The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Why I Hate Mary Karr and Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday # 25

       A couple of evenings ago I saw Mary Karr's talk on memoir. I was seated surrounded by Lynn Obermoeller, Linda O'Connell, along with Marcia and Jim Gaye.

      I'll post about her talk on Tuesday. Every thing about the night was wonderful. Karr was full of great advice on how to get published. ("Learn to write well.") She was full of confessions. (Sometimes she felt like eating Ho-Hos all day, and was Catholic "but probably not the Pope's favorite Catholic.") She was full of family tidbits. (Her mother was amazed when Karr got an advance for her memoir The Liar's Club. "You mean you get to keep that money? Even if the book doesn't sell?")

     However, as I watched her stride across the room, owning it, in her size 2 white pants and sky-high sandals, wearing her wrinkle-free face, a deep hatred started rumbling around in my heart.

     And when I heard she was 61, I declared my hatred for her--to her face. (She of course thanked me when she heard why I hated her.)

      On Tuesday I'll post more about Mary Karr... and now onto Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday (I know. It's now Saturday, but we were in a car dealership all afternoon and evening and during the day I was at work 'cause, you know, I retired and then went back to work and my knee is really bothering me and if I don't stop this whining I'm gonna have to serve some crackers and some decent cheese to you and Velveeta doesn't count.)


  • Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your book.
  • You choose the genre. A mystery? A coffeetable book full of strange dog photos? A historical piece? You decide.
  • Write an enticing blurb--150 words or less. (The title doesn't count in the word count.) Lisa Ricard Claro is the original brains behind this writing exercise. Her third romance book just came out in July (Love to Win) so right now she's booked solid, doing book signings in Europe (mostly in France) as she does double duty--she's selling her novels and constantly on the look-out for Johnny Depp. Or Juliet Binoche. Or Maurice Chavalier statues.
  • Include your blurb in a blog post. Include a link to this post. 
  • Link your post to Mr. Linky. Mr. Linky is easy. You don't have to buy him a drink or anything. If you've never done it, you'll be impressed with how simple he is.
  • Check out the other blurb(s). It's interesting to see the different directions writers take, given the same photo.
  • And most importantly, have fun. This is supposed to be enjoyable.
Here is the photo and my lame-o blurb:





One Strange Dog

         Fo-Fo was one strange dog. He was a golden retriever and yet he was aloof. Unlike every other golden, he didn't have human contact too high on his priority list. Fo-Fo was content to spend most of his life waiting... waiting to be a missile.
        This golden boy wasn't made to do anything that took any smarts but he was designed to fly across fields after a ball, a stick, a disc—anything that could be thrown. Fo-Fo lived for racing like a missile in frequent games of fetch.
         But then Fo-Fo's family starts spotting a stranger—often seen walking in front of the house or sometimes just standing in front of their house, seemingly lost in thought.
And then one afternoon, Fo-Fo disappeared. The gate was still closed. No holes were dug under the fence... and the stranger was gone as well.

        Where did Fo-Fo go? (145 words)






        And dig in... Here is the photo for next week:






12 comments:

  1. You stole Fo-Fo! I know a thinly-veiled work of not-fiction when I read it. Just because you left out the details of wearing your son's hoodie and your husband's boots, don't think I'm not on your trail. Crime doesn't pay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Val--When we had Fo-Fo, we briefly tried to get rid of him. But luckily for us, we realized he was a keeper.

      Delete
  2. Size two pants!!! In her 60s!!!! No wonder she is on your dark list. I have cancer and chemo chaos and not even my ear lobes measure size 2!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Claudia--You understand. My nose hairs are even size 14.

      Delete
  3. It wasn't me, honest!! Now I wonder who got Fo-Fo! I love these blurbs but sometimes I wish they were real books!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat--Perhaps one day one of these blurbs WILL grow into a real book.

      Delete
  4. Who or what took FOFO and how can we be as successful as Mary Karr? Keeping me awake at night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda--I know, I know. I think Karr has more talent in her little finger than I do in my whole body.

      Delete
  5. You keep posting "next week" pictures that grab my eye. Spam with bacon? Talk about a love-hate relationship with food!

    Pat
    www.patwahler.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat--You don't think the addition of bacon is overdoing it?

      Delete
  6. Fo-Fo will find his way home again. I'm certain of it. :) Mary Karr sounds delightful. I've heard of Liar's Club but never read it. It's on my list now---I think I already said that in a previous comment. Anyway, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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