I am thrilled to introduce my followers to a new friend and writer I met at this year’s Left Coast Crime conference. Anne Louise Bannon saved my voice with menthol drops during Author Speed-Dating, where we presented our books to almost 200 readers. (I’d say she was a lifesaver, but they were Hall’s.) Later, after the conference went on the chopping block of coronavirus, Anne Louise saved my sanity (I couldn’t get my flight changed) at the bar, where we flirted with the handsome bartender and discovered we have in common a taste for Virusvodkatinis and Long Good Bye Gimlets.
Today, Anne Louise Bannon is helping us build a better story during lockdown with her Happy Crusade. Let’s give her a warm welcome!
INTRODUCING ME AND MY LATEST CRUSADE
By Anne Louise Bannon
When Ana Manwaring stopped by my blog last month [https://annelouisebannon.com/ana-manwaring-on-writing/], she asked me to come by here for a visit. So, here I am.
I met Ana at the aborted Left Coast Crime conference last March. We both got to participate in one major event, the Author Speed-Dating. Basically, we authors go from table to table, and offer up a two-minute pitch to the readers at each table. I knew it was going to be intense as hell because I’d been at a similar event for winemakers a couple years before.
You see, I’m also a wine blogger with my husband. The blog, OddBallGrape.com [https://oddballgrape.com], is on an extended hiatus for now. But a couple years ago, we were more active and at a conference for wine bloggers, we tasted while winemakers went from table to table and poured in two-minute pitches. With the Author Speed-Dating, I was looking forward to being on the other side of the table.
I am a pretty confident public speaker, which means I appreciate the value of rehearsal. Ana, who would also be presenting that morning, caught me muttering my pitch to myself, and came over and gave me another chance to rehearse. I may have mentioned that I was a touch nervous (which one should be – it keeps you on your toes). What a sweet offering! I did, of course, then remembered my manners, and heard her pitch, as well. It was wonderfully dramatic – just enough tongue in cheek for the occasion, but gave a lovely sense of the more dramatic work she was presenting.
So, we got to talking afterward, exchanged contact information, and we both have dates for a drink when we land in the other’s territory. Assuming we ever get off lockdown, that is.
Which brings me to the main reason I wanted to write about Ana’s act of kindness. You see, as scary as things are, it helps me to feel better when I can do something nice for someone else. Also, at a recent Zoom meeting, I pointed out that happy or funny stuff often helps me deal with the more dire events of the day. The idea that we’re helpless in the face of being stuck at home as the headlines get worse and worse is not the way it really is. There are things we can do, including being present to somebody whose anxiety levels have hit the ceiling. We can look at Mary Tyler Moore re-runs for a good laugh to restore our spirits. We can write about our scary feelings and turn them into a really, really powerful story.
At that same meeting, somebody asked for some happy stuff to read. What I’m proposing: in the comments here, you share books that make you happy for one reason or another. Admittedly, what constitutes happy stuff will vary from person to person. Some folks might love a good horror story, with the return to order making them feel a lot better about the scary stuff we’re facing. Me? Not so much. I want to laugh, but that’s me. The idea is to discover new faves and maybe stretch ourselves a little, if that helps. Authors, here’s a chance to help your friends.
Like my friend Carol Louise Wilde, who has a wonderful series called the Nagaro Chronicles. It starts with Gift of Chance. It’s technically a fantasy because it doesn’t take place in the real world as we know it, but there’s no magic. The story is about a young man whose escape from political intrigue and those who would control him forces him on the journey to his true destiny. It’s not exactly funny, but it’s a rip, roaring good yarn, and that makes me feel good, too. Oh, and Ana Manwaring has some lovely thrillers, too.
But it’s your turn. What’s your happy stuff?
Anne Louise Bannon is an author and journalist who wrote her first novel at age 15. Her journalistic work has appeared in Ladies’ Home Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Wines and Vines, and in newspapers across the country. She was a TV critic for over 10 years, founded the YourFamilyViewer blog, and created the OddBallGrape.com wine education blog with her husband, Michael Holland. She is the co-author of Howdunit: Book of Poisons, with Serita Stevens, as well as author of the Freddie and Kathy mystery series, set in the 1920s, the Operation Quickline Series and the Old Los Angeles series, set in the 1870s. Her most recent title is Sad Lisa. She and her husband live in Southern California with an assortment of critters. Visit her website at AnneLouiseBannon.com, and look for her latest release:
Link to books: https://annelouisebannon.com/fiction/
Editor’s note:
I’m currently enjoying, Death of the Zanjero, Book 1 of the Old Los Angeles series, set in 1870, the time ranchers and farmers paid the zanjero for rights to access water. I heard the pitch at Author Speed-Dating, “When life was cheap and water could cost you everything.”
When Burt Rivers’s body floats up out of the irrigation ditch, or zanja, winemaker and healing woman Maddie Wilcox must find out who killed him, a chase that will tax her intellect, her soul and her very belief in humanity before she’s done.
Building a Better Story 