Sybil Baker Blog Tour Invitation

WOW! Women On Writing announces Sybil Baker's blog tour!

Blog Tour dates:

December 6, 2010 - January 5, 2011
 
Come and join the fun! Meet the Sybil and visit her fabulous blog hostesses.


Dear
,


Do you write short stories? Have you considered compiling them into one book


As a writer I've always been interested in creating a short story collection because, to me, they're easier to write than a novel, I've got a folder full of them on my computer, and I'm not sure whether I have the patience to actually finish all the novels I've started. But I've also heard they're hard to find an agent for and publish. So I'm always fascinated to find out how authors do it. And as a reader, I love reading short story collections.

Sybil Baker not only compiled a short story collection, she linked the stories to create a thread through one character's life. In today's interview, we chat with Sybil about how she wrote these stories and how they evolved organically, short stories vs. novels (she's written both), selling a story collection, her publisher, and more.

Stop by
The Muffin comment for a chance to win a signed copy of her short story collection Talismans.

If Sybil's name sounds familiar, that's because this is her second tour with WOW! Last March '09, we hosted a tour for her chick lit novel The Life Plan. Although the books are very different, if you read her novel you'll enjoy her short story collection Talismans as well.

If you have a question about short story writing, travel writing, or anything else, stop by and ask Sybil a question. She'll be checking in and chatting with WOW! readers today, so be sure to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Also, if you'd like to host Sybil Baker on your blog, please e-mail us with your request.

~ Angela & Jodi (Your Hostesses)

** Feel free to copy any part of this e-mail and share it on your own blog or in your newsletter.

  Meet Sybil Baker
Sybil Baker
Sybil Baker grew up in Northern Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech where she was the features editor and humor columnist of the student newspaper, The Collegiate Times. After a few years working around Virginia, she moved to Boulder (Colorado) where she earned her MA degree in English from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

After five years in Colorado she moved back to Virginia and worked there as a technical editor before moving to South Korea in 1995. For the next twelve years she lived and taught English in South Korea and traveled extensively around the world, especially in Asia. So far she's been to more than thirty countries, including Mongolia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Indonesia, Peru, and Turkey.
Sybil in Instanbul
Sybil in Instanbul, Turkey


During her travels, she became increasingly interested in the allure and alienation of
American travelers and expatriates, and this has heavily influenced her writing. Her novel, The Life Plan, was published by Casperian Books in spring 2009. Her short story collection, Talismans, was just published by C&R Press this month, December 2010.

Sybil Baker's fiction and essays have appeared in numerous journals including Transnational Literature, Upstreet and Segue. Her essay on American expatriate literature appeared in AWP's Writer's Chronicle in September 2005. In 2005, Sybil completed her MFA in Writing from The Vermont College of Fine Arts, and in 2008 moved to back to the States to teach creative writing at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where she is an Assistant Professor of English. She currently lives with her husband, Rowan Johnson, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Learn more about Sybil by visiting her websites:

Sybil Baker's website: www.sybilbaker.com
Sybil's Blog: An Ex-expatriate's Musings on Writing, Teaching, and Travel


 About Talismans
Talismans
Talismans

by Sybil Baker

Elise understands her father--a Vietnam vet who abandoned her when she was an infant--about as much as she does her church organist mother and the rest of their suburban Virginian town. When even that thin thread of connection is suddenly severed, Elise is flung across the world, to Southeast Asia. Tracing the steps her father took through the war, Elise searches for a connection--with his ghost, with other travelers, with the foreign culture and environment she experiences. In a series of linked short stories, Talismans follows Elise's journey to learn what she must hold onto, and what she must leave behind.


Genre: Literary Fiction/Short Story Collection
Trade Paperback: 181 pages
Publisher: C&R Press (December 2010)
ISBN: 1936196034

Talismans is available through C&R Press, SPD (Small Press Distribution), and forthcoming on Amazon.

Reviews

"Sybil Baker's TALISMANS is a contemporary Heart of Darkness. In its linked stories, Baker's compelling protagonist, Elise, travels throughout Asia in search of a way to come to terms with the deaths of her first love, her mother, and, especially, her father, a Vietnam vet who drowned in Thailand, where he lived with his second wife and family after abandoning Elise when she was a child. Although it is a harrowing journey, one in which she endures the loss of a lover, an opium habit, and the temptation of suicide, it is also an uplifting journey, as full of light as of darkness. The stories trace Elise's gradual movement away from what Koreans call han, the 'longing and sadness for something or someone that you can't have,' to jung, a 'feeling of attachment and affection, no matter what happens.' By tracing Elise's achievement of jung, Baker's stories become powerful talismans against death, loss, and the kind of fear that prevents us from living fully and truly. Read them and you will feel their marvelous magic at work in your heart, mind, and soul."
~ David Jauss, author of Black Maps and Alone With All That Could Happen

"Sybil Baker writes beautifully of a young woman's journey to make peace with her past, in spite of being impeded by loss. The felt-life of her settings pulses on every page. The young woman is brave; Sybil Baker is brave, as well, for writing with such keen honesty."
~ Patricia Henley, author of Hummingbird House and In the River Sweet

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Do you want to participate in our blog partnership program?

