Birth Certificates, Books, Viggo and Back-of-the-Book Blurb #71

         Something incredible is going to happen on January 2, 2018. I'm going to get my birth certificate.

        Oh, I know most of you are saying, "Big deal. Doesn't Sioux already have her birth certificate?"

        Well, yes I do, but I've never gotten my original birth certificate. I've never seen it. Never got to hold it.

         But on January 2, 2018 adoptees born after 1940 in Missouri will be presented their original birth certificate. This is happening because a bill was proposed and it battled its way into becoming a law. It will have my birth mother's name on it. (I know that information.) Perhaps it will include my biological father's name. (I'm clueless when it comes to that tidbit. I'm also not too hopeful.)

         I will sooo be there, with bells on...

         On August 29 (a little closer to today than January 2) Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Kind (of) America goes on sale. I'm proud of my story "My Ferguson" that appears in this collection because 1) it's about a community I taught in for 17 years and 2) I get to thumb my nose (at the end of the story) at someone who made a very incorrect comment about Ferguson. (Secret Service: I'll be waiting for your arrival.)

      My writing critique friend Linda O'Connell also has a story in the same anthology.

       And now onto book blurb stuff. This one came so easy. I saw the photo and immediately knew what I was going to write about. It usually doesn't go that way. Usually I choose a picture that I have no inspiration about, so I can avoid working on my manuscript even longer stretch a little as a writer.

 Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your book. You choose the genre. Is it a nonfiction piece? Is it a guide for nudists? You decide.

         Write an enticing blurb--150 words or less. (The title doesn't count in the word count.) Blurbs are those enticing bits that prod you into buying the book. Sometimes they're on the back cover of the book. Sometimes they're on the inside front cover. What they always try to do is lure you into purchasing the book. 

          Lisa Ricard Claro was the original creator of this writing challenge. She moved to Florida, and is too busy to host a weekly book blurb, so you're all stuck with me. What is she busy doing? Here's what I found when trolling around on the 'net...

 

   
According to an article I read on the internet, Lisa Ricard Claro is working on ghostwriting Viggo Mortensen's biography. (Whoops. Since you're ghostwriting it, Lisa, perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned your name?) Apparently Lisa has a pond in her backyard and while the two of them were working on this book, Viggo decided to cool off with a dip. What a lucky lady Lisa is.

Swoon. Oh. Okay, back to book blurb stuff.
       

Include your blurb in a blog post. Include a link to this post. Also, link your post to Mr. Linky. Mr. Linky is easy. If you've never done it, you'll be impressed with how simple he is. And then, check out the other blurb(s). It's interesting to see the different directions writers take, given the same photo.

Here's the book cover, along with my blurb:

Mrs. T  Didn’t Pity the Fools

She was tired of it. Fed up. Finally, after 27 years of putting up with it, she decided, ‘Enough is enough.’

Surfing the internet, Mrs. T came up with a plan… and the next day she executed it.

“Mrs. T, my mom wants you to call her. Today. She wants to know why I’m getting a D in language arts. She’s really ticked off at you.”

‘Your mother wants to know why you’re not honor roll material? I want to know why you refuse to put a single word down on paper, day after day…’

Without saying a word, Mrs. T walked over to Brittney, her hand striking fast as a snake, a silver flash hinting at the horror that was happening.

It took a week, and more than thirty students, but finally word got around: Mrs. T loves statement jewelry pieces… (142 words)



What kind of writing success do you want to toot your horn about? And for those who are thinking about playing along, here is the photo for next week:

50%

         A couple of days ago a local thrift store chain (Savers) had a 50% off everything. I wandered around and got a stack of books for my students, thrilled with books that were a dollar or two apiece.

  

            By the time I finished perusing and was ready to get into the check-out line, I saw the line was long. Reeeeeally long. The line had formed a huge internal U, along three sides of the store.

             As we waited, people got to know each other. We chatted. A woman and her (probably) four-year old daughter was right behind me. Behind her was a woman my age (old as dirt). The three of us talked as we moved forward a foot or two at a time. We waited in line for an hour before we got to the cashier.

            Then it hit me: hundreds of people came for a decrease of 50%. What about an increase of 50%? When would that be a welcome thing?

             50% of the time I usually spend on writing every day--on a day when I don't think I have the time to write--could that be a good thing? There were a couple of days this week when I was too busy to write (or so I thought). Normally I spend at least an hour a day writing, so on those busy days, I squeezed in thirty minutes. 50% is better than 0%, right? 

              So how about you? How do you play the percentage game? And on another related note, do you shop at thrift stores? If so, what have been some of your favorite finds?

              And try it. On a day when you aren't planning on writing, try writing for just 15 minutes, or a half hour... and see how far you can get in that short time frame.