Karen E. Quinones Miller's Loves, Hates, Rants & Raves... Letting It All Hang Out!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
AMAZON SELLING "HOW-TO BOOK" FOR PEDOPHILES!
Most writers ardently oppose censorship, and are defenders of the U. S. Constitution's First Amendment, which allows for free speech.
However, should there be exceptions? For instance, should there be a ban on books which promote pedophillia? According to Amazon -- the Internet's largest book retailer -- the answer is a resounding NO! Read the AP article below, and let's see what YOU think!
(and thanks to FB Friend, Angela Nicky Wright for bringing this subject to my attention!)
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NEW YORK -- Amazon.com is selling a self-published guide that offers advice to pedophiles, and that has generated outrage on the Internet and threats to boycott the retailer.
PARIS — Toni Morrison is "beloved" in France, the country's culture minister said Wednesday, November 3rd, as he inducted the celebrated U.S. novelist into the elite Legion of Honor society.
In a ceremony in a gilded hall in the ministry, Frederic Mitterrand pinned a red and gold medal onto the celebrated author's jacket as a scrum of photographers snapped away.
Mitterrand called Morrison – a Nobel laureate and winner of the Pulitzer Prize – "the greatest American novelist of her time."
The Grammy-winning rapper was just released from a New York jail on November 4th, but it turns out that he has to make a return – In order to take a paternity test!
A Missouri woman filed the suit in August, stating that Wayne is the father of her 8-year-old grandchild, and the court has ordered the rapper to submit to a DNA test by December 9th. And the test has to be taken at Riker’s Island . . . Lil Wayne’s home for the last eight months.
(SAMPLE QUERY LETTER -- Remember the best query letters are NEVER more than two pages long. Try to stick to one page. Letter should be single-spaced, and you should try to hook the agent from the very beginning. Remember to focus on your manuscript, what it's about, why it's unique, and what makes it worth publishing. You should also compare to other books on the market so the agent can quickly get a feel for what kind of book you've written so as to decide if they want to read it. Also, let them know how long the manuscript is -- not how many pages but how many words. That's how manuscripts are measured. And finally, tell them something about you, and why you're qualified to write this book. If you've never written anything before, don't bother mentioning that . . . just say that you love to write and completing your novel has been an enjoyable endeavor or something. Oh! And one more important thing . . . most agents now accept query letters via email. THE RULE IS, THOUGH; SEND THE QUERY IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL, AND NOT AS AN ATTACHMENT!!!!!!!!!)
Dear Ms. ________,
It wasn't that Regina Harris wanted to be a Harlem street woman, she simply had no choice. Orphaned at 13, and with an infant niece to support, she becomes a shoplifter and a "professional girlfriend" to make ends meet. But when she's shot, and almost killed, while hanging out with a cocaine dealer, Regina turns her life around. She goes back to school, graduates from college, and begins a successful journalism career.
How To Write A Query Letter
First of all . . . What is a query letter?
It's a letter sent to agents letting them know about your manuscript, and asking them for representation. Nowadays almost no publisher will take a manuscript directly from a writer -- they want the writer to have an agent. It's sort of a filtering out process for the publisher.
The problem is agents are inundated with query letters . . . so make sure yours stands out from the pack. Below are some tips for writing query letters:
First off, let me explain what a writing group is . . .it's simply a group of writers who get together on a regular basis (once a week or twice a month) to read and critique each other's work.
The group doesn't have to consist of "professional" writers, simply people who write, are serious about their writing, and want to get feedback on what they write.
My writing group started in 1999, and at the time none of had a book published. Since then we've had four published writers emerge from the group.
No, he didn't. But -- from distracting beach babes to 'Dislike' buttons -- every Facebook scam targets our deepest desires, and this latest one is no different. Whether you're a tween 'Tiger Beat' fan or a gentleman who takes his teen pop with a side of schadenfreude, you would probably not be able to resist a link that promises to show you Bieber smacking a girl around. And that's exactly why the newest con making its way around the 'book is exploiting people's insatiable appetite for the boy, his bangs and the possibility of some adolescent blood.
The most common version is being passed around as a wall post that reads, "OH MY GOD!...Justin BIEBER Hits Girl For NO Reason! OMG! This Is So Badd!" Clicking the post's link leads to an image of a young girl with a Fox News logo in one corner, and a giant invitation for you to "click here" in another. Clicking the picture then attempts to install a piece of Facebook malware, and asks you to grant it permission to send you e-mail, pilfer your friends list and post updates to your Wall. If you're foolish enough to give it these permissions, you're then presented with the all-too-familiar scam survey that earns revenue for the hucksters behind the app. While you're busy answering questions to win a free iPad or an Ikea gift card, the app begins re-posting a link to itself on your wall, and messaging your friends with slight variations on the original theme.
But don't worry; if you've been trapped, removing the app is simple. Go to the Applications and Websites page (under Privacy Settings), and remove the app along with any unfamiliar "likes or interests." (It's probably good form to post a message to your friends, apologizing for your Bieber Fever, and telling them not to click on the link you posted earlier.) Scams spreading through social networks are nothing new, but the fact that this is masquerading as a legitimate Facebook app highlights the problems that Zuckerberg and crew have had with serving as gatekeeper to applications and with keeping users and their data safe
Book Review of "When The Cake is Made" by Miasha and Lisa Wu Hartwell.
Review by Olivia Cooper
I didn't buy the book because of Lisa Wu Hartwell, I'd never even watched those Housewives series, I bought it because I'm a Miasha fan. But I can tell you one thing for sure . . . this was a collaboration that really worked.
When the Cake is Made (I HATE the title, by the way!) is about three women on the brink of marriage whose weddings have been ruined, either because of outside forces, or because of their own personal demons.
Angie is a movie producer who lives in a fabulous house, has a fabulous life, but decides she needs a fabulous husband. But when she gets to the altar, she begins to have a change of heart.
Sheryl is a timid, battered, and almost broken divorced woman. When she meets the man of her dreams and is walking down the aisle toward him and a life of happiness tragedy occurs.
Leslie is a diva personified. When the man she's been fooling around with and has finally roped into marrying her delivers a shock at their wedding, she goes totally off!
All three realize they need psychiatric help in order to go with their lives, and seek that help from a woman psychiatrist who sponsors an annual Caribbean retreat for her patients. They meet when they go to the retreat for women which features a "Burn Your Wedding Dress" ceremony, and become roommates at the resort, and later remain friends when they get back to the States.
While they know they're drawn to each other, what they don't know is that they are all connected in ways that will affect each other's lives.
There's PLENTY of drama in this book, and a lots of unexpected twists and turns. I couldn't wait to find out how the authors were going to tie everything together, and they did a wonderful tie job!
I'm already a Miasha fan, I'm now a Lisa Wu Hartwell fan! And I hope they'll be collaborating on more books!
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You can buy your own copy of When The Cake is Madefrom Amazon by clicking here!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
This was one grandma who had enough!
58-year-old Cordelia Chisolm boarded a bus at the 69th Street Bus Terminal in Upper Darby(just outside of Philadelphia) with about 20 other people, including a young woman talking on her cell phone.
Chisolm sits in a seat, and the young woman, still talking on the phone, sits down next to her. Chisolm waits a few minutes, mumbles something about the girl's language and that there are little children on the bus, then gets up to move to another seat.
The 22-year-old woman rolls her eyes, and says something to the person on the phone about "Some old lady . . . "
Chisolm turns back and says "This old lady will put a bullet in your mouth."
The teen says something else . . . Chisolm pulls out a .38 revolver!. . . and walks back over to the girl.
Tragedy was prevented when a good samiratan jumped between them and calmed Chisolm down, and even escorted her off the bus. Chisholm was later arrested. Though sheh's never been in trouble with the law before, she's been given $50,000 bail, and changed with but she was not licensed to carry a gun.
Now, you know I don't condone gun violence, but look . . . don't YOU hate it when someone get on the bus, enters a restaurant, or sits down next to you in any public place and is in their cell phone AND STARTS CURSING LOUDLY!!!!!
I mean, I'm not one of those folks who say people shouldn't talk on the cell phone at all in public spaces (except the movies!), but I don't think I should be bombarded with nasty filthy language simply because some jerk has enough money to buy a cell phone.
And I get even more upset with the verbal bombardment when there are young kids in the area.
So I don't believe Chisholm should have pulled a gun on the chick, but I sure know there are time when I would have liked to have done the same!
Check out the video . . . courtesy of ABC News, Channel 6 in Philadelphia!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Rapper T.I. talks man down from hotel roof in Atlanta
T.I., who lives in Atlanta, was in his car listening to V-103 yesterday afternoon when he heard a report that man was threatening to jump off a hotel roof in downtown Atlanta.
T.I. (aka Clifford Harris) called the radio station and talked to DJs Ryan Cameron and Rashan Ali to get more details and drove to the location where he asked police negotiators -- who were trying to talk the man down -- if he could get a shot at the megaphone.
Perhaps the potential jumper -- who still has not been identified -- is a T.I. fan. T.I. quickly shot a phone video which police brought up to the rooftop and showed to the man saying that he understood what the man was going through, and wanted to talk to the man. After viewing with video, the man agreed to come down from the 22-story Colony Square Hotel and talk to the rapper up (down?) close and personal.
After a few minutes of talking to T.I. the man -- who has only been identified as Joshua, aged 22 -- was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for a psych eval.
So yeah, our boy T.I. can be a bad boy at times -- arrests for buying machine guns in the parking lot of an Atlanta grocery store; smoking weed and popping E while driving down Sunset Blvd. in Beverly Hills, CA for instance. In fact, he's going in front of a federal judge tomorrow (Friday 10/15) to face parole violation charges that can send him back to prison.
But yesterday's incident shows he can be a good guy, too. Nothing makes you feel better than knowing you may have saved a man's life.
