Ever notice how when you PMS the entire world conspires to piss you off? I realize that my perception of reality during that week is a little skewed by my messed up hormones but I don't think all this subtle (and occasionally overt) antagonism is in my head. I think that everyone and everything waits until I'm in that third week of my cycle to screw with me.
Okay, maybe I don't really think that, but it does feel that way. I swear, if it wasn't for my friend Godiva I don't know how I'd make it through.
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Halls Are Fully Decked
If I were Christian the commercialization of Christmas would bother me. Fortunately I’m not Christian and last year when Bill O'Reilly insisted that Walmart use Christmas and ONLY Christmas to charm customers into buying their toaster ovens and firearms I felt a certain amount of relief. After all, if O’Reilly, a self-proclaimed-perfect-American-Christian-crusader, doesn’t have a problem with the commercialization (and the consequential secularization) of Christmas then I certainly don’t have to worry about it. So while I worked retail too long to believe that Christmas is truly the holiday of peace and good cheer (most holiday shoppers are neither peaceful nor cheery) I do know that it is the holiday of great decorations and fantastic discounts and I’m down with that.
And let me tell you, when it comes to commercialization no one beats LA. There is no display too flashy, too kitchy or too extravagant. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills kicked off the holiday shopping season with a free street concert and a firework display over Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. The Grove (an outside mall in North Hollywood) has rockette-style-showgirls in skimpy holiday outfits and top-hats and manmade snow that floats down from the roofs of festive establishments like Nordstrom and The Gap. Not to be outdone, Old Town Pasadena started their holiday shopping season with snow, Santa and live reindeer. I was told today that Studio City once brought in an Elephant for their Holiday festival (I have no idea what an elephant has to do with Christmas…maybe all the reindeer were in Pasadena). Trailing far behind is Santa Monica. No show girls, no fireworks, no reindeer and not an elephant in sight. But they are going to bring in enough snow to host a snowman building competition. Add that to the children’s holiday symphony, a temporary ice ring and the menorah lighting hosted by Starbucks and you got yourself a respectable spectacle.
I know it’s all very ostentatious and gauche. My San Francisco friends would be horrified.
I also know that I’m absolutely loving it. All of it. I can’t wait to build my Santa Monica snowman.
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
And let me tell you, when it comes to commercialization no one beats LA. There is no display too flashy, too kitchy or too extravagant. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills kicked off the holiday shopping season with a free street concert and a firework display over Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. The Grove (an outside mall in North Hollywood) has rockette-style-showgirls in skimpy holiday outfits and top-hats and manmade snow that floats down from the roofs of festive establishments like Nordstrom and The Gap. Not to be outdone, Old Town Pasadena started their holiday shopping season with snow, Santa and live reindeer. I was told today that Studio City once brought in an Elephant for their Holiday festival (I have no idea what an elephant has to do with Christmas…maybe all the reindeer were in Pasadena). Trailing far behind is Santa Monica. No show girls, no fireworks, no reindeer and not an elephant in sight. But they are going to bring in enough snow to host a snowman building competition. Add that to the children’s holiday symphony, a temporary ice ring and the menorah lighting hosted by Starbucks and you got yourself a respectable spectacle.
I know it’s all very ostentatious and gauche. My San Francisco friends would be horrified.
I also know that I’m absolutely loving it. All of it. I can’t wait to build my Santa Monica snowman.
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
Friday, November 23, 2007
Somebody Loves Me
Myspace friend, Pinche Gata brought this to my attention. Someone's selling them on Amazon for $16 bucks a pop! Honestly, I don't know what to make of it. I can't imagine they're selling very many of them (if any at all). Still, I'm flattered...and a little tripped out.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
I thought I'd stop by here before I go off and stuff myself. I actually have a lot to be thankful for this year. I have a wonderful son a wonderful family and wonderful friends. While the move to LA has been challenging on a lot of different levels it's a challenge that I welcome and feel lucky to have. In addition to all that, there has been more and more interest in moving the Sophie series into film and I think there's a good chance that I'll have an option by the end of the year.
And of course I have all of you, my readers who never fail to inspire and encourage me, particularly when I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
Thank you for supporting me and I hope your Thanksgiving is truly fabulous.
One more thing, if you plan on celebrating tomorrow's holiday (the first official day of holiday shopping) happy spending and don't forget to give Santa your wish list (and if he's cute sit on his lap...he has to let you, it's his job).
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
And of course I have all of you, my readers who never fail to inspire and encourage me, particularly when I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
Thank you for supporting me and I hope your Thanksgiving is truly fabulous.
One more thing, if you plan on celebrating tomorrow's holiday (the first official day of holiday shopping) happy spending and don't forget to give Santa your wish list (and if he's cute sit on his lap...he has to let you, it's his job).
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Two Strikes You're Out?
So by now all of you have heard about the writers strike. I know that outside of LA there isn't a lot of sympathy for the screenwriter's union (WGA) because the assumption is that these people already make an enormous amount of money. It's true that writers don't fit the normal stereotype of the union worker picketing "da man." There is no dirt under their nails and when they're waving their signs in one hand there is a reasonable chance they're holding a latte with the other.
Still, most of these guys are NOT rolling in it. In 2005 the average annual income of a female film writer was $50,0000. That's $50,000 before their agents and managers got their collective 25%. When you consider that it's virtually impossible to find a halfway decent apartment in a halfway decent neighborhood for less than $1,500 a month in LA it's easy to see why they want to make sure that they're making their fair share of royalties.
I'm not telling you that you should support the writers or that you shouldn't. But I thought I'd let you know the facts just in case you wanted to factor them into your opinions.
Thing is, I'm not at all sure that this strike is going to go the writer's way. The last time the writers striked was in 1988 and that went on for just under 6 months. It would be hard for the writers to say that they won that round. If anything it was a draw for both sides. The thing that worries me about this round is that the producers may have a hidden agenda. I know that makes me sound like a conspiracy freak, but hear me out. The producers began the contract negotiations by asking for a rollback in certain royalties that had been given to writers in their last contract. That's right, the producers were actually asking for writers to settle for less than they had before. They later withdrew that request but still, it was an odd way to start a negotiation with a union.
Now those same producers are saying that they will not return to the negotiation table while there are picketers on the street and there are some loosely substantiated rumors that they won't come back to the negotiation table until the strike is over all together. The whole point of picketing is to put pressure on TPTB to make the workers an offer they can live with, not to get TPTB to condescend to talk to them.
So why would the producers put out such an odd, seemingly self-defeating demand? Maybe the point here isn't the negotiations. Maybe the point is to weaken, and perhaps come close to destroying the union itself. Working as a writer is not like working as a bellman at some fancy hotel. People spend their lives dreaming of the opportunity of making it as a writer in Hollywood. They move here, live off rice and beans and work their asses off all in the hopes that one of the fifty million scripts they've written will sell. Now the producers are inviting those out-of-work-dreamers a chance of a lifetime: well paid writing jobs, all they have to do is cross the picket line.
It's hard to ask someone to pass up a chance to follow a dream that they've been working for all their lives. It's true that if they say yes they could be blackballed from the union but these people aren't in the union. They haven't been able to join because up to this point no one's offered them work. If enough of these people accept the offers being handed to them the union will be between a rock and a hard place. They could call off the strike and accept defeat which means that they've played their trump card and lost and now have to accept whatever treatment/pay the producers offer or they could continue to picket their way into bankruptcy.
I could just be being a pessimist here. Maybe the producers will go to the tables before the strike is over and maybe the writers will get at least some of their demands met.
Maybe. But then again, maybe not.
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
Still, most of these guys are NOT rolling in it. In 2005 the average annual income of a female film writer was $50,0000. That's $50,000 before their agents and managers got their collective 25%. When you consider that it's virtually impossible to find a halfway decent apartment in a halfway decent neighborhood for less than $1,500 a month in LA it's easy to see why they want to make sure that they're making their fair share of royalties.
I'm not telling you that you should support the writers or that you shouldn't. But I thought I'd let you know the facts just in case you wanted to factor them into your opinions.
Thing is, I'm not at all sure that this strike is going to go the writer's way. The last time the writers striked was in 1988 and that went on for just under 6 months. It would be hard for the writers to say that they won that round. If anything it was a draw for both sides. The thing that worries me about this round is that the producers may have a hidden agenda. I know that makes me sound like a conspiracy freak, but hear me out. The producers began the contract negotiations by asking for a rollback in certain royalties that had been given to writers in their last contract. That's right, the producers were actually asking for writers to settle for less than they had before. They later withdrew that request but still, it was an odd way to start a negotiation with a union.
Now those same producers are saying that they will not return to the negotiation table while there are picketers on the street and there are some loosely substantiated rumors that they won't come back to the negotiation table until the strike is over all together. The whole point of picketing is to put pressure on TPTB to make the workers an offer they can live with, not to get TPTB to condescend to talk to them.
So why would the producers put out such an odd, seemingly self-defeating demand? Maybe the point here isn't the negotiations. Maybe the point is to weaken, and perhaps come close to destroying the union itself. Working as a writer is not like working as a bellman at some fancy hotel. People spend their lives dreaming of the opportunity of making it as a writer in Hollywood. They move here, live off rice and beans and work their asses off all in the hopes that one of the fifty million scripts they've written will sell. Now the producers are inviting those out-of-work-dreamers a chance of a lifetime: well paid writing jobs, all they have to do is cross the picket line.
