Authors in the Park

In five days, the authors are going to be loose! That's right, local authors from around Central Florida are going to be signing books and meeting fans in downtown Mount Dora.

Authors in the Park will take place Sunday, Dec 16th from 2PM to 6PM at the Mount Dora Community Bldg Green Room (520 N. Baker, Mt. Dora, FL).

Why is it called Authors in the Park if they are in a building? Well, this is our first event and we did not want to take a chance on the weather. We are literally across the street from well-known Donnelly Park and we will have a Welcome Booth set up outside, along with live music performed by the Round Lake Christian Church Youth Band.

Inside, we will have 9 authors representing a huge variety of genres for all ages. There is absolutely something for everyone.

We will also be an official Baby DJ drop off location, as heard on XL 106.7 FM. Who knows, maybe one of your favorite on-air personalities will put in an appearance!

Here is the amazing part: Local Mount Dora businesses, supporting the arts, have donated close to $1000 in gift certificates and merchandise to be used in our gift basket raffle. That means we will have 10 baskets with almost $100 worth of gifts in each. Winning is simple, but you have to attend to win. For every $5 you spend with one of the Authors in the Park, you get one raffle entry. Even if you don't win a basket, you still win with a great book!

Check out the authors scheduled for Sunday:

Janet Beasley

Julie Compton

Jean E. Lane

Amy I. Long

Mark Miller

Theresa Oliver

Amy Sellers

C. Kevin Thompson

Rebecca Wilson-Shore

Can you believe that talent? Who would have thought so many gifted authors live right next door?

Here's some of the fine print. The event is presented by JLB Creatives and MillerWords.com. It is sponsored by the Mount Dora Library Association (www.MountDoraLibrary.org). We would like to thank the City of Mount Dora Parks & Rec Department for their excellent cooperation. We would also like to thank all of the local businesses that have generously donated to our gift basket raffle:

Amy Sellers Art Gallery, Barrel of Books and Games, Copacabana Cuban Cafe, Cupcake Delights, Debbie's Dog Treats, The Frog and Monkey, Gold in Art Jewelers, High Five Frozen Yogurt, Home & Garden Treasures, KaDee Kay Gourmet Kitchen Products, Ken's Place, Long & Scott's Farm, The Lost Parrot, Maggie's Attic, Merrill's Market, Mt. Dora Veterinary Clinic, Mt. Plymouth IGA, Oakwood Smokehouse, The Olde Clock Shoppe, One Flight Up, Permanent Solution Hair Salon, Race Car Diner, Stoneybrooke Publix, Whispering Winds, The Windsor Rose Tea Room

Please visit 

www.FB.com/AuthorsInThePark

to learn more about the authors and our supporters.

Check out the Facebook event page

and let us know you're coming!

http://www.facebook.com/events/351898901573012

What more can I say? We hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas

and Happy Holidays!

Award Winner and a few more

Renaissance is a collection of short stories featuring The Forgotten Well, my Florida Writers' Association award winning story. The collection of four stories is only 99 cents: http://goo.gl/bT8MO

One definition of renaissance is renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc.; rebirth; revival.

The stories gathered here are expressions of that idea. Written at different times, for different reasons, they all share the same theme. I think the idea of renewal is an important part of life. We are always looking for ways to better ourselves. Sometimes, we are not aware of it and we receive a message from an unexpected place. Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a long forgotten memory. Whatever the case, we are given an opportunity that can easily slip by in a momentary encounter or even a dream.

These stories may seem bittersweet, but to me they also represent hope.

The award-winning story The Forgotten Well was selected for the Florida Writer’s Association annual collection. I feel particularly honored for winning as the entrants were judged by peer authors.

Guest Post: Richard Hebert

Okay, here is a fun guy, witty and sharp. I had the pleasure of meeting Richard at the annual Florida Writer's Association banquet. We shared a few laughs and talked shop (writers do that, ya know). So, I tell Richard that I write fiction, mostly fantasy. He tells me he writes metafiction.

What? What is that?

Oh, it's fiction that is aware of itself. As the kids say these days, "Mind=Blown". I must be living a sheltered life, I've never heard of it before that night. It sounds fascinating and I want to try it. In the meantime, here is Richard telling about his novel and a little about himself. 

MINDWARP, A Novella …And Other Strange Tales

A committee of muses sits about the living room of my brain, discussing matters of no great import. A motley group they are, having just finished their pizzas—one pepperoni, one vegetarian, one combo—hold the anchovies.

“Why in the world is he doing this?” asks the chair-muse, finger-flicking crumbs from her robe….

Thus begins a journey into the mind of a “deranged author” (it says so on the back cover!) and his collection of short fiction, MindWarp, a Novella…And Other Strange Tales. Kirkus Reviews, the self-described “World’s Toughest Book Critics,” described the novella and accompanying eight short stories by author Richard Hébert this way:

This scintillating collection…uses offbeat character studies to wrestle with snaky issues of identity and self-knowledge. Hébert’s loquacious, usually anonymous narrators are obsessed with penetrating the riddle of the people around them.

In “MindWarp,” a nameless writer battens for inspiration on Guy, a working-class barfly who is almost elemental in his beaten-down ordinariness. Things get complicated when Guy begins an affair with the feisty, appealing Yolanda; the couple pushes back against the writer’s determination to “warp” their reality into a fictional celebration of heroic failure—until the writer himself seems to become the unstable, increasingly desperate creation of his own story.

Quirky, opaque figures abound in other stories; “Ana, Always,” about a Yugoslavian youth’s efforts to fathom the tragic mystery of a middle-aged woman, is a meditation on family and exile; “Silence,” a somewhat affected tale about a guilt-burdened war veteran who acquiesces in his wife’s affair with an ex-comrade, finds power in the evanescent fracturing of its hero’s personality. Only in “Azazel,” a comic gem about a mythical desert herdsman who tends the world’s scapegoats until the powers that be decide he needs a ritzy California estate in which to receive humanity’s atonement, do we meet a man who thoroughly knows himself.

The author delights in mind games; the title novella is as much a commentary on the conundrums of fictional representation as it is a fiction. Fortunately, Hébert’s writerly conceits are rescued by the quality of his prose; his deadpan realism, mordant wit and acute powers of description ground his flights of abstraction in the soil of experience.

A beguiling blend of high-concept narrative and old-school literary chops.

Kirkus subsequently named the collection to its top 50 list of 2011 “Indie” books.

__________

Hébert is a former award winning investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize nominee; a media relations manager and consultant; a nationally published magazine feature and documentary film writer, and world traveler. Many of his works of fiction, including the stories in MindWarp, were inspired by incidents encountered during his travels in Europe, Africa and North, Central and South America. He currently also writes a political blog – Richard’s Take – from his retirement home in St. Augustine, Florida.

His other published books include a memoir, Life Is Good; a novel, The Questing Beast, and Highways to Nowhere: The Politics of Urban Transportation. 

Mindwarp is available on Kindle: http://goo.gl/sr1zT

It is also available in paperback, BN Nook, and directly from the publisher, Author House.

Signed copies are available directly from the author: rlhebert0906@att.net

I Do Birthday Parties, Too!

Not really.


At least, not yet.


With mega-book chains closing their doors (Borders) and online booksellers battling for eBook domination, authors are faced with the daunting task of connecting with their readers. How do we get our print books out there? How do we connect with our digital readers?

Here's the thing: I love to write. 


Along with that, I truly enjoy meeting fans and aspiring authors. So, I will take every opportunity to get out there and meet some great people. One of my favorite activities is visiting classrooms. I have found that teachers these days do an incredible job of motivating kids to read. When an author walks into the classroom, that is a springboard for their hungry little minds!


Teachers: Please send me emails, I would love to come to your class, at any grade level. If I can't drive to you, then I can use Skype or Google video chat.


Another fun suggestion is that my books can be used for fund raisers. I've done it before. It's unique and leaves a lasting impression.


Take a look at what I've got coming up:


April 18 - Lake County Library System: Local Authors Day - The Lake County Library System is proud to announce the second program celebrating local authors and their books. The Spring Local Authors’ Day will be held in the Lady Lake Public Library on Wednesday, April 18th from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. In addition to meeting some of the best authors from around Florida, participants can enter for a prize drawing sponsored by the Friends of the Lady Lake Public Library. http://tinyurl.com/btkfhvf


May 7 & 8 - Great Wolf Lodge (Charlotte, NC): Home School Week - Comfort Publishing is once again parterning with Great Wolf Lodge Concord for Home school week, May 6-11, 2012! Authors joining us will be Kendra A. Thomas, Mark Miller (The Empyrical Tales) andSherri Gallagher! Book ANY room for $139! Use the code 1205HOME! This is the official debut of The Secret Queen. Exclusive advance copies will be for sale before the June 1st release date. http://www.greatwolf.com/concord/waterpark


June 2 - Barrel of Books and Games (Downtown Mount Dora, FL): Starting at 1pm on June 2nd, I will be signing autographs and answering questions at this fun shop! http://barrelofbooksandgames.com/


I hope to see you at one of my events, plus I will be adding more. Contact me if you would like me to speak to your group, present a creative writing class or help with your fund raiser.

Something Close to Home

I live in Mt. Dora, FL. I work close to home. I shop close to home. On Facebook, I have "friends" all over the world. Turns out, one of those friends is an author that also lives in Florida. Leona Bodie is the Vice President of the Florida Writers Association and she shared a touching story with me recently. It is about two other authors from Florida and I wanted to share it with you.....

