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Dr. Phil sez: stop eating crap Ephedra to be banned. I tried ephedra once a few years ago when I was still at Cox. Spent six hours at my cubicle sweating and shaking, my heart pounding, unable to focus on anything. I'd rather be fat than feel that way again. Today's Jeopardy Topic: Songs Steely Dan will never cover, even if they truly needed the money What does it mean, my milkshake brings the boys to the yard? 2003/12/29
Book news I have a date for Pithed's release: July 31, 2004, the week after my tenth wedding anniversary. I hope the hangover will have subsided before the book launch. Warm fuzzies for Pray for Us Sinners: "This is an intriguing page-turner, full of plot twists and quirky characters, set in steamy Northeast Florida. I recommend you buy two copies: one for you, and one for your favorite priest!" - Lydia Hawke, author of Perfect Disguise and Firetrail Feel free, also, to buy my books for priests who are not necessarily your favorites. And nuns. And deacons. And Eucharistic ministers... I don't care what any freakin' Internet test says... I am not Hitler. "I hate Illinois Nazis." - Joliet Jake I doubt I'm Rhett Butler, too. Post-holiday blog blues Mighty full inbox at work. I'll be gone for a spell. Another Pulitzer down: Things I learned over the holiday: 1) Indiana has legalized gambling; 2) The key to making real money in the casinos is to become famous enough to license your name and image to a penny slot machine; 3) If you want to get to the penny slots, get there early; 4) smell travels faster than sound, especially if it's coming from a baby's diaper. 2003/12/25
Christmas reads This is the week I can usually get a fair amount of reading done. Tonight I expect to finish Alexander McCall Smith's Tears of the Giraffe, the sequel to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and Katherine Murphy's (CWA member) Awake, O Sleeper: How I Rediscovered God Through Breast Cancer. I heartily recommend both. I'm usually not one to close a book without finishing. I did that with Tropic of Cancer, and it appears I'll have to pick it up again since it is on the 100 Books list (yeah, it's crossed off here, but I'm feeling bad about cheating). That happened this week with a book sent to me for review. It was not well-written, and I just didn't like it, and I can't in all fairness offer a good review to a book I do not like. Though I've heard a bad review is better than no review at all, I can't bring myself to do it. I've edited books that received zero-star reviews (I have to say, too, the reviews were not exactly up to Dorothy Parker's standards), and it hurts to read them. I can't do that to a fellow author. May the Lord grant me in the year 2004 to be more charitable in my recommendations and criticisms. Google me: it's always a good idea to perform periodical vanity checks in the search engines as a safety precaution, recommended by JA Hitchcock of Working to Prevent Online Abuse (WHOA). Today brought some good news for me: a five-star review of Dangerous Words by Word Museum which I did not know existed until now. It's still only a dollar. 2003/12/23
Just one more before I go... Actually, more than one. Shatner and Rollins, together again. A tribute to the late Joe Strummer, late of The Clash, from one of our b4Gers. Saw RotK on Sunday at The Commodore (Dolby surround sound, and curtains!). I liked it; Malc kept looking at his watch during the last fifteen minutes. Every time it faded to black and faded back in to Bag End he groaned. "When's it gonna end?" he wailed. Then he blocked my shot of that cute Billy Boyd, so I had to smack him. He also thought the whole sequence with Denethor and Faramir was superfluous, and that he would rather have seen Christopher Lee get his onscreen instead, rather than wait for the 12-DVD deluxe set next year. Yeah, and Gollum was extra annoying this time around. Not Jar-Jar annoying, mind you, but Dobby annoying. There's a discussion on a USENET group I frequent about the whereabouts of actress Julia Ormond, and how great she was in Othello and The English Patient. She must have been extraordinary, since those films starred Irene Jacob and Juliette Binoche, respectively. Maybe all three are the same person? Also, if you've signed up for the One Webring, please put the code on your blog. Happy Festivus. 2003/12/22
Book covers a la Kat I'm taking on the responsibility of designing the Pray For Us Sinners cover, mainly because I want to get a jump start on promotion and having a cover well in advance helps. Feedback is always welcome. Here's possible cover numero uno: 
The statue of the Pieta is from the front of my home church, Blessed Sacrament in Norfolk. I took the picture last week and designed for a Warhol-like effect. Warhol's mother attended daily Mass, BTW. Number 9... number 9... number 9... Come on, you knew I was going to do it. BTW, Little Flowers is no longer available on WalMart.com. Somebody tried to buy it from there, so stick with Amazon.com for the 30% discount. Also, if you're in the Jacksonville area, I just did an interview with a reporter from the Jacksonville Business Journal for an article on self-publishing. It should be out in a few weeks with a picture I'm supposed to send them tonight. 2003/12/20
Here comes Aqualung, here comes Aqualung, right down Aqualung Lane... 
Wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself. 11 days left. Tomorrow will be 10, just so you know in case I don't post tomorrow. 2003/12/19
Malc just called with the results of his CT. No gall bladder disease or cancer, just something called Gilbert's Syndrome, which is not fatal. We don't know too much about it, but apparently there are ways to treat it so it does not become too much of a problem. Finally some good news this Christmas. Betty Crocker Surrenders How not to sell cake. Honestly, what was that marketing firm collectively smoking? Oh, with 12 days to go, my true love gave to me... Twelve little flowers Eleven singing robots Ten blogs for God Nine days in Florida Eight Smeagols smeagoling Seven curt jesters Six yoga positions FIVE LORDS OF THE RINGS! Four movie reviews Three guys from Canada Two blogs featuring Pete Vere ...and a gift card for Avazon.com! 2003/12/18
Saints be praised, a female director gets a Golden Globe nomination. She's going to lose to Peter Jackson, but kudos to her anyway. 13 Days left to buy Little Flowers. One of my other publishers has asked to see the manuscript. If all goes well and they accept it, though, it won't be until 2005 before the book resurfaces. I don't mind, however. That will give me time to construct a better plan of attack than my previous publisher had. I have so many good reviews to use already, and maybe the EPPIE nomination will help me get the book into some Catholic bookstores. Happy thoughts. Another thumbs up The Pope likes The Passion of Christ. In Jonathan Kwitny's bio of JPII he talked of how the Pope has only a passing interest in contemporary movies, that while watching them he'll drift away to do other things. Most people do that, have a movie in the background, but I found that interesting since JPII was once an actor before entering seminary. Doesn't say if Mel met the Pope for this screening. I recall one story about how Roberto Benigni screened Life is Beautiful for JPII. The Pope watched the movie, Roberto watched the Pope, nervously. 2003/12/17
Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings Lord of the Wings Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings 14 days left to buy Little Flowers Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings Lord. Of. The. RINGS! 2003/12/16
Saint Bat Boy, Pray For Us Pope to canonize nun with ten different personalities, thus sayeth the Weekly World News. Does this mean we have to observe ten different feast days for this lady? 2003/12/15
The Weekend in Review Blah blah blah, Lauryn Hill. Blah blah blah, Saddam. Blah blah only 16 days left to buy Little Flowers. Blah blah it won't stop raining. I want this for Christmas. 2003/12/13
Last Chance...until I can find a better deal My first publisher, Highbridge Press, is shutting down. Therefore, unless I can place the book elsewhere, Little Flowers will be going out of print effective December 31. Kinda sucks, since I just had somebody write a review for Canticle on it. Anyway, I'm going to try to place the book in print elsewhere, which will likely mean I'll be shutting down eBook production as well. So, if you're looking for a good Christmas present, you can still buy Little Flowers on Amazon.com and WalMart.com. Just type in "Kathryn Lively," and it will come up. 2003/12/12
I remember Bob before he turned white, and now he's 80, having survived two announcers and Lord knows how many floor model chicks (man, Dian should be pushing 60 at least, you think?). Of all the game shows I've watched over the years, I'd want to be on The Price is Right most of all, so long as I didn't get stuck playing Three Strikes where you have to pick numbers out of a sack and guess which goes where in the price of a car. I don't know how many people I've seen pick the three strikes right off the bat. I hate that game. That and the one where you have to run across the stage putting prices on bedroom sets. And I'd kiss Bob, too. To hell with political correctness. Remember when women used to leap on top of him? Now you have to stand at arm's length. Come on, it's Bob Barker, probably the sexiest octogenarian game show host alive! Show us some love. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is when he dies, when we'll likely be subjected to a slew of editorial cartoons showing Bob at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter screaming COME ON DOWN! You know it's going to happen, but until it does, happy birthday to Bob. 2003/12/11
Adventures in Scanning I had planned a long, drawn out post, but my energy is sapped. Long story short, first hospital's scan machine broke just as Malc checked in, so we ended up going to another hospital. First hospital couldn't fit him in until Christmas Eve and informed him the procedure would take 40-45 minutes; second hospital took him right away and the procedure took three minutes. Should I mention that the first hospital was the Catholic one, and that we were told a CT wouldn't show anything on his gall bladder? At Norfolk General the tech showed Malc his scan, gall bladder and all. Everybody seemed cheery at General, there was no "Holy shiznit, Mr. Lively, you need to check in immediately" kind of reaction. Hopefully this will bode well. 2003/12/09
A reprint of my review of Gabriel's Magic Ornament on Catholic Exchange, plus my article on Bookcrossing is out now in Mystery Scene magazine, page 38. Some advanced praise for Pithed from Randy England: "Andy Farmer is an unlikely sleuth, and Kathryn Lively keeps both Andy and the reader off balance to the very end. [Pithed is] a fun read." 2003/12/08
Light to no blogging tomorrow. Malc needs a CT exam. Nobody seems to know what's wrong with him, and truthfully I don't feel so good myself right now. Why does sh*t like this always happen before Christmas? Linus is the new name in poetry St. Linus, that is. CWA member William Ferguson, author of Jonah Christopher and the Last Chance Mass, is heading up the forthcoming St. Linus Review, a journal of orthodox Catholic poetry and prose. St.LR is currently seeking subscribers and contributors; check out their website and become one and/or the other. 2003/12/05
That wacky gubbermint of ours I get this e-mail from the Southfarthing Soaper, see, about Gregorian's rant about Congress giving $3 million to kids so they can play golf. Golf. $3 million going to golf lessons while many people in this country can barely afford Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Absurd, to say the least. I'm all for children getting out of the house and away from the Xbox, but this is a pretty steep price, considering that money could be put to better use. In dreams I walk with you/In dreams I talk with you... Dan had a dream about Paulie last night. I had a dream about Hawkeye last night. His was weirder; mine, well we won't go there. I've been having weird dreams all this week. In one, I'm visiting my parents, only they're living in a brownstone, and the next-door neighbors have converted their place into a hair and nail salon run by a high school friend I haven't seen in years. In another, I'm trying to break into a house (???) and I can't remember why now. Weird. My Choice on Earth Christmas Cards from Human Life International. Christmas cards and coloring books from Catholic World Mission. Christmas cards from the American Life League. Well, I didn't win the Bad Sex in Fiction Award this year. Then again, I didn't write any bad sex, or mediocre sex, which I suppose is better than no sex at all. Moderate Behavior There's a possibility Dean at b4G is going to put out a call for more moderators. Would be nice to have a second Catholic on board, as I'm the only one. St. Blog's numbers a good 200+ blogs, and it seems I tend to cover the same 20-30 each week. Would be nice to have some help spread the wealth. Please? 2003/12/04
Think happy thoughts Just submitted my first ever science fiction story, Our Lady of Cygnus, to an anthology for consideration. Actually, it's not my first sci-fi; I wrote a fantasy story in college, but that one sucked and this one is much better, I think. Cygnus clocks in at 10K words, so coupled with my aborted NaNo that's 25K words for the month of November, which isn't bad for me. New York London Paris Munich everybody talk about... That video was on VH1C last night; it's all I'm hearing right now. Pray for me. BTW, if you truly wonder what happened to M, he's online. Underwear is just that Glitter is not gold when it comes to teens' underwear - good local editorial. This is probably the one thing I dread the most about raising a potential teenaged girl. I tried the skimpy wardrobe myself in high school - didn't get out the front door - and if these and these are being marketing now, imagine what I'll have to deal with in about 18-19 years. I'm not saying Grandma's knee-length bloomers should make a comeback, but I wouldn't let my sixteen-year-old out of the house with visible thong straps and peace stitches across her hips. 2003/12/03
Dear Mr. Fantasy The good news is that I didn't come in last on the family fantasy football series. The Vapor Trails tied for eighth, which isn't bad for somebody who hasn't played this before. The bad news is that I'm not going to get my five bucks back, and Michael Vick is ready to play even though I won't be anymore. Feh. 2003/12/02
Anybody live in a market with a radio station that runs the Wednesday night Rockline? My station runs it on Mondays only. 2003/12/01
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