Friday, July 31, 2009

Rob Wells Appreciation Day

I love Rob Wells. No, I don't mean that in a creepy, stalker-ish way (I only stalk Dean Hughes)nor do I mean that in an ooey-gooey way (we're both very happily married, to other people, plus I'm a couple of years older than he is. Plus, that's just way weird, and shame on you for even thinking it). I mean it in a, "Man, he is so stinkin' funny" sort of way, and perhaps even a, "Man, I wish I was even half that funny" sort of way. Plus he's a really nice guy. But it's not his niceness I'm talking about today, but rather, his stinkin' funniness.

My sister regularly informs me that I'm the source of her entertainment, and that if I don't post at least a couple of times a week, she has nothing to live for. Well, that's quite a lot of pressure to put on a person ... Quick! Be funny on demand! So I thought I would dovetail and combine Rob Wells Appreciation Day and Keep My Sister Happy Day into the same day, thereby bringing even more joy to the masses.

Therefore, I bring you - Some of Tristi's Favorite Ever Rob Wells Posts, in No Particular Order.


Annette Lyon: Forgive Me, Please

Social Media Marketing: Interview with Stephanie Black

The Great Mormon Novels Have Already Been Written

The Float

Thanksgiving Forum

Now I turn the time over to you, Dear Blog Reader - what are some of your favorite Rob Wells moments?

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Last Call ...

My clearance sale is still going on ... but I'm down to eight copies of Strength to Endure. Only eight copies and then the book is out of print. Not that I'm trying to needle you or pressure you or anything ... but if you wanted to get a copy, I really recommend that you do it now, because they will be all gone. Pop me a note at tristi@tristipinkston.com for more details.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Equal Means the Same

Over the course of the last few years, I’ve done quite a bit of reading about world history. I’ve read about slavery and the way the slave traders would head out to Africa, barge into villages and snatch people who were just going about their daily routines, throw them on boats, beat and brutalize them, and change their lives and their children’s lives forever. I’ve read about how the Japanese Americans were treated during World War II, and how the Holocaust took millions of Jews from all over Europe while at the same time, people from all over Russia were being thrown into gulags. I’ve read about the fate of the American Indians and how they were generously granted spots of land here and there where they could live in peace – as long as they didn’t wander off. In more recent history, I’ve read about the fighting that devastated Sarajevo, and the civil war that caused the slaughter of countless people in Rwanda.

I could go on for some time, but I’m sure my point is made. All over the world, throughout many eras of history, man has fought against man with one common belief: I’m better than you are. One group of people elevates itself over another and believes it has more rights than the other. This belief leads them to acts of cruelty and violence because they feel they are acting out against someone who is inferior. In the case of the slave traders, many of them believed that the slaves weren’t even human, but were some form of animal. They saw nothing wrong with their actions because they refused to really look at what they were doing and take responsibility for their actions against another man – it was far too convenient to believe that they were simply acting against animals. There was less guilt that way.

We have entered into a historic time. We now have an African American president, something many thought would never happen. It has been stated that this is a time of change. Much has been said about how we as a nation will now experience equal rights with our new president at the helm. Many people, myself included, think that sounds like a wonderful idea. It is time for all people to be treated equally. It is time for persons of every culture to be respected, not for the color of their skin, but for their minds and hearts and dignity and the things of value they bring to the world through their love, kindness, and service to others, for their thoughts and ideas.

However, the pendulum is now swinging the other way. The government has become so sensitive to anything that might possibly be considered racist that much overreaction has taken place. Recently, a black man was arrested outside his home when a neighbor feared a break-in. He had forgotten his keys and he was jiggling the lock. When the police arrived to take stock of the situation, the man cried “racism” and our current administration was outraged at this treatment of a black man outside his own home. This could so easily have happened to a white man. People of every race and every color forget their keys. My husband had to break into our house a few weeks back, and if one of our neighbors had called the police, fearing a break-in, I have no doubt they would have questioned him. But it certainly would not have gotten the attention of the press.

