Monday, July 06, 2009

SAGE CANE'S HOUSE OF GRACE AND FAVOR - Released 7-17-09



My new book comes out on July 17th. I'm very excited. It's an Old West Historical set in a Colorado mining town. It's quite a different story than I usually write, and I wrote it under a different name, Christy Hubbard. I loved writing this book. It felt like it was being channeled to me. I think I must have lived one of my previous lives in the Old West.

Here's the story of SAGE CANE'S HOUSE OF GRACE AND FAVOR:

In 1859 a woman needed guts to live in the Old West, and Sage Cane had an abundance. Penniless and in debt after the death of her father, then abandoned at the altar by a fortune-hunting scoundrel, she headed for Colorado gold country to take possession of the hotel she’d inherited from her Aunt Hannah “Honey” Wild. But the hotel is really a bordello called Wild Mountain Honey, and her plan to close it down is met with resistance from Bridger Norwood, the sexy town marshal whose job it is to keep peace in the rough and rugged mining town. Backed by the town fathers, he's convinced the miners need a nice place to go to keep them off the streets and out of trouble.

But Sage wasn’t born to let adversity keep her down or men control her destiny.

Fairplay Creek is a town of, by, and for men, with nothing for women. Not a slip of silk or froth of lace can be found anywhere outside the bordello. While the men mined for gold, drank in the saloons, gambled at the card tables, or visited Wild Mountain Honey, the wives were left behind to scrabble together a home in tents, huts, and dugouts. Until Sage Cane secretly teaches the women in town how to dress for adornment, whisper into a man's ear, and practice the fine art of seduction. Secrets are revealed and secrets are kept, but Fairplay Creek is changed forever.



Thank you RT Book Reviews for your 4 STAR review - "...marvelous tale...Dynamic characters...captivating plot..."

Thursday, July 02, 2009

RE-READING BOOKS

I’ve never understood re-reading books.

Often I hear people say they have read a book many times, or they put a particular book on their keeper shelf to read again later. I have a keeper shelf, but it’s for signed first editions, not for books I plan to read again. I can’t think of a book I would want to read more than once. Why would I? I already know what happens.

Plus, as the saying goes – “So many books, so little time.” That’s how I look at it. I have hundreds of books in my bookcase that I haven’t read yet, and new books are released every day that entice me. If I re-read my books, I wouldn’t have time to read all the great new ones coming out.

I don’t buy DVDs, because I don’t even like to watch a movie more than once. Well, maybe there is a handful I will watch if they’re on television, but few enough that I can name them – Shoot The Moon, Two for the Road, Grand Prix, La Dolce Vita, Tombstone. They’re old movies. You probably haven’t heard of any of them except Tombstone. I have a couple of concert DVDs, but haven't watched them more than two or three times.

Usually, I’m reading two or three books at a time, and I try to make sure at least one of them is nonfiction. Here’s what I’m reading now:

Fire and Ice” by Paul Garrison
Live From New York, an Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live” by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller
The Secret History” by Donna Tartt

Oh, and I have new music, too. Here’s what’s new in my CD collection:

“Dummy” by Portishead
“Ultimate Waylon Jennings” by Waylon
“The Essential Johnny Cash” by Johnny
“The Essential Willie Nelson” by Willie

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

OH, MY GOSH, DAN SIMMONS!


I just finished reading Dan Simmons "A Winter Haunting" and oh, my gosh, it is spooky! I ended every chapter with a cringe, a glance over my shoulder, and a nervous little laugh.

I don't normally jump at house sounds in the night, but I did while reading this book, and in addition, I checked and re-checked to make sure the house alarm was activiated. (Not that an alarm would have scared away any of the malevolence in THIS book.)

Dan Simmons has skillfully blended reality with unreality, so that it ALL seemed real. Mysterious messages appearing on the computer screen, strange lights and noises in the boarded up second story of an abandoned house, the sudden appearance and disappearance of a stray dog, an overwhelming sense of danger, and all of it overlaid with the cold and gloom of a midwest winter.


Friday, January 16, 2009

MAMMA MIA!

I didn't go to the movies to see MAMMA MIA, I watched it on DVD at home. You have to really, really like ABBA to like this movie. Meryl Streep was cute in it and she looked like she was having a lot of fun. But like I said, you have to really, really like ABBA.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

DOUBT


Ah, what a movie!

The movie DOUBT is worth going to see if for no other reason than the sheer pleasure of watching Meryl Streep. Oh, my goodness, she is powerful. Every movement and every muscle exudes energy and meaning.

The story is bound to make most people cringe a little (if not a lot), and the ending will surprise. Listen carefully to every word.





Monday, January 12, 2009

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIA.

I walked out.

I would have walked out an hour sooner, but the people on either side of me looked like they were enjoying it. This movie is sappy, predictable and boring, and doesn't know when to end. I've heard it compared to GONE WITH THE WIND. Don't believe it.

Save your money and your time.




Saturday, January 10, 2009

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was nothing like I expected. I guess I didn't know what to expect. I only went to see it because of the rave reviews. The title did not entice me in the least, but it got two thumbs up, and is getting Oscar buzz.

I'm not going to comment on the plot at all, but I will say (and this might be a SPOILER) it had the most feel-good ending of any movie I've ever seen. When it was over, I wanted to stand up and cheer. I did applaud.

Enough said. Go see it.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

CHANGELING

I took time off from writing over the holidays to catch up on some of the great movies that are out. I love going to the movies, the whole idea of going to the theater, buying the popcorn, and settling into that cushy stadium seating. I guess that comes from living in Los Angeles, the company town of movies, where going to the cinema was always an EVENT. It's what I miss most about living there. (Besides the beach, of course.)

I usually go to the first showing of the day when there is almost no one else in the theater. Often I have the whole place to myself, and they run the movie just for me. I love it!

The first film I went to see was CHANGELING, a movie not to be missed. Intense and dramatic, yes. Compelling story, yes. And based on a real event that took place in Wineville, California in the nineteen thirties. The events were so horrific, Wineville later changed its name to Mira Loma.

Angelina Jolie was fabulous as she is in everything. The wonderful John Malkovich, another of my favorite actors, is in it. So is Jeffrey Donovan, the cool, sexy star of TV's BURN NOTICE, but I have to say, after watching him for a season in BURN NOTICE, he didn't seem to fit the part he played in CHANGELING. I had a hard time taking him seriously in the role. Jason Butler Harner played the killer and gave the most chilling performance, my choice for best actor in the film.

Clint Eastwood was the director so you know the film has depth.