You have met Adriana Trigiani in my post earlier and can read a little about her new, enchanting trilogy that starts with her just released book VERY VALENTINE, in my next post later today, so here is your LAST chance to get your own copy of VERY VALENTINE and a BINGO BONUS BOOK surprise from Bingo's Book Bin! Just follow the directions for this giveaway and post in the comment section below! Good luck!
Giveaway will run from Feb. 14 through 6:00 PM, EST, Feb. 28, 2009.
The rules to enter are simple. They are:
ONE ENTRY: Comment on the interview with Adriana Trigiani and post a question you would have liked to ask her.
TWO ENTRIES: Blog about this giveaway with a link.
If you entered on the original giveaway post, you are all set and don't need to do anything except check to see if you win sometime tonight!
Winners only eligible in U.S. and Canada.Leave an email address for notification.No P.O. Boxes, please!
Jamie Ford has made a name for himself in the literary world on his first try. HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET is a remarkable, must-read novel. A love story, a family saga, a story of growing up in America during World War II, a story of America’s shame—take your choice. You will find all this and more in Mr. Ford’s novel.
The story alternates smoothly between 1942 when Henry Lee is 12 years old to the 1980’s when Henry is dealing with the death of his wife from cancer. Opening in 1986 and set in Seattle at the Panama Hotel, the story tells of the discovery of junk to some, but treasures to others, found in the basement.Henry is able to find some treasures that once belonged to his friend and young love, Keiko.
The Panama had been in a part of town known as Japantown back in the early 1940’s. Everything found was important to the people living back then. In order for those people to try and prove their loyalty to America, they had burned all their treasured items and hid the rest.American citizens, who were being forced to go to “camps” because our country feared these people, hid their treasured things there. Oh, yes, these upstanding, hard-working, gentle citizens with no understanding of why they were targeted just happened to be of Japanese heritage! The internment of these people is a dark time in American history. What America did was inhumane and embarrassing. Fear of the Japanese after Pearl Harbor’s attack, prompted this action in that the government felt concern that these people might be considered a threat due to their ties to Japan.
The novel tells of Henry as a youth and his relationship with his parents. Henry grew up during wartime and experienced rationing, blackouts, battle reports and all that became a part of his daily life. His parents despised the Japanese because they had invaded China and the Lees were Chinese. Henry was made to wear a button that said he was Chinese. A student at an all white school, Henry was on a kind of scholarship in that his tuition was covered by the fact he worked in the cafeteria during lunch and was a janitor for the school after hours. Alone, bullied and viewed with contempt by the other students, Henry is thrilled when a Japanese American student enters the school and they become very good friends. Keiko’s parents wind up in the internment camps, and she and Henry confide in one another and soon are very close friends. This is a relationship that angers Henry’s father. It creates problems and great tension in Henry’s home.
Henry’s view of the war, his country, his parents, and even the world changed.Henry is drawn into the Japanese section of Seattle called Nihonmachi, or later Japantown. Leaving his area of Chinatown to go into Keiko’s environment enables him to see things differently. In Japantown, Henry is seen to be part of the enemy group by its inhabitants. He experiences racism first hand once again but this time, not from the white students at his school but rather people who look very much like him.
A caring, but wiser, man, adult Henry is much the same as he was as a youth. He has just lost his wife to cancer and tells of how he even left work to care for her full time. Henry understands the relationship he had with his father and wants better for him and his son, Marty. This is not an easy task as Henry still deals with being a Chinese-American while Marty has never known anything but to be American.The chance discovery of items from the Panama Hotel inspires Henry to share the story of Keiko with his son. Henry hopes to improve their relationship as he explains their connection to jazz. When they were young, he and Keiko used to sneak out to local jazz clubs.
Henry is a good man and loved his wife but yet there was always a part of him that was linked inexplicably to the past and Keiko. He thinks that this link will help him reconnect with Marty. How Henry does this and how the things he finds at the Panama help bring the story to an honorable and realistic conclusion, truly shows the bitter and the sweet part of this man’s life and this wonderful novel. Following this splendid character study and novel of many layers, a new legion of fans of Jamie Ford will now eagerly await his next novel.
Submitted originally to Curled Up with a Good Book by Karen Haney, February,2009
Wednesday at 6:00 PM, my giveaway for RUN FOR YOUR LIFE by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge ended!
Thank you to Miriam and all those great people at Hachette for sponsoring this giveaway for my blog! I am happy to announce the winner and it is...........
TA! DA!......FRANCINE!
I have emailed Francine as she needs to send me her snail mail address for her prize. Thank you to everyone who entered and don't forget my giveaway for VERY VALENTINEby Adriana Trigiani that ends Feb. 28th. There is still time to enter for that super book. Thanks to all for entering and for being loyal friends of BOOKIN' WITH BINGO!
Today is the last day to enter for a copy of James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge's new Best Seller RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. Thanks to Miriam and the nice people at Hachette, they sent me an advanced copy of the book so I could review it (YIPPEE!) and are sponsoring this with a REAL copy of RUN FOR YOUR LIFE for one lucky winner.
The giveaway will run from today, Feb. 12 through 6:00 PM, EST, Feb. 25th.
The rules to enter are simple. They are: 1. Comment about my review by giving one detail of the story that I wrote about. 2. Blog about this contest with a link 3. Become a FOLLOWER, or tell if you are already one of Bingo's Followers
Winners only eligible in U.S. and Canada. Leave an email address for notification. No P.O. Boxes, please
TEACHER TUESDAY'S TALES FOR TOTS by Professor Bingo will periodically feature reviews of children's books. As a veteran Reading teacher, these are books I have read and reviewed, and you may like for your children!
Here are this week's listings from "Professor" Bingo! LUCKY BREAKS by Susan Patron
Author Susan Patron, winner of the 2007 John Newbery Medal for children’s literature and her story of THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY, has written a sequel in what Ms. Patron says will be a trilogy eventually as she works on the third book in this charming series. Meanwhile, in this second book, LUCKY BREAKS, we find our main character Lucky, almost 11 years old, is looking for more adventure in Hard Pan, California, and for a new best girl friend. Lucky seems to have taken to her new mother from France, Brigitte, who has recently bought a nice, round barbeque grill to be able to fit in better with the California lifestyle for her café. Brigitte is still working to become a citizen. When a group of geologists enter Brigitte’s café, Lucky’s meets a new girl named Paloma who is with them, and who shows Lucky what it is like to have fun and to laugh. They become great friends and Lucky escapes from the boredom she had begun to feel as some exciting and almost dangerous experiences ensue. Lucky forgets that her good friend Lincoln, who is a knot-tying whiz, and Miles, the five-year-old genius. Even Short Sammy is still around making it even more important that one reads THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY first so the reader can have that background to build on.
Short Sammy digs a hole by his front door when a mysterious looking coffin kind of box is delivered while Miles invites the whole town to his sixth year birthday celebration. The story is filled with touching, dangerous, and humorous antics that also include a wild burro that keeps coming back to Brigitte’s Hard Pan Café, and the scary part when Lucky gets trapped in the bottom of an old abandoned well. While she waits to be rescued, Lucky’s mind is going a mile a minute and she tries to figure how all things can work and that even includes the universe. She spends her time “well” earned as she wonders how the Milky Way can be where the Earth is located when it is so far away. During this time, Lucky rids herself of some things that are precious to her while she chooses to learn some of the mysteries of the universe.
All these things and many more happen and help Lucky to learn to make room in her heart not just for one friend or person to love, but to make room for many people. Although Lucky can be a little pain and a brat at times, she can also be quite sweet. She even goes so far, unknowingly, to get herself and Paloma in trouble.
The story is one that will further endear you to Lucky and culminates in teaching a lesson to show that the strength of the family that is created rather than perhaps one we are born into is just as important!
Illustrations in black-and-white by Matt Phelan add to the creative flair and gentle feel of the entire story.
Submitted Originally to Amazon Vine by K.H. (Bingo)
Millicent Madding, a sixth grader at Winifred T. Langley Middle School, is not your normal sixth grader. She lives with her Aunt Millicent, who used to work as a human cannonball, and Uncle Phineas, who is an eccentric inventor. Millicent’s parents were literally lost when they entered a time machine they had invented and vanished seemingly never to return.However, as a smart student with many friends, Millicent is nominated to be class president because actually nobody else wants the job. As an inventor herself, Millicent feels she can do the job and in turn help to make her school a really good school. On top of this, it should be an easy win since she is the only one running!
Things seem simple and set until Pretty Liddy’s Junior Fashion Academy must move in with Winifred T. Langley temporarily and then enters Fiona Dimmet. Fiona is beautiful and popular, and a very fashionable model who decides SHE would like to be president even if she isn’t going to be at the school that long. She turns the election upside down as she promises to give makeovers to those who vote to her. The election turns into a fashion show battle rather than political war!
Suddenly, what appeared to be an easy win for Millicent has turned into a fashion fiasco and nightmare for her. Millicent really wants to win and decides she will probably have to revise her clothing campaign to do it. Although fashion is not Millicent’s strength, her imagination, inventiveness, and initiative just may pull this off. But Fiona will not give in easily and how the campaign and election results go make for a hilarious and terrific teen tale.
The story is entertaining and funny. Middle school age readers will enjoy reading about the Millicent/Fiona battle and how the friends come and go, loyal one minute, and fickle fashion minded the next.
Submitted by K. H. (Bingo) originally to Harper Collins Kids
Once again Leo Lionni wrote and illustrates a lovely book with a lesson for children to learn. FISH IS FISH is the story of a tadpole and minnow who are friends in the pond. As the tadpole begins to grow legs, the fish questions it and the tadpole says it is because he is a frog. And the fish doesn’t understand why he isn’t changing but the frog says it is because “fish is fish”! When the tadpole becomes a full-sized frog, he decides to leap up onto the bank and when he does, he is gone for a long while. The fish misses him and wonders where he went. The frog returns and tells the fish about all the wondrous things he has seen while hopping around in the great big world. He describes the birds with two feet and colorful wings, the cows with 4 legs, and even people. Poor fish is so excited to hear but just can’t imagine what all these things must really look like. When frog leaves again for a while, fish finally lets his curiosity get the best of him and he takes a giant leaps and lands on the bank. Suddenly, he realizes he can’t breathe if he isn’t in the water. He gasps but who should appear but his old friend the frog who pushes him back into the water and jumps in to make sure he is OK. The fish takes a minute to get water back through his gills so he can breathe and then he tells the fish what happened. At that point, he realizes that “fish is fish” and he needs to stay where he was meant to be.
Here again in the tradition of fables, Leo Lionni teaches a lesson while he tells an exciting story for children. He teaches them to be happy with what they have and who they are. His illustrations are bright and beautiful especially as the frog describes what he has seen and the fish imagines it in his head. This is a good story for this age group and even the small scare when the fish lands on the bank is not objectionable or scary. This is another book I would strongly recommend for ages 4-8.
Go to SO MANY PRECIOUS BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME for this great new give away....it's a new wonderful mystery called THE CRIMES OF PARIS--a TRUE STORY! There are 5 books to give away by March 13. PLEASE tell them BINGO sent you if you enter. I thank you and you can find it by looking here.
One of the two winners of the "Sunday's Day of Leisure Giveaway" that was originally chosen was unable to receive the book giveaway due to an overseas address and she kindly withdrew her name. I thank her SO MUCH and have submitted the numbers once more to RANDOM.org and the NEWEST winner is:
#1- Kaye
CONGRATULATIONS to Kaye and Sheri!
The winners have been notified by email and gotten back to me! Thank you to Danielle at Harper Collins for all her help and understanding in this situation, and to HARPER COLLINS for sponsoring the giveaway!
Still time to enter RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (Feb. 25) and VERY VALENTINE (Feb. 28) Giveaways!
Thanks to everyone who entered....has been a bleak blog day with all this! I guess we all have them sometimes! I thank Bunny for being so kind to withdraw her name and am trying to send her something overseas on my own anyway! Have a good evening fellow bloggers....I'm off for today!
The two winners of the "Sunday's Day of Leisure Giveaway" have been chosen by Random.org.
They are: 1- Sheri S 2- Bunny B CONGRATULATIONS to Sheri and Bunny!
The winners have been notified by email and if they do not respond with their addresses within 48 hours, I will choose another winner! Thank you to Danielle at Harper Collins for all her help and to HARPER COLLINS for sponsoring the giveaway!
Still time to enter RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (Feb. 25) and VERY VALENTINE (Feb. 28) Giveaways!
Thanks to everyone who entered! I visited lots of new blogs and am following more and have a longer blog list! Thank you and do come back and visit soon!
Congratulations to the Superbowl Super Giveaway Winners! There were over 60 legitimate entries and the following are the winning numbers and names as chosen by RANDOM.ORG's True Random Number Generator. It also chose the MYSTERY Prize winner.
The 5 winners of a copy of Tiffany Smith's THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY are: 59-g.g 53-Carol 31-Caite 32-bookaholic13 13-anonymous
Thank you to Lizzy at Hachette for the books and being so easy to work with!
The winner of the MYSTERY prize from Bookin' Bingo's Book Bin is: 35-Sharon54220 Sharon54220 is receiving an advanced copy of Best Selling Author Katherine Neville's THE FIRE!
Congratulations to all the winners. Should any winner not respond within 48 hours to my email, I will choose another winner and post and notify that person. Thank you to all who entered and don't forget, that I have the following giveaways closing out very soon so there isstill time to enter!
THE LEISURE SEEKER--today, Feb. 22 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE---Feb. 25 VERY VALENTINE------Feb. 28
AND all new giveaways will be starting to post in the next 3-5 days with some really great ones for the end Feb. and all of March!
Thanks to all of you who entered and keep trying! Would LOVE for you to follow this blog as my goal of 100 followers is March 15!
GIANT TALENT FOR GIANT AUTHOR: TIFFANY BAKER--THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY
Recently, Tiffany Baker, new author, new star, kindly answered a few questions for an interview for my blog. THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY is Ms. Baker's first novel and a best seller! Please enjoy the personal information she shared with me that follows:
1. What project or book are you currently working on?
"Currently working on A novel about three women on a salt farm, two of them sisters, and they all have a history with the same man."
2. What have you just finished reading?
"THE BESTIARY by Nicholas Christopher. It's a charming, a fanciful novel, and will make you want to research bestiaries."
3. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?
"I'm an old-fashioned girl. I think I'm a real product of nineteenth century narrative. I love the quirky characters you find in Dickens and the creepy settings of Hawthorne. I love the moral dilemmas of Russian novels. And I've always been a big reader of John Irving, who I think also comes out of this same school."
4. What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or ....? "I start with setting and character. I love odd or "broken" characters, people who have some clear flaw they have to live with, and I often find that the setting will determine the predominant imagery for the book."
5. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don't know? "I'm the biggest chicken in the world. Everything initially scares me or make me nervous, but I just pull up my socks and try to muddle through as best I can.''
6. What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers? "In our culture of insta-fame, publication is not something that happens overnight. Writing a book is a journey and a commitment. You may have to write more than one before you can even get an agent. You have to REALLY like writing."
7. What is something you would like to share with us about writing THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY? "It's my answer to the question of why we die the way we do. In the book Truly confronts death but she also finds out that life can be a feast. I hope that's the message that sticks with the readers."
Since Wally Lamb gave us Dolores Price in SHE’S COME UNDONE, I have yearned for a character like Truly Plaice and now thanks to Tiffany Baker’s superbly imaginative and captivating writing, we have a ‘little giant’ to root for. This book is sheer magic in so many ways as we follow the painfully poignant journey of our heroine, Truly, in a life filled with contrasts: tragedy and small wonders, sorrow and delight, triumph and tragedy.
Aberdeen County, in rural New York State, is a character in itself as the setting plays into the story in general. This is a small town where everyone is connected in some way either as a family member or through marriage. Of course, in a place such as this, everyone knows each other’s business as well. And Truly Plaice didn’t enter this town quietly but rather as BIG news!
Lily Plaice was expecting her second child in 1953 and was so large during her pregnancy that the townspeople made wagers on how big the baby would be. However, none of the citizens of AberdeenCounty were quite prepared for how huge this baby girl really was. Least of which were her parents because Lily Plaice couldn’t handle the size of this baby and she died giving birth to her.
As the narrator of the story, Truly describes how her father was totally unprepared to take care of two young children-herself and older sister, Serena. Due to a pituitary gland deformity, Truly grows larger each day and when she was old enough to realize she was different, there was no sympathetic parent to help her cope with this odd medical condition. Her father is hateful towards her and verbalizes that it was her fault her mother died trying to “push her out”. Truly hopes for an escape when she starts school but instead, she gains her nickname on the first day when the teacher says to her, “You’re a Little Giant”.
Serena and Truly are separated when their father dies and the girls go to live with other families. Serena, pretty and “normal” looking, goes to live with a very rich family while Truly is sent to live on a farm with a very poor family. Amanda Pickerton and her minister husband take in Serena and they adore her and treat her like a doll. Truly was sent to a broken down farm owned by the Dyerson family where she grew to love working outside and with the farm horses.Truly had only two friends, unusual in their own ways, young Amelia Dyerson and a quick minded boy named Marcus.He was a whiz at remembering details. This group made up a pathetic existence for Truly.
Meanwhile, Serena Jane's future seems to be going very well until Bob Bob Morgan comes along. He is the youngest of the Morgan family who have been the town’s doctor for what seems like forever. The Morgan family history goes far back in Aberdeen and the first Morgan supposedly married the town witch, Tabitha Dyerson. Tabitha’s secret book of mysterious forces is said to be hidden and it supposedly contains secrets for healing and other mystifying spells. When Serena abandons her son to escape the cruelty of Bob Bob, she leaves Truly to care for her eight-year-old nephew Bobbie, under the hateful eye of her brother-in-law. Bob Bob criticizes Truly because of her body size and degrades her. However, it is in this part of the setting that Truly discovers her fate. She finds a family quilt filled with old family secrets that lead to GIGANTIC changes in AberdeenCounty. From healing potions to life saving emotions, Truly shows she can take the good with the bad and just when you think you have this tale figured out, something else changes to keep you interested until the very end! This little giant of a book by Tiffany Baker is highly recommended and leaves all who have read it looking forward to the next work of Ms. Baker!
If you are a movie fan, this is an exciting time of the year! The 81st Annual Academy Awards will be presenting OSCARS this Sunday, March 1. If you want to review the best pictures nominees, this video has all the necessary information you would want. However, the article that follows by the Editor of VOICE is an interesting look at what she calls "THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR".
The Editor of everwomansvoice.com has written a great article with lots of links about the Oscars and some of the movies that are in contention this year. She says that this is her favorite time of the year--the movie award season. I thought you all that love movies as well as books might like to check out her article called "THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR". Also, if you aren't familiar with VOICE and the great authors and this wonderful site, you might want to add it to your favorites! They have a newsletter you can also subscribe to and a blog. It will be well worth your time. I have read and reviewed several of the VOICE novels and am sure you will see many you know when you click on BOOKS or AUTHORS on the site. There are also some great READING GUIDES there! Check out the article here!
BINGO'S BEST PICTURE PREDICTION SURVEY
NOW let's have our own BINGO'S BEST PICTURE PREDICTION! Comment below with your favorite from the 5 nominated films for Best Picture and we shall see who is correct Sunday night.
Nominees for Best Picture are: 1-"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (adapted from the 1920's story by F. Scott Fitzgerald in case you didn't know) 2-"Slum Dog Millionaire" (based on a true story from novel by Vikas Swarup and Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy) 3-"The Reader" (book by Bernhard Schlink) 4-"Milk"(by screenwriter Dustin Lance Black) 5-"Frost/Nixon" (based on play by Peter Morgan)
Tracy from Bookroom Reviews is hosting the next Book Giveaway Carnival starting on March 2nd and running though until March 8th. I'll be participating for the very first time and I have a FABULOUS giveaway ready to go! I am really looking forward to it! If you want to join in the fun, come back here March 2nd for my really big giveaway AND the link to what we believe will take you to over 100 other giveaways!
GIVEAWAY DEADLINE REMINDERS!
Tiffany Baker's Super Mega-hit THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY!And it is easier than ever to enter to win. FIVE COPIES to be given away!The contest began February 1 and runs through midnight on February 21.
THE LEISURE SEEKER by Michael Zadoorian...two copies! Dates are February 8 through midnight, February 22!
New Best Seller RUN FOR YOUR LIFE by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge for one lucky winner. The giveaway runs from Feb. 12 through 6:00 PM, EST, Feb. 25th.
VERY VALENTINE by Adriana Trigianiand a BINGO BONUS BOOK Giveaway!Giveaway will run from Feb. 14 through 6:00 PM, EST, Feb. 28, 2009.
And that brings us back to the next Book Giveaway Carnival starting on March 2nd and running though until March 8th.
BY THE WAY, these are coming attractions for Giveaways but that isn't all! Watch for exciting author interviews, MORE giveaways, and some great reviews! Thanks for stopping by! LOL, Bingo
Bev from MERRY WEATHER passed on YOUR BLOG IS FABULOUS Award to five newbie bloggers and I was one of them! I am so excited as it is my first award. I hope to live up to it and will pass it on to 5 others as I wind my way through the world of blogs. So, now I'm passing it on to 5 other blogs that have been helping me and an inspiration to me as I have started my FABULOUS blog!
And the winners of the Your Blog is Fabulous Award are: 1-Alyce at AT HOME WITH BOOKS 2-Luanne at A BOOKWORM'S WORLD 3-Monie at READING WITH MONIE 4-Drey at DREY'S LIBRARY 5-Kaye at PUDGY PENGUIN PERUSALS
Congratulations to Everyone ! Feel free to pass this award on to five other bloggers who are special to you in this FABULOUS blog world you've met along the way. Have fun! LOL, Bingo
SO MANY PRECIOUS BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME has a giveaway for 5 copies of THE TERROR by Dan Simmons and the contest runs until Feb. 27th! I am winning it, as I feel it in my bones, but you are welcome to go over and try. Tell him--oops, HER, BINGO sent you, please!
Interview by K.H. (AKA "Bingo) KH: What have you just finished reading?
MZ: I just finished HAM ON RYE by Charles Bukowski. I enjoyed it very much, a different kind of book for Bukowski, a chronicle of his childhood years, growing up in California.
KH: What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?
MZ: Like a lot of writers who started in the Eighties, I was heavily influenced by the work of Raymond Carver, his short fiction and his poetry. His work touched me in so many ways, but also allowed me to understand the inner-workings of fiction in a way that I never had before. I don't know why, but he allowed me to think that maybe I could write fiction. His work is deceptive in that manner of extraordinarily talented people: he made it look easy. Once I started though, I found out differently. I certainly wound up writing my share of Carver stories. Still, it was a way to learn. And whatever helps you to find your personal style or voice or whatever you want to call it, is a good thing.
KH: What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or ....?
MZ: Often it is a particular character. Sometimes I'll just start writing in the person of a character and just see where it takes me. It's a chance to explore that character, get into his or her skin. If I continue to be interested, I just keep writing and see where it takes me. Sometimes it takes me no where, sometimes it's a story or a book.
KH: What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don't know?
MZ: I'm a big fan of my hometown of Detroit. I grew up on the Northwest side of the city. I now live just outside the Detroit city limits in a town not terribly unlike the one featured in my first novel, SECOND HAND. Where I grew up, where I live now, the fact that I still live in the Detroit area, truly informs my writing. It depresses some people to stay in the place where they grew up, but I find it very useful as a writer. You need to be from somewhere, get that sense of place. It's just something you absorb from being in a place for a long time. People are always cutting down Detroit, but the city has a feeling, an attitude, an intensity that exists nowhere else. It's this sprawling urban center with all types of races and nationalities, yet still very midwestern in many ways. We're currently going through a rough period, but I think we're going to be okay. We're a hardy, rush-belt people, with a good sense of humor and a surprisingly hopeful attitude. We're also very creative: Lots of incredible music, art and writing comes from people from Detroit. You never know what you're going to see next.
KH: What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?
MZ: Write. That's the best advice I can give. Sit down and start writing. Study the writers you love, try to understand what makes their writing work, what makes it move you. Don't think too much at first, just get it down. Don't worry about it being perfect. You can do that later. Be strong, be tenacious, believe in yourself, because it probably isn't going to be easy. There will be rejection, but don't let it crush your spirit.
Thanks to Michael Zadoorian for consenting to the above interview. See him talk about his latest book, THE LEISURE SEEKER, and more, on this clip from YouTube recently.
Michael Zadoorian was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He is the author of two novels, THE LEISURE SEEKER (William Morrow, 2009) and SECOND HAND (W.W. Norton, 2000), which was an ABA Booksense 76 selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Award Finalist, and the winner of the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award. His story collection THE LOST TIKI PALACES OF DETROIT (Wayne State University Press, May, 2009) features new work as well as short fiction that originally appeared in The Literary Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, Ararat, American Short Fiction, The North American Review and Detroit Noir. He lives with his wife in Ferndale, Michigan. Website: Michaelzadoorian.com. You can also find MZ on Facebook, MySpace, Linkedln and Twitter.
UPDATE: Bingo is doing better and wanted to take a minute to wish you all safe holidays. With all that is going on in our country now, we hope you all are safe and healthy. Enjoy your books and KEEP READING!
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VALENTINE GIVEAWAY--LESS THAN TEN HOURS TO ENTER!
