TALENT

Amazing how some things change.

Mom said I had to clean out my closet before I took my Christmas gift cards to the mall. There’s a shoebox in the back of my closet where I sometimes hide things. You’ll never believe what I found there–my New Year’s Resolutions from 2 years ago.

I was in 8^th grade then and very eager to get into high school. I had kinda started flirting with Diego again…sometimes…when he wasn’t acting like a child. Jenn was in my homeroom. My brother, Bri, was a senior at San Ramos High.

So anyway, here are my resolutions from two years ago. Some of them seem kind of silly now. Maybe I was more of a kid than I knew back then.

1. Lose weight before I get to high school.
2. Finish my science project, even though I wish I’d picked a different one. Otherwise I’ll get a D.
3. Take choir next semester if I can get in.
4. Talk to Diego about his band. See if talking about grown up things helps him act his age.
5. Encourage Diego to take me to the Sweetheart Dance in February.
6. Ignore Jenn when she’s being superior. It’s so rude.
7. Ignore Bri when he’s hanging out with Emma. No. Forget that. Pretend I’m ignoring Bri and Emma and kind of spy on them when they hang out here.
8. Ignore Bri and Rob when they tease me like I’m some little kid.
9. Find something I can do better than Jenn and Bri.

I never knew then what the next two years would bring. None of us did.

You can find out what happened to my family and me if you read TALENT. Copies are on Amazon at TALENT.

If you want to tell me your resolutions, I’d love to read them. Click on Comments at the top of the page, okay?

Good news! Both paper and print copies of TALENT are available on Amazon again, thanks to some wise help from Eternal Press.

If you go to Amazon and type in 978-1629293356, which is the new URL for the paper copy of TALENT, then click on the book that comes up, both paper and digital copies will be there. For that matter I just found it on a version of Amazon in French, though the book is still in English (or should I say Anglais).

So here are the steps:

1. Go to Amazon Books.
2. Type in the URL.
3. Click on the book.
4. Read the reviews if you like.
5. Choose Kindle or paper or both.
6. Post a review once you’ve read the book. (I sneaked that in to make sure you were paying attention.

I don’t know who is more relieved, Sandee, or me, but we are both glad the book is available again.

In other news:

1. Diego’s band has a gig on New Year’s Eve.
2. They invited Jenn. She said she’d see if she could make it and asked if they needed a soloist.
3. Diego told her they’d already asked Nicole to be the soloist, and she accepted.
4. Tessa said she would come by if she could, but there’s a benefit at the hospital that night.
5. Rob said, “You’re becoming quite the performer, aren’t you Diego.” Diego asked if that meant he’d come. Rob laughed as he said, “Maybe.”

They’ll all be back in school on January 4.

Except for Bri and Emma.

Where will they be? It’s all in the book. Pick up a copy and let me know what you think, okay?

 

 

 

When I told Eternal Press I wanted to put TALENT into bookstores, they needed to give me a new ISBN #. That meant the print copy of TALENT would be on a new, separate Amazon page. At first I panicked. I didn’t want to lose my 22 reviews. In fact, I’d like to collect more. I also didn’t want to lose the ease for shoppers, but some things are beyond my control.

So here is TALENT’s new URL where you can find both the Kindle book and the print versions: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=TALENT+%2B+B+Lynn+Goodwin. You’ll see 2 editions listed.

The Kindle edition (only $2.99) is the one with 22 reviews. The new print issue is below it. The price is still $12.50. The publication date is moved back to November 1, and with the help of my trusty reviewers, I’m getting reviews on the page.

Can you post one? 

What? You haven’t read the book? Well, what are you waiting for? Teenagers love it. Adults say it takes them back to high school. One reviewer said, “Talent is an absorbing read that keeps the reader turning pages from beginning to end.”

What will you say?

Please help us get the book into bookstores, libraries, and schools. Support TALENT

with reviews and personal purchases for yourself, your kids, your grandkids, your neighbors, your friends, your local theatre troupe, performers, and everyone seeking his or her talent.

Together we can make this happen and turn my moment of panic into a winning situation.

 

 

 

And all through the school

Every creature was stirring

And not eating gruel.

I learned about gruel in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

 

The cool were restless

And so were the geeks

Awaiting vacation

Which would run for two weeks

Have you ever noticed how two weeks sounds like forever when it’s starting? 

Link to TALENT on Amazon

So I don’t know if the Masons are going to spend Thanksgiving in Tahoe with Mom’s parents or in Mendocino with Dad’s. Or maybe visiting aunts or uncles. We have a pretty big family, but we don’t see them much except on holidays. I see them more on Facebook than I do in person.

Anyway Mrs. G has this really cool exercise that she has people do on the last day before Christmas break. Everybody gets to play two roles: first you are a little kid–any little kid–sitting on Santa’s lap. Then you are a department store Santa with a different little kid on your lap.

She has us warm up first by being a bratty little kid, and then a shy little kid, and then a refugee kid, and then a rich kid, and then a smart kid, and then a sad kid, and then an excited kid. You get the picture. We try out all kinds of kids and no two are the same on stage.

Then she’ll have us try out Santas: a jolly Santa, a burned out Santa, a hungry Santa, a college-kid Santa, an old man Santa, and even a drunk Santa who sleeps in the mission.

When it’s all over, she asks us to say who we believed. I visited the class last year when they were doing this. Amazing as it now seems, I believed Rob. Everything changes. If you don’t believe me, read TALENT.

Write back and tell me what you think.

 

 

TALENT on Amazon

Some of us who are characters in TALENT wanted to let you know what we’re grateful for this year.

• We all agree that we are grateful to be out in the world.
• We’re grateful to our author, B. Lynn Goodwin, a former drama teacher, who shared our story.
• We are grateful that we are alive in her mind, and that we live on, even though her book is out there.

Some of us have more personal things that we’re grateful for, and here they are:

Sandee— I’m grated that I know how to drive. I know it sounds small, but it isn’t. Want to know why? Read the book.

Diego— I’m grateful for my drums and for the fact that Mrs. G needed more boys for the show, and I’m grateful for Sandee. She’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind.

Tessa–I’m grateful that I’m not like everybody else.

Nicole–I’m grateful to have a solo in the Variety Show we’re doing this spring.

Jenn–I’m grateful I’m doing a duet with Nicole in the Variety Show that San Ramos High is doing at the end of May. You should come and see it. When we sing together we’re going to rock the world, IMHO.

Mr. Mason–I’m grateful that my son was proud to serve his country. I’m grateful I raised him right.

Mrs. G— I’m grateful when I see my students growing as both actors and human beings. It’s always amazing to see them transform on stage.

What are you grateful for? 

Tell us your latest news? My new YA book, TALENT, will be available on November 1, 2015. Fifteen-and-half-year-old Sandee Mason wants to find her talent, get her driver’s license, and stop living in the shadow of her big brother, Bri, who disappeared while serving in Afghanistan. You can read the first chapter at https://blynngoodwin.com/an-excerpt-from-talent/. Check it out and leave a comment if you’d like to.

As editor of Writer Advice, I’m happy to announce that the Fourth SCINTILLATING STARTS Contest is accepting submissions until November 10. Details and the Submittable Link are in the gray box at www.writeradvice.com. We’re also opening a Blog Tour page on the TALENT website, found at blynngoodwin.com. For a few months I’d like to focus on YA, NA, and MG books.

I’m currently working on a memoir. Can a 62-year-old who’s never been married find happiness with a two-time widower who she met on … gulp … Craigslist?

How did you come up with the title for your YA book? Sandee equates talent with singing, dancing, and acting. She can’t see that she has a talent for problem solving. It will serve her well for years to come.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Everybody has a talent. Some are more obvious than others. It important to remember everybody matters, and each of us has something unique to share with our family and the community. Sometimes it’s hard to see the good you do and get perspective on the problems you face when you are in the midst of coping with everything.

How much of the book is realistic? TALENT is quite realistic. I used to be a high school drama teacher and I’ve directed Oklahoma! That said, my stage manager didn’t (oops! SPOILER ALERT)—She did not have Rob’s issues…). Nor did my stage manager have an assistant. We were not engaged in a war when we did the show. There are no zombies in this book, although Sandee seeks help from a (oops! SPOILER ALERT)—You’re going to have to read the book to find this one out.

What book(s) are you reading now? I just finished Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir and am reading Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter Sisters. Next on my shelf is The Girl on the Train. Did I mention that I review books for Writer Advice and Story Circle Network and have shelves and tables full of books sent for review?

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? Debut author David Arnold captured my interest with his YA, Mosquitoland. You can read my interview with him on Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. It’s on the home page right now and will move to the archives at the beginning of January.

Any other current projects? In addition to running contests for Writer Advice, working on my memoir, teaching Independent Study for Writers through Story Circle Network, http://www.storycircleonlineclasses.org/index.php, doing Manuscript Consultations for Writer Advice, I am planning on writing a second book using the characters in TALENT. I don’t think I mentioned that several of these characters originally appeared in a series I wrote for Dramatics Magazine. It was called “Dear Diary” and included excerpts from Sandee’s diary describing fun activities in drama class.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? My advice is to keep writing, keep digging, keep sharing your stories. Who will tell your stories, from your point of view, if you do not?

Do you have any suggestions to help existing writers to be better? Revise, wait, and revise again. When you know it’s the best it can be, submit it. Know who you’ll submit to next if it is rejected.

You can learn more about Lynn at  www.writeradvice.com

Books can be purchased at Talent

 

 

November 13, 2015

Here’s the wise advice:

“Remember that writing things down makes them real; that it is nearly impossible to hate anyone whose story you know; and, most of all, that even in our post-postmodern era, writing has a moral purpose.”
— Andrew Solomon, at the Whiting Awards

Do you agree?

Nicole: Definitely.

Sandee: Pretty much. I guess I need to get a few more people’s stories. Maybe I don’t know everyone as well as I thought I did.

Rob: Is there such a thing as a post-postmodern era, or is somebody making that up?

Diego: I wish I could say that to Bowen. She’s my math teacher, and she’s always telling me I’m wrong, even though my answers are written down. Or am I missing the point?

Tessa: Mostly it’s true, unless you blurt out things you don’t really mean when you’re writing a rant or something.

Mr. Mason: Sometimes it makes things real, but if I wrote that Bri never got injured it would be a lie. Are you sure this is supposed to apply to all writing?

B. Lynn Goodwin: It’s more likely to be true in memoir than in fiction. If you write something that you think is true that turns out to be fiction, that means writing helped you process more deeply. Generally it is true. Like every rule, it can be challenged.

What do you think? Click on “Leave a comment” or “lgood67334” at the top of this post and tell us when this applies in your life, or when it doesn’t, or both. 

I decided to ask my characters a question, the way the Question Man in the newspaper used to. I went to San Ramos High, and found all of these people on the campus or in the parking lot, and I asked each of them, “What are you waiting for?”

Sandee: A role. Any role. And for mom and dad to realize that I’m still here.

Diego: A paying job as a drummer, okay?

Rob: Graduation.

Jenn: Opening night. I can’t wait. I actually have some lines in this show, and I’m the only girl in the 10^th grade who does.

Nicole: College—Even if I can only go to Pine Mountain. College and more singing gigs.

Mrs. G: I’m waiting for something different from each of my students. I’m waiting to see a professional performance from each of my student actors. I’m waiting for our production of Oklahoma to come together, and before too long I’ll be waiting to meet the new freshmen.

Mr. Mason: I’m waiting for Brian to come home.

Mrs. Mason: I’m waiting for Brian to come home so we can be the family we always were. I’m waiting to feel whole again. Six months ago I would have said I was waiting for Sandee to grow up, but now I think she’s maturing a little too fast.

Dr. Henderson: A school day with no problems.

B. Lynn Goodwin: I’m waiting for TALENT to appear on Amazon. Until that happens, you can still get a copy at http://www.lulu.com/shop/b-lynn-goodwin/talent/paperback/product-22424256.html#ratingsReview. Lulu is the distributor for Eternal Press.

I hope you enjoy TALENT. Feel free to like it on Facebook and Twitter. Click on the Contact button to tell me what you think of it, okay?