Last updated : 29 Sept, 2008

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LARA Speakers, Sylvia Day & HelenKay Dimon

8 June, 2008

Like every other LARA meeting, we had a fabulous presentation. Two prolific author's spoke casually about the ups and downs of producing multiple works a year rather than the prefered 1 single title a year. Sylvia Day remarks that one should figure out what one wants and what one should be prepared to sacrifice to get it. Scary. I already have given up time with my family... I know - I'll sacrifice 10 pounds of weight around the middle!

It seems to me that an author capable of producing 17 novels in two years (like someone they were using as an example) has no human contact, has money for home delivery, and is likely on lots of dangerous drugs OR is desperate to 'save the farm' & / or get the stories out that have been brewing for a life time before it's over. Oh yeah, and they don't blog!

None of these scenarios temp me that severly. I've thought that I would like my tales to be 'out there' before I go (and there are a lot of them) but not at the expense of life. That seems counter productive. An outline and character list of backstories should allow a creative director to make my dreams come true.

So what am I willing to really sacrifice? I guess for now, not much more than I already have. But times change, attitudes change and experience changes you.

So if you'll excuse me I'v got to get back to the grindstone.

Romantic Times 2008

12 - 20 March, 2008

COMMENTARY

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania : Arriving on Tuesday, the 15th, my good friend (and a published writer) Christine London, her husband and I were turned away from the entrance of our hotel by a police barracade. Thinking RT was for romance writers and not for intrigue and suspense tale-spinners, this rebuff only made it all the more rewarding when we finally 'snow-angeled' into the down comforters of our freshly made beds of our room. Turns out, Barack Obama had been staying at the Hilton and was leaving just as we drove up. Ah, yes - the presidential campaign was in Pittsburgh this week.

Moving right along, and being RT virgins (woo-woo!), the welcoming wagon of Jade Lee and Anne Elizabeth gave us an eyefull of what it means to brand yourself! While Chinese-American Jade Lee writes about Chinese lore mixed with erotic historical leanings, dressed in wide sleeved asian jackets embroidered with dragons, Anne Elizabeth portrayed her sensual anime characters by allowing her voluptuous breasts to spill over a tight, black corsett all week - "live boldly" being her motto.

From there I fell headlong into vampires and ghouls attending a class that covers cross-genre techniques in order to revitalize 'biting' character sketches. [I, myself, have such a manuscript, "Revamped", but more on that in the books section.]

Further workshops included 1) Accomplished authors explaining how they got where they are and giving advice and telling tales. 2) Workshops of agents and publishers telling us they could not survive without un-solicited material, so send it in! 3) Editors explianing what they want, what trends are growing and which rules can be broken. 4) Science Fiction, supernatural, futuristic fantasy were all joined by the Mind-bending Psychic Sunday, a feast of inner findings presented by professionals in the fields of Reiki, Numerology, Runes, Tarot, metaphysical philosophy and Hands-on-Energy. All invaluable and fascinating!

Then there were the parties... Wow. First we have the Old Hollywood. That was grand! Long gowns and tuxes except for the cover models.

Niki Chanel with male cover model, Brian at RT, 2008

Next comes the body cream; a slight sheen from the make-up (what else can this be?) accentuates the hills and dales of their physiques making them the ideal photo opportunities.

Last, but not least, their manner is polite and accomadating to the last. They danced and smiled for the cameras as well as any Hollywood star. I know a good thing when I see it and got many a close dance in! Thanks, boys!

Flying back to Los Angeles I met a musician that invited me for Japanese lunch. Over a meal of sashimi and assorted sushi, we shared some sake and conversation. Turns out we are booked on the same flight. Alas, the airlines insist you sit in your asigned seat (In case of a firey death, I'm sure) so I must be content to sit next to another amazing individual, this time a fascinating, positive minded actor / director / writer returning from his New York stage play.

I find it odd that one rarely meets really intelligent, talented and worldly people in one's daily life... but get on a train, a boat or plane and - OMG - where have they all been hiding?! If they would have me, these sorts of folks would be my best friends!

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EPICon 2008

6 - 8 March, 2008

COMMENTARY

Portland, Oregon : A 'Members Only' convention of authors, publishers, cover artists and the like will be held this month in Portland, Oregon to discuss, teach and honor the digital written word. Why? To celebrate the biggest and brightest thing that has happened to literature since the printing press. It's called E-publishing.

This fairly new approach of using the internet to publish novels and poetry brings readers and writer's closer than ever before and EPIC has taken a stand at the front of the line.

The name EPIC, known to mean an extended tale, also stands for Electronic Publishing Internet Connection. The company was started by Florence Moyer and Jane Bierce in 1998 as a spin-off of RWA, the well established Romance Writer's of America. At the time RWA was unwilling to add an e-pub chapter and the two women decided to go it alone. In 2000 the first EPICon symposium was held in Omaha, Nebraska.

Their main goal, in the beginning, was to provide an information exchange for electronically published authors. They advertise themselves as publishers of "all the most popular fiction genres, as well as non-fiction self-help and how-to". It has expanded into issuing awards for outstanding work. Each year, books and cover art are judged by members, all published authors, and the winners are announced at a gala EPPIE award ceremony at the convention.

Internet users are on the increase and e-publishing is coming of age. One can now purchase and read a short story, novella, novel or, oddly enough, an epic - online. The cost to the reader is less than half of a current paperback, however these pioneers do not cross over; paperbacks are not published on line and e-books are not printed on paper.

Highlights this year will include an introduction to E-readers. These are hand-held electronic devices that can upload a book in minutes so one can take it along like any other book. The beauty is that many books can be stored in these little beauties taking the weight out of toting around several paperbacks or finding oneself with nothing new to read on a dark and stormy night in a new town. Just connect to the internet, pay for your choice, upload the entire work and you're back and reading in no time. Two contenders for e-reader business are Sony's Digital Book and the Amazon Kindle.

This video from DiggNation (yeah, I'm a geek) gives a good review of the two products at the 14:15 portion of this video; just slide the loader. If you have difficulty seeing it, this non-video article from Gizmodo comparing the two will inform you fully.

[Argh! This thing works on my computer but it seems, not on everyone elses.] if you're still interested, #128 is posted at DiggNation #128 .

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Last updated : 31 May, 2008

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LARA Annual Workshop with Julia Quinn

14 May, 2008

Studio City : The morning began with a delightful breakfast catered and served by the hotel as though we were dignitaries. With pots of coffee left to quicken our minds, Julia Quinn, multi published romance author commenced with her "Dialogue - It's More that You Think" lecture. Though most of the members attending were also published, we had spirited conversation on the subject of dialogue and its execution.

The occasional break mingled our people with those from New York. An actor's workshop hosted by Los Angeles casting agents made for some very interested banter, there.

The six years I have lived in LA I have never been to Studio City until now. It is a charming town of exciting shops and restaurants nestled in the elegant, green hills of the region. Lunch with a fellow LARAian was the cherry on top.

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Burbank Public Library : A panel discussion hosted by LARA (Los Angeles Romance Authors (chapter #25 of the RWA - Romance Writer's of America) will be held at the Buena Vista Public Library - a branch of Burbank Public Library at 2:00pm.

The overall purpose of the event for us is to answer questions and spur insiration for anyone interested in becoming either a writer, getting published or even becoming a member of any groups we represent. The reason he library board sponsored us is to provide encouragment to the local community to read and to write, in the name of education and personal improvement.

Secondary intentions of the seakers, of course, is to promote their work.

is a member of a panel of romance authors helping attendees to discover the resources and support networks available to get their writing from idea to finished manuscript.

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West Hollywood

Book Fair

14 October, 2007

West Hollywood : The Sixth edition of the West hollywood Bookfair will be held at

1 March, 2008

Los Angeles: I think, generally, piercings and jewellery that is put into those piercings are intended to beautify the modern youth. However, the ones that fit in the cartiledge of the nose between the nostrils should not look like boogers hangin' out. Facial accessories have a tendency to exagerate facial features, so if one has an unsightly nose, I suggest a lip or eyebrow ring - not a nose pin. All the world is a stage, but stage lighting rarely matches soft bedroom light. Have a friend take some pix in different light and with different clothing. It'll be fun and you can see how you look to the rest of the world. Just an opinionated thought.

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Computer Attacks

20 March, 2008

Viruses, pop-up, phishing, etc: I can understand why a company or individual would try to get you to buy their product (in order to make money) so they use a pop-up ad. Even though they can be annoying, they only bug me if there are lots of them. Once in a while I’m actually interested. But what about the jerks that designs an invisible line of code that brings your computer to its knees? What good does that do anybody? The guy or gal who did it, doesn’t know me or the thousands of others that were affected.

Yeah, I’ve thought that maybe they are working for virus scan companies…you know, creating customers. I guess that explains why those people might do that but it still bugs me – a lot!

It just so happens that computers can ‘create’ their own ‘viruses’ simply by operating. Bits of code get cut off by electrical surges, gamma rays, multiple alterations like loading and unloading or sharing code… stuff like that. These bits slow computers down and sometimes cause them to stop working properly. Virus scans and reloading operating systems can fix most of those problems. The more computers that are being used, the more we will need those programs and techies to help us get back online – like doctors do for our bodies.

But what about those evil code writers? What do they want? Is one of their buddies watching and waiting for my computer to malfunction then give the evildoer some kudos? Is the turkey that is waiting for that kudo so desperate for it that he / she would be willing to hurt strangers businesses or cut communications off from a paraplegic? We have gotten to a place where computers are truly important to our way of life. If we have to give them up because our bank account was empties and our weekend work project due on Monday was wiped clean then our modern world will crumble. How’s that good for that one troublemaker?

If I can’t use my computer, neither can he / she. Explain to me how that is a good thing.

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Wastfulness

19 February, 2008

Wastefulness Junk Ads in Newspapers: Newspapers are hard enough to read cover to cover so you know you’re going to have unread newsprint left over. You also know you’re gonna have read newsprint left over, so, you pile it up for recycling. So far, so good.

But what about the ‘junk’ ads? You know, the classified and the multiple pages of apples, meat or diapers for $2.00? The tennis shoes that you couldn’t possibly buy every week are advertised every week. How about advertising them every other week and save on everything. We know you’re there, shoe store.

Wouldn’t it be nice to get the ads separately (or not at all)? Let’s say, you’re looking for a job or a used car and you want to look at the classifieds while you have a coffee. There’s the news and over there are the classifieds. You could get just what you wanted instead of filling the trashcan with the rest of the paper because you just wanted the car ads?

Frankly, if I could do that, I would buy the classifieds more often than I look at them when they come with my Sunday Times. See, having them forced on me just makes me mad because it makes me feel guilty because it’s wasted natural resources and all I wanted was the news. It makes me feel guilty because I didn’t even try to read through them – kinda like when your mom puts food on your plate that you don’t want and you leave it and then the grown ups say there are starving kids in the world. I hate that ploy. Why can’t I just buy the part I want? It would save resources and create less garbage and less recycling for my garbage men to haul. The department of the newspaper that created the classifieds could get paid for their portion rather than mooching off the mother lode of the daily newspaper and maybe it would be even become a better product because it would was loved – you know, it would be there because people really wanted it.

Besides, why do the stores in our neighborhoods feel they have to get their ads to us in the paper, anyway? They have the same papers at their front door. Are they really so desperate for us to pay them less for some eggs? Just reduce the price of the freaking eggs. Jeeez.

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Phone Spam, Caller ID's & the Phone Company

1 February, 2008

You tell Ma Bell you want to know who is calling so you can decide if you want to answer your phone or not. They give you Caller ID, but you have to pay extra for it.

Then what do they do? They give phone spammers a way around that. Announcments of “Out of area”, “Unavailable” and “Private caller” are among my most hated.

The thing that really bugs me is it’s always some recording that wants you to agree to have your rugs cleaned. I have hardwood floors. And they call an average of 7 times a night! What's with that?

If the call is from out of the area then they are calling long distance. This means they are using a phone and they have a number. Caller ID can announce that number just like any other – so announce it already! Then, at least, I would have the number to call back in case I suddenly realized 'Oh, shit! - I have a rug in the bathroom!'

If I am not going to answer my phone because the Spammers are announced as "Out of area" or "Unavailable" because I know they are not family of friends, then what was the purpose of getting a 'nothing' name? And why should I pay for a service that is letting through the very assholes I didn’t want to answer in the first place? I don't know which one pisses me off more - the spammers or the phone company. Argh!

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