You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2009.
Red Sox Rumbles–Come on guys, one more game, that’s all you need, just one more game. How hard can that be? I bet you can do it tonight so what’d'ya say? Hmmm? Show Toronto who’s boss and then you can slide into the off-season. I’m pulling for you!
Phillips Phfffts–I suppose everyone heard at some point during the last week that Mackenzie Phillips is proclaiming to the world at large that she had an incestuous ten year relationship with her father, John Phillips, of The Mamas & the Papas. Is it just me or does anyone else find this revelation highly suspicious in light of the fact that Ms. Phillips has another book coming out soon?
Phillips Phfffts, Part 2–Tony Curtis, who also has a new book coming out, is now claiming that Marilyn Monroe was pregnant with his child while they were both married to other people. Supposedly, Ms. Monroe miscarried the baby and that was the end of that. Any bets on this being true or just another case of a celebrity drumming up interest in a book? I guess you know what I think.
Random Rant–how in the world do these people get book contracts (hint–by promising to include at least one juicy revelation that will sell their book) and who in the world reads the books? Seriously, their secrets are pasted all over the Internet well before the book comes out so why would anybody spend money on something they can get for free? I’ve heard it said that publishers never make back the advances they pay out to these so-called celebrities (read, has-beens) but still they keep giving them book deals. Surely they’re not losing money on every single one of the books, are they? If they are, somebody needs to go back to college and take a business course.
Cardinal Congrats–my third favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals, are going to the post season. Now if the Rockies make it or the Braves (one of them has to, I think) then four of my favorite teams will be playing in October. Congrats also to the Yankees and the Dodgers…and did I read somewhere the Angels made it? If they did, congrats to them too. It’s shaping up to be an interesting play-off season! And it’ll be all that much better if my Red Sox quit tormenting me and win tonight! And Baltimore, better luck next year!
Okay, that’s it. Just wanted a break from writing and those were the things that caught my attention during the couple of days. I know there were more, but my mind, well, she’s a little mushy right now. Back to writing…
As we move into what just might be the most important series of the 2009 season, I thought I’d post this picture of Fenway Park again to get all the Red Sox fans in the proper frame of mind. Gorgeous, isn’t it? Yep, that’s our heart right there and hopefully we’ll emerge from this weekend with our heart soaring somewhere above the Green Monster.
The Yankees are already in the post season, and I’m hoping the Red Sox will soon follow. We don’t have to sweep them on their own turf, though it sure would be nice if we did. Hey, my guys have done it before and I hope they do it again this weekend. If not, I’ll take whatever they can give me. After all, it’s not like this is the end of the season, but we are getting close. So, here’s hoping we win at least one–though three would be nicer since it is our magic number right now!
And I know my husband–the dratted Yankee fan–would sure appreciate it if you put a stop to my singing ”Tessie”–at least until the post season!
The following was forwarded to me yesterday and when I read it, my baby-boomer genes kicked into high gear. Beyond that, I thought it was important enough to pass along to as many people as possible:
| Please read, act, and pass it on. It only takes a minute!
On Tuesday, the Senate health committee voted 12-11 in favor of a two-page amendment courtesy of Republican Tom Coburn that would require all Members and their staffs to enroll in any new government-run health plan. It took me less than a minute to sign up to require our congressmen and senators to drink at the same trough! Three cheers for Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana ! Congressman John Fleming ( Louisiana physician) has proposed an amendment that would require congressmen and senators to take the same healthcare plan they force on us (under proposed legislation they are curiously exempt). Congressman Fleming is encouraging people to go on his Website and sign his petition (very simple – just first, last and email). I have immediately done just that at: <http://fleming.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=55§iontree=29,55> |
That last paragraph is so true and I echo the author’s sentiment, “Three cheers for Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana!”
I signed and I hope you will too. After all, why should they be exempt from a plan they voted for? More important, if they have to abide by the plan, they’re more likely to approve a plan that will be beneficial to all of us.
