I truly enjoyed Tuesday night's interview with Cori Brackett at www.SweetRemedyRadio.com
I was quite nervous in the beginning because it was my first live interview, but Cori is such a splendid host, she put me at ease very quickly.
We discuss several different aspects of the story: empathy, early Puritan history, psychotherapeutic drugs, the collusion between the pharma industry and the FDA, advocating for those who've been ostracized from society, what it was like for me to write the book.
I'd be honored if you'd take the time to listen. It's located at: http://tinyurl.com/p3xjlw
I hope you'll find it interesting.
28 May, 2009
13 May, 2009
Say Yes to Gratitude!
In a recent article, Dr. Gloria Burgess, author, coach and spiritual leader said, "Say yes to gratitude. Research confirms that when we feel thankful, our body chemistry actually changes."
Well, I can personally attest to that. I am an author with a new novel being published this October.
When asked how I feel about everything that is happening, all the writing, the research, the meetings and conference calls, the time away from my family and their blessed flexibility, the planning and marketing and promoting, choosing fonts and colors and jacket designs and countless other details, the one constant since the very first day I picked up my pen and put it to the paper has been a seemingly boundless feeling of gratitude.
I may have occasionally fantasized about it, but I never believed I had a novel in me. And I certainly never guessed there’d be a way to get it out of me! Whatever it was that lead me to create “Finding Emmaus” (and I do have some private notions!), I will be grateful for the rest of my life.
Thank you, Dr. Burgess, for so eloquently putting my feelings into words. I honestly do pray that others get to experience what I’m feeling and what you’ve so beautifully expressed.
Please follow this link (http://www.gloriaburgess.com/) and get to know Dr. Gloria Burgess, a woman whom, as she so delightfully states it, dares to wear her soul on the OUTSIDE!
Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved
Well, I can personally attest to that. I am an author with a new novel being published this October.
When asked how I feel about everything that is happening, all the writing, the research, the meetings and conference calls, the time away from my family and their blessed flexibility, the planning and marketing and promoting, choosing fonts and colors and jacket designs and countless other details, the one constant since the very first day I picked up my pen and put it to the paper has been a seemingly boundless feeling of gratitude.
I may have occasionally fantasized about it, but I never believed I had a novel in me. And I certainly never guessed there’d be a way to get it out of me! Whatever it was that lead me to create “Finding Emmaus” (and I do have some private notions!), I will be grateful for the rest of my life.
Thank you, Dr. Burgess, for so eloquently putting my feelings into words. I honestly do pray that others get to experience what I’m feeling and what you’ve so beautifully expressed.
Please follow this link (http://www.gloriaburgess.com/) and get to know Dr. Gloria Burgess, a woman whom, as she so delightfully states it, dares to wear her soul on the OUTSIDE!
Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved
08 May, 2009
Pamela Glasner is Interviewed by Antubert on "Live Test Radio"
My 'Live Test Show' Interview about my upcoming book, “Finding Emmaus”. The show was recorded at the end of April.
Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/ra7bx9
You'll need to advance the control to 14.30 minutes into the show to where my part begins...
Enjoy!
Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/ra7bx9
You'll need to advance the control to 14.30 minutes into the show to where my part begins...
Enjoy!
06 May, 2009
What is of ultimate value?
I recently read an article by Tom V. Morris, PhD, present-day philosopher, author and founder of The Morris Institute. In it he asks the question, ‘What is of ultimate value?’
The article is exactly what I have come to expect from Tom: thoughtful introspection on issues of vital importance stated in hauntingly beautiful prose the likes of which could not be improved upon regardless of which author might make the attempt (myself humbly included).
His question, ‘What is of ultimate value?’ touched me deeply. It is something I've lately paid closer attention to than anything else in life. The process of writing my novel made me truly evaluate what goes on in the deepest, most secretive parts of human personalities, the differences and the nuances from one human to another.
I've always known life is precious, just as I've always believed humans to be resilient creatures.
But life is also a fragile thing and prior to this time (prior to writing “Finding Emmaus”) I never truly appreciated just how fragile.
I never really thought about what went on inside the walls of a hideous place like Bethlem Royal Hospital in the 17th century, or what the original settlers of this country went through when they lived day to day knowing their survival tomorrow quite literally depended upon every minute they spent today - - if they couldn’t make it or grow it or trade with the Native Americans for it, they did without it.
What is of ultimate value?
I suppose that’s different for each of us -- and I would not presume to foist my opinion on anyone else.
But it truly touches me to see that the question has been posed, that the question itself has value.
You might want to click on the following link http://tiny.cc/rp1Sx and read Tom's article, "The End of Philosophy?" in its entirety - he's an absolute delight.
Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved
The article is exactly what I have come to expect from Tom: thoughtful introspection on issues of vital importance stated in hauntingly beautiful prose the likes of which could not be improved upon regardless of which author might make the attempt (myself humbly included).
His question, ‘What is of ultimate value?’ touched me deeply. It is something I've lately paid closer attention to than anything else in life. The process of writing my novel made me truly evaluate what goes on in the deepest, most secretive parts of human personalities, the differences and the nuances from one human to another.
I've always known life is precious, just as I've always believed humans to be resilient creatures.
But life is also a fragile thing and prior to this time (prior to writing “Finding Emmaus”) I never truly appreciated just how fragile.
I never really thought about what went on inside the walls of a hideous place like Bethlem Royal Hospital in the 17th century, or what the original settlers of this country went through when they lived day to day knowing their survival tomorrow quite literally depended upon every minute they spent today - - if they couldn’t make it or grow it or trade with the Native Americans for it, they did without it.
What is of ultimate value?
I suppose that’s different for each of us -- and I would not presume to foist my opinion on anyone else.
But it truly touches me to see that the question has been posed, that the question itself has value.
You might want to click on the following link http://tiny.cc/rp1Sx and read Tom's article, "The End of Philosophy?" in its entirety - he's an absolute delight.
Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved
03 May, 2009
The Dreaded Synopsis!
After stringing 170,000 words together into a coherent document and calling it a novel which, believe me, was no easy task, I found myself in the unenviable position of having to create - OH NO!!!! - The Dreaded Synopsis!
Of course, I’m no expert. I can only speak from my own experience. But I’d be willing to bet that if you ask any author who’s ever had to write one, particularly their first one, the reactions you get will all be pretty similar: something akin to a shudder.
But I think I figured it out. At least, I figured out what worked for me. So I thought I’d share it.
After struggling with it for what felt like ages, it turned out that the best way to tackle it was to shorten it to just one sentence and work from there. Believe it or not. I’ll tell you how it came about:
My agent had instructed me to come up with an elevator pitch - a one-sentence, 20 or 30 second description of my book. I freaked out! 750 pages boiled down to one sentence? I thought, you’re nuts!
Of course, I didn’t say that - I just said, “Yes, Yoda, you teach, I will follow”
I was going to a premiere screening of a friend’s movie at a film festival and media types were expected to be there and Pamela (my agent is also Pamela - makes for very interesting conference calls) told me I needed to be able to pitch the book to them for future interviews - and I’d only have 20 seconds to do so.
So I agonized and scribbled and typed and edited and swore (Tsk, Tsk - New York City girl that I am!) and typed some more but eventually - in about 2 days - came up with one perfect sentence. From there the rest was a piece of cake.
What I learned from that exercise is that it’s so much easier to start with something tiny and expand on it, then to start with something huge (like my outrageously long novel) and shrink it.
Once I had the one sentence, Pamela said, “OK, now you need a 100 word synopsis. You’ll need that for newspaper announcements as we get closer to the launch date.”
That only took about an hour to write and perfect, though I admit I tweaked it a few times over the next few days.
Then she said, “OK, now you’ll need one with 200 words, 500 words and 750 words - to send to the media when they want to interview you, to post on your website, to start requesting endorsements, and so on.”
Which was fine with me because once I had the 100 words, the rest came VERY easily.
Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved
Of course, I’m no expert. I can only speak from my own experience. But I’d be willing to bet that if you ask any author who’s ever had to write one, particularly their first one, the reactions you get will all be pretty similar: something akin to a shudder.
But I think I figured it out. At least, I figured out what worked for me. So I thought I’d share it.
After struggling with it for what felt like ages, it turned out that the best way to tackle it was to shorten it to just one sentence and work from there. Believe it or not. I’ll tell you how it came about:
My agent had instructed me to come up with an elevator pitch - a one-sentence, 20 or 30 second description of my book. I freaked out! 750 pages boiled down to one sentence? I thought, you’re nuts!
Of course, I didn’t say that - I just said, “Yes, Yoda, you teach, I will follow”
I was going to a premiere screening of a friend’s movie at a film festival and media types were expected to be there and Pamela (my agent is also Pamela - makes for very interesting conference calls) told me I needed to be able to pitch the book to them for future interviews - and I’d only have 20 seconds to do so.
So I agonized and scribbled and typed and edited and swore (Tsk, Tsk - New York City girl that I am!) and typed some more but eventually - in about 2 days - came up with one perfect sentence. From there the rest was a piece of cake.
What I learned from that exercise is that it’s so much easier to start with something tiny and expand on it, then to start with something huge (like my outrageously long novel) and shrink it.
Once I had the one sentence, Pamela said, “OK, now you need a 100 word synopsis. You’ll need that for newspaper announcements as we get closer to the launch date.”
That only took about an hour to write and perfect, though I admit I tweaked it a few times over the next few days.
Then she said, “OK, now you’ll need one with 200 words, 500 words and 750 words - to send to the media when they want to interview you, to post on your website, to start requesting endorsements, and so on.”
Which was fine with me because once I had the 100 words, the rest came VERY easily.
Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved
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