Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ten Questions Tuesday with Jane Bretl

Today the lovely and talented Jane Bretl, of Jane, Candid, a must read blog for anyone with a heart connected to their brain, will be joining us here at Miscellaneous Yammering for Ten Questions Tuesday.

K: Good Morning, Jane. Thanks for coming in to see me! I like your top, that's a great color on you.

J: Thanks, Karen for inviting me here! I'm glad you like my jammies.

K: Are you ready to get started?

J: Ready to rock steady!

Ten Questions for Jane Bretl

K: Which of these are more you?

Chapstick or Lipstick? HAIR Bands or hairbands? Leather sandals or leather pants? Broccoli or Cauliflower?


J: I'm glad to see this interview is going to stick with weighty, thought-provoking issues. I wear very little make-up, but Chapstick is too waxy... can I go with lip balm in a sheer tinted shade? Since my internal furnace became stuck on a permanent HEATER setting about eight years ago, I must keep my hair off my neck all summer, so I'll pick hairbands. I've never liked men with nicer hair than mine anyway. Leather pants? Refer back to HEATER ON OVERDRIVE and you'll get your answer. I was excited to see that leather Jesus sandals had made a big comeback this summer, at least judging by the extensive selection of biblical-inspired footwear at our local DSW. I had a pair of leather Jesus sandals in 1982 and have always regretted ever giving them up. They were way ahead of their time. And, finally, I'll have to go with cauliflower, preferably prepared as the Indian dish Aloo Gobhi, thanks for asking.



K: You recently had a chance to go into a bookstore and autograph copies of the anthology book that contains your first published piece. How awesome was that?

J: Actually, I have mixed feelings when I admit to doing book signings. I never dreamed that having a short story published in an anthology gave me the permission/expectation/right to actually sign books in a bookstore. My friends and I joked about it! Then I continued to find more and more examples of author signings for anthologies all around the country. Some publishers encourage it more than others. I also learned from authors like Joe Konrath that many booksellers like to have signed copies that can be displayed -- they sell faster. The savvy bookseller is always looking for ways to market the titles for better sales. I know personally I am more likely to buy a book if it is signed by the author. Apparently others feel the same way, even if Said Author is only on page 34-38. So, it was a learning experience. Now I know what to do the next time I appear in an anthology. I will be more confident and put myself out there for formal book signings, at least locally. For now, it was a thrill just to sign the stock on hand and see the clerk put the "Signed By Author" sticker on the front cover.

K: Best bumper sticker you ever saw?

J: "Lord, please make me the person my dog thinks I am." I also liked "Alternative Energy: the best Homeland Security" -- it stopped me in my tracks while walking through a parking lot. I still have "Vote like the fate of the world depends on it" on the back of my car, along with the darwinian ichthys fish sprouting legs.


K: We both love to garden, which is more fun? Growing something to eat or eating something you've grown?

J: The "eating something I've grown" is still an experiment in process. I find the most joy in growing a riotous tumble of color and beauty that I can look at every day. I also enjoy growing a show that makes people stop and say "whoa".


K: Your cat was almost eaten by a coyote.

Did you immediately invent something to prevent this from happening to others? And if so, is it marketable? (can I get in on that?)

J: I scooped her up, nuzzled my nose in her soft white fur and told her not to get eaten by a coyote. She went back outside several hours later. You are welcome to split the profits with me 50/50.


K: If you were a superhero, what would your super power be?

J: Cook foods with ingredients that touch each other that are palatable to my offspring. And make mean people look deeply into a mirror. And bestow waists on women who lost theirs. That's three powers -- can I be that super?

K: I know you have an aversion to frogs...which was almost a deal breaker for our friendship btw....so Frogs in ponds wouldn't be your reason for walking in nature...what do you look for that delights you when you go out awanderin?

J: My favorite thing about hiking is the opportunity the journey provides to take photographs. Frequent stopping slows the cardiovascular effect, but boosts my soul.


K: Have you ever been in the grocery store and started singing along (loudly) with the piped in music?

J: No, I am hardly even a closet singer. I did use my extremely pregnant belly to accidentally knock over a large pyramid of canned goods in a grocery store, but only once. I say accidentally in case any of you thought I might have done that on purpose. Anyone who had never felt 12 months pregnant, for example.


K:You're flipping through the channels on tv...you stop on a movie that you would never admit to liking when talking with your friends who use words like "superfluous"....what would the movie be?

J: Sorry, I would have to have control of the remote to be channel surfing... I have the enviable position of the lone female in a sea of menfolk. It is worth not having the remote.

And finally:


K: At what age did you first say something to your kids that came from the index cards in your brain where all the things your mother said to you growing up are stored?

J: I think that was at birth when I said, "Phew! Now that that's
over…. Let's have some ice cream."


K: Thank you so much for stopping by today Jane. I really got a kick out of all of your answers. And as always, out of you my friend! Good job keepin it clean for the tweens!

J: Thank you, Karen, for including my yammerings amidst your miscellany. You are a funny lady.


17 comments:

Karen from Mentor said...

Jane,
Thanks so much for playing with me today. I learned a lot, not least of which how to spell
Aloo Gobhi.
I LOVE the visual of you celebrating the birth of your sons with ice cream.

In my visual you are wearing a fetching little bed jacket, your hair looks FABULOUS...and the baby is swaddled in a little blue blanket...you know all pink and clean... the off camera nurses having wiped away all the goop from the birthing process....

Karen :)

mdvelazquez said...

Great job, Jane and Karen.

I have a wee bit of a problem with chapstick/lip balm. I carry 5-6 in my bag, have 3 on my nightstand, and 4 in my desk. I was all set to give Jane a list of non-waxy chaptstick, but realized they are all lip balms.

Karen from Mentor said...

Maria,
I think that there may be a twelve step program for that....I'll get back to you.

Missed you young lady!
Karen :)

Anonymous said...

That was fun! I always enjoy Jane's blog posts.

Now, can someone tell me a brand of lipbalm that has a sheer tint?

Karen from Mentor said...

Linda,
Cosmetic Tips!!!! Well, that's a new one.
I use chapstick, cherry chapstick, all day long, so other ladies will have to help with the lipbalm issues.
Inquiring minds want to know...Ladies??? Or guys, we won't be sexist here..

btw: If anyone is having an issue with seeing this posting all wonky, I apologize....there were some technical issues earlier...I hope that they are resolved now...if not, the words are the same regardless of the format...kinda like drinking ice cream after it's melted.

Thanks for stopping in Linda. I loved your post about characters you love yesterday. I put a couple of your must read books on my own must read list.
Karen :)

jane, candid said...

Hey Karen,
Thanks again for inviting me! You stick with that lovely visual you provided about the hospital room and my general state of array/disarray; I will keep the VHS video of the birth safely here in my vault.

Thanks, mdvelazquez! If you do send me lip balm, can it be an unopened pack? Just checking.

Linda, thanks for your kind words. And try Burts Bees or Aveda...

Well Karen, the weighty issues just keep on rolling around here!
Because you know, I cover some heavy stuff on MY blog, like... sleepovers, yeah, and legos, and goofy dog photos. Plus anthropomorphic cat musings, and flowers, and flying dog poo and bumper stickers... Ummmh, there were conniptions and discombobulations; do those count? ... (crickets)

Wait -- there was that thing about Joe! but that was pretty silly actually...

Never mind.

Anyone have questions about flowers?

Karen from Mentor said...

Flying dog poo??? Really Jane, flying dog poo???

*sigh*

btw:you forgot talking rabbits

judy said...

Is it possible for leather Jesus sandals to be ahead of their time? Think they're in perpetual comeback mode.

Let the record show I come to Jane and Karen for all my heavy issue coverage. That's why I'm such a deep thinker. I think particularly deeply when I wear my Jesus sandals, but that is probably just a coincidence.

Karen from Mentor said...

Jesus sandals could be ahead of their time if they were originally left here by the aliens that visited the Incas.....

And Judy, you know that I come to YOU for all of my up to the minute political news...well, except for the news I get from Jon Stewart...have to watch Jon...he's got that cute little tush.

thanks for your help this am (so early!!) with the weighty wonky website issue.

Kris said...

Karen, you should become a professional-caliber interviewer. I get so sick of talk show hosts, the press, and other interviewers throwing their interviewees softballs ... questions that no one wants to know the answers to anyway. It is so refreshing to find an interviewer who goes straight for the important stuff. You ask the questions readers really want to know the answers to. Like about Jane's possible grocery-karaoke side.

Thank you for having the guts to ask the tough questions!

Karen from Mentor said...

(laughing)Thank you Kris,
But did you notice how NEATLY Jane sidestepped the issue of her favorite awful movie???
I should have done a hard hitting follow up question, but she was just so cute and soft and cuddly in those jammies....it made me go easy on her.

Karen from Mentor said...

Ok Jane,
Curiosity got the better of me and I went to Jane,Candid and used your search box to search for a post with "flying poop" to no avail.

prithee post pointers privately or publicly to parameters of prior posting.

translation=where the heck is it???

jennifertanner said...

Jesus sandals, huh? I refer to them as "Ben Hur" shoes... (go Charleton, go!)

I'd like to "think" I have pretty good fashion sense but I guess I didn't "get it" the first time they became the "rage." And now that they're back, I'm still befuddled. But it doesn't matter cause if you were old enough to wear them the first time they were trendy, you're too old to wear them now!

Great interview Karen & Jane!

Cheers!
Jen

Karen from Mentor said...

Jen,
Your comment made me LOL but I'm not sure if you just took a poke at Jesus or at Jane.

But if it was at Jane, let me just say for her....get your stinking hands off me you d*mn dirty ape. (see I needed the * in the word d*mn to keep it clean for the tweens) [and my response was a charleton heston reference....from Planet of the Apes??? hello, is this thing on?
oh man,it's been a long day.]

thanks for stopping in hon, it's always great to see you. Now back to work on your manuscript. Go ahead go back to work and stop fooling around here reading me.......

jane, candid said...

Karen, the poo flew at the vet office on the infamous coyote day. In my defense, it was in a baggie.

Jen, luckily I was too young to be wearing them the first time, so now I figure I am just right... and although not flattering to the lower leg, they look equally good with jeans, skirts or a sackcloth robe with rope belt.

Thanks again, Karen for having me! It was fun!

jennifertanner said...

Actually, I wasn't poking at Jesus or Jane! Just thinking about the evolution of fashion. Espadrilles and hot pants and maxi dresses are back in vogue...

Charleton was in reference to Ben Hur...he was in the film, right? I do remember him in Planet of the Apes and wondered why the costume department made him wear tan...so drab!

Your very truly,
Zira

Karen from Mentor said...

Nice, I can't even spell espadrilles, let alone wear them.

Get some sleep Zira,
yours, Cornelius