PATT'S NEWSY REVIEW

Rakes, Lords and Lovers Oh my!

2011-03-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

Kristen Brent out of England is masquerading as widowed Lady Margeret Castleton who had died aboard the Doxie Queen bound for San Fransisco.
Lord Edward Rossmor is expecting a widow with a heft dowry not a virgin bride on the verge of destitution.

It's not easy trying to balance one lie after another, but the biggest obstacle for Kristen is figuring out a way to relieve herself of a particular problem-her virginity.

Handsome Wade Larson not only didn't intend to help Kristen with her dilemma, but he certainly didn't expect to fall in love with her. This historical western is filled with twists turns and murder.
It's a story of two people finding one another and overcoming their self indulgences in order to try and make a life together. But can Wade forgive her lies? Will Lord Rossmor succeed in his dirty deed of abduction? Who will die and who will live.?

A LOVE LESSON IN LOVE Available April 2011 from New Concepts Publishing

Love among the ruins of Camelot

2011-03-07T05:45:00.001-08:00

Camelot is in shambles, Magic is banished, but there are new players. Braeden and Janne hope to restore King Arthur's kingdom to its former glory are literally up against the Castle wall. The fly in the ointment? Melehan and Melou the sons of that pesky Mordred, pitted against one another to create havoc and keep Arthur's legacy from returning.

This is plotting at its best and LOVE at its finest. Kathye Quick's character's breathe new life into the age old legend of the Knights of the Round table and beyond. Once again she has managed to excite her readers with exciting plots, dialog and love scenes. Visit her website and enjoy more of her splendid writing at http://www.kathyequick.com/

2010-04-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Love and Magic! It's a heady mix, but wonderful when you have a dynamic, versatile and talented author who can pull it together.

Today I am celebrating what I know about KATHYE QUICK.

Yes, it is a bit of a personal thing since we co-authored FIREBRAND, but long before that I was impressed not only with her work, but her style, humor an generosity.

Most of the questions anyone would want to ask her I can answer because SHE would be far too modest. If you want yo read one of her official bios, please go to http://www.authortoday.com/authors/pkeden/

In the meantime let me tell you a little about the "FUN" Kathye. She is the grand dame of PLOTTING. You need a plot? Help with a plot? Making a plot believable? The she's your girl.

You can call her, email her, snail mail her or send a carrier pigeon, she has no problem being of help to anyone at any time.

I will say this however, if you invite her over to your house, you might run the risk of both of you ending up on the couch and in between brainstorming you WILL BE NAPPING. Trust me, I know.

I am often asked as co-authors do we disagree. Absolutely. But we are committed to our project and are always able to come together without either if us giving up what we want. It's called compromise and we do it integrity and with our camaraderie intact.

I invite everyone to join me in congratulating Kathye Quick's recent literary accomplishment as a finalist for The National Reader's Choice Award for SAPPHIRE from her Grandmother's Rings Series.

I wish continued success to a dear friend and wonderful individual

My Golden Apple award

2009-10-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

Nothing humbles you more than when people come together to honor you on behalf of something you love to do.

On September 17th, I was awarded the AUTHOR OF THE YEAR, Golden Apple.
It was an honor to accept at the 60th Anniversary of Harlequin who also accepted publisher and Editor of the year.

I share this award with everyone who has helped to make my writing journey possible and hope to walk with me to whatever success the literary powers that be gives us.
This was a great day for me and one that I shall never forget.

A million thanks to RWA/NYC for this wonderful honor

What's in a name

2009-07-19T08:18:00.001-07:00

2009-07-19T07:34:00.001-07:00

Love is not a mystery.
It's magical

A world without the laughter of children.

2009-05-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

My mom has a saying. “It may not be what Ya’ll say it is, but it sure looks like what it is from here.”

This is right of there with DINIALBLE PLAUSIBILIY issued by the government. In other words, that Big ass “silvery” object you saw in the sky, “is just a weather balloon. When in reality you know it’s an AREA 51 space ship from the Planet “where ever”.
It’s all right up there with closing schools for snow days but not when there are massive cases of N1H1 (swine flu). Not Massive cases you say? It’s like a cockroach, one is waaaay too many.
If that doesn’t kill us, the cure they create in a bunker somewhere in Cheyenne Mountain will. You do remember Stephen Kings, THE STAND?

Now I don’t want to be the person standing on the corner with the sandwich board sign that says the END IS NEAR, however if you look at the stats, the birth rate is down,
Continuing a 12-year decline, the U.S. birth rate has dropped to the lowest level since national data have been available, according to statistics just released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The rate of births among teenagers also fell to a new record low, continuing a decline that began in 1991.
The birth rate fell to 13.9 per 1,000 persons in 2002, down from 14.1 per 1,000 in 2001 and down a full 17 percent from the recent peak in 1990 (16.7 per 1,000), according to a new CDC report, "Births: Preliminary Data for 2002." CDC analysts say the birth rate is dropping as the increasing life span of Americans results in a smaller proportion of women of child childbearing age.

Female babies born far exceed the amount of male births.
Several researchers, however, have reported apparent recent declines in the proportion of male births, in the US, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands. These declines have been very small but statistically significant. Fewer boys are being born than would be expected on the basis of the recent historical worldwide average.
Sandwich board sign not withstanding, I am sure you have all seen the movie CHILDREN OF MEN with Clive Owen where there hadn’t been a viable birth in over seventeen years or so, well if we ain’t in it, we are speeding toward it. There have been several movies made on this premise and Television series based on the desolation of the male populace whereby women are the only sex left and to keep the population seeded they used stored sperm or men who are in a cryogenically induced stasis until needed.

