Bastet's Lair

I've got a new book out!

2011-09-01T13:18:00.000-05:00

I've got a new book that's come out on the Fiction Studio Books imprint, named The God's Wife. It's being sold as an e-book on all platforms from Kindle on Amazon.com, to iPad via the iTunes bookstore, and all other e-bookstores in between. There also is a paperback available at Amazon.com

What's it about? It's a historical fiction tale mixed with a lot of magic and mystical touches all featuring a young girl who is named the God's Wife of Amun in ancient Egypt. You don't have to know much about ancient Egypt, because the book explains everything you need to know. Neferet, the young God's Wife, hasn't been prepared for her role properly. Political vipers assail her and sexual approaches surround her.

Meanwhile, in the 21st century a young dancer named Rebecca Kirk has been slated to dance a version of "Aida," and becomes so immersed in her role that she falls into trances, smelling the breeze off the Nile, feeling the desert sun on her cheeks, hearing the call of the priests at Karnak temple. It isn't long before she senses that she's communicating with an Egyptian woman from the distant past.

Eventually the two are communicating, and the reason for it eludes all reason. Neferet thinks the gods are putting Rebecca to her aid. Rebecca thinks they are on parallel universes. But whatever is going on, each woman is helping the other. The worlds are not stable however, and it's clear that both can't exist for long. Who will live and who will die? And what precious gift is the God's Wife learning from this otherworldly experience?

The book has already got one rave review from Technorati.com, which called it: “A heavenly read.... The God’s Wife is a feast of romance and excitement, keeping the reader in its thrall with suspense.”

More reviews will come in, but I can't expect a better start than that.

Andre Agassi Hits a Grand Slam

2011-07-11T16:50:00.000-05:00

Now that tennis is back in the news (with Wimbledon just ended), it's a perfect time to pick up a book about tennis, preferably one that gets you inside the sport in ways you never would in other ways. Open by Andre Agassi is that book. Part auto-biography, part memoir (and who can really tell the difference), this is remembrance of a life in tennis that will grab you from the opening pages and not let you go until Agassi is finished 386 pages later. It tells the personal story of the man who won eight grand slams (those are the biggest tennis tournaments in the world), became a multimillionaire in prize money and product endorsement, was an international celebrity, and set up a charity in Las Vegas to fund underprivileged kids who had no education, decent living conditions, or prospects for the future.

But the book doesn't just discuss Agassi's achievements and personal life. It also takes a look down the dark corridors of the tennis academies and clubs where tennis is taught and sheds a not-so-glamorous light on the sport. For Agassi, who claims right from the beginning that he hates the sport, says tennis is battering whole generations of unwilling boys and girls by adults who crave the prize money, fame, and the ego-showcase of being the parent of a world-class tennis player.

From the beginning of the book, Agassi regales readers with the torment he was subjected to by his father, an Iranian immigrant named Mike (name Anglicized) Agassi. He married an American woman in Chicago and moved to Las Vegas. Finding a job at the casinos, he looked for a home in the nearby desert. It had to be a home that had a backyard that fit certain required dimensions—those of a tennis court. It turns out that the elder Agassi was determined that one (if not all) of his children was going to be a tennis champion. As the girls broke down one by one, and brother Philly couldn't make the grade, it was up to Andre, the youngest, to become the No. 1 tennis player in the world.

When his father couldn't torture him any longer—tennis before school and after—he was sent off to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida. Bollettieri's school, which is legendary now for the number of champions it has fostered, was new then not the dream school people imagine. Crummy food, drill-sergeant tactics, no sleep, no bonding with other students; it sounded like a hellhole. And Agassi was horrified when Bollettieri picked him out as a favored student who could stay for free. Essentially with no schooling past the 9th grade, Agassi was Nick's ward and shepherded across the U.S. winning junior championships and becoming more lonely as time went on.

The story eventually cheers as Agassi becomes an adult and plays as a professional. He finds his self worth and begins to gather an entourage who help him with training, finances, public relations, and just dealing with his emotions. He was still a wild child and shows up at tournaments in denim shorts and mohawk haircuts. News reporters jeer him for a advertising slogan ("Image is Everything") that follows him even though it was none of his doing.

The young years are rough, and a nasty rivalry develops between Agassi and Bernard Becker (this becomes almost humorous as the book continues), but there's a turning point that happens when Agassi faces down his public self and turns inward. There are things that go horribly wrong, such as his marriage to Brooke Shields, and things that are quite brilliant, such as his re-dedication to training with his no-nonsense trainer. The book never makes clear why Agassi could have played it so wrong by falling for Shields, who had no interest in his life as a tennis player at all. He even writes that she liked it when he lost a tournament because then he was around the house, paying attention to her!

But in the areas where he digs in and grows up, he sheds the need to please people like his father and the long-disappeared Bollettieri. He begins to work hard on his charity for underprivileged children, because in a way he's working on the child he was, underprivileged and unschooled in Las Vegas: a child who needed love and received very little. Because he worked so hard on the inner Andre, his tennis improved, and he attracted fans like never before.

Then he chased after and won the heart of Steffi (properly called Stefanie) Graf, former tennis pro and all-time Grand Slam record winner. With Graf, Agassi finds love, peace, and the joy of fatherhood with young Jaden and Jaz.

This writer was at the U.S. Open when Andre ended his career. I watched as he played the biggest match of his career (which he describes in detail in the first chapter of Open) against Marcos Baghdatis. The next match he lost and then announced the end of his long and historic career. It was one of those most moving and heart-rending moments in tennis. This book captures all of it.

Article first published as Book Review: Open By Andre Agassi on Blogcritics.

Apple Removes iPhone App for Being Anti-Gay

2010-12-04T20:18:00.000-06:00

By Lynn Voedisch

Apps are supposed to be fun little things to put on your cell phone (or iPod, iPad or Android phone, as the case may be). They help you find restaurants, or figure out the tip for your waitress, make silly sounds to help you get off the telephone, or even simulate the flame of a lighter. They aren't supposed to inflame an entire population to send out petitions to have it removed from the iPhone.

But that's just what happened in the case of the Manhattan Declaration, a fairly discreet-looking app for the iPhone that was Christian in nature. Originally, the app received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it contained no objectionable material. But that usually means no porn, no hate speech (as in no Nazis or race-baiting), and no overt violence. However, in just a few short weeks, the Manhattan Declaration was pulled for being anti-gay, a designation that the Manhattan Declaration disagrees with greatly.

Here's how it all fell out: The Manhattan group sent out a brief survey to all its members. Some of the questions had to do with gay marriage and abortion. Users who replied that they approved of gay marriage or a woman's right to choose received a message that they had received a zero score and were directed to donate money to the group. This prompted an organization called Change.org to get riled up. Change.org represents the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transexual (LGBT) community and they were up in arms that an anti-gay app was given space on the iPhone. The group started a petition drive that garnered 7,728 signatures, many that had notes following the name citing the hypocrisy of a "loving" Christian group that would single out gays for persecution.

Change.org presented the petition to Apple CEO Steve Jobs and cited "hateful and divisive" language on the app and demanded its removal. By Thanksgiving, the app was down.

For its part, Manhattan Declaration called the petition a "small but vocal protest" and decried the fact that Change.org was charging them with homophobia.

"We emphasize with great sincerity that 'disagreement' is not 'gay-bashing." Anyone who takes the time to read the Mamhattan Declaration can see that the language used to defand traditional marriage, the sanctity of life, and religious liberty is civil, non-inflammatory, and respectful."

An Apple spokesperson defended the move to remove the app, saying: "We removed the Manhattan Declaration app from the App Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people."

The Manhattan Declaration vows it will fight on in petitions via Twitter and Facebook.

Article first published as Apple Removes App from iPhone for Being Anti-Gay on Technorati.

Norah Jones Shows Versatility in "...Featuring"

2010-11-27T10:56:00.003-06:00

By Lynn Voedisch

What a lot of fun this musical production is!

"…Featuring," Norah Jones' latest release, is a wonderful arrangement of the songstress' tracks as she appears with numerous other artists, who are as varied as Dolly Parton and Outkast. The songs were recorded from 2001 to 2010 and cover everything from small cameos to duets to full-scale collaborations. They mirror Jones' own career over the decade, in which she has recorded four CDs that have sold more than 40 million copies altogether. Everything from jazz to country to hip-hop to ballads are represented.

Almost every one of the tracks works, but some are standouts. I never would have thought that Nora would blend well with Dolly Parton, but "Creepin' In" proves me wrong. This collaboration has the two women alternating lyrics and then joining together for the refrain in a most lovely way. Dolly has a luscious voice on her own, but somehow the sweetness of Jones' pipes adds a texture that's just irresistible.

Out earlier on Herbie Hancock's Grammy-award-winning River: The Joni Letters album, "Court & Spark," still sounds like a new release. Jones gives Joni Mitchell's 1970s anthem to love and faithlessness a sound that's a bit tougher than usual for her. Hancock gives it all a jazz base that makes the song a signature one for his own album. On this CD, it's a show-stopper.

Another song that appeared on another best-of-the-year Grammy-winning album is "Here We Go Again" with Ray Charles from Genius Loves Company. I don't think the late Charles ever sounded bad with anyone he collaborated with, and this is no exception. He gives plenty of musical space to Norah, who sings playfully with him. They tease and trade off segments, pause for a long organ solo (which make you ache for the lost Charles even more), and then join together for the finale.

I'd never have put Norah Jones and Outkast in the same musical sentence, but the two blend together with ease. Outkast simply puts her out front as lead singer, and she melds with their funk as if she were born to it. The song "Take Off Your Cool" is from is another Grammy winner, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.

Some of the songs Jones sings are from her own bands or side projects, such as The Little Willies and El Madmo, so the songs with those groups work naturally well. She also includes songs with perfumers she's toured with, including M. Ward, Sasha Dobson (who has played with her touring band), Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings.

I was most surprised that she does well with hip-hop, for there's an area where I'd imagine her an outsider. Yet sure enough, she shines with Q-Tip in "Life is Better" and even with Talib Kweli in "Soon the New Day" (although I couldn't understand why she was interested in singing the sexist lyrics to this second song).

All in all, this is one wonderful little sampler of a CD. It's the perfect party mix with something for everyone. Or a great selection for driving: a little jazz, a little country, ballads, hip-hop, everything you might want.

The closing cut is the best. The Roy Orbison song "Blue Bayou" gets a beautiful live acoustic guitar treatment with M. Ward. It's a lovely, plaintive, untouched-by-time appeal for "some sweet day…on blue bayou."

Article first published as Music Review: Norah Jones ...Featuring on Blogcritics.

Review of The Price of Liberty by Keir Graff

2010-11-08T22:11:00.000-06:00

By Lynn Voedisch

For Jack McEnroe, the price of liberty has nothing to do with politics or patriotism. It's based on keeping his job.

Jack works at a Red Rock, Montana, prison under construction and meant for terrorists. It's named Liberty and is funded, through some nefarious means, by Halcyon Corporation, which sounds eerily like the Halliburton Corp. of reality. The protagonist is in trouble for punching out the boss' piggish son, Shane Fetters, and has been demoted to clean-up duty, which angers him well enough. In the recent past, his wife, Kyla, left him because he spent all his time building a dream house for his family instead of spending time with her and kids. Now Kyla, who works as a secretary for the boss (and is secretly sleeping with him), has discovered that executive Dave Fetters has been double-billing Halcyon. She worries about whether she should blow the whistle.

Little does Kyla know but she leaves her tracks on the computer, and Dave realizes she's been into his super-secret double-billing file. He also knows she's been querying the word "whistle-blower" on various search engines. He realizes he's in trouble deep, but doesn't want to harm Kyla. Trouble is, Shane knows too, and he's like a roaring bull moose that can't be stopped.

Jack's in the middle and has to stop Sean from destroying his family and everything else he holds dear in the name of Liberty.

It's a fine plot that novelist Keir Graff has woven in the wilderness thriller The Price of Liberty. What looks to be a book about survival in the wilds of Montana is more like a book about surviving political wiles in Washington, D.C. Senators and corporation big-wigs get handouts, everyone glad-hands, and plenty of money is exchanged. Fetters takes the big shots on fake "hunts" into the wilderness where nothing is killed, but they all retire for a venison meal at a swank restaurant and fat Cuban cigars. That's the way business is done in this version of America, the one no one of Jack's class will ever see.

Up until the double-billing is discovered, everything goes swimmingly for Dave Fetters. However, he doesn't know that a couple security folks from the feds are on to him. They have full names, but like most secret operatives, they just go by last names: Starr and Mosley. Mosley is the most interesting: a vet of the Iraq war, he seems able to slip in and out of every emergency, and track any illegal activity. He's been watching Shane. Starr has put it more bluntly to Dave; he's told Dave that his son has been identified as a security problem. What's a father to do?

It all goes haywire in a wicked and wild way when Shane cuts loose with some sort of half-baked plot to restore his honor and keep the ill-gotten loot. Rotten to the core, he's not afraid to blow away innocent gawkers along the way. Mosley quietly cleans up the mess in the name of damage control. Jack strikes out on his own doing counter-insurgency, if you will, getting friends and co-wokers to battle back at Shane. Dave's caught in the middle. I won't leak any spoilers, but his filial love could have shone in a better light.

All in all, Graff has produced a terrifically ironic look at America today, where the terrorist prisons stand in for the real-life legislators who are terrified of housing terrorists. (Although our maximum security prisons house the worst serial killers, rapists, and child killers.) The double-funding for the Halcyon Corporation mirrors the messes we've gotten into with Halliburton and now the Xe Corps. No explanation needed. Missing taxpayer money? Someone in Washington, D.C. is knee-deep in it. And even though Red Rock, Montana, is about a thousand miles from nowhere, it's a perfect microcosm of Everywhere, USA.

My only beef is that Graff's tight and almost journalistic prose (that's a good thing, by that way), tends to make Red Rock sound like a cold, barren place where no one would want to live. I doubt that was his intention, for Kyla and the kids are relieved when Jack lets them know he doesn't want to move away. Making the landscape sound less forbidding and more ruggedly beautiful might have softened the edges of the book.

But that's a tiny complaint about a first-class thriller that sweeps the reader along on a bouncy, jarring ride, almost as dangerous as the trip in Jack McEnroe's SUV. It will grip you, it will feel real, and it will make you think about American values.

Article first published as Book Review The Price of Liberty By Keir Graff on Blogcritics.

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear Trips Up Mainstream Media

2010-11-01T22:21:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

"Calmer than you are, dude" read one sign at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C. Saturday afternoon. It summed up the mood of the crowd—cool, comical, not at all worked up by any political message.

CBS News, which hired a helicopter to do an accurate count of the thousands of people who trooped Washington for the low-key affair put together by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, estimated 210,000 people attended the event in the Washington Mall. (Fox News, naturally, put the numbers at less than one hundred thousand.)

However large the rally was, mainstream TV seemed stymied by the event's purpose. It wasn't really political, it wasn't just a comedy show (although Stewart and Colbert did their arch comedy shtick on a stage under the Capitol building, which was beamed on many Jumbotrons).

It wasn't a rock gig (although everyone from Sheryl Crow to John Legend to Cat Stevens - now Yusuf Islam - performed). NPR even declined to cover it, deciding it wasn't a real political event. Network execs scratched their heads. Everyone wanted to make something out of it that it wasn't.

The "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" (the Fear part comes from Colbert's hilarious attempts in his pseudo conservative persona to interject fear into the midterm election precess) was nothing more than an event for the people in the political middle.

It was a chance for the actual forgotten center, if you will, to say, "stop the extremism and listen to us for a change." All about the crowd signs and costumes made the statements loud and clear: "Don't Tread on Anybody" (a clear answer to the case of a Rand Paul staffer stepping on small female MoveOn volunteer's head). "Seniors for Sanity" followed by "Slightly Perturbed." "1.No Biting, 2. No Hitting, 3.No Kicking, Kindergarten Rules 101," "I Am Afraid of People Who Carry Signs at Rallies," "War Solved Hitler," "No One is a Communist and a Nazi," "I Spell-check My Political Rants," "I Have No Idea What I Am Doing Here," "Freedom Fries, Never Forget," "I'm Pretty Sure Nazi Germany Didn't Allow Rallies Like This At All (That Should Tell Us Something)," and "Tea Parties are for Little Girls and Mad Hatters." Following that theme were a few people dressed as Mad Hatters with tea bags dangling from their costumes.

Some sidewalk hawkers had a few political wares to sell, the funniest of which was a t-shirt that had a picture of George W. Bush. It read: "I screwed you all. But thanks for blaming the black guy." Sales were brisk. But mostly people just bought shirts with the official Rally logo.

While the crowd was impossible to peg—young fans of the shows, old hippies, curious residents of Virginia and the D.C. area, dedicated "The Daily Show" fans who flew in from California—all were there to enjoy themselves, have a good time and trade quips. No one was there to press a political agenda. Well, there were a few misguided souls who were passing out leaflets for a political cause, but they were few and far between. Mostly, they were ignored.

Stewart and Colbert did a stage show about honor and fear, with Colbert comically trying to inflame Stewart with panic about killer bees, storms, robots and the like. But Stewart kept professing his belief that America was great and could overcome anything. (Sound quality was not great, and many could not hear much the show at all. My own vertical challenge prevented me from seeing even the Jumbotrons.)

The musical acts were loud and proud though, and one could hardly miss the former Cat Stevens, now a Muslim, performing "Peace Train," which Colbert challenged with Ozzy Osbourn's "Crazy Train." Back and forth the comedians went, handing out awards from most sane individuals to the most insane.

One of the insane was Mark Zuckerberg for inventing Facebook, but as Colbert explained, "He's not here because he values his own privacy more than he values yours."

Eventually, they came to an agreement that America was a pretty great place to live, and they sang — Stewart apologized for making people hear his singing voice. And the event ended, after Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock did a high-powered number, with an impassioned speech from Stewart that all Americans can work together instead of engaging in polarizing fighting.

"These are dark times but not the end times," he said. Later he added, "We hear every damned day about how fragile our country is, on the brink of catastrophe, torn by polarizing hate, and how it's a shame that we can't work together to get things done. The truth is, we do! We work together to get things done every damned day! The only place we don't is here (in Washington) or on cable TV!"

It was a sobering speech from a man we think of as a cerebral comedian, but not a pundit. Yet he was making more sense than most talking heads on TV. On "Meet the Press" Sunday morning, every one on the panelists had no idea what to make of the huge crowd that gathered the day before in D.C.—and left the mall almost spotless, by the way. National Public Radio's Nichele Norris complained that the rally crowd could have been canvassing that day, missing the point that the rally participants were unaligned with a party and irritated with the whole process. They were making a statement that the process is broken and no one in Washington, it seems, heard the message at all. Maybe the candidates did. There are a lot of votes out there they could capture, if they learned to how speak nonviolently, rationally, and with moderation.

Article first published as "Rally to Restore Sanity" on Technorati.

Obama's Wars: In Afghanistan and With His Advisers

2010-10-23T17:32:00.001-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

The title of Bob Woodward's book is bound to confuse many readers, for one would think it refers to Afghanistan and Iraq, the two wars that President Barack Obama inherited when he took office. However, Woodward's tome hardly mentions Iraq at all. Instead, this is a close (some would say microscopic) look at how Obama deepened his involvement in Afghanistan and fought the Washington establishment surrounding him, especially the Pentagon. The plural "wars" almost certainly refers to the entrenched military and intelligence officials who were used to getting what they asked for — and found in this president someone who actually had the nerve to stand up and say no.
Woodward has never been a dazzling writer, and he doesn't exactly thrill in this volume either. Where one might expect a little Washington gossip, or at least a few little bits of information about the transfer from the George W. Bush to Obama administrations, readers get precious little. To say the book is ponderous is an understatement. I think the only surprise I learned was that Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan is bi-polar and is often described as "off his meds." Who knew?
The rest drones on with the desultory tones of a history book. If you are a political wonk and really get into who is the head of the National Security Council and who does the Presidential Daily Briefing, this is the book for you, because it has every detail about what goes on at presidential meetings, and then some. For the rest of us, Woodward just goes overboard with every conversation he could possibly log between all the major players from chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael G. Mullen to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. What bugs me is he throws in quotations of conversations he couldn't possibly have heard — but that's his quirk.
The problem with Obama's Wars is the difficulty with any current affairs book; it goes out of date quickly. Already, head of the NSC, Gen. James L. Jones, has resigned, leaving his deputy, Thomas E. Donilon, in charge. For those who haven't read the book that would seem a fairly benign change. However, behind the scenes, this move is bound to be causing quite a contretemps, for Donilon, a civilian, is not well regarded by the military, and Jones himself did not see eye-to-eye with Joint Chiefs of Staff head Mullen. With Rahm Emanuel out as Chief of Staff, you can bet that more personalities are clashing in Washington.

Besides being a book about egos who undercut each other or overplay themselves on the national stage, Woodward's book is about national advisers who have far too little respect for the man elected to the highest office in the land. You'd think that with his bona fides tested in the campaign, Obama, who graduated best in his class from Harvard Law School and was a former Constitutional Law professor, wouldn't be considered an easy target for a game of Hide the Numbers. But it's amazing that the Pentagon tried, along with ambassadors and national security advisors. Even after long, serious study of the Afghan situation, attended by all important parties, Obama's advisors went home, then returned and acted as if they had never heard the presentation.
They wanted 40,000 troops in Afghanistan. David Petraeus wanted a counterinsurgency program. Mullen stood with Petraeus. Jones was dead set against Petraeus. Meanwhile, vide-president Biden, who is described as so long-winded that people wince when he starts talking, had a completely different plan, for a counterinsurgency effort based near the edges of Pakistan.
Near the end of the book (which is so wearying, you wonder how Obama himself must have felt), the reader realizes that for all the advice, the president was on his own. Except for some apt advice from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, he had hardly anyone to trust and an entire country to please. Some wanted a bigger war. Some wanted none at all. He had Karzai who would love the Americans to stay and take care of all his problems. And if he listened to the military, he'd be adding even more billions to his already huge budget.
Obama didn't want a war, but he had to show that we weren't going to cave in to the Taliban or al Queda (who are in Pakistan, anyway). He set the troops number at 30,000, refused to back down when the military carped. Obama precisely dictated terms of his order down to how many cases of tissue paper were allowed to be shipped. I exaggerate, but it's almost that humiliating. When he finally ground the Pentagon back to the wall, they knew they met their match.