Email Angela & Jodi, your tour guides.


If you'd like to host one of our upcoming authors on your blog, Email Angela & Jodi with your request.

If you're an author interested in promoting your latest book with WOW! Women On Writing Blog Tours please email us for more info.

Let's Kick Off the Blog Tour! 
This tour is filled with fantastic advice on short story writing and more. Plus, there are many book giveaways, so check the listings below and join in!

As you view the listings, make note of these wonderful blogs. Each one of them, a treasure, and a place that many readers call home. In a noisy online world, you will find sanctuary in these true gems.

December 6, 2010 Monday
Sybil Baker will be chatting with WOW! Women On Writing at The Muffin. One lucky commenter will win a signed copy of Sybil's new book!
http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com

December 7, 2010 Tuesday
Interested in travel writing? Sybil shares her experience at Writing Come Hell or High Water.
http://bethiswriting.com/

December 8, 2010 Wednesday
On Colloquium, author Sybil Baker shares her experience writing a linked short story collection.
http://www.jhsiess.com/

December 9, 2010 Thursday
Don't miss a guest post from author Sybil Baker and a chance to win her latest book Talismans!
http://www.momecentric.com/

December 10, 2010 Friday
Sybil has more information to share with us! Come on over to Anne-Marie Nichols' blog The Write Spot and read all about it!
http://www.the-write-spot.com/

December 13, 2010 Monday
Which do you like to read more: short stories or novels? Which do you like to write more? Sybil Baker, author of the novel The Life Plan and a linked short story collection Talismans, stops by with her opinion. She's also giving away a copy of Talismans!
http://writerinspired.wordpress.com/

December 14, 2010 Tuesday
Don't miss the chance to chat with author Sybil Baker today on Books, Books, The Magical Fruit. You also have the chance to win a gift for yourself or a loved one...Sybil's latest book Talismans!
http://booksbooksthemagicalfruit.blogspot.com/

December 15, 2010 Wednesday
Sybil Baker stops by with the long and short of fiction writing, as well as a copy of her latest book Talismans for a giveaway!
http://blog.juliealindsey.com/

December 20, 2010 Monday
Don't miss a review of Sybil Baker's linked short story collection Talismans and a chance to win a copy!
http://www.jhsiess.com/

December 21, 2010 Tuesday
Stop by Words by Webb when author Sybil Baker answers the 5Ws and has her latest book Talismans reviewed.
http://jodiwebb.com/

December 22, 2010 Wednesday
Sybil Baker, author of Talismans, stops by to share her secrets for promoting your book.
http://amomentwithmystee.blogspot.com/

December 28, 2010 Tuesday
Learn about travel writing from Sybil Baker at Women Travel. In Sybil's latest book, Talismans, her main character travels the Far East searching for clues of her father.
http://www.womentravelblog.com/

December 29, 2010 Wednesday
Join the fun today! Stop by for an interview with Sybil and a chance to leave your questions and comments for her. Also, a lucky someone will win a signed copy of Sybil's book Talismans!
http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/

December 30, 2010 Thursday
Don't miss an audio interview with Sybil Baker and a chance to win a copy of her latest book Talismans!
http://www.niapromotionspodcast.com/

January 4, 2011 Tuesday
Happy New Year! Stop by Misadventures with Andi and read a review of and enter to win Talismans by Sybil Baker.
http://www.misadventureswithandi.com/

January 5, 2011 Wednesday
Julie Lindsey interviews Sybil Baker, author of The Life Plan and her newly released short story collection Talismans. Stop by for fantastic writerly advice!
http://blog.juliealindsey.com/

------------

We may have more dates to come, so be sure to check out our Events Calendar HERE.


Ready to go touring?

We hope you'll join us on Sybil Baker's book blog tour for Talismans. It will be a fantastic journey filled with advice for fiction writers! Each stop shares a different point of view, a new topic, and has its own unique voice. We'd love to hear yours too, so come along for the ride, and we'll be looking for your comments!

And don't forget to visit The Muffin today and comment for a chance to win a copy of Talismans!  It's a fantastic gift for any fiction lover.

Write on!

Warmest,
 
Angela, Jodi, & Team WOW!
WOW! Women On Writing

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