BLOGS

Blogs have been on my mind lately. I'd like to share some of my thoughts about them with you.

To name a sampling, blogs can be informative, promotional, emotional, historical, just about anything you want them to be. They're a great way of getting yourself known, especially if you have a blog through blogger.com, which is owned by Google. I don't know about you, but I Google my name every day to see what pops up.

Informational - Recipes, medical answers, decorating, dating, you name it. You can find all sorts of information on blogs.

Promotional - Even the radio and TV stations have bloggers these days, as well as authors, musicians and other artists.

Emotional - Blogs can be a way to share triumphs, sorrows, disappointments, happy moments and more, depending how deep the blogger wants to go.

Historical - You can not only learn about history through blogs, but they become historical in themselves, capturing our thoughts and the moments in our lives and preserving them so we and others can look back on them.

Blogs are a two way street. A blogger may start out thinking he or she will get something out of the public, but soon will learn it doesn't come without a price. The more you give of yourself and let people into your life, the more the public responds.

Still, it doesn't hurt to exercise caution in speaking your mind. If you spread the wrong words over the Internet, you'll never get them back. They stay there. Think carefully before you bad mouth anyone. It may seem the words you're typing are between you and the screen, but they're not. What seems so private is very public. Think again if you believe no one will pay attention. You know what people say. Almost everybody is connected in some way to everyone else.

Since I've had blogs so much on my mind lately, I've started a special blog. This one is about blogs. It's called BLOGS THAT RULE and you can find it at http://blogsthatrule.blogspot.com.

I invite you to check my new blogspot each day to keep up with the best of blogs. I'll be adding more after I check them out to see if they qualify.

Happy Blogging,
Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://blogsthatrule.blogspot.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/morganmandel

Fire Season in California/Fires in My Books

Fire season has started extremely early this year. Thanks to lightning strikes, some of the most beautiful places in the states have burned. Places like Big Sur got a lot of coverage because of it’s fame–and it is a gorgeous spot, right on the ocean with the forest edging the sand. Driving on Highway One was spectacular. How much of it has been devastated I don’t know. There were other places, little towns tucked away in mountains, that didn’t get much fire support. One of these towns had to fend for itself with all the citizens fighting fire along with the volunteer fire fighters.

As I write this, a fire is burning on the outskirts of Mariposa heading toward Yosemite National Park. Homes have already been lost. People who live in these mountain communities risk losing their homes to fire, and that has already happened. For a short while, Mariposa, was once the capital of California because of the gold found in and around the area. A federal mint was in another almost extinct place nearby. A few years back it was still possible to see some of the remains of the mint. Two of my grandchildren attended Mariposa High. One of my cousins taught kindergarten in the grammar school.

We live in the foothills too. Over the weekend there was a fire higher in the mountains at a place called the stairs. We couldn’t see flames, but could definitely smell the smoke. Our first clue there was a fire was when the fire bombers flew over.

Years ago, a fire on the hills across the road woke me. Flames were clearly visible and the hillside was dotted with fiery gems–actually beautiful. We could see the firefighters as they worked.

Another time, a large fire near the Indian reservation came over the mountain. Again we could see the flames and the firefighters.

The closest fire we’ve experienced was in the river bottom behind our house. The cottonwood trees and other dense foliage was aflame. Not only could we see it, we could hear the crackling as the fire consumed everything in its path. Scary!

What’s even more scary is that it isn’t even August yet and the fire danger won’t be over until we have a saturating rain which may not happen until October or later!

People don’t take into consideration that chapparral (the foliage of the foothills and mountains) must burn to reseed. In the forest, fires are necessary to burn out the excess underbrush, that was nature’s way.

I’ve used fire in several of my books, including Deadly Trail and Deadly Omen. It’s one of the most frightening threats to man. As a mystery writer, I’m always looking for events that will frighten my heroine and the reader–fire often fits the bill.

