Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ Pricing Beauty

I suspect Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model by Ashley Mears started as the author's master's thesis. I haven't (knowingly) read many master's thesis, but if they were all as interesting as I'd seek them out. And just so you know, this book, like so much of the non-fiction I read, is research for a story I want to write.

I love my job.

Blurb:
Sociologist Ashley Mears takes us behind the brightly lit runways and glossy advertisements of the fashion industry in this insider’s study of the world of modeling. Mears, who worked as a model in New York and London, draws on observations as well as extensive interviews with male and female models, agents, clients, photographers, stylists, and others, to explore the economics and politics—and the arbitrariness— behind the business of glamour. Exploring a largely hidden arena of cultural production, she shows how the right "look" is discovered, developed, and packaged to become a prized commodity. She examines how models sell themselves, how agents promote them, and how clients decide to hire them. An original contribution to the sociology of work in the new cultural economy, Pricing Beauty offers rich, accessible analysis of the invisible ways in which gender, race, and class shape worth in the marketplace.

Opening:
  You've got a great look.
  That was what he told me as I sat in a Starbucks in downtown Manhattan. I had come in search of a quiet table at which to crack open a social theory book, one of a number of texts I was assigned as a new graduate student in sociology at New York University. Instead I found myself seated across from a model scout who was handing me his card and telling me that I could be making a fortune as a fashion model.

Teaser:
Edgy* is not commercially pretty but is code for a look that departs from conventional norms of attractiveness. It is the uncanny, sitting on the border between beautiful and ugly, familiar and strange, at once attracting and repulsing its viewer.

*Edgy is the quality agencies look for in an editorial (aka runway) model. 

Would read this?



Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/






Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

Nuggets for June


Need help getting readers to click the buy button? This might help.
http://noorosha.com/why-readers-dont-buy/?utm_content=buffereb9af&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

You've heard of Rafflecopter, haven't you? Here's the skinny.
http://www.sfwa.org/2013/11/tools-writers-rafflecopter/

Some things to consider when setting up your estate
http://www.sfwa.org/2012/06/guest-post-writers-and-their-literary-estates-story-reprints/

Neil Gaman also talks about the importance of setting up an estate and has a sample simple will PDF
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html

So what do you as Beta Readers?
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/questions-for-critique-partners/

K.M.Weiland is setting up a story structure database. It's an interesting idea and I hope if flies.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/story-structure-database/ 

Do you know where to end your chapters? Here are ten ways to get the reader to turn the page.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/11-killer-chapter/

Want to know about Kindle Scout?
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2014/10/kindle-scout-pros-and-cons-of-amazons.html

Some interesting promotion choices
http://www.molly-greene.com/3-book-promos-the-results/

A brilliant post about the inciting incident
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/your-books-inciting-event-its-not-what-you-think-it-is/

Want to use Pinterest  to promote your books? This will help.
http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/04/3-ways-to-use-pinterest-to-promote-your-book/

What should you include in back matter?
http://insights.bookbub.com/how-to-cross-promote-your-books-in-the-back-matter/

To Prologue or Not to Prologue.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/find-out-if-your-prologue-is-destroying-your-storys-subtext/ 

Thursday Writing Quotes ~ King

Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It’s not just a question of how-to, you see; it’s also a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing. ~ Stephen King




Tuesday Teaser ~ The Fire Inside

This week, I'm reading The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives by Steve Delsohn which is feeding my disaster-survival fetish. Much of the book is in the words of the firefighters themselves, so this is a bit of a different perspective than most of what I've read.


Blurb:
There is more to being a firefighter than most people know--the professional or volunteer firefighter must find different kinds of courage as he or she copes with injuries, earthquakes, hazardous waste, wildfire, and arson. And what drives each firefighter is complex, too. Some are bound to the profession by family tradition; others know they were never meant for nine-to-five. What unites them are their poignant stories and the courage they manage to find.
  In their own words, these firefighters explore what it is about themselves that drives them to run into burning building and meet disaster head-on while everyone else is running out. They describe the adrenaline rush and pride that got them started and keeps them climbing back onto the fire truck, frankly discussing the emotional toll their jobs have taken on themselves and their families. As Delsohn points out, almost every firefighter seems haunted, "if not by an unforgettable self-doubt, then by something horrible [he or she] witnessed. These remarkable stories will touch readers' hearts and take their breath away.

