December 28, 2011

Where's Wanda the Witch?


I just noticed that a lot of people are looking for my Wanda the Witch stories that were mentioned on my blog to be on my regular website. Sadly, they have been taken off my main website to make room for a new web design. Hopefully, they'll be back. I don't know how to take off the ad for it above my blog. However, one Wanda story was posted on this site during the Wall Street debacle.Look for: Wanda the Witch Hits Wall Street on this blog (October 11, 2008). I'm so sorry for the confusion. I'll try to delete the blog but I don't know if that'll get rid of the icon at the top of my page. Augh! (I did it!)

Today, for the first time, I had a hit on this blog from Mexico. I was thrilled! A lot of my books and short stories are about my Hispanic family and I've always wanted to share those stories with readers in Mexico.

On my DVD player- Tony Bennett, Duets II. If you like Tony Bennet, you'll love this CD. All of the duets are spectacular but Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, k.d. Lang, and Queen Latifah are a real thrill. Of course, Mr. Bennett is amazing as always.

On my bed table- It's more like What's NOT on my bed table. About 5:30 A.M. this morning, I decided that life is too short to read Tolstoy. Vronsky, et all, you and Anna Karenina are on your own. I'm moving on!

On my TV- By accident, I ran across a show called The Art Show on HBOFW. If you have children, find it. You won't be sorry. I've got to find out when it's on because it is a jewel among swill. I haven't seen this show since the first time. It's possible it's just on HBO dvd now. Look for: Classical Baby, The Art Show.

Keith Olbermann is back on Current TV-It's hard to watch right now with all of the injustice going on in the world but we'd better watch it to keep up. The bad guys are counting on wearing us down--don't lettum'.

Out of time for today-- have a good one



Oh...and Bernie (Madoff)- I haven't forgotten you, you greedy destroyer of dreams and lives. What's for lunch over in the big house? I hear it's tunafish lasagna--yum-yum! 

December 20, 2011

Hello, World!


(The ornament that's round with lots of colors is a sand dollar that our
daughter painted when she was about eight...a long time ago!)

12-29-11 Hello! I'm getting ready for Christmas. This is the stage where the tree is still crooked, some of the lights aren't working, and my Christmas cards still aren't in the mail. But, like magic, everything will fall into place by five o'clock tonight. Merry Christmas, everyone! And Happy Hanukah to my Jewish friends. I missed Ramadan completely this year but will make it up to you next year. Where did August go?

Before I get back to the Christmas tree I want to stop and welcome all of my readers from Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, and other countries too numerous to list. I laughed the other day when the stats showed I had one reader in Canada. ONE! Ha! I try to write very clearly so that I'm easily understood. If you are having any problems with this blog or any of my books, please let me know. Sometimes a word will pop up in the news that I think is funny so I'll use it. Sometimes, it isn't even a real word but something another writer has made up. I'll try to be better about that.

Before we know it, we'll have a new year. May we all find peace and justice.

December 07, 2011

Children's Christmas Story!

Note: Clip art from Microsoft--thanks, Bill!

Ribbons at Christmas

Janelle Meraz Hooper

 This is a story about a cat. A house cat. He belonged to a little girl named Hannah. She had named her cat Ribbons because, when he was a kitten, he loved to play with the gift ribbons that were kept in a box under the stairs in the pantry.
  Ribbons was a very good cat eleven months out of the year, but the twelfth month was almost his undoing.
  It was Christmas! The month of holly, silver bells, and CHRISTMAS TREES! It wasn't just the tree itself that got Ribbons into trouble. Oh, no, the tree in his house was dressed in twinkling lights, shiny Christmas Balls, and long silver icicles that hung almost to the floor.
  None of these beautiful things, of course, were meant for Ribbon's entertainment, but no one thought to tell him!
  As soon as the last ornament, the golden star, was placed on top of the Christmas tree, and all of the lights began to blink, Ribbons went into action.
  His first leap was from the floor to the sofa. Then from the sofa to the middle of the tree. He
was well on his way to the top when he felt the tree begin to tumble. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, and the tree was on top of him! Lights, icicles, and Christmas balls were scattered all over.
  Dad was shouting, Mom was yelling, Hannah was crying, and Gramma and Grandpa were laughing. What a lot of racket!
  Ribbons was so frightened and embarrassed that he ran for the basement. He hid in the very back of the pantry, under the stairs. He was very frightened and fully intended to stay hidden until there wasn't a scent of pine left in the house!
  Meanwhile, upstairs, the family had rearranged the tree and it looked as good as ever. Everyone was very sad, knowing Ribbons must be so miserable in the pantry. Finally, even father admitted he missed Ribbons. He went to the top of the stairs and called down, "Ribbons, I'm sorry I threatened to make you live in the barn. Please come upstairs and spend Christmas with us!" But Ribbons wouldn't come upstairs.
  Next, Mom went to the head of the stairs and called down, "Ribbons, I'm sorry I called you clumsy—please come upstairs!"
  Gramma didn't bother to say anything. She just went to the kitchen and made much ado about pouring dry cat food (Ribbon's favorite) into his bowl. Before she put the food away, she shook the box a few times in the direction of the stairs. Ribbons had to have heard that! But still he didn't come.
  Grampa took the strong approach, "Ribbons," he commanded, "get up here!" But that didn't work at all. Ribbons just shrank back further into the pantry.
  The house became very quiet. If things didn't improve, it was going to be a very sad Christmas!
  There was only one person left who hadn't spoken to Ribbons and asked him to come back upstairs—Hannah. Now, Hannah was very small but somehow she knew what to do. She went to the tree and took off the shiniest red satin ball. Then she very carefully backed down the stairs on her hands and knees, holding the shiny red ball close to her heart. Quietly, she made her way to the very back of the pantry, and sat down next to Ribbons. She gave him a big hug and pulled him onto her lap. Next, she placed the shiny red ball between his paws.
  Before long, the rest of the family could hear a very playful Ribbons and a very clever Hannah playing on the stairs with the shiny red satin Christmas ball. Soon, they would be all the way upstairs.
  Gramma went to the kitchen for milk and cookies for everyone...it was going to be a very Merry Christmas, after all!

The end
Merry Christmas!

On Facebook? Please click share on bottom. Thanks.

November 22, 2011

How to cook a turkey--if you're a reader


Are you cooking this week? Here's a tip: buy the biggest frozen turkey you can find. Put it in the oven now. That should give you plenty of time to read my books on Kindle and Nook before you have to serve dinner on Thursday!

The story below was originally from Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories. I'm posting it here because it's about my family. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

A New-fangled Thanksgiving Tradition

Janelle Meraz Hooper
   Thanksgiving dinner was always the same at Mom’s, and that was how we liked it. In a changing world that created new stress by the minute, we could always depend on Mom’s turkey to be perfectly browned, and her cornbread dressing nicely laced with celery, wild pecans, and raisins. Giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peas filled in every spare spot on our plate. There were no tortillas on this day—I suspect because there just wasn’t enough free counter space in the kitchen to roll them out. The rolls we ate were the packaged kind that came in a paper tray and were already partially cooked. The cranberry sauce that replaced the normal salsa was canned and always served on our fancy glass tray that had been around since Roosevelt put a turkey in every pot (or was that a chicken?).
   Okay, so it wasn’t a gourmet meal, but it was good—and the large family that came to share it thought it was perfect. Almost every time.
   But one year, when my mom and her sister were both close to eighty, my aunt arrived from California and brought her new-fangled ideas about tradition with her. Thanksgiving morning, my Aunt Pat got up early and beat my mom to the kitchen, determined to “California-ize” our turkey dinner. The first item on the menu that she changed was the cranberries―she used real ones. Mom was suspicious when she looked at the marble-sized fruit bubbling on the stove with bits of fresh orange peel. She didn’t like the looks of those orange shavings. To her, they looked like something that slipped past the food inspectors. Mom believed cranberry sauce should be pushed out of a can with those little ridges that showed her where to cut the slices. “No one will know what this stuff is.” she worried. “This isn’t what they’re used to. And it smells funny.”
   My aunt stood her ground. Resigned to a cranberry failure, Mom went to the living room to relax and read the paper. She didn’t see my aunt pull my mom’s traditional cornbread dressing out of the oven and stir in a bag of fresh spinach. The last thing my aunt did before she left the kitchen was replace the table butter with an unidentified soy product she’d brought in her handbag from Santa Barbara that didn’t look, taste, or smell like butter.
   The family was sitting down at the table when Mom pulled the dressing out of the oven and discovered that it’d turned green. Her sister told her it was the latest thing in California, and much healthier. Mom was appalled and predicted, “No one will eat it.”
   And they didn’t. That bowl was passed around the table so often it looked like it was in its own special green orbit, and no one would touch it. On one of its last flights around the table, my cousin reluctantly put a spoonful on her toddler’s plate, but the kid broke out in tears, so my cousin took it off and hid it in her napkin. Finally, my aunt mumbled something about taking the dressing to the kitchen to heat it up. It never returned.
   The fancy cranberry sauce met much the same fate. When it was passed around the table, everyone would try to get a portion that was not laced with orange peel. No one succeeded. Soon it entered its own orbit, crisscrossing the orbit of the green cornbread dressing. Around and around the table it flew until the contents of the bowl were just a fragrant red blur circling the Planet Table, not unlike the rings around Saturn.
   Mom and her sister are both gone now, and I think of them often, especially around the holidays. Looking back, maybe green dressing and orange cranberries wouldn’t have been that awful. I should have at least tasted them. Although, sister rivalry being what it was, I’m sure Mom would have never forgiven me if I had.
   It has been years since that dinner, but the saga of the New-Fangled Thanksgiving Tradition lives on to this day. No one in our family will accept an invitation for Thanksgiving dinner without first inquiring, “What’s in your cranberries—and what color is your cornbread dressing?”

November 20, 2011

King George's Sleepover, World War II

All Kindle and Nook novels $2.99 USD

The King’s Speech is one of my favorite movies and it’s on TV sometimes now. Even though I saw it in the theater, I usually stop and watch it for a while whenever it’s on.
I like the film for lots of reasons, but the biggest is the character of the speech therapist, Lionel Logue,  played by Goeffrey Rush. A normal person. Not royal-born. Not a doctor. Nonetheless, this unassuming person is able to provide a great service to King George VI and to England. I like that. And the king and his wife stood by him. I like that too.
This week, so soon after our Veteran’s Day, something in the movie triggered a memory of a story my father used to tell. I think it’s true, even though I have to admit my father was a great storyteller. He used to say that, in World War II, when the American soldiers landed in England, they had them set up camp on the grounds around Windsor Castle.
One evening, my father remembered, King George VI and his daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth, walked around the encampment, shook hands with the soldiers, and thanked them for coming. Imagine! Cowboys from Texas, loggers from the Northwest, stevedores from New Jersey, maybe even Indians from The Great Plains—all shook hands with the king!
Oh, I hope the story was true. If so, King George—and his daughter—had a lot of class. And that’s not something that comes automatically with a crown.

November 10, 2011

Raven meets Quidditch!

My raven

11-10-11- I like to make little vignettes of books or stories in my house using whatever I find in the closets. This one is a reference to a Native American story about how the raven stole the earth...only I used a Quidditch ball for the earth (okay, it's really just a Quidditch Christmas ornament). Perhaps the funniest thing is that the family never comments! This little story has been up for over a week now...no one has noticed!


I miss my Aunt Norah. She was playful too. One time we had the key to a relative's house so we could feed her cats when she was away. We "broke in" and left a full-size cardboard cutout of Billy Ray Cyrus (Achy, Breaky Heart) in her kitchen. Along with balloons and a sexy note.


In my novels she's always out of town but I write about her a lot. I guess my Turtle Trilogy novels are really fictional autobiographies. Who knew? At the time, I was just trying to get the books written before I lost all of my favorite aunts and my mother. I didn't make it. Not one of them lived long enough to read my valentines to them.






November 08, 2011

New, low Kindle and Nook prices

New, low Kindle and Nook price: $2.99 USD

11-08-11- There's been a lot of discussion among writers who are making their paperback and hardcover books available on electronic devices. What's the right price? What's a fair price? No one knows. In the end, independent writers will make their own decisions. I have made mine: I have lowered the prices of my Kindle and Nook books to $2.99 USD.
Not because there is anything wrong with them (an award winner is still an award winner even if the price changes). And it's not because some of them are old. If you haven't read a book yet, it's still new to you.
Mostly, it's about copyright. I happen to own my works, and there are no "middlemen" for me to pay.
I hope you'll check out my books. They're good reads. I promise.
Other news:
My Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories book of shorts and short stories and As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries are now a part of Amazon's WorldReader program. I'm delighted to participate in this program to bring books to needy children in underdeveloped countries. I'm hoping other authors will join this program. It's easy. Amazon does all the work!
In October, when I put my As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries book on sale (the sale is over now) for $.99 cents USD, I was just fooling around. I was sick. And bored. What fun! I got messages from relatives and friends who read the book and remembered some of the events. I never expected this to happen. Thank you all! 

October 06, 2011

As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries


Back cover...

The summer of 1952, Lawton, Oklahoma… Eight-year-old Glory has a father who’s taken out a $50,000 accidental death insurance policy on her—now he’s spending the summer trying to collect.

In his first attempt, he throws Glory to the snakes, but a giant alligator snapping turtle scares the snakes away.

Glory writes in her diary: Well, Powwow Pete drove us home to talk to Mom, but we didn’t get very far. Mom thinks I just have a wild imagination. At least Powwow Pete believes me. I think it was the turtle that killed it for Mom

“How could there be a turtle that big?” she scoffed. They talked some more and Powwow Pete got kind of mad and got up to leave.

This was one of those times when a kid thinks they’re talking about a turtle, but the grown-ups are really talking about something else entirely. In this case, I think Powwow Pete was accusing Mom of still loving my dad, but he never said that, he just kept talking about the turtle. Mom was doing the same thing: talking about the turtle but meaning that she didn’t want to get messed up with some guy who was a pathologgy liar (Glory can’t spell).

1999 1st place fiction, Surrey (Canada)
2004 Oklahoma Book Award finalist







September 07, 2011

Remembering 9-11

Two Windows on Ground Zero (reprint)
Janelle Meraz Hooper
 
   September 11th found me stuck at home alone with only a 38-inch screen TV, and a large living room window.
   I could have done without the big screen TV. This was one time a one-inch screen would have been too big—too painful to watch. Over and over and over I watched the planes hit the WTC towers in New York City.
   A feeling of being trapped overcame me as I looked out the living room window. No sign of the tragedy was visible in the surrounding homes. Not a person was in sight. Maybe it was a nightmare—but no—there it was on CNN. On ABC. On CBS. On Fox. On CBUT, the Canadian channel. I turned to Univision, the Spanish-speaking channel, and saw a blazing banner: Bajo (Low) Attack!
   I must have paced between the TV and the window thirty or forty times. Looking at the TV, looking out the window. Still no sign of life in my neighborhood. Where could everybody be? At the time, I couldn’t leave my home, but they were all fully mobile. I can’t explain the intense need I felt to see a human—especially an American human.
   Suddenly, A little dark blue import, driven by an elderly gentleman, raced up my neighbor’s long driveway. Attached to the back window of the car was an American flag. A message was painted against the dark glass in white paint: GOD BLESS AMERICA!
   While I was waiting for him to come by again, I heard cars honking down the hill. Soon, a car full of hollering teenagers flew by my house. The car was painted all over with patriotic messages, and a young man was fully reclined on the hood holding up an American flag. He was wearing a shirt with an all-over pattern in red, white, and blue stars and stripes. Suddenly, I felt connected.
   Dragging my bandaged body along with me, I hastened downstairs to get our flag. When I got to our front porch, I was disappointed to discover that my husband had removed the flag holder from the front of the house. Or had it just rusted off? Anxious to communicate with passersby, I stuck the flag in a huge flowerpot by my front door and went back to my television and my window. The window was a lot easier to watch.

September 02, 2011

Radio for writers!

Listen to Gerry Bradley each Saturday on KLAY-1180 A M Talk Radio, 8:45-9:00 A. M., on September 3, 2011- Gerry reads from Nancy Atchley's book, The Legends Remain.


August 25, 2011

Turtle Trilogy on sale!


It's still summer as long as you have a good book!

Hello! I've lowered the prices on my award-winning Turtle Trilogy books on Kindle. They're still good reads, it's just that I've been around so long I'm gaining more control over my inventory. Give them a look!

(Reviews and comments)

A Three-Turtle Summer
Janelle Meraz Hooper
A Cool Book Review (www.cool-book-review.com )

Janelle Hooper has brought a story of domestic violence into fine focus with this book. It is a tragic tale but one reflecting the persistence of the human spirit which eventually brings a final relief from the agonies of pain, fear, and violence. The demeaning treatment of the heroine of this tale by her husband and her resourcefulness to secretly battle him could only be told by someone who has been very close to similar actual events as either participant or observer. Kindle, $5.99 USD (Also in paperback)

As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries
Janelle Meraz Hooper

Janelle Meraz Hooper has hit a homerun with her second book, AS BROWN AS I WANT, The Indianhead Diaries." Even better than her much acclaimed first book, A THREE-TURTLE SUMMER, Janelle's new book propels the reader through a series of unique situations as experienced by eight-year-old Glory, who always seems just a few steps ahead of her scheming father. Kindle $3.99 USD (Also in paperback) Kelly Creso, Bold Media Corporation

Custer and His Naked Ladies
Janelle Meraz Hooper

Janelle Meraz Hooper has done it again! Custer and His Naked Ladies is filled with quirky and likable characters in a richly detailed setting. Humor, family and love come shining through. There is a poignant line in the book that has stayed with me: "Old age had crept in and stolen their bodies while they were dancing through life." These women have danced! VF Gibson, Seattle, WA   Kindle $5.99 USD (Also in paperback)

Read free sample chapters here:


August 16, 2011

Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie

Summer isn't over as long as you have a good book!


8-16-11- My new light romance is now available on Kindle, Nook, and others. Read the first chapter for free on my website above.

Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie


Janelle Meraz Hooper

  When the great guy that Lily meets at her company’s St. Patrick’s Day party takes her home he discovers she lives at the Zoo, an apartment building that caters to tenants who have exotic pets. Unfortunately, one of the animals is missing and when Mike drops her off the first thing he sees is a sign on the front door:

Please Don’t Let Out The Snake!

  While Lily is trying to figure out how Boogie, a big boa constrictor, is getting into her room, Mike, her new boyfriend, has his own problems. He’s a jewelry designer who is in danger of defaulting on a contract because all of his workers live on a flood plain and the river is rising. When it finally floods, everyone, including their pets, disappears without a trace. Suddenly, Mike isn’t worried about his business anymore. He’s worried about his workers and their families. Are they okay? Where could they be?
  Filled with lively characters including: a Jamaican landlady, Reggae, whose traditional headdress holds her phone, iPod, and assorted office supplies; her boyfriend Mingo who thinks he doesn’t fit in; and Velma, a tenant who collects snakes—big ones. Tension rises when Reggae and Lily begin to fear that Boogie is stalking Boots, Reggae’s pet iguana.

Janelle Meraz Hooper is an award-winning writer originally from Oklahoma who now lives in Washington State. Contact her at: http://www.janellemerazhooper.com/ or email: JanelleMHooper@comcast.net

Other books I've written:
A Three-Turtle Summer
As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries
Custer and His Naked Ladies
Bears in the Hibiscus
Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories

Read free samples of all on my website:

August 11, 2011

Seattle PI interview

8-11-11- Hi! I've just had an interview posted on the Seattle PI online newspaper. I don't know how long it'll be up... http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Interview-with-Janelle-Meraz-Hooper-Author-of-1748069.php

Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie is now available on Kindle, Nook, and others.

Tomorrow (Saturday, August 12th) on Chit-Chat Cafe, Gerry Bradley will read from Dana Quaid's new book, Doing The Thing. Be sure to listen in on KLAY-1180 A. M. Talk Radio, 8:45-9:00 A. M.

Soon, I'll be posting the first chapter of Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie on my website: http://www.janellemerazhooper.com/

Gotta go! It's been a busy morning. 

July 01, 2011

Ahlam's Stories, stories of Iraq

    Ahlam's Stories as told to Val Dumond

What are you reading?- Let me know!
Politics-I’m so sick of politicians. Where are our statesmen?
On my TV-Chris Matthews (MSNBC)- I really like this guy. If only he wouldn’t let everyone talk at once. The Turner Movie Channel-Ted Turner has restored some new films that I’ll be watching for. I have forgotten the titles but will let you know when I see them. Mariner’s Baseball-if you have enough popcorn losing doesn’t hurt so much.
On my Kindle-Private Arrangements by Sherri Thomas. I loved this historical romance.
On my bed table- Ahlam’s Stories as told to Val Dumond, Muddy Puddle Press, Kindle, $3.99 USD
Synopsis, Ahlam's Stories
Stories of life in Iraq as you haven’t seen it.
--Love, marriage, children, work and play.
Pleasures and tragedies, hope and…life—
as told through the eyes of a woman who dearly wants
the West to know the real Iraq and its people
the way it was before…
--before her country was muddled with the boots
of invaders,
…before her lovely home was blown to pieces,
…before her family was maimed, killed, or sent
into despair,
…before she became so ill she has to flee, or die on troubled soil.

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

Quote du jour: “The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.” Betty Grable


Janelle Meraz Hooper is a women's fiction writer who has a lot of friends involved in the magical process of writing books. She joyfully shares them with you.  
Read free samples of my books on www.Amazon.com
For more information visit my website



June 09, 2011

Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie, oh my!

To be released soon on Kindle

What’s up?- You may have been wondering where I’ve been. I’ve been doing a lot of research for a project that will become a one-man show. More on that later. I’ve missed you all!
The cover above is for my new romance. I plan to put it on Kindle soon. Someday. When the tomatoes get ripe (I live in a rain forest!). I don’t know why I have such a hard time releasing my books. I don’t want to let them go.
Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie is a very light romance:
When Lily moves into the renovated building that has been converted into apartments, she discovers almost every tenant has an exotic animal for a pet, and what she has really done is move onto the third floor of a zoo. Unfortunately, some of the animals aren’t under control, and when she meets a great guy who drops her off at her apartment after her company’s St. Patrick’s Day party, the first thing he sees is a sign on the door: Please Don’t Let Out The Snake! Is this the beginning of a great romance or just the beginning of a great snake hunt?
Politics- I’ve been busy so I haven’t kept up with Bernie Madoff, our country’s great swindler. How ya doin’ over there in the big house, Bernie? What’s for lunch?
Nothing explains the Republican Party better than Donald Trump going out to lunch with Sara Palin at a pizza restaurant whose franchise orignated in Poland. I may be wrong about Poland...but Jon Stewart says it was the worst choice for a pizza lunch in a city known for its pizza restaurants...
On my TV-
Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations. I love the film of faraway locations and his interaction with the people there.
The Turner Channel- Love the old black and white movies.
Joan Rivers, A Piece of Work- What a talent she is. This backstage peek at her life is an eye opener.
On my radio- Gerry Bradley, Chit Chat, KLAY-1180 A. M. talk radio, 8:45-9:00 A. M. If you’re in the Tacoma area, give a listen.
On my bed table-
Lots of research books on the American West- I have loved every minute of it. It is my new definition of a briar patch.
Do the Work, Steven Pressfield- I am hooked on self-help books, but this was a silly choice. The last thing I need is motivation to work. But get it. Read it on the beach. Confuse the masses.
Elements of Inclusive Language, Val Dumond-Val is a great resource. Check out her new blog The Anarchists Guide to Grammar  http://grammaranarchist.blogspot.com/ 
The Help, Kathryn Stockett- Loved it!

Quote: “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” Linus Pauling


Read sample chapters of my books:


May 23, 2011

Kindle book--Sometimes, Custer is just an old yeller dog...

Sometimes, Custer is just an old yeller dog...
and Naked Ladies are fully clothed!

The third book in the Turtle Trilogy...


Custer and His Naked Ladies
Kindle and paperback

Janelle Meraz Hooper

When her husband unexpectedly dumps her, Glory boards an Oklahoma-bound plane at the Sea-Tac Airport. On her way to the ticket counter, she takes the framed photo of her husband out of her gym bag and dumps it into the nearest trash bin—frame and all. She has wasted too many years on a man who doesn’t want her, and her biological clock is beginning to pound like a powwow drum.


Part Hispanic, part Anglo, and raised on the reservation, Glory hopes that by going back to her roots she’ll discover who she is, but she finds her home is in turmoil. Her greedy stepmother has returned, a group of dysfunctional mobsters wants her mother’s land on the Indian reservation to build a casino, her pastor cousin is kidnapped in Mexico while on a mission, and Glory’s beloved turtles are in an environmental crisis.


Her biggest problem of all may be Soap, a sexy Comanche lawyer who wants to do something about that powwow drum pounding in her head…


Sprinkled with Spanish phrases and Comanche words, Custer and His Naked Ladies is full of Southwest flavor. iUniverse, 206 pages, Paperback$15.95, Kindle $7.00.

Paperback and Kindle
Available on Amazon.com and other Internet book sites


Hi, everyone! I'll be back soon! I miss you all!



May 17, 2011

Kindle short story book on sale! Teacher favorite!

Kindle version now $2.99 USD


  What’s a chick story? To me, it’s a story with no drugs, bombs, or spies who have numbers instead of names. And clean. It’s gotta be clean. Spend some time with Free Pecan Pie, and its other stories and shorts like Elvis Has Left the Building…and is Living in My Computer, Are the Snacks Here Yet?, Wanda the Witless Witch of Boo, The New Anything-But-Turkey Diet, My Christmas List, and more and have a smile on me.


  I balanced out the short stories with some commentaries so we won’t forget where we’ve been…and how far we have to go.
  If you’re looking for the answer to world peace, you probably won’t find it here, but why does everything have to be so serious? Get out, have some fun, and take Free Pecan Pie and Other Chick Stories along with you! A good book for those practising their English.


Note: This book has the Bridge to Divorce story that was so popular it was pirated and posted all over the Internet.


iUniverse, Paperback,132 pages, $12.95 USD. Kindle, 253 kb, $2.99 USD.

Other books by Janelle Meraz Hooper
A Three-Turtle Summer
As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries
Custer and His Naked Ladies
Coming in 2011: Boogie, Boots & Cherry Pie

May 15, 2011

Bears in the Hibiscus, Kindle verson, on sale!


This is what happens when you give a writer a Flip for Easter!

I've just lowered the price on my Kindle book, Bears in the Hibiscus.

...Mary thinks the last person she wants to see on her Hawaiian vacation is her ex-brother-in-law, a Montana Park Ranger...

April 18, 2011

Birds in the Thicket

   My friend, fellow author and fellow Okie has a wonderful recall of his childhood and when his problems started.
Birds in the Thicket Gerry Bradley

  We stood and peered out on the view at Pier 91, where the Naval Base was and out on Elliott Bay, taking in all of the traffic of the ferryboats and the shipping lanes, with the incoming freighters to track the arrival of Jesse’s vessels.
  I know as I write, it wasn’t the entities, the time, or the place that was of essence. It’s the patterning of all personages as they either did fit, or misfit within my life through those years, which came to be as vast as the leaves blossoming and falling. It had nothing to do with their size, looks, or points on the leaf itself. What was prominent was the placement and behaviorally how my deeds either attracted or pushed away any opportunities of gaining any form of a balanced way to continue.
  At this time in our lives all of us were experiencing, even trying on for size, those who we came to meet and began to know. This didn’t occur only with those we attended school with, but rather all we contacted throughout our lives. No matter what school activities we attended, such as PTA or the All City Affairs, we met new people and had moments of thoroughly enjoying the music as we practiced our steps across the floors.
  Due to our membership, as members of the Seattle Chapter of Demolay we met the Jobs-daughters at Saturday evening dances.
  I realized long ago that all of it was like a natural turn of events. There was an exception for many of us; that was how all of these events were far too much to adapt to, such as when the music took a swing toward the Bop and the Stroll I found as perhaps others did, my feet just wouldn’t move to the beat where some seemed to flow with no problem or effort whatsoever.
  I came to love and respect our home and where it was located to the point I would bound up those flights of stairs from Tenth avenue West, eastbound toward Queen Anne Avenue, to the base of the final set of stairs which took me within blocks of being at school on time. This was the best feeling in the whole world!
  I can see how you are sitting with anticipation as the seasons are taking their natural change. You can sense there is soon to be another shift in the clouds, the mood, that was always effected by the current carrying those damnable ships, that carried much more than the trade, rather, the sense of rhythm of our lives, within our families’ mood and ability to treat such trade winds about to hit us again as a family. AuthorHouse, $15.99
For an autographed copy, contact Gerry: gkbwriter@nventure.com
Quote: "Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book." Unknown, courtesy of A Novel Idea Bookstore, Puyallup

March 02, 2011

Doing The Thing!

© 2010 Dana E. Quade

What’s new? A Northwest author has a book out that I thought you’d enjoy taking a peek at…
This time…fall in love with yourself! Doing The Thing Dana Quade
  Have you ever been caught in water so strong that it has you in its grip? In the process of living, sometimes we feel trapped or even like we are going under. When this occurs, the tendency is to panic and struggle. The word and picture that comes to mind when this happens to me is riptide. The correct term for this phenomenon in nature is rip current. Riptide is used here because it may be more familiar. Using the image of a coastal riptide has helped me go from stuck and struggling to back in the flow.
  When we are in a riptide situation, we are inclined to fight it. To save ourselves, we need to do the opposite: relax and surrender to it. Expert advice for surviving a rip current says: don’t fight it, float, (which requires relaxing,) and ask for help if necessary. This may be hard to believe in times of trouble, but we are always in the flow of never-ending well-being. Our resistance to it keeps us from feeling it. This is the main reason for our pain--all of it: physical, emotional and spiritual.
“…engaging, inspirational, provocative and best of all, useful…”

Doing The Thing Do The Thing Publishing, LLC, $16.00 Dana Quade

autographed copies: www.doingthething.com

February 10, 2011

Book for Valentine's Day!

Pick up some for your friends!

Back cover…

Mary thinks the last person she wants to see on her Hawaiian vacation is her ex-brother-in-law, a Montana Park Ranger…

Mary Bergstrom, a single mom, has left her twenty-five year marriage and entered the work force for the first time.

Luckily, she has found a job she loves and two good friends who are also starting their lives over. Despite challenges, they haven’t lost their positive, humorous outlook. Mary has a plan to make a success of her new life that includes fiscal stability and excludes men. Not that she has anything against them, she just thinks she can’t afford them. Unlike Mary, her friend, Roxanne, is launching a detailed plan to find a Captain Marvelous with a yacht. Ray, another friend, bounces from coffee baristas to business moguls looking for love that’s lasting and real.

Mary’s plans aren’t that grand. All she wants is a Hawaiian vacation so she can relax. Too late, she discovers her ex-brother-in-law, Mark, a park ranger from Montana, will be there at the same time for a conference on state parks. He leaves a note for her at the hotel desk warning her to watch out for bears. He hasn’t seen any, but he thinks there might be Bears in the Hibiscus.
Available on http://www.amazon.com/ and other online bookstores, $9.99
Read sample chapters:

January 06, 2011

Happy New Year!

© 2002 Janelle Meraz Hooper, cranberry fields, Washington State
01-05-11- Last year, I was alone a lot because my husband was very busy. I decided that I had enough time to write two books at once. Even though they are well on their way to being finished, I'm holding them back for a while for a final tweaking. My editor hates it when I rewrite after she has already edited...please don't tell her!

Politics: An open comment to our congress: this year, I want more. More integrity. More cooperation. More statesmanship. More good government. See what you can do.

I almost forgot: Hey, Bernie! What's for lunch over in the big house?!

On my TV: I haven't had time to check out the new shows. I hope there is something for me this season. If it weren't for Discovery, The History Channel, The Food Network, HGTV, and MSNBC, I'd sell my TV and buy a radio. What are you watching? Write and let me know.

Quote: "Learn to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want." courtesy of Cyndee Shingledecker.

Read a sample chapter of my latest romance, Bears in the Hibiscus and other good reads here:

http://www.janellemerazhooper.com/


January 05, 2011

Grandmother's Screen Door



January 5, 2011- Just before Christmas, I was asked to submit a multi-cultural commentary on Collaborative Nation: http://www.collaborativenation.com/bicultural-and-mutlicultural-corner.html



I was pleased to participate in this project as my family was definitely multi-cultural! Our family was a happy mix of Hispanics, Anglos, Germans, and Japanese! I guess that's what you can expect when a lot of the men in the family were in the military.


Right now, there are three commentaries, more are on the way.





Quote:"I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally." - WC Fields.



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