May 2006
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....

Beware so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.
Jean de La Fontaine

May 6th is International No Diet Day. Knowing that this day is coming up, I've been thinking a lot about the estimated one billion people in the world who are hungry.

On the one hand, we make such a concerted attempt at stopping world hunger—and rightfully so—while, on the other hand, we insist that fat people must force hunger upon themselves. How is it possible that we've decided this is acceptable?

As a result of this pattern of thinking, I started to wonder what it would be like to live in a world where dieting was banned. Nobody would be allowed to go hungry on purpose. Everyone would be expected to eat as much as their individual body wanted or needed every day. And all body shapes and sizes would be accepted. Nobody would be judged on what size they were or how their body was shaped.

I can hear some of you saying, "Yeah, sure! You're dreaming of a perfect world, Pat. This will never happen."

Really?

There was a time—and not so long ago—that it was legal to "own" other human beings in the U.S. That's not legal anymore.

There was a time—and not so long ago—that women in the U.S. couldn't vote. Those times changed.

There was a time—and really not so long ago—when black people in the U.S. couldn't meet in the same building with white people. Couldn't drink out of the same water fountains as white people. Couldn't use the same restrooms as whites. And couldn't eat in the same restaurants. Just to name a few things. Those times have greatly changed.

Change comes when people want the change badly enough to make it happen.

If everyone who is dieting would refuse to go hungry anymore and would let their bodies take their natural shape, would refuse to allow anyone to make derogatory statements to them and about them and/or other fat people, gradually, change would come.

How badly do we want it? It can happen.
 

 A Word From Pat

I hope everyone has had a wonderful April!

I have to tell you that my grandmother tank is very full, for now. My grandson, Shaun, had to have his tonsils out this past Friday, so I kept my three-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter, Kayla, from midday Thursday until Saturday night. What a fun time I had. She is such a girl! What a joy to be reintroduced to the world through the eyes of a child!

Shaun came through the surgery fine. He's still sore and still on pain medicine, but seems to be doing real well. Incidentally, he's as much of a boy as Kayla is a girl.

Also, my "rainy-day-burning-wood-in-my-outside-wood-stove" tank is full. I just spent about four hours in my swing, in my closed-in patio, drinking coffee, listening to the rain patter on the metal roof of the patio, looking at my spring flowers and watching the fire blazing in my stove. And, of course, mentally writing this newsletter. Ahhh.

Now that May is here, I'm looking forward to planting more flowers. Here in middle Tennessee, we can't safely plant anything until the end of April, or frost might kill it. So, it's time to really get my hands dirty from something other than pulling weeds.

Everyone have a wonderful May!

                                               Love,

                                                                    Pat

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

Links About The Queen & Her Books

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

Weighty Matters

If we're all getting fatter, and if obesity is killing us, then why are we living longer?

ATLANTA, GA—In what appears to be an amazing success for American medicine, preliminary government figures released Wednesday showed that the annual number of deaths in the U.S. dropped by nearly 50,000 in 2004—the biggest decline in more than 60 years.

The 2 percent decrease, reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, comes as a shock to many, because the U.S. is growing in population, aging and getting fatter. In fact, some experts said they suspect the numbers may not hold up when a final report is released later this year.

Nevertheless, center officials said the statistics, based on a review of about 90 percent of death records reported in all 50 states in 2004, were consistent across the country and were deemed solid enough to report.

Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12391057/wid/11915773
 

Pat's newest book, Abigail's Revenge, is featured on the Beautiful Portal website: http://www.beautifulportal.com/news.php?item.900034.8
and has been reviewed by AmaZe eMag: http://www.venusimaging.com/Magazine/2005/decjanrealistic/jennifer.htm

 An article on Pat has been posted at:
http://eastmanpublishing.com/epextra/articles/eparticle1007.htm.
And an EP Extra review of Abigail's Revenge is posted at
http://eastmanpublishing.com/epextra/articles/eparticle1011.htm 

Look for an interview with Pat on Lonnie Cruse's blog at
http://www.lonniecruse.blogspot.com.

Calendar of Events

Pat will be a guest on the Health At Every Size show with Dr. Peggy Elam on WRFN Radio Free Nashville the fourth Monday of every month. The show is streamed live over the Internet 10-11 a.m. CST Mondays. Listen to the live broadcast stream over the Internet at http://www.radiofreenashville.org/. For more on the show, check out the show blog at http://www.healthateverysize.info. You can also listen to or download edited recordings of some of the shows at www.pearlsong.com/audio.htm.

Pat will spend the next few months promoting Abigail's Revenge. She's in the process of setting up booksignings with local Borders bookstores, and others.

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, 2004 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 blog!
 

Books — Existing and Upcoming

Abigail's Revenge, my fifth novel, is published! My publisher, Peggy Elam, pulled a few rabbits out of the hat and the book debuted at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville last October. In fact, it was delivered to the booth on Friday after the festival had started. That is where I saw my first copy...hot off the press!

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 within the U.S. 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 a 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. (The eBook edition of Abigail's Revenge  has not yet been published, however.) Please visit Pearlsong Press and check out all the options that are available.
 

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

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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