Finalist is Fabulous

by Peg Brantley
Evocative Characters. Intriguing Crime. Compelling Stories.

Available through Amazon
or your neighborhood bookstore,
 including Tattered Cover.

Well. Now that I'm here, what can I say?

The last couple of weeks have been pretty huge for me (nothing compared to the other writers on this blog, but still) and I was looking forward to sharing the news with everyone at CFC—but now that I'm actually writing this post I'm suddenly shy.

Huh? Just go already...

Okay. I found out while LoML and I were on our road trip, post-(the fabulous) Left Coast Crime, that The Sacrifice was a finalist in the Adult Fiction category for the Colorado Authors' League awards.

Cool, right?

So I arrive home and realize that on May 14th I'll be doing a joint presentation with Jenny Milchman at Tattered Cover Book Store. Jenny's book, Cover of Snow, is a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark award (which is a way big deal, a part of the Edgars and everything) and is also nominated for a Barry Award. Obviously, Jenny is no slouch. Suddenly I feel like maybe I'm pulling my weight (at least a little) for our Tattered Cover gig.

And wouldn't it be extra cool if I actually had some books to sell when we were there?

Long story short(er), just prior to submitting The Sacrifice for vetting via Tattered Cover I received this email:

Colorado Humanities & Center for the Book is pleased to announce that your entry, The Sacrifice, has been selected as a finalist in the 2014 Colorado Book Awards Suspense/Thriller Genre Fiction category.

An exciting thing with the Colorado Book Awards is that they're announced in June at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, a locale that plays a part in my stories.

I'm pretty pumped.

When Writers Shouldn't Read

By Peg Brantley
Evocative Characters. Intriguing Crime. Compelling Stories.



Last Sunday I participated in an author event at a local library. (A shout out for Douglas County Libraries and their support of indie authors!) At that event, and an earlier one for a major bestselling author, sponsored once again by Douglas County Libraries and Tattered Cover Bookstore, I heard authors read from their books.

Readings have historically been an expected part of author appearances. The author shares a little about their process, or their life, or something relevant to their book, and then they choose a passage or two to read aloud to the audience. It's a time-honored tradition.

I'm going out on a very long limb here to say it's a bad idea. And in some cases, a very bad idea.

It doesn't matter how well you think you read, and how much you love your book (I think I read aloud exceptionally well), you need to take a pass. Unless you've had professional training as an actor, the words you've written are best left to the ears and minds of the reader.

Most of the readings I've heard have sounded flat to my ear. Boring, really. Misplaced inflections, odd pronunciations, and either too fast or too slow. My mind begins to wander and I mentally check out.

Unless you've written a children's book and have a room full of four year-olds, reconsider including a reading in your author appearance. You'll probably be ahead of the game.

What do you think? Is it just me?