INKSPOT NEWS - November 3, 2012

Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are right around the corner. Here’s your chance to kick your holiday shopping off right. Come to the Sisters in Crime November meeting to hear from, meet, and mingle with 14 chapter authors who’ve had something new published this year in the mystery field. Booksellers from Mystery Loves Company will be there to sell books, helping you avoid the horror of shopping for holiday gifts at the mall or waiting for them to come in the mail. So, come on down and support your chapter authors at our annual holiday-season kick-off event!

Which authors will there? Donna Andrews, Jacqueline Corcoran, Meriah Crawford, Diane Davidson, Barb Goffman, Jennifer Harlow, Alma Katsu, Tracy Kiely, Debbi Mack, Sandra Parshall, Harriette Sackler, Verna Suit, Cathy Wiley, and Rebecca York.

The meeting is free and open to the public. The presentations begin at 1pm at the Howard County Library, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia MD.  Hope to see you there!

“I think it’s stupid…

…and you’re weird.”

Yep, that’s an actual quote from an in-person review of my new book, Back in the Habit. A co-worker started the morning with, “I finished your book. I liked it, but…” That’s never a good sign. She then asked what the Swedish nun and the facial moles were all about.

I explained that I’d come across folklore in which the location of a facial mole indicated personality type: Greedy, loyal, treacherous, loving, etc. It fascinated me, and I knew I had to use it in a book one day. The title of this post is the response I received. (I’m evil enough to tease you by not revealing what the Swedish nun and the facial moles have to do in Back in the Habit.)

I was innocent enough once to think that when I had a book on bookstore shelves that these slap-in-the-face incidents would be a thing of the past. (I’ll pause while the choking laughter from all published Inkspot readers subsides.) Reality hit soon, in the shape of… reviews.

I learned right away that unless my publicist sends a review along, I don’t read it. I have rhino hide, but a snarky review will always find the cracks in it. Reviews aren’t for authors anyway—they’re for readers.

Besides, I have something infinitely better than any review. I have fans.

Fans are awesome. Total strangers email me to tell me they love my books. Total strangers come to my book signings and ask me to sign their copy. This is as good as standing on stage basking in audience applause (been there too). My books on bookstore shelves are the result of years of work. Fans show me that it was all worth it. They more than make up for people who somehow feel compelled to tell me that I’m weird and my ideas are stupid. (I smiled and shrugged at my co-worker when she said that. There was really nothing else to do.)

Without readers, my books would be gathering dust in a desk drawer.

Thank you.

INKSPOT NEWS, MARCH 17, 2012

Today, March 17th, Lois Winston will be taking part in the Liberty States Fiction Writers
Create Something Magical conference for readers and writers. A book fair, open to the public, will take place from 5:30pm - 7pm at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, 515 Route 1 South and Gill Lane, Iselin, NJ 

INKSPOT NEWS, MARCH 10, 2012

On Friday March 16th, Lois Winston will be taking part in two booksignings at the Public Library Association conference being held at the Philadelphia Convention Center, 1101 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA. From 12:30pm - 2pm, she'll be at the Sisters in Crime book #947, and from 2pm - 3pm, she'll be at the Midnight Ink booth #1244. 

On Saturday, March 17th, Lois Winston will be taking part in the Liberty States Fiction Writers
Create Something Magical conference for readers and writers. A book fair, open to the public, will take place from 5:30pm - 7pm at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, 515 Route 1 South and Gill Lane, Iselin, NJ 

INKSPOT NEWS, MARCH 3, 2012

Lois Winston will be giving a talk and signing copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and Death By Killer Mop Doll today from 1pm - 2:30pm at
Foxtale Book Shoppe

105 East Main St., #138, Woodstock, GA
FMI: 770-516-9989

Deborah Sharp, author of the Mace Bauer Mysteries featuring Mace's wacky ''Mama,'' will be among a host of nationally prominent authors at Sleuthfest in Orlando this weekend. Join her bright and early today, at 9 am, for the panel: Laugh if You Must (Dying is Easy; Comedy is Hard). Panelmates include Elaine Viets, Donna Andrews, and Joelle Charbonneau. Vincent O'Neil moderates.

