Book Giveaways

Book Giveaways 2009 (to date)

Messy Tessy sent to The Old Silly

Land of Expression given to Sheri W

Walking Fish given to John W.

King By Right of Blood and Might won by S.M. Carriere

A Circle of Souls won by Rasberry

Murder in the Magick Club given to Gwenyfar

Kill Me Twice given to John B.

Glen Beck’s Common Sense sent to L. Diane Wolfe/Spunk on a Stick

The First Thirty Seconds sent to Crystal Clear Proofing

Hail To the Chief given to Gwenyfar

Prodigal Sons sent to The Old Silly

Oracle’s Legacy Book 1 & 2 given to Jonathan

The Guilt Gene to be sent to Betty Dravis

The Code of Destiny still up for grabs-leave me a comment

A Walk for Sunshine to be sent to Alyssa Ast

If your name appears above and you haven't already received your book, please email me your mailing address so I can send it to you.

The following two books are up for grabs. I received them from the authors but will not be reviewing them as upon starting them they were not books I was enjoying. While they turned out not to be books for me, someone may enjoy them. If anyone is interested in them, leave me a comment.

Don’t Look Down (A book about the minds of six men in a psychiatric hospital)

Embellish (a paranormal romance)

Future Books:

Septimus Heap – Syren
Sorrowed Souls
Pigs in the Pulpit (eBook)- L. Diane Wolfe
Letters to Rosy/Letter Writing Prize Pack(contest- interview will be Friday, Dec 4th)

A Time For Being Thankful

The above painting entitled The First Thanksgiving was done by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris centuries ago. To me it symbolizes the melting pot of our country and shows us at our best. As we enjoy Thanksgiving this year may we remember those who came before us and opened their hearts and their homes to all and gave thanks for and shared the abundance of life that they had. In our modern times, when we face many of life challenges, lets take this opportunity to be thankful for all the blessings we have, no matter how small they may be. It is the little things in life that carry us through.

I will not be posting this week, as I know many of you will be preparing for family gatherings, traveling and celebrating. To all of you, where ever you are from, I wish you a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving week!

Welcome to the Weekend With... Sheldon Greene

Last week I reviewed a wonderful book called Prodigal Sons written by Sheldon Greene. In my research of the author I discovered a man who is even more interesting and diverse than the characters and spies he writes about in his book. I consider it an honor that Mr Greene agreed to today's interview.

Tell us a little about yourself (where you grew up, family, etc.).

Greene: I’m a Mid Westerner, born in Pennsylvania and raised and educated in Cleveland Ohio; one of those “first in the family to get a college education” Americans. Cleveland gave me a great foundation for a life of learning and thought. They had an elementary school program called Major Work, which taught promising kids to think and be creative. I learned early on how important the character and quality of education is in making us what we are. I’m married to a psychotherapist, my one and only mate. We have a daughter, an artist who is married to a philosopher. They live in Philadelphia and are both educators.

You have an impressive background as an attorney, an author and as an executive of a wind energy company. I have a feeling that is just the tip of the iceberg.. Having served on Obama's national policy team for energy and as the world focuses on becoming more 'green', please tell us about wind energy. What advice would you offer the average person about using energy more efficiently or how we as individuals can make a difference?

At this time wind is the most economically viable alternative energy source. Coal fired plants are still the cheapest until you factor in the indirect costs of their impact on the environment and health. The problem with renewable energy is that it is not constant, because the wind varies. Wind and solar energy can’t be the dominant energy source, at least not until the cost of storing energy is significantly reduced. If and when that happens we will be able to capture the wind based energy, hold it and release it when is needed. One big problem is that while we have a national highway system, our energy highway, the grid, is antiquated and feudal. The Obama administration’s energy policy includes money for an energy super-highway system that is smart enough to deliver energy as needed. Hopefully we’ll have that in the next ten years.


As individuals we can help in two ways. The first is saving energy; turning off the lights, lowering the thermostat, buying energy efficient light bulbs and fuel efficient cars. The second is supporting our government’s efforts to achieve energy independence. This costs money, tax dollars and even somewhat higher energy costs, but money we spend now will in the long run create two million permanent, well paid jobs, reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and help to make us competitive globally.


Politics and immigration are probably not topics most book reviewers/bloggers would approach, but I'm always intrigued by the subject and so more willing to broach the subject. Having also served on Obama's policy team for immigration, and being well versed in government health and labor policies, what advice would you give to those who want to make a difference and be part of a change for the better for our country? And as many Americans have grown apathetic where government/politics is concerned, in your opinion can we as individuals really make a difference?


A sense of powerlessness and mistrust of government afflict much of our American society. There’s a reason for that. Our governments, state, federal, and local, do often spend too much money with too little result and the media magnify the failures. Even so, too many of us don’t make an effort to develop an understanding of the complex and interrelated issues that confront our country. (The subject of immigration, for example, touches every sensitive element of what makes up our society. The impact ranges from the insatiable demand for cheap, unskilled labor to the challenge of integrating and educating people of varied social and economic diversity. That just scratches the surface.


Lots of people relate strongly to a single issue but don’t integrate their personal concerns into a broader perspective. Others are satisfied just to get canned buzz-word opinions from the 24/7 TV media.) More of us need to engage and participate in ongoing political action movements. And we need make a habit of tapping the resources of the internet and the print media to develop a deeper comprehension of the issues; health delivery, education, energy, just to mention the ones currently on the front burner. We need to become an informed, participating electorate.

In your books you write about characters and times that are in transition, it is said that history often repeats and one can easily see cycles in history. One always hopes that we will never see another world war, yet one can see similarities in the past and the current climate. With the complex and compelling character's you have created, what wisdom do you think they would have for us?

The overriding message of Prodigal Sons is that we humans are blinded by ideology. Ideology is a distorted lens through which people view the world. Reality is kaleidoscopic. If people are to cope effectively with reality as it changes they need to look at it and sift it without preconceptions.

Prodigal Sons isn't your first book to deal with a post WWII, why is that time period and the people of that era inspiring for you?

The Twentieth Century alternated between colossal technological achievement and cataclysmic destruction. We experienced two World Wars, genocide, hundreds of smaller conflicts, the implosion of the colonial era, the rise and fall of Communism and Fascism, population explosion, the degradation of the world’s environment on the one hand and a multitude of life changing advances in health, communication, technology on the other hand.


What particularly interested me about Post War Germany, was the intersection of conflicting ideologies; Neo-Nazism, Zionism, Capitalism and Communism and the way the clash informed and animated the characters. The change agent in the book is love. If that sounds like a cliché, so be it. But for me, love, of other people, of the world, is the seminal component of the life force. It’s social gravity.

I haven't had the opportunity to read Lost and Found yet. Can you tell us what it's about?

