A Self Portrait, one of many!

A bird on the head us is worth . . . no, there is no monetary value. 

It is priceless

Samhain Publishing :: Special Calls

Samhain Publishing :: Special Calls

Reading Tea Leaves

Gypsy Tea Reading.

We all want to know what the future has in store for us.  So next time you have a cup of tea, put a few spoons of a good loose leaf tea into your teapot and brew.  Pour it into your favorite English bone china cup or any other for that matter and don't bother to use the tea strainer.  Drink up but leave a tiny bit of liquid in the bottom.  About a teaspoon should be right.   Hold your cup in your left hand, and twirl the remaining contents three times counter clock-wise, then pour the remaining liquid into the saucer.  You will be left with a pattern of tea leaves, enough to divine the future.  Hold your cup in two hands or what ever is comfortable for you, and clear your mind.  Let your eyes go out of focus.  Starting with the handle side, read your images counter clockwise.  The largest images are the most relevant.  The closest to the rim are relevant to the near future, and the images toward the bottom of the cup are in the future.  See what you come up with.  If you have never tried this, it is time to start it now.  Whether you enjoy a good strong cup of Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Darjeeling, or healthful Green tea it doesn't matter.  Let me know what  you think.

Suzanne Writes: Friday Fun: Period Drama Montage "It's Raining Me...

Suzanne Writes: Friday Fun: Period Drama Montage "It's Raining Me...: "Because it's epic."

Confession

My First Impressions of LARA 

(Los Angeles Romance Writers of America)

I have a confession to make. My head was too big for my fedora. I was a genre snob. I needed to come clean so I could start fresh and take advantage of a wonderful organization. I have been converted from mystery to romance. 

As a former literary snob I had delusions that if I were writing in the Mystery genre I was a superior human being. I have been humbled with the knowledge that a good story is a good story. It doesn't matter what genre you write, inspiration, urban fantasy, erotica, mystery, suspense or science fiction; it has to have a good story. Fundamentals apply to all genres.

I came to my first LARA meeting in a trench coat and fedora, and hoped that no one would notice me. I sat in the last row. I thought, what if my friends found out? I would be the laughing stock of my mystery loving community. It didn't work.

A woman with a big smile on her face introduced herself and said. “I haven't seen you here before, are you new."

I quietly mumbled,  "Yes, this is my first meeting here."

She said "You will love it. What are you writing?"

“A mystery about murder, mayhem, sex and violence in the Hollywood, 1925."

Oh, would you like to meet with us after the meeting, we have a critique group.”

“Um oh yes. I would.”

I have been a member of Sisters in Crime, for over 12 years, and I must admit that I love Sisters in Crime, it is a wonderful nurturing well run machine. But there was something different going on at LARA. I couldn't put my finger on it. It was a good feeling, comfortable, and I had to get to the bottom of it. I scanned the group for the entire meeting. It was casual, friendly, and warm.  I’ve never experienced this before.  Born and raised a New Yorker, I’m used to standoffishness.  It’s natural for me.  I’ve never experienced a stranger coming up to me and saying, “Lets critique together.” Could it be that the mystery genre is a little cautious by nature? Could it be that when you are writing and reading about serial killers, sociopaths, and forensics it isn’t as easy to embrace a new member with such a big welcome? I think it might be so.

I looked around.   There were no other trench coats or fedoras. The officers spoke briefly and then other members spoke about different events of LARA. There was a woman with a shopping bag with long stem roses, and little gift boxes and she announced each and every member’s milestone.  And they got gifts.  Whether it was for an acceptance, rejection, submission, or query letter, each step toward writing and publication got kudos. Each and every member was encouraged to get over the fear factor and put her work out there. It is a long haul to publication, and it takes a village to get there.  Lara is the perfect village. 

After the meeting I found something even more disconcerting than the friendliness of LARA members, it was the generosity of other chapters. The give and take, share and share alike, of chapter meetings of OCRWA and EVA, on line chapters. Members belong to each and every chapter they can get their hands on. Why? Thirst for knowledge, and thirst of craft, thirst for helping each other out.

I am hooked. I will never give up my membership to Sisters in Crime. As Sara Paretsky said, we need go support women writers in a field dominated by men. But I am seeing a new goal. Carol Hughes our LARA chapter president said. “We need to let the literary community respect romance writers because a good story is a good story, regardless of genre.  No more genre discrimination.

The holidays are over and I missed the blizzards back east in New York. I won't be getting too much sympathy here in Southern California I get nostalgic for family. This is me and my Mom, Doris during a walk along the Sesquehana river near her home in Binghamton. I asked my mother the other day, "Mom, you've had some storms. It must be cold." She answered, "No, I'm from Maine, I love the cold weather."

Celeste's Blog: Mercury in Retrograde in December Prepares Us for a Successful 2011

Celeste's Blog: Mercury in Retrograde in December Prepares Us for a Successful 2011

Mercury in Retrograde in December Prepares Us for a Successful 2011

December 2010 - Back Up or Back Around Click on the image for a larger view. NOTE: Image will come up in a new browser window.

Back Up or Back Around

Mercury’s retrograde again from December 10th to December 30th, but this month Mercury retrograde offers more opportunities than barriers.
The year 2011 is going to offer a series of chances to break free from old limitations, leaving no-longer-useful attitudes, ideas, and situations behind. Americans move less often than we did 40 years ago, so the odds are about nine to one that you’re going to make those changes without leaving your current location.
In 2011, in other words, many of us will be turning in place, redirecting ourselves without leaving home (a break from the centuries when moving on was the typically American way of change).
And what better way to prepare for a year of changes and new opportunities than with Mercury retrograde in December. While Mercury’s retrograde, we avoid shopping by using up whatever’s on hand to use, finish old projects, and plan new works.
During the first half of Mercury retrograde (from the 10th through the 20th), focus on finishing with the past. Weigh the past carefully. Do you really intend to finish a project that’s been idle for three years, or do you want to recycle it or throw it out and give your attention to something else? Is it time to delete old files and software you never use–or at least move them off the computer and into storage?
Even if you spend the entire Mercury retrograde making your life lean and streamlined, doing the hard work of letting go will be the best possible preparation for changes and chances starting on January 2nd.
The chart for Mercury retrograde this December shows a cutting edge of focus (Saturn) ending with freedom and expansion (Jupiter-Uranus conjunction). Clearly, focus and concentration now pave the way for Jupiter and later Uranus moving into Aries, the sign of independence, early in 2011.
The only way out of a rut is to turn your wheels–and the economy’s been somewhere between a rut and a mud hold for several years. Now it’s time to back up and change direction. For some of you, it will be a small and welcome change. For others, huge changes that may or may not be something you planned or would have chosen.
Real change takes a lot of thought. Research by James O. Prochaska, Ph.D., http://www.astrologicalinvesting.com/html/articles_pages/articles-UranusInAries.html/ and his colleagues shows that action is the third step in a six-step process. The earlier stages include precontemplation (when you just think about coming out of denial) and contemplation (when you actually think about change). The first two stages need to be completed before action can be welcomed as the third stage.
When the economy slumps, most of us move into precontemplation on at least one issue. The recent election, along with changing economic news, may have moved you into the contemplation stage on major life changes or on smaller but vital issues. Mercury retrograde provides an ideal time for reviewing your situation, deciding what to change and what part of that change you’re prepared to undertake now.
If the changes you plan are simple and personal, you’ll want to put them into effect by December 31st. If they’re simple, but work-related, you may want to wait for January 2nd, when the western world goes back to work.
For major changes, you may want to wait to make announcements outside your personal mastermind or family circle until Jupiter enters Aries on January 22nd. Jupiter in Aries supports more independent action than Jupiter in Pisces–and even though Jupiter isn’t in its rulership in Aries, it’s still in its element. If creativity or freedom from restrictions are part of your plan, circle January 22nd in red on your calendar and plan to use that day as a springboard.
Retail stores may find Mercury retrograde hard on volume–but post-Christmas sales should still reduce inventories enough to let merchants make significant changes for 2011.
And while Mercury retrograde won’t help the usual holiday delays in airports, it will clear the way for more clarity about regulations and procedures in 2011. By summer, with Uranus in Aries, some of the current procedures should become less difficult.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Congressional action on anything now. Even changes regarding health care will be more bluster than substance in December, and nothing lasting is likely to happen until after January 22nd. Jupiter and Uranus in Aries do not support some of the universal health coverage rules, such as requiring employers to offer health benefits, so expect them to roll back later. In the meantime, cold weather doesn’t mean we won’t have hot air in Washington.
As for me, I just found some yarn I hadn’t used, and I’ll be knitting while Mercury’s retrograde. And scanning old photos to free up storage. The hard part will be sorting through half-finished writing projects and scheduling time to write them–or not. With a little luck, the dull focus of Saturn and Mercury retrograde will pay off in more stories finished in 2011.
And whatever you want for the New Year, I hope backing up and redirecting yourself during this Mercury retrograde will help bring you the freedom and resources for a great new year.

Mary O’Gara, Ph.D.

Blogging from iGoogle and Gmail

Blogging from iGoogle and Gmail

1920s - The Jazz Age

The 1920s was an exciting time to live.  Women got the right to vote.  Prohibition opened the doors to bathtub gin, speakeasies and crime.  New technologies and the media brought a new world to fashion.  Women threw away their corsets and bustles and freed their bodies.  It was a new world.

I used to be at sea

Looking through old pictures. I wish I could go back in time. I can't remember where I was on the east coast. It could have been anywhere between Maine, Montreal, Massachussetts, or New York. I could have been in the Atlantic, Cape Cod, or the Long Island Sound. Where ever it was, there was plenty of sun.

An Irish Historian and Cousin in Galway, Ireland

Maureen Langan-Egan of Galway Ireland,  author of Women in Mayo 1821-1851 Historical Perspective.
We had a traditional Irish  lunch in her home in Galway, Ireland.

My Cats

Lucy is a fine seamstress and love to quilt.

Little Cordelia, was a stray.    She took a long time to feel at home with my other cats.  She lives with Smokey, Lucy, and the humans.

This is uncle Jack, my husband, pround uncle and godfather of Samantha
Samantha, my niece
Two of my best friends Leone and Diana

This is me and my sister. Our birthdays are only a couple of weeks apart and this being Colette's birthday week, June 5, I am feeling a little nostalgic about my little sister. See she was still my little sister when she was just a year old. As years passed she became much taller than me. But in my heart, she is still my little sister.

Me, my sister Colette and my mom. Notice how we have to stank on out toes to be as tall as Colette. My mother was always a half inch taller than me and told me about it often. Now I am taller, much taller, but never as tall as Colette.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates