Merci

Thank you to Susanna Newton for being this month's featured local author.  She has generously donated a copy of Questions Where Are You?, her debut novel, for everyone to borrow from Basloe Library and a signed copy to give away!  I just saw the lending copy at Basloe this morning on the new books end cap, just waiting to be taken home and enjoyed!  And tomorrow, one blog reader will get to take home the signed copy!

I appreciate the time Ms. Newton took to answer questions and let you all know her book.

If you have read Questions Where Are You? please leave comments.

Also, please be patient while I line up May's local author.  I have been really busy working on the upcoming redistricting vote!

While we're waiting for Ms. Newton to answer some of the questions and we wrap up this month's contest (Drawing on May 1), I would like to share with you another way that Basloe Library has had an impact on my family.

Gabrielle

My daughter, Gabrielle, has always been a reader.  One of her sixth grade teachers, I think it was current library trustee Phil Kane's wife, once told her that she didn't have to read so much.  

That seems like a funny thing for a teacher to say, but you need to know the background.  For the summer before sixth grade, all of the kids had homework: to read SOME books and do a one page report on each. This was to start them on a contest to see who could read the most books.  On the first day of school, Gabrielle had already read close to, I think, 100 books, and continued to read so much that she was even reading on the playground.  She was clearly obsessed!  

(By the way, the teacher made the right decision because while reading is important, so is socializing and developing communication skills.)

In light of that, it's no wonder Gabrielle has always loved Basloe Library!  

So much so that as a young girl she volunteered for the library and last year she worked at Basloe.  

Last year she was thrilled to have had the opportunity to put back the genealogy research room after the renovations at Basloe.  

This summer she will be back at the library AND helping Deb West at the Herkimer County Museum behind the library.  

Her Career Choice was impacted by Basloe

She is finishing up her first year at SUNY Geneseo where she is double majoring in History and Art History.  She is planning on studying in museums in the UK for a semester. She has a whole plan mapped out once she finishes at Geneseo that involves her masters and PhD in museum studies. 

Her dream job is to work at either the National Archives or the Smithsonian, but knows that she has many options open to her such as working at any museum, historical society, the U.S. Parks Department-or even a librarian.

She once toyed with the idea of becoming a librarian, but she also loves history and wanted to find a way to combine her two great loves, so she decided on museum studies.  In her opinion, it's the best of both worlds.

Without frequent trips to Basloe and her involvement there over the years, I am not sure what she would have chosen for a career, but I am certain that Basloe and the people who work there have had a large impact on her life and continue to.

So, from one grateful parent, thank you Basloe Library for helping Gabrielle to find her passion!

     What's the library got that I can't get online?

     Just a little while ago my husband and I were talking about the upcoming library redistricting vote in Herkimer, NY.  He told me that the guys at his work tease me about how much I love the library. 

     I see the goodhearted teasing as a symptom of how some people my age and younger see public libraries.  With all of the technology that is available to virtually everyone, the question for a lot of people in our communities is "What's the library got that I can't get online?"

     Well, to answer that, this week I would like to share all the ways that I think that Basloe Library (and every public library) is important to me personally.  

Today, let me tell you about my son, Nick.

     All about Nick

     When Nick was in about 4th or 5th grade, Nancy Stowell ran a program in which kids of this age group (many of whom are still friends with Nick) read, improvised the scripts, rehearsed and put on fairy tale parody plays for the younger kids.  

I thought it would be good for Nick because he hated to read, but he loved to write and was quite imaginative.  I also still wanted to encourage him to read, but you know how it is as a parent-sometimes they will listen to others before they listen to you!  And what better place to learn to at least like reading than the library?

Lifelong Friendships and Experiences

Anyway, he absolutely loved that program and had a blast spending time creating with kids his age.  

A few years later, Nick went on to have many leads and supporting roles in high school theater.  So did the other kids that participated in Nancy's program.

Perhaps some of you may know Nick best for playing "Man in Chair" for the Footlighters production of The Drowsy Chaperone.  

He has played so many other roles in the Footlighters and Stage II productions, but even two years later, he still gets stopped on the street by strangers and is asked "Weren't you that kid in that really funny play?"  

He treasures that role, but he would like to move on.

Moving On  

Nick was one of 50 high school seniors to be chosen to attend RIT's special film production programs.  Come this fall, Nick will be studying all aspect of film with only 64 other students for the next four years.  His goal is to be a writer/editor of feature films.

Nick was also chosen by the Stanley Theater with other Mohawk Valley students to be a Youth Ambassador for this year's Broadway Theater productions.  In exchange for promoting the Stanley's productions using social media, Nick and the other students got to enjoy all of this year's productions and meet many of the cast members that traveled through our area.

He also had a film of his chosen to be in HCCC's first ever high school student film festival.  One of the girls that was in Nancy Stowell's drama program with Nick was one of the actresses in the film.  She's also been one of his best friends all these years!

You just don't get that kind of experience, sense of community or influence online! 

So when parents with younger children ask, "What can the library give me that I can't get online?"  

I tell them how one little program at Basloe Library (or any public library) could shape your child's entire future-it did for mine!

_______________________

Question for Ms. Newton:  You began your writing as a young girl.  Did a public library having any influence on your desire to become an author?

Earn extra entries to win!

Answer the following question in the comments and get two entries for the drawing of Susanna Newton's debut novel, but the deadline is Tuesday, April 23rd!

Question to Readers:  Where is this poster located?

Plus, you will receive another entry if you post a question or comment for Ms. Newton, author of Questions Where are You?

Question for Ms. Newton:  Can you fill us in on your personal and professional background?  

Xlibris and Ms. Newton

In the last post, Ms. Newton mentioned that she used Xlibris to publish her novel Questions Where Are You?  For those of you not familiar with Xlibris, it is an online self-publishing website.

Question to Ms. Newton:  Can you explain the process that Xlibris uses in order to  publish a novel?

     Cover Story

     In the April 8th blog post, Mohawk Valley Author Susanna Newton discusses the cover with commenter, Cat Macera.

Since their conversation seemed interesting, my next question to Ms. Newton is this:

Who is pictured on the front cover of your book?  You? Someone you know?  

_________________

Readers, if you haven't already joined the conversation, please feel free to jump in with a comment or question at any time!

If you do, you will automatically be entered in the drawing to win a signed copy of Ms. Newton's debut book.

It seems as we are experiencing just a bit of technical difficulty with the new format, so please be patient while I try to iron out the bugs. Thanks so much for understanding!
In the meantime, I have Ms. Newton's answers to the two questions from the last post. 

_______________

Q from C.A.K.: What was it that made you decide to

share your previously unpublished books with the public now?

     A via Ms. Newton:  It's a rather funny story. I had

    always told my children I was leaving them a legacy

   

    one day, but now I'm spending their legacy!  Just 

    joking!  

    Seriously, I had always written books and I was  

    

    looking at them sitting there on the shelf, so I chose 

    one and sent it to a publisher. If I hadn't, they would 

    still be sitting there.  

    Everyone has dreams.  Some hope for being a 

    number one author; others just want to share. I 

    wanted to share my work with hope that all who 

    

    read it would experience the same joy I had 

    writing it.

     I would also like to thank everyone who attended

     my book signing at Basloe Library last Saturday.  I 

     had a wonderful time and experience.   

Q from C.A.K.: If someone wasn't able to attend last week's book signing and would still like to purchase a copy of Where Are You? how can they do that?

     A via Ms. Newton: You can purchase it three places online, Xlibris.com, barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com.

SCROLL DOWN FOR PURCHASING INFO

For your convenience, the exact links are:

Xlibris:

http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0126725049/Questions-Where-Are-You.aspx

This will take you right to the page to order the softcover edition of Ms. Newton's debut novel, but on the right side of the webpage there is a sidebar to order the hardcover or the ebook edition.  

Amazon: 

http://www.amazon.com/Questions-Where-Are-Susanna-Newton/dp/1479775665/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1365592537&sr=8-6&keywords=Susanna+Newton

Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/questions-where-are-you-susanna-newton/1114479950?ean=9781479775668

The prices for all three sites are pretty comparable to one another, so it is just a matter of preference.

Whichever you choose, you will be supporting a Mohawk Valley author.

Leave a comment or question for Ms. Newton and receive an entry, and if you attended the book signing at Basloe Library, say so for 2 extra entries.

Where Are You?

     Local Author, Susanna Newton, has written nearly 30 books.  Yet her debut novel Where Are You? is the very first one that she is allowing others to read.

