Happy Birthday Drama Mama!

Manic Mommy is on HuffPo! (Click me, I'm live.)

Michelle O'Neil gets new boobs! LOL!!! OK, maybe not, but she did win the book!


CONTEST! for Joan Rivers'

Men Are Stupid and They Like Big Boobs.

I have a signed copy! Leave a comment!

I'm off to a book signing at The Book Nook in New Milford, CT to meet Joan Rivers! I love her. She was on Howard Stern this week. My Lord she is funny and just so genuine. I'll be blogging a contest for a free signed book or two this week. Stay tuned!

I'm on Facebook.

AAP Wants to Limit Your Choice as a Parent

The American Academy of Pediatrics is warning its members (your friendly ped) about the alternative vax schedules that its customers, its clients, its PATIENTS (you?) are demanding. They seem to be especially fearful of the logical, well thought out alternative schedule suggested by Dr. Bob Sears,who is hardly an anti-vaccine zealot!

Parents, politicians, informed doctors, scientists and other sane people are now considering an alternative schedule that takes into account the health and family history of the child the norm, not the exception. And look! Another Rotovirus vaccine has been licensed!

Read the full piece HERE.

Please visit Ask Dr. Sears, and make sure you buy The Vaccine Book for unbiased information that puts your precious child first.

A WARNING ABOUT DR. ROBERT SEARS’S ALTERNATIVE VACCINE SCHEDULE

In a special article in the January issue of Pediatrics, the authors discuss the increasing popularity of a book by Dr. Robert Sears (The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child) in which he provides alternative vaccine schedules for parents who want to decline, delay, or reduce the number of vaccines. The authors of the special article provide information about the fallacies of the alternative approach and summarize misconceptions of families and physicians who opt for the alternative schedule. All physicians who care for children should read this article to increase their understanding of alternative vaccine schedules and to better inform parents.

Guess who wrote the "special article?" Dr. Paul Offit. HERE. For those of you unfamiliar with Dr. Paul Offit, he's an infectious disease specialist at Children's of Philadelphia who held the patent for the Rotovirus vaccine that is now on the AAP schedule. A vaccine patent is worth more than gold, as you can imagine.

Vaccine Update 2009

Changes in the recommended immunization schedule, a warning about the growing popularity of an alternative vaccine schedule, and progress with the avian influenza (H5N1) vaccine in children

2009 RECOMMENDED CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULES
The vaccine schedule for children and adolescents is a moving target that requires frequent updates and adjustments. The AAP, the CDC, and the American Academy of Family Physicians have published the 2009 immunization schedules. Two important changes include:

Influenza vaccine is now recommended for all children ages 6 months through 18 years, close contacts of children through age 4 years, and contacts of high-risk children ages 5 years through 18 years (JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Mar 12 2008).

A second rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix; GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals) has been licensed; the dosing schedules for Rotarix and RotaTeq have been synchronized so that the first dose of either one can be administered at ages 6 weeks through 14 weeks (JW Pediatr Adolesc Med Jul 30 2008).

We're Fruc'ted.

Some of you may be familiar (insert eye roll here) with my conversations about mercury and vaccines and the neurological suicide that is injecting a known neurotoxin willingly into your (or your child's body.) I thank you for bearing with me.

Pop into you pantry, your fridge, your freezer. Take a look at the labels on the foods in your home. How many contain High Fructose Corn Syrup? Have a barf bag at the read when you click into the Washington Post article. Can you say, "GO BACK TO SUGAR!" Sugar is not the enemy. But the corn lobby kicks it's ass.

Study finds high fructose corn syrup contains mercury. Read the Washington Post article HERE. Note the sentence below, "Mercury is toxic in all it's forms." Except vaccines, we've been assured by AAP, CDC and O-F-F-I-T.

"Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply," said the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies.

(Dr. Wallinga is a graduate of The U. of Minnesota medical school and holds a Masters from Princeton University (alma mater of our own Mark Blaxill.)

Shop At the Bank Street Book Nook!

Bank St. Book Nook
50 Bank St. New Milford, CT 06776
860-354-3865Fax: 860-350-0046 @bankstbooknook.com

ryan@bankstbooknook.com

I took Bella to Joan Rivers' signing for her two new books. (I'll blog a contest on Monday, I have a SIGNED copy to giveaway!)

Bella was struggling - too many people (a successful signing!) and she was getting, er, antsy. Think angry spitting and grabby hands. Uh Oh! My pulse was racing. I really wanted to meet Joan Rivers and get the books I'd bought signed. But Bella comes first.

When I explained the situation to the lovely woman behind the counter she offered to get the book signed for me and mail them. Then she said, "Wait a minute."

The escorted me to Joan Rivers, whom I met - and off we went, in a mere 10 minutes!

So....call to order a book, we all love to read.

They really made an autism Mom's day easy. And I am VERY grateful!!

KIM

My Mia is 14. This is her letter to President Obama.

How does it make you feel?

If the First Child had Autism

My latest HuffPo is HERE.

Teach Your Children Well.

January 20, 2009.

