Call for photograph donations for rock video clip ...

Source

I have to make a YouTube video for one of my songs for the Greek press to link to. They don't want to use the book trailer, they want to use a song that they believe is 'hit worthy'.

The song has a very typical rock beat, is about 2 minutes long, starts off kinda quirky with plucky guitars, then gets heavier and distorted, and stops abruptly. It was my idea of a joke, actually, when I was writing it, but as it turns out, 'they' don't think it's a joke at all ...

I was kinda thinking of a theme along the lines of rock stars drinking wine, laughing, then arguing, laughing, then arguing, but I guess that might be a little difficult and over-ambitious, yeah? Anyway, if you're a photographer and want some exposure (you'll get credited at end of video) please get in touch with me and pitch me your vision! :o)

These are the lyrics:

Love is a Bitch of a Wine (Whine)


How many times have you tasted this wine?
Can you add them up and
compare kisses to affectionate touches?


Chorus:
Because love is a bitch of a wine.
Yes, love is a bitch of a whine.


Do you believe we haven’t kissed with our tongues?
In almost a year?
Put your glass down and plant your butt here.


Chorus


It’s a long way down the road.
For a beer so let’s stay here and drink all our fears.
Because love is a bitch of a wine.


POST UPDATE! ... VIDEO NOW LIVE! (ended up just doing it myself ...)

Singing into toothbrushes with socks stuck in my top ... yes, today I tell you a secret ...

Remember when you were a kid, and your favorite song would play on the radio, or on TV Hits, or on Rage (Australian music video show), and you'd grab the nearest object that resembled a microphone and perform to yourself in the mirror, striking poses that would probably only suit KISS?

Remember?

If you were female, you'd also probably smother your lips in red, stick some socks down the front of your top, or even better still, find some cardboard to make pointy cones to stick down your top instead ... Express yourself! ... Vogue, Vogue ...

If you were male, you'd be touching and grinding your groin while attempting to simultaneously do the moonwalk, or painting your face and declaring that you were trying to mimic army disguise when your dad caught you out and gave you a concerned look ...

Remember?

I do ...

I would also sleep with my Walkman (yes, WALKMAN, with those heavy headphones that resembled earmuffs), close my eyes and envision myself on stage performing Alanah Miles', Black Velvet in the raunchy fetish gear Cher sported with her tattooed butt showing ...

Yes. I did.

Now, last night, I didn't go as far as sticking socks down my top (I think my breasts are quite decent, so really, there was no need ...), nor did I sing into my toothbrush and strike poses in the mirror, but I did lie in bed listening to music, acting out the moves in my head, that I'd make on stage, pretending to be a famous rock star and all ... hehehe ... but you know what the best part of last night's little party in my head was? It was TO MY OWN MUSIC!!!

Hahahaha ... yeah, that was fun ... I should probably let myself do that more often. I had a pretty awesome night ...


PS: I have an hour-long radio interview (in English) this Thursday at 4:30 pm, on Kokkino 105.5 FM, where the entire soundtrack to my debut novel, String Bridge, will be played in between questions. :o) I'm excited! (and flippin' nervous) Hopefully those of you outside Greece will be able to access its online streaming ...

So how was your weekend? Got any secrets you'd like to admit to? ;o)

An amazing book by an even more amazing woman ...

Cleave by Angela Felsted
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've known Angela Felsted for about a year now, I believe. I met her through blogging, but got to know her even better when I started a poetry group on Facebook and we began critiquing each other's poems. In one word: WOW. Angela's talent is as much needed in this world as rain is to a drought. So, naturally, I want to give this amazing poet and musician some help to get the word out about her poetry chapbook, CLEAVE, which is available for pre-order through Finishing Line Press.

First, I'd just like to point out a few very pleasing aesthetics. It's all in lowercase. I'm a sucker for lowercase in poetry. I love how it represents a sort of purity and innocence, which, I might add, is remarkably clever considering the poetry is centered around childhood memories. Such a beautiful touch. Also, the titles of each poem are like sentences. Another unique trait that really caught my attention from the get go. I love it when writers break rules because, in my opinion, they are there to be broken, and when that happens, one's true voice shines through.

This collection strongly centers around the themes of music (even if quite symbolic) and tainted innocence. There are also a few religious connotations, but really they are only obvious if you decide to read the collection with religion in mind. I'm not a religious person, so I was so pleased to be able to read past Felsted's spiritual subtleties, and give them meanings of my own. This is a sign of true talent, when a reader is able to read and associate the words with themself, and not the poet.

I found myself ooh-ing and ahh-ing aloud over Felsted's work. I sometimes even thought, "wow. I wish I wrote that!" I could pinpoint my favorite moments from each and every poem (there is not even one dud among them), but I'm going to choose a line from one; one I'd like to call my favorite: "i was as water".

"...when i
tried to hold you
i tumbled
and slid
leaving sand on your
tattered shore ..."

I like to read this in two different ways:

1. to a person in my past
I am the wave. I tried to stay close to you, and love you, but all I did was leave my wretched debris on your already wretched land.

2. To my stringed instrument
I was holding you, but my grip on the bow was not strong enough (or too strong), it slipped out of my hand, leaving remnants of resin in your over-used strings. I'm afraid to play you. To hurt you. To hurt myself.

There is so much in this collection that evokes such a response. I will read this collection a lot more than once. And I'm sure, that with every reading, I will find something new to ooh and ahh over.

If you'd like to show your support and pre-order a copy of Angela Felsted's CLEAVE, please go HERE. You will not be disappointed!

View all my reviews

And I am SOOOO excited to announce ...

... that the STRING BRIDGE WEBSITE is now LIVE!

Here you can read about the novel and music, reader's reviews, learn where to purchase the soundtrack and access the lyrics to all the songs from the album. Thank you so much Steph for putting this together for me!

It's not long until the launch of String Bridge and its accompanying soundtrack and I am SOOOOOOOOO nervous about it all. And yes, my insecurities from yesterday continue ...

• Will I answer all the interview questions on time?
• Will my answers be unique enough to hold your interest?
• Do people even care about blog tours or is it just a thrill for the author and the participants?
• Will the Amazon Chart Rush on November 11th work or will it be a total flop?
• Have I DONE everything I need to do, or has something slipped through the back door unnoticed?
• Will my book be up on Amazon in time for the blog tour, or will Amazon make my life a living hell?
• Are people really being honest when they post a positive review of my book or am I just being humored?
• This is the first and last time I am ever going to release my DEBUT. Will I enjoy the whole experience or will I be stressed out about the whole thing?
• Is all this self-promotion annoying? I'd hate it to be annoying and have people rolling their eyes every time they see "String Bridge". I'm so sorry if it ever makes you feel that way, but what choice do I have?
• Will it actually sell? Will my soundtrack sell?
• Am I pushing people too hard to help me promote this?
• I'm SO excited. Is it coming off as STRESS? I think it is ... but it's not meant to be!

Please, please, pretty please with magical cherries on top, could you help me spread the word about the website today? It would be ever so much appreciated!

And ... have a wonderful weekend!

Insecure Writer's Support Group: Writing is my oxygen. Music is my carbon dioxide.

This month for Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group post, I'm going to talk about insecurities stemmed from juggling two areas of interest: writing and music.

Writing:
I haven't done any since finishing revisions on my second novel, Bitter Like Orange Peel. Nor have I really felt like it for more than a fleeting moment where my fingers went a little jelly-like and summoned a squeak of their own, "Stop using us for work. We need to be creative!" But it wasn't long before I was working my butt off again, and ignoring their little pleas for pleasure. I can't NOT work. Things are really tough for us right now and I'm so scared of not being able to find the time to write again. I feel like I'm lacking oxygen. Writing is my oxygen. (And music is my carbon dioxide, but I'll get to that in a minute).

But I can't just SIT DOWN AND WRITE. I need a few days of peace to prepare my brain, and then I need weeks of dedicated time to write at least a few chapters that are worth reading. I'm not one of those people who can sit down and tap out the first draft of a novel in two months by allocating myself two hours of every day to do so. For me it takes time and brain space. A lot of it. Probably about a year's worth. So I'm panicking. I pretty much have about a year left until I plan to have my second book out, which means I need to have the third one ready by then. I'd better get cracking! I'm so afraid I'll never get it written and end up being one of those authors with a 20-year break between releases. I'm not a fan of that (despite my most favorite author being one of them--ha!) And you know why I'm afraid this is might be a huge possibility? Because of the music ...

Music:
I love writing and performing music. In my home. In the studio. On stage? I'm not so sure. It really freaks me out. I can't see myself going the whole hog with music. It's just not one of my ambitions, you know, to be a rock star? That's why I say music is my carbon dioxide, because breathing it in and breathing it out again seems to be enough for me. I get my fix and all is good.

But the release of my debut album which accompanies my debut novel, String Bridge, is hitting the media here in Athens next month. So far I've been told that it's being written up as "album of the week" in the most widely used Internet source of entertainment news here in Athens, and as "album of the month" in a print music magazine, this coming November. I've been advised to get a band together, in order to play some live shows. A band. Wow. Not only am I a very shy performer, and not only does the idea of doing live shows twist my stomach into knots, but what is going to happen if my music really begins to take off? How could I possibly say no to pursuing it? And will all my spare time, which I would normally use to write, be invested in band rehearsal and song-writing? What will happen to my novel writing? Can I juggle both and produce novels and music to the quality my perfectionist self desires?

Insecurity:
Can I really be a one-man band?

Houses flooding ~ houses burning down ~ houses flooding ~ houses burning down ...

Source

So for two nights in a row I keep having this weird monotonous dream. Over and over ~

houses flooding
houses burning down

I wake up, I roll over onto my side, fall back to sleep ~

houses flooding
houses burning down

I wake up, I roll onto my back, fall back to sleep ~

houses flooding
houses burning down

I wake up, curse, fall back to sleep ~

houses flooding
houses burning down

I open one eye, "Ckufen ckuf, just wake up already!" doze ~

houses flooding (trucks honking in background, in reality)
houses burning down (Holly my dog whining to be let outside, in reality)

ARGH! I'm BORED! WAKE UP! ... I get up. I make coffee. I blog about houses flooding and houses burning down ...

So ... who's an expert in dreams? Anyone want to analyze? Feel free ... I'm totally intrigued ...


PS: Angela Felsted, you won Michelle's book! Drop me an email with your address. Thanks!

Comment to win a copy of Michelle Davidson Argyle's novel, Monarch!

In honor of the release of Michelle's novel, Monarch, I am giving away a copy along with a signed poster and bookmark! All you have to do is comment on this post today to be in the running. I will announce the winner tomorrow. Contest is open to US residents only, as the product will be shipped directly from the publishing company (in case you're wondering why, seeing as I live in Greece! :o)

Michelle is a very dear friend of mine so I'd appreciate it if you'd follow her blog too. Her posts are both informative and entertaining. You won't be disappointed. And above all she is a wonderful person! So why not, say ciao too?

My review: 
"A fast-paced, action-packed, stimulating book you don't want to miss. With every turn of a page I could hear the bat of a wing resonate in slow motion, as if a special effect crafted for the big screen, preparing me for the next blow. Even the quiet moments, sprinkled with exciting and striking imagery, rendered me quite breathless. Not only because I was anticipating what might come next, but because it made me feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff admiring a spectacular view. But that view isn't far away. All you have to do is open the book, take a look for yourself, and follow the Monarch Butterfly."

Take a look at the trailer:





If you'd like to purchase Monarch, either in paperback or e-book, please CLICK HERE.


Have a great week everyone! And I'm so glad to be back. Getting very excited about my own book launch! :o)