Little Penguins, Toy Typewriters, and Other Amusements

OMG OMG I Have an Amazing Event to Tell You About

OK, I know this event is a ways off, but I am just TOO EXCITED and I could not wait until next month to tell you!

To celebrate the publication of the seventh Kopp Sisters novel, Miss Kopp Investigates, I'm going to hold a virtual event with my audiobook narrator, Christina Moore! Chris has been the voice of the Kopp sisters for every single novel, and she does an amazing job voicing those characters. She's a trained actor and she's native to that part of New Jersey, so she understands the accents.

In the old days, when we could travel and do events together, we used to do an event every year in New Jersey when the latest book came out. Chris would get up onstage and do a dramatic reading, and she always blew everyone away with her dynamic performance. So this time, we're doing it virtually so that you can all attend.

Invite your friends! Tell your book club! And if you know anyone who's a fan of audiobooks, this will be a fabulous opportunity to ask an audiobook narrator all your burning questions about the process of making an audiobook.

Go here to register. I cannot wait to see you all there!

Are People in Temporary Jobs Making Permanent Decisions About Your Career?

I read this obituary for guitarist Ellen McIlwaine and I was so struck by what she had to say about her decision to start recording under her own label: “I’m tired of being on labels. It’s people with temporary jobs making permanent decisions about your career.”

This is something I’ve thought about a lot over the years. Once, when a new publicist offered to start handling all my speaking engagements, I told her that she’d need to keep a list of everyone who requested me as a speaker and share that list with me. She was a bit taken aback and wanted to know why.

“Because you’re going to leave,” I said. “Someday, you won’t have this job. But I’ll still be here, doing my thing. And if I don’t have this list, there’s no way for me to go back to these people when I have a new book out, or when I’m coming to their town, and so on.”

I never could convince her to share her list. (I suspect she didn’t keep a list.) And I could tell that she didn’t really see herself as just passing through my career. In fact, she probably thought that I was just passing through her career.

I guess we're all just passing through each other's careers. How do you handle that? Here's more of what I had to say about it.

Here's a Fabulous Glimpse into an Amazing Archive

When we bought our condo here in Portland, the room I immediately claimed for my office was already hung with this fabulous wallpaper.  But it wasn't until I started doing Zooms and people kept commenting on the wallpaper behind me that it occurred to me to find out who actually drew this design. A lot of wallpaper designers are artists with Instagram accounts, I thought. Surely I could figure this out.

It took a while, but I finally learned that my wallpaper was not designed by some up-and-coming artist on Instagram, but by the amazing Saul Steinberg, best known for his decades of work for the New Yorker. And if you think that one's cool, look at his flowers!

Anyway, I now feel that I have a special relationship with Saul Steinberg, and I loved this video showing off a few tasty artifacts from his archives. Those rubber stamps!

The Live Art Demo is a Little Different in August

Instead of our regular free monthly live art demo, I'm doing...a different kind of free live art demo. This one is being offered by Etchr, an art supply company, and it will be held on YouTube. 

But it's still free! And very much like our regular monthly thing.

I do not have a registration link yet, but it's scheduled for August 11, 5 PM Pacific, and it will happen on their YouTube channel and will also be there later for you to watch. (there are loads of free art demos already there if you're interested.)

As soon as I get a registration link, I will add it to my Events page, so you can keep an eye out there, on Facebook and Instagram, and on my blog. 

Also, I'm doing a mini-workshop with them on Aug 29 which costs only $5. Same deal--registration links to come as soon as I have them.

Then we'll resume our regularly-scheduled live art demos in September.

Book Marketing for Authors: What’s Behind Door Number One?

In our monthly writers' chat last month, the group decided they wanted to talk about marketing. But when it came time to offer whatever insights I had on the subject, I was at a loss. Why? Because so much of what has worked for me has nothing to do with the standard list of marketing tips authors are generally confronted with.

What’s worked for me is what’s behind Door Number One.  It's a thing that doesn't get talked about much. I felt weird talking about it with my friendly little group last month. I felt like my thoughts on the subject were not very well organized, and I was kind of figuring it out as I explained it to them.

After our conversation ended, I decided to try to put it all down in writing. So if you're wondering what I mean by Door Number One, or if you're at all curious about what authors go through when they're trying to promote their new book, go here to read the whole thing.

Are you a writer? Do you want to talk about anything and everything writing-related? That's what these free Zoom events are for. Every month, the group decides what we're going to talk about next. In August our topic will be agents--finding one, working with one, whatever you want to talk about. The next one's happening August 30. Here's the link to register. (Also, although I'm only posting this invitation to my newsletter, you are welcome to share the invitation with friends.)

There's a Lego Typewriter, and It Actually Works

Of course it's sold out. I'm just putting it here so you can pine away for it.

Skillshare Is Having a Special Deal This Month

I teach a lot of online classes about writing and art.  Through the end of August, you can get a free month of Skillshare with this link and take as many classes as you want--from anyone--without paying a dime. Usually you only get two weeks free, so that's a little better deal. 

This is the Best New Thing at Trader Joe's

Longtime readers of this newsletter know that I am an indifferent cook, but I am very good at assembling things from Trader Joe's. This is the best new thing on their shelves. It makes for an excellent lunch as a sandwich or a salad. Toss in an extra can of garbanzos, maybe some chopped onion or red pepper, maybe a little more cilantro or just whatever you have in the fridge, and you have basically the same thing but more of it. I got three lunches out of one of these, plus some random veggies in my fridge.

Penguin Town is a Very Charming Television Show

If you like penguins, you will love Penguin Town on Netfix, and if you don't like penguins, I'm a little worried about you. Patton Oswalt narrates. I loved the show so much that I painted one of those adorable penguins and put the painting in my shop. Feel free to stop by my little art shop anytime and have a poke around. You can always see new stuff on Instagram, too.

Virtual Events? I'm Available!

If you run a lecture series or any sort of event series and you need a virtual speaker, you can go here to see the types of virtual events I'm doing now. Feel free to pass this on if you know someone who's putting on these types of events right now.

I Can Send (Some) Signed Books to You

Would you like a signed Kopp novel? I have small quantities of a few titles...or rather, my husband does. Supplies are limited, so get them while they last, and thank you sincerely for your patronage. Go here to browse and order.

What Are You Reading?

Usually I recommend a book in this space, but I have been on a real losing streak this month. I started a couple of well-reviewed new novels this month and couldn't get into either of them.

So instead I'll tell you this story: I found a new sleep podcast called Sleepy in which the narrator reads from an old book with the idea that it will help you fall asleep. For mysterious reasons this particular podcast does not work at all for me and I stay awake through the whole thing. But I did enjoy hearing a chapter from The Secret Garden, a beloved book from my childhood, so much so that the next day, I took over a little unused section of my condo's landscaping, went to the garden center, and stuck a few plants in the ground. It was the first gardening I've done since I moved to Portland, and I enjoyed it greatly. There's the power of a good book, even an old one.