A New Year

2010 is almost here!  Whether you have a celebration planned or are going to spend the new year quietly, I wish you a Happy New Year. 

I don't make new year's resolutions (at least not formally).  I reflect on the  year that is just about to close,  remembering the highs and lows and then move forward with optimism to the new year.   I enter a new year with positive thoughts and the motto that "this is going to be a wonderful year".

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all and may 2010 be a truly wonderful year for you too.    Love, Barbara

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your families.

May you find peace, happiness and joy during this holiday season.

Here's one of my favorite carols.

Love, Barbara

A Christmas Carol

The other night I watched what is possibly the hundredth version of the Charles Dickens classic, starring, of all people, Tori Spelling!  I loved it.  Although the story is always the same (a miserable, curmudgeonly person is visited by ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, and is ultimately changed by the experience) the myriad recountings of this beloved tale doesn’t always involve the usual “old man” Scrooge (although the most recent version starring Patrick Stewart is the best of that particular lot).  In one version, Cycely Tyson plays miserly Ebenita, and Vanessa Williams does a great mean-spirited diva named Ebony Scrooge in another.  My personal favorite is Susan Lucci as “Ebbie,” and now we have Tori Spelling in A Carol Christmas.

I Love Christmas

It's that time of the year, my friends. A time of joy and singing and prayer and good food and the congeniality of family and loved ones. It's also time for an annual family tradition in my house: the battle over trimming the Christmas tree. I have discovered through the years that there are as many ways to decorate a Christmas tree as there are people. My family is no exception. We seem to enjoy a good fight as everyone jumps in to rally on their favorite sides: the tinsel throwers vs the tinsel hangers; the multi-colored vs the mono-colored; the angel on the top vs the star on the top; blinking lights vs non-blinking lights; paper chains vs popcorn and cranberries. You get my drift.

It's Time For A Holiday

Happy Thanksgiving!

Motherhood and Fulfillment

Freud said that anatomy is destiny.  But I wonder: is it truly?

During a recent magazine interview, I was asked if it is possible for a woman who has never had children to find fulfillment in life.  This question surprised me, especially in this day and age when there are so many options open to women beyond the roles of wife and mother.  The question presumes that childbearing is woman's only purpose in life and that to seek fulfillment elsewhere is secondary and perhaps even futile.  (I wonder, in fact, how Mother Theresa would have responded to this question.)

What Am I ? (A riddle)

"I am priceless, yet I cost you nothing. You can do anything you want with me, but you can't own me. You can spend me, but you can't keep me. And once you've lost me, there is no getting me back. I'm just … gone. What am I?"

Miracle at Joshua Tree

In December of last year I received an unexpected email from my editor in Germany, informing me that they were planning to publish a beautiful upscale Literary Christmas anthology this year, featuring their most renowned authors, and they wanted me to be part of the project.  The anthology would consist of twenty-four stories patterned after the Christmas advent calendar, those beautifully decorated cardboards with 24 little doors which you open every day from December 1st to 24th, to find a picture or a little gift inside.  The idea of the anthology was to present 24 wintry stories, each involving one specific number.

A Source of Inspiration

I am a big fan of Dolly Parton - I admire the woman, her music, her films, but most of all, her outlook on life.

I recently read an interesting item about her 2008 album, "Backwoods Barbie."  Amazingly, this woman who is one of country music's greatest artists of all time, could not find a major record label to release the album.  Even more amazingly, the music industry seemed to be telling Parton that she was a has-been and no one was interested in her songs any more!  But Dolly Parton was not to be deterred.  Being an optimist at heart, and a clever entrepreneur in her own right, she created her own label and produced the album herself.  It came out to rave reviews and went on to be a smash success.

Congratulations AGAIN, Mr. Obama!

The announcement that President Obama had received the Nobel Peace Prize came as a big surprise to the world - myself included - and prompted both admiration and skepticism.  I am in the former group.

While some say President Obama hasn't really done anything yet to have earned the award, I say he has.  The important thing about this prize is that it has been given to someone who has the power to contribute to peace.  As Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said: "Only very rarely has a person, to the same extent as Obama, captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future."  He cited Obama's extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.  I call that an accomplishment!

Who Said That?

I have a passion for collecting clever and unusual quotes - brief sayings made up words of wisdom artfully arranged.  I especially like quips that wake me up intellectually and keep me thinking all day.  For example, last week I read, for the first time, Byron Katie's motto: "Loving what is."  Not only did these three words get my mental cogs and wheels moving, but stimulated ideas for the book I am currently working on, the sequel to Soul Flame.

Do Writers Read Their Own Books?

I am often asked if I ever go back and read my earlier works.  Authors whom I have met and chatted with say they are asked the same thing.  Our collective and emphatic answer is No.

The reason is simple: to pick up and read an earlier book is agony because we immediately spot places we would like to change but can't because a novel that is already published cannot be altered, and this leads to great frustration.  Writers are by nature re-writers.  We can't stop fiddling with our work (which is why sometimes we don't know when to say "Enough" and send the completed manuscript off to the publisher).  We are always looking for ways to improve a paragraph, make a character more interesting, lift a scene above the ordinary.  For me and many published authors I have met, the process of writing a novel never ends.  But, of course, the time comes when the book must be published, and then it is like a baby bird that leaves its nest, out in the world and no longer in the writer's nurturing care.

I Remember Mary Travers

I was saddened to learn last week that the great Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul and Mary) had passed away after a courageous battle with leukemia.

I had the great fortune to attend one of her performances when I lived in San Francisco.  This was at the height of the civil rights movement and anti-war protests, which were a large part of my life in those days.  When the trio came out on stage, the audience shot to its feet and we could not scream loud enough to show our love and admiration for entertainers who were so involved in serious social issues.

I loved Mary's strength, her voice, and her long blond hair (which I tried to emulate but failed at miserably).  Her songs were an integral part of my life (and yes, I cried the first time I heard "Puff, the Magic Dragon") and her passing has made me reflect on my own life and the road I travel.

She will be remembered always.

A Change of Heart

My second blog entry (written on 9/11/07, "Are Movies Re-writing History?") was a criticism of movie makers who play fast and loose with history, often distorting the facts to extremes.  I took particular exception to the great epic, Ben Hur, in which Sheikh Ilderim the Arab tells Judah Ben Hur that the worship of one God makes sense but having just one wife was ridiculous.  The problem with this statement is that it was made centuries before the prophet Mohammed (pbuh) brought monotheism and polygamy to the Arabian peninsula.  But the movie was made in 1959, a politically sensitive time in the Middle East, so that I wonder if the makers of the movie had an agenda of their own.

Time Flies . . .

It is true that time flies when you're having fun.  Two years ago, when I started this Blog (the first entry was on September 4, 2007, Christmas In September!), I was daunted by the prospect of writing something witty and interesting every week (non-fiction writing is quite different from fiction, and for me, a challenge).  I thought: Can I do this?  But once I got into the "zone," I found that I quite enjoyed chatting weekly with visitors to my website (and, by the way, thank you all for the many emails you have sent in responses to my Blogs).

Why I Believe in the Spirit World - Part 2

Before I sold my first book, Hounds & Jackals, I worked many jobs, and one of them was as a nurse's aid at the Motion Picture Hospital in Calabassas, California. I worked in the section that was a nursing home for retired movie workers - camera men, grips, make up artists, etc. My duties were to change linens, bring food trays, empty bed pans, and give back rubs. I tried to treat my patients equally and with cheer and respect, but it couldn't be helped that I did a few extra things for those I thought could use the attention.

Why I Believe in the Spirit World

Some time before I sold my first novel, Hounds & Jackals - when writing was still my hobby - I worked for a stock brokerage firm in Santa Monica.  One of the brokers, an older gentleman named Mr. Stolee, was always friendly to me, stopping by my desk to say hello, to exchange pleasantries, and frequently to give me some of his wife's home made fried chicken.  The chicken was awful, but I never said so.  I always thanked him and said I would take it home and share it with my husband.

The Mystery of Names

I have received quite a few requests from English-speaking readers to explain the characters' names in Woman Of A Thousand Secrets. German readers have also asked about the names, but for a different reason!

Why History Fascinates Me

There is nothing like the past to spark my interest. History is so full of mysteries and odd happenings that one could spend a lifetime studying them (and, in my case, writing about them).

For instance: the coca plant is native to South America and was unknown to the rest of the world before the Spaniards arrived. And yet ancient Egyptian mummies have been found with coca leaves in their wrappings. How did they get there?

Technology and the Writer

I sent out an email this morning, and as I hit the "Send" button, my writing life flashed before my eyes.  That is, the technological aspect of my writing life.

When I was very young and writing was just a hobby, my stories were hand written.  I carried a three-ring notebook everywhere I went, and when inspiration struck, I brought out my lucky ballpoint pen and scratched away.