Pamela Clare's Blog, page 28

Pardon our dust — I-Team Reading Challenge

Howdy!

I just wanted to apologize for not keeping up better with the blog lately. Not only is work busy, but I ran into some complications with my neck. I'm now taking prednisone and painkillers to get that back on track.

But it has put me behind in my writing and in rolling out all the fun I had planned to celebrate the upcoming release of Breaking Point.

Only 33 days and 16 hours to go as I write this!

Still, thanks to some help from my sister and some friends, things are moving forward. So here's what's under construction:

I-Team Trivia: These are some tough questions! Plus, there will be a section of matching the hero/heroine to the quote. You think you know Julian? Is Marc your man? Have you got Gabe down? We'll see.

I-Team Hero/Heroine Interviews: This is always lots of fun. We can sit down and check in with them and see what they have to say about and to each other.

There will be prizes for winners, including signed copies of Breaking Point, the chance to appear in the next I-Team novel, an exclusive opportunity to preview Defiant and more.

If Jed Hill answers the questions I sent him, we could have an interview with him. I do plan to contact the former U.S. Marshal I interviewed for this story and see if she'd be willing to answer some questions for you all.

So pardon our dust and the various delays and stay tuned! Much fun to come!

Recent poll results: As the latest poll, about the use of words like "pu$$y" finishes out, I thought I'd comment on the fact that 100 out of 130 voters want to see Holly's story. So here's my promise: If my publisher doesn't want it, I'll write it for release as an e-book.

If you want to discuss the issue of words like "pu$$y" in romance, hop on over to my Facebook page, where a rousing discussion is underway.

Have a great day, everyone!

MTM — The Superhero Edition

Happy Monday! This week, I'm taking a suggestion from Ronlyn and dishing up MTM — The Superhero addition.

Don't be afraid. I'm not going to post images of a bunch of men in tights and capes. That's just too ew! I've never understood why superheros dress that way. Are you telling me Superman can't fly without the tights, codpiece and cape? I don't buy it. I think it's the result of the male fascination with uniforms. Who knows?

The superhero at the top needs no introduction. That's Wolverine, the hero every woman hopes to encounter in a dark alley. Hugh Jackman fills the role nicely. Am I the only woman who's ever wondered whether Wolverine has adamantium in his penis? Don't look shocked. Tell me you never, ever even thought about that, and I'll think you're lying to me.



Here's Chris Hemsworth. His body's plenty delicious here. Note the obilques, the hint of a sex pack, the pecs, that little treasure trail of hair disappearing behind his zipper. (I know you're looking at these things without my prompting. In fact, I doubt anyone actually reads what I write here. I could write anything I want. Jed Hill and I are getting married on Tuesday. See? No one reads it. No one notices.


This is Chris Hemsworth as Thor. His biceps look like they've doubled, and his pecs... Me want to touch!

Thor, if you'll remember, is a might Scandinavian god who wielded a fearsome hammer. English-speakers pronounce it "Thor," like the "th" in "thigh." But Scandinavians pronounce it with a hard "T" sound like "Tor."

Bit of trivia: Vikings wore Thor's hammers around their necks. They kind of looked like upside down crosses. When Christianity came to Scandinavia, they just kept wearing the hammers and told the Christians they were crosses. Their adoption of Christianity was, for a very long time, rather halfhearted.


I have no idea who this is or what superhero he's playing. But he's got a nice chest, with terrific pecs, nice chest hair and a super-clear trail of hair that goes aaaallllllll the way from his chest to his naughty bits. I'd like to let my fingers do the walking, you know?


This guy isn't playing a superhero. At least I don't think he is. I saw his photo while I was trolling around for superhero shots and fell in lust. Everything about him is delicious — hair, face, shoulders, biceps, pecs, abs, obliques, that nice titillating dark hair just above the waistline of his briefs, that bulge. I think he's my fave this week. And since you're not really reading, let me just add: Your mom and Scooby-Doo are sitting in a tree/ k-i-s-s-i-n-g/First comes love/Then comes marriage/Then comes Scrappy-Doo in a baby carriage.

This is Ryan Reynolds. I believe he's playing Green Lantern. No bloody idea who Green Lantern is, but that's what I've been told. This is him in his natural state. He looks like a ripped, handsome man, the kind you really hope you meet somewhere sometime when you're single.

The only photos of him as Green Lantern that I found were headshots of some green glowing guy in a mask. He looked like a glowing, green human condom or something. Ew. Of course, you're not really reading so whatever.




Here's Chris Evans who, I believe, is suiting up to play Captain America. Nice body! He's toned, but not bulky, with just the right amount of body hair. And don't miss that tattoo.


Here's Chris Evans as Captain America, ever hair ripped from his chest and belly, his hair dyed a bizarre shade of Ken Blond and combed to make him look like a high school football player from 1955. I think I like him better before the makeup artists got to him.

And here's a shout-out to the original superhero — Christopher Reeve, a true superman. He was always hot, always classy, and so very courageous, as much in real life as on the silver screen.

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope that you don't need to be rescued from nuclear weapons, super villains or falling buildings today, but if you do, I hope the hero who rescues you is über-hot!

BREAKING POINT gets a starred review from PW!

I was hoping for good news — any kind of good news today. My prayers were heard and delicious excitement was delivered to my e-mail Inbox in the form of a starred review for Breaking Point from Publisher's Weekly.

For those of you who aren't familiar with PW, the publication doesn't review very many romances. Of the books the editors choose to review — books of all kinds, not just romance — those found to have special merit are given a star. So one star from Publisher's Weekly beats five stars from pretty much everywhere else.

And what did PW have to say? I thought you'd never ask!

Pamela Clare. Berkley Sensation, $7.99 ISBN 978-0-425-24051-9

Clare's fifth I-Team novel (after Naked Edge) sizzles with constant adventure and romance. U.S. Marshal Zach McBride is the unwilling guest of Mexican drug lords when he meets another prisoner, American journalist Natalie Benoit. The two join forces to escape and make their way across the treacherous Mexican desert toward the U.S. border. Their romance and mutual attraction develop as they share their unhappy life stories and dodge their enemies in one harrowing encounter after another. Natalie's initial fragility is juxtaposed against Zach's stalwart nature as he helps unearth her hidden strengths and she encourages him to listen to his heart. Complex characterizations and a fast-paced plot filled with sensual romance and mystery make this a highly enjoyable read for newcomers and series fans alike. (May)

This is the first time PW has reviewed one of my I-Team books, though they've done reviews of both Surrender and Untamed. Untamed also got a starred review, while Surrender merely received a very positive review.

I've also heard that RT Book Reviews gave Breaking Point four stars. Here's what their reviewer wrote:

"Clare consistently delivers! Breaking Point is packed with gut-wrenching tension, tragedy, romance and passion. The characters are riveting and the story of Mexican drug lords, journalists fighting for the truth and marshals seeking justice is timely and effective."

This is a step up from Naked Edge, which got a measly three stars from RT.

I just wanted to share the great news with you. It certainly made my day!

MTM — Gabriel Aubry "Be My Babydaddy" Edition

Happy Monday!

Having gotten a taste of the elegance that is David Gandy, we went looking for another elegant male worthy of stripping with our gaze and found ourselves face-t0-pecs with Gabriel Aubry.

Aubry, a successful male model, is probably best known for knocking up Halle Barry and being the babydaddy of her little girl. So, welcome to MTM's Gabriel Aubry "Be My Babydaddy" edition.

Imagine for a moment that you were going to conceive a love child. Wouldn't it be hella fun to conceive that child with Aubry? Even thinking that just gave you a belly flutter. I know it.

Those intense eyes, that nice chest of hair, the natural but toned physique, the stubble, the hair — what's not to like?



Here's a photo of him wearing a towel. In fact, just as white underwear constitutes an apparent 95 percent of David Gandy's wardrobe, Aubry mostly wears white towels. Here he is wearing a towel in his free time, proving how much he likes them.

What's nice about towels as apparel is how much torso they leave bare. Chest, arms, shoulders, belly — it's all left uncovered when a man wears a towel because (thank goodness!) they don't wear towels like women do, wrapped around their entire torso and tucked in like some kind of sleeveless toga.




Here is a rare shot of Aubry wearing pajamas. He's on a advertising shoot for sheets. Sadly, if you buy the sheets, you don't get him or a man like him. You just get sheets. Nice sheets, but sheets all the same.

What these sheets have going for them is that Gabriel Aubry is sitting shirtless right on top of them. One can easily imagine him shedding the pajamas and becoming someone's babydaddy right there on those sheets. I imagine he'd get a sheen of sweat on that chest, a lock or two of that hair clinging to his forehead as he does his babydaddy duty.



We talked about chest hair a few MTMs ago, and here's an example of some perfect chest hair. And that intense gaze... Makes you want to say, "Get me to those fancy sheets of yours. I'm ovulating!" — even if you've been spayed or are post-menopausal. This stare might be enough to make you ovulate even if you were nowhere near that point in your cycle.


I'll leave you with this — Aubry in his favorite attire, a white towel. There's a nice sheen of sweat on his chest. Oh, sure, that could be water from a shower, but I prefer to think he's worked up a sweat practicing his mad begetting skillz. Don't you?

Somewhere in the other room, a woman is lying, exhausted and smiling, on those fancy sheets about to conceive. It could be you... in your imagination.

Happy Man-Titty Monday, everyone! I hope your hormones are soaring.

Coming soon: I-Team Trivia

P.S. If we're friends on Facebook, please go here and click "like" so you can comment. Some upcoming Breaking Point giveaways are going to happen through that page, and I don't want you to miss out!

Thanks to my awesome readers!

A bloom from last year's garden



Congratulations to Julie James for winning last night's heated race in Round 2, Set 3 of the DA BWAHA, which I believe stands for Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hella Authors. Awesome name.

I just wanted to thank all of you who voted and posted and tweeted and corralled other readers, your friends, your family, strangers in the subway on behalf of Naked Edge. We lost by 280 votes — a respectable amount given how many votes were cast in that race. It's all in good fun, and it was great to be included this year.

Julie James is one classy woman. She's giving away two copies of Naked Edge on her Facebook fan page today. As far as I know, she and I fought our way through that bracket with zero trash-talking.

I have to say some of your tweets were hilarious! As I said in a Facebook post, I have the most awesome readers. I just adore you all.

When I wasn't hitting the "refresh" button yesterday, tweeting or posting on Facebook, I was outside with Benjamin getting our early garden planted. I really believe in the concept of the victory garden or urban homesteading, whatever you want to call it. So we always have a vegetable garden, and we're become better urban farmers.

Yesterday we planted: onion sets, spinach, arugula, radishes, carrots, romaine lettuce and Swiss chard. Those are all basics for us. I've got broccoli ready to go in, as well. Then when we're past any frost danger — mid-April to early May — I'll get dinosaur kale, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, and a few kinds of squash planted (acorn, zucchini, summer squash and delicata). And we'll be ready for summer.

Last year, I ate broccoli, green beans and chard out of our garden until fall. In fact, I had fresh broccoli through the first week of November. That was nuts! Of course, other people had to take care of the garden last year because of my neck surgery. But this year should be better, though I have been having some problems again and may be seeing the surgeon soon.

We also got our roses pruned. Those of you who've been following me for a while know we have a big rose garden. Benjy got it all pruned and ready for spring. I was afraid the bushes would have died back to the ground due to our extreme low temps this past winter, but most seemed to have pull through just fine. The miracles of mulching.

Benjy leaves for the second half of his spring semester today. It's always terribly hard for me to make that drive to the airport and watch him walk away. He doesn't like leaving either, but that's part of him growing up. Empty nest just sucks.

But I wanted to pop in early and thank you all and wish you a peaceful, lovely Sunday!

Votes needed! Vote for NAKED EDGE before 11:59 CST

Thanks so much to all of you who've already voted in today's round of the DA BWAHA. And special thanks to those of you who've made this personal and tweeted, posted on Facebook and shared the link with your friends, helping to get out the vote.

At this moment, Naked Edge has fallen behind and is in danger of losing this bracket. I know there are a lot of you who voted last time who haven't voted yet. It would mean a lot to me if you headed over to http://dabwaha.com right now and voted.

If you have author friends who are willing to throw their votes behind Naked Edge, that would be great. Or if you're a member of a Yahoo group or other loop, please feel free to post there and include the link.

Bribery: If I win, I give away another copy of Naked Edge, plus I will post an excerpt from Defiant, Connor's book. But that only happens if I win.

The polls close at 11:59 Central Standard Time. Tweet, text, e-mail, post...

Help me get out the vote for Gabe, and I'll show you what that naughty boy Connor is up to right now.

I know I have the most passionate and devoted fans in romancedom, so I know we can do it!

Thank you!!!

MTF? — David Gandy redux

So sorry I missed MTM this past week. I had a total DSL meltdown here. First my modem quit functioning. And then they sent me a new modem that was incompatible with the DSL I was receiving. So I had to wait for them to come out and upgrade my connection.

Well, I'm back. And both to make up for a missed MTM and to reward you for supporting Naked Edge in this year's DABWAHA, I'm offering up some special Friday man-titty in the form of David Gandy, who has truly captured my attention lately.

I wanted to show a photo of his face because most of the shots of him showcase his body. I'm not complaining about that — no way — but he has an absolutely piercing gaze. And nothing is hotter in my book than a man with dark hair and blue eyes.


I look at these photos, and I wonder, "Where have I been all this man's life? How did I not know about him?" I, who read GQ just to look at the men, somehow missed David Gandy. Quelle domage!

Above, we get a glimpse of him — and his behind — modeling underwear. What's amazing about this photo is that is shows not only a titillating glimpse of his glutes, but also the muscles in his arms. Plus, and this is important, he is lying in a bed. It stirs the soul — or at least the imagination.


I find this shot sexy as well. Can you say "armpit hair"? I knew you could! I'm not sure how he manages to look so fantastic just putting on a T-shirt, he does. And there's a certain gravitas in his expression, as if this business of putting on a T-shirt must be taken seriously. When one is concealing a body like his by putting on that T-shirt, I agree. Must the T-shirt be worn? Are there options to wearing the T-shirt that have not yet been explored?



He smiles. He crooks his finger. "Come here," he says.

Dude, I am SO there!

And, nice bulge.

In an interview, he asks, "Don't you have any photos of me not wearing white underpants?" There aren't many out there, but I did find this one. It showcases his obliques. And we all know how I feel about obliques.

The amazing thing about David Gandy is that you don't get the impression that his life is lived in the gym or that he secretly takes steroids. He looks like a very fit man.

I started imagining him as the hero in various romance novel scenarios, and I found myself imagining him in the American West. He's got something rugged and masculine to his appearance that works well in blue jeans. And check out that rope there. Just seeing him near rope... Yeah.

I could see him with a cowboy hat on his head walking in spurs and blue jeans into some little town in Arizona or Colorado or New Mexico, a badge on his chest, a six-shooter slung low on his hip... Have I ever mentioned that I'd love to write westerns provided they ever make a come-back?


I saved this shot for last, knowing that several of you love men's backside, where his behind or his back or his shoulders. You kind of get it all here, and it is worth beholding. For a very long time.

I hope you've enjoyed this little makeup session of MTM, which is kind of MTF. Happy Friday, everyone! And please stay tuned. I believe the next round of voting in the DABWAHA is on March 19, and it's going to be tough. I'm going to need ever vote I can get, so bribe your girlfriends, get your coworkers online and help Naked Edge win.

As an extra tidbit, please enjoy the interview with David Gandy below. And, women, let me tell you this... He's straight! Thanks to Charina for this clip.

Vote for NAKED EDGE in the DABWAHA!

Sorry I've been AWOL. I still do not have Internet. It's the longest I've been offline since the Internet was invented. I should be able to "get it up" tonight or tomorrow they say — "they" being Qwest.

First, I wanted to thank Ronlyn for keeping you all updated about my sudden disappearance. And I want to thank those of you who worked so hard to get the word out about the DABWAHA vote, which is happening right bloody now! Naked Edge was chosen as one of the finalists and needs your votes!

I hear that trash-talking is part of the DABWAHA tradition, but I'm not sure I'm capable of that. But I can pimp it with the best of them. So we'll skip trash-talking and go for hyperbolic pimping instead.

But first things first: PRIZES!

The DABWAHA is famous for it's amazing prizes, so there's lots of good reasons to vote. I'll add more. For every round that Naked Edge wins, I'll give away a signed copy of the book. The more Naked Edge wins, the more changes you have to win. (To be entered into the drawings, comment below.)

So spread the word on your blogs, on Facebook, via Twitter and help Naked Edge take the DABWAHA.

10 Reasons Naked Edge Should Win the 2011 DABWAHA

10. Gabe is uncircumcized. How often in a romance novel is the hero's dick different?

9. Kat is a virgin, but she's not a stupid, mousy virgin, so you get 100 percent of the hymen but zero percent of the "I'm a virgin at age 26 for no good reason" TSTL.

8. Gabe and Kat have sex in the snow.

7. I practiced Kat's near-fatal falling scene before writing it. I deserve something for that, don't I? Well, don't I? (Read about that here.)

6. Kat is American Indian through and through, not a Hollywood Indian. Naked Edge isn't Dances with Rangers.

5. Julian Darcangelo + Marc Hunter + Gabe Rossiter

4. Some of the events in the book actually happened — and I was there reporting on them.

3. You never knew park rangers could be so damned sexy.

2. "I love you, Katherine James. I love you with everything I am. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Remember that."

1. Other authors write romantic suspense. I live it. (Except for the "romantic" part.)

So head over to DABWAHA.com, raise Naked Edge to March glory and collect prizes along the way. If that's not win, what is?

Review — THE PERFECT PLAY by Jaci Burton

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


4.5/5

First, let's just take a moment to savor this cover. Jed Hill is among the wonders of nature, and I will never grow tired of staring at his absolutely ripped physique.

Fortunately, the book lives up to the cover. Mick is a star quarterback at the height of his career and his carefully orchestrated fame. Tara is an event planner single mom with a 14-year-old son she gave birth to as a teenager. When the two meet at an event Tara plans, neither of them have any idea where they're going to end up.

Tara doesn't want a parade of men in and out of her life because of the bad example it will set for her son — and because she's never really had any reason to trust men. Her life is her work and her son. (That's something I can relate to!) Mick, on the other hand, is wealthy, famous, a star — but he's sick of the bulimic models and vain starlets his agent has arranged for him to "date."

Although this relationship starts in the bedroom — and it gets off to a sexy start, believe me — it quickly becomes more than just sex. Those of you who love erotic love scenes will enjoy the book, because there is a lot of super-scorching sex in this story. But the emotion isn't lacking either, and by the end you'll be delighted, as I was, when Tara opens herself to the possibility of being with Mick and Mick straightens out his priorities, making a firm decision about what matters most to him in life.

My only quibble with the book is that I wanted an epilogue. I wanted to see Tara have the family and support she's never had before. Given that the next book involves Gavin, Mick's brother, a pro baseball player, I'm guessing we'll get some of that then.

This is the first book I've read on Kindle, so that was an adventure, too.

I recommend this to contemporary romance fans, romantica fans, and those who love sports-star heroes.

I just want to add something... A reader friend e-mailed me to ask about the sexuality in the story. She saw the "romantica" mention and wanted to know whether the love scenes included anal action, which she does not like to read. The answer? Yes, it does. I'm not into that either — call me Little Miss Vanilla if you like — but I found I was able to just skip a few lines and be fine. It's a great story.



View all my reviews

I-Team Reading Challenge — Naked Edge chat

Calling Team Gabe! This is your chance to wax eloquent.

I meant to have this up this morning, but this week has been insane at the paper. I had a huge project more or less dumped in my lap and am trying to get it done before I leave for a week-long writing vacation that starts tomorrow at 5 p.m. Things have been so tense that I did something I really haven't done in ages today — I got up in the middle of a meeting and walked out. Now I just want chocolate and a blankie.

::Deep breath::

Poor Kat and Gabe have been patiently awaiting their turn on the I-Team Reading Challenge stage so this blog is dedicated to their story, Naked Edge.

Naked Edge drew together some completely unrelated things. It combined my climbing accident — read all about it here — with my years of reporting on American Indian issue and my time volunteering as a naturalist for Boulder Mountain Parks (now called Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks). I borrowed names from my ranger friends, which amused them. More than that, however, this book was a very personal tribute to the Diné people and to my Diné friends.

Without a doubt, it was the most difficult book I've written. I wanted to make absolutely certain to be accurate when it came to the Navajo traditions in the story and to Native culture in general. That's a very complicated, layered world to portray even when you're familiar with it as I am — Kat's Navajo heritage, the mixed cultures off the reservation where Native people from all nations come together for ceremony, friendship and a sense of belonging, their conflicts with mainstream society. I've said it a zillion times, but I wanted Kat to be Navajo through and through, not an "apple," i.e., red on the outside and white on the inside. If I had to criticize most books, films, TV shows involving Native characters it would be for portraying Native characters in a way that makes mainstream readers/viewers feel comfortable.

At the same time, there were things I couldn't write about. The real goings-on in ceremony, certain sacred words and phrases. Those things aren't meant to be shared. Except how do you create an authentic Navajo heroine without going into those things? Well, you have to be creative and careful.

Kat became my favorite heroine. Strong and very comfortable being a woman, she knew exactly who she was. There was no need to "find herself." She was herself. And some readers agreed at least, as she was voted Favorite Heroine in RBL Romantica's Hughie Awards, ousting Eve Dallas from her multi-year hold on the lead spot. Go Kat!

But a lot of people didn't care for her. The reviews range from glowing five-star reviews to a measly three stars from RT Book Reviews and one-star review in which the reader says the book was "incredibly stupid," mostly because she didn't like the fact that Kat said she didn't date. In fact most of the objections to Kat came as a result of her sexual choices. Some people got on Kat's case for being a virgin and setting Gabe straight at their first real meeting (lunch). Some people got on her case for not wanting him to wear a condom the first time they had sex. Some people hated the fact that she went back to the rez to have her baby and for not having an epidural (!). Some didn't understand how a woman could go to college and still have superstitious religious beliefs about coyotes and so forth. Allow me to explain:

Some women don't date. Dating — i.e., sampling men to see which one you like, if any — is a serial event. Some women wait for a man who is interested in them as a wife and explore that territory very carefully. These are mostly women of strong religious conviction.

A lot of Native people — not just Navajo — don't feel comfortable with contraception. In the case of the Navajo, the mingling of male and female waters is part of what's sacred about sex. If you remove that, you've destroyed the significance of the sex act. So naturally Kat would want her first sexual experience to be all natural.

As for the birth at the end, if Kat hadn't gone home, her daughter would not have been considered Navajo. To be Navajo, you must have a certain blood quantum AND be born on the rez. And not all women have epidurals. A lot of women prefer completely natural births. What's the big deal about that?

And lastly, a lot of women go to college and yet are Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or whatever. They have beliefs that may seem strange, stupid and/or superstitious to outsiders, too, even though they've been to college. To suggest that going to college eliminates a person's belief system is to fail to understand the importance of tradition and one's connect to one's own spiritual truth.

What struck me as so funny as I read through all of these objections to Kat's character, particularly the sexual ones, is that they were coming from women. Haven't women fought long and hard for the right to make decisions about how they live their lives? Kat was making choices that were right for her, but there's a segment of the romance reading world that just is only comfortable with sex for fun and wants heroines to be rockin' the contraception.

But I write stories about characters who feel real to me. Kat was a traditional Navajo. These things were natural for her.

I guess I needed to get that off my chest. Whew!

As for Gabe, there were some readers who felt he was so repugnant that he couldn't be redeemed. I found that funny, given how many novels have man-whore heroes. Gabe isn't a man-whore by nature, of course, and meeting Kat was a scary re-introduction to his core self. Ultimately, it forced him to confront his choices, his past and the way he had changed. But, yes, it probably took readers a while to warm up to him. That didn't bother me, because I knew by the end they would love him.

Because this book took a lot of risks, I was pretty nervous before it came out. I even blogged about how nervous I was. Despite the fact that the story received some of the nastiest reviews any of my books have ever received, it's getting nominated for all kinds of awards — and winning. Between AAR and the Hughies, it won six awards. So I think a lot more people appreciate the risks the story took and the different feel of it than hated it.

As for the Big Event at the end, you all have done such an amazing job of keeping that secret! I can't thank you enough for that. It was a crucial moment in the story, the one where past and present come together and Gabe has to make a choice. And the only choice he can make is to express his love for Kat in the ultimate fashion. I wanted that to feel real and to break hearts. I think it succeeded because Naked Edge has been getting a lot of tear-jerker designations.

So, a year after it's release, I stand amazed by the recognition the story is receiving. I hope with all my heart that it opened up hearts and minds to the contemporary Native experience. Much of what was in the book is real and those real events represent the kinds of things that happen to Indian people every day: the raid on the inipi, the theft of artifacts, the corruption and loss of sacred sites, the desecration of graves, the struggle to maintain identity, the fight to preserve one's own spiritual beliefs and practices, and so on...

I've been an eye witness to much of that. The raid on the inipi really happened. The loss of a prominent sacred site really happened. I covered it, shared the outrage and wished I could have done more.

I suppose the ultimate satisfaction for me came when my friend Kat, after whom Kat is named, read the book. Her husband, whom I call Uncle Ray, is a full-blooded hereditary Navajo spiritual leader, and both of them are dear to me. Kat read the book and e-mailed me to say it was perfect and that it felt authentically Navajo to her. She saw things that no one else could see — elements of shared experience between the two of us, late-night conversations, jokes, my own personal experiences on the rez. There are elements of our friendship that is woven into those pages.

Maybe that's what makes the book feel special to people, even if they don't know what those elements are or realize they're even there. (Egads, now I miss her so much!)

Today, she sent me a link to a hideous news broadcast in which a non-Native reporter took news cameras into an inipi ceremony. Cameras! She filmed it. They filmed the alter. They filmed the sacred elements. And they put it on TV. During the call-in portion of the program, a Lakota elder called in to say that what they had done was wrong. She cut him off! I was horrified. (I'm not posting the link because that would only perpetuate the insult and damage.)

I didn't intend for this post to be so long. This is all really heavy stuff. I guess it's okay to share it with you, though, because these are the things I think about when I put a story together.

So I'll shut up now and turn it over to you.