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March
2008 |
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Nobody can make you feel inferior
without your consent.
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Something to think about.... "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." Randy Pausch "A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture.' Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When
Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked
to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he
had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he
gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was
about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of
others, of seizing every moment (because 'time is all you have…and you may
find one day that you have less than you think'). It was a summation of
everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living." (From
Amazon.com) |
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A Word From Pat Again I find myself apologizing for being late with the newsletter. But I have a very good excuse this time, also. I've just spent two wonderful weeks with my sisters, Ellen and Jerri. Jerri arrived at my house on Feb. 28th and Ellen arrived on Feb. 29th. They stayed until March 12th. We had a blast! We shopped, we ate lunch out almost every day, we cooked, we played, we watched one or two chick flicks every night, we had a few loving sisterly spats, we hugged and made up and we cried like teenage girls when it came time to part. Overall, it was just absolutely perfect. And Joe, my poor husband―a professed hermit―endured the giggling, clucking, and overall chaos like a true champ. Sunday, March 1st, my son, Eric, my daughter-in-law, Tiffany, and my two grandkids, Shaun and Kayla, came over and we played in the backyard until time to eat dinner. On March 7th I got to celebrate my birthday with both my sisters for the first time in many, many years. That was a special treat, even though a few unkind age-related remarks did occasionally escape their innocent lips. I'm older than both of them, and they love to remind me of that. So my hunger to be surrounded by family has been temporarily satisfied. Everyone have a safe and
happy March.
Visit Pat's Place at
www.patballard.com | Write me at
patballard@bellsouth.net |
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Tony's first wife died
mysteriously. Will Lana be next? |
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Links About The Queen & Her Books
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Weighty Matters The
joyful woman with white hair, wearing a black shirt, her arms spread wide,
is our own PegE (Peggy Elam of Pearlsong Press), who makes this newsletter
possible every month. |
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Reader Review of the
Month I enjoyed that editor's speech, but I still didn't read romance novels, until I heard about Pat Ballard's books. She calls them "motivational romances" with Big, Beautiful Heroines. Curious, I picked up a copy of Nobody's Perfect and spent several hours intrigued and enthralled. In the novel, the love interests are Nella Covington and Samuel L. duCannon. Are those perfect names for a romance or what? Nella is a young woman in her mid-twenties who has long since given up trying to be thin. She takes good care of herself, eats healthy foods and exercises. The women in her family were heavy and she is no exception. But Nella goes beyond just accepting herself. In this novel, she uses her size to her advantage. We see her save a child from drowning by using her strong arms and skillful swimming. She helps a young wife frustrated by constant dieting make herself over with makeup, a new hairdo and clothes, without losing a single pound. When the woman worries she might go back to feeling discouraged about gaining weight, Nella gives her a gentle pep talk. "You see what you can be if you want to, and it's your decision whether you spend your days looking your best, or looking your worst. That's a decision we all have to make each day. You're no different than anyone else." Of course, romance novels have a predictable formula. That's why so many women love them; it's reassuring to know the good characters will win. After a few adventures and problems, the heroine always gets the good guy, and this book delivers that, too. But first, we have evil in-laws, a family home in jeopardy and a little boy who needs a mother. Nowhere does Nella play the helpless female. She is strong yet vulnerable, powerful yet seductive. And Pat Ballard sure knows how to write a good sex scene. Be forewarned: this story is definitely rated R, and the heroine's large size adds to her attractiveness. What a switch from the message aimed at women in magazines and television!
Although the ending was pre-ordained
(remember, it's a romance novel), I didn't guess how the author would wrap
it up. I lost myself in the story and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of
it. In other words, I had fun. If you read Nobody's Perfect,
I predict you will, too. I also predict you will be left with some very
thought-provoking ideas about what our society's ideal body image does to
every woman's self-esteem. |
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Communicate with Pat
via her "Amazon Connect" blog on Amazon.com!
Pat's romantic suspense novel Abigail's Revenge is featured on the Beautiful
Portal website:
http://www.beautifulportal.com/news.php?item.900034.8
An article on Pat has been
posted at: |
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Calendar of Events
New from Pearlsong Press—Pat's
latest Romantic Suspense, The Best Man. Hear―and see―Pat on the air at Radio Free Nashville! Listen to or download the mp3 recording of Pat's Jan. 28, 2008 guest appearance on the Health At Every Size show with Dr. Peggy Elam on WRFN Radio Free Nashville by going to http://www.healthateverysize.info/2008/01/jan-28-2008-hea.html. Pat regularly guests on Radio Free Nashville's Health At Every Size show, which airs every Monday morning. She's usually in the studio on the fourth Monday of the month. The show is streamed live over the Internet 10-11 a.m. CST Mondays .
Listen to the live
broadcasts over the Internet at
http://www.radiofreenashville.org/. You can also listen to
the live broadcasts through your telephone via UPSNAP.COM. It's free for
wireless internet enabled phones, but there's a small monthly charge for
other phones. See the
Health At Every Size show website or the
Radio Free Nashville website
for details. Davidson County, Tennessee residents can also hear the show
live through the Secondary Audio Programming of Comcast cable's Channel
10. 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 |
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Give someone a good
read as well as support in loving themselves. |
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Book Contest
Register to win a free copy of the Pat
Ballard book of your choice at |
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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. |
