Multi-Talented Mayra Calvani!

Today I'd like to welcome Mayra Calvani! She is so incredibly involved and busy with more sites than I can even imagine. Her dog, Amigo, had to chip in and do one blog for her!

So without further ado, may I present Mayra!

Tell us a little about The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing...

The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing was written not only with the aspiring reviewer in mind, but for the established reviewer who needs a bit of refreshing and also for anybody-be they author, publisher, reader, bookseller, librarian or publicist-who wants to become more informed about the value, purpose and effectiveness of reviews. I’m happy to say it has garnered great reviews and has been nominated for 3 awards, including the Foreword Book of the Year Award for Nonfiction. More information can be found at: http://www.slipperybookreview.wordpress.com/.

You have several other books as well - and they are very different! Tell us a little about each one...

Lately my passion is writing children’s picture books. I have 2 out (plus 3 others coming out later this year):

Crash is about a little boy and his first puppy, and how he learns to care for it as well as find a perfect name. Readers may find more about this book at http://www.crashthepuppy.blogspot.com/. I’m donating 50% of royalties for this book to Almost Heaven Golden Retriever Rescue and Sanctuary. This one seems to be popular with young kids and I’m having lots of fun doing school visits and readings.

The Magic Violin is a Christmas-theme book about a little violinist who runs into trouble while learning to play Vivaldi’s “Winter”. It is about self esteem and the importance of hard work and discipline. For more information, readers can visit my children’s books website, http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.com/. I have trailers of both books there as well.

I also have two supernatural thrillers, Dark Lullaby and Embraced by the Shadows.
For blurbs, reviews, trailers, etc., reader may visit my main website: http://www.mayracalvani.com/.

You manage several blogs & websites - tell us about them...

The first thing I’d like to say is that they’re very time consuming!

These are my websites:
http://www.mayracalvani.com/
http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.com/ (children’s books)

These are my blogs:

http://www.thedarkphantom.wordpress.com/
http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com/ (children’s books)

I recently became the National Latino Books Examiner for Examiner.com and my column there is at: http://www.examiner.com/x-6309-Latino-Books-Examiner

I’m also a regular contributor to Suite101: http://www.suite101.com/writer_articles.cfm/mcalvani

What got you into doing reviews and interviews?

Besides writing, reading is my passion and reviewing is a way to get free books. I also review as a way to promote my name out there and share my opinion about books with others. I’ve been reviewing for about 10 years. Interviewing authors, on the other hand, is relatively new. It started about 3 years ago along with blogging. Informative interviews make good blog content. I also like finding out about new authors and books.

Did you envision all you now do when you began this journey?

To be honest, when I started writing seriously in my twenties, I didn’t envision that the publishing world would be so tough, or that there would be so much competition.

Tell us a little about home...

Hmm. I really wonder where home is. After leaving my homeland, Puerto Rico, when I was 18, and living in various different countries, I feel more like a citizen of the world. I guess right now my home is Belgium. It rains a lot and the sun doesn’t come out often. This is sometimes depressing, but the advantage is that this weather is perfect to get those creative juices flowing.

We can't do an interview without asking about Amigo! (He might be offended...)

You’re right! He won’t look at me for days if I don’t mention him. Amigo is my 3-year old golden retriever and he has his own blog where he interviews authors’ pets. The blog is called Pets and Their Authors, http://www.petsandauthors.blogspot.com/ He loves visitors and especially comments. I’m afraid fame has gotten badly to his head.

And the last word, Mayra...?

Blogging, reviews, interviews, freelance articles… all these are very time consuming. In order to keep producing books, I have to keep myself focused and I have to prioritize. I never do any of these things unless I have worked on my current work-in-progress one hour a day minimum. It’s easy to get distracted by emailing and blogging, so it’s important to stay focused in order to keep writing and producing new work.

Thank you, Mayra! Please visit her sites and blogs for more information - and be sure to tell Amigo hello!