Personally I like the men and want them around even if they do get on our nerves. I don’t want a world without them especially knowing that there are just some females I can’t stand.

Gene Roddenberry would be proud

2009-05-17T09:24:00.001-07:00

Well its official, I really have always been in love with Mr. Spock.

My friend and Co-writer Kathye Quick left me in the dust the first week the New Star Trek movie came out and went to see it all by herself (selfish heffa!). She later of course she came out and told me that I had better see it and soon. SO I did and I can understand why she didn't want to share that Trekker moment.

True Trekkies never cared if regular people liked the series or not, it has become (with all respect to George Lucas) a FORCE to be reckoned with.

I remember in 1965 when T.V. guide announced the new fall Line-up and they talked about an innovative– waaaaay-ahead-of-its-time series called, Star Trek. The second they introduced the characters I could not wait for the first airing date in 1966 and have been a fan ever since.

Gene Roddenberry took chances with his cast, after-all, times weren't then what they are now (even though we still have many of the same problems.) He had an assorted and eclectic array of alien creatures, some of which were painfully inadequate in the really scary department and some down right silly, but it was a show that I could not/will not let go.

I almost had to take to my bed with a fever when the show was unceremoniously cancelled, and I was one of the thousands who wrote T.V. Guide and the network to express my ire about the termination of such a great program. The underground was seething, and began building a cult of fans that is unrivaled to this day.

I attended Star Trek Conventions at the Coliseum and yes, I pushed little kids out of the way because they didn't have a clue about the show that their parents did.

Like an addict I itched as I waited for syndication. I jonsed like an alcoholic for just one taste of J. Tiberius, one sip of Spock and waited breathlessly to see what guest or not-yet-a-star would appear on the show. Do remember Gary Lockwood, France Nuyen, Fred Williamson (yes! The Football star turned
Blaxploitation movie actor, Jeffery (Jesus) Hunter, Glenn Corbett, Michael (was married to Babara-I-dream-of-Jeanie Eden) Elinor (Pretty Woman) Donahue, Lawyer Melvin Belli, and of course a pre-Starsky and Hutch, David Soul to mention a few.

Like most I learned to live in re-run heaven and saw every episode so many times it was like watching the TWIGHTL ZONE episodes. I could not get enough and pushed some of my other favs like Bonanza, The Virginian and even Mission Impossible by the wayside.

It was years before the finally produced the first Star Trek Movie called Star Trek The Motion Picture. Un-Original, but it didn't stop me and every other Star Trek lover from coming out in force. As a matter of fact I was interviewed by Channel Seven Eye witness news when I exited the theater in New York City. (I can't believe I was ever that young and thin).

Now, here we are in 2009, more than forty years since the first air date of a beloved series and we have a brand new movie, and what a spectacular vision of special effects it is and giving us an insight of our most beloved characters in their youth.

The casting was perfect and James (THE REBEL) Kirk was spot on. I will however admit I never saw that OTHER little, but most delightful curve coming. It's the kind of exceptional writing that you just don't get now a days.
While I have never really been a fan of prequels, this one is phenomenal and a must see.

IT IS AWESOME!

A new Novel , A new Story of Love

2009-03-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

Single Heart, Single Love
Patt Mihailoff

When her torturous Indentureship is bought out by Cole McCayne, Jade a woman of questionable ethnicity finds herself pressured into marrying him and traveling up to the high country in the Salida Mountains of Colorado.

He seems a hard, secretive man and she questions him relentlessly about his intentions and is tersely informed that the only thing he wants from her is to be a caregiver to his young son and keep house at his ranch.

Jade begins to move Cole in ways he’s wanted to forget, and when he finally acts on his feelings, they are both left confused and trying to ignore the love that has gripped them both.

Still, there is much he doesn’t tell her, but little clues about his past begin to surface. Why won’t he talk about his dead wife? and what has the Nakoa, the powerful Sioux chief to do with any of them?

CYNTHIA AND CONSTANTINE

2009-03-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

Kathye Quick's New book Cynthia and Constantine is a must read for all lovers of chivalry and true love.
Kathye's attention to detail and characterization is just one more example of how a novel that is filled with the elements we've come to adore should be written.
Enjoy Kathye's latest and deliciously enjoyable novel is available at WILDROSE PRESS

2008-11-04T20:14:00.002-08:00

So many people will have so much to say about this momentous, inspiring election.
I never thought I would ever see this day in my lifetime. There truly is a shift in the Solar System and it must be the angels clapping and saying “well done.”

While I know there is much to do, the beginning has begun.
Welcome Barack Obama, to the highest Position in the land
As long as you keep God in front of you, he will always be beside you.

BABY DADDY

2008-09-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

I never watched Star-Gate Atlantis until HE got there.

Writing, Televison, and general rant

2008-09-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

When you have no real book and no one buys your E-novel what does one do?
Keep writing I say. Obviously I do this because I love it. I like they way I tell stories, but not necessarily the incorrect way I write them. Writing is an on-going craft where you learn something all the time. POV is a big problem for me, and I am reading everything I can on it. A member of my Local RWA chapter, Ed Rand graciously extended his expertise in that area and I have to say, he is the new POV guru in my book.

Okay on to other things that annoy me.

I know this is wrong and I shouldn’t compare movies to books, but alas, I do it all the time. This weekend I watched a new series called TRUE BLOOD.
Nobody likes a cool-long duster wearing-long haired or Dred locked (ALA Jason Mamoa Dreds only) vampire than me, but this show was positively awful.

Supposedly it was based on a series of books by a southern writer who wanted to give Vamps a country-bama flair. While I never read the books, in my heart I want to believe that they are better than what was on T.V.. It breaks my heart in several places to know that there is so much talent out there that will never be realized all because (and I’ve said it before) the luck of the draw goes in the direction of something so ridiculous that we can’t fathom it.
What disturbs me most is, that MOONLIGHT, an intelligent sassy) Vampire series was cancelled and True Blood made the cut. Please tell me who is running the Video viewing asylum?

The publisher I am currently with has so many talented writers that I am forced at times to wonder why I am even trying to do this. Oh yeah because I love it. If the Television writers ever run out of material, I’d promise them (and bet the bank) that if they chose any writer from Cerridwen Press they would have hit on their hands.

In MY lifetime, a miracle

2008-06-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

An African America and/OR a woman literally run for the most important position in the United States. What a truly first and historic event. Yes! I am proud to tears of this momentous event, and I thought (and have said) this day could never happen in this country. I love it that I was wrong.
I remember and still live with a glass ceiling for both, yet they are both at the highest position they can get to.

I am old enough to remember when black people were not allowed to vote and when a Governor stood in the doorway of a school in the south indicating that over his dead body would he allow a black child to attend that institution. That same man years later, relied on, for his a caretaker and espoused that his best friend in the whole world was a black man and he didn’t know what he would do without him.
I remember when women had little say on what went on in their own bodies.

I am so hoping that people will not be fooled by all this hoopla, and while part of me is excited and moved to tears of happiness by the fact that this event is coming true in MY lifetime, I also fear for the demise of BOTH, since it is highly likely that some crazoid out there would like nothing better than to go down in history as being the killer of the first African American President, or the first woman anything.

I’ve often wondered in my heart why Barack would want this position? For change? He’s a lovely man with a lovely dream that I hope comes true. The cynical side of me says, there are factions that will never let his TRUE GOALS be realized for a million different reasons, and like every black man armed with an education and a dream, he will have to fight tooth and nail for everything he wants. Without his secret service contingency he STILL will not be able to get a cab on fifth avenue at night.

His idea of not giving tax breaks to companies who exercise their purgative to place their companies in countries where they can pay the lowest wage, is just too late. THEY DO NOT GIVE A SHIT! All they want is a corporate headquarters on the most expensive block in the most expensive city in THIS country. Tax breaks are only for when they intend to build factories and RETAIN jobs here in the USA. I hate to say it but the front gate has been left open and all the pretty horses are out and they ain’t coming back Why pay decent wage when you can pay next to nothing to people who are glad to get it in countries we have supported charitably for years?

Face it, we are no longer the greatest nation in the world. The Same people who used to fear us are LAUGHING at us. Laughing at the stupid reality shows we watch, how we raise our kids, the clothes we wear and laughing at a war we CANNOT win.

Barack has taken a GIANT leap of faith that I hope will keep him on the faithful road he started out on. The saying that ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY is always in the back of my mind, yet I live in hope that he at least is able to do SOME Of the things he wants to do. Unfortunately, I also fear that if he doesn’t do enough, he will get hit from ALL sides. Blacks will feel let down and begin calling him names that prevalently roll off the tongue in situations like this. And everyone else will say, “see I told ya…” followed by a laundry list of all the reasons why it should never have happened.

****
Today’s news says that while the election is for most part, out of her reach, Hilary would not be opposed to being the Vice President. To which I say HELL NAW!, after all those nasty ass things she said and truly despicable things I know she was thinking about Barack? There is no way you can be by my side and pretend to be in my corner when I KNOW you fought tooth and nail to make sure I didn’t get to the most important position in the country.(one of the best lines I remembered from the movie Practical Magic. “YOU CAN’T PRACTICE MAGIC WHILE LOOKING DOWN YOUR NOSE AT IT.” Well you can’t stand with me if you won’t stand for me.
Do you think for one second that Hilary is not going to use her greatest asset to help her in any way while she is there? Her husband Bill? HE was the president; HE knows stuff that Barack has to LEARN about. And if you think they can keep Area 51 a secret, just wait until you hear about all the crap they won’t be telling him. However I applaud Mr.Obama for his gracious speech about a woman who I'm afraid, might not have been as forthcoming in her win.

I am not political mainly because I have lived long enough to see our leaders (religious and political) let this country (not just African Americans)down time and time again. I can remember a president saying TO HELL WITH NEW YORK, and NO MORE NEW TAXES, only to raise them the second he was re-elected to office.

I will not go into our current leader’s missteps, everyone has an opinion on that and besides there isn’t enough room on the WEB, but in my heart, I know that he will HAPPY to pass HIS mess onto someone the world can blame other than himself.

Our people will have to realize that he will be the leader of everyone, not just us. Since he has made us proud lets hope we can do the same for him.

I am eager to see what happens next, because I am old enough to sit back and say whatever the hell I want in the aftermath.

Hope

2008-04-15T15:07:00.001-07:00

Hope

Just when I feel there is none. just when I feel the world is spiraling down to its own doom, a glimmer of hope that is always inside me, springs forth.

I am not super religious, but I am spiritual and a firm believer in faith and good will. Even after seeing years of horrific crimes, terrible disasters I still have hope. It comes to me every time I hear someone is having a baby, it comes every day the sun shines or it rains. I know there is something… and I may not know exactly what it is, bigger than myself and it is what keeps hope alive inside me.

I may not agree with all the doctrine of the Papacy, and like the rest of us they have to answer for a lot of things
that were done in the past and continue to happen hidden under the veil of religion, but as long as I believe that there is a chance for peace and, I will never abandon hope and will continue to believe that things will get better.

Welcome Pope Benedict XVI, to the shores of America.

Hero of Past passion

2008-04-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Charlton Heston 1923-2008
Rest Now

2008-03-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

How much is enough?

In the real world I am all for a woman getting what she can from a man after a divorce, usually because she is most likely the one wronged. Given the fact how women outnumber men somewhere between five and ten to one, (in the man’s favor I might add) women need the comfort of money because it will be a cold day in hell before she get a decent man who will even look at a woman over thirty. And she better be thin, blond or any derivative thereof, and know every position in the Kama Sutra and make up a few of her own.

The average person can’t say who deserves what and how much, but sometimes you just have to shake your head.
Take Heather Mills for instance, she is getting a reportedly 120 million dollars after seven years of marriage and one child. She says that it’s not enough because he is worth more than he said and she deserves more. She said she can’t support herself or their daughter on such a paltry sum. People might say: “well its different with them!” no they’re not they are JUST LIKE ME, t hey just have more money than I do–a lot more. But where does the greed end? I suppose you’d like some stats, well here they are and while money can’t make you happy, it can really un-piss whatever it was that made you made in the first place.

Michael and Juanita Jordan: She got 169 Million

Neil Diamond and Marcia Murphy 150 Million and he was gracious enough to say she was worth every penny. Of course immediately after the divorce settlement he started dating a woman 30 years younger than himself.

Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving: 100 million after four years of marriage, but then he’s worth 3 BILLION so I’m sure he won’t miss it.

Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison 85 Million, I guess he thought it was worth it so he could run after a younger and really skinny Calista Flockhart. Who is trying to have his baby, well yeah!

James Cameron and Linda Hamilton: 50 Million, but then he got 100 million for just ONE movie (Titanic)

Michael and Diandra Douglas: 45 Million and after she had to deal with all his womanizing and drinking, he straightens up his act when he marries a much younger woman. Some women never win, which is why $45 helps.

Lionel and Diane Ritche – 20 Million, but isn’t she the woman his former wife beat the hell out of? Cheating pays and pays well for some.

Donald and Ivana Trump: 25 Million? I can’t believe she settled for that.
• $2 million: Burt Reynolds to Loni Anderson
• $3.5 million: Jim Carrey to Melissa Womer, his first wife
• $6 million: Sylvester Stallone to Brigitte Nielsen
• $12 million: Sylvester Stallone to Sasha
• $15-$25 million: Mick Jagger to Jerry Hall
• $20 million: Johnny Carson to Joanna, his third wife
• $20 million: Bruce Springsteen to Julianne Phillips

Will the embarrassment ever end?

2008-03-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yet another government official is in the limelight all because he just HAS to have sex with a prostitute er-excuse me call girl, oh wait, is that high priced “escort for the evening?”
Of course for everyone else it would be STREET WALKER, TRAMP, SCUT and HO. But of course our leaders have higher standards thus resulting in their illicit affairs being categorized as social errors.
Don’t you love how your tax dollars DO NOT WORK FOR YOU?
I shudder to think what a woman would do for a sorry ass Viagra ridden man for 5,500.

The Governor of New York has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar oh wait! It wasn’t exactly his hand now was it? Isn’t it a pity that the once greatest country in world is again the laughing stock of the world? What the hell kind of message does this send to young people? YOU TOO CAN BECOME A VALUED POLITICIAN AND GET ALL THE WOMEN, DRUGS AND MONEY YOU WANT WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE.

I am a firm believer that if you want to STAND BY YOUR MAN, you are perfectly within your right to do so, but nobody is going to tell me that Eliot Spizter’s wife didn’t want to shoot him in the ass with a pitchfork. What is the matter with these people? They say this reaches all the way to Washington D.C., no surprise there.

I am also not surprised by any of this especially after NEWT (FAT FACE) Gingwrich called Bill Clinton on the carpet so bad and so loud you would have thought he was Monica Lewinsky’s daddy. Then he turned around and left his wife for a woman years his junior, a woman he’d been having an affair with for some time. (Now you see why I can’t be in charge of anything, because EVERYBODY WILL BE GOING TO JAIL. E V E R Y B O D Y, You would have to prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt why your tired ass doesn’t deserve to be there.

And they have to nerve to disparage ROMANCE NOVELS and WRITING as trash and bodice rippers etc. Well what about what they’re doing? At least we writer’s usually end up on moral ground, or at the least a bittersweet ending.
All this is on the heels of the on going debacle New Jersey’s former governor, (is it the office?) who came forward to reveal that he was a GAY MALE and had been having an affair with another man WHILE he was married.

Personally I don’t trust any of our supposed religious leaders (Do I even have to mention Jesse Jackson who was acting as the chief confessor and advisor to Clinton and in the mean time he had an outside child. And what about Bobby Jones who was addicted to porn every day while praising the lord every Sunday, and I definitely do not trust our politicians, not as long as I will have to pay more for stamps and Gas. Somebody is getting the money and it sure ain’t me. Could it be HEIDI AND HER FLIESS-ETTES?

