My friend Melissa Bennett’s first book will be published later this year. The cover was revealed a couple of days ago by the publisher and I’m thrilled to present it here on my blog. Isn’t it lovely?
When newly-divorced Lil finds a second chance at love, a stalker threatens to destroy her happiness, her faith, and her life.
Congratulations Mel!
Did you know that the Fifth Avenue Hotel at Madison Square in New York City, completed in 1859, was a marvel of its time?
The hotel boasted private baths for eight hundred guests, a fireplace in every bedroom, and a staff of four hundred. It quickly surpassed the once-opulent Astor House as THE hotel in New York City’s social scene.
It also had the city’s first steam-powered elevator — “the vertical railroad” — which could carry guests and luggage up to the top (6th) floor. The elevator introduced a change in guest preference to rooms on the upper floors, which were located further away from the noise and smells of the street.
From politicians to entertainers, European royalty to American royalty (the ultra-wealthy), the grand hotels of the Gilded Age played host to the famous of the day. They were sumptuous worlds of luxury and mechanical ingenuity, built on a scale undreamed of just decades earlier.
References / To Read More…
As part of my celebration of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s twentieth anniversary, I thought I’d post a few of my favorite quotes. This isn’t all of them, by any means, but it’s a decent sample. I still reference some of these quotes today (though not necessarily in their original form).
“It’s the end of the world. Everyone dies. It’s rather important, really.”
(Doomed)
“Oh great. It’s the winged monkeys.”
(The Pack)
“Does anybody else feel like we’ve been Keyser Soze‘d?”
(The Puppet Show)
“Don’t you have an elsewhere to be?”
(Welcome to the Hellmouth) Continue reading
The first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired twenty years ago yesterday and the series is still in the Top 10 of my all-time favorite television shows. In honor of this milestone, I thought I’d resurrect some blog posts I wrote during the end of the series in 2003 (for a different site) with a few minor edits added. First up, my Big List o’ Buffy.
One fan’s musings on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the series. Continue reading
I’ve used Scrivener on my Mac since 2008, I think, and I love it. I’m not sure I could write a book without it at this point. I know it’s not for everyone, but it fits me and the way I approach and organize a story.
When I bought my first ipad (I waited until version 2) I was hoping that it would be useful enough that I could use it to replace lugging my laptop around when traveling. And when I saw that Literature and Latte had plans to release an iOS version of Scrivener, I firmly believed I was going to be all set. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen — then. Turns out there were more issues to be overcome than a simple port of the software, and to their credit, they refused to put out a product that would be less than what they wanted it to be. Continue reading