How to Decorate Your Little Free Library

 Book Marketing, Books, Censorship, Libraries, Reading  2 Responses »
Jul 162012
 

© Jack Mader 2012

Imagine a dollhouse, only it’s not a dollhouse. It’s a library. And instead of homey dollhouse wallpaper, the three walls are covered with three photographs of the interior of your neighborhood library. So opening the doors to your Little Free Library (LFL) is just like walking into your public library. That’s the LFL at  Homewood Studios in north Minneapolis.

This bit of innovative decorating should surprise no one who knows Homewood Studios. Everything at Homewood seems to turn into a community project. The art gallery is owned by George and Beverly Roberts, who are natural community builders and nice people (and I’m not just saying that because I married George’s brother). George is a poet and artist; Beverly is a huge arts supporter and domestic goddess. (As she likes to remind us when we come to dinner, “Of course, it’s good. I have a degree in home economics; I’m a professional.”)

In the case of Homewood’s LFL, neighbor and photographer Bill Cottman took images of the interior of the Sumner Community Library down the street and enlarged them. Jack Mader mounted them on foam board and placed them on the interior walls of the little library. The revitalization of the Sumner Library a few years ago was a massive project that involved many of the people in the community. The Tudor Revival building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was important to create something dedicated to literacy and learning in a neighborhood that makes it into the crime reports far too often.

© Jack Mader 2012

And now there is another place dedicated to literacy and learning. George watches from inside his art gallery and sees children and adults visiting the Homewood LFL every day. Like Sumner, it is a gathering place. This is all it takes to make a difference—just a few big-hearted people and a big idea housed in a small container.

In my novel, Book of Mercy, I wrote about a library created by a bunch of kids and a woman who could not read. Like the LFLs, it was fueled by the people and for the people. My characters were fighting censorship in their town. George, Beverly, and the Homewood neighborhood is fighting illiteracy, despair, and indifference. The rules are simple: bring a book and take a book. But I have a feeling that by having a place like Homewood Studios and the Little Free Library in their backyard, the people there take home more than a book.

FREE eBooks in Stock Up for Summer Sale

 Book Marketing, Book of Mercy, Books, Reading  No Responses »
Jun 102012
 

Summer reading is different from any other reading. It is unrushed. It is guiltless pleasure.  It is often done lounging on a chair at the beach or in a hammock in the backyard instead of wrapped up in five sweaters, your shoulders up to your ears, in front of a winter fire. It is a mental vacation.

I spent one summer reading nothing but John Updike. Whew.

I understand if you have a reading challenge to meet, like getting through the complete collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle before the next season of Sherlock. But you have to take a breather every once in awhile, and when you come up for air, you’re going to want something different. We’ve got just the thing.

Stock Up for Summer Sale

FREE KINDLE Books from 15 of the Hottest Indie Authors
June 14-16

Every genre for your entire family: Literary Fiction, YA, SciFi, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Spy Thriller, Paranormal Romance and Children’s.

Click on the images or links below to go to that book’s Amazon page.

Sherry Roberts, Book of Mercy, Literary Fiction: A woman who cannot read stands up to a town banning books. Midwest Book Awards Finalist.

D.A. Graystone, The Schliemann Legacy, Spy Thriller: A spy thriller involving Nazis, terrorists and the hunt for the treasures of Troy.

Wenona Hulsey, Blood Awakening, Epic Fantasy/Contemporary Romance: Nominated for the Best Adult Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Book of 2011 on Goodreads.

Carmen Caine, The Bedeviled Heart, Medieval Scottish Historical Romance: Romance Silver Medal Winner of the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

Zoe Saadia, At Road’s End, Historical Fiction/Historical Romance: A historical romance set in pre-Columbia America.

Scott Mallory, Tales of a Washed-Up Neverwas, Humorous Fiction/Contemporary Fiction: Shocking stories of radio, remorse and revenge.

Faith Mortimer, The Surgeon’s Blade: A chilling addition to the best-selling Diana Rivers mystery thriller series.

Tracy Rozzlynn, Verita, Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy: First in a series about the newly discovered planet, Verita.

Tina Boscha, River in the Sea, Teen/Adult Historical Fiction: A tale of first love, tragedy, intrigue and betrayal during the German occupation of the Netherlands.

Gloria Repp, Pibbin the Small, Children/Frogs & Toads: The story of a brave frog launches the Friendship Bog series.

Alan Tucker, A Measure of Disorder, YA Fantasy/Adventure: Book One of the popular Mother-Earth Series.

Charity Parkerson, Wicked Sinners, Paranormal Romance: An ancient book draws a woman into a centuries-old battle between brothers.

Calinda B, A Wicked Choice, Paranormal Romance: Nominated Best Erotic Romance 2012.

Natalie G. Owens, Something to Live for, Paranormal Romance: A short story in the Moonlight Dating series.

Carole Gill, The House on Blackstone Moor, Paranormal: A haunting book set in Victorian England.

Snag some books in your favorite genre and head to the beach or the lake. We’ve got you covered.

Where do you like to read in the summer? Leave a comment then go click away.

Get Loaded Blog Tour de Force: Get Out Your GPS

 Book of Mercy, Books, Reading  125 Responses »
Jan 262012
 

January 31, 2012: Get Loaded Blog Tour de Force has come to an end. Thank you to all who stopped by and chatted with me on this blog and by email. Please visit my blog again. Also, I’d love to have you friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter. A special congratulations to Anita, the winner of the Book of Mercy Gift Basket. The next time you play Bananagrams think of Antigone.

Calling all Sherlocks, Stephanie Plums, Richard Castles, and all you readers/geocachers/scavenger hunters.

It is time for the Get Loaded Blog Tour de Force—the most fun you’ll have on a scavenger hunt all year.

We call it get loaded because we’re going to load up your ereaders with FREE eBooks. And some of you are going to score loads of prizes as well—special gift baskets by the five participating authors and a new Kindle.

Eager to get on the trail?

Get out your GPS (Great Powers of Scavenging) and put in these coordinates:

Why am I doing this tour? Because I want you to meet: Antigone Brown, a women who can’t read and is pregnant with her first child; Irene Crump, president of the Mercy Study Club and determined to rid the town of Mercy of “undesirable” books; and Ryder, a runaway who steals right into Antigone’s heart (and yours, too, I bet).

Basically, it all boils down to a literary smackdown between Antigone and Irene. Who will win? Will censorship prevail in Mercy or will Antigone be able to save the books she can’t read? There’s a secret library involved, a brawl (with pies), hubcap art, boxing deer, and more.

How do you get this must-read? Leave a comment on my blog, during this tour, and I’ll send you a FREE eBook of Book of Mercy. Be sure to leave your email address and what type of eBook you’d like (PDF, Kindle, ePUB format).

Rules of the game:

  • Leave comments on every site of the tour. Use your GPS to hop around the tour. Try to hit every author site. Leave a comment at every site. Each comment earns you a free eBook from that site’s owner AND an entry into the site’s giveaway AND an entry into (drum roll please) the Big Golden Cache at the end: a FREE KINDLE!
  • Find your clues. After you comment, hop over to the Indie Book Collective and get clues for hidden info. While you’re there, sign up for the IBC newsletter and earn 5 MORE ENTRIES for that Kindle.
  • Grab your GPS and start hunting down info.
  • Collect all the info and e-mail your answers at the end of the tour to IBC to earn EXTRA entries for the Kindle drawing.
  • Cheating is allowed. Keep this on the down low, but I will be giving a few hints on Twitter. Follow me at @sherryroberts7 and get some insider info on this super-scavenger hunt.

Prizes:

  • Books, books, books. All of the eBook variety. Collect a FREE eBook at every author’s site. That means you’re hunting for five days, but it’s worth it. A comment on this site earns you an eBook copy of Book of Mercy.
  • Giveaways. Leave a comment at each author’s site and get entered into that author’s special giveaway. What’s in my gift basket? A signed paperback copy of Book of Mercy for your personal library. A dozen of the best cookies on the planet courtesy of Two Smart Cookies (because you won’t be able to put down Book of Mercy and will need nourishment) and a Bananagrams game (in honor of my dyslexic heroine, Antigone, who sees letters mixed up all the time and has to make sense of them). I have to limit this giveaway winner to the U.S. #sorry.
  • Free Kindle. For each comment you leave on my site, you will get one entry into the drawing for the Big Golden Cache at the end: a FREE KINDLE! For every piece of information that you scavenge from the five authors’ sites and take back to the IBC site, you get a Kindle giveaway entry. Sign up for the IBC newsletter and get 5 more entries.

So stuff that ballot box, baby. Scavenge like crazy. Don’t miss a day or a site.

Give a Big Cyber Hug to My Sponsors

Go visit my wonderful sponsors’ sites and leave a comment. These folks do a tremendous service for the reading community. Plus they have interesting stuff to say about books. Bookmark these sites; subscribe to them. Please.

SmartLit

Journey of a Bookseller

Defrosting Cold Cases

Purple Jelly Bean Chair Reviews

Reading Is My Cheap Addiction

A Word about My Tour Mates: Amazing Paranormal Reads

Go back to Day Three: Chelsea Fine’s YA paranormal romance, Anew, presents a conundrum I can honestly say I have never encountered in my long reading life. This is a fresh take on the love triangle, and you’ll find yourself wishing there was a way for everyone—brothers Tristan and Gabriel and lovely Scarlet—to live happily ever after. But first they have to break not one, but three curses. A promising start to the Archers of Avalon series. Bring us more, Chelsea. What are you doing on this tour? You need to be writing.

Get ready for Day Five: Liz Schulte is a talented writer who has woven an intricate plot with an amazingly seductive bad boy (don’t the vulnerable ones get us every time). In Secrets, she alternates first-person chapters between photographer Olivia and mysterious Holden. The world has plans for Olivia. Can she keep from falling into the abyss? Side note: The dream sequences in this book are amazing.

That’s it. So get going. Comment. Scavenge. Cheat all you want. Get those prizes. Get loaded.

Remember: Leave a comment on my blog, during this tour, and I’ll send you a FREE copy of Book of Mercy. Be sure to leave your email address and what type of eBook you’d like (PDF, Kindle, ePUB format). Here’s the question I’d like you to answer: What’s your favorite banned book and why?

The College that Censored Firefly

 Art, Censorship, Reading, Writing  No Responses »
Dec 292011
 

I entered the Best Tweet About the College that Censored Firefly contest today. My chances of winning are looking about as good as my chances of using my new snowshoes in Minnesota this brown winter. I never win anything, which is fine by me. I am the Rodney Dangerfield of contest winners. So don’t vote for me and ruin my record.

I put my silly tweet in the pot just for fun, but also because I really hated what the University of Wisconsin in Stout tried to pull on theater professor James Miller. In September, Miller posted a quote from the television show, Firefly, outside his office door: ”You don’t know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake. You’ll be facing me. And you’ll be armed.” The sentiment is about standing for a certain set of values, of being straightforward and honest with your fellow humankind. No threat was intended.

But campus police were having none of it. On September 16, they removed the “unacceptable” poster because it referred to killing. In response to this censorship, Miller launched a second salvo poster, which read: “Warning: Fascism” and included a cartoon image of a silhouetted police officer striking a civilian. The poster warned, “Fascism can cause blunt head trauma and/or violent death. Keep fascism away from children and pets.”

Again, the university responded by removing the poster. Quickly, the incident blew up into a public relations nightmare for the university, fueled by tweets, blog posts, and articles by Firefly fans, free speech advocates, the media, celebrities such as Adam Baldwin and Nathan Fillon, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). On October 4, the university put out the publicity wildfire by reversing its decision to censor Miller.

This may sound like old news, but a similar incident will likely surface somewhere in the world tomorrow or the next day. Censorship seems to never go out of style. And so, FIRE is sponsoring the tweet contest to draw attention to a new video on censorship featuring author Neil Gaiman.

Now, I have a few disclaimers: 1) I am a Firefly addict and take umbrage at people messing with this rag-tag crew; 2) I am a free speech nut; and 3) I have written a novel about a town that censors books called Book of Mercy. Even if you are or have done none of these things, please watch the video. 

Oh, and my tweet? Here it is:

Son, if you don’t know #censorship is wrong, you just don’t get it. #Firefly in a jar w/no walls. http://bit.ly/tGzd0o

My way-too-literal friend complained, “How can a jar have no walls?”

“It’s about freedom,” I explained.

“I don’t get it,” he said.

This is why I will not win this contest. I suck at jingles.

