Meet author Jo Linsdell

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with freelance writer and author, Jo Linsdell. Jo is also the organizer of PROMO DAY!—an online event for people in the writing industry. Thank you for joining us, Jo. It is a pleasure to have you here!

Thanks for having me.

Q: You specialize in articles, poems, and books about Italy. What is it that inspired you to write about the place you’ve called home for the past several years?

I love Italy. I originally came to Rome for 3 days at the beginning of 2001 and ended up staying. I’ve moved around a lot over the years but this is the first place I’ve ever felt at home and I have no plans to leave anytime soon.

My writing is based on my own experiences since moving here and the fact that I’m fascinated by the traditions and history of Italy. I hope to share my passion for this country and help others to experience it in the easiest way.

Q: Did your past occupation as a tour guide and working in the hotel business help you when you sat down to write your books?

It helped a lot with the writing of my first book ‘Italian for Tourists’ which is a phrasebook designed specifically for tourists. When deciding what information to include I thought about the words and phrases I needed when I first arrived here and the most common questions that tourists used to ask me.

Q: What is your writing process like? Is there a time of day you find yourself more productive than others?

I usually write in the mornings as I teach English as a second language in the afternoons. I don’t have a fixed writing process but I always start the day by making a to-do list. This helps to keep me focused on what needs doing.

Q: In addition to your many books about Italy, you wrote a memoir titled Some risks are worth taking, which is your story of leaving England and moving to Italy, and the changes that happened in your life. Why did you feel the need to share this story with others?

Friends have told me for years that I should write a book about my life. Coming to Italy was the best thing I’ve ever done and probably the biggest risk I’ve taken. I came here by myself planning to stay for 3 days and ended up staying. Everyone thought I was mad going by myself (including me) as I didn’t know anyone in Italy or even one word of the language. Now I’m happily married to an Italian I met at Piazza di Spagna and pregnant with our first child. It turned out to be the best risk ever. If that’s not a good reason to start sharing about my experiences I don’t know what is!

Q: Let’s talk about PROMO DAY!. Due to the success of the first event, another PROMO DAY! has been scheduled for Saturday, June 23, 2007. What is PROMO DAY! all about?

PROMO DAY! is an all day, online, international, promotional event for people in the writing industry. Blatant publicity is not only allowed but encouraged. There will be two chatrooms open all day (one for promo and chatting about books and one for writers to discuss the industry). There will also be a free downloads page packed full of files containing useful information about various topics related to writing, a samples page for posting examples of your writing e.g. a first chapter of your book which can then be discussed and reviewed during the event, a page full of links to useful sites for writers, a section dedicated to promo video’s/ book trailers, and more…

Q: How did you come up with such an innovative idea to connect people throughout the writing industry?

I do a lot of my networking online. I’m a member of several writers groups and take part in the annual Muse Online Writers Conference. This experience combined with my ‘cheap ways’ lead me to thinking of ways I could use the internet to promote my books for free. As I have a good support network of other writers online through my various groups I thought it would be nice to help them too.

Q: Is this event only for published authors?

No, it’s open to everyone. Published, new writers, publishers, editors, journalists, avid readers… everyone is welcome to join in the fun!

Q: What are some of the exciting things people can expect to take away from PROMO DAY!?

For one, it’s an opportunity to promote their work and network with others in the industry. It’s also a possibility to get to know authors better and find out about new releases. With all the files for free download it’s a great way to learn more about the industry too.

Q: Do you think we’ll see more PROMO DAYS! in the future?

Definitely. I’m hoping to make it an annual event or maybe even every 3-6 months. With baby on the way I’m having to rethink my original plans a little.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add?

I recently started a site for people in the writing industry called Writers and Authors (http://writersandauthors.blogspot.com) It has interviews, competitions, links to sites for writers and much more. Anyone interested in being interviewed can email me at jo_bins@yahoo.com with ‘Writers and Authors’ in the subject line.

Thanks for spending some time with us today, Jo. I wish you great success on PROMO Day! and with all your future endeavors.

Thank you for having me here.

Forever Liesl

A few months ago, I bought the book Forever Liesl A Memoir of the Sound of Music. The Sound of Music is my favorite family film and I've always loved Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Now that I am back into a regular reading schedule, I figured I would browse my bookshelves to find something interesting. And this certainly was it.

Forever Liesl is written by the actress who played the oldest daughter Liesl in The Sound of Music--Charmian Carr, with Jean A.S. Strauss. It talks about her experiences on the set of this famous musical--how she got the part, what the actors were like, how the role of Liesl changed her life--and had letters from fans all over the world who shared with Carr how The Sound of Music impacted their lives. It is also filled with over 25 photos from the movie and Carr's personal life.

From the back cover text, I had high hopes for this book.

"It's all here: from how she got the role (and why she almost didn't) to romances on the set and wild nights in Salzburg; from the near-disaster during the gazebo dance to her relationships--then and now--with her six celluloid siblings. Charmian also reveals why she left acting, what she learned when she met the real von Trapp children, and how The Sound of Music has helped her get through stormy times in her own life."

Carr shares a great deal about the people involved in The Sound of Music. And by that I don't mean she gossips about them. She talks about the actors, Robert Wise, Saul Chaplin, Ernest Lehman, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein with the respect due them for being a part of a wonderful film that has touched so many lives. But I think when you love a film like I do The Sound of Music, you tend to have greater expectations of how things were than what reality was. I didn't want to know that Christoper Plummer didn't really want to do the film but took it because he felt a musical would be good for another role he was interested in. I also didn't want to believe that Plummer didn't like acting with children or that he was just as stand-offish with the children on the set as Captain von Trapp was at the beginning of the movie. And then when I found out the songs which I thought Plummer had always sung in the movie were actually dubbed with someone else's voice, I was almost afraid to read any more.

But, let's face it, we have a more glamorous version of what acting is like than the people who act in these films do.

I liked the letters that Carr used from fans around the world as an opening for each new chapter. Some seemed better fitted to their chapters than others, but it was a nice transition into each new section. I have to admit, however, that the closest thing I read to a romance on the set was Nicholas (Friedrich) Hammond's infatuation with Carr. And while the back cover told me I could expect to hear of wild nights in Saltzburg, I didn't really think drinking in the lobby of the Bristol Hotel was very wild. But, I didn't buy the book to hear gossip. I bought it to learn more about my favorite film, so these things didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the book.

What I can say ruined it a bit for me, was the way Carr's personal life was woven into the chapters. Perhaps it is because her personal life is so evident in the book that I am turned off by it. I expected to hear about how The Sound of Music helped Carr through the difficult times in her life, but I didn't expect so many things from the film to be related back to her life. I thought perhaps there would be one chapter dedicated to this topic, but it is present from beginning to end.

Sometimes you pick up a book and it entertains you, but you would probably never read it again. That's how I feel about this memoir. I liked learning more about The Sound of Music through all the behind the scenes information only someone from the film would be able to share; but I know it now, so why would ever pick it up off my book shelf again? The rest of the story just didn't pull me in enough, to make me want to dive into it a second time.

Cheryl