It's hard to ask someone to pass up a chance to follow a dream that they've been working for all their lives. It's true that if they say yes they could be blackballed from the union but these people aren't in the union. They haven't been able to join because up to this point no one's offered them work. If enough of these people accept the offers being handed to them the union will be between a rock and a hard place. They could call off the strike and accept defeat which means that they've played their trump card and lost and now have to accept whatever treatment/pay the producers offer or they could continue to picket their way into bankruptcy.
I could just be being a pessimist here. Maybe the producers will go to the tables before the strike is over and maybe the writers will get at least some of their demands met.
Maybe. But then again, maybe not.
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
Thursday, November 01, 2007
How Was Your Halloween?
Mine was great, in fact my son and I basically turned it into a three day event. After being chased out of LA last week by a huge cloud of black smoke (no, nothing of mine burned but my son's asthma required a voluntary evacuation) we decided to go to San Francisco's "Boo At The Zoo" event. My son dressed up as Albert Einstein and when I sprayed his crazy, curly hair white I realized that he did indeed bear a striking resemblance to the man. Even after his painted on mustache started to wear off and he had ditched his lab coat that proudly bore E=mc² people still took in his hair and sweater worn over a collared shirt and asked, "Is he dressed up as Einstein?"
Furthermore, it appears that Einstein can dance. Radio Disney was at the zoo and my boy, who loves to be the center of attention, entered the dance contest and won first place! He was rewarded with a Power Ranger Action figure which he could care less about but the real prize for him was the victory itself.
Sunday we came back to LA and on Tuesday we decided that we went to California Adventure Park's Halloween party. My son got his costume on again and for some reason it gave him courage that had previously eluded him. He went on rides that he would never have dreamed of going on before. Rides that went fast and high up in the sky. Those things usually make him anxious and while we waited in line he did fret quite a bit but he got on and he actually ended up enjoying himself. The operator of a rocket ship ride went so far as to get on the microphone to give my son...er...Einstein props for giving us access to the physics that made this kind of "space travel" possible.
And lastly we went trick-or-treating on Halloween night with a big group of kids. My son has become close to a ten year old girl (guess he likes older women) and the two of them were pretty much inseparable for the entire night. When we were done knocking on doors she looked at him and said decisively, "You're coming over to my house now." Gotta love a girl who knows what she wants.
I thought of dressing up myself, but the costumes in my closet from previous Halloweens (Sexy Nurse, Sexy Devil, Tina Turner From The 80s) didn't seem appropriate for the zoo/amusement park/trick-or-treating-with-a-bunch-of-elementary-students. That's okay, there's always next year and I did wear Minnie Mouse ears at California Adventure Park so that has to count for something.
So all in all this season's Halloween was a big success. Hope yours was equally enjoyable!
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
Furthermore, it appears that Einstein can dance. Radio Disney was at the zoo and my boy, who loves to be the center of attention, entered the dance contest and won first place! He was rewarded with a Power Ranger Action figure which he could care less about but the real prize for him was the victory itself.
Sunday we came back to LA and on Tuesday we decided that we went to California Adventure Park's Halloween party. My son got his costume on again and for some reason it gave him courage that had previously eluded him. He went on rides that he would never have dreamed of going on before. Rides that went fast and high up in the sky. Those things usually make him anxious and while we waited in line he did fret quite a bit but he got on and he actually ended up enjoying himself. The operator of a rocket ship ride went so far as to get on the microphone to give my son...er...Einstein props for giving us access to the physics that made this kind of "space travel" possible.
And lastly we went trick-or-treating on Halloween night with a big group of kids. My son has become close to a ten year old girl (guess he likes older women) and the two of them were pretty much inseparable for the entire night. When we were done knocking on doors she looked at him and said decisively, "You're coming over to my house now." Gotta love a girl who knows what she wants.
I thought of dressing up myself, but the costumes in my closet from previous Halloweens (Sexy Nurse, Sexy Devil, Tina Turner From The 80s) didn't seem appropriate for the zoo/amusement park/trick-or-treating-with-a-bunch-of-elementary-students. That's okay, there's always next year and I did wear Minnie Mouse ears at California Adventure Park so that has to count for something.
So all in all this season's Halloween was a big success. Hope yours was equally enjoyable!
Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE,
PASSION, BETRAYAL AND KILLER HIGHLIGHTS,
OBSESSION, DECEIT AND REALLY DARK CHOCOLATE
and
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING
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