Thursday, August 27, 2015

The UN-BIRTHDAY

You've heard of the "un-cola", certainly. Well, I've decided to have an UN-birthday!

Sorry, this one is a shortie, but I've got very little time in my day to do a post during the week, or get around to everyone, as I'm now 8 hours at work or driving to and from. Anyway, hope you all are well, and hope to see your comments below.


Monday, August 10, 2015

Crazy Horse Memorial--more than just a carving in rock

Doing something different today. This is one of my vacation posts. Hope you enjoy the history of an excellent place to visit if you ever get to the south-west section of South Dakota, in the area of Custer.

 This is the mountain in South Dakota, in private lands in the Black Hills, in Custer County. Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, approached the Polish-American sculptor,  Korczak Ziolkowski back in 1931. For those of you who aren't familiar with Ziolkowski, or this giant supture, he was one of the men who worked on Mt. Rushmore. This monument, being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, considered sacred by some Ogalala Lakota, between Custer and Hill City, and is about 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 ft high--by comparison, the heads of the four presidents at Mnt Rushmore are each 60 feet high. This work has been in progress since 1948, and is far from completion. I remember visiting this when I was very small, with my parents. When completed, it may become the world's largest non-religious statue since 1967 held by the Soviet Union's "The Motherland Calls".


This is what the completed work should look like eventually. I remember my husband and I coming out about ten years ago. We also came to see it back in the 90's and they were working on the face. I see by the picture, they've really gotten far with that.

Ziolkowski died in 1982, his widow, Ruth, took charge of the sculpture, overseeing the work on the project from the 1980's to the 2010, when she decided to focus on the completion of Crazy Horse's face first, instead of the horse, as her husband had originally planned. She believed that once the Indian's face was completed, the sculpture would be a better draw for tourism. Seven of their ten children, have carried on the work, and daughter, Monique Ziolkowski, a sculptor, modified some of her father's plans to ensure that the weight of the outstretched arm is supported.

The memorial is to be the centerpiece of an educational/cultural center when completed. As of my last visit there is a museum, a very nice restaurant, and a couple of shops to buy all Native American made crafts. I always buy a chunk of the blasted mountain whenever we go.

Oh, and one more thing to mention, this is NOT a federally funded project. Believe me, the government approached Ziolkowski a number of times, and he turned them down. The original agreement was to not have the American government get involved. You know they would have changed everything about the place. So, this is a worthwhile place to come to, should you get out on the road and are in that area. And if you go, here is a site in the area of Custer, to find places to see and stay. Always a lot to do there. The only thing I don't like about South Dakota is that they've gone with open casinos, and gambling just about everywhere you turn. I'm not a gambler. I think it's a terrible thing to get addicted on.

Hope your summer is going well. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my week off, just staying home, mostly.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Nocturne... the Other White Meat

Hello, my pretties.
That title just jumped into my head. And since I hate trying to think up something, I went with it hoping it might grab someone who normally doesn't come over to the dark side.

News is Nocturne is on sale (ebook, of course) for $0.99 from August 8-14th!

Nocturne, Sabrina Strong's third adventure in the series is, what I like to refer to as my "steampunk" novel. If you enjoy that genre, you may like this one. I enjoyed writing it, so different from the others, but it certainly creates more delemmas in Sabrina's life. And it sets her up for the 8th novel. In case anyone questions my reasons for writing it. I actually don't need to defend it. I write fantasy. 
Here is the description:

When Sabrina's cousin Lindee goes missing, it's up to Sabrina to find her. She fears that vampires are at the root of things... and soon finds out that it's not only that, but much worse. 

Beyond the Black Veil vampires outnumber humans ten to one, and people are merely blood donors and objects of the vampires' sexual desires. It's here where Sabrina encounters Drakulya, the Impaler, who has managed to not only become a vampire, but lives in this strange world and rules as king. 

With the Dagger of Delphi Sabrina will face the Dreadfuls - merciless stalkers and killers. With her is also the stone containing the spirit of Dante Badheart, and more mysteries surround this magical artifact as well. 

Nocturne is the exciting third book in the Sabrina Strong paranormal romance / urban fantasy series.


Well, thanks for stopping by, and if you have read it and enjoyed it (or are about to), be kind and write a nice review for it. Thanks! 

Sunday, August 2, 2015

What's UUUUUP?

Doing a quickie today, folks! But wanted to welcome the new month in!
Picture taken from Bonnie Plant 


I've few links with various friend's posts. First off Heather McCorkle has an announcement--she has joined a press out of New York called City Owl Press. To see her announcement, go to her blog here. As a new member, Heather has a wish list of what she may want to see from prospective writers. You might be interested if you have written, say, a Sci-fi with romantic angles.

As always, Roland has some interesting insights on what's going on out in the entertainment world. If I didn't have his blog to find things out, I'd be stupid. I would have to depend upon the rags you can pick up at the grocery store check-out. If you don't know who Tom Cruise or Scientology is, then you may be dumber than I am. Anyway, he's got something to say about the subject of why isn't anyone asking Cruise about questionable acts at home base of his religious compound. You can check this out  at Writing in the Crosshairs. Also you might want to check out his books, as well.

My  friend, William Kendall has a movie review at his blog Speak of the Devil.

And if you want to catch up on what I've been up to, go to my other blog: Lorelei's Writing Journal.

Also, my third book, Nocturne, will be on sale from August 8th through August 14th.

AUDIO BOOK NOW AVAILABLE!

Hi, everyone, I have some great news! My first Sabrina Strong book, Ascension, is now in an audio book format.  NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTE...