Grrr.... Ahhh.... Grrrr - That's Life

Career Change?

2010-11-02T08:30:00.000-04:00

I have never had a job for more than three years. I've never really worked in a chosen profession for much longer than that. I think that if you add up all the time I've spent as a “writer” and/or “editor” at various jobs I've been in my current profession for near four and a half years. I've been in the travel industry for a bit over three years. If you count my time as a freelancer while living in Romania, it's closer to four.

I made becoming a writer a top priority for me. Realizing I was on a path to being a librarian for the rest of my life I purposely took myself off that path and put myself on a path to being a writer, and ultimately a travel writer. It was not easy. It did not happen overnight. There were times when I didn't know how I was going to make it happen. But I did it.

Now after all that work of getting myself to where I am now, I'm considering making another change. And I'm very conflicted about it.

Am I doing the right thing? Is this just part of a pattern of never staying at one job for too long (though not all the jobs ended by my choice!)? Is the risk I’d be taking worth it?

I am thinking about becoming a travel agent.

I believe I could be good at it, or at least parts of the job. I believe I would enjoy doing it, or at least certain pieces of the job. Is the fact that I know already I might not be good at, or enjoy certain parts of the job an indication that I shouldn’t do it.

There are certain parts of being a writer that I don’t like.

But here’s the thing. I don't know if I was born to be a travel agent, while I do know I was born to be a writer.

Of course, just because I'm thinking about becoming a travel agent doesn't mean I plan to give up writing. I want to continue working on my fiction, and continue to work as a travel writer part time. It’s just that I don’t want to do the journalist thing full time anymore.

I also like the ideas of working for myself, and helping people find the right cruise (or land vacation).

What I don’t like is the idea of being a salesperson, and I especially don’t like the thought of having people come to me to complain when they didn’t have a good vacation – which is absolutely a job requirement!

So, I’m conflicted. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if the risk is worth it when there is a definite possibility of failure.

So that’s the question really? Is fear a good enough reason to not take a risk? You tell me!

Sometimes Rich People Get It

2010-10-26T08:30:00.000-04:00

“Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for introducing yourself.”

I heard these words repeated over and over again at a recent travel agency conference. But what was interesting was that the two people repeating these thank you's are 20-something boys... er young men – the sons of two brothers who co-own one of the industry's largest companies. Rich beyond anything I can ever hope to achieve, they have clearly been groomed to be gracious.

From the way they make eye contact when greeting someone to how they shake hands, these guys have been taught everything they need to know to succeed.

Of course, I'd love to see how they act when they're not “on,” especially the really good-looking cousin, who KNOWS he's good-looking!

But I will say their fathers have done a great job preparing these boys for their eventually take over of the company. What I find most impressive is that each cousin is doing an intensive two-year on-boarding program, where they will work in every department of every company their family owns. They're even each going to spend a day at a travel agency seeing what a travel agent does, and more importantly deals with, every day.

I think this is fantastic, and truly says a lot about their dads. Rather than simply hand the reins of a company over to an inexperienced and spoiled son (like an employer I had previously did), these fathers are making their sons work first, and making sure they understand all the different elements of the company, and what their employees do.

I wish more companies would do that, not just if they have heir apparents, but for any executive who is running, or will run the company.

Delta revisited

2010-06-04T08:30:00.000-04:00

Having to fly for work nowadays means not having any control over what airline I fly. Since some its merger with Northwest, Delta has implemented a lot of anti-flyer policies and fees and for that reason whenever possible I choose not to fly them. However, on my current work trip to Cruise3Sixty in Vancouver, my flight was booked for me on Delta.

The actual flying experience was a mix of good, not so bad, stupid and bad.

I'll start with the good:

* There was very little turbulence -- good job pilots!
* The desk staff and flight attendants were nice --- the ones in Minneapolis and from Minneapolis to Vancouver were super nice (guess that's the Northwest contingent).
* They gave free cookies, peanuts or pretzels -- hey, at least it's something.
* Although the flight was full, I found the seats to be roomy enough for me (I'm only 5'2") and there was plenty of room under the seat in front of me to put my big overnight bad without having to stuff it.
* On my first flight no one sat in the middle seat making it even more comfortable -- although good, I can't really give Delta credit for that though.

The Not So Good:

* If you're going to charge people to buy food on board at least offer something worth eating -- it's ridiculous to sell overpriced junk food when people are flying over dinner time! Offer a sandwich for cryin' out loud!

The Stupid:

* Maybe someone can explain the rationale of making people who are on a flight to Vancouver, with a stop in Minneapolis, switch planes and seats even though its the same flight, with the same flight number. I don't get that!

The Bad:

* No entertainment of any kind. Each flight was more than 3 hours but they didn't even have the overhead TVs. Boring!

* Charged to check my suitcase. I know all the airlines do it, but it still doesn't make it right.

My First Nasty E-Mail

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

I know that if I eventually publish my novel I can look forward to nasty reviews and nasty e-mails from readers -- it's just a part of being a writer. It has nothing to do with me and more with whomever has reviewed the book or written the e-mail.

I always wondered if I'd be able to handle it, and then recently I got an e-mail at my job that gave me a taste of what I can look forward to.

In seeking travel agent comments on the new mega ship, the Norwegian Epic, I sent out several "cold" e-mails to travel agents I don't know.

This was the e-mail I sent (names of people and the publication have been erased):

Hello,

I am an editor with xx xx xx, a online trade publication targeted at travel agents. I'm working on an article about what travel agents are the most excited about re: the Norwegian Epic, and was hoping you could help me out. Are you or your clients looking forward to the July launch of the Epic? What one aspect of the ship are you most excited about and why?

Thanks for any input you can provide.

That evening I got the following response.

Sorry, your English is so poor, I could never believe anything you wrote.
Therefore, I have no comment for you.
Additionally, I request you remove me from your email list immediately.
Larry

I have to say I was so shocked when I first got it. My immediate impulse was to hit reply and let off a string of profanity. My second impulse was to begin a negative media campaign against his travel agency. But eventually I calmed down and decided I could be the professional in this case and take the higher road. I simply deleted the e-mail and will never contact this agent again.

Of course if anyone ever asks me if I've ever heard of his agency, I'll let them know a very rude man named Larry works there, and to avoid him at all costs.

But the point is, I got over my immediate shock. I realized his e-mail had nothing to do with me or my writing and I moved on.

If I ever get my novel published, I believe I'll be able to handle most of the negative comments that come my way.

Stranger Than Fiction

2010-03-24T08:30:00.000-04:00

I'm in several Yahoo groups for all sorts of mystery-related associations and reading groups. All kinds of great information comes through on these lists but every once in awhile members will share some crazy news they've read. I read two items over the past two days that I just felt like I had to share.

One's pretty funny; the other is pretty disturbing.

Shall we start with funny?

This is from The Writer's Forensics Blog (http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/), which is written by D.P. Lyle, MD. For regular readers of my blog, you might remember that Dr. Lyle is the doctor who helped me with the poisoning scenario in my book.

He has a regular category he sometimes posts called Stupid Criminals. In this post, he tells the story of a woman, who at the time of her crime was serving on a jury for a credit card theft case in the Bronx.

During the trial, guess what she did? She stole a credit card from a fellow juror and went on a shopping spree!

Well the credit card noticed the unusual activity and alerted the man from whom the credit card was stolen. He called the police who tracked the activity and found a security camera revealing the woman shopping.

This case hasn't wrapped up yet, because the woman is claiming that the man was hitting on her and gave her his credit card to use. Yeah, right!

Ok, now for the disturbing item.

This originally comes from a Memphis newspaper I think. The body of a woman who has been missing since January was found last week UNDER a MOTEL BED INSIDE a metal frame with a mattress and box spring on top. It appears the body had been there SINCE HER DISAPPEARANCE!

That means her body was inside that bed for almost three months in a hotel room that has been rented out to people since her body was put there!

Her body was eventually found because a fould odor was reported by motel staff. Uh, you think? A body rotting beneath a boxspring and mattress for a few months? I can't believe it took three months to smell that!

According to the police the room has been rented out five times in that three month period and been cleaned "numerous" times as well.

And nobody smelled anything wrong? Noone sleeping on top of a rotting corpse sensed anything amiss? Their nose never wrinkled at a putrid scent rising from beneath them?

It just grosses me out thinking about it.

To make the whole thing just a little bit weirder, or maybe more pathetic, the police knew that the missing women had been living at the hotel and that she'd been staying in that room. While they went to the motel and spoke with some staff members, they never went inside the room to investigate!

OK, maybe I've seen one too many CSI episodes, but that just seems plain remiss.

Anyway, after reading this, I'm thinking maybe I need to start lifting up the boxspring and mattress on hotel beds before I snuggle in for the night. I don't EVER want to find out afterwards that I was sleeping on a corpse!!

Hey gals, whaddya think of in-air ladies only bathrooms?

2010-03-22T08:30:00.000-04:00

Sounds crazy, right! But it's real. Japanese carrier All Nippon Airway is introducing women-only bathrooms on most of its planes, for all international flights. According to the air line, the new loos are in response to passenger requests -- from female passengers.

One women's only bathroom will be designated at the back of the plane. It will display a pink version of the universal symbol for women's bathrooms -- you know what I mean, the stick like figure in a skirt. If this bathroom is in use, women are free to use any other toilet that is open.

However, men may only use the women's only bathroom:

1.) When required for safety reasons -- I've been trying to think of a saftey reason that would require a man to use a bathroom, but haven't been able to come up with one yet...

2.) When a male passenger is not feeling well -- well, doesn't that defeat part of the purpose! Part of the reason to use a women's only bathroom is that when a man is having "stomach" issues, it usually (I said usually) smells worse than when women have the same problem.

3.) When there are very few female passengers and the women-only designation has been lifted for the flight -- can you imagine the overhead announcement. "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen. As there are actually very few of you ladies onboard today, we'll be lifting our women's only bathroom rule. Gentlemen, please feel free to use the lavatory with the pink women on it."

So what do you think?

Personally, I think it sounds great! I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the bathroom, realized I forgot to put my shoes back on before I left my seat and ended up with sticky socks! I try very hard not to think about what's making my socks sticky!!

And like I said before, we all know guys' crap smells worse than women's, right??

A flight comparison Web site in the UK, Skyscanner, polled its visitors about what they thought of the idea. Interestingly, the concept divided the opinion of respondents almost in half.

The poll asked whether travelers agreed with All Nippon Airway's move? 46% of voters agreed with it, and said all airlines should do the same. 51% isapproved of the idea.

Hmm, you think that division is a divsion by sex. Most women perhaps agreeing and most men disagreeing?

In its press release announcing the results of this study, Skycanner said "With fewer toilets to choose from when flying, men may have to queue for longer on flights that offer women-ony WCs."

Well, it's about time!

So what's your opinion?

Volunteers need in Spain. The only requirement -- speak English.

2010-03-13T08:30:00.001-05:00

Want to go to Spain for two months? Want to go and have someone else pay for your housing? Are you a retired or former teacher and can you do it a month from now?

The Spanish government is seeking retired teachers for an English language education project that gives qualifed applicants the change to teach English for two months in 12 different schools throughout north central Spain.

Done in collaboration with a company called Vaughan Systems, this program follows a succesful pilot program. The program recruits native English speakers to enhance the English-learning process of pre-schoolers and early elementary school students. For anyone who's been to Spain you'll that as a rule they don't speak English very well over there. That's because its never been stressed in their schools and they dub all English-language movies in Spanish. This new program targets the youngest students to get them started early.

Volunteers will help as teaching assistants giving kids the opportunity to practice their English, particularly their speaking skills.

The program runs from April 12 to June 12 and seeks retired school teachers with previous experience. The studen age groups range between 3 and 12 and classroom size between 25 and 35. Spaces are limited.

In exchange for their volunteer work, the project covers housing in a single or shared apartment in the town where the school is located, insurance for the duration of the program and transfers from Madrid.

Positions are available in various locations throughout the Castile-Leon area in Segovia, Zamora, Burgos, Leon, Palencia, Soria, Valladolid and Salamanca.

Vaughan Systems, the partner company, is the largest language training firm in Spain. Every year the company brings some 1,500 volunteers to Spain (not necessarily teachers, just native English speakers of all ages) for a locally-famous adult English-learning program called VaughanTown. The program is a six-day conversation program that pairs native English speakers with Spanish people to help them learn to speak English better.

In 2006 the program was called Englishtown and I did it for a week. You can read an article I wrote about here.

If you're interested in participating in VaughTown go to http://www.vaugantown.com/. If you're a retired teacher and interested in the two-month program send your resume and a cover letter to project coordinator Mayte Ziga at mziga@vaughantown.com.

And the winner is....

2010-03-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

The winner of the February raffle is Sharon W.

Sharon won an uncorrected proof of "Holiday Grind" by Cleo Coyle.

A new raffle starts this month. Anyone who leaves a comment during the month of March is entered into the drawing. This prize for March is a paperback copy of "Rotten to the Core" by Sheila Connolly.

Good luck!

Participatory Research

2010-03-01T08:30:00.000-05:00

As I become more involved in my own writing and as I read about other writers and their processes, one thing I hear again and again is how writers research many aspects of their book by doing them and trying them.

So, if a writer's book includes the main character riding a dune buggy, the writer makes sure he or she has ridden a dune buggy so the experience can be described accurately. I believe this is one of the reasons so many writers write about what they know. The research is already built into their lives.

But at some point ever writer is going to have to write about something unfamiliar. Sometimes book and/or Internet research is enough. In some cases finding an expert to talk to is sufficient. But other times, the writer really does need to get out there and experience whatever it is firsthand.

With that in mind, when I was offered the opportunity to take a gun class -- during which I would get to see guns, touch them, shoot them! -- I decided it was too important to pass up. While my main character is not a cop and for the most part will not be dealing on a daily basis with gun toting people, I am writing a murder mystery series and chances are at some point a gun will appear in the books.

In fact, a gun appears in the book I'm writing now. And quite frankly, I was just going to write the scene(s) with the gun based on what I've seen on TV. And I'd probably get away with it. I don't know how many people are going to read my book who are very familiar with guns. But once the opportunity was in front of me, I would have been remiss as an author if I didn't take it.

And I'm glad I did. I learned a lot. I learned what they really look like, what they really feel like, what it smells like when a gun is shot, what the actual shot looks like, what it feels like to shoot a gun -- all things I can use in my writing.

Of course, those were the things I expected to learn, but I learned more than that. I learned what a bullet wound does (thankfully not first hand!). I learned what gun oil smells like and what tools are needed to clean a gun. These were not things I had thought about before, but both will appear in the book I'm writing.

I found the class both interesting and disturbing. I didn't particular like shooting the guns, though I had my favorites. A few were too powerful for me. Just shooting them at a paper target got my heart pounding in a way I didn't enjoy.

All anecdotal stories aside, I did not find shooting guns to be empowering. I think I realized I have absolutely no desire to have that kind of power over someone -- especially the power that comes from the higher caliber guns.

But I am so glad I took the class, because I believe it was an important experience to have and I believe it will make my writing that much more realistic.

A bit of good news

2010-02-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

For the past two years I have been a member of an organization called the North American Travel Journalists Association. Each year I have entered their annual writing competition, in the categories for travel trade writing.

In 2008 I submitted two articles and I won First Place for the article I submitted in the Tips & Advice for the Trade category. I won a three-night stay at Mohegan Sun, with food credits. It was great fun!

This year, I again submitted two articles, both in the general Trade category. Two days ago I found out that I "won" a Merit Award (basically honorable) mention for one of the articles.

Of course, I'm conflicted about the win.

In 2008, I truly won. This year (being 2009) I only got honorable mention. Yes, that's still a high honor. There were two First Place winners and two Merit Award winners, and I'm sure there were more entrants than than, so my article was still picked as one of the best out of a larger field. So I should be pleased.

And I am. It's another notch on my travel publishing belt, another bullet point on my resume.

But I'm not going to lie and say I don't care that didn't First Place. Of course I care. I'd much rather have won First Place (and a prize).

Oh well, there's always next year. ;)

Writing Body Language

2010-02-24T08:28:00.004-05:00

I've been taking a super intensive online class about body language, or non-verbal communication (NVC). It's specifically for writer's and is about how to use NVC in my writing.

It's taught by a woman named Mary Buckham (www.MaryBuckham.com), who is an amazing teacher and I can only imagine must be an amazing writer. When she makes suggestions on how to change things, I'm awed by her skill.

NVC when added to writing changes the depth of the writing dramatically. One of my first writing assignments was to try and show disbelief using body language.

This was what I wrote:

"I didn't touch your computer," I said and immediately had to lean away from Bob lest I smack him. Not only because it pissed me off that he didn't believe me but I've never been able to lift just one eyebrow.

What do you think?

As it turns out I missed the mark. And here's why:

[from Mary's feedback] "What you'redoing here is, instead of letting the movement of the eyebrow itself give the non-verbal message or body language you are using her thoughts only. Thoughts can be used in conjunction with a body movement to clarify the message but the brow needs to be in action and not simply referenced. Make sense?"

Totally makes sense. I didn't actually use any body movement (other than her leaning away) in the above passage. Hmm, body language is harder than I thought.

Here's my second attempt:

He cocked one bushy eyebrow in my direction. God, one of these days I was going to pluck the smugness out of those things.
"Really, I didn't touch your computer."
I tried to keep my eyes wide, lifting my shoulder up for emphasis. I hoped he didn't notice the tell-tale fluttering in my throat's pulse.

Better?

Here was Mary's response:
"Major improvement here. See what you've done :-) You've shown the reader his reaction to the subject at hand through his body language then gave her internal reaction to clarify for the reader exactly what the brow movement meant - so you have communication, not only emotion but conflict and tenseness between these two without simply saying 'He was frustrating her'."

Success!

Let me tell you this class has been a real eye-opener!

Don't do this in Ireland

2010-02-15T08:30:00.000-05:00

We had a lovely time in Ireland, some good weather, did some interesting sightseeing, including a side trip to Newgrange, several hours at the Guinness Brewery and a visit to the Dublin Jewish Irish Museum.

However, there were two aspects of our trip that stand out as not so great. One was our hotel -- The Regency Airport hotel, which was perfectly satisfactory for a place to sleep but was definitely what we paid for.

First of all, based on the description on the Air Lingus Vacation Web site, I thought it was closer to central Dublin that it was. We had to take a bus about 15 to 20 minutes each way to get to/from the hotel and central Dublin. It ended up being fine, especially as we noticed two Romanian supermarkets from the bus, which we ended up visiting and my husband got lots of Romanian supplies he can't get in the States.

So I wouldn't even be mentioning the hotel if it weren't for what happened when we first checked in.

We got to the hotel around 9:30 in the morning. After our five hour flight I felt like I needed to wash my face and change my clothes so when given a choice to pay 20 Euros for early check-in, I jumped at the chance.

We were given room keys and went up to the room.

First off, the key cards we were given didn't unlock the door. So I had to go back downstairs and get new cards. Then we get in the room and low and behold its freezing in the room, there's not hot water and to top it off, there's no electricity to any of the outlets.

So again, I go downstairs to the reception desk. The woman is, of course, shocked at my pronouncement of no electricity and promises immediate action. I go back upstairs.

And we wait.

In the meantime, I wash my face with cold water and my husband lies on the couch in the sunlight, which does warm him up, which is good because he's come to Ireland with a head cold.

And we wait.

So I go back downstairs. Excuse me, we still haven't got electricity. Again, I'm promised someone will be up immediately.

Thankfully, a guy knocked on the door shortly after and within five minutes he'd reset the fuse in the hallway and our electricity was back. He also informed us that heat at the hotel is on a timer and would come back on in the late afternoon.

[Can I mention he was very cute, especially with the Irish accent -- my favorite accent in the world!]

So, if you're going to Dublin and you're looking to save a little money, then the Regency Airport hotel is an ok choice, but be prepared for very basic amenities!

However the worst part of our Ireland trip, and this is TOTALLY my fault, was an Irish singing and dancing dinner show we attended. I wanted to do something in Dublin with Irish music. We went to a couple of pubs and they always had on regular radio or sports on the TV, and I really thought it would be a shame to come to Ireland and not get any traditional music in. So I asked at the hotel what a good option was and was referred to a Irish singing and dancing dinner show at The Arlington Hotel in central Dublin. It was very expensive, but I figured it was worth it if we got to hear Irish music and see some dancing.

I should have known better.

It was terrible -- and I do mean terrible! The food was horrible. There was very little selection and what we chose had no taste. I got a plain salmon dish because the sauce had prawns in it (which I don't eat). It tasted only of salt and butter -- and that's because I put salt and butter on it because it had no taste!

The music, which was three old guys singing traditional Irish favorites, was mediocre. The dancing was horrendous. Two young Irish men, two young Irish women, who probably flunked out of step dancing class trying to mix traditional Irish step dancing with something more rock and roll. Ugh!

And this lovely evening's cost? $127. Probably the most I've ever spent on dinner, and probably one of the worst dinners I've ever had.

DO NOT do this if you go to Dublin. Next time we go we'll ask around for which pubs offer good Irish music in the evenings for free, 'cause we were told later that lots of them do good music after dinner with no additional cost.

Oh well, live and learn.

First of at least four 3-night or longer vacations!

2010-02-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

I haven't been as spot on as I'd like regarding all the resolutions I made this year. I haven't been blogging as much as I'm supposed to or exercising as much. But today I leave for what (according to my resolutions list) will be the first of at least vacations of three nights or longer.

We're off to Ireland!

We'd been thinking about somewhere to go back in December and Aer Lingus had offered this fantastic sale but we waited too long and when we finally decided we'd go for it, it was too late. But who's Aer Lingus trying to kid -- February in Ireland isn't exactly the most happening time to go.

We waited, and Aer Lingus brought the sale back. Roundtrip airfare and four nights in a 3-star hotel. Granted the hotel's more than five minutes away from the center (hoping for no more than a 20-minute walk) and it is going to be cold and rainy, but come one, we're going to be in Ireland!

My husband can't wait for the beer; I can't wait for the music and sexy accents.

I'm also thrilled to finally be able to share my favorite country with my husband. For those of you who know me, you may remember that he wasn't allowed off our our honeymoon cruise at any of the Irish ports. So now he's finally setting foot on the Emerald Isle and I get to share it with him.

We're even gonna spend a day in Belfast, which I haven't seen since I was 21. That's a long time ago...

I'll let you know if my favorite country is still my favorite when we come back.

Slainte!

And the winner is...

2010-02-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

The winner of the January raffle is Sharon W.

Sharon won an advance uncorrected proof of the debut mystery novel "For Better, For Murder" by Lisa Bork.

