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About

L.T. Garvin
I have always been a literature fan and an avid reader. I started writing poetry when I was in junior high school then short stories when I was in high school. In college, I discovered a treasure trove of works by amazing literary masters, plus I had to read them because they were assigned, and I had to pass in order to move on to the next level. Much like video gaming today. I loved some of the wonders of literature, and the others, well, they expanded my mind. I have even come to appreciate T.S. Eliot’s: The Wasteland as an English professor told me that I would (at that time, in the 1980s I was busy appreciating Duran Duran, and thought she must be out of her mind). Although I have to admit, the line in the poem about “showing fear in a handful of dust” did stick with me, and it seems really current at the moment. I am now about twenty years behind on my reading, but I plan to catch up.
I always had good intentions of writing The Great American Novel, but life and making a living got in the way, as it sometimes does plus: sports, teenagers, dinner, laundry, mowing the grass, and writing papers about the history of print, which I think might have put that professor to sleep too.
When I’m not working at my job in public education, I am busy dissecting who has the upper hand on Beverly Hills Housewives or formerly Mob Wives or at least attempting to determine who has the best eyeliner and also solving the invariable differences that arise among several moody felines who live with me (much like the wives’ shows). Otherwise, I might be shopping at the local mall, pretending that it has a Macy’s and that chocolate is really not caloric, and the wind really can’t be blowing 50 mph again.
I love all types of foods, Italian, Mexican, German, and basically anything that I don’t have to cook. I have traveled some, but not enough, or at least recently not far enough away from my teenager or my mother.  My first e-book on Amazon sold five Kindle copies including the one to my mother, who doesn’t have a Kindle, and four other relatives who I don’t think have Kindles either. Although there is an App.  Currently, I have children’s books, short stories and poetry volumes available on Amazon.  My soon-to-be-published novel, Dancing with the Sandman, which might appeal especially to the Baby Boomers generation, will be available on Amazon this fall.  Hard copies of books are also available on Lulu.com.
I think the big e-book secret is having a good book cover or telling people how to increase their productivity. If you have an amazing cover, well I’d say you are more than halfway there.   A great deal of advice is out there on creating the ultimate e-book, promoting a blog, stopping procrastination, making zillions of dollars, and dissing your boss. People might want to think a little bit before that last one. Those are good aspirations to have, along with some nights getting at least eight hours of sleep and finding the perfect nail polish color for your toes. Thanks for stopping by…now maybe go out and make the world a better place…one person at a time 🙂

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  1. iridescentfox iridescentfox

    My mum told her work colleagues about my book so they all went out and bought it. Which was great. What wasn’t great was going into the bookshop and having the pretty young girl tell me that several middle aged women had came in asking for “Mandy’s son’s poems”. Sigh

    # March 7, 2014 Reply
  2. michellejoycebond michellejoycebond

    I don’t think I can work in the eight hours, but making the world a better place–I’ll push for that. 🙂 Cool about page, L.T. I like your voice!

    # May 28, 2014 Reply
  5. hafong hafong

    I had a chuckle about your e-book experience. I love writing. At this stage I’m happy to push the ‘publish’ button on WordPress. Maybe I should have higher aspirations. 🙂
    Lily

    # November 30, 2014 Reply
    • lanodb lanodb

      Hi Lilly, thank for checking out my blog. WordPress is great. I have not had much luck with Amazon, but if people don’t know a writer, and don’t know that they have a book, then they can’t scoop one up, ha ha. I will say that I am amazed at the number of outstanding writers here on WordPress. I enjoy reading the perspectives of many people. I don’t know so much about the publishing thing, I do know it takes a lot of leg work for someone to become published, and this is very difficult for those of us who have jobs, then only have x amount of free time to write. I am not sure that I will ever get published in a big way, and that’s okay. I think maybe the more important thing is to leave something behind, a testament to another time, another place, with a sprinkling of imagination 🙂

      # November 30, 2014 Reply
  6. hafong hafong

    I think you’ve done great that you have written a book and it is on Amazon. There are so many books out there that you need to promote. It’s something I’m not good at. I have a few e-books on my Kindle App but haven’t read one. I’ve started reading one written by someone I know but haven’t gotten far. I like to hold a book and turn the pages. My partner had self published a book of poetry a few years book. He did readings at a book launch at a bookstore and some other places and sold quite a few copies – enough to recoup the cost. But after that….
    I have a friend who is a poet with at least 6 books published by a real publisher. She is giving a keynote in Brussels and doing a reading in Paris in December. I am jealous as hell, of course. 🙂 Seriously, I am okay in my mediocrity. You are right about the importance of leaving something behind.
    But I do wish you success with Amazon.
    Lily