Opening:
Many of them were "fire department brats." With fathers or brothers or uncles already firefighters, they belonged to the fraternity even as children. At barbecues and parties they felt the camaraderie. When relatives won medals they basked in reflected glory. One day, they promised themselves, they would speed to mishaps on blaring red fire engines. They would rescue people from burning houses. Because this was something more than the family business. It was the highest calling.

Teaser:
It's gut-check time, nervous time,  you can't drive a needle up your ass with a hammer. Because you all just heard it come over the radio: "All units deploy your tents. We are cut off."

Would you read this?

Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/




Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

In Honor of Fathers Everywhere



When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. ~ Mark Twain Bringing Up Father

Thursday Writing Quotes ~ Bloom

“Dialogue isn’t conversation; it’s conversation’s greatest hits.” ~ Amy Bloom

Tuesday Teaser ~ Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend

I don't remember who recommended Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend by Cassie Mae and Becca Ann to me, but I liked the title. I thought it had potential to be different and fun, so I downloaded a sample, which has sat on my kindle for who-knows-how-long. I finally read the sample and immediately bought the book.

Blurb:
It's stupid to fall for your brother's ex. It's even worse to enlist another's help to win the ex over. But Brody is desperate and Hayley, his partner in American Sign Language, is more than willing to lend him a few tips. She’s the school’s ‘matchmaker’, and with her bizarre and positive personality, Brody finds her easy to talk too, even about the most awkward situations. Hayley’s tips seem to be working, but as Brody learns more about his matchmaker, he starts finding reasons to spend time with her, and not the girl he thought he was in love with.

But Hayley isn’t ready to fall for anyone. Labeled the “Funny Fat Friend” within her group, her self image makes it impossible for Brody to share his feelings without Hayley shrugging it off as a joke.

Convincing her Brody can, and did, fall for the “Funny Fat Friend” turns out to be a lot harder than simply falling in love.

Opening:
Reason 1: You know how to sign the word 'balls'
More than half the time, girls who think they're fat really aren't. They're just fatter than the skinniest chick in school. And even that girl thinks she's fat. So when Hayley, my signing partner in American Sign Language shrugs off Josh moo-ing at her as she walks in the room, that's when I figure this girl . . . isn't like most girls.

Teaser:
Part of me wants to laugh the offer off, stick it in a box and chuck it into the Willamette. But the part--probably the stupid, hopeful part--wonders if she could really make it happen.

Would you keep reading?


Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/




Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea
Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read. Open to a random page. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at:: http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ 






Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

Thursday Writing Quote ~ George R R Martin

I’m a strong believer in telling stories through a limited but very tight third person point of view. I have used other techniques during my career, like the first person or the omniscient view point, but I actually hate the omniscient viewpoint. None of us have an omniscient viewpoint; we are alone in the universe. We hear what we can hear… we are very limited. If a plane crashes behind you I would see it but you wouldn’t. That’s the way we perceive the world and I want to put my readers in the head of my characters. ~ George R R Martin

Thursday Writing Quotes ~ Twain

A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it. ~ Mark Twain



Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ The Last True Cowboy

Kathleen Eagle isn't one of those authors I seek out, but I read her books when they come my way, so this week I'm reading The Last True Cowboy. Normally, she has Native American characters (she's married to a Lakota Sioux) but this book doesn't seem to follow that pattern. What it does have that make it so fascinating is a band of mustangs that contains blind horses. I'm utterly fascinated by the way the blind horses have "companion" horses that help them survive.

Blurb:
A cowboy is as good as his word, but what if the words are "I love you"?

The first moment Julia Weslin sees K. C. Houston, she senses her world is about to be turned upside-down. The long, lean cowboy is the last of an untamed breed of men who live by their word and love by their own set of rules. And for Julia, who has returned to Wyoming and the cash-strapped High Horse Ranch, K. C. is a dream come true. He can tame a spirited horse with just a single touch, he offers to help save the ranch, and he awakens in her a need she thought she'd lost. But Julia knows that this sexy drifter would never break a promise, and while he's filled her days with loving and her nights with passion . . . he's never told her that he'd stay forever.

Opening:
  From the beginning, it was the woman.
 The rest of the High Horse setup wasn't anything K.C. Houston hadn't seen along the monochromatic trail of ranches he'd worked for from Montana to Texas. "Prettiest ranch in Wyoming," the owner had told him. Maybe it was, but meadows were meadows and mountains were mountains. It was the woman standing next to rail fence that drew his fancy directly. Women often did, but this one hit him hard, right from the beginning.

