Saturday, November 30, 2019

Laverne & Surly - Update

I've fallen a couple months behind schedule on L&S's publication date because, try as I might, I'm having one helluva time transcribing it from my Kindle Fire into a Word document. I tried speech-to-text, but apparently my English isn't precise enough (lawd!) I tried transcribing it by hand, but my eyes can't take it for more than brief spurts. All that said, I do have a plan!

In January—likely the latter part of it—my BFF Nick is coming to visit me. Thankfully, he has agreed to transcribe the whole damn thing (!!!!) so we should be good to go by February. 

Believe me, the situation has frustrated me to no end. To go from losing L&S to finding it years later... well lets just say being in limbo has driven me loco lol. Nevertheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel finally!

Jaid/Tina xx

Friday, August 23, 2019

Trump & The Chosen One

Is anybody else as freaked out as I am by all the blasphemy coming out of that psycho's mouth lately? Granted, he always is saying something that guarantees a migraine, but this "I am the chosen one" utterance—while looking up at the sky no less!—has me creeped out. Coupled with his retweeting of a post from an alt-right conspiracy theorist who referred to him as "King of the Jews" and "The Second Coming of God"... 

I. Am. Freeeeeaked!

Anybody else out there saying extra Hail Marys these days?

Tina/Jaid (who just crossed herself)

Friday, August 9, 2019

Laverne & Surly (and minor miracles!)

For those of you who can remember wayyyy back to when I went through a home invasion while living in Venice Beach, CA, this post will make sense. For those who don't remember the burglary, I'll give you the Cliff Notes version so it makes sense to you too:

Came home early from DBT therapy to a burglary in progress → Was confronted by an intruder who attempted to knock me down → Damn near shit my pants → Thief got away with my laptop, iPad, and some jewelry → On my laptop were 11 manuscripts in various stages of completion → I learned the hard way to always back up my work

Now that everyone has been brought up to speed, I'm pleased to announce this good news: it appears I did backup Laverne & Surly, which is the sequel to Fatman & Robyn. Long story short, I hadn't turned on my Kindle Fire in years, was suddenly in the mood to reread Christine Feehan's Dark Prince, fired up the Fire, and voilà!—there she was. That's the good news. The not so great news is I haven't figured out a way to transfer the PDF in my Kindle to a word document so I can get L&S up for sale. Right now it's looking like I will have to retype it by hand (ouch) which could take a while. (Remember: I am disabled.) Still, I believe I can have it retyped in time for Christmas so I'm pleased about that.

Now if only Dari's story would magically appear...

Tina/Jaid xo

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Lost Comments

I was updating the appearance of my blog to make it easier on the eyes and—BOOM!—your comments and my replies to them went bye-byes. At any rate, I just wanted to put what happened out there so no one thinks I deleted their comment/s. 

Tina/Jaid xo

Monday, May 27, 2019

Please Boycott the Movie "KILLERS ANONYMOUS"

original mock-up of SKA
I just read the various online synopses and viewed the trailer for Killers Anonymous. Bluntly speaking? I feel sick to my stomach. RS Stansbury—my (sometimes) screenwriting partner—and I were robbed by Lionsgate. KA is a little too similar for comfort to our screenplay SKA or SERIAL KILLERS ANONYMOUS. The synopsis at IMDb even uses me and my writing partner's "circle of trust" in its description. The distrust between the killers, the dark humor, the Russian, the political assassination... it's all from my writing partner and me. 

To the Writers Guild of America: WTF good does it do to register the copyright of a screenplay through your organization if you don't protect it?? I didn't upload SKA to you for it to be stolen at worst or borrowed heavily from at best; I uploaded it to you because that's what writers are supposed to do so agents and producers can view it and BUY IT if they like it. If CAA was involved in this in any way, shape, or form... oh hell no! Their top agent, Kevin Huvane, was hand-delivered a copy of SKA at his home in West Hollywood in 2015 by a longtime mutual friend.

I need what I most dread dealing with: a damn good LA lawyer.

Tina/Jaid

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Sherrilyn Kenyon, Game of Thrones, and a Health Update

Sherrilyn Kenyon
I just heard about Sherri Kenyon's contempt of court charge...

Uggh.

We seriously need a new justice system that actually offers—call me crazy here, but—JUSTICE?! I've known Sherri for years and years; the judge should be (but won't be) ashamed of himself. 

Apparently Sherri got "too emotional" in court so the judge threw her in jail for 10 days. I know firsthand how it feels to be demonized and lied about by the opposing side in a lawsuit—and how psychologically devastating it is when you aren't allowed to defend yourself against those sick lies—but to have that happen at the hands of lawyers representing your former spouse who allegedly tried to poison you? I cannot begin to imagine the level of warranted emotionalism Sherri was experiencing that day.

Point blank: our judicial system is setup to work for lawyers and only for lawyers. They get away with lying to the courts in the name of a vigorous (if untrue) defense. It happens every single day, multiple times a day, in courtrooms across America. Whether the lawsuit is minor or major doesn't matter; when the stakes grow higher the lies just become more obscene. Lawyers need to be held criminally accountable because as things stand they have every incentive to lie and zero incentive to defend their client as vigorously as possible within the confines of truth.

We are sold the belief that the purpose of the judicial system is to get to the truth; that fairytale is perhaps the biggest lie of them all.

"A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats." — Benjamin Franklin



It's difficult to find justice anywhere these days—including in our fiction. In a few words, what the fuck was going through the minds of the Game of Thrones' writers when they decided "oh yeah... THIS is how we're ending the series..."?!

Spoilers Are Coming


A girl knows she's not alone in her anger when people are still going on about the series' finale this long after the fact! For the life of me, I simply cannot fathom how the GOT writers thought their rushed and nonsensical ending would be deemed acceptable to a majority of viewers. 

This isn't about favorite characters dying—we're used to that. This is about lazy writing that ultimately doesn't hold up. 

  1. Dany's story arc came out of Left-Fucking-Field in a town called Bullshit. She's always had the capacity for brutality (the defensive "reasoning" of the writers) does not a satisfactory explanation make. Yes, Dany has always had the capacity for brutality... but only against the wicked. Killing slave owners and rapists is a far cry from becoming the mass murderess of innocent men, women, and children. This was so out of character as to cheat viewers.

  2. Grey Worm's story arc ended up being just as stupid. Yes, he lost the woman he loved to Cersei, but GW has never been the type to take out his anger on innocent people. His character development (until the final 2 episodes) showed a vulnerable man who, despite that vulnerability, was never ruled by his emotions. In the rare instance he showed us what he was feeling, said feelings always erred on the side of justice. His stubborn refusal to forgive both Tyrion and Jon was an eye-roller for me.

  3. Tyrion being punished for making allegedly bad decisions was another WTF moment for me. His only true fuck-up was in giving up Varys to Dany. Other than that incident (which constitutes yet another instance of lazy writing) the worst sin that can be laid at Tyrion's feet in the rules of the GOT world is wanting to believe the best in people.

  4. Don't get me started on Jon.

  5. Jaime and Brienne: see #4.

  6. Bran as ruler of the 7—or now 6—kingdoms... Are you fucking kidding me?! For one thing, we haven't been given an emotional investment in his character since season 1 so the fact he ended up winning the Game of Thrones is a proverbial smack in the face from HBO. This move infuriated me as much as Dany's story arc did, which is a pretty high bar. Secondly, Bran isn't even human anymore. He has no feelings FFS! And isn't it the job of the Three-Eyed Raven to find and train the next one? Becoming a king doesn't jive with that. I could see making him High Counselor to the king/queen, but there is where his story should have ended.

I could go on, but you get the point. HBO fucked its viewers over bigtime with its piss poor series finale. I could have accepted a lot of outcomes as legitimate if unsatisfying, but this? It amounted to pure laziness combined with the "aha gotchya!" factor. If you haven't yet seen GOT, I highly recommend not bothering. It's not a series I could watch again knowing how lame it ends.



And lastly, a personal update...

I'm still quite ill, but at least now I'm ill and hopeful. I finally—after two long years of suffering through indescribable pain—won my disability case. In essence that means I can now receive the medical treatment and supplies I need to get better. (And I do very much want to get better!) More than anything, I pray I'll be able to write again. When you're in constant physical and mental pain it's impossible to concentrate on anything outside of it. My characters are still with me; they still want their stories told. Here's hoping I get to the point where I can give them the attention and focus they deserve.

Lots of Love,
Tina/Jaid

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Goodnight, Angel

Lulabelle: 3/15/05 - 3/16/19
Today—until God only knows when—is going to be tough. Lula has blessed my life with her love for and attachment to me ever since she was weaned from her Pug mom. I still remember the day I brought her home fourteen years ago... how small, delicate, and adorable she was. I had purposely chosen the so-called "runt" of the litter and, indeed, she could fit in the palm of one hand :-) That said, and as any human mommy of a runt will tell you, she also grew to be the feistiest of the bunch! 

Thank you, Lula, for fourteen years of unwavering love. I already miss you so incredibly much, baby girl. We'll be together again one day soon, but until that reunion comes I'll be here missing and remembering your beautiful, spunky, loving soul. I love you, angel baby. Rest in Peace. 

—Mommy

Sunday, February 24, 2019

I’m Sorry

I will never, ever put the cart before the horse again. As much as I wanted to finish HG for a Feb release, I simply couldn’t stay well enough—or cognitively focus enough—to make that desire become reality. I know I’ve done this in the past before, but I won’t do it to you again. I always mean well & have good intentions, but I’ve now learned it’s best to keep my mouth shut. 

I’m sorry everyone. I sincerely am. Every time my health takes a step forward, I swear it then leaps 2 gigantic steps back. I’ll keep you apprised of the situation as there are updates to give. 

Tina/Jaid

Monday, January 7, 2019

January 2019 Update

Happy New Year!

First, what hasn't changed:

  1. I still detest Traitor Trump & Complicit Pence... or, as I prefer to call them, Moron Man & Church Lady 😏
  2. The wall is still facepalm stupid.
  3. Shitty health.
  4. No medical insurance.

Now, what has changed:

  1. I recently became ill to the point of having to be hospitalized. Cleveland Clinic was truly wonderful to me; I can't thank them enough for all they did during my week long stay—and all that they continue to do without financial compensation since my release. They have renewed my hope that, at heart, Americans are still decent and generous people. Some more so than others, but I digress...
  2. I had a couple tweaks done to my meds and have been feeling slightly better physically. (I've only been discharged for a couple of days so hopefully that will continue to improve.) Psychologically, one new med was added and it has helped quickly and noticeably 😊Long-term psych meds usually don't work on me this fast, but I began feeling relief within a day of starting them so *fingers crossed* that trend will continue! The all-encompassing depression I've been lost in magically (or scientifically) lifted; the suicidal ideation—gone. Even my baseline for anxiety has tempered, releasing me from constant, crippling, jittery nervousness. In essence, I feel like my entire being has taken a big sigh of relief 😤
  3. I've been writing again. I don't want to jinx myself, but I have nearly completed Hunter's Game! I am also working on No Way Out: Dari so stay tuned for the next update :-)

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and here's to a blessed 2019. 

Cheers,
Tina/Jaid