treatment and what is melanoma? Here's our global health correspondent, Dominic Hughes . So melanoma is a type of aggressive skin cancer caused byexposure to ultraviolet light.
Why is that the case? Hughes and colleagues put this down to evolution, basically.So what they said was for women, what you're looking for in a man is somebody who is dominant, confident, and intelligent.
either-- Stachelski-- he had a picture of him on his desk for his rest of the time at the Patriots because this is Hughes as a cautionary tale.
He's not famous. He should be famous. Nick Hughes used to work for Vodafone. And Vodafone-- who's heard of M-Pesa?
T.S. Eliot was a fan. Langston Hughes once heard of blues, and thought it was as funny as Krazy Kat. E.B. White said that Herriman's creation possessed a bit of the big soul.
right? What about the Warren Batty one about about uh Howard Hughes . Howard Hughes . That'll be good. All right. You guys love your robots.
They're in two completely separate worlds. Megan Hughes , "I went to an all girls high school here in Durban, South Africa.
Clara Hughes -Johnson: So, I'm Clara Hughes -Johnson. I'm very excited to be here with many of you in mine, old and dear friend and former Googler, Sara Wampler, but we will not be calling her that.
Is that fair? Sara Ramsey: That's fair. Clara Hughes -Johnson: All right. And went to Stanford and stayed out here and took a temporary job with Google.
Sara Ramsey: Romance novel is pretty appropriate. Clara Hughes -Johnson: You think it's? OK. Sara Ramsey: Yeah.
Sara Ramsey: It's still a romance. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Is Georgette Heyer part of the category, or is she not? Sara Ramsey: She is the mother of the category.
So, I'm impressed that you knew who she was. Clara Hughes -Johnson: I read a lot of her novels when I was back visiting my family and it was boring. Sara Ramsey: That's pretty much how I got into it.
Sara Ramsey: That's pretty much how I got into it. Clara Hughes -Johnson: OK. So, this is exciting. So, are we--? I noticed that we don't have any plans for you to read an excerpt.
Sara Ramsey: I think that's probably for the best. Clara Hughes -Johnson: OK. OK. Sara Ramsey: OK, there are 50 books over here.
Sara Ramsey: OK, there are 50 books over here. Clara Hughes -Johnson: But we do have some copies for folks. I'm thrilled. So, your novel, "Heiress Without A Cause--" Sara Ramsey: Yes.
I'm thrilled. So, your novel, "Heiress Without A Cause--" Sara Ramsey: Yes. Clara Hughes -Johnson: has won a couple of pieces of acclaim. Can you describe the industry in what those awards are for people who are maybe not aware?
So, it was exciting. Clara Hughes -Johnson: OK. So, you sent this entry in. It won out of 12 hundred entries, which is amazing.
Then, you self-published. Sara Ramsey: Right. Clara Hughes -Johnson: So, talk about that decision and how it works in industry. Sara Ramsey: Yeah. So, I had, I think it was a lot of you who knew me, knew I wrote two books and was in
And the market has been so tough with, I wanna say economy. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Selling it to a publisher. Sara Ramsey: Yeah. Ever since the economy collapsed, all of big publishers are part of these bigger media conglomerates.
But now, if Amazon and Barnes and Noble and I'll give a shout out to eBooks, although it doesn't quite deserve the same level of claim, unfortunately. Clara Hughes -Johnson: All five of them that sold. Sara Ramsey: Yes. Yes.
Sara Ramsey: Yes. Yes. Clara Hughes -Johnson: To people in this room. Sara Ramsey: Probably. All of those options have come up for authors and it's a really exciting time because two years ago, I couldn't go down this road.
In these days, a publisher may give four thousand dollars for the first book. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Yeah. You don't get a lot for your first book, right? Sara Ramsey: Right. Clara Hughes -Johnson: So, you're feeling like you're on with the sales of this self-published, you're on track?
Yeah, it feels pretty good. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Yeah? Sara Ramsey: I mean, I think that it was the right decision for me. And I think, too, coming from someplace like Google, where we're so used to things moving fast.
I can guarantee that. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Loosely based on--. Sara Ramsey: I will say, I'll have little interactions with people and I don't even necessarily remember who the person was, but they'll end up in the book in a different
So, if that person reads this book--. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Like, a last name is a unusual last name? Sara Ramsey: It's actually not someone in this room.
So, that should encourage that corner of this room to read the book. Clara Hughes -Johnson: He's a servant. All right. Interesting. So, back to the Google experience.
It's easy to forget that you're still learning things that could help you later with that path. Clara Hughes -Johnson: And then, I recall some conversations that it is very lonely to be home without your Diet Coke soda machine. Sara Ramsey: It's very, very difficult.
The Diet Coke, not the loneliness. Clara Hughes -Johnson: How did you figure out, how did you end up sticking with it? 'Cause there were some moments where maybe-- Sara Ramsey: Yeah.
'Cause there were some moments where maybe-- Sara Ramsey: Yeah. Clara Hughes -Johnson: you weren't too excited to stick with it. Sara Ramsey: I'll be open.
I think getting more active with my social life and accepting I have to get out of the house and take more time. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Yep. Sara Ramsey: I think you know this, too. Most of the people that I've worked with here are so driven and goal-oriented that if you're doing your own thing, it's easy to just spend all your time doing that, starting to feel
But that's still a work in progress for me to figure out how do I have a balanced social life and still get things done and feel good about everything that I'm doing. Clara Hughes -Johnson: So, how does that work? Do you have certain hours that you're writing?
Sara Ramsey: You probably know that I'm not the most organized. Clara Hughes -Johnson: I was like, how do you procrastinate when--? Sara Ramsey: How do I procrastinate?
Getting down here was hard enough. Clara Hughes -Johnson: For a noon--? Sara Ramsey: We had a time change yesterday.
Yeah. I'm just not that kind of writer. Clara Hughes -Johnson: I can understand that this morning due to the time change. Sara Ramsey: Yeah. Clara Hughes -Johnson: I can relate to that.
So, you mentioned you just finished your second, so this is Book One of the "Muses of Mayfair." Sara Ramsey: Yes. Clara Hughes -Johnson: And you just finished Book Two draft. Sara Ramsey: Last night.
Sara Ramsey: Last night. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Last night. Sara Ramsey: The whole thing.
Sara Ramsey: The whole thing. Clara Hughes -Johnson: So, how long did it take to write that? That's what we're trying to get at here.
Gretchen read it. It didn't sell. Clara Hughes -Johnson: And Alan Moss was in it, right? Sara Ramsey: No. Again, Alan Moss was not in any books.
Sara Ramsey: No. Again, Alan Moss was not in any books. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Just because he didn't show up, we can do this. Sara Ramsey: I'm saving it until I get really famous and then I'll write a book just about him, but I wanna have the audience built-in so I can take advantage.
Sara Ramsey: I'm saving it until I get really famous and then I'll write a book just about him, but I wanna have the audience built-in so I can take advantage. Clara Hughes -Johnson: That's fair. That's a good plan.
So, what I initially did was--. Clara Hughes -Johnson: "Scotsmen Prefer Blondes," is the working title. Sara Ramsey: "Scotsmen Prefer Blondes." Yes.
It's not just the working title. Clara Hughes -Johnson: It will be the title. Sara Ramsey: Yeah. I don't really title.
Sara Ramsey: Yeah. I don't really title. Clara Hughes -Johnson: I guess if you self-publish, you can just make the. Sara Ramsey: Yeah. Clara Hughes -Johnson: titles.
And because I put it away and wrote the second book to be the prequel, there were continuity issues. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Mmm. Sara Ramsey: So, I initially though it'll take me three weeks to fix this. My roommate’s still laughing because that was in October.
And I think, looking through it, I probably kept maybe five to eight percent of the first version. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Wow. Just--. Sara Ramsey: I rewrote the entire thing.
So you basically--. Sara Ramsey: If there are any writers in the room, just throw it away and do something else 'cause it was really, really painful. Clara Hughes -Johnson: But that's less than six months. I mean, that's, you rewrote basically a whole book.
Or, can I figure out how to do it without that pain. Clara Hughes -Johnson: I think my battery--. Oh, no. I'm OK.
Sara Ramsey: I feel like this maybe needs to be a therapy session and you guys can just like listen for a while we--. Clara Hughes -Johnson: I'm just like, I don't think that's a bad thing. Sara Ramsey: I haven't had a one-on-one with you in a long time.
Sara Ramsey: I haven't had a one-on-one with you in a long time. Clara Hughes -Johnson: So, back to the--. So, let's talk about, well first of all, you talked about your writing style has changed.
Now, it's more--hopefully--I'm trying to get more of the character across and I'm not just using pretty words that are big and formal. Clara Hughes -Johnson: Are these more character-driven or plot-driven when you think about--? Sara Ramsey: I'd say they're more character-driven.