First Dee-Dee, now John. It's a bad year for bass players. So we better organize a watch and make sure no more die this year. We'll need volunteers to watch over Geddy Lee, Flea, Michael Anthony and Tina Weymouth.

I've already called Paul McCartney, don't even think about it.

I realize opponents to the vouchers have argued that the program might leave public schools at a disadvantage, but I can't help but wonder if public schools will eventually benefit from this decision. Knowing now that parents have a wider range of options concerning their children's education, school districts may see this as an incentive to improve the quality of public school education and convince parents to send their children to public school. Of course, if monkeyshines like this Pledge of Allegiance situation continue, the public schools may find their fanbase dwindling.

I know, where are the public schools supposed to get the money to improve their situations without having to raise taxes? I'm still trying to figure out that part. We would have to hold one hell of a bake sale. (insert pot brownie jokes here)

A story that could have been taken from the daily news.
The murder of a doctor who worked at a clinic that provided
abortions within the bounds of the law. The pro-life group
and the pro-choice group vie for media attention while the
wheels of justice are set in motion to catch a killer.

The story is balanced in the selection of characters one
meets--the very young and the very old, lives tied together
by common beliefs and values. A Catholic priest and an old
woman, a widow and a teenage girl, and many others carry the
story along as they go about the business of living. They
share their fears and beliefs, hopes and dreams, with
unexpected results.

The author has dealt honestly and well with a subject that
can and often does arouse strong emotions and sometimes,
violence.

If you like human drama, this story is sure to satisfy.
Open your heart, and read!

Speaking of great reads, I am now three reviews behind. In addition to Exile and Six Strokes Under, I recently finished a romance called More Than a Garden by Dorothy Compton, which will be published by Awe-Struck E-Books later this year. Garden is probably the first romance story I have read to feature over-50 love interests. Senior citizens are no strangers to the mystery genre, but this story is part of an imprint called "Silver Linings Romance," and it was a sweet story. Look for a review on the Christian Book Review blog soon.

A member of the Electronically Published Internet Connection (EPIC) wrote to warn us of this, as recently she lost control of her own domain. Her domain name had expired without her knowledge, and the registrar did not remind her to renew. When she tried to renew her domain, she discovered that somebody else had bought it the day it expired! What makes this story frightening is that the author's domain was her name. Now some stranger has control of her domain.

I've heard from another author that there are "domain predators" out there who will pounce on an available domain before the owner can renew. Many of these domains are rerouted to pornographic websites. This actually happened to mystery author Dianne Day, who one day went to check on her website and found something very different.

I just discovered kathrynlively.com expired last week, and I was not notified! Luckily I was able to renew it for another two years, and I also renewed livelywriter.com, which is the domain I use for FrancisIsidore.

I never think to check on things like this, and I imagine other people are too wrapped up in other business to worry about their website domains. Check your expiration dates before somebody else does.

Amy's site also lists a page displaying the current bestselling Catholic books. Little Flowers is not listed, but you know what? You can change that! March right over to your local Catholic bookshop right now and request, no, demand that they stock my book. Picket the storefront. Start a petition. Ah, I'm going back to bed.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, though. St. Augustine Catholic called me yesterday about an article. Stay tuned.

Kevin Paglia (a CWA member) is the author of Exile, a work of Christian science fiction. Exile is set in a future where belief in God is a crime punishable by imprisonment and eventually death, and the story's hero is a young man who reluctantly comes to accept Christ through aiding those persecuted for their beliefs. Overall, I thought it was a good story, spoiled perhaps by numerous typographical errors. I'll have a more detailed review on my Christian Book Review blog.

The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl is a fun, clean mystery set in the backdrop of a Michigan chocolate shop. Amateur sleuth Lee McKinney seeks to solve the murder of a local attorney felled by a poisoned truffle. I have a more detailed review at my Mystery Women website.

Lastly, I just finished Six Strokes Under, a debut mystery by Roberta Isleib which is set in the world of women's professional golf. This one I enjoyed; it appears Isleib will have a very successful series with her amateur sleuth, a woman who aspires to play on the LPGA tour. A detailed review will appear on the Mystery Women site within the week.

Moving on: I stole this idea from Skittish. Go to Google, type in your first name and "is" (e.g. "Kathryn is"), and watch the fun enfold in a series of interesting search results!

Why? There are worse things one could be doing on the Internet.

• Kathryn is the author of more than seventy books. (I wish)
  
• Kathryn is a writer and an anthologist. (I'm sensing a trend here.)
  
• Kathryn is an astronaut.
  
• Kathryn is a musician who plays the Northumbrian smallpipes.
  
• Kathryn is a city in North Dakota.
  

I highly recommend the film Minority Report if you are looking for a good science fiction movie. Part of the movie was filmed in Gloucester, Virginia, which is not far from where I am. We used to hear reports of Cruise and Spielberg sightings around the Hampton Roads area at the time of filming.

Anyway, it's a good movie, though I think it should be retitled A Salute to Product Placement. You'll see why.

Tom Cruise was raised Catholic. In fact, he had entered seminary before deciding to become an actor. Now he is involved in "$cientology." Please pray for him.

Happy 99th birthday, Al Hirschfeld! I have always loved Al's drawings, and I especially like trying to find all the hidden "Ninas". Here is a Hirschfeld drawing of the Beatles, and another one depicting the Abbey Road cover. Check out his entire Beatles series.

My favorite Hirschfeld drawing, however, is not on his website. Several years ago Brent Spiner commissioned a drawing of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast. I'd love to have a print of that one.

Until I am able to hit the Billboard Hot 100, I will have to be content uploading FrancisIsidore titles to Content Reserve, a distributor of e-books. So far a few online bookstores have picked up Little Flowers:

KBS Books - PDF Format

KBS Books - MS Reader Format

eBooks.com

WHSmith Online

I just uploaded Murder Most Trivial, so hopefully vendors will pick up on that one, too.

Hey, remember tan M&M's? We had them for years, and one day they disappeared, just before the red and blue ones started showing up in bags. There used to be a website devoted to the conspiracy behind the removal of tan M&M's, but I can't seem to find it anymore.

Here's some more mindless candy trivia for you: I recently found out the deal behind Van Halen's boycott of brown M&M's. It's an interesting read.

See for yourself. Here is the proposed HTML code for the proposed St. Blog's Parish webring:

After submitting the form, you should receive the code for the above webring in your e-mail. All you have to do is put the code somewhere in the template of your blog. Simple. Best of all, there is no collection plate, and I won't fuss too much if you want to alter the code to suit your blog.

I have managed a number of webrings in my day, and currently I maintain the ring for members of the Catholic Writers Association. They are all truly wonderful people, but some have yet to grasp the concept of a webring. A webring is a special HTML code that, when placed on a specific website, will link said website to a number of other similar websites. In a perfect world, a web surfer can browse numerous sites by clicking on the ring code without hitting a dead end.

There are about 30 sites in the CWA ring now. The majority of the ring's members had no trouble implementing the code, but occasionally I'll run into some trouble.

Once I sent an applicant the ring code, and I received a reply that said, "What do I do with this?" I explained that in order to join the webring he had to put the ring code on his website. He replied that he did not have a website! I have also been asked why I just could not put the code on the person's page myself!

My theory is that some people have it in their heads that a webring is just a directory or a club - sign up and you are done. I imagine others think if they sign up for a webring the code will automatically appear on their websites. No, there is more to it than that, and it is really not that complicated.

Having said this, I am pondering the masochistic idea of starting up another webring...this one for Catholic bloggers. There are webrings for New York bloggers, Beltway bloggers, and even left-handed bloggers. Why not have a St. Blog's ring? Would anybody join? I can certainly help with code implementation if there is a problem.

I'm working on a list to send now. Selecting the music was difficult; I could have just picked ten Beatles albums, but I wanted some diversity for this list. The commentary for the article is slow in coming. Anyway, here are my ten:

• The Beatles - The Beatles (aka "The White Album")
  
• All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
  
• Legend - Bob Marley and the Wailers
  
• A Decade of Steely Dan - Steely Dan
  
• Sand in the Vaseline - Talking Heads
  
• More Songs About Love and Hate - The Godfathers
  
• Chronicle, Vol. 1 - Creedence Clearwater Revival
  
• Odelay - Beck
  
• Moving Pictures - Rush
  
• Blackfoot Strikes - Blackfoot
  

"Desert Islands DVDs" is a completely different dilemma!

Writers do not like to make errors, especially when a potential publishing contract is at stake. I also know from experience that writers do not like to be reminded of their mistakes. This is why my husband refuses to proofread my work.

I imagine the presence of Nihil Obstat will be a good thing. I, for one, will be motivated to check my posts more carefully before I publish them. Then again, if my spelling and grammar are impeccable I will not be mentioned on Nihil Obstat's blog. Therefore, I could lose potential hits to this blog. Oh, dear.

No flames, please, it's a short list. You should see Malc's epic list of dream women.

Speaking of Little Flowers, the book is now officially for sale at Walmart.com! I don't know if this means one can eventually find the book in an actual WalMart, but it's nice to dream. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to buy my book, a bag of Cheetos and an economy-sized bottle of Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo all from one place? There's a fun weekend.

Sometimes when Chris has trouble writing the first sentence of his story, he'll start in the middle of the action and work his way back. I work differently: with the first draft of the manuscript I'm editing now I plotted the outline and wrote a first sentence for each chapter. When I got to each chapter in the story the narrative was already started, and seeing the sentence helped me to build the story. Now, the sentences written in advance will not necessarily be the first sentences in the final draft, but seeing the words on paper was enough for me to continue writing.

As the failure of many dot-coms showed us, it's not brand recognition that wins in the end but long-term brand loyalty. Being deaf to what our customers are saying is the quickest route to failure.

This is very true. The company for whom I work has stressed the importance of brand recognition for the past three years, but I can't say whether or not that was at the expense of garnering consumer loyalty to the brand. We have strived to make our sites very user-friendly and we have achieved customer retention. It still means very little in an ad recession, however. Macromedia's success, the author theorizes, can be attributed to the implementation of these weblogs run by their community managers. The weblogs add a personal touch to the company, and they offer the impression that these people are more accessible than the standard techincal support. I like the idea of weblogs because they allow for faster uploads. I don't have to wade through umpteen folders on some FTP client to post my information.

These Macromedia blogs are a good idea, and since I am trying to learn Dreamweaver and Flash I may just frequent them myself for some tips. I wonder, though, whether or not the blog tool could be applied to the sites in my company, and whether or not it would affect brand loyalty for the better. Hmmm....

Padre Pio was canonized today. Some, I gather, feel this was a long time coming. Prof. Tinkler offers his personal account of the ceremony at his blog. I'd love to see a canonization ceremony up close myself one day; there is currently a cause open to canonize a Virginia seminarian, and our present Pope likes to canonize saints in their country of birth. How nice it would be if we could get JPII over here for that. I'd take him to Pierce's Pitt BBQ afterward.

Yes, "Pitt" is spelled correctly in this case. Legend has it that when Doc Pierce was preparing to open his restaurant, he hired a man to paint the sign. The painter misspelled 'pit', and when Doc complained the painter said, "That's how I spell 'pit'. Take it or leave it."

Doc paid for the sign, and to this day it remains uncorrected. Of course, why Doc didn't just buy a can of white paint and blot out the extra 'T' is a mystery.

I have a few books of the "PHP for Dummies" variety, but I would feel better if I could take an actual course to learn this. I've taken online classes with the HTML Writers Guild before, and I recommend them for beginners to HTML and graphic software. I notice they have a PHP class for beginners, so I might just do that. Problem is, I've let my membership to the HWG lapse, so I will probably have to pay full price.

One of FrancisIsidore's authors is a big Stephen King fan. Wonder what Pete would have to say about Steve Lightfoot's theory that King was behind John Lennon's murder.

Both are beautiful websites, but I can't take credit for the design. The sites were already designed and live when I entered the scene, but the people who were going to take care of the site are no longer able to do so. Enter Lively. Let's all take a moment to pray I don't screw up anything.

This description of the book comes directly from the website. I've read the book a number of times while formatting it into various e-incarnations. It is a very well-written, thought-provoking collection of writings by women such as Ronda Chervin, Kimberly Hahn, and others.

The Gift of Femininity is a treasury of collected testimonies shared by some of the preeminent Catholic women leaders of our day. This book and the lives it highlights is a celebration, as the editor Christine Anne Mugridge suggests, of the fruitful return of the pontificate of John Paul II in the Church and society. It is likewise a study of the rebirth of the authentic theology of woman.

As is noted in the historical book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope:

It is very significant that the authentic theology of woman is being reborn. The spiritual beauty, the particular genius of women is being rediscovered. The bases for the consolidation of the position of women in life, not only family life but also social and cultural life, are being redefined (cf. p.217).

This collective has been prepared to offer the reader the enjoyable opportunity to enter into the hearts and minds of twelve very gifted women. To understand not only how they became Catholic, for many are converts, but more importantly, why they remained Catholic. It is ultimately, an exploration of the struggle both personal and communal which all women face when they attempt to discover their gifts and talents and share them as they blossom forth in The Gift of Femininity.

Somebody who is definitely not a stoner (at least I don't think he is) is Tim Bete, a humor columnist who is making quite a name for himself. His column appears on various Internet magazines and parenting portals, and recently his work has been picked up by the Christian Science Monitor. Imagine Dave Barry with more kids, toned down just a tad, and Catholic (is Dave Catholic?). Tim's a member of the CWA and directs the annual Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop at the University of Dayton. He recently wrote to tell me about being picked up by the CSM, but he still distributes his column through his mailing list.

Ted Nugent Talks That Way Even When Buying Socks

SAGINAW, MI—According to JC Penney men's-department sources, rocker Ted Nugent talks that way even when buying socks. "What color socks do I want? I want every damn color, plus a whole bunch of colors that don't even exist," Nugent told sales associate Jonathan Alexander. "Life is too short, man. Whether it's socks or shoes or whatever, you gotta bite into life like it's a great big ol' hunk of bison. Otherwise, you wake up and suddenly—poof—you're fat and old, and you never had any friggin' fun. And if you're not having fun, you may as well move to Iraq or Cuba or some other hellhole where there ain't no good times to be had." Nugent added that that's the way he sees it, and that if you don't like it, you can kiss his lily-white ass.

I've seen the Nuge twice in concert, and he does talk that way. What The Onion doesn't tell you, though, is that Ted likes to use the 'F' word, too, usually in front of words like "PETA" and "Clinton."

St. Anthony's prayerful intercession is often called upon when items are lost. I'll admit at times I've asked him to pray that Malc finds his wallet. According to the Patron Saints Index, St. Anthony is also the patron saint of, among other things, mail. I suppose this ties in with the lost items thing. Considering this, I suppose it would not be a bad idea to declare St. Anthony the patron saint of writers who are constantly mailing queries to publishers and agents and hoping to find publication. Remind me to e-mail the Vatican.

Do you stay inside one character's noggin at all times? I see a lot of disagreement on POV in writers' magazines, etc. I had learned that it was dogma that you stick to one POV.

POV has always been a matter of debate in writing circles, and I am only qualified to tell my own story. Little Flowers was written in the third person omniscient; the story was told from several points of view. This was done because I had no other choice - different chapters focused upon different characters and how their actions contributed to the whole of the story.

The one tricky thing to writing in this style is not to hop between characters in the same scene...that can confuse and aggravate readers to the point that they will say some not-so-nice things about your book on Amazon.com. I will admit I had slipped a bit during the writing of Little Flowers and broke this self-imposed rule. Of all the comments I have received about my book, I think the constant shifting of POV was the only complaint.

For Murder Most Trivial I took a different track: third person limited omniscient. To limit the confusion of multiple POV, I limited this privilege to the two main characters, amateur sleuth Jason and his father. Saints Preserve Us is written in similar fashion, and I find that the action in both stories tend to run more smoothly. I also feel that since both books are mysteries, it is better to limit the POV in order to enchance the mysterious aspects.

Right now, in the midst of querying SPU to agents and publishers, I am working on the second draft of yet another mystery novel - tentatively titled Pithed. This book is unrelated to any others I have written, and the amateur sleuth is a middle-aged high school teacher nearing retirement. The idea for this story was given to me by my father, (you guessed it) a retired high school teacher and administrator. For this story, I went with the first person narrative. This is not a POV I use often, so it is going to take some polishing before I even think of sending it out to publishers. I understand there are some publishers who will not even consider first person narratives. I could not being to think why they would be deterred from reading and publishing such a story.

The last time I wrote a novel-length work in first person was for a collaborative project. A former professor at JU, Robert Stanton, invited me to write a "he said/she said" type of horror. He had intended for the work to be horror/suspense, but I think it turned out a bit milder than he would have liked. At any rate, the work has not been published and I doubt it ever will; it is very short and needs much more characterization. I just don't have the time to devote to it right now.

Anyway, once Pithed looks reasonably like a novel I would not throw across the room, I'll start the first draft of my next project. Tomorrow I'll sleep. Always tomorrow.

The first query letter was sent out via e-mail last night around 10:30 PM. I had started writing the thing earlier that day, around five. Writing the novel was less nerve-wracking.

Today more will be sent via e-mail and regular mail, depending on the publisher's/agent's preferences. Ever since the post-9/11 mail anthrax scare I have noticed more people would prefer an electronic query, and this does not necessarily have many advantages over snail mail. True, one doesn't have to worry about increased postage, but e-mails can be lost and ignored just as easily as letters. Those who wish to see sample chapters along with the query may or not want e-mail attachments...next thing you know I have to format my book six different ways to appease seven different agents. In the time that takes, I could write another book.

A good query letter also needs a certain punch...a good first sentence must hook the reader and make him/her want to read the book it describes. I could have written Ulysses, but if I can't convince a publisher to read it with a simple letter then I'm screwed.

These days I not only have to worry about correctly wording a query, but some people want to see a proposed marketing plan in addition to your work. Sometimes I wonder if one's actual writing skill is a non-issue these days in the publishing world. Now I have to be a writer and salesman.

So consider this post my personal publication scoreboard: I'll add to it as I send and receive letters. Actual publisher and agent names will not be used so as not to tick anybody off, but I'm sure you will have fun guessing all the initials.

Now, the Monday Mission:

1. Do you have a side of the bed on which you prefer to sleep? Do you sleep on that side even when traveling or does it matter? I sleep on the right, Malc on the left, ever since we were married. I don't how exactly it happened that way, it just did. No fights, no coin flips, I just crawled to the right. Sounds prophetic in a way, since Malc tends to lean more toward the Left than I do.

2. What is your favorite "Theme Park?" How come and when was the last time you were there? I love Busch Gardens Williamsburg; it's an hour's drive away and since my father-in-law is a retired A-B employee we get free tickets for the rest of his life! Yay! I was last there for HallowScream, when the opened the park after hours.

3. What is your most and least favorite thing about staying in hotels? Favorite: cable! Least favorite: sometimes they try to stick us in a smoking room even though we always reserve non-smoking.

4. Did you ever take family vacations that required looooooong car rides? Were siblings involved ("Stop touching me! Don't cross this line!)? Were the trips just unbearable or did you make up some "car ride games" to pass the time? These were the happiest memories of my life. My parents were teachers, so we had whole summers off for years. When we were young we enjoyed driving trips all over the US: to and from the Grand Canyon, to and from Mt. Rushmore, and once to and from ALASKA (we were from Jacksonville, FL!) Mom loaded us with Archie comics and playing cards to pass the time when the scenery got too boring.

5. With all the drilled peep-holes and spy-cams we hear about on the news, have you ever felt self-conscious about taking off your clothes in a hotel bathroom? Has wondering if someone was on the other side of that mirror on the wall above the dresser made you think twice about "gettin' busy?" Somebody really has to be pressed for entertainment to want to see me nekkid.

6. Describe the most romantic vacation you have ever taken or if that does not apply ;) (), tell me about the worst vacation you have ever taken. Malc and I once left for a spontaneous getaway weekend in Charleston, SC. He was feeling particularly stressed from grad school so we took off without making reservations. We arrived after midnight and the only room available in the only downtown hotel we could afford had twin beds. We thought they meant two full-size beds, but it turned they were small twins, too small to fit two people in one. We took the room anyway. Best night's sleep I've had since I got married.

7. (continued) After a full tummy and four days of sleep, I'd say I've never felt better. Since it is nearly noon, how about you come over and we'll hang out on the deck. I have a pool, hot tub and lotsa eats and drink. But feel free to bring whatever else you think we need! How should we spend this fine afternoon at the pool? Margaritas!

BONUS: Have you got it, do you get it, if so, how often? Paul's getting married tomorrow. Only one woman's getting it and it's not me. :-(

Sue William Silverman sent me an article she wrote for The Writer's Chronicle, official publication of the Associated Writing Programs organization. "Confessional & (Finally) Proud of It" concerns Sue's experience in writing and marketing her memoirs. You can read the article online at her website.

Sue won the AWP's award for creative nonfiction a few years ago with her book Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You, a memoir detailing years of child abuse at the hands of her father; the book was originally published by the University of Georgia Press and is now available in paperback. It arrived at my desk one day at the UGA library; I was in charge of acquiring all UGA Press titles for the library and distributing them to their proper branches, but this one was a bit late in getting to its destination. Within two days, I not only had read the book but reviewed it for a website I maintained at the time (the site was eventually taken down and replaced with something else). I have the original review somewhere on one of a multitude of disks I keep at home, but there is a briefer version on Amazon.com. Never before had I experienced so many emotions simultaneously while reading a book: I would jump from sympathy to revulsion to anger and back with each turn of the page. Terror read like a novel; Silverman's words were fluid and raw, almost stream of concious, and I imagine writing the book was therapy for her.

A few years after I found Sue's work, Sue eventually found me. She enjoyed my review of her first book so much that she sent me a copy of her second book, Love Sick, which chronicled Sue's time in a special rehabilitation clinic to help control a sexual addiction brought on by her earlier abuse. That review I do have online, and I will reprint it here:

Love Sick -- Sue William Silverman

WW Norton & Co., 0393019578, $24,95

NON-FICTION/MEMOIR

For an addict, there is never enough satisifaction. There is only the hunger for more of what is craved, and the self-destructive path taken to appeasement. Sue William Silverman once thought appeasement could be had in Room 213 at the Rainbow Motel every Thursday afternoon through wordless, extramarital sexual encounters. It was through the help of a therapist who encouraged her to check into a monthlong in-house rehabilitation program that Silverman manages to halt years of sexual addiction and begin healing. Love Sick, Silverman's second published memoir, is a fascinating record of this journey, the first autobiographical account of sexual addiction.

Where Silverman's first work, Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You chronicled a history of paternal sexual abuse throughout her childhood, Love Sick concerns the effects of said abuse on Silverman's adulthood. Through journals kept during Silverman's clinic stay we are introduced to her past vices: the fatherly Boston lobbyist who gifts Silverman with a scarf she refuses to wash lest his scent be erased, the anonymous man with the flashy sportscar who intrigues Silverman emotionally and physically, and Rick of the Rainbow Motel, whose devotion to his family attracts Silverman and sparks her desire for inclusion in a comfortable nuclear family, the kind of family she never experienced, and the kind of familial love she hopes exists in her conquests.

With eloquent, powerful prose Silverman confesses her weaknesses (a primary one being the orderly Gabriel who teases Silverman and other patients through poetic seduction) and insecurities felt throughout the program, doubts which plague her marriage and her appetite, for the addiction has come to replace food. A fellow patient, Silverman relates, cries during a meal, upset that there is not enough food to satisfy; Silverman shows us in Love Sick that recovery is possible and that one can become sated. 2001

I read this and it makes me wonder how many "tell-all" stories from those who have survived abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy will hit the shelves. It will be interesting to note how such books will be received as opposed to books like Silverman's. Will those abused be labelled as victims or heroes?

Dappled Things has a contest; fill in the blanks:

As ____ would say, "If at first you don't succeed, ______."

My entries:

As Al Gore would say, "If at first you don't succeed, demand a recount."

I imagine thousands of people sent that one, so here's something more obscure:

As Madonna would say, "If at first you don't succeed, try doing it in public naked."

I bought Father's Day cards for my dad, my father-in-law and my brother, who will officially be a father in September. I used to freelance as a greeting card writer for Gibson Greetings, and today I realized that I should probably have stayed with it. There are cards for every possible parental situation now: there are the standard Father's Day cards, cards for divorced dads, widowed dads, godfathers, grandfathers, fathers-in-law, former fathers-in-law ("I'm sorry I married that $%&#ing jerk of a son of yours, but you're still a great guy."), fathers-to-be, and even single mothers! I looked for the card made specifically for the kid with "two dads," but I couldn't find one.

So you know, selling greeting card verse is not as simple as one would think. In the year I was contracted with Gibson, I must have submitted over 200 potential cards; I sold five. Of course, I had not been aware of the expansion of such a market. There's a card for everything now.

I've never really been clear on what the Church's position is regarding the possibility of life in outer space and on other planets. I just tried "ufo" and "catholic" on Google search and received a list of links to a bunch of strange websites, but I don't feel like surfing all of them. Personally, I don't think there is life out there. I would like to think if there was, somebody would have already tried to make contact. Either that, or aliens do exist and don't want anything to do with us. I don't blame them.

There are those who maintain if you believe in aliens and UFOs and other paranormal stuff, you are being tricked by the Devil. Of course, there are those who think just about everything on this planet save for the Bible is evil. Bermuda shorts? Evil. Vanilla Coke? Evil.

Genealogy is a part-time hobby; I've been researching the branches of my tree and Malc's for about four years ago. Researching the Livelys has been the easiest by far, thanks to the National Association of Lively Families. They have a book, called Livelys in America, which offers a history of the entire line going back to 1690. Piecing together this information with other trees found on the Internet, I've managed to trace certain branches as far back as the 1300s. Not everything is authenticated, however, but it is fun to speculate that Malc may be descended from either landed gentry or even royalty.

Researching my own tree has not been as simple, and recently we discovered why. My father, who is retired, took up the slack and started his own investigation into his ancestors, and he found that the reason we couldn't find any information before was because his surname had been changed not once (as we originally thought) but twice. My maiden name is Beyerle; it had been changed from "Beierle" sometime in the earlier part of the 20th century. Now, Dad had known his great grandfather came to America via New Orleans, and the passenger lists he accessed told him that the family name had once been spelled "Bauerle." A letter from Germany confirmed this, so now we have managed to trace my father's family back to 1769.

What's more interesting is that there are baptismal records for my great grandfather, but no marriage records for his mother. Could be that's why they ended up coming here.

Actually, I get lots of e-mail, and sometimes it isn't all pr0n spam.

Josh of Oxblog thanked me kindly for the additional Britcom Blog names and offered a new American one: King of the Blog. I suspect that would be the name of Dale Gribble's blog, and who knows what kind of ramblings one would find there!

Bob "Paul" Fitch of Fab Mania linked my review of their Norfolk show to their website, thanks! Again, if you're into cover bands look for these guys.

If you're into Christian music, you should check out Lynn Geyer's Colorblind Music Ministries. Lynn is a very talented performer and a member of the CWA, too; her new website will link to ours. It's been a long standing debate among members as to what extent musicians should be represented in our group. I'm in favor of it; songwriters write lyrics, ergo they are writers.

Lastly, a number of people made mention of Pete Vere's Schism on their weblogs. The plugs are very much appreciated, thanks!

Dee Dee OD'd. When Joey died from lymphoma last year it was tragic. This...this is just sad.

There was some discussion on the list that Scott Hahn had an agent, but the name escapes me. He may and he may not be represented. If anyone can help, let me know.

Being a connoisseur of bad music, I naturally thought myself enough of an expert to offer Zorak a few suggestions: namely "MacArthur Park" (which incidently topped Barry's list) and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (the next person who plays this song at the Silver Diner is going to get it). Of course, I could go on forever:

"Too Shy" - Kajagoogoo

"The One I Love" - REM (remind me to tell you the story about how Malc got drunk with Peter Buck)

"Love Missle F1-11" - Sigue Sigue Sputnik (remember these guys?)

...and to be fair, even my favorite group produced a clunker or two. I never much cared for "Ob La Di, Ob La Da," and though the guitar work on "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is awesome the lyrics are...well...

Back to the blog: I write book reviews, at least I've been trying to write them. With the business of polishing Saints Preserve Us for submission, preparing Pete Vere's Schism for publication and editing books for Echelon Press, I find the time set aside for reviewing other books is dwindling. I did, however, manage to get a review of Jack Allen's novel Change of Heart completed.

Overall, I liked the story. I'll admit that I'm not an avid reader of espionage/spy thrillers, but the author offered in this book an intriguing story about a Naval intelligence officer sent on a mission to escort a former KGB operative to the states for a debriefing. Of course, nothing goes as planned (it would have been a much shorter novel otherwise), and the story eventually unfolds a plot to revive the Communist party in Russia and a new Cold War. If you're into Clancy and Ludlum you ought to check out this title.

In spite of the work ahead of me (directly ahead of me, right next to my keyboard), I'd like to get at least one book read this summer that was not sent to me by a review journal. Janet Evanovich has a new one out in a few weeks, and according to Amazon.com I'm already behind on several mystery series. For now, though, I am committed to finishing what is in the queue, so look out for reviews of Exile, The Mask of Ollock, and More Than a Garden, if not on my Catholic book review blog then somewhere else.

I'm reading the article and I notice that the newly-outed Rosie O'Donnell is hosting the segment. I've seen Rosie's talk show before and am aware of her past association with Nickelodeon. She's hosted many a special on the channel, and she has catered to children of all ages on her own show with craft segments, jokes from kids, etc. You watch Rosie on television and you are being projected an image of this loving, jovial person...somebody you would allow to watch after your children. Her website contains links to various children's charities and she is constantly speaking out against child abuse. I even recall her mentioning once that she would never work for Woody Allen because of the allegations of child abuse made against him by Mia Farrow.

So why is Rosie pro-choice? See for yourself: she has lent her talents to at least one Voters4Choice benefit. Though it happened in '94, I have to wonder if she would allow this organization to continue to use her name if she had since changed her mind.

I also have to wonder why a woman who is so outspoken about protecting children - protecting them with gun control laws and laws against child abusers - will not speak for the child inside his mother's womb. Why is the child not yet born just as important as the child mugging for the cameras on Rosie's television show?

The way I look at it, Rosie is missing a great opportunity here. Lately she has been in the news stumping for laws to allow Florida gay and lesbian couples to adopt. I've heard arguments for and against this, and I maintain the position that given only two options, I would rather see a child be adopted by a stable, loving gay couple than be aborted. Has Rosie ever made this point? I'd be curious to see how Jeb Bush would react to that statement.

Rosie talks constantly on her show about her children and how wonderful they are, and I don't doubt that. Children are wonderful, and it is difficult to miss how Rosie lights up when she mentions her precious Parker. That is why her pro-choice leanings baffle me: what if the woman who gave birth to Parker had decided to abort him instead of putting him up for adoption?

Do you ever think of that, Rosie?

This past weekend saw no ordinary attack of the clones...there were star-spangled Elvi to the left of me, cutie-pie Fabs to the right. I was in the midst of everything, excited and (sigh) married.

Beatles tribute band Fab Mania gave a free concert in downtown Norfolk on June 1 to benefit the local SPCA. Quite coincidentally, this day was the 35th anniversary of the release of the Sgt. Pepper album. I don't know if anyone in the band saw fit to mention it because unfortunately we arrived well into the show's second act. According to their website, Fab Mania puts on a three-act show where they depict the Beatles during the various "eras" of their career complete with costumes: the "mop-top" years, the Sgt. Pepper era and beyond.

We happened upon the show right at the tail end of the Sgt. Pepper phase, and I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture. Before we knew it, three of the guys had taken off to change, but at least I got to hear "John" sing my second favorite Lennon tune.

The pics in the gallery link above show the band in Abbey Road/Let it Be dress. I have to give the Dead Ringer Award to "George" (pardon the pun), and unfortunately the pictures I have don't do him justice. He sang my absolute favorite Beatles song and I just wanted to die right there. As for who sounded like his Beatle the best, I still can't decide because they all sang and performed very well. "Paul" was especially good, I thought, having seen the real thing a few months ago. He was in good voice on "The Long and Winding Road," and "Hey Jude." I was pleasantly surprised, too, to hear them perform "One After 909" from Let it Be.

