June 20, 2009

What are you reading?

© about 1984, Janelle Meraz Hooper, George "Woogie" Wachetaker

What’s up?

Photo- This photo of Woogie, a friend of my mother's, was misplaced, and just recently found. It was taken at a Comanche powwow in the Wichita Mountains. Woogie was a famous Comanche fancy dancer.

What are you reading?- Write and let me know! JanelleMHooper@comcast.net I'll post replies on this site, but won't use your full name unless you say it's okay.

On my TV- Whale Wars, History Channel. If these guys are the only ones waging a war against illegal whale hunting by the Japanese, the whales are in trouble. I’m not impressed by their lack of common sense that results in risk of human life. It’s kind of like Evel Knievel goes to sea in an ice storm.

On my laptop-the beginnings of a short movie, thanks to an online class I took in video.

In my emails- Someone sent me a video of a small lizard changing colors. The little guy was unbelievably cute to start with, but when he crawled past sunglasses with different color fames and changed to match each frame, I was enchanted. Love that lizard!

On my bed table-This week, I read Plug Your Book! by Steve Weber. It has a lot of insight into how Amazon sells books. If you have a book on Amazon, you should read it.

Green writer- I like to save paper, but one thing I don’t do is use scraps of paper to jot down notes. Bits and pieces are just too easily lost. I use a notebook to jot down notes, and never tear the pages out. When the book is full, I start a new one. I can go back years and find a name or title if I need to.

On my Kindle- Custer and His Naked Ladies, newly formatted and looking beautiful.

Favorite movie quotes- “I’ll have what she’s having.” Customer to waitress after Sally fakes an orgasm in a restaurant. When Harry Met Sally.

Techie news- Dear Amazon.com Customer,
Our customers have told us that they love being able to add highlights and notes to their Kindle books. We want to make it possible for you to access your highlights and notes directly from a Web browser too. So we've released http://kindle.amazon.com, an online tool that enables you to do just that.
To try it out, go to
http://kindle.amazon.com, sign in with your Amazon account, and simply select one of your books where you have added highlights or notes.
We hope you enjoy this new feature. If you have feedback please send it to us at
amazonkindle-feedback@amazon.com. How cool is this? And it works!

On my Facebook- Susan G. Komen for the Cure SOMETHING DIFFERENT: Did you know that you can “donate” your birthday to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® right here on Facebook? You can make a Birthday Wish and ask friends to donate money to help end breast cancer forever. To learn more, just follow the instructions on the link below...
www.causes.com
Source: www.

Politics- President Obama’s plan might not be perfect in every area, but it’s a start. We’ve messed around for years looking for the perfect plan. Time’s awaistin’. Let’s get on it!

Bernie- What’s for lunch today over in the big house, Bernie?

Quote du jour-
"When a man steals your wife there is no better revenge than to let him keep her." - Sacha Guitry.

Read my new eBook- Bears in the Hibiscus, for $3.00! Sent by email. Pay by PayPal. Info on my homepage:
www.JanelleMerazHooper.com (book also available on Kindle for regular price)

June 15, 2009

What's an eBook?

© 2009 New, revised cover of As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries
(Kindle version)

What’s up?
Photo- My new Kindle cover! The book has been reformatted for easier reading.

Around the house- I dropped my digital camera last week. As I saw it tumble from it’s resting spot about 3 feet from the floor; I didn’t even try to catch it (not that I could have!). I knew it would land on my Asian rug, that is at least an inch thick with its pad. I was sure it would be okay. I was not prepared for it to bounce off the rug and bounce onto the hardwood floor. It’s a Pentax and they're great, so it still works, but I have to hold it together with rubber bands. How tacky is that? I’d better go shopping!

On my radio- Country music: I won’t quote the lyrics because of NASCAP*, but what outrageous lyrics! They make me laugh! *It’s really too bad they’re so snarky—I could give the song a free plug.

On my TV- Animal Planet. Their underwater film of the ocean has me talking to God: “Hey, God! Have you seen what you’ve made? You better get down there and take a look! It’s incredible!” I talk to him all the time like that after my prayers. I think he’s about had it with me. The other night, I’m pretty sure I heard him answer, “Duh!”

On my Warrior (laptop)- Still my Speed Spanish class. I was born without the language gene. I have enough time in this 12-week course to have written half of my next novel. I’ve decided I can be a writer, or I can speak Spanish. I don’t have enough time left in my life to do both. It’s a shame. It’s a dynamite course, and I highly recommend it to the rest of you. It’s just me. I stink at languages.

In my emails- I had two emails asking, “What’s an eBook?” when I posted my eBook sale ad for Bears in the Hibiscus. An eBook is a book that is read on a computer (or laptop) screen like a Word document. It can be printed out. New technologies by Adobe have added features, like a list of chapters on the left and a voice option. The voice itself is a hoot and is worth the $3.00 alone. It’s the Microsoft voice, and it sounds like a man whose mouth is full of dog biscuits. What a hoot!

On my bed table- Still Wuthering Heights and The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

On my Facebook- More good advice from Walt Shiel, Five Rainbows Services.

Bernie- What’s for lunch today over in the big house, Bernie?

On my Kindle- My new, reformatted version of As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries. Brown is a black comedy about my father trying to kill me for the insurance money when I was eight. It's a good read, and was a finalist in the 2004 Oklahoma book Awards. It's a fictional autobiography.

Quote du jour-
"My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher." - Socrates.

www.JanelleMerazHooper.com
Recession buster:
$3.00, eBook
Bears in the Hibiscus, my latest humorous romance
Kindle version available at regular price

No time to edit! Send your complaints to my email address!


June 11, 2009

Chinese Muslims being sent to Bermuda?

© 2009 Janelle Meraz Hooper, comfrey

What's up?

In my yard- comfrey. I actually saw this stuff for sale in a nursery last weekend. If you see it in your yard, call 911. The stuff spreads like crazy, is impossible to get rid of, and even earned me a visit from the drug police who flew over it in their helicopter when it took over my pasture--they gave it a good look until they determined it wasn't marijuana or anything in that category. That kind of excitement doesn't thrill me. It chills me! Yikes! drug enforcement, in my pasture! Gramma would frown.

On my bed table- Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), oh, my! I wish this man were still alive. I have so many questions!

Gregory Orr- The Book That Is the Body of the Beloved, I have treated myself to this poetry book from Copper Canyon Press because one of the lines, … "If we’re not supposed to dance, why all this music?” has been a favorite quote for years. It'll be here soon.

In my emails- Email pirates! They are driving me crazy. I had two this week that were blocked by my Comcast and MSN. Good work, guys!

Politics- what’s this? Chinese Muslims are being sent to live in Bermuda? Where do we Catholics get to go? Probably Newark…

Bernie- What’s for lunch today over in the big house?

Quote du jour: "The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans are suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you."

http://www.janellemerazhooper.com/

Get the eBook version of my latest novel, Bears in the Hibiscus for $3.00 on my www website...Kindle version at regular price.


June 05, 2009

Legs Lyon and Potato Peel Pie

© 2009 Janelle Meraz Hooper

Photo-The old cherry tree in our backyard. It must be over 50 feet--was I supposed to prune it?

What’s up?
On my bed table-
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows. You must read this one, it’s a novel about the Nazi occupation of the Isle of Guernsey during the second World War. But it isn’t all sad. The kooky characters are splendid and are the perfect vehicles to tell a story that would be otherwise difficult to read.
(“…Isola doesn’t approve of small talk, and believes in breaking the ice by stomping on it.”)

On my Warrior- (laptop)-Speed Spanish. It sounded like a good idea at the time. Now, I find myself at 65 reduced to making flash cards. What’s next? Poodle skirts and bobby sox?

Bernie- How’s it going, Bernie? What’s for lunch over in the big house?

On my Facebook-
Elizabeth Lyon Oregon Writers Colony is soon to unveil a "writer's bare [almost] all calendar for 2010 as a fundraiser for remodeling the writer's haven, Colonyhouse, to become handicap accessible as well to expand to serve more writers. Interested? Contact me and I'll give you the scoop on how to buy the calendar ($19.95 includes shipping). You'll find a lot of author luminaries lending their bods and mugs. Legs Lyon among 'em.

Green writer- I had planned to finish Bears in the Hibiscus and offer it only in eBook format as my green project for the year. After it was finished, I realized I could also publish it on Amazon’s Kindle and stay true to my pledge. Check it out on my website. I’m having an eBook sale this week--$3.00 for the Adobe eBook with voice activation (please see disclaimer on website). Find it on my book site:
www.JanelleMerazHooper.com

quote du jour:
“In the Soviet Union, capitalism triumphed over communism. In this country, capitalism triumphed over democracy.” Fran Lebowitz


June 01, 2009

It's all President Obama's fault!

2009 Apple pies, fresh from the oven by Dick
Republicans-They are still not getting it. Right now, they're attacking President Obama's pick for Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor. Their petty attacks have been pathetic and amusing. For instance, the guy (?) who complained about Sotomayor's name being strange. I'm willing to bet he and the other Republicans don't have any trouble with the athletes' names they see on TV every weekend. Names like: Azubuila, Yakhouba, Ignuodala, Llgauskas, Szczerbiak, Oshiomogho, Jakubauskas, and Yuniesky.
Note to GOP: We're not as dumb as we used to be. We check out everything you say and do on the Internet. And forget about side-tracking us. We know what we want, and we want it as soon as possible:
Jobs; an honest, workable foreign policy; health care; education; PEACE; infrastructure; ETC.
No more crap about nothing. These are serious times. Go home and don't come back until you've grown up.

What's up:
Bernie- What's for lunch over in the big house, Bernie?
On my TV- Some dentist who was telling the audience that "They only had to floss the teeth they wanted to keep..."
On my computer- An online Speed Spanish course. It's a wonderful course. Too bad it doesn't have a wonderful student (in me). I thought it was going to be a piece of cake, but with my nonexistent language skills, it has turned into yellowcake (nuclear waste). I blame it all on President Obama. He had to go and make that speech about everyone taking another year of education. It's his fault I'm in the mess I'm in! (;
Around the house- I have a new bird feeder that I have filled with a blend of birdseed for songbirds. They are eating like little flying pigs, but I have yet to hear one song.
This year, my Lady Di rose and my Peace rose look alike. What happened? But they are gorgeous!
On my bed table- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It's wonderful. And Wuthering Heights. I have to confess I've never read this book. I found it for .80 cents in my Amazon Kindle catalog and couldn't resist such a deal. I am really enjoying it. I can't believe I haven't read it sooner.
Quote du jour-"On Wall Street he and a few others - how many? three hundred, four hundred, five hundred? had become precisely that... Masters of the Universe." Tom Wolfe
Visit my website:
I'm having a $3.00 eBook sale on my Bears in the Hibiscus this week...