Archive for the 'In the News' Category

June 14, 2008 | In the News

I was checkin’ out Yahoo headlines this evening and found this music blog. Even though it says Top Ten, it should be Top Nine because one of the names is the actual name…and therefore doesn’t count.

I thought it was interesting to see what the real names were, because you really have to wonder sometimes, y’know? Where the hell did they come up with that name? Only to find out, that, well, huh. Maybe it was a good idea to change it to something else. Or not.

So let me ask you this…if you were a famous actor, actress, musician, author, whatever, would you keep your given name or change it to something else? If you changed it, what would you change it to?

June 2, 2008 | Book Stuff, Calendar of Events, In the News, Life in General, contests

June is ‘Book Reviewing’ month at Blogcritics Magazine!

To promote the release of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, co-author Mayra Calvani will be interviewing 15+ reviewers and review editors during the month of June. Learn all about the business of book reviewing and what’s in the mind of some of the most popular reviewers on the internet today. Some of the guests will include: Alex Moore from ForeWord Magazine, James Cox from Midwest Book Review, Irene Watson from Reader Views, Andrea Sisco from Armchair Interviews, Magdalena Ball from The Compulsive Reader, Sharyn McGinty from In The Library Reviews, Lea Schizas from Muse Book Reviews, Linda Baldwin from Road to Romance, Hilary Williamson from Book Loons, Judy Clark from Mostly Fiction, and many others!

To see the complete lineup, visit: The Slippery Book Review Blog.

Between June 1st and June 30th, stop by Blogcritics and leave a comment under the reviewer interviews for a chance to win a Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour (coordinated by book marketing guru Dorothy Thompson), OR, as an alternative to a non-author winner, a $50 B&N gift certificate!

Technorati Tags: Blogcritics Magazine, Slippery-Art-Book-Reviewing, Mayra Calvani, Alex Moore, ForeWord Magazine, James Cox, Midwest Book Review, Irene Watson, Reader Views, Andrea Sisco, Armchair Interviews, Magdalena Ball, The Compulsive Reader, Sharyn McGinty, In The Library Reviews, Lea Schizas, Muse Book Reviews, Linda Baldwin, Road to Romance, Hilary Williamson, Book Loons, Judy Clark, Mostly Fiction, The Slippery Book Review Blog, Pump Up Your Book Promotion, Dorothy Thompson

May 9, 2008 | In the News

When I read this article about the Duggar family, the first thought that came to mind was: EPIDURAL! STAT!

Right around the time my older sister had her first child, I realized that I didn’t want kids. I have no patience for them, I’m too selfish with my time and all I hear about today is the high cost of childcare..and medical care. I. Don’t. Want. It. I babysat, of course. I believe it’s a requirement for young girls now, isn’t it? And I babysat my niece and nephew, of course. Because they’re family. Even though they were cute as hell (and have grown into good looking teens at 14 and 18, respectively) back then, I happily babysat with the knowledge that I could give them back. I didn’t hold them until they could hold up their own heads.

When I started going out with my hubby, and when we knew we were committed to one another, I told him straight-up that I didn’t want kids. “If you want kids, then we better end this now,” is what I said. Or something along those lines. People were always saying “Oh, you’ll change your mind” or “Oh, it’s different when you have your own” or “I felt the same way as you until I had my first child.”

I’ve heard that so many times I want to puke. “Am I talking out of my ass here?” I want to yell. “What part of ‘We don’t want kids’ don’t you understand?” There are people out there that are having 5 or 6 kids and can’t take care of them. There are people out there killing their babies because “God told them to do it” or “They wouldn’t stop crying” or “I was going thru post-partum depression” or –my personal favorite–”I was so busy I left them in the car.”

I AM NOT MATERNAL. I freely, and proudly, admit it. My Mom and my sister got the instinct. Me and my Aunt did not.

I don’t want to deal with childcare, medical care, braces, college, the constant worry, complications, early morning feedings, lack of sleep, etc. I want to travel “freely about the country” at a moments notice. I want quiet time to read. I need quiet time to write (because seriously? When I’m in Writing Mode, I don’t even see the hubby on a regular basis. If I had kids, CPS would be knockin’ on my door). I yell at my cat when she gets mouthy, I can’t imagine how I would be with an actual child.

So when I read this article, and found out that this woman has been pregnant for 11 yrs of her life, my va jay-jay seized up and shuddered. For about 5 minutes. My Mom just had the two of us and she can still look at me and start to call me by sister’s name before she corrects herself. Can you imagine what it must be like for this woman? And all her kids names start with J!

I’d be all “Ja-Ji-Jo–YOU, off to your room.”

I give her props for having all those kids and another on the way. Really, I do. Having two baseball or football teams worth of kids is great for some people.

I just can’t ever imagine having just one.

Technorati Tags: Duggar

May 6, 2008 | In the News, Life in General

I sense a story here.. I mean, other than the article itself. Can you imagine how the parents must feel? $21,000 is a lot of money. I imagine these kids going to be grounded for life.

May 1, 2008 | Book Stuff, In the News, Life in General

YOUTHFUL WISDOM PRESS
“External Expression for Teens”

We are a tradtionally independent publishing company (not a vanity or subsidy press) that publishes fiction and nonfiction written by teens, ages 13-17.

For writers 18 and over, the Youth-Full, Too Books imprint will publish young adult fiction ONLY.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS JUNE 1, 2008

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