Today, I was a guest over at Magic of the Muses, where I talk about pseudonyms and why some authors choose to use them--including me--and how my pen name "Cherish D'Angelo" came to be. When I checked the post today, I was greeted with a wonderful introduction from my friend and fellow author Eileen Schuh:
Thank you to Cheryl for not only offering us the following glimpse of her flirty, romantic, magical side, but also for sharing some of the darker moments in her life--tragedies that have made her the angel that she is. - Eileen Schuh, Canadian writer http://www.eileenschuh.com
The birth of Cherish D'Angelo, pseudonym of author Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Throughout literary history, pseudonyms or pen names have been used by authors for various reasons. For authors like Nora Roberts, having a pseudonym allows them to explore new territory, maybe a new genre or a series. My idol Stephen King wrote books under the pen name of Richard Bachman because he didn’t want the market saturated with “Stephen King” books. It was also part experiment; he wanted to test whether luck or talent played a part in publishing.
For me, the choice of writing as “Cherish D’Angelo” made sense...
Read more about Cheryl's pseudonym and discover why she picked the name Cherish D'Angelo.
Showing posts with label literary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literary. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
CKUA's "Bookmark" radio show may get the axe
CKUA's "Bookmark" radio show, a very important literary radio program in Edmonton, AB, is in jeopardy of being cancelled. Like many radio and television shows in Canada, funding has become increasingly difficult, and my friend Ken Davis, the host of "Bookmark", needs your support. Check out what they're willing to offer in return.
A letter from Ken Davis, host of "Bookmark":
A letter from Ken Davis, host of "Bookmark":
Dear Friends, Colleagues and Supporters of the “Bookmark” program on the CKUA Radio Network.Please consider supporting "Bookmark" and do whatever you can to keep Edmonton's arts community alive and thriving. ~ Cheryl
“Bookmark,” the half-hour weekly program dedicated to Alberta’s literary community and book trade, finished its second season on Sunday, June 28th. Whether the program returns for a third season in September depends on the financial support the program receives between now and the end of July. This e-mail is to inform you about the opportunity which currently exists to keep this program on the air.
In these challenging economic times, CKUA Radio management faces some tough decisions in order to ensure the continued health and viability of this listener-supported public broadcaster. Spoken word programs are more time-consuming and therefore more expensive to produce than music programs. The station has decided to cancel the “Bookmark” program unless the community elects to support this show financially. A final decision on this matter is to be made at the end of July, 2009.
CKUA Radio is funded largely through listener donations along with some corporate underwriting of programs. Station management would like to continue to broadcast “Bookmark” and has come up with a plan to possibly save the show. It’s an idea called Co-Operative Program Sponsorship (CPS), something of a hybrid of corporate underwriting and a listener donation.
Under the CPS model, supporters of Bookmark are asked to donate $500.00 to support one broadcast of the program. Two programs could be underwritten at a cost of $900.00. Three programs at a cost of $1300.00. And six programs at a cost of $2500.00.
In return for supporting a specific program, the donor will receive acknowledgement in that broadcast. The donor will in fact receive 3 mentions during the show. While there will be no commercial content within these mentions, a reference to a company’s work can be made; for example, “Bookmark thanks donor sponsor Lotusland Books for supporting this edition of the program. Lotusland Books has been retailing books in Calgary for 40 years. We thank them for their support.”
The 2009-2010 Bookmark season would have 35 new shows and would begin September 13th, 2009. CKUA management has agreed that as long as we have donors for 20 of the 35 shows by the end of July, they will consider funding to be reasonably in place and will allow production of the program to proceed for a third season.
I am asking you to either make a pledge of support to “Bookmark” yourself or pass this request along to others of your acquaintance who may have an interest in this initiative. We have four weeks to raise the necessary money to keep “Bookmark” on the air. Please send your preliminary commitment to pledge for the program to myself as I am tracking the numbers on this campaign. I will be forwarding your contact information to CKUA’s Fund Development Office for follow-up. Therefore I would ask that you provide your preferred e-mail address and telephone number, as well as mailing address, when you make your preliminary pledge.
In addition to the CPS campaign, an alternate form of supporting “Bookmark” is a full corporate underwriting position. Such underwriting results in the sponsoring corporation being acknowledged in every Bookmark program as a major sponsor of the program. I believe there are a number of other acknowledgements, on the CKUA website, on-air mentions throughout the broadcast schedule, etc., that are built into corporate underwriting arrangements. My understanding is that a corporate underwriting contract starts at $5,000.00. More information on this sort of sponsorship can be obtained from CKUA’s sales manager Don Barnes by telephone at 780 428 7595 or by email at don.barnes@ckua.com.
I thank you all sincerely for your time and consideration and for your past support of the “Bookmark” program.
