New Year, New Year

Posted on January 28, 2017 by Pam Lazos

img_2729

[all photos by p.j.lazos]

Okay, so it’s almost February, but it’s still a new year and never too late to make a few resolutions. Perhaps this post by my sis, Stacey Lazos will help you figure out what that looks like.  So go ahead. Get your joy on.  I dare you.  

p.j.lazos 1.27.17

 

New Year, New You

Welcome to 2017! Every year, around the middle of December, I start to really look forward to the New Year. I think about all the ways the old year kicked my ass and how the new year will be so much more gentle, kind and loving. Something about starting fresh, wiping the slate clean, endless possibilities (and on and on).

The same stream of consciousness seems to be true for self-help tools, exercise regimes, diets or any type of make yourself better endeavor. We always start out strong. We want to succeed, to become the best possible version of ourselves. And at the beginning we fall in love with the way the new exercise or diet or whatever makes us feel. There’s a bit of euphoria around the new and improved us. We buy the cute tights, the equipment, the supplements and we think, this is it. I’m finally going to be the person I want to be. But a week or two into it (perhaps an hour or two), we start to lose momentum. We get a little tired. Our old patterns start to emerge and taunt us from the sidelines. “Dinner really isn’t complete without some ice cream for dessert.” “It’s probably better if I skip my run today because my ankle is a little sore.” And before you know it, the make yourself better activities become less and less because it’s just easier to fall into your old patterns. Yogis call these samskaras (mental and emotional patterns left on the subconscious mind by experience). Think of them as your default settings. Patterning is something that we learn at a very young age, but in the context of math, science and art. How often do you think of it in the context of your life experiences?

img_2745

I’ve been a yoga student for many years. I LOVE to practice. I have friends that make fun of me because they wonder what I’m practicing for. Almost nothing makes me feel better than getting my sweat on for an hour and a half with a teacher I enjoy, some like-minded people and a safe and sacred space. And even though I would choose this activity over most others, there have still been weeks and even months where I have abandoned my practice because I was living my life. Sometimes it was because I was having too much fun, but most times it was because I was too worried or stressed or just caught in my own desperate mental loop and I forgot that I knew how to feel better. My samskaras led me to worry even though joy is so much more appealing and really, just as close as a shift in perspective.

DSCN4500

Joy is always in our hands (our minds really), but our western culture teaches us that joy is a thing or a place, a person or an accomplishment. It is none of those things, but rather a state of being, a place of union inside ourselves, which is either simple or elusive, depending upon your vantage point.

This year of 2017, I choose to be my biggest fan, to be selfish in my decision to feel good and to delight in the world in general. I will do this with the help of some very special people in my life, but mostly I will do it by aligning myself to a higher perspective and staying there, no matter how my previous patterns impose. Which of your patterns are worth breaking this year?

stacey lazos 1.27.17

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Sign Behind the Crime

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Pam Lazos

img_2471

The Sign Behind The Crime Series

Welcome to my second interview in the series of author interviews leading up to Mystery Thriller Week, February 12 – 22, 2017.  This week’s guest is Ronnie Allen, author of The Sign Behind the Crime Series.  Before we went live, Ronnie shared some great news she just received:

I woke up to awesome and humbling news from my publisher, Black Opal Books. The Board of Directors voted on Aries to be one of their three submissions for the Mystery Writers of America Nero Awards!  I told ya, in 2017 I’d be busting out! Aries is Book Two in The Sign Behind The Crime Series. This book will be featured in a couple of upcoming #MTW blogs.

Exciting news, Ronnie!  We wish you the best of luck.

Let’s start with the book synopsis for Aries, The Sign Behind the Crime Series, as listed on Amazon:

Lying. Deception. Cover-ups. Anger. Revenge. Death. That’s what happens when an Aries-obsessed killer combines black magick rituals, knives … and murder.  Samantha Wright, a rookie NYPD detective, gets her first case, a big one, by stumbling over the body while jogging in the park.  Sam has a lot to prove, both to herself and to her new precinct, on this serial murder case involving fashion icons in NYC.  Together with a rough around the edges BJJ fighter, forensic psychiatrist, Frank Khaos, Sam chases down leads through the five boroughs of NYC.  As the bodies pile up, sparks fly and Sam and Frank, polar opposites, go from their dislike for each other to setting the sheets on fire.  But their main suspect is hooked up to an IV in a hospital bed, so how has she pulled off five murders in seven days?  And can Sam and Frank stop her before even more innocent lives are lost?

 

fullsizerender

       Ronnie Allen is a New York City native, born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, where she was a teacher and a School Psychologist in the New York City Department of Education for 33 years.  Her work as a classroom teacher, staff developer, crisis intervention specialist, and mentor for teachers who were struggling prepared her for a career as a writer.  Always an advocate for the child, Allen examines the horrors of child abuse through the eyes of three characters in her novel, Gemini, the first book in The Sign Behind the Crime Series.

In the early 1990s, Allen began a journey into holistic healing and alternative therapies.  In 2001, she completed her PhD in Parapsychic Sciences.  In addition, Allen is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner as well as a crystal therapist, Reiki practitioner, metaphysician, dream analyst, and Tarot Master Instructor.  She has taught workshops in New York City and in Central Florida where she now lives.

unknown-1

And now, on to the questions:

What’s your writing background (schooling), backdrop (where you work at writing), and backstory (what you will tell the world when you become super famous)?

I started teaching in 1970 and became bored with just that so I begin my writing journey in 1978 when I went to acting and writing school in Manhattan. I started writing screenplays and worked in screenwriting and film until the mid 90s. Even though not produced, I wrote feature films and teleplays for TV episodes. I had three agents during the time and when my third agent was getting my scripts into three different TV series, they shut down. I began a journey into holistic health in the mid 90s, and wrote and published in nonfiction. In 2011, I began my journey into novel writing. My first book was published in 2015, the second into 2016 and the third will be released in September of this year. Schooling? Lots and lots of workshops, conferences, online classes to learn the craft.

Why thrillers?

I’ve always loved the crime genre, to read as well as write. I think I must’ve been a detective or FBI agent in a past life. I love the action, the energy, and I can take out any personal revenge on a character or situation.

Do you see the need for all these sub-genres or do you think we’ve become over-specialized, as in, a story isn’t just a story any longer, but a specific type of story?

I think having the specific sub genres help readers decide whether your book is for them or not. It’s another category for publishers to market your books.

Why writing and not ceramics, or gourmet cooking, or anything else really? If not writing, then what?

I love to cook and bake. Recently I’ve gotten into gluten-free and lactose free baking. I’m very much into health and nutrition and I’m a holistic health practitioner so I practice alternative therapies in my daily life as well as use them in the context of my books.

From where do your ideas come?

A lot of my ideas come from dreams. Others, come from fantasies with me acting as the main character whether it’s the protagonist or antagonist.

What’s your routine? Do you work out while writing, take breaks, or simply gut it out?

Since I don’t have a 9-to-5 job or young children in the house, I write whenever I want which is at least 6 to 8 hours a day, whether I’m researching, blogging, or working on marketing. Very often I write at the pool, so in between chapters or scenes I’ll do water aerobics with my dumbbells. I also bake, and over the last six months I’ve gone as gluten-free as humanly possible so baking muffins has become a hobby.

Do you think writing is a form of therapy and, if so, has it helped you work through anything in particular?

I see writing as definitely a cathartic experience. It’s helped me work through a family issue we’ve had, and I also work through some anxiety and trauma about my childhood and lifetime asthma. The latter, is a major plot in my second book, Aries, which drives the antagonist, a female killer in her why.

Do you pull inspiration from the other aspects of your life? How do you keep the creative spark going?

I do take my content for my novels from my daily life and my experiences as a holistic health practitioner specializing in alternative therapies. The therapies my characters are involved in, I teach my clients.

Pantser or perfectionist who meticulously plots out their stories?

I’m definitely a plotter, but not so meticulously that I have to stick to a definitive plan. I allow my characters to go in their own direction, and very often my characters give themselves more of a role than I had intended. When that happens I know I am in very deep POV and it works best for the plot.

Your perfect day – go.

Since I’m pretty much a free woman, even with my husband, we both like to sleep late and by late I mean even past 11 AM. We pretty much do what we want when we want. So I usually start my day with some vitamins and a muscle milk protein shake while I’m watching one of the Home Shopping Network’s. Even before that, I check all of my social media, which is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Then I might write, plot, plot for as long as I want to until late afternoon.

What has been your greatest writing lesson?

We are constantly learning the craft and no matter how many books you have out, there is still much you can learn. You really need to have an open mind in this business. I’ve learned to listen to people who have succeeded and to have what I want. In other words, listen to your critique partners, beta readers, and if you get feedback from agents really think about what they are saying instead of standing on your laurels and saying you are not changing anything. This will considerably cut down on the amount of rejections you get until you get that one yes.

If you could be a character in any novel, what character would you be?

I will choose Samantha Wright who is my heroine in Aries. She’s bright, sassy, and just becoming in tune with her psychic awareness. She’s on target with her analysis of on-scene forensics, and has a real gut instinct on how to deal with people. In addition, she has the hottest sex on the planet with forensic psychiatrist Dr. Frank Khaos. She’s one lucky woman.

And the final question, do you think writing can save the world and if so, why?

Actually, I think it’s reading that can save the world, and yes works have to be written in order to be read. I think when people open up their minds through a book, they get a different perspective on how other people live. Perhaps through a book they can learn an appreciation, for other cultures and or lifestyles. Reading is also a way to escape and a way to relieve stresses.

Thanks, Ronnie Allen, for stopping by.  Best of luck with The Sign Behind the Crime Series.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Blog

Twitter and Instagram

Facebook

And if you readers want a bit more, enjoy a short excerpt from Aries:

Aries, The Sign Behind the Crime

    The rain had tapered off by the time Nick arrived at the scene and got out of the car. He didn’t neglect to notice Sam’s perfect body through her clingy sweats and T, even though she was covered in mud and blood. Her ponytail hung loose. Straggling wisps of hair stuck to her face. He smiled for the first time. His wife was never going to meet this one. Blonde and blue eyed with the perfect nose and full lips, to boot. Nope, his wife was never going to meet her.
Sam approached the other suited man who also towered over her. “Hi, I’m Sam Wright.”
It was all Nick could do, not to laugh. He knew Dingo well enough to know what went through his mind.
“Dingo Withers, lead homicide expert from Homicide Investigative Unit. What have we got here?” Nick couldn’t mistake his curt attitude and, he assumed, neither could Sam.
“What are you doing here?”
“You lucked out, rookie. My unit is housed in your precinct. I’ll be busting your ass.”
“Okay, Withers. I see this as a test, right?”
He didn’t crack a smile. “I said I’d be busting your ass, but no. It’s the job of a first responder, and you, Detective Wright, happen to be that person.”
“I was the first on scene, yes. No one has gone into these woods since I’ve been here. No civilians to interview. The scene is safe. No assailant. On first look, I saw blood still oozing from wounds. So they’re somewhat fresh. The rain wasn’t pouring down so forcefully when I was under the shelter of the trees near the body. It’s a lot of cuts, more than ten at first glance. I got up after I fell. So you’ll have my DNA evidence that was transferred because my arms touched the branches, yeah Locard’s Exchange Principle, and there’ll be wet origin footprints. Didn’t notice any other footprints going to or away from body. Ooh, ooh ooh. There’s more!”
Oh, man. How old is she?
Nick bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
“I knew I shouldn’t have taken the direct path to the body because that’s probably what the assailant did. But I had no choice. The bushes on either side are so dense. See them over there? So there was no other way to get through. I did, though, try not to tread in the water. Didn’t stick around to make exact count of cuts. Kept my arms straight down at my sides when I ran out and my eyes on the ground. Didn’t see any weapons or possible tools. Noticed the puddle water was red, right over there where I was standing when you pulled up. Splattered up on me as I jogged through it. I haven’t gone back to the body, but looked at it through this path.”
“While I was waiting for you, I took pics on my phone of my shoe prints, the soles of my shoes, which have mud embedded in them now, the splatter on my clothes, and I documented the time, and conditions with my ID. I also noted the exact time the rain started. Also made videos of the flow of the water from every angle, except directly from the body. As I said, I didn’t go in there again. In one of the videos when I replayed it, I found…”  She set the video to pause on an object deep within a bush low to the ground and gave him the phone. “This oval white thing. Looks like a band of some kind. I didn’t touch the bush, or try to retrieve it. May have some blood residue, but I’m not sure. It’s down deep enough, so I can’t tell how much rain hit it. We actually shouldn’t even be standing here. It’s within three hundred feet of the scene. The body is less than twenty feet in. I’m thinking that the killer or killers wanted the body found. They could have taken it deeper into the woods. I did see some indentations in the ground that indicated a path. Took pics of that, too. Maybe they dragged the body. But they also raked up leaves and debris, and removed them, leaving a muddy path around the body. I fell butt down into that mud.” She twisted around to show them.
Nick couldn’t help but look at her perfectly rounded bottom. He had to turn away to conceal his burning cheeks. He saw Withers do the same.
“Maybe trying to outsmart us by removing what they considered to be evidence, so what we see on the surface may not be what really is. In removing stuff, they actually told us a lot. I’m getting the impression that because of this, the murder was premeditated, carefully planned, and not random. As I’m thinking, it could be a woman. Maybe she wasn’t strong enough to pull him farther, or it was more than one woman. Can’t tell if the wounds were post mortem and I definitely couldn’t see the COD. And it stinks. Had a full meal before he was offed, otherwise he wouldn’t have released fecal matter. I know it’s not dog poop, stepped in enough of that while jogging. Nope, this isn’t dog poop on my sneakers.”
She raised her foot to show Withers. He just stared at her with his eyes widened and his mouth slacked open.
“I stepped in it next to the body. Oh, and he was laid on his back, hands down at his sides, arms and legs intact, cuts on torso, eyes open, and—”
Withers cut her off. “Are you finished rambling? How in the hell are you going to remember what you just said? I don’t see your brown book. And I need your notes, Detective.”
“Oh.” Sam plucked her recording device from inside her bra. “Always have this with me. I turned it on when I came across the body. I also recorded my prelim before you got here.”
Withers blew out a breath. “You mean to tell me, rookie, you recorded what you saw and then proceeded to give me this long-winded ramble? So now I have to go through two fucking tapes? And your complaint form?”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

#BookReview Oil and Water by PJ Lazos

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Pam Lazos

Thanks to Ajoobactsblog for the recommend on Oil and Water where the action is “heart-stopping”.

 

The Tirabi’s lose their parents in a car crash and strange break-ins start the same night. Could it be linked to their father’s invention of a device that converts carbon-based trash in…

Source: #BookReview Oil and Water by PJ Lazos

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Modeling

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Pam Lazos

mte5ntu2mze2mjgwndg5ndgz

Modeling

On January 16, 2017, Dr. Christiaan Morssink, Treasurer and Board Member at the Global Water Alliance (GWA) celebrated MLK Day by modeling. No, he didn’t walk down a runway in the latest Versace suit, he ran a Model UN Day program for high school and college students at the University of Pennsylvania, a day for students to learn, discuss, research, write, debate, give public speeches, and more all within a simulated and safe environment. Just as water follows the model of bed and bank, we model ourselves upon those who see the patterns in life and go beyond them to create and improve upon the world in ways that haven’t yet been thought into being. Dr. Morssink hopes the Model UN Day will help students reach beyond present thinking to solve some of the more vexing water issues the world faces today.

Also on January 16, 2017, the U.S. celebrated Martin Luther King day. Modeling himself on prior social change leaders who stirred the pot (e.g. the establishment) with their non-violent protests (think Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi) King was probably the greatest civil rights leader of recent times. His determination and vision gave millions of (African) Americans the courage to believe in themselves, their inalienable dignity, and their social equality. Dr. King’s genius lay in patterning behavior for others to follow, and he lived his life the way he wanted the African American communities to live theirs, combining pacifism and activism in order to show the world that black men and women as a group, and individually, can take their proper share as they contribute to mankind’s collective evolution.  images

Recently, I attended a showing of the movie, Hidden Figures, with the Jr. League of Lancaster (JLL) that featured archival footage of Dr. King’s legendary work as a backdrop to the story. The JLL is a women’s organization devoted to training and voluntarism. The JLL’s Girls in STEM Committee sponsored the movie for the STEM Sisters — a group of 6th – 12th graders who meet at the North Museum in Lancaster to talk science — and for several Girl Scout troops, and other young women interested in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM careers, to use the shorthand. Hidden Figures told the story of three African American women who worked for NASA in the early 1960’s during the United States’ Space Race with the Russians. For long unmentioned, and practically forgotten by mainstream history, these brilliant science-minded women were the forerunners of the STEM movement, before STEM even became a movement, and of the civil rights movement as well, the latter more by happenstance than design.

images

The multi-layered tale wove together the themes of civil rights, patriotism fueled by the need to be the first country to reach the moon, and of the tumultuous 1960’s where anything of the old order seemed to be tested and often uprooted— to wit, the demise of segregation. Hidden Figures is a play on words, the figures referring to the “computing,” or data review that these women did in support of NASA’s rocket building program. The women in the story, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson (NASA’s first black female engineer), and Dorothy Vaughan were real life mathematicians who were not recognized by history for their contributions to math and engineering simply because of the color of their skin. Yet, despite the obstacles, the women stayed true to themselves and their own intellect, modeling for the world something that had not yet been in existence.

 

Katherine’s “computer” job meant she searched for flaws in the mathematical calculations that would put a rocket into space and a man on the moon. Katherine wasn’t just a computer, but a real-life “genius among the geniuses,” someone capable of going beyond the math to write calculations that had not yet been created. Yet, because she was black Katherine had to use a segregated bathroom, lunch room, and even coffee pot. As one of only two females working in the engineering department with a couple dozen men, the other of which was a personal assistant to the boss, Katherine faced gender discrimination as well, but the worst ignominy: she couldn’t use the bathroom nearest her work station. In Langley, Virginia, 1961, racism and segregation were the norm. Katherine was forced to use the “colored” bathroom which meant she needed to walk — or rather, run, in heels because that was part of her uniform — half a mile back to the segregated West side of campus. When her boss found out that she was away from her desk for 40 minutes, twice a day, to relieve herself at a bathroom across campus, he was livid, not because Catherine’s basic human rights were being ignored — remember, segregation was the law in Virginia — but because the work wasn’t getting done and NASA needed to beat the Russians to the moon. Our very identity as a nation was at stake. The resolution of Katherine’s issue became a boon for the black women working at Langley but you’ll have to see the movie to find out how.

unknown-1

Martin Luther King knew that change was slow to come, that people needed a reason to believe, and that fear was a great deterrent to progress. Dr. King also knew that drawing on universal truths, ones that all people could relate to regardless of their skin color, was a way to bring the world together. His speeches were peppered with metaphors on a variety of themes, many related to water:

One hundred years later [after the Emancipation Proclamation], the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.  photo

Anaphora is defined as “the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses”, such as in King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. King was an orator’s orator, a highly talented motivational speaker and community organizer. His “I Have a Dream” speech takes its place among the most well-known speeches ever given, a model for those who would aspire to use public speaking as a way to make the world a better place.

This morning, I went, as I’m sure the entire world does upon awakening, to relieve myself. I am lucky to have a toilet within which to do this. Many do not. When I pushed the handle down, nothing happened. At first I was annoyed, but then I lifted the lid off the tank to find that the pin had simply slipped off the arm that opened and closed the rubber seal holding the water in the tank. Easy fix, but I am a white woman living in one of the most resource-blessed countries in the world. I have both convenience and luxury, despite not being rich. Dr. King’s dream is that it would be so for all people of all races, colors, or household incomes, that we all are created equally in the eyes of God and the law and that we all should have access to such treasures.

The students at GWA’s Model UN Day learned from Morssink’s modeling, patterns were laid, ideas formulated, trends, perhaps a lifetime’s work, begun. This is how a movement starts. The UN, and by modeling, the GWA are doing their best to create a model that assures all people, regardless of race or color or household income have access to clean, safe water. Join us and let’s make it so.

pjlazos 1.19.17

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Expired Listings

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Pam Lazos

 51qopa4j9wl

Expired Listings

by D. M. Barr

“A buoyant, commendable mystery that piles on red herrings with ferocity and glee…the spiraling final act, culminating with the killer’s staggering reveal, is an exhilarating ride.”

                                                        —– Kirkus Reviews

Welcome to the first in my series of author interviews leading up to Mystery Thriller Week.  My first guest is D.M. Barr, author of Expired Listings.  Barr’s debut novel, Expired Listings was selected for review by the Midwest Book Review, in January 2017:

Critique: “Expired Listings” by D. M. Barr is an exceptionally well written, genre-busting, riveting psychological thriller laced with satiric, romantic and erotic elements. A consistently compelling read from beginning to end, “Expired Listings” is a masterfully crafted suspense thriller that will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to personal reading lists and community library collections. It should be noted that “Expired Listings” is also available in a Kindle format ($2.99).

Shall we start with D. M. Barr’s bio, in her own words?

        WHO IS D.M. BARR?

 By day, a mild-mannered salesperson, wife, mother, rescuer of senior shelter dogs, happily living just north of New York City.  By night, an author of sex, suspense and satire.

  My background includes stints in travel marketing, travel journalism, meeting planning, public relations and real estate.  I was, for a long and happy time, an award-winning magazine writer and editor.  Then kids happened.  And I needed to actually make money.  Now they’re off doing whatever it is they do (of which I have no idea since they won’t friend me on Facebook), and I can spend my spare time weaving tales of debauchery and whatever else tickles my fancy.

  The main thing to remember about my work is that I am NOT one of my characters. For example, as a real estate broker, I’ve never played Bondage Bingo in one of my empty listings or offed one of my problem clients. 

But that’s not to say I haven’t wanted to … .

 

mask2

[photo credit, D. M. Barr]

Here’s a synopsis of this “genre-busting, psychological thriller”:

What if people were dying around you and you weren’t absolutely sure you weren’t their murderer? Someone is ‘deactivating’ the Realtors in Rock Canyon and almost no one seems to care. Not the surviving brokers, who consider the serial killings a competitive boon. Not the town’s residents, who see the murders as a public service. In fact, the only person who’s even somewhat alarmed is Dana Black, a kinky, sharp-witted yet emotionally skittish Realtor who has no alibi for the crimes because during each, she believes she was using her empty listings for games like Bondage Bingo with her sadistic lover, Dare. And yet, mysteriously, all clues are pointing her way.

Along with clearing her name and avoiding certain death at the hands of the ‘Realtor Retaliator,’ Dana has an even bigger problem:  she’s inadvertently become a person of interest in more ways than one to Aidan Cummings, the sexy albeit vanilla detective investigating the case. While his attentions are tempting, Dana is torn—does she continue her ironically ‘safe’ but sterile BDSM relationship with Dare, or risk real intimacy with Aidan?
 
Kink, Suspense and Satire–Expired Listings masterfully combines all three while exploring the universal need for validation and the toxic nature of revenge.

***

Ms. Barr and I had a little virtual chat about her work, writing, and life in general and here’s what she had to say:

What’s your writing background (schooling), backdrop (where you work at your craft), and backstory (what you will tell the world when you become super famous)?

I really never studied writing—fiction or nonfiction—at school.  I started writing by writing a review of a comedy improv group for a boyfriend who was in that group and sent it off to a local paper called Downtown Manhattan. They hired me as their Nightlife Editor and I reviewed shows and restaurants.

A few years later, I wrote an article about Opsail 86 for a travel trade magazine (I was a travel agent) and they started sending me on press trips as a freelancer and later hired me as an Associate Editor. I ended up spending three years there before breaking off on my own to start a PR company that helped travel agents with their promotion and corporate communications. So I actually fell into writing.

My first fiction experience was in 1979 when I attended a two-week Writer’s Conference at Hofstra University. I was there to study nonfiction magazine writing when I wandered into a fiction class by mistake. I was absolutely fascinated but never dreamed I had it in me to write fiction. When I got serious about my book (2013!), I took some classes at the Hudson Valley Writer’s Center, which was more of a critique group and got me into the habit of handing in pages. So no formal training in style—all learned by the seat of my pants.

What are your favorite books?

Oh, wow. Hard to narrow down. Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Trinity, The Grapes of Wrath, Lonesome Dove, The Kite Runner, Iron House by John Hart, all of the Marshall Karp Lomax and Biggs series and all of Michael Connelly Lincoln Lawyer books. I also love Jennifer Crusie for romance and Kerrilyn Sparks for comedy/paranormal. And I’m leaving a million other books out.

Why mysteries?

Expired Listings started out as a real estate parody that warned my fellow real estate agents about the dangers of our business and it just evolved. Since I love psychological thrillers, that’s slowly what it became, with satiric, romantic and erotic elements. I loved adding layer over layer to the story.

Do you see the need for all these sub-genres or do you think we’ve become over-specialized, as in, a story isn’t just a story any longer, but a specific type of story?

Since my book is a hodgepodge of genres, I was very put off by the number of agents and publishers who liked the writing but turned it down because they couldn’t pigeonhole it into a genre. Since most books aren’t sold on shelves but can be categorized into several categories online, I couldn’t understand this dogged devotion of theirs to genre. I refused to cut the story in half to fit in, I didn’t want to be formulaic. I stayed true to the story I wanted to tell, for better or worse.

Why writing and not ceramics, or gourmet cooking, or anything else really? If not writing, then what?

I like being read, making someone laugh and entertaining people. But it’s not my only hobby. I’m a competitive trivia player, I love word games, I love to travel and I rescue senior shelter dogs.

From where do your ideas come?

From everywhere. I used to think there was only one book in me. Now there are so many, there’s no time to write them. Anything I hear that might be funny or offbeat can either be its own story or part of a larger one.

What’s your routine? Do you work out while writing, take breaks, or simply gut it out?

I don’t have one. I write when I have the time and I plow through. It’s good to have deadlines though. I have thought about hiring an editor and having her impose deadlines on when she expects pages.

Do you work outside of writing, i.e., do you have day job?

I’m currently a Real Estate Associate Broker.

What has been your greatest writing lesson? How about life lesson?

Publishing is glacially slow so be prepared for that. Don’t ever let a bad review get you down—even the best books on Amazon have one-star reviews. Write the book that’s in your heart. Someone will want to read it. Never chase trends.

How many books to you have out?

Two:  a novel and a novella.

Indie or traditional publishing?

One of each.

Country of origin?

USA

Relationship status?

Married

Kids?

Two, one of each.

Pets?

I had two rescue dogs. I just lost one, a Newfoundland mix. I still have Doofus, my schnauzer-poodle mix. He’s about 14, dumb as a doornail, blind and sweet as can be.

Travel and if so, favorite place?

I’ve actually been lucky enough to travel the world as a travel agent and later as a travel writer and meeting planner, all before I went into real estate. Favorite place is Bora Bora.

Favorite childhood memory?

I was a huge Avengers fan, not the comic book ones, the British series featuring Steed and Mrs. Peel.  When I was around 11, my dad got me backstage to meet my idol, Diana Rigg, after a performance of Jumpers (Tom Stoppard) in London’s West End. I stood there with my mouth open, amazed I was actually meeting her.

And the final question, do you think writing can save the world and if so, why?

I wish. Unfortunately, too many people out there don’t read or do read and don’t listen. Or do listen and disagree. Still, it’s so important to write and be heard because someone might listen.

Interested?  Then check out Expired Listings and D. M. Barr.  She’s waiting for you.

The definitive word on where to get Expired Listings:

Buy Links:

Amazon and Kindle Unlimited
Barnes & Noble
Indie Bound

—————————————————————————————————

Social Media Websites:

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook

—————————————————————————————————

Keep in Touch!

Literary Exhibitionist Blog

Punctuated Publishing Website

Email

Support writing. Support free thinking.  Support hard work, late nights and the computer, and imagination.  Buy the book!

pjlazos 1.16.17

Posted in kirkus reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mystery Thriller Week

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Pam Lazos

.  mtw1clickhere

 

Mystery Thriller Week

Mystery Thriller Week, a brand new, one-of-a-kind Facebook event for “authors, friends, fans, and followers” and less than one month away.  Each week I will post an author interview right here showcasing one of our fabulous writers and their work with a guest post thrown in here and there for good measure.

Sign up for prizes, event updates, and special announcements about Mystery Thriller Week at these links:

Readers – sign up on WordPress

Bloggers — sign up on WordPress

Like the Facebook page

Keep up with the latest giveaways and interviews on Facebook

Got a book you want to showcase? A blog that welcomes authors?  A hankering to read and review?  We have a need for you.  Come, join in the fun!

pjlazos 1.14.17

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rabbit Warrior

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Pam Lazos

41mnx4rhnwl-_sx321_bo1204203200_

Rabbit Warrior

In an era of tell-all books and reality TV, it’s still unnerving for the average person to reveal too much about themselves, their dreams, and dramas. The translucent nature of living in a world that thinks it knows you simply because it has a few data points results in an exhausting and inauthentic existence. While revealing your deepest secrets along with the attendant emotions you’ve been harboring for the better part of forever is a rough and rickety bridge to cross, once you do, the secrets come pouring out like fine Irish Whiskey, purging the pain that held the memory to you and bringing an opportunity to shift nothing less than your entire consciousness. That’s just what Janet Brady Calhoun did and later described in her memoir, Rabbit Warrior, a book dedicated to the Self: self-healing, self-actualizing, and self-discovery.

Like most middle-aged women, Janet had been shackled by a few of life’s golden handcuffs: wife to an F&M College Administrator; mother of two lovely daughters; a sister in a family of four siblings; and a successful career woman, working, among other things, as the co-chair for Tom Ridge’s gubernatorial campaign and finally as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Human Services in Pennsylvania. Ironically, all left her both fulfilled and depleted. Her father, who she adored, died when she was 12, a death that left her despondent and dependent on her mother for her emotional sustainability. Whether one ever reconciles such a loss is an open question. Despite her father’s success as a dentist, he left her mother with little money, gambling debts, and four children. Possessed of nothing more than an indomitable spirit and an iron will, Janet’s mother pulled the family through, but that period, fueled by her mother’s own warrior spirit, cost Janet, and perhaps all of her siblings their emotional independence.

It’s no surprise then that the most brutal blows life dealt Janet came from the deaths of her mother and sister within a short span of each other. All those hurts caused by her father’s death came rushing back, nearly drowning her in their need to be acknowledged and released. So Janet left her home and her husband in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and moved up to Cape Cod for the summer where the family owned a home and where she did her best thinking. She took her journal and some essentials — books; the dream catcher her granddaughter made for her; wine — and headed to the Cape to call her spirit back. It turned out to be a very important summer, possibly the most important one, and it resulted in a brave and open-hearted book about the search for one’s true Self.

I must confess that at first I was annoyed. I didn’t really want to read a book about a privileged woman having an existential crisis in her home on Cape Cod when, for instance, one-third of the world doesn’t have access to clean water, but I had promised a book review so I took a breath and read on. The dialogue was a bit stilted and I had the feeling that I was voyeuristically reading over Calhoun’s shoulder as she scribbled in her journal with all its unfettered pain, anguish, and fear of being stuck inside her 12-year old emotional self — plus, she held back, probably out of propriety because nice women don’t tell all their secrets, even to their journals — yet in spite of my objections, I saw what Calhoun wanted me to see: a woman seeking redemption, not from someone else, but by and for herself because she was the only one in the world who could grant it.

Courage comes in all forms. It’s not handed out at birth and its not part of our genetic code; rather it’s something earned, and usually, it comes at a great cost. It takes courage to tell your story, the real story, not the one you create for public consumption. Rabbit Warrior is every man’s and every woman’s story. Your facts may be different, but I guarantee your pain shares similarities. Read Rabbit Warrior if you’re interested in how one woman moved some of her own pain offshore.

plazos 1.10.17

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy New Year IWSG!

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Pam Lazos

insecure-writers-support-group-badge

Happy New Year IWSG!

Okay, New Year, new deadlines to miss, like yesterday’s #IWSG post.  Well, I’m here now so NBD, eh?

So this happened:  I’m on the train, my first day back to work, feeling the love of a New Year/New Me, having just had the last ten days off to spend as I wished, family, friends, food, merriment, and the like.  A guy sits down next to me on the train and he’s reading a THICK book. I try to peek out of the corner of my eye to catch the title on the spine — it’s the Quiet Car so I don’t want to ask — but I can’t see it.  Also, I note he puts his finger in the pages when he hands the conductor his ticket because he doesn’t have a book marker.  I’m a complete book voyeur and not being able to see the book’s name is really bugging me so after a few stops I ask him, quietly, because it’s the Quiet Car, “What are you reading?”  No response from the guy so either I was too quiet or he wants me to leave him alone so I go back to the book review I’m writing and forget about it.

Except that it’s driving me crazy, especially that he uses his finger as a book marker. I don’t dog-ear pages except to mark magnificent passages to return to and read again later.  I think dog-earing is a form of disrespect to the book; it causes the early deterioration of the paper and generally shortens the book’s lifespan.  I don’t know why I think dog-earing for the rereading of passages later isn’t also marring an otherwise healthy book, but these are complex philosophies that I have evolved over time so we’ll just have to let them alone for now and return to them at a future date or maybe never.

After several minutes of internal debate, I offer the guy a book marker, one my daughter created for me in support of my eco thriller, Oil and Water.   It’s actually a beautiful book marker, and my gesture, albeit a small one, was sincere which is why I was somewhat flustered by his response: “No thanks, I’m good.”  Flat out refusal without as much as a side glance at me or the book marker.

Wait, what’s that sizzling noise I hear?!  Oh, it’s me being dissed.

Feeling both dissed and miffed, I put the book marker back and return again to my book review when he says, again without looking up, but this time with a minor head tilt in my direction, “But thanks, that was very kind of you.”  A few minutes later, we’re pulling into the station, he’s off the train, and I have no idea whether the thanks was born of genuineness or guilt or something entirely different.

What about you?  Ever been on the receiving end of something part dis, part thank you?  And how do you feel about random acts of book promotion?  Unlike my seat mate on the train, I’m interested.

plazos 1.5.17

Posted in Bees, blog, book promotion, Oil and Water, Uncategorized, writers, writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

An American Tragedy

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Pam Lazos

Well, luckily for me, the holidays were filled with many things to be grateful for:  things that make your heart soar, like extended time with family and friends; things that support your physical 3D body such as clean air and water, good food drink, and a home filled with love and light; and things that support your spirit such as lively discourse, Penn State football (Go Lions!), and great books to read.  And since a great book requires a (I’ll leave the superlative for you to decide) review, here it is, my first of the New Year.  Hope you enjoy.

Much love and many blessings to all you readers and writers alike.  May the power of the written word open your minds to healthy, happy, and powerful thoughts in 2017, and concepts that expand both your perspective and your heart.

***

unknown-1

An American Tragedy

Theodore Dreiser’s, An American Tragedy, written in 1925 was extremely racy for its time, but the real tragedy of Dreiser’s novel was not the ultimate fate of the protagonist, Clyde Griffiths, as much as the societal conditions that precipitated it. Also, that I guessed the ending so far in the beginning of the book that, at times I had a hard time sticking with it. Dreiser’s prowess as a writer is overshadowed by his accomplishment as a sociologist and philosopher and in the fearless manner in which he shines a light on the American condition, one that elevated the rich and denigrated the poor of the 1920’s, a condition still in existence today. The American Dream, hard work equals becoming rich if you live in America, is simply not true, at least not for the masses, and Dreiser brilliance is in painting that picture of poverty and often hopelessness, of an American system that leaves its working class behind without choice or money or a pathway to an improved condition. Oh how the entitled look down their noses of those without money, how they chafe and groan about the burdens put upon them to uphold “society,” and oh, how Clyde longs to be part of that society. Yet the truly entitled are not those who have earned their money themselves, but have been handed it by their fathers who worked hard to ensure their own legacy which is then passed down to their children.

An American Tragedy introduces us to everyman Clyde Griffiths, born to unordained, self-proclaimed, missionary parents who run a small home for wayward souls and spend some time each day, singing church hymns and proclaiming the glory of the Lord on street corners along with organ accompaniment. Unfortunately for Clyde, this lifestyle leaves him awash in embarrassment, desperate to break free from the daily horror and the impoverished conditions that permeate his home life. Clyde desires nice things with his whole being, dreaming of one day living the life of luxury. He lacks a formal education as a result of all his parents moving around, but soon lands a series of jobs which allow him to buy the things he’s so greatly desired, but he’s terrible with money, without the concept of saving for the future or creating a safety net because no one ever taught him how so he lives from paycheck to paycheck. There’s a longstanding fallacy that Dreiser manages to shed light on, which is, if you’re poor you’re stupid and if you’re rich, you’re smart. Clyde proved himself adept at getting out of his poor circumstances, he just didn’t have the training and foresight to stay there. Clyde wasn’t stupid, simply not as schooled as his cousins and there seemed to be no way for him to catch up.

Such is the systemic nature of poverty: a lack of education and no one to advise you of how to do things differently. Clyde’s rich relations tolerated rather than uplifted him as if they thought his poorness would rub off on them. Rather than looking at the odd one or two who break free of poverty, we should, as a society, be looking at why our fixes have made the trap of poverty inescapable because the 1920’s could just as easily be 2017. Reading Dreiser, you get the impression that he believes the world needs this tragedy, actually revels in it, that the rich need the poor so they can feel richer and the poor need the rich so they can feel subjugated and that we are all just pawns in a larger script. Dreiser manages to convey all this through the guise of the twin pillars of religion and law, one created to control the masses the other to admonish when that control failed to work. Poor people may have been born poor, but they are God-fearing, and therefore malleable because of the hope of a better life after this miserable one. Easier for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle and all. The rich, however, have little incentive to give up anything because, well, there’s just no proof of an afterlife, and aren’t material blessings at least tangible proof of God’s love?

There were a few plot deficiencies that pained me a bit, like how women, once used up, were completely dropped from the book, Hortense, Roberta, even Sondra, although again, this was the 1920’s and women had very little to do other than act in a supporting role for their men. As for the writing, at 867 pages, the book was a bit too long for me as was Dreiser’s desire to dissect Clyde’s thinking from every vantage point, but the book was written circa 1925 when a bit of verbosity was the norm, and moreover, who am I to quibble with a classic?

The character analysis, the strange and unnerving parallels to what’s happening in the U.S. today, the social implications of poverty and its reverberating effects all work to make this a great, albeit sad novel. An American Tragedy is worth your time as both a novel and historical text. Depending on how the next four years go, An American Tragedy could be more relevant today than when it was when first written. Read it. You’ll have a greater perspective regarding the challenges surrounding the nature of poverty by the time you’re finished.

pjlazos 1.2.17

Posted in blog, book reviews, Uncategorized, writers, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Hop(p)ing

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Pam Lazos

Happy first day of winter. The solstice was an important day in pagan traditions — culturally appropriated to become Christmas 🎄– the day the light incrementally returns to earth (about 55 more seconds/day) and a time when the space between the worlds is thinner as if you could reach across and pull some beauty and wisdom from the ethers. Speaking of beauty and wisdom, enjoy this post from my friend, K.L. Allendoerfer. Happy Solstice!  p.j.lazos 12.21.16

 

For the past 2 weeks I’ve been participating in a NaNoWriMo-related Blog and Social Media Hop, hosted by blogger and author Raimey Gallant. I did the Facebook, blog, Twitter, Google+, and Goo…

Source: Hop(p)ing

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments