Julia London's Blog, page 82

Digging in the Dirt….

Two of the books that I've been working on are set in small town, Texas and coincidentally (not completely coincidentally), I've also been drawing up my family tree. When I started the books, I wanted to give the older characters a genuine Texas sort of name, so I scanned newspapers and history books, looking for names that popped out at me. However, I didn't have to go that far. My family tree is full of names: Lemmie Archer, Cora Bell Archer, Mattie T Archer, Philo Clingman Copeland (my favorite), Leander Copeland , Hipoleta Cortines, Lorinda Orrill, Jeptha McCoy, a whole pack of Victors, Homers, and Ernest's (including Ernestine).

My family roots are all over the map (literally). The O'Reilly's came from Ireland via Tennessee, then down to Texas. My great-grandfather married Marie Anotinette Cortines, whose father was born in Louisiana, and whose mother was born in France. My grand-mother was a McCoy from Tennessee. She always said they were part of the Hatfield-McCoy's McCoy's, but it looks like that was West Virginia and Kentucky, although if anybody knows about the McCoys of Tennessee, I'd love to hear what they know.

My mother's side of the family is pure Alabama cotton. Apparently her uncle got some girl pregnant, and so they ran from Alabama to Texas to avoid the shame (and possibly matrimony, I'm not sure) My great-grandfather was a total Casanova, and I have some old letters that he wrote because apparently my great-great-grandmother kicked him out of the house, because he was a scoundrel. Here's some of the letter:

"I wrote to your Mother and asked her to let me know you are well and she would not do so, and I hope that someday that you will turn around and find out the harm that you have done to me, but I am all to blame, and you have done nothing. But with all your faults, I love you still. So now Antoinette, please grand me this little favor. Yours until Death."

It's very haunting to read the old letters. We have a lot of memorabilia because my great-grandfather was a photographer and so there are old glass plate pictures with very somber people and little boys babies dressed in elaborate christening gowns.

The O'Reilly Family Tree

Our family tree has always had long roots that get knotted in the dirt, but it's fun to look back at what happened a long time ago and know that somehow, somewhere, that's buried in your DNA. I figure that I got my tale-telling ability from my great-grandfather Charles. Or maybe it was those McCoys. Don't know.

What about you? Anybody else doing any genealogy research? Did you find anything scandalous, or any old surprises?

The Hazards of Writing for a Living

[image error]If you write for a living, be prepared to pay $400 dollars for a bottle of pills.

Actually, that happened to Hubot, and he is not a writer, but a poor law student.  Nevertheless, he and I find ourselves quite without health insurance these days, and it is opening our eyes to the way some part of the country lives.  We haven't had it since he went back to school.  I used to joke around that I married him for his health insurance, and it turns out I wasn't kidding.  We are two middle-aged adults, both very healthy.  We naively thought we'd just pay for health insurance like other poor schlubs who don't work for giant corporations…until we started pricing health insurance.  Yikes!  It is so expensive, and frankly, we can't afford it.  Even the catastrophic care is an ow-wie.  And we reasoned that if we were in a car wreck, our car insurance covered our dismemberment, so what was the worst that could happen?  One of us could fall down and break a leg.  Oh, hahahaha.

Seriously, we know we need it, and we're going to get right on that, we are.  But with every month that passes just like the previous one, without injury, without illness, we get kind of complacent and think, in a couple of months, we'll get it.  Well, then Hubot went and did it.  He didn't fall down and break his leg, but he got pneumonia.  Finally, that thing we had been risking  for the last seven months happened:  One of us got really sick.

At first, he wouldn't go to a doctor because we have no insurance and we were both frightened at how much it would be.  But I convinced him that a HOSPITAL STAY would be WAY MORE EXPENSIVE.  So he went.  He begged them not to do xrays.  The doctor said she didn't need to this time, really, because she knew what he had.  He begged them not to draw blood.  They said…oh, all right.  So he was really pleased that he got out of there for $200.  But then he went to the pharmacy, and holey moley!  Prescriptions without insurance are freaking expensive!  One of them was $400 for thirty pills.  Who can even say that with a straightface?   And of course there was no generic.  I said–no I screamed–"YOU DIDN'T GET IT DID YOU??!?!?"  But he did.  He  charged it.  I asked him if they were made from the urine of some extinct toad.  He said he didn't think so.

That's not right, $400 for a bottle of pills.  Worse, we can't qualify for any of those programs that help you, like Medicaid, because we aren't poor enough or old enough.  But then again, we aren't exactly rolling around in high cotton, either.  So what do we do?  We don't get pneumonia, that's what!  And I guess I start shopping for some basic coverage that we will have to figure out how to pay.  And I confess that sometimes I will look a little enviously at people schlepping off to their day jobs, knowing they have health insurance that doesn't require a second mortgage.

Any health insurance horror stories you want to share?  Any great ideas for where to get some cheap health insurance?  Anyone?

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

As I write this, another huge storm is heading across the U.S., preparing to dump one to two FEET of snow on the Midwest and northeast states. 

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This isn't actually me shoveling snow, but that's exactly what I looked like

Are you kidding me?  I was in New York last week–got there just in time for the big snow storm–and let me tell you, they don't need any more snow.  When I say I was butt-deep in snow, I mean that literally.  At least they're prepared for the snow up there–the streets were quickly plowed, snow was shoveled off walks (I know this because I shoveled what felt like 88 tons of the stuff), and life went on.  Unlike the south. When Atlanta got hit with six inches of snow a few weeks ago, the city was brought to a halt.  Schools and businesses were closed for a WEEK.  I'm hoping ATL will get with the program and invest in some serious snow removal equipment–with global warming gifting us with increasingly colder winters, we're in for lots more snow in the coming years.

While the snow was actually kind of fun, I've seen enough of it for a while.  I prefer palm trees.  In fact, I'd love to see a palm tree right about now.  If I could, I'd jet off to some place warm.  Maybe Bermuda.  LOVE it there.  Gorgeous beaches, and only a couple hours by plane.  Or Hawaii.  Love it there, too.  A long flight, but worth it.  Or maybe somewhere I've never been.  Like Turks and Caicos.  I hear it's gorgeous there.  Or Tahiti–maybe stay in one of those cool huts that are right on the water. 

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Yeah, baby! Now you're talkin'!

 

So–are you enjoying or hating all the snow?  Do you prefer icicles or palm trees?  If you could jet off anywhere for vacation where would you go?  What's your all-time favorite vacation destination?

Celebrity Trends: Spring's Hottest Accessories

Baby bumps! And actual babies! Hot, hot, hot. A number of celebrities have recently announced pregnancies. Pink, Mariah Carey, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Connelly, Marion Cotillard (loved her in Nine), Penelope Cruz (her costar in Nine), and Kate Hudson (also in the movie Nine!).

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Natalie with her bump (and another hot accessory, her Golden Globe).

Nicole Kidman (one of the stars of the movie Nine), just announced the birth of her second daughter with Keith Urban, their biological child by surrogate (handy! All the joy without the hassle). Judy Dench, watch out! (She was also in Nine, what was in the water on that set?). Amy Adams recently had a baby. John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston. Celine Dion (twins!).

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Also, Owen Wilson surprised us all by staying out of the limelight, and suddenly announcing that he was going to be a father right before his girlfriend gave birth in Hawaii. They had a boy! Robert Ford Wilson. Awww. Wow, who knew big stars could avoid the paparazzi and lead a normal life?

Orlando Bloom just released this intimate photo of his wife Miranda Kerr nursing their newborn son Flynn. I know, I know. She's breastfeeding. It's almost too private a moment. And yet, I can't look away! She looks so relaxed and happy, and what a snuggly little sweetpea![image error]

And did they encourage the tabloids to start a bidding war to come up with millions for the baby's first pictures (all to donate to less fortunate babies, of course)? NO! They actually put the picture on their own website, for no money at all. Shocking celebrity behavior.

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Orlando with son Flynn

So now I've done it. I've revealed the biggest spring trends and you're all going to want one… turbans, that is. Friday's turbans are suddenly looking like the most realistic and desirable fashion trend to follow now, aren't they? Did I miss any expecting celebrities or new deliveries? Do you want to go hold a sweet new baby now?

Jane Slayre

"Reader, I buried him."

A TIMELESS TALE OF LOVE, DEVOTION… AND THE UNDEAD.

Jane Slayre, our plucky demon-slaying heroine, a courageous orphan who spurns the detestable vampyre kin who raised her, sets out on the advice of her ghostly uncle to hone her skills as the fearless slayer she's meant to be. When she takes a job as a governess at a country estate, she falls head-over-heels for her new master, Mr. Rochester, only to discover he's hiding a violent werewolf in the attic– in the form of his first wife.

Can a menagerie of bloodthirsty, flesh-eating, creatures-of-the-night keep a swashbuckling nineteenth-century lady from the gentleman she intends to marry? Vampyres, zombies, and werewolves transform Charlotte Bronte's unforgettable masterpiece into an eerie paranormal adventure that will delight and terrify.

Superheroes, bureaucracy and villains, oh my!

The old cover of Kiss

Unlike Jacquie (see last Saturday's post) I rarely re-read my own books unless I'm trying to figure something out continuity-wise for an ongoing series.

Recently, though, I got sucked into two of them. I picked up The Cat's Fancy (as part of the move, I'm putting my boxes of author copies on shelves so I can tell how many I have and get to them easier). I opened to a random part near the end, got sucked in, and kept on reading. It was my first single title book, and I really loved it–a total fairy tale about a cat who's in love with her master, and as I was reading it, I could remember the excitement of finishing that first "big" book. More than that, though, I was just drawn into the story. Always a good sign, I think.

Dorchester hasn't (yet) re-released Cat, though my editor tells me he's working on it.

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The new cover

But Dorchester has recently re-issued the entire series of Aphrodite books. The first one, Aphrodite's Kiss, came out in 2001–which makes this its ten year anniversary! Right now, the books are in ebook format, but they're coming in trade paper this summer. Honestly, I love these books. They're about a group of superheroes descended from the Greek and Roman gods (who were really just superheroes, but thought the whole god thing was a great cover story).

I had such fun writing those books, but I remember the opening of the first one was hard, because I had a lot of backstory about a girl who was a "halfling". I started with a prologue when she and her cousin Mordi were kids, but it just felt off (Kathleen and Dee read it back in the day). At the time, I was still working as a lawyer, and one day, after reading piles of useless forms for something or other, it clicked: the world was bureaucratic. And I came up with the intro to the first book. It cracked me up–still does. And here it is. If it amuses you, too, please check out the books!

VENERATE COUNCIL OF PROTECTORS

1-800-555-HERO

www.superherocentral.com

Protecting Mortals Is Our Business!

Official Business

Ms. Zoë Smith

Halfling

Los Angeles, California

Greetings and Congratulations on your upcoming twenty-fifth birthday:

Enclosed please find your Application for Membership to the Venerate Council of Protectors (487 pages, excluding affidavits and attachments) and Council Publication Numbers 1758-A(3) and 2987-Z(9), respectively titled "So You're A Halfling" and "The Venerate Council: A Brief History in 1200 Pages".

Please complete the Application and return it in triplicate to the Council by no later than one month prior to the 25th anniversary of your birth.

As part of the Application process, you may be evaluated through field testing during your birthday week. Such testing is random, and Applicants are not informed in advance.

You will be advised of your Application status the morning following your twenty-fifth birthday. A decision as to your denial or acceptance will be based on your overall skill level and performance during the tests.

If you are accepted to the Council, you will be informed at that time of the date and location of your swearing in ceremony. If your application is declined, you will be escorted to the Bureau of Registration, where you will be required to either register as an Unlicensed Protector (Outcast) or forfeit your Protector heritage and undergo mortalization, at which time all memories of your Protector relatives will be removed. (For more detailed information on the mortalization process, including limitations of liability, warranties, and disclosures, please visit our website at www.superherocentral.com.)

Failure to register as an Outcast or to select Mortalization is a violation of Section IV, subpart 2(a)(ii) of the Mortal-Protector Treaty of 1970.

In addition to your formal Application, you must submit—by no later than sunset on your twenty-fifth birthday—the enclosed Affidavit of Mortal Disclosure affirming that you have disclosed to your mortal parent your status as a halfling and your decision to apply for Council membership.

As you are aware, your Protector parent filed a Notice of Halfing Nascence contemporaneously with your birth, and such information has been periodically updated. Your file currently states that, in addition to the speed, strength and agility inherent in the Protector genetics, you have also demonstrated a propensity toward the following skill(s)/power(s)/characteristic(s):

heightened five senses (including x-ray vision)

As the anniversary of your birth draws closer, you will most likely experience significant oscillation in your ability to control/utilize such skills(s)/power(s)/characteristic(s). Such fluctuations are an unfortunate by-product of your halfling status and are considered normal.

Our records further indicate that you have not yet mastered the following necessary skill(s):

matter manipulation (a.k.a telekinesis)

Form 82-C(1)(a), on file with the Office of Halfling Registration, reflects the issuance of the following Council-controlled articles:

propulsion cloak, model C-14A (training model)

and

x-ray blocking glasses, tortoise-shell variety (regular and sunglasses)

Please be advised that at any time prior to the anniversary of your birth, you may formally announce your intent to not submit the Affidavit and to select mortalization. Please use Form 93B, enclosed, Intent to Select Mortalization.

Upon submission of such form, you will be immediately escorted to the Bureau of Registration for processing. Please arrange return transportation in advance. Following the mortalization process, you will have no memory of the Council or your Protector relatives. A stranded mortal is an unhappy mortal!

Thank you for your attention to this matter—and happy birthday!

Sincerely,

Phelonium Prigg

Phelonium Prigg,

Assistant to Zephron, High Elder

jbk:PP

enclosure

Spring Fashion (fresh from Aunt Norma's closet)

Turbans! Yes, turbans are reportedly the new thing this spring. Picture it. You're finally ready to pack up the sweaters and boots and you reach for your shoulder-padded caftan and top it with a turban! Voila, you're in style!

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Oh no! You say. Oh yes! I am not kidding. I have it straight from the fashion blogs. Turbans! They're going to be all the rage.

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And they're not just for women anymore. Look! Men trotting their turbans down the runways. Hotcha! Actually, I think these dudes are pulling it off with more panache than most women might.[image error] I hope that's faux fox.[image error]

Look who made turbans all the rage! It took awhile to catch on, but finally… here we are!

Yes, that's Julia (far left), Sherri (second to right), and Jacquie (far right) hamming it up with Marsha Canham (center back), Virginia Henley (center front), and Connie Brockway (second left) at a Romantic Times conference ten years ago.  Who knew we were such visionaries? (Well, it was all Marsha's idea).

Have you had any fashion surprises lately? Are you ready for turbans to be haute couture? Tune in Monday when I tell you the next most important must-have accessory for spring. Happy weekend!

Snip Snip

[image error]Are you old enough to remember playing with paper dolls?    I loved them.  Had a box where they all lived (I had a chest that served as a pretend houseboat for my Barbies, too, but that's another story).   I had fashion ones, historical ones, even fantasy ones like Cinderella.  And my favorite was Betsy McCall. 

Betsy lived her life on the pages of McCall's Magazine.   She first appeared in April of 1951 (eight years before I was even on the scene)  and was published monthly through the 1970's and sporadically in the 80's and 90's.   My Betsy came from the mid to late sixties.  Getting the magazine in the mail was absolute bliss.  

