Y.S. Pascal's Blog, page 3
July 23, 2011
Devil Wind by Deborah Shlian & Linda Reid is Finalist for the 2011 Royal Palm Literary Award!!
Just announced today: Devil Wind is a Finalist for this year's Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association. Winners will be honored at the October Florida Writers Association meeting in Orlando. I couldn't be more excited for my creators: Linda Reid and Deborah Shlian. Last year, Dead Air, the first in their series about me, won First Place in the Thriller category. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they win this year too. But as they say in Hollywood, "just to be a finalist is an honor in itself".
Sammy 
July 15, 2011
Come on Down! To the Long Beach Barnes and Noble to Enjoy Devil Wind!
Can't wait to see the photos from the Hollywood Book Awards Ceremony where Devil Wind is the prize winning audiobook. Ben Matchar will be standing in for Deborah Shlian, and Linda Reid and Barbara Whitesides will join him to celebrate Devil Wind's success. Then, on Sunday July 24th, Linda Reid will be at the Long Beach Barnes and Noble from 11 am to 8 pm to meet Devil Wind readers in person. Linda will be doing a reading at 1:30 pm from Devil Wind–please come and join her and several other Greater Los Angeles Writers Society writers!
July 7, 2011
Devil Wind by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid Audiobook wins First Place!!
"Devil Wind" won a brand new award- the Audiobook took first place for the Hollywood Book Festival!! Kudos to narrator Barbara Whitesides. She's really a winner – in May, the Audiobook version of "Rabbit in the Moon" by Deborah & Joel Shlian placed first at the San Francisco Book Festival. And kudos to SpokenWordInc, the producer. Wish I could attend the award ceremony at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles on the 23rd. But I promise to share pictures.
Take advantage of SpokenWordInc's summer special and get a 20% discount for the Audiobook.
Talk to you soon!
Sammy
Devil Wind Audiobook wins First Prize!!
July 6, 2011
The Good Reading Seal of Approval
Hey, everyone. Just back from a week's vacay in Cabo enjoying the beach with Reed. My first sailing lessons with "Captain Wyndham" were fun! Caught this column about summer reading from Linda on the flight home.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yolanda...
My recommendations for great summer reading: Devil Wind, of course.
Stay cool, friends.
June 24, 2011
Devil Wind by Deborah Shlian & Linda Reid: new book review
Thanks to Edie Dykeman, Bellaonline's Mystery Books editor for her wonderful review of "Devil Wind". Her words: "The story is fast paced and the several plots and subplots deftly intertwined throughout the book come together in a harrowing, but satisfying, finish."
But read the whole review here and if you haven't read the book, for heavens sake, buy it now! Deborah has been donating all her royalties to breast cancer research. The novel is available in hardback, on eBook and Audiobook (20% discount all summer).
Thanks!
Sammy
June 9, 2011
Neil Prescott, you have company.
Linda Reid just did a piece for Huffpo about politicians' escapades–in the bedroom. Well said, girlfriend.
Yolanda Reid Chassiakos: Not Again!
Originally Published By: Politics on HuffingtonPost.com
Read the Original Article Here
Maybe I don't have enough testosterone. Or balls. But I just don't understand, guys. Why can't you politicians keep your pants zipped up and the head on top of your shoulders in charge?
I know, I know. Politics tends to draw a disproportionate number of people who may be narcissistic or power-hungry or both. There's no question that the schmoozing skills required to separate individual and corporate donors from their money during a campaign can be likened to those used in seduction, as can the articulate, and, let's admit it, sexy, charm that inspires voters to cast their ballots your way. But even if the electorate doesn't, you know it's a game — once you're in office, you really need to be focusing on the job, not the perks.
And, who decided that an edgy sex life should be a perk of the profession anyway? Maybe you misinterpreted the true intent and meaning of "public service." Think of how fortunate you are to have the opportunity to help the neediest in our society live a healthy and productive life. Or if you're a Republican, to have the chance to invest in and promote entrepreneurial ventures and their CEO innovators. Looking in from the outside, I'd guess you could easily put in 15 hour days just doing the work your constituents elected you to do. You chose to take on this mantle — do the job you promised, and don't blow it.
I'm not going to rehash all the psychological excuses that are often paraded out each time a politico gets caught with his pants down. Frankly, it doesn't matter why you are "driven" to do what you do. My boss doesn't care about my inner angst — he just expects me to be at the office every day, doing my work in a timely, high quality, and professional manner. And that's what we, the voters, ask of you. We've elected you to serve as inspiring and capable leaders — you all are supposed to be our crème de la crème. You've disciplined yourselves enough to maintain professional standards through your years of education and paying your professional dues. Surely you can continue to do so once you achieve your ambitions and take your oath of office. If your goal has been to become a political rock star and impose your powers and positions on willing groupies, the deluded, the naïve, and, as we say in French, the réticent, then you're not deserving of the mantle of leadership.
