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The Morning Blend: My First Television Interview

I did it. Today I appeared on KGUN9’s Morning Blend in Tucson and discussed my novel The Intersect.

As you can imagine, I didn’t sleep too well the night before – wondering how I’d be able to condense my thoughts into the 5-minute segment allotted for the book. When you write a novel of 460-pages with 8 main characters and lots of twists and turns, it’s a challenge to think about how you’ll be able to communicate anything in under five minutes.

But I was surprisingly prepared. You see, when I did the interview, I had a very special group of people in mind.

For the past 8 months, I’ve been regularly attending the Phoenix Publishing and Book Promotion Meet-up run by Laura Orsini. Each meeting begins with authors going around the room and quickly providing a snapshot recap of their book. And though I’ve often struggled with that particular moment, I clearly had learned something important from the experience. So when the cameras were rolling, I was able to discuss the novel with clarity. Frankly, it felt like a miracle to be able to speak confidently and enthusiastically.

It’s odd to admit – but when you spend so much time in your head creating plot twists and dialogue – you’re a bit afraid that you’ve lost the gift of gab. Social skills can easily get rusty. And though you might be able to find the right word after a few edits in a draft – we don’t often get a 2nd chance in a conversation.

Today, I’m kind of proud of myself. Not only did I write an engaging novel but I was able to properly articulate its essence.

Things are looking up.

 

 

Designing My Book Cover: “Oh Magoo – You’ve Done it Again!”

Ever stumble around in the dark? Hit your big toe? Struggle to find the light – only to trip over the dog?  Well then, you know all about my journey to design a book cover.

And because I had no clue what the heck I was doing, I was just lucky enough to have a friend in the publishing business. His name is Jeff and he works out of San Francisco and is very active with the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.

Now Jeff is one of these unassuming guys. He rarely talks about what he does. But every now and then, he might share a story about a new book he’d recently worked on. He’d discuss the layout, design, and some interesting fact about the author. He might even have a copy of the book to show. And it was all very fast and casual. If you looked down once, it was over, and he was on to another topic.

But that was before I wrote my novel, The Intersect.

Now I’ve discovered my friend Jeff is brilliant. I hang on every word he utters about book publishing and production. In fact, I could listen to Jeff talk all day long.

And so by now, you probably know, Jeff not only designed the cover and lay out for my book, but has practically taught me everything I know about publishing. From website design, to mail chimp, to production on demand, I’ve been blessed to have such smart friend to lead me along the journey.

Mr. Magoo should be so lucky!

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