Strange Meanderings of a Psychopath

This is what you get when you mix a prostitute and an idiot together. A strange dose of lemon pie.

New Year's Resolutions

Sometimes the feds have New Years resolutions of their own. It is never too late to go after the bad guys. Bad boys, bad boys, what are you going to do when the feds come after you.

Willing To Forgive Infidelity

When it comes to presidential candidates' extramarital affairs, Democrats -- at least in Iowa and New Hampshire -- are much more apt to be forgiving than Republicans.

According to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, 73% of Democrats who intend to go to Thursday's caucuses in Iowa and 72% of those planning to vote in the Jan. 8 primary in New Hampshire said learning that a candidate had an extramarital affair would have "no effect" on their support.

On the GOP side, 39% in Iowa and 52% in New Hampshire said a contender's infidelity wouldn't affect their support.

On the attack: The poll also found that Democrats in the two states thought Hillary Rodham Clinton had done the most negative campaigning among the major contenders in their party.

In New Hampshire, Clinton was rated the most negative by a wide margin; 40% said she led the way. John Edwards was next at 11%.

Among Republicans, Mitt Romney was regarded as the king of negativity in Iowa at 35%. None of the other candidates climbed into double figures.

In New Hampshire, none of the Republican candidates stood out as negative.

Trapped In The Cycle

When a person is trapped in a cycle of drug addiction, how far will they go to live out their fantasy? Their fantasy can be so great where they find themselves becoming prostitutes or sleeping with prostitutes. It is sad, however, when a father risks his own health and the health of his children to perform oral sex acts on various prostitutes.

Christians Attacked At Christmas Time

Christians across India's Orissa state were terrorized this Christmas season by hate groups opposed to the Gospel. Anti-Christian extremists attacked Gospel for Asia native missionary Matish Junni on December 23.

They also destroyed a newly-built GFA-related church building on Christmas Eve.

What Are Your Friends Reading?

Google Reader has streamlined the process of tracking what your friends are reading by automatically adding their shared items to a new, aptly named, "Friend's Shared Items," option in the main menu of Reader. Of course you could already be subscribed to your friends' shared items via their public RSS feed, but the new features eliminate the need to manually add that information.

The friends are pulled from Google Talk (the chat component of Gmail) and once you’ve logged into Reader and looked over the change notice, you’ll see a new settings tab labeled “friends,” where you can see the new feeds you’re now subscribed to, along with an option to hide an individual’s feed.

Merry Christmas

Will The Convicted Felon Provide More?

Will convicted felon Stan "Pampy" Barre provide useful information?

In August, then-City Council President Oliver Thomas pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Barré, who was seeking to hang onto a contract to manage a city-owned parking lot. Thomas was sentenced last month to 37 months in prison, a stretch that is set to begin Jan. 3.

Since the Thomas case has run its course, the government's request for an additional delay of Barré's sentence -- for a sixth time -- indicates the restaurateur has provided other information authorities have deemed useful. The motion says as much: Barré "is cooperating with the government regarding other matters under investigation, but not yet completed," it reads.

One lead known to be under investigation is Barré's assertion, made to authorities, that he helped deliver bribes from two local trash haulers to the husband of Orleans Parish School Board member Una Anderson.

Barré has told the government that Jimmie Woods of Metro Disposal Inc. and Alvin Richard of Richard's Disposal Inc. provided the money in exchange for Anderson's promise to support the award of a trash-collection contract to be shared by the two firms, according to sources close to the investigation.

What's On Your Holiday Reading List

As the year comes to a close, it's time to look at some outstanding books published this year by Louisianians.

1. No One Knows the Son by James Cobb

2. Blink of an Eye by Rexanne Becnel

3. The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish by Elise Blackwell

4. Life in From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By

5. Louisiana Architecture 1840-1860 by Frederic O. Daspit

6. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

7. The exceptional Creole Houses: Traditional Homes of Old Louisiana (Abrams) by New Orleans' John H. Lawrence, with photos by Steve Gross and Sue Daley.

8. Landsmen by Peter Charles Melman

9. Skinny Brown Dog by Kimberly Willis Holt

10. Morbid Curiosity by Deborah LeBlanc

11. The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke

12. New Orleans' Favorite Shotguns by Mary Fitzpatrick and Alex Lemann

Two fabulous cookbooks out this year were John Folse's encyclopedic tome, After the Hunt: Louisiana's Authoritative Collection of Wild Game & Game Fish Cookery, published by his Gonzales company and Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes From Susan Spicer's New Orleans by Susan Spicer with Paula Disbrowe (Knopf), a book as fun to read and mull over as it is for its recipes.

