Thoughtful Thursday – New York Minutes

I love New York City and I guess by New York City I mean the island of Manhattan. It’s one of the big reasons I decided to set THE CALLING vampire series in Manhattan — I wanted to give you a flavor for the different parts of the city. If you’ve been reading the books, you know that the stories move from Tribeca to SoHo to Spanish Harlem. In future books in the series (ARDOR CALLS and VENGEANCE CALLS – dates of release to be known shortly), you’ll see shots of Midtown and Times Square.

I thought I’d share on these Thursdays some little known facts about Manhattan and also about some of the Jersey Shore locations in the SINS series.

Today’s New York Minute is about Sixth Avenue also known as Avenue of the Americas. Much like hearing someone say Houston St. (like the city in Texas) instead of like “Howston”, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re a tourist if you say Avenue of the Americas. It’s also very confusing since most New Yorkers call it Sixth Avenue.

The problem began in 1945 when Fiorella LaGuardia, one of the city’s most beloved mayors, renamed Sixth Avenue. In the years since then, the lamp posts bore plaques donated by the OAS – Organization of American States to symbolize each of the countries in the Americas. I remember seeing them as a kid whenever we came into “the city” for some event. Unfortunately, the plaques were lost when the city put in new lamp posts in the early 1990s.

Forgotten NY has wonderful shots of these plaques. You can click here to see the Sixth Avenue country plaques.

There are also a number of statues all along Sixth Avenue to honor famous people from the Americas. From the western most edge of Bryant Park (also along Sixth) to where Sixth runs into Central Park, there are gorgeous bronzes to be admired. This is a statue of Jose Marti, a leader for Cuban Independence from Spain. The statue sits at the entrance to Central Park on Sixth Avenue.

Above Central Park, Sixth Avenue once again changes names, this time to Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X Boulevard, also creating confusion with the use of two names!

Beneath Sixth Avenue run a number of things –The IND Sixth Avenue subway lines (B D F V trains) as well as the PATH Trains to New Jersey. As for how long Sixth Avenue is — it’s one of the longest in the city running from as far south as Canal Street at the southernmost part of Manhattan up through Harlem.

Want to know more? You can read more about Sixth Avenue by clicking here and visiting Forgotten NY!

April 19, 2010

Guilty Pleasures Monday – Sexy Surfers

As I was taking a walk along the shore this weekend, I passed by more than one sexy surfer dude which is the inspiration for not only this morning’s Guilty Pleasure, but the hero in the second book in the SINS series – STRONGER THAN SIN.

Although the hero — Jesse Bradford — was formerly a professional football player, he grew up along the Jersey Shore and returns to live there after his career is prematurely ended by a disease that destroys his bones. Growing up along the shore, Jesse has a love of the ocean and spent many a summer surfing on the Jersey waves. He is a sexy surfer dude and his laid back attitude is definitely part of the attraction for Dr. Liliana Carrera.

I hope you enjoy this morning’s sexy surfer inspiration. Also, I snapped some photos with my phone as I took my walk and I hope you’ll enjoy those as well.

View from Bradley Beach boardwalk

View of Avon-by-the-Sea Beach

View of Shark River from the bridge in Belmar

April 16, 2010

Fun Friday – A Guest Visit and Freebies!

This Fun Friday we’ve got two things going on! The first is another Tax Day Freebie, but this one runs all the way to May! If you’re near Charlie Brown’s check out their three course special deal via this link.

I had the special dinner last night after getting home an hour late thanks to NJ Transit. Another of their ungodly messes. When they announced a 25% fair hike yesterday, I guess they decided to add to the pain we were all feeling by having no service out of Penn Station. But the updside to the debacle was the Charlie Brown’s dinner courtesy of the coupon. Totally worth it!

The next Fun Friday thing is a guest blog with Lisa Pietsch. Drop by there today and leave a comment at Lisa’s blog for a chance to win a STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirt and a copy of FURY CALLS! The contest ends at midnight EST today, April 16th!

I hope you all have a marvelous weekend!

April 15, 2010May 9, 2017

Thoughtful Thursday – The Tax Man Cometh

It’s that time of year most of us dread – Tax Day! So for today, some interesting facts about taxes.

In 1861, Congress passed the “first” tax on personal income to fund the costs of the Civil War. When the war ended, the tax was repealed. (For a history of the U.S. tax system, you can read this article on Tax History at the Treasury Department.) To cope with the costs of World War I, the personal income tax was brought back and it was all downhill from there.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 61% of Americans believe cutting taxes will help the economy and 66% think that Americans are overtaxed.

Kiplinger analyzed tax burdens and reports that, “the top 1% (of Americans) pay 39.89% of all federal individual income taxes. The bottom 50% of earners pay just 2.99% of those taxes.” The top 10% (those earning more than $108905 or more) bear 71% of the tax burden (also from Kiplingers).

41% of New Yorkers did not pay federal taxes last year reports the NY Post. Now this is depressing not because they did not pay taxes, but because in a state with the world’s financial center – New York City – there should be more prosperity.

The Tax Foundation did its annual calculations and indicated that most Americans will work over three months, from January 1 to April 9 before they have earned enough money to pay this year’s taxes. In New Jersey, we get to work an additional 16 days — until April 25 — to pay all those taxes. Thanks, Corzine!

So what’s the average person supposed to do?

As the old saying goes, there are two things in life you cannot avoid — Death and Taxes. Ask Al Capone. Tax evasion did him in!

But on that note, wasn’t it John Kennedy who said:

“As they say on my own Cape Cod, a rising tide lifts all the boats. And a partnership, by definition, serves both partners, without domination or unfair advantage.”
1963 J. F. Kennedy Address 25 June in Public Papers of Presidents of U.S. (1964) 519 from Answers.com

Hmmm . . . maybe the Tax Man should Cometh a little less? Or at least leave some change in our pockets? LOL! Since that seems unlikely in the near future, how about taking advantage of some of these Tax Day Freebies being offered to take the sting out of things? Click on this link to find out how to get free and/or reduced specials at Starbucks, Maggie Moos, Cinnabon, McCormick & Schmicks and others.

Al Capone Mug Shot taken by the Department of Justice when Al went to Alcatraz for a 10 year term for Tax Evasion

April 13, 2010March 17, 2021

Travel Tuesday – London Gardens 2010

I’m back! Sorry I wasn’t back yesterday as promised but computer issues ate up most of the day.

So you may have been wondering where I’ve been. Well, hubby and I had been planning this trip for some time and we cashed in all our frequent flyer and hotel miles and headed off to London for a variety of reasons.

We visited our best friend in London and I got great inspiration for new stories and research one in particular.

We had a wonderful time and the break from legal and writing work did me a world of good. After feeling a wealth of frustration over a number of projects in the last few months, all the new sights, sounds and foods revived my flagging creativity.

I hope the sights and info will inspire you as well as over the next few months Tip Tuesdays become Travel Tuesdays as I share some of the 600+ photos that I took all over London and nearby environs.

Today’s photographs are from some of the parks in London as well as the gardens in the area. The Brits love their gardens and it shows in the neatly manicured plots in front of many of the homes. In particular, the camelias caught my eye as they were in full bloom in an assortment of colors. I’ve always wanted to plant a camelia, but NJ is just too cold. Surprisingly, London which is far more North of NJ, has more temperate weather and because of this palm trees, camelias and other plants seem to thrive there.

The weather during our visit was a little drizzly, but not cold which made it just fine for the long walks we took through the various neighborhoods and parks. We even had two beautiful sunny and warm days and when that happened everyone seem to come out of their homes and offices and head to the nearest greens.

The photos in this collection are of three different parks:

St. James Park is located directly behind 10 Downing Street and Whitehall Chapel and in front of Buckingham Palace. It is a lovely park with a lake in the middle of it. Lush lawns, trees and flowers were all over and since this park was close to offices, Parliament, etc. it was mobbed when the sun came out.

Regents Park was right near our hotel in the Camden area of London. It’s also right next to the London Zoo or ZedSL as they call it (ZSL in American Speak). Even bigger than St. James, Regents likewise had lovely gardens and an immense lake filled with an assortment of very interesting water fowl.

Finally, St. John’s Wood Church Grounds was a smaller park along the route to the Tube (aka the subway). We passed by the park several times as they had closed our Tube line for servicing during their “bank holiday” (aka public holiday) over the Easter weekend. Take a moment to notice the very old tombstones scattered in the park and buried beneath the flowering camelias. It was rather creepy to walk past them at night, but it got my writer’s mind going about what might happen in such a place in the dark!

We spent over a week in London and also did a daytrip to Stonehenge and Bath, so look for tons more photos in the coming weeks as well as some video.

I hope you enjoy!

If you can’t see the slideshow below, you can click on this link to see the London Gardens 2010 photos!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055743&id=1130005412&l=7d26d54995

March 19, 2010

Fun Friday – Contest Winner!

I want to thank all of you who dropped by on Wednesday to wish Rene Colato good luck with his wonderful children’s book! It was much appreciated.

Also – many many thanks for all the b’day wishes! I had a great day that weekend as well as last weekend when we had our first ever Liberty States Fiction Writers conference. I had a wonderful time and met so many nice people.

As for the b’day wishes, I’d like to announce the winner of my b’day contest!

Sherry is the lucky winner of a $25 Godiva Gift Card, copy of FURY CALLS and a SINS OF THE FLESH lunch bag. Congratulations, Sherry. Please e-mail your postal address to cpsromance at att dot net .

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Here in the NY/NJ Metro area we are getting a glimpse of our first taste of Spring! Bulbs are coming up, crocuses are in bloom and we’re supposed to have weather in the 60s. I so can’t wait!!

March 12, 2010

Fun Friday – Conference this weekend!

I don’t know about you, but I love going to writing conferences (and also my monthly meetings!) There is so much creative energy in the air and whether I’m doing a workshop or listening to one, I always come away re-energized and inspired.

This weekend I’m going to the first ever Liberty States Fiction Writers Create Something Magical Conference. As a founding member, it’s so exciting to see such an amazing response to the conference as well as the group. 150 plus members in our second year and still growing. A diverse, amazingly talented, and totally upbeat collection of individuals!

We’ve got a similarly diverse and talented group of speakers coming to the conference as well 16 editors and agents. Such fun. It’s too late to register, but if you’re in the area, we’ll be having a book fair on Saturday from 5 to 6. Here’s the address for the hotel where the Create Something Magical Conference is being held:

Location and Directions

When: March 13, 2010
Where: Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel
515 Route 1 South & Gill Lane
Iselin, New Jersey 08830
Phone: 732-634-3600 Fax: 732-634-0258
Click here for more info on the hotel.

Click Here to Get More Directions Using Mapquest

I hope you’ve got some fun plans for the weekend! Wish me luck during the conference. I’ll be meeting with some editors and also presenting two workshops.