I believe it’s time for equal rights. But to me, equal means the same. I believe that people of all races should have the same opportunities as their brothers and sisters of other races. I don’t want to see whites elevated above blacks and I don’t want to see blacks elevated above whites. Should that happen, we’ve accomplished nothing but a role reversal. Some might claim that it’s about time, but what progress would we have made as a human race if we continue to allow one race to dominate over another? We would merely have switched who was doing the dominating.

I believe I would have enjoyed knowing Rosa Parks. There was a woman with some spunk and I would have ridden a bus with her any day. But I don’t her to be forced to yield her seat to me, and I don’t want to be forced to yield my seat to her. I’d like us to sit side by side, strike up a conversation, share pictures of our children, and talk about our lives, as friends, knowing that our backgrounds are different and yet knowing that fundamentally, we are the same. That is the real definition of equal rights—knowing that each person, each soul, is of tremendous worth regardless of their packaging and giving us all the chance to walk this earth as we see fit without a preconceived set of rules for how we will be treated. That’s the world I want to live in. Anything less cannot be called equal rights.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The Appropriateness of Gift-giving

Sarah Palin is currently under investigation for allegedly receiving improper gifts during her tenure as governor of Alaska. This made me wonder ... as we head out shopping for weddings, birthdays, and get-well gifts, how many of us realize what is a proper gift, and what is not? For the purposes of clarification, I put together this handy chart for future reference.



Proper Gift: chocolates

Improper Gift: used cans of motor oil



Proper Gift: nice box of stationery

Improper Gift: dead beetles in a jar




Proper Gift: a DVD

Improper Gift: moldy bologna




Proper Gift: a gift certificate to the recipient's favorite store

Improper Gift: dryer lint



Proper Gift: a green plant

Improper Gift: leeches



Proper Gift: a pretty wall hanging

Improper Gift: fast food restaurant napkins



Proper Gift: wall clock

Improper Gift: toenail fungus medication



It is my hope that we might all become enlightened and learn to tell the difference between a proper gift, and an improper gift, lest our gift-giving someday become suspect as well.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Necessity Will Do Strange Stuff to You ...

I'm the kind of person who always gets the weird health problems. I don't just get sick - I have to get the most exotic kinds of sickness (no swine flu yet, thank goodness ... but I'd probably get, like, ostrich flu or something a little cooler than just regular ol' swine).

Well, I spend a lot of time at my keyboard, and as the weather has gotten warmer, I've developed another interesting problem. My skin sticks to my keyboard and whenever I lift my hand, I'm peeling myself off the plastic. This isn't a problem once in a while, but when I'm the computer for two-hour stretches and I'm raising my hand every minute or so, that's a whole lot of skin peeling, and my wrists and palms have been getting tender. My forearms, too, from resting on the desk.

I spent some time online looking for products and gizmos to help me, to no avail. The closest thing I found was a gel wrist rest that had "stick to me!" written all over it. (Well, not really, but you know ...)

Never underestimate a woman with a glue gun.

I raided my daughter's fabric box, asked her if I could have some of her wide black satin ribbon, and went to work. I glued a strip of ribbon along the edge of the desk where my forearms touch, and another strip along the bottom of my keyboard where my palms and wrists touch. Voila!



I think it looks classy, almost like my desk and keyboard are wearing tuxedos.

Best of all, I haven't stuck once since I did it!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Clearance Sale!

Ah, Clearance Sale ... the two words that make the hearts of every shopper go pitty-pat ... the two words that bring a sense of comfort and contentment, a feeling of accomplishment, and the bestowal of bragging rights.

Well, we know I'm all about bragging rights, so of course I'll do my part in this grand endeavor.

That's right, I'm having a Clearance Sale.

