Live to Love on the Edge Blog

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Guilty Pleasures Monday – Kyle Chandler

I have to confess that every time I see Kyle Chandler I think, now that’s a good looking, nicely built man. There’s something very appealing about him that draws me in and yet I have to confess that I only occasionally watched EARLY EDITION and have yet to see a full episode of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!

If you haven’t caught FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, here’s what’s being said about it:

“Hailed as one of the top ten shows of 2006 by Time magazine and Entertainment Weekly, the critically acclaimed drama “Friday Night Lights” also received 2006 honors from the American Film Institute (AFI) for Television Program of the Year and the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award.” (courtesy NBC website)

I hear everyone buzzing about this is the “best show that no one is watching” and will give it a try this season! Especially since Kyle is in it.

I was even looking forward to seeing him in THE KINGDOM. The movie starts and there’s Kyle. I thought, okay, let me watch and then . . .

I won’t say more, but if you like stories about forensics, espionage and war, well, don’t miss THE KINGDOM.

For all my friends in the Gulf Coast area and Texas, I know you may not be able to read this now as power is down, but know that we are all thinking of you and praying that you are safe and sound.

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Fun Friday – Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

writingheart.gifThe English Department at San Jose State University has sponsored the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest since 1982. The contest is a writing competition that challenges writers to create the worst possible opening sentence for a novel. For complete information on the contest, you can click here or visit this link: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

I kind of like the Boise Weekly News description of the contest, namely “the only literary contest that matters!” LOL! Well, contests certainly are a crap shot for sure and some more worthwhile than others.

This one is definitely a lot of fun. For this year’s winners, you can click here. So you don’t have to keep on wondering what won the prize, here’s the 2008 winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest!

    Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber, and like the city their passion was open 24/7, steam rising from their bodies like slick streets exhaling warm, moist, white breath through manhole covers stamped “Forged by DeLaney Bros., Piscataway, N.J.”
    Garrison Spik
    Washington, D.C.

Kind of laughed that it mentioned Piscataway, NJ. That’s the next town over from me!

To check out past winners of the contest, click here.

Hope you have a great weekend! For all my friends in the Houston area, I’m praying for your safety and that storm does little damage.

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Thoughtful Thursday – Remember this day

Remember the Towers and all who died that dayIt’s been seven years, but the pain is still fresh, the wounds raw. I wish I could say it was easier to handle for many, but I can’t imagine how it is for the families who lost loved ones that day. If I’m feeling this bad, how must they be feeling? How can they deal with this day and every other one which they face without loved ones taken from them.

It’s cloudy today which makes it a little easier for me to try and forget that day which had a cloudless sky so blue it was if you were staring at a tropical ocean above you. The air was crisp and clean that day, unlike today’s cloying humidity. A little easier, but still . . . raw.

There are reminders everywhere. The big ones you can’t miss like the front pages of the papers or the mobile police command unit and squad cars screaming by as they go to set up shop in areas that might be prime targets for terrorists. The reminders on the newscast about the timeline of events for that day.

Then there are the not so obvious reminders. My sis (who works with me) is wearing a black shirt today. All along the cuffs and down the front of the shirt is a trimming of little black hearts. A beautiful shirt, I told her and then she said to me, “Black hearts for all the people who died. I wear it every 9/11.”

So today, take a moment to think about what happened that day. How innocent people lost their lives. How bravery came in the form of so many different faces – ordinary citizens, firefighters, police, priests, the military.

Think about how a city came together in the aftermath, putting their beloved New York above self as they came to sift through the wreckage and offer their services and their blood.

Think about how a Nation came together to say, NEVER AGAIN.

Think about those who make that NEVER AGAIN a possibility. Ordinary citizens who speak out about something as simple as an abandoned knapsack on a train seat. The law enforcement and national security people at all levels who give of their time as well as their families. The military and their families who sacrifice so much so that we might be safe. Bless them one and all for what they do for us.

Remember this day and pray that our future leaders will also remember it and take the necessary steps to insure that vow.

NEVER AGAIN.

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Networking – We are Family . . .

“We are family. I got all my sisters with me . . .” Come on, everybody. Sing it! You all know that great Pointer Sisters song!

So how does that become a Tuesday Tip? Well, people often ask me about how to do effective promotion as a writer and there’s lots of ideas to discuss. A website, blog, Myspace and Facebook page. Penny for penny, the Internet is probably one of the most effective ways a writer, or any other artist, can meet people and spread the word about what they are doing.

But like anything else, going it alone on the Internet can be a lonely affair, as it can be going it alone at signings and other events.

But if you’ve got family, especially writing family, the world becomes a much smaller place. For me, I got my first writing family at my local RWA chapter in New Jersey. I recently joined the Orange County chapter in California since I have a number of friends in the chapter and like getting out to California.NUNCASOLA NEVER ALONE website

One thing I’ve recently done is band together with other writers for some new endeavors. A few years ago I went to a conference down in Miami and got to hang out with some old and dear friends, but also got to know some new and really great women. We banded together to form an e-mail loop to share ideas and thoughts and not be so alone. We actually titled the group and our new website NUNCASOLA which means “Never Alone”.

streetparty_logo.gifAnother thing I’ll be doing next year as part of a group of friends is hosting a mixer at the 2009 RT Convention in Orlando. We’ll be meeting readers, booksellers and other writers and sharing a good time with them. The STREET PARTY mixer was the brainstorm of my friend Kimberly Terry, but the lesson of the story is that together we can do more than we could alone.

When you’re considering promotion, consider not only the things that promote only you, but see if you can’t find a writing family to help support your efforts to get the word out about your writing.

For your enjoyment, courtesy of The Pointer Sisters and Rhino Entertainment, here’s WE ARE FAMILY!

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Guilty Pleasures Monday – Rafael Nadal

We had a treat this weekend as some old time friends had tickets to the men’s semi-final at the U.S. Open. We watched a good match with Federer and Djokovic, but didn’t get to see the start of the match with Nadal and Murray. Did watch the finish on Sunday afternoon and it was an amazing match. I have to confess I was rooting for Murray who was the underdog, although Rafael Nadal had snared my attention with his appearance on the cover of New York magazine. You can click here for the sexy photos of Rafa and the article that was part of their Fall Fashion spread!

And as I watched the match on Sunday, there was the occasional sigh at the sight of those ripped arms. That whole pirate look with the dark messy locks and sexy Spanish eyes.

Nadal lost, however, and so tonight it will be a Federer-Murray finals match. A Brit hasn’t won since the 1930s, I believe, so I’ll be rooting for the underdog Scot again.

Nevertheless, here’s some more of sexy Rafa courtesy of Julisborelis at Youtube!

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Fun Friday – NEW COVERS!!!

Today’s FUN FRIDAY is all about my new covers! I am so excited about them. The cover on the left is for my December romantic suspense release, SOLDIER’S SECRET CHILD (I think the model is hot, do you?). The cover on the right is for the e-book collection of the novels in the CAPTURING THE CROWN series which includes my August 2006 release, MORE THAN A MISSION.

SOLDIER'S SECRET CHILD December 2008 Silhouette Romantic Suspense CAPTURING THE CROWN E-book Collection including MORE THAN A MISSION

Also for fun, I decided to collect all the different versions of my covers since when the books are re-released overseas, they sometimes change the cover or change the line under which the book is released. For example, in the United Kingdom the romantic suspense stories used to come out in a line called SENSATIONS, but they are now releasing these books as part of the United Kingdom INTRIGUE line. In Japan, the cover says the book is part of the LOVESTREAM line.

I’m trying to track down the Australian covers and hope to have them up soon.

If you check out the DARKNESS CALLS United Kingdom cover, it’s really cool. Of course, my all time favorite is the MANGA cover of MORE THAN A MISSION. It was so-o-o amazing to see the story turned into a cartoon! You can read more about this one by clicking here.

Click here or visit this link (http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006451&l=1fc77&id=1130005412) to see my collection of covers!

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Thoughtful Thursday – Making Choices

choice.jpgMaking any kind of choice can sometimes be rough. Making the difficult choice can alter the course of your life. It’s why I try not to second guess the choices people make in their lives. It’s why I lean toward allowing people to be able choose.

Which I guess is why I’m kind of surprised by some of what I’m hearing about Sarah Palin, the presumptive Republican VP candidate. I’m surprised to hear and read comments which seem to imply that there was something wrong about her choice to bring a Down’s Syndrome baby into this world.

I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be told your child will have special needs. A life altering experience for a mother, a father and a family.

I could understand how some would choose not to undertake such a difficult path, but being pro-choice is also about being able to decide to keep that child.

Some thoughts for today’s Thursday, along with a return to an earlier discussion about SENATOR Hilary Clinton and sexism since it seems we’re back to that now with this candidate. I’ve already heard her described as a soccer mom, beauty queen and the hottest governer in the country.

It’ll be interesting to see what else will be said during the course of the next few months.

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