So, go ahead, click on the link and let your representatives know you’re watching them!
Writer’s block is a curious thing. It strikes willy-nilly and once it has you in its clutches, you never know how long it’s going to last. A day, a week, months or even years–God forbid.
You do everything you can to break out of it. Turn your attention to another WIP, start working on a new story or poem, blog, clean house, cook, work out, work puzzles, play around on the Internet, read, sit in front of your computer and type mindlessly hoping something will come out of your questing fingers that makes sense. I could go on, but you get the point. Nothing works! All I can do is wait it out.
Hate that, but that’s the way it is for me. And so, I was happily surprised this morning when I turned on my computer, opened the file on my latest WIP, as I do every day hoping inspiration will hit, and…actually found myself wanting to write. My muse, it seems, after taking an extended vacation, has finally decided to come home and go back to work.
So on this beautiful first day of fall which also happens to be the first day we’ve seen sunshine here in the mountains of western North Carolina in over a week, not to mention the Flash Flood warnings we’ve been under for days have been lifted, I actually wrote a few words. Nowhere near the 1,000+ per day that I’d been doing before this blasted block grabbed ahold of me, but it’s a start.
Yay and happy fall, y’all!
The first thing I saw when I logged onto AOL this morning was Suddenly. Earth-Friendly E-Readers Are Everywhere by Terrence Chapman. Interesting article about how switching to e-books instead of paper books–or dead-tree books, as I’ve heard them called–will help the earth and reduce the carbon footstep you leave behind. It also lists the different types of e-readers out now and the ones that will arrive by the end of the year.
I’m all for e-books and have been reading them for a while now but I don’t have an e-reader and am thinking of getting one, so I was more interested in list of different readers. As I clicked on the first one, the Amazon Kindle, I was distracted by this:
“It has enough storage to carry about 1,500 books — in other words, more than most people read in a life time.”
Huh? 1500? Seriously, I’d wager my entire library that I’ve read a lot more than 1500 books so far in my life and–hopefully!–I’ll read a lot more by the time it’s over.
But then I got to thinking, 1500 is a large number, and maybe, just maybe I haven’t read more than 1500. I thought about starting a list of all the ones I remember reading, beginning with…well, truthfully, I can’t remember what the first book I ever read was. I’ve been reading since I was four–the result of parents who were avid readers–but I do remember my first trip to our small local library and after that, it seemed I was never without a book in my hands. But the first one, nope, can’t remember what it was.
So the idea of doing a list sort of died before it was even born but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Just one of those niggling little thoughts that won’t go away no matter what else you’re doing, you know? Then I was on one of the social networking sites that I really enjoy, Likaholix, and I saw their little note on becoming a tastemaker. To be a tastemaker on Likaholix, you have to have ”liked” at least ten things in a given category. I clicked on the little red heart and found that I’m already considered a tastemaker in three categories, books, movies, and something else I don’t remember. I clicked books and seconds later a little red heart appeared next to my name meaning I’m a tastemaker in books so…
now I’m going to try to ”like” all the books I’ve read and when I get finished listing them–if I ever do!–I’ll know if I’ve read more than “most people.”
Yikes! Another way to waste my time on the Internet! And now that I think about it, I probably should be doing this on GoodReads or Shelfari where I already have a lot more books listed than I do on Likaholix. Oh well…I guess I can do it there too. After all, I’ve always heard if you’re going to do something–waste time on the Internet, for instance–do it right!
Back cover blurb:
Natasha risks more than her life when she guards a defense attorney targeted by the Mafia.
Protection specialist Natasha Chamberlain thinks guarding a defense attorney from a disgruntled client should be a fairly normal job, but when she learns he’s been targeted by the mafia, she’s ready to call it quits. However, the attorney holds her to their contract and Natasha finds her own life placed in danger along with her bodyguard cohorts, Pit and Bigun. Natasha’s fiancé Jonce Striker is fit to be tied when he learns this, which only confirms to him that the bodyguard field is too dangerous for his love. After Natasha is shot trying to protect her client, Striker delivers the final ultimatum: leave the bodyguard field or lose him. Natasha makes her choice but will she live to regret it?
It’s no secret that I absolutely love this series. I was hooked with the first book and my addiction only grows stronger with each one so instead of a review, I thought I’d share a few of the reasons why I like Ms. French’s Bodyguard series so much.
Number one—as Wilkie Collins said about cliffhanger endings, “Make ‘em cry, make ‘em laugh, make ‘em wait—exactly in that order.” Ms. French does just that, sprinkling her books with touching moments, numerous laugh-out-loud scenes and then she ends them with a bit of a teaser that always leaves me wanting more and wondering what’s going to happen next. The excellent writing and exciting plots are more than enough to keep me coming back, but that teasing hint of what’s coming in the next book hooks me every time. In that respect, The Bodyguard and the Snitch doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it just might be Ms. French’s best cliffhanger ending yet. It seems Natasha…oh, wait, I don’t want to spoil it but you’ll know what I’m talking about when you read it.
Number two—the way the protagonist, Natasha, grows with each book, not only personally, but professionally too. With each story, she’s a little bit more confident of herself, her job, and even though her personal relationship with Jonce Striker, the love of her life, doesn’t always run true, the reader knows through her actions and thoughts that’s she’s coming into her own there too. Natasha is an independent young woman and though she makes mistakes, she’s determined to learn from them. There are several places in this book where she catches herself doing something she doesn’t consider professional and makes herself stop, step back, and rethink the situation. She doesn’t always win the battle but at least she tries. This also happens in her relationship with Striker, both of which tell the reader the character is maturing as a professional and as a partner in love. Ms. French obviously knows what she’s doing when it comes to developing her characters and I think she’s bringing Natasha along nicely, not rushing things, but letting her grow at a realistic pace.
Number three—speaking of characterization, the secondary characters are fabulous. Yes, the main characters are well-crafted, but I think Ms. French has an extraordinary talent when it comes to creating secondary characters. Not only the ones who show up numerous times in the series, like Pit and Bigun—who I hope and pray will get their own book one day—or Stevie and Cameron—who are a delightful mishmash of trouble just waiting to happen—but Natasha’s clients in each of the books; a millionaire computer geek, a show dog, a rock star, and in this one, a defense attorney, are all characters that I’d like to see appear again in the series. We get a little of that in this one with Roger, the computer geek, and Giki, the rock star, and I hope Ms. French continues to weave some of these fascinating secondary characters into later books. Her characterization skills are wonderfully apt and quite multi-faceted and it often leads to some of the most humorous passages in the books.
Number four; the romantic relationship between Natasha and Striker. I’ve always had a thing for star-crossed lovers, whether in books, movies, or TV shows; it is a plotline that I’m drawn to. Romeo and Juliet, Othello and Desdemona, Sam and Diane, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in almost every movie they made together, David and Maddie, even Eve and Roarke in a few of J.D. Robb’s In Death series. I love them all and Natasha and Striker can easily be included on that list. It’s fun watching these two alpha-personalities clash and seeing the give and take between them as they struggle to keep their relationship from crashing and burning.
Number five; humor. Ms. French has a sly sense of humor that often takes me by surprise which only makes her books more enjoyable. It is, of course, evident in The Bodyguard and the Snitch and I ended this one with a smile on my face…and a gasp at what’s becoming Ms. French’s trademark teaser ending, which brings us full circle, right back to number one!
With The Bodyguard and the Snitch, Ms. French has written yet another outstanding book that now rests in its pre-destined spot on my keeper shelf. As with every one of the books in this series, the plot is compelling, the characters and dialogue are original and believable, and the ending, well, let’s just say I’m hooked and can’t wait to find out what happens when Natasha needs a bodyguard of her own. Can you guess who it’ll be?
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