First Word

You have to love Cheryl Mullick and Tre Bella Spa! Check them brows! If I had a picture of the original state of the brows, you would really catch my thrill over what she does with "the frame to your face." It's Friday! And like Sunday, I don't feel like posting a serious blog. Besides, have you ever gotten so behind on your projects that you just have to shrug? What are you going to do? There are only so many hours in day, right? So today rather than rant and rave and go off on some tangent, I thought I would focus on nothing important at all. Like I said, it's Friday. Soon, I will also galavant off to Tre Bella Spa owned and operated by my dear friend Cheryl Mullick, who gave me the infamous "dirty girl" quote on the cover of California Girl Chronicles , enjoy Rain Drop therapy and get some eyebrow landscaping done. And you know what else, just because I love Cheryl's ability to take what originally looks like a caterpillar and turn it into a...

One thing I can say about Tumblr and the fan sites is that they are very keen observers of True Blood , the vampire series created by genius storyteller Alan Ball. I fell in love with Alan Ball's work the first time I was introduced to it via the film American Beauty, which I quoted Lester Burnham in my first book Second Bloom . Here is one of the most precious quotes (thank you Alan Ball): "Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life ... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday." He then created another one of my all-time favorites TV series Six Feet Under , which I own all the DVDs and occasionally revisit well-tread epis...

I wish I could remember all of the fantastic one liners and dialog I pick up on my favorite shows. I don't notice one liners in books so much. Maybe because I can't hear them said aloud. Well, the show that shines with a plethora of fantastic one-liners is True Blood . I know you all know it's one of my favorites, and the throw-away lines have a little something to do with it. So I thought for fun, and since it's Saturday, I would post a list of my top favorites. See if you like them too. Pam to Arlene's kids: “You make me so happy I never had any of you.” Eric: “Now come on, Pam, they're funny. They're like humans, but miniature -- teacup humans.” ( This is my favorite one-liner of all time on the show ). Eric: "Is there blood in my hair?" Lafayette: "I... I don't know. I can't see in this light." Eric: "How about now?" Lafayette: "Y... yeah t... there's a little bit of blood in there, yeah." ...

We interviewed a guy on our First Word radio show yesterday who discussed his various books, one of them was called Monogamy Sucks ! which I thought the title was pretty funny. (P.S., that doesn't mean I agree with it I just found it entertaining). Turns out the book is about swinging. He started talking about erotica, and I suddenly realized that maybe California Girl Chronicles isn't quite as (a-hem) as "erotic" as I thought. I think I actually construed sexy with erotica, because the more he talked the more I realized I was completely tame in my book. It wasn't anything he said in particular, it was just the "liberal-glazed" tone of the discussion. In fact, I'm willing to bet my book is luke warm compared to the blazing hotness that his books may or may not be. Now my self-image has gone from, "Oh, look at me all open and sexy," to "Oh, how boring am I?" Actually not true. I was told by one reader, "Brea is better than V...

#1 Pandora – All music is piped in through Pandora. I work listening to music in the background all day. I have my favorite channels. My New Age channel is all instrumental music for when I’m writing (words colliding with words doesn’t work for my word-addled brain). No Internet means I must resort to (egads) CDs or my iPod. (Notice my priorities here <grin>. #2 Email – I monitor email in the background behind my working screen. It’s how I stay proactive and responsive. My responsiveness has helped make 3L Publishing’s reputation. Now I have to use my iPhone, but I completely hate typing long missives on that tiny pad. #3 Web – How do I do all my research for all of the books? On the Web, of course, who goes to libraries anymore? Who has time? I can sit right at my desk and do all the research I want. #4 Social Media – I try to post to the social media at least once and sometimes twice a day. No Internet and I go back to that tiny iPhone type pad again. Didn’t I just compl...