Feel free to RT in the name of Browncoats, TV shows cancelled before their time, and the way fireflies make you feel on a summer night.

Be Vigilant; Your Books Could Be Next

 Book of Mercy, Books, Censorship, Reading  2 Responses »
Sep 262011
 

I am not a conspiracy nut. I don’t believe I am being watched ALL the time, and I try not to think about what they put in our food. But I am pretty sure that books disappear from the shelves, unless we say something. People never believe you when you maintain that censorship could and does happen. “Book banning here? This is America,” they scoff.

Maybe actual bans are rare in the United States, but it is not for lack of trying. On average, there are about 500 book challenges a year in American libraries, according to the American Library Association. This number goes up or down depending on the political climate and what side of the bed the censors get up on.

That’s why we need Banned Books Week, an annual event sponsored by a number of book-loving organizations including the ALA to a) celebrate the freedom to read, and b) draw attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Banned Books Week is always held during the last week in September, when kids are just starting to hit the books again and parents have more time to read. Here are a few examples of books challenged in 2010-2011 and why:

  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: A parent claimed that it gave her 11-year-old daughter nightmares and could numb other children to the effects of violence.
  • What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: A Guide for Parents and Sons: Banned in 21 schools in Texas after a parent complained. It contains definitions of rape, incest, sexual assault, and intercourse.
  • Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut: Challenged in Republic, MO, schools because it is “soft pornography” and “glorifies drinking, cursing, and premarital sex.”

I have followed the topic of censorship for years as I researched my own novel Book of Mercy. Most censors object to books because of sex, violence, swearing, and “to protect children.” But other times, their reasons are just silly. I used actual challenged books and the actual reasons for their challenges as part of the story in Book of Mercy. (Yes, sometimes you can’t make up this stuff.) Here’s an excerpt in which Study Club President Irene Crump identifies books that should be banned in Mercy.

“The Stupids Step Out,” Irene said. “Describes families in a derogatory manner and might encourage children to disobey their parents.”

Arabella huffed in disgust. “That’s an absurd name for a family, fictional or otherwise. What if Tolstoy had called her Anna Idiot instead of Anna Karenina?”

Arabella got no argument from Irene, who constantly fought the battle for eloquent language with her own children. She thought “suck” should be something you did with a straw, not a description of your homework. . . . 

Irene went on to another book. “A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein. Encourages children to break dishes so they won’t have to dry them . . .”

Julie cleared her throat and attempted a half-hearted smile. “Irene, surely when you were a child, you too hated doing the dishes.”

Irene peered over her glasses at Julie. “We had a maid for that. Even so, there is never an excuse to take a hammer to the Wedgewood.”

America is a free society. Those of us who abhor censorship have to tolerate those who enjoy it, and vice versa. That’s how we know we are free. We have this system of checks and balances. But it is never safe to fall asleep at the wheel.

So be vigilant. Rock Banned Books Week, wear an “I Read Banned Books” button, read something someone else considers salacious. Check out the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop—you could win books, swag, or gift card moolah. Go to the ALA’s website and find out more about the Banned Books Week Virtual Read-out.

Whatever you do, just don’t sit there. Give books a chance.

“Mom, They’re Banning Books!”

 Book of Mercy, Books, Censorship, Parenting, Reading  2 Responses »
Sep 222011
 

I had been stumbling around in the plot of a book I was writing for some time. I knew the protagonist couldn’t read and that books were disappearing. I was going for some kind of Alice Hoffman magical realism thing. Perhaps with a little humor since my book’s working title was “Too Dark to Read,” after the Groucho Marx quote: “Outside a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read.” But then in 1996, my daughter came through the door, crying, “Mom, they’re banning books!”

My daughter was a junior and an IB student in a North Carolina high school. She had a mean forehand and a voracious love for books, including the book in question, The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes. Fuentes is recognized as one of the most influential writers in Latin America. In fact, in 2006, he received the Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech and Expression. Ironic, I know.

My first response was to sit down, read the book, and discuss it with my daughter. It is the story of celebrated American writer and journalist Ambrose Bierce, who mysteriously disapeared in Mexico during its civil war. Fuentes imagines the fate of Bierce among Pancho Villa’s troops in a tale that examines “the borders between men and women, dreams and reality, Mexico and the U.S,” as Publishers Weekly put it.

What the censors in our town (parents of one of the students) objected to were explicit scenes between a young Mexican revolutionary and the American teacher, who falls in love with him. I had no problem with my 17-year-old daughter reading those scenes. But then I’ve never denied my daughter a book she wanted to read.

After an intense public meeting and a review by committee, The Old Gringo eventually was returned to the shelf and the IB curriculum. But in the process, my daughter’s English teacher, a favorite of many of the kids, decided to move on, perhaps to a place where teachers didn’t receive hate mail.

This incident had a huge impact on the direction of my book. Book banning in fictitious Mercy, North Carolina, became the conflict, and Antigone Brown, the woman who fights the censors, ponders the same questions I had as I wrote letters in protest of the removal of The Old Gringo.

All too often, censorship is a parental issue. As Antigone says in Book of Mercy, “I want to protect my child from the world. But I also want to protect the world for my child.”

What I learned in writing this book and in raising my daughter is that books can never be allowed to disappear from the shelves without a squeak. We must say something; explode the discussion in letters, e-mails, tweets, and public meetings. We must never let censorship dissolve into the dark.

According to the American Library Association, on average about five hundred books are challenged every year in the United States—and those are just the ones we know about. Some would say this is horrible. But I think if we didn’t have a way to challenge the actions of others, we wouldn’t be truly free.

So I accept that book challenges are necessary, but I also am happy when they fail.

Book of Mercy, a story about a woman who faces her greatest fear to save a town’s books, is available in paperback and on Kindle. Read more about Book of Mercy or check out an excerpt.

Saying No Thanks to Book Club

 Books, Reading  No Responses »
Jan 242011
 

Recently a friend wondered if she could say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” to her book club. She had tried to read this month’s selection, really she had, but she just couldn’t do it. I had felt the same way about vegetables when I was seven. I surmise it is easier to stand up to your book club than to your mother. Still, some book club members go through real angst when faced with a torturous read. I think if you give a book a fighting chance—say 50 pages—then you can veto without guilt. Life is too short, and there are too many books to read. I believe we all have the right to say, “It just wasn’t my cup of tea”—no offense to the book’s selector. As Groucho Marx once said, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” Be true to your book club, but even more so, be true to yourself.

I Thought I Would Invent the Kindle

 Books, Kindle, Reading  No Responses »
Jun 182009
 

My husband and I always thought we would invent the Kindle. We were two journalism grads who talked a lot about the future of newsprint and saving trees and words captured on a screen. Alas, we never got around to it.

Now, two children and several house payments later, our entrepreneurial energies churned into building a business specializing in editorial services, Web development, and book production services, we own two handheld wireless reading devices not of our design. Now we format books for the Kindle and Nook, including our own books.

We read books on the Kindle. For our business, we explore the intricacies (and limitations) of presenting the electronic books of the future. We look up words instantly and effortlessly with the Kindle’s dictionary, far away from the 9.5-pound Webster’s Unabridged on my desk. I could be out in the middle of the ocean in a raft and find the definition of cirque: “a half-open steep-sided hollow at the head of a valley or on a mountainside, formed by glacial erosion. Also called corrie, cwm (pronounced koom)”—and discover a killer Scrabble word to boot.

The Kindle has much going for it; when you’re reading in bed at night, drifting off, and your book slams down on your nose, a Kindle may leave a smaller dent than the average hardcover.

But there is also much one misses when using a Kindle: the feel and smell of turning pages, the softness of an often-read book, the feeling of being connected to some great literary tradition, and the vast—and free—selections at the local library (although this is changing as Kindle is now invading local library systems).

Still, I do like the Kindle’s adjustable text size feature. Those of us with eyes that threw in the towel at 40 appreciate the ability to control our squinting. And if I were in college, I would much prefer lugging a 10.2-ounce Kindle than a backpack of heavy textbooks slowing giving me curvature of the spine.

Still, there is one futuristic image I can’t get out of my mind. The Kindle holds more than 1,500 books. Would I rather walk into a library and see the shelves packed with 1,500 hardcovers, paperbacks, novels, gardening books, Harry Potters, and Ernest Hemingways—or one Kindle?

No doubt the children of tomorrow will have no choice. So I am going to enjoy them—both my lovely books and my useful Kindle—while I’ve got them.