Hospice of the Comforter and Florida Writers Association Join Forces to Help One Dying Man’s Final Wish Come True

A TERMINALLY ILL PATIENT’S DREAM IS REALIZED THANKS TO THE DEDICATED EFFORTS OF A VOLUNTEER WITH HOSPICE OF THE COMFORTER, DOUG DILLON.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla… Meet Hospice of the Comforter patient Tony Mancuso. He offers you the best smile he can, given his physical situation while at theGarnet Heart group home in Altamonte Springs, Fla. And meet Doug Dillon, a volunteer with Hospice of the Comforter of Central Florida, whose patient is Tony.

During one of Doug’s visit, he learned that Tony was a writer and before he got sick, published 1,200 copies of his first novel titled, The Lie Catcher, where he uses first names of family members and friends as the first names for characters in his book.The 230-page Christian mystery novel tells the story of Kevin Petty, an ex-FBI profiler, as he struggles to solve a bizarre case for a Central Florida police department.

Finally realizing he would never be able to market his books, Tony told Doug that he would at least like to give them away in hopes that some people might enjoy the story. Meet Doug Dillon, again, also a published author with multiple books, including An Explosion of Being, and a member of the Florida Writers Association (FWA), whose motto for the statewide group is, “Writers Helping Writers”…and this story tugged at his heartstrings.

Doug approached Rose van der Berg, director of volunteer services at Hospice of the Comforter, to see how they might help Tony’s dying wish come true.

Rose loved the idea and together they started distributing copies of the book to volunteers and churches. Included in the book was a letter from Tonyexplaining his situation and asking readers to consider dropping him a note at his group home and telling him what they thought of his work.

Here is an excerpt from Tony’s note: “Please accept this book, The Lie Catcher, as a gift from me to you. I wrote it a while back, hoping to get it out into the world through proper marketing but God had other plans for me. After suffering a debilitating stroke, I find myself living in a group home and under the care of Hospice of the Comforter. So, instead of selling my book, I decided to give it away to people who might find it of interest. It really makes me happy to know that you are taking a copy and I very much hope you enjoy it.”

Over the next few months, over 100 books were distributed and Tony received cards of appreciation from his readers that pleased him to no end.

But Doug was determined to see Tony’s dream come true, so he contacted Chrissy Jackson, president of FWA and asked if there was any way she could help Tony. Chrissy’s enthusiastically responded, “Of course, we can help!” She explained that they could distribute 600 of Tony’s books at the annual Florida Writers Conference in October at the Orlando Marriott Hotel in Lake Mary. Chrissy agreed to put the books into the goody bags for every participant. Rose and Hospice of the Comforter staff prepared 600 letters and books and delivered them to the conference.

To open the event, Chrissy presented the Tony Mancuso project to the 500 assembled writers from across Florida. She outlined the history of the project and made a heartfelt plea for all attendees to glance at Tony’s book and send him a card. She even set up a huge flip chart so people could write notes to Tony. Throughout the conference, people stopped Doug to tell him how much Tony’s story touched them.

Doug enlarged a photo of the himself and Chrissy holding Tony’s book and the signed sheets into a large poster…that and all the newsprint sheets were placed on Tony’s wall, and cards started coming in for him from the other writers. Even as weak as he was, his smile and eyes widened as he looks at what his book had done. “I can’t thank everyone enough for all they did,” he said.

On October 30, 2011, Doug got a call from Tony’s wife, Lynda Mancuso. She was at his bedside in tears. Tony had just died. Doug had shared a kindred spirit with this stranger that became his friend. But as Doug explains, “My experience in life tells me that a part of us continues on after death and I know Tony is okay. And as I think about it, I strongly suspect he held on until after the Florida Writers Conference.”

It is not often in the work of a Hospice of the Comforter volunteer that one can do something extraordinary for patients beyond befriending, but Doug was lucky enough to have that opportunity with Tony. Doug shared his belief about his volunteer experiences, “If you act on what you find, those smiles you get in return will warm your heart forever.”

For more information about Hospice of the Comforter, call 407-682-0808 or visit www.HospiceoftheComforter.org.  

 ###

BOOK: To receive a copy of The Lie Catcher to review, please email your request including your (1) name, (2) company, (3) mailing address and (4) phone number tochristinestickney@hospiceofthecomforter.org

VISUALS: Photos included; for higher resolution images, please contact Christine Stickney at 407-379-0177 (office) or christinestickney@hospiceofthecomforter.org

INTERVIEWS: To speak with Doug Dillon or Rose van der Berg, please contact Christine Stickney at 407-379-0177 (office) or christinestickney@hospiceofthecomforter.org.

About Hospice of the ComforterHospice of the Comforter, the only nonprofit hospice serving in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties, cared for over 23,000 patients and their families with physical, emotional and spiritual support since 1990. Hospice of the Comforter provided more than $500,000 in care over the past year to those uninsured and under-insured. For more information about how Hospice of the Comforter serves the community, call 407-682-0808. Enhanced Resources on www.HospiceoftheComforter.org includes Online Tributes, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance, and English-Spanish Site Conversion.