New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author ~ ~ ~ writing and streams of consciousness
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag
There were so many things about this book that I loved, but I think it was the opening chapter that will stick with me for life. The weather description, the walk, the tension building as you know...you know something horrible waits. Something so unspeakable you want to cover your eyes. Few authors can instill that feeling with words, but Ms. Hoag mastered it with this book.
Other books by Tami you might enjoy.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Saturday, November 23, 2013
A Glimpse Into A Twisted Mind
I'm not always sure where my characters originate, but Brightstone quickly became a loved/hated character for me. Perhaps because I understood his pain.
Take a glimpse into a twisted mind.
Take a glimpse into a twisted mind.
There was nothing exceptional
about my birth, except perhaps for the fact that my parents shared the biblical
names of Joseph and Mary. They were a good, God-fearing couple.
Alas, they did not name me
Jesus, but their hopes for me were not in vain. They soon realized I was not a
normal child. Not like the other five-year-olds. I cared not for toys and
storybooks. I spent my time developing healing antidotes from ordinary shrubs.
I cared for animals, birds with broken wings. It was not unusual for me to come
home carrying a poor dog that had been run over by some careless motorist. I
would spend hours stitching up their wounds, applying homemade poultices, and
nursing them back to health. I was indeed a savior of sorts.
School was my first experience
of the cold reality of being different. Like my parents, my teachers discovered
that my mind was much further advanced than they could deal with. How could you
teach a child whose mind was a sponge and whose knowledge, within days,
exceeded your own? I did not know then how to hide my intelligence and fit in
with a crowd. I did not know how to play the games of life and lose
occasionally.
Soon it became apparent that
our small community was not the best place for a child of such brilliance. Or
at least that was what the men in white coats convinced my parents of. So the
men took me away for my own good.
I had no best friends, no first
dates, no senior proms. Nothing but a cold grey building, lab coats, and books.
Lots and lots of books. Not the fun, frivolous stories I should have enjoyed in
my youth. Textbooks of knowledge that I absorbed and mastered within days,
weeks, and months. I graduated with honors. My parents, whom I had not seen in
ten years, were in the front row, beaming with pride. I smiled at them, but
there was no feeling behind my smile. Any memory of the warmth of my mother’s
touch or the gentle yet firm guidance of my father’s hands had long ago been
lost. My father was a stranger, an old man, still handsome in some ways, but
the luster was gone from his eyes. My mother, once a spirit of light and life,
seemed cold with her sweater wrapped around her thin shoulders, her beauty
faded by time. Had their lives grown cold and loveless like mine?
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Friday, November 22, 2013
Rants and Raves - Do Books Kill?
Sometimes I just have to get things off my chest, and today is one of those days. I've listened to the gun debate for over a year. The pros and cons for severe gun control. And once again, my answer is - "you can't cure stupid." It is a misconception that criminals are stupid. Many criminals border on brilliant. There is simply no way to control crime and/or murders by taking away guns. That leaves knives, hammers, baseball bats, crowbars, poison, ice picks, bombs, and the list goes on endlessly.
We'd like to believe as a society that evil doesn't exist and there are no evil people. We spend thousands if not millions of dollars yearly on psychological studies of "what makes this killer tick" and "why did little Johnny go off"? Sometimes it's an overload of nothing more than life. Sometimes it's something inherent in the person that nothing can change. There were signs. Early warnings that were ignored because psychology says we're doing it all wrong. Children have labels -- ADD, OD, CB, ODD, and the list is endless. We medicate them with anti-psychotics that create both mental and physical problems. Have you ever looked at those labels? Each has a warning that the child cannot stop taking the medication without severe side effects. Hum...that should give you food for thought.
But back to my original question--Do Books Kill?
In May of this year a child was found dead, naked and emaciated. She died from hypothermia and malnutrition. Officials determined she had been beaten with a plastic tube the day of death. For more on this disturbing issue check out the article at: Examiner
In the above article the author shares links to several other deaths attributed to a book "How To Train Up a Child" by Michael and Debi Pearl.
I took the opportunity to look this book up on Amazon. It has 3,900+ reviews. 2,582 which are 1 star slamming the book. It's #5 in Christian Books and Bibles and #5 in Christian Living. WTH??????? As a Christian I am appalled that a book that perpetuates child abuse in the form of: beating a child with plastic tubing; training children with pain before they disobey, putting children outside in cold weather and withholding food, hosing children with cold water to potty train them or inflicting punishment upon a child until they pass out or cannot breath to complain could reach #5 in any Christian category.
As I said, as a Christian I am appalled, but I'm not surprised. The book found a niche in society. A group that believes many of the old time beliefs that children should be totally obedient. Children should be seen and not heard, and only seen when YOU want them to be seen. At the point in time when those beliefs were upheld children were not objects of choice, but objects of need. Many parents had children, not because they wanted a child, but because they needed that child to work the farm or do the chores.
What this niche in society doesn't take into account is the changes in society. When the old time beliefs were instituted families survived by working together, playing together and taking care of each of other. Interaction with society was limited. Interaction to other belief structures was limited. Options for any other lifestyle than the one you lived weren't available. Times have changed. The world has changed, and children have changed. Was it a good change? Not always, but we have to recognize those changes and we have to find ways to deal with them and beating or starving a child to death is not the answer. Adopting children or having children because it's "the thing to do" or "mommy and daddy want a grandchild" is not acceptable.
Having a child should be the most thought about, life changing decision any human being makes. They aren't like puppies that you can feed twice a day, turn out in the back yard to do their business and lock up in cages when you want to get away. You shouldn't treat a dog that way, but treating a child that way is and should be criminal. There is simply too much education on birth control and free birth control out there and no one should ever have a child except for one reason--you want to love it, help it grow up and become a healthy, happy, functioning member of society. 100 years ago perhaps you could do that by beating, starving or tossing out into the cold. Perhaps children were tougher then, physically and mentally. Just as society has changed, the physical and mental makeup of children have changed. They're not as tough now. They break both physically and mentally. We see prime examples of that every day in the news.
So Do Books Kill? The simple answer is no, but the real answer is much more complex. Books don't kill, just as guns don't kill. People kill. The question we have to find the answer to is why? A part of that answer is that we live in a world of extreme fast pace. We are more frustrated trying to take it all in. We have more stress in trying to find simple ways to do it all in only a 24 hour day. We need answers to deal with overwhelming issues that face us every day. And we want a product that works. Especially when we've tried everything and nothing has changed. We want that instant gratification. The "havitall" pill that takes away our pain, depression, worry and makes us happy. And worst of all--we don't want to look in the mirror. We don't want to search our own souls. We want someone to tell us what to do to make it all go away. Most intelligent people that might find this book in their hands would read a little and say "these people are nuts"; but there are and always will be those who want someone to tell them what to do, and how to make it all go away. They'll read this book, try some of the examples, and perhaps for some it might work. There will be others, like the examples above who believe in the book, just like Jim Jones' followers believed in him. When the processes set forth therein aren't working, it isn't because the book is wrong and the examples therein won't work for their child, they believe it's because they aren't doing it right. So they hit harder. They starve longer. And eventually another child dies.
The opinions above are my own, but they're not totally biased as I have a counseling degree, but even more important I have a 6 year old child who is being monitored for Oppositional Defiance Disorder. If you're not familiar with that disorder it describes an angry, defiant child that no amount of reasoning, love, structure or discipline has an effect on. I've read all the literature, studied all the methods of working with him, and tried almost everything. We're in counseling. We have days and sometimes weeks of the sweetest child in the world. We have days and sometimes weeks of an angry, defiant, destructive ball of energy that can scream for hours on end because he doesn't want to do his homework. There are times I'm tired, discouraged and I take a lot of long walks. I keep looking for a solution, but never in my wildest dreams would I consider beating him, starving him or tossing him out in the cold. Not because I may not be angry at times, or frustrated enough to do that, but because I'm intelligent enough to know that that would not solve the problem. He might for a while on the surface appear better, act better, but the problem, whatever it is that lies underneath would still be there and someday it would burst forth and I would be looking at the next school shooting or worse. I will never give up until I find a way to reach the problem and find a real solution, not a mask to cover the issue. And I will keep loving him, providing structure and discipline and working with him until I do.
The bottom line is books don't kill, but they can provide information that if taken to the extreme can push an already frustrated and "at the end of the their rope" person over the edge.
We have get back to basics in some ways, yes, but we also have to understand there is no "havitall" pill. And there is no shame in asking for help if you're having a problem or have a problem child. There is no shame in accepting your child for who and what he/she is or who and what they want to be when they grow up. Perhaps our grandson will never be the next Einstein. He may never be an astronaut and make space discoveries. He's not going to get that basketball, football or baseball million dollar contract. He may not be an Olympic swimmer (although that may be possible as he loves to swim). I'm okay with that. All I truly want for him is to be happy, healthy and a functioning member of society that grows up to respect himself and others. If I accomplish that then I will have my havitall pill.
We'd like to believe as a society that evil doesn't exist and there are no evil people. We spend thousands if not millions of dollars yearly on psychological studies of "what makes this killer tick" and "why did little Johnny go off"? Sometimes it's an overload of nothing more than life. Sometimes it's something inherent in the person that nothing can change. There were signs. Early warnings that were ignored because psychology says we're doing it all wrong. Children have labels -- ADD, OD, CB, ODD, and the list is endless. We medicate them with anti-psychotics that create both mental and physical problems. Have you ever looked at those labels? Each has a warning that the child cannot stop taking the medication without severe side effects. Hum...that should give you food for thought.
But back to my original question--Do Books Kill?
In May of this year a child was found dead, naked and emaciated. She died from hypothermia and malnutrition. Officials determined she had been beaten with a plastic tube the day of death. For more on this disturbing issue check out the article at: Examiner
In the above article the author shares links to several other deaths attributed to a book "How To Train Up a Child" by Michael and Debi Pearl.
I took the opportunity to look this book up on Amazon. It has 3,900+ reviews. 2,582 which are 1 star slamming the book. It's #5 in Christian Books and Bibles and #5 in Christian Living. WTH??????? As a Christian I am appalled that a book that perpetuates child abuse in the form of: beating a child with plastic tubing; training children with pain before they disobey, putting children outside in cold weather and withholding food, hosing children with cold water to potty train them or inflicting punishment upon a child until they pass out or cannot breath to complain could reach #5 in any Christian category.
As I said, as a Christian I am appalled, but I'm not surprised. The book found a niche in society. A group that believes many of the old time beliefs that children should be totally obedient. Children should be seen and not heard, and only seen when YOU want them to be seen. At the point in time when those beliefs were upheld children were not objects of choice, but objects of need. Many parents had children, not because they wanted a child, but because they needed that child to work the farm or do the chores.
What this niche in society doesn't take into account is the changes in society. When the old time beliefs were instituted families survived by working together, playing together and taking care of each of other. Interaction with society was limited. Interaction to other belief structures was limited. Options for any other lifestyle than the one you lived weren't available. Times have changed. The world has changed, and children have changed. Was it a good change? Not always, but we have to recognize those changes and we have to find ways to deal with them and beating or starving a child to death is not the answer. Adopting children or having children because it's "the thing to do" or "mommy and daddy want a grandchild" is not acceptable.
Having a child should be the most thought about, life changing decision any human being makes. They aren't like puppies that you can feed twice a day, turn out in the back yard to do their business and lock up in cages when you want to get away. You shouldn't treat a dog that way, but treating a child that way is and should be criminal. There is simply too much education on birth control and free birth control out there and no one should ever have a child except for one reason--you want to love it, help it grow up and become a healthy, happy, functioning member of society. 100 years ago perhaps you could do that by beating, starving or tossing out into the cold. Perhaps children were tougher then, physically and mentally. Just as society has changed, the physical and mental makeup of children have changed. They're not as tough now. They break both physically and mentally. We see prime examples of that every day in the news.
So Do Books Kill? The simple answer is no, but the real answer is much more complex. Books don't kill, just as guns don't kill. People kill. The question we have to find the answer to is why? A part of that answer is that we live in a world of extreme fast pace. We are more frustrated trying to take it all in. We have more stress in trying to find simple ways to do it all in only a 24 hour day. We need answers to deal with overwhelming issues that face us every day. And we want a product that works. Especially when we've tried everything and nothing has changed. We want that instant gratification. The "havitall" pill that takes away our pain, depression, worry and makes us happy. And worst of all--we don't want to look in the mirror. We don't want to search our own souls. We want someone to tell us what to do to make it all go away. Most intelligent people that might find this book in their hands would read a little and say "these people are nuts"; but there are and always will be those who want someone to tell them what to do, and how to make it all go away. They'll read this book, try some of the examples, and perhaps for some it might work. There will be others, like the examples above who believe in the book, just like Jim Jones' followers believed in him. When the processes set forth therein aren't working, it isn't because the book is wrong and the examples therein won't work for their child, they believe it's because they aren't doing it right. So they hit harder. They starve longer. And eventually another child dies.
The opinions above are my own, but they're not totally biased as I have a counseling degree, but even more important I have a 6 year old child who is being monitored for Oppositional Defiance Disorder. If you're not familiar with that disorder it describes an angry, defiant child that no amount of reasoning, love, structure or discipline has an effect on. I've read all the literature, studied all the methods of working with him, and tried almost everything. We're in counseling. We have days and sometimes weeks of the sweetest child in the world. We have days and sometimes weeks of an angry, defiant, destructive ball of energy that can scream for hours on end because he doesn't want to do his homework. There are times I'm tired, discouraged and I take a lot of long walks. I keep looking for a solution, but never in my wildest dreams would I consider beating him, starving him or tossing him out in the cold. Not because I may not be angry at times, or frustrated enough to do that, but because I'm intelligent enough to know that that would not solve the problem. He might for a while on the surface appear better, act better, but the problem, whatever it is that lies underneath would still be there and someday it would burst forth and I would be looking at the next school shooting or worse. I will never give up until I find a way to reach the problem and find a real solution, not a mask to cover the issue. And I will keep loving him, providing structure and discipline and working with him until I do.
The bottom line is books don't kill, but they can provide information that if taken to the extreme can push an already frustrated and "at the end of the their rope" person over the edge.
We have get back to basics in some ways, yes, but we also have to understand there is no "havitall" pill. And there is no shame in asking for help if you're having a problem or have a problem child. There is no shame in accepting your child for who and what he/she is or who and what they want to be when they grow up. Perhaps our grandson will never be the next Einstein. He may never be an astronaut and make space discoveries. He's not going to get that basketball, football or baseball million dollar contract. He may not be an Olympic swimmer (although that may be possible as he loves to swim). I'm okay with that. All I truly want for him is to be happy, healthy and a functioning member of society that grows up to respect himself and others. If I accomplish that then I will have my havitall pill.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
"You Can Dress Up Ugly....But You Can't Cure Stupid."
I'm often asked if my job as a court reporter gives me inspiration for stories. I've always said no, because most of the cases I'm involved with would bore the reader to death. Occasionally when I work with the police departments on a murder case, that may fuel a few of my murder scenes, but not always. Actually the downtime in driving does give me lots of time to think though. I'm often on the road two to three hours between getting to the deposition site and coming home. This morning, on top of pouring coffee into orange juice, I found myself in a somewhat pensive mood. An hour on the road for a fifteen minute deposition, that without an appearance fee would be a loss for me. Now, before you feel sorry for me, that isn't always the case. Court reporters make good money at times, and have lots of jobs that aren't really money makers. But getting back to my pensive mood. I found myself looking back over the years to other jobs I've had, and one job I was offered that truly made me laugh out loud as I was driving along because it reminded me of something my daddy said to me when I brought home a particular "pretty boy". Oh, and he was handsome. After my date that night when I came home dad was waiting and we sat down to talk for a few minutes. Dad wasn't a big talker and he often put it pretty bluntly, which he did in this case. He told me I couldn't go out with that guy anymore and then he said "You can dress up ugly, honey, but you can't cure stupid."
I realize now what I didn't realize then--Dad was always right. I heard several years later that my pretty boy had committed several crimes, including murder, and was serving a 98 year sentence. Thanks to dad I jumped ship on that one before it sunk.
These thoughts led to other thoughts in my pensive mood. I went back over my life and training as a hypnotherapist. I spent thousands of hours in classes studying psychology, counseling and hypnosis techniques. I've always been fascinated by the power of the mind, and hypnosis to me seemed like a wonderful tool to help people. One of our requirements was to attend and take part in a lecture presented by a top hypnotist on "stop smoking" seminars. I limited my presentation to the health benefits received from stopping smoking, although there are times I believe there are benefits to those who smoke. (Don't hit me with wet noodles. A doctor actually told me that."
I'm a very passionate speaker on topics I believe in. For years I have taught free meditation and self-hypnosis classes for healing benefits. I'm a firm believer that the mind has the power to heal us if we can only tap into those resources. After my speech the presenter made me an offer he probably felt I couldn't refuse. He wanted me to join their group. They could book speeches for me and charge up to $300.00 a person for a one hour speech. What the presenter didn't realize was that I was passionate about what I was studying, but to me it was a spiritual journey in finding ways to help people learn to help themselves. It wasn't about money. I looked at him, smiled and said: "You can dress up ugly, but you can't cure stupid, and anyone willing to pay $300.00 an hour to hear me speak is too stupid for me to be of any benefit to."
I walked away from that presentation with my morals intact, and still feeling good about myself. I'd learned some valuable things there and perhaps I could be rich now at the expense of others, but I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night. Daddy had another saying that we hear a lot. "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is." I don't see these people doing seminars anymore so the odds are they priced themselves out of business. When you're studying something to help others, price should not be a part of the equation. You should put just as much passion into helping someone who needs it that can't afford to pay as you put into that person who can afford to pay $300.00 an hour . If you do that, then odds are you're going to succeed. If you don't, odds are eventually you'll run out of people who can afford you.
I turned my thoughts from this to my writing. And wow, what a kicker. The third Catherine Mans book just clicked and now I can start writing it. So if you love the Catherine Mans Psychic Suspense team, get ready--there's going to be a new one coming soon.
I realize now what I didn't realize then--Dad was always right. I heard several years later that my pretty boy had committed several crimes, including murder, and was serving a 98 year sentence. Thanks to dad I jumped ship on that one before it sunk.
These thoughts led to other thoughts in my pensive mood. I went back over my life and training as a hypnotherapist. I spent thousands of hours in classes studying psychology, counseling and hypnosis techniques. I've always been fascinated by the power of the mind, and hypnosis to me seemed like a wonderful tool to help people. One of our requirements was to attend and take part in a lecture presented by a top hypnotist on "stop smoking" seminars. I limited my presentation to the health benefits received from stopping smoking, although there are times I believe there are benefits to those who smoke. (Don't hit me with wet noodles. A doctor actually told me that."
I'm a very passionate speaker on topics I believe in. For years I have taught free meditation and self-hypnosis classes for healing benefits. I'm a firm believer that the mind has the power to heal us if we can only tap into those resources. After my speech the presenter made me an offer he probably felt I couldn't refuse. He wanted me to join their group. They could book speeches for me and charge up to $300.00 a person for a one hour speech. What the presenter didn't realize was that I was passionate about what I was studying, but to me it was a spiritual journey in finding ways to help people learn to help themselves. It wasn't about money. I looked at him, smiled and said: "You can dress up ugly, but you can't cure stupid, and anyone willing to pay $300.00 an hour to hear me speak is too stupid for me to be of any benefit to."
I walked away from that presentation with my morals intact, and still feeling good about myself. I'd learned some valuable things there and perhaps I could be rich now at the expense of others, but I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night. Daddy had another saying that we hear a lot. "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is." I don't see these people doing seminars anymore so the odds are they priced themselves out of business. When you're studying something to help others, price should not be a part of the equation. You should put just as much passion into helping someone who needs it that can't afford to pay as you put into that person who can afford to pay $300.00 an hour . If you do that, then odds are you're going to succeed. If you don't, odds are eventually you'll run out of people who can afford you.
I turned my thoughts from this to my writing. And wow, what a kicker. The third Catherine Mans book just clicked and now I can start writing it. So if you love the Catherine Mans Psychic Suspense team, get ready--there's going to be a new one coming soon.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Free copy of The Gifts, A Jacody Ives Mystery for mystery fans
I love it when things finally click. Spent this week upgrading and putting up a new website, which is now available at: http://www.lindasprather.com and it's available on mobile and Kindle Fire at http://www.m.lindasprather.com
The mobile website was a real challenge, but I love the fact that I can integrate my blog and my website for fans. Now you can have both in one easy spot.
On December 15th I'll start the first of my monthly newsletters to those who have subscribed, and one lucky subscriber will get a $100.00 gift card just in time for Christmas. If you subscribed earlier---don't forget to check your emails for confirmation. This was taking you to some crazy page with a 404 error, but they've promised me that's fixed. What's up for the first newsletter? Well, Catherine Mans fans will get a chance to see how Catherine met Cody. This portion is taken from the original book, which like with movies was cut from the final product. I've hoping to have this, plus a few short stories up for download in .mobi, .epub, .pdf and word for all the Catherine fans.
If you haven't subscribed to the newsletter yet, it's easy, just fill out the form on the side here or at the website and submit. You'll get one confirmation email to confirm your subscription and one thank you email. After that only a once a month newsletter. I plan on giving away some great prizes in 2014 and hopefully some wonderful interviews with some fantastic guests. Hope to see you there.
Free copy of The Gifts, A Jacody Ives Mystery with each subscription. After your confirmation email, I'll email you to see if you prefer .mobi .epub or a .pdf copy.
Free copy of The Gifts, A Jacody Ives Mystery with each subscription. After your confirmation email, I'll email you to see if you prefer .mobi .epub or a .pdf copy.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Tales From The Darkside - Blacklist and Sip Your Numbed Paradise
Like most of my family and friends, Blacklist has quickly become my favorite show. As an author I'm in awe of both the stories created by the writers, as well as the genius behind the characters. I recently found this poem again, written by my son, Charles W. Prather, Jr. And it reminded so much of James Spader's role in Blacklist. A man who appears to be helpful, but has his own agenda. He will not change, and yet he invites those around him to join him, to take their souls off for just a moment and become a little tainted. A little taint never hurt. And are Liz and Red kindred spirits? I believe they may be. Is Red leading the FBI into "numbed paradise"? I truly believe he may be. What an amazing character.
If you've watched the show, read the poem and let me know what you think. I'm sure Charles would enjoy it, and I know I would. I see James Spader in every line.
SIP YOUR
NUMBED PARADISE
Crumpled cigarettes litter the table,
Alcohol burns the throat,
The pattern of self-destruction forms,
Cacophony of voices permeate the air,
A den of forgotten dreams,
Washed away with pinpricks to the brain,
Here there are no names,
Faces are all that matter,
Time is merely a formality.
Sit down, take your soul off,
Let it sit in the corner for a while,
You don’t need to worry about it,
We’ll take away the cause,
Sip your numbed paradise.
Dance away your memories,
Who needs them here,
You are in this moment,
Just let go of your future uncertain,
You can certainly be sure it’s worthless.
Sit down, take your soul off,
Let it soak in the view,
A little taint never hurt,
We’ll take away the consequences,
Sip your numbed paradise.
The lights are now less faded,
We’ve got to bid you farewell,
Our time,
Out of time,
So long yet so short,
But come back tomorrow,
A kindred spirit cannot be denied,
Your table will be waiting.
Sit down, take your soul off,
Do you remember where you left it?
We’ll help you find it,
Sip your numbed paradise.
By: Charles W. Prather, Jr.
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