Betsy and her clothes were always accompanied by a story—Betsy McCall goes to camp, or Betsy at the Easter Egg Rolling, or Betsy gets a baby sister.[image error]   And the fashions and haircuts of the appropriate years serve as memory jogs for the outfits I actually wore.   There's a yellow dress with matching coat that looks a lot like one I had one Easter.   And puffy skirts with petticoats from when I was about five—always my favorite.   And there was even the pixie cut hair, that I loathed but had to live with because Maria had her hair cut like that in the Sound of Music.  HELLO—she was a nun! 

I suspect that these days paper dolls are passé.   With technology being what it is, I can't imagine a kid taking the time to cut or punch paper dolls out and carefully fold the tabs to 'dress' them in all their various outfits.   But back in the day, I [image error]loved them, and the adventure they offered.  Not to mention cool clothes and fun stories.   And as I said—for me—Betsy was the best! 

So what about you?  Do you remember Betsy?  Did you play with paper dolls?  What were your favorites?

And the Oscar Goes to….

Okay, I'm not sure if any of my sisters in whine wanted this topic, but hey, I got here first, so it's mine… all mine!

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (for the first time, the word 'sciences' jumped out at me. Science? Truly? And what science is there in movies, or is this another Hollywood fame-hoggering move, taking over the nerds as well???).

Sorry, got sidetracked. The nominees for Best Picture are in and I'm going to opine:

127 Hours – I didn't see this one, nor will I ever see this one. It had so many strikes against it, namely: 'arm being sawed off without blood spewage' and James Franco. I know, I know, many, many people really like him. Many, many people also like this Justin Bieber. Also, since I am currently suffering from cabin fever after being snowed in for days on end, with freezing weather all around, I'm thinking a movie set in the Caribbean would be a lot nicer. Will it win? No, because the Academy doesn't like 'arm being sawed off without blood spewage' (see: Silence of the Lambs, where many, many bodily fluids were spewed, including, but not limited to, blood).

Black Swan – Really? Really? Really?? Yes, yes, yes, it's 'art' but ewww….. If this wins, I will be ripping out my cuticles.

The Fighter – STILL have no seen this one, but really want to, but it's not on my OMG can't wait list. However, the Academy likes people who lose weight/gain weight/put on ugly noses, but I don't think it's going to win. But you know, those over-testostoronated Academy voters, they do like their nose-slamming, sweat-flying, slow-motion-sequence boxing movies, so… nah.

Inception – I will see this someday. The kids saw it and really liked it, and eventually, when it's a Saturday night, and everybody is saying 'let's rent a movie,' I will say 'Inception!' but then nobody will want to watch it because they've already seen it. Eventually, I will see this movie, but I will probably have to watch it alone. As for it's winning possibilities, no way. It is a stylistic tour-D-force which never, ever, ever wins, unless… nope. Never wins.

The Kids Are All Right – eh. Again, some Saturday night…. Blah, blah, blah, except that no one in my family has seen this one, so it'll win out over Inception. Will not win Best Picture. No one will be surprised.

The Social Network – Oh, you Academy voters. You wanted to love this cool, jivvy, modern tale with MacBethian overtones, and this flashy Eisenberg with his intense, nerdly gaze. You were swayed by that silver-tongued Sorkin, but on watching the second time, you were confused. You realized you didn't quite understand what is this Facebookery? What is this computer? And worse yet, the hair, the curls! Who was the stylist? Was there no stylist??? I think the Academy is not ready to embrace their inner nerd.

Toy Story 3 – yes, it was cute and touching, and no one tells a story like Disney/Pixar, but no. I love my Disney movies and most of them deserved the accolades. In a poor year, yes, TS3, you might have stood a chance, but still no. You only got nominated because all the children of the Academy voters saw it on the list, and said, 'mommy, mommy! Look! It's Oscar Buzz Lightyear!"

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Oscar Buzz Lightyear!

