Publicity Course

*****PERMISSION TO FORWARD*******

Innovative Publicity Basics for Authors (New and Hopeful) with Lauren Cerand

Sponsored by: Heart of Dixie http://www.heartofdixie.org
Dates: July 1-14, 2008
Deadline to Register: June 15

CLASS DESCRIPTION:

p>New York-based independent publicist Lauren Cerand walks you through the fundamentals of literary publicity right up to the cutting-edge. This courseconsists of six instructor-led lectures, three open "Q & A" sessions dedicated to your topics, and three small but significant homework assignments. Content will be useful to authors in any genre and at any level of expertise.

INSTRUCTOR BIO:

Lauren Cerand (www.laurencerand.com) is an independent public relations representative and consultant in New York. Her clients are a purposefully eclectic mix of creative professionals, and she specializes in generating initial buzz and building sustained attention for individuals and projects such as Barnes & Noble's "Upstairs at the Square" series www.bn.com/upstairs. She is often asked to share her innovative perspective on publicity and has spoken to audiences at the at the 20th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair, Book Promotion 101, Mystery Writers of America, NYU's Center for Publishing, The (Downtown) Omaha Lit Fest, Penguin UK (video clip), Virginia Festival of the Book, Word of Mouth, Women's National Book Association, and next at the Nebraska Summer Writers' Conference (June 14-15, 2008). The Village Voice included her in its "Best of New York" (2004) issue. She is the vice chair of the board of directors of Girls Write Now, "a nonprofit volunteer mentoring organization that has been matching bright, creative teenage girls from New York City's public high schools with professional women writers in the community since 1998." A Cornell University graduate, Lauren compiles "The Smart Set," a weekly round-up of cultural happenings for www.MaudNewton.com, and writes about art, politics and style at www.LuxLotus.com.

Visit www.heartofdixie.org for registration information.

Jupiter Retrograde!

This breaking news from www.astrology.com:

Saturn just sent ripples in your life by going direct, but another major wave of change is coming on May 9 when Jupiter turns retrograde. Jupiter is the planet of luck, grace, favor and fortune. Jupiter brings wealth, abundance, and optimism. Our successes, accomplishments and prosperity are all within the realm of the grace this large planet bestows upon us. However, when Jupiter turns retrograde, our forward momentum is reversed. This period is not a good time to start new ventures, make financial investments or even change jobs for that matter. Rather, it is a time to finish projects, an excellent time to pay attention to relationships, as well a time to gain a better perspective on life and our inner self. The major emphasis of a Jupiter retrograde period is on inner awareness and inner growth.

New Review: Writers Are Reads. com

Here's a review from Writers Are Readers by Terry Spear's of Romancing the Dead. Among some other lovely things, she says:

"I hadn’t read any of the earlier works of Tate Hallaway, but it was easy to follow along with the story in ROMANCING THE DEAD without having done so. I liked the mystery and had to keep reading to find out how it all turned out. And isn’t that every writer’s dream? To hook the reader so that he or she can’t put the book down? Such was the case with me."

Bloggin' about Chattin'

If you find yourself with nothing to do on (May 7) Thursday, night 9pm EST (which is 8pm for those of us in the Midwestern region), you're welcome to participate in a reader/author chat over at Jove/Berkley/Ace's Writer's Space.

I plan to stop by, but a word of warning... if anyone has had the misfortune of IMing with me, you'll know that Garnet and I have one thing in common: we're both computer dweebs. So, while I'll be there, I'll probably respond three minutes after you ask a question. Okay, it might not be that bad, but... well, you've been warned.

And the Winners Are....

Listed below are the winners of the signed, manuscript copy of the first chapter of DEAD IF I DO (the book after ROMANCING THE DEAD, which came out offically yesterday). Will the winners please send their snail mail address to me at tate.hallaway@gmail.com I'll get that out you all y'all as soon as I get your address!

And the winners are....

1. Jolene
2. Tetewa
3. Leah
4. Meljprincess
5. crystalgb
6. abigail
7. limecello
8. valerie oakley
9. lori
10. carmel

Thanks to everyone for making the blog roll contest a success!

Blog Roll Contest

Welcome to the blog roll contest!

How this works is that each author involved in the blog roll will pose a question on their blog. We will print our answers (and links to the next blog). You can participate by giving me your answer in my comments. The first ten people will receive a signed, manuscript copy of the first chapter of the book after ROMANCING THE DEAD, DEAD IF I DO (2009).

My question is:

If you could marry (or date) one character from your novels who would it be, and why?

Michele Bardsley: Patrick O'Halloran from I'M THE VAMPIRE, THAT'S WHY. He's got that Irish accent and he's really hot and he's been around for four-thousand years ... and did I mention the accent? Not to mention all that licking and sucking involved with dating a vampire. Of course, that's IF I could wrest him from Jessica because quite frankly, she could kick my ass.

Erin McCarthy: Damien from MY IMMORTAL because he owns a plantation house in Louisiana and an apartment in the French Quarter. I have a thing for quality real estate. ;-)

Anya Bast: Hmmm...just one? That's a hard question. Man... *thinks* Okay, I guess I'd pick Alejandro Martinez from The Chosen Sin (Berkley Heat, October 2008). He's a vampire with an extra special skill in pleasure giving when he takes blood (what's not to like about that?) He lives in the future and in another part of the universe, so he'd be able to show me all kinds of interesting places. We could gaze at the stars together (we'd have a great view). Plus, he's got a wicked sexy accent and would speak Spanish to me. Grrrrooowl. I seriously doubt I could get away with stealing him from Daria, though. She scares me. *whimper*

And finally.... my answer:

Tate Hallaway: I'd date Daniel Parrish. Like Garnet, however, I'd be pretty hesitant to marry anyone quite as bad boy as Parrish. If I had to pick a guy from my books to actually settle down with, I think I might pick William. Sebastian is a bit broody for me, and William seems lie he'd be a lot of fun to talk to.

What's your answer? If you could marry any fictional character in your favorite books, who would you marry and why?