You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2011.
So I’ve been asked how to make a musical slide show to share. Like this one:
Believe me, I am not very technical. You don’t need to be. Get Picasa here (it’s free) and upload the pics you want in the slide show. Click the Download tab and then click “make movie” and open the movie in Picasa. Then click Upload to YouTube and there it is. To add music, click “AudioSwap” and you’ll get a list (huge list) of music you can add.
Voila, you’re the laptop Fellini!
Barkis really can’t handle those early mornings. I can! My drive-time satellite radio tour for THE GOODBYE QUILT is on my Facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/susanwiggs and Twitter feed here http://twitter.com/#!/susanwiggs.
Yay! Book at WalMart Susanville 
Wiggs, Susan. The Goodbye Quilt. Mira: Harlequin. Apr. 2011. c.400p. ISBN 9780778329961. $16.95. F
A cross-country trip to college turns into much more than this mother and daughter first expect. Their journey is a remembered patchwork of life that mirrors the quilt Linda Davis is making for her daughter Molly, a life as seen through the eyes of a parent. And as each new patch is pieced together, this pair relive their past and look to the future, a future they both anticipate and fear. This is a heartwarming, easy read with a twist of realism that readers of all ages will enjoy. Great for daughters to give to their mothers and vice versa. VERDICT Wiggs (Lakeshore Chronicles) will not disappoint her fans with this classic tale of growing up and moving on. Readers of Marie Bostwick (A Single Thread) or Emilie Richards (Wedding Ring) will also love this one.Debbie Haupt, St. Charles City/Cty. P.L., MO
The Examiner recently asked me some tough questions. Okay, they weren’t tough. I love answering questions. If I don’t know the answer, I just make stuff up. Don’t judge. I’m a fiction writer:
Q. You hand write your original drafts! Holy Cow…. Why? Do you just like communing with ink? The feel of the paper? You feel more connected to the book? Tell us about your process.
SW: Its a habit I started since before I even knew how to read or write. At age 2-1/2, I used to scribble on paper and tell my mother, “Now, write this down.” And bless her, she did. All my stories were about a girl who was chased up a tree with Bad Things after her. To this day, thats pretty much what all my books are about. 
As a teenager, I lived in Brussels and then Paris…I used to carry around notebooks (cahiers) filled with terrible angsty poetry. Later, when I started writing novels (grad school), I was so broke that I had to use half empty cahiers left over from high school. Since I hated (still hate) to type, I only wanted to type up each page once, so I would get the story down by hand and then transcribe. These days, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking and read the text into the computer. Ann Tyler once said writing by hand is like knitting a book. Its crafty! And you dont save the wrong version or lose text (unless theres a house fire). So the habit has stuck with me. Maybe I was Amish in a past life, I dunno.
Q. How I Planned Your Wedding is such a sweet, charming and romantic idea. Tell us about the book you wrote planning your daughters wedding.
SW: This book was my alternative to being murdered by my daughter. We drove each other crazy during the wedding planning, but discovered that a sense of humor can rescue even the biggest disaster. Elizabeth started a blog which was howlingly funny and went viral, so she brought that snarky voice to the book. As the mom, I got to chime in. Some of the brutal honesty in the book still makes me squirm, but we both found a way to tell the story that every bride (and her mom) can relate to. Even those not planning a wedding will relate to the conflict and craziness of the mother-daughter bond.
Q. It seems you started the way many authors start: by thinking, “Hey, I can do that.” Since you had such great success for so long, besides the obvious advent of e-books, what are the biggest changes youve seen in the publishing industry?
SW: Honestly, the essence of publishing hasnt changed. Since the days of the cave man carving stuff on the cave walls, people have wanted stories, and storytellers have wanted an audience. That is still the case. The changes are really a matter of format. Publishers consolidate, methods of publishing change, but readers and storytellers are forever. Thank God.
Q. Since you so enjoy keeping your toes wet in the teaching pool, if you had to pick the most important piece of craft information youd like all new writers to take away from a conversation with you, what would that be?
SW: Tell the story thats in your heart, and dont hold back. Write a book the reader will want to melt into. And for Gods sake, learn your craft. Do NOT try to publish anything until you have nailed the basics (grammar, spelling, usage, syntax) and the refinements of writing. Readers deserve your very best, always….There are practical techniques a writer can use to keep the pacing of the novel strong, by introducing 
unexpected emotions, twists and turns, actions and reactions. You want to leave out the stuff the readers going to skip, anyway.
Q. Tell us what’s next on your plate for 2011.
SW: Books books and more books. My first nonfiction book How I Planned Your Wedding, and of course Marrying Daisy Bellamy…(which made my YEAR by landing at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list) and in April, The Goodbye Quilt. Its a story about a mother driving her daughter to college for the first time. And some new editions of old faves: Lakeside Cottage in August, and Home Before Dark in September.
Oh, and travel! PLEASE check my web page to see if I’m coming to your neck of the woods: Helena, Montana. Bellevue, Washington. Chicago. Milwaukee. New Orleans. Melbourne, Australia.
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