Right now, by leaving a comment in this trail and saying, "I want! I want!" (or some reasonable facsimile of same) you can get a copy of "Nothing to Regret," plus a copy of "Strength to Endure," plus shipping, for the price of $10.00. That's right, just ten dollars gets you two (count 'em, two) Tristi Pinkston novels delivered to your door, with nothing more to pay, ever! There are no clubs to join, no commitments to sign, and no annoying salesmen will call or come to your door. These books will slice 'em, dice 'em, take out those annoying red wine stains, and best of all, will inflate in case of a car crash. You can't afford not to own these books! Leave your comment in the trail today!

Quantities are limited. Not valid in Tajikistan or Outer Mongolia. Much of this blog is written in hyperbole. This is not a flying toy.


*Actually, pop me an e-mail at tristi@tristipinkston.com Not all of you have your e-mail addresses on your profiles, so hunting you down is tricky. You can hunt me down instead.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I'm on the Frog Blog

Head on over to Six LDS Writers and a Frog - Stephanie Black interviewed me about "Agent in Old Lace." I love the Frog Blog ...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Booksigning on Saturday

As part of the Fiesta Days celebration down in Spanish Fork, I've been invited to appear at Confetti Books on Saturday. If you're able to drop by, it would be great to see you!

Address:

Confetti Books
273 N. Main
Spanish Fork

12-2 pm.
Saturday, July 18th

Friday, July 10, 2009

Almost Everything You Need to Know about Virtual Book Tours

Of all the questions I am asked regarding marketing, the first and foremost is: "How do I set up a virtual book tour?" (Well, generally the very first question is, "What the heck is a virtual book tour?") I decided to take a couple of minutes to answer those questions today.

When you go on a virtual book tour, you have essentially arranged for several different blogs and websites to feature you in some way. They might do a book review, they might interview you, they might just talk about you - but they all do it to help you promote yourself and your book. It's like going on a book tour from the privacy of your own home, hence the name, "virtual book tour."

VBTs can help you in many ways.

1. They can help you become more familiar to the hosts of the sites you visit.

2. They can make your name more recognizable to the buying public.

3. They can garner you reviews on your book that otherwise might be difficult to get.

4. The more times your name appears on the Internet, the more special you look. And special = sales.

5. They can drive more traffic back to your blog and your website, helping the reader learn more about you = sales.

So, how to go about setting up a VBT?

A. Talk to your publisher and find out how many review copies of your book they are willing to send out. Some publishers will give a stack of books to the author to mail out themselves, some publishers mail the books for you, and some publishers will give a discount on copies for the author to purchase and then mail out. In fact, some publishers won't assist in this at all ... but we won't focus on that. Talk to your publisher and find out their rules.

B. Now that you know how many books you can send out, you need to find the right reviewers for you. Go to Google and type in blogs and then your search term. If your books is about shopping malls in the Amazon, put in blogs Amazon shopping malls. Up will come a list of blogs that talk about your topic. Or put in blogs book reviews. Of course you can customize your search in any way you like. Once the list comes up, click on each link and find those blogs that seem to be the best fit for what you're looking for. Leave a comment to establish a good relationship, and then look for a contact link or the profile link, which will lead you to a way to contact. Politely ask the blogger if they would be interested in hosting your tour, offer them a free book, and thank them for your time. You do not have to pay the blogger for the review - the free copy is their thank-you gift.

C. When the blogger replies to you, establish with them the date upon which their review will appear. You want to spread out your reviews so that the fervor you create will be sustainable - if you schedule them all for the same day, you'll make a big splash but it will peter out quickly. You should schedule your tour far enough into the future that your publisher has time to mail out the books and the reviewer has time to read their copy. If your book will be in the warehouse on April 1st, schedule your tour for the middle of May.

D. Five days before a review is set to appear, e-mail that blogger and remind them (again politely) and then pop them a note the night before. When their review appears, copy the link and post it on your own blog or website, and invite all your readers to go take a look at it. You can then send your publisher a list of links, and they can link from their website to the review.