A Holocaust survivor chooses between life in a small Western Pennsylvania town and reparations in Israel. Reviewers described it as gentle, funny, poignant, magical and deceptively simple. The book celebrates the small miracles of ordinary life. A rabbi discovers he can heal. Sterile people give birth. A mysterious bookstore burns. A cookbook divides the sisterhood. A stranger drops some money on a needy philanthropist. The Los Angeles Times Book Review gave it a Critics Commendation and said, "Greene is a born storyteller."

Your work is very complex yet seems so effortless. How much research and what types of research do you do?

Thanks. That’s a great compliment. I do lots of research so that the historical matrix underpinning the fiction is accurate. For example, the newspaper articles about Post War Nazi activities, the battle of Degania Aleph during the Israeli War of Independence are faithful to the contemporary accounts, to mention a few. I use whatever source is available; contemporary journalistic accounts, books, and of course the internet.

When did you first decide to start writing?

I started writing fiction in Law School and never stopped.

How do you navigate the actual story? (e.g. do you pre-plot it all out, get the main details and then flesh it out, divide up chapters, let the characters tell you their path, etc.) How long does it take you to complete one of your novels?

The novels germinate with a single image or notion. For example, one time I was having dinner in an Italian restaurant. Beside our table on a shelf was a sculpture. My interest in it evolved into my novel, Burnt Umber, about ten years later.


I start with a story, then progress to a detailed outline of the book embellished with historical background and character bios including their basic personality traits. Once the characters are alive in my head, they seem to do and say things their own way, and I become the medium for them. It’s a bit supernatural, like conjuring up a spirit.

When you get stuck on writing, what do you do to clear your mind and get back on track?

I take a nap.
Most great authors are also avid readers. While it is hard for us to imagine you have any free time with all that you do, are you an avid reader and if so, who do you enjoy reading?

I am an avid fiction reader and my tastes are varied. I could name at least fifty authors, each one different in style and subject matter. I’ve read every Le Carre and every Patrick O’Brian. A couple of recently read books that are quite different but equally compelling are; The Painter of Battles, by Arturo Perez-Reverte, and Olive Kittredge, by Elizabeth Strout.

Hope my questions aren't too different for you. I have found that while my readers want to know about an author's book they also like to know the person behind the writing and are often compelled to follow authors who are as intriguing as the characters they write. You definitely fit that bill.

These questions were great fun.

I want to thank Sheldon Greene for taking the time to answer my questions and sharing some of his insights with us. Please check out his website, http://www.sheldongreene.net/

And to read the review of his book, click here.

Book Reviews - Oracle's Legacy by R. B. Holbrook

What if since the dawn of time, there were people living among us with special powers? Powers based on the ability to manipulate energy- telekinesis, mind-control, control over nature, etc. In R.B. Holbrook’s Oracle’s Legacy, those people walk among us.

Oracle’s Legacy is a trilogy that started with Children of Sun and continues with the recently released, Shadows of Fate. Around 12,000 BC, Tesen was the first human to discover the ability to manipulate energy and with others who had this same ability, he established the first tribe, called Uni’Ki. That first tribe was destroyed nearly 6,000 years later, when they began abusing their powers and using them against the powerless humans. It was then that Structure was established. Structure divided those with power into eight houses depending on how they controlled energy: Blade, Breath, Flame, Heart, River, Stone, Sun and the nearly now extinct, Moon. Those with powers bear a tattoo-like Seal. How much of their bodies the Seal covers depends on the level of Enlightenment they have achieved. One progresses higher in Enlightenment and gains more power as they master an understanding of the balance their individual power requires. There is a Grand House, made up of selected members of the different Houses, that governs Structure and one Oracle, that has the most power of all and is chosen to give guidance to their people.

Children of Sun centers around a dysfunctional Structure family of nineteen brothers and sisters, who share a common biological father and have all been taken in by the two oldest son’s Mama. The story itself is driven by twins, Ollie and Ellis. Ollie is a ruthless killer you can’t help but love. While she is a skilled assassin and knows her way around weapons, part of her power gives her the ability to make others turn on themselves. She is brash, over the top, often out of control, and the only thing she is as devoted to as job is protecting the family she loves. Ellis is the yin to her yang. He is the quiet scholarly one that does his best to keep her grounded, until Granger appears and then he must decide whether to trust his sister’s instincts or continue to be her over-protective brother. R.B. Holbrook builds her characters and their world over the course of this first book with a sensory overload (in a good way) of non-stop action. By the end of the first book, when the Oracle starts to die, all the Houses will be trying to have their candidate chosen to be the new Oracle. Ollie and her family will be put to the test trying to protect the Oracle and survive the struggle for power.

Shadows of Fate picks up where Children of the Sun leaves off and instead of losing speed as some second books do, Holbrook continues to deliver even more non-stop action and further insight into the characters, book one introduced us to. In this second volume, we learn the fate of the Oracle and her family of protectors. Shadows of Fate is an even better book than it’s predecessor, however it is hard to tantalize you with details that won’t give away the cliffhanger ending of book one. Although this book is a lot longer than the first, because Holbrook sets such a good pace, it never feels too long. I think the best way I can describe it for sci-fi fans out there, is in terms of a blockbuster movie. Remember how when the first Harry Potter or Transformer movie came out, how unique it was and how the action was so great you couldn’t believe it when the credits started rolling. Then around the 4th Harry Potter or the recent sequel to Transformer, halfway through you were fidgeting and checking the time. Not because the movie was interesting or action packed, but because the film makers had just drawn things out a little too long. Well Holbrook has created the anti-thesis to that. Her books get better with each volume. In fact, when you get to the end the only negative you can think of is, “What?!? I have to wait for the final volume!” In Shadows of Fate, you will learn more about the dark and often hidden members of the House of Moon. Some characters will be revealed to be more harmless than they previously appeared and some seemingly innocent, helpful characters will be revealed to be truly evil. Although, I’m dying to tell you more, I will refrain, because this trilogy is excellent and I highly recommend it to sci-fi/fantasy readers.

If you love a story that gives you everything, love, romance, murder, mayhem, corruption, deception,….. then you will be hooked on these books. If you love comic books, the words in these books will come to life before your eyes. If you like Heroes, but wish they would stop introducing new characters, wrecking the storylines and just wandering off, then Oracle’s Legacy will give a new set of heroes to follow that won’t leave you hanging or confused. 4.5 out of 5 energy spikes.


These books were provided by the author. Come back in December for an interview with her.

This post is part of the Book Review Blog Party on Cym Lowell's site.

The Good The Bad & The Ugly Wednesday

Welcome to another week of The Good The Bad & The Ugly. For those of you that are discovering this weekly feature for the first time, let me tell you what it is. Every Wednesday, I introduce you to three sites or blogs I have discovered. Generally, the three sites will follow a similar theme. Don't let the ominous title fool you, all the sites are great in their own way and worthy of following and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly are just titles with twisted meanings. The Good is a site that is intriguing and you should check it out if you get a chance. The Bad is a site that will surprise you and you may find yourself checking out more than once. The Ugly is so fabulous you may find yourself addicted. This week we take a look at some author blogs and hopefully you will not only discover a new blog you like but also a new author.

The Good- is a blog I only discovered on Monday after reading an interview on Spunk on a Stick Tips.  Jamieson Wolf's self titled bloghas the subtitle "Words that satisfy every need..." I haven't had a chance to read many of his post yet, but they are very candid and give you the feel of sitting in a coffee shop or at a friends house and listening to that friend talk. The post that struck me when I first checked out the blog is last Thursday's Blind Karma. As a big believer in Karma, this post is an excellent example of what our society today is like and how doing a small thing for someone else can make your day. Hopefully it will inspire you to go out an do your own good deeds.

The Bad- is Creations by Laurel-Rain Snow. I discovered this one last week after checking out one of my commenters. Actually she has many blogs, and I haven't had a chance to look at them all yet so I decided to go withthe first one that caught me attention. Make sure when you check out her page that you click on her profile and go visit some of her others as well. I'm sure they are equally as wonderful. This blog is a mixture of reviews, meme's and musings. Those musings are short stories that are nice little pick-me-ups or distractions when you need a little break from the same old sites. With Thanksgiving being next week, check out this post.

The Ugly- is Belle Karper's Beauties and Beasts.......... Blog! Baby! Blog! . What can I say, I love this woman's style. If a man ever wanted to know what goes on in a woman's mind then he should go to this site. Karper's blog is like a running narrative of thoughts.  She is witty and sometimes sarcastic and the way she puts it down in her post has almost a random yet not disjointed feel. Just like that little voice in our heads. You know the one where we are talking to ourselves only we are glad no one can really hear us because we might sound a little nutty or maybe occasionally spastic. Only Karper doesn't sound funny or spastic, she will make you smile and often even laugh. In my book, we definitely need more sites like that. One of the first post I read on this site was This is one of the things I want to be when I grow up....

Book Review - Letters to Rosy

When I first got the email to review C. Ellene Bartlett’s Letters to Rosy, I jumped at the chance. Yes, I love the internet and email as much as the next person, maybe more and it has allowed me to reconnect with many people from my past, but there is just something special about writing letters. It may seem old-fashioned and impractical to modern generations (and no, I’m not that old). In an age where everyone is in a hurry, wants instant gratification and doesn’t have time to wait for the sometimes inefficient and increasingly expensive postal system, the thought of a book about two ladies an ocean apart who still connect through “snail mail” is delightful. That is exactly what Letters to Rosy is. It’s delightful and yet it’s also so much more. This isn’t your typical story and it’s not your typical compilation of letters. It's a story about friendship, mystery, kidnappings, forbidden love, obsession, and more.


Letters to Rosy starts out with a letter Rene in Germany writes to her childhood friend Rosy after decades spent apart. As teens Rene, Rosy and Mendy were the ‘terrible three’ who spent their teens years together in the small town of Bartsville, Georgia. Although they had lost touch with each other over the years, Rene and Rosy renew their special bond as they write letters back and forth, filling each other in on their lives and ailments and each telling a story from the past of someone they knew. By the end of the book you feel like you have lived vicariously through these women and you want to run to buy stationary and reconnect with your own long lost friends.

Once I started reading this book, I found it was not at all what I was expecting. Rene and Rosy take you on a rollercoaster ride. Building up the suspense and then leaving you dangling until the next letter arrives. Needless to say I read this book, in one sitting and in just over two hours. I could not put it down, like each of the women waiting for the next letter, I could not wait for the next part of the story. I had no trouble visualizing their postmen being afraid of being mugged every day in search of the next letter. You see, that is one of the things that makes this book so wonderful, it makes you feel. With Letters to Rosy, Bartlett has succeeded in making the reader feel a gamut of emotions. She makes you laugh when Rene and Rosy are writing back and forth and telling you about their postal carriers. She makes so sad when you hear of the family whose little girl goes missing and then the wife goes crazy with grief and ends up accidentally killing herself. She makes you anxious when Mendy and her daughter are kidnapped. She makes you anger, even a little enraged at various characters (sorry, can’t explain that with out giving too much of the story away). And she shocks you at the end with a few twist you don’t expect. The story of these two women and the stories they are telling to each other make you feel. When was the last time a book did that? I’m not talking about just getting caught up in a story, lots of books can do that, but this one really makes you feel. By the time, I finished this book I had tears in my eyes. For those of you who don’t know me that probably doesn’t mean much. For those of you who do, you know how rare that is. You see, I’m not one of those sentimental, cry at sad movies and stories kind of woman. I was raised to be tough. Although, as I get older more things get to me than they used to, I am not one to cry. I just don’t. So when something makes me cry, you can bet it has really moved me. This book is five out of five postage stamps.

To watch the trailer for the book, click here.

Come back on Friday, November 27th for an interview with Bartlett and a chance to win a letter writing prize package (a copy of her book, a leather bound journal, note card stationary set and a custom made pen).

This book was provided by the author.

Book Review - The Guilt Gene by Diana M. Raab

The Guilt Gene is a delightful collection of poems that follow the stages of Diana M. Raab's life. Like life some of her poems are simple and some are complex. Some are sad and some are funny. Some are full of despair and some full of hope. Raab takes you on a journey thru her life and in the process takes you down your own memeory lane. The reader is given an inside glimpse into Roob's mind and can rejoice with her when she figures aspects of life out and feel a kinship with her when other aspects leave her confused and humbled. The book is a small collection and can easily be read in one sitting, even while waiting in line or for an appointment, but the memories it invokes will linger.

This book was provided by the author and will be given to a commenter.

Welcome to the Weekend With.... Betty Dravis

A few months back I reviewed a delightful book called Dream Reachers. Click here to read that review. Since then I've gotten to know a little bit more about the fascinating lady behind  the book. Her name is Betty Dravis and like her book, she is a dream. It is a pleasure to have her as my guest to start off our weekend.

C. CARTER(CC): Betty, Thank you for joining us today.

BETTY DRAVIS (BD): Thanks for interviewing me on your popular Chronicles, Carter. It’s an honor to be here and there’s nothing I like better than sharing information about my ideas, my dreams and my dear family and friends.

CC: First, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself? (Where you’re from, grew up, that sort of thing)

BD: I’m originally from Hamilton, Ohio, but left there after graduation to visit my older sister in Sunny California. I liked it so well, I stayed on and fifty years later, I’m still here. I now live in the Central Valley but spent forty years in Silicon Valley. Since most of my children live there, my heart is still there. Fortunately, it’s less than two hours away, so I get to see them often.


I’ve written four books since I retired, but before retirement I was a journalist. I started that career doing weekly columns for local newspapers, went on to interview various people, including some movie icons and famous politicians, and eventually founded my own newspaper that was based in San Jose.

Along the way, I edited several California city and regional papers, hosted a Cable TV talk show and did a variety of interesting things. I did all that as a single parent raising six children…and please don’t ask me where I got the strength… Through the Grace of God… sigh…

Here is a slide show of some of the people Betty has met:

CC: I know you have interviewed so many people. Is this something you always wanted to do or did you have different goals when you started out?

BD: I always wanted to be a writer and started writing a few poems when I was about eleven. My school didn’t have creative writing, so I took journalism. Fortunately, the teacher was an individualist and introduced her students to creative writing too. I was stunned when she chose each of my assignments as “best in class.” Writing came so easy for me; I must have had a God-given talent, for which I am grateful. Needless to say, that teacher’s positive input encouraged me and planted the seeds of my writing career. Hamilton had a great school system and my family was very supportive of all seven of us children in our individual ambitions.

Since I married and had six children, I had little time for writing novels, but I did manage to get hired as a free-lancer by many small city papers. In that capacity I found myself interviewing prominent local citizens, but often a movie star “fell” my way.

But to answer your question, NO, I never ever thought about being an interviewer; it evolved as a natural part of my newspaper work.

CC: How do you choose whom you are going to interview?

BD: In my newspaper days, I chose a person who was either currently in the news or who fit a particular upcoming holiday. Usually, one interview led to another. For example, I interviewed a local San Jose woman who put on such a fabulous Halloween presentation at her home that I knew she would make a great feature for our Halloween edition. That story was for the East San Jose Sun.

Her name was June Cheim and she enjoyed her story so much that when the popular movie star of the day, Clint Eastwood, visited her she arranged for me to interview him. I won’t say more about that because I think you will ask about him later. Everyone does…LOL…

CC: Do you have a process you use when you are conducting an interview? Is it different for an online interview as opposed to an in person?

BD: During my journalism career, computers weren’t in common usage, so I always met the interviewee in person, but now you are speaking of my more recent interviews, so I’ll switch to recent writings.

To answer your question, an in-person interview is much more fun and exciting because it’s always great to meet people. I am a people person! However, I’m so used to computers now that I feel like I “know” a person even though we never meet “live.”

My process for doing computer interviews is different from “live” ones in some ways, but not entirely. You line up your subject and prepare your questions ahead of time for both interview styles, but there the similarity ends. While interviewing a live person, you refer to your notes, take additional notes by hand, while recording the answers, also. You often have to arrange for a newspaper photographer to meet you at your destination too. At the end of this kind of interview you generally get a photo op with the person and a nice hug or handshake, depending on the personalities and the occasion.

My process for reviews I plan to use for various Internet blogs is the same one you use, Carter. I type my questions and send them to the interview subject via email and/or a Words document, often both so they can choose which they prefer. When they finish answering the questions they return them to me along with some photos of themselves. I then edit it into proper format and post it to one of my Internet sites.

CC: You may cover this in your process... do you research your subject before you interview them or do you just let the interview flow?

BD: I always research my subject because the information helps formulate the questions; fortunately, almost everyone has a website now, so research is easy. However, if when the person returns the answers to me and something catches my eye on which I’d like to elaborate, I shoot an email to them with another question. That’s about the only flow you can really expect from this type of “high-tech” interview.

CC: I loved your story about meeting and interviewing Clint Eastwood. Do you have a favorite interview or a fun story that relates to an interview?

BD: Carter, I knew you were going to get around to everyone’s favorite living legend, the multi-talented Clint Eastwood. LOL… Well, even though I interviewed Senator Ted Kennedy, Jane Russell and Tanya Tucker––all great––I must say that Clint is my all-time favorite “live” interview.

As for fun things that happened during an interview, I have a lot of those stories, but I had such a “Bad Hair Day” on the day I met Clint that I couldn’t resist writing a humorous anecdote about it in my latest book Dream Reachers. Your readers can get a free sample of chapter one of Dream Reachers, which is the story about Eastwood, by going to this link on my website: http://www.bettydravis.com/excerpt-dr/

CC: What inspired you to write Dream Reachers?

BD: Like most good things, the idea occurred in a natural way. Author and Celebrity Interviewer Chase Von interviewed me for his blog on Student Operated Press (SOP) and while we were chatting, I suggested that his interviews with talented new entertainers, authors and other artists would make a very inspiring book. He thought about it and told me he would do it if I went in it with him. He wanted my stories of Clint Eastwood and five others to be in the book. One thing led to another and Dream Reachers (Vol. One) was born.

Creating it was hard work but a fun project, also, because during the course of editing the book, I met many of the subjects of his interviews and formed some new, lasting relationships. Now, in addition to working on another fiction book, I am inspired to interview some up-and-coming entertainers myself. I publish them on Dames of Dialogue, which is a group of five women authors who promote our books and blog together. The site’s founder, author Christy Tillery French, appointed me as their official celebrity interviewer; the other Dames interview authors, publishers, agents…all book-related people.

CC: I know you have also written a mystery (Millennium Babe: The Prophecy); a romantic family thriller (1106 Grand Boulevard); and a fantasy adventure (The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley). And from your bio, I know that you are working on a horror, a serial-killer thriller and children's books. That's quite diverse. How do you transition or switch from one genre to another? What genre do you enjoy writing the most?

BD: Even though I’m at an advanced age (think Eastwood’s age), I’m just a big kid at heart, so writing children’s fiction is my favorite. I had more fun writing my The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley than any other. I find that my imagination soars where it wants to go when writing for kids; they have such vivid imaginations and are so open-minded…

Now this may be hard to comprehend, knowing my first choice, but writing horror is my second love. As much as I enjoy delving into the innocent realm of children’s fantasy, I also enjoy the dark side of writing. I think this is because I read so much of John Saul, Dean Koontz and Stephen King.

As for switching from one genre to another, I don’t think too much about it, I just do it. I’ve always been adaptable, so that probably helps. Also, I have read many, many books in all genres, so that stimulates my imagination.

CC: How do you organize the sparks of creativity and plot faeries running around in your mind into a provocative tale?

BD: When I get an idea for a new book or even a short story, I go to my computer and type whatever comes into my mind. This becomes the basis for my story. If I’m busy on another project, I may leave the notes and come back to them at another time. When later I decide the idea is powerful enough for me to develop, I sit down and start typing, formulating the plot as I go along.

I never make a complete outline, preferring to work off the top of my head, but I do make notes as scenes tend to pop into my head at the oddest times; often in bed at night, but sometimes while reading a newspaper where a particular word will trigger a scene for my new story.

I’m fortunate to have a good memory, so I have easy recall of what I’ve written so far in a work in progress (WIP). I visualize my books in my mind like a movie and manage to keep it all sorted out in my head without need for extensive notes. I think my many years of journalism helped develop a mind that can see the beginning, middle and end of any story with easy recall.

I haven’t had a big problem with extensive note taking because most of my books have been contemporary, written in familiar settings. The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley is a fantasy adventure with the main action being in Silicon Valley, an area I know well. The cartoon characters live inside a boy’s computer, but since they are in Silicon Valley 95% of the time, Computer Cartoon Land is only described briefly. It was easy imagining what it was like because I gave my imagination free reign, and then described it from a Toonie’s viewpoint. If ever I have a complex location or locations, I would definitely make charts or detailed notes to keep me on track.

Betty Talking Toonies With Kids At A Local Bookstore

Carter, my dark Muse is the one who gives me my thriller and horror material. She’s on the wild side, and comes screeching through my mind, riding a bright pink Harley. She shouts ideas at me and as she streaks by, she has sentences and words written on banners streaming from her long, golden hair. I haven’t named her yet, and may have a contest, letting my readers name her.

I actually have two muses––one for both styles of my writing. Ideas for my more innocent sweet stories (usually comedies) are given to me by a man who comes riding on a big white horse, wearing a white cowboy hat. I call him Billy Wayne because he’s strong and manly like John Wayne but honest and caring like the late Reverend Billy Graham. That may sound odd to you, but who has more fun?

CC: I love what you have on your website and it has become one of my favorite quotes: "Writing a book is like sliding down a rainbow; marketing it is like trudging through a field of 'chewed' bubblegum on a hot, sticky day."

BD: Thanks, Carter… I’m glad you like that, since I wrote it myself. A lot of people like it and I’m pleased that they post it on some of their own websites. Feel free to use it on your site, if you wish. I would consider that the highest compliment.

CC: How much marketing do you do before your books come out? What is your process and what advice would you offer to new writers?

BD: Sadly, I don’t have time do any marketing before a new book is released. Whenever I’m writing a book, I devote all my time to that; otherwise it would never get written. I’m sure you, as a writer yourself, know that.

But after the book is out, my publishers send out press releases to various newspapers. Since I have used small, independent publishers who don’t have the monetary resources of the large New York houses, that’s about all the publisher does for the book. As for me, during the course of three previous books I’ve built up a network of newspapers, bookstores and websites that have featured my books in the past. So I email the book description and all the stats to them, hoping for continued press. I also inform all my friends, family, and my entire network of bloggers, book reviewers and website owners.

I had an advantage in Silicon Valley since I was already known there for my newspaper work and public service. Due to close proximity I was able to arrange book signings and other public appearances. I admit, it’s been much harder with Dream Reachers because my current city is much smaller and there aren’t many bookstores in the area. Making up the difference, though, is the fact that many of the subjects in this book have their own fan bases and all are helping promote it. Actress and pop star Darcy Donavan, who’s on the front cover of D R, is offering an autographed copy on eBay and has the cover on her website. Dream Reachers also has two fan clubs started by a fantastic admirer Jessica Gilbert.

For more publicity, I take advantage of Amazon’s author assists, namely Author Central, Amazon Associates program, Guides and Listmanias, listing my books along with other recommendations.

With Dream Reachers, I did something I had wanted to do for ages: my co-author and I commissioned a trailer/video (made for YouTube). We’re very pleased with it and it’s getting a lot of views, so I am considering that for my other books. In case your readers would like to see it, the link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYqmZU1b29s It was designed by Kelly Komm and I think she’s a graphic genius.

For new writers, my advice is to learn all you can about your craft, study hard, write hard and never give up. It took me eight years to get my first novel published, so perseverance is the name of the game. The publishing industry is a tough business. It’s not for sissies! But if a person has a burning desire to write, nothing will stop him or her. Dream Big and remember our Dream Reachers’ slogan: Only those who stretch to reach their dreams find themselves living them.

CC: I've read that you come from a large family. How much do you feel that has helped or hindered you as an interviewer and writer?

BD: Yes, I had six siblings and I’m all for large families! It’s actually great preparation for getting out into the world; one learns a lot from interaction with siblings. How the parents keep a handle on running the home and keeping peace with a lot of children is almost like a mini-world. In a large family, you learn to give and take, to know when to push and when to cave in and many other valuable life lessons. If you are shy, you tend to get lost in the shuffle, so I think it all helped me in all phases of my life.

But even more than the size of my family, I credit the moral fiber of our parents for the success of all of us. They taught us good Christian values that have served us well––while raising our own children and in the workforce.

CC: How often do traits from people you know in real life find their way into your fictional characters?

BD: I think everything an author has ever seen, read, done, heard––or even sensed––finds its way into their writing, whether consciously or subconsciously. A character I write about, for instance, might have traits or features from more than one person I’ve seen or known.

CC: You have so many talents: newspaper publisher, journalist, reviewer, writer, mother… What is your favorite and least favorite part of these many roles you have filled?

BD: My least favorite part of being a mother while my kids were growing up was the constant struggle to make ends meet and settling the arguments between them in a fair manner. My favorite part was watching them grow into responsible, caring, honest adults with fine husbands and children of their own.

I’ll lump the writing, journalism, reviewing and publishing into one since it was all part of my career. The least favorite aspect of all that was the pressure of deadlines; like being on a constant merry-go-round... My favorite part was that I loved writing and meeting a wide range of people, so I felt blessed and happy working in a field I truly loved. I can imagine nothing worse than being stuck doing something one disliked. That would be a living hell…

CC: If they were making a movie of your life, what would it be called? What type of movie would it be (live action, animated, drama, comedy, etc.)? And who would you want to direct it?

BD: OMG, Carter, that is a very hard question to answer. Like a true journalist, you saved the hardest for last. LOL… People got a glimpse of my life when I wrote my sister’s story in 1106 Grand Boulevard, and many asked me to write my life story. That’s something I don’t feel objective enough, or emotionally equipped to do, so someone else would have to do that. But IF my life ever became a movie it would have to be a dramatic comedy, if there is such a genre. The title… hmmmm … All My Children?… Nope, that’s already been taken… How about Betty’s Dreams or Through Betty Dravis Eyes? … Oh, I don’t know…

As for director, I would like either Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, but who doesn’t want them? Oh, I know!!! I want an up-and-coming new director that I met through actress Jenny McShane; his name is Jonathan Brayley and I hear he’s starting to make his mark in Hollywood. A movie about my life would be fun and my crowning glory, I suppose, but I’m not certain I wish to divulge all my secrets to the entire world (or even to my children, for that matter…).

CC: Thank you so much for agreeing to do an interview. I think my readers will find you fascinating.

BD: Thanks for the compliment, Carter, and for inviting me. It’s an honor to meet your readers on CC Chronicles. If they want to learn more about me, they can visit my website at http://www.bettydravis.com/

For more Betty, check out her links:

BETTY DRAVIS

Author/Reviewer/Journalist/Editor/Columnist/Newspaper Publisher/Talk Show Hostess

MAIN WEBSITE:

http://www.bettydravis.com/

DREAM REACHERS VIDEO/TRAILER:

http://www.youtube.com/user/bettydravis

DREAM REACHERS FAN CLUB:

http://tinyurl.com/DreamRFanClub

AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE RADIO INTERVIEW:

http://thesop.org/art/2009/08/22/judyth-piazza-chats-with-betty-dravis-co-author-of-dream-reachers

Book Review - A Walk for Sunshine by Jeff Alt

Let's follow Jeff Alt on his 2,160 mile journey through 14 states as he hikes the Appalachain Trail. The 'sunshine' of the title is the Sunshine Home. Sunshine Inc. provides services to children and adults with developmental disabilities and mental retardation. Jeff has an even more personal reason to undertake this journey. His brother, Aaron was born with cerebal palsy and mental retardation. Sunshine has been there for Aaron and his family. At a time when people are struggling to stay afloat and are often obsessed with their own lives and what other can do for them, it is heartwarming to come across a book that displays one man's journey to give something back.

Call it my background in the film and TV industry, but one of my first thoughts when starting this book was the disclaimer, "now, don't try this at home". The thing is, A Walk for Sunshine doesn't need such a disclaimer. Not that I would try it, Alt made me tired just reading it. Alt does such a wonderful job of sharing how he prepared for and fulfilled his journey, that one does feel as though he has given you the formula to undertake your own 2,160 mile hike. While this is a great book about hiking the Appalachain Trail in all its glory and with its challenges, this book is also a look at the people you meet, the generosity of others and how the ability to laugh at oneself can see you through.

If you want a book to motivate you to reach for your dreams and achieve your goals, this is one you want to pick up. I give it 3.5 out of 5 walking sticks.

This book was provided by the author and will be passed on to one lucky commenter.

The Good The Bad and The Ugly Wednesday

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This week, The Good The Bad and The Ugly is going to highlight new bloggers and in addition to introducing you to these three great new 2009 blogs, I’m awarding each of these bloggers The Quest Award, which celebrates those blogs that may still be in their infancy but are growing. The three I’ve chosen today are not just growing but leaping into adolescence. And while this post usually ranks from The Good- ‘you should check it out if you get a chance’ to The Ugly- ‘you must visit this site’, all of today’s sites are equally compelling. So go check out these wonderful blogs and be sure to leave some comment love.

The Good- The Quiddity of Delusion was started in July. The title alone made me want to check it out. His blog is mostly short stories and flash fiction with some book reviews thrown in. His post are unique and as his profile hopes, “vicariously diverting’. His blog would not be classified as mainstream or his stories typical. His view is slightly askew of that and that is what makes his blog so refreshing and a little bit addicting. Make sure you stop by and read some of his work. While I can’t tell you what emotions will be invoked, I can almost guarantee an emotion will be.

The Bad- Writing Mommies was started in May and is written by four blogging moms. Here what you’ll find in addition to writing tips, links to writing contest/paying jobs/resources/opportunities, marketing and networking advice, you’ll find interviews and amusing anecdotes. In their side bar, they have some great gadgets such as an Autocrit Editing Wizard, The Writer’s Idea Bank and a Writer’s Quote of the Day. I discovered them through Linked-In and their post ‘The Best Writing Advice I Ever Received’ and was shocked and amused at the picture that greeted me with that post. Of course, I love that they have an email subscriber box. Being super busy, I love to follow my fellow bloggers but often don’t have time to visit, however, being able to get the latest post in my inbox is a guarantee that I’ll read every post.

The Ugly- Confessions of a Watery Tart, Hart Johnson or as her bloggers know her, Watery Tart, started her blog in June. Her ‘confessions’ are a wonderfully colorful hodge-podge of writing/publishing insights, random news & thoughts, and often humorous bits that flow from the enigmatic mind of hers. Ok, I’ll admit, I also love that she was one of the brave bloggers who took on part of Ember’s journey. And let me tell you, it was a somewhat hedonistic delight! The only negative is she doesn’t have an email subscribe button, please I beg you, I need this option. Ok, enough of my whining… but seriously, get one. This blog is one you must check out. It’s my guilty pleasure and when go there make sure you check out her Monday, Nov 2nd post ‘Dear Blog’.

Book Review - The Code of Destiny by Sara Enochs

What if we could have the events of our lives play out the way we want by reliving our past while remaining in the present. In Sara Enochs’ The Code of Destiny, Ava Ballantyne has learned how to do just that.

Ava comes from a long line of strong Ballantyne women. Women who revel in being mothers and taking care of their large families while never uttering a single complaint. They sound supernatural, don’t they? Oh, sure the mothering and taking care of large families we can believe, but never complaining? Not even once? Yeah right. This is what Ava is thinking also as she struggles to adjust to becoming a new mother and live up to this legacy.

Ava is your typical type ‘A’ modern woman. She always has a plan, everything in it’s place and according to a well thought out schedule. Motherhood has just thrown a monkey wrench into all of that. She is struggling to adjust to the new changes the arrival of her son, Eli, has brought. Feeling she is losing herself, she embarks on a journey across the country with her mother and son. Throughout the journey, Ava takes side journeys into her daydreams. While most of us daydream about the future. Our daydreams filled with our hopes for that future. Ava’s daydreams are mostly of the past, of the way she wishes things had played out as well as of the present as she puts herself in the center of a conspiracy. Don’t misunderstand, she is not one of those neurotic ‘the world is out to get me’ types. She has a mysterious gift, that the author teases us with, without ever telling us what it is. It is infuriating! And at the same time brilliant. She has insured that we will read the next book, if only to find out what is the darn ‘gift’. Well, we will also read the next one to see where Ava’s daydreams are headed and if she has the courage to pursue her dreams. This book gets three out of five daydreams.

Book Review - Prodigal Sons by Sheldon Greene

Today is the anniversary of a monumental day. Twenty years ago, On November 9, 1989, The East German government announced that all German Democratic Republic citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin, and so began the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin wall was the symbol of the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc that began after World War II ended. The fall actually began months earlier, on August 23, 1989 when Hungary removed its physical border defenses with Austria. This led to thousands of East German ‘tourist’ visiting Hungary making their way to the West German Embassy and refusing to return to East Berlin. They must have believed their freedom and a better way of life could be found on this other side, or maybe they were looking for family that had been taken away from them when the wall went up. It makes one question, what would you do to find lost a lost family member or to stand up for what you believe? When World War II ended it left many confused, conflicted, grieving, angry, lost; trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and build a new one.


Sheldon Greene has given us a fictional glimpse into the lives of a few of the Germans who survived the war and how they began a new life in the wake of Hitler’s devastation. In Prodigal Sons, Horst Vogle must come to terms with the events he lives through during the war. Greene does a wonderful job of putting the reader inside Horst skin. While for me this book had a slow start, once I got into the mind of Horst, I was hooked and found it hard to put the book down. Greene’s Prodigal Sons has a slower pace than similar books and it works beautiful because it forces you to focus on the players, see their world through their eyes and feel what they feel. When Horst is torn, we too are torn. It is a rare gift for an author to invoke such empathy from a reader. As the reader we feel the emptiness in our chest that Horst feels as he watches his family being taken by the Nazi’s, we feel his rage at the atrocities his fellows Jews are suffering, we feel his loneness as he struggles to find himself in a world where he is now alone even when surrounded by others, we understand his feeling of contentment when he reaches Israel and for the first time in years feels apart of something again, and we are with him when he decides to become a hired gun for Israel and give up that contentment to go back to Germany and avenge his roots. We are charmed when he meets the enchanting Greta who lightens his step and we struggle with him when he must chose between love and country. Prodigal Sons is a novel that takes you through every emotion. It’s more than a thriller, a romance, a historical novel, a spy thriller, heist…it’s a novel about the human condition, life and our ability to endure.

So on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we should celebrate freedom and the human spirit and learn from those who have gone before us what it means to stand up for your beliefs and to live. Horst may be a character born in the mind of Sheldon Greene, but he is a also a symbol of humanity and how we can prevail. I give this book 4 Torah pointers out of 5.

This book was provided by the author.

Come back on Friday, November 20th, to learn more about Sheldon Greene.

This Review is part of Cym Lowell's Book Review Party. Click here to go to his site and read other great reviews.

And the Winner is.....

Congratulations to Zia and Crystal for winning the Great 80's Movie Lines Contest. I'll be sending you an email to get your mailing info.

Great 80's Movie Lines - Day 5

Today's is the last day in the great 80's movie lines contest. You have until tomorrow at midnight to post your answers. Winners will be announced in Monday's post.

Today's movies include are all comedies. .. a romantic fantasy, and two murder mysteries.

"A" - This movie is a swashbuckling romance told by a grandfather (also with a great cast).

" When I was your ag, television was called books."

""That day she was amazed to discover that whe he was saying "As you wish", what he meant was, "I love you." And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back."

" I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed.'

"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."

"You rsuh a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."

"And you: friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed in Greenland!"

"I do not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting to kill you." "That does put a damper on our relationship."

"You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted."

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."

All right. Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right... and who is dead."

"There's a shortage of perfect breast in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours."

"you're trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen,"

"There's not a lot of money in revenge."

"Please consider me as an alternative to suicide."

"B" - This movie was the first of it's kind and features great animation along with live action.

"Yeah. Check the probate. Why my uncle thumper has a problem with HIS probate and he had to take these big pills and drink lots of water.'

"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

"Is that a rabbit in your pocket or are youjust happy to see me."

"Is he always this funny or only on days when he's wanted for murder?"

"I would have been here right after you called but I had to shake the weasela."

"You need a heart, before you can have an attack."

"Thith ith the latht time I work with thomeone with a th-peach impediment."

"Is there nothing that can permeate that impervious puss?"

"C" - This is a classic who-done -it, that any mystery lover should know and of course stars one of my favorite actors, Tim Curry.

""Well, it's a matter of life and death. Now that he's dead, I have a life."

"I am willing to believe you. I, too, am being blackmailed for something I didn't do."

"I was a victim too. At least my wife was. She had friends who were..... socialist."

"You seem to suffer from what we call "Pressure of Speech"."

"It's a free country, don't you know that?" " I didn't know it was "that" free."

"He was expendable like all of you. I'm grateful to you all for disposing of my network of spies and informers. saved me a lot of trouble. Now there's no evidence against me."

"Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die."

"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage!"

"Who would want to kill the cook?" "Dinner wasn't that bad."

How many husbands have you had?"  " Mine or other women's?"

"Husbands should be like Kleenex: soft strong and disposable."

"Communism was just a red herring."

"But is the FBI in the habit of cleaning up after a multiple murder?" "Yes. Why do you think it's run by a man called Hoover?"

"Well, he's certainly dead now. Why would anyone want to kill him twice?"

"No meaning yes? Look, I want a straight answer, is there someone else, or isn't there, yes or no?" "No" ""No there is or no there isn't?" " Yes."

Great 80's Movie Lines - Day 4

The movies today are dramas about college students and adults with moments of humor.

"A" - Before Nicolette Sheridan was a Desperate housewife she was introduced in this film as a bikini clad catch.

" How would you like to have a sexual experience so explosive it would change your political views?"

"Life is the ultimate experience."

" 8 o'clock?.... I don't know, that's when I rearrange my sock drawer."

"Yes, I can. This is America. I can go anywhere."

"I'm not going to bed with you. I'm going to bed in a bed you happen to be in also."

"This is called shotgunning beer, an ancient tribal custom."

"Tonight is the 1st night of the rest of your sex life, Walter Gibson."

"B" - This movie has a frosty title and happens to be Kevin Costner's first film. Too bad he played a corpse the whole time.

"They're either married or gay. And if they're not gay, they've just broken up with the most wonderful woman in the world, or they've just broken up with a bitch who looks exactly like me. They're in transition from a monogamous relationship and they need more space. Or they're tired of space, but they just can't commit. Or they want to commit, but they're afraid to get close. they want to get close, you don't want to get near them."

"Amazing tradition. They throw a great party for you on the day they know you can't come."

"It's a cold world out there. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting a little frosty myself.

"He went out with a bang, not a whimper."

"You're so analytical! Sometimes you just have to let art... flow... over you."

"Eventually he was hospitalized for being such a nerd."

"I haven't met that many happy people in my life. How do they act?"

"There's some asshole at work you have to kowtow to, and you find yourself doing things you thought you'd never do. But you try and minimize that stuff; be the best person you can be. But you set your priorities. And that's the way life is."

"C" - This movie gave us the Brat pack in all their glory.

"I always thought we'd be friends forever." "Yeah, well forever got a lot shorter all of a sudden."

"You're being arrested for drunk driving." "Drunk definitely, I don't know if you could call it driving."

"Why do you think God created credit?"

"I'm obsessed! Thank you very much!"

"I wouldn't strike a match near his blood."

"4 months after graduation and you're still acting like every night's a frat party."

"You break my heart, but then again you break everyone's heart."

"Is that a coffin?" "Yeah, I got it to impress the ladies"

"No Springstein is leaving this house!"

"Do not hand that man a blowtorch."

"You know this smells to me like a little bit of self created drama."

"I never thought I'd be so tired at 22. I just don't know who to be anymore."

"And all this time I was afraid you'd find out I wasn't fabulous."

"Go get out of hand."

"She is the only evidence of God I've seen with the exception of the mysterious force that removes one sock from the dryer every time I do my laundry."

"There is the brink of insanity and then there is the abyss, which obviously you have fallen into!"

"Never trsut a woman who says she isn't angry"

"Love, love, you know what love is? Love is an illusion created by lawyer types like yourself to perpetuate another illusion called marriage to create the reality of divorce and then the illusionary need for divorce lawyers."

"There are several quintessential moments in a man's life: losing his virginity, getting married, becoming a father, and having the right girl smile at you."

Great 80's Movie Lines - Day 3

Todays movies are all about the teen years.

"A" - This movie will have your toes tapping.

"He's testing us! He's testing us!"

"If you ask me, Ren is a total fox."

"Ren- "You like Men at Work?" Willard- "Where they work?"

"Either you got jumbo coconut balls or you're stupid."

"Yes and I'm not the first one that's noticed it. I mean we're not stuck in the goddamn middle ages here. I mean we've got TV. We've got Family Feud. We're not stuck in Leave It To Beaver land here."

"He's from out of town and don't tell me that doesn't curl your toes because I know it does."

"You won't get any dancing here, it's illegal."

"Did you ever get busted for boppin’?"

"What do you mean, I have to fight city hall?"

"Ecclesiastes assures us... that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to laugh... and a time to weep. A time to mourn... and there is a time to dance. And there was a time for this law, but not anymore. See, this is our time to dance. It is our way of celebrating life. It's the way it was in the beginning. It's the way it's always been. It's the way it should be now."


"B" - Teen angst at it's best. This movie shows we aren't all that different.

"We're all pretty bizarre.Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all"

"Remember how you said your parents use you to get back at each other? Wouldn't I be outstanding in that capacity?"

"You do everything everyone tells you to do and that is a problem."

"That man.... is a brownie hound."

"Why do you have to insult everybody?"  "I'm being honest, asshole. I would expect you to know the difference."

"Do you think I'd speak for you? I don'y even know your language."

"Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?"

"Obviously she's crazy if she's screwing a shrink."

"If he gets up, we'll all get up,it'll be anarchy.'

"I wanna be just like you. I figure all I need is a lobotomy and some tights."

"When you grow up, your heart dies."

"Obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl."

"Well if you say you haven't you're a prude. If you say you have you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to but you can't and when you do you wish you didn't, right?"

"C" - Another great teen angst movie where love is a confusing thing.

"Donger's here five hours and he's got somebody. I live here my whole life and I'm like a disease.

"Would you stop feeling sorry for yourself? It's bad for your complexion."

"I mean not many girls in contemporary American society today would give their underwear to help a geek like me."

"You wanna know what happened? Buy the book!"

"It's real human of you to listen to all my bullshit."

"You know, I'm getting input here that I'm reading as relatively hostile."

"That's why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they'd call them something else."

"Why do you think you're a dork? I don't think you're a dork. I don't think mom thinks you're a dork."

"Relax, would you. We have seventy dollars and a pair of girls underpants. We're safe as kittens."

"Ha Ha Ha! Now we're both on the pill." "You gave me a birth control pill? Do you know what that can do to a guy my age?"

"I want a serious girlfriend. Somebody I can love, that's gonna love me back. Is that psycho?"

"What's happening, hotstuff?"

Great 80's Movie Lines - Day 2

Today's movies are all fantasies.

"A" - In this movie an unlikely band of characters must rescue a princess and save their planet.

"Good fighters make bad husbands."

"I am Ergo the magnificent. Short in stature,tall in power, narrow of purpose and wide of vision. And I do not travel with peasants and beggars."

"Only the right man can retrieve the Glaive."

"Freedom? We have it! And fame? Nah. It's an empty purse. Count it, go broke. Eat it, go hungry. Seek it, go mad!"

"My name is no jest, beanpole. It's all very well to have a short name when you're twenty feet tall, but small people need large names to give them weight."

"Each to his fate."

"He marches us toward a solid face of rock. The man has raisins in his braincase."

"Would you follow a king to the black fortress?" " Now I know you're a lunatic. I wouldn't follow my own father to the black fortress."


"B" - This movie starred an unrecognizable Tim Curry as the Lord of Darkness.

"Every wolf suffers fleas. 'Tis easy enough to scratch!"

"The dreams of youth are the regrets of maturity."

"Look! Ugly one-horned mule!"

"This place holds more magic for me than any palace in the world."

"Mortal world turned to ice... Here be goblin paradise!"

"What care I for human hearts? Soft and spiritless as porridge! A faerie's heart beats fierce and free!"

"I require the solace of the shadows and the dark of the night. Sunshine is my destroyer."

"neither country proverb nor King's command could keep me from the woods today."

"C" -This movie starred a rocker who loved Stardust.

"I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."

"So, young woman, the way forward is sometimes the way back."

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child, and wanted everything to himself, and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her certain powers. so one night, when the baby had been particularly druel to her, she called upon the goblins for help!"

"You have thriteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth, before your baby brother becomes one of us... forever."

"It's a crystal. Nothing more, but if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams. but this is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby."

"EVERYTHING! Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me. I was frightening.I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for YOU! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"

Great 80's Movie Lines Week - Day 1

I've decided to do something a little different this week. As most of you know I love movies. What you may not know is I was a teenager in the 80's and it's my favorite decade. In no other decade could we have gotten away with the clothes, the hair, the make-up and the all around zaniness that the 80's represents. So I have visited the past, re-watched some of my favorite 80's movies and made lists of some of the fabulous lines. All this week I'm going to be posting them and giving you a chance to win some DVD's. I have Special Editions of The Princess Bride and The Breakfast Club to give away. Each day between now and Friday, I will post quotes from three different movies, all you have to do is leave a comment with your guess as to which movie the lines came from. You have until midnight on Saturday, Nov 7th to post and then on Sunday I will put the names of all the commenters who guessed all the movies correctly in The Hat and draw two winners. If no one guesses them all then I will go with the names of those who guess the most correctly. And one final rule, you have to be a follower or a subscriber.

I'll list the movies as A, B, C so it will be easier for you to post your guess. And I will tell you what type of movie it is, since some are a little more obscure than others.

"A" - This slimy movie gave the world a new view of marshmallows. ( It's a comedy)

"Ray, When someone ask you if you're a god, you say "YES"!"

"Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown....THROW IT!"

"Human sacrifica, dogs and cats living togeher.... mass hysteria!"

"This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions."

"Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."

"I don't have to take this abuse from you, I've got hundreds of people dying to abuse me."

"Well, this is great. If the ionization-rate is constant for all ectoplasmic entities, we can really bust some heads... in a spiritual sense, of course."

"Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance."

"Myth? Ray, has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason we've been so busy lately is 'cause the dead HAVE been rising from the dead?"

"Our courteous and efficient staff is on call 24 hours a day to serve all your supernaturalelimination needs."

As they say on TV. I'm sure there's one big question on everybody's mind, and I imagine you are the man to answer that. How is Elvis, and have you seen him lately?"


"B" - This movie showed a family that knew how to stick together. It's a horror movie.

" There is no death. It is only a transition to a different sphere of consciousness."

"This house is clean."

"They're here"

"I AM addressing the living." " I was trying to answer her with my mind."

"I don't know what hovers over this house but it was strong enough to punch a hole in this world."

"There is peace and Serenity in the light."

"So what side of the rainbow are working tonight, dr. Lesh."

"We own all the land. We've already made arrangements to relocate the cemetery."

" You son of a bitch. You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn't you?"


"C" - This movie kept millions awake all night and was one of Johnny Depp's first films.. It's a horror movie.

" He's dead honey, because mommy killed him."

" Oh, I feel like a million bucks. They say you've bottomed out when you can't remember the night before."

"Guys can have nightmares too ya know. Ya ain't got a corner on the market or somethin'..."

"You dreamed about the same creep I did."

"I just asked you to do one thing, to stay awake and watch me and to wake me up if it looked like I was having a bad dream, and what did you do, you shit?"

"I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."