Did you watch the concert? Bruuuuuce! Bruce with Pete Seeger. Amazing. It was a beautiful display of harmony, literally. Every performer was fantastic.

Did you know President Elect (for a few hours) held a dinner in honor of John McCain last night? It's a new day.

It's also an old day. 90 minute school delay for weather. O.M.G!

A Young Man With Autism Voted For You
My friend, writer Barbara Fischkin wrote this piece. Please read it.

Dear President Barack Obama:

Very simply what follows is the story of a young man with Autism who voted for the first time because he wanted to vote for you.

But it is also a tale about the wars at home and abroad and about the frightening implications regarding an epidemic that affects, at the least, a generation of children.

Our son Daniel Mulvaney is 21 and suffers from a severe disability, one that rendered him suddenly and terrifyingly mute at the age of three and half. As the child of young foreign correspondents who lived and worked in Latin America and Asia, he heard many languages at an early age. Before this regression occurred our Dan spoke English and used phrases and sentences in Spanish, Cantonese and Tagalog. Today, he still cannot utter more than one or two hard-wrought words.

For years, my husband and I have been trying to find out what happened, ever-hopeful that knowledge will lead to cure. I am now an author of non-fiction and novels published by Scribner and Bantam Dell. My husband ultimately led a Pulitzer-prize winning team of investigative reporters. Putting our two heads together we have come to strongly suspect what our instincts told us when this first happened: That Dan was environmentally harmed. It may have happened in Hong Kong where his regression occurred. The source of damage also could have been Mexico City – or Long island. Or any of a number of other places where we lived and traveled both before and after Dan was born. As we continue our long search we explore everything, including the possibility of tarnished or intrinsically risky vaccinations.

And while we do that life must go on. It is like this for most Autism families.

Read the full post HERE.

Two Historic Days

How must it feel to be African American today? Glorious? Miraculous? Do you have to pinch yourself? Are you waiting for someone to pull the rug out from under you? I'm a middle aged white woman and I'm giddy with hope, anticipation, relief and awe that we are going to have Barack Obama as President tomorrow.

I also have great fears. There's a nefarious push against people with autism in the government right now. A loss of research dollars to look under sacred cows for the possible cause of the autism epidemic. My girls are slaves to their autism. Slavery is not over. I'm angry. And I'm not going down without a fight. I'll write more when I can catch my breath - maybe Easter?

Miracle on The Hudson



Witness this miracle on the Hudson River as a US Airlines plane belly lands after a bird (maybe??) destroyed an engine. The commuter ferries sprung into action. No fatalities. What a pilot!! What a crew!! What brave and sturdy passengers.

KARI IS THE WINNER! Please email your address to me at kimstagliano at gmail .com.

Win A Signed Copy: Kay Thomas' Harlequin Intrigue's Better Than Bulletproof!

If you have a blog, please consider linking this post to help a fellow writer and/or autism Mom! Here's the link: http://kimstagliano.blogspot.com/2009/01/win-signed-copy-kay-thomas-harlequin.html

When was the last time you uttered "romance, sexy and autism" in the same sentence? (Not Asperger's so Robison isn't included for those of you in that loop.) I never had either, until I read Kay Thomas' novel from Harlequin Intrigue, Better Than Bulletproof.

Leave a comment to win a signed copy! (BTB features a 5 year old with autism who has just started speaking thanks to biomedical treatments. How cool is that?!) If you have an autism or writing blog please send your readers over to enter the contest!

On secret military missions Harlan Jeffries has defied danger: he'd be damned if minding an adorable child -- and the boy's stibborn and all too sexy aunt -- would be his downfall. But when little Adam's mother went missing, Harlan had no choice but to take them both under his personal protection.

1) Hi, Kay and Congrats on your release of Better Than Bulletproof. Can you give us a synopsis of your book, a sneak peak at the back cover blurb?

Hi Kim, Thanks. It’s great to be here.

BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF is about a Marine and a perpetual "screw up," who join forces to rescue an autistic boy from a web of murder and government conspiracy.

Gina Rodgers, a struggling advertising artist, has just landed the account of a lifetime when her sister mysteriously disappears and leaves behind a five-year-old autistic son. Even though she has no idea how to deal with her nephew’s overwhelming needs, Gina drops everything in her Dallas job and travels to Mississippi to care for Adam and look for her sister. There she discovers an unexpected ally in the child’s play therapist, Harlan Jeffries, an ex-military sniper seeking redemption through working with special needs children.

As they search for her sister, Gina and Harlan are caught up in a conspiracy involving murder, betrayal and a pharmaceutical company cover-up that reaches to the highest levels of government. Everything they believe about themselves and the people they love will be challenged as Gina and Harlan are forced to race across the country to find and protect her missing sister’s explosive research study that proves the vaccine-autism connection.

2) So what's this I hear about biomedical autism treatments appearing in a ROMANCE! Do you have any idea how exciting it is (pun intended) to be able to read a book that incorporates autism and (I hope) sex too? LOL!

