Trailer, Take 3

It was River’s turn this time (Silver Seas PR and my go-to guy for marketing). He still thinks the trailer is too long, but he claims Take 3 is better than Take 2, which was better than Take 1.

It’s always a good idea to be on the upswing instead of the downturn, isn’t it?

And I really, really don’t want it to be much shorter because of the song. I love the song, the words, the tune.

Your thoughts?

 

Learning a new skill: The Trailer Revisited

(Or, it’s back to school for me.)

Editor Linda Yezak donned a flak jacket before writing to tell me what was wrong with the Sailing out of Darkness trailer. When I said that I LOVE constructive criticism, she breathed a sigh and shed the jacket. “I was sweating in there.”

I don’t know about you, but when someone I respect makes suggestions, I’m going to listen. Why? Because I want to learn to be the best “me” possible. I knew I wouldn’t be sending my work to Hollywood, and I also knew professionals could have done a better job than I, but I can’t afford the professionals and thus am grateful for all the help someone offers.

Now, it’s time to move on. Get back to my rewrites. Get the house cleaned for my daughter’s visit. In other words, stop tinkering with Animoto and get to work.

But before I do that, here’s the shortened, updated, edited version. What do you think?

 

 

Marketing, Stage 2: Becalmed’s Book Trailer

 

Some authors and social media experts have suggested that book trailers aren’t worth the effort in terms of sales. Maybe not, but I love watching them. And I’ve wanted one for my books. Only, I hadn’t a clue how to make one. Until today.

I’ve been studying trailers, and I really love the ones that use live action and actors. But I don’t have that capability myself, nor do I have the money to pay an expert to do it for me.

So. I looked at several how-to videos and picked the method that seemed most user friendly for a novice videographer. Yes, I upgraded from free to not-as-free-but-still-shy-of-the-pro-version of Animoto. And I paid for a couple of videos from istockphoto. But we’re not talking big bucks. And this, my friends, is what I produced. I do hope you like it, because I’m feeling like a proud mama.

 

 

 

Becalmed

 

 

The Ripple Effect: A Word Gift to This Writer

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A stone plopped into water formed ripples, creating concentric circles that moved out from the center and subsided gradually if nothing impeded their progress. Whether or not they ever came to a full stop, Teo wasn’t scientist enough to know. It looked to him as if the molecules touched by movement became propelled in an infinitely wider arc, slower perhaps as they achieved distance, but still there, still moving, still affecting other molecules and pushing them to confront whatever lay in their path. (from page 335, Sailing out of Darkness)

A writer sends her work out like that stone plopping on water, hoping the ripples will touch readers. Rarely have I read a review of my work that showed just how deeply someone had been moved. I hope you’ll indulge me as I share them with you. I am humbled.

From a Goodreads reader came this five-star review:

“Our favorite literary characters are written indelibly into our hearts as we experience them living out the very pains and hopes which have been written deeply onto our souls. Normandie has a gift of writing wounded characters to life, characters who publicly reflect the wounds we keep private. As I read of Sam and Teo’s relational struggles I began to recognize the same struggles in my life. With the turning of each page I saw more and more how my present relationships are dictated and even defeated by my past rejection. Actually, as I connected with Sam I realized that I most likely became a “water person” due to past relational rejection. My boat is my safe refuge from destructive people and pain, but Sam story encouraged me to put my past fears and failures behind me and to step out in faith! This book has restored a hope to my heart, a hope for new and exciting relationships with unexpected people in unplanned places! Normandie, thank you for writing Sailing Out of Darkness!”
I am so very grateful.
And now Happy Resurrection Day to each of you.
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He is risen!

Wonderful Review: Sailing out of Darkness

I admit it: I’m a terrible blogger. There’s so much else I’d rather do, like work on my next book or read or spend way too much time on social media, checking in with the world on that huge, huge time-hole called Facebook.

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And, no, the picture above has absolutely nothing to do with a review or with wasting time. I just like it…and can’t wait to get out on the water again.

Anyway, back to the review. The first words made me giddy:

“Normandie Fischer is at it again–illustrating the complex heart of the mature woman. Hers aren’t the novels of first love and high hopes for the future. They aren’t aimed at fresh-faced youngsters looking for romance–and a husband, children, and a house with a white picket fence. They’re aimed at women who have already been there, and wear the tarnish to prove it.”

So writes author and editor Linda Yezak. Isn’t it a great beginning?

Yes, I write about tarnished folk. Women such as I who need a bit of buffing every so often to bring out the shine.  You can read the rest of her kinds words on her blog:

77 Peppermint Place

Check her out.

(Oh, and the last words of her review took my giddiness to the next level.)

 

 

 

Contrasts: In Search of Happiness

This essay made its first appearance in 2010 on This Southern Gal’s View of the World when blogger Linda Apple asked me to write a guest post while we were still cruising in Mexico. Wednesday morning, I received a worried query from friend and critique partner Robin Patchen. Did I have something I could send for her group blog? Immediately? As in right then? Which, of course, led me to my writing folder.

Now, making its second appearance in the blogging world, “Contrasts” is up at Quid Pro Quills.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll read there, along with some fun pictures from along the way:

SV in the Rocks at PA
Anchored in Mexico

 

Sipping an espresso on New York’s Upper East Side at an elegant sidewalk restaurant, I felt worlds away from the trash-strewn streets of the garment district through which I’d passed that morning. I had the same experience when I visited cities in Jordan years ago, and then later in Lebanon. I remember rolling rice into a ball as I ate from a plate of mansuf at the home of middle-class Jordanians. We were mere kilometers from the King’s palace, where riches slipped through jeweled fingers instead of outward to alleviate that nation’s poverty and the squalor of the refugee camps.

me in Jordan
In a Jordanian church 1969

The rich of New York or Amman inhabit the same city as the poor, and the poor like it not. “The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus said. Which I suppose means that we’ll always have the rich with us as well.

The assumption seems to be that the rich fare better than their poorer brethren. But I’m not all that convinced that the rich neighbors in New York or Amman bask in the sublime either. There’s never quite enough, is there? Never quite enough money or things or good times or love. For either group. So, who lives in the greatest poverty?

Read the rest by clicking here.

Mexican workers
Mexican workers

Actors to Play Characters in Sailing out of Darkness

I love Facebook and my interaction with friends. John Pelkey was the first to come up with actors he thought would be perfect for Becalmed‘s characters, so I set up a Pinterest Board for them.

After beginning Sailing out of Darkness, Kimberli Buffaloe fell in love with Teo, and we began playing with the idea of characters for it. John Pelkey joined in this morning with some more great picks after finishing the book. I don’t see in these terms when I write, so I love what these readers have come up with.

Click here to see what they’ve come up with so far. I’d love to hear your thoughts on their choices. Do you have others to suggest?

And what about settings? Kimberli said she has some thoughts on how the settings in Sailing out of Darkness fit the story. What do you think?

Sailing PUff