The USA Network...

One of my writer friends recommended writing for E-Zine online, so I gave it a whirl...here's my first published article.  Since I love TV and movies, and I LOVE most of the shows on the USA Network, I did a piece about it...check it out and let me know what you may think about the network, if you're a fan.  Which are your favorite shows?

E-zine Article on USA Network

My First Book Review & Recommendation.....

My first book review & recommendation… “Four Feet Tall & Rising” by Shorty Rossi.  Available on Kindle, hardcover, and audio.  I had the pleasure of just finishing this in the audio version, read by the author.  He’s a character, for sure.

Hopefully, some of you have already heard of, and maybe watch,  his Animal Planet show, “Pit Boss.”  I certainly hope so.  If you don’t, and you love dogs, it’s a must.  This wonderful little man is a powerhouse!  His love for pitbulls is endless.  His advocacy for the breed is tireless.  He’s a ‘little person’ with a huge heart and huge personality to match.

His book is a memoir, and he lets it all hang out.  He had an unhappy childhood with a controlling, abusive father.  He started hanging out with gangs and wound up in prison for 10 years.  Upon his release, he was able to turn his life around and form a talent agency for little people in Hollywood.  In addition to that, he runs “Shorty’s Rescue,” which helps find homes for abused and neglected pitbulls. He promotes the breed as their true selves – loving and sweet.  Not the killing machines they’ve been branded.

At times emotional, others hilarious, this book is one I wholeheartedly recommend!   He is one of a kind, and I truly admire him.  I wish there were more people like him in the world who puts his money where his mouth is…he doesn’t just talk about saving the breed…he does it.  He has six of his own pitbulls, which are featured in his show.  

At the same time I recommend his book, I strongly recommend his show!!  My husband and I have been watching it since the first episode, and it’s wonderful.  Big dogs and little people, which is how the show was first pitched.  

I have my own personal spreadsheet, where I keep track of every book I’ve read and how I would rate it.  The system is 1-5, with 5 being the best.  Shorty’s book is a wholehearted 5!

Another One Bites the Dust.....

<Sigh>  It's getting so aggravating to witness great television shows being axed while more and more of these so-called 'reality' shows flood the airwaves.  I just found out that yet another show I liked was canceled after one season.  "A Gifted Man," which followed the life of a world-renowned neurosurgeon, who was frequently visited by the presence of his dead ex-wife.  The show had humor, life lessons, and entertainment value.  I can't say the same for these reality shows that serve to dumb-down our society.

Unfortunately, someone out there must be watching them, or they wouldn't keep making them.  That's my concern and fear.  Every season, my husband and I hesitate to get drawn into new shows that seem interesting, because they wind up canceled soon after.  It's a disappointing circle for us...do we take the chance it might be great and get renewed?  Or invest our time in it and later see it thrown into the fire again?

It appears that any show that has a semblance of requiring one cell of brain power doesn't have a chance.  Instead, these mind-numbing programs that claim to be reality-based are taking over more and more.  It's a sad state of affairs in our house :(

No Hassle at the "Castle"

I hope most people are familiar with the smash TV show, "Castle."  If you're not, you should be.  I've watched it since the first episode, and it has the perfect mixture of simpatico characters, humor, and crime mystery.  Since Richard Castle is the next favorite author on the list I posted in a previous blog, I'd like to recommend his books.  The ingenious marketing of tie-in's from the book series to the TV show is nothing short of brilliant!

The show airs on ABC at 10pm on Monday nights.  Hmmm...they should have paid me for that little plug, but no matter.  The main character on the show is Richard Castle, a famous crime fiction novelist.  He writes a series of books about a cop named Nikki Heat.  In the show, his books are based on the cop he gets to 'shadow' throughout the series, whose name is Kate Beckett.

Once this show took off and became popular, they started printing the actual BOOKS, even though there really ISN'T a Richard Castle! lol   I'd love to meet this secret ghostwriter, because he deserves some credit!  It's really a hoot to have books out, written by Richard Castle, who is essentially non-existent, but a television character PLAYING an author!  As I said earlier, it's pure genius! 

Therefore, my next recommendation to you all is to check out 'his' books.  They are especially fun to read if you follow the show, because all of the characters from the show are featured in the books!

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/richard-castle/