I cannot remember a Friday to save my life!

News -

I'm on a massive blog tour for Incorporeal, my ghost romance. You can follow my schedule (if you have any interest) here: http://juliarachelbarrett.net/2011/07/incorporeal-virtual-book-tour/

What else is new? Um...good weather, getting in lots of hiking, dog basketball, baseball, gardening - my potatoes are ready, but I can't harvest them all at once since I don't have the proper place to store them. It's so fun to dig up these multi-colored gems! Purple, red and Yukon Gold! Plus they taste great. Hubby is asking if we're on the potato diet. Hey, worked for the Irish for a long time!

I have several works in progress - a sequel to Incorporeal - In the Flesh, another paranormal. I'd like to tackle a romance suspense that's been put on hold, and then I believe I'll have time to delve into a sci/fi series. Fingers crossed!

Have a wonderful weekend all!

Bookstores - Outdated?

Borders, the 2nd largest U.S. bookstore chain is closing its doors after 40 years in business. Experts attribute this in large part to Borders being ill-equipped to adapt to bookbuyers migration to digital formats.

Obviously, ebooks are a big part of my life, but I truly hope print books and the places to go to buy them won't completely disappear in the future.

Over the years, I've spent countless happy hours in used bookstores, trading in paperbacks, combing through the shelves for 'new to me' finds, chatting with other book lovers. I've consumed large volumes of caffeinated beverages while reading in Borders, Barnes and Noble and Walden Books. The used bookstores around here began disappearing about ten years ago. When Waldens closed, my daughter and I shared hugs with the staff we had come to know very well. Many of them went to work at Borders. Of the seven used bookstores I used to frequent, only two of them are left.

Being completely honest, I have always preferred the atmosphere and selection of our local Barnes and Noble, but if I couldn't find what I was looking for, Borders was just up the street. Yesterday, as my daughter and I stood in line at Borders, our arms full of 'great bargains', I was overcome with sadness.

Purchasing ebooks over the internet is a solitary event. The act of shopping for them can't be a looked forward to event with your friends, or a bonding time with your kids. You can't dig through the boxes of them that you've saved over the years to discover that gem you forgot about. You can't touch the yellowing pages, or see the crease at the top of the page indicating where you stopped reading.

I don't know actual numbers, but I do know that there are still a vast amount of people who do not embrace all things digital! I wonder if this shift in the literary world will force them to conform to the changing times, or deprive them of a beloved pasttime?

Tessie
http://www.tessiebradford.com/

John Carter and Barsoom on the horizon

When I was a child I was a big Tarzan fan. When I was very young my mother was kind enough to take me to Baldwin Gardens where the early Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzan movies were filmed, so I could play there and enjoy what was left of the Tarzan movie set, up close.

I also have a very clear memory of my mother driving up to the edge of the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, getting out of the car and pointing out the house to me. Of course Edgar Rice Burroughs wasn’t home. He passed away many years earlier, but the house was still in the family. I don’t actually remember seeing the house. I believe it was hidden behind many trees, including (in my memory) quite a few large Spanish oaks. My mother said Burroughs had written Tarzan while nearly homebound and invalid. He looked out his windows at the dense trees surrounding his ranch-style home and dreamed of being free.

I was too little to realize at the time that my mother was very ill and slipping toward her own early death, but when I look back I’m so grateful she took the time to impress a few really important lessons on me before she left.

If you asked me, which was the most important lesson, I’d have a different story to tell you on any given day. Today I’m going to say she showed me and told me that when you have freedom of imagination you’re free. She insisted a free, creative mind could go anywhere and I try to live that truth today.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was a beautiful example of a free mind. Early in his life he was broke and working as a pencil-sharpener-wholesaler with a young family to support when he decided he could write a story at least as good as the pulp fiction magazines he was reading:

"...if people were paid for writing rot such as I read in some of those magazines, that I could write stories just as rotten. As a matter of fact, although I had never written a story, I knew absolutely that I could write stories just as entertaining and probably a whole lot more so than any I chanced to read in those magazines." ERB.

Burroughs wrote the John Carter, Princess of Mars “Barsoom” series and it was an instant hit.  The Tarzan books followed a few years later.

As an adult I delved deeper into the Burroughs lore and was disillusioned to find a few controversial things about the man. 

No one’s perfect and I had to let childish ideals go and simply look at Burroughs’ body of work that I must say overall is highly creative and “free minded”.

Recently, I was very happy to see that next spring Disney pictures will be reintroducing the John Carter Princess of Mars, “Barsoom” series to a new generation on the book’s 100^th birthday. 

(Please see the video above.) I also think its of special interest, at least to me that Disney chose Peter Gabriel’s moody cover of “My Body is a Cage” as the music for this trailer.

I have to say I liked Burroughs’ can-do attitude. It gave me the freedom, quite late in life to start writing my own "rotten" stories and I thank him for that.

What bit of freedom will allow your mind to embrace today?

XXOO Kat

My series on self-pubbing my first book!

As you read this, I am really in Utah at a Shakespeare Festival and absorbing the cool evenings and sights of the glorious red canyons! BUT for those of you who started my series on self-pubbing my first digital book, I hope you did come to my blog last week for all the parts of that.
Where is that? http://cerisedeland.blogspot.com
AND I am NOT FINISHED YET.
As I do more, learn more, I will give you the blow by blow AND PUBLISH MORE IN THE SERIES. No holes in my/your knowledge left unfilled!
(FOR EXAMPLE: I still must put up the formats for Smashwords and ARe. Ah, yes. More adventures in publishing!)
And at the left, the beautiful artwork of LADY STARLING'S STOCKINGS!
Ciao, bella!

Is it Friday already?

Beauty and the Feast

One of my favorite books - I'm giving away six copies - six Kindle uploads. Please email me at juliarachelbarrett(at)gmail(dot)com for further information or leave a comment letting me know how to contact you.


Eva Raines is an uncomplicated country girl who's all about food. Eva moves to the Napa Valley where her culinary skills come to the attention of the owners of a start-up, All Things to All People, and Eva finds her niche as a personal chef. Now all she needs is a man as perfect as her cooking, but she has serious doubts that such a creature exists.

When wealthy entrepreneur, winery owner, and noted lothario, Gabriel Abbott, makes plans to seduce his flavor of the month, his assistant hires All Things to All People to cater a gourmet dinner. Eva expects to use her way with food to showcase the startup. What she unexpectedly discovers is that her culinary skills showcase far more.

Once Gabriel finds himself seduced by Eva's voice, and the sensual flavors and textures of her food, his previous plans are quickly forgotten. He begins to obsess about meeting his little chef in person. But when Eva and Gabe finally come face to face, the question is, how hot will their fire burn?

Food and Romance

Happy Thursday! I'm thrilled to post my new cover! Matt's Return releases August 10th.

The following blog has absolutely nothing to do with Matt or his return.

I get a tremendous amount of ribbing from my family over my love affair with “food television”. The Cooking Channel, Food Network, all food ‘reality’ shows on Bravo, and anything with Gordon Ramsey (lord that man revs my engine) – I’m addicted!

Creating new recipes and cooking with my hubby, who is a barbeque master, are two of my favorite things to do!

When I’m in the author ‘zone’, it is a given that some culinary program is playing softly in the background of my writing cave. The experience of enjoying good food hits all of the senses.

In most of my books, sharing a meal happens. It is a time for the characters to connect, reminisce, learn about each other, or simply enjoy spending time together.

I become extremely squitchy, however, when food plays too large a role in actual love making. A well placed drizzle of honey or chocolate sauce, a dollop of whipped cream, those I get. The use of phallic shaped vegetables is okay, I guess, if there aren’t real toys around, and the lovers are desperate for additional stimulation.

What I don’t ever want to read about again is the use of entire entrees, side dishes and desserts being put places they should never be!! Spaghetti with meat sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cheesecake belong on plate! Feed it to each other, lick your silverware seductively, but please stop there.

And on a related note, if the kitchen is going to be the setting for naked fun, let’s use the area wisely. The floor and the chairs are just waiting for someone to have sex on them. The counters and table are available to hold onto, lean across or against, use for leverage, but please keep them free of moist, sweaty parts unless the next scene describes, in eloquent detail, the participant’s cleaning regimen!!

Have a great weekend~

Tessie

http://www.tessiebradford.com/

The Tree of Life

Last week was my anniversary. My husband and I celebrated by going to see the Terrence Malick film, “The Tree of Life”. The movie made a big impression on me and I’d like to attempt to explain my feelings about it, but I have to warn you this was a difficult film on every level.

The Tree of Life stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, but it’s a far cry from being anything close to a star driven drama. I’ve never seen anything like it. It not the least bit linear, the story and visuals wander chaotically the first 20 minutes, jumping back and forth in time between a high speed elevator ride in a modern glass tower to a suburban neighborhood in 1950’s Texas and even expanding outward into the cosmos. Quaint homilies are spouted such as “There are two ways through the world. The way of nature, (which is portrayed as selfish and ruthless) and the way of grace…”

My first thought was Oh dear this is going to be bad. I glanced sideways at my husband and almost apologized for dragging him to this “art house” movie. In the corner of my eye I saw others walking out of the theater. I was worried I had ruined our anniversary.

And then it happened scenes spilled onto the screen accompanied by gorgeous operatic music that were so beautiful they can only be described as sublime. Tears started rolling down my face. I realized I’d been set up and lured into a bored but receptive state of mind—the same state of mind Sean Penn’s character is occupying and “we” Sean Penn and the viewer, are having a soul-healing epiphany about life during the elevator ride. During the rest of the movie all aspects of love and forgiveness are explored. The proverb “So as above, so as below” is wrestled head on with the conflict between a disillusioned father beautifully played by Brad Pitt and his son. Malick spends the rest of the film proving the way of nature and the way of grace are one and the same. One follows closely behind the other as inseparable companions in scene after stunning scene.

Watching this movie was like a long meditative trip to an art gallery. Every scene is beautifully shot and loaded with symbolism. For instance when the mother in the movie (played with subtle strength by Jessica Chastain) is pregnant or giving birth to her three sons the orchid tree outside their home is in full bloom with brilliant pink flowers. Later we see her wearing a pale blue dress the same color as the robes of Isis or the Virgin Mary. She is standing enraptured beneath the tree and suddenly levitates into the air like an ecstatic saint and wildly flips and floats around the tree. Of course she never actually did such a thing but it’s symbolic of how Sean Penn remembers her self-sacrifice and goodness in his youth.

Later mother becomes the protector as Brad Pitt’s character suffers the loss of his job, a musical career and hope. He becomes increasingly harsh with his sons. It’s not terrible abuse. It’s subtle real life stuff like being cranky, angry and unloving and it’s so painful to watch because the viewer knows from the very beginning, one of the son’s will die in his late teens. It’s painful too because we clearly see what a good man the father is. He works like a dog, struggles to make time for his music and we get a glimpse of his intricate sketchbook filled with “78” patients he is trying desperately to sell. He has so much potential and so much to be grateful for but he does make the great mistake of letting his frustrations poison the family. We also see he lives to regret it.

There are parts of this movie that reminded me of the visual abstractions of “Altered States” and certainly the strongest comparison is Stanley Kubrick’s “2001 a Space Odyssey”. The suites of rich visuals and beautiful music are mesmerizing. There is ample time during these unrushed scenes to either get bored or deeply reflect on your own life and feelings about family, love and forgiveness.

For some reason a gorgeous montage of Hubble telescope images caused my mind to flash on my father’s childhood. He and his father were prisoners of war in Asia during WWII, and suffered greatly. I found out later that day that my father was in a different city, sitting in different movie theater watching The Tree of Life—reflecting on his father… We might have been watching the movie at the same moment. My father said he saw a few people walk out of the theater in boredom, anger or utter confusion. He also said, “I was bored but strongly compelled to watch at the same time.” (Doesn’t that sum up so much of life? lol)

This movie is as close as we might come to watching someone else’s life flash before their eyes and experience their moment of enlightenment. If that sounds interesting to you, approach “Tree of Life” in a quiet state of mind and see where it takes you.

XXOO Kat