Mojito Sister Loose on the Writing Community

Amelia Island Book Festival

Join writer Laura Valeri at the Amelia Island Book Festival and Workshop this February 21 (Author Workshop) and February 22 (Book Festival Signing).

On Friday, Laura will be giving a workshop on images in fiction, particularly to:

• find inspiration
• focus your ideas
• immerse into character
• explore a historical period
• create great story openings
• complete story endings
• more…

There will be lots to do, and if you join the Workshop, there will be a lunch with David Baldacci.

Hope to see you in beautiful Amelia Island!

(And check out my book if you haven’t yet!)

True Ghost Stories: The MLS Halloween Blog Tag

You've heard of the twelve days of Christmas, the song with the pear trees, the calendar with the chocolate treats, and blah, blah, blah.

Well, it's almost Halloween, and we at the Mojito Literary Society believe that fine traditions start with wise women...us!

We believe that as a citizen of the world, you have a right to be frightened to death, and so, we say, in the spirit of Halloween, the MLS is read to provide to you an opportunity to make you so chilled that you'll want to reach for the nearest mojito, with cranberries and caramel apples at that! (Any recipes, mojito sisters?)

The Mojito Literary Society hereby presents:

THE NINE DAYS TO HALLOWEEN TRUE GHOST STORY BLOG TAG,

wherein

each of us mojito sisters will tell you a story about ghosts and weird phenomena, guaranteed true, 100%, either because one of us was there and experienced it or because it came from the lips of someone we personally know and trust not to bullshit us and try to impress us.

So expect this:

1 True Ghost Story
4 all of 9 days
each story followed by a "TAG YOU'RE IT" to another Mojito Sister

In other words,

WE'RE FIXIN' TO SCARE ALLS Y'ALLS

(That one came from the Savannah Chapter Mojito Sister)

because we at the MLS want to wish

ALL YOUR HALLOWEEN NIGHTMARES COME TRUE

So grab a blanket, a broom, salt, a crucifix, and get ready to read some true stories about those rent-skipping inhabitants of yours' all's abodes: DA GHOSts of Halloween.

Starting tomorrow, October 22, 2013

A New Kind of Paranormal

Hugo Award winner Will McIntosh astounded the Mojito Literary Society with his debut novel, Soft Apocalypse, which sold out from Nightshade Books on its first print run.

Now McIntosh is back for a second round of Mojito cheeers for his new novel, Hitchers, a story about a comic strip writer who fights for control over his body when a catastrophic event unleashes the dead upon the living, and the ghost of his angry curmudgeon grandfather comes looking for him to reclaim creative control over the comic strip.

The novel contains elements of the paranormal and the apocalyptic, as well as lots of comedy and romance. The characters are well developed, at times infuriating, at times funny, at times deliciously lovable, and the story is written with that nicely cultivated fast pace that has earned McIntosh his many awards.

McIntosh has already signed over rights to his Hugo Winning "Bridesicle" for a film adaptation. So make sure to get your first edition print of Hitchers before all copies are sold out!

Hitchers gets a first rate Yes! from this Mojito Literary sister.

Mojito's Top Picks for 2011: Laura's Favorites

As with all year-end recaps, The Mojito Literary Society will reflect upon some of the best of 2011.

Here are Laura Valeri's picks of the best novels this year (stay tuned for a post on story collections):

The Family Fang: by Kevin Wilson

A quirky tale of a family of performing artists, each of them having managed to blur the boundaries of what is appropriate and what is necessary in the name of art. The story will make you laugh, balk, ponder, meditate, and even maybe weep a little. If only for the fantastical performances that the Fang family manages to contrive, the book should get an award.

Faith: by Jennifer Haigh

The story of a woman who tries to trace back the choices and mistakes that led to her brother's suicide. On the surface, the novel appears to be about the abuses of the Catholic church and its coverups of sexual molestation cases, but as the story deepens, the reader is treated to a delicate, heartbreaking story about love, self-sacrifice, and most of all, faith. One of the most profound and uplifting books I've read all year!

Animal Sanctuary; by Sarah Falkner

Check out the extensive review I wrote for this one on Fiction Writers' Review. Sarah Falkner's debut is a journey into the aesthetic complexities of film and performance art. The novel is written as a braided narrative, combining article clippings, film synopses, audio transcripts and other less-conventional mediums. You'll feel like you've just gotten a crash education in art criticism when you're done reading.

Animal Sanctuary: The Hardships of Art in the Novel

Sarah Falkner's debut novel Animal Sanctuary is the winner of the 7th Starcherone annual prize for innovative fiction. The novel is a complex rendering of the small injustices, abuses and incongruities that keep the art world going. It's a sad chronicle of the sacrifices artists will make to honor their art, and it's a study of the beauty and savage nature of art, and its ability to both maul and give new life to those who dedicate their lives to it.

It was tough to review the book because so much about it is different, and so much of it is also familiar. But Animal Sanctuary is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of the future of innovative fiction. Written in the form of a braided narrative, Falkner uses film synopses, audio transcripts, letters, emails and other narrative mediums that are seldom found in traditional fiction to piece together the adventures of Kitty and Rory Dawson, a film starlet and her son who, together, focus their art on the neglect and abuse of savage nature.

Check out my full review on Fiction Writers' Review, or else check out the book. Enjoy!