A new raffle starts this month. Anyone who leaves a comment during the month of February is entered into the drawing. This prize for February is an uncorrected proof of "Holiday Grind" by Cleo Coyle.

Intimidation

2010-02-01T08:30:00.000-05:00

Today I opened up Word to start working on my novel. I pulled out my outline and began writing. After about three-quarters of the page, I had to flip the page of my outline.

My writing stopped.

I am on the last page of my outline.

I have not only reached the final homestretch, a daunting enough thought by itself, I have reached the most critical moments in the story -- both emotionally and in terms of action.

And suddenly I'm terrified.

It's all well and good to muddle my way through the earlier parts of the book, setting the stage, planting clues, having Abi chase after those same clues, but there's no muddling when it comes to emotional intensity and a high-intensity climax. And suddenly, I'm not sure I'm up to it.

I mean I'm just not sure I know how to do emotional intensity without getting all maudlin. Or without using too many words.

I know, I know. For my first draft I'm not supposed to let these thoughts bother me and just write whatever comes and then fix it later. But come one! This is scary stuff.

This is it. This is the crux of the story. This is the endgame, the money shot, the reason d'etre. If I can't make this part of the story work, the entire story fails!

And yet at the same time, I look at my outline and I see how far I've come and how little I have to go to have completed my first ever full novel. Who cares that its a first draft and could be a piece of crap and may never turn into anything else. I have never before finished an entire novel, never. I've never even managed to finish a short story. And now I'm just 50 pages or less away from a complete novel. How cool is that!

So I'm taking a deep breath, letting all these crazy thoughts go, and going back to my Word doc.

Here goes nothing... and everything.

Soup is good for the soul, especially when others benefit as well

2010-01-22T08:30:00.001-05:00

I know not everyone who reads this is in New York City but I received this press release today and I really liked the idea and wanted to spread the word.

Every year, New York City hosts Restaurant Week, where a bunch of high-end restaurants reduce the prices on prix-fixe lunches and dinners giving "regular" people a chance to dine in places they normally wouldn't. It's very hard to get reservations and I've never been able to take advantage of any of the promotions.

This year for the first time ever Restaurant Week is coming to New Yorkers, through the Restaurant Week Truck. The truck, which will park at three locations throughout Restaurant Week (actually two weeks) will be serving gourmet soups provided by 24 different eateries. The soups are priced at $6, which isn't really very much for anybody who normally buys soup in the city.

But while I think the soup truck is a great idea, what I like the best is that $1 from each soup sold will be donated to The Haiti Relief Fund at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. So you're not only getting that nice warm feeling from hot soup threading its way through your tummy, but from knowing that you're also helping someone who really needs help.

The NYC Restaurant Truck will feature two to three soups each day from NYC Restaurant Week participants. On top of 19 other soups, the menu will offer such selections as lobster bisque from Blue Water Grill, roaster butternut squash soup from Charlie Palmer's Metrazur, Mexhattan clam chowder from Dos Caminos Park, tomato and fennel soup from Tribeca Grill, and coconut and galangal soup with organic chicken and straw mushrooms from Kittichai. All soup cost $6 and come with bread from Tom Cat Bakery.

Coca-Cola will also offer free sample drinks on select days over the two weeks.

The soup truck begins its schedule on Monday, January 25. The truck will first cater to patrons in Midtown, on Broadway between 50th and 51st Streets. It will be parked there each day from 11 am to 2 pm, Jan. 25 to 29.

From Feb. 1 to 3, the truck will be parked in the Flatiron District, on Fifth Ave. between 18th and 19th Streets. Also, 11 am to 2 pm.

Folks in Tribeca can visit the truck on Feb. 4 and 5. They'll find the truck from 11 am to 2 pm on Greenwich St. between Warren and Murray Streets.

One nice photo from Anguilla

2010-01-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

There was one other nice thing that came out of my trip to Anguilla. I took a really great photograph of a tree lizard.

I know that sounds pretty lame, but I felt like I had taken a great nature shot that could rival most any nature photo you've ever seen of a lizard.

I submitted it for critique on some photo Web site, got lots of great comments and the photo was selected for inclusion in the site's annual published photo book. Well, it was selected along with about 1,000 others and really the published photo book is the site trying to make money by selling the books to the photographers whose photos are included -- but I still think it's pretty cool. Come on, tell me this isn't a nice picture!

Caribbean Memories - Anguilla

2010-01-18T08:30:00.001-05:00

The second Caribbean island I ever visited was Anguilla. I went as part of a travel agent FAM trip -- I was the only non travel agent in the group (other than the PR folks leading the trip).

The FAM (which is short for familiarization) was billed as the ultimate luxury trip, including a stay at a luxury resort, with fantastic meals and all sorts of high-end experiences. I believe they even valued the trip at $20,000 per person, or something like that. Basically the kind of FAM that sounds like a dream come true. I practically begged my editor to let me go when I received my invitation. I wish I hadn't.

My first impression of Anguilla was... blah. It's not a particularly attractive island from the interior. Lots of scraggly brush areas, kind of brownish, and really not much to see. There are no rolling hills, no stretches of green. But then, no one is coming to Anguilla for the interior of the island. They're coming for the beaches. And the beaches are beautiful. White sand beaches, turquoise water -- very pretty.

We stayed at a well-known resort called Cap Jaluca. It's a luxury property that has attracted the likes of Paris Hilton. Accommodations are spread throughout several villa buildings, each building having two to four "rooms."

The group of us were distributed among the varying room categories. One agent and I were given villa rooms. My villa room included: a full-size kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom, balcony, small enclosed patio (which I could never get to because the door wouldn't open), bathroom, changing room, and private pool with large patio. It was enormous, well at least for just one person it was pretty big.

I found being in that "room" very lonely. There was too much space for one person to occupy and so it always felt empty in there. I did however take advantage of my private, enclosed pool to go skinny dipping a couple of times as I had not brought a bathing suit with me. I enjoyed that, but wished my husband could've been with me.

The resort was OK in my mind, but doesn't really offer anything to do beyond relaxing on the beach. There are only two restaurants, a small gym and a tiny spa, though to be fair they usually do massages in your room or on the patio's outside the rooms. We were all given a half an hour massage (part of the luxury aspect of the FAM). I traded my massage for a spa pedicure, which was very well done and lasted quite a while. All the agents told me they loved their massages.

My favorite aspect of Cap Jaluca -- the golf carts that all guests are allowed to drive around. I definitely had fun putting pedal to the metal on those things and seeing how fast I could take the curves with them. I don't think they ever went faster than 10 or 15 miles per hour, no matter how hard I pressed the pedals.

There are also two boutiques at the resort, with everything way overpriced. And they had two small library rooms with computers with free Internet.

We only ate at one of the resort's two restaurants. They do have a very nice beach barbecue, which normally costs $75 per person -- a bit pricey for what you get, if you ask me.

Actually, everything on Anguilla is pricey. Even the most moderately priced resorts were still at least $200 a night. In those rooms, you usually get a kitchenette, so I suppose you could save money by doing some light cooking.

There are no all-inclusives on Anguilla. Some of the resort's included breakfast, some did not. Some included Internet, some did not. One of the more moderate resorts offered free laundry.

But really what Anguilla seemed to offer were the four- and five-star resorts. One, CuisinArt Resort & Spa has the nicest spa I have ever seen in my life!!

The other accommodation option on Anguilla are the exclusive villa resorts. each with a small number of extravagant villas that fit four to 12 guests. These villas typically cost $12,000 and up per night.

But these are dream villas -- multiple bedrooms; private theater rooms; activities rooms with billiards, ping pong and more; gyms; meditation areas; gorgeous dining rooms; private pools and private beaches; multiple Jacuzzis; and more. We saw one amazing villa that Beyonce and Jay-Z have vacationed in -- they were that nice!

These places were the only properties I saw that I could imagine coming back to Anguilla for -- not that I'll ever be able to afford them. But if I could, I can imagine that it's very nice to come with a large group of friends or extended family and spend a week or more there.

We saw other nice resort properties, but all are so expensive and include nothing but the room. Somehow it always just seemed so extravagant to me and I could find no value in any of it. But then I don't make a lot of money so maybe someone who is making half a million dollars a year sees it differently. Certainly to the travel agents I was with, these properties represented significant income for them if they could sell them to their affluent clients.

We had some nice meals on Anguilla as well. Most of the restaurants say they offer the best fine dining and some of them did offer very good meals, but my favorite meal was actually at a private restaurant off property. Truly delicious food.

Overall I did not enjoy my stay on Anguilla. The luxury FAM I had been expecting was really mostly time spent going from property to property for tours in the hot sun. The only luxury we experienced were the resort we stayed at, the meals we ate, one half-hour spa treatment and a half-day speed boat tour of the island, which included a stop at a restaurant on a secluded cove. The restaurant is owned by a local character whose name escapes me now. Guests have two choices - crayfish or chicken, there is no vegetarian option. I don't know if the drinks were included in the $75 price tag or not. I guess the food was good -- all of us who had chicken thought the meal was okay, but those who had the crayfish really liked it. The best part of the time there was wading in the light waves on the small beach and talking to the owner who really is a character.

I was also lonely most of the time on this trip. I don't know if it was something going on in my life at that moment, or if it really was the trip or the island itself, but even though I talked to the others and socialized, I felt extremely lonely the whole time.

I think it was partly because the island is sooo expensive and I couldn't even begin to relate to the kind of people who must come there. I probably felt out of place a lot. And it was exhausting going from one resort to another all day long.

I doubt I'll ever go back to Anguilla again. Unless I win mega-millions and decide to rent a villa there someday there is nothing on that island for me. I leave it to Beyonce and Jay-Z, may they enjoy it to their heart's content.

Book Review: Get Out or Die

2010-01-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

First of all this is not really your normal book review, but more an exploration of my reactions to this book. I will say I liked the book; it kept me interested though I figured out who the "killer" was on about page 100 or so (its a 348 page book).

I'll give you a brief summary. Aurelia Marcella is a Roman citizen living in Roman Britain in 91 A.D. She is an innkeeper. At the start of the book two Romans are found with their heads cut off, having been brutally beaten, with a tablet pinned to their clothes that says "Get Out or Die." These are the first in a string of brutal murders. When one of the targeted victims is found on her inn's doorsteps, having survived the attack on him, Aurelia takes him in and inadvertently gets involved. As it turns out, there is a rebellion brewing. A group of native Britains want to take their country back from the conquering Romans and they're using scare tactics, including almost daily murders, to do it. The leader of the rebellion is someone she knows, but she must figure out who before she becomes the next victim.

Aurelia is an engaging character and its definitely interesting getting a glimpse at life in the early days of Roman Britain. The identity of the leader was fairly obvious early on, but I enjoyed finding proof throughout the novel that I was right.

But what I found particularly interesting while reading this book was my reactions to it. For most of the book, I was rooting for the rebellion. Of course I didn't want Aurelia or her family and friends to be killed, because I did like them, I wanted the rebels to get their land back. At least half the population in this fictional world were British slaves to Romans who had moved in to the area less than 20 years prior to the time the novel was set. There were also free Britains and even a few who had been granted Roman citizienship, but most were slaves.

Almost all of the people who worked at Aurelia's inn were slaves. The author of the novel, Jane Finnis, does not spend any time exploring the lives of these characters. From what I could tell they lived fairly free-ish lives but based on what I read in this book I have no idea if they had their own families, if they were allowed to marry, what kind of living conditions they were given, etc.

But it almost doesn't matter. They were slaves. One minute they were free people, the next the Romans showed up, "captured" them and sold them as slaves. And throughout the books, that's simply taken as a given, as the way the world is. Even Aurelia doesn't question it or care, that's just not part of her character.

Well, it's part of mine. I object fiercely to the idea of slavery and the idea of conquerering. And I want to see the slavers and the conquerers defeated. And in the case of this book, that's the Romans, which includes Aurelia.

So, on the one hand I don't want Aurelia to be killed but on the other I want the rebels to win.

To a certain extend I think Finnis deals with this by giving a slight twist to who the leader of the rebellion is and what that person's motivations are. He's not really looking out for the best interest of the rebels, just using their unhappiness and hatred to his advantage. So of course in the end I do want him to be caught and punished.

But I was definitely not happy that the rebellion was simply broken and that the Romans get to continue their life just as before. Even Aurelia doesn't "learn" anything from her experience with the rebels.

I think its important to note that I read this book shortly after seeing the movie "Avatar," which is about people from Earth invading a planet that has mineral resources that Earth wants/needs. Because the Earth people don't understand the natives, they treat them as "less than human," as vermin who need to be exterminated. Of course there are a few exceptions -- i.e. the scientists who are trying to act as a go between while learning about the planet and the people. But in the end, the way the soldiers want to do it (wipe 'em all out) is the way the mining expedition goes and hundreds of the native people's are killed. In this movie, Earth people are the enemy and the natives are the good guys -- it's a classis nature versus industrial industry story (other examples: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings).

Also, I think its important that I'm American, and the author of this novel is British. American comes from a rebellion, and we have slavery in our past -- something most of us (the better part of us) have been taught is most definitely wrong in every way. As Americans I've always felt we have a tendency to root for the underdog (although as a society we've become invaders now), so its unsurprising that I'd root for the underdog rebels in "Get Out or Die."

It was an interesting experience reading a book during which I was simultaneously rooting for both the protagonist and the rebellion (though not the main antagonist).

I'm curious what kind of reactions people from outside of the U.S. have to this book, other British people especially since it was most likely written with them in mind. I'm curious to know if other Americans had similar reactions to me.

Anybody else out there ever read this book? What did you think?

Out of practice

2010-01-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

Two days ago I opened the document containing my work-in-progress novel for the first time in over a month. I was terrified to do it. It's like an old flame you've never quite gotten over and you're going to be seeing again after a long time apart. I missed my novel desperately, but what if after all this time I don't like it anymore? More important, what if it doesn't like me? What if no words come?

I won't lie. My first day, I barely wrote anything new. I re-read the most recently written chapter to catch myself up again, looked over my outline, made some changes and then wrote a whopping half a page!

And it was hard! Getting those ten or eleven sentences out was like pulling teeth. The words were slow to come and felt clumsy. My story seemed unfamiliar.

It took me a half hour to write that half page and so I had to stop and get to work. But in spite of how difficult it had been, I was proud of my few sentences. They were the first of the new year and proof that I can fit writing my novel into my life.

The next day I wasn't so nervous opening the file. Oh maybe there were a couple of butterflies flitting about inside me, but I felt much more prepared to tackle the challenge of my story. The characters felt more familiar to me. The words flowed a little more easily. Of course I didn't do too much more than half a page again, but it felt better.

I couldn't write today because of work (that'll be true every Thursday) but I can't wait for tomorrow morning when I can keep going. My story is back in my mind and I can't wait to get it out on paper.

Walkabout

2010-01-05T08:30:00.001-05:00

Two blog entries ago I mentioned that it was in the Bahamas that I first truly realized the possibility of going on Walkabout. And I said I would blog a little more about the concept.

Walkabout is an Aboriginal concept. Most sources say it was a rite of passage for adolescent boys who went out into the desert for a certain period of time. During their time in the desert they follow their tribe's songlines through the desert, seeking their own strengths and weaknesses. I've also read in some places that older men also occassionally went, or go, on Walkabout when they feel an urge to do so.

I first heard about the concept of Walkabout on an episode of Babylon 5 where the station's doctor leaves his job and home and goes on Walkabout in an area of the space station that is considered dangerous. He is seeking himself, literally, and resolves to stay on Walkabout until he meets himself. He walks and walks until eventually he does meet himself, and even fights himself. Afterwards he has had an epiphany about who he is and what he wants out of life. He returns to his daily life, more fulfilled.

Though the Babylon 5 episode takes the Walkabout concept completely literally (the doctor literally meets another version of himself), on a symbolic level, when someone goes on Walkabout they are seeking themselves. Who they are, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, what they are capable of during hardship, when they must throw in their cards... and you stay on Walkabout until you meet yourself.

That concept has stayed with me since I first saw the Babylon 5 episode. The idea of leaving everything behind and setting out into the desert, the wild open world, and just walking until I met myself resonated with me.

Then when I first began planning my travel abroad, the idea of going on Walkabout began to insinuate itself into my thoughts. Once I realized that leaving for six or nine or even 12 months wasn't actually that much different than leaving for three months, in terms of job searching when I came back, going on Walkabout began to seem possible.

It wasn't long before I began referring to my upcoming journey as my Walkabout. I was going out into the big, scary world, without my usual support structure, and I was going to meet myself -- whoever that was.

It was terrifying really. Not just the thought of going out into the world alone and facing who knows what, but also the thought of meeting myself. What if I didn't like who I met? What if I was weak and incapable of being on my own? What if I failed altogether and didn't discover anything about myself? What if I came home exactly the same as when I left?

It would take a book to explore what I learned about myself on Walkabout, but learn I did. I believe I learned more about myself in the nine months I spent traveling than in the 30-something years prior. It wasn't an easy process. It wasn't pain-free, but it was totally worth it.

Have you ever thought about picking up and leaving? Would you ever consider going on Walkabout, walking until you met yourself?

New Year's Gratitudes & Resolutions

2010-01-03T08:00:00.002-05:00

Though it's already the third day of the new year I figure the best way to start my new year off, as well as my blogging for this year, with a list of all the things, people and events I'm grateful for from 2009, plus a list of my resolutions for 2010.

Gratitudes

Though I believe that 2009 was a tough year for so many people, including my husband and I, I also believe that many things happened for which all of us can be grateful.

For the year 2009, I am grateful for:

I am grateful my neice being born healthy and beautiful in September of.

I am grateful for getting to go to South Africa (in May) and see zebras, giraffes and other African animals in their home environments.

I am grateful for being freed of my oppressive job environment in July, and getting a new job in November, one that I truly believe has the potential to be a great job.

I am grateful for helping my husband achieve the first part of his Big Dream, seeing AC Milan play against Inter Milan, in July.

I am grateful for building a stronger relationship with my sister throughout 2009.

I am grateful for my husband getting a job in June, after too many months of unemployment, one that gives him the opportunity to make a lot of money -- enough to run off to Romania for just a weekend in August!

I am grateful for all the progress I made on my novel in 2009, going from page 0 to more than 120 pages.

I am grateful for celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday with her in August.

I am grateful for starting this blog in August.

I am grateful for going to Epcot Center with my husband, sharing a taste of Disney with him, in March.

Resolutions

Awhile back I blogged about all those things we always say we wish we did, all the things we believe would enrich our lives and I vowed to try and add more of them to my life. Well, as usual I didn't. There's always a reason why, time and finances being the main culprits. Well, a new year is a great time to make resolutions about the things we'll do differently in the coming year. I've never really used the opportunity the new year presents, other than to casually say to myself "this year I will do such and such" but not really meaning it, not really taking it seriously. This year I'm doing it differently. Within each part of my life, I want to achieve certain goals. And at the end of the year, I want to look back and see how I did.

Writing Resolutions

I resolve to finish the first draft of my novel in 2010.

I resolve to write at least two short stories of 10,000 words or less in 2010.

I resolve to write at least five flash fiction stories of 500 words or less.

I resolve to blog at least three times a week for the entire year.

Work Resolutions

I resolve to write at least one article a month I am truly proud of and that I will feel totally comfortable entering into competition.

I resolve to continue to build my reputation and my personal relationships with people within the industry.

Life Resolutions

I resolve to continue to build my relationship with my sister.

I resolve to be a better friend -- to stay in touch more often and to see my friends more often.

I resolve to write at least one letter a month to friends who live further away.

I resolve to take at least 4 vacations of 3 nights or more.

Financial Resolutions

I resolve to build all of my vacation funds.

I resolve to get a real start on my retirement savings.

Caribbean Memories - the Bahamas

2009-12-23T08:30:00.000-05:00

Before going to Antigua I'd only been to two islands in the Caribbean - the Bahamas and Anguilla. I thought I'd reminisce a little about those trips before I tell you about Antigua. Maybe doing this will help get my Antigua thoughts in order.

I've been to the Bahamas twice. Once for a three-night stay back in spring of 2003 and then again as a port of call on an NCL cruise last year.

Visiting the Bahamas on a cruise doesn't really give you a taste of the island because for the most part all anyone does is touristy stuff. On our stop in Nassau, my husband and I went to Atlantis. Of course it just happened to be a cold, rainy day and so we didn't get to partake in any of the watery fun, but we walked through their small aquariums and ate lunch and had a generally nice afternoon. But I wouldn't say that we were actually in the Bahamas or experienced the Bahamas that day.

I did get a little feel for what the island was actually like in 2003 when I went there by myself.
I had gone for two reasons -- 1.) I needed to get away from a bad time in my life and 2.) I wanted to prove to myself that I could travel alone.

I stayed at an all-inclusive on what I think must have been Paradise Island. It was a budget all-inclusive. I don't remember it as being very nice, thought it wasn't a dive either. I remember that I didn't like eating in the dining room because I was alone and at that point in my life I was not comfortable eating alone in front of other people. So the only place I could really get food was the poolside cafe, which had light food and I think I must have had chicken fingers for lunch and dinner at least half my stay there.

I had some good experiences there and proved to myself that I could do things I never knew I could. For instance, I walked from the resort to Nassau. That's a pretty long walk, requiring going over this very large bridge that bridges the distance between Nassau and Paradise Island. I remember that the walk there didn't feel too bad. I don't remember too much about what I did in Nassau though I'm pretty sure I went to a pirate museum.

When it was time for me to come back I was tired and was not thrilled about the long walk home. I remember going to look for a taxi, but the forwardness of some of the younger taxi drivers did intimidate me a little and when I asked how much it would cost, I did not have enough money. One of the drivers told me about the Jitney buses, which cost much less and are how the locals get around.

I won't lie. I was scared to try the local system, but I really didn't want to walk and for once in my life I didn't want fear to stop me from doing something. I can't remember whether I found a Jitney in town or flagged one down, though I think I remember starting to walk and getting into a Jitney outside of the town.

I do remember that the Jitney was only able to take me as far as the bridge and then I had to walk over the bridge. Thankfully, the resort I was staying at was pretty close to the bridge on the Paradise side.

I also remember that I was the only white person in the bus, that the driver had me sit up front with him and that we talked about me and where I was from and him and his life. But the thing that stands out most for me on that ride was that he was eating some local fruit, a berry/orange type of thing, and that he offered me one. Now I don't usually like fruite and I've read that eating local fruit is sort of like drinking local water. It could make you sick. But in that moment I wanted to be worldly. I wanted to be like all those people I've read about who are able to insert themselves into a "strange"world and adapt to it. So I took one of his fruits and ate it. It wasn't my cup of tea, but it wasn't terrible and I was able to finish it, smile and say thank you. I think he really appreciated that. Appreciated that I didn't just reject his offer, a taste of his local culture. And I was proud of myself for doing it.

