Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts

History Lesson: Back in the 80s, before there was the Real World , Cribs and Jersey Shore , MTV (short for Music Television) used to play a little something called music videos.  Weird, huh?  Well, a good portion of my youth was spent in front of my boyfriend's telly (my parent's hadn't gone for this new-fangled "cable television" yet) just waiting and waiting for Martha Quinn, Alan Hunter, and Mark Goodman to play one of my favorites (my parents hadn't gone for the new-fangled VCRs yet either).  And who can forget the big Michael Jackson "Thriller" premier? So bring on the nostalgia!  Here's a widgetbox with top MTV videos from the 1980s.  The collection will be changing cuz there's so, so, so many to choose from, and I'm taking requests, so feel free to drop me a comment with yours. Get the &a...

I don't know about you, but distraction seems to be a huge part of my writing process.  Like, if I find myself struggling for too long over a certain description or dialog, I find it's good for me to get up and walk away---the solution invariably pops into my head when it's most inconvenient to jump back to the computer---or I go cyber surfing to do something fairly mindless to recharge.  I read somewhere that J.K. Rowling regularly plays Tetris while writing, so I figure it can't be all that bad of a habit.  My latest distraction was creating a You Tube playlist of 80s MTV videos.  You'll get to see the fruits of my "labor" in my next blogpost (or right now at the new "80s MTV" tab).  But I'm wondering, what are the little things you like to do to recharge those writing batteries? Welcome to Monday! It's time for the Meet an Author Monday blog hop.  To meet new authors and discover great reads, simply visit any of the author links bel...

I was recently asked why I chose to set my novel in the 1980s.  At first I rolled my eyes and said, "Duh, because it was only, like, the best decade ever!"  And then I fessed up to another reason. You see, the story is essentially about dating, and I don't have the slightest idea how to date today. Facebook, texting, and e-chat, oh my.   All these forms of e-communications have to have completely changed the face of dating.  As Liz Lemon lamented on 30 Rock (something like):   " Man, there are so many different ways  for a guy to not call back these days." Yeah, so there goes that little ego-cushion.  Back in the 80s, when a guy didn't get in touch, you could always tell yourself he lost your number, or the phone was busy, or a million other things. Even if you had the cutting edge technology of call waiting, you could always blame it on your roomate not clicking over in time (since no one had invented voice mail yet). But now?  If ...

So, I'm sitting on a stack of really nice looking (if I do say so myself) postcards about my book, and lots of ideas on what to do with them, but before I start spinning my wheels, I'd love to hear from anyone who's had success with "postcard marketing"---what's worked for you? And...it's Meet an Author Monday!  So time to join the hop and meet new authors. Simply click on one of the blogs below.  Look for our icon at each blog to keep on hopping. If you are a published author, please join the hop by entering your information in Linky tool below, then copy the blog hop code and icon into a post.

One of my very first blogs was a request for readers to take pictures of my novel in fun places, and the pics have come pouring in (with a minimum of cajoling, I promise). Below you can bear witness to three very cool things: #1 The exciting places Three Daves has been; #2 The awesomeness of readers to humor me this way; and #3 The fabulous widgetbox slideshow I just figured out how to create. Enjoy! Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/i/af1c7807-7638-4e8b-8d8b-ff9d91d81051">Slideshow Creator Pro</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/">great free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com">Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (&...

I don't deserve these...but I'm going to keep them: This summer I received two awards for my blog: The Versatile Blogger award from the wonderful Jennifer Delucy, and The Spotlight Award from the fabulous Fallen Monkey .  Both bloggers are brilliant writiers with fun, interesting, and active blogs that are the stuff of which I strive for, so I am touched that they took pity on me and gave me a nod with these awards.  I shall try to do you both proud. To fulfill the requirement for accepting them, I will share seven random facts about myself. #1 - I have been very blessed in this life and am always being given things I don't deserve. #2 - I have been battling three tenacious warts on my leg all summer.  After a month of besiegment-by-duct-tape and relentless Compound W attacks, they appear to be severely weakened and their days are surely numbered...please? #3 - I am a sucker for mochas.  I can't go into a coffeehouse without ordering one....

Just some pics of the set-up for the 80s Night party & book signing at The Meeting Place in Geneva, IL last Thursday. What I've discovered is that it's impossible not to have fun when you're getting your 80s on---the quirky music, the over-the-top fashions, the Ferris Bueller... Bueller... Bueller... Much thanks to the Merra-Lee girls for setting the shops back a few decades, my friend Tami for letting us use her awesome posters, and to everyone who came out to join us! As evidence that 80s pop culture will never die, our winner of the One Hit Wonders of the 80s game was born in 1985!  Need more proof that the 80s rock on?  Come on in to The Meeting Place to check out the Fingerless Gloves I spied on the shelves among fall 2010 fashions, or get a load of the back-to-school shoes my son just picked out yesterday -- black Chuck Taylor high-tops, as seen front and center at the top of this blog's artwork.  How totally cool.

Hey, blog hoppers!  It's Monday again.  To meet new authors and discover great reads, simply visit any of the author links below.  Look for our "Meet an Author Monday" icon at any of these blogs to keep on hoppin. Authors! Have a book out? Are you under contract for publication? Join in the hop for a great way to network your blog and let readers know who you are!

My husband attended to his high school reunion last weekend, Class of 1985, and discovered that one of his classmates has accomplished something very cool. He's resurrected that tried & true 80s University staple, Quarters. And he's done it in a way that even our kids have to admit is totally awesome. Jim Terdina, innovative software inventor, says he simply combined two of his great passions---drinking and computers---and came up with iQuarters!!! Genius, I say!  You can download it to your iPhone, iTouch or iPad and play it wherever and whenever you like. Because who has a quarter and a glass just lying around the house? But check out this video---it's way more fun than any game of Quarters I've ever played.  No wonder it's getting so popular.

You're looking at it!  I spruced up my blog and added a few new features. I've now got tabs with a peek inside Three Daves, Book Club discussion questions, music/personality Quizzes, and 80s Playlists.  Please take a look around at what I've done with the place and have fun playing. :)

It's blog hop time again!  An easy way to meet, follow, and interact with  authors and discover great new reads.  Select any of the fabulous authors at the bottom of this post and hop to their blog.  Look for our "Meet the Author" icon there to keep on hopping.  If you are a published author or have a book under contract, we'd love for you to join the hop by entering your name and blog url into the Linky tool. Then, create a blog post with our icon and the blog hop Linky tool in it. In the spirit of meeting authors, I will semi-reluctantly share with you my recent video interview with a local TV station.  Doing the interview was surprisingly fun---thanks to Holly Deitchman and the Out & About Batavia crew, who made me feel at ease. Watching myself in the interview...not quite as fun, although I did manage to make it through one viewing without cringing too much. I wish you similar results: