The Ghosts of Lunacy

Please join us when John Forster, Host of “Haunted Cornwall” interviews author, historian and social advocate, Pamela S. K. Glasner when they talk about .....

The Ghosts of Lunacy

Sunday, August 21st, at 3:00PM, New York City time

“Except when extermination or subjugation was the intended goal (think: Inquisition, Nazis, and slavery), never was any segment of society so deliberately and with such callousness and malicious forethought, treated so abominably. And this continued, essentially unchecked, for 600 years. So if there are ghosts who still linger near the decomposing remnants of institutions like “Bedlam”, is it any wonder??”
~ ~ Pamela S. K. Glasner ~ ~

Website address:
http://hauntedcornwallfm.com/chat-listen-live/












Please visit the Haunted Cornwall Radio website (address above)and register in advance so you can participate in the discussion!

Visit Pamela on Facebook @ http://tinyurl.com/2cn8bpo

Last Will and Embezzlement

As of this afternoon, Pamela S. K. Glasner and Deborah Louise Robinson (the two partners of Starjack Entertainment) are proud as peacocks and excited as all get-out to announce ......

“Last Will and Embezzlement”

...... the first of our slate of film projects to be green-lighted!



This documentary, which examines the exploitation and victimization of the elderly, will be going into production this August.

There is a new drug on the market just for women. It's called “DAMNITOL”

Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours.

Author turned psycho-killer!

Saturday evening, April 9th, I attended an event billed as “The Manchester Arts Association Murder Mystery Dinner With a Twist.”

SOME twist!!

Cast from left to right: John Gorham, Jaki Valensi-Lauper, Angela Campion, Michael Moss, Pamela Glasner

I played a psycho-killing lunatic who, in the process of trying to murder Angela (the lady in the tiara) and in the space of 90 minutes, poisoned one woman, shot one man and then stabbed another — killing everyone but my intended target. Then — icing on the cake — topped off this genteel evening with a cat-fight (with Angela) in the center of a posh restaurant’s dance floor.

Fortunately for the rest of the world, I harbor no secret desire to be an actor. Missed a few cues and messed up a few lines — BUT — I had a GREAT time!

Nothing like a little psychopathic murdering spree to help you unwind at the end of a busy week.

Soprano Christine Reber

Christine Reber, the amazingly talented soprano whom Deborah Louise Robinson and I met when she performed at Couture Fashion Week at The Waldorf Astoria in NYC last month, sent me this photo of the three of us. She is such a sweet woman with an even sweeter voice. It’s been a pleasure getting to know her!

Vagina Monologues' Eve Ensler

Vagina Monologues' Eve Ensler was in NY City last night, at the Russian Tea Room, and I got to spend some time getting to know this amazing woman. Gracious, intelligent, absolutely genuine, well-informed, passionate, and entertaining, she commanded the room the instant she entered. It was indeed an honor to meet her.

Pamela Glasner Blogging on the Huffington Post

I am LIVE on the Huffington Post!!!





Please visit my blog — I just posted my first article!! — and I'd absolutely love it if you'd become a "fan" of mine (there's a link for that to the right of my photo).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-glasner/you-had-a-feeling-oh-good_b_761264.html

Please note: if "fan" does not work, you can also click on "Get Email Alerts From This Blogger" and it will bring you to the same dialogue box. Thanks!!

A Woman With More Backbone Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

Harper Lee, one-hit-wonder author of the Pulitzer Prizewinning “To Kill A Mockingbird” displayed the kind of gusty, gritty fearlessness which makes me proud of my gender (stick those fingers in your suspenders, jut your chin out and throw those shoulders back!!) and all those who share it.

Early in the 1960’s, Virginia area school board attempted to ban “To Kill A Mockingbird” from their school, calling it “immoral literature”. My first reaction when I read that was, WTF?????

Well, it must have been Ms. Lee’s as well, because, amazing writer that she is, she penned, back in 1966, a clear, concise, cuttingly beautiful letter to the nincompoops which was, in my opinion, a thing of beauty — and this is what she said:

“Recently I have received echoes down this way of the Hanover County School Board’s activities, and what I’ve heard makes me wonder if any of its members can read.

Surely it is plain to the simplest intelligence that “To Kill a Mockingbird” spells out in words of seldom more than two syllables a code of honor and conduct, Christian in its ethic, that is the heritage of all Southerners. To hear that the novel is "immoral" has made me count the years between now and 1984, for I have yet to come across a better example of doublethink.

I feel, however, that the problem is one of illiteracy, not Marxism. Therefore I enclose a small contribution to the Beadle Bumble Fund that I hope will be used to enroll the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice.”

Bravo for Ms. Lee!! You have always had my respect and admiration. This makes me want to buy you a beer, slap you on the back and give you a hug!!



Copyright by Pamela S. K. Glasner © 2010, All Rights Reserved

Helping Others to Find Human Dignity ... and Shelter From The Storm

I had the pleasure of speaking with Tony Serve a second time regarding "Finding Emmaus', Empathy, Big Pharma and human dignity.

It's all here: http://ow.ly/i0Yw

I can't begin to say how grateful I am that Tony and I have become friends. I just love how passionate he is about my book and the message it's meant to convey.

We spoke of many things: what it's like to be an Empath, what it's like to be erroneously labeled mentally ill, what it's like to be the victim of a political and industrial machine so large and so well-funded that fighting it seems like a lost cause even before you get started.

"Finding Emmaus" is a multi-faceted story with twists and turns and many circuitous paths, but in the end it’s about one thing and one thing only: seeking - and helping others to find - shelter from the storm.

To learn more about Tony and his personal commitment, visit his blog at http://tonyserve.wordpress.com/ or follow him on Twitter @perthtones.

"Finding Emmaus" will be in the bookstores on October 1st and on Amazon.com in mid-September. You can reserve a signed first edition by clicking on the red link to the right.

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

Talking About Big Pharma w/ Tony Serve

On Saturday, July 11th, I had the pleasure of speaking with Tony Serve of Perth, Australia, a presenter at Radio 6pr (6pr.com).

We discussed my upcoming book, Finding Emmaus, the pharmaceutical industry’s terrible abuse of those who are tragically labeled mentally ill and governmental agencies which so miserably fail to protect anyone.

I am so very impressed with Tony’s stand on the subject and his commitment to shine a spotlight on this vitally important issue which literally effects millions the world over.

Please follow the link http://tonyserve.wordpress.com then scroll down to Pamela Glasner talks about her new book Finding Emmaus, Empaths, Big Pharma and bi-polar and click on that.

Tony ROCKS!

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

Funny thing happened on my way to becoming an author, part one

I was recently asked the question: Aren’t you giving up an intimate part of you when you write?

My answer? Yes and no.

OK … OK … I know … that’s no answer and it sounds like a cop-out. But the truth is, it is yes and no. Maybe I am giving something up. But then again, maybe I’m not.

It doesn’t feel as though I’m losing anything.

To my way of thinking, it’s feels more like digging way down deep inside and accessing it. Certainly, once my words are published, they will be shared with the multitudes - and, God willing, the multitudes will keep up their end of the bargain (my bargain, anyway!) and partake of the sharing - but I never think about that when I'm writing. I never think about what’s going to happen to my words later on.

I think if I gave that part of the process - what it might mean once my readers have my words in their hands and then in their minds and eventually in their discussions with each other … if I stop to consider my audience … I might be inhibited. My writing might be inhibited.

Oh, mercy, I hope that doesn’t sound self-aggrandizing! It’s not meant to. It’s just that I write from a place inside me which is so primal and profound, it’s honestly still a mystery to me.

When I write, I don’t really think about anything. In truth, I've learned that I do my best writing when I get out of my own way, mind my own business and just let it happen … in other words, when I don’t spend too much time thinking about it. When I just let it flow, the story and the characters seem to create themselves. And those seem to be the phrases or the paragraphs or the chapters of the story which move me the most - even when I go back to them several months later.

So, am I losing some intimate part of me? Am I giving something up? I don’t believe so. It never feels like “giving”. It feels more like praying.

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

Rocks, Walls and Epiphanies

A friend of mine, a film producer, recently asked me in an e-mail what was going through my mind when I wrote “Finding Emmaus”. He said, “I meet so many people who confidently tell me that their book or play or film is going to change the world. Invariably their works are boring and pedantic. My take is that we need to tell the best story we possibly can. If, after being exposed to our work, people are inspired to make positive changes in themselves or their communities, great. But that's a happy by-product. Story matters above all.”

People who know me now but did not know me just a few years back may be surprised by this but, prior to this huge ‘epiphany’ of mine nearly two years ago, I was about as unemotional a person as one could get. I didn’t cry at tear-jerker movies and I CERTAINLY never cried in front of anyone - ever. I used to be envious of my friends who COULD cry on their way out of the movie theater, friends who could then tearfully, joyfully, tell the people waiting in line what a wonderful film it was and how much they’d enjoy it.

These same high school friends, and then, later on, my co-workers, firmly believed I was hard as a rock and twice as strong and everyone loved to lean on me ‘cause I never shed a tear. I was the one to go to. I was Wonder Woman, Underdog and The Rock of Gibraltar all rolled into one. I resented, BTW, that everyone automatically assumed I was so strong that I never needed arms around me, but I kept my mouth shut because I was like that.

I clearly recall a time in my late 20’s when an incredulous friend said, “…YOU need help? But Pamela, you’re so strong. It never occurred to me you’d be weak.” One of those memories which pops up occasionally in living color and brings with it anger and resentment in waves.

I was NOT a rock, I was behind a wall. But I had no idea and neither, apparently, did anyone else…

Something changed one day - August 8th 2007 - and I don’t know why. I can remember the exact moment, where I was, what I was doing, and the photograph I was staring at which is now indelibly etched into my brain as the foundation - and the starting point - of this “Dream Quest” I’m on, this path of mine which I am now certain ‘has a heart’ (thank you Don Juan and Carlos Casteneda!).

From that moment on, I've become a different human being. At first, and for a long time thereafter, I thought I was losing my mind. ALL I could do was cry - over anything. A GE commercial could reduce me to a quivering bowl of Jell-O. I still cry easily, but at least now I’m not afraid it’s a sign of impending insanity.

That said, I can now answer Burt’s question.

The only thing on my mind when I created the town and the people of Duncaster / Weavers Bridge, CT, and then the story and then the book “Finding Emmaus” was an almost frenzied need to write it with everything I had in me.

That’s all I knew: just tell the story.

And the way I knew I had written a phrase or a sentence or a paragraph or a chapter just right, the way I knew I had ‘nailed it’, was my emotional response to it as I wrote. If I didn’t cry, I put what I had written aside and started again. And I’m not just talking about the sad or emotional parts of the story - I mean EVERYTHING. If it didn’t touch my heart, even if was only a paragraph to describe how the early Puritans identified which plants they could use to dye their cloth blue, it got rewritten.

I didn’t write “Finding Emmaus” to be famous or change the world or to impress anyone. I wrote it because I HAD to. Seven hundred and fifty pages came pouring out of a part of me I did not know existed and still have yet to locate.

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

What A Piece Of Work Is Man

The process of writing my novel, “Finding Emmāus”, of creating and then developing each and every one of its characters, made me think deeply about what I write, about what is vitally important in my stories, 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. Their actions, reactions and interactions with other characters within the story had to be consistent with their personalities throughout the book. I had to learn to really look at what makes people ‘tick’.

And in the process, I learned as much about me as I did about them - perhaps more…

I've always known that life is precious, just as I've always believed human beings to be resilient creatures. But life is also a fragile thing and prior to this time (prior to writing “Finding Emmāus”) 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.

But I also know this: life, even in its most profoundly tragic moments, gives us a break - as in the way we humans will fondly recount an amusing story about a recently-lost loved one, even at a funeral.

Fragile and resilient, heroic and terrible, determined and pitiable - Hamlet had it right when he said “What a piece of work is man!”

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

In Search of a Glimpse of Light at the End of This Tunnel

I lately find myself wanting to let all my friends and family know that, while I've been largely incommunicado within both of those communities - neglecting social engagements and phone calls and e-mails - I've not forgotten about anyone at all, even though it may look like that.

I’m having to divide my time and energy between writing my next book (which, in and of itself, can be a full-time job!), working with the publisher to bring “Finding Emmāus” to market, composing posts for this blog, managing my real estate holdings which I had on the market but, because of this lousy economy, never did sell, and Twitter (yes, Heaven help me, I’m a Tweeter!), which my literary agent was all but adamant I join and honestly, has become a huge boon for me and my future as an author.

Add that to church and elderly parents and a husband and a home and a son and a brother and a cat and a dog … (*takes a deep breath*) … and I'm seriously considering having myself cloned!!!

The majority of my communication/connection with the outside world, other than the occasional e-mail which invariably begins with “Dear So-and-So, sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you…” seems to be via these blog postings - at least they keep me feeling connected to humanity in some small way.

So I plod my way through this new, suddenly and dramatically reinvented life of mine, learning - one itty-bitty baby step at a time - how to balance it all, desperately hoping everyone understands or, at the very least, tolerates and forgives!

I've never been a published author before and I'm still trying to feel my way. And right now I spend lots of time feeling as though I'm in one of those absolutely lightless fun-houses… I love it but I'm not sure where I'm headed or when I'll catch a glimpse of light at the end of this very unsettling but absolutely trilling tunnel.

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

Finding Emmāus - The Very Human Need To Fit

I’m not sure just how much of children copying the styles of other children is peer pressure (something which is external) or how much of it stems from the innate human need for community (something which I see as internal). I think humans have universal needs - needs which would not be “universal” if they originated from an external source. Among those are the need for acceptance and community.

Humans are not solitary beings. We’re not like bumble bees. We’re social creatures, preferring the herd. Are there exceptions? Of course. Some of us live out our lives in seclusion, others want the comfort of knowing friends and family are near but still require “alone time” on a regular basis.

But in general, most of us want to feel as though we are a part of something bigger than ourselves: a family, a place of worship, a social network, a neighborhood…

So, back to my earlier statement about children mimicking the behavior of other children. I’m not all that convinced it’s a learned response. I think it’s more likely an internal - and very primal - need for attention, for security, for love. The youngest of infants have those needs. No way that’s born of societal pressure.

Children learn very quickly that the road to attention, security and love is paved with approval, beginning with Mom and never truly ending.

If I buy a dress like yours or move into the same neighborhood as you or start listening to the same music you listen to or start following the same sporting events you follow, I have just made a public declaration that what you have or what you are or what you like or what you do is worthy of imitation - the sincerest form of flattery, right? And if you, in return, give me the approval (aka love) I crave, then I have just become a part of something outside of me, a part of you, a part of a community and I am therefore no longer alone.

Conversely, without that, there’s a huge hole in me - sometimes big enough to drive a truck through.

If I’m different - if I’m an Empath or if I’m bipolar or if I’m a witch- then I don’t get to have that acceptance, that feeling of belonging, that security, because people will go out of their way to avoid me. I will become isolated. People shun me because they’re afraid or they don’t understand or they just don’t know how to handle my “different-ness”, my uniqueness.

When you get right down to it, no-one really wants other people to be that different from themselves. I think people would prefer that others fall in line with what they consider to be the norm because that’s their comfort level.

This is the foundation of “Finding Emmāus”: two Empaths in two different centuries dedicating their lives to the celebration of those differences and to putting an end to the isolation.

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

"Finding Emmāus" goes live!

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.

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

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!

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

What "Finding Emmaus" Is All About

“Finding Emmaus”, book one of The Lodestarre series, is a complex, dark historic fantasy about love and loss, obsession and the abuse of power, human frailties and a determination to live a life that matters.

The psychiatric community has confused Empathic personality traits with mental illness with tragic results, leading two Empaths, living three hundred years apart, on personal journeys to learn the true nature of Empathy. Transcending time and death to right a centuries-old wrong, they inadvertently uncover a multi-billion dollar conspiracy in which millions of Americans are being misdiagnosed and drugged for no other reason than the enormous income they generate.

Francis Nettleton, 17th century Empath, grew into adulthood believing himself to be insane. Eminently moral but the product of a society steeped in myths and misconceptions, he makes some less-than-prudent decisions which set in motion a murder for which he cannot forgive himself, a murder which will reverberate through four families and three centuries.

Three hundred years later, enter Katherine Spencer. After years of being hospitalized and drugged, she is given a rare opportunity: a second chance at life. At fifty-four, after being told that, rather than being insane, she’s more than likely Empathic, she sets out to find Francis and the legendary Lodestarre, both 300 years gone, in the hopes she can finally learn to live.

In the process of finding herself and mastering her newly-discovered abilities, Katherine unwittingly becomes the champion for the voiceless millions who are being victimized by a corporate machine of such omnipotent political power that she literally puts her life on the line when she challenges the all-but-unstoppable pharmaceutical industry, America’s most powerful and affluent lobby.

Then, into Katherine’s life comes Sally Cavanaugh, powerful - though novice - Empath with a secret infatuation which eventually transforms into a full-blown obsession. Overshadowing her ability to discern right from wrong, this obsession just might jeopardize every good thing in her life and everyone else’s - just to get what she wants.

In Wiccan tradition, there is the Book of Shadows; in Christianity, the Bible; even the secular world has its encyclopedias. But for Empaths, there was nothing of the sort until Francis Nettleton sacrificed everything and made it his life’s mission to create one authoritative body of knowledge, one central set of guiding principles - and he named it The Lodestarre. This manuscript is nothing less than the lifelong, selfless passion of one man’s profound desire to put an end to the relentless persecution and needless suffering of anyone who did not - or could not - fit the societal mold.

“Finding Emmaus” is an intricate, meticulously-researched, deeply disturbing, suspenseful tale of love and sacrifice, brutality and greed, courage and politics and madness and faith. It is a story with a huge cast of characters who will keep you guessing what will happen, what they will do and what choices they will make from one minute to the next as they weave in and out of the story and each others’ lives.

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved