Blogocentric Formulations

Daily[ish] Double: Days 6 & 7

NONFICTION PROMPT for 1/6/17: Several writers have had their careers made when a famous person read their work, notably when President Ronald Reagan praised Tom Clancy's first book and catapulted Clancy to international fame. If that were to happen to you, which celebrity would you want to be the catalyst, and why?


As much I'd love the praise of a literary hero of mine or someone super-successful in publishing would tell the world how great my stories are (my list in that category include, among others, Joe Abercrombie, Lawrence Block, Lee Child, Ernest Cline, Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich, Neil Gaiman, John Grisham, Stephen King, Scott Lynch, George R.R. Martin, James Patterson, Patrick Rothfuss, and Brandon Sanderson), I think I'd want my celebrity advocate to be someone who isn't known for their connections to literature.

A head of state or other world leader would definitely be cool... not our incoming President-Elect necessarily, but I would be totally floored if President Obama or Angela Merkel or Pope Francis said they enjoyed one of my works. Hey, as long as we're dreaming, why not have newly-appointed United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres start up a General Assembly book club to read my work?

If not a world leader, a movie star would be pretty cool too. The paparazzi endlessly follow around A-list celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, and Scarlett Johansson... it'd be really fun to look on TMZ one day and realize that Chris Pratt and Anna Faris took their family on a vacation and were photographed buying a copy of my book at the airport, or reading it on the beach.

So without naming specific names and only narrowing it down since there are so many choices, I think I'd go for a world leader first, then a movie star celebrity second. Basically, I just want someone not known for reading and/or writing to say, "I'm not known for being a voracious reader, but I simply couldn't put this book down!"



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NONFICTION PROMPT FOR 1/7/17: If you could afford to live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?


If I could afford it, I would live in multiple places throughout the year. The Pacific Northwest of the United States is probably my favorite region that I've visited so far, and I could easily see that being my regular home throughout the year. But as much as I love rain and overcast weather, I worry that I'd get tired of that weather the same way I get tired of the sun and lack of seasons living in Southern California. So I'd want to have a couple other options where I could live for parts of the year when I wanted a break from the Pacific Northwest.

Of all the places I've been, I'd love to have vacation homes on the island of Maui in Hawaii, and Paris (mostly for the history and the food). There are a bunch of places I've always wanted to go but have never been... I have a feeling that I'd probably be pretty excited about living in Italy (again, the history... and the food!), Australia or New Zealand, or even Japan or Thailand. Part of me thinks it would even be fun to live on a remote island nation, like Seychelles or the Maldives or Iceland or Fiji... although, who knows, I could go stir-crazy after a few months.

Based on where I've been and what I've already seen of the world, I think it's be the Pacific Northwest for me.