Jen Tucker Keeps You on the Seat of Your Panties: Review

REVIEW:
The Day I Wore My Panties Inside Out 

by Jen Tucker

Ride alongside Jen Tucker in her car. Pull up to her kitchen table for a chocolate chip cookie. Get ringside seats to her dogs' escapades. Experience her labor pains - emotional and physical. No matter the chapter, Jen Tucker delivers (no pun intended) a two day dose of reality as a mom, wife and career woman in this memoir of moments. Her use of humor and great sense of humility makes her an engaging author.

Even if you're not married or not a parent, Tucker's story will keep you reading and hoping her husband comes home from his trip overseas...and SOON! I look forward to reading anything Jen Tucker writes...for now I'll settle for her Tweets until her next book comes out.






Heather Hummel
Author, Write from the Heart and Whispers from the Heart

The Elusive Green Ray: A Magical Beginning to 2012

2012 is intended by many to be a magical year. So, it may be no coincidence that this image was captured on New Year's Day as it represents a number of themes, including endings, new beginnings, true love, and most of all, magical moments

When I saw the results of my capture, it instantly became my all-time favorite. What I didn't know, however, was about the elusive Green Ray seen in the sunset. Apparently what I have inadvertently captured with my Canon T3i is a rare phenomenon that many have set out to experience. I had no idea of this rare experience until people began responding to my photograph, staring this morning with a Flickr friend who posted this comment:

Atmospheric, romantic shot. You have captured the Green Ray! According to [author] Jules Verne, when one sees Le Rayon Vert at sunset - our own thoughts and those of others are revealed as if by magic.

Then another friend responded with:

The quote mentioning Jules Verne caught my attention. He wrote a book called “the Green Ray” which was actually a sappy romantic novel, but he was making an analogy between the rarity of true love and  what we call the green flash.  It is my favorite atmospheric phenomenon.



The Green Ray novel's summary:

The heroes are trying to observe the green ray in Scotland. After numerous unsuccessful tries caused by clouds or distant boat sails hiding the sun, the phenomenon is eventually visible, but the heroes, finding love in each other's eyes, don't pay attention to the horizon.

Response and an Artist's Impression:

The response to this photo has been overwhelming. I'm amazed at the number of people who have heard of the Green Ray (also known as Green Flash). I had a few people comment on the leaning horizon, saying that it should be flat. However, when I showed the picture to my cousin, world renowned artist Dick Crispo, he said:

1. The Green Ray is incredibly rare - he has painted it before, but has come up against many naysayers who claim it doesn't exist. He couldn't believe I happened to catch it in an image.

2. I asked him why all of my photos' horizons tend to lean left. He laughed and told me how he tells all of his students that the horizon leans left...go with it. (They often paint the ocean in his art classes here in Carmel.)

This magical image has made the beginning of 2012 a most remarkable one for me, and it's my New Years wish to everyone that 2012 is the most magical year yet! 

Ultimate Irony
The ultimate irony of this image, is that I was only able to capture one more after this one before the battery on my Canon died.

To view the image on Flickr click here.

***** 

Besides immersing herself in photography, Heather Hummel is a celebrity ghostwriter and an award-winning, best-selling author. Her published works include:
Journals from the Heart Series:
Whispers from the Heart (2011)
Write from the Heart (2011)
Nonfiction:
GO BIKE & Other Signs from the Universe (2011)
Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age (McGraw-Hill, 2008),
Essays:
Messages of Hope and Healing ( Sunpiper Media, 2006)
Blue Ridge Anthology (Cedar Creek, 2007) with David Baldacci and Rita Mae Brown
Awards:
2009 Mature Media Awards, Merit Award
2009 New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention  

What a Difference a Decade Makes: 10 Years Later in Publishing

There are times when the analytical side of this writer comes out, and tonight was one of them. In researching statistics on current publishing trends, I found a lot of data from 2002 - an entire decade ago. Some of the numbers are eye-opening, yet not surprising to those of us who have been following along.

Nowadays books are being written on iPads and uploaded to Amazon, making them for sale in a matter of moments. Yet, these statistics remind us where we were 10 years ago and of the amazing difference a decade can make in one industry:


2002: Online bookstores sold 10% of the books.
-- The Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2003

2002 gross sales:
Barnes &; Noble: $3.7 billion
Borders Group: $3.4 billion
Amazon: $2.0 billion
--Publishers weekly, April 7, 2003.

eBook sales increased 1,442% in January 2003 over January 2002.
--Publishers weekly, March 24, 2003.

Borders returns rates: 26.55% in 2002
-- Foner Books

2002: Borders opened 41 super stores for a total of 404.
Closed 53 Waldenbook stores and opened 4, leaving a total of 778.
8 new stores were opened overseas for a total of 30 super stores and 37 Books, Etc.
--Publishers weekly, March 17, 2003.


2002: $450 million was spent on general-interest books at big-box stores such as Wal-Mart. That figure is up 7.4% from 2000. Costco and other price clubs are taking market share from the bookstores.
--Ipsos Book Trends, reported in The Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2003

2002: Of the $23.7 billion spent on books, only $10.7 billion is spent in bookstores. The non-traditional outlets sell more books.
--Tami DePalma, Marketability.

These are the highlights, but you can read more statistics at Para Publishing

*****

Besides immersing herself in photography, Heather Hummel is a celebrity ghostwriter and an award-winning, best-selling author. Her published works include:
Journals from the Heart Series:
Whispers from the Heart (2011)
Write from the Heart (2011)
Nonfiction:
GO BIKE & Other Signs from the Universe (2011)
Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age (McGraw-Hill, 2008),
Essays:
Messages of Hope and Healing ( Sunpiper Media, 2006)
Blue Ridge Anthology (Cedar Creek, 2007) with David Baldacci and Rita Mae Brown
Awards:
2009 Mature Media Awards, Merit Award
2009 New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention