Greg Lilly to appear at the 18th Annual Virginia Festival of the Book

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Williamsburg, VA • March 9, 2012) Greg Lilly, author of Scalping the Red Rocks – a Derek Mason Mystery, will participate in the 18th annual Virginia Festival of the Book. The Festival, which takes place March 21-25, 2012, is held in venues throughout Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia, and is now the largest educational book event in the mid-Atlantic, drawing a cumulative annual attendance of more than 20,000 attendees.

Lilly joins authors James Church, Corban Addison, Thomas Kaufman and Brad Parks for the “Murder, Murder Everywhere” panel on Crime Wave Saturday (March 24). The panel discusses how the combination of character and location create unique settings for mysteries.

Lilly’s novels are acclaimed by critics for their sense of place and settings that act as characters in the stories. Drewey Wayne Gunn from Lambda Literary magazine praises Scalping the Red Rocks for its “vivid sense of place.” Author Keith Pyeatt says the mystery “showcases Greg Lilly’s mastery of characterization, setting, and suspense.” AOL Travel listed the new novel as an Editor’s Pick in Sedona (Arizona) Culture, alongside John Wayne’s movie Angel and the Badman and the Glenn Ford western, the original 3:10 to Yuma, which were both filmed in the desert resort town. “For a good airplane read,” AOL lists, “try Greg Lilly’s Derek Mason Mystery, Scalping the Red Rocks. Lilly, a former Sedona resident, so thoroughly captures the town’s personality and culture that a favorite game among the locals is guessing who the characters are based on.”

The “Murder, Murder Everywhere” panel is a collection of mystery writers who will discuss using setting as a character and plotting device. The panel is free and open to the public – Saturday, March 24 at 10:00 a.m. at the Charlottesville Omni Hotel, Ballroom A.

The Virginia Festival of the Book runs March 21 - 25 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Authors, illustrators, storytellers, and other publishing professionals from across the United States are participating this year, including
Jeffery Deaver (Carte Blanche),
Lee Smith (Mrs. Darcy and the Blue Eyed Stranger),
Charles Shields (And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life),
Edward Ayers (America on the Eve of the Civil War),
Kwame Alexander (Acoustic Rooster and his Barnyard Band),
Kathryn Erskine (Mockingbird),
Nikki Giovanni (Bicycles: Love Poems),
Sharyn McCrumb (The Ballad of Tom Dooley),
Nikky Finney (Head Off & Split),
Jill McCorkle (Going Away Shoes­–Stories),
Barton Seaver (For Cod and Country),
Nick Galifianakis (If You Loved Me, You’d Think This Was Cute),
and many more.

The mission of the Virginia Festival of the Book is to bring together writers and readers and to promote and celebrate books, reading, literacy, and literary culture. Full details on the entire five-day festival are available at vabook.org. More information on Greg Lilly and his novels can be found at www.GregLilly.com.

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Nurturing the Creative

I have several promotions lined up for Scalping the Red Rocks and the other books. On Monday, December 13, I’ll be on a regional radio show during morning drive-time to discuss the new mystery. This is the same show I was on in November 2009 and discussed Under a Copper Moon. It’s a fun thing to do. I’m always a bit nervous, but I try not to think of the people listening, but instead focus on the announcer in the booth.

With the radio interview, it’s beneficial to schedule a book signing the following Saturday, mainly to give the listeners a call-to-action, a place they can go to buy the book. I have a book signing set at Twice Told Tales in Gloucester, Virginia on Saturday, December 18. That’s the Saturday before Christmas. Throw in a trip to see my family in Bristol and getting back home for Christmas and a magazine deadline when I have four articles due and a fight with Intuit Customer Service in India and I’m getting overwhelmed.

What falls out in all these commitments? The new writing project.

In the radio interview, I was going to mention the new project because part of it is set in this part of Virginia, along with the Bristol area, and the Shenandoah area. Now that I consider it, this may be too early in the development to make a comment on radio, especially where answering questions is broadcast to a few people, maybe more than a few – no time to edit before it goes. I’m usually pretty good about editing things before they leave my mind, but being nervous, I say things that I wouldn’t ordinarily say. Not that I have any great secret about the new book. Not that it’s a subject I fear will be “stolen.”

I heard a writer once say that inspiration and ideas need to be protected like a growing child until they can stand on their own and speak for themselves. Other people (“blocked creatives” as creativity guru Julia Cameron calls them) try to squelch the growth of new ideas and developing muses, to stop creativity from allowing a different world view, to inhibit forward momentum. So, this writer, he said not to discuss the new project too much at the beginning, give it time to mature.

Like an infant, this idea needs my attention, care, nurturing. Why is it always the one thing that gets pushed aside? Yes, I know. I’m the one setting the priorities and I think I’ve just worked out what to do: I’m going to go write.

Almost here...or at the county fair, down by the river.

I'm working on my next newsletter. And it's all about the new Derek Mason Mystery, SCALPING THE RED ROCKS. I wrote in the newsletter about some things that inspired me to write the novel and how the characters move between my books.

Still time to sign up for the newsletter. Just jump over to my website and commit: http://www.greglilly.com/.

I have blurbs from some great reviewers and writers (see those on the website). I have pre-publication books in a box next to my computer for a pre-release signing next week at the James City County Fair.

Speaking of that... This year at the county fair, the organizers have created an "Arts Night" that includes the "Author Talks Series." I was lucky enough to be invited. Each author will have one hour. The first half is for a presentation and the second half is for discussion and book signings.

Author Talks Series - Thursday, June 24

James City County Fair, Chickahominy Riverfront Park

The schedule is:

4:00 p.m. Mac Laird present "Researching the Historical Book"

5:00 p.m. Edward Lull presents "Poetry for Fun"

6:00 p.m. Laurie Krebs presents "Writing for Young Children"

7:00 p.m. I will present "Overcoming Writer's Block"

8:00 p.m. L.B. Taylor will discuss is series of Virginia ghost stories.

I was able to grab the 7:00 slot because I'm the prettiest of the group....Just seeing if you're paying attention. L.B. wanted to present as the sun sets, and I wanted to go later in the day because it's HOT, so we took the last two slots.

All the presentations sound great to me. I wish I could go to all of them, but I can't see sitting out there in a tent for five hours.

If you're in the area, come on out to the fair on Thursday night. I'll have the new book available and special JCC Fair prices.

Lime Green all over

Okay, I'm sitting here when I should have gone for my run...But the air is full of yellow-green pollen and I couldn't imagine breathing it for thirty minutes. Lazy and clear is better than worked-out and congested, at least today it is.

SCALPING THE RED ROCKS is pulling in some great pre-publication reviews. I'm excited about its release. I'm making the final changes to the galleys, then the publisher will ship it off to the printer.

One thing we're trying over on http://www.greglilly.com/ -- a virtual book signing. Apparently, since I last used it, PayPal does not require you to have an account with $$ in it to use their on-line payment processing. Now, you can buy things with your credit card directly. That was a BIG hassle years ago when you bought something that needed payment via PayPal. I remember transferring money to PayPal, waiting for it to clear, then buying. Now, it's fast and easy. So, remember: PayPal will take credit cards without requiring a PayPal account... Wham, bam, thank you ma'am.

Got off target there. Back to the virtual book signing. At www.GregLilly.com/VirtualBookSigning.htm all three books (UNDER A COPPER MOON, DEVIL'S BRIDGE, FINGERING THE FAMILY JEWELS - A Derek Mason Mystery) are available to be personalized and shipped to you. Add your special requests in the "Add special instructions" field at checkout.

I'll try this virtual book signing to see how it shakes out. When the new Derek Mason Mystery -- SCALPING THE RED ROCKS debuts, I'll hit the road to do a few in-person signings. Let me know if you have a favorite book store in your area that I might visit.

Stay clear and pollen-free.

Greg