Archive for the 'Family Portrait' Category

March 2, 2009 | Book One,Book Stuff,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Family Portrait,Life in General,Movie Queue,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday, I attended the Arizona Book Publishing Association’s “Realities of Publishing: Preparing for the Changes in the Industry” conference. It was an all day event and quite informative. While some of the info had to do with the publishing side of things, there was plenty of info for authors, too. So, here’s what I learned:

~ There are two reason people will buy your book: 1) they’re interested in the book’s topic or genre and 2) people have heard of you or your book. The second reason is what you would call your “author platform”.

~ An author platform consists of:
- Friends and family
- Immediate professional network
- Blog or e-newsletter subscribers
- Those that have attended your lectures/readings
- People who bought your last book

~ In order to find readers (and I mean people who will actually buy and read your book), avoid sites like MySpace (unless you write for teens), sites geared towards authors, and sites where authors hang out. You may find better luck at sites like LinkedIn, Amazon.com, and Facebook.

~ It’s easier to grow an online platform than an offline platform because it’s cheap (free, even) and it grows itself while you’re doing something else.

~ Other ways to market your book:
– Underland Press is doing a “wovel.” An installment is sent out once a week, but you vote on what happens next. Kinda like choose your own adventure. Check it out and you’ll see what I mean.

- send ARC’s (Advanced Review Copies) to list subscribers. If you have a big list, then maybe choose a handful and “surprise” them with an advanced copy of your book.

- Author phone calls to email list subscribers. Set up a conference call with all or a select few of the subscribers on your list.

(more…)

Technorati Tags: Arizona Book Publishing Association, Realities of Publishing: Preparing for the Changes in the Industry, MySpace, LinkedIn, Amazon.com, Facebook, Underland Press

February 1, 2009 | Family Portrait,How coolio is THAT?,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me

Our flight left at 140 today. We got up early enough to eat breakfast at Olympic Cafe in Kapa’a. I bought some cute shorts at ABC General Store

Some things we learned while being here:

~ Yes, traffic does exist on an island. We were in it on a daily basis, but it got worse the day we left. We had to return our rental car by 12 noon and we’d just made it by 10 mins! There are 62,000 people on this island. And there are 72,000 cars, not including rental cars and county cars (police, fire, etc)

~ There is only one main highway and it doesn’t go all the way around the island.

~ If you’re used to living in a small town and having everyone in that town know your business, then the island of Kaua’i is the place for you, retired or not. Otherwise, you can see all there is of this beautiful place in one week. If you can island hop, do so.

~ Our only regret is that we didn’t get a chance to see Waimea Canyon. We were told it’s like the Grand Canyon, but greener.

~ Don’t go in the rainy season. The weather was in the high 70′s during the day, mid 50′s to 60”s at night, but there was always a chance of rain. Sometimes it was torrential, other times just a mist. But it never lasted long.

~ The island is run over with wild chickens. You see and hear them day and night. Don’t feed them, just get used to it.

~ If you’re staying at a timeshare and it includes housecleaning, find out exactly what “housecleaning” entails (the “works” vs clean towels only). Where we stayed was great, but this service in particular was highly unsatisfactory.

~ Bring lots of sunblock. And insect repellent.

Got in at a little after midnight, but didn’t get to bed until about 230am. It’s going to suck going back to work tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: Olympic Cafe, ABC General Store, Waimea Canyon, Grand Canyon

January 30, 2009 | Family Portrait,How coolio is THAT?,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me

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Today was our last day on the island. Mr. Maul and I had no more excursions planned so we explored the island a little bit more…and went back to some places my sister and BIL had hit up while they had the car to themselves.

Our first stop was Island Soap & Candle Works in Kiluea. Located near the Kiluea Lighthouse, this store makes handmade soaps and candles right in their store. So I bought two.

The purple one is Pikake scented and the green one is Rain scented. My favorite candle scents are rain/ocean, cotton/fresh linen, but I kept coming back to that pikake. In the little village of shops there was this uncaged cocatoo. Looks like it was flirting in the first one.

We then hit up a Walmart so we could get T-shirts for my parents. I also bought a couple of magnets. It wasn’t a Super Walmart, mind you, but they had a great selection of Hawaiian wear for cheap. Not as good as Hilo Hattie’s, I’m sure, but still…

We then stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company. There, we learned about, and were able to sample, the different types of coffee the island produced. Turns out Starbucks buys their beans here but roasts them in a different way. Did you know it takes 4,000 cherries (beans) to make one pound of coffee? It’s true. Basically, it takes one whole plant to make a pound of coffee, which is why this place has planted 4 million trees. Yow! Their coffee is really good, too. So good that we bought my parents a package of their Decaf Premium Estate brand.

Then we popped on over to the Salt Pond Beach. Sis wanted to collect regular sand this time, so Mr. Maul and I pulled up a towel and lazed in the shade. It was fabulous. Nice breeze, fluffy clouds…and a monk seal.

Isn’t it cute? They rope off an area where they come up the most and do not allow the public anywhere near them. Just on the other side of this beach area are the salt ponds. This is where the sea salt for the island is harvested, although they don’t do so during the winter.

We then made our way to the little town of Hanapepe to see Aloha Africa perform at the Storybook Theater. If you remember, this is the group we encountered our first day on the island.

