Book Publishing Progress. . .

The book cover for my soon-to-be released (July '06) novel, Best Intentions, is ready to go. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Thanks go to my designer (and friend) Kathy McLaughlin of IDesign. Check it out:

In the next few days, you'll be able to read the synopsis and an excerpt at Port Town Publishing, and pre-order a copy if you like what you see . . . and I hope you do!

Interesting Item about Democracy

My cousin forwarded this today to me by e-mail. I don't know who the original author is (if anyone knows, please let me know) but I thought it was interesting, scary, and confirms what I've been feeling in my gut for some time now . . .
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How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original 13 states adopted their newconstitution, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at theUniversity of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continueto exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St.Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:
1. Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million.
2. Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000.
3. States won by: Gore: 19; Bush: 29.
4. Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2; Bush: 2.1.

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements living off government welfare."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency & apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
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On a final note, Professor Olson is just a tiny bit more optimistic than me -- I put us somewhere in the "apathy to dependence" phase!

I'm Getting Published!

Well, I guess I'm going to have to revise my profile . . . I'm no longer looking for an agent and/or publisher for my novel . . . Why's that?

I received an offer to publish my novel, Best Intentions!!!

When I first found out, I screamed so loud my kids thought I'd hurt myself. My husband was in Italy at the time on business (tough work, huh?), and because I didn't want to tell anyone else until I'd told him, I had to keep it bottled up inside me until I could reach him on the phone. Argh!

Release date is targeted for July 1, 2006. Check back -- I'll update as it moves forward. I hope to get the cover design posted when it's ready, with a blurb, etc.

I do want to add a quick thanks to my friend and former writing workshop leader in Philly, Alison Hicks. I don't think I would have ever finished this novel if it hadn't been for my participation in her workshops and her very inspiring critiques . . . Check out her site at www.philawordshop.com!

Dave Matthews and Friends Cruise

Here's a post I made on WeeklyDavespeak.
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From WeeklyDavespeak:

I dreaded looking at the message boards today, because I had such a GREAT time on the cruise and listening to everyone whine was getting old . . . I was so happy to see that most of the comments posted are positive.

Was it poorly organized? Yes.
Was the "private" island not really private, but just the well-known Paradise Island? Yes.
Did it take forever to catch the tenders over to the island? For some, yes. For others, no.
Were there long lines for things there shouldn't have been (drink/food tickets, and then the actual drink/food)? Yes.
Did the weather suck? Yes.
Did the weather really, really suck? Yes.

Did any of this ruin my COMPLETE AND UTTER ENJOYMENT OF SEEING DAVE????? NO WAY!!

We were on the Sovereign. We left around 4:15 to catch the 4:30 tender, and were on the island by 5:00. (Some friends were on later tenders, and it did take them much longer . . . but they nevertheless arrived before the concert started). After I stood in a long ticket line for a long time without even a few feet of forward movement, my husband got creative and paid someone at the front of the line to buy some tickets for us. The drink line was long, but moved relatively quickly. I was disappointed that the only drink choices were beer and wine -- I think the Atlantis could have made a killing if they'd served mixed drinks -- but hey, I was gonna see Dave -- I was happy. And when one of the tenders arrived carrying more fans, my husband got creative again and got on the tender after everyone had disembarked and bought a bottle of rum from the bartender on the tender. Problem solved!

There were a lot of angry people on the island because of the tender/drinks issues, but once the concert started, all appeared to be forgotten. There was Dave -- I mean, really, THERE WAS DAVE -- RIGHT IN FRONT OF US -- SO INCREDIBLY CLOSE! There wasn't a bad spot on the beach, and everywhere I looked people were singing, dancing, making new friends, just having a ball.

And then the rains came . . . and came . . . and came . . . I live in Florida, and have been through 2 hurricane seasons so far, and even I was amazed at the amount of rain that came . . .

But did it dampen our spirits?? NO WAY! For most of us, the rain just seemed to add to the wacky, craziness of the evening.

As Dave and the other musicians left the stage, many started to ditch the island to head back to the cruise ships, but others headed to the beer tents to weather the storm. Plastic bags were passed out for everyone to don, and in some tents, the vendors felt bad enough for us to hand out free beers. Despite being drenched and frozen to the bone, everyone in the tents was laughing and goofing and living it up. We had no intentions of bailing if and until someone came back out on the stage to tell us that the concert for over. Much time passed, and we were rewarded for our efforts . . . the rains let up, and some of us spied activity up on the stage. We took off from under the tents and ran to the stage just in time to see Dave coming out and taking a seat right at the edge with guitar in hand. Even when I was in the 2nd row of a concert at Madison Square Garden, I was not this close! It was absolutely amazing . . . .

The night continued -- we continued to sing and party as if the rain had never happened, except now we were wet but a lot closer to the stage!

When it ended, Dave kept making the comment that "maybe I'll have to 'get on the boats' . . .!" I knew then that he wouldn't just say that unless he intended to do it. This feeling was confirmed when after he left the stage, and everyone was screaming "one more song!", one of the stagehands said, "Don't worry, you'll see him again tonight" Wink, wink.

My friends and I were in the last boat to finally leave the island (yes, there was even a line to get off of the island at the end of the evening). But no one cared -- the partying continued. Some played in the water, despite the cold. We made more friends, took more pictures . . .

When we arrived back at the dock where the cruise ships were, we looked like lost refugees . . . As we entered the boat, we received hot chocolate, not beer (maybe that was the earlier groups who came back, or the Majesty folks?). One of the boat's officers was greeting us, and I asked him where Dave would be on the boat. He said "Dave's not staying on the boat" and I said, "I know, but where is he playing?" and he quietly said -- "Go to the Follies", which is the name of the largest music venue on the ship.

We returned to our rooms, took a quick hot shower to thaw our bodies, and headed to the Follies. The doors opened, we ran down to the front, and a bit later, we were once again rewarded for our troubles --- DAVE came on stage and it was like watching him in a small, smoky bar. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. My only regret is that I didn't get a center stage seat, because he shook the hands of those in the center at the end. But I can't complain about my spot on the side -- still right in front of the stage. I'm still smiling . . . . Thank you, thank you, thank you, DAVE!! You proved you were everything I thought and MORE.

The next day was interesting, to say the least. At breakfast, you could tell just by looking at someone's face whether they'd seen the whole thing (all 3 parts) or not. Some people were pissed -- and I'm sure I would have been too -- but in the end, I think I would have blamed myself for not sticking it out. Yet even the angry people chilled as the day went on. They started playing DMB on the pool deck, and because we couldn't go to Coco Cay (because the seas were too rough), everyone ended up at the pool drinking and dancing and just being silly. I suspect we all had much more fun than we would have had on Coco Cay, where everyone probably would have split up. Instead, the whole ship (or a large part of it) partied together on the pool deck listening to Dave.

To all of you who were there, THANK YOU FOR CONTRIBUTING TO AN INCREDIBLE TIME! It'll take a lot to top this one . . .
Life handed us lemons, and some of us made lemonade . . . And boy oh boy, was it GOOD!

Whatever Happened to Dick Cheney????

Has anyone noticed how Vice President Dick Cheney seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth???

A check at www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident reveals the last post about VP Cheney's activities was made on August 18, 2005. Before that, there were posts at least weekly, sometimes daily. With what has happened in New Orleans and surrounding areas, one would have thought he'd be in the news, touring locations affected by Hurricane Katrina. Is there something going on with him that the public is not being told? . . . . .

The Nature of Men

In just the past two days I've heard comments made by women I'm acquainted with regarding the nature of men. The first occurred in my writing group. As part of a writing prompt, we were asked to make a list of things people were afraid of. We read our lists out loud to one another, and of course the obvious fears were contained in many of our lists -- death, heights, flying, etc. One of the items I listed was commitment. This was also one of the items listed by a man in our group, who happened to read his list out loud before I read mine. When he came to this item on his list, one of the women in the group piped up "Only a man would come up with that fear." Most in the group laughed (and all but two members of the group are women), but I took issue with this (good-naturedly), because as I stated above, this item was also on my list. I don't think fear of commitment is unique to men; I have known both men and women who I could fairly say appeared to have a fear of commitment.

Then today I took a walk with a friend, who in the course of our discussion made the comment that men are "simple. They're basically beer and football." I took issue with this also. I know my own husband hates beer, and I can probably count on one hand the number of football games he's watched from start to finish. He's just not that kind of guy, and in fact, most of the guys I've ever been interested in weren't. Don't misunderstand. There's nothing wrong with a guy who likes beer and football, and indeed, I'm sure there are many who do and at the same time are quite complex men. My point is merely that there are many men out there who don't like these things, and I sometimes feel that women cause their own problems with men when they lump them all together into such categories. Just as I would hate for someone to assume all women like shopping and gossiping with their girlfriends, I don't think men appreciate being thought of as mere couch-potatoes.

I wonder if growing up with so many brothers has made me more sympathetic to men than the average women? It'd be neat to take a survey of the women who think like those I've mentioned above to see if they grew up with no brothers?

More mediating the battle of the sexes later. . .

Words or Phrases I Hate or Am Sick Of

There are some words and phrases I think are just so overused, or are used by people who are trying too hard. The ones that come to mind right now are:
1. absolutely (used in place of a simple "yes"; as in "Joe, is this issue important to you?" Joe: "Absolutely.")
2. edgy (someone define what this really means, please! Once you use this word to describe something, hasn't that thing already reached the point of not being "edgy" . . . ?)
3. hip (same here)
4. again (used often by executives who don't have something original to say, so they just repeat themselves; as in "Again, it's important to be a team player" or "Again, we need to think out of the box")
5. team player
6. out of the box
7. hunker down (remember, folks, I was in Florida during this past hurricane season)

More to come . . .

Bush, followed by more pleasant thoughts . . .

When I first read this morning's headline that Bush was requesting $80 billion more to fight the "war on terror", I said to my daughter: "I know what I'll be writing about on my blog today!" But now it's after 4 in the afternoon and my boiling blood has calmed to a simmer. So I'll limit my comments on Bush (for today, at least) to this: Mr. Bush, why wasn't this request brought up BEFORE the election? After all, it was just over two months ago; surely you knew then what your plans were for January. Shame on you. You've been less than forthcoming with your constituents. It couldn't be that you knew the effect such a request would have had on the election, could it? Nah!!! A moral person wouldn't misrepresent himself in that way, and we all know that morals ruled the election.

Okay, enough . . . I'll make myself mad all over again. . .

Now the more pleasant thoughts . . . Today I went to lunch with 3 new friends from my writing group. We've been in the group together for a while, but this is the first time we've done something outside of the workshop. I enjoyed our lunch immensely! Such interesting people who help me to expand my mind. Thank you Linda, Don and Jeff!

I'm starting to believe that maybe someday I can really think of Florida as home, despite the rocky start . . .

Johnny Carson & Thoughts on Death

Not necessarily the topic on which I wanted to started my blog -- but it's on my mind so I'll write about it. Last night I had a dream that my father died. Now, my father is very old, and not in great health. We've had some close calls, and frankly, I'm sometimes amazed that he's still with us. But the dream nevertheless shook me up. I could actually feel what it would be like for him to be gone, the emptiness inside that results when someone who has always been a constant is suddenly and permanently gone from your life.

Then I woke up, turned on my shower radio, and learned that Johnny Carson had died. It was too weird. I cried. Not only because I loved Johnny Carson, but because of the connection in my mind between Johnny Carson and my father, and the strange coincidence of the dream.

Born in the early 60's, I grew up watching Johnny Carson with my father. My father's not the most demonstrative of men I know -- not many from his generation are -- but watching Johnny together was a ritual for us. We were the night owls of the family. My mom couldn't stay awake long enough to watch with us, and that was okay with me. Johnny Carson time was daddy and me time, from when I was very young until I moved away from home at 19. I can still hear the music at the start of the show, and Ed McMahon's voice announcing "Heeeeeeerrrrrrreeee's Johnny!" I don't know where my five older brothers were; maybe sometimes they joined us, but not often. Not often enough to make an impression. It was just me and my dad. That's what mattered to me. There are family pictures of us on the couch, the only time we ever really cuddled together. Maybe that's why someone decided it warranted a picture -- to freeze the moment in time. But even without a picture, those moments will be frozen in my memory forever.

I've been weepy all day. When someone like Johnny dies, he takes a little bit of my childhood with him. With every death of someone from my father's generation, I find myself wondering: is he next? Will I be able to handle it? I've been lucky enough not to have someone close to me die. At 41, that's pretty remarkable. I know my time is coming, and soon I will begin losing the ones I love, the ones I grew up with, the ones who molded me.

Goodbye, Johnny . . . there are those who will never forget you . . .