Waylaid by Pandora

    Last week I planned to get lots of writing done--like on to the next section of the WIP. Normally I write to Early Music (pre-1500s), instrumental or a language I don't understand.

   Then I found Pandora links to 60s songs in my in-box. I succumbed and clicked on Pandora's box.
   And no writing. For a whole day I am back in L.A., smelling the smog, dancing around my living room to the Beatles (thank God I'm alive at a time when I can hear them!)-- at an Alumni Club dance to Creedence in a big Downtown hotel-- August '63 driving through the dawn with 4 strangers, NY to Washington for the March to "Blowing in the Wind" and "If I had a Hammer"-- The Mamas & Papas singing outside the UCLA Student Union-- Dylan "The Times They Are a-Changing" -- a whiff of pot on a summer afternoon ...
   I just now opened Pandora's box again and was lost in the 60s for another hour.

Troubadours in Life and Literature: My First Guest Blog Post

Today my very first guest blog went live on Anne E. Johnson’s blog -

 http://anneejohnson.blogspot.com/2014/06/historical-fiction-from-christie-maurer.html  

     Anne is a historical and science fiction writer who majored in Medieval Music and was attracted to my announcement of “The Whitewood Kitarra” on Broad Universe. 

It was fun putting together this post on how troubadour songs inspired my writing. 

     Do stop by if you get a chance, and I hope you enjoy it. 

Of Mice and Mice

My new, latest bells and whistles, computer came with a wireless mouse. Thinking I really should get into the 21st Century, I sent off my precious wired mouse with the old computer.

     $%^#! wireless drives me nuts! I go to highlight-cut-paste and the page jiggles and slithers from under the cursor. I try to read on-line articles, and it zips up and down opening pages. I click on a date in Calendar—and set the appointment in the next month.

     Called AppleCare (bless ‘em!). When the tech's eye is on the screen, the mouse behaves, (of course). When he looks away, pages start slithering. My wireless mouse has a bunch of “features” I don't want checked in Systems Preferences. I uncheck them and set the mouse to S-L-O-W. 

     Problems persist.

     AppleCare again. Turns out you can't turn the Scroll “feature” off in the wireless mouse. Since I want to use it like a wired mouse, I should get a wired mouse.

“You still have wired mice?” I squeaked.
   "Yes, you can swap yours for one at an Apple store."
    "Thank God." I almost wept. 

   Next morning a friend picked up the wireless mouse to exchange.
   When I went into my bathroom, the drain stank of a dead mouse. Seemed symbolic somehow.

Bookshop Santa Cruz Newsletter

The Dark Lady's Stone is in the latest on-line newsletter from Bookshop Santa Cruz and it is also featured on their website http://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/book/9781491200995 This wonderful independent bookstore is a great place to hang out and browse. Every time I go through the doors I end up spending more than I ought. They are supportive of local authors, and their regular events often include some big-name writers.

My New Novella is Out

Last week I published my novella The Whitewood Kitarra on Amazon.com through Create Space. Sheri McGathy again designed a gorgeous cover. It will soon be available through Smashwords and Kindle as well.

In The Whitewood Kitarra, a young singer-poet, Sir Loriano of Vayne comes to the Karaskan court for Summerfest to find a new patron at Countess Elisse's prestigious tournament of verse. He must confront his past disgrace and learn to use his unique gifts in order to compete. We meet his master, Anton of Pareskon, and several troubadours and singers.

In the year since this story first appeared in Sword & Saga Press--thank you, Hunter Ligoure, for ongoing support--further research into 12th Century musical performance indicated minor changes in a couple of scenes. And I've also added a historical note.

Book cover does its job

Sheri McGathy's cover for Dark Lady's Stone is really working. 

Yesterday I went to Postal Annex to mail a copy of my book to a family friend. Another customer pointed at the cover, "Oooh! I want to read this one! And I've got some friends who'd like it, too." So I gave her several of the cards I've printed up with the Amazon and Kindle links. 

Then the manager (who was packaging the book) said, "Several local authors have sold a lot of books placing them here. We'd love to carry yours. It looks really interesting." 

So I came home and ordered half a dozen. 

Dark Lady's Stone out in e-Books

Yesterday I got The Dark Lady's Stone up on Smashwords for distribution in various formats to Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and so on. It's available through Kindle as well. What a trip--not only uploading the manuscript but setting prices and getting book descriptions and my biography up on different websites. I keep wanting to tinker, to change a word here, a phrase there. And trying to get the word out that it's published ...  Keeps the old juices churning!

Now it's back to the coffee shop to take a moment to continue work on the sequel.