'Hysteria' Team Talks Vibrators, Medicine, and Culture

The KCET Cinema Series continued Tuesday night with a screening of "Hysteria" at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the NoHo Arts District.

After the screening, host Pete Hammond introduced Producers Judy Cairo and Tracey Becker, and Director Tanya Wexler. The audience was entertained by the lively discussion on the stage, which was full of puns and revealing stories about the making of independent film. Listen to the podcast

AEI ASSOCIATE GLEN PITRE MARDI GRAS FIRE HOUSE

Clint Hill speaks this evening at 7 at Unity Temple on the Plaza Sponsored by Rainy Day Books

Mrs. Kennedy And Me

 

 

By Stephen Steigman and Steve Kraske

 

When shots rang out in Dallas, Secret Service agent Clint Hill jumped in the back of President John F. Kennedy’s car.

In the first half of Wednesday's Up to Date, the Clint Hill joins us to talk about that now-infamous November day and about the four years he served on Jackie Kennedy’s detail. 

We’ll learn about how the First Lady felt about taking shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis, about JFK’s last birthday party abroad the U.S.S. Sequoia … and hear details about a conversation he had with the president about Aristotle Onassis.

Hill is author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir.

Hear More: Clint Hill speaks this evening at 7 at Unity Temple on the Plaza. For more information, contact Rainy Day Books in Fairway at 913 384 3126.

Clinton J. Hill (b.1932) attended Concordia College, Minnesota, where he studied history. After graduating in 1954 he joined the US Army. He left in 1957 and found work with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
Hill entered the Secret Service in September 1958. Hill did investigative and protection work in Denver until 1959 when he was assigned to the staff of the White House where he helped to protect Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.
In November 1963 Hill went on the presidential trip to Texas. His special duty was to protect Jackie Kennedy. On the motorcade tour of Dallas on 22nd November, 1963, Hill rode on the running board of the Secret Service car immediately behind the presidential car. After the first shot was fired Hill ran forward: "I jumped onto the left rear step of the Presidential automobile. Mrs. Kennedy shouted, "They've shot his head off," then turned and raised out of her seat as if she were reaching to her right rear toward the back of the car for something that had blown out. I forced her back into her seat and placed my body above President and Mrs. Kennedy."
Hill was praised for his bravery. He was the only Secret Service agent who attempted to cover the president's body with his own.

Four Star Review For Story Merchant Client Elaine Edelson's Aries Fire

Aries Fire: by Elaine Edelson

A respected woman of her day, Hypatia taught students in Alexandria, Egypt about astrology and mathematics. Slaughtered by Christians and dumped in front of her house, she left behind a legacy that affected many scientists and scholars. In Edelson’s novel, “Aries Fire” Hypatia also left behind a stubborn, fiery bastard daughter: Seira. Worried that Hypatia’s murderers will come after Seira, Theon, her grandfather, quietly and quickly smuggles her out of Egypt. Seira is suddenly thrown into a world where civility and rules no longer cater to her whim. Sailing on a merchant vessel, she meets a handsome sailor, Alexander. While fantasizing about their future, Seira is unexpectedly secretly escorted off the ship and joins forces with a quirky elderly woman named Kiki and a Jewish rabbi, Isaac. This all happens within the first two chapters! Juggling her love for two men, Attila (the heir to the Hun throne) and Alexander, Seira also struggles to accept her role as her mother’s daughter and find her father, a secret hidden by her unwed mother. 

“Aries Fire” is filled with twists and turns and develops into a love story with an unexpected ending. Edelson creates a main character that the reader learns to love. As the novel progresses, the reader witnesses a stubborn, cocky teenager mature into a wise and patient woman. Seira makes rash decisions that the reader will most likely not agree with, but Edelson adds these into the plot to show the growth and evolution of Seira’s personality. While graphic in detail and a slow beginning, Edelson picks up the pace when Seira meets Attila, a prince in the Hun community. The chapters are extremely long, spanning more than forty pages at times, and while I disagreed with the ending (we all attach ourselves to specific characters that we wish would triumph in the end), this book certainly surpassed my expectations. I certainly will be looking forward to reading Edelson’s next creation!

Aries Fire is available for purchase at Barnes & Noble and other places books are sold. 

4 stars

Opening The Houston Writers' Guild Annual Conference on April 13-14 With My Keynote Speech On ...

“The Story Marketplace Today: How Changes in Publishing and Entertainment Impact Your Career”

Would-be Writers to be Focus of April 13-14 Writers Conference

Houston writers will gather April 13-14, when the Houston Writers’ Guild (HWG) holds the 2012 4^th annual writers’ conference in Sugar Land. 

“There’s something for every writer—published or unpublished, fiction or non-fiction,” said Tina Winograd, 2012 HWG conference director. “The publishing world is changing. In some ways, it is easier to get a book published today. Our experts will address traditional publishing as well as online publishing and e-books. Make an appointment to have your writing critiqued by a published writer or to run your story idea by a literary agent.” 
 

Writers may choose between several tracks, including mystery, nonfiction, young adult and writing/publishing basics. The two-day meeting includes presentations from:

· Hollywood ‘Story Merchant’ Ken Atchity, producer and literary manager

· Self-Publishing super-star and zombie thriller novelist Rhiannon Frater

· Young Adult author Nikki Loftin, author of two novels and numerous short stories

· True crime writer and novelist Kathryn Casey

· Larry Thompson, author of legal thriller, “The Trial”

· Award-winning novelist and poet Chitra Divakaruni

· New York literary agents 

Conference cost is $125 for Friday and Saturday; $100 for Saturday only. Saturday lunch is included in the fee. Friday night dinner optional. For an additional cost, attendees may schedule brief one-on-one sessions with literary agents and published writers.

For online registration and further program information, see HWG website, www.houstonwritersguild.org or call 281-498-5025.

Kathryn Jacobi's New Exhibit Opens April 15th, 3-5 pm at the Sylvia White Gallery

Sylvia White Gallery 

1783 E. Main Street

Ventura, CA 93101 

This first finished section of the very large painting is called Sleepers and is a diptych 96'x144" (8' x 12').  The whole painting will be called Sleepwalking Through The Apocalypse.

Opening The Houston Writers' Guild Annual Conference on April 13-14 With My Keynote Speech On ...

“The Story Marketplace Today: How Changes in Publishing and Entertainment Impact Your Career”

Would-be Writers to be Focus of April 13-14 Writers Conference

Houston writers will gather April 13-14, when the Houston Writers’ Guild (HWG) holds the 2012 4^th annual writers’ conference in Sugar Land. 

“There’s something for every writer—published or unpublished, fiction or non-fiction,” said Tina Winograd, 2012 HWG conference director. “The publishing world is changing. In some ways, it is easier to get a book published today. Our experts will address traditional publishing as well as online publishing and e-books. Make an appointment to have your writing critiqued by a published writer or to run your story idea by a literary agent.” 
 

Writers may choose between several tracks, including mystery, nonfiction, young adult and writing/publishing basics. The two-day meeting includes presentations from:

· Hollywood ‘Story Merchant’ Ken Atchity, producer and literary manager

· Self-Publishing super-star and zombie thriller novelist Rhiannon Frater

· Young Adult author Nikki Loftin, author of two novels and numerous short stories

· True crime writer and novelist Kathryn Casey

· Larry Thompson, author of legal thriller, “The Trial”

· Award-winning novelist and poet Chitra Divakaruni

· New York literary agents 

Conference cost is $125 for Friday and Saturday; $100 for Saturday only. Saturday lunch is included in the fee. Friday night dinner optional. For an additional cost, attendees may schedule brief one-on-one sessions with literary agents and published writers.

For online registration and further program information, see HWG website, www.houstonwritersguild.org or call 281-498-5025.

Piers Morgan Interview Clip With Clint Hill

With Mrs. Kennedy and Me authors Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin, and Gallery publicist Mary McCue, at 82nd & Broadway Barnes & Noble—first signing.