I'm a loser with a capital "L"

My publisher submitted my book, I’m Still Standing, From Captured U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen, My Journey Home, to the NAACP Image Awards. Shoshana Johnson and I were nominated in the literary category for best Bio/autobiography.

This is one of those Hollywood, red carpet -- get the best damn dress you can afford -- kind of things and it took WEEKS, I mean WEEKS of worry and preparation and frankly, lots of money, to participate in the awards events.

Our publisher, bless them, didn’t contribute a penny to the trip and it was an expensive endeavor. There wasn’t just an awards show to consider. There was a preshow Gala reception that required cocktail attire, plus the awards show complete with a red carpet gauntlet, not to mention airfare, hotel and rental car. All coming out of the void that was my pocketbook. Now, I truly understand why people complain about publishers not participating in the marketing efforts of their authors! If they wouldn’t help us promote the book at this event, just what the heck WOULD they be willing to throw down for? It was even worse to find out that Simon & Schuster was a sponsor of the event! I have to wonder how many thousands went into the glitz and glamour of the awards presentations, but didn’t help out the starving writer that was me.

But this was a once in a lifetime event that couldn’t be missed, so throwing all common sense to the wind and drawing on the resources of my brother for large parts of the expenses -- who not only had the means to afford the trip, but looks damn good in a suit – off we went.

I am so very glad we did.

Sure, when it came time for my category, the THIRD one announced in the show, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that I wouldn’t be going home with the prize. Just before they made the announcement and ripped open the envelope, my brother turned to me and said, “If you win, what the hell are you going to say?!”

The truth was I had practiced. In the shower, as I lay in bed at night, out loud in front of a mirror, over and over again. I knew exactly what I would say if they announced my name as the winner, but I hadn’t needed the preparation after all. For five minutes, the feeling of disappointment lurked in my belly. It really kind of sucked.

But after that, I shook off the disappointment and the party was on! The show was great, we had fantastic seats, the food and drinks at both the gala the night before and the after party were unbelievably good and best of all, FREE!

The after party, held at the SLS Hotel, featured food I had never imagined could be done on such a scale! Foie gras done in the form of cotton candy (sounds very strange, but was fantastic), American caviar served in tiny waffle cones, almond bites that literally exploded like a party in your mouth, black ink paella, filet mignon and a tremendous assortment of amuse bouche loaded with blasts of flavor. The variety and supply seemed never ending.

My brother and I met so many people, from stars to talent agents, to film directors to awestruck nominees just like me. Everyone was gracious, friendly and perfectly willing to pose with us for pictures. I met stars from some of my all time favorite TV shows and they seemed as genuinely happy to meet me as I was to meet them.

Simply put, even though I was a loser with a capital “L”, my brother and I left the events exhausted, happy and filled with memories that will linger, long after that trophy would be collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. I may be a loser, but for a few nights, it didn’t matter one bit.

Who would you place your bets on?

The five books nominated for an NAACP Image Award in Autobiography/Biography are:

Conversations with Myself
Authors, Ruth Hobday, Nelson Mandela
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Decoded
Author, Jay-Z
Published by Spiegel & Garn, a division of Random House

Extraordinary, Ordinary People
Author, Condoleezza Rice
Published by Crown Archetype

You Don’t Know Me: Reflections of My Father, Ray Charles
Author, Ray Charles Robinson, Jr.

Published by Crown

And finally,

I’m Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen – My Journey Home
Authors, Shoshana Johnson, Mary Doyle
Touchstone, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster
(Had to throw the cover art in here just to remind you of what I'm talking about.)

I’ve heard great things about Decoded and Extraordinary, Ordinary People. The winner is determined by votes cast by members of the NAACP. If I had to guess, I would think that Jay-Z, because of his popularity and because he’s written a great book, is probably the favorite in this category. Condoleezza Rice is also a contender.

I’m excited about going to the awards ceremony and meeting all of these people. I plan to bring a camera with plenty of memory and batteries. I’ll be taking pictures like crazy.

It is true that just being nominated is thrilling and I’m having fun planning to make the trip to L.A. for the big event, but I can’t lie. It sure would be cool to win! : )

Oh and, buy the paperback version of I'm Still Standing here.

Nomination

Two years ago, my agent asked me if I’d be interested in ghost writing a memoir. I’d never considered doing such a thing but the project seemed like a good match, so I agreed to try it. I wrote a couple of sample chapters. The client and her editor liked them so they hired me.

The entire time I worked on the project, I worried. Could I tell the story well enough that people would want to read it? What if I do a bad job? What if the book is ignored? What if I don’t have the writing skill to do justice to the story? Every day I worked on the memoir I worried.

Shoshana Johnson was the first black female POW. Her harrowing experience had been largely ignored by the press. If I didn’t do a good job, I would have contributed to her story being forgotten. People wouldn’t know how brave she had been. They wouldn’t know how harrowing the ambush was, how frightening each day of her captivity had been, what it took for her to get through the experience. I took the responsibility seriously. For nine months, every weekend, most evenings, every spare moment, I worked on that book.

Finally, in February 2010, I’M STILL STANDING, FROM CAPTURED SOLDIER TO FREE CITIZEN, was published by Touchstone. Still I worried. What would people think?

The first reviews were good. The reviews readers posted on Amazon were also very good. Still, I wondered if I had done everything I could.

Last week, when I heard the book had been nominated for an NAACP Image Award, I finally relaxed. It felt like a nod, acknowledgement that I had done her justice. It makes me smile. I couldn’t be more proud.

The Paperback Version

I’ve been bad about keeping current with my postings, but I’m blogging with some great news! I just learned that Shana’s book will be published in paperback! If you’ve been looking for the book on the shelves and haven’t found it, that’s because most of the major book stores have sold out all of their original purchases and only have it available by special order or online. So getting the paperback out there will be great. 

Of course you can still order it on Amazon.com, which continues to have a five star rating and great new reviews. It is available on Kindle and in audio book style. You'll notice that the paperback cover has the words, "National Best Seller." Makes me smile.


Here is the cover. According to Amazon.com, the paperback will be available Feb. 2011, but it could come out sooner than that. If I learn anything new, I will post it here.

Chat Roulette is Freaky!

I think I am totally FREAKED out by Shuffle People! Have you tried this thing called Chat Roulette? I heard about it on the news and there are some funny Youtube posts about it, so I had to give it a try and see what the fuss was about.


In the first five minutes, as I shuffled through several people staring at me from dark rooms, I must have seen at least seven penises! Floppy ones, hard ones, big ones and little ones, all close up and central to the camera. The interesting thing is you don’t just get video. Audio is exchanged as well, so if one wanted to, you could shuffle along, shouting out scores. “TEN! Two. Ohhh definitely a one.” Of course, I didn’t do that. I politely shuffled to the next person, always wondering if it would be someone wearing clothes.

Most often, the people I saw in the brief minutes I could stand the experience, looked like shy teenage boys, the type who would have a hard time talking to anyone face to face.

I’ve spent some time in chat rooms before and I have no doubt. I much prefer chatting with only the written word than seeing so many faces … and penises.

Writing Critique Groups - Listening vs Reading

I’ve been reading some ‘how to run a writer’s group’ blogs and I’ve been really surprised. Many of the how to’s say reading work out loud on the night of the session, “brings the work to life.”


What?

MAYBE, if you’re writing poetry, or drama, a screenplay or a heavy-on-the-literary-type literary novel. But for your everyday literature or genre novel, I strongly disagree.

IMO, reading is a completely different experience and requires different comprehension skills from listening. Some say reading uses one part of the brain (the smarter part) while listening uses the outer ear (a dumber part) and never really sinks into the meat of the brain. Blah, blah, blah.

I’ve worked with a number of writing and critique groups and I’ve always found that groups that send work ahead of time, and then spend their meeting time providing constructive, supportive critiques, work the best for me. Not to mention, that when I can get other eyes on my pages to fix the misspellings I’ve missed, like the -- their and they’re -- mistakes, or to have a voice of reason who can highlight the holes in my plot points, are abundantly helpful.

But that’s just my opinion. What do you think?

What the papers are saying about "I'm Still Standing"

Forgotten female POW's story told

Fort Meade media director helps African-American soldier write autobiography
By RYAN JUSTIN FOX, Staff Writer
Published 02/16/10

In helping former U.S. Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson write her autobiography, Fort George G. Meade Media Relations Chief Mary L. Doyle not only exposed the world to the plight of the country's first African-American female prisoner of war, but furthered Doyle's own budding literary career.

It tells the story of Johnson, a single mother from Texas who was a part of a supply detail when her company was ambushed in Iraq just days after the U.S. invasion began.


Eleven members of Johnson's company were killed. Six others, including Johnson and then 19-year-old soldier Jessica Lynch, were assaulted and taken prisoner by Iraqi forces on March 23, 2003. Johnson was shot in both legs during the attack. The American prisoners were freed by Marines several weeks later.

Though Johnson was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, her capture was largely ignored and overshadowed in the media and among military leadership by Lynch's captivity.

The incident touched off a firestorm of controversy about racism in the military and the media. Reports surfaced that Lynch received a more lucrative book deal and larger disability payments than Johnson.

"I was shocked at how open (Johnson) was," Doyle said. "She really bared her soul about the ambush and her captivity."

Doyle, 50, spent several days at Johnson's El Paso, Texas, home while preparing to write the book. Doyle was not the first choice to write Johnson's autobiography.

Johnson originally signed a deal with another publishing company and author before parting ways with them and signing with publishing giant Simon & Schuster.

Doyle, an Army reservist for 17 years who spent time in Bosnia, had just returned to work for Fort Meade's Public Affairs Office after working in Korea for the Armed Forces Network. She was also putting the finishing touches on her own novel.

Writing has long been a passion for Doyle. She said she always wrote short stories and screenplays. She has a personal blog dedicated to writing.

The Minneapolis native signed with a book agent to shop her novel around. Doyle's agent wasn't having much luck with her murder mystery but was able to land the deal with Simon & Schuster to pen Johnson's story last year.

Doyle said the book details the unimaginable emotional stress Johnson suffered from the ambush and capture.

"People don't realize how a military unit is like a family," Doyle said.

She also describes the relationship between Johnson and Lynch. There have been reports that Johnson has animosity toward Lynch, but Doyle said that isn't true. The two travel to memorial services and other events together, she said.

But Johnson said in the book that several commanders and fellow soldiers at Fort Bliss, where she was assigned, began resenting the star treatment she and other POWs received when they returned home. The ordeal forced Johnson to resign from the Army. She was eventually granted an honorable discharge.

"I'm Still Standing" has already been featured on the "Today Show" and other major media outlets.

Doyle said she hopes to eventually be able to write books and novels full-time.

"I love working for Fort Meade, but I love writing," she said.