Uncategorized – Page 28

Loving Blog Hop – Historic Interracial Couples

Although the Loving case was a historic civil rights decision as it struck down laws banning interracial marriage, there have been many, varied interracial marriages throughout history.

Joseph Laroche, 26, a Haitian-born, French-educated engineer who was moving back to Haiti because he could not find work in his profession in France because of racial prejudice. The family was meant to travel via first-class on the French ocean liner France. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Laroches discovered that the ship wouldn’t allow them to dine with their children. They traded their first class tickets for second class tickets about the Titanic.

Due to the protocol of “women and children first” Mr. Laroche separated from his family and went down with the ship.

Pearl Bailey and Louis Bellson, married 38 years

Pearl Bailey, a Black American actress and singer known for vaudeville and for the title role in the all-Black production of “Hello, Dolly!” was married to Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, who went by the stage name Louie Bellson. He was a composer, arranger, bandleader and jazz drummer.

Davis was booed by many of the Southern delegates when he appeared at the 1960 Democratic Convention because of his engagement to May Britt, a Swedish-born actress. Because of his close association with Frank Sinatra, who in turn supported the John Kennedy in the presidential race, Davis was asked to postpone his wedding until after the election. Unfortunately, as a performer constantly on the road, he spent little time with his wife and they divorced in 1968. As a side fact, it is said that the one love of Davis’ life was actress Kim Novak. This relationship caused a mob contract to be put on Davis’ life, thus ending the relationship. (allegedly, of course)

Betty and Barney Hill were from New Hampshire, and claimed to have been ….abducted and probed by aliens. I first saw this story on Mysteries at the Museum and just had search these two out. They

seemed to be a perfectly ordinary couple, he a postal worker and she a social worker. Both were members of the NAACP. On their way back from a vacation in Southern Canada in 1961, they claimed their alien encounter. They wrote a book called “Interrupted Journey” and their experience was made into a movie starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons.

Diana Ross and Arne Naess, Jr. married in 1986 is Switzerland. She and her Nordic mountain-climbing beau had two sons before they divorced in 1999. Shortly after, Naess died in a mountain-clilmbing accident. Ross has claimed that Naess was the “love of her life.”

After this refreshing walk through history, please be sure to visit other authors on the Loving Blog Hop and enter the rafflecopter to earn a chance to win some prizes. See below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Leave a comment to be entered in a giveaway for any book of your choice from my backlist. I look forward to hearing from you!

Go back to Loving Day Hop Master List

Finish the Loving Day Hop by visiting Author Lena Hart

Loving Day Blog Hop – Historic Interracial Couples

Although the Loving case was a historic civil rights decision as it struck down laws banning interracial marriage, there have been many, varied interracial marriages throughout history.

Due to the protocol of “women and children first” Mr. Laroche separated from his family and went down with the ship.

After this refreshing walk through history, please be sure to visit other authors on the Loving Blog Hop and enter the rafflecopter to earn a chance to win some prizes. See below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Leave a comment to be entered in a giveaway for any book of your choice from my backlist. I look forward to hearing from you!

Go back to Loving Day Hop Master List

Finish the Loving Day Hop by visiting Author Lena Hart

Beauty is Where You Find It

Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s a beautiful Tuesday here in New Jersey. The grass is growing and the birds are chirping. It’s a great day to sit outside on the porch, on the grass, or on your deck and simply enjoy this early June sunshiney weather.

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. – Kahlil Gibran

So I don’t really have too much to say today except that we should find beauty in the small things. We should find beauty and everyday occurrences. There is beauty in every aspect of our lives.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. – Confucius

Authors: Keep Ya Heads Up

Usually I write a little fluffy post that talks about flowers, puppies, liquor or the like. This week, I took some time to cruise the discussion boards, something that I haven’t done in a while. On one hand, I see that I’m missing a lot while on the other, I think I’m not really missing anything.

I have been in the author business for about three years, and I think that I’ve come a long way in the way I approach the business. First it was all “write what you know”, then it was “write what readers want” then it was “write what you want” etc. etc. Every author is bombarded with mounds of advice on how to write, when to write it and what to write.

The veil is so thin between authors and readers that authors must be very careful to protect themselves. It is so easy these days to write a vicious, evil review that many Internet users take this opportunity to “rip an author a new one”. They don’t like the heroine, she’s too light. They don’t like the heroine, she’s too dark. Her hair is too straight. Her hair is too natural. She wears too much makeup. She doesn’t wear enough makeup. She has low self-esteem. She is too stuck on herself. She’s too fat. She’s too thin. She’s too short. She’s too tall. She’s too wimpy. She’s too kick-ass. She’s too bitchy. She’s a doormat.

Every characteristic I wrote in that last paragraph can apply to each and every person out there. We each have our own opinion about each and every person that we meet. For example, I may think that XXX character is too wimpy while you may think she’s just fine.

Which is why you can’t please everyone, so you know what?

Please yourself.

Write the book YOU want to read. You will not please every single reader. Each and every author is influenced by unique characteristics in their lives. Your experience will be different from mine. That’s what makes us human.

Authors, especially new ones. Stay off the discussion boards. You will NEVER please everyone, so stop adjusting your story, your characters, your settings. Your story is your ART. It is a personal expression that has absolutely nothing to do with anyone else.

Keep ya heads up.

Crocheting and Creativity

Knitter’s Pride circular needles from yarn.com

Most authors don’t sit hunched over a keyboard or a yellow pad and fountain pen all day long. We have lives, families, pets and we watch the occasional television program and/or movie. In addition, we also have hobbies, that little thing we try to squeeze between real life and creating imaginary worlds.

I am a crafter from way back. My mother taught me crocheting, knitting, tatting and sewing. The one thing that stuck with me was the crocheting. I must have hooks in so many sizes and colors that I could open my own store. And let’s not talk about the amount of yarn currently residing in my basement. I don’t even know how many different colors I have.

Crocheting (and knitting) is crucial to my creative cycle. Whenever I’m stuck on a plot point, character

arc or have had enough of looking at little letters march across the screen, I grab an unfinished project (there are quite a few) and start the needles moving. The mindless repetitive movement along with the smooth drag of yarn between my fingers helps to work out any problems I may be having. This goes for real issues as well as imaginary ones. <grin>

So what’s the activity that brings you to your Zen garden? Sewing, knitting, scrapbooking? Let us know in the comments.