Capital Murder

William Bernhardt, whose latest release is CAPITOL MURDER, was the keynote speaker at the Frontiers In Writing conference weekend before last.( www.williambernhardt.com)
His talk about the importance of books was both funny and moving. I would've sworn no one could possibly recite Hamlet's "To Be Or Not To Be" speech in under sixty seconds, but this man did it! He also talked of once being a young boy with a speech impediment that made talking such a struggle, he pretty much stopped saying anything, turning to the library and books, instead. It occurred to me that most writers I know had some childhood trauma -- sometimes minor, sometimes major -- that drew them to books and a passion for stories. Moving around a lot did that for me, leaving old friends and having to make new ones, adjusting to a new place, a new school, new classmates and teachers.

Speaking of stories, my author copies of OFF HER ROCKER arrived in the mail today! It looks great! Flipping through it, re-reading passages, reminded me of the fun I had writing this book once I found the golden thread that tied all the pieces together. Her name is Mrs. Needlemeyer and once she came to life, everything fit. I have one of my critique partners, Dee Burks, http://deeburks.blogspot.com/, to thank for that. When I couldn't figure out what was missing, she said, "Every little town needs a cranky old lady poking at everybody." Or something like that. And she was right! Actually, I don't know how I'd ever manage to write a book without ANY of my critique partners. Like the fictional Mrs. Needlemeyer, they are all golden threads -- they help me tie the pieces together. Unlike her, they aren't old and cranky and they don't poke at me, they're gentle!

See OFF HER ROCKER under "Coming Soon" at www.jenniferarcher.net or
at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0373881037/sr=1-6/qid=1150834998/ref=sr_1_6/104-8560021-9751120?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

This is already a crazy week. We have an outside remodel going on at my house and workmen are everywhere! The house is looking good, though! Also, I'm planning for a special weekend. Six of my college girlfriends, some of whom I haven't seen in many years, are coming in and staying at my house Friday and Saturday. We're having a girlfriend reunion! We have a lot of catching up to do and plenty of memories to relive! (Some of them should probably not have been lived the first time around, much less RE-lived!) :-)

Happy Tuesday,

Jenny

www.jenniferarcher.net