I’ll be keeping a watch on the hillsides around my home during the coming months.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Autism and Writing

I’m not sure how many people are aware of the number of children who have been diagnosed with autism. My first introduction to autistic children was years ago when I taught in a school for child development for pre-schoolers with various developmental disabilities. We didn’t know much about autism at the time, but it was amazing how much they changed as we worked with them. No, not miraculous cures, but they tolerated us more and more and actually started to do the tasks we introduced to them.

One of my great-granddaughters had autistic tendencies and started school in special classes. Now at age 11, she’s in regular classes, does wonderfully well in mathematics, in fact, likes to solve math problems for fun. (Certainly didn’t take after me.) Only once in awhile does anything she does have an autistic quality. Here’s one: She loves track and is doing well. At one of the meets she told her dad, “I’m going to try for third.” Her dad said, “Why don’t you try for first?” “No, I’m going for third.” She is a most loving child, likes to hug and be close, something some autistic kids can’t tolerate.

We had a young teenager who attended our church from time to time who was diagnosed as autistic. He was more difficult, didn’t communicate, and some people were scared of him. There was no need to be scared–he just didn’t want to be bothered. He is now in a group home that specializes in autistic young men and doing quite well.

I helped at Vacation Bible School all week and one of the children who came was a beautiful nine-year-old girl with autism. She loved the songs and dancing that went along with them, sometimes would go on stage with the rest of her class, at other times preferred to remain in the pew. She told me she was a mermaid and then asked, “Do you believe in mermaids?” And of course I told her yes.

Now I’m going to bring this all around to writing. In one of the classes, the kids were supposed to fold paper to make a canoe, she said, “I don’t want to. Can I have a pen?” She was given a pen and wrote a story. It was a darling story about a little girl who was a mermaid–she gave her a name–and a little girl who was autistic–she gave her a name too, but it wasn’t her own. These two girls went on vacation with the family. The story ended like this, “They spent a lot of time in the bathtub.” I asked her why, and she said, “Because one of the girls was a mermaid.”

We talked about writing stories and I told her I was an author and wrote books. She was fascinated. Every time she saw me after that she said, “You’re an author, aren’t you?” “I told her she was one too.”

This child fascinated me and in particular the fact that she could write so well and had such a great imagination. I hope I’ll get to see her again some time.

If you’d like to watch a video taken when I was at the Hanford Library talking about my books, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYf11ShLhKo I had an extremely runny nose that evening.


Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

ITCH, OUCH, ICK By Morgan Mandel

From the title, can you guess what this blog is about?

If you haven't figured it out, I'll tell you. I'm writing today about those maligned tiny little critters called insects.

My purpose is to make you remember them. Not only that, include them. Where? In your house, car, bed? Not if you can help it. In your book is where they belong.

Think about places, times of day or night, or instances where insects appear. Being summer right now, I can't help but find them everywhere, but they're also around during other seasons. Here are a few common critters you can include in your books, but there are many more:

Flies - They buzz, not only around garbage cans and food, but everywhere. They can get in your mouth if you're not careful.

Maggots - Speaking of garbage cans and flies, maggots are an especially distasteful variation for horror effects.

Bees - They pollenate flowers and make our gardens pretty. They create honey. Those are the good things. They also can sting if you make them mad. If you're allergic to them, you're in real trouble.

Ants - They congregate on sidewalks, in cracks, in the dirt. They crawl around food on picnics. They march into the kitchen and try to take over. Some like to bite.

Mosquitos - I don't have to say much about them. Before you know you're bitten, you're already itching. They carry awful diseases like West Nile, heartworm and others. They make themselves known near standing water, when it's a rainy season, at dusk, too many other times.

Grubs - worms that like to attack plants in your garden.

Caterpillars - They crawl not only in the dirt, but also on sidewalks and up buildings, but can turn into beautiful moths or butterflies.

