Friday, December 28, 2007

Judi Moreo and the Achieve Your Dreams Virtual Book Tour '08


With 2007 behind us and 2008 on the horizon, it’s time to reflect on how we want the rest of our journey here on earth to go. Do we settle for letting life happen or do we take steps toward achieving our dreams? Do we think about it or do we DO it?

If you have watched the movie, “The Secret”, then you understand the power of affirmative thinking = affirmative action. Are you taking those steps in the right direction to enjoy life at its fullest whether it’s through financial success, relationship bliss or perfect health?

On January 1, 2008, Judi Moreo, author of the You Are More Than Enough Achievement Journal (Stephens Press, Dec. '07), will embark on a virtual book tour throughout the blogosphere, but it will involve YOU. She wants YOU to be the star in a campaign to let the world know how you are taking those steps in realizing your dreams.

If you would like to become involved in her ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘08, here is how it works:

1. Repeat this passage from her book: “Every step I take brings me closer to the realization of my dreams” until you understand its powerful message.

2. Think about what steps you are taking to achieve your dreams and write about it. Your entry can be as long or as short as you’d like.

3. Post your message on your blog and give us the link so that we can post it on Judi's tour page at http://www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/ (her tour page goes live tomorrow). Email us with your link at thewriterslife(at)yahoo.com.

4. When we receive your link, we will put it on our daily rounds of promotions, thus bringing you instant traffic, so get those links to us soon!

5. We only ask that you include the passage above before your blog post so that people will understand what you are doing.

6. We also ask that you include a jpeg copy of Judi’s book, “You Are More Than Enough Achievement Journal”, in your blog post. You can find her book cover at http://tinyurl.com/3cqa46 and link it to http://tinyurl.com/ywf67x

7. All participants will be listed at Judi’s tour page at http://www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/ when they come in, stating the date on which their blog post will appear and will remain there indefinitely.

That’s all there is to it! Hurry before time runs out. Become involved in a nationwide campaign to bring in 2008 with a bang and help others realize that dreams are not something that happens; dreams are something that YOU make happen. Let's make 2008 the year when you realize your dreams and make them happen. Share your stories and become involved in Judi Moreo's "Achieving Your Dreams Virtual Book Tour '08" where YOU are the star!

Judi's virtual book tour will be highly publicized including press releases and other promotions. Let us know what steps you are taking to achieve success and be read by thousands of Internet users!

Thank you,

Cheryl C. Malandrinos, Tour Coordinator
Pump Up Your Book Promotion
http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Radio interview with Enchanted Self Magazine

Check out my Internet radio interview with Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein and Enchanted Self Magazine. In this interview, Dr. Barbara and I chatted about some of the things I am passionate about.

You'll find the interview here: http://www.ladybuglive.com/enchanted.htm Just click on my name in Issue #11 of Passionate Lives.

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Latest article now online

My latest article is now available at the Writer2Writer website. If You Over Commit, You Won't Submit: Learning to Say "No" shows writers how they can learn to say "no" during the busy holiday season so they can stick to their writing schedules.

You'll find this article here: http://writer2writer.com/if-you-over-commit.htm

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January Events at The Book Connection

Here's what's going on at my blog, The Book Connection in January:

Wednesday, January 2, 2008 - Screenwriter and author Carole Whang Schutter starts off the month to talk about the movie and novel, September Dawn. The DVD is coming out in January, so come read what it's all about.*

Friday, January 4, 2008 - Author Anita Hackley-Lambert is our guest blogger. She will share why she decided to write about a pioneer of civil justice in F.H.M. Murray: First Biography of a Forgotten Pioneer for Civil Justice.*

Monday, January 8, 2008 - Amanda Young stops by to discuss her autobiography of child abuse and domestic violence titled, Silent Prisoner.*

Tuesday, January 9, 2008 - Judy Gregerson, author of the young adult novel Bad Girls Club, drops in to discuss this shocking and gripping must read.*

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - Historical romance author Hazel Statham pays us a visit to talk about her latest release.*

Thursday, January 17, 2008 - Ex-White House aide Kathleen Willey comes to The Book Connection to talk about her book, Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton. *

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - Author Tom Kuiper takes the floor to tell us what the most surprising thing is that he found out while researching his book of Hillary Clinton quotes, I've Always Been a Yankees Fan: Hillary Clinton in Her Own Words. This book includes a foreword by Dick Morris.*

The Book Connection....where we connect readers and writers. Check it out at http://www.thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/

* Virtual book tour brought to you by:

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Are TV Writers Off the Hook for Realistic Storylines?