Another stand out moment on that trip, was going to swim with dolphins. Funnily enough the actually swimming with dolphins wasn't the most amazing part -- although it is pretty awesome getting a kiss from a dolphin! I was the only person who wasn't with someone on the excursion, and people did look at me a bit oddly, or at least I thought they did. I remember sitting on the dock waiting for the boat to arrive that would take us to the dolphin center. I remember the sun beating down on my shoulders and sitting there apart from everyone and thinking "Wow, I'm by myself. I'm doing all of this by myself and it's really not so bad."

I think that was one of the most important moments in my life. Although the trip was a lonely one in some ways, realizing I could be by myself in a new place, that I could get around on my own, and feel relatively comfortable was monumental. This was the first time I had ever truly traveled by myself in a totally new and different environment.

It was on this trip that I made a decision that changed the rest of my life. It was while sitting by the pool on my last day, writing in my journal that I decided to leave everything I knew, everything that was familiar to me behind.

I was going to go on walkabout (see my next blog entry for more on this concept). I was going to find myself. And while I had been considering doing this for some time until that moment I had been thinking I would be gone for only three months. But after proving to myself that I could travel alone, and realizing on a practical level that being gone for three months was really the same as being gone six or nine or 12 months, in terms of job hunting and all that, I decided right then and there that I was going to go away for longer. I'm not sure if I settled on a year right then and there, but I did decide my walkabout would be longer than three months.

Though I don't think there's really that much to see and do in the Bahamas, other than real touristy stuff, the Bahamas will always hold a special place for me because in one very major way, my first trip there changed my life.

Fitting It All In - Part II

2009-12-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

It's been almost two weeks since I wrote about trying to fit it all in and I thought I'd give a little update on what my progress has been.

Obvious to anyone who follows my blog, I haven't yet managed to fit writing three to four blog entries a week into my schedule. Last week I managed only one blog entry, and I was thrilled I'd managed even that. This week my goal is two entries! This is one and I intend to write a second on my bus ride into the city on Tuesday. I said it here -- so now I have to do it!

As for my novel, I haven't written a single word. I'd say its probably been over a month now since the last time I worked on my novel. I do intend to change that this week. My goal is very modest -- I'd like to finish the week having written at least 500 words. Even if I only write 100 a day, I should reach my goal.

I have, however, been pushing up my wake-up time. But what I've been doing with the extra time has not been the writing I had originally planned for. Instead, I've been exercising. Each day I've gotten up a little bit earlier and each day I've exercised on my elliptical a little bit more. I've finally reached my daily goal (40 minutes every morning) so now as I continue to get up a little bit earlier each morning, the extra time can finally go to writing. It won't be as much as I had wanted but it will be something, and I'll be feeling healthier, which I believe will contribute to better writing in both my personal and professional pursuits.

Although I'm not there yet, I refuse to feel discouraged. Each day I am making progress in the direction I want to be going. Eventually that progress will once again include working on my novel, but no matter what I'm moving in the right direction. How can I feel discouraged about that?

Two weeks from now, I will again post about my progress. Between now and then I pledge to have written at least three more blog entries and begun working on my novel again. You can hold me to it.

A Recent Delta Air Lines Experience

2009-12-16T08:14:00.004-05:00

As I posted last week, I recently was away on vacation in Antigua. We made the plans back in June and bought our tickets, using frequent flier miles, on Delta at that time. We had booked non-stop fights between New York's JFK airport and Antigua, and were scheduled to leave on Wednesday, Nov. 25 (the day before Thanksgiving).

The Sunday before hand, on a whim, I decided to check our itinerary to make sure our seats were assigned and see if the times had changed at all. I log in and at the top in red letters it says that one or more pieces of our itinerary have been changed. As I look down to see what the new times are I notice something pretty amazing -- the only flight listed is my flight coming back from Antigua to New York. There is NO flight to Antigua.

Well, suffice it to say, I flew into a tizzy. How could they not alert me to the fact that they'd canceled our flight down to Antigua!! I immediately get on the phone to call Delta. Three hours later I'm still listening to elevator music and the message telling me they're experiencing higher than normal call volume. Let me say that again -- THREE HOURS LATER.

During that time, I do some online searches to see what my options might be. Delta has NO flights to Antigua on the day we're supposed to leave or the day before or the day after. Nor, do they have flights to other Caribbean islands (just in case we could maybe switch our resort). American Airlines has a couple of flights with seats left. United has one flight. There are no other available flights within that three-day period.

Then, I screw up. I have my phone on speaker phone so that I don't have to keep it to my ear for three hours. When I suddenly think I hear a real voice get on the line, I mistakenly hit the button to turn the phone off instead of just turning speaker phone off. I'm ready to start crying at this point. I'm ready to spend a couple thousand dollars to get us tickets to Antigua. But everyone is telling me Delta will put us on another flight so I should wait. Of course, I still have to get through to Delta!

The second time I call Delta I skip the 800 number and call the actual area code number. Within five minutes I'm talking to an actual person. She tells me that the earliest she can get me on a Delta flight is the 27th. I tell her, okay, put me on another carrier. At first she wants to put me on an American flight that leaves from JFK, flies to Puerto Rico where we'd have to wait 6 or 7 hours(!!!) before flying to Antigua and arriving late at night. Screw that! I tell her I want to be put on the American flight that leaves from Newark, flies to Miami, where it leaves less than 2 hours later and gets us to Antigua only 2 hours later than we were originally scheduled to arrive.

She looks it up, says she can do it and books it for us.

Ok, that's taken care of. I await my e-mail confirmation from Delta. When I get it I look at it to make sure everything is in order. Wait - the date of departure says Nov. 24, the day before we were supposed to depart.

I call Delta back (again using the area code number and not the 800 number). I get a different sales rep. I tell her what happened. She looks up the American flights and says, American doesn't have any seats on the flights departing on the 25th. Well, why didn't the other sales rep tell me this? The lady I'm talking to tells me she can put me on the Puerto Rico flight if I want. No, I don't want. I'd rather fly down a day early. Thankfully, I'm able to get the resort (St. James's Club & Villas) to let us come down a day early for a minimal fee.

In the end I suppose we should say thank you to Delta since we got to go down to Antigua a day early, and even avoided the day before Thanksgiving airline rush. But we were lucky we had the flexibility to do that. A lot of people wouldn't have. And it doesn't change the fact that Delta never even bothered to tell us the flight had been canceled.

When I got back from my vacation I sent them an e-mail with my complaint and was told their records showed they had tried to call and e-mail me way back on Oct. 8.

Unless their idea of trying to call is ringing once then hanging up, or getting voice mail and not leaving a message, there is no way they tried to call. I'd have noticed a message saying my flight had been canceled. And as for e-mail, I got the original itinerary via e-mail, I got the new itinerary via e-mail, I get all their advertisement e-mails and frequent flier monthly reports but I never got an e-mail telling me my flight had been canceled.

They can tell me their records tell them they contacted me until dooms day, they are lying. They made no effort to contact me -- and I'm an Elite flyer with Delta.

And to top it all off, when we got back one of our suitcases was soaked in fish juice! Don't even ask me how that happened. Luckily enough everything inside was okay, but the suitcase had to be thrown out. I included this incident in my e-mailed complaint. They didn't even mention it in their response.

I told them loud and clearly that they had lost me as a loyal customer. Given any choice at all, I will avoid Delta. I used to like them, now they definitely top my Worst Airlines list.

Delta doesn't care about its customers. They continue to make this very clear. Because of their size they know people usually won't have a choice and will have to fly them, so they put no effort into customer service, no effort into customer care.

Let me say here quickly, I do not mean the flight attendents who, as with any airline, can be either really good or not so good. I mean Delta Air Lines, the company, considers its customers to be worthless, as worthless as the bags they casually toss into the cargo hold of its planes.

If you have a choice, send Delta a message -- I am the reason you exist and if you won't treat me with the respect and service that I deserve, then I will take my business elsewhere.

Fitting it all in

2009-12-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

As I said in my last post its been awhile since I've written for my blog. There are two reasons for my absence. The good one, which I mentioned a couple of days ago, was my long, long-awaited vacation to Antigua. The second reason – I got a job.

Now here's the tricky part – I should be jumping up and down for joy and I guess a part of me – the part that likes a regular, decently-sized paycheck – is very happy. But part of me is completely resentful. Though I am currently an independent contractor for the company I am working full time, that means 7 to 8 hour days – that means no more extra time to work on my novel, or my blog.

And that's where the disappointment and resentment comes in. I was enjoying writing my novel, I was enjoying making progress every day, seeing the story take shape and even starting to get a feel for my main character. My first reaction to realizing I had a fulltime job was fear. Fear that I was going to have to give up my dream of being an author. I've made more progress on my novel since I lost my job than before. I don't want to go back to making no progress.

So now I'm back to where I was before, at my old job. I can't write in the evenings because I can't write when my husband is in the house. He's just too distracting. And, I'll admit I also like evening TV. On the couple of evenings I have nothing to watch I try to get in some reading --- I have a book review due at the start of January and I haven't started reading the book yet.

In the first two weeks of this new job I've written not one single word for my novel, and until two days ago, I hadn't written a single blog entry since mid-November. I felt like I was starting to see my dreams dissolve.

And then I read a thread on the Sisters in Crime Guppies listserv about trying to fit it all in – work, family, writing. And reading how other people are managing was both inspiring and helpful. It helped me look at my life and my schedule and figure out how I can get it all in.

So I've decided a few things. First of all Saturday mornings before my husband wakes up will be writing time. I should be able to get in 2 to 4 hours before he gets out of bed. Second, every other Tuesday I go into New York City to visit my newborn niece. On the ride to the city I'll write blog entries (guess where I'm writing this??). I'll also try to write at least one blog entry every weekend. That should keep me at 3 to 4 posts a week, which is fine with me.

But most importantly I will start getting up earlier on the weekdays (I work from home so have no commute time) and write for an hour before starting work. Even if I only get 1000, 500 or 200 words written a day, that will be forward progress and that's all I can ask for.

I will not give up my dream just because I have to work a full-time job. Most authors work full-time jobs and are still successful writers. If they can do it, so can I. It's not going to be easy, it's going to take hard work – but as I've said before, writing IS hard work.

And I feel ready to tackle the challenge.

How do you fit it all in?

Cool Antiguan Waves

2009-12-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging lately. There are several reasons for this. The best reason, which only accounts for 9 days of absence, was a long-awaited vacation to Antigua. I'll have much more to say on our trip later, but for today I thought I'd share a little video of what the waves were like our last few days there. Impressive, especially for the Caribbean (there was even a small group of surfers who took their boards out), but because of the rough sea we couldn't go in the water or enjoy the kayaking or pedal boats. But they were fun to walk around in, though afterward we had sand all over everything!

More on the Carnival Dream

2009-12-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

Any time I’ve been on a Carnival cruise ship I’ve always felt like I’ve stepped into someone’s schizophrenic dream of multiple personalities. I’m truly curious to know if some psychologist has ever tried to analyze Joe Farcus, the man who has designed the interiors of virtually all, if not all, of Carnival’s ships, based solely on his interior designs. And though the new Carnival Dream is actually the most subdued I’ve ever seen – FOR A CARNIVAL SHIP – I still had that strange feeling as I moved from room to room that this ship just doesn’t know who it is.

I’ll give you a perfect example of what I mean. In the middle of any large cruise ship, you’ll find the elevator banks. On either side of the elevators are two stairwells. On the Dream, if you use the stairs on one side (I don’t remember which was aft and which was forward), you’ll find artwork at each landing that is surreal, storybook-like or fantastical. There was no rhyme or reason to the art, each was distinctly different from the others. OK, fine, there’s a theme there. BUT, if you then switch to the other staircase, the artwork is 20s- or 30s-era slightly cartoonish Hollywood-esque paintings. Similar images, though not the same, line every cabin corridor. Separately, I liked the two themes, but together they just don’t make any sense. There is no way for me to relate them to each other, and so I’m left feeling like two different people, with widely different tastes, chose the ship’s décor. I can’t help it I find it confusing.

And that feeling pretty much sticks with me any time I move through a Carnival ship, there’s just no way to make sense of the interior designs.

With that said, the Dream is the most staid of the three Carnival ships I’ve sailed on. There is glitz, glimmer and burnished metal, it really wouldn’t be Carnival without it, but there’s less of it. And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. I spoke to several travel agents for an article who said pretty much the same thing. They were surprised by the ship, that it wasn’t as over the top as Carnival ships usually are. Pleasantly surprised.

Of course, as with any Carnival ship, there are lots of places to get a drink (they’re not known as booze cruises for nothing) and lots of activities to partake in. It is a Fun Ship, after all. One of the coolest things on the ship is the new water park, the largest on any cruise ship. Of course I barely got to see it as it was rainy and cold during my few hours on board the ship. But the water park has lots of water slides, splash zones, spray toys and the longest corkscrew water slide at sea. I wonder who will use it the most? Kids or adults?

One of the things I liked the most on the Dream was a new breakdance troupe that the cruise line has brought aboard, both for onstage entertainment, and as a roving troupe in the evenings teaching people basic breakdance moves. I gotta say, watching a drunk 40-something white guy trying to break dance is pretty funny!

The Carnival Dream Naming Ceremony

2009-11-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

Carnival Cruise Line's newest, and largest, ship the Carnival Dream made its US debut yesterday in New York City. In a laid-back ceremony designed to be fun, since Carnival is the "fun ship" cruise line, guests were treated to a performance of hip-hop acrobatic troupe "Fun Force" and entertained by Carnival's blogging senior cruise director John Heald. Finally, ship godmother Marcia Gay Harden swung an official Yankee bat, signed by A-Rod himself, at a larger-than-life champagne replica, thereby christening The Carnival Dream.

A chance to win a Travel Writing Scholarship

2009-11-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at travel writing? Do any of you who know me ever get jealous when you hear about the latest trip I've gotten to take? If you answered yes to these questions and you think you've got it in you to be a travel writer, then pay attention to this contest I came across.

WorldNomads.com, in conjunction with Rough Guides, Intrepid Travel and Hotels.com, is offering aspiring travel writers the chance to win a travel writing scholarship and write their way around Tokyo, all-expenses paid.

To apply entrants must write a travel-focused essay of no more than 500 words based on a personal experience and written around one of the following themes: A Journey that Changed Lives, Responsible Travel, Adventure in an Unknown Culture or A Memorable Experience Involving Food in a Foreign Country.

Candidates can be students, emerging and non-professional writers and lovers of travel looking for a career change. The prize is the chance to travel, all-expenses paid, to Tokyo where you will first learn some tricks of the trade from Rough Guides travel writer Simon Richmond, then travel around on your own for seven days researching, reviewing and updating essential travel info (accommodations, bars, restaurants, shopping, tours, transport, etc) for the Tokyo section of The Rough Guide to Japan. After you've completed your research and writing, the winner will get the chance to relax and enjoy a four-day Flavors of Tokyo independent tour with Intrepid travel offering a cuisine-focused insight into Japanese culture.

The application deadline is Dec. 21, 2009. Applicants must be available between Feb. 15-26,2010 to participate in the Rough Guide to Japan writing assignment and Flavors of Tokyo independent tour.

Other requirements: excellent writing skills with a high degree of proficiency in written English, comfortable traveling on your own, 18 years or older, a current passport, and a lust for adventure travel, plus a strong desire to be a travel writer.

The winner, along with the best entries received will be published on the WorldNomads.com Website on Jan. 8, 2010.

For full details and the online entry, visit http://worldnomads.com.

Stay tuned for a report on the Carnival Dream's inauguration

2009-11-11T08:30:00.000-05:00

I'll be attending the inaugural ceremony and festivities for the Carnival Dream this Thursday evening. It will be my first cruise ship inaugural ceremony. The Dream's godmother will be actress Marcia Gay Harding, and all the cruise line bigwigs will be on board.

I will be writing about the occasion, and posting pictures from the event on my blog. I hope to get some of it up by Thursday evening but that will depend on if there's Internet on the ship. Otherwise I'll have stuff up on Saturday.

The Carnival Dream is supposed to have some cool new features, like a water park, so I can't wait to see it.

Stay tuned for my report!

Is there such a thing as too many notebooks?

2009-11-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

On the file cabinet next to my desk is a pile of loose notebook pages covered in my scribbled notes from the Poisoned Pen virtual conference several weeks ago. I took lots of notes during several online video and audio sessions -- all good stuff, important stuff, stuff I should know and take to heart in order to be a better writer.

But what am I supposed to do with these notes? Do I try to read and re-read them until I have my notes memorized? Do I stick them into a folder and file them away until the day I realize my file cabinets are too full and throw everything away?

How do I retain all this knowledge others have imparted to me in an orderly way, that I can refer back to?

I have the same question about all sentences I underline in books. For instance, I'm reading On Writing by Stephen King right now and I've underlined a lot! All well and good, I know I've read something good and so I underline it but now what? Tomorrow I'll have forgotten what I underlined? So how can I retain that knowledge?

I've been thinking that one idea would be to buy a notebook and transcribe all my notes, and all the underlined passages into the notebook. First of all, transcribing is a great way of reinforcing information. At least for me, when I re-write things I'm more apt to remember them.

I like this idea but then I think to myself, I'm going notebook crazy. I've already got one notebook that I write all my daily gratitude lists in (and I've got lots and lots of old notebooks with old gratitude lists on my bedroom bookshelf), plus I have another notebook for keeping track of my freelance and contract writing -- articles, hours, pay, etc.

Now I'm going to add a third notebook to the pile?

Oh, and actually I've got two other notebooks lying around that I use for taking notes when I'm doing interviews for articles or taking notes when I go to events. Those notebooks get smaller and smaller over time as I tear pages out.

But still, that means I'll now have five notebooks on my desk.

Oh wait! I've got another notebook tucked into a hanging file divider with essential facts about my characters and story ideas.

So that's six notebooks.

Is that crazy? Is that too many?

Do you use notebooks for keeping track of your life and/or work? What's in your notebooks?

On reading Stephen King's On Writing

2009-11-06T08:30:00.001-05:00

I've just started reading Stephen King's book On Writing, which he wrote partly as a memoir and partly as a book about writing. I'm only on page 32 and I'm already blown away by his mastery of written language.

For any of you wanting to reach out and smack me with a loud "Duh," I've never really read Stephen King before, as I'm not into horror. I know I read the short stories upon which The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me were based, but that was a long time ago, when I didn't really pay attention to the words and structure an author used, just the story.

So, as I was saying, I'm blown away. His choice of words leave me speechless and breathless with jealousy.

Let me give you an example. He writes about being stung by a wasp when he was about two years old. "The pain was brilliant, like a poisonous inspiration." I don't know about you, but I get an immediate sense of what his pain must have been like. And to put poisonous and inspiration together, I think is just genius.

I think I can safely say I never would have put those words together. It just wouldn't have occurred to me. Not only is it genius, it's poetic.

It's funny because I think most people, well literary snobs anyway, think of truly great writing as being done only by authors who write high-brow literary fiction. But I think a truly great writer is able to immediately evoke an image or a feeling in an explosive manner in which its impossible for the reader not to see or feel what's being written about. A truly great writer pulls his or her reader into the story, making it just as real as everyday life.

People read Stephen King to get a thrill, a real sense of fear that keeps them from turning the lights out when they go to bed. Only a truly great author could accomplish that.

I find reading On Writing to be both enjoyable because it's always a treat to read great writing, but also depressing because I know that even if I were to practice and work on my writing skills for the next 50 years I don't think I'd ever be as good as Stephen King. Sometimes it makes me want to put the book down, delete my unfinished manuscript and give up writing. Just go back to being a voracious reader who appreciates good books.

I doubt that's what Stephen King had in mind when he wrote this book though. I don't think he wants to discourage anyone, but instead inspire us. I find it amusing that I think, in part, he wanted this book to show his readers that he's really just like everyone else -- puts his pants on one leg at a time, he says in the book. But just the way he tells us he's like everyone else already sets him apart from everyone else. But again, I don't think that's what he really intended.

As I continue reading, and I will read this book through to the end no matter how much I want to throw it away in despair, I will try to keep in mind that he wants me to be inspired, not discouraged. I will try to pull out whatever insights I can and if I can apply even a one-hundredth of what he has to say to my writing, I will be a better writer for it.

But I still can't get over just how good he is. Maybe I should pick up one of his fiction books. Any suggestions?

Have you ever read an author who just blew you away? Someone's who's mastery of words, or characters or plot left you wondering how they got to be so good?

Gratitude lists

2009-11-05T08:30:00.001-05:00

When life is going really wrong, there is always something to be thankful for. At least that's what I tell myself even when I'm at my most depressed. Not only do I tell myself that but I force myself to write a list (at least five or six items strong) of things I'm thankful for. Believe it or not, it makes a difference.

As part of my morning routine, ever single day, I write a gratitude list. The idea was introduced to me by a friend who is very into self-improvement and I'm extremely grateful to her (ha ha) for bringing this important activity into my life. Waking up and being grateful very early on in my day helps me to get the day off to a positive start, no matter what else is going on around me.

Now, I won't lie and say it erases all the bad shit. It doesn't, it just helps me deal with it better. Nor, is it particularly easy on bad days. I often struggle to find something to be grateful for and I often resort to what I call comfort gratitudes such as "I am grateful for a warm sweater on a cold day," or "I am grateful for the soft comfort of fleece." They may be minor things, but when everything seems to be bad, it's nice to have a few good things.

On days when I'm in a good mood, gratitude lists really get my juices flowing and I'm more productive. They also help me to be accountable to myself. I like writing in my gratitude notebook, "I am grateful for 1000 words written yesterday," so I keep that in mind when I feel like pushing the computer away and blowing off writing for a day. I don't want to disappoint myself; I want something to be proud of the next morning when I write my gratitude list.

Gratitude lists can be small or long, about physical things or emotional, about day to day stuff or life issues, whatever you feel grateful for on any given day.

Here's my Gratitude list for yesterday:

I am grateful for five days junk food sober.
I am grateful for spending time with my sister and niece yesterday.
I am grateful for this day to finish my sixth article for my publishing outlet.
I am grateful for time alone in the apartment today to knock items off my to-do list.
I am grateful for the support of friends and family.
I am grateful for a well of patience within me.
I am grateful for a good night's sleep last night.
I am grateful for discovering and re-discovering music I like.
I am grateful for $15, for a mystery review I wrote, towards the 40th birthday safari trip I'm planning.

What are you grateful for?

And the winner is...

2009-11-04T12:36:00.003-05:00

The winner of the October raffle is ALR. He won a hardcover copy of the new book "Sand Sharks" by Margaret Maron.

November's raffle will be for an advance uncorrected proof of Lisa Bork's debut mystery "For Better, For Murder." You can read my review of the book as it appeared in Mystery Scene Magazine here. To enter, you just need to leave a comment on my blog at some point during the month of November.

Good luck!

Why can't verbal tricks work in written language!

2009-11-03T08:30:00.000-05:00

I've been working on an article for a publication about the psychology of selling. It's been very interesting. I'm amazed at all the ways psychology plays a part in the sales process, and in communication in general. And even more amazed at the ways we can manipulate (which is not necessarily a bad thing) language to be more effective communicators.

For example, all people experience the world through their senses, and most people are more oriented toward one sense than another. In the US most people are either auditory based or visually based. By listening to people speak you can actually determine which one they are and then when you communicate with them you can choose your words so that you're more likely to make a connection with that person and get your message heard.

For instance, a person who is auditory will say things like "I hear what you're saying," or "That sounds good to me." And a person who is visual might say "Let's see what we can do," or "That looks good to me."

There are relatively few feeling (or kinesthetic) people in the US. But they would say things like "I sense this is going to work out," "This feels right to me," or "That's a real weight off my shoulders."

So once you identified which sense a person most identifies with you can use "their" language to communicate more effectively with them. So if you want to get a visually oriented person to really understand what you're telling them, you should say "I'm going to paint you a picture." for an auditory person, you'd say "I'm going to tell you something."

All these phrases are tricks of the sales trade and can increase a salesperson's success. As I've been writing the article, I've been thinking how great would it be if there were similar tricks for written language. But unfortunately, as far as I know, there aren't. Because there's no way to pinpoint who your readers are, and the truth is your readers are most likely going to be all types.

However, what a writer can do is make their characters one or the other and have them talk consistently in that manner. If you change it up so that one character is visual and another auditory, each character is going to connect with some of your readers.

The character that uses a lot of visual language will resonate with your visually oriented readers. And the character that speaks in auditory words will resonate with your auditory oriented readers. And throw in a kinesthetic character, so that the few feeling oriented readers will have someone to connect with as well.

Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?

2009-10-30T08:30:00.001-04:00

In honor of Halloween I thought I'd write a short mystery about a missing treat. Enjoy!

“Who stole the last cookie from the cookie jar,” I yelled upon discovering the Oreo cookie I’d been dreaming about all day was gone.

My husband looked up from where he was reading the newspaper.

“Was it you.” I stood, hands on hips, nodding pointedly at the glass of milk in front of him.

“Wasn’t me. I’d never get between you and your Oreos.”

“Hmph,” I replied turning back to the scene of the theft. I spied a small crumb on the corner of the counter, and another one on the floor. Aha! The thief left a trail for me to follow. Down the hall, past the bathroom and into the guest bedroom, I followed the crumbs.

“Grandma! You stole the cookie from the cookie jar.”

“Who me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Couldn’t be,” she said, pointing to the half-eaten blueberry muffin on the desk. “You know I don’t like cookies. They’re too sweet.”

“Then who?” She shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of her muffin.

Back to square one, I returned to the kitchen. Who else could have stolen my cookie? I picked up the jar and turned it over. A smear of red caught my eye. Finger paint!

I tiptoed to the den. I could hear my kids, three year old Jenna and seven year old Max, laughing. I peeked around the corner. Max had clearly been teaching Jenna how to finger paint. Briefly I noted he had remembered to spread out newspaper, so that the mess was easily erased. Was that worth my last Oreo though? I think not.

“I’m ho-ome,” I sang ala Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

“Mommy,” Jenna jumped up and ran to hug me. I held her back for a moment. “Let mommy take a look at you. I missed your pretty face today,” I said searching the corners of her mouth for tell-tale signs of chocolate. Nothing.

“You didn't steal mommy's cookie from the cookie jar, did you sweetie?”

Jenna leaned toward me, pushed my hair out of the way, and whispered into my ear. "Max took your cookie, mommy."

"Max took my cookie from the cookie jar?"

Max wiped his sleeve across his face, leaving a touch of blue paint on his cheek. "Whoma," he gulped. "Who me?"

"Yes you!"

In reply, my son smiled at me, all that was left of my Oreo spread across his teeth.

Breakthrough!

2009-10-28T08:30:00.000-04:00

I had a breakthrough today. I realized that because I kept telling myself that I didn't want my main character to be too much like me, I was actually pushing her away from me and so couldn't get a grip on her. What I realized was because the book is in so many ways based on my own experiences with the travel industry, it would be impossible to separate myself and my experiences from her and her experiences. Trying to do so left only a vacuum and a very flat one-dimensional character.

So I began to think about what parts of my own backstory I could give her and what parts of my personality I would want to change and suddenly she started to become alive.

I don't know if this makes me a weaker author or not, but I now realize, for me at least, I can't create a character that doesn't have parts of me in it. I can't just pick a backstory I think sounds interesting and some character traits and create a main character who feels genuine. Maybe I could if the story line were completely seperate from my own life, but not when its somewhat based on my own experiences.

Abi's not complete yet. I still have to try writing her and see what happens and I need to do a new character sketch but I can feel her inside me for the first time.

I've never been pregnant but I'd hazard to say that it's like I can feel the first few kicks, the first glimmers of a living being inside of myself. And for the first time, I'm excited about her.

I've been excited about my plot. I've been excited about some of the secondary characters but I've never been excited about Abi before.

Now that I'm feeling some life from Abi, and after the positive phone call I had with the editor a few days ago, I'm feeling pretty good about this mystery novel of mine!

Some good news, some bad

2009-10-27T08:30:00.001-04:00

So I had my very first "meeting" with a book editor on Saturday and it went much better than I expected. Oh, I did learn that my main character is totally unlikeable and a real bitch and that I need to rip apart the first chapter and re-write it, but neither of those criticisms were a total surprise to me.

Not a TOTAL surprise I said. I've been saying for awhile that I'm having a hard time getting my characterizations down pat, and I've known, or thought, that my main character was too flat. I didn't realize she was unlikeable. Which, perhaps, is better than flat. I mean she did elicit a response from the editor, right?

And while I knew the pacing was off in my first chapter and that perhaps there was not enough tension, I didn't realize the whole thing would need to be scrapped.

Apparently I introduced too many characters all at once, which I'm guessing may be a novice writer's mistake. Throw everyone in the mix all at once and see what happens. Apparently, that's not the way to do it. Ok, now I know.

Also, while big gala parties are fun in real life, they're not so much fun to read, at least that's what I was told. Do you agree? I kinda liked the description of my party. :(

Oh, there was a bunch of other things I've got to work on and fix and re-work on and re-fix, but I still came away from my meeting feeling pretty good.

First of all, the editor told me I should just finish writing the book before I even begin to do any of the edits, which takes a lot of pressure off. Of course, I kind of ignored the advice (just a teeny bit) and already made some edits because I want to submit my first 50 pages to a mentorship program and don't want to get back the same critique.

But the main reason I feel pretty good is that overall, this editor thought I had a lot of talent and had done a pretty good job for what is my very first attempt at writing a novel. She had some other nice things to say but I don't like to toot my own horn so I'll stop here.

But I will say its so nice to have a "real" person (i.e. someone in the book publishing business, and not, say, my dad) read some of my manuscript and have mostly good things to say about it. That just makes me want to keep writing!

Wish me luck

2009-10-23T08:30:00.000-04:00

I have exciting, and terrifying news. I have a phone appointment tomorrow with an acquisitions editor from an independent publishing house tomorrow. I won the appointment in a lottery held by that publishing company as part of an online mystery convention they're hosting, also tomorrow.

I'm excited, especially because she concluded her e-mail to me with the fact that she's looking forward to reading more. But I'm also terrified because I know all the weaknesses my book has and it's going to be hard to hear it from someone else.

But you know what scares me the most? If this editor really does like the idea, and likes the writing she read in the first 13 pages I sent her, she will want to read more, and eventually will want to read the finished (and polished) manuscript. That means I actually have to write the book!

Well, duh, you're saying. Of course I have to write the book, and yes I've slowly been doing so since last January. But really I'm not taking it all as seriously as I should be. In fact, I should be working on my next chapter right now -- not writing an entry for my blog!

I always find ways to procrastinate. I get easily discouraged when the words don't come easily or the flaws in my writing are glaring back at me from the page. I'm quick to close MS Word and find something else to do.

But if this editor tells me she wants more, I can no longer make excuses and quite frankly that scares the you know what out of me!

Of course I want her to want more. I want her to like it so much she wants to read the finished product as soon as I can get it done. But at the same time, I don't know how I can actually get it done. I think in such short terms. My goal is always to get the next chapter done, forget about the whole book!

When I think about actually writing the whole book, then going back and editing it and re-writing it, I can feel my heart start to pound. It's overwhelming.

It's funny because when I work as a writer for a publication, while deadlines do stress me out, they also get my juices flowing. I sometimes think I write some of my best stuff when I'm under deadline. Partly because those pieces are leaner (something all good writing should be). Of course, the pieces I've written under deadline in the past have never been more than a couple thousand words -- not 100,000 words!

It'll be interesting tomorrow. To find out what she likes about the book (I'm assuming she'll find something to like) and what she doesn't like (I KNOW there'll be stuff she's not into). It'll also be interesting to see how I react, to her criticism and to what she wants, especially if that includes a finished book!

It's scary. It's exciting. Wish me luck!

Misery loves company or I'm not alone!

2009-10-22T08:30:00.001-04:00

I don't know if something's in the water or if October is self-realization month but around the same time I blogged about my biggest writing weakness being characterization, two other authors blogged about their own writing weaknesses.

While of course I know logically that all authors have their own weaknesses, as a newbie writer its easy to tell myself that my weaknesses are worse than others, than in fact other writers are exaggerating their own weaknesses. And that when I read a book I like, with all the pieces well-put together, that author probably never struggled a day in her life with her writing skills. Creating coherent scenes, believable characters, well-paced action and a satisfying ending just come naturally to those authors.

So it's nice to read about other authors, especially ones I like, speaking about their own struggles. For instance Leann Sweeney, the author of a fun cozy called The Cat, The Quilt and the Corpse, recently wrote on her blog (Writers Plot) about how she has a hard time getting humor into her books, and a hard time with criticism. She blogged about crying while reading her editor's comments and listening to her book group's critiques. As I'm sure I'll probably be hysterical the first time I get a rejection or really tough criticism (at my first staff writing job I used to go the bathroom and cry after my managing editor tore apart my articles) from anyone, its nice to know that I won't be alone.

On the Women of Mystery blog Laura K. Curtis (a so-far unpublished writer) blogged about having trouble with writing love scenes. This from a woman who writes romantic suspense! That's a pretty important aspect to struggle with! So once again, I feel reassured. If a romantic suspense writer can find a way to write love scenes, even though its hard for her, then I can find a way to make my characters believable!

As both writers said in their blogs -- and I've said it before -- writing is work. It's hard and its grueling and its frustrating and it knocks all the confidence out of you. But...

But when you've managed to slog your way through all of that, and all the pieces finally come together, it's magical.

Or at least that's the carrot I'm holding out in front of me since I've never reached that light at the end of the tunnel. But reading about other people's journeys and knowing they did reach the light, I have to have faith it'll be there for me too.

A writing contest for kids

2009-10-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

I've noticed lately that a lot of contests out there are for kids, especially the ones that have prizes I would like to be able to win. Since it's been more years than I care to remember since I was a child, I guess I'm going to have to wait until my niece is old enough to participate in these contests. And should she win, I'll also need to figure out how to coax her to choose me over her parents as her guest on the trip she wins.

In the meantime, all the other kids out there pose no competition to me so I see no reason to let others know about cool contests with even cooler prizes.

A new contest is now being offered to budding writers. It's sponsored by Adventures by Disney and HarperCollins and is called "The Search for Flat Stanlety's Next BIG Adventure." Now I've never heard of Flat Stanley and no nothing about any of his adventures but apparently he's pretty well-known among children's literature. So assuming some of you know who he is and have kids who like him, this contest is for them.

Young writers and artists are invited to create their own 150-word Flat Stanley story. Children must be between 7 and 12 to enter and the winner will be awarded an Adventures by Disney vacation. Entries must be recieved by Nov. 30.

Entries will be judged in three age groups: 7- to 8-year olds; 9- to 10-year olds; and 11- to 12-year olds. One winner will be chosen in each age group and each winner can choose one of Adventures by Disney's 19 worldwide vacations for their prize.

Parents, kids and teachers can check out www.FlatStanleyBooks.com/AdventuresbyDisney for Official Rules and complete information on the contest.

Do you know who Flat Stanley is? Have your kids been on an adventure with him? I'd love to hear more about him.

A Harry Potter Halloween in Ireland

2009-10-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

I like to play a game called "I have all the money in the world." The game goes like this. I get a catalog in the mail, maybe for clothing or jewelry. Or for kids' educational toys, or for just about anything. I settle myself comfortably on my couch and begin to flip through the catalog picking out the things I would buy if money were not object.

I'm not sure why I enjoy the game so much. I mean I'm not a window shopper. I hate going to stores if I'm not going to buy anything, but somehow doing it with catalogs doesn't bother me. I find it fun to pick out things I would buy if I lived another life.

As a general rule I don't play the same game with travel because that does get me down. Pretending I have the money to take a two-week Caribbean cruise is a lot more depressing than pretending I have the money to buy a pair of earrings.

But recently I got an e-mail advertising a trip that is kinda fun to think about "what if." Maybe because its a bit over-the-top in price with very little value attached that I know I probably wouldn't do it even if I did have all the money in the world.

It's a two-day Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Halloween trip to Ashford Castle in Ireland.

Although the 13th century castle has nothing to do with Harry Potter or wizardry, it's fairy-tale feel, secret rooms, hidden alcoves and mystical setting easily conjure up the fantastical world of Harry Potter, creating a perfect Halloween destination.

The special 2-night Hogwarts Halloween program includes:

Day One:
* A visit to the hiding place of Dingle, Ashford Castle's resident owl
* Afternoon chamber of Witchcraft & Wizardry (I'm not sure what that means exactly)
* Kid's dinner in the Dungeon
* George V Table d'Hote dinner for adults
* Harry Potter movie evening

Day Two:
* Isle of Innisfree passage to Inchagoill Island via boat
* Hidden garden treasure hunt
* Kids' dinner in the Dungeon
* George V Table d'Hote dinner for adults
* Harry Potter movie evening

The two-night package is priced at approximately $690 per night for two adults and two children (under the age of 12) sharing a deluxe queen room. See what I mean by a bit over-the-top in terms of expense! Of course, I think I would feel like I was in a fairy tale if I ever got to stay there.

Just in case you want to know more about Ashford Castle, you can visit its Website at www.ashford.ie.

Writing a Twitter story

2009-10-15T08:30:00.000-04:00

A few months back Gotham Writers' Workshops ran an online Twitter story contest. To enter you had to write a short, short story in 140 characters or less. The prize was a free 6-week writing class.

I thought that was a pretty cool idea. How do you create a story with a character and a real desire in just 140 characters. I thought about for awhile and tried a few different things.

Eventually I entered the contest with the following:

Kitty looks up at me with begging eyes. Her tail lashes. Where's the crazy light I like to chase? I sigh and press the button.

I liked it. It's exactly what happens when I buy a laser pointer and bring it home to my cat. She can't get enough of it and begs me (well actually bugs me) to keep playing with her.

Unfortunately Gotham Writers' didn't agree with my evaluation. I didn't win, nor was I a runner up.

I did like the winner's entry though. Written by a woman from New Hampshire, the winning Twitter story was:

Wanting marriage, my niece sobbed, "I'd hate to be Ken's 50 year old girlfriend." At 69 and alone, Id love being 50 and Ken's girlfriend.

There were three runners up. I liked one of them and thought two weren't good at all.

The one I liked was written by a guy from Georgia:

This is agent Nix with the CIA. We've been listening to your phone calls for the last 8 months. Is this a good time to speak with you?

The two others I didn't like were:

I knew she wasn't to be trusted by the scars between her toes. Those scars had seen the worst of life, and learned to keep it all a secret.

Still and silent, until the store closes, then a snack from aisle four, some TV in aisle nine, and I try to forget about being a mannequin.

So what do you think? Want to try your hand at writing a Twitter story? Leave a comment with your attempt.

Struggling with my characters

2009-10-09T08:30:00.000-04:00

I've been struggling with my writing lately (hey, what else is new!). As I write I become more and more aware of my faults as a writer, especially as I'm also reading other mysteries at the same time and see how well other writers do the things I'm having difficulty with.

One of my weakest skills, if not my weakest, is characterization. Most of my characters feel flat to me, not quite real. And I'm not sure how to make them better. I've read the books, blogs, articles about creating compelling characters and I've tried to use some of what I've read, but they just don't seem to be clicking.

Except for one. I do have one character, Major, who feels real to me. I'm not sure why he's been my most successful character. When I first wrote him, I didn't realize he was going to play an important part in the story. But I quickly grew to like him very much and wanted him to be a bigger part of the story.

But my other characters, and especially my main character, Abi, just seem to fall flat. In my mind I know what is supposed to drive Abi but on paper I haven't been able to communicate that properly yet.

It's depressing because I read how other authors begin to see their characters as living, breathing entities. The characters tell them what works and what doesn't. I don't seem to feel that, except with Major.

There are these exercises a writer is supposed to do where I write out all the little characteristics about my main character in order to know her as well as possible. Like, what would she wear to a party, what does she like to eat, what curse words does she use when she gets angry, etc. And while it's easy to simply fill in anything you want, I've found that doesn't work for me. I simply draw a blank when I see these questions. I don't know what Abi would wear. I don't know what Abi likes to eat. I don't know what curse words she uses.

I do know she tugs her hair when she gets stressed or nervous. I do know she snaps at people when she's scared or angry. I do know that she hates crossword puzzles and mystery novels, but can't keep her nose out of other people's business. I know she's always surprised and upset when she's confronted with the fact that life isn't fair.

Is that knowledge enough? Would knowing what food Abi likes to eat and what she wears to a fancy party make her seem more real to me? I don't know. All I do know is that right now she's still two one-dimensional and it's driving me crazy.

Maybe I just need to practice, or most likely I just need to keep writing and eventually she'll start to emerge more and more, like a fictional butterfly trapped in the pages of my writing, just waiting to break free and fly on her own. I just wish she'd do it sooner rather than later!

I've always wanted to try the message in a bottle thing

2009-10-06T08:30:00.000-04:00

Has anyone ever seen the TV movie "Mermaid?" (No, I'm not talking about the Cher/Winona Ryder movie!) It's about a little girl whose father has died and she's having trouble accepting it. Her mom has told her he's in heaven but she wants to know when he's coming home. Her grandmother suggests she write him a letter, which of course she addresses to Heaven. It gets returned to her as undeliverable and she's even more upset. Then someone suggests that she tie the letter to a balloon so it can float to heaven. She gets a balloon at a local fair that has a mermaid on it, ties the letter to it and lets it go. By the way, she's in Maine (I think, it could be some other New England state).

Sweet right, a different twist on the message in a bottle story. Of course someone has to find the balloon right? Yep. A few days later the balloon has managed to travel thousands of miles (without getting damaged) to Prince Edward Island, Canada to a small community called Mermaid. A hunter sees the balloon, notices its got a mermaid on it (remember, the name of the community he lives in) and goes to check it out and of course finds the letter. He takes it home to his family, where they open the letter, read it and are so touched by its contents that they respond. From that moment on the little girl begins to recover from her father's death and a life-long friendship begins.

The skeptic in all of us is probably saying, how nice, very sweet, but please, really? The balloon travels thousands of miles without popping? It just happens to land in Mermaid? But get this... the story is actually true! Of course, from what I understand a few liberties were taken, but overall the main facts are true.

Makes you think, doesn't it? I mean is it just random or was something guiding that balloon?

Just a few days ago there was a similar story in the news, though this one had a bittersweet ending. Every year, since 1991, on her birthday Ann Hernandez and her boyfriend would drink a bottle of champagne on an island somewhere off the coast of Massachusetts. Afterward, she would write a little note, tuck it in the bottle and her boyfriend would throw it out to see. The note always said something like "Ann Hernandez is a lighthouse keeper on Thacher Island - Cape Ann Light Station and had a birthday there on [whatever the date was]. Drop her a card at home.’’ The message included her year-round Illinois address.

Neither Ann nor her boyfriend ever really thought anyone would find one of her bottles, but this year someone did. A French couple found the bottle bobbing along the coastline near their small French village and plucked it out of the water. The letter inside was dated 2003. The couple quickly wrote a postcard and sent it off. But the postcard came back undeliverable. Their curiosity about the woman piqued, they contacted the Thatcher Island association to try and find her. The president of the association had sad news. Ann Thatcher had died suddenly at age 61 the year before.

The couple were put in contact with Ann's boyfriend and have slowly begun to form a friendship.

There is something about these stories that touches the soul, but I don't know why exactly. But there's something very compelling about them. As if magic exists, or as if sometimes, wishes do come true.

What do you think?

Cruisin' to the '50s

2009-10-05T08:30:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, after seeing the movie "Stand by Me," I became obsessed with the '50s and listened almost exclusively to '50s music (at the time CBS 101.1 was the channel of "oldies"). Even though that fad faded quickly for me, I still have a soft spot for lots of things '50s. One of my new favorite eateries is Cheeburger, Cheeburger, which not only has great turkey burgers but features a great '50s era Malt Shop ambiance. So when I got an e-mail a few days ago from Carnival Cruises about their latest theme cruise, my attention was immediately caught. The Malt Shop Memories cruise will bring together a group of musicians from the '50s and '60s to entertain passengers for five days.

In partnership with a company called Sixthman and inspired by Time Life's Malt Shop Memories collection, the five-day cruise sails May 13-17, 2010 onboard the Carnival Inspiration, traveling roundtrip from Tampa, Florida and featuring one stop at Cozumel, Mexico. But what makes this sailing so special is the collection of musicians gathered onboard including Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Lesley Gore, The Original Drifters, The Platters and Lou Christie.

In addition to the non-stop music, passengers will get to interact with the musicians and will enjoy other '50s and '60s era activities including sock-hops, beach parties, dance contests and more.

If you want to find out more information about the cruise, including the cost, visit www.MaltShopCruise.com.

Lucky kids!

2009-10-02T08:30:00.002-04:00

My husband is European and so a big soccer fan, so of course over the course of our relationship I have also become a soccer fan and would love to attend the World Cup someday. I'd especially love to go to the 2010 World Cup, which will be in South Africa, because then I could see soccer and wild animals and what could be better!

But alas, I can not afford to go and though I keep looking for World Cup contests to enter I have yet to find one. But I did recently find a World Cup related contest that will bring the winner to South Africa before the World Cup for some World Cup-inspired activities. But of course, I don't qualify as its only for kids! How unfair is that?

But since I can't enter, I figured there's no harm in spreading the word about this contest, especially since it is a pretty cool one. It's called the "Diski Dance Video Contest" and to win a youth soccer team will have to demonstrate its Diski soccer skills.

What are Diski soccer skills, I know everyone is asking. South African soccer has developed in a unique way combining traditional soccer skills with a little rhythm and dance. It's called Diski. In the spirit of this style of playing and as part of the World Cup marketing, a special dance was created called teh Diski Dance. It's a lot of fun to watch, and even more fun trying to watch other people trying to learn it.

With this in mind, South Africa Tourism has partnered with World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola, as well as U.S. Youth Soccer, to launch a Web video contest. The contest is a nationwide "dance call" to youth soccer teams to get them to feel the rhythm of South Africa by performing the soccer-inspired Diski Dance.

The competing teams must submit their creative video interpretation of the dance for a chance to win the grand prize of a trip to South Africa for the entire team. South Africa Tourism will transport all 12 players, plus the coach AND one parent for each player, to South Africa during the months leading up to the World Cup. While there the team will get to play an exhibition game against a group of South African youths of similar age -- like I said, pretty cool!

To learn how to do the Diski Dance, and this is for anyone not just the soccer kids, go to www.southafrica.net/dance where you can find tutorials of the five moves that make up the dance. You'll also find the official World Cup 2010 commerical featuring people in all walks of South African life doing the Diski Dance. I LOVE this commerical. The music and the dance never fail to give me a chill of pure happiness when I see it.

And the winner is...

2009-10-01T10:57:00.002-04:00

The winner of the September raffle is Theresa. She won a paperback copy of "The Camelot Caper" by Elizabeth Peters and a gift bag of Archipelago Botanicals bath products.

October's raffle will be for a hardcover copy of the new book "Sand Sharks" by Margaret Maron. You can read my review of the book here. To enter, you just need to leave a comment on my blog at some point during the month of October.

Good luck!

A few good travel offers

2009-10-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd pass on a few great travel offers that came across my desk recently. If you've got some time left this year and a little money saved up there really are some great travel deals out there right now.

For instance, want to go on a Caribbean cruise? MSC Cruises is offering last minute deals on select Caribbean cruises with prices starting at $249 per person for a five-night cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. The cruises are aboard the line's new ship, the MSC Poesia.

The $249 cruise departs on either Nov. 5 or Nov. 15 and visits Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Georgetown, Grand Cayman, with two days at sea.

The line is also offering special prices on a few 10-night cruises as well. The "Remarkable Rainforests & The Panama Canal" 10-night cruise features pricing starting at only $599. The cruise departs only on Dec. 10. Stops include Grand Cayman, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Also priced at $599 is the 10-night "Tropical Splendors, European Charm" cruise which visits Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, Barbados, Martinique, St. Maarten and the Bahamas. This cruise also departs on Nov. 30.

One thing that should be noted, these prices do not include the additional fees like government fees and taxes, which could be another hundred or more dollars. To book these cruises you must use a travel agent and you must book and deposit $100 by October 31.

The next offer I came across is more pricey, but in some ways much cooler (at least I think so). It's for a Disney vacation in Orlando -- I know there are more than a few adults out there who think that sounds like fun! For a short time, Disney is offering people a chance to pay for a four-night Walt Disney World Resort package (including room and tickets) but stay for seven nights, OR pay for five nights, stay for seven and get a few extras thrown in like free park tickets.

These offers, called Magic Your Way packages, include accommodations for seven nights and a seven-day Magic Your Way Base ticket, and are available for travel between Nov. 1 - 20, Dec. 10 - 24, and Jan. 3 - March 27, 2010. Bookings must be made by Dec. 20.

As with the MSC Cruises offers, you must book your travel with a travel agent to take advantage of the special pricing.

Just how much do the airlines bring in with all their fees?

2009-09-22T08:30:00.001-04:00

I think by now you all know how I feel about the airlines and their fees! So you won’t be surprised that a recent report once again had me seeing red. According to the report, released by IdeaWorks, a Wisconsin-based market research firm, airline fees have risen by 345% since 2006! And more fees are expected before the end of the year.
In 2008, airline fees brought the airlines $10.25 billion – that’s a lot of changed itineraries and checked bags.

Of course, the airlines want us to know that the industry is expected to lose $9 billion this year due to the recession and fuel costs, but according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) the US airline industry will actually make a small profit. A result of all the fees, of course.

The US airlines have become so fee crazy, that for the first time a US carrier, Allegiant Air (a Las-Vegas based airline), out-charged Ryanair (the low-cost European airline famous for charging all kinds of crazy fees) bringing in 22.7% of its revenues from extra fees. In just the first half of 2009, Allegiant has brought in $85.9 million in fees, over a total of $56.3 million in all of 2008.

But the report also showed the growing importance of these fees to the larger airlines as well. American Airlines now brings in 9.3% of its revenue from fees; United brings in 7.9% and Delta brings in 6.6% from fees. JetBlue brings in 10% of its total revenue from the extra fees.

So while the airlines make money, flying continues to be a miserable experience for passengers. And passengers never know what the next fee will be and when it will suddenly pop up. It seems that every week an airline is imposing a new fee. The report concluded that eventually all carriers will at the very least charge bag fees for all coach passengers. I’d be willing to go a lot further and say that eventually, coach passengers (both domestic and international) will be charged for everything except the air they breathe and the right to use the bathroom.

Survey finds Americans still traveling despit the recession

2009-09-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

I love surveys. I don’t know why, but I just find them fascinating. I love being part of surveys and I love reading the results of surveys. I love the statistics, the bullet points, the conclusions that people draw. I love seeing myself in the surveys and comparing myself to others.

So when a press release for a new travel survey came across my e-mail, I just knew I had to compare myself to the results and share the information. The survey was done by a travel agency franchise organization called Travel Leaders. The company has store-front agencies all around the country bearing the Travel Leaders banner. Their new survey revealed the travel behavior of travelers throughout the United States, including the fact that 84% of those polled have already taken at least one leisure trip in 2009 and more than 88% plan on taking at least one leisure trip between now and the end of the year.

Pretty interesting results, considering the country is in one of its worst recessions in decades. But not surprising really. People are not willing to give up their vacations because they need vacations. Most people need to get away from all the stress the recession is causing. And thankfully, most people still have the means to take a leisure trip, even if it’s just one or two nights away from home.

I can happily say I fit into both of the statistics cited above. I have already taken two leisure trips this year and have another planned for November.

Knowing I have that trip ahead of me to look forward to is sometimes the only thing keeping me going forward on a day-to-day basis. That’s how important vacations are. Do you agree?

The survey also showed that 65% of those polled indicated the trip(s) they’ve either taken or are going to take are within the United States and further than a bordering state. That’s me again! My first and second leisure trips of the year were several states away. Even though one of the trips was just for one night, the fact that I was far from home provided the escape I needed. Not that I think you need to go several states away to escape. I live in New Jersey and I’m sure a few nights at the Jersey shore would offer a very nice escape! Thirty percent of survey respondents agreed, either having taken or planning a trip within their own state this year.

Only my first two trips of the year fit the non-bordering state statistic. My November trip will be out of the country. A little more than 40% of those surveyed by Travel Leaders also said that at least one of their trips was or will be international.

One statistic that my behavior differs from dramatically is what my average spending on leisure trips in 2009 was/will be. Nearly 75% of those surveyed said they would be spending the same or more (the actual number saying they were spending more, and not just the same, was only 27.3%). Instead, I fit in with the 16% who said they would be spending somewhat less this year.

Here's where, unfortunately, the economy and unemployment have had to impact my leisure trip plans. Not only am I spending less on the trips I do take, I am taking less trips. Last year my husband and I took several weekend trips. This year we’ve only taken two and I do not see how we can afford a third one. But like I said, I’ve got one big trip to look forward to and that’s all that really matters!

Finally, I thought the key reasons for taking leisure trips in 2009 were pretty interesting. Just over 70% said they needed rest and relaxation, while 48.9% said they needed to get away. It seems to me the two are almost the same, though I guess I always think “get away” before I think simply “rest and relaxation.” Also related to these two answers, were the 25.9% who said they take a leisure trip for the benefit of their mental/physical health. A little over 50% of respondents said they take a leisure trip every year (also true of my husband and me).

Where do you fit into these survey results? Have you taken at least one trip this year? Are you planning a trip for sometime between now and the end of the year? Are you spending more or less?

I see clues everywhere...

2009-09-15T08:30:00.001-04:00

I was reading a book the other day and I read a passage where the protagonist and a friend went to the apartment of a potential suspect to ask some questions. Early in the scene, the author says that the elevator seemed to be stuck on a specific floor, so the two characters had to take the stairs.

Aha! I said to myself. Something is going to happen on the elevator, or maybe the suspect is already dead on the elevator.

As it turned out the elevator had little to do with anything, and was never mentioned again. I realized, that I've started seeing clues everywhere I look when reading a mystery novel. Because, as a writer of mysteries, I'm acutely aware of the fact that most everything I put in a book is there for a reason.

If I mention an object, chances are there's a good reason for mentioning the object. But the reason is not always going to be "clue." I may mention something to describe a situation and create a mood or feeling. I may use an object (like an elevator) to speed up or delay action -- in the case of the scene I read the author needed the characters to take longer to get to the apartment.

And of course, there are the red herrings, when I purposely mention something or someone to make it seem like it's related to the mystery in order to misdirect the reader's attention. I suppose every time I read something and immediately expect it to be a clue, and then it turns out not to be, I can tell myself the author meant it as a red herring. But I'd be lying to myself.

And then sometimes an object mentioned, is just that. An object. Maybe used to describe a room a character is in. Maybe to show what kind of "things" the main character likes, as a way of painting a picture of the character.

But I forget all about those "other" reasons for mentioning objects or people when I'm reading and I automatically assume everything mentioned is important and means something.

And it's frustrating. I can't simply sit back and read a mystery and relax and enjoy the book the way I used to before I started writing. Instead I'm constantly alert, looking for clues that aren't there. Making up scenarios that don't happen.

I'm curious if this happens to other mystery writers when they read? Are they able to turn off the writer part of the brain when reading? Or do they also see ghosts, er clues, everywhere they look?

Hell is writing and sending queries

2009-09-15T08:30:00.000-04:00

Queries are the reason I am not a freelance writer. I do not like to write queries. I do not like to send queries. I do not like having to wait to hear back from people I have queried, especially knowing that in this day and age, unless my query has been accepted, chances are I'm not going to get any response.

When I first got laid off I was going through all my contacts at what had been "competitor" publications trying to find freelance work (I knew there were no jobs to be had.). When I e-mailed one particular contact, she told me she was surprised I was putting so much time into finding work with one of the trade publications. She said I'd be better off sending out dozens of query letters a day to the consumer pubs.

Can I say, I didn't even consider it for a moment! Sure I'd love to write for a consumer pub, and maybe if I have a great idea and know the perfect match, I'll send out one query letter. But dozens of queries a day. No way! Call me lazy if you want, but its just not my cup of tea.

As it is, I still have to write query letters to the editor of one of the trade publications that did offer me some freelance work. Thankfully, they're not full-fledged query letters. Instead, they're quick e-mails with a few story ideas that I hope she'll either like, or will trigger another idea that she'll then offer to me.

And like with all query letters, the minute I hit the send button on that query e-mail, I'm on pins and needles waiting for an answer. If I don't get a response right away, I start becoming afraid of new e-mail notices. Is it a response to my query? Did the editor like my idea? Hate it? Did I just blow my chance of ever getting another freelance article again?

Totally irrational, I know. But that's what query letters do. They mess with your brain. So imagine that on a scale ten times larger. I'm sending one or two queries a month, not dozens a day. I think I'd be a trembling, quivering mess if I sent that many queries in a day.

Does that make me less of a writer? I think a lot of writers (i.e. freelancers) would say so. But every writer is different and as much as I love the travel industry and am determined to stay in the industry, my path for doing so will not be through becoming a freelancer. I do write on a freelance basis, but I am not and never will be a freelancer.

The scary thing is, while I've managed to escape (or run away from, if you prefer) the query monster in my professional life, when it comes time to try and get my mystery novel published, I'm not going to have any choice but to face querying head on. That's the ONLY way to get an agent or publisher.

But just thinking about it gives me the creeps! Thankfully, that's at least a year away or more. So for the time being "out of sight, out of mind" is my motto!

Unemployment inertia

2009-09-14T08:30:00.001-04:00

It's happening. I can feel it. Every morning when my alarm goes off at 8:30, it strikes. Unemployment inertia.

Why bother? What's the point? Not another day of nothing. I think I'll just go back to sleep.

For the first seven weeks or so of my unemployment I got up religiously at 8:30, or earlier, every morning. I treated each work day as a regular work day. Start work at 9:00 and finish up at 6:00 or 7:00. Around the seventh week, that schedule began to change, and is still changing on a daily basis -- except for early in the week. Mondays, and usually Tuesdays, I can still get up at 8:30 without a problem, it's as the week progresses that the problems begin.

At first it was just the snooze button. The alarm when off at 8:3o and instead of jumping up out of bed, I hit the snooze button. Then I began hitting the snooze button more than once. I've now gotten to the point where my alarm goes off on a Wednesday or later, I hit the snooze button. When the alarm goes off again, I re-set the alarm for anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour later. At this point, when the alarm goes off for the re-set time I am dragging myself out of bed, though I'm becoming more and more reluctant to do so.

My working days are ending sooner too. By 5:00/5:30 I'm basically done. And even worse, instead of "working" five days a week, I'm down to four -- though I'm usually heading into New York City one day a week to take care of other things, so I guess I can excuse that.

The thing that frightens me is that I'm only just a little over two months unemployed and already inertia has set in. I have to force myself to work on my novel sometimes, force myself to check the job boards, force myself not to just drop onto the couch and give up for the rest of the day. Each day my apartment feels smaller, more like a prison. Each day my computer looks more and more like the enemy. So you want me to work, do you? All right damn computer, show me a job I can apply to for f***'s sake!

And if this has happened after only two months, where am I going to be a month from now?

I want my term of unemployment to represent freedom, a time to do things I have been wanting to do for months or years but have never had the time before. I do not want to let inertia past the front door, but boy is it a sneaky devil. Just when I think I'm feeling motivated, it rears its tired head, begging me to put it all off, despair of a better future and just vegetate.

Maybe I need some sort of charm to ward off inertia. Perhaps there is a spell to banish it from my dwelling? Or maybe I just need to take my own advice to a friend who tends to wake up in the middle of the afternoon -- when the alarm goes off, just get out of bed. Don't think about getting out of bed; like the Nike ads have told us for years, just do it.

Pet peeve

2009-09-12T10:39:00.002-04:00

Just a short post today to express my frustration with mystery writers who give away the endings of previous books in their latest series book. It is not always possible to read a series in order. Very often a reader is introduced to a series by picking up a book that either comes someplace in the middle of the series or is the most recently published book in the series. If the reader enjoys the book, the characters and the author's way of writing, most likely she or he will decided to read the earlier books in the series.

BUT! But if the author has already told the reader how the previous book(s) ended, what's the point in picking up the book? The whole point of reading a mystery is to try and figure out whodunit? So if I already know, what's the point in reading the book?

For instance, I'm reading a book called A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt. It's the fourth book in the Bewitching Mystery series. I didn't realize it was the fourth book when I bought it, only when I picked it up to actually start reading. I figured I'd read it and if I liked it I'd buy or borrow the earlier ones. Then in the middle of the first chapter the author suddenly tells me who died in the last book (the third in the series) and who the killer turned out to be.

I was immediately turned off. There is almost no point in reading the third book now. Maybe, and that's a big MAYBE, I'll go back and read books one and two, but no matter what the author lost me as a reader, and potential buyer, of the third book.

As an aspiring writer, I hope that everything I do as a writer will be to get readers to read each and every one of my books. I don't want to chase anyone away from even a single book. That's seems completely counter-intuitive to the goal of writing books.

Now, I realize there are some things that will be given away in new books. For instance, romances. If in book three the main character gets married, then clearly if I start reading book two and that character is having romance problems, I already know how that's going to end. But that's a subplot and that's ok. I still have the juicy mystery to try to work out.

But don't give the whodunit away, please. Chances are I'll want to read earlier books, but not if I know who the killer is.

First bite!

2009-09-11T10:06:00.004-04:00

I came home from a day trip into New York City yesterday to find that I had a message on my voice mail from a potential employer!!

This is the first time since I was laid off a little more than two months ago that I have gotten a call to discuss a job opening. And if that's not thrilling enough, I didn't even apply for the job that's open. The company saw my resume on CareerBuilder.com and thought I looked like a match, so they called me!

I know that getting a call doesn't mean I'm going to get the job. Getting an interview doesn't mean I'm getting the job. But after two months of no one being interested, no one even acknowledging my applications, it's so nice to just hear from someone.

I think that's one of the worst things about applying for jobs in these times. Because so many people are applying for the same job, the chances of getting a call in response are minimal. So you keep putting yourself out there and no one replies. It's like you don't even exist. And that's totally disheartening.

So to have someone call me and tell me they're interested in me, well, that gives me my existence back. And gives me hope that I may actually get a job again someday.

As if fees weren't enough

2009-09-11T08:30:00.000-04:00

In his Sept. 7th New York Times column On the Road, Joe Sharkey discusses the airlines' newest method of saying "screw you" to their customers.

Numerous fees for every thing under the sun are no longer enough. Now in an effort to get people off the planes as quickly as possible and then clean the planes even faster, so they can be turned around for another flight, some airlines are prohibiting people from putting anything in the seat pocket in front of them!

In other words, you may not put your paperback book in the seat in front of you. You may not put your pack of tissues, your reading glasses, the magazine you bought at the airport, nothing, nada, zip, zero. Whatever you have with you either goes in your bag under your seat or in the overhead compartment. Screw you if you need them and can't reach them because the seats are too packed together so you can't reach under your seat or there's a bit of turbulence so you may not stand up to get to the overhead bin.

The airline Sharkey experienced this wonderful new rule on was SkyWest, one of the many regional airlines that operates as a subcontractor for some of the large, legacy airlines including United, Delta and Midwest. What's more, the flight attendent who enforced the rule with frigthening efficiency claimed the rule was a safety precaution. Since clearly my pack of tissues and People magazine pose no danger (I can't think of a single circumstance where they might), the "safety" rule is a ruse for some other reason. I can't help but wonder if this flight attendent actually believed she was ensuring the safety of her passengers by enforcing this inane new rule.

Sharkey goes on in his column to say that so far this rule has only been encountered by his readers on regional airlines. He adds that after speaking with the other airlines, they all said that by banning personal belongings in the seat pockets the airline can speed up the cleaning process.

But while this rule so far seems confined to the regional airlines, Sharkey brings up a valid point. Many people who fly regional flights actually booked their tickets with a major carrier, which then subcontracted a route it did not feel warranted one of its own planes to a regional carrier that specializes in the area. These fliers booked a ticket with the major carrier, they paid the major carrier, they expect the rules and regulations that are listed on that major carrier's Web site to prevail. But they don't, nor does the major carrier stick up for its passengers and demand that the regional airlines treat their passengers the way the larger airline would.

I find this hard to believe and once again I'm amazed at how the usual rules don't apply to airlines. If I go to a deli in New York City and order a bagel and that bagel has a piece of glass in it when I bite into it, the deli is responsible for my injury -- even if the deli didn't bake the bagel itself but instead bought the bagel from a bakery. So even though technically they subcontracted the production of their bagels to another company, because I bought the bagel from the deli, they are responsible. How come it's not the same with the airlines?

Is it because airlines offer a service, not a product. Is the company that does the subcontracting not responsible for service provided by the subcontractor it hires?

If I pay Airline A, if they are getting my money, then shouldn't I be subject to their rules? Shouldn't I get all the amenities they offer? Why is it o.k. for them to put a disclaimer in saying, we're not responsible for anything our subcontractors do?

As usual, the airlines leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth, praying for the day when the consumer is finally in a position to say "screw you" back to the airlines.

An interview with the founder of the Love Your Job Search classes

2009-09-10T08:30:00.000-04:00

For women, especially young women, looking for a job is a frightening prospect, especially when so many women aren't aware of what their own strengths are or what job would bring them the most fulfilling life. And even for those women who know what they "want to be when they grow up," finding the right job is difficult, especially during these tough times. But help is available. Suzanne Grossman, the founder of Love Your Job (LYJ), a blog and job search class, offers the expertise she has gained from years of working with young women to empower them in our world, as well as the knowledge and know-how her own job and self seeking experiences have taught her.

Gink's Thoughts recently spoke with Suzanne about LYJ and what makes her uniquely qualified to teach women about finding a job they'll love for the rest of their lives.

What is LYJ?

LYJ stands for Love Your Job. LYJ started as a group blog I began with like-minded friends and colleagues. It came about after a group of us were talking, writing and thinking about topics related to career and how having a life that was fulfilling through your work was important and possible. Around the same time, I was putting together career topics for my CUNY students and I realized this information would be equally helpful to women job seekers outside of the university setting. So earlier this year I launched LYJ Search, which is a five week class for women jobseekers in New York City. A version of the class also will be available in Washington, D.C. in October, taught by my colleague Alyssa Best.

What types of skills LYJ Search students learn?

The class incorporates important job seeking skills including resume writing, interviewing, networking and salary negotiation.

Because I don’t believe anyone should be doing a job search without first having a clear idea of what they want to be doing and where, I also take my students through a series of thoughtful exercises through which they envision their ideal work setting and focus on their strengths in order to develop clarity on where they should be directing their job seeking efforts.

I also work very hard to match each woman in the class with professional acquaintances who can be helpful to each woman’s job search.

How did you get involved in the creation of LYJ Search?

I have a significant background in teaching leadership to women, including having worked at the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Rutgers University and the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership. My efforts at both organizations helped me to develop a variety of skills related to job seeking and helping women reach their full potential. Along my journey, I’ve learned the importance of a solid resume and how informational interviews can lead to jobs that I can then pass on to the women in my classes.

I, myself, did many of the same exercises that I use in the class and came to see that one of my strengths is helping others find jobs and encouraging them to aim for work that is truly going to make them happy. I realized I could put this to good use, especially at a time when so many people are struggling with unemployment.

Who can benefit the most from LYJ Search?

The class tends to draw women in their twenties and thirties who are unemployed or ready for a change from their current situation. Having been in the working world for more than twelve years, I can help this demographic the best, partly because I relate to the particular challenges they are facing.