Moths, butterflies - They're pretty as they flit around, but those naughty moths are known to eat clothes, especially wool.

Grasshoppers - They like to hop around, even inside a person's clothes. One landed in my blouse when I was a kid and it really scared me.

Lady bugs - Harmless looking, cute, usually orange or red with dots. Sometimes they pinch.

Fireflies - They fly around on summer nights and blink, casting quick gorgeous glows, but, like flies, they can get into your mouth when they're not blinking and you don't see them. They're not so pretty up close in daylight.

Roaches - These ugly critters come in many sizes and colors. The good thing about them is you can include them in not only summer scenes, but other seasons indoors. I've heard they get huge in some states like Florida. If you want to describe a scene in a rundown area, they make an excellent addition.

Spiders - Guaranteed to make a reader squirm. Also can be included in any season. In summer, they can be found in the dirt, crawling up buildings, under rocks, almost anywhere you can imagine. Most don't bite, but they're scary anyway, since a lot of us can't tell which do or don't. They crawl inside when it rains. They make cocoons, they settle in unused locations, neglected homes.

You get the idea. In this blog, I've only included a few common insects, but there are a great many more. When you're thinking about adding more dimension to a setting, don't forget these lowly critters.

Do you have other favorites you like to include in your books? You're welcome to respond below.

Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://bookplace.ning.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/morganmandel
www.juniorscave.com/morganmandel.html
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Darn, No Ghost Came to Visit

Hubby and I stayed in Room 17 of the Bella Maggiore Bed and Breakfast in Ventura CA because the room is supposed to be haunted. We did not have a ghostly visitor. My daughter looked up the ghost and said it was because the ghost, a prostitute in her former life, only visited men who stayed in the room by themselves. Guess I ruined it.

However, we did have a rather intimate romantic encounter with a real live young man. Room 17 opens on a balcony shared with another larger room. There are no windows in these rooms, only doors that open to the balcony with no screen door and a transom. We were sitting in our room with the door open, when this darling young man popped in to inform us he was having a surprise party for his girlfriend’s birthday at 10 p.m. on our shared balcony complete with music, a Spanish harp and guitar along with a singer. We were invited.

Both of us were tired, but assured our visitor we’d enjoy the music. Of course we had to shut the door and the drapes in order to go to bed, because the chairs and table were only a few feet from our room. At 10 p.m. the music began. It was lovely and very romantic. It was over by 11.

The next day, after we’d had our wonderful breakfast and hubby was transporting our bags to the car, I was sitting on the bed with door open and in pops the young lover. He wanted to know if we’d enjoyed the music, I assured I’m had. I said, “I hope your fiancee appreciates you, not many men are as romantic.” She came out and meet her (cute young thing) and told her that her boyfriend was definitely a keeper. He said, “Thank you.”

From their we went to the Premiere Author event at the Crowne Plaza hotel. Though it was nice, we didn’t have much traffic. The talks about writing and poetry reading were scheduled back-to-back with no time in-between for the attendees to step into the book room. I sold two books and I don’t think anyone else sold more than one. Of course, the organizers realized they’d made a mistake. But it was wonderful to see and smell the ocean air.

From there, we headed to the Bank of Books (bookstore in a former bank) and set up for a talk about mystery writing. This was planned spur of the moment, so didn’t expect much of a turn-out and I was right. Three people came to hear me and we all had fun. We will plan another event, with a bigger lead-in time for the fall.

No matter what, we had a good time. We spent Saturday night in our youngest daughter’s new home, beautiful and huge. Five bathrooms! Can’t imagine having to clean them all. Of course she says my grandchildren are responsible for their own. (Their grown or nearly grown, so it is possible this might happen.)

After a great breakfast, we left the cool temperatures by the ocean and headed back to the hot temperatures of the San Joaquin Valley.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

THE STATE OF PUBLISHING By Morgan Mandel

Everyday we hear about people losing their jobs and companies closing. Gas prices are forcing people out of jobs or into alternate jobs not as far from home.