The only complaint I had about the show (aside from not getting there sooner) was that during one of their encores "Paul" launched into the first notes of my favorite Macca/Beatles song and then stopped. Never tease me like that, 'kay?

I'll tell you one thing more: Malc isn't a Beatles fan, but he really enjoyed this show; that should be testimony enough. Go see these guys if you get the chance.

Hmm, I wonder if they went to Abbey Road Pub and Restaurant at the beach after the show...they could kick some serious ass on Karaoke nights.

Abbey Road Pub and Restaurant, side view

Monty Python's Flying Blog

The Thin Blue Blog (after The Thin Blue Line w/Rowan Atkinson)

Waiting for Blog (after Waiting for God)

To the Blog Born (after To the Manor Born)

Plus, if you really want to make use of the wayback machine, you could use Steptoe and Blog, or Stepblog and Son, after the Britcom oldie Steptoe and Son. Unless you grew up in Britain in the sixties, you've probably never heard of this show...it eventually became Sanford and Son in the US and it starred Wilfrid Brambell, whom you might know as Paul's grandfather in A Hard Day's Night (Best. Rock. Music. Movie. Ever.) If you haven't seen AHDN, go rent it or get the DVD when it's released. Wilfrid is fricking hilarious.

I'm wondering if the use of American sitcoms name can be applied to clever blog titles. I think the problem here, though, is that many US shows are either one-word titles or are named for the star of the show (Drew Carey, Mary Tyler Moore, etc.). I have, however, managed to think of a few (albeit lame) suggestions:

B*L*O*G

Everybody Loves Blogging

Just Blog Me

Third Blog From the Sun

Any others?

1. Who or where do you go to when you need help for web-related problems? Well, I used to go to Marty until the company let him go. Now I just go to Google, type in the problem, and hope to Heaven I can find an answer for myself.

2. There is a big mess of gossip going on in Blogland due to revelations about a very popular Blogger. I got very caught up in reading all the links to links about it until I stopped myself realizing it was none of my business. Do you ever get caught up in gossip, either speading it or listening to it? How does it make you feel? Or have you ever been the subject of gossip? If I've ever been the subject of gossip I've not been aware of it. Can't think of a reason why anybody would want to gossip about me, anyway. In recent months I've tried to turn a deaf ear to gossip, particularly anything work-related. You hear things about pending layoffs, and who is next to go and what's being shut down, and it doesn't make you feel good. Yes, you're relieved when you find out you are being spared, but other people in the company are losing their jobs.

3. In a relationship, when your other takes a dig at you (read: a fight), do you go for the jugular and get "in their face" or try to peacefully smooth things out and have a calm discussion? Malc knows better than to take a dig at me. >:->

4. A friend once told me, "You can tell when someone is bored with what you are saying to them when they reply with 'That's interesting.'" And I have found this to be pretty dang true. How do you know when someone has lost interest in what you are saying? I''d say that happens when a) the person continually looks at his/her watch; or b) the person is looking for an escape hatch.

5. Ever get jealous of the popularity other Blogs? Yes, dang it.

6. What is your favorite dirty word? Jazzercise.

7. (the continuing story...) OK, we are definitely doing that again. But seeing as it is nearly 6am now, how about breakfast? Anywhere you'd like to go or should we fix our own? What do you like? Or is there something else we need to do first? Let's go to IHOP and see if we can't kicked out like that Bible study group did.

BONUS: What have I done to deserve this? You never give me your money, you only send me your invitations. So nyaah.

For those of you at home keeping score, here is the LivelyWriter Round-Up:

Saints Preserve Us (mystery): near completion, queries to publishers/agents begin this week

Pithed (mystery): second draft in progress

The Ninth Caller (mystery/comedy): outline stage completed; writing begins in August

Great Pretenders (mystery/comedy): outline stage in progress; writing launch will depend upon the progress of The Ninth Caller

Yes, it may seem like a lot of work, but I once read Stephen King used to have three books going at the same time as well. My failing is that the ideas come too quickly. My Palm Pilot is overloaded with proposed book projects; I may have to find a writing partner soon.

Paul, call me!

And Malc can't understand why I spend more time on the computer than in front of the television.

Consequently I received something else from this sermon. Lately it appears I have been anxious to get to certain places and do certain things. I have to get home from work by five so we can make the first inning of the Tides' game...we have to leave home by a certain time to go biking so we don't hit the traffic at the beach...lately I haven't been this anxious to get to Mass. It's one of my failings, and definitely something that need work.

Who needs Attack of the Clones when it's about to happen for real at the beach? It's time for the annual Viva Elvis, and the oceanfront is expected to be saturated with Elvi of all shapes, sizes, ages and colors. Soon as Malc gets home from his morning run we're going to try to get over there in the time to see the skydivers. Mercy!