The Best Way to Overcome Melting Glaciers and Rising Water is Desalination

Our oceans are rising. Our pure water is shrinking. So why wouldn't we focus some serious energy on perfecting salt water desalination?

We shouldn't be wasting our reservoir water for our toilets and lawns and gardens. If we perfected salt water desalination all over the world, at least to use for non-potable areas, not only would we have more water sources in areas where there are a lack of water sources, but droughts would become a thing of the past.

Also, during flooding and hurricane season, we should have more water towers and tanker trucks that can collect thousands of gallons of water all over the south and then this water should be trucked to the west coast to help put out the wild fires. And if we had water desalination plants, they could be easily refilled over and over again.

We have more water than we can use, both in the oceans and on land, and we're not taking control of it. Meanwhile, fires are being left to burn out because we don't have enough water or other solutions to contain them.

Why don't we use all this water to our advantage instead of letting it control us?

If you like to read fiction, check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

My Favorite Halloween Costume Ever (of My Own Costumes)

Once I was invited to a Halloween party. I was told the theme was superheroes and that everyone had to come dressed as a superhero. Now you didn't have to be one of the traditional ones. You could make one up and be anything you wanted to be as long as you were a superhero. 

So it was getting close to the weekend of the party and I still hadn't come up with an idea. So I closed my eyes and put my fingertips to my temples and said, think, Lynn, who are you? Be who you are. What type of superhero would represent the inner you? 

So I immediately came up with the idea of "Super Editor". I was (and still am) an editor, so I thought, why not Super Editor? The first thing I did was made my costume look like one big red pen. You know, editors edit in red pen so I was, virtually, a red pen. I took a piece of red construction paper and twisted it into a cone with a wide bottom and a point at the top and put it on my head. 

Then I had a big red t-shirt and black leggings. On the front of the t-shirt I drew a 'delete' symbol with a black marker. A delete symbol is kind of like a curl in the middle with a straight end on the top and bottom. And my slogan was "I delete crime", so I wrote that on the back of the shirt. 

Then I took a broomstick, took the broom off the top, and made a delete symbol out of red felt and glued it to the top of the stick. Then all night long I walked up to people, stuck out my staff and said, "I delete you!!" It was so corny it was super-fun. 

If only I could delete crime with a simple delete symbol, right? Anyway, if you're looking for a Halloween costume, perhaps create something that truly represents you, like I did. 

Happy Halloween!

If you like to read fiction, check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

The Day My Boss's Wife Sent me to Go Pick up Her Pot

I was 19 years old and working as the executive secretary to the president of a small, family-run HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) contractor on the west side of Stamford. 

The company was building a kind of co-op city in Tehran, Iran. This was before the Iranian hostage crisis.

My boss, the president, had been in Tehran for 3 months and was expected to arrive home over the weekend.

On Friday morning, his wife calls. She asks me to pick up a package for her that was coming in from her father-in-law's Brooklyn office at a construction site in New Rochelle. Since it was a small company, it was very common for me to make deliveries for them. I drove into New York City about once a month to deliver paychecks and other packages to construction sites, so the request wasn't unusual.

So she gives me the directions and tells me who to see. Now one of the Stamford employees had previously told me that the boss smoked pot and that they got it from this guy who worked in the Brooklyn office. So right away I'm thinking, a special reunion weekend for the hubby and wifey? Hmmm.

Of course, I didn't say anything. I went down to the construction site as was requested and I was handed a plain yellow envelope. So plain it was ominous. And this envelope was covered in more tape than an entire hockey team's ankles. That, of course, only strengthened my suspicions.

So I exited the construction site and drove down about two blocks, making sure I wasn't visible from the site, and pulled over. My curiosity was killing me. I just had to know. So I looked the envelope over front to back, trying to find the best corner of the tape that I could gently peel back without ripping it. I very carefully removed it, and had to remove a couple more pieces before I could get the envelope open. Thankfully, there were no rips.

Finally, I opened the envelope and there it was: an ounce of pot rolled up in a baggy. I smelled it for a moment and of course took a bud for myself (delivery fee?) before sealing it back up. My boss and his wife were none the wiser. They never knew that I knew.

Just one of those funny little memories in life that you look back on and laugh!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Four Ways We Should Be Maximizing Our Planet's Resources Right Now

The sun is free and there's plenty of it. So why wouldn't we take advantage of it?

In the summer, there are always power surges from all the air conditioners on at the same time, and some communities even organize rolling brownouts to make sure there is enough electricity for everyone.

