Catching up on Blogging (reading moving along just fine).

Well, I finished What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman Very enjoyable read from Book Angel (thank you very much). I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Then I picked up and finished Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger . It was a perfect read for my trip to the Dominican Republic. It was fun and light, a cinderella story of sorts. It had just the right touch of romance. My friend Stephanie gave me this one... 3 of 5 stars.

Now I am on to The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland I am loving every minute of it. Another hand-me-down from Stephanie (I like this girl's reading habits).


Dolly's book is printed, we sent for the Copyrights. Now I am working on the cover letter.

Reading like CRAZY! Loving the latest from Book Angel

Well Book Angel struck gold this time with WHAT THE DEAD KNOW by Laura Lippman I know it is good storytelling because I am reading it every chance I get.

A driver who flees a car accident on a Maryland highway breathes new life into a 30-year-old mystery—the disappearance of the young Bethany sisters at a shopping mall—after she later tells the police she's one of the missing girls.

PEOPLE...It doesn't get better than that... Probably a few more days of reading to go...I'll let you know if the end is as good as the beginning.








In case you are wondering, Dolly's book is coming along...I hope this is the weekend to finish. I need to read through the book, provide my final comments and get the final draft out for review.

Hey...anyone reading Mediawiredaily.com lately? Bertelsmann is a hot topic. Really not missing my Bspan days.

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini

Do you see how my reading pace picks up with a WONDERFUL book? I just finished A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS. I read it on the bus and had to push myself to walk over the bridge instead of stealing a few more minutes riding on the train so I could get some extra reading in.



Today I decided that Khaled Hosseni is the new Maeve Binchy (remember her?). His books are filled with characters, plot twists and turns, romance and sorrow and ironic endings.

FROM PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY (I couldn't explain it better).
The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny—"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"—is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.


I loved this book cover to cover and was sad when the magic was over. Looking forward to Hosseini next writings! I give this book 4 out of 5.


Book Angel Strikes Again
Got another package from Book Angel featuring DANGEROUS ADMISSIONS by Jane O'Connor and WHAT THE DEAD KNOW by Laura Lippman. I'm busy rereading Dolly's Memoir, Rebel Teacher, but as soon as I am done, I will be work on these.

I've got some work to do!

Picked up a few must haves for the Reading List this weekend. I took a trip to the mall right after working with Dolly for 8 hours making edits to her book.

Dolly's book REBEL TEACHER is coming great. I we have about 10 more chapters of editing to do and then I hope to shop around. If she can push through her narcolepsy, I think we will be done by next weekend.

I actually purchased the US and Canada Edition of 1,001 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOUR DIE. After a quick skim at the bookstore, I realized that the World Edition is way too ambitious. The US/Canada edition is no piece of cake either. Its sad...I know my parents took me to quite a few of the places listed but I don't remember much about them. I don't think they count if you don't remember.

Anyway, I am very excited about the other 2 new reads THE KITE RUNNER and A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS. However, right now I'm working on Debborah Crobie's WATER LIKE A STONE, a small gift from Book Angel.



Hey...you can see The Dixies, authors of my last read, I GAVE YOU MY HEART BUT YOU SOLD IT ONLINE blogging on www.avonromanceblog.com.

Dolly's Book - Just a few more chapters to go!

I've been working with Dolly for over 6 months now. When I first started going to her house, she had pads and pads of chapters to type. I knew it was a big job, but the process was slower than I expected, because I soon learned that there was almost never a chance that I could get away with going to her house without at least one hour of her reading or talking to me, and/or giving me a life lesson (dieting, gambling, dating, fighting or self-defense) to think about.

My favorite day with Dolly was when she called me and asked me to lunch. I told her that I was going to lunch with my friend Jen from High School, and that Jen wanted to help type the book. (Jen was anxious to get a glimpse at the story and I knew Dolly would be happy to know that she wanted to help.) Dolly told me to bring Jen to lunch too. Her treat. Dolly ends the conversation with, "But do me a favor...I want to go to a nice Italian place for lunch." I ask her where she wanted to go, but she has no suggestion.

I pick Jen up at her house at around 12:00 and ask her about "nice Italian places" on the way to Dolly's. Jen names a few, but I know they won't meet Dolly's standards. We pick up Dolly and she is all smiles. I tell her where I thought we should go, and she says..."No, that place is no good. I know a place - Bella Mama's"

We go to Bella Mama's and Jen orders Lasagna, I order Eggplant Rollatini and Dolly orders a steak. We eat the bread and a salad, and then the food comes out. Half way through the meal, Dolly says that she should have ordered the Lasagna. She calls the waiter over, says "Take this Steak back. Bring me Lasagna." The waiter shrugs his shoulders, and 15 minutes later comes out with the Lasagna. Jen and I have already finished our meal and we are stuffed. Dolly tells us we have to eat more. We order coffee and dessert. Now we are really stuffed.

The bill comes and the steak is not included. Dolly calls over the waiter and says " I'm not paying this bill until you put the Steak back on." The waiter says, "but you didn't eat it." Dolly raises her voice, "Yes, I ate it. Put it on the bill." He looks at me, and I mouth "Just put it on." As Dolly pulls her purse out of her bra, Jen and I offer to pay. Dolly says, "Get out of here." When we offer to pay the tip, she says "What are you talking about! What is wrong with you...pay the Tip?" We finish "Lunch" at 3:00.


Back at Dolly's, Jen gets to read the first 8 chapters of Dolly's book. Dolly and I sit across from her watching her read and shake her head in amazement. Dolly keeps asking Jen if she likes it. Jen says, "yes...it is amazing!" Dolly smiles and giggles at Jen's reaction. When Jen finally makes a comment, she gets yelled at..."What do you mean more details!?!!! That's what happened. That's all I can write! You don't get it." I try to defend Jen, but then I get yelled at. Dolly leaves the room and I laugh with Jen that it is just like High School. Jen got yelled at again later in the evening for something similar. I didn't defend her this time. I told her she was on her own.

Around 6:00pm, Dolly tells us that we are eating over for dinner. Jen and I tell her that we can't, we are full. Dolly tells us that we have to eat...her daughter cooked for us. We sit at the table with Dolly's family, and our plates are piled with food. Dolly has nothing in front of her. I say, "Dolly, aren't you eating?" She says, "What are you crazy? I'm not eating. I had a big lunch. I'm full."

Over time, I have managed to put 18 very colorful chapters on the computer...Each one surprises me and gives me more insight into her character. It usually takes me about 3 hours to type a chapter, so that's over 54 hours of fingers to the keyboard. Dolly says we only have a few more chapters to go. (Dolly also promises that we have plenty of material for a sequel. Hopefully we'll need her to do one.) Then we proofread, make corrections and start shopping the book around.

I am really excited. First to see the book finally completed...something that Dolly has been talking about for years. When I told Dolly's husband that she said the book was going to be finished in June, he said, "Oh yeah, What year?" Then I am just excited to see what happens with it. I would love to see it take off.

All my life, I have been reading and reviewing books. Now I am getting ready to go on the other side and try to sell one to the publishers. This is as good as it gets.

A Book of My Own - Snapfish

So another story related to Dolly. I was going to China for a trip with some friends this past January. Dolly calls me and says "Barbara, do me a favor. Take lots of pictures, but just don't take pictures. Write down what you see and feel." Oh great,I thought. That's exactly the type of writing that I hate. I'm not that deep. I see a nice temple as a nice temple. Nothing more, nothing less. Still, I promised her I would. She closed the conversation with, "I promise to give you an A." Dolly.

So in the two weeks of visiting Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai,I had a half-assed journal and about 800 photos, plus another 2000 that my friends took. The first night back I sat with my parents at the computer. After about photo #500, I lost them. They started yawning. I knew I had to make viewing my photos easier.

It was then that I decided to make a book on Snapfish. My friend Cam had introduced me to their books when she showed me a book she made for her son about a trip to the beach with Grandpa. I was amazed by the quality and the price. The base price for their hard cover color books is $20 for 20 pages. You can't beat it.


My book was 100 pages. It cost me about $100 (I'll tell you in my next post on how to get cheaper). It was PERFECT. Everyone looked at the book in their own time. They read my observations and was impressed with the quality. Dolly gave me an A.

Here's how I did it:
1) Uploaded all 800 photos to Snapfish.

2) I picked a template - Cover color (RED) and used the TRAVEL background.


3) I came up with a few themes that I thought would be interesting to others and good to remember:

* Why I went on this particular trip and the story around planning it.

* What remarkable things happened (by city)...and a little about how I felt when I was there. I focused on the funny/ironic parts. The stories helped explain the photos I chose, in addition to the small details I included in the captions.

4) I used as many of the full page images I could, I added multi photo layouts to help support my storytelling.

Tips I learned in the process:

Write everything in MS Word. There is nothing worse than finding typos after the book is in print.

If you are wordy like me, get used to editing yourself. The text only template only holds about 1,000 characters. The captions are limited to about 40 characters. You got to say it concisely or get very creative on how to trick the system (I'll talk more about this tomorrow in my next post).

A large quanity (like 800) photos can make Snapfish a little (more like really) slow. Quite a few times I had to restart my computer. See if you can break your photo albums that feed the book into managable quantities. When you are done loading the photos, remove them from the photo picker section. This will keep Snapfish running smoothly.

Don't forget to save your work...often. If your computer craps out, or you click on the wrong link, your work is lost. Snapfish will then refresh back to the Project page, and you have to reload again, but the extra few seconds is better than hours of hard work lost.

If this is a real keepsake, make more than one copy. Everyone puts their grubby hands on your book. Next thing you know it looks like the worn out copy of Cat in the Hat at the Dr's office. Make two (25% discount on Duplicate orders) and put one away for safe keeping.


I made a different book this past month as a memorial for my grandparents. That's a whole other story. I'll share tomorrow.

snapfish

Saturday's with Dolly

For the past 6 months I have been working with my old High School English teacher, Dolly Denaro typing her memoirs, entitled Rebel Teacher.

Dolly is 78 years old and a character in herself and my days with her are interesting to say the least.

I first met Dolly when I was a Sophomore in High School. I had gone on a trip to England on a school trip. Dolly came along...but she didn't go on any of the tours with us, she would go off during the day to gamble. (In telling this story to other people, they usually say, "I didn't know there was gambling in England"...well Dolly sure did). Every night she would meet us for dinner. I'd sit and talk with her while we waited for the group to show up. She'd tell me all about her adventures playing craps . I remember her taking the chaperone's money and promise to double it. And I believe she did.

In my Senior year she cornered me in the hallway and asked me if I was taking her college writing class. I said "I guess so." There were about 15 of us who did. We had Dolly right after lunch. If you saw us in the cafeteria, you'd find a somber bunch. None of us looked forward to her class. We never knew what to expect with Dolly, but we knew one of us was going to get yelled at, and/or receive our paper back with a big red "NO" written across it. My friend Tricia got thrown out of Dolly's class for smiling. She is still traumatized by this.

Dolly's motto was, "In college you will be marked holistically and would get an A on your paper, but I am going to give you the grade that you deserve." We had to write 7 papers..."Teenage Suicide, The Holocaust, Drugs Addiction, Euthanasia..." were the topics I remember. We had to keep rewriting until we got it right (by Dolly's standards). Some of were still rewriting the first paper by the end of the semester. But in college...we all got "A+." We all said "Thank God for Dolly."

Dolly and I got back in touch after 12 years at a Poker Fundraising event at the High School. It was on a Tuesday night. I was there just to check out the event, and Dolly was there to gamble. She showed up late and had to wait for a table to open up, in the meantime she talked to me. I gave her my card, and thought that would be it. I was wrong. The next day she called me...and in her signature way, she "invited me" to dinner. The conversation went along the lines of, "Sanchez, I want to take you to dinner. How about Friday? You pick me up."

The dinner was filled with stories of her life. She told me that while she was teaching at the high school she owned a disco and a bar. She told me about her book, and I volunteered to type it. She said that I'd have to go to her house to do it because she doesn't want anything to leave the house.

So I've been going to her house almost every weekend since we first met. Although its not just typing. Sometimes she likes to read to me what she has written before I type it. I get the color commentary as she reads through..."This really happened, Barbara." I get phone calls at all hours, "Barbara, its Dolly, can I read what I wrote to you?" I had to put a stop to the 6:30am calls, but otherwise I love to hear her stories. She always tells me that once we finish the book, she'll find me a good guy.

Dolly often says that she doesn't know how I came into her life, (why were we at that event...why did she show up late) but she is so thankful for me. Apparently lots of people have offered to help her type, but only a few got past the first chapter. I'm thankful for her too. I really enjoy the time I spend with her.

We've got a few more chapters to go. The book is fulled with colorful stories from her days in Brooklyn and then her life as a teacher. I can see it as a movie as well as a book. I would choose Madonna (from A League of Their Own) to play her.

Dolly's goal is to get her book published (before she dies she tells me) and give her money to the nuns who helped her growing up...the list of people she wants to give to gets longer and longer every time I talk to her. I just want to get her published and then let God do the rest.

Warning: This book is POWERFUL

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom- I read this book a few years ago, but it touched me in a way I can barely understand today. It is a simple story. I started the book on the way home from work and just about finished it on my way back in the next day. By the time I got to my stop on 42nd street, I had about 5 pages left to go. I was a wreck. I had tears running down my face and I couldn't stop crying. I sat on one of the benches across from Radio City, and sat there and read to the end. It was 9:15 and I was late for work.

It wasn't the story itself, that was very simple. It was how the story made me think about my life and the people in it. Those who had been a part of my life for long periods of time, and those only for a fleeting moment. Was it my deceased Aunt that I took for granted, that I loved and hated at the same time? Was it my Granny who died when I was nine, someone who my mother loved so much that she cried when her parents told her that she could not take Granny out for a day in the park (because she was too sick)? Or Was it someone that I passed on the street who I never considered, was it someone I was mean to, without knowing I was being mean?

Anyway, I finally made it to work at BookSpan. I had to walk by my boss's office to get to mine. As I passed a few of my coworkers saw I was late, and I was upset. I closed my office door and collected myself. When I went into my boss's office a few minutes later, everyone in the room wanted to know if I was okay. I told them for the first time in my ten years reading books for this company, I cried. I had heard it happening to my colleagues, but never experienced it myself. I said: " You know this book...be careful, it is very powerful"


Three years later, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom still touches me. I think about it often. This weekend when I volunteered in a nursing home serving Thanksgiving Lunch to seniors and their families. One woman asked me to help call her son who was picking her up, I got the front desk to make the call, hoping the number was a real number, it was, and she was so thankful. For me...Big deal, I made a phone call (to her it was a BIG DEAL).

Today I had dinner with a woman who was my HS English teacher, Dolly. She's was a character then, and hasn't changed in 15 years. I saw her at a recent poker event at my high school. A week later she calls me for dinner. I was shocked. We had a great time. She told me stories of her childhood and then read me chapters from a book she is writing. I felt so lucky. Big deal (to her and to me).

I think I gave my copy of the book away. I have to get another one. I think I want to read it again. THat's how powerful it is.

I read the latest by Mitch Albom, FOR ONE MORE DAY. I liked it, but not as impressed as this one. I give it a 2 out of 5. Albom did okay with this one.