Tea at Trianon: Upcoming Events for Writers in St. Michaels, MD

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Upcoming Events for Writers in St. Michaels, MD

On September 30, 2015 I will be giving a reading from my latest novel The Paradise Tree at St. Michaels, MD Free Library, along with some other local authors. More information, HERE.

In October I will be joined by novelists Alexandra Hamlet and Drake Ferguson to teach a class on "How to Publish and Market a Book in the 21st Century." The classes are sponsored by the Academy of Lifelong Learning at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. We will be meeting on Wednesdays, October 7, 14, 21, at 1:30-3:30 pm. The price is $30 for ALL members and $45 for non-members. The location will be in the Van Lennep Auditorium, Steamboat Building, CBMM, St. Michaels, MD. Here is a course description:

Having a book published is the dream of many fine writers. Today’s technology provides resources to help with the challenging task of finding an agent and a publisher, as well as an abundance of marketing tools. Published authors Alexandra Hamlet and Elena Maria Vidal will share their hard-earned knowledge of how to get one’s work published and onto the book store shelves. Drake Ferguson, writer and broadcaster, is here to help you interact with the media and conduct an effective interview, so that you can become an interviewee the media will enjoy seeking out. He works to create interview formulas to make writers better able to perform on cue.

Several topics will be covered in 3 weekly two hour classes, including how to write a query letter, how to take rejection and criticism, what to expect from an editor, how to pitch your story, the importance of careful proofreading, how to use social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, BlogTalkRadio, Linked In, Google +, forums, etc.), and how to find your readership. Practical tips will also be given about how to set up book-signings, internet etiquette, how to protect yourself from trolls, navigating Amazon and Goodreads, and what to do if you receive bad reviews. The internet book world is a new frontier where there is great potential but it helps to have a guide.

To quote Drake Ferguson: "Writers are the modern mountain men. They lead a solitary life pacing the hallways of their minds until the work is finished. Then they get together in a rendezvous to celebrate, party, dance til dawn, and disappear into the mountains again until the next work is finished."

Maryland native Mary-Eileen Russell is the author of four historical novels and one biography, writing under the name of Elena Maria Vidal. She has worked with publishers and has self-published as well. Her fiction has been acclaimed by Kirkus Reviews, the San Francisco Book Review, the Midwest Book Review, and the Portland Book Review. Through Mary-Eileen’s Tea at Trianon blog and radio show her work has gained an international following. Visit Elena at her website.

Alexandra Hamlet is a cultural and defense anthropologist, an international lecturer and a former TV and print journalist. She consults on cultural affairs and international business. She was an auxiliary nurse in London; Visiting Fellow at Harvard University; an executive search specialist for world-wide C-suite positions; and is a consultant on irregular warfare. The Right Guard, published in 2012, is her first novel. Visit Alexandra at her website.

Drake Ferguson has created and produced several hundred audio interviews for WCEI-FM and WINX-FM in Easton Maryland since 2005. He recently volunteered to do the same for WHCP-FM, a new National Public Radio affiliate in Cambridge, Maryland. He has interviewed governors, state and federal senators, doctors, lawyers, volunteers of every type imaginable, and Two Boomer Babes (twice). But his favorite interviewee is an author; perhaps because Ferguson is an unpublished writer himself. He is presently working on his third novel in the David Barrister series.