Kristin Butcher... has novel ideas

A recent discussion on the CWILL (Children's Writers and Illustrators) listserv has sparked my creative fires. The topic is book trailers, the latest means of promoting books. Like movie trailers, they use images, sound effects, language, and music to catch viewers' attention and, hopefully, inspire them to buy the book. Writers post these trailers on their websites, YouTube, and anywhere else on the Internet they can find.

For over a month now, I've been avoiding a couple of little jobs indirectly related to writing. Firstly, there's the stapled mass of papers sitting on my desktop that I consciously pretend I can't see. Then there's the email in my inbox that's been there so long I doubt it would disappear even if Ideleted it. These are requests from my publishers for an author profile and photograph. So, actually it's only one job; it's just that I have to do it twice.

So what's the big deal? Write a little bio, add a cute anecdote or two, chuck in a photo, and I'm done.

Right?

Wrong.

Cool!

I've had the advance, and I've even received some royalties, but I don't have a copy of the book, and until just a few minutes ago, I didn't even know if the German publisher had changed the cover of The Trouble with Liberty. Well, as you can see, it is the same as the original -- except for the title. What I want to know is how four words could be reduced to one. Something tells me the title is not a literal translation. Hmmm ...

... is that it can get in the way of being a reader.

Before I became a professional writer, I was a voracious reader. Once I got my nose into a novel, I was hard-pressed to put it down. I gobbled it up and it gobbled me. I couldn't read fast enough and the books couldn't be fat enough. I hated to see the pages dwindling away. I was so involved with the story that I didn't want it to end.

Now that the Egypt revisions are back in the publisher's hands and Book II of the Zach & Zoe series is on the editor's "To Be Read" pile, I must push on with the rewrite of Return to Bone Tree Hill. With all three books scheduled for Spring/2009 releases, it's a constant juggling act.

The Egyptologist has finally finished vetting my book on ancient Egypt, and when the editor said he was couriering the manuscript to me to make the changes a.s.a.p., I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I had visions of LIAR, LIAR, LIAR!!! scrawled across the whole thing in bright red ink. Not that I knowingly lied, but I'm not generally a writer of non-fiction, and I suspected that my natural bent to make stuff up might have pushed its way into the manuscript without me realizing it.

I'm not a good traveller. I hate being trapped in a cramped airplane seat for even an hour. I hate living out of a suitcase and donning wrinkled clothes that I know I ironed before I left home. I hate forgetting my hair dryer or a pair of earrings. I hate being without a vehicle. I'm not crazy about hotel rooms either -- they are boring, and unless I'm sightseeing, there is often nothing to do. Then, of course, there are passports, vaccinations -- oh, yes, and the cost of travelling. I don't even want to think about that.

Okay, I know it's been forever since I wrote in my blog (or anywhere else for that matter), but I'm officially finished procrastinating, holidaying, slacking-off, playing hooky, etc., and I'm back at the helm, so look for more regular blog entries from me in the future.

For starters, here's a collage of photos from my Zach & Zoe and the Bank Robber book launch. It was great fun, and as a result of all the wonderful people who bought copies of the book, the novel is currently on Coho Books bestsellers list.

Multi-tasking -- that is one of the buzz words of our time. Can you simultaneously walk and talk? Then you are multi-tasking. Watch television, file your nails, and drink a cup of tea? Multi-tasking. Run the dishwasher, heat a muffin in the microwave, play a CD, and brew a pot of coffee. Now you're really multi-tasking.

Everyone multi-tasks. Even me -- except I do it one task at a time.

Take today, for instance. I turned on the computer to find a raft of emails in my in-box. I knew I had to deal with them, but first I had to do my daily jigsaw. There is no way I can think about working until I get that puzzle out of the way. My husband delivered my coffee, so I didn't even have to worry about that.

Today I abandoned my computer and spent the day roaming the quiet country roads of Quadra Island in search of artists' studios. It wasn't that difficult a task, partly because a friend acted as navigator and partly because this was an organized tour, so the studios were clearly marked with signs, AND we had a map. The studios were open to the public from 10 until 4 -- which we had thought would be plenty of time -- but even with six hours, we still didn't get to a Native carver, a glass blower, a plaster sculptor, a guitar maker, a photographer, and a couple of painters. Next year, for sure.