I'm very lucky. When we went looking for a home over 30 years ago, my husband and I specifically wanted one near the train - mainly because I was not the world's best driver. I'm still not. I just do neighborhood driving on side streets where I feel comfortable. When I grew up in Chicago, I had no need to drive, not with so much public transportation around. Then, after meeting my husband and moving out to the suburbs, I took driving classes. I was already 28 and unfortunately still had some preconceived notions in my head even after getting my license. I don't like busy streets or ones with a lot of lanes. I don't like trying to figure out which light is mine. Anyway, I'm digressing.

Our home is walking distrance from the commuter train, so I walk every day to the train. I walk to my job after I get off the train. So, I'm very lucky. I don't have to worry about buying gas and the train pass price has not gone up much.

Other people are not as fortunate. Not knowing the problems about gas that would happen, they took jobs that require driving distances to get to work, or some are even truck drivers. The gas price problems really hit them.

All along the line, prices are going up. Companies are doing their best to cope with the rise in energy costs and some can't do it.

What does this have to do with books and publishing? Lots. People don't have as much money to buy books. Also, it costs more to mail books. To many people, owning books is considered a luxury. Instead of going to bookstores, they're spending more time at libraries. That can be a good thing if they order in books. Authors and publishers will make sales that way.

I'm not sure where this will leave us midlist authors or the publishing world in general. Will more publishing houses go the POD/print-on-demand route? It makes sense, but old habits die hard.

Ebooks are already catching on with even the large publishing houses. Hopefully, more reader will take advantage of them. At least this way our books and our names are still out there for the general public.

The future remains to be seen. For now, we can only hang on for the ride and hope it doesn't end!
Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://bookplace.ning.com
www.myspace.com/morganmandel
www.juniorscave.com/morganmandel.html
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

My Third, Fourth and Fifth of July

My second eldest daughter was born on the third of July. At the time, my husband and eldest daughter were living in half a Quonset hut on the Port Hueneme Seabee Base in Port Hueneme CA. (It’s pronounced Y-nee-me.) Husband took me to the infirmary (they didn’t have a hospital then) and dropped me off because he had our three-year-old to care for. This was back in the days when family members were not welcome in the delivery room.

I don’t remember a lot about her entrance into the word because they had some kind of gas called triolene (that’s what I think it was called) attached to my wrist and they kept reminding me to breathe it.) The they were the doctor–who I’d never seen before, he introduced himself as Dr. Apley from Point Mugu (the Navel Air Station) and he probably was the duty doctor. Most of those doctors at the time were in the Navy and doing their internship but really didn’t have any more experienced doctor watching over them. The rest of the people in the room were corpsmen–and young.

Lisa arrived sometime after midnight, don’t remember when, and I was hustled off to a shared room in the infirmary. Because the fourth of July was a holiday, we were lucky to get our babies, get fed, and the room wasn’t cleaned. Lisa was a cute, chubby baby–and finally husband came to meet her. Years later, when Lisa was having her first child, I was the birth coach and the baby was born in that same delivery room because her husband was away in the Army. (I remember far more about my granddaughter’s delivery than her mom’s.)

To celebrate Lisa’s birthday, hubby and I took her and her husband to the movies–we saw Hancock (okay, but not as good as it could have been) and out to dinner.

On the Fourth we were up at 5 a.m. so we could leave by 6 for the park in Exeter where they were having a craft fair and Fourth celebration. Every booth was under a big tree and the weather was wonderful. The day started with the flag salute led by cub scouts, and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner by a girl I’ve known since she was a kid–and what a voice. I’ve never heard anyone sing our National Anthem that well.

I met a lot of people, sold a few books, visited with old friends, at a wonderful Indian Taco and thoroughly enjoyed the day. We came home and watched one of the discs of John Adams. Now that’s a wonderful series–not only is the history well done, but John and Abigail Adams had a remarkable romance.

On the Fifth, we were up again at 5 a.m. This time we drove to Fresno to the San Joaquin Chapter of Sisters in Crime. The speaker talked about fires and fires in books–and talked about Judgment Fire which has two fires in it. I’d been told to bring my books and sold five. Two of the books I sold were Deadly Trail, which also has a big fire. The speaker pointed out that fire is something we all fear. With all the fires going on in California right now, fire is definitely a big fear.

Enough of my meanderings.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

4th of July Fests By Morgan Mandel

Ronnie Rice with Morgan Mandel


Catch Mystery and Romance Author, Morgan Mandel, Romantic Suspense Author, Margot Justes, and Young Adult Author, June Sproat at the Frontier Days MarketPlace, Recreation Park, Near Stage West, at Belmont and Miner, Arlington Hts, on Saturday and Sunday, July 5 & 6 from 10-6pm

This is a busy, crazy week for me. Every year I volunteer for our neighborhood festival. This year I'll be autographing Two Wrongs and Girl of My Dreams, accompanies by my two special author friends who'll be autographing their books, A Hotel in Paris and Ordinary Me.

Today was strange. It started out with a call from ComEd saying our power would be out between 9 and 10am. I rushed around trying to get things done, but the power stayed on. Since my husband was off today, we decided to see the latest Angelina Jolie movie, Wanted, which was excellent. When we came back, the lights were flashing on our clocks, so the power had gone out. I was about to do my blog when someone rang the doorbell. It was a ComEd guy saying in a few minutes the power would be out for an hour since they'd be replacing a generator down the block. Since my laptop wasn't charged up, I couldn't blog, so I decided to take a nap.

Then before the hour was up, a storm came through. The power came on a little over an hour later, so I sat down to do my blog. Well, apparently the storm was somewhere else, because my DSL refused to work, as indicated by the red instead of green on the modem.

Storm over, we headed out to the Lions Club's Festival at Melas Park in Mt Prospect to listen to Ronnie Rice, formerly of the New Colony Six, who put on a great show, as usual. Afterwards we were treated to a fireworks show before it started raining again. This time no storm, just some rain.

Anyway, now I'm home, the modem is working and I can finally post.
Just want to say, Happy Fourth of July!
Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
www.juniorscave.com/morganmandel.html
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/morganmandel
http://bookplace.ning.com

Floods, Droughts, Fires and Vegetables

Floods, Drought and Vegetables.

It’s so horrible to see what the flood waters are doing in so many places in the middle of our country. My heart goes out to those who’ve lost their homes and possessions.

It’s hard to even imagine as I’m sitting here in my office. We haven’t had a cloud in the sky for weeks. Today the temperature topped 105. It’s been really hot the whole month of June so far–but this weekend has been the worst.

We’ve been watching the scary weather predictions for Omaha Nebraska. We make a trip to Omaha once a year for Mayhem in the Midlands and they often have interesting weather while we’re there. This year there was a thunderstorm every night. One year we were at the top of the Press Club and watched a beautiful electrical storm. Often there’s been threats of tornados but gratefully, we’ve never experienced one while there.

Isn’t it a shame that no one can figure out a way to transfer the excess water from the flooded areas to all the parts of the country suffering drought?

We have a nice vegetable garden growing, but if it isn’t watered twice daily, all the leaves begin to wilt. We’ve already used the basil in a pasta dish last night, yummy.

And of course, here in California there are more than 400 fires--we're getting the smoke from the ones in the Sierra. (Some of that flood water would be welcome here too.)

This isn't the least bit mystery or writing related, but weather is what is on my mind.

I've also been busy working on the program for the 2009 Public Safety Writers Conference. For those registed authors, you may suggest a panel or just say you'd like to be on one--there are no restrictions as to who you are published by. For more information go to: http://www.policewriter.com

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com