October 2005

News, updates, & pronouncements from Pat Ballard, the Queen of Rubenesque Romances

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. 
Eleanor Roosevelt

Something to think about....

For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee.

Have you ever had something happen to you that there was no logical explanation for? Have you ever wondered about angels, both seen and unseen?

When my son Eric was three years old he had a little friend named Mikey Jack. One day Eric's dad, Joe, and Mikey Jack's dad decided to take them fishing. Mikey Jack's grandfather also decided to go. They took the boys to a lake that  had a big boat arena and boat dock  There was a place under the arena where people could sit and fish, so Joe decided he'd take "first watch" of the boys.

They hung around with him for a while and fished, but soon wanted to go out on the peer where Mikey Jack's grandfather was. Joe told them okay and went ahead about his fishing. But it wasn't long until he heard a woman's voice in the distance yelling, "There's a little boy in the lake! There's a little boy in the lake!"

Joe knew as soon as he heard her that it was Eric, although he couldn't see the boys from where he sat. So he jumped up and ran, and sure enough, Eric had slipped quietly into the water between two boats and was floating face down in the dark, muddy water. He had had almost sunk out of sight. The grandfather was standing with his back to the boys, without a clue, and Mikey Jack was leaning over watching Eric. I guess he thought Eric could sure do a neat trick!

Joe snatched Eric up and got the water out of his lungs, then looked around for the woman so he could thank her. But there was no one in sight.

One time I was driving down a big, nice two-lane highway in Texas that had equally nice, wide emergency lanes on each side, giving the highway the appearance of a four-lane. The road ran through the typical small hills of East Texas, and I was going up one of the inclines when my car very gradually veered over into the emergency lane. I made the statement out loud, "Well, now my car wants to drive itself!" And for some "strange" reason I stayed in the emergency lane and progressed on up the little hill. Just before I reached the top of the hill, another vehicle came over the hill in what had been my lane! The only thing that prevented a head-on collision was the fact that I was in the emergency lane.

Last Friday night my now-grown son Eric called me with a tremor in his voice. The first words out of his mouth were, "We lost a child." My only word was, "WHAT?"

He went on to explain that he and his wife, Tiffany, had taken their two kids, along with a friend and her three kids, to a local Fall Festival. It had only been about 30 seconds since he'd done a head count of the kids when he looked around and realized that Kayla, his just-turned-three-year-old, wasn't with them. In a moment they all established that Kayla was missing.

Tiffany froze and started crying, but Eric went in search for Kayla, yelling her name. He said it was like a scene in a movie in which someone is looking for a child and all they see is a sea of kid's faces, but none are the one they're looking for. He was beginning to feel frantic when he spotted Kayla standing away from the crowd, over on a grassy knoll, holding a woman's hand.

He ran over to them and the lady asked Kayla, "Is this your dad?" Kayla gave her a tearful  "yes," then said to Eric, "Daddy, I lost you!"

These are only a few of the incidences that I could share with you, but I won't take up any more space right now.

I've always wanted to thank the lady at the lake, because I'm convinced she saved my baby's life that day. If he'd gone under that muddy water, he would have drowned before anyone could have found him.

I've ever been thankful for the fact my car "decided" to drive itself that day in Texas.

And the woman with Kayla...I wonder if she was the same one at the lake who saved Eric. I think it's interesting that she and Kayla were standing alone, away from the crowd so Eric could see them.

Whatever the explanation, I would like to say "Thank you" to all the angels—seen and unseen—who have been and are a part of my life.

 A Word From Pat

October! One of my favorite months of the year. Maybe my favorite.

I know when October gets here that cool weather, colorful fall leaves, mums and Thanksgiving are all on the way. I love breathing the air, and how quiet the world becomes. It's almost like the birds take a deep breath, lean back in their little birdie recliners and just rest for awhile.

I love the days getting shorter, the lengthening shadows and the promise of winter. And now that you all think I'm just plain crazy, I'll go ahead and admit that I love winter! I get excited when I know it's just around the corner.

I mentioned in my last note that I was having problems with the Ritis brothers, and I would like to report that along with the good chiropractor and his stun-gun, a host of vitamins, minerals, herbs, some exercise, and maybe some goat milk I discovered, I am feeling better! The only problem I can see with this is that since I don't actually know what is helping, I guess I'll have to keep doing it all!

I kept Kayla Tuesday afternoon, night, and Wednesday. She turned three the 6th of last month. I'm just amazed at how much a child can learn in three years. And what a smart mouth they can develop! I had my hair in curlers on Wednesday morning, and when she saw me, she said, "Mimi, your hair looks so not good like that!"

My poodle, Rowdy, kept going up to Kayla and giving her a quick little lick on her leg or arm, and every time, she'd kind of frown and wipe it off. I told her he was giving her "sugar." But I don't think that impressed her. Finally, later Tuesday night, Rowdy licked her and she kind of shuddered and said, "I can't take this anymore!"

Everyone have a wonderful October. For all you heat lovers, enjoy the last few days of warm air.
 

                                               Love,

                                                                    Pat

Visit me at Pat's Place at www.patballard.com │ Write me at patballard@bellsouth.net

Blog me at http://pearlsong.typepad.com/the_queens_proclamation
 

Links About the Queen & Her Books

Pat's Place website | The Queen's Blog | About Pat Ballard | Dangerous Curves Ahead | The Best Man | Abigail's Revenge | Wanted: One Groom | Nobody's Perfect | His Brother's Child | A Worthy Heir | Pearlsong Press blog posts about Pat

Books — Existing and Upcoming

Abigail's Revenge, my fifth novel, is being published by Pearlsong Press. My publisher, Peggy Elam, hopes to debut it at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville this weekend (Oct. 7-9). It's a Romantic Suspense, and is different than any other novel I've written. It's also a good bit longer.

Abigail Avery was falsely convicted of the murder of her father and sent to prison when she was only eighteen years old. The supposedly good citizens of Leaky Springs, Mississippi were silent as an innocent young woman was orphaned, accused, swiftly tried and locked away. Her only clue in the travesty of justice is that a bunch of crooked "good ole boys"—headed by the judge who presided at her trial—keep pestering her to sell the family farm.

Now, a decade later, Abigail's out of prison and heading back to Leaky Springs. It won't be a pleasant homecoming. She's out for revenge on the people who stole ten years of her life. Especially the judge.

Karen Sparks, owner of Top100womensites.com (and an avid reader), says of Abigail's Revenge, "Injustice, romance and suspense with page-turning flair! This is Ballard's greatest work. Her fragile, yet beautifully big heroine is pushed to the edge with family tragedy, but she's determined to fight back and avenge the injustice that cost her ten years of her life. Ballard has created a rich romantic-suspense that you cannot put down until it's finished."

Click here to go to the Pearlsong Press website page for Abigail's Revenge. They're offering an advance sales special of free shipping for copies sold through their online store.

I'm continuing to work on my first nonfiction book, The 10 Commandments of Self-Love, a motivational book on accepting ourselves as we are instead of obsessing over trying to look like some unrealistic actress or image we see in an magazine.

Meanwhile, my short story collection Dangerous Curves Ahead is available through Pearlsong Press (www.pearlsong.com). After its May 2004 publication, Dangerous Curves Ahead received a glowing review from Cindi Appel on the Fearless Books review website. Appel wrote:

Ballard doesn’t pull punches. She shows her heroines exhibiting ample will and tenacity to tell off those who would shame them into becoming something they aren’t just to blend in with society's narrow-minded notions of beauty.

To read the entire review, go to www.pearlsong.com/dangerouscurvesahead.htm. You can also read an excerpt from Dangerous Curves Ahead's title story, Dangerous Curves, by clicking on the title link in this sentence.

Pearlsong Press has also re-released my existing books, Wanted: One Groom, Nobody’s Perfect, His Brother’s Child and A Worthy Heir.

The Pearlsong Press edition of Nobody's Perfect was called "a charming, witty love story with a twist" in the July 2004 Small Press Bookwatch section of Midwest Book Review. Read the whole review at www.pearlsong.com/nobodysperfect.htm, or an excerpt at
www.pearlsong.com/nobodys_excerpt.htm.

I’m extremely happy that my books are now available in both print and eBook format. Please visit Pearlsong Press and check out all the options that are available.
 

Ask your local  library to stock my books, allowing many others to enjoy them
while spreading the size acceptance message.

Please share this newsletter with those you think might appreciate  it.
 

Weighty Matters

I found the article below really amusing. Remember all the hullabaloo about the documentary "Super Size Me"—the guy who gained all the weight from eating at McDonald's? Well, look at this one. For all of us who love McDonald's, justice has been done!

McDonald's diet works for her
BY VICKI CHENG
RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER

There are many reasons Merab Morgan decided in April to eat nothing but McDonald's fast food for 90 days. There's her weakness for the Filet-O-Fish, slathered with tartar sauce and cheese. And there was that documentary, "Super Size Me," which she thought insulted the intelligence of fat people by implying that they couldn't resist the offer of a gargantuan portion for a few cents extra.

Read the rest here:

http://www.freep.com/features/food/mcdonalds11e_20050711.htm
 

Calendar Of Events

Pat will speak at the Southern Festival of Books in downtown Nashville, TN this Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005. Her session is at 11 a.m. in Lobby A of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC). She will also appear at the Pearlsong Press booth during the festival, which runs from noon Friday, Oct. 7 through 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. Come see her and stop by the booth.

You can still hear the taped radio shows from Size Matters with Veronica, WCRS Radio, on Pat's website.

Show #1 discusses Pat's romance novels
http://www.wcrsradio.org/RadioStage/size/SIZE051.mp3

Show #2 discusses women of size and their sexuality
http://www.wcrsradio.org/RadioStage/size/SIZE052.mp3

And check out the photos from the Nov. 6 Mississippi Authors Festival that are online at The Queen's Proclamation blog and The Pearlsong Letter blog. (Click on the Mississippi Authors Festival link under the "Photo Albums" heading in the lefthand column of either blog to view the photos. While you're visiting, post a comment on the blogs!)
 

Book Contest

Register to win a free copy of the Pat Ballard book of your choice at Top 100 Women Sites: http://www.top100womensites.com/contest.htm.
 

Read previous issues of The Queen's Proclamation at http://www.pearlsong.com/newsletterarchives.htm.

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The Queen's Proclamation is published by Pearlsong Press.

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©2005 Pearlsong Press