Ken Davis
Host, “Bookmark,” CKUA Radio Network
Director of Marketing, Lone Pine Publishing
Email (work): ktdavis@lonepinepublishing.com
Email (Bookmark): bookdude@live.com
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sunday Salon: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (and Oprah Pick)
This week, I'm submitting a book review to Sunday Salon:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is the most recent pick for Oprah's Book Club and it is a thoughtful literary masterpiece worthy of 5 stars. This is not your fast-paced thriller beach read; this is a novel you want to read carefully and allow to steep and absorb.
The characters are complexly drawn, three-dimensional and the story itself is highly emotional and inspiring. Edgar, the main protagonist is mute, yet his communication with his dog shows the astounding depths of the relationship between man and animal, and that language is much more than spoken words we hear.
The story had a strong emotional impact on me. Having recently lost my faithful dog of 13 years and later adding a new puppy to our household, it sure made me look at dogs differently. Although the story is fiction and the breed is fictional...well, who knows? Anything is possible, right?
I will admit the story is slow in parts, mainly because I think the author is striving to really paint a picture of the world he's created and the people who live in it. To me, the book's overall plot is a success and the reward for sticking through it all is satisfying. It's the kind of novel I personally prefer. One that makes me think while I'm reading it, and one that I think of long after I've put it down.
I don't expect it will be long before we see this novel made into a movie.
This novel was an honor to read.
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling author of Whale Song
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is the most recent pick for Oprah's Book Club and it is a thoughtful literary masterpiece worthy of 5 stars. This is not your fast-paced thriller beach read; this is a novel you want to read carefully and allow to steep and absorb.
The characters are complexly drawn, three-dimensional and the story itself is highly emotional and inspiring. Edgar, the main protagonist is mute, yet his communication with his dog shows the astounding depths of the relationship between man and animal, and that language is much more than spoken words we hear.
The story had a strong emotional impact on me. Having recently lost my faithful dog of 13 years and later adding a new puppy to our household, it sure made me look at dogs differently. Although the story is fiction and the breed is fictional...well, who knows? Anything is possible, right?
I will admit the story is slow in parts, mainly because I think the author is striving to really paint a picture of the world he's created and the people who live in it. To me, the book's overall plot is a success and the reward for sticking through it all is satisfying. It's the kind of novel I personally prefer. One that makes me think while I'm reading it, and one that I think of long after I've put it down.
I don't expect it will be long before we see this novel made into a movie.
This novel was an honor to read.
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling author of Whale Song
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Fiction masquerading as memoir
Lying about factual book content is a crime. So why do some authors insist on trying to skirt the law with fictitious claims? Over the past 60 years, thousands of authors have claimed to have led fascinating lives and have bared all in gritty, nonfiction memoirs. Yet, some have outright lied.
Who can forget the James Frey scandal that resulted in a public admonishment from Oprah Winfrey?
Or more recently, Misha Defonseca, who claims in her "memoire" that she travelled with a pack of wolves during the Holocaust.
Or Margaret B. Jones...aka Margaret Seltzer...who professed to be part Native American when her parents are white/caucasian and further claimed she was raised in foster care.
Los Angeles Times has a series of related stories based on authors who misrepresent fiction as fact. Just check out some of the posts:
These lies hurt the entire industry--from publishers to distributors to agents to reviewers to other authors and to readers. Especially to readers! By lying, you are shortchanging readers who have invested time, money and emotion in your work. And readers deserve more.
So why do these authors masquerade fiction as memoir? For more "WOW factor", because otherwise their lives would seem just like ours--fraught with bad childhoods, bad parents, bad memories, bad husbands, wifes, children...etc. Let's face it, we all have had challenges in life, but for most of us our lives just aren't interesting enough to warrant writing a book, much less finding a publisher to publish it.
Let's keep fiction where it's meant to be and memoirs filled with good ole honest truth.
On that note: I hope you will all read my memoir The River, which you can order from Amazon...the link to follow.
This is the true story of how I went searching for my father in the Nahanni River area and stumbled into a deadly conspiracy to do with nanotechnology; I barely escaped with my life. My father went missing about 7 years ago and my mother and I thought he was dead. We even had a funeral--even though there was no body. But investigators did find his blood, lots of it and after a while, they presumed him dead.
I would never have doubted it if it wasn't for my father's friend showing up in my university classroom, where I was teaching. I just about passed out when I saw him. He looked really old and was pale like a ghost! He should have been one too because he went missing along with my father. But what this man told me...I could barely believe his words. He said that my father was alive...up north...but that people were trying to kill him.
It didn't take me long to decide that there was only one thing to do--go to the Nahanni and find my father. I managed to convince some really great people to come with me. I could never have done that journey alone. It was exciting at first, but it didn't take long to become the most terrifying time in my life. It makes me shake just thinking about everything that happened...and the people who died as a result of my decision to go to an area of Canada that is nicknamed The Bermuda Triangle. Really! Not kidding!