A coffee table beauty to savor is Richard Sexton's Terra Incognita: Photographs of America's Third Coast (Chronicle Books), which captures the Gulf Coast in brilliant black and white photos.

This list only mentions a few of the wonderful Louisiana books published this year, but perusing these titles will prove once again that this state owns some of the finest literary minds around.

Book news
Betsy Miguez, reference librarian and associate professor of library science at the UL's Dupré Library, has been appointed to the American Library Association's 2009 Newbery Award Committee, which will review and evaluate children's books published in 2008. The committee bestows Newbery awards to "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Investigative journalist Ethan Brown has sold his Katrina book The Goddess and the Suicide King, according to Publisher's Weekly. The book chronicles Zackery Bowen and Addie Hall as they live in the French Quarter through Katrina and its aftermath until Bowen commits a shocking murder-suicide. The couple was featured on the front page of the New York Times for their Katrina experiences.

Acadiana resident Cheré Coen is an author under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Visit her Web site at www.LouisianaBookNews.com and write her at bacoen@cox.net.

HarperCollins and Myspace Join Forces

HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, has partnered with MySpace, the world's most popular social network, to launch MySpace/HarperTeen (www.myspace.com/harperteen), a customized interactive community for teen readers to connect with one another, read author blogs, interact on message boards and forums, learn about upcoming releases, post photos, and participate in HarperTeen contests, programs and online polls.

Beginning January 2008, HarperTeen authors will regularly interact with readers via the HarperTeen/MySpace site through author chats.

Advice

It amazes me on the amount of advice on the web as to what constitutes a good blog post. Some have even suggested that you use 250 words or less. I tend to agree with my readers. Does it matter? If no one wants to read what you have to say, they won't read your posts. Advice: No tricks. We all have free will.

From The Critic

A tidbit from blogcritics.


Philip Orbanes — the man who knows about all things Monopoly and the writer of The Monopoly Companion, a book primarily devoted to winning strategies for the game — is the perfect person to answer these questions. His book Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game — And How It Got That Way is a rich history of this classic board game. He traces the game back to its earliest roots as The Landlord Game, which was created in 1903 as a way to teach students about progressive real estate tax policy.

Taking Control

Sometimes we can lose control over the simplest things. One should step back, take a deep breath and proceed.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day13

Can Protesters Win?

What really constitutes a protest? It usually is a contest between two or more conflicting sides. The winner, however, is in the eyes of the beholder. One side may feel they have won because they got the opportunity to be heard, while one side may claim victory because they received the results sought.

A winning protest is just like anything else. Who wins is in the eyes of the beholder.

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Reruns

I am in the middle of watching an old "Frazier" rerun and the brother are trying to write a book. The most interesting part is how they think they can write first without having a main idea of what to write about. That is really not that extraordinary. I had no idea on what I would post tonight. I guess the main thing to do would be to write and just let the ideas flow.

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You Can't Be Everything

Have you ever met someone who wanted it all that they were willing to risk a long term prison sentence? If you cannot legitimately make the money, would you steal for it? I often wonder about those people who have no moral compass that they are willing to do just about anything for a buck. Was it some childhood deprivation that they are trying to make up for.?

Freedom is priceless. An extra vacation here and there is not worth ones reputation. Some crooks will soon learn that crime does not pay.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day10

Why Myspace

One of my readers sent me an email asking if I thought Myspace.com was a good place to promote her novel. Whether Myspace is a good place or not depends on the type of audience the writer is trying to reach.

The majority of myspace users are indie and other unsigned music artists and wannabes who have no interest in what you are promoting. The other group of myspace users consist of young people who just want to talk with their friends. You may need to ask: Myspace, friend or foe.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day 9

Giving Back

A special Christmas concert, produced jointly by Wal-Mart and the Salvation Army and featuring Pastor Rick Warren, is playing at the same time every day throughout all the company’s stores across America.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in partnership with The Salvation Army, has made its Christmas Carol Concert available for online viewing at [->www.walmartchristmascarolconcert.com/]

I would not say that this was a marketing strategy by Walmart but it is sure a nice gesture. Can you imagine the possible publicity and interest? Spreading interest is all a part of publicity.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day 8

American Everyman

On a bright afternoon in Edinburgh, the Pulitzer-prize-winning novelist Richard Ford is wearing a new purple sweater, a pristine white shirt and a pair of trousers that give just a hint of stylish sock. There is therefore no danger of identifying him with his creation, Frank Bascombe, who has been wearing the same frumpy clothes throughout his long fictional existence, buying his outfits - loafers, chinos - from catalogues.

With The Lay of the Land, published last year, Ford completed his trilogy about Bascombe, former sportswriter turned estate agent and American literature's most convincing everyman; Ford's most recent project, a new edition of The Granta Book of the American Short Story, has just been published.

He has flown in to give a reading, and will be returning to the States the next day, but a man never looked less plane-soiled. His speech is elegant, too: he has the kind of precise Southern accent that makes punctuation audible. |Read more|

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day 7

Poor Poor Helena Dabros

Helena Dabros is a woman on the brink of insanity. She is unable to pay her bills and she blames everyone for her misfortune. Her rent is past due and now she is on a rampage because she does not have anybody to turn to. You see, if you are not giving Helena Dabros a handout, she goes beserk and then she tries to ruin your reputation.

You will never meet someone like Helena Dabros because she is one of a kind.

I guess you are saying, what does this have to do with novel writing? It doesn't. It is just an example of being different for better or worse. I guess that is what makes different storytellers different.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day 6

Writer's Block....

Is there such a thing as writer's block or is just the author's imagination? Someone asked me that several days ago. I believe that it is in the author's imagination. We all can write. We might not like what we produce. I believe in just writing. If you do not like what you wrote then edit. Sometimes I just write without even glancing back at what I write.

In fact that is what I am doing with this post. I will write and not even look back to see if I like what I wrote. Have a good day. I am out.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day 5

What's Your Approach?

I ran across this article about how this brewing company has a unique approach with its beer.

The Shmaltz Brewing website proclaims that the company makes beer with chutzpah. You don't need a sense of humor to enjoy its line of He'brew beers, but you do get an extra level of enjoyment if you appreciate the giddily irreverent tone of the names of the beers and the literature on the packaging.

The company's founder, says he started Shmaltz because he wanted to make a Jewish celebration beer. But read the various beers' labels and its clear he also wanted to be a gag writer.

There's Genesis, He'brew's first beer; Messiah Bold; Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A., an homage to oft-censored comedian Lenny Bruce, and made with rye; Origins, a pomegranate ale; and Jewbelation 11, which cranks things up in true Spinal Tap fashion. The label of Lenny's Bittersweet, which looks like a comedy club marquee, informs the consumer that the ale is made with obscene amounts of malt and hops. The Messiah Bold label reads: "The beer you've been waiting for."

But a good shtick only goes so far. There has to be some decent brew to back it up, and Shmaltz's beers are very good. (They're also kosher.)

You are probably saying, what does this have to do with books and novels? The answer is simple; your novel is your product. What would then be your approach in distinguishing it from the other novels being published? You have to first determine your niche and not try to capture the whole market.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day 4

So Much Information

Have you ever read several blogs and websites, that offer advice, on how to promote your book? If you have, you will be amazed at the number of posts that center around the same idea and the number of post that differ.

Sometimes I just review several blogs to see what they have to say and I am simply amazed at the varying opinions. Opinions is what I would like to stress. You can go crazy if you try to follow any of the varying opinions relating to promoting your novel. The best thing I would suggest is to go with your gut.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day 3

Who Gets The Attention?

When I was deciding on where to blog, I checked out typepad.com and wordpress.com. I had previously blogged with blogger.com. I only recently noticed how they promote their sites.

Typepad will tell you why you should blog with them. One of their strategies i s to profile popular bloggers. For example, Seth Godin is profiled.

Wordpress does the same thing. Recently I noticed that Blogger follows the same strategy by listing blogs of note. When I noticed that unitedhollywood.blogspot.com was listed as a blog of note, after just beginning the blog, I said, oh I see; I know your strategy. Lesson learned: Popular and good can be two different concepts.

We can all take a lesson from this when promoting our novels; follow your heart and your passion. Let the promoters follow theirs.

Family Corruption In The Big Easy - Day2

With So Many Books Being Published, Why Yours?

Sometimes self-published books get a bad wrap. I remember reading a blog comment and the commenter pointed out the fact that the blog post was discussing a self-published book. The commenter immediately jumped to the conclusion that the book was not worth reading.

While I am not advocating whether to self publish or not, I do believe that sometimes self-publishing receives a bad wrap.

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What Makes A Publisher Want Your Novel?

Sometimes I think it depends on who you are. If you are unknown, you are most likely will not be published by the major publishing companies. They seem to look at the popularity or infamy of the writer as oppose to the content of the novel. What a shame. They miss out on a lot.