Robin Allen, author of the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series, will be one of six featured authors at the Bulverde/Spring Branch Library Book & Author Luncheon. Other authors include Stephen Harrigan and Jenny Wingfield.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012

11:00 AM - 2:30 PM

Spring Hill Event Center

2455 Celebration Drive

San Antonio, TX  78261

INKSPOT NEWS, FEBRUARY 25, 2012

Lois Winston will be giving a talk and signing copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and Death By Killer Mop Doll next Saturday, March 3rd, from 1pm - 2:30pm at
Foxtale Book Shoppe

105 East Main St., #138, Woodstock, GA
FMI: 770-516-9989

GOING UNDERCOVER

This week I’m winding down a month-long blog tour to promote the release of Death By Killer Mop Doll. Since the last weekend in December, I have been the guest blogger at 27 different blogs, with six more to go. I dubbed my tour the Sit on Your Butt Book Tour because all of my interaction with readers has been while…well, sitting on my butt. As exhausting as it was to come up with 33 different posts over the course of a month, a virtual tour sure beat driving hours and hours from one book store to the next and hoping that someone showed up.

There are many benefits to a virtual book tour. For one thing, I can do it while wearing my Disney jammies and fuzzy slippers. I’m not constantly filling my tank with gas at close to $3.50 a gallon, and I’m not racking up toll charges on my EZ-Pass account.

However, what I like most about a virtual tour is the interaction I have with readers. I once did a book store signing where in the two hours I was there, exactly two customers entered the store. One wanted to buy a newspaper (the bookstore didn’t sell newspapers,) and the other was looking for a gift for a birthday party her kid was going to attend later that day. Needless to say, neither of these customers was interested in my books.

On a virtual tour many readers pop in to say hello and comment. Do they then buy my books? I don’t know. But that’s a whole lot less stressful than sitting at a table with a pile of unsold books.

The virtual tour is also a lot more fun than trying to engage shoppers at a bookstore. I swear, these people must think that they’ll get sucked in by my “author ray” and be forced to buy a copy of my book! People go out of their way to avoid making eye contact. When I approach them and try to engage in conversation, half the time they act as if I’m a stalker for merely smiling and offering a friendly hello and a bookmark.

I’m a shy person by nature. Putting myself “out there” has never been easy for me. So it takes a lot for me to step out of my writer’s cave and psych myself up for these events. Over the years, I’ve become much better at faking an extrovert personality, but it’s still hard for me.

Except when I can go incognito.

Years ago, I had a friend who made mascot costumes for sports franchises and various companies. Once at a design conference, she needed someone to dress up in one of the costumes for a talk she was giving. Since we were rooming together at the conference, guess who got elected? That’s right, little ol’ shy moi.

I had a blast!

No one knew I was under that red kitty costume. It was a totally liberating experience for an introvert. And that’s what a virtual book tour is for me. This month has been tiring, but it’s also been fun. And a lot less stressful than sitting for two hour stretches at a bookstore.

Maybe next time I’m asked to do a bookstore signing, I should dress up as a giant red kitty.

Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist and was recently nominated for a Readers Choice Award by the Salt Lake City Library System. Death by Killer Mop Doll is a January 2012 release. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

Signing Books

by Kathleen Ernst

In the (many) years between first finished book and first published book, I dreamed of that most writerly of tasks: sitting at a table and signing copies. The notion that someone might actually want me to was almost beyond comprehension.

Well, books got published and sometimes people do want me to sign them. What I didn’t know, way back then, was that I’d be so bad at it.

Not meeting readers—I adore that part. Not giving programs about my books—I’m pretty good at that too. I even have nice handwriting and a couple of lovely pens.

The problem I have is trying to chat while signing. It’s a reader’s moment to ask a question or tell me something important, and I like that bit of one-on-one. But I’m not good at multi-tasking. When someone is talking with me I have trouble remembering my own name, much less theirs.

Once a family stopped me in the parking lot as I was leaving a signing. I’d written a lovely inscription in the book they’d just purchased, but in the midst of our conversation, I’d somehow forgotten to actually sign my name. Twice I’ve had to purchase my own books because I botched the inscription.

I run into more trouble when someone approaches the table and asks, “Remember me?” I have a horrible memory, and I’m afraid I don’t always remember a reader I met three years ago. Even worse, my Chloe Ellefson books are (so far) set at a place where I worked 20-30 years ago. Sometimes former colleagues come to my programs, and every now and then I can’t for the life of me find their name in my mental vault. (In my own feeble defense, I did supervise 60-80 people a year, for a decade.)

I try to get around such lapses by keeping a pad handy. Whenever someone hands me a book, I ask them to spell their name, and I write it down. “I always like to check spelling,” I say cheerfully. (Me writing it, as opposed to them scribbling it on a Post-it or something, helps solidify the letters in my brain for a moment.) Everyone once in a while even that fails, as with the man I’d met before who gave me a disappointed look and said “B-o-b.”

I always write the date on the top of the pad, as well. I tend to forget.

If someone buys multiple titles, I try to write a little something different in each one. I’m not so good at that either, especially if they hand me five or six books.

The hardest signings of all are with kids. I know this is a special occasion. I want them to leave with a happy memory and a legible inscription, but sometimes I do better than others. Kids like to see what I’m writing and watch me sign my name. They crowd around, sometimes jostling the table and sending the pen in a direction I did not intend.

All this is not to complain. Far from it! I’ve had a dream come true, and I try to savor every moment. But if you happen to ask me to sign a book, please don’t mind if I need you to repeat your name, or if I write the wrong date by mistake. The story itself will be much more polished, I promise.

I Wish I Knew Then

By Deborah Sharp

I've been racking my brain for something new to say when I start doing events for my fourth book, the upcoming MAMA SEES STARS. By now, I'm a bit fatigued with rehashing my same ol' story of becoming an author: Former USA Today reporter, left the sad stories of the news biz behind at age 50, became a writer of funny, Southern-fried fiction . . .

Yada, yada, yada ...

Sometimes I feel like the dolphins at SeaWorld, performing the same tricks over and over and over again just to see if anyone is going to toss me a fish.

I'm thinking this time out I'll shake things up. I'm going to try some honesty, reveal what being an author is really all about. Okay, I'm always honest ... this is UNVARNISHED honesty; the real, tell-it-like-it-is scoop.

So, here it is:
The Top 5 Things I Wish I'd Known Back Then About Being an Author

1. When authors say they're going on a book tour, it doesn't mean their Daddy Warbucks publishers are tossing money at them so they can fly first class, sleep in fancy hotels, and eat in five-star restaurants. If they're like me, it means they're packing the pickup truck with books, driving somewhere like Okeechobee, Fla., and setting up shop in front of the cattle chute at the rodeo on a day so hot that the Hershey's kisses that were supposed to be reader giveaways melted to resemble tiny dollops of cow manure. (Pictured, the author reading to her ''cowptive'' audience)



2. An author has better odds of getting killed by fireworks (1 in 340,733) than of making enough money off royalties to quit his or her day job. Thank goodness my TV reporter husband earns enough dough that I don't have to sleep in my 1992 Miata.

3. Snagging a signing at one of the chain stores is no guarantee an author will move lots of books at said signing. I've learned that when you stand, smiling hopefully, at a table stacked with books, lots of people ask directions to the bathroom. (It's in the back, down that little hallway. Can't miss it.)

4. At every author signing, someone will ask you how many hours you write every day. Nobody wants to hear the real answer: ''I haven't written a word in weeks. I'm too busy updating my Facebook status and checking my Amazon ranking.''

5. And the Top Thing I Wish I'd Known Way Back in 2006, When I Signed A Contract For My First Book? That I'd still be plugging away today. Yep, I'm working on Book 5, buoyed every so often by a sweet review or a reader who says she loves my mysteries.

Lord knows it's not the money keeping this author afloat!

How about you? What keeps you going?

Inkspot News - June 18

Beth Groundwater will be honored and feted at the FIBArk (First in Boating on the Arkansas river) whitewater festival in Salida, Colorado this weekend. On Saturday, June 18th, she will be the VIP in the Parade from 10:00 AM - Noon. On both Friday and Saturday afternoons, June 17th & 18th, from 1:00 - 5:00 PM, she will be signing copies of her Deadly Currents mystery, set in Salida during FIBArk, on the back deck of the Boathouse Cantina at The Book Haven bookstore's table. She'll also be participating in other festival events through Sunday as she is able.

One event this week for Robin Allen to promote If You Can't Stand the Heat, the first book in the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series.
June 25th Saturday 3:00 PM
Reading & Signing
The Twig Book Shop
200 E. Grayson Street, Suite 124
San Antonio, TX 78215
210-826-6411

Did you know The San Jose Mercury News is the third largest circulating metropolitan daily in the US (after The NY Times and LA Times)? Anyway, the Merc is covering Inkster Keith Raffel's foray into ebooks. Click here to read.

Inkspot News - June 11

Beth Groundwater will be honored and feted at the FIBArk (First in Boating on the Arkansas river) whitewater festival in Salida, Colorado next weekend. On Friday, June 17th, she will be interviewed at noon on KSVB radio, the River Rat. On Saturday, June 18th, she will be the VIP in the Parade from 10:00 AM - Noon. On both Friday and Saturday afternoons, June 17th & 18th, from 1:00 - 5:00 PM, she will be signing copies of her Deadly Currents mystery, set in Salida during FIBArk, on the back deck of the Boathouse Cantina at The Book Haven bookstore's table. She'll participate in other festival events as she is able.

Beth Groundwater also will be signing copies of her Deadly Currents mystery Thursday, June 16th, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at the Covered Treasures Bookstore, 105 Second Street, Monument, Colorado. She will be an guest interviewee on Gelati's Scoop GZONE blogtalk radio show at 3:00 PM, Wednesday, June 15th.

Keith Raffel will be at Books Inc in Berkeley, CA on Monday, June 20 at 7PM for a panel discussion with fellow crime fiction novelists David del Bourgo and Seth Harwood.

Special prices on ebooks right now: June Bug by Jess Lourey is free. Death of a Cozy Writer by G. M. Malliet and Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney are $1.99 each. And Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan is only 99 cents. Keith Raffel's Smasher: A Silicon Valley Thriller is 99 cents, too; his latest Drop By Drop is $2.99.

Inkspot News - June 4

Three events this week for Robin Allen to promote If You Can't Stand the Heat, the first book in the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series.






June 4th | Saturday | 3:30-4:00 PM
Radio interview with Diana Ivy
Call Me Ivy show on Corpus Christi's 1440 KEYS
Click the Listen Live link to stream.


* * *

June 10th | Friday | 4:30-5:00 PM
Live radio interview with Harold Koclanes
Corpus Christi Business Advocate show on Corpus Christi's 1440 KEYS
Click the Listen Live link to stream.

* * *

June 10th | Friday | 6:30 PM
Reading & Signing
Barnes & Noble Corpus Christi
5129 Blanche D Moore Drive
Corpus Christi, TX 78411

Inkspot News - May 28, 2011

Beth Groundwater has two signings this weekend for Deadly Currents. Today, Saturday, she has a wine & cheese signing from 2 - 4 PM at Black Cat Books, 720 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO. Tomorrow, Sunday, she'll be participating in Paddlefest in Buena Vista, CO, signing in front of Colorado Kayak Supply, 327 E Main Street, from 1 - 4 PM.Over at The Rap Sheet, Keith Raffel tells "The Story Behind the Story" of his new ebook thriller, Drop By Drop. (Click here.)

Inkspot News - May 7, 2011

Today, Saturday, May 7th, Beth Groundwater has two appearances:
10 AM - Noon
Teaching a Hampton Roads Writers “Traveling Pen” Workshop on
Realistic and Effective Dialogue in Fiction
Hampton Library
4207 Victoria Blvd., Hampton, VA 23669

3 – 5 PM Book Signing
Barnes & Noble, Yoder Plaza Shopping Center
12170 Jefferson Avenue, Newport News, VA 23602

On the Road Again ...

When this article posts, I will be sitting in the Denver, Colorado, airport waiting to board my flight to Washington, DC after having gotten up at o'dark thirty to drive to Denver from my home in Colorado Springs. Thus begins my East Coast Book Tour: 9 events in 10 days in 3 states (Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania). To see what I have planned, go to the Appearances page of my website.

Am I crazy? No, I'm just trying to make my promotion dollars stretch as far as possible. You see, every single bit of this trip will be paid out of my pocket. Like most authors, my publishers don't pay for me to go on tour. That only happens for bestselling authors, who really don't NEED to go on tour--readers are going to buy their books anyway. But for mid-list authors who DO need to visit different locations to get our name out there and meet booksellers, librarians, and readers, that tour money isn't forthcoming. So, it comes out of our advance checks.

Thus the need to stretch those travel dollars as far as possible.

Here's how I'm doing it. First, I dug into my frequent flier mileage accounts to pay for the flights, flying out on one airline's miles and returning on another's. I will rely on public transportation and a friend to get around in the Washington, DC area. That's so I can put off picking up a discount rental car using a Costco coupon until Sunday.

When I'm staying in hotels or motels for the Malice Domestic conference in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, I'm sharing a room with another mystery author. Otherwise, I'm mooching on a friend in Arlington, Virginia, for one night, an author friend in Annapolis, Maryland for one night, my sister in Charlottesville, Virgina, for another night, and my parents in Hampton, Virginia for four nights. Bread-and-butter gifts to my hostesses will likely be autographed copies of Deadly Currents.

I'll have one bookstore signing in each of the first three "mooch" locations, then I will use my parents' home as a base of operations for four events in the Tidewater area of Virgina: a signing at my alma mater (The College of William and Mary Bookstore), signings at two other bookstores in Newport News and Richmond, and teaching a class to the Hampton Roads Writers on "Realistic and Effective Dialogue in Fiction" that will net me a small speaker's fee. I spent my high school and college years in Hampton and Williamsburg, so even though the Tidewater area of Virginia is a loooong way from my current home in Colorado, I can claim "home town girl" status.

Whenever I can find a spare moment, I'll stop at other nearby bookstores to sign stock, if they have my book on their shelves, or to leave a postcard or bookmark if they don't, along with a suggestion that they order some copies. And those meals that aren't included in conference registrations or provided by my much-appreciated hosts? Will they be at fancy restaurants? No way, Jose! We're talking fast food salads or subway sandwiches for most of them.

So, what do you think of the glamorous life of the author on book tour? Want to join me?

Inkspot News - April 16, 2011

Today, Saturday, April 16th, Beth Groundwater will be discussing and signing copies of her new release, Deadly Currents, from 1 to 3 PM at Beth Anne’s Book Corner, 1532 North Circle Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Beth Anne's chocolate fountain will be flowing, so stop by for a yummy treat!

Tomorrow, Sunday, April 17th, Beth Groundwater will participate in Englewood Library's 12th annual "Meet the Faces Behind the Books" multi-author extravaganza from 1 to 3 PM. The library is located at 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110.

Thursday, April 21st, from 4:30 to 7 PM, Beth Groundwater will conduct a 1 hour signing of her book, Deadly Currents, followed by open-to-the-public book club discussion of Deadly Currents at The Book Haven bookstore, 128 F Street, Salida, CO 81201.

Midnight Ink acquisition editor Terri Bischoff has just started her own blog, Under Cover At Midnight, and she's running a free books contest for those who sign up as followers. Go check it out HERE and sign up!

Inkspot News - April 9, 2011

Today, Saturday, April 9th, Beth Groundwater will be discussing and signing copies of her new release, Deadly Currents, from 3:30 to 5 PM at Who Else! Books, in the Broadway Book Mall, 200 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209. Next Saturday, April 16th, Beth Groundwater will be discussing and signing copies of her new release, Deadly Currents, from 1 to 3 PM at Beth Anne’s Book Corner, 1532 North Circle Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Beth Anne's chocolate fountain will be flowing, so stop by for a yummy treat! Also next Saturday, April 16th, Alan Orloff will be holding a launch "event" for his new release, Killer Routine, at the Reston (VA) Barnes & Noble, starting at 4 PM. There will be cake! The Mystery Writers of America is holding its April Giveaway Contest for Readers, and two Midnight Ink books are included: Deadly Currents by Beth Groundwater and Killer Routine by Alan Orloff. Enter the contest HERE.

Inkspot News - March 26, 2011

On Saturday, April 2nd, from noon to 6 PM, Beth Groundwater will participate in the Pikes Peak Library District's Mountain of Authors program at the East Branch Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80918. She'll be signing copies of her new Deadly Currents release there.

And today, March 26, from 1:30 - 2:15 PM, G.M. Malliet will appear on the panel "Series vs. Standalones" at the Left Coast Crime mystery conference in Santa Fe. Also appearing on this panel are Rosemary Mild (M), Michael A. Black, Janet Dawson, Larry Mild, and Penny Warner.

Keith Raffel is a speaker today at TEDxSanJoseCA whose theme is "People, Passion and Possibilities." Click here for live streaming of the event.

Tomorrow, March 27, Alan Orloff will be speaking at the Hadassah Book Fair at the Reston (VA) Barnes & Noble. The Book Fair begins at 1:00 PM, and Alan's presentation will begin at 2:00 PM.

Inkspot News - November 27, 2010

G.M. Malliet will be part of a multiple-author event at Loews Hotel, Annapolis, on Dec. 5. Valet parking available!

Read Between The Wines

@ Read Between the Wines
126 West St, Annapolis, MD

Authors appearing:

Donna Andrews  *  Charlie Boyle  *  Anna Hart and Cherlynn Conetsco  *  Kimbra Cutlip  *  Jon Franklin

Thomas Kaufman  *  Richard LaMotte  *  G.M. Malliet  *  Lisa McCue  *  Ellen Nibali

Sarah Pekkanen  *  Cynthia Polansky  *  Lucia St.Clair Robson  *  Daniel Stashower  *  Marcia Talley

Tickets:  $25 in advance (by Dec 3rd) or $30 at the door

Proceeds benefit the artistic excellence and educational outreach programs of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Paying it Forward

I felt so lucky this summer. Great press for A HOUSE TO DIE FOR, including a televised interview, several engagements at book clubs, three or four library events, and the opportunity to speak to the Maine Women's Network as part of their "Amazing Women" series. Really, can there be any bigger thrill for any of us than talking about our writing?

Last week I answered my own question. What's more rewarding than discussing our books? Sharing our story with an aspiring scribe.

With me in the photo above is Nicole Glidden, an eighth grader from Cushing, Maine. We're in the library of her school where she interviewed me about being and becoming a writer.

It turns out that Nicole, who pens science fiction, is quite the Katie Couric. Her questions ranged from the basic (When did you first know that you were a writer? My answer: From the minute I could grasp a pencil) to the specific (What do you do when you get writer's block? My reply: I shift gears and work on another part of the story.) She asked me about my major in college (Comparative Literature) and my minor (French) and whether I was a New York Times Bestselling Author. (Ummm...not yet.)

We talked about the process of writing: plotting, creating characters, and writing believably gory scenes. Nicole struggles with the same things we do, and feels the same satisfaction when she gets it right. She asked me who reads my fiction first, and I told her about my husband, my agent, and my good friend Lynda. She nodded and told me about her friends' reactions to her stories. She told me that her mom is a loyal reader, despite her preference for romance.

The experience of sitting at the little table with Nicole was different than addressing book club attendees, or getting up in front of a group at the library. I was talking one on one with a writer, someone alot like me many moons ago. I urged her to keep plugging away, to persevere despite the many obstacles life would throw in her way -- the same advice we have all found one way or another.

I inscribed a copy of A HOUSE TO DIE FOR to this determined young woman, and then I wished her all the luck in the world. Because when it comes right down to it, even Katie Couric needs a little luck.