Writers and Readers Meet

Unbearable Dissonance

2012-02-04T10:00:17Z

Guest Post by Hal Manogue

Many Americans today, just as they did 200 years ago, feel burdened, stifled, and sometimes even oppressed by government that has grown too large, too bureaucratic, too wasteful, too unresponsive, too uncaring about people and their problems. I believe we can embark on a new age of reform in this country and an era of national renewal, an era that will reorder the relationship between citizen and government, that will make government again responsive to people, that will revitalize the values of family, work, and neighborhood and that will restore our private and independent social institutions.

Ronald Reagan the accomplished actor and 40^th President of the United States expressed those thoughts in one of his speeches. Reagan used his acting talents to the fullest while he was in office. His wit, vitality, and sense of fairness are well-documented, and most political leaders say he made a difference in the way the political game is played today. But, the one thing Reagan didn’t do was put the country on a course of reform that revitalized the values of family, work, and neighborhood. His political era is considered one of the greediest in our history.

There was certainly major economic success in the Reagan years, but the true political social reform that Reagan mentions is nowhere to be found. Our private and social institutions did experience change in those years, but the pace of that change is still not in sync with the ever-changing human psyche. There was more economic separation between the haves and have-nots during the years following the Reagan’s years, and much more separation in our perception in terms of identifying the motives behind our two political parties.

Social reform, as prison administer Mary B. Harris said, is a journey not a destination. Our political and economic systems are not fixed in a certain place or time. They expand as we expand. Our beliefs create that expansion, and our dreams fuel the consciousness units that make social and political changes a reality.

Susan B. Anthony said:

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations... can never effect a reform

And, Marian B. Edelman, the founder and President of the Children Defense Fund, described our current reality like this:

We are living in a time of unbearable dissonance between promise and performance; between good politics and good policy; between professed and practiced family values; between racial creed and racial deed; between calls for community and rampant individualism and greed; and between our capacity to prevent and alleviate human deprivation and disease and our political and spiritual will to do so.

Our dualistic mentality is obvious in our political beliefs and actions, and our two party lawmakers are a shining example of the ineptness that exists in our dualistic system. Political separation creates social and political catastrophes. A social reformer is a political adjuster that has the ability to blend thoughts and instigate actions that turn democratic debacles into social expansion.

Edelman explains the process this way:

If we think we have ours and don't owe any time or money or effort to help those left behind, then we are a part of the problem rather than the solution to the fraying social fabric that threatens all Americans.

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

The challenge is to incorporate a sense of community in our diversity, and be flexible enough to bend in that wind of contrast. Stiffness is not a sign of strength― it is a sign of ignorance.

Living Behind Beauty Shop explains how communities can experience unity in the tumultuous waters of change. The story demonstrates our ability to produce a social system where, as Cicero said,

The good of the people is the highest law.

Living Behind The Beauty Shop is about a Middle Tennessee boy who understands that greater reality where the psyche is able to communicate with the self that is experiencing other dimensions. The boy, Mase Russell, is living with Down syndrome. He is considered disabled in our normal reality, but he is far more enabled and connected than we are to that stream of consciousness that flows through all of us. He is able to communicate with other aspects of the self while dreaming, and he accepts his dream experiences as real. He is even able to remember those experiences and express them in his own way. His family begins to sense that his disability is a challenging gift not a sentence of suffering.

His family is like any other family. They experience the typical dramas that we all create in our waking reality. His grandfather, Warren Russell is a wealthy business man that lives on his family’s 2000 acre farm in Leipers Fork, Tennessee. The farm was a land grant given to his triple great-grandfather after the American Revolution. Warren and his wife Claire considered the farm their rite of passage until they both experienced a near-death experience on a trip to Florida in their Cessna. After the accident Warren decides to donate 1000 acres to a non-profit foundation he formed called Perception Farms. Perception Farms is a self-sufficient community off the grid that gives the homeless a fresh start.

His daughter Cindy realizes that she’s gay after she marries her college sweetheart. She returns home from California and finds an ex-nun, who is now called Margie, at one of Perception Farm’s fundraisers. Margie discovered her true sexuality when she was in the convent. They become partners and decide to have a child using the sperm of their friend Alan Sutton, a well-educated and athletic individual who works in the shoe business. Baby Mase is born with DS and the story follows his life and the experiences of the family as he becomes an accomplished poet and artist.

Years later, Mase finds Mischa Eddington who is another Down syndrome artist, in a local college art class, and they develop a close relationship. Together they watch members of the family experience the pains of getting older. They offer the family another perspective about that aging process. The family realizes that Mase and Mischa chose to be born with Down syndrome in order to help others see that there are no boundaries or limits in physical life unless we put them there through our beliefs and perceptions. They show us that other realities are just as real as our waking reality.

When we consider that consciousness does not have a beginning or an end in the non-physical world we can better understand that the people we call disabled or homeless are actually teachers who choose to experience life in extraordinary ways. They teach us that putting limits, judgments, and sterilized beliefs in action is the art of separating one aspect of the self from other elements of the psyche.

When that happens, we find ourselves living in the beauty shop of life, which is filled with exterior self-serving nothingness.

Hal Manogue is an author of a recently published book Living Behind The Beauty Shop. Down syndrome is one of the main issues in his novel. He may be found at www.livingbehindthebeautyshop.com and www.halmanogue.blogspot.com.

Born in Philadelphia, Howard (Hal) (Howie) Thomas Manogue spent the first twenty-one years of his life conforming to logical beliefs and rituals. He spent the next twenty-six years of his life rebelling against those beliefs and rituals in one way or another. For the last twelve years he has devoted his life to dissecting beliefs and that journey has taken him through the history of religious thought and the intricacies of philosophy.

Retiring from the shoe industry after 35 years of “sole” searching, Hal discovered his real soul when he started writing poetry in 1996. His first book, Short Sleeves A Book For Friends, was self-published in 2003. His second book, Short Sleeves A Book For Friends 2006 Collection, was released in May 2006. His third book, Short Sleeves A Book For Friends 2007 Collection, was released in January 2007. Short Sleeves Spirit Songs was published in July 2008. Spirit Songs Echoes of Silence will be released in 2011. Essays from the book, Short Slee Insights: Live An Ordinary Life In A Non-Ordinary Way (published in May 2008) have been republished in other books and newsletters around the globe. All these books are available on his Web site: http://www.shortsleeves.net/.

Hal’s poems have been published by Mystic Pop Magazine, Children of the New Earth Magazine, New Age Tribune, Seasons of the Soul Newsletters, The Ascension Network, Lightship News, and Writers in the Sky E-zine. On his blog, he has published over a thousand essays on consciousness. More of his essays can be found on ezinearticles.com, bizymoms.com, authorsden.com, holistichealth.com, and newagetribune.com.

He works as a free-lance writer and is published all over the world. Hal currently lives in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife, Joanie.

Just Part of the Family

2012-02-03T09:00:22Z

Guest Post by Sandra McLeod Humphrey

I’ve been working on a young adult novel that takes place at a summer camp for girls with emotional problems in northern Minnesota, and I find it more than a little disconcerting that some of my characters have recently moved in with me.

This morning I found the camp director, Mrs. A, at my breakfast table shoveling sugar into her herbal tea, and last night I found her rummaging through my fridge, looking for avocados for her guacamole dip.

And it’s not just Mrs. A who has moved in. Leslie (my Protagonist) and some of her camper friends are also showing up unexpectedly. I found Trisha (a young black girl who longs to have her own garden amidst the chaos of the inner city) wandering around my backyard last week. She wasn’t being a nuisance or anything. She was just out there smelling the flowers.

Then there’s anorexic Jennifer. She hasn’t actually moved in yet, but I see her in some of the young girls I mentor at our church. They talk about their control issues at home and how food is the only thing in their lives that they feel they have any control over. Jennifer doesn’t say anything at these meetings, she just nods in agreement.

And, of course, there’s Rachel, “the cutter.” There were so many Rachels at the state mental hospital who insisted that they had to cut “to feel better.” They shared with me how they could deal more easily with their physical pain than with their psychological pain, and how the physical pain gave them a temporary respite from their psychological pain.

I’ve even run into Cynthia Winston, the villain of the piece, right in my own bathroom—-usurping the bathroom mirror while she apples her makeup. Actually, Cynthia has pretty much taken over all my mirrors. She’s always there, preening and giving me her little Mona Lisa half-smile.

Although I have never invited any of my characters to move into my home and take over so much of my life, I find I’m becoming used to having them around. And I might even miss them if they were to move out.

I think what I’ve concluded from all this is that to make our characters real to our readers—-characters whom they really care about-—we must care about them first. They must be so real to us that we see them everywhere we go and in everything we do, and sometimes we may even find them in the most unexpected places!

Sandra McLeod Humphrey is a retired clinical psychologist, a character education consultant, and an award-winning author of eight middle-grade and young adult books. She's also the recipient of the National Character Education Center's Award for Exemplary Leadership in Ethics Education (2000) and the 2005 Helen Keating Ott Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children's Literature. You can learn more about her books by visiting her Web site at www.kidscandoit.com and her blog at www.kidscandoit.com/blog/

Escape Weight Loss Fallacies to Lose Easily and Permanently.

2012-02-02T09:00:43Z

Guest Post by Nicolette M. Dumke

I recently got an email from a friend who had committed to an event. She wrote, “I have thirteen days to lose my double chin. Any ideas?” Although I couldn’t tell her how to lose it in just thirteen days, everyone, given a reasonable amount of time, can lose weight without hunger and keep it off permanently if they have correct information on how to do it. However, much of what is commonly believed about weight loss is fallacious.

