How Much is Too Much? Paris Fashion Week Reveals Little Style | Between the Beats

How Much is Too Much? Paris Fashion Week Reveals Little Style | Between the Beats

Free on Kindle!

Grab a copy of this 5-star reviewed book! It will be free on Amazon through Jan 23. 2015.

View From the Sixth Floor: An Oswald Tale

Why are strangers suddenly appearing in a sleepy North Carolina town asking about Lee Harvey Oswald? What do they have to do with widow Olivia Roberts? Why is her neighbor and friend Bill Horton so dead set against her traveling to Dallas, Texas? When she journeys from her North Carolina home to Dallas in search of answers to questions from November 22, 1963 she learns more than she ever expected. 
“View from the Sixth Floor: An Oswald Tale” is a story of “what-ifs”? What if the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 was a conspiracy? What if accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was innocent? What if someone knew the truth and could prove it? What if someone you trusted turned out to be hiding a secret so big it could change history? 
This is a tale of friendship, love, political intrigue, and murder.

As the Embers Burn

January 13 would have been my father’s 90^th birthday. He passed away on September 19^th, 2006, three months after I saw him for the last time. He was in a nursing home in the Bronx. My half sister had put him there. I was living in Knoxville, Tennessee, his hometown. My father was still mentally cogent, knew who I was the minute I walked into his room, and was delighted to meet my husband. It had been about 17 years since I had seen him. He was no longer ambulatory and spent our visit in his hospital bed. I brought him a University of Tennessee throw blanket for his bed and a big UT cold cup to keep at his bedside.

Daddy had not been back to Tennessee since the 1980’s and I knew his heart ached to see his sister again. She was his youngest sister and the only one still living. She was the sister I was named for. I would have given anything to bring him back with me but the very complicated situation between his current wife and my half sister made that impossible.

I think about him often; when I go on a long because he always enjoyed driving, when I’m on vacation because he took such delight in traveling to new places and teaching me about them, when I read a good mystery or detective novel because he liked them. This past fall I published my first book. It is a thriller with action and romance tossed in for good measure. I know he would have been proud and would have read it and shown it to everyone he knew.

Although he had been out of my life for many years and we only had a few hours together over eight years ago I still miss him terribly. I miss his laugh which came from deep in his chest and rumbled like a merry train. I miss his long winded tales of World War II and things that happened to him and his ship mates. Most of all I miss his big warm hugs which were like being enveloped by a lovable bear.

I have some of his ashes in a silver heart I wear around my neck and I find in moments of stress or uncertainty I will rub it like a talisman. This year my husband took me on a Caribbean cruise for New Year’s Eve. I wore my pendant because I knew Daddy would have had a blast celebrating on a cruise ship as the New Year rang in.

I was blessed to have him for ten years as a child, and blessed again when my husband convinced me in June 2006 to travel to New York to visit him for Father’s Day. I like to think of him now in a sort of heavenly after life, driving around in a big old Chevrolet with my mother at his side, and the radio playing light jazz. He’d be pointing out all the sights, looking for a good place to eat or spend the night, and going just a little too fast. Have fun Daddy! You earned it.

"View From the Sixth Floor: An Oswald Tale"

My first novel is available on Amazon and has received excellent reviews. Here are a few:

"The trip is thrilling and suspenseful, as reported above---a masterpiece." 

"It grabbed me in the beginning with her smart prose and kept me reading until I couldn't see the page and had to stop to rest my eyes."

"I loved her book. Let me say that again – I loved her book."

"The premise was clever, full of twists and turns. It involved everyday people, unexpectedly involved in extraordinary circumstances."

"THAT'S where the story picks up steam and the reader gets thrown for a loop!"

"I had to keep flipping pages as I had no clue what would happen next but one thing became increasingly apparent."

"Amazing read! The very talented author tells a story that captures you from the very beginning and continues to amaze and delight the reader."

"I read the book in one day because the twists and turns in the story made it hard for me to put the book down!"

"This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I just couldn't put this one down!"

"A terrific read, and would make a great movie!"

"That's what writing is all about--entertain me and keep me. She did perfectly."

"I think you'll find the book hard to put down after the first third."

"great book couldn't put it down"

"AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!"

http://www.amazon.com/View-From-Sixth-Floor-Oswald-ebook/product-reviews/B00NPCZW6W/

Where Was the US Leadership? | Between the Beats

Where Was the US Leadership? | Between the Beats

Where Was the US Leadership?

JANUARY 12, 2015 / LIZZI NEWTON / EDIT

The world has been stunned by the horrifying terrorist activity in France last week. Seventeen people were killed in attacks on the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher supermarket in Paris. Universal response has been loud and clear, we all stand with Charlie Hebdo as well as the Jewish citizens of Paris. When any nation is attacked world leaders speak out against the violence and often step forward to attend events supporting the injured country. 

A group of world leaders led a chain of 1.5 million people in a march along Boulevard Voltaire in Paris on Sunday. Joining French President Francois Hollande were British Prime Minister David Cameron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, and even Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Many other leaders from Africa and other European countries were represented. This has been called the largest demonstration in the history of France by some.
US Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris but he did not attend. The United States was represented by the US Ambassador to France Jane Hartley and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. There is something painfully disturbing about this. President Barack Obama was at the White House in Washington, DC, and Secretary of State John Kerry was previously committed to be a lead speaker at a summit in India.
The streets of Paris were filled with Christians, Jews, and Muslims speaking out in unison against the Islamist terrorists who perpetrated the attacks in Paris. 

What does this lack of participation by the United States leadership say? White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said it today. “We should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there”. Concerns about security were also stated. Attorney General Holder apparently had to hurry back to Washington and Secretary of State Kerry plans a stop in Paris on his way home.
Personally I find this very disturbing. When world leaders unite despite concerns about security to show solidarity against terrorism and the United States is under represented I feel we are sending a questionable message. Are our leaders any more valuable than these other representatives who stepped forward to demonstrate unity? Are the attacks by Islamist (not Islamic) terrorists on the side of the ocean any less important than an attack on American soil? When Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders lock arms to lead over a million people in standing against the vicious attacks and we are not properly represented we appear either frightened or uncaring.
Let me assure the world as an American citizen, as a country we are neither afraid nor uncaring. We stand with Paris and the rest of the world saying Je Suis Charlie, Je Suis Juif, Je Suis Francais.