about me

Dear Authonomite Friends,

Well, in February I thought I'd be back with time to read, but then my cousin went on hospice and she lives in a rural area where there is a waiting list for hospice nurses, so really the family does all of the care. My cousin needed care every hour, so I was there for a few weeks. Thought March was going to be the month things got back to normal, but that hasn't been the case, either. Culminating with the man my husband thinks of as his spiritual father, Earl Scruggs, passing away yesterday -- like another death in our family.

Today is my 55th birthday and I am exhausted emotionally from losing so many family members and friends, plus our dog, in January. I'm giving myself a birthday gift of a month off from pain, sadness, politics, worry, etc. I am only allowing light and happiness in for the month of April. After that I'll decide how much of the world I want to participate in again....

In the meantime, I'm going to finish David Price's excellent book today, and then on to HAPPY for a bit!

I'm way behind here, on my reading (as is evidenced by the fact that my tsr or whatever it's called dropped from number 7 in January to two thousand something today...)

The Authonomy books I'm going to read in April are all going to be Happy or Funny or Fun books -- I'll read murder, mayhem, pillage and plunder in May. If I've recovered by then!! In the meantime, I'm sending out happy thoughts to all Authonomites for great good fortune and publishers galore!!

Love,
Judy

"The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter. It's the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug." --- MARK TWAIN



WOO HOO!!

I FINALLY HAVE THE EXISTENCE GAME WEBSITE UP!!!

http://www.theexistencegame.com

And, Existence is now on Kindle!

Also, for the next three months, if you are a "prime member" on Amazon, and have a kindle, you can borrow THE EXISTENCE GAME indefinitely at NO CHARGE.

There is a link to Kindle on my website, plus a lot of other stuff that's directly or indirectly related to Existence. And an "Interesting Links" page that features some great acoustic music, and other cool stuff including links to some Authonomy authors who've published books (Greg Levin, for one).

I have stopped taking "Friend" requests because so much comes through the message feed that I'm missing personal messages here.

As far as reading goes, I have a backlog of over fifty books to read and comment on, so I am currently not looking for new material. I'll be very happy to start adding new Authonomy material to look at when I've got my watch list and the overflow backlog of books under control.

Cheers and best to all!!
Judy

With regard to THE EXISTENCE GAME --

Now that my book is on Kindle I've been advised to take most of Existence down from Authonomy -- so, with some sadness, I've removed all but the first three chapters from Authonomy.

I've had Existence posted on Authonomy for a couple of years and have had a tremendous amount of incredible support. HarperCollinsUK is hosting an amazing group of writers. I have met so many talented, creative, fantastic people here. I appreciate the invaluable suggestions some have made, and I thoroughly enjoy reading the many terrific manuscripts here.

** Note to recovering Borderlines and others who may be concerned with content:

I had a message from a fellow Authonomite who recently came out of hospital after a long stay during which time she learned she has Borderline Personality Disorder (which she refers to as "being a borderhead" -- I like it!) She read some of Existence and then wrote the following:

"As someone in the early stages of recovering from BPD, I can absolutely vouchsafe that this is a brilliantly realistic look at the world through a borderhead's eyes. The skill Judy has is such that I couldn't read most of Chapter 2 because it evoked such strong memories of my own dark times - she captured the depth of emotion and the kind of insane thoughts to a T. She has kindly told me which chapters are a bit more light-hearted and manageable for me.....I really wish her well with this book"

Since receiving that note I've taken most of Existence down from this site, but here is a brief description of the first three chapters.

Chapter One gives a lot of the MC's back story. Alex is nearly 30, living a difficult life riddled with paranoia and phobias. She experiences several difficult situations at once and becomes very overwhelmed. This chapter is very manageable to read.

Chapter Two sees Alex attempting to overcome the immediate difficulties she's been presented with in the first chapter, but her lack of coping skills ensures a difficult time. Chapter Two culminates with a suicide attempt at the end, and is more difficult to read than Chapter One.

Chapter Three places Alex on the path to recovery as she is about to be psychiatrically hospitalized and will meet an extraordinary therapist.

There are chapter descriptions for the entire manuscript on my website. If you are interested in reading more than the first three chapters, please contact me.

favourite books

A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
A Spaniard in the Works, by John Lennon
Aikido and the Harmony of Nature by Mitsugi Saotome
Big Trouble, by Dave Barry
Black Women in White America, Edited by Gerda Lerner
Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart
Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London
Death Be Not Proud, by John Gunther
Dibs In Search of Self, by Virginia Axline
Dune Series by Frank Herbert
Everything by Mark Twain
Everything by Noam Chomsky
Everything by Orson Scott Card
Everything by Viktor Frankl
Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson
Harry Potter Series, by J.K. Rowling
How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend, by The Monks of New Skete
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg
In The Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and The American Civil War, by Alice Rains Trulock
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Mandatory Motherhood by Garrett Hardin
My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell
Notes on an Orange Burial by Greg Levin
On Death and Dying, by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Reading Lolita In Tehran, by Azar Nafisi
Sam Campbell's Living Forest Series
Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing, by A.S. Neill
The Ascent of Humanity, by Charles Eisenstein
The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Tornor, by Elizabeth Lynn
The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, by Joseph Chilton Pearce
The Darkover Series, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Fan Man, by William Kotzwinkle
The Fourth Way, by P.D. Ouspensky
The Heavenly Villiage, by Cynthia Rylant
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Henry and Mudge Series, by Cynthia Rylant
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Nine Princes of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series, by Alexander McCall Smith
The Origin of Consciousness In The Break Down Of The Bicameral Mind, by Julian Jaynes
The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum
The Pern Series, by Anne McCaffrey
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, And The Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, by Carlos Castaneda
The Tuzla Run by Robert Davidson
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Welcome to the Monkey House, The Sirens of Titan, and God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, by Kurt Vonnegut
Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, compiled by Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki
and a few others...

AUTHONOMY:

A few of my favorite titles in alphabetical order (because I have too many super-favorites) (I've only posted books I've read all the way through, or read all that has been posted):

A Noble Profession by Greg Levin
A Moment in Time by Jilaine Tarisa
All of Dai Lowe's books
Every Atom Belonging by Dan McKinnis
Faust's Butterfly by William Holt
Fortress for One by Mary Vensel White
From Under The Bed by Christina McClean
Ghost Warrior by Alan Marling
In Pieces by Geoffrey Mann
Line 'Em Up by Suzanne Adams
Little Krisna and the Bihar Boys by Barry Wenlock
Luminous Dark by Ross Clark
Mars by Anonymous 31062
Memories of Glory by Elizabeth Wolfe
Pinpoint by Sheila Mary Taylor
Pompey Chimes by David Ogilvie Grant
Rupee Millionaires by Joe Kovacs
Shadowolf by Gerard Mullan
Sunflower by Cass McMain
The Doctor of Summitville by Bill Carrigan
The Girl From Ithica: Book One in the Sister Trilogy by Cherry Gregory
The Ladies of Low Arvie by Linda Watson
The Other Mr. Bax by Rodney Jones
The Qualities of Wood by Mary Vensel White
The Talk or Flirting with Dis Astar: An Underground Fairytale by Lockjaw Lipssealed
The Very Best Childhood (previously My Hawaiian Memories: 1976 - 1981) by Billy McBride
Thoughts On Black Holes And River Gods by Lauren Hunter
To Kill a Dead Man by Dan D. Andreescu
Trapped by Fran Macilvey
Trees by Tova Benjamin
undo redo by David Breitling
When Pride was Not an Option by David Turner
Wurzel of Clutton and Other People History Rightfully Forgot by George Fripley

my websites

http://www.theexistencegame.com