2008 GRAMMIES

2008-02-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

It brings me to tears that some people today will never know how it used to be. Anybody near my age will remember the glitz the glamour the posh of award shows of the past.

It’s a shame that its about money and nothing but money and that is the fault of all the new and YOUNG entrepreneurs who think of nothing but the $$’s.
One thing hasn’t changed and that these promoters will sell your ass up the river, down the pond and along side the Erie canal if it will make them richer and they don’t care how you look.

Gone are the days when promoters and producers would tell their clients, “What you do reflects on me, this company and your companions so don’t embarrass any of us.”
Parts of the Grammy awards this week were a total embarrassment and the main culprits were that Crack head AMY Winehouse and Kanye West.
First of all, you don’t give kudos and awards (and never five of em) to a person who decides that doing drugs and throwing it in the face of every person who watches, by telling them yeah she does it and its okay. This is a person that should be dropped from her label until such time she can show class and responsibility. Talk about sending the wrong message. I won’t even grace this blog with her stupid face, but I had to have my say on it.

And Mr. West, you are arrogant, but you don’t need to show it all the time. Everyone has mourned your mother, and everyone is sorry she has passed and while you choose to wear her title carved in your hair is your business; you do NOT have the right to chastise anybody for not wanting to listen to more of YOUR sorrow. You need to chill and stop embarrassing your mama.

I am pissed that Tina turner has so much energy and my tired ass was in the bed at 9:30 last night. I am upset that Beyonce will not give me back my body. (the hair I can get up on 34th street)

And please, if any of you have any celebrity-literary clout can you tell PEOPLE MAGAZINE that I am sick to the hurling everything I ever ate in my life of seeing Britney –stupid ass-can’t-get-her-act-together-because-she-is-too-dumb- to-be-bi-polar Spears on their cover.

Please tell me what that fiasco of a DECLARATION OF LOVE between Eddie Murphy and Tracy Edmonds was all about? For two seemingly intelligent, rich, and super talented people to participate in such a farce leads me to believe that the rumors that have circulated about E.M. are true, and she is just a cover. But why? And who cares?
Oh! And Matthew McConnehey has joined the BABY ON BOARD list of people who decide that they can do the ooh-la-la but not the I DO. Give me a break, why do THEY get to have their cake and eat it too?

And while I am in my bitch state of affairs, I will bet anybody any amount of money that Jennifer Aniston is kicking her own ass every night over losing Brad Pitt. Especially now that I hear he and Angi-lips are having twins. (Hey! I saw LEGENDS OF THE FALL thirty-seven times. I know how these things work)
In the realm of did you know:
That Michael Jax’s kids are nine and ten?
• They cancelled Starr Jones’ show. (it was boring as hell anyway)
• That Lenny Kravitz says he can’t find love. (Oh please I know six women and two men right now that would claw their way over a backyard of pig guts and broken glass to get at him) not me because I was turned off with that song, IT I OVER TILL ITS OVER…
• Cher got a 60 MILLION (yeah you heard it) dollar contract in Atlantic City?
• Katherine (American Idol) McPhee’s flower girl needed a slap upside her big bucket head for acting like a spoiled brat during the PEOPLE photo op.

An unmailed Letter to publishers..

2008-01-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Publishing Giant who has not yet outsourced off shore...or have you?

I am avid reader and author and the time has come to speak up.
As the largest publishing house in the country I would have thought that someone out of the fifteen hundred staffers you employ, someone would have thought about the new trends the public is leaning toward.

First let me say, I totally understand the AGENT ONLY concept. Of course that doesn’t take into account that even AGENTS only want to work with big names and tried and true. Everything is a money making business and publishing is in the business of making money, everyone knows that. But has ANYONE taken the time to find out what the public really wants? I think not.
It’s the same old thing with the same authors and the plot lines.

And what’s this about ALL editors using the same tired LINES, “we want something new” or “We want a new voice and/or concept.” And when they get it, they won’t even consider taking a chance on it because you are either not (currently) published, or
E-PUBLISHED, (which by the way is the wave of the future if the forests keep burning down the way they are and if IPODS have anything to do with it).

I read somewhere that you said: Best Ways to Make Money: Underpay writers. “The most-profitable books are highly successful authors early in their career with a contract that doesn’t reflect their success,” says Olson. Some writers sign multi-book contracts, which pay off big if the first book’s a blockbuster.

Okay, well even new writers would take that low pay hit for a chance.

You also said: Out of every eight books, one is very profitable, one is very unprofitable, and six either break even or lose money.
True, I can see why, can you?

You are based in New York City, the fastest, and one of the wealthiest cities in the country. People work fast, walk fast, and talk fast. Trust me on this one, THEY WANT A FAST READ!
Ever think about short stories?

This country is in misery, they need some laughter. Relax your
high brow standards just a little and allow people to tell human every day stories. Not necessarily the horrid, the abuse, the schizophrenic. Why not think about smaller books, faster interesting reads.

If you want to know what people want, query book clubs and writing organizations and writers who are not NORA ROBERTS and JAMES PATTERSON affiliated. (Although, I really do like these authors.)

You need to trust me on this one. People are sick of the same old stuff. If R&D Department of J&J (and other pharmaceutical companies) HAVE to come up with a new concept (gimmick) on their all ready established products, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to do the same.

You are held to a higher standard, and we readers and writers have always respected you, but you have to see the light. Shorter is going to be better. Short stories (intertwined) are a good thing.

At your next meeting, ask your editors about their new ideas and see what they come up with that will keep the reading public reading YOUR BOOKS.

Respectfully

2008-01-14T18:19:00.001-08:00

Getting Christmas haters off my chest

2008-01-08T14:14:00.002-08:00

2008!! Did you ever think we’d be here? Thank God we are. First let me get some old stuff off my chest. I LIKE CHRISTMAS! I like saying Merry Christmas, I like Christmas Presents and I resent agnostics AND visitors and newbies in MY country who are INSULTED by it, Personally I am insulted by SCHOOLS that have mandated that CHRISTMAS TREES are now to be called holiday trees and kids are allowed to wish others HAPPY HOLIDAY. In deference to the season I will not use the language I would ordinarily use when I’m at the height of passivity-----(my friend Thel’s word) But I really don’t care how insulted they get!. The reason people are HERE from other countries is BECAUSE they are escaping oppression and/or looking for a better life in land that offers the freedom .to SAY whatever and whenever you want.

Okay I’m not stupid I was raised with some semblance of sense and I would never ever knowingly wish a Muslim Merry Christmas. But if I didn’t know they were, and I said it, what’s the big deal? Did the words somehow take away a year of their life? Did it ca use one of their kids to fall down dead? NO! While I once applauded the fact that America was diverse enough to allow me to get to know and try and understand other cultures, but its when those cultures get ALL amenities, the freedoms to live the way they want WIRHOU having to run away from people who come to persecute them or take away family members in the middle of the night, Yet we who have lived here all our lives and grew up with a certain belief are no longer ALLOWED to express that belief in the way we always have because it INSULTS others . Well let me be the first to invite them to kiss my ass. If celebrating holidays is so abhorrent, then I suggest that these people enjoy the comfort of whatever airline they came here on and return to their land of HELL and Destruction. And as for the agnostics and atheists, please give me a break; if you don’t like it DON’T CELEBRATE IT. Looking at holiday lights and/or Christmas trees is not going to make you go blind.
It was Christmas for me when I was growing up and its Christmas for me now, anyone who does not like it can lump it with the lump of coal they get in their HOLIDAY stocking.

Now that I have expressed my feelings against the non-believers and insulted, Let me get something straight with you all who rush to do Christmas shopping but do NOT remember the reason for the season. It’s CHRIST”S Birthday, not yours or your kids, or the dogs. Gift giving is fine, but have a little humility as you remember the beautiful night that brought forth the most sacred of beings. While you buy the IPODS and Game Cubes, try and get a grip!

Getting Christmas haters off my chest

2008-01-08T14:14:00.001-08:00

2007-11-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

You say you like fantasy? You say you want Trolls, fairies, valkyries and a terrific adventurous love story to boot? Then say no more, because here! It’s finally here. FIREBRAND by P.K. Eden. This novel written by Kathye Quick and I is the book of our collective hearts.
We worked hard and long on this story and fell in love with our characters from the beginning. Kathye’s incredible plotting and world building offers up true heart pounding adventure as well as excellent storytelling. I could not have written this book without her. (She of course says the same, but its not true-she is the best). We can’t say which one of the character’s are our favorite because each is no unique is his/her own right. I, of course have a secret and unhealthy lean toward the bad boy Gorash. But Kubla the mighty warrior who I fashioned after Tyr Anazazi is my favorite love man. I adore the interaction we created between him and Teezal the protector. The story is theirs and we will be working on it soon. So! If you want adventure spice and thrills by the minute visit Cerridwen Press
And download FIREBRAND. You won’t be sorry.
Update! FIREBRAND IS JANUARY 2008 TWO-LIPS REVIEWERS CHOICE AWARD.

It's my Blog and I'll B&(*ch if I want to..(Sing it like Leslie Gore)

2007-09-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

I am assuming everyone has heard the phrase CATCH-22. Well without naming too many names let’s just say that is where most of us writer’s who do NOT have an A*$&%T, and the PUB&#&^#$er says you need one. But when queried, the A*$&%T tells you that they are not taking on any NEW clients, or that YOUR work is not right for any publisher in the known universe. That is when your frustration becomes almost tangible, and you are sure you can rip the yellow pages in half with your two front teeth.

Yes my friends, as I perused the vast world of media information to see just who is looking for what in the annals of publishing, I keep seeing the same phrases, WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW AND FRESH VOICES and NO UNAGENTED MANUSCRIPTS ACCEPTED. So I ask you, is it fresh voices they are really looking for or just want to continue to walk the safe road? I have known a few brave A&*$&%Ts who dared to take a chance on someone new (not someone they KNEW) and made quite a name for themselves and helped someone get published. It was so refreshing. BUT THEN....the other day, I went into the one the larger book chains (you know of where I speak) and I was appalled at some of the stuff that has been put to paper. If I may borrow the line from somewhere, I WEPT FOR THE TREES. How in the world can such CRAP be published, yet people with real stories to tell never get a chance to tell them? The big HUH? in the middle of my face gave me a headache that has lasted until today.It’s said that everyone can write a book but not everyone can tell a good story, but WHY do some stupid stories get published?

Just the other day I was watching the FOOD Channel where this guy who was into photography decided he was going to take pictures of EVERYTHING he ate (before he ate ...thankfully) it. It was daily pictures of his morning French cruller, lunchtime pizza and even his all day chicken SOUP marathon when he had a week long cold. I kid you not, this GUY had a book published about it. He said he wanted to "educate the masses." ON WHAT? I eat every day and nobody gives an old rat's left nut ball.