Question to Ms. Newton:  What was it that made you decide to share your previously unpublished books with the public now?

_______________________

Where Are You? is a romance novel filled with suspense and drama.  Susie, the main character and heroine, seeks to find Mr. Right, yet will she find true love or more heartache and trouble than she can bear?

First in a series of 12

_______________________

I hope that you were able to get over to Basloe Library this past Saturday for Ms. Newton's book signing.  If you did, don't forget to leave a comment saying that you did in the comments and you will receive TWO EXTRA ENTRIES for a chance to win a signed copy of Ms. Newton's Where Are You?

Question to Ms Newton:  If someone is interested in purchasing a copy of your book, but did not make it to the book signing, how can they get one?

Don't forget that Ms. Newton has generously donated a copy to Basloe Library in Herkimer for borrowing!

And please remember that each comment that you make, or when you post a question for Ms. Newton on this blog between now and April 30 will earn you an entry!  

Mohawk Valley Reads

     When I thought about my experience with my previous blog that was about local authors, the one thing that I found was that the blog took on a whole other meaning than what was initially intended.

     Because of that, I had to reevaluate the direction and purpose of the blog.  What I discovered was that not only had the focus changed, but the title was not appropriate for the purpose.  So I thought long and hard about what I wanted you to know about the blog from its title.

     I came up with Mohawk Valley Reads.

     This seems to serve the threefold purpose that is part of the new focus. For me, and hopefully you, the title says:

1.  "Hey, this is what kinds of things local authors are writing" 
2.  We are a community who likes to read
3.  We support our own authors in a variety of ways

How this blog will communicate is just as important as the title

Like Friends and Words, we will have a monthly contest so that you can have lots of chances to win prizes donated by local authors. 

Like Friends and Words, much of the focus will be about local authors that work with Herkimer's Basloe Library.  After all, that is my personal connection as a current board member.  

However, feel free to use this blog as an announcement portal to a local event that involves a local author/writer.  You won't earn an entry in the monthly contest for your information, but you can support Mohawk Valley authors/writers.

And finally, like Friends and Words, you will have to do something in order to be entered (keep reading for the details)!

But unlike Friends and Words, all communication will take place on this blog.

Instead of the local author and I having private emails and me serving as the middleman to you, the questions will be posted here and the author will answer them here.  

How, you the reader will be included in the conversation:

Feel free to post appropriate comments on the writer's/author's answers and ask your own questions about the publication, or seek advice from the writer/author on a writing or publishing question you may have.

In fact, in order to be entered into the drawing for the monthly drawing, you MUST post in this blog at least once!  

Facebook comments on Basloe's FB page will no longer be accepted as entry.

Every time you post a comment on the blog, you will be entered into the drawing.  There is no limit to how many times you can post in any given month, but on the first day of every month, the count goes back to zero and we start all over again with a new author/writer.

You can also earn an extra two entries if Basloe Library hosts an event with the monthly featured author/writer.

Here's your chance to earn two entries in April:

This Saturday, April 6th, our featured author of the month, Susanne Newton, will be at Basloe Library from 10 am to 2pm signing copies of her debut novel.

All you have to do is go to Basloe Library tomorrow, attend the book signing event, and leave a comment ON THIS BLOG POST that you attended and I will give you TWO ENTRIES. It's that simple!

Over the weekend, the conversation with Susanne Newton will begin and you can start earning even more entries all month long.  The prize is a signed copy of Newton's Where You Are to be drawn May 1st.

Mohawk Valley Traditions Part II

     Yesterday I wrote about some of the ways that our "little" valley supports one another in times of troubles and shares in each other's triumphs.  I also referred to the trend of "going local" in order to support local businesses, growers and artisans.  Today I would like to talk a bit more about the "go local" initiative that many industries have adopted and how this initiative can be applied to show support for our local authors.

    

      In 2010, American Express launched it's Small Business Saturday program to help small, local business boost sales on the day after Black Friday, and two days before Cyber Monday (wikipedia).   The American Express website has this to say about the program:         

                                 
              "Did you know that every dollar that you spend [locally] can impact your community?  By participating in 'Buy Local' initiatives consumers have helped local businesses more than double their average revenue, and . . . you're not only supporting the local economy, you're helping provide more jobs for your neighbors."

How this information impacts local authors

     From working with several local authors this past year, I have come to realize that these authors are not just writers looking to have their fifteen minutes of fame.

     Local authors have to work much harder than the more famous, nationally known authors at their craft for a number of reasons:

• They are not bearing their souls to nameless and faceless masses of people; the people that first see their published writing are family, friends, neighbors and coworkers.  Their critics and supporters are people that they know which makes their work so much more personal.

• Local authors do not have large publishing houses to do all of their promotional work.  Local authors have to work long, hard hours and hours and hours to market their books, articles and stories.  If they don't do it, there is no big corporation that will back them.

• Local authors do not receive large advancement checks to support them while they spend time writing.  Often times they find time to write into the wee hours of the morning and go to their full-time careers exhausted.

• Local authors are often overlooked by the large publishing houses who want to protect their investments with authors who are already well known to the masses, who will bring in the big money for the publishers.  Often times local authors must find their own way to publish their books, either through online publishing or creating their own publishing companies.

• Local authors often use their own savings in order to get their writing published, just like all other locally owned and operated business owners.

These are just a few ways that local authors are much like local business owners.  I am sure that there are others and if you can think of more, please feel free to comment.

So, just like we, as members of the Mohawk Valley work hard at supporting local causes and businesses, we can show emotional and financial support for our local authors.

I hope that you will return to this blog tomorrow to learn how this blog plans to be THE place where you can do just that!

     Mohawk Valley Tradition Part I

     There is a national trend that is sweeping the nation in the past several years to move away from the big box store, chain restaurant, internationally manufactured products mentality and return to a time and place when mom and pop stores and local artisans and growers are honored and committed to by our emotional and financial support.

     The Mohawk Valley is the perfect place for such a trend to grow beyond that which other more urban areas because it has been typically been known as a place where everyone either knows or is related to everyone else.  While our demographics have been changing over the past several years, this feeling of familiarity that we have with one another has not changed.  

     And despite recent polling that reports Utica-Rome as the "11th most miserable" metro area (businessinsider.com) and the recent headlines that involve unthinkable acts of crime, the Mohawk Valley remains a place where we support one another in times of trouble and share in each other's victories.

I believe this to be true by looking at all of the ways we do that:

• For 39 years, people in our community have supported the American Heart Association in droves to hold "one of the largest run/walks of it's kind in the country (utica.edu)."  This year, over 9,000 people from all over the Mohawk Valley banded together to raise over 1 million dollars for the Heart Association (heartwalk.kintera.org).  Perhaps this is why ours isn't just great but, the "Greatest"!

• The Boilermaker Road Race is a local phenomenon.  Where else can someone from the Mohawk Valley run the same race as Olympic competitors and everyone feels the same positive energy?   Bob Anderson of bestroadraces.com, someone who doesn't live here, observes about the annual community/national/international event:                                                                         "The Boilermaker is one of a kind. You will never run bolstered on by so many supporters. The energy could light a city, but instead pushes the runners on to produce faster and faster finishes. The entire community is in on the fun and as runners pass through three different neighborhoods, each competing to be the biggest motivators, there is no shortage of cheers, signs, music and water! "

          It's no wonder that every July, you would be hard pressed to find someone who isn't involved in the Boilermaker in some capacity: runner, walker, volunteer, cheerer, spectator, etc.!

• Just recently, one lone man went on a rampage in the small villages of Herkimer and Mohawk.  You all know the story, as it is fresh in our minds and hearts and is still quite painful.  Yet this is not the end of the story.  In a very short period of time a benefit for the victims of this tragedy was organized.  As I watched the planning stages develop of the benefit, I saw that it began small, then it grew so that one part of the benefit had to be moved to another location, only to realize that location was not going to be large enough either.  The result was that so many community members, leaders and business owners had responded that the benefit had to be held in two large places and over $60,000 had been raised in one afternoon!  

These are just three examples of how the Mohawk Valley supports one another in times of need, in times of trouble and in times of celebration.  Can you think of others?  Feel free to share them with us!

The basis for this blog will build upon the national trend to support local artisans and the longstanding Mohawk Valley tradition to support our friends, family and neighbors. 

                  Come back tomorrow for Mohawk Valley Traditions Part II!