So here's a way to make sure we always have enough electricity, and that we're not paying an arm and a leg for it either: every electric company building should have a solar farm on its roof. And every piece of property owned by any electric company should have solar panels on it.

Of course, not every part of the country gets the same amount of sunshine. But why not take advantage of the sunshine we do get? It's not like we're going to use it all up.

If they do that, solar energy would become so advanced and the price would become so affordable that more and more homes would be able to incorporate solar panels on their roofs as well.

Tesla Solar is even making roofs out of solar material. That's the way to go with every house. I hope I live long enough to see a day when every roof is made of solar material and actually serves as an energy producer, relieving our dependence on the energy grid.

That's my first idea. My second idea is this about water. Think about all the purified water that is sold today. Millions of bottles a year. Eventually -- and probably in the not too distant future -- we're going to run out of fresh water! We need to do two things and do them well.

1) We need to start collecting rainwater in a more strategic way. That means the plumbing systems for every building and home should have an automatic rain collection system that sends filtered rainwater to nonpotable sources -- such as in toilets, and for watering lawns and gardens, so that it becomes a process that residents aren't required to proactively manage. This way, there's 100% buy-in instead, of, say, 20% buy-in.

2) We need to put some serious energy into learning how to desalinate salt water. If we could do this well and do it all around the coastline, we would virtually eliminate droughts. Then we could teach other countries to do it too. Or maybe other countries are already doing it better and we should be looking to them for lessons in doing this well.

My third idea is converting all landfills to energy. In 2010, Americans made 250 million short tons of trash, according to Wikipedia. That's just one year! It would be great if we cultivated all the methane gas that emanates from decomposing landfills and used it to create energy. Good news: we're actually doing a lot of that now, according to Forbes. But I'd also like to see us get better at burning garbage and turning all that elimination into energy as well. I think it would great if, someday, we were so good as recycling our waste that there was no such thing as a landfill.

Finally, my fourth idea is complete commercial and government commitment. I think reuse, recycling and composting should be big business. I would love to see the top 10 on the Fortune 500 include the number one recycling company in the country. And it would be great if the recycling industry was so large and so well run that it was a top 10 job producer in America.

There are pockets of these ideas everywhere. I think it would be great if these ideas simply became the way the country -- and the planet -- were run.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

The Right Way to Accept Refugees, in my Opinion

According to the Hartford Institute, there are approximately 350,000 religious congregations in the United States. What if, say 10% of these -- that would be 35,000 -- each sponsored one refugee family?

Suppose it would work like this. Each religious institution and its congregation would be responsible for adopting one family. They would find that family a place to live in their community. Church donations would help with the first month's rent and the security. They would help the parents write resumes and find jobs, show them how to get around the neighborhood, teach them English, help them enroll the children in school, show them where the grocery store is, teach them about American culture, give them names and phone numbers of doctors, and basically be there for them every step of the way for a year or more.

If just 10% of all the congregations in the whole United States did this, that would be 35,000 refugees. These people would become easily and well integrated into society without the need for state or federal funding.

They would be spread out in communities all across America rather than in one community or one state. They would not live off of American taxpayer dollars and at the rate of, say, two per neighborhood or even one family per town/city, they wouldn't be taking jobs away from existing Americans.

Does this kind of plan make sense to anyone other me? It's sort of like the expression "it takes a village". Well maybe it really does take a village.

Some people get really upset when there is talk about tens of thousands of refugees being taken in by the United States. I get it. I understand their concerns. But if we did it in a way where we didn't just throw open the doors and said here you go! Knock yourself out! And leave them to their own devices with no help and no support -- if we integrated them into society one family at a time, and gave each individual family the help they needed through volunteers, wouldn't we all -- not just the refugees, but everyone -- be in a better place?

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

With Today's Traffic Levels, All Left Hand Turns Should Have a Turning Arrow

No matter where you live or work today, traffic is a problem. A big problem.

And one of the biggest problems with traffic is trying to make a left hand turn. There's nothing more frustrating than sitting at a light and watching all the traffic go by while the light goes from green to yellow to red, and you didn't move.

There's a simple solution, and frankly, I can't believe that city traffic managers and mayors haven't already realized this: Every light where there is a left hand turn should have a turning arrow.

Ironically, left hand turning arrows are not as common as you might think. If every city made them standard procedure for every left turn, then traffic would flow more smoothly and stress levels among people everywhere would be reduced.

This is not a joke. I am not kidding. In the town where I work, it's a chronic problem. I hope that all city traffic managers are listening and will do something about this annoying situation.

Thank you.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

"A Woman of Substance" is a Book of Substance: A Great Read

A Woman of Substance is the best book I have read in years and I highly recommend it to any woman who loves a great love story. Barbara Taylor Bradford's epic tome kept me on the edge of my seat for all 868 pages.

For the first few chapters, I will admit I was a little bored. But the quote on the front cover kept drawing me back: "A might saga. Little has been so riveting since Gone with the Wind." Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and I was glad it did. 

A Woman of Substance is the story of Emma Harte, a poor maid in 1904 England who rises up above her station to become one of the wealthiest women in Great Britain. Her determination and perseverance are intoxicating, as are the men in her life. 

Barbara Taylor Bradford is masterful at love scenes, and as a Brit herself, she certainly knows her British history. I loved the accents and smiled at the sweet endearments such as when Blackie said "mavourneen" or Frankie said "our Em". 

One thing that makes a good book is when it leaves you wanting more. I found myself questioning throughout, what if she had married so and so? Her life would have been so different. 

In addition to love, heartache, determination, success, pain, romance, etc., the book has a strong element of revenge in it, and I happen to love revenge stories!

I don't want to give away any of the best parts so I'll leave it there. But please make A Woman of Substance your next book today. Trust me, you won't want to put it down.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Hail Mary: It's Nice Having a Woman to Pray to Sometimes

Catholics pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Not all Christians do. I'm Methodist now and Mary is nowhere to be found in the Methodist church except in the Bible. 

But growing up, I liked having a woman to pray to in addition to God. Sometimes there were things that I felt a woman would be more compassionate about. Sometimes I just felt she understood.

I remember when I first learned how to say the prayer, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of my death, Amen. 

My mother taught me the Hail Mary when I was six or seven years old. It was evening, and she was down on her hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. I don't know why she didn't just use a mop, but my mother was a perfectionist when it came to cleanliness. 

So here I was standing in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen. I wasn't allowed to step on the kitchen floor. So as she crawled around with wet rag in hand, she would recite a line, and I would repeat, and we did this over and over until I got the whole prayer down. 

To this day, every time I recite the Hail Mary, or even think about it, I think about my mom down on her knees scrubbing the kitchen floor and me trying to be careful not to cross over the line and step on her wet floor. I can picture it clear as day, as if it was yesterday.

Since my mom is gone now, I cherish memories like these. And since Mary is a mom too, I know she understands my sense of loss. Sometimes, it's just nice to have a woman to pray to.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Bravo to Vanderbilt University for Taking a Big Step and a Big Risk

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN is removing an inscription on one of its residence halls, according to Nashville.com. The inscription, "Confederate Hall," was a name given in 1933 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

All these years, Vanderbilt has wanted to remove the name but the UDC wouldn't let them. After having their day in Tennessee Appeals Court, it was determined that they had to repay the gift given them in 1933 at today's value, which equals $1.2 million.

Vanderbilt stuck to their integrity and came up with the money. So, the name will be coming down. Bravo to the students of Vanderbilt for continually applying pressure and to the administrators and board of directors at Vanderbilt for making it happen.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

We Need to Stop Using the Word ‘Hate’

How did we get here? We use the word hate like it’s a candy we pop into our mouth every 30 seconds.

“I hate the color green.”

“I hate when public garbage cans are filled to the brim and you can’t squeeze another thing in it, or when you try to and some other garbage falls over and spills onto the ground.”

“I hate when you reach for your phone and you say ‘hello?’ ‘hello?’ and you miss the call by a split second.”

Perhaps hate is a little strong for the way I feel about small things like these. All week, I’ve been trying to train myself to substitute words like ‘dislike’ and ‘annoyed by’.

Amazingly, it’s a habit that is hard, though not impossible, to break.

If I hate the taste of tequila, particularly Yegermeister, does that make me a hater? I hope not.

It makes me wonder tho, if we’re willing to toss around this 4-letter word for average everyday things that annoy us, how can we expect to change real hate and get people who really are haters to become more understanding and thoughtful and to get along with each other? The end goal seems so far away.

So, let’s try this: “Don’t you just dislike it when … [fill in the blank.]

“I sometimes get annoyed when … [fill in the blank.]

Hmmm, I feel calmer already.

And what if we actually took the H word out of the dictionary altogether. Would the real hate stop if there was nothing to call it? Would people downgrade how they feel because they can’t explain their feelings, and be less angry or upset, sometimes for no reason?

I’d like to think yes, but I’m probably being too naïve. In reality, they would probably just choose another word and toss it around like a ragdoll.

But not this gal. This gal is quitting the H word. From now on, the color green only mildly annoys me, and full garbage cans? Well, they make me feel ‘Rrrgggghhh’.

That’s it. I’m not longer using the you-know-what word. The … what word was that? Hmmm, I forgot already! Good. Gone.

Now you try it.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Revelation! I Just Found the Real Highway 65!

I was just Mapquest surfing in the Nashville area and guess what I found -- Highway 65!

Turns out Highway 65 is the freeway that takes you into Nashville. I know it's hard to see in this graphic but it's the one on the left with the little blue badge down near the bottom.

For those of you who don't watch "Nashville" the ABC TV show, Highway 65 is the name of the record label run by famous (on the show) country singer Reina James.

I had never given any thought to how she came by that name. Even this last Wednesday, when Layla was doing her 3-song showcase for the radio attendees, she was standing in front of a label. Although it was white and not blue and red, I never even picked up that it was the same shape as this badge.

I feel like a Nashville insider. Like anybody who's anybody in Nashville knows this. Well, now "I" know where Reina's Highway 65 reference comes from! Yey!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Follow Your Passion ... Now. Don't Wait!

When I was 17 years old, my family took a vacation camping on one of the islands on Lake George (NY). After we pulled up all the coolers from the boat and set up all the tents, I finally had some free time. I grabbed the book I had brought with me -- The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon -- and I walked around a bit until I found a nice flat rock in the sun to sit on.

In my denim daisy dukes (the first time they came around) and my t-shirt, I began to read. By the time I finished the third chapter, I was enlightened. I had had what would be the most major revelation of my life.

I thought, Sidney Sheldon writes the way I think, the way I would write. This is it! This is what I want to do with my life. I want to be a novelist!

Well, I started to write poetry and short stories, but didn't begin my first novel until about 30 years later. The first draft took me a year. I had a job that wasn't difficult, and I got to go home on time every night, without putting in any overtime. That would never happen today!

After changing my clothes I would head over to my office, where I would write a couple of hours a night. A year later, I had my first draft. A friend got me in to see an agent, and she suggested that I hire a professional book editor to edit my book. She recommended a woman with 20 years experience working for one (or several) of the major publishing houses in New York City.

I took her advice and hired the editor. She wasn't cheap. I shelled out $1,000. But I feel she was worth every penny. She had my manuscript for four months. Then one day, we had a 2-hour phone meeting where she walked me through her suggestions.

I ended up spending three years re-writing and editing my book. But it wasn't the 'next' three years. Oh no. I let 14 years pass me by before I picked that book back up. I had planned to do it so many times and I just kept saying, 'there's always tomorrow'. Then one day I thought, 'you're running out of tomorrows!' And I motivated myself to finish.

Then something wonderful happened. By the time I finished the book, self-publishing through print-on-demand had been born. After all the rejections from agents and publishing houses, I decided I would no longer wait. I didn't need to wait. I would publish the book myself through Amazon.

The nice thing about Amazon is you don't pay for manufacturing -- it's print-on-demand. When someone orders a book, they print it. There's no warehousing. So they take the cost of printing out, then they take their cut, then I get my cut.

For me, it's not about how much money I make. It's about how many people believe in me and in my writing.

My advice to everyone out there is don't wait. If you have a dream, go after it now. You might have plenty of tomorrows, but they won't wait for you. They keep going. So whatever your passion is, get out and do it, today!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Introducing … In Fashion’s Web – My First Novel!

I am proud to announce that I have self-published my first novel on Amazon.com!

In Fashion’s Web is the story of 3 very strong, independent women. Tracey is the owner of a fashion design business. It has taken her whole life to become successful and she is finally at a point where she is being recognized for her talents. Tracey’s success is taking her to exotic places like Paris, Milan and Tokyo to build her brand. And with success comes the love she has waited so long to find.

Kara comes to Tracey Lynn Designs by way of the school of hard knocks. Once homeless, with no college education, she starts at the bottom and claws her way to the top. Meanwhile, Tracey’s niece, Allison, seems to get everything handed to her without having to put the time and effort in that makes the success so rewarding. Kara and Allison are bitter rivals.

While working hard to build her business, Tracey meets Frederico and falls deeply in love. But things are not always what they seem in business or in love. When Tracey gets caught in a struggle between her lover and a New York City crime boss, everything Tracey worked for starts to unravel. As a result, Kara and Allison are forced to work together. Can they put aside their differences to save the company from ruin? Find out when you read In Fashion’s Web.

