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Monday 8 December 2014

READ TUESDAY 2014, TALKING ABOUT WRITING: A REPORT FROM A FUGITIVE.



Last year, I spent half a lifetime on WANTED POSTERS for authors participating in READ TUESDAY. Those posters still haunt the blog. ;)
   This year, I moved from the look to the sound. Yes, READ TUESDAY is a sale day for books. But founder Chris McMullen wants people to talk about books.
   Hmm.
   No, I didn't really say that. But I thought it over. Why don't we listen to the writing? You can do that right here on my blog. There, in the dedicated pages, you'll see that link to the free audio.
   I'll wait for you.

*
Hmm.
   Why don't we talk about writing. I decided to use that as my starting-point. On a short journey. This had to be a short journey, based on the time available.
   I waited for the READ TUESDAY author roster to appear.
   Writers hosting a sale on the day, Tuesday the 9th of December 2014, wouldn't appear on that list months in advance. Just a few days in advance of the sale, scribblers finally appeared.
   I contacted as many tale-tellers as I could, asking if they'd host an audio clip of a story on SoundCloud. (Though any service would do.) Then I'd provide links here on my blog.
   How tough was this? On the measure of height, how tall was this order? Exceedingly tall.
   I asked authors to record a piece...
   Slap it on a hosting service...
   Link to it on a blog or other site of theirs...
   And other fantabulous things.
   All in the space of a heartbeat.
   With grains of sand left, in which to act.

*

Some of those writers didn't have blogs. I suspect more than a few didn't own decent microphones. Every single scribbler is the same - busy, leading up to the sale day.
   Plenty of them would hide under rocks if asked to read their work aloud.
   I expected to host exactly zero contestants in this improvised challenge.
   But I must pause to eat food...

*

Anyway, I received two replies. We're international here. My Top Secret Base™, at the heart of this Scottish volcano, plays host to scribblers from many worlds.
   One Greek author said he'd have a go, and he hoped to have something up and running in time. I haven't seen anything from him on the audio front...
   But here's a YouTube chat with the guy. You receive two for the price of one, as the American author interviewing him is also in the READ TUESDAY roster this year.
   He is...Nicholas C. Rossis.
   She is...Sally Ember.
   And they are on the YouTube here: Nicholas and Sally chat.

*

The second writer who contacted me was South African Graham Downs. And he declared that he was already putting out audio clips on the YouTube. You can find his audio here: Graham on YouTube.

*

There you go.
   On reflection, I'm glad I wasn't swamped by replies. I'd have gurgled quite a bit. Here, I had two people come in and I linked to three. This blog post is only a few hundred words long, but it's taken the better part of an hour to retrieve and test links.
   Okay. Another READ TUESDAY. Go out there, look at books. Books in the sale, and books not in the sale. Read something on the day, and after the day. Talk about writing, too. ;)


6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout-out! Also, if any other authors out there want to be on my *CHANGES* show to converse LIVE and then be immortalized on Youtube ever after,
    learn more about and get yourself on or recommend someone to be scheduled as a guest: http://sallyember.com/changes-videocasts-by-sally-ember-ed-d/

    Best to you all and Happy #READTUESDAY!

    Sally Ember

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Writers are here to support other writers.

      On a side-note, a few READ TUESDAY participants appeared on Sally's video show. I'm starting to see familiar names crop up. From last year and this one. :)

      Delete
  2. You, sir, are a prince among men.

    I, on the other hand, hung my head in shame for my inability to put something together in time. In my defense, I just published my latest book on Friday (in Greek) and yesterday (in English - it'll be available in both languages) so I'm somewhat swamped (to put it mildly), but still, I failed to respond to your kindness.

    Do you, per chance, accept books as a token of my gratitude for your kind shoutout?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I've been thinking about this since the summer...and I could've recorded something new myself. But I didn't switch the microphone on. So the entire internet will let us off, on that score.

      Alas, my teetering shelves quiver under the untold weight of unread books, and I am always saying to myself...no more books, no more books. Nice to be thought of, though. Find some kind reader, and give the gift to that wonderful person.

      Now I must return to those unread pages. And the unwritten ones. ;)

      Delete
  3. Thank you for the mention! And good luck for today - here's hoping it's a huge success! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope people find books, whether those books are on sale or not. If a reader stumbles through READ TUESDAY and discovers a blogger in the middle of writing a book, that's success. This is never going to be about raw sales, even though it's a sale day. :)

    ReplyDelete