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:

Some Chicken Soup News... and Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday # 63

      A couple of months ago I got the news that a story I'd written had made it over the first hurdle for Chicken Soup's My Kind of America. I kept quiet so as not to jinx it.

      Two days ago, I got an email: my story was in. It made it through the final editorial round and emerged victorious.

      The story "My Ferguson" makes me proud because it tells what the real Ferguson is like. It tells the story of a community that is not one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It tells the story about a particular Ferguson family who started a business in Ferguson because they believe in their neighborhood.

      I hope that if you're a writer and you've gotten dejected because your submissions have been rejected... keep the faith. You never know. Your next piece may get a "yes."

      And now, onto book blurb stuff.

Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your book. You choose the genre. Is it a mystery? (It sure looks mysterious to me.) Is it a romance? (Like, a romance with bad hairstyles?) Is it historical fiction? (Let's hope it's in the past and not in the present.) 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. Currently, she's super busy. She and her hubster are currently basking on the beach in Florida. Leave the sand to do this book blurb stuff? No way. (She's also working on a new novel--I'm sure--so that keeps her occupied in between applying the sunscreen.)

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:

      A Family Affair

It’s 2016… and yet the Aquanet family is stuck in the 1980s.

Arnie Aquanet and his wife Tina went retro when they got married in 2005. Arnie loved Bon Jovi—the early Bon Jovi—so when they started their family, the kids fell right into line with mom and dad. Big hair was an everyday thing. The bigger, the better.

Getting ready for school and for work resulted in a hairspray haze that hung in the house for hours after everyone left.

The destruction of the ozone layer? Everyone has to die… they might as well die cute.

But then the government passes a law. No more aerosol products allowed. Arnie and Tina know the pump sprays do diddly-squat, so they panic.

Will the Aquanets decide to stockpile their favorite hairsprays so they can survive a few more years? Or will they find a new hairstyle they can fall in love with? (150 words)

And for those who like to work ahead (like Val and Pat), here is the photo for next week:

photo by pixabay