Introducing: The Queen of Klutz

Recently a blogger friend of mine contacted me to let me know she had finally published that book she'd been working on for - oh, the last century or so. Ever since I started my own publishing company, everyone I meet is writing a book. To be honest, I encourage everyone I meet to write a book. No one has a life quite as unique as YOURS - so, I think we should all write down those interesting (and even boring) things that have happened to us. Our children, and grandchildren, will thank us. I truly believe that.

Marti Lawrence's book, Queen Klutz, is a laugh riot! It's a great break from the ordinary trash we deal with all day, every day. This woman's sense of humor gives me a lift on a daily basis. I know I can hop over to her blog and leave with a grin. Hear what she has to say about her book writing experience (and go buy her book - you need a good laugh). 

1. Before we get into your book, tell us about your blog, including why you started it.

Marti: I started hearing about blogs in 2003 when my eldest son sent me a link to his.  I dabbled with a couple but didn't have a clue what I was doing and deleted them in shame. I started Enter the Laughter on Blogger in January 2005, and went slowly bald from pulling my hair out over their glitches. Hairless and hapless, but not hopeless, (the eternal optimist, ya know) I got my own domain and started using WordPress in April 2006. I love blogging! It's a creative faucet to let the words out of my brain. [And boy, does this faucet run hot and cold - when you least expect it! Marti is very clever and funny]

2. Has blogging gained you many new friends?

Marti: Oh my, yes! So many wonderful and funny people stop by to comment. It makes me feel great when they thank me for giving them a smile. I've been blessed (knock on wood) to have never gotten a mean or trollish remark.

3. Ok...on to the book: Queen Klutz.That's a funny title. Who thought it up?

Marti: My family has always called me, The Royal Klutz because I'm so hideously clumsy. The first thing a cousin of mine said when she met my husband was, "Is she still a klutz?"

I bounced several title ideas off my family, then stumbled across the blog The Reign of Ellen and she does adorable Queen illustrations for regular readers. [another talented lady blogger - worth a visit; Ellen is so talented it's a delight to visit her blog and see what's new.] It seemed like kismet! I asked her if she could do a drawing of me. Karen Maxwell and I worked out the idea for the cover art, and I produced it. [Karen is new to me - but one visit to her blog and I'm hooked! Tell her she looks blonder - please!]

4. How hard was writing the book? Did you do a lot of editing? Who do you think will buy the book?

Marti: I've been writing humorous articles since I was on my high school newspaper staff (back in the Neolithic Era). I was always sending family and friends funny stories in letters, and when I learned to use the internet, I discovered message boards, and would leave long narrative posts for strangers to read. Kindly (and sometimes inebriated) friends suggested I try writing an Erma Bombeck-style newspaper column, so I started freelancing those. Some of the essays in the book are previous columns, some are blog posts and some are material I wrote specifically for the book.

Editing was a challenge because my family didn't want to end up in the witness protection program. I think they were afraid I was going to reveal their deepest, darkest secrets.  Which was silly. That's the next book.

Of course I think everyone will love it! *snicker* Anyone who is clumsy can empathize. I think parents will enjoy the stories because many of them encompass not slaughtering our children when they do something awful like setting the yard on fire, or wrecking your car. The stories are about the things people endure every day - car trouble or visits to the DMV.  I think putting a funny spin on these things can make them easier for everybody to go through.

5. Tell us about your publishing experience - was it good?  How could it have been better?

Marti: I'm publishing through Lulu, a publish on demand company. The hardest thing for me was setting up my file to convert to PDF. I had full control, which was a good thing, but all the responsibility, which was a hard thing. [Lulu is not my favorite publishing company, I know too many writers who were less than pleased with their results. It's good that Marti took control and responsibility for her work - it turned out really great!]

Formatting the Word document with headers, footers, justified margins and page breaks was something I had never done, and that was tough! But Lulu itself has been great! I asked a lot of questions at the forums, and a few times from the live help, and always got good responses. I actually had the live help guys laughing a few times! I purchased a draft copy to see how the book would actually look, and discovered I'd made a lot of mistakes.

I reworked the material, and sent it through the process again. I was pleased with the second copy so I put it on the market. Lulu offers authors the option of selling just through their storefront, or purchasing a global distribution plan which includes a galley proof of your book. When you approve the galley then you are assigned an ISBN and bar code, which allows it to be distributed through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. Overall, it's been quite a learning experience for this ol' gal!

6. Where can folks buy the book?

For now, I'am selling it through my Lulu storefront. I'm on a tight budget due to (leans in to whisper) a little trouble with the IRS. So I am hoping to sell enough through the storefront to get the ISBN in a little while.

And for a sneak preview: Chapter 10 - A Roaring Fire

Think sitting in front of a roaring fire is relaxing? Well, maybe...if it's not in your front yard!

Yesterday, Middle Son, "Mr. Physics," went outside with a little green army man, a magnifying glass, his knowledge of the effects of magnified sunlight, and his boyish desire to destroy things.

His plan was to watch the little green army man melt down in a faux UFO attack.

Had himself a good ol' time, right up to the point where the little (now very hot) green arm man melted and fell over onto some dry leaves.

Dry leaves at the base of a row of pine trees.

Ka-whoosh!

FIRE!

Fire getting bigger. Wind blowing. Fire spreading. Spreading fast. Wind near hurricane force. Fire engulfing more pine trees, dead weeds, dried leaves.

Son runs to house. Screams to mom, "FIRE!"

I ask where, thinking he means somewhere off in the distance.

"RIGHT THERE!" pointing towards blazing yard ... and ... you will have to buy the book to find out what happened!