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Sunday, September 28, 2014

"Outlander" at last!

I'm thrilled to see that author Diana Gabaldon's mammoth Outlander series has finally found its way to film. Unlike readers today, who have to know everything before they even consider looking at a book, I picked up that huge book without knowing a damned thing about it other than it was about time travel, Scotland and Jacobites! How could I have lost? It was/is chocked full of eternal love, action, sex, betrayal, etc. Good stuff. The stuff of which terrific historical romances are made.

The making of this series has taken the long road to FOREVER. The first book came out in '91 and I've followed it ever since. For me the first three books are the best. An early contender for the role of Jamie was, hold on to your bandana, are you ready? AXEL ROSE. Yep, The GUNS N' ROSES front man. I suppose it was because he had red hair. Could he act? Probably not. Well, you know Hollywood. That use-the-flavor-of-the-moment.mentality regardless of talent level. He was the popular rocker of the nanosecond. That's all that mattered. Since early plans had been for a feature film, a name was needed to sell tickets. Translation: put asses in seats. Anyhoo, it didn't come to pass. Thank goodness. But hopes were still high. High for over twenty freakin' years:( Just happy it happened before the next century rolled around.

The choice of Sam Heughan for Jamie is spot on. Catriona Balfe makes a radiant Claire. Which brings me to the subject of fandoms. I've never encountered such a crowd. They live for the "feels." Now, I can get lost in a story as completely as the next person but the difference is I come the frig back. I don't sit staring at the TV, pillow to my mouth screaming into it because something befell a character. It's not real. It's acting. I'm a little scared of the zealotry of fandoms. And Lord, they have risen up for this series. I guess all that True Blood love had to shift to some place. If the adoration of Mr. Heughan plays out like the adoration for Twilight's Robert Pattinson, I fear for Heughan's career. I pray that women stop asking him what he's wearing under his kilt. Really, folks. Grow up. I hope his career blooms and does not stagnate because women want to see him in Outlander, season 57 and will expect him to attend every convention for the next 40 years as "Young Jamie" no matter how old he'll be. But what truly scares me are the fandoms of people who've never read the book, and have no clue as to the extremes that Jamie will endure. When, and if a particular situation in the book is televised, a mass howl will reach the heavens and dogs will drop dead from burst eardrums.

The other part to Outlander madness is women will be booking flights to Scotland to find their very own Jamie Fraser. Hell, I'm sure some are there already with versions of Claire's wedding dress in tow! Any guy with a pulse and a kilt will be fair game. Plus, Scotland? Yo, Scotland? Are you listening? Expect a gazillion Americans to flood the place for vacations and weddings. They'll be looking to stay in digs "just like that castle" they saw on TV. Get ready because they are a' coming! I say jack up the prices, gird yer loins, lie back, and think of England.

In closing, I take my hat off to the creators of this series. The actors, the locations and the scripts are superb. I'm hooked and waiting eagerly for next April. But the person who deserves the largest chunk of credit is Diana Gabaldon. She is a ROMANCE WRITER. That's the one thing the creators of the series, and she neglect to call Outlander. First and foremost, it is a ROMANCE. And Ms. Gabaldon gave birth to it all with the power of her imagination and a Dr. Who episode. I suppose they couldn't pitch it to TV as romance? Funny but the show is big on sex. Lots of sex. Long live romance! And gorgeous Highlanders.

image courtesy of www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Finally listed!

This message is for my readers. PARADOX is now on Goodreads and is available for "signing" on Authorgraph.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Oy Vey Ist Mir!

Very short post. What did consumers do before Consumer Reports? What did readers do before Goodreads? Or Booklikes? Well, I, for one, used to go a store, book or otherwise, and look over the item in question. I looked it over. Not a gazillion faceless folks on some website. I trust my judgment not the personal experiences of others with a product. Every take is different. Tailored to that person. In today's world, the purchase of any item, or the participation in any past time, has to be measured, quantified and evaluated by others before people will partake anymore. Do people not know their own minds? Their own likes and needs? I just don't want to lean on the opinion of a platoon for that book I am interested in purchasing, or that pair of shoes I'm interested in purchasing or that coffee I want to try. I rarely go with the crowd. Rarely like what the crowd is insane over. 'Cuz I'm like that. Thank God.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The deadly, dehumanizing, police tactics in Ferguson are the RULE across America, NOT the exception. Pt. 2

The present degree of harassment against marginalized communities is quite palpable. And has been a long running thread woven into US history. See Pt. 1.

