Kicking Off The Corner Cafe

 

 Today is the launch date for The Corner Cafe, a book of short stories written by authors who are members of  BBT Cafe, a social group for authors who have taken the Blog Book Tour online course taught by blogger guru Dani Greer. The book gives samples of the writing styles of the 15 authors. We hope readers will want to also discover other books by these authors.

Here is the teaser for my story, "A Face in the Window":  For Arianna, on the anniversary of the tragic loss that changed her life forever, memories lurk inside an art museum and among the shadows of the Corner Cafe.

 

You can also read the first two chapters using Amazon’s Look Inside feature. If it sounds like something you’d like to download to your Kindle, here’s the link to buy. Only 99 cents! 

 

In the fast-changing world of publishing, this is an experiment for all of us. We hope our readers will enjoy it!

Join us during the blog book tour all month as we visit these blog hosts:

June 4 Blog Book Tours Kick-off http://blogbooktours.blogspot.com

June 5 Bob Sanchez http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com

June 6 Red Tash http://RedTash.com

June 7 Magic Dog Press http://www.magicdogpress.wordpress.com

June 8 Heidi Thomas http://heidiwriter.wordpress.com

June 11 Marian Allen http://www.marianallen.com/

June 12 W.S Gager http://wsgager.blogspot.com

June 13 Chris Verstraete http://candidcanine.blogspot.com

June 14 Helen Ginger http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com

June 15 Kathy Wheeler

June 18 Morgan Mandel Double M http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

June 19 Pat Bean http://patbean.wordpress.com

June 20 Shonell Bacon http://chicklitgurrl.blogspot.com

June 21 Alberta Ross http://albertaross.wordpress.com

June 22 Karen Casey Fitzjerrell http://karencaseyfitzjerrell.blogspot.com

June 25 Pat Stoltey http://patriciastoltey.blogspot.com

June 26 SB Lerner http://www.susanblerner.com

June 27 Maryann Miller http://its-not-all-gravy.blogspot.com/

June 28 Mary Montague Sikes http://marymontaguesikes.blogspot.com

June 29 Stephen Tremp http://breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com

Loving Indiana Jones

An old poster of Indiana Jones hangs on the wall in a small bedroom in our house. I love the poster and I loved Harrison Ford in the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

As I wrote my novel, Jungle Jeopardy, I visualized a young Ford as the almost-hero of my book. Tyler Hunter (my character) is an archaeologist who knows a lot about ruins of all sorts, including the Maya which are depicted fictitiously in my story. Another character, Clifton Wilder, the hero of a previous book, Secrets by the Sea, wears an Australian-style hat similar to Ford's in Jungle Jeopardy. A jaguar figures prominently in my book.

Were there any jaguars in Raiders? I don't remember.

Earlier today, I studied the Indiana Jones poster and decided it would be great fun to create an outfit for book signings that links a little to the Ford image from the movie. I have an Australian bush hat my children brought home from a trip there. I'm going to wear that hat, a brown jacket with the look of one from the movie, and a silk shirt with a jaguar image on the front to my next signing. I already have a painting I created of a jaguar to go with my story. Although I look nothing like Harrison Ford and I don't have a gun to strap around my waist (think that would be illegal in Virginia), I'm excited about this branding project for Jungle Jeopardy.

Will I attract readers? I don't know, but it should be fun trying!

The Illusion of Time

Have you ever thought much about the illusion of time? What is time?

Whatever it is, I never seem to have enough of it. Do you?

Time appears to move differently for everyone. I remember that as a child, time dragged on forever for me. Once, when I was five or six years old and went to visit my cousin over night, I was so homesick that I thought the time away from my mother would never end.

Endless time is difficult.

Several years ago, an older man told me that when he reached the age of fifty, time began to fly ever faster. That's because unlike a child with 10 years to relate to in time, an older person has many years. The months between Christmases go ever faster in those later years. It was like age 50 was a hump for him, and the pace of time changed thereafter.

Recently, I started reading Creating Time by Marney K. Makridakis. As an artist as well as an author, I enjoyed the art work sprinkled throughout the book. In the chapter, Your Relationship with Time, she talks about personifying the entity of time.

"Your Time Guide is an imaginary persona that you create, a benevolent figure who supports you fully and gives you exactly what you need in the area of time," Makridakis says.

She gives an "ARTsignment" of conversing through letter writing with your Time Guide. I like that idea and intend to try it.

I found her chapter on Time and Relativity fascinating. She begins by discussing Einstein's theory of relativity and notes some of his thoughts on it. Because I have a poster in my classroom with an Einstein quote, "Imagination is more important than knowledge," I was especially interested in his thoughts on the subject of time.

The Einstein time implication, "Time is relative to the position of the observer who measures it," (from Makridakis' book) explains what my friend experienced after he reached age 50.

I love the "ARTsignment" Galleries in this book. I intend to study them and create some of my own.

Please take a look at the Book Trailer for Creating Time.

Time is an illusion. We all see it in our own unique perspectives. Creating Time will inspire you to experience time in diverse and sometimes magical ways.

                                                              Copyright 2012 Mary Montague Sikes
 

Marney K. Makridakis is the author of Creating Time. She founded the Artella online community for creators of all kinds and the print magazine Artella. A popular speaker and workshop leader, she created the ARTbundance approach of self-discovery through art. She lives in Dallas, Texas. Visit her online at http://www.artellaland.com.

Corner Cafe

Connecting Maya Ruins Art and Writing

I love it when writers are inspired by art. Richard Raymond III created the Shakespearean sonnet below based on my paintings and what he remembers from Mayan history. You can see the imagery as you read.

Thank you, Richard!

ROMANCES AMONG THE RUINS *

"... And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything."
– Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

THE FACE IN THE SERPENT’S JAWS

Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent-God
No "still unravish’d bride" is this stark stone,
No "foster-child of silence". Undulant,
For centuries lay dreaming, all alone
Amid the undergrowth and forest-plant
He lay with gaping maw, whence peered a face ...
(Of anguish? or, perhaps, of godly birth ...
Was it emerging, as the fount of a great race?
Or being swallowed, to increase the serpent’s girth?)
Only the sculptor knew, who seemed to mock
Divinity, disgorging living head,
Hewn by stone tools out of the living rock,
Where now remains no witness but the dead,
Not even ghosts to weep, betrayed, undone,
Upon these steps, the Temple of the Sun.

Copyright Richard Raymond III

More About the Maya Ruins Show

Lorelle Rau installs Maya paintings at Crossroads Art Center

My Maya Ruins Art Exhibition at Crossroads Art Center is up. Lorelle Rau did a fantastic job with the installation. On Thursday, I was interviewed live by Cheryl Miller on Virginia This Morning. (Click link to see two of the 12 ruins paintings on view in Gallery One that were part of the TV segment.)

Maya Ruins Exhibition on view until July 10 in

Gallery One at Crossroads Art Center

2016 Staples Mill Road

Richmond, VA