility, but… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 22, 2008 at 5:07am — 3 Comments

Meet Me in Maryland

already told you that today I was at the Charles Carroll Middle School in New Carrollton, MD to help launch its first annual 25 book campaign.

That, of course, was a private event for those students. The public will be able to find me tomorrow at Borders Books - that's Saturday from 2 pm to 4 pm - I'll greet book lovers in the store at 931A Capital Centre Blvd, Largo, MD.

Can't get there? Order my novels at http://www.intriguepublishing.com/order/ordering.html

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 20, 2008 at 11:29am — No Comments

School days

Tomorrow I'll have a rare opportunity to spread the gospel of writing to an important youth audience. Charles Carroll Middle School in New Carrollton, MD is hosting its first annual 25 book campaign. All of their students will be expected to read at least 25 books by the end of the school year. This campaign will kick off Friday, and the school has asked me and a few other authors to help them celebrate reading by attending their assembly and sharing our experiences as authors.

We'll… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 18, 2008 at 10:38pm — 1 Comment

Another Great Site for Readers - AND Writers

In this blog I like to share good additions to your library, or places to find them. Bookroom Reviews is one such place, a blog that offers quality reviews of published books. They accept submissions from authors, publicists and publishers. Once complete, the reviews are published on the website where they are permanently viewable and searchable by their readers. New reviews are also publicized in their bi-weekly free… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 16, 2008 at 10:31pm — No Comments

Learning Curve

When I address writers' groups like the one I spoke to Saturday I spend very little time on theory or on the traditional wisdom of the writing business. Almost everything I tell them is based on my personal experiences in the trenches of writing, publishing and marketing. And in that process I share another important lesson.

Writers as a group are pretty generous with their advice, especially with stories about their careers, and less experienced writers should always take advantage… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 15, 2008 at 10:04pm — 1 Comment

Author Update

Yesterday I made the trek across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a place that could culturally be another state or perhaps even another country. It's a place where people are gracious and open to strangers, and courteous to a fault. And a place where quiet is valued for its own intrinsic worth.

There I was welcomed by the members of the Eastern Shore Writers Association (ESWA) who listened to my talk on constructing a plot and asked lots of great… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 15, 2008 at 10:52am — No Comments

Meet Me This Weekend

I already told you that today I'll give a presentation - to the Eastern Shore Writers Association - at 11 am at the Waterview Grill in the Easton Club, 28449 Clubhouse Rd., Easton, MD.

BUT I won't slight my Virginia fans this weekend. Sunday I'll return to the Borders Express at Dulles Town Center for a book signing from noon to 4 pm. So if the Eastern Shore of Maryland is too far away, catch me at this store at 21100 Dulles… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 13, 2008 at 9:57pm — No Comments

My Presentation in MD

Tomorrow I get to meet with some old friends on the other side of the Chesapeake. The Eastern Shore Writers Association - (ESWA) invited me to be their speaker at this month’s meeting. The ESWA exists to support those who write or enjoy writing. As such, they are a very diverse group of poets, novelists, writers of stories, essays, articles, and memoirs, plus a few editors and small publishers. Each year this same team of creative… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 12, 2008 at 9:41pm — No Comments

Another Favorite Author

Apologies to Stephanie Plum but I don’t usually like my mysteries with a lot of humor in them. That having been said, I do make exceptions for the local talent, especially when they’re gifted writers. For both those reasons I CAN recommend that you add the novels of Northern Virginia author Donna Andrews to your personal library. Donna’s Meg Langslow series manages to be consistently hilarious despite the fact that each book is a solid traditional mystery. And you gotta love the titles: nine… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 9, 2008 at 10:25pm — No Comments

Pilots Say What They Mean

I overheard a conversation recently between an airline pilot and a passenger. The pilot was trying to reassure the nervous passenger that he was in no danger flying in a commercial airliner.

“How can you say that?” the passenger asked. “I just read that there were 136 crashes just last year, resulting in 965 deaths.”

“That just proves it,” the pilot said with a smirk. “Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.”

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 8, 2008 at 10:41pm — No Comments

Book Signing Opposites

It was a weekend of opposite book signing experiences. Friday I did a rare evening signing - in lovely weather - at an urban store - a Borders - in MD. They were able to get all my titles EXCEPT Blood and Bone.

Saturday I did an afternoon signing - during a torrential downpour - in a mall store - a Books-A-Million - in VA.… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on September 8, 2008 at 7:08am — No Comments