The last few days have been very hectic -- hell the whole week was. During my lunch hour on Tuesday, while shopping at Sephora in Times Square, to quote Carole King, I felt the earth move under my feet. Unfortunately, it wasn't a man. (Am snapping fingers) :) I actually thought it was the subway that runs underground right where I was standing rumbling through the undeground tunnels. It wasn't. It was the tremors of the aftershock of an earthquake in Virginia.
Unfazed and totally unaware, I walked back to my office and as I approached the turnstyle to the elevator, a young attorney who was one of my assignments at our old location urged me not to go upstairs. He's always kidding around and I didn't believe him. He just kept saying it wasn't safe. I looked over at the security desk in the lobby and no one looked panicked or even in the least bit stressed. I chuckled and got on the elevator, ignoring him. When I reached my floor, I got off, waved my card before the card reader and swung open the heavy glass doors walking through them and heading in the direction of my desk. I walked passed the large, glass enclosed conference rooms and as I turned the corner, I could hear urgent chattering. It's an office filled with women, and I paid it little mind, till I reached an attorney who sits near me and asked her what was going on. She told me all about it. Stunned I walked to my desk and im'ed with my daughter. She was confused as well, so she called me, saying she did feel it and wanted to make sure I was ok. Reassured I was, she hung up to check on Dayne who was at the pool with his day camp. Obviously, he was ok.
A few days later, a hurricane watch for Hurricane Irene was announced. It was barreling down on the East Coast and heading right our way. I spent the rest of the week preparing: stocking up my refrigerator, making sure I had everything I needed for both Bosco and I. By Friday, I was exhausted. I showered then sat down to watch a little TV, but crashed on the couch. I awoke to Bosco's loud purring and the weight of him trying to get comfortable on my chest at 1 a.m. So I got up, shut everything down and went to bed.
Almost immediately I fell into a deep sleep having two successive weird dreams. First, I dreamt I was on Park Avenue, turning to go up the hill to Mount Sinai Hospital. Why was I heading to the hospital? I don't know; I wasn't hurt. I was just strolling. That whole area holds many, many mixed memories for me. I used to hang out just up the block from there with my ex-husband and friends. We regularly held block parties on that block and I always cooked. I used to get requests for certain dishes. My daughter was born at Mount Sinai. But there are also lots of bad things I experienced in that general area. So, I'm walking up the block, and who do I see but Christopher Meloni, the guy who plays Elliot Stabler in the SVU series of the Law and Order franchise! Yep. Not only that, though that is who I see, in my mind, I recognized him as my girlfriend, Johanna's dad! It gets better. I'm even addressing him by the name of an attorney in my office! PLUS, he and his wife, who in my dream is really Johanna's mother, are walking these two, humongous, tan dogs. And, to top it all off -- I was having perception problems. I felt like I would faint at any moment and worried about the pain I would feel once I hit the ground if I fainted.
3 a.m. I awoke with a pounding headache. I got out of bed, got some water, and crawled back in, falling asleep again quickly. (Did I sleepwalk??) This time I dreamt I was sitting in a fancy hotel bar that looked very much like the rooftop bar at 230 Fifth Avenue ... one of my favorite places to go to during summer evenings because it's so beautiful there. In this dream, it was extremely dark and I felt lost. I thought my daughter was there, I mean, I could sense her but I couldn't find her. I looked around the room, noticing that everything seemed -- I don't know -- wavy. My perception, again, was off. My eyelids began to feel heavy and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I had also begun to have a feeling of urgency to get to my daughter. I spotted her exiting the bar and rose to go in the direction she was heading. The closer I got, the further away she got. Did she even notice I was trying to get to her?
Finally, I'm out on the street, in the middle of the neighborhood where I was born, and though I recognized where I was, I couldn't get a grip on my bearings and my perception was now becoming multidimensional. My head was pounding, but I had to get to my daughter, and I had to keep my eyes open which was becoming harder and harder to do. I jumped in a car .. just some car with some people in it I didn't recognize. But I absolutely had to get to my daughter and that was the only way. My heart was pounding. I knew I was dreaming but I couldn't wake up. I don't know how, but when I finally did wake up, my head was pounding even more than it had been earlier.