It's not really that hard. If you're married, don't cheat. If you're unhappily married, get a divorce. If you're single, date, and keep your bedroom activity "for your eyes only." The only thing you should be doing on social media is telling your constituents when the next rubber-chicken-and-balloons town hall meeting will be. If you're gay or bi, don't use the closet to undermine gay rights. And, gay or straight, don't turn to professionals in the sex trade. Are you truly that desperate? Whatever your private taste du jour, get consent — and use a condom. Finally, if you're into the "underage," get help now, because that's not only a shame, it's a crime.
The lust for power and the lust for lust often go hand in hand — the bedroom is yet another gladiatorial arena in which to unsheath and draw your sword. We get it. But, for the good of their families and our country, it's time for politicians to abandon sexual abandon and instead adopt the War on Drugs' motto "Just Say No." Political success has allowed those in power to act out their fantasies on a grand scale, unchecked by the limitations that most "mortals" face. That drive has left the path before us strewn with the bodies of victims; the injuries on a local as well as on a meta level to our nation and to the world beyond, can be traced to the unleashing of grandiosity unzipped — no longer kept in check and balance. It's time for our politicians to resist the drug of arrogance and step back from the abyss. Do the job you were elected to do — and zip it.
May 27, 2011
Authors Deborah Shlian & Linda Reid on the Chick Lit Show from Australia!
Hi fans! My creators, Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid appear on Sylvia Massara's Chick Lit show which hails from Australia. It seems that folks down under are reading about me!
Stop by, watch and post a comment. Thanks
Chick Lit show
Sammy
Keep Fear Alive? Let's Not!!
Surprise, May 21st came and went with no apocalypse! Just as in "Devil Wind" a manipulator (Miller in "Devil Wind", Family Radio Network founder Harold Camping in this situation) was able to create a level of irrational fear that drove people to actually believe the world was about to end.
Of course, "Devil Wind" is fiction, but sadly millions in our country really do believe in doomsday predictions. Some of Camping's followers actually quit their jobs and emptied their bank accounts to show their absolute faith in their leader.
Why? Because Camping was able to tap into their worst fear.
If a car is racing in your direction in the wrong lane of a busy California freeway, fear can be a useful emotion, sending a cocktail of chemicals (including adrenaline) surging through your bloodstream, allowing you to act instinctively, to serve out of the way of that oncoming vehicle. On the other hand, in some other situations- especially those in which there is no immediate or, I would submit, no "real" danger- this primal emotion (i.e. fear) can result in inappropriate decisions by paralyzing one's reason. After he left office, former Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge wrote a book called "The Test of Our Times" in which he claimed the Bush administration had used imagined fears of a terrorist attack after 9/11 to sway voters.
Just like Neil Prescott does in the novel "Devil Wind."
According to a scientific study published in a 2009 issue of the American Journal of Political Science, politicians of both parties are likely to try using fear to make people agree with decisions they might otherwise regret.
"A greater understanding of when fear can and cannot be used to scare citizens into supporting bad policies can help journalists and scholars more effectively interpret important historical events. It can help them think about whether, and to what extent, elite manipulation of citizen emotions contributed to initial public support for these kinds of government actions," Arthur Lupia and Jesse O. Menning, the authors of the study, argue.
In an essay entitled "The Death of Rational Thought" by Kim Weissman in April, 2001, Ms. Weissman wrote "public policy in this country is no longer premised on rational thought and educated public debate, it is increasingly being driven by fear, hysteria, ignorance, and media disinformation"
She goes on to talk about how we, the public, need to become better educated about issues, to start thinking more clearly and rationally so that fear does not overwhelm us. Politicians understand that fear creates power over people.
As long as voters are afraid of something (terrorism, gay marriage, drugs, guns, other religions, whatever) they can be controlled. But when we're not afraid and understand the issues thoroughly, we are less likely to fall under the spell of fear.
Think it about it folks. Shouldn't we all become better informed citizens? Frankly I'm tired of being told to be afraid all the time.
Here's Sammy Greene's advice: have a great Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy your friends and family. And remember, the end of the world has been cancelled!
PS While you're sitting by the pool relaxing, why not read a copy of "Devil Wind" my latest adventure? It's in hardback , eBook and on Audio.
Devil Wind by Deborah Shlian & Linda Reid
May 13, 2011
How Jews got their surnames
This is a piece sent to me without giving credit to the author, but I thought it was interesting so I am re-printing here verbatim. It's about how Jews got their surnames. I am still not sure how my family got the surname "Greene". If any of you know, please write me.
Thanks, Sammy.
HOW JEWS GIT THEIR SURNAMES
Other than aristocrats and wealthy people, Jews did not get surnames in Eastern Europe until the Napoleon years of the early 19th century. Most of the Jews from countries captured by Napoleon, Russia, Poland, and Germany were ordered to get surnames for tax purposes. After Napoleon's defeat, many Jews dropped these names and returned to "son of" names such as: MENDELSOHN, JACOBSON, LEVINSON, etc.
During the so called Emancipation, Jews were once more ordered to take surnames. In Austria, the Emperor Joseph made Jews take last names in the late 1700s; Poland in 1821; and Russia in 1844. It's probable that some of our families have had last names for 175 years or less. In France and the Anglo Saxon countries, surnames went back to the 16th century. Also Sephardic Jews had surnames stretching back centuries. Spain prior to Ferdinand and Isabella was a golden spot for Jews. They were expelled by Isabella in the same year that Columbus left For America. The earliest American Jews were Sephardic.
In general there were five types of names (people had to pay for their choice of names; the poor had assigned names):
1– Names that were descriptive of the head of household:
Examples: HOCH (tall) , KLEIN (small), COHEN (descendant of Aaron on the male line), BURGER (village dweller), SHEIN (good looking), LEVI (Levite), GROSS (large), SCHWARTZ (dark or black), WEISS (white), KURTZ (short) GROSSBARD (big beard) GELBART (yellow beard)
2 – Names describing occupations:
Examples: HOLTZ (wood) HOLTZHOCKER (wood chopper), GELTSCHMIDT (goldsmith), SCHNEIDER (tailor), KREIGSMAN (warrior), MALAMED (teacher) EISEN (iron), FISCHER (fisherman) SCHMUCKLER (jeweler)
3– Names from place of origin:
Examples: BERLIN, FRANKFURTER, DANZIGER, OPPENHEIMER, DEUTSCH (German) POLLACK(Polish), BRESLAU, MANNHEIM, CRACOW, WARSHAW KOENIGSBERG,
4 – Bought names:
Examples: GLUCK (luck), ROSEN (roses), ROSENBLATT (rose paper or leaf), ROSENBERG (rose mountain), ROTHMAN (red man), DIAMOND, KOENIG (king), SPIELMAN (spiel is to play), LIEBER (lover), BERG (mountain), WASSERMAN (water dweller), KIRSHENBLATT (cherry [colored] paper), STEIN (stone, stoneware, beer mug).
5– Assigned names (usually undesirable):
Examples: PLOTZ (to die), KLUTZ (clumsy), BILLIG (cheap) DREK (shit) BARDAKI (bordello operator) SCHEINSKOPF (shiny head) BECKMESSER (knife beak) MONCHARSH (monk's arse)
Original Birth Names of Jewish Performers:
Woody Allen — Alan Stewart Koenigsberg
June Allyson — Ella Geisman
Lauren Bacall — Betty Joan Perske
Jack Benny — Benjamin Kubelsky
Irving Berlin — Israel Baline
Milton Berle — Milton Berlinger
Joey Bishop —Joseph Gottlieb
Karen Black — Karen Blanche Ziegler
Victor Borge — Borge Rosenbaum
Fanny Brice — Fanny Borach
Mel Brooks — Melvin Kaminsky
George Burns — Nathan Birnbaum
Eddie Cantor — Edward Israel Iskowitz
Jeff Chandler — Ira Grossel
Lee J. Cobb — Amos Jacob
Tony Curtis — Bernard Schwartz
Rodney Dangerfield — Jacob Cohen
Kirk Douglas — Issue Danielovich Demsky
Melvyn Douglas — Melvyn Hesselberg
Bob Dylan — Bobby Zimmerman
Paulette Goddard — Marion Levy
Lee Grant — Lyova Geisman
Elliot Gould — Elliot Goldstein
Judy Holliday — Judith Tuvim
Al Jolson — Asa Yoelson
Danny Kaye — David Daniel Kaminsky
Michael Landon — Michael Orowitz
Steve Lawrence — Sidney Leibowitz
Jerry Lewis — Joseph Levitch
Peter Lorre — Lazlo Lowenstein
Elaine May — Elaine Berlin
Yves Montand — Ivo Levy
Mike Nichols — Michael Peschkowsky
Joan Rivers — Joan Molinsky
Edward G. Robinson — Emanuel Goldenberg
Jane Seymour — Joyce Penelope Frankenburg
Simone Signoret — Simone-Henriette Kaminker
Beverly Sills — Belle Silverman
Sophie Tucker — Sophia Kalish
Gene Wilder — Gerald Silberman
May 12, 2011
"Devil Wind" by Deborah Shlian & Linda Reid book review on Bestsellersworld.com
Read another nice review of my latest adventure ("Devil Wind") here. Reviewer Patricia Reid says "the authors bring the multiple story lines together in a satisfying and surprising way." Finalist in the Indie Excellence Awards, "Devil Wind" is available in hardback, eBooks (including Kindle) and Audiobook.