As a writer, I often hear the advice of how important it is to create realistic characters and storylines. You are never supposed to take the easy way out and leave the reader feeling disappointed. It seems some TV writers are not held up to the same standards.

Several months ago I got back into one of my favorite soap operas from my youth--One Life to Live. I got hooked on the storyline of John McBain and Marty Saybrook--wondering if they would ever get together despite Marty still mourning the loss of her husband, Patrick, and the challenges that John has with emotions and dating women. It finally looked like they had a shot. They began sharing special moments together and spent one night in a hotel room in Louisiana.

But, happy endings are boring, as are happy couples, so the morning after their night of passion, Marty is abducted. Amazingly, before John and Marty sleep together, she bares the secret she's been carrying--Patrick was murdered. So, when Marty turns up missing and John finds out that Cole has been taken too, John is easily able to figure out that the past has come back to haunt them.

Now, if the coincidences ended there, I might have been okay with that. But...

* John elicits the help of Ramsey--an FBI agent from John's past--who just happens to know the man John thinks is responsible for Marty and Cole's disapperance

* Ramsey--who was already working with John to find John's sister-in-law (Marcie) who is on the run with her adopted son, Tommy--just happens to know the last location of the guy John wants to find

* Ramsey is able to drop his job of hunting for Marcie in order to help John track down this guy in Ireland who might have taken Marty and Cole. I wonder if the real FBI works that way? If it does, then that certainly explains a lot about how ineffective one organization can be.

* Both men make it to Ireland in record time and find where Marty and Cole are being held very quickly

The next few things that happen I can buy: on the airplane to Ireland, John discovers a chip that Patrick hid in a poetry book (he took it from Marty and Cole's apartment after it was ransacked) which holds the information the guy who took Marty and Cole wants; John and Ramsey are overpowered when they try to rescue Marty and Cole, but John makes a deal with Simon (bad guy) to give him the chip in exchange for Marty and Cole's safe return; Ramsey--who has his own agenda--goes after the van carrying Marty, Cole, and Simon and shoots a tire, so the driver loses control and the van careens off a cliff.

Here is where reality takes a nose dive again:

* The van does several flips and lands on its side. Marty is the only person John finds in the van and he assumes Cole has been thrown. But since Cole was in the back of the van and the windows were closed, how did he fly out? John had to pry a door open to get to Marty, so how was Cole not in the van?

* Simon is nowhere to be found. I guess we could assume he jumped, but John and Ramsey would probably have seen him. And with the injuries he would have sustained in the accident, it's not like he is running anywhere.

* There is talk that the actress who originally played Marty Saybrook might return. Well, little problem--Marty just got blown up in the van because she sent John out to find Cole--who once again had been somehow thrown from a closed van. While John is tending to Cole's injuries, a spark ignites the leaking gas tank and the van blows up. So, how is Marty going to return at all? I guess she could be a ghost like Spencer Truman was for a while. But I can't imagine them recasting the part just for Marty to be a ghost. So, are we to believe that Marty, who was trapped under a heavy box, with numerous injuries--including two broken legs--slithered out on her own and just wasn't found by John or Cole? I really can't wait to hear what they are going to do with this one.

I can appreciate a good story and lots of conflict as much as the next reader/viewer, but I don't like the idea that I have to be careful not to take the easy way out in my stories, but TV writers can sacrifice believability and common sense in order to get to where they want the story to be.

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