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April
2007
News, updates, &
pronouncements from Pat Ballard,
the Queen of Rubenesque Romances |
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Nobody can make you feel inferior
without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt |
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Something to think
about....
Please forgive me for taking the easy way out of writing "Something to
think about" this month. I did have an idea that I wanted to write about,
but when I started reading through a list of Benjamin Franklin quotes, I
found so many I liked that I just decided to share a group of them with
you.
I
hope each of these, or at least one or two, causes you to stop and ponder,
as they did me.
Quotes by
Benjamin Franklin
A house is not a
home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small
bundle.
Clean your finger before you point at my spots.
Each year one vicious habit discarded, in time might
make the worst of us good.
Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.
I should have no objection to go over the same life
from its beginning to the end: requesting only the advantage authors
have, of correcting in a second edition
the faults of the first.
If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are
dead and rotten,
either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.
Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried
until they are seventy five.
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A
Word From Pat
IS MARCH OVER YET?
It's been a long time since life filled a month as full for me as it did
in March. March has been a month of good stuff and bad stuff, with not
much mild stuff in the middle!
Thursday, March 1, my sister Jerri came in from California. The next day
we drove to Mississippi to see sister Ellen and brother Steve, who live
there, plus brother Tim, who came in from Texas to be with us. Out of the
six siblings, only one―baby brother Paul― wasn't able to be with us. It
was such a wonderfully rewarding time.
It was only the third time we'd all been together since our mom died 32
years ago. We've seen each other one-on-one, etc., but not all together. I
think the "family language" thing is so fascinating. When we come
together, it's like we were never apart.
The practical jokes just seem to come from nowhere. For example, the first
thing Tim, the next-to-the-youngest, standing 6'1" over my 5'5", did was
to come at me with a serious gleam in his beautiful blue eyes while
rubbing his hands together. I didn't have a clue of what he was up to
until both his big hands started scrambling my hair. (I've recently
started wearing my hair short, and they said it invited such activity).
Anyway, after that I had
a cookie put inside my sandwich when I wasn't looking, Ellen tried to take
my picture while I was using the bathroom, and Jerri about gave me several
heart attacks! I don't know how anyone can move as swiftly and silently as
Jerri does. She would show up beside me and start talking when I didn't
know she was anywhere around, so of course I would about jump out of my
skin. I told her she had to start whistling anytime she moved.
Jerri and I came back to Nashville that Monday and she left on Wednesday,
March 7 after celebrating my birthday with me. On on the 8th I came down
with the stomach flu that I'd managed to avoid all winter, and was sick
all that weekend.
On the 15th I was sitting at a stoplight waiting to turn left. My light
turned green and I proceeded to go. A woman decided that her "stop" light
really meant "go," so she ran it. I saw her coming and tried to swerve,
but she hit me in the left rear door and sent me into a fishtail.
I kept control of the car
and managed to stop without getting hurt or hurting anyone else. She
wasn't hurt either. She told the policeman her light was green. Of course
I assured him that my light was green. Because there were no
witnesses, he determined it a "no-fault" accident. So neither of us got a
ticket.
On March 19 I came down with a really bad head/throat/chest thing that is
still with me two weeks later. But I'm much better.
March 20 I took my car to have an estimate done on the damage, and they
confirmed our worst fears―the car was totaled. I won't go into detail, but
it was still a beautiful car―a royal blue Cadillac with a lot of bling―and
I really, really hated to lose it, even though it was a 1993.
March 26, Joe and I "bought"―as in began making payments on―a 2004
Cadillac. We just love the "bigness" of these cars, so decided to stay
with what we like. Even though this car is newer, I'm still in mourning
for my pretty blue one.
So, as you might tell, I'm really happy that March is over. If the rest of
my year is going to be like this, I need to buy a helmet, some "nerve"
pills and a Hummer to drive!
Welcome, April! Everyone have a wonderful month.
Love,
Pat
Visit Pat's Place at
www.patballard.com | Write me at
patballard@bellsouth.net
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 Coming May 2007
from Pearlsong Press:
Pat's new Romantic Suspense novel,
The Best Man
Sparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding―and
not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and
doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor.
The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the
groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the
sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble.
Tony's first wife died
mysteriously. Will Lana be next?
Read an excerpt
online | Free shipping within the U.S.
for advance sales at the
Pearlsong Press website. (Books will be shipped in May.) |
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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 |
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Weighty Matters
A Fat Rant by Joy Nash
I really
hope all of you will be able to watch this video clip by actress Joy Nash.
It's outstanding, in my opinion. She's telling it like it is.
Send this link to all your friends if you enjoy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUTJQIB1oA
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Request from a fellow writer
Dear Reader,
May I ask
for a few minutes of your time? I need some information for the book I'm
writing. My book will be written to help people going through (or who have
already gone through) a traumatic period in their lifetime. I need true
life stories on how [the contributor] has dealt with healing after a
traumatic event.
The event can be from death, divorce, broken relationships, etc. I'm not
looking for people who are still victims. I'm trying to find people who
are going on with their lives. The reality of the trauma (the easy part,
for it is a fact), surviving the event, and the courage to go on (which
will be the most difficult to capture). I believe the traumas will all be
different, but the courage, intestinal fortitude of the survivors, is what
I want to capture. Somehow, from people like you, I must relay the ways
and hows for all those of us who are/will be facing trauma.
The focus
of the new book I'm writing is not on the traumas people face, but how
people have been able to go on with their lives, the methods they have
used in healing, coping, functioning, and becoming productive again. If a
step you took
(please
share them if you have any)
did not
work, say why you feel it did not.
Of course, all names
and locations will be changed to protect the identity of those who
contribute their stories.
www.MenDontListen.com
Email me at:
MenDontListen@aol.com.
I may need to reply to your email and ask some additional questions.
Wayne L. Misner
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Reader Review of the
Month
Editor's Note:
We're now featuring reader reviews of Pat's books in
The Queen's Proclamation.
Post a review at an online
bookstore, magazine, or public website and email us at proclamation @
pearlsong.com to let us know, and we'll consider yours for inclusion
in The QP.
This month's Reader Review of Nobody's Perfect was posted by
BlueEye Freckle Girl on Amazon.com.
I loved the story and how Sam the snobby business man lures Nella into
falling in love with his child and ends up falling in love with her.
Especially love the part where they end up in Kentucky for the winter.
Great book. Read it in one sitting and then reread it the next day.
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Communicate with Pat
via her "Amazon Connect" blog on Amazon.com!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/id/AC8LT66HFJQ1Y/ref=cm_blog_blog/102-0429066-5275365
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. |
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Calendar of Events
Coming May 2007—Pat's
latest Romantic Suspense, The Best Man.
Free shipping within the U.S. for advance sales of The
Best Man purchased through the Pearlsong Press website. (Books
will be shipped in May)
See
http://www.pearlsong.com/thebestman.htm to order. Read an excerpt
online at
http://www.pearlsong.com/thebestmanexcerpt.htm.
Pat regularly guests on the Health At
Every Size show with Dr. Peggy Elam on WRFN Radio Free Nashville.
Check the show blog at
http://www.healthateverysize.info for mentions of Pat's next guest
appearance. The show is streamed live
over the Internet 10-11 a.m. CST Mondays and now can also be
listened to live over your phone via UPSNAP.COM.
Listen to or download the mp3 recording
of Pat's Jan. 22, 2007 guest spot on the show at
http://www.pearlsong.com/audio/HAES01222007.mp3.
(Right click on the link & "save as" to download.)
Listen to the live
broadcasts over the Internet at
http://www.radiofreenashville.org/.
To listen through
your cell phone or any other phone (home, office, etc.), simply call
646-213-0005. After the prompt, enter the Radio Free Nashville
code―9989―with your keypad. Listen and
enjoy!
There is no charge for listening through your phone, and you don't have to
register your phone with the service (as was necessary for the previous
phone-streaming provider, Mobile Broadcast Network). Your usual long distance and/or cell phone charges will apply,
however.
For more on the show, check out
the show blog at
http://www.healthateverysize.info. You can also listen to or download 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!
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Give someone a good
read as well as support in loving themselves.
Pat's books make great gifts!
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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.
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Newsletter Archives
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.
P.O. Box
58065 │ Nashville, TN
37205 │
www.pearlsong.com
©2007 Pearlsong Press
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