However, I also believe the LYJ Search class can benefit women with more experience in the working world because the skills the class addresses apply universally to any jobseeker. I also am open to working one-to-one with male clients, though for now the classes are for women only.

What do you like best about LYJ, the blog and the Search class?

I enjoy having a space for women to come together and support each other with their job searches. As one participant said before the class, she felt like she was alone against the world with her job search and that can be an overwhelming feeling. With LYJ each of the women in my class receives positive encouragement not only from me but also from each other.

Where can people find out more about LYJ and LYJ Search?

To find out more, visit http://lyjnow.wordpress.com/ or http://lyjnow.wordpress.com/lyj-search/.

Book Review: Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron

2009-09-09T08:30:00.000-04:00

Sand Sharks is author Margaret Maron's 15th Deborah Knott Mystery and the first one I've ever read. But after finishing reading it, you can be sure it won't be the last one I'll read. I really liked the character of Deborah Knott and I loved the fact that I had no idea until the last couple of chapters who the killer really was.

In Sand Sharks Judge Deborah Knott attends a summer conference for North Carolina district judges. The conference is at a beach hotel and Deborah is looking forward to seeing old friends and spending all her free time relaxing on the beach. So she's not very happy when she stumbles on the strangled body of another judge. She quickly learns a lot of people disliked the man, whose unethical behavior has hurt a lot people and given the Bench a bad name.

Deborah quickly gets involved in helping to solve the crime when a local police detective asks for her help, since she knows most of the people involved. The investigation gets much more personal when a close friend is run down, and the two crimes seem to be linked.

The best part of Sand Sharks is Deborah herself. She's a very likeable character and realistically written, as are most of the characters in the book. I'd actually go so far as to say characterization is Maron's strongest skill set, at least as far as Sand Sharks goes. I truly enjoyed getting to know each of the characters in the book, and definitely want to go back and read more about them. Although Deborah is happily married in this novel, it is clear she has quite a checkered past where men are concerned, and I'm looking forward to finding out more about all her experiences.

I was a little confused by some of the dialogue in the book. I'm not sure if some of the strange grammar and word structure was supposed to mimic the way people speak in North Carolina, or if it was just bad editing. However, I didn't come across too much of the odd wording, so the few instances of it were easy to ignore.

The plot of Sand Sharks is simple and easy to follow, though I felt Maron was too liberal with red herrings. There were so many red herrings I often felt that some of them must have started out as sub-plots that never got developed. But they were developed enough that at the end of the book there were a couple of story lines I felt were left unresolved and so I was left a bit unsatisfied.

However, perhaps because there were so many red herrings I was never able to figure out who the killer was until very near the end. And that’s always a good thing when reading a mystery!

In the end, it was the character of Deborah who really pulled me in and hooked me enough to want to read more. There’s no higher praise than that, is there?

Getting from A to B is hard, but Aha! moments make it all worthwhile

2009-09-08T08:30:00.000-04:00

Writing is hard. Sitting down and staring at the screen and not knowing how to get from point A to B to C is frustrating, and that's when I know what points A,B and C are!

But it's the how-to-get-there that is truly the hardest part of writing. It's the daily grind part, the what else can I find to do so I don't have to write a page of how to get from A to B and then realize its crap and delete it all. It's the staring at the screen for a half hour without typing a single word because I really DO NOT know how to get from one plot point to another.

This past week for instance I have been trying to write a single chapter in which a major plot element happens and really pushes the story forward. But I've been struggling with it because although I know the main gist of it -- my main character talks to someone and learns some very interesting information -- I don't actually know how that plays out. And its very frustrating.

But I keep going back to the computer and if I can get 300 usable words out of an hour's work I'm happy.

Getting from plot point to plot point is the bulk of the work of a writer's job, at least its the bulk of work for this writer. So I suppose in some ways it's also the most fulfilling. When I've finally finished writing a chapter that I'd had no idea how I was going to write (other than the main plot element) I do feel like I've accomplished something major and I always pat myself on the back.

But it's not those moments that make writing fun. What's fun are the Aha! moments. The moments when I'm driving, or washing the dishes or talking to a friend and suddenly it hits me. "This" has to happen in the book. "This" explains perfectly why so-and-so feels a certain why. "This" is the perfect location for the scene where...

It's those moments of revelation that will enrich my story and make it better that make writing so fun. It's when the story takes on a life of its own, and I can't tell it what to do anymore (at least not on the larger scale) and instead the story tells me what will work and what won't.

It's funny because I've read about these Aha! moments before, when I first started seriously contemplating writing a mystery and read some books about writing. Every author talked about how the story unfolded as they wrote and often went in different directions than expected. But somehow I never thought it applied to me. I had already outlined my idea. I thought I had all the main elements figured out. But low and behold after maybe a month or two of writing, ideas began popping up all the time. Each one was a revelation, a mini-epiphany. Each one gave me renewed energy and spurred me on to write more, get through the daily grind.

Now that I'm more than half way through my Aha! moments have slowed. I really do have all the main elements figured out. I mostly get smaller revelations at this point. Little aha! moments that help me with the daily grind, with getting from point to point with the least amount of wrestling with the scene to get it to do What I Want.

But I've still got one big Aha! moment coming. I still don't know quite how the final confrontation between Abi, my main character, and the "bad guy" is going to go. So I'm eagerly waiting for the story to reveal that to me in a blinding moment of Aha!

Until then, I'll keep putting one word after the other, slowly inching forward, moving from Point A to B to C and hoping for lots of little aha! moments and one big Aha!

Need hope?

2009-09-05T10:00:00.003-04:00

I was going to try to blog a little today about either my writing process or about the type of murder mystery I'm writing but then I came across an item in one of my Google alert e-mails this morning that really caught my attention. The keyword on the alert is "cruise" and so there was a link to an entry on a Web site about a couple whose boss paid for a cruise for them.

How nice, I thought, I'd like to read that. It's always nice to read about when nice things happen to people. Especially, as we mostly hear about all the bad stuff that happens to people. I followed the link and landed on GivesMeHope.com. At first I was thinking, oh god, another religious Web site with people finding hope in god, but it wasn't. Instead it was a site for people who found hope in other people.

I quickly went from just reading the one entry that had gotten me there to scrolling through all the entries, and getting a little teary-eyed at some of them.

GivesMeHope.com is a site that allows people to post their own personal stories about experiences they've had that have given them back hope. Some are a bit far out and have to do with "miracles," and some seem more based on hearsay and urban myth. But most are about people being good and kind and wonderful to other people. The kind of stories we need more of. The kind of stories that inspire us to be better people.

Here's one such story that I read on the site:

My youngest brother died unexpectedly while I was studying abroad. A cab driver found me crying alone in a phone booth after midnight. He offered me help and a cup of tea, arranged a 73+ kilometer cab ride for me so I could make my morning flight home. I never even learned his name.

But before you think this stuff only happens to other people, or hardly ever, or maybe the stories aren't even true. Let me tell you about my own experience with someone who gave me hope.

On the way back from a work trip, I had to fly through Miami airport. When I got there in early evening I found out my flight to Newark had been canceled and I was being rerouted to JFK airport. I had several hours to wait and had not eaten since early afternoon. I was tired and annoyed at American Airlines; I had not had a good business trip and had gotten some news that morning that had upset me.

I went to the terminal where my flight was departing from and went to get some food at one of the food stands. I had no cash because ATMs in the place I'd been for the business trip had been few and far between and I had never found one. Nor did there seem to be one inside the terminal. When I tried to use my credit card I was told the stand only took cash. So I tried another place, only cash. At this point I was practically shaking from hunger and emotional exhaustion.

I finally figured I'd go into the restaurant/bar even though I knew that would be more expensive. As I was ordering the waiter told me all the credit card processing abilities in the entire terminal were down and they could only take cash. I burst into tears. A man at the table next to mine gave me some napkins and told me he'd pay for my food if I needed it. At the same time the waiter brought me some water and told me that he could take an imprint of my credit card and then charge me later. He said a lot of people don't like to do that though because it's easier for the number to be stolen that way. I told the man at the table next to mine thank you for the offer but I would do the credit card imprint.

I called a friend, told her what was happening and began crying hysterically again. As I was talking the waiter came over with my food. He came back a few minutes later and said the man who had been sitting next to me had already paid for my meal, and then the waiter handed me a $20 bill. The man had asked the waiter to give it to me because he could see I was having some kind of trouble and he felt I needed it. The man had already left the restaurant. When I turned to look for him he was standing outside making sure the waiter had given me the money. He smiled and nodded at me when I signalled my ecstatic thanks and then he walked away.

I will never know that man's name. I will never be able to truly thank him. But he gave me hope that there are still good people in the world. When I got back home and back to easy access to an ATM, I donated $20 to charity. Since that day I've tried to remember him whenever I'm in a situation where I can help others.

Have you ever had a similar experience? Has somebody given you hope? Have you given somebody else hope?

The coolest calendar

2009-09-04T10:00:00.002-04:00

In struggling to find something to write about today, I found my eyes roving around my desk looking for inspiration. Catching sight of my calendar I smiled, amazed that after so many years I still use the same calendar every year and have been doing so since I was a teenager. They are always Hanukkah gifts from my mother, and I always know I'm going to get one.

The calendar is called "Cat Lovers Against the Bomb" and is published by Nebraskans for Peace, a peace activist group in Nebraska. The group has been producing the calendar since 1984.
I love the calendar because it combines two things important to me -- peace and cats. And I believe, as do the people who created the calendar, that the two go perfectly together. The calendar is full of fun, adorable black and white photos of cats paired with thought-provoking quotes by famous people.

For instance for this month's page, the photo is of two cats, one laying atop the other with its head on the other's head. The accompanying quote is "My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together," by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. February's page featured two cats in silhouette seemingly kissing with this quote: "An act of love, a voluntary taking on oneself of some of the pain of the world, increases the courage and love and hope of all." -- Dorothy Day.

Of course, the calendar does not take itself too seriously, but maintains a sense of humor (just like cats do!) and the March quote comes from Dennis the Menace and says "Meow is like Aloha... it can mean anything."

In addition to the photos and quotes, the calendar is full of facts about virtually every day of the year. Most of the facts are political or peace related, but several are about amazing cats.

Here's a smattering of September facts:
September 1: On this date in 1939, World War II began when Germany invaded Poland.
September 9: On this date in 1828, Leo Tolstoy was born and in 1993 the PLO and Israel agreed to recognize each other.
September 15: On this date in 1963 the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, was bombed.
September 18: On this date in 1838 the New England Nonviolent Resistance Society was founded and in 1998 the Basque separatist group, ETA, began an open-ended truce.
September 20: On this day in 1987, Bities, a 16-year old cat with cataracts, arrived back in Oregon after being lost and located 3 months later in Lincoln, NE.
Septebmer 25: On this date in 1992, California became the 7th state to bar job discrimination against homosexuals.

Do you want to know what significant event happened on your birthday? Leave me a comment with your birth month and date and I'll let you know.

Acupuncture for only $20!

2009-09-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

I recently discovered an acupuncture place in New York City called "City Acupuncture of New York." Doesn't sound all that exciting right? There are probably a hundred places or more to go to get acupuncture in New York City? But how many of them cost between $20 and $40?

The philosophy behind City Acupuncture of New York is that acupuncture should not only be for the rich. It should be for everyone, and not only for just a few appointments but for as long, and as often, as people like. So, because they don't want money to keep people from reaping the benefits of acupuncture, they offer a sliding scale of $20 to $40. You chose what you can pay; they won't ask you to justify your choice.

To do this, City Acupuncture of New York provides acupuncture in a communal setting rather than a private one. Five to six people are usually being treated at the same time in an open space. There is no privacy beyond the fact that everyone there is in their own inner world, relaxing and concentrating on their own treatment and not interested in yours. Soft new age music does mask most of the conversation between the acupuncturist and the patient, so you really can't hear what someone else is being treated for and they can't hear what you're being treated for.

The acupuncturist on duty does not go into long medical questioning but instead asks a few questions about your main complaint, checks your tongue and pulse and decides on a course of action. This allows more people to be treated in a set amount of time. Rather than being at an acupuncturist for an hour to an hour and a half of which 20 to 30 minutes is spent talking about all your symptoms, you're there for an hour of which maybe 5 minutes is spent talking.

It's been more than five years since I was last at an acupuncturist and I've been wanting to go back to it for some time, but the price (and the fact that insurance doesn't cover it) have kept me away. But I have always found acupuncture to help me in the past and I always knew I'd go back to it as soon as I could. So finding a place that only costs $20 to $40 was all the excuse I needed.

I went for my first visit to City Acupuncture of New York two days ago and found it to be very relaxing. The atmosphere is very low-key, everyone speaks softly and the new age music and tinkling water fountain are soothing. My acupuncturist seemed capable and was quick and deft with the needle insertions. All the acupuncturists at the place are Licensed (L.Ac) and hold Masters' Degrees in Traditional Oriental Medicine.

It was strange seeing others getting their treatment, some reclining in suspended lounge chairs, others lying on tables. But I barely had time to register their presence before I was lying on the table with needles inserted and drifting off into my own space.

My biggest issue (and it may very well be just my "issue") with the place was its cleanliness. While the acupuncture needles were definitely sterile (one-use only) the coverings on the tables and chairs were not quite as clean as I would like. The pillow beneath my head was covered by only a new paper towel and I don't think the sheet I was lying on was being used by one person at a time. Of course I could be wrong about that; I didn't actually ask. And it wasn't that it looked dirty, it just looked worn, which of course could come from multiple washings I suppose. It just doesn't have the white, sterile feeling of a regular doctor's office that I usually find comforting.

However, two days later I'm feeling pretty good. I've had the most fantastic nights' sleep and am hoping the effects will stick with me. I've made another appointment for next week, though I had to switch to a different day and acupuncturist because availability fills up very fast.

If you've done acupuncture before but haven't been able to continue with it because of the $100-plus fees, I do recommend City Acupuncture of New York. However, if you've never tried it before and you're even just the least bit nervous about it, I'm not sure the place is for you. I'd probably suggest one or two visits to a private acupuncturist first to get used to the process before switching to City Acupuncture.

Book Review: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

2009-09-02T08:30:00.001-04:00

I think it would be too simplistic to say that if you liked the Harry Potter books and/or grew up on C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, then you’ll like Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, even if that happens to be true.

Instead, I would go one step further and say if you ever hoped, prayed, needed the worlds in those books to be true… If you ever sat on the staircase in your house as a little kid staring intently at a photograph waiting for magic to pull you into the picture and an amazing adventure (like I did when I was a kid)… If even as you’re entering middle-age, or leaving it behind, you still think a magical adventure is somehow waiting around the corner for you, then The Magicians truly is the book for you.

The Magicians is the story of Quentin Coldwater, a quiet, nerdy kid, who at age 17 has not yet found his place in the world. Instead, he lives inside his imagination, in Fillory, that idyllic, cozy make-believe land, where animals talk and orphaned children go on merry adventures. For Quentin, a magical life in Fillory is the life he was meant to live. So he thinks he’s finally on the right track when, on his way to a college admissions interview, he receives an invitation to test for and attend a magical college in upstate New York.

During his five years at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, Quentin learns all about magic, including how to cast spells and shapeshift, while at the same time experiencing college just like every teenager does, making friends, discovering sex, and imbibing too much alcohol. But at the end of five years, he’s still unfulfilled, still searching for his place in the world.

Upon graduating, Quentin loses himself completely. He’s rich, powerful, living in Manhattan, what could be better? But under the almost frantic urge to satisfy every craving, Quentin still yearns for meaning. So when a fellow Brakebills graduate stumbles across the entryway to Fillory, Quentin is sure he’s finally found “it,” what he’s been waiting for his whole life.

But childhood dreams are often built on dark truths and Quentin is not prepared for what awaits.

I knew I was going to like, I mean really like, The Magicians when on page five (of the whopping 402-page book) I read the following:

He followed James and Julia past bodegas, Laundromats, hipster boutiques, cell-phone stores limned with neon piping, past a bar where old people were already drinking at three forty-five in the afternoon, past a brown-brick Veterans of Foreign Walls hall with plastic patio furniture on the sidewalk in front of it. All of it just confirmed his belief that his real life, the life he should be living, had been mislaid through some clerical error by the cosmic bureaucracy. This couldn’t be it. It had been diverted somewhere else, to somebody else, and he’d been issued this shitty substitute faux life instead.

Grossman hit the nail on the head. That is exactly how I feel most of the time, but I’d never seen it said so eloquently before. Of course, Grossman wasn’t talking about me. He’s describing Quentin’s feelings, who at the time of this paragraph is 17 years old.

But it didn’t matter that I’m a 37-year old woman and not a 17-year old boy. I related to Quentin almost from the get-go and even as Quentin gets older, more annoying, shallower, more hedonistic, shadows of “me” followed his story and kept me hooked. Even when I hated Quentin, I still saw myself in him because Quentin lives his life under the same “if only” philosophy I do.

If only magic were real, life would be perfect, Quentin believes, until magic is real and life still isn’t perfect. If only he could go to Fillory, life would be o.k. again. But of course, after tragedy life is never really o.k. again.

I live the same life. If only I could win the big Mega Millions jackpot. If only I could become a published author. If only I had two dogs and three cats. If only, if only, if only.

I suppose it’s fair to say that sometimes I accept that there is no “if only,” that this is the only life I get and I’d better start living it before it’s too late. Logically, I know that no matter where you go, there you are; there is no escape.

But deep inside I’m still waiting for “the life I was meant to lead” to be dropped in my lap, and that is why The Magicians was more than just a good story, one that pays homage to some of my favorite authors and fantasy stories.

Quentin is not a particularly likeable character, even if he is a compelling one. Nor is the end of the novel a very satisfying one. At the end Quentin has experienced some of life’s harshest lessons, and yet he doesn’t seemed to have actually learned anything.

On turning the last page, I found myself completely disappointed in Quentin, but perhaps in the same way I’m often disappointed in myself when I realize I haven’t grown up yet either, and that I’m still waiting for life to deliver happiness and fulfillment in a prettily-wrapped package to my door.

Writers have to know everything

2009-09-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

I'm ashamed to say I'm having trouble figuring out how I'm supposed to obtain information I need to write my book. I'm ashamed because I'm a librarian (well I have an MLS even if I don't work as a librarian) and should therefore know how to obtain any information I need. But I've found when writing that sometimes it feels like I need to know everything, because I never know what the newest type of information I'm going to want or need to throw into my book.

But here's the thing. I do know how to obtain lots of information. For instance, I had to pick out which branch of the military a character of mine was in and determine which base he had been assigned to. I was able to do that without a problem; just took a little bit of research. When I needed to figure out who would investigate a death on a cruise ship, and what the basic protocol would be, a little research again dug up the answer.

But some of the information I need is so specific, and at such a small level of detail, that so far no amount of research is helping. Like right now I'm working on a scene where Abi, my main character, has to get lost on the streets of Dover, Delaware while looking for a restaurant. She gets lost because her GPS doesn't recognize that the street it wants to send her on is a one-way street, but as I was writing I realized I don't know if there are any one-way streets in Dover. I also need to pick a restaurant in a somewhat low-income part of Dover, but when I tried to find out which "neighborhoods" in Dover are low-income I couldn't find anything. I couldn't even find any references to neighborhoods in Dover at all.

So do I go on a roadtrip to Dover? For what amounts to four pages of my book? That seems a bit extreme to me. Sure, if I were setting the entire novel in Dover, then a roadtrip would be in order. But for a single scene? I don't think its worth it. But how am I supposed to find the information I need? Are there Dover, Delaware experts out there? Anyone reading this know anything about Dover?

This is what I mean when I say writers seem to have to know everything, because the type of information we need is so specific, so detail driven that it's hard to find through research.

And don't get me started on the crimes. I lucked out in finding a resource who could help me figure out how to poison someone, but now I need info on a few other crimes. I've even considered walking into my local police station to ask for help. But 1.) I'm afraid to sound like a nut job and 2.) the crimes I need to committ in my books are not the kind that suburbian police officers deal with on even a rare occassion.

But even if I'm often frustrated. Even if I sometimes spend hours searching the Internet for a tiny piece of minutiae that I can't find... I am not quitting. I'll keep searching, keep asking others for help, and, goddamnit, if I have to I'll roadtrip it to Dover.

Another cool travel contest

2009-08-31T12:39:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, Travel Leaders, one of the country's largest travel agency franchise organizations, will launch the Bizarre World sweepstakes in honor of tomorrow's premier of Andrew Zimmern's latest travel TV series, Bizarre World. Travel Leaders is a sponsor of the show, and the new sweepstakes will feature a grand prize 7-day trip to Munich and Berlin.

The sweepstakes begins Sept. 1 and runs through Oct. 15, 2009. To enter, visit http://bizarregetaway.travelchannel.com from Sept. 1 to Oct. 15. Additionally, you can enter every day for the chance to win daily instant prizes.

Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World will air on the Travel Channel at 10 p.m. (EDT) and will follow Zimmern as he explores the strangest "worlds" from underground cultures to outrageous ceremonies and rituals.

Through the duration of the sweepstakes, Travel Leaders agents will share their own unique, off-the-beaten-path travel experiences and recommendations on the franchise's new Facebook page. Consumers are invited to post their own "bizarre" experiences on the site. Travel Leaders is especially encouraging travelers to post videos capturing "bizarre" travel experiences. The best videos will be featured on Travel Leaders' YouTube channel.

For more information about the sweepstakes, the new show or to book your own bizarre (or not so bizarre) vacation with a Travel Leaders agent, you can visit www.TravelLeaders.com/bizarre.

An amazing resource for writers!

2009-08-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

Since I've become more serious about writing I've found many, many helpful resources, from Web sites chock full of writing information; listservs where I can pick the brains of established writers; blogs written by published writers about their experiences; lists of books to read -- I could go on. But as of right now my favorite resource is a single person, a doctor named D.P. Lyle, M.D.

Dr. Lyle is a practicing cardiologist in California and a Edgar Award-nominated author who has written five non-fiction books, among them Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers, Forensics and Fiction and Forensics for Dummies, as well as two mystery novels.

In addition to his writing Dr. Lyle has consulted on TV shows like Law and Order, CSI: Miami, Monk, House, Judging Amy, Medium, the list goes on.

But even more amazing, Dr. Lyle accepts medical questions from writers who need help with a medical plot point. He has helped dozens and dozens of published authors get the medical pieces of their novels just right. Among the many authors who have publicly acknowledged his help are Hallie Ephron, Harlan Coben, Judy Clemens and Charlaine Harris.

So when I first thought about asking Dr. Lyle for help, I was a bit intimidated. I'm a nobody. I've never published a book. I don't currently have the skill of Hallie Ephron or Charlaine Harris; I'm not sure I ever will.

So first I decided I'd try to find out what I needed to know on my own. I need a character of mine to die of what appears to be a heart attack but is actually poisoning. I looked up poisons, did a google search on "deaths that look like heart attacks" and compiled a small list of poisons that could all do the job.

From there I tried to find out more about each poison, but let me tell you it's not easy finding specific information about how to poison someone on the Internet! (I'm not complaining really, I think that's a good thing.) However, I found enough information to determine that digitalis was going to be my murderer's poison of choice. I then wrote the scene in which the character is poisoned and dies. It wasn't a bad scene, but since I didn't really know too much about the characteristics of digitalis I wasn't sure it was actually medically accurate.

At that point I knew I needed help. Should I? Shouldn't I? Would Dr. Lyle respond to an unknown author? Finally, I decided what the heck. What was the worst that could happen? If he didn't respond, I was no worse off than before, but if he did respond... my book would be all the better for it.

And boy did Dr. Lyle respond. The day after I sent my question to him (he has a very strict format for submitting a question) I got an e-mail response with loads of information about digitalis, how my scenario wouldn't actually work, and what type of scenario could work. When I had a follow-up question he answered that too.

I now have to change that scene entirely but am happy to do so, knowing that my book will be accurate, and therefore more believable. I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Lyle for his generosity in lending his expertise to authors (particularly this author) in need.

When I asked him why he did it he told me, "It's actually very simple---knowledge means little unless it's shared. I look at everything as either a learning or a teaching experience and always have."

To find out more about Dr. Lyle, to find information about forensics for writers, to learn where to buy his books, visit Dr. Lyle's Web site, The Lab (www.dplylemd.com). He also writes a blog covering medical and forensics issues, including discussing famous real-life cases. You can visit The Writer's Forensics Blog at http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/

Three more airlines to charge for 2nd checked bag on international flights

2009-08-27T10:30:00.000-04:00

Several months ago Delta became the first airline to charge for a second checked bag on some (i.e. most) international flights -- a whopping $50. At the time, I e-mailed them to let them know how disgusted I was with their policy and that they were losing my business. I was at the time a Silver member of their frequent flier program. I made the decision to switch my loyalty to another carrier, even though I know there may be times I have no choice but to fly Delta. But whenever I have a choice, I will avoid Delta when I can.

Then last week American Airlines announced that it too will begin charging $50 for a second checked bag on select international flights. I've already sworn off flying American Airlines, as I consider it one of the worst airlines out there. I believe they are the least reliable and have the worst customer service. Any time I am forced to fly American Airlines I cringe and so far, with almost no exceptions, every AA flight has been a disaster. The last time I flew them, my flights into and out of Newark were canceled. Unfortunately, I do still have more than 100,000 frequent flier miles from AA though and do maintain my balance by using an AA credit card, but once I've had the opportunity to use those miles (I'm hoping to use them to go to Africa some day), I plan to continue avoiding American Airlines as well.

Yesterday, US Airways announced that it is both upping the amount it charges for first and second checked bags on domestic flights but will also charge $50 for a second checked bag on international flights.

Also yesterday, Continental Airlines broke my heart when it jumped on the bandwagon of charging $50 for the second checked bag on ALL flights to Europe. I had hoped they would hold out a little longer but alas they are as greedy as the other airlines. It's sad for me because Continental is the airline that I have chosen to give my loyalty to whenever possible. I made that decision because they are the only airline that still offers food onboard for free. But it is getting harder and harder to justify my loyalty to them, especially as they have made the decision to join the Star Alliance, which is headlined by United Airlines (my second least favorite airline after AA).

The thing that kills me is that I truly believe that once this new fee takes hold, which it will as Delta had no trouble with it, airlines are going to start charging for the first checked bag on international flights, as well. And the thing is, they'll all do it, so I can't even give my loyalty to the most flier-friendly airline, because, with just a few exceptions like Southwest (which doesn't fly from my home airport) and JetBlue (with a limited number of flight destinations), there is no such thing as a flier-friendly airline!

So choosing an airline truly has become an act of choosing the lesser of all evils. And there's nothing we can do about it. I can not wait for the day when a real alternative to flying is discovered or invented. Airlines will see just how fast their passengers abandon them then.

Which is your favorite airline, or least favorite airline, and why? What do you think of the baggage fees?

All those little things you want to do but never do

2009-08-26T13:30:00.004-04:00

Do you have a list in your head of little things that you want to do, or be, or try before you die? Things that you think would make you a more well-rounded person or more fulfilled?

I do. There are so many things I am constantly deciding I'd like to add to my life in order to make my life fuller, richer, more fulfilling. For instance, today I read a post on the Women of Mystery blog, in which the poster of the day talks about a project she's discovered called the Letter Project. Very succinctly, the Letter Project pulls together authors letters (real paper letters) written about writing. Of course most of the comments then centered around letter writing, which is one of those things I've always wanted to make a part of my life.

Now, truth be told, I have actually succeeded on a small scale in doing this. I have a friend in England and we write each other hand-written paper letters about two or three times a year and have been doing so since 2004 (I think, if not, then 2005). I love writing my letters to Jennie and I love getting letters back. There is truly something exciting about opening a hand-written letter that has been delivered by mail, settling in on the couch and reading about a friend's life. It's a million times better than doing it by e-mail. I honestly believe that although Jennie and I may not know what's going on with each other on a daily basis, in some ways we know each other more deeply because we take the time to truly share the more meaningful events and our feelings with each other. Writing, and receiving, those letters has enhanced my life.

But letter writing isn't the only thing I've always wanted to make a part of my life. I'd like to learn how to make pots, on a potter's wheel, and do that on a regular basis. I'd like to garden and grow my own vegetables. I'd like to take the time to get to know my neighbors and the owners of the local businesses I frequent. I'd like to read the New York Times book reviews and the New York Review of Books. I'd like to go hiking more often on the weekends in the summer.

I could probably go on and tomorrow I'll probably think of a few more things I'd like to do. And, as with what I mentioned above, chances are I'll do none of them.

Partly its a matter of time. Although I'm not working now and have more time, I usually work (I do anticipate working again someday) and therefore don't have a lot of extra time to give to new things.

Partly its a matter of means. I live in an apartment so don't have access to a place to garden, and I don't know where there's anyplace in my local area to start doing pottery.

Partly its a matter of money. I find that a subscription to the New York Times is actually too pricey, especially now that we're living on one salary. And I'm sure if I did find a place to do pottery, it wouldn't be cheap!

Partly its a matter of "can't be bothered." Every time I go into a local shop or see a neighbor I think today is the day I should introduce myself, but I never do.

It's sad really because I think doing even one of the many things I'd like to do would make my life richer.

What are some of the things you've always wanted to do, or be or try?

Maybe on December 31 we should all make a real New Year's resolution to at least try to do one of the many things we've always wanted to. I'll let you know what I decide on.

Landmark moment in my writing

2009-08-25T10:11:00.004-04:00

Way back in January I finished the first chapter of the novel I'm working on and I was over the moon. It was the first chapter of the first novel I had ever written, and I'd finished it. Well, yesterday I passed another landmark - hitting and passing the 100th page.

Rationally when I think about it, it's not really that impressive considering it's taken me eight months to get here, but for me it was quite a big deal.

Funnily enough, this morning a question was asked on a listserv I belong to asking authors how long it usually takes them to write a book. Well, after I read most of the answers, my 100 pages in eight months seemed pretty pathetic. Most of the authors said they write their first draft and do the editing in under a year. A few even said it takes them six to nine months to complete an entire book. Wow!

I'm so impressed with these authors' discipline. When they have extra time, they spend it writing. And if they don't have day jobs, they spend their days writing. I currently don't have a day job but I'm only writing an hour to an hour and a half a day. My first reaction to this was what a loser I am. How can I consider myself a writer if I'm not writing more regularly? But that reaction passed quickly. Rather than berate myself, I realized it would be better if I just determined to be more like them.

I'm at eight months and half way through the first draft of my book. If I kick it up a notch I could very easily hit the year mark with a complete first draft. I could probably even hit the 10-month or 11-month mark with a complete first draft. I just have to be stricter with myself.

So from now on I will dedicate at least two hours of five out of seven days to writing. I will treat myself like the serious writer I want to be and that means being strict with myself, giving myself goals that must be reached, and of course congratulating myself when goals are reached.

So, although it took me eight months to get here, I am going to pat myself on the back for 100 pages completed. I worked hard, even if not often enough, to get here.

And now I am also going to set my next goal. By the end of September I am determined to have a minimum of 150 pages of my novel written. That gives me just over a month to write at least 50 more pages.

Wish me luck -- quietly, as I need to concentrate and write now so can't be disturbed! ;)

NY State Unemployment is the worst!

2009-08-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Beware rant ahead...

It really makes me sick that we work and work and work, always contributing to our own unemployment funds and then when worse comes to worst and we get laid off, we have to keep working to get the State to give us the money we've already paid for!

Now I can't really compare New York State's Department of Labor to every other state in the country. I can only really compare it to New Jersey, the state in which I live and in which my husband claimed his unemployment when he got laid off. And there were a couple of snags along the way, but compared to what New York State is making me do, he seems to have had it pretty easy.

Of course a lot of the bullshit we both went through is the same. Long, long wait times to actually be able to speak with anyone. It took me five calls, each one about 10 minutes of maneuvering through the lengthy menus, before I was finally put on hold to wait for someone today. The first four times I would get to the point of being put on hold and the automated voice would say the operators were too busy and I'd have to call again. Why not just put me on hold and let me wait an hour? I'd rather do that and know I'm going to get to speak with someone eventually than have to continually call back and hope the timing is right!

My husband had a similar experience when he actually went to an unemployment office. He got there almost an hour before the office closed but because there were a lot of people waiting to speak to someone, he was told he would have to leave, even though the office was still open. How is that right?

I also don't understand why one State can offer a certain amount of unemployment and others can offer a different amount? Isn't it supposed to be based on what you earned? Because I worked in New York City, I have to claim in New York State. But New York caps its unemployment at $405 a week, no matter what you earned!! If I were claiming in New Jersey I'd be getting about $160 more per week! Again, how is that right?

New York State then gave me the runaround during my initial claim because I hit the wrong button while filing the claim, which had to be done by phone since I'm an out-of-state claimant. And of course there's no back button when you claim on the phone. I tried to communicate with a person about the mistake to fix it, but was told it would all have to be done by mail. I was sent a form asking me to explain my claim. I don't remember the exact dates but for argument's sake, let's say the form was dated July 1. I received it on July 6 and on the bottom it said the form had to be received by New York State within seven days of the date on the form. Hello! If I get the form six days after that date, how am I supposed to get it back to them in seven? In hindsight I should have overnighted it, even though that costs a lot more than a stamp. Instead I assumed (which of course makes me the ass) that there had to be a slight grace period and filled it out and sent it back the day I got it. A few days later I got a notice in the mail telling me that they've "determined" I was still employed. I had no choice except to go through a hearing process. Again, I tried to call and explain. I tried to e-mail the department and explain. In every case I was told I have no choice except to go through the hearing. I spoke to a employment lawyer who told me once it gets to a hearing it could go in either direction because the people who make the decision are underpayed and their decisions depend on their moods. I was in full panic mode for at least a week. And then, in the mail, I get a notice telling me the determination has been reversed and a few days later I get all my back unemployment payments. My guess is someone finally realized they had the form I'd sent back explaining and finally used it. But why did it take so long, and why couldn't I speak to someone?

Now I am once again waiting for my payments to be released because I declared the pay from a freelance article (which I'm allowed to do but legally obligated to declare). When my husband would work a temp job during his unemployment, he would declare the weeks he got paid and of course would not get unemployment for those weeks. If he didn't work in a week, he claimed and they sent his unemployment no questions asked. Easy peasy. In New York, if you declare that you made more than the $405 one week, the next week they put your payments on hold and send you a form to fill out in which you have to prove employment and the reason for your unemployment again. It does not apply to those who are self-employed at all! But it puts a full stop on payments anyway. I am very lucky I have my husband's salary to rely on. If I had only the unemployment, which has this wonderful tendency to stop and start, I'd be in big trouble. I'm sure there are others, having that problem. How does New York State justify this?

I will say I got to speak to a very nice woman named Jess today who was able to fill out the form on my behalf over the phone, which she said would speed up the release of my unemployment. She also told me how to fill the form out in the future, although my payments will still be held until the form is received. She did agree with me that for those of us who manage to earn a small amount of money through self-employment it is a confusing process. Jess was very nice and she was very reassuring. But I won't actually feel better until I see the money released into my bank account.

Who wants to take a guess at how long that's going to take? Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to say I'll get my money at some point before the end of the year.

Win a free MSC Cruise

2009-08-23T08:30:00.001-04:00

I love contests, raffles, sweepstakes, the lottery, anything where I have a chance to win something. And of course I love it even more when it’s free to enter!

So of course I love MSC Cruises new "Poetry in Motion" sweepstakes – become a fan of MSC Cruises on Facebook and you could win a balcony stateroom for two aboard a 7-night MSC Poesia inaugural Caribbean season cruise.

The sweepstakes runs through November 10 and entering is free. First become a fan of MSC Cruises, then click on the "Win a Cruise" tab and "Enter Now" button to complete the sweepstakes registration form. The Grand Prize winner will be randomly selected on or about November 20.

For those who don’t know how to use Facebook or don’t want to become a fan, sweepstakes registration is also available online on MSC Cruises Web site.

Of course I probably shouldn’t be sharing this, as the more of you who enter the more competition there is for me!

Some of my favorite mystery authors/series - Part II

2009-08-22T08:30:00.000-04:00

Continuing on with my list of favorite mystery authors and series, and staying with the theme of animals (if you haven't guessed, a lot of cozies feature animals in a big way), my next favorite is:

Blaize Clement: the Dixie Hemingway series
Blaize Clement writes about ex-policewoman Dixie Hemingway who is learning to rebuild her life after the tragic loss of her husband and daughter. Set in Siesta Key, Florida, Dixie has taken a job as a pet sitter and unfortunately her clients have a nasty habit of dying under very suspicious circumstances.

Though primarily cozy in nature, the Dixie Hemingway books (at this point there are only four) are harder than my other favorites. There is more violence and more of a sense of menace. Furthermore, Dixie goes out of her way to avoid trouble. At every opportunity she tries to go in the opposite direction, only to find she's gone exactly where she needs to be to solve whatever murder she's happened upon.

Part of the satisfaction for me in reading these books is being able to watch Dixie come back to life, partly through her relationships with the animals she cares for and their owners. The mysteries almost take a backseat to that.

So, in spite of their fanciful titles - "Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter," "Duplicity Dogged the Dachsund," "Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues" and "Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof" - the Dixie Hemingway books are not a light-hearted fun read, but instead offer solid mysteries with more than a touch of the darkness our world offers. But as Dixie learns to live despite the darkness, so too, do those of us who follow her journey. Not a beach read, but certainly an author to try if you don't want too much fluff in your mysteries.

Nancy Atherton: The Aunt Dimity series
OK, leaving the animals behind and moving on to something completely different. And I do mean completely different. Atherton's books are unlike any other mysteries I've ever come across. First of all, not a single one of her books has a murder in it, a real rarity for mysteries today I think. Even the very first book, "Aunt Dimity's Death" has no murder in it. But the mystery is compelling nonetheless.

The second big difference - the main character Lori Shepherd, is helped throughout her misadventures by Aunt Dimity, her mother's best friend who Lori never knew existed until Dimity dies and leaves a small fortune to Lori as well as a small blue notebook through which Dimity continues to communicate.

Lori is a fun character to follow as she has a habit of sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong, particularly if there's a handsome man involved (and there always is!). And she gets into the weirdest situations. Only Lori would set off in the morning for a walk through the woods on a sunny day and end up being trapped by an early blizzard at decripit old estate where something weird is going on. Only Lori would agree to help a friend catalog an old book collection and wind up in the middle of a mystery that goes back 100 years. Seriously, every book is totally different than the others.

But the think I like most (other than the fun stories and likeable characters) is that at the end of almost every Aunt Dimity book, I want to be a better person. There's just something about the stories Nancy Atherton writes that highlights the best in people and inspires me to want to be kinder, more considerate, more involved - just overall better!

I'm not sure all the Aunt Dimity books are for everyone, but I highly recommend everyone give "Aunt Dimity's Death," "Aunt Dimity's Christmas" and "Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin" a read. If you like them, you can give the others a try.

Some of my favorite mystery authors/series - Part I

2009-08-21T08:30:00.000-04:00

In spite of the fact that I'm slowly writing a mystery novel, I am actually rather new to the mystery genre, having been a die-hard fan of sci-fi and fantasy for most of my life. But in randomly picking up a few mysteries over time I discovered I really like the mystery sub-genre known as the "cozy" and have found a few authors I can say with confidence are among my favorite mystery authors.

None of my favorites are authors who make it on to the New York Times bestseller. None have window displays in big Barnes & Noble dedicated to their books. One, unfortunately, even had her publisher drop her. But none of that matters to me. These are the authors who helped me fall in love with cozy mysteries and these are authors I'd recommend without qualm to anyone interested in giving light mysteries a try.

Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who... series
There are 29 books in Lilian Jackson Braun's series about a retired newspaper journalist named James Qwilleran (called Qwill for short) and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum-Yum. The books are all light reading and fun.

In every book some type of crime (usually murder, and often more than one) occurs and Qwill gets involved in solving it through the use of his intellect, his ability to get others to confide in him and the near-psychic powers of his overly large mustache and KoKo's somewhat psychic personality quirks.

The latter books are not as well-written as the rest but considering they were written when Braun was in her late 80s/early 90s its not surprising that the latter books aren't her best. But the first 25 or so books are such a pleasure to read! The next time you need a fun beach read or something to keep you entertained on a flight, definitely think about picking up a Cat Who book.

Laurien Berenson: Melanie Travis series
The first Laurien Berenson book I read was "Once Bitten," the eighth book in the Melanie Travis mystery series (15 books total) and I liked it so much I immediately went online to get a list of the books in the series and then hit my local library to see what they had.

The books all follow the life and adventures of Melanie Travis, a single mom, who shows pedigree poodles in her spare time. The first several books all feature the dog showing world as the backdrop -- think of the movie Best In Show and throw in a series of murders and you can kind of get an idea of what Melanie's world is like.

Melanie is always a reluctant detective, most often getting strong-armed into investigating theft, murder and mayhem by her overbearing aunt Meg. But she's so good at figuring out who the bad guy is, even if it lands her in a bit of hot water quite often.

Although in reality, Melanie's problems are not mine, I always related to what she was going through and always cared about everything that happened to her, her son, her two poodles, her fiesty aunt, delinquent brother and all the fun characters who inhabit the dog showing world.

Like most cozies, the Melanie Travis books are light reads and a lot of fun. I honestly feel like I know Melanie and the other characters in her books. I even went to a dog show once hoping I'd see a glimpse of what Berenson describes so wonderfully.

Unfortunately, Berenson's publisher has decided the series no longer has any legs, so unless another publisher picks it up, I will have to accept I will never find out what other entertaining adventures Melanie embarks on. But don't let that stop you from giving the series a try. If you like light-hearted whodunits and dogs, these books are a real treat.

Carnival offers kids the chance to become Dream Godchild, donates to St. Jude

2009-08-20T16:58:00.001-04:00

I am not a big fan of Carnival Cruise Lines for many reasons, but what they are doing with their new contest is something I thought was important enough to share with others.

On September 21, Carnival Cruise Lines will introduce its new ship, the Carnival Dream. In honor of the launch, the cruise line is inviting children, ages 7 to 12, to participate in the Virtual Book of Dreams contest. By entering and sharing their own dreams, kids will earn the chance to become the world's first-ever Godchild of a cruise ship waterslide. The winning kid will will travel with her or his family to New York City to christen the WaterWorks aqua park on the ship, and will receive a free two-night cruise on the Carnival Dream when the ship makes its North American debut in November.

While the contest is all nice and good, its not really what I care about. What I think is newsworthy is the fact that for every entry in the Virtual Book of Dreams contest, Carnival Cruise Lines will make a $2 donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Furthermore, the line will donate $1 for each vote on the Virtual Book of Dreams Web site, with a maximum contribution of $25,000.

For such a huge company, I think that's a pretty paltry amount of money but it will still do a lot of good for the hospital. And I suppose considering how bad the cruise industry has it right now, with millions of dollars in losses, $25,000 might actually be a lot of money (right now).

So if any of you have kids or know a kid between 7 and 12 tell them to enter and do their part to help out other kids in need. To enter the Virtual Book of Dreams contest, children must complete the thought "I'm always dreaming up fun stuff. Wouldn't it be awesome if..." in 250 words or less, along with a corresponding hand-drawn picture. The entries must be submitted on the contest Website by the parents or legal guardians of the children who wish to enter. Entries must be received before Sept. 18, 2009. Four finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges, and one Wild Card finalist will be selected via public online voting (remember $1 for every online vote!). The public will then vote for the winner.

Job application frustration

2009-08-19T10:47:00.003-04:00

I applied for a job today. The job is beneath me, an assistant editor position at LIFE.com, but does sound like it could be interesting. The main responsibilities are managing the Travel and Animals channels on the Web site. I think I would enjoy that very much, even if it didn't bring in very much money.

But I know I will not get a call for an interview. How do I know? In spite of the fact that I'd be a perfect candidate for the job and fulfill all of their requirements I've got three things working against me. One, I most recently worked as a senior editor so I am over qualified. Two, I have worked primarily in the trade publishing world and consumer publications are incredibly prejudiced against trade writers. Three, my resume was most likely one of about 500 resumes Time Warner will receive for this job!

So what are the chances my resume will even get looked at? I'd say they're the same as my winning Mega Millions (I won $7 in last night's drawing by the way!).

In this new world of massive unemployment and online job applications, there is no way to make sure your resume stands out. No way to make sure that someone will even look at it. This is probably the 15th or so job I have applied for since I lost my job over a month and a half ago. I was qualified for every single job, fulfilled every single requirement, sent a great resume and cover letter for each one and, as of yet, I have not received a phone call for a single one!

What else am I supposed to do? When I'm just one of hundreds of people applying for a single job, how can I possibly expect anyone to call me? It's incredibly frustrating to know I am doing all the right things but also know none of that matters.

A Romania Post

2009-08-17T21:23:00.008-04:00

A friend told me the other day that she still had my old blog bookmarked, and that she'd always enjoyed reading it. Truth is I had always enjoyed writing it and still missed it (especially now that I'm trying to find my footing with this new one). My old blog was written while I was living in Romania and was about my experiences, as an American, trying to navigate my way through a sometimes frustrating, aggravating and crazy country.

It's been almost three years since I last posted to that blog but I still get comments. So, I thought for old times' sake I'd write a post about a typical Romanian experience.

In late May of this year my husband and I made arrangements for a Thanksgiving holiday getaway to Antigua. Of course to go to Antigua we need passports. I have a US passport with a few years left before it expires. My husband has a Romanian passport that expired this month. So of course we realized right away that he needed to get his passport renewed. He went to the Romanian consulate in New York to find out what the renewal process is and was told he'd have to fill out some forms, which would be sent to Romania, to the city that he's from, where a new passport would be created, which would then be sent to Bucharest and finally back to New York. The whole process would take three to four months! But what choice did we have, so he sent in his paperwork.

He called the next day to find out if there was any way to expedite the process and was told no. He was also told that he had just missed the May mailing so his paperwork would not even be sent to Romania until the end of June.

Anyway, we figured we had time until November until two weeks ago when while trolling around on Delta's Website, my husband found a very good fare on a non-stop flight to Romania and we decided he should go for an extended weekend. Just before buying the ticket we realized, uh oh, his passport is expired, now what?

He called the US consulate and was told he could check online to see if his passport was available for pick up -- they had no way of checking themselves. Huh? Ok, whatever, we looked up online and found the list of people whose passports had been sent from Bucharest on July 7. His name wasn't there but it was after Aug. 7 so we thought maybe the next batch would be coming any day. My husband called the consulate again and was told the next batch would be coming Aug. 22 (he was leaving on the 21). They told him he could try and track down his passport in Romania, have them hold it wherever it was and then the consulate could give him a travel document that would let him travel to Romania on an expired passport.

So he began the task of tracking his passport down. First he called the police station in Brasov, the city where he's from. They gave him the number of the correct office in Brasov to call. The passport office in Brasov was able to look up his name and told him his passport was finished and had been sent to the Bucharest office. They gave him the name of the Bucharest office but no telephone number, so he had to look that up himself. He tried calling and got no answer. He tried again and again, still no answer (very few businesses or homes in Romania have answering machines). Mind you, my husband did all this at 3 in the morning after getting home from work (he works nights).

The next day he called the New York consulate again though I'm not sure what help he expected to get. They reiterated that he should have the Bucharest office hold the passport and then come in to get the travel document. Oh, they took his phone number and told him they'd try to call the Bucharest office. Next morning early AM he called the Bucharest number and got through. They had all the passports in a bag and ready to be mailed, though they wouldn't actually mail them until the 22nd, a week away. After looking through the bag they found his passport. Yes, they could hold it for him.

He called the New York consulate later that day. Oh sorry, they said, we haven't tried the Bucharest office yet. My husband told them he'd taken care of it, when could he come in for the document and how long would it take. Come in any time during their open hours, the document would take a few minutes to prepare.

So yesterday my husband and I drove into the City (that's New York City for those of you not in the area) on a sweltering 90-plus degree day. When we got to the consulate, it was pretty full and there was no air conditioning. Fun! One older man waiting while his wife stood on line joked with me that the consulate must be broke and couldn't afford AC.

For the next 15 minutes everyone on line waited while one man had an ongoing conversation, or argument (it was hard to tell) with the one woman behind the counter. Even though the line got longer and longer, a second person never came out to help.

It took about 35 minutes or so of standing on line before my husband finally got to the front. He handed in his paperwork, paid his $65 (cash only) and then came to wait at the back of the office with me for his document to be prepared. I expected the worst, as I'd seen several people waiting 15 to 20 minutes for their documents, and there were at least three others ahead of us waiting for their documents. But luck prevailed and 10 minutes later we were finally out the door, his travel document in hand.

Of course, my husband still has to pick up his new passport in Romania. I'm glad I won't be there with him because I've had enough Romanian run-around to last me a long while!

Outlining my novel

2009-08-17T08:30:00.001-04:00

After I finish writing this post, I will be updating the outline for my novel yet again. This is probably the sixth or seventh time I've needed to update it and I'm only about halfway through writing my first draft.

As I'm writing the book and learning as I go along, I'm amazed at how much I thought I could get in to one chapter. I wish I had kept copies of my earlier outlines, so that I could give a couple of solid examples of just how much I thought I'd be able to cram into a single chapter. But unfortunately, I just keep updating the same document and then saving over the old stuff. Suffice it to say, the action that now occurs over the course of seven chapters was originally outlined for three chapters.

In fact when I first started writing I estimated my book would only be about eight chapters. I'm just finishing chapter nine, and as I said I'm about half way through the book. So I'm estimating about 18 to 20 chapters total. Of course, I'm also anticipating having to cut a lot of stuff when all is said and done, but there's no way the book will only be eight chapters (unless each chapter is REALLY long).

I'm trying to be more careful as I update my outlines, trying to put less action in each chapter so I have a more realistic look at how much more I have to write, but so far I haven't been able to get it exactly correct. So each time I update, some of the action predicted for one chapter spills over into the next. I'm getting better though.

I think this is one of the things I'm loving, and hating, about writing a book. I've never written a book before and I really didn't realize just how much things would change as I write, and how much I'd learn about a story I thought I'd already created.

It's one thing to read what other writers have written about the process, but to actually experience it is a whole different experience. But it's exciting and I look forward to the next burst of inspiration that forces me to change my outline. Because each burst of inspiration makes the story better (well, I think so at least!).

So I'm gonna go update my outline now, which currently stands at 14 chapters. I'd bet you anything after I'm done, there are 16 chapters outlined!

Pet Peeve Rant

2009-08-15T08:30:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm betting that a lot of you out there are going to disagree with me, but I've got to say it. I hate "LOL." For those of your rare few who may not know what I'm talking about "LOL" stands for laughing out loud and is used as a response in texts, e-mails, chats, etc.

I didn't hate LOL at first but now it has become overused and used in contexts where it makes no sense. Just because you agree with something someone said or it made you smile doesn't mean you need to use it. I mean did you actually laugh out loud? If you didn't don't use it.

The other day someone responded to a listserv comment I made telling me they remembered a book I had mentioned reading as a kid. And at the end of her sentence she put "lol." I was immediately bothered. Did simply remember reading this book actually make her laugh? I doubt it.

But what if you did actually laugh? Was it a loud laugh, a long laugh, a belly laugh, or was it just a chuckle? If it was just a chuckle I don't think it deserves an LOL.

Why not haha? That's only one more character and I think is more expressive of a smaller laugh.

Or should I invent a new abbreviation... how about COL (chuckle out loud)?

Maybe I'm just being a crazy Gemini, obsessing over communication. But I really want my communications with people to be clear, regardless of whether I'm talking to a person in the flesh, over the phone or via some electronic means.

Therefore, if I didn't burst out laughing, I'm not going to use LOL because to me I would actually be lying.

Ok, rant over...

US travelers are not happy with online travel agencies

2009-08-14T09:45:00.004-04:00

Of course I'm biased in favor of brick-and-mortar travel agents (that includes home-based agents, as well) so I couldn't resist sharing the results of a new study by Forrester Research that found that US leisure travelers are becoming more and more fed up with online travel agencies.

In fact, 15% fewer travelers enjoy using the Web in 2009 than in 2007. In 2007, the tipping point was reached when more than half (53%) of US leisure travelers enjoyed using the Internet to book their travel. For travel agents, and those of us who champion them, it was a scary figure to deal with. Two years later, the balance has tipped backwards, with nearly 46% of those same travelers enjoying using the Internet to book their travel.

Why the difference? People are fed up with the navigability and ease-of-use of the sites. They're fed up with the presentation of search results. According to the study, only one in three US online travelers (those travelers that book some or all of their travel online) feels that travel Web sites do a good job presenting travel choices. Last year, that number was 39%.

Travelers are also fed up with the information overload factor. It takes too long to plan a trip that's longer than an extended week-end vacation. They want someone to help them get through the clutter and determine what the best choices really are.

While travel Web sites continue to be good resources for booking simple, short trips, according to articles in the New York Times and on CNN.com, some of those dissatisfied travelers are turning back to traditional travel agents when booking their longer, more complicated vacations.

Because after all, travel agents are the only ones out there with the time and expertise to truly research and present all your travel options in a concise, easy to understand way.

What do you think? How do you like the online travel agencies? Would you use them for a cruise? Your 10th anniversary vacation? Do you ever use a travel agent?

Want to win a trip to outer space?

2009-08-14T08:30:00.000-04:00

There are only a few companies out there that actually offer travel to outer space, and they are all priced WAY beyond most people's ability to pay. So if you've ever wanted to visit "the final frontier" but knew you could never afford it, pay attention...

Comfort Suites, the hotel brand, is offering members of its Choice Privileges rewards program the chance to win a trip to space.

To qualify, you must go online to ExploreTheSpaceSweepstakes.com and enter the contest. If you are not currently a member of the rewards program, you must sign up before entering. All entries must be received before September 24.

Three finalists will be selected and each will win $5,000 and a trip to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex where they will be able to participate in an astronaut experience program. On the last day of their visit, the three will compete for the grand prize of a trip to space.

Three second prize winners will also get to indulge their astronaut fantasies with a trip for four to Space Camp in Alabama.

Fifty runner-ups will receive a Comfort Suites prize pack valued at $100.

If you fly JetBlue and have a lot of time on your hands this September...

2009-08-13T16:24:00.003-04:00

JetBlue announced yesterday that it is offering a special $599 pass for unlimited domestic flights between Sept. 8 and Oct. 8.

Pass holders will be able to choose from 56 cities to fly to/from. The pass must be purchased by August 21 and flights must be purchased at least three days before date of departure.

So if you've got some extra time on your hands, live near a airport from which JetBlue departs and have some disposable income for the pass and any hotel stays you might need, this is the deal for you.

Keep in mind, JetBlue flights for that time period can vary from fairly inexpensive to moderate, so you might need to travel two to four times roundtrip for the cost to really pay off!

But considering that JetBlue flies to Las Vegas, Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Fort Myers, Martha's Vineyard and other great weekend getaway spots, this pass could make the month of September a month to remember!

The Art of Speaking Vaguely

2009-08-12T10:23:00.002-04:00

One of these days I'd like to try to spend the whole day speaking in vague terms. No matter what I'm asked I want to answer using words but without saying anything -- kind of like how presidential and vice-presidential candidates often answer debate questions.

How many of you remember Mr. H. Ross Perot? He was the business man who ran as an independent in the 1992 presidential election. He also loved to talk in strange rural metaphors that meant nothing.

For instance, he once said, ""If we decide to take this level of business creating ability nationwide, we'll all be plucking chickens for a living." In the context of a presidential debate, what does that mean? In the context of a regular conversation, what does that mean?

And let's not forget Sarah Palin's regular use of sports metaphors, but then I think that goes beyond vague communication into something else entirely.

Anyway, as part of my exercise in speaking vaguely, saying nothing, I want to use the word leverage as many times as I can. I mean, truly, what does that word mean exactly? Two jobs ago I used to interview CIO’s, vice presidents or managers of technology and other executives in charge of the technological workings behind retail companies. Invariably, at some point in the conversation somebody would say, "We leveraged the assets of the company to..."

And every time, I'd sort of scratch my head and wonder, what the hell does that mean? It's just so vague. I could use that answer for almost anything.

Gink, how did you make that turkey meatloaf? Well, I leveraged the assets of my refrigerator.

Gink, what did you do today? I leveraged my free time to accomplish my goals.

Even in the intro to the new TV show "Leverage" the term in intended to be vague. When Timothy Hutton's character says during the credits intro, "We provide leverage," he's being vague on purpose because he can't say what they really do.

Thankfully, in my most recent job I rarely, if ever, heard the term leverage. However, that didn't mean people weren't answering my questions in vague terms.

Just last week I interviewed a woman in charge of training and education at her company. Half of what she had to say was informative and useful. The other half, well I couldn't figure out what she was trying to say.

For instance, at one point in the interview she said, "We got some of their best thinking on best management practices and we put those into an online training session and delivered it out to the membership."

Uh huh. What is best thinking? And what does that mean, it was put into an online training session?

Later, she talked about a new initiative her company has started, which involved wrapping activities around an event and when I asked her exactly what the pieces (or wrappings) of the initiative were going to be. She told me "all the things I've already described," except she'd never really described anything.

I ended up with four pages of notes; about a page and a half actually had solid, concrete information I could use.

I just don't understand the common use of vague phrasing that is daily thrown around by executives, PR people, politicians. Do they think the average person they are speaking to is dumb? Is it just that what they're saying makes perfect sense to them? Is it a way of explaining things they don't even understand? Do they just not want to tell the full truth?

Yesterday, I tried to imagine conversations with friends in my head in which I spoke in very vague terms. But I couldn't do it. I realized it certainly is an art form that most likely either comes naturally or takes years of practice.

I'm not sure I really ever want to be a master of vaguery (ok, not really a word, but you get my point), but I am going to try and use the word leverage at least once a week from now on.

Who Is Gink?

2009-08-11T16:52:00.004-04:00

I've had a few people ask me why "Gink"? Obviously that's not my real name. So who is Gink?

Gink is a cat (see the photo in the upper right corner). He is from a series of children's books about a child witch named Dorrie by Patricia Coomb.

I loved those books when I was a kid. I loved that the main character was a little girl and a witch, that she wore different colored striped socks and that she had an all black cat named Gink.

I also loved her name!

ExpressJet Kidnaps 47 Passengers

2009-08-11T11:28:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since the latest over-the-top airline customer service screw-up, so to make up for lost time ExpressJet went all out and forcibly kept 47 passengers on a small commuter plane for more than nine hours.

Way to go ExpressJet and for taking Continental down with you -- Continental actually markets and books the flight operated by ExpressJet, its regional partner.

According to the ExpressJet staff at the time of the entrapment, airline regulations prevented them from allowing passengers off the plane when it was diverted from Rochester, MN to Twin Cities, MN. ExpressJet said passengers were not allowed off because screening staff had already gone home for the night and without being screened passengers are not allowed in the airport. Crew, however, were allowed off because they exceeded the amount of time they were permitted to work. Wait, doesn't than mean the airplane crew weren't screened?

I love the thinking behind this "no exceptions" action. The plane was diverted because of bad weather, no one on the plane knew ahead of time the flight would be diverted to Rochester, so any terrorist with a plan to damage the Rochester airport would have to have been psychic! Plus, weren't they screened before getting on the plane. Was whoever who was in charge afraid somebody had picked up a smuggled gun onboard the airplane?

But here's where the blame game begins. ExpressJet blamed the airport saying it couldn't get permission to let passengers get off and go into the airport. The airport says that's not true and passengers would have been allowed in.

To add to the fun, when complaints and questions first started coming in to Continental, the larger airline wouldn't comment and directed people to ExpressJet. Continental has since done an about face and officially apologized saying the service was unacceptable, offered compensation to passengers and says its working closely with ExpressJet to figure out what went wrong.

And wrong it was as according to Continental policy -- adopted last year in response to several well publicized tarmac delay disasters -- no passenger may be kept onboard a plane for more than three hours without being offered the opportunity to deplane.

The US Transportation Department is of course demanding answers, though I don't know why. Legally, airlines can do whatever they want with their passengers. In spite of the fact that an airline bill of rights bill has been introduced to Congress several times, and even been debated, Congress never actually acts on it. Even in the face of blatant disregard for passengers' well-being. I guess airlines really do line the pockets of most politicians.

And the worst part of all of it is, we passengers have no choice but to accept shoddy treatment. Until an alternative form of transportation, that can offer the same travel time as airplanes, is invented we're all stuck. Airlines can treat us like crap (and they do, and then wonder what happened to brand loyalty!), charge us whatever they want for every little "service" they provide, and all we can do is... nothing.

Women keep book publishing alive

2009-08-08T09:00:00.001-04:00

A new study by Bowker, the company that prints Books In Print, has released a new study that it calls the “first complete consumer-based research report.” The report provides a breakdown of who is buying what and how.

Though the full report costs way too much for this unemployed writer to purchase, the company did release a few takeaways, which I found very interesting.

For example, 57% of book buyers are women, plus they purchase 65% of the books sold in the U.S. So women are certainly at the forefront of keeping book publishing alive. Thank you ladies!!

Women are also more traditional when it comes to book buying, as they make the majority of paperback, hardcover and audio-book purchases. Men, on the other hand, account for 55% of e-book purchases. Again, I have to tip my hat to the ladies because I, myself, don't like the e-book trend (my personal opinion!). I prefer a real (i.e. physical) book in my hand. I like the feel of turning the page and dog earing my spot. There's something very personal aboout a real book. An e-book on the other hand seems so sterile to me. I know I can't fight “progress” but I certainly hope physical books don't disappear any time soon.

Another statistic I liked – mystery books are the most popular genre for book club sales, with 17% of all mystery book purchases coming directly through book clubs. As an aspiring mystery writer, I am very happy to hear mysteries are still very popular.

Other takeaways from the report:

Generation X consumers buy more books online than any other demographic group, with 30% of Gen Xers buying books through the Internet.

21% of book buyers said they became aware of a book through some sort of online promotion or ad.

Freelance whether I like it or not

2009-08-07T09:23:00.004-04:00

I do not consider myself a freelancer. I do not want to be a freelancer. Freelancing is hard and I admire and respect people who make their entire livings doing freelance. I do not have the will power or desire to "pound the pavement" half of my day trying to find freelance work. I despise writing query letters. I do not want to give up free time and work on the weekends (that does not include my novel writing, which is for me and not somebody else!).

And yet I find myself in circumstances where for many reasons I need to be doing some freelance work. I suppose first and foremost it's to supplement the meager unemployment that New York State pays, but just as important, to me at least, is the desire to keep my foot in the industry I've chosen as mine. With nearly two years in the travel industry, I was just beginning to make a name for myself, just beginning to get to know people. I need my name to stay out there if I have any hope of getting a job inside the industry once the economy turns around.

So I need to freelance to make sure I'm still talking to some of the same people and ensure that my name is still visible and known.

I've been lucky enough that the editor-in-chief at what was a competitor publication values my experience and talent and has offered me some freelance work. I'm currently completing a third article for her and am hoping there will be a fourth.

But I still don't think I'd ever call myself a freelancer. I'm just an out of work editor who's writing freelance articles for the time being.

A new fad - suing others because we're unemployed

2009-08-06T10:16:00.005-04:00

My mother sent me an e-mail yesterday with a link to an article on CNN.com - Alumna sues college because she hasn't found a job

The article details the story of a 27-year old woman who is suing the college she graduated from because she has not been able to get a job.

She alleges that the college's Office of Career Advancement did nothing to help her get a job. She is particularly upset that the staff in the office have not contacted all employers who list jobs on the college's e-recruiting web site and told them to call her for an interview. According to her, it is their responsibility to see that she is called for interviews.

She also alleges that the Office of Career Advancement is more likely to try to help students with grade point averages closer to 4.0. She has a 2.7 grade point average, but she emphasizes she has a solid attendance record.

She is suing for the full cost of her college tuition, plus (I love this part!) an additional $2,000 "to compensate for the stress of her three-month job search."

When asked by the CNN reporter if she would recommend a similar strategy to other college graduates who have not yet found work, the woman said yes. "They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald's and Payless. That's not what they planned."

I'm curious. Hasn't anyone told this woman we're in a recession? That the country's unemployment rate is the highest its been in decades? And since when does graduating from college guarantee you'll get a job, within three months?

Hey, I understand the need to lay blame. But this woman is old enough to know that life doesn't always go the way we planned. I certainly never planned to be laid off just as I was really getting a foot hold in my chosen industry.

So based on this woman's law suit I have decided that anyone who has been laid off should sue their former employers for breach of contract (regardless of whether there was a written contract or not.) All of us laid-off folks probably had solid attendance records, put in lots of hard work and effort, delivered on what was expected of us, but our employers did not come through for us. So it's their fault we're unemployed. It's even their fault we can't find another job because too many of them have laid too many of us off. Therefore they should pay us for loss of income and especially compensation for the stress we all feel from being unemployed and trying to find a job at a time when job applicants are flooding the markets.

What do you think? Can I find a lawyer to represent me?

Why I miss being a staff writer

2009-08-05T09:48:00.003-04:00

Leaving aside all the benefits of being a staff writer than come from just having a regular salaried job -- i.e. regular paycheck, benefits, knowing my next assignment is every day, etc, -- the thing I miss most about being a staff writer is the write/edit cycle.

For the past three years I worked at publications with publication cycles. The first was a monthly, the second bi-monthly. This meant that I went through a phase every month where all I really did was research, interview and then write articles, and then went through a phase where all I did was edit and proof pages.

I enjoyed the bi-monthly cycle the most because each phase was short and fast -- one or one and a half weeks of writing, followed by a week of editing and proofing, then back to writing again. It was perfect. After a week and a half of writing, all I wanted to do was push myself away from my desk and give my mind a break... and I could, because it was time for editing and proofing. For the next week I would do very little writing (there was always the daily e-newsletter that had to get done) but most of my time was spent reading and re-reading pages, editing them until they were as close to perfect as I could get them.

After a week of that, I'd always feel like my eyes were cross-eyed and I didn't want to see another page again. I was ready to write and jumped into my next article happily.

And this cycle continued month after month after month. As soon as I was tired of writing, it was time for editing. As soon as I was tired of editing, it was time for writing.

Beautiful things, cycles.

As a freelancer, there is no cycle (well, except for the feast or famine cycle of having work!). It's always writing. Oh there's some research and interviews thrown in but mostly its writing, and writing and more writing.

Amazingly enough when I've had enough of writing my freelance articles, I turn to writing my novel for a break. While it's still writings, it is a totally different type of writing.

But boy do I miss page proofing!

Finally

2009-08-04T17:52:00.001-04:00

Let's keep this intro short, shall we?

I've been contemplating writing a blog for quite some time now.

I had a successful blog in the past, but it was very specific to a time I lived overseas and since I've been back in the US it just doesn't apply anymore.

I had a second blog, detailing my morning and evening bus commute between New Jersey and New York City. I didn't maintain it as often as I should and when I got laid off the subject matter became moot anyway.

But I miss blogging and sharing my experiences. i miss having an outlet for all the amazing and frustrating experiences I have every day.

Right now three things dominate my world: unemployment, the travel industry and writing a mystery novel. They're each quite different, but when I thought about writing three separate blogs, it didn't feel right. They belong together, because they're all a part of me. Well, I hope that the unemployment part eventually disappears but for the foreseeable future, it's a pretty big part of my life. And each brings with it many grr and ahh moments -- and it's those moments I feel like sharing.

So to whoever might take a few minutes out of their day to read this, I hope you enjoy.

- Gink