VIEWS
NATIONAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION LOS ANGELES OCTOBER 2010
October workshop By LaVonne Taylor
If someone asks me when and how I got the idea to start writing, I blank out. The whole process began so long ago in the dim recesses of the cave, that I’m not sure I was ever not a writer. But then with a little deeper thought, I realize that reading is really what made me decide I wanted to write. Reading is a passion for me and when exposed to the art of a really good spinner of tales, I’m in heaven. I try in my own humble way to emulate the excellent authors I’ve read – too many to name. I have plenty to say but I want to say it in a way that makes others take note. I continue to study the craft with that in mind. On October 16, I’ll share some of the gems I’ve unearthed during my lifetime of mining.
Morning Pages
“I was stunned to learn that writer and writing coach, Julia Cameron, had written a tell-all book about her recovery from alcoholism. That sure knocked her off the pedestal where she had reigned for years in my mind,” says Tom Howard. “Her signature tome, The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity written by Cameron with Mark Bryan, (G.P. Putnam’s Sons), 1992, first came into my hands in the mid-1990s when I was living in Portland, Oregon, had dropped out of chiropractic college due to health problems, and was spending a lot of time at the piano.” He continues, “It’s hard to describe in a few words her approach – but she advocates lots of freehand journaling, preferably in the morning as well as taking solitary excursions to museums or art supply stores or wherever to stimulate the latent creativity within, connect to one’s Higher Power and recover from experiences of other people’s negativity or narrow mindedness that may have stifled one’s creative powers in the past.” Tom says her encouragement to write three pages daily, what she calls “morning pages,” has really been beneficial to him. “The act of writing each day helps me think things through and stay in the habit of writing. Her follow-up book is called Finding Water, The Art of Perseverance and this I am in the process of reading. It is full of great quotes and excerpts
from her New York City ‘morning pages’ journals, as well as curious anecdotes of frustrated stockbrokers and beauticians who became filmmakers, novelists, or oil painters. Hopefully, I can come in October and bring copies of those two books and share a bit about her philosophy of ‘recovery for artists.’”
Rocky
Ray Rappa was a literary and actor’s agent for years, reading the thousands of manuscripts that crossed his desk from all over the world. “After reading so many, I determined that a lot of them were much the same – formulaic” he says. “When a fresh, out-of-the-ordinary manuscript got my attention, I would become so excited I could hardly wait for the chance to talk it up. That was how I felt when I first read the Rocky script by a then little-known actor, Sylvester Stallone.” Ray had taken the manuscript to bed with him, thinking that it would probably put him to sleep in short order. Instead he became so excited he couldn’t close his eyes for the remainder of the night. “The script was written from the heart and very much in the vein of how the characters lived and talked,” he continues. “The advice that our September speaker, Dr. Kathy Magliato, received from her agent, ‘Write it like you speak it. Write it as you feel it. Write it from the heart,’ was evident in the Rocky pages many years ago.” The rest is history. When Ray retired, he wanted to put his life experiences into a memoir. He had been writing songs since his early days in New York City for nearly as long as he could remember. Now it was just a matter of transitioning to a longer format. And he remembered the lesson of the Rocky screenplay – writing his memoir from his heart. Attending the October 16 meeting at Mo’s, 4301 Riverside Drive, Burbank, will expose you to a lot more practical and inspiring info. All members please come prepared to share. We look forward to seeing you there!
JOIN US! OCTOBER 16, 2-4 P.M.
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
REDUX
Ruminations on the writerly life style
The doctor captures our hearts
The practice of physiognomy or face reading has been around since ancient times and has been noted by Latin classical As the new president, I promise to do my best to involve authors like Jubenal, Suetonius, and you, the members, in much of the decision-making process Pliny the Elder. The practice proposes and plan programs that you want. Last summer when I was that one can tell much about a person’s thinking about the next ten months’ schedule, I decided nature by reading the physical characthat it would be a good idea to alternate guest speakers teristics apparent on their faces. If the with member-generated meetings. After all, the idea of practice is true, then Dr. Magliato’s belonging to a writers’ group, once one gets past the obvious benefit of hanging face is evidence of the beauty of her with people of your own ilk, is to gain some knowledge, share some ideas and get spirit, energy, enthusiasm for life, and some feedback. The logical link in the process (at least for me) was to pin down positivity that has brought her to the some specifics, which led me to October’s meeting. pinnacle of success. One of the most helpful things for me in this journey I call the “writerly life” is to hear from others about what has benefited them on their own pathways. Many of In January of 2010 her first book, you have always been very generous in sharing what you felt might be helpful to Healing Hearts, published with others, but now you get a chance to do it on a slightly more formal basis. With this Random House, came out after in mind, we’re looking forward to a non-demanding, but very informative round- two years of writing and editing, table discussion on October 16 at Mo’s. I hope you will be there to participate. while still maintaining a thriving cardio-thoracic practice and a Getting to know you … young family (her sons were two As many of you already know, I am an animal lover and an animal rights activist in and four when she decided to remy own small way. I have written on my blogs and also in the print venue about the cord her experiences, they’re now egregious trespasses to which the human race subjects animals. My mailbox is filled four and six). daily with entreaties for donations; organizations who want to stop dogs from being skinned alive in rural China; or another that wants to fight the ignorant stabbing to When asked why she chose to write her memoir, she mendeath of horses confined to a small pen; or yet another that wants to stop the slaughter tioned that since 1984, annually more women than men have of elephants on the African savannah; or from the folks who want to save the whales. been dying of heart disease. And heart attacks kill more womI no longer open the mail because I can’t stand the images that circulate in my mind en than colon, breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer combined. forever after, sickening me each time the image reasserts itself into my fevered brain. She wants to be instrumental in changing the statistics. I send donations when I can, but I always have the feeling that it is never enough. If I had the financing I would buy some acreage and set up yet another animal rescue Nwala wishes to acknowledge and thank center to complement the many already in existence. The sad part is that no matter the amazing Dr. Kathy Magliato for the how many currently exist, there is still a need for many more. riveting talk she gave to help us kick off our
2010-2011 program season.
Not just the animal planet …
On Brian William’s show, I heard a statistic that shocked me … there are more than a million school-age children in this country that are homeless! I think in a country that Doug Weiskopf asked what is the number one thing womprofesses to be the richest/strongest country in the world, a million homeless children en should do to protect themselves from heart attacks. Dr. is unconscionable. Yet we spend billions on killing people in foreign lands. Magliato’s answer was, “Knowledge! Don’t get me started on the cultural/government-sanctioned murders going on Arm yourself with as much knowledge around the globe on both sides of the conflict. I realize there are baddies out there as you can acquire about the optimum who want to do me harm (it is not unreasonable to personalize the terrorist threat) techniques for keeping yourself heart and that it is necessary for me to defend myself. However, there is always more to healthy.” the story of armed conflict and the “news” than the public gets to hear. One of the hardest things Kathy It’s overwhelming and I am only one little person in a sea of people and events. Magliato ever had to do was harvest an What can I do to make it a better world? infant heart to save the life of another I can write. I write in an effort to convince others how important it is to give aid to baby. She suffered overpowering guilt one another, to protect the innocent, to help the ones who are suffering, to protect for a long time afterward, knowing the planet (and ourselves) from destruction. I endeavor to pass along what small that by taking the first infant’s heart, wisdom I have gained over the years in an effort to give others the knowledge to she had been complicit in ending its help themselves. life. But then she ultimately realized that both infants would have died if And I try to keep my faith that the pen is mightier than the sword. she had not placed the heart in the secIn loving spirit, your president, LaVonne Taylor continued on page eight
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WHAT PETS WRITE IN THEIR DIARIES ...
Excerpts from a dog’s diary ...
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing! 9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing! 9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing! 10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing! 12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing! 1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing! 3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing! 5:00 pm - Milk Bones! My favorite thing! 7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing! 8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing! 11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!
Courtesy of Patty Kennedy, David Pickell & the Internet
Excerpts from a cat’s diary … Day 983 of my captivity ... My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of ‘allergies.’ I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow – but at the top of the stairs.
Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released – and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a ‘good little hunter’ I am. Bastards.
The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...
The frost is on the pumpkin
By LaVonne Taylor
answers on page six THREE
OCTOBER CROSSWORD ACROSS 4. DRESS-UP CLOTHING 6. OCTOBER’S FLOWER 7. BIRTHSTONE FOR 10TH MONTH 10. HARVESTING 11. ROMAN MONTH NUMBER 12. CARVED FACES 13. ALL HALLOW’S EVE MONTH 14. OFTEN A ROMANTIC TREAT 15. LARGE ORANGE SQUASH DOWN 1. _______ MOON 2. __________ SAILED THE OCEAN BLUE 3. MASKS, FOOD, DRINK, DANCING 4. OFTEN GIVEN AS A TREAT 5. ZODIAC SIGN AFTER 21ST 8. THE NIGHT FOR TRICK OR TREAT 9. ZODIAC SIGN BEFORE 21ST
Common denominators of the Peace Corps volunteer experience By Thaine H. Allison, Jr. (North Borneo/Sarawak I 1962-64)
S H OWCA S E
Recently I met friends at Los Angles International Airport who were returning from a 360-day 360-degree trip around the world with their two children aged eight and ten. In an e-mail exchange a couple of weeks before they arrived back home I asked what they wanted me to bring to the airport to give them a proper welcome home. Their response: “Anything American would be appreciated.” In this day and age where we mostly consume things manufactured in third world countries, many of which they had visited and were a bit overdosed on, this made for a bit of a challenge. Since they were on the long end of a seventeen-hour flight from Fiji and still had a two-hour flight home to Denver I figured they would appreciate some good old American food. The challenge? They are strict vegetarians. Oh, yeah, that common denominator thing, food. Whenever Peace Corps volunteers get together there are bragging rights about their host country’s foods and favorites. My friends were frequently disappointed by the food options and I thought how strange. I have eaten my way around the world several times and have rarely been disappointed. In fact one of their blog entries was a conclusion that: whether or not they had fond memories of a country depended on the last meal they ate before moving on; i.e. good food, good memories. To my dismay they found Malaysian food dull, boring, and generally not very good. While I had some questionable food during my two year stay in North Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia) all in all the food was great.
their melodic voices and quiet laughter as they prepare to bring the day to a close. Kenyoung.
Kampong kitchen, Ongilan North Borneo, 1962 When we were building pig fences to keep wild pigs out of the newly planted coconut orchards I had a crew of about seventy-five men. They provided the labor and the posts and land to build the fences. I brought wire, nails and 10 pounds of dried salt fish and a guntang (2 1/2 pounds of rice) for each ten men. Two men were in charge of cooking the food, served on wild plant leaves while the rest of us built the fence. We would stop for lunch and eat together. Salt fish is rather like bacon in that it is salty, cooked in coconut oil and has a rather tough texture. Local rice has a nice nutty flavor not unlike “brown” rice we eat here at home.
Rounguse Dusin long house near Kudat, 1963 As an agricultural extension agent I spent a lot of time in the small kampongs (villages), eating simple farm food from various ethnic communities: Badjau fisherman; Bajau farmers; Rounguse Dusin, various island communities and Dusin and eventually Iban communities. Each had their specialty. One kampong, Ongilan, where I visited for three days once a month had a large flock of ducks. Here the regular specialty was duck egg soup. A fairly simple recipe: in a wok, scramble about a dozen fresh duck eggs; as they near completion walk down to the duck pond, scare away the ducks and the accumulated feathers and get about three quarts of water; pour into wok; bring to boil; add a little salt and chilies to taste. Serve hot with rice and rice wine in a dimly lit room. After dinner the men talk about the day’s activities, and listen to the soft chatter of the women in the kitchen with
North Borneo fence building, 1963 When I visited more isolated areas my laborers would often bring me a treat of a wild chicken. Their approach to cooking this delicacy was to remove the innards but leave the feathers on the carcass. They would then go to the river and get clay and proceed to encase the whole chicken in clay with a few jungle vegetables stuffed in the cavern along with the heart, liver and maybe a wild onion and few chilies. The clay encased chicken was then placed in the hot colas and left to bake while we continued our chores. At diner time we would crack open the clay football, clay would pull the feathers and skin leaving a juicy baked chicken. ☛
FOUR
Below is an example of planting coconut trees on newly cleared jungle. Now you have to understand that I was raised by a Kansas farmer that judged the worth of another man’s farming ability by how straight his corn, or tree, rows were. Like father like son as they say. Here I am teaching these island men to plant in straight rows over hill and dale.
strong cutting board. A cleaver can also work depending on your personal preference. Suit yourself, you will be cutting through bone.
Parong
Cleaver
Next comes the potatoes, and other local vegetables of preference. Carrots, onions, egg plant, green beans whatever is available depending on the season. Bangi Island, North Borneo, 1963
A delight that I learned to cook was Malaysian Curry. Now, the thing about curry is that everyone has their own variant on the method of preparation and final list of ingredients. Some like it mild, no one I know, some like it hot enough to take paint off the wall in a hundred year-old hospital and some, like Goldilocks, find that “just right” favorite. Color will vary depending on whether one starts from scratch with a variety of “secret ingredients” or traipses down to the local kadi (shop), to buy prepared curry powder. It will then vary further if it is a Chinese, Indian, or Malay shop.
Cut up chicken
Potatoes
I like to brown the chicken while the potatoes are cooking. To cook the potatoes, bring to a boil but don’t overcook (al dente, not mushy). I like to cook in the wok. I make chile, cook roasts, and of course stir fry in mine, purchased in Bandau, North Borneo 1964 and still going strong. It never leaves my stove top.
The first thing to consider is the chicken. Now, contrary to those Foster Farm ads, the best eating chickens are not White Leghorns, which are egg-producing chickens. Road Island Reds or other chickens with various colored feathers make the best eating chickens. They produce brown eggs, but far fewer than the White Leghorns, hence brown eggs are more expensive but no more nutritious. This variety grows larger and has more meat. Time to choose, take your pick, the one on the left is a rooster, so if you have more than one, I’d go for him. He’s young, tender, and ready to eat.
Cooking in my wok Eating Chickens/Chickens Eating After appropriate prayers and rituals the chicken is cleaned and ready for cutting into chunks. Here a good parong comes in handy, also a
The chicken browned in a wok with olive oil, garlic, onion, and a little cilantro and lemon grass if you please. Add the potatoes and a little of the water, keep the extra for later, some prefer curry more soupy. Now continued on page six let it simmer on low heat.
FIVE
S H OWCA S E
Food here was scarce and we brought tins of meat and rice from the regional administrative center, Kudat, to eat and share with our villagers. Since many were Muslim we checked the can to make sure that there was not a picture of a pig on the label.
Get your paraong and a fresh coconut. Best to get the husked ones as they are a tough thing to hull. Crack the coconut across the equator of the coconut with a solid but not too hard blow. Experienced cutters can hold it in their hand, I suggest putting it on the cutting board. There may be water inside so be prepared. I usually take it outside to avoid the mess in my kitchen.
Adding the santan (coconut milk), to the chicken and vegetables. The shredded coconut meat is then added to water and allowed to steep for a little while. Strain out the pulp after squeezing it through your hand several times to get the oils and flavors of the coconut meat.
S H OWCA S E
The perfect cut and opened coconut. The next step is to shred the coconut meat, or copra, into a large bowl. You can use your Cuisinart or blender or do it the old-fashioned way with a coconut shredder like the one I purchased in Chinatown recently. This makes the best santan (coconut milk) for adding to your curry. Grasp the half coconut and with a wrist motion scrape the coconut meat out of the shell. The shells can be used for a variety of craft or kitchen projects. Be imaginative. I once made an antique Japanese stringed instrument for a prop from the coconut shell remains of dinner.
You can also buy coconut milk in a can and just pour it in, be sure to scrape all of the pulp out of the can into the wok. Add the santan to the wok from either source. You may add a little water from the potatoes if it is too thick. Add two or three tablespoons of curry powder, a little salt, and simmer until you can’t wait any longer. In the interim cook some rice, two joints of water on your finger, bring to boil, add equivalent of one finger joint of rice, cover, bring to boil and turn down heat, do not open pan until all the water has quietly boiled away. Serve with steamed vegetables, beer, and love.
☛
Coconut shredder
Curry Ready for Serving Curry ready for serving
THE BOOK POLICE ARE ALWAYS WATCHING September 25 to October 2 is banned books week. Following is a partial list of books that some states and other countries have banned in the past as socially offensive. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, 1791 The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1884 As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner, 1930 Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, 1932 Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, 1936 Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, 1937 Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank, 1947 The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, 1951
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Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, 1953 To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960 James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl, 1961 Catch-22, Joseph Heller, 1961 A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey, 1962 In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 1966 Cujo, Stephen King, 1981 The Color Purple, Alice Walker, 1982 Ordinary People, Judith Guest, 1982 A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley, 1991 Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, 1997-2007
Now about that greeting at the airport. First I had charted their trip around the world, fifty thousand miles, on a world map. I took a picture with the four of them, the map and some American flags I found, of course they were made in China. I also had some old film containers and filled them with dirt from my garden. At the airport you can only touch concrete, to a farm boy you need to have dirt in your hands to feel at home.
Tangilan, Sabah Malaysia, 1964
My motto? Never trust a picky eater!
Long-time Nwala member Thaine Allison is busy acting and writing screen plays as well as writing an occasional article such as the one you have just read here. ADVERTISEMENT
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I retired from my job at American Bakeries, Langendorf Division, in 1984. My wife, Jokki, was still teaching in Maywood and so, in my own inept way, I took up cooking a few simple meals – really simple when it was lunch for one (me) and a little more complicated when it was for two (us) in the evening. I started to read the food section of the Daily Breeze and recipes that I came across in magazines. Soon I was clipping and pasting them in a black loose-leaf notebook. Lunch was simple because I had only me to please. Jokki would help me out with the evening meal when she got home. I made a lot of soup and salad. I tried to fill the salad with tasty bits of things like cheeses, ham, sunflower seeds, pickles, and whatever else we had on hand to give it a bit of flavor and zest. Corn bread was also one of my favorite specialties. Often I cut up green bell peppers in it, other times I threw in raisins. I baked it in a cast-iron skillet in the oven. For me, food had to have taste and some tang for the taste buds. My little black notebook grew thick with appetizing recipes. I learned to cook pasta al dente, and we had Italian with the help of canned spaghetti sauce. If the recipe had too many ingredients, or uncommon ingredients not ordinarily found in our kitchen, it didn’t make the grade with me. Simple food from simple recipes was my agenda. I bought a small squash at the market. A tag was attached with a simple recipe for baking it in the oven. That worked for me. I learned fast. I was an inside cook. My outside barbecue grill and my hibachi had been disposed of long ago as too much back-and-forth work – down the steps and up the steps with the food and dishes, cleaning the grill, controlling the heat and the burnt food. Cooking outside was for picnics and camping. We no longer camped out and our yearly family picnic was held at a park with everybody bringing his or her favorite potluck offerings. I did a lot of Chinese stir fry with an electric wok and had the procedure down pat. The bits of meat were thrown in first while the chopped vegetables were added in the order of the time they needed to cook – carrots first and greens last. The meat was added back in and all was served hot. Soy and oyster sauces helped out, as did almonds or peanuts sprinkled on top. Sandwiches were popular with me – stuffed with lettuce, cheese, meats, sardines, pickles, or whatever else I found in the deli drawer. I was handy with eggs. The grandkids called them “Grandpa Eggs.” If I did them in the iron skillet, I would use lots of care so they wouldn’t turn out crusty. My favorite method, when cooking them for just me, was to microwave them to perfection with a few drops of water in a small glass Pyrex bowl. The cooking shows at the Los Angeles County Fair were another source. We sat in on them, rested our feet and learned. We always came home with a few new ideas and sometimes a new gadget.
Mark Edward www.themarkedward.com
continued on page eight
SEVEN
S H OWCA S E
Each child got a book; Pirates of the Caribbean for the young boy; The Victory Garden by Lee Kochenderfer for the young girl and a bottle of good California cabernet for mom and dad. We spread out a blanket on the floor near the baggage claim area under what had been a telephone booth and dug into my magic bag. There was some two-cheese macaroni and cheese for the young boy of the group, fresh fruit, and vegetables from the local farmers market, a variety of California cheeses (California cows are happy cows), a baguette of locally baked French bread, some root beer for the kids, oh she doesn’t drink carbonated beverages either, water is in the bag too and some other goodies including Oreo cookies. I didn’t want them to have a bad memory of their meal in Los Angeles and therefore a bad impression of California for the rest of their lives. Food is what makes traveling the experience for me. Preparing and eating is high on my list of travel experiences.
Stint as household chef reveals the joy By Don Peyer of cooking
Household chef from page seven
I will never forget one lady cook who told us that she always cooked with wine. She poured a large goblet of wine and placed it with the other ingredients on the counter and proceeded to give us a lesson. At the end of the show, Jokki said that the wine goblet was empty but she hadn’t noticed how the wine was used in the recipe. “She drank it,” I said. “She casually nipped at it while she cooked. This was her way of cooking with wine.” It is true that I got a lot of advice and help from Jokki. It was self-protection because I was cooking for an expert. In 1991, Jokki retired from her teaching job and thus my stint in the kitchen came to a close. Now I am a helper and the wine steward, but mostly I just get in her way. And if I complain about the food, she is quick to retort, “Do you want to cook?”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Joe Panicello October 31 Quote of the month “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” — Charles Darwin
Sometimes she waits for me to comment. If I forget, she looks at me and says, “Well?” After putting in the work, she likes to hear a positive comment. I try to comply because I know that cooking isn’t easy, even if it is fun. And I know now that if necessary, I could take care of myself. A regular reprint contributor to Views, member Don Peyer is a fortyseven year resident of Carson, California, and the former president of the United Amateur Press Association. He writes poetry, short stories, memoir, and essays.
Magliato from page two
ond infant. She learned to focus on life.
that was not what Kathy had in mind. She called in the support of her agent, who threatened to withdraw the manuscript. Ultimately things got back on track and the book saw the light of day.
Her husband, a liver surgeon, helped by caring for the children while Kathy rented a room in a nearby hotel over a long weekend in which she wrote nonstop, coming up for air only to call room service or to shower.
Dr. Magliato is scheduled to appear on 20/20, a Barbara Walters special on heart disease, which will air on November 19. She will share the spotlight with Bill Clinton, David Letterman, and Robin Williams.
Dr. Magliato told us the saga of finding an agent, who then found her a publisher. The process was neither quick nor easy. Once working with editors began, the process became even more complicated. After a few months, it became apparent that the book was going in a direction
Healing Hearts is available on Amazon.com and by order from Barnes & Noble.
The frost is on the pumpkin answers
VIEWS is a monthly newsletter distributed to the members of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Writers Association and their guests. Meetings take place at 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the third Saturday of every month, except for July and August, at Mo’s Restaurant, 4301 Riverside Drive, Burbank. OFFICERS President – LaVonne Taylor Vice President – Joe Panicello Secretary – Arturo Ruiz Treasurer – LaVonne Taylor CHAIRMANSHIPS Fundraising – LaVonne Taylor Historian/Photographer – Madelyn Beck Hospitality – Mary L. Ports Membership – Jack Clubb Views Editor – LaVonne Taylor For more information, call: 661-267-2220 Or send e-mail to lavonne.taylor@sbcglobal.net
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