    # December 1, 2014 Reply
  7. lanodb lanodb

    Lily, thanks so much for the wonderful words. Paris…are you kidding,I’m now jealous too, ha ha! Well it’s a journey, for sure. You know, some folks don’t break through until they are well into old age. You really never know….I think we should just keep on writing things….
    Lana

    # December 1, 2014 Reply
  9. Angela Polder Angela Polder

    Oh my gosh! I absolutely enjoyed and loved reading your About page. Such a talented and witty person you are. I love people who make me smile and laugh. You did. 🙂

    # December 3, 2014 Reply
    • lanodb lanodb

      Thank you so much, I am glad you enjoyed it. I try to write quite a bit of humor as I think a small laugh here and there does us all a bit of good 🙂

      # December 4, 2014 Reply
  12. milliethom milliethom

    I love your About page. It’s a lovely balance of humour, information and your experience with ebook publishing. What more could we ask? I also agree with what you say about ebook publishing and promotion. I’m finding the promotion side of things really hard. I suppose it’s all a question of persevering and taking good advice when it comes along.

    # January 17, 2015 Reply
    • L. T. Garvin L. T. Garvin

      Well thanks so much for the lovely complement! Yes, the publishing thing is difficult. I have found it to be more work than writing. It takes a lot of time researching, writing cover letters, synopsis, etc. Even though it’s all so competitive, you still never know unless you give it a shot. Take care…happy writing 🙂

      # January 17, 2015 Reply
  13. Ellen Antill Ellen Antill

    Yes, L.T., I’m with you. I’m all about seeking to transform myself and the world around me, one person or one relationship at a time. Thanks for liking my recent post on social media. You’re a good writer . . . keep going. I bet that Great American Novel is still in there.

    # April 15, 2015 Reply
    • L. T. Garvin L. T. Garvin

      Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and the wonderful complement. Yes I believe things can’t change overnight, but if everyone tried a little, it can help alot. Thanks again, made my day!

      # April 16, 2015 Reply
  16. Gerry C. Gerry C.

    Bravo! I think that the correct color of nail polish for your toes is an important consideration BEFORE you attempt to write the Great American E-Book novel. Little things like that can wreak havoc with one’s thought processes and can actually disrupt the smooth flow of ideas, plot, story structure and of course syntax.The small things in life often lead to major disruptions it seems. 🙂
    I used to fret over my hamster Ziggy’s health and safety until I realized that once he was fed and his cage shavings changed he was on his own. Then my thoughts started flowing a lot smoother but no ideas for a great American novel surfaced to the top of my writing pyramid.
    All kidding aside thanks for sharing your ideas . Keep up the good work. You are a delight to read! :))

    # May 20, 2015 Reply
  18. Thom Hickey Thom Hickey

    Thanks for following The Immortal Jukebox. I hope you will enjoy plenty of entertaining writing and a wide variety of music. I usually post each week. I welcome your views and comments. Good luck with your blog. Regards Thom

    # June 24, 2015 Reply
  23. clarepooley33 clarepooley33

    Thank-you so much for visiting my blog. I have enjoyed reading some of your posts very much and, of course, your ‘About’ page too. 🙂

    # July 14, 2015 Reply
  25. Jean M. Cogdell Jean M. Cogdell

    I agree about the cover. Right or wrong, often I pick or not a book by it’s cover. Thanks for stopping by my blog, and I’m glad you enjoyed my post. Look forward to seeing you again soon, doors always open at Jean’s Writing.

    # July 31, 2015 Reply
  26. Littlesundog Littlesundog

    I love your “About” page… so much the same thoughts and sentiments that I have. Mainly, I have this great book to write… but I know nothing of publishing (overwhelms me) and finding the time to immerse myself in it is next to impossible. How does one live life and write a book? Anyway, I am glad you found my little blog, and I’m looking forward to reading more of yours. I love the “connectedness” of WordPress people!

    # August 3, 2015 Reply
    • L. T. Garvin, Author L. T. Garvin, Author

      Thanks so much for the compliment. Yes I have found that it’s almost a full time job contacting publishers, and that is exactly correct. .how does one find time to write at all, not to mention life that unfolds. I adore WordPress and all the wonderful people I’ve encountered also. Likewise I’m looking forward to reading your blog. Thanks again!

      # August 3, 2015 Reply
  27. livelytwist livelytwist

    Plenty to giggle over in your about page. I really enjoyed the self-deprecating humour in the section about e-books. 🙂
    I’m off to write an e-book about how to increase their productivity. It will have a good book cover too! 😉

    # August 24, 2015 Reply
  28. paywindow7 paywindow7

    Thanks for the visit and like on my post “on the road again”. Your visit is always welcome and any critique or comments are invited and appreciated. I was going to read your short story “Decision” but since my computer is Jurassic I could not find my way in. I enjoy your writing and look forward to following your blog.

    # September 8, 2015 Reply
    • L. T. Garvin, Author L. T. Garvin, Author

      Thank you so much for the compliment. Likewise I look forward to reading your work, and your comments and critiques are also welcome here. I am sorry that the story link didn’t work, I need to double check those just to verify if they are indeed connected.

      # September 8, 2015 Reply
  37. lynne hoareau lynne hoareau

    Hi, lovely to meet you. I just had to pop over and say hi, and thank you for visiting my About Page. I enjoyed your About page and look forward to reading more from your blog. I know it can only be inspiring 🙂 Take care and enjoy the rest of your week 🙂

    # March 21, 2016 Reply
  41. tomorrowdefinitely tomorrowdefinitely

    I loved the bit about your Amazon Kindle sales 😉 and yes, I’m just working on my ebook, cunningly titled How To Not Become a Millionaire and already have a great cover for it 😉

    # April 4, 2016 Reply
  43. hazelhillboro hazelhillboro

    “Life and making a living got in the way.” Ugh. Amen to that. It’s amazing how life has a way of killing dreams!! It’s tough to walk the line between keeping dreams alive and being realistic.

    # May 1, 2016 Reply
    • L. T. Garvin, Author L. T. Garvin, Author

      Oh yes it is, and it is a shame that it has to be that way. I wish there was more support for the Arts, grants, etc….but sigh, there is not. Great to meet you on WordPress!

      # May 2, 2016 Reply
  45. The Coastal Crone The Coastal Crone

    L. T., I have a question for you. How did you find my second blog, “Tales of the Blue Indigo” and decide to follow? I have not published any posts so far. Oh, I do appreciate the follow (there is one other) but I have not mentioned it or promoted it in any way. I set it up thinking I might post some of my fiction on it but just have not fully made that commitment. Have a safe Memorial Day weekend!

    # May 27, 2016 Reply
  46. Don Royster Don Royster

    First off, thanks for stopping by my blog and giving it a little peepsky.I hear you about your struggle to be successful a as writer. I have that same struggle. For me, I do it for the love of writing and I love the process of creating a story. I don’t post anything that I would not want to read. Jane Friedman, a former head of Writer’s Digest and an expert on publishing, has commented that it took her seven years for her blog to gain a lot of readers and recognition. The moral of that and so much is that you just keep keeping on, write what you enjoy reading and don’t worry about the readers. Remember if you build it, they will come. A second thing is to respect your readers, and I think you do that. The big question is how do you get heard above the noise. You try to post things and publish work that makes the reader want to come back again and again. That’s under your control. The rest is up to the gods.

    # June 5, 2016 Reply
    • L. T. Garvin, Author L. T. Garvin, Author

      Sure thing, I enjoyed the blog visit. I am familiar with Ms. Friedman. I have also been surprised at how my blog has grown in under 3 years. I love the wonderful forum that WordPress provides to communicate with others. Happy blogging and thanks for visiting my site.

      # June 6, 2016 Reply
  48. levishedated (Robert C Day) levishedated (Robert C Day)

    Hey – me too: “I have an e-book on Amazon Kindle, and sold five copies including the one to my mother, who doesn’t have a Kindle, and four other relatives who I don’t think have Kindles either.” 😀

    # July 5, 2016 Reply
  49. Rivenrod Rivenrod

    I very much appreciate the time you have taken to visit my blog and to follow me. Thank you.
    I have a pithy interest in the marvels our tiny planets offers us as well as the often glorious antics its inhabitants get up to so you can be sure I shall catch up with what you’re doing as often as I can.
    I look forward to our next encounter.
    RR

    # July 12, 2016 Reply
  50. 10000hoursleft 10000hoursleft

    I love your about page! It made me laugh all the best on the journey to that Great American Novel- it is the journey that really matters in the end (although I think you know that) 🙂

    # August 27, 2016 Reply
  51. Roland Roland

    Thanks for visiting my own blog – an eclectic collection as is yours, but tending more to verse at the moment. Like you, TS Eliot has grown on me over the years. I use his “These fragments I have shored Against my ruins.”, from “The Wasteland” on my own About Page. It precisely sums up my purpose in blogging. Do keep an eye on my output, as I will on yours..

    # August 30, 2016 Reply
  53. Theanne aka magnoliamoonpie Theanne aka magnoliamoonpie

    Years ago (late 1990s) I knew a Mary Broussard who had a website called The Widow’s Web…I’m always on the look out for her. I just realized today (while going through those I “follow” on WordPress that L.T. Garvin was Lana Broussard. The last name caught my eye. I’m trying to get to know those I’ve chosen to “follow” and here I am reading about you. Now I need to check out your books and poetry 🙂

    # September 15, 2016 Reply
  54. Daal Daal

    Love this – misery loves company, sorry – am constantly battling time. Self-published authors must produce as well as promote, but how to do it all? Thanks for sharing. Please let us know when you find the secret 🙂

    # September 16, 2016 Reply
  55. arjun_shivaram arjun_shivaram

    I can see what life can do to ambitious mind such as yours… I wish you all the good luck to go ahead and complete your novel 🙂 Time is what we make of it… (saying this to myself too :p )

    # September 18, 2016 Reply
  57. grevisangel73 grevisangel73

    I am also more than twenty years behind in reading everything I want to read. Most of my younger reading was non-fiction. I read about my favorite subjects and people. I discovered Wolfe around 16 or 17. I already had a deep love for the South, so in my reading had heard him mentioned, so I read him and have not been the same since.

    # October 21, 2016 Reply
    • L. T. Garvin, Author L. T. Garvin, Author

      I have almost always been a fiction freak, I just love to escape. I do like biographies and autobiographies too. I was much older when I discovered Wolfe, but his work is truly amazing. It has been a long time since I read, Look Homeward Angel, and I really need to read it again. I work so many hours that it is difficult to read, but I did manage to read two books last year. The links to my work (which really doesn’t borrow anything but the title) are:
      https://broussardlana.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/looking-homeward/
      https://broussardlana.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/1327/
      Hopefully these will come through. Thanks so much for reading my blog!

      # October 22, 2016 Reply
      • grevisangel73 grevisangel73

        I think I prefered non-fiction, because I was always so interested in things. I had an insatiable curiosity about everything, so if my interest was peaked, I would investigate. That would open the door to even more people and subjects. Thanks for the links, I did find them without . I think I may have commented on one. I had alwatys heard Wolfe and Faulkner as being the preeminent writers of southern literature, that was at least 35 years ago. Wolfe has not held up as well for some reason.
        LI liked the first line, :as Thmas said’, reminds me of Simon and Garfunkle’s. “Mr.s Robinson” mentioning Joe DiMaggio..

        # October 22, 2016 Reply
        • L. T. Garvin, Author L. T. Garvin, Author

          Oh thank you, that’s a great song, one of my favorites. Yes, there are many interesting non-fiction books, come to think of it, and I have read a few. I love books, and still have many. I did finally embrace the Kindle App so I can read on my phone if I’m stranded somewhere and because it takes so much room space to hang on to paper books.

          # October 23, 2016 Reply
  60. Ann Marquette Ann Marquette

    You are welcome L. T., and thanks for following my blog. Although I have not posted much of anything lately. I will get back to it eventually. Currently I don’t have much time to even read all my blogger friends these days, so don’t feel bad.

    # December 19, 2016 Reply
  62. JT Twissel JT Twissel

    Hi LT – I’m a big fan of the Wasteland as well, although I do have poet friends who claim that Eliot ruined American poetry! Still I know what I like.

    # September 17, 2017 Reply
  64. Sean Crawley Sean Crawley

    Maybe the great American novel will have a great cover and the word ‘productivity’ in the title.
    I also got washed up in the New Romantic music wave and was late to discover the classics. Fortunately we are living longer and may be able to catch up on those essential books.
    Cheers from Australia.

    # October 19, 2017 Reply

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