Why do I and other writer/readers see the same old thing ALL the time? I’m not angry, just bewildered. When they say: "This is what’s hot" and "what we want more of," so run home and hurry to send it in, and WHAM, the manuscript hits you in the back of the head before you can get your car door closed. I call this the Frustration Factor and TOO many of us are living it. But I'll keep on just like you'll keep on, because you know what? YOU NEVER KNOW!

Luck Vs Chance

2007-08-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

Is there really a difference? Are people just lucky? Or is there some little pack of powers-that-be who pick and choose who they want to reward or mess with?
I know you’ve been wondering about this, so I figured I’d get it off my chest and help get it off yours.

We’ve all had those days and certainly those thoughts of why ME and why NOT me. Yeah, yeah I know we’re supposed to be thankful, and I am, as I am sure you are. But come now, haven’t you ever wondered about stuff? Like the Lottery numbers and how some days they come out 1-2-3-4-5-6-11 or 34-35-36-37-38-7? Or my personal favorite, when MILLIONS of people are playing MILLIONS of different combinations of numbers, yet days go by without a winner and then BOOM someone (no one we know of course) wins the whole kit and caboodle! Somewhere along the lines of Eighty-Two Krillion dollars to the ninth power.
Is that LUCK or CHANCE? Or is it that your chances AND your luck just plain SUCK!
How is LUCK determined? Who determines? Is it living right? Living wrong to see what you do with it all?

Why am I going here? Certainly you’ve heard about the family that won Million in the Lottery-TWICE! Oh I can just hear some people saying that they might have things in their lives that are NOT so favorable and I totally understand that, but TWICE in less than ten years?

You like that? well you're just gonna love this. MILWAUKEE - U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, already a millionaire and heir to the Kimberly-Clark fortune, is on a lucky streak. The Republican hit it big in 1997 with a $250,000 jackpot in the District of Columbia lottery. Then, last spring, he won $1,000 prize in the Wisconsin lottery, and he won another $1,000 in that lottery last week. Okay so it wasn't like he didn't ALREADY have money, the fates decided he needed MORE $$$. Go Figure. Or maybe not because in the scheme of things, the figures just don't add up.

And what’s this mess about people saying that after they’ve won One hundred sixty BA-ZILLION dollars that they will NOT quit their mundane (usually just above minimum wage) job because they LIKE it there. This is right up there on my give-me-a-friggin list. Everybody I know would not only quit, but act like they never had a job in their lives.

Okay so let’s talk about the actual cash. How come people who win go bankrupt in a few years? Why don’t they ask me about how to spend money, or better yet let my friend Thel SHOW them how to spend it. She’s an expert and will not only have them buying stuff they don’t need, but everything they want but with purpose. But NOOooooooooooooo, people just have to spend it until its gone. What ever happened to the rainy day syndrome? SAVE SOME FOR A RAINY FREAKIN… well you know what I mean. Maybe I should win so I can show people that it won't change me. Yeah right!

I know someone has to be first, and someone has to be last. I know the world is filled with winners and losers, (a lot more losers given today’s standards and all), but what are the chances that the same people would hit on good fortune so many times? On the other hand I know its not just GOOD luck, but how about the people seemingly have nothing BUT bad luck? WHO IS MESSING WITH THEM AND WHY? (This is where being thankful for the hand you've been dealt comes in.

I think I ought to stop here, because the fates are listening and I don’t want to catch any undue attention. But this right in the realm of why and something to make you think. So? what DO you think?

Daniel Jackson an Ori? I don’t think so.

2007-08-10T23:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I pretty much stopped watching Stargate SG1 when Richard Dean Anderson left. As a creature of habit I usually stay close to the original of things. Like Lays and Wise potato chips, not
Utz or store brand, Hellmans REAL mayonnaise not Salad-spread and Butter not Margarine, stuff like that.
I love the chemistry between Daniel, Samantha Carter, Jack and Teal’c, it just worked for me all the time. By time R.D.A left the show and they brought on Claudia Black and Ben Browder (formally of Farscape) I was pissed. I mean they worked fine there, I loved them there, but they never worked on SG1 for me. Number one, Ben is cute but he’s a little too cutesy and Claudia Black is getting a little long in the tooth to be wearing them damned pigtails. GIVE EM UP ALREADY.

I liked it when Daniel ascended into a higher being. (do these writers recycle? I saw this premise on Buffy, Angel AND Charmed) not to mention the 5thj incarnation of DR.WHO, but this ORI thing was a complete mystery to me.

Having spewed my disgruntled-ness, (is that even a word?) I might as well go on to say that I got so stubborn that I adamantly REFUSED to watch Stargate Atlantis. But like a child coaxed with a treat I gave in and discovered Ronan Dax (Jason Mamoa) and well anyone who knows me, knows what happened next. Yep you got it, but I only watched the scenes with him in it.
But like all really good shows, Star Trek, Beauty and the Beast etc, it all has to end. So what am I tiptoeing around now?
EUREKA!

Exercise and Cake

2007-08-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t have had a lovelier Thursday evening.
Okay, I’d all ready been told that my wonderful Aqua Aerobics buddies wanted to take for dessert at a local restaurant to celebrate my new book. What I did not expect was Joan T., a truly terrific person (as well as alternate instructor) made me a beautiful Tee shirt and Tote bag with the cover of my new book on them. I was floored.