As I'd said I am gonna make this personal to show that for lots of certain people, Black bodies have no reason for being. And therefore, no rights, no place in the scheme of things and therefore can be treated in any way. I am just trying to shine light on how intimidation did not stop when slavery ended. It took on, and continues to take on, different forms over the years. And has increased for all marginalized people here. The easiest group to unleash without too much explanation is an eager police force. I'd like to recount a few personal incidences with the po po down through the ages with members of my family that could have gone very wrong. Also to show that a number of those who pledge to protect and serve, do not extend that motto to everyone. The initial trip down memory lane starts with my grandmother and her then husband. This incident happened in a Southern state firmly stuck in the Jim Crow era and firmly steeped in the execution of Jim Crow law at the time

1) Grandma, the car and the cop. Gram revealed this on her deathbed to an uncle of mine. I suppose she wanted to clear the air.

When Grandma was a young, married woman back in the 1920s (she was born in 1900), her then husband was a trumpet player, a talented musician she'd met in a "juke joint." Grandma was no shy, retiring flower. She was a flapper and liked fun. Her hubby played gigs on the "Chitlin' Circuit" and anywhere else he could to get paid. Following the money at times meant venturing into areas to entertain in places which were "White Only" and to put it mildly, places not frequented by progressive thinkers. These places' patrons were bigots who loved listening to live "coon music." Getting to these gigs entailed travel. Lots and lots of travel. Which was dangerous to do when navigating through an area some cretin thought you shouldn't be. A Black person couldn't just hop on a bus or train like every other Mr. Charlie and then be on their merry, unencumbered way. No-o-o-o. So, to solve the problem of getting to gigs unscathed, my grandmother's hubby saved up and bought a Model T to drive to his jobs. My Grandma would go with him to keep him company as they were childless at the time. Anyhoo, one night after a well paying job in some godforsaken backwater in Maryland (yes, Maryland is a southern state) they were driving along a road, and lo and behold, a representative of the local fuzz stopped them. Why? Well, pick a reason, any reason will do. They all were bullshit. Breathing while Black. Year is 1925. Nice car which must be stolen. Late at night. Whenever they drove, my Grandma used to take everything pertaining to that car with her. She'd cram paper after paper, manuals, license, permits. ANYTHING to do with that car into her coat lining or her purse, or kept it somewhere in the vehicle. So, the cop wanted to see the credentials to show it's theirs and not stolen. Grandma opened her purse and dumped the contents on the hood. Then emptied the lining of her coat. Caveman cop sifted through the pile, grunted that everything was IN ORDER and told her to put the stuff away. Her hubby sighed in relief. The cop didn't like that response so he proceeded to smash out a headlight with his baton and told them, "Get that fixed. Soon." As they may get written up, or worse, for having a broken headlight in HIS county. He turned to leave and my Grandma, who took nothing from no one, and clearly wasn't thinking, ran after the cop, swinging her bag like a slingshot to pop him in the head. Fortunately, her husband grabbed her by the collar of her coat, yanked her back into his hold and whispered low, "Are you crazy? You wanna die? Man will shoot us both, roll us and the damn car into a ditch! Let it go and let's get out of here!" Needless to say at 88, on her deathbed, if she felt compelled to speak of that scenario, it must have weighed heavily on her mind all her life..


2) My uncle the WWII Vet, the return and the fight for respect and a decent job

This particular uncle had served in WWII in the "European Theatre" (the Ardennes in France being one place). After being decorated and earning the nickname, "Bull of the Woods" (because apparently when battle ensued he didn't play around), he survived and the war ended. He came home and refused to be called 'boy' anymore or do low-paying work. He'd been a personal driver for an officer. He had references from this officer. He'd been FREE. And he was not going to take shit from certain folks anymore. When he returned home, he wanted a job driving. driving anything. He had applied to the transit system in his hometown of Philly. He passed all the tests and still got turned down. Surely wasn't because he couldn't drive. Anyhoo, many Black, returning WWII vets wanted decent jobs in Philly. With the transit company. Their demand for their applications to even be considered became a hot point of racial unrest. White protesters showed up to intimidate the men who's been brave enough to even apply. Chaos ensued and COPS and TROOPS had to be called in to keep the peace at transit depots. Fine. But they only hassled the Black job applicants. My uncle was in that group. The authorities were no better than the protesters. As has become the norm, an armed presence didn't help. They roused and manhandled the applicants. Made it worse. Fighting broke out anyway. Google it. Philly, Black men applying for jobs after returning home from WWII, riot, PTC transit. It's all there.



3) My Mother, a job interview and an escape

For years my mom had done domestic work before she applied to, and was accepted, into nursing school. On one of her many interviews for a house cleaning job, she seemed a possible hire. A divorced, White COP with two young sons needed a housekeeper. The person would have to stay late three nights a week to make dinner. A probable overnight if he had an emergency. When my mom heard those conditions she declined as she had a child. When my mom got home from the interview that day she was visibly upset. Why? I did not find out the sad facts until years later when I was grown.  Apparently in the midst of this interview, the man had decided that my mom was his opportunity to "get some for free." She had deduced that the commute would have been too far for her so she'd said "no thank you" to the position. Guess he didn't like that and thought he'd get something for his time. Yep, Mister-Fine-Upstanding-Public-Servant had put the moves on mom and had said that she'd better just go along with what he wanted because no one was going to believe her if she accused him of rape. Actually the words were, "no one would take a nigger's word over mine." Charming. She escaped being raped because his kids came home from school early. Oh boy.


4) Me, a term paper and an unexpected free ride.

Waaaay back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I did a daily commute to college. It was cheaper to do a "day-hop" than to live on campus. I took a train and a bus. A bus that didn't run when it rained too hard or snowed or if the road was slick with autumn leaves. Well, for two weeks I'd missed class due to a really nasty cold. That last week before holiday break, a paper was due. Big project that counted for 30 percent of the final grade. Could not be late handing it in. No excuses, blah, blah, blah. Well I still wasn't well but I'd decided to go to class to turn in the paper and return to my bed. Except the day I picked was the day the freakin bus wasn't running due to slick roads. Who knows really? Maybe a squirrel pissed on the leaves. SEPTA, the state's transit system, was, is notoriously inept. In fact, its other, less complimentary name is INEPTA. Anyhoo, the train pulled "into the top of the Hill"---the last stop. I got off and another, Black, fellow "day-hop" student was going in too. Without enough money between us for cab fare, add in no driving classmate passing by, we started to walk to school. We took a lesser traveled road. We took a short cut through a residential area. It was quicker and off the damned, main road where drivers got their jollies coming close to pedestrians. So, here we were walking. I knew that two Black chicks walking through a White housing tract were gonna draw some eyes and some crone was gonna call the cops. I didn't care. I had to turn a paper in. As sure as sun follows rain, a COP car of that county, containing a White cop, pulled next to us as we walked. Are you seeing a pattern here? My companion freaked. Personally, I was too fuckin' sick and too fuckin' tired to put up with this watchdog's ish. He questioned us: Who, what, where, when, why. Everything but our panty color. Said he'd gotten a call that there were "types" in the neighborhood who didn't live there. I kept telling my friend to chill. Whatever, it was apparent he didn't believe us. So, mouthy me said, "Whoever called doesn't know if we clean houses around here or not." Then I reined it in.and said, "You know what, Officer? We need to get to school. Take us to the college and get the story you need." At that he said, "Get in the car. Now." I really didn't want to in case he got nutty. 'Cuz I would have brained him with my book bag. (Hi, Grandma) But I was so sick. Nose running. Sniffling. I was ready. He probably thought he'd bagged a coke head.

Miss-OMG-We're-Busted and my unwell self climbed into the back of the car and got a free ride to the front door of the college,.Made it on time too. As Mister-Law-N-Order traipsed into the center hall with two girls he just knew were liars, a classmate of mine rushed over, hugged me and gushed how she'd missed me. Someone else welcomed my car partner. Finally, the nun/registrar exited her office, saw the policeman and marched right over to us. Sisters of Saint Joseph do not play. When they ask questions; you answer. Immediately. She knew me, said hello and then set her sights on the cop.

"May I help you?"
"No, Ma'am," he replied. "Found them on the road. Just gave them a ride." Sucker was beet red from ears to neck. I couldn't stop laughing behind my hand.
"Very well then. Thank you, Officer."
Lawman looked at me and said, 'You shouldn't walk in unfamiliar areas. Never know what might happen,"
"It wasn't unfamiliar, Officer. I go to school in this area. I belong here."
He didn't like that answer from the way he snorted and nodded.
Sister-of-St.-Joseph-To-The-Rescue broke in.
"Get to class, ladies." She took the cop by an elbow and steered him toward an exit. " Thank you again, Officer. Good day."

Loved that day. Anyway, do you see that while doing the most innocuous thing while Black can get you messed up? Driving, applying for a job, walking, going to school. Hell, existing. All things that non-minority people do all the damned time without eager police intervention. Intervention that at times is anything but lawful. Yeah, you are probably sick of hearing about it. But you know what? You are nowhere near as sick of hearing about it as I am of living it. And the weirdest thing is I weep for humanity but I have hope for it too.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Release Day! Yippee! PARADOX has landed!

Today is release day for book 4 of my paranormal romance series. PARADOX has been a long time coming. But it's finally out. Published by Extasy Books, it's a little darker than the previous books in the series as Nate is bent on getting a kidnapped Tina back, come Hell or high water. And the quest is not pretty.


Saturday, September 13, 2014

The deadly, dehumanizing, police tactics in Ferguson are the RULE across America NOT the exception. Pt. 1

I've been busy writing two romance books at the same time and have not been adding to my blog in a timely manner because of it. I also took time out to give an interview to MrsBookmark over at "SMART GIRLS LOVE SCI FI AND PARANORMAL ROMANCE" that I'm positive has a few heads spinning. I also needed time away from the internet. Blame headlines about turmoil and death in Africa, the Middle East, (which is Africa), Ukraine and here in the U. S.  I'm fatigued. And pissed. And sad. This killing in general has to stop! And in particular, this sport of beating and/or killing Blacks in the U. S. by the police and others "scared" by our simple existence and moved to heinous actions by believing the manufactured myth that they are "losing their God-given right to rule" like in the "good ole days." Phew! That was a run-on sentence, was it not? I have not seen such brutality since I was a kid. Hell, if the nuts are going to get all Old Skool, then go hard with the nostalgia and bring back water canons and dogs. Ah. Bull Connor would be so proud. Yes, I said sport because it's open carry for some and open season on Black bodies just because.

Please, I know all ethnic groups who kill, do so mainly within their own group. So don't start mumbling about Black-on-Black crime to me. You see no one writes scads of columns on White-on-White crime, Latino-on-Latino crime, fill in the ethnicity on fill in the ethnicity crime. But we know that's happening too. Besides, news outlets reporting on Black-on-Black crime could not care less. It's filler for the news feed. If it bleeds, it leads! It fans the flames of "Look, see how they treat each other!" That's all it's about. The concern is nil. New gory story? Bring it on! I thought long and hard, about whether or not, I, who pen romance books, should even utter a word on the current racial tensions in Ferguson, MO or in the States period. I'm no journalist but neither are some of the talking heads with microphones. It could be bad for book sales and a downer and I could turn off potential readers of my books by being seen as a writer with a "political grudge." But you know what? I've rarely taken the safe route in my life. Why start now? I've never separated my life into sections to please others. I'm grown. And I'll still be standing if readers become angry at what I'm going to reveal.

I am a person of a certain age who thought by now that this racial garbage in the States would have dried up and blown away by the time I was grown. But I was wrong. It hasn't. That insidious plant has been lovingly watered in secret, has thrived in darkness and ignorance, and has put out more strong roots. UGH! First of all, I am tired of hearing those, who possess privilege and a degree of control, say that those who are not in control love pulling the race card. First of all, there is no such thing as the friggin race card! There are only a**holes who when they feel their privileged positions threatened, scream "race card being pulled!" whenever a minority calls them on their racist ish.

A lot has changed but so much more needs to. If anything racial divide has gotten worse in the good ole U S of A since Mr. Obama won the office TWICE. Let's face it. The Old Guard and folks who think like them, have not recovered since Tall, Dark and Brilliant was vetted for the position of Prez. They then went totally ape-shit when he won. How dare he! They'd been in charge for centuries and felt that power was slipping away from them. Even those who'd, unconsciously, been sipping from the fountain of privilege and who have been benefiting from the established power dynamic are peeved. That is the main reason you get the likes of the Tea Party, the Birthers, Congress (mostly The House), militarized police departments and reckless gun laws. Authority that flaunts its displeasure with the poor and the pigmented. Just new masks on the same old fearful faces.

How old you ask? This is where I make it personal.and put a face on these so-called random exceptions to the rule. Let me state for the record: These displays of aggression are not random! This crap goes way back to the Jim Crow era, which in some historians' eyes, was WORSE than slavery. Blows the mind. The only consolation a slave had, if you can call it a consolation, was that as PROPERTY they were assets to their owners. And no other White man was to mess with another White man's PROPERTY lest there be repercussions. So that warped code of honor kept the mega-crazy in check. Having to pay out money for an offense if caught ALWAYS makes a person think twice. Anyway, after slavery, Jim Crow was established to still exert control over, and to continue to terrify, a now free-to-roam colored population which now had to be PAID wages for their labor. No longer slaves but not free really. After the Civil War, there was only a tiny window of what-could-have-been for Black people called the Reconstruction period. Many established thriving towns, full of businesses fueled by the crafts they'd honed in slavery. Self sufficient, these little settlements with skilled master craftsmen became competition. And became scenes of carnage inflicted by vigilantes and "peacekeepers" angered at seeing Negroes living like human beings. Ku Klux Klan anyone? Also, another benevolent organization known as the NRA sprang up. Co-incidence?

This kind of ugliness is what drew me to write romance involving different ethnicities. Lord, we need more love. Fast! Well. this is a long post, so I'll speak more on this in Pt.2 and tie in how my family's brushes with the law were examples of the RULE.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

MrsBookmark interviews me for the "Smart Girls Love Sci Fi" blog

Today over on the blog "Smart Girls Love Sci Fi" I get the royal treatment of a choice interview. MrsBookmark fires off the questions. It's two parter.

http://smartgirlsscifi.wordpress.com/2014/09/09/author-interview-pj-dean/

Sunday, September 7, 2014

"Facts? We don't need no stinkin' facts!" Historical Fantasy for the win!

I love reading well-written historical romances. They also have to be believable for me to enjoy them. Call me a nitpicker but getting the history right, or at least in the ball park, matters. If the story is built on shaky history, I DNF it. The term "historical romance" is self explanatory. It's a romance threaded together with history. I adore when an author does the research required to pen the story. Which brings me to the latest batch of writers who have decided to jump into creating HISTORICAL romances with heroes and heroines of different races. Especially when half of the duo is Caucasian and the other half is not.

People, do your frickin research! Please! I beg of you.

Unlike the contemporary, paranormal or New Adult genres where race is usually not a crucial story point, race is a BIG DAMNED DEAL in the INTERRACIAL historical. If the chosen duo in the IR historical consists of a White partner and the other partner who is not White is from anywhere on the globe besides another Western country, there is going to be conflict. First of all, their families might not be thrilled. Society's rejection of the couple, solely based on their differing races is gonna be an obstacle to that pair living as peacefully as same race couples or couples of the same class but different ethnicities of the era. As a writer, you cannot ignore those facts and remain true to the work.

If a writer desires accuracy in building this type of story, then depicting the pair as being mad for each other will not be enough. Love alone will not keep them together. The author is going to have to show what a s**tstorm they will be up against for thumbing their noses at society to be together. Which means researching the racial laws, the real rules decreed against persons of color in the country at that time, etc. If a writer is not willing, or able to do research, I say call the book HISTORICAL FANTASY. because that's what it will be.

I've come across a number of new authors who write these unpalatable fantasies, especially when it comes to the slavery era in the USA. These writers don't get into the period's history too deeply, other than the basics. You'll get the Master and the bed wench he has fallen for. He just doesn't know why but she touches some tender side of him he didn't know he had. Oh boy. You'll get the bed wench, who even though she's listed as property on his books, finds lovin' Master makes everything A-OK. Besides, since she's been "picked" by him, her work load has grown lighter, she gets extra food and she gets gifts and oh! it's kismet! UGH! And that's just one scenario. I'm sure someone has penned something as equally as ludicrous, with other duos in other countries, set in similar circumstances.

Deity. Help.Us.

It's the tidying up of those pesky, historical facts to fit this fantasy take on actual, unpleasant shit that makes me hurl. I've read some interviews with some of these authors. When asked about the real history of the times in which they set their IR tale and how it's missing from their books, they all respond by saying, "I write emotion between two people not history. I write about the love." Even some readers have expressed the same sentiment of wanting "to read about the forbidden love between the characters not the history." That's not historical romance. Oh, it's got IR love interests but it's not historical. These authors are writing fairy tales for people who don't want to read an IR historical with any history to interfere with the fantasy in their mind. I'm certain some readers sit back and say, "Just like I thought. Wasn't that bad back then," Plus the writers may be reaching out of their scope of ability. Their view of the world, of those times, mocks all writers who research like nuts to make a book ring true. In this case, love does not trump all. It taints it.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Sept/Oct issue of Book Trailer Showcase Magazine is out and free on this blog!

Read the latest issue of BTS Mag now on my site. Look in the upper left-hand corner of this blog to locate it. Feast your eyes on the pretty ad created for the books in my series so far.