Teaser:
But he had come to Wyoming for Weslin's horses, not his women. He got paid only for working his fine magic with horses, and his pockets, like his gas tank, were flirting with E.

Would you read on?



Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/





Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

Thursday Writing Quote ~ John Long

Writer's block often results from beating your brains out trying to punch a hole through a dead end. ~ John Long

Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ Highway to Hell

There is nothing like getting the story from those who've had their boots on the ground, which is why I'm reading Highway to Hell: Dispatches from a Mercenary in Iraq by John Geddes, a retired British SAS officer who worked as a security contractor in the Middle East. I'm finding his frank style very engaging.


Blurb:
“They come from across the globe: former special forces soldiers from Britain, the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and every country on the European mainland. There are Gurkhas from the Himalayan foothills and Fijians from the South Sea Islands. There are men who learned their skills with the Japanese antiterrorist paramilitaries and many from southern Africa. There was even one guy who’d served in the Chinese People’s Army and Chilean commandos and Sri Lankan antiterrorist experts who joined the mercenary gold rush to Iraq. They don’t share a common ideology or common loyalty, but what they do share is a thirst for adventure and a hunger for big bucks; Iraq is the one place they are certain to find both…”

For the first time a private military contractor delivers a frontline report on life as a hired gun in Iraq.

“Anyone entering Iraq must travel the road from Amman to Baghdad along the Fallujah bypass and around the Ramadi Ring Road. It’s the most dangerous trunk route in the world, used as a personal fairground shooting gallery by insurgents and Islamists with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikovs. For newcomers to the country it’s terrifying – but hell only really begins when that first journey ends…”

Amidst the ongoing controversy over the widespread employment of private military contractors in Iraq, Highway to Hell is a mercenary’s graphic, first-person exposé of life in “the second biggest army in Iraq.” Not since the days when the East India Company used soldiers of fortune to depose fabulously wealthy maharajas and conquer India for Great Britain, and mercenaries fought George Washington’s Continental Army for King George, has such a large and lethal independent fighting force been assembled. Hired to do everything from securing American bases and supply routes to guarding the thousands of government officials, executives, aid workers, journalists, and other civilians now populating the Middle East’s most notorious target range, today’s clandestine soldiers of fortune earn up to $1,000 a day, while remaining almost entirely immune from government oversight, military authority, or Iraqi law

John Geddes, a former warrant officer in Britain’s elite SAS and veteran of several wars, became a private military contractor in Iraq immediately following President George W. Bush's declaration of the end of hostilities in early May 2003. In Highway to Hell Geddes gives an unsparing account of his harrowing, often bloody, and occasionally absurd adventures in the wild west of Iraq. After a chaotic chase on the Ramadi Ring Road, he takes out insurgents with a sniper rifle (while nursing the mother of all hangovers). He provides security to a cameraman during a shootout on the rooftop of a Baghdad hotel alongside Kalashnikov-wielding Iraqi waiters (and accepts a marriage proposal that is almost drowned out by RPG fire). He witnesses American contractors shooting and pushing other vehicles off the road first and asking questions later (or, rather, not at all). From rushing a TV crew into the mayhem of a suicide bombing’s aftermath to accompanying an oil executive to a meeting in the heart of darkness of Sadr City, Geddes presents a stunning, chilling inside look at the face of contemporary warfare.

Opening:
I first saw them on the slip road. They were trapped in a muddle of traffic, jostling to get through, eager, anxious, impatient; the mood of the driver transmitted down through the steering wheel and the throttle into the jerking, pushy movements of the car. I'd watched them as we drove past with that dawning of unease that comes from instinct, and now they were behind us, framed in my rearview mirror, kicking up a plume of road dust as they wove through the morning traffic on the highway through Fallujah. Pickups loaded with workers on the open backs, loose-fitting robes snapping in the milky warm slipstream, moved to let the black BMW 7 Series charge through. They were like members of a herd making way for a big predator that had earmarked its prey farther into the throng.

Teaser:
Anyway, I'd already had a free and frank exchange of views with my clients* about the issues and told them that they could certainly instruct me that they didn't want me to carry a weapon. I, on the other hand, would ignore their instruction and would be carrying a weapon unless they absolutely did not want me to, in which case they'd have to find someone else.

* media crew

Would you keep reading?

Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/




Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea