MISS SCARLET'S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING (March, 2011, Grand Central Publishing)
It took eight hours a day for four weeks, but tonight I wrapped it up. I love this book, I love the ending. Now I wait and see what my editor thinks. More rewrites may be coming. if so, it's okay because I know it will only make the book better!
I truly cannot believe I wrote and edited this novel in six months. My last one took YEARS!
Wow, three weeks have already passed since my novel came out. (LINK!)
My biggest fear was wondering if people would "get it", and secondly if it would translate outside of the craft world. And the Latina/o fiction world.
Thankfully the answer is a big YES to both of those! *Knock on wood* There have not been any scathing or bad reviews, and overall they are all positive. The ones that do have criticism are very valid and insightful. I've found them to be very helpful as I'm working on my next book!
Thank you so much to everyone who has bought and read the book, and those who left reviews too, I am so grateful! It puts a lot of pressure for the follow up, I hope it goes over just as well or better...*yikes!*
Have a super day, and go out and READ - any book, just read!!!
Here is a new review that just popped up today, and it made me so happy to read it.
Waking Up In The Land of Glitter
by Kathy Cano-Murillo
2010 Grand Central Publishing
ISBN:978-0-446-50924-4
Softcover Edition
327 Pages
Genre: Fiction
4.5 / 5 Stars
My Thoughts
I was rather impressed with this novel. I found it funny, quirky, sweet, and rather inspiring. It was a beautiful story about love, friendship, and hope, all based around a love for crafting and the phenomenon that seems to be sweeping over our nation. Although I am not really a crafty person, I found myself inspired to think maybe I could give it a shot before reality actually set in again.
The relationship between the three women is interesting, but I actually found the character development of each woman much more interesting. The self-discovery process each women went through during the novel was fraught with missteps and problems, but the development of self-esteem, slow as it was, and the discovery of what each of them was capable of in their lives, was utterly fascinating. I found myself rooting for each one, but at the same time, I was also thinking about my own life as each one went through their own changes, and looking at my own life to see if maybe I wasn't achieving my own potential as well. I believe it was one of the reasons I began to blog as I felt I wasn't achieving enough in my own reviewing world; I needed more of an outlet and I needed to achieve something more. I could totally relate to what each of those women was feeling so it felt really personal to me. Naturally the real development of a true friendship always come with a series of tests, and all of these women have secrets that will test their friendship. When these secrets burst open one day, will the foundation of their friendship be strong enough to withstand the forces whipping around them or will they go their separate ways? Sorry folks, you will have to read the book to find out.
Verdict
By writing from the personal viewpoint of each character, you get to feel what each character is thinking and feeling and I really enjoyed that aspect of this novel. The transitions between characters were seamless and flowed beautifully. I especially enjoyed the Spanish influence in this novel and loved learning about the few Spanish cultural traditions that were mentioned. For those who do not have a background in Spanish, the author does include a glossary of Spanish terms to help the reader. I am definitely looking forward to future novels from Ms. Cano-Murillo.
For those who are interested in using this novel for their reading groups, the author includes a great Reading Group Guide, in both Spanish and English, for your use. Posted by Stephanie at 7:03 PM
Here is a cute story. Remember in January when I was heading out to CHA and the Phoenix airport closed because of the crazy storm? Well, our flight was canceled that night and we had to come back the next morning. Who do I see at my flight gate? Rebecca! We had a blast sharing stories of our crafty adventures while we waited for the chaos to settle down around us. And before we stepped foot on the plane, she invited me to do a web chat when my novel came out. So here we are! Here is the description she wrote:
Kathy is such a joy to chat with, even when you’re stuck on standby at the Phoenix airport, and her daughter Maya is a gem! You won’t want to miss this chat! Kathy will even be reading a few excerpts from her new novel! So join us on Sunday, March 21st at 9 pm EST, on our Livestream channel. We’ll have drama, glitter, and fun prizes from Fiskars and iLoveToCreate! If you want to participate in the text chat, you’ll need to register for a Livestream account. Can’t wait to see all of you there!
So remember - THIS SUNDAY - 6 p.m. PT and 9 pm ET. FREE prizes!
Don't forget to register at the Fiskars Livestream channel!
I've been working away on my novel edits that are due next week. I'm barely halfway through and only have a few days left. Actually, nights, because I have my day job! I've learned sketching helps.
11:30-12:30Waking Up In The Land of Glitter: A Reading and Q&A Session with the Crafty Chica!
Kathy Cano-Murillo, widely known as the Crafty Chica, will do a reading from her newly published novel, Waking Up In The Land Of Glitter and also have a short Q&A session with the audience.
12:30-1:30Crafty Chica Story Book Shadow Boxes
Participants will be using various papers and pages to embellish a multi-compartment shadow box. Participants will use images, printed quotes and found objects to create a visual story about self-empowerment! Boxes, paints, glitters, glues and trims included. Participants should bring small gumball-sized mementos and/or photos if desired.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
11:00-1:30 Crafty Chica Poetic Charm Bracelets
Participants will create a shiny, dangly charm bracelet themed around books, reading and writing. Bracelets will incorporate word beads, charms, pendants and more!
Elli, a reader, wrote me after she finished my novel and asked for my address so she could send a little sumthang-sumthang. I love surprises! Her package arrived yesterday and the biggest smile spread across my face when I opened it.
She created all-natural perfume oils inspired by Estrella, Chloe and Ofie (the characters in my book)! She came up with her own interpretation of the scents, based on the ladies' lives and personalities. I love these one-of-a-kind treasures so much and plan to wear them whenever I feel the spirit of one of the craftistas.
Here are Elli's inspirations for the scents she created (so creative!):
ESTRELLA (Star): Sparkling pink sugar crystals, dusky violet and sweet pea sprays and a Day of the Dead ofrenda covered in rose pedals.
OFELIA: Grainy vanilla lattes and a garden fresh bunch of mixed flowers, topped with a bit of the fastest hook in the land looping warm wool.
CHLOE: No-nonsense, ambitious woods and spices, sparkled up with a citrusy, glittery, mandarin kick. Smells even better when warmed by hot television lights.
My book came out Monday and I've savored every day since! Thank you to everyone for sending me such nice emails of support and to those of you who came to my first two book signings. I was more nervous than an American Idol contestant! Now that these two events are over I feel like I can take a breather!
Monday morning I was a guest on the Cool2Craft web show. It really lives up to its name! There is a speaker window and crafters take turns demoing LIVE, while the viewers chat at the same time about it. It is seriously addicting.
My turn came to be "on the air" to talk about my book release, and I hadn't set my camera correct. All of a sudden I see streams of messages in the chat room that read "I CAN'T SEE YOU!" So what do I do to remedy the situation? I accidentally crank up the ECHO volume on my mic, so now everyone is type screaming: "OUCH!" The host, Tiffany, cut me out real quick and they winged it until I calmed down and figured out my camera and mic. I did make it on the air, volume and camera in check, but I kept thinking "What a way to start the week!"
Monday afternoon, we went to Barnes & Noble Metro to longingly stare at my book on display, and I even signed all the copies they had. BTW, my novel is on the front table at all the B&N's across the country, something I visualized for years. Every time I'd walk into a bookstore, I'd stop and stare at the "New in paperback" table and imagine seeing my book there. That was always a chunk of my motivation. I thought "I won't see it on the table if I don't write it, so get busy!"
And now it really happened. It's so weird, I did the same thing with my craft supplies. I used to make my own labels for my paints and varnishes, little did I know they'd come to fruition! I am here to tell you that visualizing really does help tilt the scales in your favor. Every teeny ounce helps.
(Psst...look at the reflection in the sign. Funny!)
Anyway! You have no idea how good it felt to get notes saying "My local store had your book, it was easy to find!"
Tuesday morning I had a segment on Good Morning Arizona. The guy in the picture was one of the finalists from The Next Food Network Star, and his segment came after mine. He was on the Food Network so I figured he was a star, so I snapped his picture! Here is my segment:
Jaimee Rose from The Arizona Republic did a fun book giveaway that day too!
This is from Changing Hands. We had such a great turn out, a full seating area. One of the scariest aspects of a book signing is hoping people will come. For my craft books, I've had signings where a lot of people showed up, and a couple where only a family of lost crickets passed by. Thankfully, this week's events were successful!
This is Jan, the publicity manager at Borders at the Biltmore. She made me this beautiful glass wall vase. She also made a gorgeous glittered cactus garden that my characters make in my book! That was such a great surprise, she said she made it exactly how she envisioned it in the story. I also met Lita from Borders corporate. She came all the way from Los Angeles to help with the event. She passed out mini-samples of the new orange-vanilla latte. Yummy!
About the sparkly cactus garden, Jan set it on my table next to my stack of books.
Here is a funny story about the cactus.
Even though the crowd was filled with good friends and family, my nerves still made my knees shiver. I started talking about how I really wanted to break stereotypes of Latina crafters and somehow veered into how I wanted to break stereotypes of Arizona.
"Every time they show Arizona in movies, there is always a cactus!" I complained. "In my book, I tried to show that Phoenix is cool - we have First Fridays and hip venues to hang out and there is nary a cactus in sight. I've lived here all my life and there is not a cactus next to me everywhere I go!" (something like that)
I stopped when I reminded myself that - duh - my characters make cactus gardens in my main plot! Ugh, I felt like such a dork! I hoped no one made the correlation.
I wrapped up the discussion and went on to signing books. However, the cactus drama returned with a prick to my already punctured ego. Everyone left, and my cousin Stephanie came up to me and said, "When you were talking about there not being a cactus next to you everywhere you go, were you kidding?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Kathy," she whispered as she bent over to me. "There is a cactus on the table right there! Right next to you!"
Sigh. How embarrassing. Maybe people thought I was being all tongue-in-cheek about it...? Maybe? I was nervous, okay?
I love the cactus garden made and brought it home for my office. We laughed all night about that. If and when you read the book, you'll agree with me that it is totally something Star Esteban would do!
Thanks again or everything, have a super day!
Felicidades,
Kathy :-)
. It really lives up to its name! There is a speaker window and crafters take turns demoing LIVE, while the viewers chat at the same time about it. It is seriously addicting.
(Psst...look at the reflection in the sign. Funny!)