As Woodword tells the story, they all come out shaking his hand, saying that's the way they'd have wanted it anyway. Gates agreed to another year as Secretary of Defense (it was looking shaky before). Lots of love all around. But Obama had to push them to get there. Affghanistan head Gen. Stanley A McChrystal, was in the habit of making loose remarks, had about three chances to keep his job, most stemming from a disastrous speech he made in London in 2009, Unfortunately, Rolling Stone reported several comments that McChrystal and his men made about the civilians running the Afghanistan campaign, most dating back to the London speech. It was too much, He was out, and Petraeus was in. As far as Obama was concerned, this would be the end of the leaks and the insubordination.
As we know, the war goes on, although Obama promises a roll-out by June, 2011. We will see if that happens. It was a skirmish getting to where we are now, and far too few American appreciate the work the President did winding down the Iraq war to put the surge into Afghanistan. From the looks of things, the man has to fight every day with his own people.
If Woodward has done anything with this book, he's shown that a day in the life of a president is probably the most stressful day you could imagine.

Article first published as Book Review: Obama's Wars By Bob Woodward on Blogcritics.

Run, Rahm, Rahm! But Don't Forget Who You Are

2010-10-18T20:20:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

Rahm Emanuel hit the bricks in the Chicago for his "Tell it Like It Is" tour in Chicago, a sort of preview to his bid for the mayor's job. It's also called a "listening tour." That's the problem with Rahm, he's telling you things when he's supposed to be listening and he doesn't see the irony, but that's quintessential Rahm. The question is - will Chicago accept him?

If you listen to the national media, Emanuel's ascension to the mayor's seat is already a done deal. I even heard one radio announcer say, "Now that Rahm Emanuel leaves the White House to become Mayor of Chicago, what's next for the White House?" What a minute, sir, aren't you missing a step? Like an election?

While the rest of the country is sure that fast-talking (often foul-talking) Rahm is off to a blazing start in Chicago, the truth is that not many voters really know what to make of him. Sure he's a hometown boy and served as a congressman on the North Side. But was he a street-smart protege of a ward boss? That's the way mayors are made in Chicago. I can't even think of a superstar ever making it to the mayor's office. In fact, I can hardly remember when someone named Daley wasn't in the mayor's chair.

There were brief stays by Harold Washington, Jane Byrne, and even briefer shows by Eugene Sawyer and Michael Bilandic, but they were blips on the radar screen. For my whole life, it's been Richard J. Daley and Richard M. Daley. And I'm pretty sure, it's been that way for most other Chicagoans too.

So what do we make of Rahm, who landed with such finesse straight from the White House? He's got a splashy new Web site that looks like a replicant of the Obama site, just teeming with that Macintosh slick design and the sly requests for information and stories (which are requests for your e-mail address.) Gotta give him style points on the Mac look, though.

On the Web site, he gives a humble speech that makes him look and sound as clean as a school boy. No foul language from this well-mannered young man! And the "my father immigrated here from Israel" part is a nice little reach out to the Jewish community. The rest of the site shows Rahm eating Italian Beef or going to day-care centers or otherwise interacting with everyday Chicagoans in a dopey, but friendly, way. It's all very cute but it looks rather fake.

Bring it on, Rahm! Be who you are. We all know you are the fire-breathing, foul-mouthed, Democrat who used to whip party regulars into line before the White House job. Show some of that blaze again. Even the foul language is not necessarily a bad thing. We're used to the rough stuff. The Daleys managed to slaughter every sentence they got their mouth around, and once in a while a four-letter word would fly too. Chicago's in sad shape economically, and we need someone with a little pluck. Enough with day-care visits. We need someone who can deliver cold, hard cash to the kiddie-care facilities.

Last week, on the cover of one issue of the New York Times, there was a picture of Emanuel holding out his hand to shake with a prospective voter. The caption called her "shy." I'd say she looked more like she was backing away, anxious and ready to bolt. If people know who Rahm is, they want to run the other way. "Emanuel? Isn't he the guy who screwed up the health care bill?" Or if they don't know who he is, they don't know why he's being followed by a parade of camera and sound crew workers. "Must be trouble."

In a poll taken by the Chicago Sun-Times before Emanuel left office, Rahm only scored 7% popularity with the voters, coming in below Jesse Jackson, Jr., who is besmirched by the Blago scandal. (Jackson is undeclared.)

Still, Rahmbo's about the only one out there who has a name. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), who was thinking of representing the Hispanic vote, decided not to run. It's pretty sad when the only name that brings up any thoughts of integrity in office is Tom Dart, the Cook County Sheriff, and probably only about one eighth of the voters know who he is, if that many. So, Rahm is the only name brand anyone can relate to, for good or for bad.

So, listen hard, Rahm, on your "listening tour." Then stop with the schoolboy act and be who you are. Be the guy who was elected to Congress for being a progressive Democrat. Sure, that's not playing well in many portions of the country, but it's playing just fine in Chicago. If you want to win this thing, use your advantages. It would be a shame to waste that expensive Web site.

Article first published as Run, Rahm, Rahm! But Don't Forget Who You Are on Technorati.

"Our Lady of Dreams" fails as New Age mystery

2010-10-14T22:18:00.001-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

This is the novel that took me the entire last summer to read. It's not that it was too difficult. At 599 pages, it's not the longest novel I've ever read (although it felt like 900 pages). Plus, I'm a fast reader, averaging a book a week. The problems with Our Lady of Dreams: A Prophecy for the New Age were manifold, but boil down to two problems. First, the book is written by an author, Chanson Duvall, who not only admits to being a rank amateur using a nom de plume, but writing is not even his main craft. Duvall ("song of the valley") lives in Phoenix, AZ. where he is a self-described mystic and teaches meditation and enlightenment to his students. Crafting a well-written novel is not his specialty, and it shows.

The second problem with Our Lady of Dreams is that it's two books in one. It purports to be a murder mystery about a young guru, John Paul Marconi, who is murdered in the Big Bear mountain area near Los Angeles. A young district attorney, Katherine Marconi, who just happens to be the victim's sister, is following the case with police investigator, Pete Hanson. Katherine discovers a diary written by the top suspect, Thomas Mattkins, who also happens to be a star football player.

It's this diary that intrudes on the whole flow of the book, becoming a volume in itself. It's really not much of a diary, although it starts out that way. However, it becomes a primer on Eastern philosophy: how to meditate, the meaning of the chakras, the lives and guises of the various gods and ascended masters, and a detailed description on how to attain kundalini ecstasy (a type of meditative perfection that very few masters have achieved). Along the way, Mattkins explains how he met John Paul, how he became his devoted disciple, and how he nearly worshiped him, but all that seems besides the point. Katherine has sworn to Mattkins that she won't divulge anything in the diaries to police or lawyers, so how can the writings help him?

The diaries really have almost nothing to do with the murder plot in this book at all. So, whenever Katherine stays up late and finds an excuse to reach for the memoirs, I put the novel aside. I knew all the action was going to disappear. Duvall was telegraphing to his readers that the fun was over and the dull New Age stuff was about to begin — not a smart move for an author. One final point about the New Age diaries: I'm fairly well-read in this area, and I found no reason for Duvall to go into such detail unless he wanted to write his own New Age series of books. If he wanted to discuss the chakras, why not bring up the subject briefly and then mention a source that Thomas would look up for further reading?

As far as the murder went, I found myself astonished at the characters' behavior. At first Katherine wants to take on the case of her brother's death when that's clearly a violation of ethics. It's a wonder she wasn't fired when her boss found out. Instead, she's merely moved to other cases. Still she finds ways to circumvent rules to keep close to the case when she's been forbidden to stay away. We're supposed to admire her pluck, but I was appalled at her cheek. Just quit the job already, and then you can stay close to the case all you want. You don't win any brownie points by sneaking around your boss and half doing your job. In her personal life, she burns the candle at both ends, living on caffeine and never sleeping — yet we are constantly told how stunningly attractive she is. She ought to be stumbling around with bags under her eyes just a few weeks into the novel.

She hooks up with Pete the lead the detective (another barely ethical issue) and within no time at all, they are engaged. None of this seems kosher, and neither do the facts of the murder case. John Paul was killed by someone stringing him up to a tree and slitting his throat. But when the police arrived at the crime scene, John Paul was dead on his stomach in a field, and the unconscious Mattkins was beaten to pulp on top of him (he later went into a coma), and no knife was found. Two bodies, one dead and one left for dead. The knife showed up mysteriously at the cop shop with Mattkin's prints on it. But how does anyone attest for the fact that Mattkins nearly lost his life in this caper? Did he turn on himself and knock himself senseless? Yet the cops and the D.A. stubbornly refuse to believe that a second person could be involved or that Mattkins is innocent. And the way Duvall explains the facts, especially in the courtroom scene, you'd think that the L.A.P.D. was filled with lunkheads who couldn't put two clues together.

I won't spoil the ending — if it is an ending at all. Many people will say it's esoteric and in line with the New Age message of the diaries. I found it a sloppy way to end the plot and, frankly, no ending at all.
I really had hope for this book. Lately there have been a couple New Age books that gave it the old college try, The Celestine Prophecy and The Da Vinci Code. Both were dogs, although the Prophecy had some good ideas hidden within all that bad writing. Maybe it's just New Age subject matter than dooms these books. Sadly, add Our Lady of Dreams to the list.

Article first published as Book Review Our Lady of Dreams by Chanson Duvall on Blogcritics.

Achy Obejas pens bittersweet novel of a revolution lost in Ruins

2010-09-09T17:34:00.001-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

What happens when the revolution's over? The celebration's a thing of the past and the banners are long taken down from public buildings, posters of former heroes torn and faded from neglect. One might quip that the Democrats are feeling this depression right now, but things have truly unraveled in full force for the followers of Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution. They feel real pain.

Author Achy Obejas, herself a native Cuban, writes that on the island nation just about every-one has forgotten the fervor that once brought Castro to power. (Castro is now languishing and now letting his brother run the country.) People leave the country for Miami — 90 nautical miles away — on anything that will float and deal with U.S. Immigration when in the arms of loving relatives who are already U.S. citizens. To the Cubans, America is a destination, not a dangerous choice.

All this comes as a shocking blow to Usnavy Martín Levya, the bizarrely named protagonist of Ruins, Obejas' brilliant novel of bitter betrayal and lost dreams. Usnavy (named for the passing boats in Guantamamo Bay in happier times) finds himself to be a relic in Havana in a hot summer of 1994. Although he remains true to the Communist cause, working at a bodega, doling out pitiful portions of stale food to those who will wait in line, he notices that others are succumbing to capitalist ways. They're finding backstreet deals to traffic in dollars. Selling what they have of value and for cars and other luxuries.

Usnavy sneers at this degrading behavior until he sees his best friends building rafts to ride the waves to Miami. The United States? Land of cash and no soul? Sex to sell trinkets on TV? (Never mind that Usnavy's TV doesn't work.) Bling? (If Usnavy knew the word "bling," he would surely use it.) Most of all, he is sure the U.S. is ruining youth and he has a young daughter, Nena, coming of age and vulnerable to the degenerative changes going on in Havana. He feels protective and unsure.

Usnavy is beautifully characterized as a man who feels deeply but appears stiff and unbending to others. His wife Lidia and daughter Nena don't understand when he can't let them have the small indulgence of "pretend" meat (which is fairly disgusting) or let them make money in unorthodox ways. They don't want life at the co-op, and he is losing them.

But Usnavy has his own indulgence. It is a glorious Tiffany (or is it a Tiffany?) lamp he inherited from his mother. When the electricity is working, it lights up the entire apartment, and some come to share in its yellow glow. A chance encounter leads him to discover how the lamps are repaired and how they were made in America. He also discovers that his last name, Levya, marks him as a Jew whose ancestors migrated to Cuba. This shocks Usnavy, a Communist atheist, more than he can understand. He's standing on quicksand, and everything is giving way. Soon, in an attempt to authenticate his lamp, he starts to remove glass pieces. Soon he is selling them. Then in a fit of madness, he is looking in wrecks of buildings for other Tiffanies, which he never finds.

He risks it all. His beloved lamp, his wife and daughter, all his friends, just to stay stubbornly, proudly a man of principle. And that's what he is in the end: principled. Is it worth it for Usnavy? It may have to be. His pride is what he has to live on, in the ruins.

Ruins was given the Honorable Mention Award by the Society of Midland Authors in Chicago, as one of the best novels of 2009.

Article first published as Book Review: Ruins By Achy Obejas on Blogcritics.

Beck's Faith Fest Turns Up Some Crackpot Theology

2010-09-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

Things have gone way out of hand when you hear an off-the-wall comment like this one from the Glenn Beck-a-palooza last weekend at the Lincoln Memorial.

A woman was asked about her religious feelings at the event when she was speaking to a New York Times reporter. Jesus, said Becky Benson, 56, of Orlando, Florida, would not have agreed with what she called the redistribution of wealth in the form of the economic stimulus package. She said He also would not have approved of bank bailouts and welfare. The Times quoted her as saying "You cannot sit and expect someone to hand out to you."

Hold on right there. Someone Fed Ex that woman a copy of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was all about giving handouts to the poor. In fact his whole ministry was about giving healing, shelter, succor, and aid to those who needed it without any expectation of payment. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Remember that phrase, Becky? The meek don't have health insurance, either. We are expected to take care of each other, including the meek ones. It's back to Sunday school for you, Ms. Benson.
It's quite shocking how many so-called Christians have decided that Jesus, their supposed savior, would toss everyone out on the street, kick them to the curb, and say "Good luck to you; better get a good job." This is absolutely, 100% the opposite of what the Christian message is. I'm certainly not your poster child for religious piety. In fact, someone once used the term Renegade Christian, and I think it suits me well. But if I don't like the rigmarole and the fairy tales the church force-feeds so many people, I still love Jesus' message. And I simply won't have it when some Beck-crazed loony starts telling people that the gentle man from Nazareth would tell poor people they have to make it on their own.

Consider this: "See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."

We are beautiful as we are, ratty jeans and all. Jesus wasn't even into designer clothing.

Article first published as Beck Faith Fest Turns Up Some Crackpot Theology on Technorati.

Blago Brother Off Hook, Blago Retrial in 2011

2010-08-28T16:54:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

They're shuffling the deck in the federal re-trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Prosecutors dropped all charges against Blagojevich's brother Robert Blagojevich on Thursday, saying he had less of a role in the federal corruption case. There were four felony charges against the ex-governor's brother and the jury was deadlocked on all charges in a recently ended trial.

A re-trial of Rod Blagojevich, which observers thought would take place during the run-up to the fall elections, will now take place in 2011, according to presiding judge James B. Zagel. Citing scheduling conflicts over the holidays, the judge denied the federal prosecutors an earlier start. The judge also requested a report on Blagojevich's finances to determine whether or not he is broke and qualified to receive legal help. He cut the ex-governor's legal team to two lawyers (he formerly had an entire team) and said he would appoint the advocates if it's determined that Blagojevich is in financial need.

The surprise announcements mean that the Democrats don't have as much to fret about this election season. Earlier, the party had been worried that Republicans would make hay with accusations about Democratic corruption with the Blago trial going on during election season. The truth, of course, is that Democrats have no lock on corruption, and former Republican Governor George Ryan is sitting right now in the federal penitentiary doing time for taking bribes while in office.

Although federal prosecutors complained about the 2011 court date, it gives them plenty of time to streamline a case against Blagojevich, since the 23-count prosecution clearly didn't work, ending in deadlock on 22 counts and conviction only on lying to FBI agents—a conviction Blagojevich will appeal. Look for the feds to knock off some of the lesser counts, bring in some some convincing witnesses, perhaps go for some "star" witnesses on its subpoena list such as Rahm Emmanuel, and hammer home the idea that quid pro quo cases don't always need to end up with the merchandise being delivered. If U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald waited until Blagojevich installed a new senator in President Barack Obama's old seat it would have been too late to stop the "one-man crime wave" Fitzgerald described.

As for Blagojevich's brother, it's long been considered that the case against him was small potatoes. Many considered him the "bag man," his protestations that "I have done nothing wrong" notwithstanding. Still, the prosecution loses nothing by dropping this attack.

Read more: http://technorati.com/politics/article/blago-brother-off-hook-blago-retrial/#ixzz0xwLP9ds6

Article first published as Blago Brother Off Hook, Blago Retrial in 2011 on Technorati.

The Chicago Cubs Blow Their Last Game for This Fan

2010-08-24T21:55:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

I never thought I'd be saying it, but I'm hanging up my Chicago Cubs hat for the season, putting away the jerseys, and forgetting about any more games until next year. That's because Friday's game did me in. After so many seasons of broken hearts, this game raised so much bile and bitterness I had to go home and sleep it off for a while. After losing fan favorite and team captain Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves this week, the Cubs had to face him and the rest of Bobby Cox's hot team at Wrigley Field. It was weird enough seeing Lee at first base in a Braves uniform, and fans were uneasy, unsure how to react when he came up to bat. He was a beloved figure in Chicago and it felt felt wrong to boo him. Still when he popped out, they applauded heartily.

With so many long-standing Cubs veterans gone—Ryan Theriot, Ted Lilly, Mike Fontenot, and now Lee—the lineup looked bereft. New acquisition Blake DeWitt has done nothing to excite anyone. Starlin Castro, who got everyone pumped up in spring training has fizzled. And all those aforementioned star players were traded for AA and even single A prospects. Don't even ask about the pitching staff. My friends and I were poring over the scorecard trying to figure out who was left. However, pitcher Ryan Dempster did a fine job of making a game of it. He only gave up one home run to Omar Infante in the third and then held the Braves only one more score with run put together by a walk (one of the two he issued) by Martin Prado, who was driven home with a double by Alex Gonzalez.

On the Cubs side, they could have won. First, a group of nice small-ball hits sent De Witt home in the second inning. Then Amaris Ramirez came out of his zombie-like daze and hit a solo homer off of Braves pitcher Jair Jurgens in the fourth. Then Marlon Byrd hit a nice slice down the left field line into the territory by the foul pole for a triple and Ramirez repeated with almost the same move, driving Byrd home (although Ramirez, not as fast, only got to second). So, Cubs, 3, Braves, 2. It was looking good until the ninth inning and Dempster didn't need any relief.

Then Carlos Marmol stepped in. The good old closer we know and love. I remember asking in a Cubs story before, "what would we do without Marmol?" Well, now I know, because the man has taken the Crazy Train. Maybe he's been over-worked (there are hardly any pitchers, remember). Or maybe he's ticked off, for he struck out Lee with a vengeance. But he completely lost that steely-eyed focus he's known for. Instead he was whipping balls all over the place, over the plate, nearly at the batters, nearly to Milwaukee. He filled the bases and people started to groan. Still, he had ONE STRIKE TO GO for victory. The crowd was on its feet. The cheers started. He threw two balls in the dirt. The Braves fans started to cheer. And then the unthinkable happened. Rick Ankiel hit a triple bringing home two runners. Score, 5-3, Braves. The starch was out of the Cubs and they just pooped out.
I've never heard the crowd boo Marmol before, but they did today.

This is what happens when you dismantle a team as deftly as Jim Hendry has taken apart the Chicago Cubs. They may have started the season a bit slowly but they had all the working parts in order. Now he's sent anyone who was any good away, kept on hopeless chokers like Alfonso Soriano, has a stable of untested kids in AA, and has the nerve to tell fans, "I think you should be excited about the future of this team." Tell you what, Hendry. How about not? How about the fans giving up on your pathetic mess of a team? Lou Piniella is lucky he retired.

Read more: http://technorati.com/sports/baseball/article/the-chicago-cubs-blow-their-last/page-2/#ixzz0xa8gjmNN

Read more: http://technorati.com/sports/baseball/article/the-chicago-cubs-blow-their-last/#ixzz0xa8ToL3W

Article first published as The Chicago Cubs Blow Their Last Game for This Fan on Technorati.

Will Someone Convict Blago on All Counts, Please?

2010-08-20T20:10:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

I suppose if you live anywhere but in Illinois, Rod Blagojevich is just another one of those funny names. He's a goofy guy with a shock of Fifties-style hair who shows up on programs like Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice and The View and makes an amiable fool of himself. So what if he was impeached almost unanimously by the Illinois legislature (the sole holdout was a relative)? What a funny guy! He even does Elvis Presley impressions.

But while he was making America snicker, he was making residents of Illinois steam. This schnook not only was taped trying to shake down a children's hospital for campaign funds, tried to sell off President Barack Obama's former Senate seat to the highest bidder, but he also completely ruined the state budget. One of the things that came out of the just-ended mistrial (in which he was convicted of only one count, lying to FBI agents), was that he'd hide in the bathroom when tough decisions needed to be made. What a great governor! He handed a blown-out-of-proportion debt to lieutenant governor Pat Quinn, whom he never talked to and therefore left unequipped to deal with such contingencies. Quinn, now governor, has been scrambling ever since to try to fix the gap.

The jury in Blago's trial couldn't make up their minds on 11 counts out of 12 (and there were many more that the prosecutors hadn't even brought up yet). According to news accounts, in the case of the Obama Senate seat for sale, the jury was deadlocked at 11-1. Who was this juror who couldn't hear what everyone in the state read in transcript form? That the seat was (bleeping) golden? That if Blago couldn't get some big money for it, he'd take it himself? Was this juror crazy? Or pressured by outside forces? We'll never know.

All I know is that when the U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald released the partial transcripts and described Blagojevich as a "one-man crime spree," the people of the state went ballistic. People begged, pleaded, demanded that their state representatives and senators vote for impeachment. No matter how Blago tried to paint it as a political plot, the impeachment was a highly democratic move.

I've heard comments such as, "they've spent too much money already. In the court of public opinion, he's already guilty." Or, "He's got one count against him. He could go to prison on that." Then there are those who comment about the "flimsy evidence" the prosecution presented. Let's get one thing straight: the evidence itself was not flimsy; the case the prosecution presented was bad. They only called two witnesses who were Blago turncoats. They could have called Rahm Emmanuel, the White House chief of staff, known to have been pressured by Blago thugs. They had a star list of people on the subpoena list. But they chose not to call them. Instead they relied on the tapes, which weren't enough—especially for the holdout juror.

We need a criminal conviction for Blago to end the talk that impeachment was a political game. We need a judge pounding a gavel, saying "guilty!" and sending the tap-dancing Blagojevich to jail to do some time and start thinking about what it means to expect money to fill a United States Senate seat. He was a horrible governor and he damaged our state's coffers and our state's already shaky reputation. Let's go through this monkey trial again, and let's get it right!

Read more: http://technorati.com/politics/article/someone-convict-blago-on-all-counts/page-2/#ixzz0xCJehjMp
Read more: http://technorati.com/politics/article/someone-convict-blago-on-all-counts/#ixzz0xCJVeMNM

Article first published as Someone Convict Blago on All Counts, Please! on Technorati.

Time? What's Time? by Miguel Kertsman makes head spin

2010-08-03T18:51:00.000-05:00

The musical production of Miguel Kertsman, Time? What's Time?reminds me of the expansive musical experimentation of the old radio show, Musical Starstreams, that born-in-the-'80s program featuring "space music" and later, trance music, trip hop, and all sorts of exotic music that had no category. (Much to my amazement, Starstreams and host Frank Forest are still around and available by streaming from his Internet site.)

But Kertsman is so much more than far-out noodling in space-time. The Brazilan-born artist has performed with orchestras all over the world and is at home with a grand pipe organ as he is with electronic instruments. In the lush and fantastic Time? What's Time? I was expecting Philip Glass-like play with dynamics and time signatures, but that's just a beginning for Kertsman. He's all over the place, layering tribal sounds over a bed of ambient music, string ensembles, a full symphony, baroque singing, and even pop singing with lyrics. It could have been a mess, or just a head trip. And, well, sometimes it is. But mostly it works, sending the listener on fantastic flights of fancy that are best listened to at home and not in a moving environment such as a car. I'd hate to see the accident caused by listening to one of Kertsman's involved and wound-up musical adventures. Talk about distracted driving!

I'm not at all sure the listener is going to get as much out of the album that Kertsman intends with his ambitious liner notes (If he indeed wrote them: no other credit is given.) They give a long, and fairly pretentious story of "the Masters of Vega" who live within the Universal Music. They somehow make themselves known. Gravity tunnels form and humans must choose which ones to take. (Why?) The ones who take the right tunnels prepare new worlds….blah…blah…blah. I can't go on with this stuff. Nor could I follow it with the music.

But it didn't detract from the artistry one bit. There was some very intensive musicianship on display including great jazzy piano work on "Promises, Lies, and Deception," "The Drifter" just rocks out. I thoroughly enjoyed all the ethereal musical touches, whether they were electronic or orchestra, for Kertsman avoided that drifting-off-into-space sound. However, and I may just be idiosyncratic about this, I didn't go for the vocal work. It seemed too hokey for a musical production of this magnitude. The "Masters of Vega" were operatic in sound and they grated on my nerves. Let's keep opera in opera. I've never liked the sound of traditionally trained singers fighting off electric guitar or synthesized sound. It just doesn't work.

On the whole this is an astounding work, full of musical genius, and brimming with ideas that may make your eyes pop. On the downside, Kertsman may have tried to pack too much into one album. He's done plenty in his career, having produced Four Choruses & Lullabies,Amazonica, Rhythmic Fission and Gravity Tunnel, so another album is not out of the question. I'd have been happier without the vocals. As for the liner notes, if you can follow them, more luck to you. If not, I doubt the listener is missing anything.

For those with PCs, his Web site also offers a Conyclism game (for a limited time) on his Web site. There also are more videos on the site.

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-miguel-kertsman-time-whats/#ixzz0vaZd5Ill

Article first published as Music Review Time? What's Time? by Miguel Kertsman on Blogcritics.

Angelology tries to answer puzzles of Genesis' giants

2010-08-01T22:34:00.000-05:00

Passages in Genesis, Chapter 6, Chapter 1-2 , have puzzled theologians for centuries with some simple yet strange words: "The Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all that they chose."

The "sons of God" were in Hebrew bene ha elohim, which is usually translated as "angels." Later, Genesis goes on to say:

"The Nephilim (sometimes translated as 'giants,' especially in the King James Version) were in the earth in those days, and also after that when the Sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them: the same were the mighty men which were of old, the men of renown."

The words have puzzled thousands of readers throughout history, no less Danielle Trussoni, author of Angelology. An apocryphal Book of Enoch, popular in the Middle Ages, described a whole history of fallen angels — separate from Satan's flock — who left the Watchers God sent to keep tabs on humanity. Instead these angels mated with human females to beget a race of giants, also called the Nephilm (or fallen ones). And the Nephilim were so powerful and so lacking in human kindness that God had to wipe them out with Noah's Flood.

Enter, then, Angelology.

Many books have dealt seriously with the subject of the Nephilim over the years, although not many authors wanted to consider that the beings were really angelic in nature. One excellent book asking the question of who these giants were is From the Ashes of Angels by English writer Andrew Collins. He produces pictures of totem-like giant heads from Mideast cultures and quotes copiously from the Book of Enoch (which can be read in The Other Bible). Clearly, he doesn't believe in mythic beasts, but he does believe there is something to the story of the Nephilim that gave rise to the Biblical passages.

So what does Trussoni create in her obviously fictional creation? Well, angels. Really, really bad angels. Her scholarship is top-notch and she researches the very beginnings the beliefs in the Nephilim. But where a writer like Collins allows archeology to take him to ruins in Turkey or to turn to myths of several Mideastern lands, Trussoni allows flights of fancy to create ruling families of Nephilm that populate Europe. (One family name is Grigori, which is Greek for Nephilim — all very clever.)

A few critics called Trussoni's work similar to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is an extremely well-written book, whereas Brown's work, with its three-page chapters, was largely pop trash.

Trussoni takes religion seriously, for one thing. She also is careful to to not only create characters, such as the protagonist Evangeilne — a young nun with a past that is revealed slowly and deliciously — who are believable and true to their cause. Their goal is to wipe out the Nephilim before the enemy wipes out humanity.

The author maps out villains who do what they must from their perspective. There are no pure killing machines here. The fallen angels have their own feelings and own needs. Surely the best villains are those who think they are doing the best, for who truly thinks they are wrong? Trussoni does a great job of getting into the heads of the Nephilim, repellant as they are.

The plot blends into the story of an aged nun, Celestine, who turns out to be a former anti-Nephilim agent. She supplies necessary narrative mid-stream when Evangeline's memories are lacking. All in all, the strategy works smoothly despite the change of narrator. Only the robo-killer angels at the end are a bit too much. And the apotheosis at the culmination strained credibility for me. Some might go for it, but I rolled my eyes.

Still, the novel stands head and shoulders above anything with the word "angels" that has appeared in the fiction category in long time. Too bad it can't answer what Genesis, Chapter 6 was talking about after all these years, for I hardly think Europe has been run by Nephilim for centuries. But then, after eons, no one can has a handle on the fallen angels yet. Why not Trussoni?

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-angelology-a-novel-by/page-2/#ixzz0vPok1kAC

Article first published as Book Review: Angelology: A Novel by Danielle Trussoni on Blogcritics.

Publisher says e-publishing turns the page on traditional books

2010-07-29T14:17:00.000-05:00

The New York publishing business model is dead, so says 32-year-publishing veteran Jerry D. Simmons.
After spending 25 years as a VP of Field Sales with both Random House and the former Time-Warner Book Group, Simmons left traditional publishing for good. In his independently published book What Writers Need to Know About Publishing (available on his Web site), he lets the positive information mix with the negative. Best-selling author Sandra Brown, credits the book as telling "the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of book publishing, told in a straight-from-the-hip manner. New writers take note!"

Technorati posed a question-and-answer session with Simmons about the emergence of e-publishing and what it means to the book business:
LV: Now that Amazon.com has reported selling more Kindle titles than hard-cover books, and mass-market paperback sales in a swoon, it's looking increasingly like best way for an author to sell his or her manuscript is to publish it electronically. However, up until now there had been a stigma against e-books with many reviewers and others refusing to take them seriously. Is this beginning to change?

Simmons: Mainstream media will begin to review and take eBooks more seriously, especially when the first original e-book title arrives on the scene and makes a big sales impact. At that point expect the major newspapers to adopt the digital publication in the same manner they do hardcover and original trade paper. As more of the major New York publishers release content in original e-book format the market will have reached the tipping point.
LV: Amazon.com recently made an offer to publish authors' manuscripts via its Kindle platform, and even sent out instructions for authors to format their copy to fit the Kindle. They would make a 70% share of the profit, according to the Amazon.com press release. This is an enormous deal compared to the tiny royalties that authors earn today. What could the downside possibly be in this scenario? How hard is it for average authors to format copy for this program?
Simmons: The only downside to the Amazon scenario is if the author is required to give up any rights to the content published by Amazon. Anyone can follow their directions and convert to Kindle as long as they have patience and understand the basics of programming. For the independent author this is a program they should consider, but only if it fits in their overall publishing strategy. For writers deciding to go it on their own the biggest problem is they have no plan for how to publish or market. Without a clear direction even for one book, it makes it very difficult to sell product.

LV: Many popular authors are going to Kindle, and you mentioned author J.A. Konrath, whom I have met. He's a great mystery writer who also has a humorous style, much like Janet Evanovich. He has plenty of fans, but I noticed that one of his books, I believe it was Cherry Bomb, did not secure a paperback contract. I wondered what had happened to him and then he showed up on my Kindle. Several of his novels were bargain priced. And there was Cherry Bomb, which I snapped up, since I never got to read that one of the series. For many of his fans, it was a relief to know we could find him again, and now on such a low-priced platform. Discuss his e-book conversion.

Simmons: J.A. Konrath made a very smart and savvy move with his content. Once he realized his earning potential was hampered with a traditional print publisher, he decided to go on his own and the result has been more income for him. The big advantage he has over other authors is a following. He has an audience that was willing to buy his writing regardless of who or how it was published. This has also been done by relatively unknown authors who have achieved a terrific level of success. The key is marketing, whether to your fans or a new pool of readers, if you cannot find ways to alert consumers to your writing you have little chance of selling copies.
LV: Jumping for a minute to iPad as well, I spoke with an author who said that being exposed to so many new, curious readers is a marketer's dream. These people who try out new technology aren't the same ones who read the New York Review of Books. They are willing to try out many new things, including new authors and new genres. Is this true? If so, e-publishing on these new devices could be the way past the barriers that have kept new authors out of New York publishing for so long.

Simmons: The iPad did not suddenly create new readers, it provided a new platform where those interested in technology could find and read content. These folks may never buy books in a bookstore but will purchase an e-book from the iTunes store. Why? The content was seen as relevant, interesting and priced in a way in which the consumer was willing to give it a chance. If they purchase then read and enjoy or find it informative, they will come back. This new method for delivering content is what Apple has created, now it’s up to the publishers to supply the demand for low cost, relevant, interesting and informative content, not to mention entertaining.

LV: Publishers Marketplace is reporting that the Andrew Wylie company is starting a literary agency called Odyssey that will deal solely with e-publishers. Now other literary agencies say they will do the same. Does this mean that they will try to set up the old system that was in place for so long—where, for good or bad, literary agents often had more power than publishers? They used to sort out the obvious garbage that came over the transom, but now they are so frightened of failure that they are rejecting almost everything. Could they bring this same dysfunctional behavior to e-publishing?

Simmons: It makes sense for a literary agency to vertically integrate their business when the cost of e-book production is so low. The traditional method of print publishing carried enormous cost built into the system, now with e-books that cost has gone away. It is inexpensive to produce a quality e-book compared to print so the economics of the business will allow more and more companies to jump in. As for the dysfunctional behavior, I believe that digital publishing will actually provide more opportunities for writers than the old print method.
LV: Finally, anyone who has every published independently knows that marketing is quite difficult. Give writers some tips on how to market e-books, because now there are no book signings anymore, and everything has to be done online. How do you personalize an e-book and ramp up interest? How are YOU ramping up interest?

Simmons: Authors need to stop concentrating on the idea of marketing their book and consider their message or themselves as the focus of their marketing. Publicity sells books and media is interested in a good story, not the fact someone has written and published a book. If an author does not know where their writing is positioned in the market and especially among all the other titles in their genre, they will find it difficult to market. My tips would be 1) decide what to market—their book, message or themselves, and 2) figure out where their title belongs on a bookshelf, between which two competing books?

Article first published as Seasoned Publisher Says E-Publishing Will Replace Traditional Books on Technorati.

Fourth Larsson Millennium novel may rise from the dead

2010-07-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

Fans of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy are salivating at the idea that a fourth book may be forthcoming from the late author, and Swedish publisher Norstedts is giving them faint hope that a manuscript could indeed rise from the dead.

This is no mean trick. According to AP, Larsson's books, published in the U.S. as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and are selling more than 50,000 copies a day in the United States. A possible fourth book is bound to be a veritable gold mine for Norstedts and any other publishers that contract for foreign translations.

The issue at hand is only 320 pages of the purported manuscript were completed by the Swedish author before he died at age 50 of a sudden heart attack. He had outlines for the book to run to 440 pages. Previously, his live-in girlfriend, Eva Gabrielsson, said she had the manuscript on her laptop. But because Swedish inheritance laws don't recognize common-law marriages, she was not entitled to any of the money made on the novel's sizable profits, or on the money made by the release of the Swedish movie. An American movie is also in the works.

Instead, all the inheritance money has gone to Larsson's father and brother, Erland and Joakim Larsson, who have been outright stingy by any interpretation of events, and will share relatively little money with Gabrielsson. They want the laptop and the partial manuscript, but she's not giving it to them. Talks between the two parties finally reached an impasse in June. Sentiment among the Swedish people remains strongly in Gabrielsson's favor.

Meanwhile, there were hints in the spring from the Swedish press that Gabrielsson had helped Larsson write the novels. Some co-workers of Larsson, who was primarily a journalist, have stated he couldn't possibly have written the books on his own and that Gabrielsson must have co-written them. Only one writer has come to Larsson's defense and he's been roundly criticized by the Swedish press. Gabrielsson has remained mum except to say she might have helped copy-edit the work.

Now, Gabrielsson says she doesn't have the laptop with the manuscript and seems to have forgotten making previous statements about having it. All this is frustrating the heirs, who don't want her to finish the fourth book, because it would give her a clear road to inheriting the money from that novel, according to John-Hentry Holmbert, a friend of Larsson's who was interviewed by A.P.

Norstedts is remaining fairly close-mouthed on the subject. "The questions about the fourth manuscript (are) entirely hypothetical," company head Eva Gedin told A.P. "We have never studied this manuscript and therefore don't know if it exists, how much has been written and if so, what shape the manuscript is in."

According to Holmberg, the e-mail he had received a while back from Larsson details that the novel takes place 120 kilometers north of Sachs Harbour, at Banks Island in Canada in the month of September.

"Did you know that 134 people live in Sachs Harbour, whose only contact with the world is a postal plane twice a week when the weather permits?" Larsson wrote in the e-mail. "But there are 48,000 musk-ox and 80 different types of wild flowers that bloom during two weeks in early July, as well as an estimated 1,500 polar bears."

Holmberg didn't know much more of the plot, but said it would—like all of Larsson's other books—deal with women and violence against women. Fans of Larsson's work are hoping against hope that something will rise from the ashes out of this scenario and that a dead writer will once again produce a best-selling thriller.

Read more: http://technorati.com/entertainment/article/fourth-larsson-millennium-novel-may-rise/page-2/#ixzz0uzrGdpc3

Read more: http://technorati.com/entertainment/article/fourth-larsson-millennium-novel-may-rise/#ixzz0uzqc9EBQ

This article first ran as Fourth Larsson Millennium Novel May Rise From the Dead on July 18 on www.technorati.com

Water overrun

2010-07-26T22:31:00.000-05:00

Friday night, Chicago had a torrential rain. Some areas measured seven or more inches of downfall. We were hit badly. Usually the problem is a flooded basement—and that's often the problem we get. Seepage runs in from our walls and we get water congregating in the middle of the floor. Nothing bad. And the shop vac usually gets rid of it pretty easily.

But this time, it came in overhead. Oh, yes. Overhead. Drip, drip, drip, in the kitchen. Something was coming in from the overhead tiles. A pot collected the water until morning. Then in the light of day we discovered a closet upstairs ruined by water damage that had come in along the chimney. Probably along the some fissure that developed along the edge through a hole in the flashing. Nothing big that a roofer can'f fix in a jiffy. But the closet is another thing.

Fortunately most of the mess destroyed in the closet was a bunch of clothes and junk that we should have tossed out long ago. Many of the clothes were things that I had dithered about giving away, but never did. Well, guess what? Now they are history! Some are objects that were given to me, I never liked much, so I stashed in the closet. No one's going to remember giving me that stuff, so there's an easy way to pitch it all.

Our essential papers and pictures of my son when he was a baby? Fortunately saved! My shoes? Saved! But the dry wall is going to have to be replaced and that's going to be a mess.

Look at it this way. Things could have been much, much worse. Our neighbors down the street obvously had a major basement flood, because their had wadded up basement carpet with their Monday garbage. Gottta be a mess.

And an apartment building in downtown Chicago, right on the Chicago River, managed to have its parking garage totally flooded. Somehow diesel fuel got into the chlorinated swimming pool (don't ask me how), creating a toxic gas. Result: the entire building had to be evacuated.

As I say: could be worse.

Our roofer can't make it till next week. Lots of roofs to repair. The weather report is calling for for more rain this week. I think we need umbrellas in the closet.

After series win over Phillies, Chicago Cubs still need retooling

2010-07-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

By Lynn Voedisch

At the conclusion of the Cubs-Phillies series, which the Chicago Cubs won decisively 3-1 Sunday night, a fan was wildly enthusiastic. "The Cubs are coming back!" he yelled at Wrigley Field, as fans high-fived all around him. "This isn't just a good night. They are coming back, baby!" Sunday's (July 18) score was Chicago, 11, Philadelphia, 6.
As much as one would like to hope, there's little evidence of that.

Now that the All-Star Break has come and gone, the Cubs are still under .500 with a season record of 40-50. New owners the Ricketts family have done absolutely nothing to better the fortunes of this ball club. Everyone likes to talk about the Loveable Losers, but just two years ago, the team won their division in fine form.

They were, as most Cub fans will attest , the best team assembled in many years, with terrific pitching, fearsome hitting, and a proud unit of utility fielders who could interchange whenever manager Lou Piniella felt the need. They were the team Cubs fans dreamed about.

Then they went off to the playoffs in Los Angeles and stood like catatonic freaks while the Dodgers romped all over them.
Oh, let's be kind; they underperformed. Badly.

At this point many Cubs fans tore off their jerseys, set up bonfires in Wrigleyville in Chicago and said "Never again. We've been fooled for 99 years, but no more!"

Guess what? It's now been 101 years, and the fooling goes on.
You'd think the Ricketts team would get wise and start moving some people around, make a few trades, even tear up a contract or two. But no, like the frozen Cubbies of two years ago, they don't dare make a move and somehow expect the Cubs to come alive.

The definition of insanity, goes the old saw, is repeating the same old mistakes and expecting different results.

By this token, the whole Cubs organization has sunken into madness. How else do you explain the continued appearance of Anfonso Soriano, the left fielder who does not much of anything but draw catcalls?

Sunday night "Fonzie," had a good outing. He hit a solid two-run homer over the left-field wall in the sixth inning. Then, in the bottom of the seventh inning, he singled, scoring Derrek Lee. It seemed that all was forgiven and he was back in fine form. But not really.

Fans remember the endless strikeouts and the ridiculous plays in left field when Soriano has had trouble figuring out where the ball bounced. He's chained to the Cubs with a multi-million contract, and plenty of fans would like to see it broken.

One guy who didn't break out of the slump was Aramis Ramirez, the third baseman with whom I have a little more sympathy.

Once a fearsome hitter, he now has completely lost his stride.
I don't know if he needs more coaching, or if there's an injury he's not admitting to or what, but his swing is all wrong, and he looks off balance in the batter's box. He used to be the kind of guy to clean up a bases-loaded situation. Now he just strikes out. Trade him.

Starlin Castro, shortstop, burst on the scene with all kinds of happy press. Fresh out of spring training, it seemed this Cuban phenom could do no wrong. So far, he's not doing much of anything. He had a nice night against the Phillies Sunday, hitting a single that scored the pitcher Tom Gorzelanny (safe by a hair). And he did some nice base stealing that I'd like to see a lot more of. But, so far, Piniella hasn't brought out the star power in Castro that he was bragging about, and we're still waiting.

On the plus side, catcher Geovany Soto remains one of the best members of the team. He hit a two-run homer over the right-field wall in the second, starting things off nicely for the Cubs. Then he slammed a single in the seventh, bringing home Marlon Byrd. Speaking of Byrd, he also is one of the shining lights of the team.

Once called the "anti-Milton Bradley" because he replaced the notoriously cranky middle outfielder, Byrd (who was the Cubs only All-Star player) is a reliable hitter, fielder and all-around go-getter. Hey, he's even a nice guy with a good attitude. We need the replicate this fellow.

Pitching is okay, not like it was in the days of Kerry Wood, but what are you going to do? It's an ongoing process and the organization keeps looking for good prospects.
Lefty Sean Marshall keeps getting better — and I used to be skeptical.

On his sane days Carlos Zambrano is a powerhouse, but he out of the rotation because of his erratic behavior. Now, he's a reliever. However, the rest of middle relief stinks. I'm not sure where the Cubs are getting these guys but how can you find hurlers who will take a no-out situation and start walking players home? That's Cubs' middle relief.

The closer, Carlos Marmol, remains nothing short of spectacular despite a single bad outing the other day. Losing him would be a nightmare.

At mid-season, whether they were victorious over the Phillies or not, the Cubs need some changes quickly. Move Soriano out. Give some of the bench players like Jeff Baker more playing time. Work more with Castro to bring out his brilliance. Either find the basis of Ramirez' problems or lose him. Fill the bullpen with some talent!

Now that "Sweet Lou" Piniella has announced his retirement, he doesn't have much incentive to do much with the team, but a couple young prospects could give him something to work with until he heads off to blissful days without managerial duties at his Tamp home.

Lou got the Cubs to the playoffs once. He can do it again. But not with this bunch.

Read more: http://technorati.com/sports/baseball/article/after-series-win-over-phillies-chicago/#ixzz0uT3W693F
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Read more: http://technorati.com/sports/baseball/article/after-series-win-over-phillies-chicago/page-2/#ixzz0uT3s6j24

This article first appeared in www.technorati.com on July 20, 2010.

Moving along again

2007-06-14T13:28:00.000-05:00

Today's blog stop is here. The person who was supposed to put up an essay of mine yesterday never answered e-mails and was basically unavailable to everyone. You have to wonder what's going on--family emergency, or just plain sloth? Hard to tell, but today's interview is up.

I'm still waiting for you guys to give me some ideas for which passages of "Excited Light" I should use for my reading.
I've now got votes for several different passages and there's not time for all of them. But I did have fun ordering the birthday cake for the event.

As for "The Double Bind." What a cheap cop-out! I'm not going to do a spoiler, but the ending really pissed me off. Now, I am annoyed at using the characters from "The Great Gatsby" and *also* irritated at the stupid trick he pulls on the reader at the end. Barnes & Noble was touting this as some great discovery of the month. My advice: don't waste your time. Who makes these "great discovery" decisions anyway? I've read books by self-published authors that are much more polished and original than this.

Must get to extreme gardening. The weather has been delightful but humidity is moving in and I'd like to get a lot of this done before the 90s hit. So, I'll make this short. I will be having some time to start visiting blogs again as all my extra guest blogs are done. It was a lot of work and I'm sorry if it took me out of circulation at Xanga for a while. I've also got to get back to writing the work in progress. I finished Chapter 11, but now need to think out how Chapter 12 is going to go. I think I'm about I/2 to 2/3 of the way in my first draft. It's taking lots of work for this novel because of all the research I had to do.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age

Yes, I know...

2007-06-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know...

My essay for the next stop on the blog tour is not there. Instead, there is a June 11 posting on procrastination. Believe me, the irony is not lost on me. The person who is putting this tour together for me is just as perturbed as I am. So, it might go up tomorrow, it might be another day. I have to just sit and wait.

I'm reading a book called "The Double Bind" right now and have extremely conflicting feelings about. It is a contemporary thriller (although the first half of the book is not thrilling at all), that brings in the characters of "The Great Gatsby," *as if they were real.* I'm not at all in favor of authors poaching characters from other books, even if they are using the imaginary people in a "what if" scenario. In this case, they want to know what if Daisy had a son by Jay Gatsby...and then take it from there. The son plays a major role in the book.

This is annoying to me because I think that authors should make up their own personae. Taking characters that were worked upon and perfected by another writer (even if he/she is long dead) doesn't seem fair. It's as if you were having someone do half the work for you. Believe me, creating creditable fictional people is not easy. I worked extremely hard on them in my second novel (now gathering dust on my hard drive). My writing guru in New York said they were extremely good, yet an agent wrote back and told me they were "cardboard characters." That's the guy who wrote such a nasty e-mail I broke down in tears. And I've had a lot of rejections, my skin can be thick when it comes to rejection letters. But this one went over the top.

But the main point here is I think what "The Double Bind" author, Chris Bohjalian, does is stealing. Out and out theft.
Yet, he has created a good thriller in the back half of the book. I can't wait to see how it all ends. And that's usually the mark of a great book. So, I'm conflicted. Yes, I have real problems with this one.

QUESTION: For all of you who have read my novel, "Excited Light,", I was wondering if you could help out. I am doing a reading next Wednesday and need to pick out a couple sections to present to the public. I get about 12 minutes, so I could do a couple sections. Which ones do you think I should pick? I don't want the book to sound like a downer, but all the passages I like are the out-of-control-with-alcohol ones. I don't know what this says about me.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,

Next stop...

2007-06-12T21:14:00.000-05:00

Okay....

My next stop tomorrow is at Storycrafters, where I talk about how to write without an outline. (Call the Outline Police!)

Really, I'm so busy I could scream. But go have a look over there. I'm hoping some people will leave comments.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,

Don't Stop Believin'

2007-06-11T18:31:00.000-05:00

Here I am at Printers Row. You'll notice that I had a drawing for free angel cards, but hardly anyone entered. What is it about "free" that people don't understand? I still haven't picked a winner since then I'll have to contact them and set up some kind of way to get the cards to them. I should somehow make them feel very guilty about not buying my book. (Not one entrant bought my book.)

Would you buy a book from this woman?

Not much more to say about the book sale that hasn't been said.
My virtual book tour stops tomorrow at http://www.bloggingauthors.blogspot.com/
It's another all-new interview and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

SPOILER ALERT: I'm still annoyed at "The Sopranos" ending. The number of people who are pissed off is pretty high. My version of what happened? I think that Meadow, being the only person in the family with a brain, was really scared, which is why she couldn't park her car. Normally, you'd expect parallel parking to be a breeze for her. Then she runs in with a desperate look on her face, as if she is about to warn them about something. She didn't just look late, she looked crazed. Who was she warning them about? Probably the dude in the bathroom. And note: Tony selected "I Did It My Way" from the jukebox. That would have been a farewell. Instead, "Don't Stop Believin' " plays. A bit of hope there? Or am I reading way too much into this stuff?
All in all, a sucko ending and a great series like that deserved a better ending.
END OF SPOILER.

See you tomorrow!
Lynn

Here I am at Printers Row. You'll notice that I had a drawing for free angel cards, but hardly anyone entered. What is it about "free" that people don't understand? I still haven't picked a winner since then I'll have to contact them and set up some kind of way to get the cards to them. I should somehow make them feel very guilty about not buying my book. (Not one entrant bought my book.)
[Lynn at Printers Row]
Would you buy a book from this woman?

Not much more to say about the book sale that hasn't been said.
My virtual book tour stops tomorrow at http://www.bloggingauthors.blogspot.com/
It's another all-new interview and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

SPOILER ALERT: I'm still annoyed at "The Sopranos" ending. The number of people who are pissed off is pretty high. My version of what happened? I think that Meadow, being the only person in the family with a brain, was really scared, which is why she couldn't park her car. Normally, you'd expect parallel parking to be a breeze for her. Then she runs in with a desperate look on her face, as if she is about to warn them about something. She didn't just look late, she looked crazed. Who was she warning them about? Probably the dude in the bathroom. And note: Tony selected "I Did It My Way" from the jukebox. That would have been a farewell. Instead, "Don't Stop Believin' " plays. A bit of hope there? Or am I reading way too much into this stuff?
All in all, a sucko ending and a great series like that deserved a better ending.
END OF SPOILER.

See you tomorrow!
Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
Printers Row Book Fair

Two more books

2007-06-10T21:53:00.000-05:00

had so much of a better time at the book fair this weekend. We were at a better location, met better people, and the weather was perfect. I'd put a photo in this blog, but I am so sleepy that I will have to wait until tomorrow. This is assuming that the photos worked out, because I have some doubts about that.

I still only sold two books, but I decided to chat it up with everyone there. It was great fun meeting new people, and all the people are writers signed up for our Chicago Writers Assn. Funny how if you tell someone you are the author, One lady with a huge pair of glasses claimed she was some kind of coach for podcasting, then said she wanted to buy my book, but didn't have any cash. I told her she could buy it online.

"Oh, no, honey, I want to give the money right to you." Uh-huh. When my shift was over she had never returned. I guess there are plenty of b.s. artists floating around at shows like that. Fortunately, I don't think anyone was going to buy her podcast services.

I'm very tired, but did watch the end of "The Sopranos" and really am not sure what I was seeing. I think it was supposed to evoke some deep down feelings, even though nothing really happened. I'm not sure what was went on and need to think about this for a while. I liked the FBI agent in the end--a funny moment in a pretty brutal drama. If anyone has any theories about what was going on in that ending, I'd love to hear them. No one's predictions were right, including mine, which was we'd see a "Hamlet" ending. (Die, die, they all die.) Unless maybe we did see that? I don't know.
Kinda sad that it's over. I was really used to it and I hate to see it go away. I hardly watch TV at all, so it was a rare treat for me.

I won't be on my blog tour until June 12, but I'll let you know about it tomorrow.
Have a relaxing night.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
"Excited Light",
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
New Age,
Printers Row Book Fair

Nerves!

2007-06-08T14:07:00.000-05:00

Nerves

I'm completely in a tizzy about the upcoming Printers Row Book Fair I will be in this weekend in Chicago. My nerves are just jangling. It doesn't seem like any big thing to worry about, and people have told me it has a really relaxed atmosphere. Plus, I'm going to be sharing a tent with a good writing friend. So, why am I freaking out?

It's because I am envisioning thousands of people walking up to me and asking "What's the book about?" Now, I do have what they call the Elevator Speech to explain it, plus they can look at the back cover of the book to read the blurb. But when I have to actually DO the Elevator Speech, I always stumble and bumble and go off-script. I never say it the same way twice. I have learned that there are plenty of other writers who do this, but that doesn't help much. I'm also afraid I'm going to scare off some people with the angels theme, because they will think it's a religious book. On the other hand, I don't want the fundamentalists because they will find plenty to be offended about in this book. Ack! What to do.

The bookmarks are printed and we will get the poster today (yay, hubby). I brainstormed with my boothmate today and we decided to have a free candy dish (can't hurt). I'm doing a drawing for free Angel Cards, which I will display. We have tarps if it rains, umbrellas, and my friend wants me to bring a boom box to play music--since her book, "Hudson Lake", is about the life of Bix Biederbecke. (Please forgive me if I spelled that incorrectly.)

Anyway, my stop today on the Virtual Book Tour is at The Book Peddler http://thebookpedler.wordpress.com/

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch, "Excited Light, angels, Printers Row Book Fair, magical realism, contemporary fantasy

I'm way behind...

2007-06-07T17:21:00.000-05:00

I know! I'm supposed to write a blog every day during this book tour. But things have just gotten out of hand. I have to write guest blogs and answer interviews. And...there's that little thing called Life that I have to get on with also. Such as going to the dentist and buying my niece a birthday present. That's done, but now I've got a zillion things left to do.

So, just know that I'm going to be a guest on The Book Pedler tomorrow. We did an interview and it's different from the other ones you may have seen.

I'm ducking out. Bye for now.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch, "Excited Light", angels, contemporary fantasy, New Age

Royalties!

2007-06-06T12:56:00.000-05:00

Royalties!

Today, I received my first royalty check from iUniverse for my novel, "Excited Light". It's not a lot of money, but it covers the price I paid to have the book printed, plus another 50% worth of profit. Not too bad. I feel like framing the thing, except I want the money.

There is no stop today in my Virtual Book Tour, so I can just blather about whatever I want today--and naturally, nothing comes to mind. The French Open has ceased to be interesting with the usual suspects in the quarter finals. Serena is out, so there go the Americans.

Not much here but a lot of work. I have to write a guest blog for another stop on the tour, so rather than write two blogs in one day, I shall bid you adieu.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, contemporary fantasy,New Age,
angels, magical realism

Why I don't get writer's block

2007-06-05T13:14:00.001-05:00

Something came up on my Chicago Writers Association mailing list about having a writing day job. Does it burn you out for fiction writing, someone wanted to know.

I couldn't disagree more. Having a day-to-day job taught me how to write every day, no
matter how I felt (good discipline for writers), to get things in on deadline, polished my grammar and punctuation skills, and taught me to write about *anything*, even if it was out of my comfort zone.
Because I was in the features department, I also had a lot of leeway and was able to develop a style that was my own. All of these skills are important for fiction writers.

People often want to know what is the best training for a writer, and I always respond, get a job where you have to write every day. Once you learn to write in spite of bad moods, stomach aches, anger, frustration with your kids, or if you just plain-old don't feel like it, then you have become a true writer. Writers write, regardless of things swirling around them. Okay, grief over a loved one or other tragic events will qualify for time off. And vacations should always be true vacations. But people who say they are writers, but don't have anything to show for it really drive me crazy. Get it down on the screen or on paper! Ah, my screed for the day.

Anyway, my wonderful Virtual Book Tour continues at The Wolf Never Sleeps. I have some more writer's advice on there, in saltier language. Also, this tour seems to be working, because some people are buying my book on Amazon. My numbers jumped up and I couldn't be happier.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
angels, contemporary fantasy,

There I am!

2007-06-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

Yup, I'm in the wonderfully named Plug Your Book Web site today on my Virtual Book Tour.

Who is that woman in the picture on the top? Eudora Welty? It's not Lillian Hellman. I know she's got to be someone famous, but I can't place it. Anyway, the site also has a link to my You Tube book trailer, so that's cool, too.

Last evening brought in some powerful thunderstorms and it has cooled off significantly here. There are puddles and flooded streets. Yuck. I suppose we need the rain, but could it be less messy? I have to do the post office thing, then run some clean clothes down to my son (yes, I still do his laundry). He's in that hell of the last two weeks of school, so I feel bad for him; I picked up some essentials like bottled water, batteries and will also bring him some stamps. They closed the White Hen (you guys know what that is, right? a convenience store?) in his building, so there's nowhere closeby to pick up this kind of thing. And he doesn't have his car downtown. I keep telling him that once I get a big-time advance on a book of mine, I'll buy him garage space. Right now, it's just too astronomical. And the subway is two blocks away.

Then I zip home to work on getting things done for the Printers Row Book Fair. I actually shouldn't be panicking. Hubby is home. Thank goodness, because I was getting very lonely. Just Netflix and me.

Anyone watch last night's "The Sopranos"? I have very few shows I watch with any regularity, "The Daily Show" and "The Sopranos," being tops, then maybe "House" or "30 Rock." And, of course, the French Open. Anyway, "The Sopranos" is down to its final episode next week and it's so freaking depressing. Last night's episode just gave me the chills. Anyone else out there have any opinions on what's going to happen? My guess is that Tony lives, but his "family" is destroyed.

Okay, on that lovely note, see you tomorrow when my next book stop is The Wolf Never Sleeps..

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
contemporary fantasy,
angels,
Printers Row Book Fair

Next stop...

2007-06-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

My Virtual Book Tour continues tomorrow at http://www.plugyourbook.blogspot.com/, an aptly named site. I mean how close to the truth can you get than "plug your book"? I guess there's a site for everything. Certainly if you put just about any word into Google, you'll get about a hundred results.

Right now, I'm winding down after a rather un-relaxing Sunday of dashing about trying to get things done. I also attacked the weeds. Die, die, die! It's getting better. It doesn't look like a tropical jungle anymore. But I really need my husband and his chain saw for the neighbor's bushes that are growing through the fence into MY garden. Bushes, humph. They don't know their boundaries. Plus a climbing rose bush died, probably due to our rough spring. Requiem for a rose bush. Sigh. I need to buy a replacement.

I really did try to take pix of yesterday's 80th birthday party for my aunt, but that's a little difficult when you haven't brought your camera. D'oh! Good one, Lynn. I took a couple shots with my cell phone, but they look fuzzy. Not sure what was going on there. Accept it, I'm mechanically challenged. I'm still trying to figure out how to take people off my phone book on my cell phone. (When we bought the phone hubby downloaded my address book into it, and I've got people on there who I haven't talked to in years--and some I never want to talk to again!)

I'm beginning to panic about the Printer's Row festival. I don't have my bookmarks printed yet. (Need hubby.) The post cards I sent out had the wrong time for Sunday, so there's that to fix. I'll probably have to e-mail everyone. I have to have my posters printed at Kinko's or whereever and once again I need expert help on how to get this done. I'm not at all calm and collected. I saw the street corner where we will be sitting. Right in the middle of things, but also right by my son's apartment, so I'll have a place to take shelter, grab a cool drink, maybe even invite friends over if my son is willing. I plan to stay there that night, so that I don't have to schlep everything back home on Saturday night, then schlep it back on Sunday.

Look, if I didn't have anything to panic about, it just wouldn't be me.

See ya Monday!

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch,
Excited Light,
angels,
contemporary fantasy,
Printers Row Book Fair

Small blog

2007-06-02T21:05:00.000-05:00

Abbreviated and late blog today because I had to go far away for a family birthday. My aunt turned 80 and they gave her a big party. Long car trip and I got home brain dead! We nearly got lost on the way there, and were still turned around on the way back to the tollway.

For all you Chicagoans or the Chicago bound: I just found out the location I'll be at at the Printers Row Book Fair. On Sunday, June 10, the Chicago Writers Association table will be on the west side of Dearborn St., north of Polk St., between the Red Rock Press and Young Chicago Authors tables. I'll be there from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. I still have no idea where I'll be on Saturday, but I'll be at the Society of Midland Authors table from noon to 2 p.m. The weather had better be gorgeous, at least on Sunday, because the CWA is not getting a tent, just a table.

Way, way too tired to think of anything else. I'll check back in tomorrow.

BTW, my brother reported that I was wrong about the family vacations and that we went to Door County, Wisconsin, a couple times. I reminded him that I am seven years older than he is, so all that happened later when I was in high school. I still had a childhood with no vacations. So, that's a correction of sorts, I don't know.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, angels, Printers Row Book Fair

The Virtual Book Tour Begins

2007-06-01T13:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, indeed, my Virtual Book Tour has started and you can view my first stop at:

http://www.alisonkent.com/blog/

It will be up there for a couple days, last night I wasn't so sure. It's not the usual canned interview, but a heartfelt essay that I wrote, so I hope you pop over there and take a look.

In other writing news, I had a meeting with my writers' group last night and the group thought my current chapter was my best one yet. I got nothing but praise. The new member was a little confused, because he didn't have the benefit of reading the first three chapters, but everyone else was on the same, ahem, page. We all marveled at the end of the meeting how having an extra set of eyes makes all the difference when you are writing. Someone who can tell you the dialog sounds phony will spur you on to fix the conversations in the next piece you turn in. Everyone there is showing great improvement.

We've been entertaining a guest from the U.K. this week. We took him downtown for some deep-dish Chicago pizza (I feel like I'll never eat another meal for the rest of the week!). The it decided to pour down rain, which really didn't help, anything. I left them and went shopping. They came home roughly the same time I did, drenched and unable to do much sightseeing. But being from London, our guest was pretty used to rain.

That's about it for this Friday. Big family celebration this weekend. I hope I shall survive.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, angels, Virtual Book Tour

Announcing the Virtual Book Tour

2007-05-30T10:12:00.000-05:00

a-da! Starting tomorrow (or maybe the day after), we will commence the Virtual Book Tour in which I will visit most of the popular blogs on books and writing. My first stop is supposed to be tomorrow, because someone couldn't shoehorn me into June proper, but if that changes I'll let you know.

Anyway, the idea is that I go galavanting off to visit various blogs, where they ask me questions about my book, writing, and other things. I supply the links over here, so you can visit--and possibly make some new blog friends. It's all good for everyone. Here's where to start. My pal Dorothy, who organized this whole thing, will be listing all my stops. I will blog EVERY DAY. Yup, every day. OMG, can I do it? Of course I can, and I will give you links on where to go.

This does not mean I will only be writing about my book, "Excited Light". Heavens, no. I'd run out of material pretty fast. Because face it, once a book is published, the writer is on to another project pretty quickly. I've got lots to say about my work-in-progress, but little more to add about . Don't get me wrong, I dearly love old "EL," but I do have other things to discuss.

And speaking of things to discuss, it's a downward spiral for the American men at the French Open. My God, in one day, the entire American contingent poops out: Roddick, Blake, the whole bunch. Robby Ginepri was only saved by a rain delay. All we can hope now is that Venus and Serena have their mojo working. Oops, better not use that word. It backfired on a certain player a couple years ago.

Okay, enough of that. Look forward to lots of fun visits around the Web to interesting places!

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch, Excited Light, Angels, Virtual Book Tour

Weeds and chemical warfare

2007-05-29T19:01:00.000-05:00

Technorati ProfileYesterday, before we did our barbecue, I spent the afternoon going after the monster weeds that have popped up all over our lawn and in my garden. I'd take a picture, but it's too embarrassing. I can't plant the annuals, which should be in the ground about now, until I get rid of these suckers.

So, there I am with the chemical ammo, going "die, die, die" to dandelions and other nasties. The gunk is supposed to work in 24 hours. So, I get up today and what do I see? Weeds. Some of them are a tad wilted, but others look just as healthy as ever. WTF? Am I going to have to do a second coating of the toxic waste? Maybe I just need to be patient.

I don't feel really ecologically cool about this endeavor, but there's a limit to how much I can dig up--especially in allergy season, which is hitting me hard. However, I may have to get out a shovel and just turn all the earth to get rid of these weeds from Mars. They are Big, I'm telling you. Monstrous. One variety has covered up a rosebush, and it seems completely impervious to the evil weed killer.

Lots of writing going on. At least that's working out well.
Soon I will be going on my Virtual Book Tour arranged by Dorothy Thompson. I'm pretty excited about this. It will all start on June 1 and feature my novel, Excited Light. For more on Excited Light, visit my Web site at: www.lynnvoedisch.com.

Lynn

Lynn Voedisch

Complete Idiots

2007-05-21T20:13:00.000-05:00

I should know better. I really should. But I got into an Internet argument with some guy who owns a writing list about whether characters use complete sentences or not. He claims that people really don't speak in full sentences and says all dialog should reflect that.

I think he's out of his mind. I've done the old assignment where you sit at a booth in a restaurant or at a coffeehouse and eavesdrop on the people near you. It idea is to listen to the cadence and the way they phrase things. It's supposed to make your written dialog more realistic. And guess what? When I did that, people spoke in COMPLETE SENTENCES. Okay, they were punctuated them with sentence fragments, but on the whole People. Don't talk. Like this.

The guy who runs the writing list is so sure he's correct, that I was beginning to doubt my own senses. I asked other writers. Yup. Full sentences. Some characters don't use them just for spice or to set them apart from the others.

I'm wondering if this mailing list is worth being on is simply run by a guy just wants to hear his own opinions applauded, in which case I'm bailing.

And that's my little puzzle of the day.

Book Trailer

2007-05-15T10:25:00.000-05:00

We did it. I started it, son worked on it, hubby did the finishing (but brilliant) touches. (He noted that I forgot to tell you guys that he got home.)

So, here is my book trailer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHpZrCkkdFs. Who knows who this will attract. We tried to use as many key words as possible to get people interested.

I'd love any comments you have on this.

Lynn

Book Titles That Never Should Have Been

2007-05-11T13:11:00.000-05:00

Today's blog is at total rip-off, but I will give credit where it is due: Writers Write, a weekly e-newsletter.

The topic was strangest book titles and Writers Write listed the winners:

The Bookseller magazine has announced the winner of the Oddest
Book Title Award. The winner of the Bookseller/Diagram Prize
was The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide
to Field Identification (Harry N. Abrams). The book was
written by artist Julian Montague. Julian beat out How Green
Were the Nazis? a study of the environmental policies of the
Third Reich, in a surprise result.

Stray Shopping Carts received a third of the more
than 5,500 votes cast by members of the public on the website of
trade magazine The Bookseller. 'It's a sort of strange honour to
have, Montague said. 'But I welcome the publicity and it's nice
that people are finding out my book exists.'

*****

Runner-up for the prize was Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon
Boxes of Daghestan, by Robert Chenciner, Gabib Ismailov,
Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov and Alex Binnie (Bennett & Bloom).

The other finalists were Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream: Di Mascio
of Coventry: an Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting
and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans, by Roger De Boer, Harvey Francis
Pitcher and Alan Wilkinson (Past Masters); Proceedings of the
Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium (Kluwer); and Better
Never To Have Been: the Harm of Coming Into Existence, by David
Benatar (Clarendon Press).

What would you have voted for? I really liked the winner myself. The Nazi title was just too much. And Better Never to Have Been has that Zen-like flavor to it.

Lynn