Ordinarily that accompanied with the much anticipated gooey sticky calorie laden-gut-bustin-ruin-every-diet-you’re-ever gonna-be-on cakes and pies, would have been enough, but there were other surprises, like how ALL the ladies jumped out wearing a tee with the cover on it. You simply cannot buy that kind of advertising folks.

As we got to the restaurant, still more people showed up including someone who no longer comes to our classes (because of the distance) and I wanted to cry but didn’t because I was all ready a sight having just gotten out of water and make-up was distant memory. Both my instructors were there Laura and Diane, and at least I couldn’t feel that guilty about eating the Pecan pie sans whipped cream (because they didn’t have any).
You think that’s all? NOT!, I was presented with a HUGE bouquet of flowers with everything in them including tiger lilies, roses, freesia and everything else.
We ate and laughed and then I signed their shirts. I couldn’t have felt more like a celebrity.

If you ever wonder why special people come into your life when they do, don’t just be grateful for the blessing of their presence. Thank you Julie, Sue, Laura, Liz, Diane, Alicia, Mirta and Mary too who would have been there but had a really bad cold. I especially want to thank and give a great big cyber-hug to Joan. It’s not just for this but just being a great person.

Ring Dancer's Destiny has arrived

2007-07-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got my FLE's (final line edits) but nothing prepared me for to day when I saw that my book was listed on the Cerridwen Press Website as a new release.

It's a dream come true and when it comes out in print, I will be even happier.

I have to tell you that my Editor who lives and works in Australia, was up until 4am her time to make sure my (and other releases) got out on time. She is immeasurably wonderful. The next edits for my collaborative effort FIREBRAND with renowned author Kathye Quick will be starting soon so I am looking straight ahead and will keep on going.

Listening to the written word

2007-07-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows I love AUDIO books. It started when I was working at a job that required me to spend endless hours testing , re-testing and tri-testing data for one of the largest health insurance carriers in the country. BORING!

Like most women I live in multi-task town ( because we have to) and was able to do my work effectively while enjoying a damn good read. (not to mention keeping annoying mundane conversationalists away. I have acquired quite an extensive list of books that I have listened to from 2002 to present on an excel spreadsheet. The anal part of me categorizes them, rates them, and I do have a list of the audio readers that I like. Some famous, others, not so much. Brad Pitt has a great narrative voice (Interview with a vampire) and does a wonderful job on westerns. Alison Fraser (not so famous) has a great Highland Scottish voice in both the female and make point of view.

I've found that a lot of biographies are read by the author, which gives it a little more personalization. Speaking of that, I've read quite a few and I can tell you, some famous people give it ALL up and others just tease around the edges making you wonder, "OKAY WHAT ARE YOU NOT TELLING ME."

I guess you you're wondering do I listen and drive. Yes I do. But to me its no different from listening to your favorite radio station or someone yammering at you in the car. HEY! if people can keep a cellphone to their ear like they were born with or or surgically attached, then a little tiny ear plug or shoving a cassette or CD in the slot is not going to hurt anybody. I do it when I garden or just sitting in my back yard enjoying the breeze. (we get good ones).

Some people can 't wrap themselves around Audio books, but I love them and if you start, you you really need to get a good one so you don't get turned off by a bad read. If you want to know what's good, lemmie know. I got a list.

Green it up will ya!

2007-07-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

Kinda sounds like "GROW UP" doesn't it? Something your parents used to say. Well folks we are in it up to our sweet little necks. The chickens have come home to roost, the cat's in the cradle, who let the dogs out? We did it all and I am thinking that the powers that be are NOT happy.

Mother Nature has put her hand’s on her hips and asking "what the #^$%@#(@ are you all doing?"
Okay I am not about to pontificate on things you all ready know, like how millions of forests have burned out and how the floods have devastated the mid and south wests, or how the snow trails up to Mount Everest are now beginning to look like yellow brick road. I am hoping now that we are beginning to see the painful destruction of mother earth that we will at least do something to slow the process. Just ONE Eco-efficient light bulb is a start, I am replacing all mine.

Bend it like MONEY

2007-07-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or has Celebrity endorsement gotten way out of hand.
GA-Zillions? Isn’t there anything else we can do with that money? Yeah Yeah! I know WHY they do it, its to get US to pay for their products so that THEY can pay them. Whew! I think I just answered my own question. Having said that, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, DAVID… I think I might just have to shell out the ducats too.

Mama's got a brand new book

2007-06-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Well folks here it is, the long awaited cover of my first

full length novel. I guess you might want to know a little about the premise. Well let's say, WHAT IF KING ARTHUR AND
GUINEVERE HAD NEVER MET?

The story itself is not so much about them, but about Gillaine Madeen, a woman of middle years, and Lachlan Gilwayden, a Scottish Liege whose destiny it was to see that it did happen.

It's a love story, its a bit of a historical, complete with secrets, battles and lots and lots of magic.

Two of the most enjoyable characters are Hallum, the Liege's General and Conor, the ruler's illegitimate, precocious son by Gillaine.

A heavy secret prevents Lachlan from accepting true love, but when all is revealed, his very life hangs in the balance and only Merlin and the forgiveness of the woman he wronged can save him.

Typical you say? Nahhh!

There is also back story that includes a very hateful MAB, queen of the sorceresses and how she gets even with Merlin for loving young Nimue, a novice LAKE PROTECTOR and his true love, and how she becomes the Lady of the Lake and insures that Arthur will indeed be king.