True Grit – this nomination surprised me as much as the film. I loved True Grit. It was so much more than I expected, but no. It has grizzled, drunken Jeff Bridges (who the Academy adores), but it's set out West, but not like L.A. west, where people drive cars. No, the movie has horses. And did you see what happened to the animals in this movie? I couldn't believe what they did to the animals in this movie. No, True Grit will not win.

Winter's Bone – I have not seen this one, but it sounds very dark with lots of poor people with folksy Southern accents. I will see this one eventually because it sounds like a great thriller. I'm sure the Academy sucked this up faster than pigsfeet on the fourth of July, because this little critter not only has bad clothes/ poor people/banjos, but gawlly—they're all meth-heads, too! Yup. Just confirms what all those L.A. city boys had thought about the state of Missouri. They're a bunch of gun-toting/banjo-playing/meth-cooking/bad-talking/law-breaking/meat-eating yokels. Will it win? Bless its little poverty-stricken heart, but no.

The King's Speech – I STILL have not seen this (because everybody wanted to see 'Black Swan' instead!!), but I'm betting this one takes Best Pic. I predict this one because it's a very civilized, uplifting tale of survival which involves no fast talking, not too much nerdiness, no blood or sweat spewage, because in the end, those hippy-dippy Academy voters are not as hippy-dippy as they want to assume (and both men and women alike LUV Colin Firth).

So, who do you think will win Best Picture? Any surprises? Any misses? Much liked the designated hitter rule, should the best picture nominees be cut back to five? Is this 'everybody needs to be a nominee' part of our Americanized, no-tiger-momma-here culture that rewards almost-good-enough?

Social Media Trends I Can Live Without

I'm on board with social media.  I'm on  Facebook to connect with people who might like to read my books.  I joined Twitter way back in its infancy because I thought the idea of following celebrities was cool.  I have since decided that's not as cool as I thought, but I've discovered some amazing stuff on Twitter.   And I joined Goodreads because I like to read, and I like to hear what other people are reading.  But I've noticed some trends I can live without on all three sites.

On Facebook, I set up a Julia London fan page.  If you come over and like me, you should know  that I am going to tout my own books.  I am hoping you have read me and want to read more, or you haven't read me, but you are interested.  So far, its been great and everyone who likes me gets that, I think.  But every once in awhile, an aspiring, or self-published, or brand new author, comes over and, under the guise of saying hi to me, manages to put in a plug for her book.  Now, I don't mind promotion, obviously.  But I sort of wish these authors would email me and say, hey, can you plug my book?  It just seems odd they would hijack my page without at least asking.

Twitter.  Sheesh.  I dropped Kirstie Alley after a couple of days because she FLOODED my timeline with some really inane tweets.   But what is kind of bugging me now is tweeters who like to gain followers by tweeting during an important event, like, say, The Bachelor.  .  Jennifer Weiner started this, and she was clever to do it.  Susan Mallery tweets Project Runway.  But then, everyone started getting  in on the act and  tweeting those shows, so my timeline fills up with people trying to be really witty about the very same thing.  It loses its punch.  And I'm not going to follow you because I already follow someone who tweets that show.   Yes, I could turn off the TV or the computer and ignore this, but why do that when I can whine about it?

Goodreads: A lot of readers on Goodreads are also authors, which makes senses.  But I have noticed a lot of authors  want to be my goodreads friends so they can tell me about their latest book.  They send me emails and say, "So and so thought you might like this book:  An erotic paranormal historical ebook."  And it happens to be written by So and So.  Well, no, So and So.   I will not like that book, because as you can see in my list of two hundred books, I do not have any  erotica, or paranormal, or straight-to-ebooks listed.  You don't see them listed  because I don't enjoy those books and I don't generally read them.  So please don't friend me just so you can shill your books to me.  I am not doing it to you.  I'm not doing it at all, are you kidding?   You might review me on goodreads.  Hahaa!

Do you use social media? Have you noticed any trends that are bugging you? Who do you follow, friends and family, old classmates, or someone else?