Just finished reading an advance reader copy of this book and I’ll be posting a review of it both on this blog and my alter-ego’s blog. I thought I’d share the beautiful book trailer with you all before I get the review done- whet your appetite so to speak. This book comes out in February from Desert Breeze Publishing http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/StoreFront.bok. The book is by Stephanie Burkhart. Enjoy the trailer!
I’ve been on stage in many capacities. I was a dancer for years. Ballet was my love but I was much better at jazz and tap since I’m not the most graceful person on the planet. I had delusions that I was as suave as any prima ballerina but I really was more of a “jazz hands” kind of girl than a lovely “en pointe” beauty (kind of like this photo here- doesn’t she look like she’d be better off in jazz? Note the bent legs and bad back posture).
I’ve also been on stage playing in an orchestra- violin.
Been on stage as Dorothy in a toga in a production of “The Wizard of Oz” in a competition- for a district wide Latin classes event- in high school- think, “There’s no place like Rome” and “Leones, et tigres, et Orsi, oh my.”
And lastly, as a lawyer speaking at seminars. So, I run the gamut here.
It’s awesome that I hate woot and squee!
I use awesome a lot. WAAAAYY too much, really. I need to stop all the awesomeness.
Ones I hate and never use: squee and woot- hate them- a lot!! They drive me over the edge every time I hear or read them.
Hanging in a Hammock with a Jane Austen character
If I could bring one fictional character to life for a day it would have to be Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensibility. He was such a gentle soul and deserved the happiness he finally found at the end of the book.
We’d spend the day under the trees with him reading the sonnets of Shakespeare as we hung out in a hammock.
First, I had an issue on one of my cases that I thought was resolved on Friday. Nope. It reared its ugly head again today. I got several business emails from this particular person that one of my friends described as having never heard of customer service. I agree. She was rude in the body of the emails, tried to say it was my office’s fault when it was clearly an error on their end (if I’m wrong, I own it and we did what we were supposed to do on Friday)- and then she signed her emails like some valley girl (and yeah, she’s in California)- it was “have a wonderful rest of your day!!” AND those are her exclamation points.
On the third email, when she basically snubbed her nose at me and said, like a kid on the playground, “Nah, nah, nah,” AND had that “have a wonderful day” ending to it, I went into orbit and called in the big guns. This chick had no idea I had the trump card. Didn’t want to play it, but I did. I know a person pretty high up in the company. I told him I didn’t want to be a lot obnoxious but I wanted to be a little obnoxious if I needed to – to get results. I got them. Results. I don’t like to play that way, but I can if I have to.
Once that crisis was averted, I got attacked in a series of emails in my personal email from A DIFFERENT woman who I now believe to have some very serious issues. Kind of scary how venomous these emails were. WHOA.
Let’s hope for a better day tomorrow. No having to go over someone’s head for results in business and no ugliness in my email inbox. Either the personal one or the work one.
Ciao!
My short story, The House on the Bay, came out today in an anthology published by Whortleberry Press called Dear Valentine. This is a collection of Valentine’s Day Stories with a sci-fi, fantasy or horror twist. You can order it here: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/dear-valentine/14445736
My story is a ghost story with a high school girl as the protagonist. There are 20 stories in the book and they are all by great writers. I hope you’ll check it out. Here’s the awesome cover and back: I like the way the names on the back are in the shape of a heart.
Something I’d never do in real life- Break the Law
I would love to travel back to 1920 in the era of the speakeasy. I’d like the adventure of hanging out in such an environment. I’d like to meet Eliot Ness and flirt with him just cause he must have been an awesome lawman! Maybe even coax him to have an illegal swig of some whiskey!
I went to see The Black Swan based on the fact that Vincent Cassel was in it. I love him. He’s an awesome actor and sexy to boot. He didn’t disappoint. He was amazing and there was one scene in particular that was spectacular.
Natalie Portman is excellent in this movie as well. She nails her part. It was quite intriguing and I enjoyed watching her. The dancing was well done even though it was clear that Natalie didn’t do the more intricate steps. The director did a great job of showing her with the hand movements which she nailed. The feet movements were shown separate. It was seamless. I find it interesting that she seemed to have a dancer’s body in this film as well. She must have trained for a while for the role.
Winona Ryder did a great job as well in the role of an aging ballerina. She was too briefly shown, though.
This film was a bit of a tragedy but I enjoyed it. And Vincent? He was wicked cool!! Tres sexy.
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,900 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 189 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 211 posts. There were 149 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 70mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was July 28th with 38 views. The most popular post that day was “Knight and Day”.
The top referring sites in 2010 were merlotchic.blogspot.com, Private networks, en.wordpress.com, alphainventions.com, and southernsizzleromance.wordpress.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for edward norton, ed norton, edoardo costa, knight and day volvo, and nyc subway.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
“Knight and Day” July 2010
“Dimiter” June 2010
1 comment
Million Dollar Quartet June 2010
3 comments
About October 2009
3 comments
Rocking Chair Picture July 2010
1 comment
I love this series of books by Christopher Fowler. The main characters are Bryant and May and they are the lead detectives of the Peculiar Crimes Unit in London. These two men are past the age of retirement but they stay on because their work is so interesting and intriguing. I’ve read all of the prior books in the series and this one is just as great as the others.
I love this writer. He’s brilliant. He know a lot of wonderful facts about one of my favorite cities in the world, London. His mysteries are sophisticated and complicated. I like that. As someone that can see the endings coming in a lot of books I read, Fowler’s books make me think and I think that’s fantastic.
The characters are all well developed and fully fleshed out. Not only the main characters, but the minor ones as well.
The Victoria Vanishes is a delightful read. Its premise is unique and the fact that an English pub disappears is a fun start to the tale. I recommend this whole series. These old detectives have a lot to offer and they’re both just wonderful characters. 
Ramblings of a Writer 