Click here to view sample pages online at Amazon.com. In Fashion's Web is available in both print and Kindle versions. 

Happy reading!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

My Take on the 49th Annual CMAs

CARRIE AND BRAD’S HOSTING: It felt like they needed more rehearsing. I thought they got off to a mildly (but not terribly) rocky start. I didn’t care for the whole ‘we’re canceling the Star Wars’ bit. I think it would have been funnier if they had just DONE the Star Wars bit instead of positioning it as if they were canceling. And I agree with the media that their jokes all night seemed to fall flat. Also, it looked like their was a glitch when Kasey Musgraves was getting ready to sing, and Carrie and Brad had to ad lib for a minute. No one would have known except that when they ran out of things to say, Carrie said, ‘Are they ready? Okay.’ She should have kept that to herself and no one would have been the wiser.

BIGGEST MOMENT FOR ME: When Luke Bryan won entertainer of the year. He totally deserved it. He’s had hit after hit this year; they just keep coming. And I love how he thanked his wife for letting him go on the road. That was so sweet and respectful.

BEST PERFORMANCE: Justin Timberlake with Chris Stapleton. They were so completely in sync, it was liked they practiced together for weeks. Also, it felt to me like they were really feeling each other. Their music blended completely naturally and rhythmically; it was THE event of the evening.

BEST WARDROBE: Kelsey Ballarini’s multicolored shorts set with the long back tail. The colors just really grabbed me. The outfit was very springy, and with winter approaching, those mixed floral colors were a welcome sight. And of course, she had the body for the outfit. It was perfectly tailored to her thin good looks.

BIGGEST FLUB: Jason Aldean’s microphone wasn’t turned up enough and he was being way overpowered by the instruments. It was really unfortunate, but once he started to sing, he couldn’t stop and say, ‘hey guys, could you higher my mike up a touch?’ He had to sing through it, and I felt like he was trying to shout as loud as he could. But he gave all in the performance so mega points given for effort.

MOST SURPRISING MOMENT: Brian Kelley of FGL looked like he had just gotten out of bed. I do like him in distressed jeans but I think that he and Tyler Hubbard should coordinate better. Tyler was always the one who looked casual and Brian always looked GQ, but last night it was the other way around. Tyler, who got married over the summer, looked like his wife is now dressing him; he had on the best outfit (navy blue leather shirt/jacket thingy and nice pants) I have EVER seen him in on stage. So I just thought they should have coordinated their look better. I didn’t personally care for Tyler’s man bun, but I will say that pulling his hair back away from his face really showed how beautiful his face was and these last couple of years I don’t think you could really see his handsomeness with his hair down, so that was a nice surprise. I would recommend sticking with a pony tail though rather than the man bun. I just didn’t think it was manly. But I like the shaved sides.

SECOND MOST SURPRISING MOMENT: Who in the heck is Chris Stapleton? One of the problems I have with radio today is that when a song comes on that I don’t know, they don’t tell me who the artist is so I don’t have the opportunity to internalize that information and recognize it the next time. Maybe Chris isn’t played on country radio. Maybe he’s played on blues stations. I don’t know. But while his music was very nice, I found myself saying, ‘who the heck is this guy?’ every time he won and ‘what rock have I been under all year?’

BEST SET DESIGN: Kacey Muscgraves’ was really imaginative. I think hers was the best. But Brad Paisley gave me a good laugh when the mascot of Brad Paisley came out. I thought he was really cute.

HANDSOMEST PERFORMER: Dierks Bentley is just full on good looking. He could probably roll out of bed and not shower for a few days and still look sexy. He GQ but also rugged.

BEST LEGS: Okay, this is not a real category, but you’ve got to give it to Reba. She just never gains an ounce and she has the best legs in the business. I would almost sell my soul to have her legs. Now Miranda on the other hand, you could tell she put on 5-10 pounds, but she didn’t look bad. In fact, if you hadn’t seen her at her absolute skinniest over the last couple of years, you wouldn’t even know she put a couple back on. And truly, she’s looked fantastic. I’m just saying.

WHO WAS MISSING: Kelly Clarkson and her husband, Hunter Hayes, Clint Black … and me. I would have liked to have been in the audience. Clint Black is working on a new CD so it would have been good exposure for him to be hobnobbing around the CMAs. And if the planners had planned it right, they should have had Clint Black as a presenter. People who are making a comeback, like Clint and Garth, should have been presenters.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Country Music Industry: It’s Time to Drop a Few Lyrics

Anyone who knows me knows I love my country music. But lately, I’ve been hearing too much repetition of the same lyrics; they’re being over-used,  and they ought to be faded out.

The first term we need to stop using is ‘wrecking ball’. I’m not suggesting that anyone reword their existing songs. When Eric Church says ‘I want to love you like a wrecking ball,’ I know exactly what he means. And when Blake Shelton says ‘wrecking ball dancing down the hallway’, I can see the girl knocking pictures off the wall and bouncing from one side to the other.

But the term has become a fad and I think country singers writing new songs should step away from fad terms like this one going forward.

The second term that needs to hit the road is ‘blowing up my phone.’ Every time someone wants to convey that their cell phone is ringing off the hook, they say someone is ‘blowing up their phone.’ Okay, we’ve got it. It sounded good the first couple of times, but now it is getting monotonous. Can we please move on?

And finally, the term boombox seems a little outdated. Why isn’t the younger generation singing about ‘turning up their iPods’, ‘blasting their iPods through the corner speaker’ or ‘singing along to their iPod’?

Then again, so many people have their songs right on their phones today, how do you work that visual into a song lyric?

In addition, I think we are full up on lyrics that convey the following:

-Guys picking up girls in trucks

-Girls in trucks turning up the radio

-Girls dancing on the back of trucks

-Guys saying to a girl ‘do you want to get out of here’

As a life-long listener of country music, here’s what I think stands the test of time:

Songs/stories that sound personal (“I drive your truck” by Lee Brice, “The Boys of Fall” by Kenny Chesney, “Southern Comfort Zone” by Brad Paisley, “I Wonder” by Kelly Pickler, “In Color” by Jamie Johnson, “Smoke Break” by Carrie Underwood). Of all country singers, I would have to say that Brad Paisley is, in my opinion, the best storyteller.

Songs that describe things in a way I have never heard before also interest me. Florida Georgia line is really good at that. I love, for example, “you melt me like ice in whiskey, those blue flame looks that you give me,” and “stars shining out through the indigo” … I’ve never thought of darkness as indigo before. Great visual.

So keep the great songs coming, everyone … but if we could just retire a few overused words I would be eternally grateful and would be more likely to download your music.

Thank you!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

The 'Pillars of the Earth' Absolutely Amazed Me

Ken Follett (@KMFollett) has always been one of my favorite authors. But recently, I developed an amazing new respect for his writing abilities, so much so that I'm afraid I could never even come close to being as good a writer as he is.

Of course, if I was able to quit my job and write novels full time, which is what I really want to do, I would have an office full of admins, fact checkers and historians to call on as well. And maybe some day I will.

Meanwhile, I picked up Pillars of the Earth at a tag sale and was absolutely floored that the man who wrote The Third Twin and The Man From St. Petersburg wrote this!!!

The historic facts are exceptional. I loved this book so much -- all 983 pages of it -- that today I went to the Norwalk Library and checked out World Without End -- the sequel to PotE -- which actually takes place 200 years later.

Pillars of the Earth takes place in the 1100s. The stories are heartwrenching. Agnes dies during childbirth and because the family is homeless and penniless, the father, knowing they can't feed the child, leaves the newborn on top on his mother's grave where it will either die of starvation or animals will kill it.

If you don't own a horse, you walk. You walk for days and days. The poor are served meals at the priories, which are like monastaries. Then they are allowed to sleep indoors on the floor of a large room. No one drinks water. Everyone, even small children -- drink watered down ale. Grownups with money drink more robust ale and wine.

Throughout this entire book, a cathedral is being made. The cathedral is so huge, and the labor is so manual, that it takes about 30 years to finish. Thomas the builder starts it, but when he is killed in a raid, his stepson Jack grows up to finish the job. The details of each brick and wall and arch were a little monotonous, but I just kept reminding myself about the knowledge in Ken Follett's brain and how amazed I was at the extent of it.

And I, of course, learned things about the 1100s I didn't know. Such as, there's no separation of church and state back then. The church practically runs the state. They own land and collect rent and won't hesitate to evict you it you fall behind on your payments. And soldiers don't get paid by the government like they do today. Back then, a knight had to put together his own team, and he was responsible for buying his own war horse, his own armor (of course), and supplying the same for his men, while paying them a weekly wage. How did a knight get paid? He pillaged! Then he sold what ever he took. If he didn't pillage, he made no money. I always thought they pillaged because they were mean and horrid creatures.

I would have thought that that book would have taken Follett 10 years at least to write. It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of book -- the kind you say whew, I did it. I can die and go to heaven now. But it actually only took him three years. And he turned around and wrote a 1,000 page sequel!!! And he's still writing 1,000-page books today. He just finished a trilogy of them.

In any case, if you're a reader who loves fiction but also loves history, and isn't afraid of 1,000 pages, this is a good book for you. Enjoy the read and the ride!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

The Night I Slept on the Ground in New York City

Last night, I was with a group of friends enjoying an evening out. When the conversation turned to interesting memories of times in New York city, this one of mine came to mind.

I was 17 years old and on my way to a Led Zeppelin concert at Madison Square Garden with 5 of my friends. The year was 1975. The group came on 45 minutes late so they announced that they would play 45 late to make up for it.

The concert was phenomenal, of course, but I knew right away it would put us dangerously close to missing the last train at Grand Central Station that would take us back to Connecticut, but we figured we would just walk fast. Well, apparently we didn’t walk fast enough. We arrived right at 1:30 a.m., and the doors were already locked.

We didn’t know what to do, but someone told us we could get a train from Penn Station at 3:05 a.m., so we all trudged the eight blocks back to 34^th Street and waited. Unfortunately, the conductors wouldn’t take our Metro North tickets and wanted us to pay for new tickets. Well, we didn’t have the money for new tickets so we turned around and trudged back to Grand Central Station again.

Fortunately, it was July, and a dry day, so we plopped down on the sidewalk in front of the 42^nd and Lexington Street entrance to Grand Central, where the brown doors – six of them – were angled out facing the street.

We could see we weren’t the only ones who had missed the last train. Underneath the Park Avenue overpass, there were about 10 or 15 more teens on both sides of the street. One in particular that I remember across from us was a girl with long blonde hair in white denim overalls. She stood out because of the brightness of her hair and outfit. Seven years later I would be telling this story at work and a gal that I worked with whose name also happens to be Lynn said that she was the girl in the white overalls!! Such a small world.

So we slept for a couple of hours, and at 5:30, were starting to wake up to take the first train home when a large, plump police officer came by and said, “All right everybody up and empty your pockets.”

Apparently, he could smell pot. It was coming from two boys that were near us but not with us. He made all of us get up just the same. One of my friends had 2 joints in a baggie. He crushed them with his feet. Another had a small pipe and he confiscated it. He threatened to arrest us all but didn’t. Then he said, “I may not be able to stop you from smoking pot, but you’ll never smoke in this town again.”

It was all we could do not to laugh. It sounded like he was trying to act tough but he wasn’t succeeding. Was he imitating Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry? Or some other famous movie star? It was such a bad attempt, it was hard to tell.

Between the amazing concert, sleeping on the street and our run-in with the police, it was a night none of us will ever forget.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

I Have Mad Respect for the Old TV Show The Waltons

I never watched The Waltons when it was on the air from 1971 to 1981. But now that the reruns are on the Hallmark Channel, which I love watching, I can’t wait to get home at night to watch more episodes.I was surprised to see that the show touches on many serious issues and brings history to life.

At first, the large wholesome family was a nice departure from the horrors in the daily news and on other shows like Law and Order, Criminal Minds and CSI. I love all those crime shows, but I just got so tired of the blood and the gore of it all. The Waltons became my escape.

I started watching The Waltons and it was refreshing, with their yes sirs and yes ma’ams and brothers and sisters who are kind to each other. And the fresh air and countryside are a nice departure from the city I’m used to.

Created by Earl Hamner, Jr., the story and the location – Walton’s Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia – are completely fictional, but the show is based on a book he wrote called Spencer’s Mountain about a family in rural Virginia. There’s one General Store, a couple of spinster sisters who make daddy’s moonshine recipe behind closed doors.

The time period covers the Great Depression and World War II. I never expected the subject matter to be so important or progressive. All four Walton sons join the Army or Navy. 

Maryellen’s husband is killed in Pearl Harbor. John-Boy Walton is shot down over Germany but recovers. Jason helps liberate France. And Ben Walton is captured by the Japanese and becomes a prisoner of war. Meanwhile, a black neighbor is turned away at a restaurant. The issues they cover on the show are amazingly progressive and painful.

As I’m writing this, Ben has made an American flag out of clothing stolen from the Japanese’ laundry, which the POWs have to wash daily. He hangs it on the flagpole where the Japanese flag belongs, and ends up in solitary confinement as punishment. “I don’t care, it was worth it!” he says stubbornly as he’s thrown in the brig.

You see women going to work as Rosy Riveters in the factories. And the food and gas are bought with rationing stamps. It really brings to life the things that our grandparents went through and that we can only imagine. I think it’s better than history books in teaching kids about the past and I think they ought to have to watch it in school.

As I wait until tomorrow to find out whether Ben gets out of the Japanese concentration camp alive I know what’s coming – the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I can’t wait until this war is over and The Waltons can all be together again.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

I Bleed Country Music

I've loved country music since I was at least 12. That's when John Denver was very popular. His songs Take Me Home Country Roads and Rocky Mountain High were on the radio, and my mother had an 8-track of of one of his albums. I remember when I turned 16 I loved buying albums and I bought two of his, including his Greatest Hits. And we used to sing Sunshine on My Shoulders at church, during the folk mass.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high

That was the same time that Glen Campbell was making guest appearances on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on television. After a year, he got his own show, the Glen Campbell show. At school, we had the Scholastic Book of the Month club, and in 8th grade, I remember I bought Glen Campbell's biography. Oh how I cried when he hit rock bottom in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and sold his guitar for $25.

Around the same time, we had this neighbor Frank who was a truck driver, and he had about 30 or 40 country albums, what he called "truck-driving music," guys like Red Sovine, and I used to love to listen to it. Sometimes, I would go over there when his daughters, my friends Ronnie and Eva, weren't home. I would say, "Frank, can I listen to your records?" and he'd let me in. I'd sit on the floor of his living room and play record after record, while he was downstairs in the basement with his tools and his workbench.

I don't remember any of the songs or the singers now, except for ol' Red, but I remember they really captured my heart.

As I got older, I continued to enjoy country music. In the 90s I was very into the women of country -- Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Leann Womack, Jo Dee Messina, Leanne Rhimes, the Dixie Chicks.

The first time I ever got up and sang in public was at my Aunt Maymee's nursing home -- I sang Crazy by Patsy Cline. A few years later when I started going around the karaoke circuit, Crazy was part of my repertoire.

Today, I'm privileged to enjoy country radio over the Internet. I can listen to our local Nash FM, 94.7, out of Newark, or I can listen to the Big 98, WSIX, out of Nashville, or even Camel Country 108 out of Phoenix. I fell in love with Camel Country 108 when my mom was sick. One day I was driving her car to the hospital when I turned on the radio and was surprised to hear that my mother had the dial tuned to a country station. I listened for several months after I got home before I discovered WSIX in Nashville, the heart of country music, with Bobby Bones and Amy Page. I hope to meet them one day!

And of course, I can't forget CMT, country.com and YouTube, with all the videos I could ever want.

It's amazing how country music has changed. Some of the songs on the radio, like Dan and Shea's Nothing Like You and (hottie) Michael Ray's Kiss You in the Morning don't sound like country to me at all. But then I hear people like Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Carrie Underwood and Florida Georgia Line, and I feel good about where country music is going.

You'd think that someone who bleeds country music has been to Nashville six times over. Ironically. I've never been any farther than waiting at the airport for a connection flight. But visiting Nashville is definitely my dream and I hope to get their soon.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Congratulations to Country Singer Brantley Gilbert and His New Bride

Brantley Gilbert probably woke up on his wedding day last week and immediately thought, "bring it on!" In case you are a reader who is not 'countrified', those three words are pivotal to Gilbert's current smash hit, 'One Hell of an Amen.'

Gilbert, who has a voice I like to call Southern Whisper, married Amy Cochran, his long-time girlfriend at his Georgia home, according to E! online. Cochran inspired many of Gilbert's songs, including "More Than Miles" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do."

The relationship hasn't always been upbeat, Gilbert recalled. In a previous interview with E, Gilbert said he met Cochran 10 years ago in church, but the relationship was on and off for five years. "I made some poor decisions which led to break up," he told E. They broke up for five years, but then they got back together.

"She's been in my soul since the day I met her...she has and will continue to inspire song after song in my life," Gilbert according to E.

Gilbert's newest album, Halfway to Heaven, has launched three hits so far: Bottom's Up, Small Town Throwdown and his latest single, One Hell of an Amen.

The latter song, a very catchy tune, is a story about 'fighting the good fight', Gilbert said in a video on his website. "Any time you go out fighting for your life or fighting for your country, that's one hell of an amen."

Gilbert will be touring throughout the U.S. during summer, then steps down in Canada in September and October.

Connect with Gilbert on Facebook and Twitter.

My congratulations go out to the happy couple.

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.