12 mighty orphans

Even If you think you don't like football, You WILL Now!

This book tells the true story of the Fort Worth Masonic Home boys and the winning spirit of a bunch of kids who were too poor to afford even a ball to start with.  In the dusty streets of depression era  Fort Worth, Texas a bespeckled quiet man takes a position at an orphanage.  The boys were smaller than most of the opponents.  The uniforms they wore were mismatched but the spirit they brought to the game was unmatched.  They had no chance of winning in a place where football was a religion, but win they did.  This is the true account of what took place.  Jim Dent has worked his magic and made this tale live. 

*********    (9)

          


Finn doesn't belong in prison, at least he thinks he doesn't.  The prison lives.  The warden's daughter is unaware of life within, she knows a world of stiff gowns and an unhappy future, to be married of to someone she hates. 
This novel is written in a clipped dark voice that adds tension to every page.  My daughter, its target audience, is obsessively in adoration of this wild world.  This is her new favorite author and she can't say enough to praise this book.  If you want a fun read full of intrigue and hair raising, thought provoking characters, this book is for you.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for different.  There are no cookie cutter characters here and enough questions and crazy twists to keep you turning the pages.  I also can't wait to pick up Corbinic, another book from this fine author, which is, of course, a grail story told in a modern setting. 
On a scale of 1 - 10 buys....I set this book at 8.5  ********%

Baking Basics and Beyond, Learn These Simple Techniques and Bake Like a Pro

Baking Basics and Beyond, Learn These Simple Techniques and Bake Like a Pro: "In October 2007, Baking Basics and Beyond won the “Baking Cookbook Award,” given by the Cordon d’ Or-Gold Ribbon International Annual Cookbooks and Culinary Arts 2007 Awards Program. The Awards Program is open to Culinary Professionals worldwide. It is listed in Writers Market annual publications, from Australia and New Zealand to the European Continent, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States."


Honestly I bake alot, but this book is on my Gift list for many.  Pat explains things in a way that seems logical to anyone, even if they have never THOUGHT they could bake.  The recipes work and are not full of items that you must live in Japan to obtain.  It is very basic, simple and satisfying.  Buy this book......cause in the spring she is going to have a new book.....Scandinavian Baking..............WOW I just can't wait!
I am going to make a chipped beef dip on her web blog....check her out.....What a great no brainer gift for the holidays for anyone from a new bride to a niece or nephew you don't know what to get!  Everyone wants to bake for the holidays....its perfect!         (remember i am the hate to shop girl.....this rocks)

the moment....

I am curious about people.  I love to lurk among authors and agents blogs.  I love to analyse the life changing moments of people, especially those who are unaware of those moments.  I am looking at things they may not know, yet i can single them out and say, there it is.

For some authors, that moment is rejection.  I may be at odds with this, but I feel sad when I see people fall over something they have randomly assigned themselves as a measure of failure.  I see on many blogs a count.  It is interesting, but means nothing, unless they allow it to swallow them.  Some events are not controllable.  Death and illness strike without choice, but other things are gathered by the victim.  Rejection letters are one of those things that I don't care about.

I have lurked for some time on a few peoples blog.  I am just learning to blog myself, so had little to give them back, until now.  One story that I find sweetly disarming is that of a young writer who is now on the bestseller legend list.  She was so discouraged from time to time.  Yet the moment that her life changed was almost without fanfare.  She had a friend who kindly put a copy of her book on the desk of a huge agent.  Her comment was.. Whatever.  She commented on her dozens of rejections at length, but this was almost a non-event to her mind.  That moment would change everything, but she didn't expect it, so she didn't have the trauma of imagined loss.  (congrats again on the birth of Gwen if you should ever wander over here)

I find her moment so inspiring.  Yes, she ended up noticed because she had a friend.  She would have ended up noticed anyway.  She gave her very best and over 100 times it was not good enough.  She was not insane with self defeat, yet it did bother her.  Her moment had already been put in motion, yet she allowed herself the trauma of being told no way....no thanks....no deal.  It was not a bad thing that she did that.  It made her tougher.  It made her better.

Another story is of an agent who has to hand carry (in high heels rubbing blisters) a novel she liked to publishers for her very first sale.  She had been told no, but believed.  It was the wrong sort of book. It was trash. It was beneath dignity.

It  sold.  It made lots of money.  Her genius was to become legend.  I think of the scared person who probably doesn't tell the whole story.  As I watch her walk the New York streets that day in my mind, I see the strength it took to stomp on those tears and blisters.  I see someone who lasted just long enough to make that successful call. That is the moment, not the yes.  The moment of inside glory, that changed it all, is what I like.

I guess I don't do it right.  Someday, someone may ask me MY number.  I will have to tell the truth.  I don't know.  I don't keep a scrapbook of my blisters.  I read them, and discard them.  I know some have been about my errors.  Some of them have been timing, or just bad guesses.  I don't need them.  Accept, then move on.  Do it again.  Accept and move on until Legend or Death.  Don't count the blisters.  Count the moments that count.

Squirt the bird....

I am living with a feathered demon named Ember.  He is in his twenties and I just squirted him with a water bottle.  He is an African Grey Parrot and if you have never lived with one, then you have no concept of what hell sounds like.  When they don't get exactly what they desire with great urgency, they make a certain noise.  It is called the Grey Growl, and it follows the path from your ears to a place of pain on your spine and below.  I have no description for this delightful music other than to mention that it flows about my house frequently.  He is a great bird and a most entertaining little fellow, until his demands remain ignored.

I wish I could get people to cater to me upon threat of a simple noise.  I know I have been bested by a little featherbrain.  He wins.  He always wins.  He is my teacher.  Never give up.  Hide from the squirt bottle, but keep up the goal of reaching your desire, no matter who wished you would do something else.

On a sad note, they killed demon Crowley on Supernatural last night.  The angel burned his bones.  The show is over.  I only keep TV from this day forward in the hopes he can pop back into existence as easily as the human characters do.  I loved that snarky, pompous little fellow as much as my own personal king of hell.  Charm is an underrated source of power. 

chapter 11

Book 3, called INCINERATE for the moment.  11 Chapters since Saturday.

     My characters are off again messing up all my plans, much like real life.   I have no idea what they are up to now.  We just had a revelation about a possible reason why Natalie has her trouble with wishes.  It was foreshadowed in the first book with a mystery childhood illness that leaves her a year older than her classmates, something I have not been happy about until now.  Book two had solved the issue of her two boyfriends so perfectly, and she did the unexpected.  Book three is flying, but it would be nice if they gave me a flight plan.

    Oh well, I learned in the first 20 or so books I tried to write, that if I write, the plot falls apart from force of my demands.  I have learned to sit back and watch, typing as fast as I can and let them live, rather than suffer over character development and conflict for conflicts sake.  My innocent little teen has changed all on her own and is a very different person from the timid watcher of the first book.  She told me yesterday a term I had never heard.  She laughed and ask for a SHEWHO.   That's what i said.  A what?
Natalie gets described as She who has .....blah blah blah.  She liked what Sauriel had teased her about to make her feel better and ask if that could be one of her Shewhos.
She who scares the toenails off Lucifer, is now on her list.

     I know what she is, Seth whispered it to me.  He didn't want Set or even Malcolm to know.  Natalie won't take this well and I am not looking forward to her finding out.  Seth is being a pill in general, constantly depressing or judgemental.  He's not speaking right now, which I hate beings he's my favorite character.  His brother Set shed some light on all that is really bothering him, so I am trying to let him be, to deal with it all in his own time.  Natalie always blames herself for him being upset.  I hope Greylyn can fix Seth soon.  I miss him.

     I need to send out query letters, yes they are already written to my two first picks, but its hard to leave the story or it lurches forward and I have to catch up.  How exactly do yo get writers block?  Do your characters sit in pause mode for a bit?  I could use a couple days of it.  It would help if i could type on a laptop, that way I could move around from my cave dwelling a bit.  For me, I am sitting with the family, someone is speaking and I start getting that zoned out look.  Zombie mother returns....and another chapter pops.  Thank you family, for feeding me sometimes.

Ignite, Inferno now Incinerate.....grrr.  don't like kitchy titles......thank goodness Seth told me the next one Will not be an I word.  Told them if they say inflame or inblaze I was going to have an (I)mbolism and they could find a new typer.  See, conflict with characters....hehehe....what do you mean it's supposed to be On the page!!!
Natalie has learned to float the gears on her GTO!  Jimmy taught her.  A cheerleader with a haunted car.  I thought Jimmy would be gone by now, but he is happy and still hauntingly sweet.  The car will never be the same if he is not in the back seat, singing off key, and calming little miss "no fear" down from her three boyfriend conflict.  I tried to get her to date a human for once, but she told me to mind my own business and type.  I really thought she should at least try a real boy.  So much for my opinion. Yes Malcolm, I know your on the internet...I am heading back to my cave now.....