It was 5 a.m. and too early to call my daughter. I hoped she, Dayne and her boyfriend, James were ok. I made a pot of coffee and drank some aspirin. About an hour and a half later my headache began to subside. I sat down to read tweets, email messages, blog posts and made a list of things I still needed to get in preparation for the storm. At 10:30 my daughter called. Phew!! She was checking on me. I told her my dreams. She started laughing, saying: "Ma! You dreamed what I was experiencing last night."
Apparently she had been at a Hookah Bar and it was very dark. Hookah Bars are popping up all over the place here in NY now. I haven't been to one, but it's on my to do list. She said she was feeling a little disoriented because of it, and didn't have a drink. I don't know if she used a hookah. Some of you may be wondering if I was in an altered state. Let me assure you, I did not drink last night. I find the whole experience somewhat surreal.
Now, I'm preparing for Hurricane Irene. I've got all the essentials and I'm wondering if it's really going to get that bad. Watching the news is unnerving. I've shut off the television set and I am hunkering down with my laptop and my imagination to write.
Back soon!
~~ML
The Romance Reviews
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
My Next Project
I've begun working on my next project, a story I'm calling "Standing on the Precipice." (SotP) I'm not done plotting it, but already it has had several incarnations!
Originally, this story was going to focus on a woman -- a child of immigrants with fractured ideas regarding what her path in life ought to be. I thought I would write it much in the same way that I wrote "Sinner's Ride" (SR) -- stream of consciousness -- you know, just let it flow and let the characters tell the story. But that's not going to happen this time around. I've decided to do something different with this project. Although I had done some research for some of the scenes in SR, it wasn't as intense as the research I have been doing and will continue to do for SotP. (Here is a link to one entry on my blog over at my publisher's website, The Indie Author's Press for your perusal: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/entry.php?127-Serial-Killers-Are-they-made-or-born While you're at it, please consider becoming a member. It really is a cool site!)
Another consideration I had to bear in mind was that I wrote SR during one short month last year as part of NaNoWriMo. I've decided not to participate this year as I anticipate demands at work that will not be conducive to writing the kind of story I want to write. Yes, I understand that I don't have to finish the story in 30 days - I just have to get in 50,000 words in that timeframe -- but I am anal that way. Seriously. Once I get my mind fixed on something, I have to finish it and I don't want to put myself under that kind of pressure because I don't perform well under those conditions. I want to really spend the time it takes to organize, create and become intimate with the characters of this story. As with SR, I want to grab a hold of my audience and not release them until the final scene is over.
So, with all of that in mind, I have began using The Marshall Plan (thank you Jorge :}), and for that reason, I believe this story will be much more organized. The idea is to feature three main characters as well as a villain -- all of their lives interwoven with one another and all as psychologically different from one another as possible. The story will incorporate surprising twists and turns including my now favorite thing to do -- which is to include at least one "shocker" event.
I expect this story will continue to change as it evolves, so I don't want to go into any further detail about it, lest I engender expectations that may either fall short or disappoint, but the intricacies of this story present a huge challenge for me and to those of you who know me, you know how I love a challenge!
If you like what you've read, leave a comment. Let me know what your thoughts are! I would LOVE to hear them!
~~ML
Originally, this story was going to focus on a woman -- a child of immigrants with fractured ideas regarding what her path in life ought to be. I thought I would write it much in the same way that I wrote "Sinner's Ride" (SR) -- stream of consciousness -- you know, just let it flow and let the characters tell the story. But that's not going to happen this time around. I've decided to do something different with this project. Although I had done some research for some of the scenes in SR, it wasn't as intense as the research I have been doing and will continue to do for SotP. (Here is a link to one entry on my blog over at my publisher's website, The Indie Author's Press for your perusal: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/entry.php?127-Serial-Killers-Are-they-made-or-born While you're at it, please consider becoming a member. It really is a cool site!)
Another consideration I had to bear in mind was that I wrote SR during one short month last year as part of NaNoWriMo. I've decided not to participate this year as I anticipate demands at work that will not be conducive to writing the kind of story I want to write. Yes, I understand that I don't have to finish the story in 30 days - I just have to get in 50,000 words in that timeframe -- but I am anal that way. Seriously. Once I get my mind fixed on something, I have to finish it and I don't want to put myself under that kind of pressure because I don't perform well under those conditions. I want to really spend the time it takes to organize, create and become intimate with the characters of this story. As with SR, I want to grab a hold of my audience and not release them until the final scene is over.
So, with all of that in mind, I have began using The Marshall Plan (thank you Jorge :}), and for that reason, I believe this story will be much more organized. The idea is to feature three main characters as well as a villain -- all of their lives interwoven with one another and all as psychologically different from one another as possible. The story will incorporate surprising twists and turns including my now favorite thing to do -- which is to include at least one "shocker" event.
I expect this story will continue to change as it evolves, so I don't want to go into any further detail about it, lest I engender expectations that may either fall short or disappoint, but the intricacies of this story present a huge challenge for me and to those of you who know me, you know how I love a challenge!
If you like what you've read, leave a comment. Let me know what your thoughts are! I would LOVE to hear them!
~~ML
Sunday, August 7, 2011
"You probably from Spanish Harlem if...."
All I want to do is sleep. I've had only a few snatches of sleep since Thursday night. I spent a restless night stressing over my daughter, worrying about her pending surgery scheduled for Friday morning. Needless to say, everything went well. She's in a lot of pain but she's still herself enough to crack jokes.
I've been holed up at her place since Friday except for two hours yesterday when I went home to feed Bosco then left to return to make a Spanish stew for her -- SANCOCHO!! Sancocho is a traditional Puerto Rican stew made with green bananas, plantains and other vegetables, chunks of corn on the cob and either beef or pork chunks. It is sometimes served with avocado and white rice. I only made the stew; didn't make the rice and forgot to pick up an avocado. Still in all, it was DELICIOSO!!
Between naps, I picked up my blackberry to catch up intermittently on the latest on Twitter and Facebook. It was during one of those catch up sessions that I came across a page on Facebook called "You probably from Spanish Harlem if...." (http://www.facebook.com/groups/139130046173177/). I read some of the postings, looked at the pictures posted by some of the over 3,100 members taken over the years. I was thrown back to my childhood. People, (the famous Popcorn), places (La Marqueta) and things (Skellies, jelly shoes, click-clacks) that make up large portions of the story of my life.
With my daughter wincing in pain across from me, I read some of the postings to her and she began to relate some of her memories of being born (Mt. Sinai) and raised in Spanish Harlem herself. I requested membership and within a couple of hours I was accepted into this group that held the colorful threads of the fabric of my life.
Reading all those posts made me think about people long gone but not forgotten, events that were markers in my life and what the future holds for a neighborhood that I have a love/hate relationship with. The area where I grew up is now so gentrified it is unrecogniziable to me. Now, there are high rise buildings; expensive co-ops and all their trappings standing side by side with government run housing projects. I grew up in those housing projects and the tenement buildings before them. I wonder if hardworking people who came out of those very same housing projects would be readily accepted as tenants into any of those new high rise buildings? I doubt it. They/we are/were pre-judged as stupid drunkards who fought and had no aspirations. New inhabitants of my old neighborhood now pat themselves on their backs and talk about how cool it is that they live in Spanish Harlem. I would venture to say that they can now enjoy the history of that rich neighborhood because of what we and the people who came before me went through.
Indeed, as I mentioned, I left that neighborhood when my daughter was 13 years old. It was the early 90's and the crack cocaine phenomena had risen in my home town like a monster out of the cracks in the concrete that make up the sidewalk. The very same cracks that I jumped over playfully as a little girl chanting: "Step on the crack; you break your mother's back." Who wants to break their mother's back? Not I! But I digress...
When I left my old neighborhood, my daughter had just turned 13. I was a single mother working at the Waldorf=Astoria's Executive Office (I was the first person of color to work in the famed hotel's Executive Office) and I was living paycheck to paycheck. I didn't want her to get involved with the bullshit on the streets. Rather than go on vacations, which we didn't do, I would take her with me to work at the hotel, and introduce her to worldly clients; people who had money; people who had travelled the world, in the hopes that she could see that there was so much out there to experience. I believe this is why she is who she is today. Why she can crack jokes; why, even while in bad pain she can see that it's really not that serious. With the proceeds of part of a settlement with my ex-husband and my small savings, I bought a co-op in the West Bronx. I wanted to live someplace where there was a mix of people, but I didn't want to leave behind that gritty-ness you feel when you live in a place like Spanish (East) Harlem.
I am Puerto Rican -- yes, but more than that, I am a proud NuYorican from East Harlem -- SPANISH Harlem -- with all the juicy-ness that brings. If you want to know what it was like, how we made something out of nothing to accomplish our dreams, visit this page and see where my nostalagia is coming from. http://www.facebook.com/groups/139130046173177/
I will never stop dreaming dreams and accomplishing them.
~~ML
I've been holed up at her place since Friday except for two hours yesterday when I went home to feed Bosco then left to return to make a Spanish stew for her -- SANCOCHO!! Sancocho is a traditional Puerto Rican stew made with green bananas, plantains and other vegetables, chunks of corn on the cob and either beef or pork chunks. It is sometimes served with avocado and white rice. I only made the stew; didn't make the rice and forgot to pick up an avocado. Still in all, it was DELICIOSO!!
Between naps, I picked up my blackberry to catch up intermittently on the latest on Twitter and Facebook. It was during one of those catch up sessions that I came across a page on Facebook called "You probably from Spanish Harlem if...." (http://www.facebook.com/groups/139130046173177/). I read some of the postings, looked at the pictures posted by some of the over 3,100 members taken over the years. I was thrown back to my childhood. People, (the famous Popcorn), places (La Marqueta) and things (Skellies, jelly shoes, click-clacks) that make up large portions of the story of my life.
With my daughter wincing in pain across from me, I read some of the postings to her and she began to relate some of her memories of being born (Mt. Sinai) and raised in Spanish Harlem herself. I requested membership and within a couple of hours I was accepted into this group that held the colorful threads of the fabric of my life.
Reading all those posts made me think about people long gone but not forgotten, events that were markers in my life and what the future holds for a neighborhood that I have a love/hate relationship with. The area where I grew up is now so gentrified it is unrecogniziable to me. Now, there are high rise buildings; expensive co-ops and all their trappings standing side by side with government run housing projects. I grew up in those housing projects and the tenement buildings before them. I wonder if hardworking people who came out of those very same housing projects would be readily accepted as tenants into any of those new high rise buildings? I doubt it. They/we are/were pre-judged as stupid drunkards who fought and had no aspirations. New inhabitants of my old neighborhood now pat themselves on their backs and talk about how cool it is that they live in Spanish Harlem. I would venture to say that they can now enjoy the history of that rich neighborhood because of what we and the people who came before me went through.
Indeed, as I mentioned, I left that neighborhood when my daughter was 13 years old. It was the early 90's and the crack cocaine phenomena had risen in my home town like a monster out of the cracks in the concrete that make up the sidewalk. The very same cracks that I jumped over playfully as a little girl chanting: "Step on the crack; you break your mother's back." Who wants to break their mother's back? Not I! But I digress...
When I left my old neighborhood, my daughter had just turned 13. I was a single mother working at the Waldorf=Astoria's Executive Office (I was the first person of color to work in the famed hotel's Executive Office) and I was living paycheck to paycheck. I didn't want her to get involved with the bullshit on the streets. Rather than go on vacations, which we didn't do, I would take her with me to work at the hotel, and introduce her to worldly clients; people who had money; people who had travelled the world, in the hopes that she could see that there was so much out there to experience. I believe this is why she is who she is today. Why she can crack jokes; why, even while in bad pain she can see that it's really not that serious. With the proceeds of part of a settlement with my ex-husband and my small savings, I bought a co-op in the West Bronx. I wanted to live someplace where there was a mix of people, but I didn't want to leave behind that gritty-ness you feel when you live in a place like Spanish (East) Harlem.
I am Puerto Rican -- yes, but more than that, I am a proud NuYorican from East Harlem -- SPANISH Harlem -- with all the juicy-ness that brings. If you want to know what it was like, how we made something out of nothing to accomplish our dreams, visit this page and see where my nostalagia is coming from. http://www.facebook.com/groups/139130046173177/
I will never stop dreaming dreams and accomplishing them.
~~ML
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Ying Yang: Weddings and Amy Winehouse
Last summer, I re-connected with a friend from elementary school. Widowed for a while, she met a man who treated her wonderfully, and she was in the early stages of planning her wedding. That wedding is now a week away.
Tomorrow, for the first time in NYC history, the first same sex marriages will legally take place and I am sitting here listening to Amy Winehouse warbling "Moody's Mood for Love". You must be asking yourselves: "What do the two have in common?"
Well, here's my thinking: Weddings are joyous events. The bride is the center of attention and she is Queen for the Day. Weddings bring about feelings of excitement and families get together in happiness; people become reacquainted; you hear songs of love, happiness and the future. A new beginning is on the horizon. The future is bright!
Funerals evoke feelings of sadness, hurt, pain that emerges from the abyss of your soul. Unbearable pain. Families get together embraced by and in a joint sorrow. Conversations revolve around what could have been. The deceased -- or rather-- the life led by the deceased is analyzed and solutions to the poor soul's issues are tossed around. It is the end of an era. There is nothing but darkness. This is what I imagine might happen at Amy's funeral, as is common. People just can't help themselves.
But what about that person who's life is being dissected? Amy Winehouse was a tortured soul who just wanted to be loved. Everybody wants to be loved, right? But who really knows what goes on in a person's life? Amy's soulful torch songs; her showy performance style and her lifestyle hinted at a search for something. I believe all she wanted was to be loved and accepted as she was ... a la Billie Holiday.
I think it must be similar for same sex couples. My friend's wedding got me thinking about all the same sex committment ceremonies I'd been invited to and attended over the years. There is only one couple among them that will not legalize their union. They are in the minority. I am ecstactic that New York City has risen to the occasion! It is wonderful to know that my hometown recognizes that love is love, no matter it's presentation. It was a long hard road; one hard travelled.
Amy Winehouse, you WERE loved honey. You just didn't see it. Maybe you couldn't, but I hope your soul finds some peace.
~~ML
Tomorrow, for the first time in NYC history, the first same sex marriages will legally take place and I am sitting here listening to Amy Winehouse warbling "Moody's Mood for Love". You must be asking yourselves: "What do the two have in common?"
Well, here's my thinking: Weddings are joyous events. The bride is the center of attention and she is Queen for the Day. Weddings bring about feelings of excitement and families get together in happiness; people become reacquainted; you hear songs of love, happiness and the future. A new beginning is on the horizon. The future is bright!
Funerals evoke feelings of sadness, hurt, pain that emerges from the abyss of your soul. Unbearable pain. Families get together embraced by and in a joint sorrow. Conversations revolve around what could have been. The deceased -- or rather-- the life led by the deceased is analyzed and solutions to the poor soul's issues are tossed around. It is the end of an era. There is nothing but darkness. This is what I imagine might happen at Amy's funeral, as is common. People just can't help themselves.
But what about that person who's life is being dissected? Amy Winehouse was a tortured soul who just wanted to be loved. Everybody wants to be loved, right? But who really knows what goes on in a person's life? Amy's soulful torch songs; her showy performance style and her lifestyle hinted at a search for something. I believe all she wanted was to be loved and accepted as she was ... a la Billie Holiday.
I think it must be similar for same sex couples. My friend's wedding got me thinking about all the same sex committment ceremonies I'd been invited to and attended over the years. There is only one couple among them that will not legalize their union. They are in the minority. I am ecstactic that New York City has risen to the occasion! It is wonderful to know that my hometown recognizes that love is love, no matter it's presentation. It was a long hard road; one hard travelled.
Amy Winehouse, you WERE loved honey. You just didn't see it. Maybe you couldn't, but I hope your soul finds some peace.
~~ML
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Howdy people!
Sinner here! So, did you miss me? I missed you guys and I'm happy to be here because I'm getting better every day. But I still don't know what's happened to my baby.....
Anyhow, it's been a very long while since I've visited. I'd say too long, wouldn't you? A lot has happened since I last spent some time with you all. So, let me begin:
The last time I was here was May 15. Wow! Has it really been that long? Well, I guess it has been. OK. Well -- since then, Minnie's been to Puerto Rico to visit with her Mom for her 90th birthday in June -- but don't get it twisted people. It was no picnic. Minnie's Mom is very sick and bedridden, but she is alert and really enjoyed her birthday. Her brother hired a band to serenade her with songs of her youth. It was very emotional. It was the first time in a long time she was able to sustain herself in her wheelchair for any length of time.
Just a few hours after arriving home after her trip, Minnie went and adopted herself a cat -- a 17 pound grey and white cat named Bosco. He's a fat cat and she's put him on a diet! LOL!!
Then things started to happen! Minnie started following this guy on twitter ... some guy named Jorge Salgado-Reyes. He's a PI you know, but she followed him .. get it?? HAHA!! Anyhow, this guy is also the founder and manager of an indie publishing company called Indie Authors Press. So this Jorge guy gets it in his head that he wants to put her under the spotlight. I thought she committed some sort of crime. I told her not to do it, but she did! I was scared for her, but it turns out that it was for an interview series on his forum!! DUH!! This is what happened: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/showthread.php?1842-Shining-the-SPOTLIGHT-on-Minnie-Lahongrais
Next thing you know she agrees to sign on with his company and write books for them!!! Here! Here's the announcement: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/content.php?118-Author-Minnie-Lahongrais-signs-publishing-deal-with-Indie-Authors-Press.
You know? They also have a Writer's / Beta Readers Circle for you authors reading this. Check it out: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?26-Writers-amp-Beta-Readers-Circle. It's a confidential forum, so if you want to participate, you'll have to join. It's free! So you should join!! They offer blogs too .. for free! It's all free on that website! Cool, huh?
Anyhow, back to Minnie, here's her author page: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/content.php?122-Sinner-s-Ride
Her bio is here for those two people who still don't know who she is: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/content.php?121-Minnie-Lahongrais-Biography. Those of you who don't know her -- what are you, living under a rock??
Good for her though!! I'm very happy for her and she's very excited about this deal. And don't tell anybody, but this guy seems pretty cool too .. the thing is, like I said before, come closer...HE'S A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR IN REAL LIFE!!! Ssssh!! She better watch her step!! That gave me an idea! Do you think he could help me find my baby? Could somebody ask him? Please?
So now she's all about her writing! What's up with that?? She's forgotten all about me!! Well ... that's not true. She recently had a release party for my story and she read an excerpt that went really well. Everyone sat in rapt attention. I love it when that happens! There were so many people ... some she never even met!! And, my story is selling like hotcakes at her office after some executive decided to run a story on her in their company e-newsletter. That is good for me. Her company has offices everywhere!! She's getting phone calls from people and she's talking to people she hasn't spoken to in a long time and she's happy. I also think she is planning to make my story available right here on her blog, so look for that in the next couple of days. And between you and I, I know she has copies at her home, so you can get your copy really quickly when you place an order for it here AND she WILL sign it! I'll make sure of that!
Oh! Oh! Here she comes. I'm going to go now. I don't want her to be mad at me for being on her computer. Be nice to her people! Leave a comment or send her a tweet letting her know that you all encouraged me to write because you missed me, OK?
I'll be back soon.....
~~Sinner
Anyhow, it's been a very long while since I've visited. I'd say too long, wouldn't you? A lot has happened since I last spent some time with you all. So, let me begin:
The last time I was here was May 15. Wow! Has it really been that long? Well, I guess it has been. OK. Well -- since then, Minnie's been to Puerto Rico to visit with her Mom for her 90th birthday in June -- but don't get it twisted people. It was no picnic. Minnie's Mom is very sick and bedridden, but she is alert and really enjoyed her birthday. Her brother hired a band to serenade her with songs of her youth. It was very emotional. It was the first time in a long time she was able to sustain herself in her wheelchair for any length of time.
Just a few hours after arriving home after her trip, Minnie went and adopted herself a cat -- a 17 pound grey and white cat named Bosco. He's a fat cat and she's put him on a diet! LOL!!
Then things started to happen! Minnie started following this guy on twitter ... some guy named Jorge Salgado-Reyes. He's a PI you know, but she followed him .. get it?? HAHA!! Anyhow, this guy is also the founder and manager of an indie publishing company called Indie Authors Press. So this Jorge guy gets it in his head that he wants to put her under the spotlight. I thought she committed some sort of crime. I told her not to do it, but she did! I was scared for her, but it turns out that it was for an interview series on his forum!! DUH!! This is what happened: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/showthread.php?1842-Shining-the-SPOTLIGHT-on-Minnie-Lahongrais
Next thing you know she agrees to sign on with his company and write books for them!!! Here! Here's the announcement: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/content.php?118-Author-Minnie-Lahongrais-signs-publishing-deal-with-Indie-Authors-Press.
You know? They also have a Writer's / Beta Readers Circle for you authors reading this. Check it out: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?26-Writers-amp-Beta-Readers-Circle. It's a confidential forum, so if you want to participate, you'll have to join. It's free! So you should join!! They offer blogs too .. for free! It's all free on that website! Cool, huh?
Anyhow, back to Minnie, here's her author page: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/content.php?122-Sinner-s-Ride
Her bio is here for those two people who still don't know who she is: http://www.salgado-reyes.com/forums/content.php?121-Minnie-Lahongrais-Biography. Those of you who don't know her -- what are you, living under a rock??
Good for her though!! I'm very happy for her and she's very excited about this deal. And don't tell anybody, but this guy seems pretty cool too .. the thing is, like I said before, come closer...HE'S A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR IN REAL LIFE!!! Ssssh!! She better watch her step!! That gave me an idea! Do you think he could help me find my baby? Could somebody ask him? Please?
So now she's all about her writing! What's up with that?? She's forgotten all about me!! Well ... that's not true. She recently had a release party for my story and she read an excerpt that went really well. Everyone sat in rapt attention. I love it when that happens! There were so many people ... some she never even met!! And, my story is selling like hotcakes at her office after some executive decided to run a story on her in their company e-newsletter. That is good for me. Her company has offices everywhere!! She's getting phone calls from people and she's talking to people she hasn't spoken to in a long time and she's happy. I also think she is planning to make my story available right here on her blog, so look for that in the next couple of days. And between you and I, I know she has copies at her home, so you can get your copy really quickly when you place an order for it here AND she WILL sign it! I'll make sure of that!
Oh! Oh! Here she comes. I'm going to go now. I don't want her to be mad at me for being on her computer. Be nice to her people! Leave a comment or send her a tweet letting her know that you all encouraged me to write because you missed me, OK?
I'll be back soon.....
~~Sinner
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Pandora's Box Book Blitz -- Guest Post by Katie Salidas!!
Happy Release Day Katie!!!
It is my pleasure to have Ms. Katie Salidas as a guest blogger here today on the day of the release of her paranormal novel, Pandora's Box!! I asked Katie to talk about the origins of vampires and their legends.
Also, if you are tweeting about this event, please use the following hashtags: #Giveaways, #PandorasBox, #KatieSalidas, #Blitz #VBTCafe, #virtualbooktours . BK (tour host) is tracking based on those tags. Her Twitter is @bk36 Katie's is @Quixotickatie
So, without further ado, here is Katie's guest post!
What are the origins of vampires? While the word “vampire”
is a relatively new term (circa 1800’s), the idea of bloodsucking undead has
been around since the dawn of time. Some legends state that simply being buried
improperly can cause a human to reanimate as a vampire, Slavic legends for
example. Other legends stat that one
must have committed a heinous crime to become the undead. There are other
legends about animals jumping over a corpse. Some popular ideas that have been
adapted to fiction, have vampires as the children of Cain or Lilith. Still more
involve demonic spirits and possessions.
If we seek far back into mythology you’ll find the Greeks and Romans believed
in demonic spirits themselves and in many ways they were the prototype of the
common vampire of today.
That hooked me! I love ancient mythology and happened across
some very interesting similarities between creatures of the ancient Greek world
and the vampires I wanted to create.
The Keres, in fact were dead ringers for what I had in mind.
Daughters of Nyx, Greek goddess of the night, these creatures are described as
winged female death spirits with an insatiable lust for human blood. Perfect!
According to my research they were also one of the evils
released when Pandora opened the fabled box (You’ll find this link in my newest
release, Pandora’s Box as well). While they sound fearsome and probably
would be, they weren’t exactly evil. They existed in a murky gray area of
morality. They were agents of the fates, also known as Death Fates. They did not attack people openly or without
reason. They did however; hang around battles waiting for someone to fall.
That’s when they swarmed, finishing the poor dying man off, savoring their
blood as they sent his soul to Hades. They essentially sped a person’s fate on
to its course. If you were going to die, they’d be there to do it and drink
your blood at the same time.
I fell in love, not literally of course, with the creature
and knew I just had to base my vampire legend off of them somehow.
In the first book, Immortalis Carpe Noctem, Lysander
explains to Alyssa the origin of the vampire species. He tells her that the first “vampire” was
created by a mating of one of the Keres with a dying man she encountered on the
battlefield. The resulting child was immortal, like its mother, and carried the
same insatiable bloodlust, but had the features of its father. Being a hybrid
and the only one of its kind, Nyx (essentially Grandma) cursed it to the night
so that she could keep watch and protect it. The use of the legend doesn’t stop there however. As the Immortalis series progresses we delve deeper and deeper into the history. In Hunters & Prey, we are reminded of the fact that a human-turn-vampire is not a dead creature, they are “changed” but that change must happen properly. If not done correctly it will create a hideous abomination. In the third book in this series Pandora’s Box, we’ll delve even deeper into the legend’s origins and learn more about the first vampire and what became of it. Along with that, we also learn about other supernatural creatures and how closely they are linked to vampires.
Needless to say I really do love my vampires and the legends
they spawned from and I hope you will too.
Please enjoy the Immortalis Series!
Now, before you go, participate in the giveaways!! It's going to be fun! Here's my post from early this morning with all the details:
http://lahongrais.blogspot.com/2011/07/pandoras-box-book-blitz-one-day-only.htmlAnd there you have it!! Read 'em and enjoy!!
~~ML
Now, before you go, participate in the giveaways!! It's going to be fun! Here's my post from early this morning with all the details:
http://lahongrais.blogspot.com/2011/07/pandoras-box-book-blitz-one-day-only.htmlAnd there you have it!! Read 'em and enjoy!!
~~ML
Pandora's Box Book Blitz - One Day Only!!!
The day has finally arrived!!! Katie Salidas' third book in her Immortalis Series, Pandora's Box releases today!!!
On June 27th I wrote a review and offered a giveaway (congratulations to Bryanna!) for the first in the series, Immortalis Carpe Noctem. This is the link: http://lahongrais.blogspot.com/2011/06/immortalis-carpe-noctem-book-review.html.
The following day I did the same thing for the second in the series, Hunters and Prey, (which no one has won -- why?). Here's the link for that: http://lahongrais.blogspot.com/2011/06/hunters-prey-book-review-giveaway.html.
I am extremely happy to participate in this one day Book Blitz Tour for the release of Pandora's Box along with a host of other bloggers! There will be a bunch of giveaways and you could be the grand prize winner of a signed print copy of this exciting new release! Katie will also be a guest blogger on participating blogs, including this one! All you have to do is leave a comment on all the blogs that Katie visits and once you have, send me an email at lahongrais@gmail.com and I will enter your name into the drawing. Once it has been verified that you did indeed leave a comment at each pit stop, a winner will be drawn. Everyone has a chance to win!
A Meet & Greet along with the entire schedule will be live at www.vbtcafe.com at Midnight on July 12. I've also listed all the participating bloggers below if it makes it easier for you to do it from here. So let's get these comments in!
Here is the schedule:
***ALL LISTED GIVEAWAYS ARE FOR AN E-COPY FROM SMASHWORDS EXCEPT FOR GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY ABOVE..
Here is the schedule:
Meet & Greet at www.vbtcafe.com
Guest Blogging at http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com
Guest Blogging at http://.lahongrais.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging and Giveaway at www.alanryker.com
Guest Blogging and Giveaway at www.jc-martin.com/fighterwriter
Review and Giveaway at http://giveawayblogdom.blogspot.com
Giveaway at http://aliseonlife.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging and Giveaway at http://livetoread-krystal.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging and Giveaway at http://speedyreader-allthingsbooks.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging and Giveaway at http://bestbooks1.blogspot.com
Review and Giveaway at http://norachipleybarteau.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging at http://JETaylor75.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging and Giveaway at http://hotgossiphotreviews.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging and Giveaway at http://writingcrazyme.blogspot.com
Review, Guest Blogging and Giveaway at www.lisasworldofbooks.com
Guest Blogging at http://margaret-paranormalromanceauthor.blogspot.com
Review and Giveaway at http://authorsbyauthors.blogspot.com
Guest Blogging at www.chaosandinsanity.com
Review at http://thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.com
Interview at http://www.brendawoodystevetindle.yolasite.com/author-interviews.php
Review, Guest Blogging and Giveaway at http://www.coffeetablereviews.net
Review, Guest Blogging and Giveaway at http://takingtimeformommy.com
Spotlight at http://authorspromotingauthors.blogspot.com
Interview at www.immortylcafe.com
Spotlight at http://writinginnovations.blogspot.com
Good luck everyone!!
~~ML
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