When Hubby was a fireman, he often got shipped around to fight fires. Once he was flown to Australia, but the fire was under control by the time they got there so the plane refueled and headed home. All he's seen of Australia is part of an airport.

Thoughts, Shir.

Glad to hear you're doing OK, amyth.

Oh, my stars and garters-- based on something I'd read on the website, I thought it prudent to call my professional writers organization to ask if She Who Will Not Be Named had attempted to initiate any sort of ethical complaint against me with respect to my use of the name (there's an ethics clause for membership that has to do with IP and copyright, and since that's been her MO, I wouldn't have put it past her).

Keeping things as discreet as possible, I discovered that, no, she hadn't, but not five minutes later, the head of professional membership called me back and first asked if it was the individual she thought it was, mentioning her by name (I hadn't, to that point) and then she said that the executive director would be very interested in hearing what had happened, because apparently, Miss Thang has created waves before.

I mean, we're talking two individuals I've known for years and never have I known them to behave in anything other than the most professional manner and they were basically spitting three times and throwing holy water.

Oh, holy jeebus, what can of worms did I open?

Barb, it wasn't you; in this case I think the worm opened the can herself.

Barb, if there's any justice, Miss Thang will have pulled this kind of thing (thang?) once too often and may find herself in trouble over an ethics violation. I wouldn't count on it, but it's nice to dream.

Barb, it wasn't you; in this case I think the worm opened the can herself.

100% this.

Barb, the one time I was involved in civil litigation, the complainant had THREE other lawsuits of the exact same nature going at the same time. I think some folks turn trouble-making into a profession. Sadly, as in my case, it too often pays to do so.

May Ms. Thang be resoundingly turned away from this organization. It's a bed SHE made, so don't take it even into your neighborhood, much less on yourself.

::crossing fingers, turning around three times and tossing poopy on her shoes on your behalf...metaphorically, of course.::

And speaking of the name, I love this song titled, When the Stars Go Blue, sung by my favorite Norwegian singer.

VERY interesting, Barb!!! Keep us posted, as I am curious (read: morbidly nosy as hell.)

I am getting some REALLY positive feedback from people who have observed my classes, esp. from the dual-credit college class, so I am very happy about that.

Much less tired today; getting in the groove, woo!

And speaking of the name, I love this song titled, When the Stars Go Blue, sung by my favorite Norwegian singer.

Heh, bonny-- I'm notoriously terrible at titles so I totally cribbed the title of the book from the song. It's a Ryan Adams chart, but my favorite version is The Corrs w/ Bono.

[link]

I like the version you linked, too-- hadn't heard that one before.

It wasn't just a random choice, either-- the lyrics of the song fit the emotion and narrative arc of the book absolutely amazingly.

I actually had one reviewer notice that all of the chapter titles are also song titles; she said that once she noticed that, she went back and took special note of it and loved it because it served as a musical roadmap for the story. ::loves when readers get it so completely::