Many of us have tried to lose weight and failed to lose or to maintain our loss. As a country, we are becoming more obese every year and are facing a national epidemic of weight-related health problems such as diabetes. The reason is not a collective lack of willpower. It is that past weight loss efforts have been based on assumptions that ignore the facts of how our bodies store or burn fat. This explains why past diets have failed to produce lasting results and demonstrates how to make weight loss resolutions a reality. Here is reliable information that will produce weight loss:

1. Past dieting efforts have failed because they are based on fallacies of a weight loss diet hoax. Conventional diets say that all that matters is the number of calories consumed minus the number burned by physical activity. Although calories do have an effect, they are not the primary determining factor in how much we weigh. Our hormones, such as insulin, cortisol, leptin and others, are what really determine our weight. If your hormones are saying, “Deposit that food! A famine is in the land!” you will not be able to lose weight even if the number of calories you consume is very low. Because they work against body chemistry, calorie-counting diets rarely result in permanent weight loss. After dieters reach their goal, they usually re-gain most or all of the weight they lost. They may even be heavier than when they started; if dieters lost muscle mass, their metabolic rate will fall lower than before their diet. Thus, instead of counting calories, to lose weight, you must understand and control your weight-related hormones.

2. At the root of effective weight loss is control of hunger and insulin levels. Insulin is the hormone most important to the weight loss process because insulin regulates the activity of two enzymes that control fat metabolism. High insulin activates the enzyme lipoprotein lipase. This enzyme catalyzes the production of triglycerides from any fatty acids (digested fat units in the form that is absorbed by the intestine) eaten in a meal. Thus, excess insulin promotes storage of any fat rather than using it for fuel. In a person with normal insulin levels, recently eaten fats can be used for energy during the hours after a meal. If insulin levels are high, dietary fat will be stored in the fat cells instead. High insulin levels also inhibit the activity of the enzyme triglyceride lipase which breaks down stored fat for use as energy. Thus, if you have chronically high insulin, you cannot burn your own body fat! In addition, hunger, which leads us to overeat, is a sign of high insulin. The no-snacks-between-meals rule of conventional diets makes us hungrier and raises insulin levels, thus making weight loss nearly impossible. By understanding the role of insulin and the enzymes mentioned above, you can escape the “calorie math” diet hoax that has kept us heavy.

3. The timing of meals and snacks is the most important factor for controlling insulin levels and hunger. The key to losing weight easily and without hunger is to keep your body in a “burn fat” mode by keeping your blood sugar level stable and your insulin level low and stable. This can be achieved by eating protein-containing meals (especially breakfast) and between-meal snacks and by keeping carbohydrate intake at a sensible level with most of the carbohydrates low to moderate on the glycemic index (GI). Carbohydrates should also be balanced with protein.

4. Adrenal hormones, such as stress-induced adrenaline and cortisol, also contribute to overweight. When adrenaline (epinephrine) is secreted in response to stress, the body releases stored fuel (glucose) from the liver into the bloodstream. Insulin is secreted to drive this glucose into your cells to be used for energy. If you need to run from a wild animal, you will use that glucose to give you the energy for running. However, if your stress does not involve physical activity, the glucose may be stored as fat. This is the physiological reason why it is nearly impossible for some people to lose or even maintain their weight during stressful times, regardless of their food intake

5. With the rising incidence of gluten intolerance and food allergies, many Americans are facing new challenges to weight loss. Gluten-free diets are often high in rice, the only grain which has a high GI score in its whole-grain form, and overeating high GI foods leads to weight gain. Allergies promote overweight by causing allergic cravings or food addiction. In addition, the inflammation caused by allergic reactions causes a release of adrenal hormones which start a hormonal cascade leading to food being deposited as fat. Inflammation also inactivates leptin, the body’s master hormone for maintaining a healthy weight.

Hormones rule when it comes to weight loss for everyone, not just those on gluten-free or food allergy diets. To lose weight successfully and permanently, discard the faulty assumptions you’ve heard about weight in the past, and embrace the pursuit of real health and hormonal control by understanding how to work with your body to control your weight. Then you won’t hesitate when an opportunity for an author event comes your way.

Nicolette M. Dumke is the author of several books including Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss: Control Your Body Chemistry, Reduce Inflammation, and Improve Your Health. This new book exposes fallacies that have made past weight loss strategies ineffective and tells how to lose weight easily and permanently. To learn more about weight loss, food allergies, or gluten-free diets, visit her websites at www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com and www.food-allergy.org.

Ruminations on the generation gaps

2012-02-01T09:00:31Z

Guest Post by John H. Manhold

A friend and I were discussing the plight of the book selling industry awhile back and the fact that so many people we knew found so little time to read. He added his dissatisfaction with the almost complete lack of interest in history that appears prevalent today. I reminded him that some people still had an interest and that I was preparing to present material about WW II at the national meeting of the Historical Novel Society. He also is a veteran of WW II and has a huge library of books dealing with the conflict. He asked if I had read Bluejacket by John A. Hutchinson a Radioman 1^st Class, USN? Hutchinson had served mostly aboard a destroyer, but also spent time aground in Guadalcanal, and participated in numerous major battles from Guadalcanal to the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.