These are the basic steps to setting up a blog tour. You can make this as simple or as complicated as you like. I recently did a huge contest in connection with my book release, as did Annette Lyon. Some authors choose to send out books and let them speak for themselves with very little additional hoopla. What you do is up to you. But the Internet is the way many people are doing their shopping these days, and if we take the time to learn how to use it for marketing, we'll be riding the wave of the future.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

The Only Bad Thing

I love having a good imagination. When I was a child, I would lay in bed at night and put myself to sleep by imagining stories, scenarios, whole worlds - I never fought my mom on going to bed because it was so much fun for me to lay there and imagine. As an adult, I love being able to imagine how other people think and feel - it has made me more sympathetic to those around me. And yes, I do still imagine myself to sleep sometimes.

It's fun to be able to speculate about things and wonder, "What if this happened?" It provides so many possibilities to life, so much to anticipate, and it makes life a mystery, wondering which of the many alternatives might actually turn out to be the truth.

But that's where the only bad thing about having a good imagination comes into play. I'm rarely surprised.

By the time something happens, I've already imagined it happening in a million different ways, in different settings, with everyone wearing different colors and styles and listening to different music at the time ... and so when it happens, it's like I already knew it would.

That's why I appreciate surprises so much. When something happens that really does catch me off guard, it's an extra delight.

Friday, July 03, 2009

My Road Trip to Blanding

Yesterday, I spent the day with my father and good friend Candace traveling down to a family reunion in Blanding. When I first received the invitation to go, I didn't think I was going to be able to - my son is getting baptized tomorrow, it's also my daughter's birthday, I've been working on projects for work ... on and on and on. The organizers of the reunion had really hoped that I'd come and speak about Benjamin Perkins, the great-great-grandfather upon which my novel "Season of Sacrifice" is based, and they asked me again if I would come. It all seemed impossible, and the roadblocks were pretty significant, but then a whole lot of miracles took place and I was able to be there after all.

We left Orem at 4:00 am ... yes, that is correct ... and hit the highway. The sun came up and lit on the gorgeous rocks that begin to speckle the landscape the further south you go, and we really had a nice drive. We reached the Blanding stake center right on time at nine, I gave my presentation (which went well) and had the honor of meeting many family members I never had before.

Me and my dad in front of the Blanding stake center. No, I'm not falling over, although I was tired enough to ... I'm leaning toward my dad.

From the stake center, we headed down to Bluff, where the Hole in the Rock Foundation has been hard at work refurbishing and reconstructing the Bluff Fort, where the pioneers lived after reaching the area. Part of the family reunion activities included reconstructing the cabin that belonged to Benjamin Perkins, so we were especially excited to see that.

This is the cabin from the outside.

And the inside. A fireplace will be put against the wall.

This is the beautiful monument built to commemorate the pioneers on that trek. Here are Ben and Mary Ann, and their children.


Sarah was not yet married to Ben at the time of the trek, so she's listed under Williams, her maiden name. Thomas Williams, listed right after, is her brother, and Mary Ann's too, of course.*

After leaving Bluff, we headed back north to the Monticello cemetery. I haven't been there in years, and it was good to return and pay my respects.

John and Thora were my dad's parents. I was very close to them, particularly my grandma.

Here is the Perkins plot, with Ben, Sarah, and Mary Ann.Dad and I do both look a little bedraggled, but it had been a long day.

Close-up of Ben's headstone.
And of Sarah's.

The cemetery was our last major stop. Tired and warmish, we headed home. We were worn out, but the day had truly been meaningful.
My dad, pointing out some sights.

Candace was part of the miracle in our being able to go - she lent her car, her driving skills, and her support to us all day.

I got home, said hi to my family, and then went to bed for fourteen hours. :)

*It occurs to me you might not know the story of Benjamin, Mary Ann and Sarah ... well, for goodness' sake, buy my book!
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