Wordless Wednesday - Watching a documentary about wolves

Happy Valentine's Day & Giveaway Winners!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I've managed to keep my absurdly ridiculous sweet tooth in check and make it through this holiday season without eating any conversation hearts (oh, I do love conversation hearts) so I'm calling it a win.  Now I just have to survive the season of Easter Candy (ie. yellow chick Peeps in the microwave) and I'm good until October.

So anyway, where ever you are, I hope you had a great Valentine's Day and either managed to avoid eating too much candy or had a good day because you ate way too much candy.  It all depends on what your goals are.  Right?

The winners of a copy of The Dogs' Guide to Romance are: Gayle Summa Walls, Laurena Brazell, and Michelle Maxon.

And the winner of a copy of The Dogs' Guide to Romance and the Valentine's Day gift bag is Katlynn Nicole Russell.

Congratulations!!!  I'll contact all of you to get your addresses.

Thank you to everyone who entered!  I am so honored by your participation in my Facebook page.  Getting to hear from readers is one of the very best parts of being a writer.  I promise to post another contest again soon!

And thank you so much to Kate Ledger, author of Remedies, for sending me copies of The Dogs' Guide to Romance to give away!

Book Trailer Fridays - Kate Ledger & Remedies

I had the chance to tell you a bit about Kate Ledger's The Dogs' Book of Romance the other day when I announced the Valentine's Giveaway (have you entered yet?  Go enter!). But I didn't get to talk much about Remedies, Kate's debut novel, so I figured this would be the perfect Book Trailer Friday pick!

REMEDIES is a Self magazine book pick, an Indie Next List Notable Book, an Ingram Premier Pick, a "Community Read" selection of the Twin Cities Jewish Book Fair, and earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, who said: "Ledger's accomplished debut offers a compelling view of married life through the prism of unacknowledged grief...with rare insight... An impressive portrait of a family in crisis, executed with finesse and assurance."

Kirkus said: 

"Ledger makes medical science interesting and accessible, but her triumph is the creation of Simon, a deeply flawed and magnetic character... Complex, nuanced and engrossing portrait of a doctor's life."

Here's the description:

"Esteemed Baltimore doctor Simon Bear becomes convinced he's discovered a cure for chronic pain, a finding that could become the major medical breakthrough of our time. With reckless zeal and obsessive focus, he begins to recruit patients to test the therapy. As he yearns to prove he's a good doctor—and to make amends for a missed diagnosis years ago—he is oblivious to the pain he's causing at home. His wife, Emily, still struggling to move beyond the devastating loss she and Simon suffered fifteen years ago, realizes she hasn't felt anything for a long time-that is, until a lover from her past reappears and she's forced to examine her marriage anew."

Here's the trailer: 



And, because Kate is so lovely, she took the time to answer my questions! 

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer, or did you have other aspirations? 

I wanted to be a writer ever since Charlotte’s Web was read to me as a kid. Even back then, I liked books that were deep emotional experiences—that would make me gasp, or get teary, or feel like I’d just disappeared into another world and that my own life and well-being was bound up with these fictional characters. I took creative writing classes outside of school every chance I could, even as a seventh grader. For a few summers, I had internships working for newspapers, and even tried on other career ideas—at one point I thought being an immigration lawyer sounded like a really good aspiration—but I kept coming back to fiction. That led me to get a master’s degree in creative writing. And even after I started working at a job as a magazine writer, I was still bent on writing short stories and ultimately a novel.

Do you have any writing rituals, or specific things you do to motivate you while you're working on a manuscript? 


Rituals are great! They can be the tow-rope that guides you right back from the real world into your fictional world. I like mornings better than any time of day, coffee better than any beverage, and the computer better than any other writing tool. Those three things help me get started. I can work in noise—there’s a jackhammer on the street outside my window today—but I don’t like hearing music with lyrics while I’m writing, and can’t work near loud-talkers in coffee shops. I have a quirky belief that the brain wants to problem-solve, consciously and subconsciously, at the same time, all the time. So even when I think a sentence reads well, if I mistype or misspell a word, I believe my brain made the mistake intentionally and is telling me to go back and take a second look at what I’ve typed.

I love the concepts of pain and feeling you work with in Remedies. What inspired this story and these characters? 

Remedies is the story of a troubled family, but the novel was originally inspired by some of the non-fiction magazine writing I’ve done. For years, I’ve worked as a freelance writer, specializing in health and medicine. As I was writing articles on various topics, I was meeting and interviewing doctors and researchers who’d come up with amazing new treatments for patients. What really blew me away was that some of those treatments ran counter to established medical thinking, even though patients seemed to find them helpful. I started to wonder, as I was thinking about fictional characters—what kind of person would come up with a miracle cure? What would he be like? What traits would he have? And I started to write a book about Simon Bear, a well-respected doctor who believes he’s stumbled across a cure for pain.


It seemed like a fascinating topic—a guy who’s discovered something so incredible it may change people’s lives. But as I was writing, I kept wondering: why. Why would he believe he was right? As I thought more about Simon, I began to think that maybe Simon’s zealous desire to treat his patients’ pain came from a reluctance to deal with his own emotional pain. At that point, in my own life, I’d become a mom, and I’d come to regard the world in a totally new way. As I was thinking about emotional pain, I began to think about Simon’s family life, and the things that were most precious to me and closest to my heart. The source of his pain came into focus: Simon and his wife, Emily, lost a child years earlier, but never let themselves grieve. Instead of dealing with their pain, they’ve tried to move ahead with their lives. Simon still blames himself for not having made the diagnosis that might have saved their child’s life, and even years later, he’s still trying to make amends. The story about Simon and Emily’s complicated marriage and their journey to heal grew from there.

As a debut author, what's surprised you the most about the publishing process?


It took me a bunch of years to write Remedies, so it was kind of a shock to transition from a very isolated writing experience to the experience of giving readings and talking about the book with people. The very best part of the experience has been meeting book groups, people who really care about literature and who want to talk about what they experienced as they were reading. I’ve been visiting in person with as many book groups as I can, and like many other authors, am meeting with groups by Skype and speakerphone. Remedies is told from two sides of a marriage, and it’s great to hear people analyze the characters and the nuances of the relationship. I really learn a lot, too, from people who share their own stories.

What are you reading right now? 


I’m reading Rebecca Rasmussen’s soon-to-be published debut novel The Bird Sisters and Caroline Leavitt’s Pictures of You, which was just published recently. I’m also working on a new novel, and I’m reading specifically for that. The next book also has medical themes—and I’m reading several books about the lives of surgeons.

Thank you so much, Kate!


You can learn more about Kate on her website, and follow her on Twitter!

100 Things - 87-90

Yeah, I'm still kind of boring over here, other than the fact that I got to have dinner with the #7 Book Club this week to chat about STAY, publishing, and the writing process.  They were eager for a sequel and full of opinions as to what Diane might be up to these days.  It was awesome.  And I got to hear a very funny story from one of the members about trying to replace her library copy of STAY after it fell in the bathtub.

The #7 ladies (who have been meeting for about 15 years!) are amazing and hysterical, and I had a lovely time.  I love the way meeting with fellow book lovers always seems to feel like a gathering of old friends even if I haven't met them before.

Other than that and lunch with a friend it's been all work and no play around here, with a little laundry thrown in for good measure.  Oh, and my Happy Birthday-Singing Friend (HBSF) missed yesterday, so today I got both a be-lated Happy Birthday call and today's Happy Birthday call.  It was kind of awesome.  I am tempted to figure out how to save all the messages to my computer and post them.  I won't, because I'm not sure HBSF would be too thrilled with it, but I am tempted.

So here's another stab at my 100 Things List.

87.  I desperately miss diner salads from downstate.  The diners up here aren't the same.  I'm not saying they're worse, or better, they just aren't the same.

88. I just re-read The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye and am so happy that it was an influence on me in my formative years.

89. ghhhhhhhhf (that one was from Argo, who seems to think that I would like having a Kong dropped on my keyboard repeatedly).

90. I desperately miss my friends from downstate, even more than salads.

Most recent search terms

I love seeing what keywords bring people to my blog.

Here are the latest:

• valentine's day giveaway
• allie larkin
• stuck in dress
• allie gal
• allie larkin incidents
• allie larkin stay
• get stuck in a dress for eternity
• ally larkin
• dreaded lurgy
• bug hair follicle
• buttless jeans

100 Things - 80-86

So, here's the thing. I'm kind of boring when I'm writing. I can't tell you what's going on with my characters right now, and that's really the bulk of what's going on with me at the moment. But I realized the other day that I started the 100 things meme and stopped at 79 in May of 2009. I think it's time to get back to it!

80. I compose e-mails in my head while I'm away from the computer.  Which is great, until I think I've actually sent the email when I haven't.  I wish there were a way to just download my thoughts and send them.  I've tried dictation software, but it's not effective for me.  So if you feel I owe you an e-mail, there's a big chance that it's bouncing around my brain.

81. I don't like birthdays, so I don't tend to tell people when mine is. One of my friends feels it's unfair that I know his birthday when he doesn't know mine. He's been calling every day since mid-January to sing happy birthday to my voicemail in protest. If you do know when my birthday is, don't tell. Let's see how long he keeps it up.

82. The birthday thing has nothing to do with age, I just like ordinary days better than "special" ones.

83. I have a high tolerance/need for alone time. I absolutely love people and can be incredibly social, but I have learned that I'm most productive when I balance that with time alone.

84. I have a fear of having a fear of heights (Acrophobiaphobia?). At Ithaca, I had to do set construction crew for a show freshman year. I was kind of a tomboy and spent a lot of time climbing trees as a kid. So when they needed someone to climb up to the catwalk, lean over the railing, and grab a backdrop hanging a few feet away, I volunteered, because I thought it would be cool to get to walk around up there.  I climbed up (I think it was 60 feet in the air, but maybe this has turned into a fish story - 40 feet?), got halfway across the catwalk and started to grab for the backdrop. I suddenly thought that if I pulled too hard when I grabbed the backdrop, I could stumble and fall off the other side of the catwalk. The next thing I knew I was on my hands and knees and COULD NOT MOVE. AT ALL. My body completely gave out on me, and it came out of nowhere.  It took the crew chief and a few other crew members about 20 minutes to talk me down.  Someone finally had to come up and crawl back down with me, step by step.  It was mortifying, and so frightening to have my body/mind fail on me that way.  Now, I get major heebie jeebies about heights, but it's not a fear of falling as much as a fear of triggering that kind of fear response.  I never want to feel that frozen again.

85. As a teenager, I worked in an office that played adult contemporary music over the intercom. As a result, I know the words to an obscenely wide array of easy listening songs, which I sing at J when random words/situations remind me of them. For example: Getting a bogie in Wii golf the other day meant J had to listen to me singing this all afternoon.

86. I completely and totally realize how lucky I am to have married a man with such a great sense of humor and incredible patience.

Book Trailer Fridays - Randy Susan Meyers & The Murderer's Daughters

The Murderer's Daughtersby Randy Susan Meyers has gotten rave reviews in hardcover.  It just came out in paperback this week and it's the most recent Target Club Pick, so I thought it would be a great choice for this week's book trailer.

Here's the description:

Lulu and Merry's childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu's tenth birthday their father drives them into a nightmare. He's always hungered for the love of the girl's self-obsessed mother. After she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly.

Lulu's mother warned her to never let him in, but when he shows up, he's impossible to ignore. He bullies his way past ten-year-old Lulu, who obeys her father's instructions to open the door, then listens in horror as her parents struggle. She runs for help and discovers upon her return that he's murdered her mother, stabbed her sister, and tried to kill himself.

For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, shadowing every choice they make. Though one spends her life pretending he's dead, while the other feels compelled to help him, both fear that someday their imprisoned father's attempts to win parole may meet success.

The Murderer's Daughters is narrated in turn by Merry and Lulu. The book follows the sisters as children, as young women, and as adults, always asking how far forgiveness can stretch, while exploring sibling loyalty, the aftermath of family violence, and the reality of redemption.

Here's the trailer:



And here's what people are saying about The Murderer's Daughter:

"Dives fearlessly into a tense and emotional story of two sisters anchored to one irreversible act of domestic violence. " Christine Thomas, The Miami Herald

"How both sisters live, from the squalor of an orphanage to the empty silences of suburban living, is all too believable and heartbreaking." Sarah Weinman, LA Times 'Knock-Out Debuts'

"A gripping tale of sisters Merry and Lulu struggling for 30 years to find their way in the world, one devoted to their imprisoned father, the other enraged at him." Jan Gardner, Boston Globe

You can follow Randy on Twitter @randysusanmeyer  and on Facebook.

What are you reading right now?

A Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Who couldn't use a little extra love for Valentine's Day?

The lovely Kate Ledger, author of Remedies, sent me four copies of The Dogs' Book of Romance -- advice on love and relationships from our four-legged friends -- for a Valentine's Day giveaway!

To sweeten the pot, I've put together a Valentine's gift bag (pictured above) for you and your favorite pup.  Three lucky readers will get a copy of The Dogs' Book of Romance and one lucky reader will get a copy of the book plus a gift bag filled with goodies!

The gift bag includes:

For you:

• A copy of The Dogs Book of Romance
• The Madelaine Chocolate Co. Signature Collection Chocolate Hearts
•  Rishi Tea Fair Trade Organic West Cape Chai
• Sweet Riot Dark Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs

For your pup:

• A MegaLast MegaBall (made in the USA & fully recyclable)
• Newman's Own Organics Heart-Shaped Peanut Butter Dog Treats (Argo's favorite)

To enter, all you have to do is "like" the Allie Larkin Writes page on Facebook.  On Valentine's Day (February 14th) I'll pick 3 book winners and one gift bag winner at random.  

Good luck!