I said that I had not and he loaned me a copy. I found the book not only to be most descriptive, but additionally, and quite suddenly, it brought sharply into focus the differences between today’s generations and ours that experienced WW II. It was startling not only in the matter of the position of today’s single mothers, gay marriage, criminal behavior, and activity of the ACLU, but particularly so in the light of present day action by the President and members of congress. Hutchinson stated quite succinctly what most members of our generation who fought in WW II believed. Specifically, he stated:

“We Hope to be remembered as the products of a different country and society from what the United States of America has become in the last fifty years. Products of a far more disciplined society with rather rigid moral and social standards to which everyone was expected to conform given how society chastened and disciplined offenders. The way of the transgressor was hard. We were taught individual responsibility, that evil is due to character flaws in the individual and not to the shortcomings of society.”

Having finished the book just prior to leaving for my presentation at the society meeting, was most fortunate because I discovered that it was impossible to discuss WW II without comparing the beliefs of our culture with those of today’s society. Right or wrong, the people of that Era had strong basic beliefs and the United States grew to be the most powerful nation in the world. Compare it with today when our Nation’s standing is being questioned as a result of irresolute decisions and actions, and when our credit rating is in danger as a result of the confrontational attitudes of our elected politicians. Think also about the bitter conflicts about birth control, gay marriage and service in the armed forces.

These problems simply did not exist in WW II days. Everyone worked together for the common good. It was unpatriotic to complain or not work together. Tremendous pressure existed for survival. In a somewhat different manner, pressure is great today. However, if closely examined, is not much of today’s pressure self-imposed? Everyone must “live the American Dream”. They must own a home as large as their acquaintance, have the best of automobiles, children who have all of the latest gadgets, and they must chauffer them around to supervised activities. These desires and actions place great strain on personal time and seemingly non-stop pressure on their bank accounts and credit cards. And then, there are our elected government representatives who have forgotten the people they represent because they have the “pressure of being reelected”. After all, they do not want to lose many of the perks that are unique to the position.

Perhaps our dilemma rises from the fact that we have had it too good for too long and we are finding ourselves very close to the problems faced by Greece, Ireland, Portugal and the rest. The result is that we are arriving at a place, such as exhibited by the air traffic controllers, that the pressure has become unbearable. If this is the case, possibly we should remember the old time-honored expressions: “bite-the-bullet” and “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.” For persons such as the controllers, the answer is simple. If they are unhappy with their present positions and salaries and do not wish to continue making secure the lives of persons who fly, they should quit or be removed. Replacements always can be found. I remember a number of years back when Regan fired all of the traffic controllers. They were replaced within a week, and we no longer had to worry about safety for landing our aircraft. Instead, as an example of the manner such activity is viewed by the far-sighted overseers today, is to provide more time for rest to alleviate the problem.

The WW II veteran author also went on to say, “We were taught to depend on God, to persevere in adversity, and to take care of ourselves and our families, and not to depend on society or government to look after us.” AND in explanation of some of his highly specific statements: “…while I hold strong moral, ethical, and religious beliefs, I am a very private man who usually keeps these tenets within. I feel that my relationship with my Maker is just between Him and me,”

With respect to the reference to God, some people today will not agree. The ACLU is making an attempt to have all of the crosses removed from National Cemeteries and, as reported in the Florida newspapers, a graduation ceremony for three hundred was held up by court order because one person complained about a prayer before the ceremony. Minor actions, no doubt, but with all of the other problems facing us today, isn’t the fact that these “small problems’ are being pushed so strenuously a little picayune? But perhaps my suggestions are a little “too old fashion” and it is true. I am speaking from a generation that would refer to these thoughts as ‘common sense’ and a belief in democracy where the wishes of one person were not allowed to interfere with those of three hundred.

However to conclude, isn’t it amazing to see what ruminations can be produced by reading a book, if you can find time from your pressure-filled schedule to read one?

John H. Manhold is a semi-retired professor and author of 6 textbooks, a lexicon in 4 languages and more recently award winning novels. His El Tigre II has just been published. www.johnhmanhold.com/

Engaging Teen Reluctant Readers

2012-01-31T09:00:18Z

Guest Post by Arianne McHugh

40% of US fourth grade students do not achieve basic levels of reading proficiency. This number is higher in low-income families, certain minority groups and English Language Learners. In American Classrooms, grades K-3 are when a child learns to read, while starting in grade 4 a child reads to learn. If 40% of students entering that range are already behind, you can imagine where they end up by the time they reach eighth grade- severely below reading level as well as reluctant to continue trying.

Teachers are struggling to engage their classrooms, which are increasing in size- and include students at varying reading levels. The end result is that students are left behind. It’s time to stop waiting for the education system to do it “all”. Supplementing the classrooms and home environments with engaging, level-appropriate material is what will motivate young adults to open books again – and start to try.

If you give a teenager a “baby” book, he/she will not only be embarrassed to read it, they will be less than enthused with the content. Teens need books covering topics that they WANT to read about at LOW enough reading levels for them to achieve success. Not many publishers spend time creating content for these older-learners who struggle with reading proficiency.

Covers vs. Content. We really do judge a book by its cover. Teens want to see themselves on the covers of books- and in the pages. Demographic-specific books are finally accessible, giving a wide variety of ethnicities, genres and realistic content.
Levels. Offering levels that are low enough for the teens to achieve success is vital. Starting with low levels and low page count will increase confidence and enable them to finish a book, which will hopefully lead to another.

Learning Style. Some reluctant readers would never attempt a text-only book, but would be interested in a graphic novel, which is more like a comic. While others may get easily distracted by any visuals yet enjoy the pure form of text. Knowing the teen is essential to helping guide them to the book that will engage and get them reading.

Incorporating Technology. Children and teens everywhere are surrounded by technology and while this is often a distraction from picking up a print book, it can also be a way to get them to start reading. Free books are available from your local library, for “checking out” on your personal devices (iPads, Kindles etc). Some publishers offer print books that take you from the page to your computer (Patrick Carman, 39 Clues).

The message here is that we need to do “something”. Take the time to get to know your audience. Directing them to books that they will open and successfully finish is vital. By taking small steps, you can greatly support their love of reading and learning through books. And who knows, maybe in the process of encouraging your teens to pick up a book, you may be the one to introduce them to their lifelong love of reading.

Arianne McHugh is the President and Co-Owner of Saddleback Educational Publishing.

Saddleback Educational Publishing, a second-generation family company and certified woman-owned business, kicks off its 30th anniversary with six YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers Awards (2011) for its high interest, low reading-level series, Urban Underground, with 16 more nominations for this year. In 2012, Saddleback announces the release of several additional hi-lo Young Adult series, starting with 16-year-old author Sara Michelle’s dystopian series called My New Normal. With their award-winning urban fiction, adapted low-level classics, graphic novels, audio books and SMART Board Lessons for the Classroom, Saddleback continues to lead the secondary education market with innovative ways to reach reluctant learners.

Why Don't Book Sales Cover the Costs of Marketing?

2012-01-29T22:00:45Z

Guest Post by Irene Watson

I've heard a version of this rendition many times:

There are so many wonderful tools to assist an author to sell books but many of them are highly expensive, and again most authors don't have that kind of money, especially when the book sales don't help cover the cost of these extras.

My immediate thought and question is: Why don't authors have that kind of money?

Okay...did I raise the hair your neck on this one? If not on yours, I bet I did on at least one or two.

It amazes me how many authors I talk to don't consider writing a book, selling copies, and going to the bank with the deposit not a business. It is very much a business and it sure is in the eyes of the IRS.

The question is , if it's a business what do we do first? My answer is do a feasibility study before you write the book. I can't imagine Target setting up a store in a location without doing a study first to see if there is actually a community of buyers. I'm sure they wouldn't set up a store in a remote country community and then wonder why nobody is showing up to buy the products.

No different from setting up a store, a feasibility study has to be done and, equally as important, a budget created for the production of the book and marketing plan. Let me give you some tips to do BEFORE you start writing your book:

1. Create a narrative or bullet points addressing these areas:

                i) Why is there a need for this book?
                ii) What hole in the genre will this book fill?"
                iii) How will this book be different from other books on the market?
                iv) Why are you the best person to write this book?

2. If you've been able to convince yourself to go further, then:

i) List 10 targets that will read your book. (No, there isn't such a thing as "everyone.")
ii) Summarize why the book will appeal to each target. What evidence do you have for this assessment? Use facts/figures.

3. Next? If you've convinced yourself there is a need for your book and there is a market, then:

i) List at least 6 most recent, successful, books in the same genre/topic.
ii) Point out the differences between each book including what is lacking and why your book will fill in the void.

4. If you've convinced yourself that you can fill the void and there is a need for your book the next step is to:

i) Create a focus group of at least 5 people besides yourself. This is a group of honest people; preferably people that you don't know well (and certainly not your favorite aunt) that are willing to listen to you and participate in the discussion. Each person on the group should represent a different target market so that you will have a varied perspective. Present to the group your findings in 1 to 3 above and listen to their comments and suggestions. This should take at least 2 or 3 serious meetings.

5. After these meetings and listening to the focus group, do you still feel it is a feasible venture? If yes, then:

                i) Create a marketing plan
                ii) Create a budget to implement the marketing plan
                iii) Check your finances to see if you have enough money to successfully market your book and if you do, then:

6. Start writing your book.

Really? Yep...really folks. To answer the question Why Don't Book Sales Cover the Costs of Marketing? the answer is: because you didn't do a feasibility study and didn't create a budget to see if you actually could afford to write a book. That's the bottom line and the harsh reality.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Comfort and Connections for a Motherless Daughter

2012-01-28T09:00:42Z

Guest Post by Linda Campanella

As my mother’s life was coming to an end, one day she confided that she hoped her family and friends would not forget her. Even before she confessed this private hope, she had done or said things that betrayed it. For example, for what she believed would be her last Christmas she gave two dear friends, both of them tea lovers, little hand-painted tea pots, and on the note accompanying these gifts she told her friends she hoped they would think of her whenever they sipped their tea. She asked her children to spray Chanel No. 5, her signature scent, on her pillow every once in a while so that our father could imagine his sweetheart of 52 years lying next to him.

Surely she should have known and believed there was no way we could ever forget her – or allow ourselves to. After she died I realized that when we lose someone we love deeply, we cling to, and actively (perhaps even compulsively) seek out, things that will help us remember and feel connected to those whose physical presence in our lives we miss terribly. For those who’ve not yet experienced that kind of loss, it may be reassuring to know that it is indeed very possible to remain closely connected, in meaningful and comforting ways, to those who are no longer with us on earth. Sometimes the connections are intentional – things we plan or create; other times they are accidental – memories or feelings that just happen, descending on us seemingly out of nowhere.

Almost immediately after my mother’s death, I found myself surrounding myself with birds for reasons very personal and also spiritual. I acquired a coffee mug with a bird painted on it, a glass sun catcher for my window with a hummingbird in the center, birdfeeders for my yard, bird ornaments for the Christmas tree, a silver pendant with a silhouetted bird, carved mahogany birds for my bookshelf… Suddenly I was spotting birds everywhere, and I needed to have them. To this day I find comfort, and connection with my mother, in these birds.

In March after my mother’s death (she died in September), I was alone at our cabin in the Berkshires and, perhaps for the first time, allowing myself to fully acknowledge and indulge my immense sadness over being a motherless daughter. As I sat out on the deck staring at the lake, alone with my grief in a location where I especially missed my mother, suddenly a hummingbird flew in front of me and hovered no more than three feet away; I could have reached out and touched it. Instead I reached for my iPhone so that I could photograph it and provide family members proof of this miraculously wonderful visitor. Why did that hummingbird appear in that spot at that moment? It is not difficult for anyone to imagine what I concluded as I sat there, tears flowing and heart racing. Before I could snap a photo or say anything to it, the hummingbird flew off. I was momentarily distressed, but then I quickly became strangely and wonderfully comforted by the realization that my mother was near, that she would always be with me, that she heard what I was thinking, and that she knew I absolutely had not forgotten her.

Besides the birds, there are many other things that connect me with my mother. Of course there are photos to remind me of her and her love – none more special to me now than the one of her smiling widely while seated in a big chair at the cabin; taken several weeks after her diagnosis with terminal cancer, that photo sits atop the printer on my desk where it is always in my line of sight. I can’t eat a Clementine or a quesadilla without thinking of her. I think of her when I wear the fuzzy yellow socks I bought to keep her feet warm when she was confined to her hospital bed during the final stage of her life. Although I couldn’t do it in the first few months after she died without experiencing intense sadness and crying, today I often choose to put on an Edith Piaf CD and belt out the songs that my mother loved and that she and I would sometimes sing aloud together.

I love winter because it is the season when I can wrap myself in warmth and memories of my mother when I wear the many colorful scarves she knit and gifted to daughters, granddaughters, and friends during the last five years of her life. Because of what we shared during my mother’s illness and after her death, some of my mother’s dearest friends have become my own close friends, and we are so grateful for this unexpected gift – a gift that not only has connected us with each other but also continues to connect us with my mother.

Often I’ll glance at my hands and see my mother in them; I have her toes, as well. Last winter I put on a pair of her gloves and in a few moments realized the scent of Chanel No. 5 was tickling my nose. I drew the gloves up to my face for a deeper whiff, and suddenly my mother was with me again; I could see her smile and hear her laughter.

How I miss her! I am deeply relieved and grateful that I still feel her presence in my life in so many ways. None of them is a substitute for the woman I adored and admired, but each of them is a connection that reminds me of how lucky I was to have had her physically in my life for as long as I did.

I do spritz Chanel No. 5 on her pillow every few weeks during one of my regular visits to my father. Sometimes I pull the covers back, ready to spray, and the scent rising from my mother’s side of the bed makes me realize Dad has beaten me to the punch.

Linda Campanella’s poignant memoir, When All That’s Left of Me Is Love, was written in the months immediately following her mother’s death and published in August 2011. The book is a moving and insightful account of one family's determination to embrace life fully while anticipating death. Described by readers as “unforgettable,” the author’s emotional reliving of her joy-filled yet heartbreaking last year with her terminally ill mother and her first few months as a motherless daughter is an uplifting portrait of living, loving, believing, and letting go. Campanella is a management consultant who lives in West Hartford, CT, with her husband. They have three grown sons and a one-year-old mini-goldendoodle. More information about the book and author can be found on the web (www.lindacampanella.tateauthor.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/linda.campanella.memoir).

Deliciously Happy New Year! (Recipe included.)

2012-01-27T09:00:44Z

Guest Post by Ruby Dee

Things have been getting a little crazy around here, what with my book poised for release and all the media attention I’m getting. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the great reviews and interviews- folks have been so kind (so far!). But what happens is I get fatigued after focusing on making sure I make sense, or cooking up dishes for the photographer. And by the end of the day, it’s all I can do to stop myself from collapsing and calling out to my husband to just order a danged pizza.

Instead, I’ve taken to cooking up nice big pot au feu style dishes- not necessarily with beef, but using that means of cooking up dinner: a solid iron pot filled with fresh, locally grown winter vegetables, pork belly, beans, white wine and stock, all simmered for hours until the scent reaches out and grabs you by the throat, screaming “eat me!” Well, maybe not THAT intense, but so so tasty, you get the idea.

Pot au feu is a regional French style of cooking, dating back to when the home was warmed by hearth, and the one daily meal just simmered and cooked all day long there as well. While we don’t warm our home that way any longer, I envision the hearth turning to heart, and maintaining that style of feeding our family and home from there. So big cast iron stock pots of loving goodness in the new year it is!

For new year’s day, I cooked up a pot of black eyed peas in chicken stock with sauteed greens, bacon drippings, peppers, and bourbon-glazed ham. You just can’t have a bad year with those ingredients to start you off right! What I do is sauté a shallot and garlic in bacon drippings until they start to sweat, then add black eyed peas that have soaked for a day in water with a dash of baking soda thrown in. I add enough chicken stock to barely cover the beans and all that to cook for an hour, then add chopped ham (leftover from the holidays of course!). Last, in a separate pan, I cook down some chopped up greens (of any kind- mustard, kale, whatever you like) in lime juice, cider vinegar, a spoonful of brown sugar, diced red pepper and chile flakes. Once the black eyed peas have simmered away for another hour or two until the beans are cooked through and the flavors all melded together nicely, I add the greens to the beans and call that a healthy and happy new year dish.

And right now, I have a stockpot of leeks, sweet potato, caramelized shallot, green beans, bacon, and flageolet beans simmering away in a vegetable stock with curry, raisins and peanuts. It’s all I can do to not tear myself away from my desk and run downstairs this very instant! Though I’ll wait. As with all things that simmer, the longer I wait, the better it’s going to be.

Deliciously happy new year to everyone! Keep it tasty, and I’ll see you somewhere down the road.

Ruby Dee, from Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers, brings many years various life experiences along for the ride. Ruby grew up traveling back and forth from Northern California foothill ranches to the cotton and oil fields of the Texas panhandle. She enrolled in college at 15, and dropped out to hit the streets as a punk. Later, she spent years fishing in Alaska, driving big rigs, and owning restaurants in Seattle, Washington, until she finally gave all that up to settle down back in Texas, where she is at long last furthering her career as a writer and singer/songwriter. These experiences are reflected in Ruby's writing style, and in the band's hopped up high-octane successes on stage and on the road.

Ruby’s latest release, “Live From Austin Texas”, out on Dionysus Records, is currently on the AMA and Texas Third Coast Music charts and has earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album. Her cookbook, “Ruby’s Juke Joint Americana Cookbook”, shares 120 of Ruby’s original recipes, and includes a CD of music to cook by, including original songs by Marti Brom, Two Hoots and a Holler, Lloyd Tripp, Teri Joyce, Earl Poole Ball, and others (and Ruby, of course!).

Where is Robin Hood?

2012-01-26T09:00:43Z

Guest Post by Barbara Lunsford

Now that tax season is upon us, I would like to clarify a small but significant misconception about Robin Hood, the guy who “stole from the rich to give to the poor”.

Robin Hood did not steal from successful, creative, industrious, and thrifty citizens to give to the less fortunate. He stole from the greedy and powerful Prince John (Congress) and his tax collectors (the IRS) to give money back to the citizens who were being drained financially by the prince’s heavy taxes. And as a result, the prince had to increase taxes (plus penalties and interest) to pay for the ever-increasing need to enforce the tax laws as resistance and rebellion grew (tax evasion, cheating, non-reporting, poor record keeping, non-payment, late filing, etc.).

Prince John’s system didn’t work then and it isn’t working now. It robs us of our incentives to be successful, creative, productive and thrifty. It encourages laziness, cheating, fear and rebellion.

“The Communist Manifesto”, Tenet No. 2, by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, calls explicitly for “a heavy progressive or graduated income tax”. Amendment XVI of the Constitution of the United States (1913) gave Congress the power “to lay and collect taxes on incomes, for whatever source derived….”

In 1950 a family of four paid only 2 percent federal income taxes. In 2010 they paid almost 18 percent. (Large corporations paid up to 39 percent.) Would an increase of 2 percent to 18 percent in federal income taxes for a family of four in the last 60 years be considered a progressive and graduated income tax?

Don’t you know the authors of “The Communist Manifesto” would be very pleased to see that we have come to tolerate and embrace one of their major doctrines to expedite the conversion of a free-market nation to communism!

Where is Robin Hood?

Born in Big Spring, Texas, Barbara Lunsford has been a bean counter (accountant) for over forty years. She has one published book, Killer for Hire – The Final Chapter of the Alabama Twins Murder Case, a true crime case of judicial malpractice. She also has several blogs with one specifically devoted to all aspects of mystery crime at Mystery Crime Blog.

Keys to a Million

2012-01-25T09:00:51Z

Guest Post by Douglas Misquita

When I received sample copies of my debut novel and held the first book in my hands, I realized the implications of the sentence “over a million copies sold”. I realized that a million people had to buy what I was holding in my hand for me to get that branding on my books. At that point I could not fathom how other authors had reached that staggering as-far-as-the-moon-is-from-the-earth figure! But there had to be a way and I began to think about how to attain that end goal. No easy task because I was going to have to fund all this on my own.

The easiest and quickest thing to do was tell everyone I knew about the book. But all those ‘viral uplifts’ don’t amount to anything if people don’t click ‘Like’, and you cannot put a gun to people’s heads and say, ‘Click like!’ (though I can recall at some points I was very dogged about it with whoever I caught online) but there’s no other way. Persistence is key!

But even among my online friends, a subset of them ‘Liked’ the social page I created for my book and even they had not read the book. So how could they enthusiastically recommend it? What next? Move beyond friends. Quick Google searches found me reviewers within the country who will give publish an unbiased review. Here’s where the anxiety comes in because this is the first acid test. You’re opening yourself to someone whose credibility rests on how objectively they review your book. But there’s no other option: you’ve run out of friends and it’s time to step into the big bad world. After all these are the real ‘million’ fans you could have. Courage, belief in your work, and an objective reaction to criticism are key!

Meanwhile, I was traipsing around LinkedIn and joined a number of groups and found out that while a few ideas were good, and there are some ostensibly knowledgeable and extremely critical people on those forums, many of those groups amount to debutants trying to campaign their books which doesn’t work. I mean all we’re doing is one telling one and another about our books but no one is contributing to a sale or review. But all said and done, those forums did prompt me to get a book video created and some of the people out there are really nice and encouraging. I did make some good online friends who I think I will turn to for advice and tips in the future. Extracting what works for you on a forum and being humble is key! It sets you apart; people will remember that you weren’t just a vulture.

After my LinkedIn days, I listed my book on goodreads.com and even tried online advertising. Advertising is something that I was very finicky about because of the return on investment, especially if you’re not in the US and once again how many times do you click an advertisement when you don’t know the product or the product owner? Anyway, advertising is important and so I decided to dabble in a small campaign just to see what it would return. Conclusion: unless you’re already famous or you spend like a million bucks (exaggeration) advertising isn’t very helpful. But at least I know now, where I should put my money next time. At about the same time after a lot of debate I signed up for a discounted virtual book tour. This was my most expensive investment because shipping books internationally (one reviewer was from the Bahamas!) will definitely lighten one’s pocket. But the good thing here is that I exposed the book to an international audience and it worked well with them, so I know that my style of writing is internationally accepted and my stories are good and entertaining and I know that there are great discounts happening during the year! Trying out everything is key!

And then my publisher stepped in. And I don’t know why – I’d like to attribute it to fate, divine intervention and the fact that perhaps they saw what I was trying to do for the book. One day they said, ‘Douglas, go ahead and get reviewers, anyone willing to create a buzz around your book, doesn’t matter if it’s bad. Get those people; we’ll ship copies of the book to them.’ Freed from financial constraints I went on a head-hunting spree and also got bold enough to list a giveaway on goodreads.com. And bang! Suddenly a lot of people were interested in the book. Freebies are key!

I know I need to tour and have book signings but I will do that when I’m confident I can draw a crowd on my own and don’t need a celebrity to launch me. That’s what’s left. There are lots of videos of famous authors at signings and on talk shows. Watching and learning from the greats is key!

So here I am 1 year of experimenting with marketing my book. I’ve learned a lot and am confident that I now know exactly what to do with the next books in terms of spreading awareness. I may not hit my million (so soon) but I know that I’m doing the right things and am on the right path. Knowing that a million will not come overnight and you need to fight for it is key!

Douglas Misquita is a thriller writer from India. His debut action-thriller Haunted has been well received by fans of the genre. When he isn’t writing or playing guitar with a rock-n-roll band, Douglas works in the wireless communications industry. Find out more at http://www.douglasmisquita.com