I can't tell you everything here. My doctor says I am suffering from PTSD and I have to be careful. It was hard enough to get everything written down in my memoir. But if you want to know everything that happened...well, you'll have read it yourself by picking up a copy of my bestselling book The River (by Cheryl Kaye Tardif, in case you've forgotten).
My mother and I are doing better now. As for my father...well...I did find him. But I didn't expect to nearly drown, find a hidden river, or become a prisoner of a lunatic.
Read my memoir.
The River by Cheryl Kaye Tardif.
P.S. I hope you all realize that I was being completely sarcastic about The River being my memoir. It isn't. It's a suspense thriller--pure fiction. But I bet I had some of you going, didn't I? It certainly sounds far more exciting than telling you I was a military brat, moved around a lot and threw orange pop at the first boy who kissed me, doesn't it? :) The point is, this is fine as a joke, but not fine if I made this claim because I wanted to benefit from a lie financially and never told the truth until someone found me out.
P.P.S. I hope you'll still read The River. Everything I told you was from the perspective of Del, the main character, and the plot is as it is above.
I hope you'll read my novel, The River by Cheryl Kaye Tardif.
Who can forget the James Frey scandal that resulted in a public admonishment from Oprah Winfrey?
Or more recently, Misha Defonseca, who claims in her "memoire" that she travelled with a pack of wolves during the Holocaust.
Or Margaret B. Jones...aka Margaret Seltzer...who professed to be part Native American when her parents are white/caucasian and further claimed she was raised in foster care.
Los Angeles Times has a series of related stories based on authors who misrepresent fiction as fact. Just check out some of the posts:
- Memorable Literary Hoaxes
- Why We Fall for Fakes
- Literary Wannabes
- Why You Should Be Enraged by Literary Liars
- Bogus Memoir Sparks Criticism of Publishing Industry
- Tracking the Fallout of (Another) Literary Fraud
- Gang Memoir, Turning Page, Is Pure Fiction
- Stranger Than Truthiness
These lies hurt the entire industry--from publishers to distributors to agents to reviewers to other authors and to readers. Especially to readers! By lying, you are shortchanging readers who have invested time, money and emotion in your work. And readers deserve more.
So why do these authors masquerade fiction as memoir? For more "WOW factor", because otherwise their lives would seem just like ours--fraught with bad childhoods, bad parents, bad memories, bad husbands, wifes, children...etc. Let's face it, we all have had challenges in life, but for most of us our lives just aren't interesting enough to warrant writing a book, much less finding a publisher to publish it.
Let's keep fiction where it's meant to be and memoirs filled with good ole honest truth.
On that note: I hope you will all read my memoir The River, which you can order from Amazon...the link to follow.This is the true story of how I went searching for my father in the Nahanni River area and stumbled into a deadly conspiracy to do with nanotechnology; I barely escaped with my life. My father went missing about 7 years ago and my mother and I thought he was dead. We even had a funeral--even though there was no body. But investigators did find his blood, lots of it and after a while, they presumed him dead.
I would never have doubted it if it wasn't for my father's friend showing up in my university classroom, where I was teaching. I just about passed out when I saw him. He looked really old and was pale like a ghost! He should have been one too because he went missing along with my father. But what this man told me...I could barely believe his words. He said that my father was alive...up north...but that people were trying to kill him.
It didn't take me long to decide that there was only one thing to do--go to the Nahanni and find my father. I managed to convince some really great people to come with me. I could never have done that journey alone. It was exciting at first, but it didn't take long to become the most terrifying time in my life. It makes me shake just thinking about everything that happened...and the people who died as a result of my decision to go to an area of Canada that is nicknamed The Bermuda Triangle. Really! Not kidding!
I can't tell you everything here. My doctor says I am suffering from PTSD and I have to be careful. It was hard enough to get everything written down in my memoir. But if you want to know everything that happened...well, you'll have read it yourself by picking up a copy of my bestselling book The River (by Cheryl Kaye Tardif, in case you've forgotten).
My mother and I are doing better now. As for my father...well...I did find him. But I didn't expect to nearly drown, find a hidden river, or become a prisoner of a lunatic.
Read my memoir.
The River by Cheryl Kaye Tardif.
P.S. I hope you all realize that I was being completely sarcastic about The River being my memoir. It isn't. It's a suspense thriller--pure fiction. But I bet I had some of you going, didn't I? It certainly sounds far more exciting than telling you I was a military brat, moved around a lot and threw orange pop at the first boy who kissed me, doesn't it? :) The point is, this is fine as a joke, but not fine if I made this claim because I wanted to benefit from a lie financially and never told the truth until someone found me out.P.P.S. I hope you'll still read The River. Everything I told you was from the perspective of Del, the main character, and the plot is as it is above.
I hope you'll read my novel, The River by Cheryl Kaye Tardif.
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