The music was great and the dancers were so energetic, I got tired just watching them. No need to go to the gym or watch an exercise video. Just learn African dances and you’ll get all the exercise you need. Show started at 7 and lasted for 2 hrs. We got there a few hrs early, so we explored the main street. Most of the shops were art galleries, but they had the famous Hanapepe Swinging Bridge.

It did have a great view once you got on it, and once I got over the feeling of being on a bridge that was a bit too swingy for my taste. And we checked out the Talk Story Bookstore. I didn’t tell them I was an author, but got a chance to meet a husband and wife author team that had their book stocked there. I bought a used book, some pepper that was made on the island, and said hello to one of their three cats. We were seeing Sweetpea’s kin all over this island. LOL

Great ending to a great vacation.

Technorati Tags: Island Soap & Candle Works, Pikake, Walmart, Hilo Hattie’s, Kauai Coffee Company, Starbucks, Salt Pond Beach, monk seal, Hanapepe, Storybook Theater, Hanapepe Swinging Bridge, Talk Story Bookstore

January 29, 2009 | Family Portrait,How coolio is THAT?,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me

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First of all, I’d like to say that the legs no longer hurt. I think it was the frozen dip that did it. LOL. Today is Day Five and Mr. Maul and I went on our final excursion: Na Pali Coast Cruise with Liko Kauai Cruises. This excursion was 5 hrs long and included snorkeling.

We passed a no-longer-working-sugar cane mill. A lot of the land we saw, a good 73 miles, was nothing but cane fields several years ago.

We saw beautiful cliffs where movies like SOUTH PACIFIC, SEVEN DAYS, SEVEN NIGHTS, JURASSIC PARK and KING KONG were filmed.

And we even saw sea turtles and spinner dolphins.

We do not have pictures of us snorkeling (even though Mr. Maul brought a protective waterproof case for our camera) because we realized that we’re not snorkelers. Oh, we got in the water. It was cold at first, but once we swam around, it got warmer. It was the snorkel gear that took some additional time getting used to. Living in AZ, there’s no opportunity to snorkel. All we have are water parks. I’m used to breathing thru my nose. The mask doesn’t allow for that, so I pretty much had to coach myself to breathe thru my mouth. And try not to hyperventilate. It took a few tries, but I finally got used to it. I never really got used to the flippers and Mr. Maul accidentally kicked one of his off with his other foot. LOL. Luckily, one of our guides was able to dive down and get it. We didn’t see anything worth photographing (not even of us in all our snorkel gear and floaty devices), but we’re glad we at least tried it. It’s why we booked that excursion in the first place.

After snorkeling, the four of us went to Fort Elizabeth. We didn’t actually see the fort. I’m thinking we weren’t quite that close, but my sister found the beach that has black sand and wanted to collect some.

Mr. Maul and I went to Kalypso Island Bar and Grill in Hanalei for dinner.

Tomorrow: more exploring

Technorati Tags: Na Pali Coast Cruise, Liko Kauai Cruises, SOUTH PACIFIC, SEVEN DAYS, SEVEN NIGHTS, JURASSIC PARK, KING KONG, sea turtles, spinner dolphins, Fort Elizabeth, Kalypso Island Bar and Grill, Hanalei

January 28, 2009 | Family Portrait,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me

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First of all, I’d like to say that the legs are a little bit better today. Still tight, but doable. Today is Day Four of our faboo vacation on the Garden Island of Kaua’i and the second day of our excursions. Mr Maul and I went ziplining at Princeville Ranch Adventures. We did the Zip’n'Dip Expedition.

I was a little nervous at first, but ended up having a blast. We had a small group, 3 couples total, so we got across faster. This first pic is of a tabby named Hiker. He reminded me our Sweetpea and he was very friendly. He also has a weakness for cream (as in the little containers of cream you put in your coffee). Isn’t he cute?

These were our guides, Dave and Sherry. They were great. And Dave was hilarious. The first one they snuck in there when they took a pic of me and Mr. Maul at the end. LOL. Sneaky dudes. I think they did that to the other couples, too.

Here’s me and Mr. Maul in the Swiss Army Pinzgauer that took us to the site.

Here’s me ziplining

And actual video of me zipping across the top of trees.

Here’s Mr. Maul coming across

And actual video of him crossing the last one, The Big Kahuna. The quick company plug by Dave at the end is pretty funny.

Here’s me and Mr. Maul at the end

We “zipped” across 8 lines, ate lunch, and took a “dip” near a little waterfall. And might I add that it really was a dip for me. The water was take-your-breath-away-freeze-your-bones-in-30-seconds-flat cold. I jumped in, hopped on my tube, floated the little way down to the wooden stairs and got out. It was a dip. Literally. Even Mr. Maul was feeling the bite, although he stayed in a little longer.

Since my sister and BIL didn’t do any excursions, we let them have the car. And since the drop off point was right near our condo, and it was such a great day, we decided to walk back to the condo. When you’re exiting PRA, you see this sign

LOL. We both immediately thought of Joey Lawrence when we saw it and had to take a pic. We had SO much fun. I’m so glad we did it.

Tomorrow: Na Pali Coast Cruise

Technorati Tags: Princeville Ranch Adventures, Zip’n'Dip Expedition, Swiss Army Pinzgauer, Joey Lawrence