I agree it’s an unusual venue for this particular subject matter. As you know Harlequin is all about romance in any setting. And BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF is a romantic suspense thriller set against the autism/vaccine issue. All through the editing process I kept expecting that I would be asked to soften the vaccine/pharmaceutical aspect of the story. But I was encouraged and excited that my editor did not back away from this controversial topic. It is my greatest hope that readers can enjoy Harlan and Gina’s story and be entertained by it, as well as learn a bit about autism and treatment options facing parents today.

3) Can you tell our readers who are also writers a bit about your publishing journey? Who is your agent and how did you sell the MS?

I didn’t always know I wanted to write. The first week of “Freshman Comp” my professor read something I’d written out loud to the entire class as an example of something “well done.” I still remember how that made me feel.

Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last…I was a one hit wonder in composition and was thrilled with the C that I barely squeezed out of there with. But my fourth year of college, I met the teacher who would become my writing mentor and I started to “get it”.

He said, “Write on one side of the page only. You can write all over the page if you must, but one side only for your papers.”

You really have to understand Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” to do that. You can’t B.S. your way to a conclusion in a one-pager unless you have the concept down and can write tight. I fell in love with that kind of writing and I still keep in touch with that professor. He edited my first two books. He’s in his eighties now. A wonderful man.

A few years later, I took a couple of creative writing courses at a community college and started a manuscript. Got a hundred pages into it, got stuck, and life got complicated for a while. Finally in 2004, I joined Romance Writers of America and things started to really gel for me in terms of writing and process.

I completed three manuscripts and I targeted a contest with my new #1 “dream agent” judging (Helen Breitwieser of Cornerstone Literary) and I finalled! A dream come true in itself. She requested the full manuscript and offered to represent me. Less than a year later she sold that manuscript to Harlequin Intrigue. Six months after that we sold a second book to Intrigue on proposal.

4) Is this a standalone book?

Yes.

5) Why autism?

I mentioned earlier that “life got complicated.” Eight years ago my son was diagnosed with autism and I immediately dove into an intensive array of biomedical and traditional therapies for him. He worked hard and responded amazingly well. I will be forever grateful to a multitude of people that I can never repay for giving me back my son. People who worked with him, played with him, prayed for him and for my family. Incredibly generous parents I’ve met through autism groups online but never met in person who shared their hard won knowledge and advice when we got stuck in various stages of treatment. Doctors, teachers, therapists, and friends who gave so much over the years. It’s a very long list.

Even with exceptional treatment, you don’t always get the kind of results we did. It’s been an extraordinarily humbling and overwhelming experience. When I think about where we were nine years ago, I’m completely awed.

6) Have you written other books or is this your debut?

Better Than Bulletproof is my debut novel and my third completed manuscript. In April, Harlequin is releasing my next book titled Bulletproof Texas. It’s about caves and cancer research with continuing characters and a plot thread that carries over from Better Than Bulletproof.

Bulletproof Texas is a romantic suspense thriller about a pharmaceutical research scientist and a brooding caving guide who are forced to work together extracting a cancer-eating bacteria from a flooding Texas Hill Country cave. As the sparks fly and the sexual tension increases, so do the dangers when a competitor decides this potential cure shouldn't see the light of day--and is willing to kill anyone who gets in the way.

7) Will you be doing any book clubs by phone? How can readers get in touch with you?

I don’t have plans for phone book clubs right now, but I’m doing two different online bookclub/forum events in February and several blogs this spring. The details are on my website. Please check there for dates and sign up for my newsletter.

My website
www.KayThomas.net

I’m also on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1216532843&ref=profile

With a Facebook group
Bulletproof Thrills – Romantic Suspense from Kay Thomas
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38244900799

And myspace
http://www.myspace.com/kaythomas_ (Yes, that’s an underscore after thomas!)

Come “friend me” at any of these venues. I’d love to hear from you!

Best wishes with sales, Kay!

This has been great, Kim. I appreciate your interest and the opportunity to tell you about my book. My very best to you and your readers.

Readers, leave a comment to win a copy of Kay's "Better Than Bulletproof." And don't forget to support her by buying a copy for yourself and a friend HERE!

If you can leave a review that would be great too!

The Onion on "Deal to Heal."

Don't you just love The Onion? Check out this article on the newest version of "Deal to Heal" as I call the pharma/medical complex. Thanks to Deb from one of my autism lists for the heads up! Rest and fluids? We autism parents don't get much rest. But fluids? Where's my Venti coffee?

WASHINGTON—A two-year investigation conducted in five major cities has exposed a widespread campaign by the formidable Rest and Fluids industry to infiltrate thousands of doctors' offices and dictate how they treat minor illnesses.

The investigation—the full details of which will be disclosed in this newspaper over the coming months—documented thousands of instances in which sick patients were repeatedly instructed, often verbatim, to "lie down and drink plenty of liquids." This treatment, recommended a staggering 4 out of 5 times on average, was in each case prescribed by a physician known to have recently enjoyed a golf vacation courtesy of Big Rest and Fluids.

"You have no idea how deep this goes," said Dr. X, a physician who wished to remain anonymous. "They've got everyone, from the pediatricians and family doctors, right on down to the school nurses. We've had the cure for the common cold for nearly 40 years, but it's still 'rest and fluids, rest and fluids.' Why? Because these guys are getting paid through the nose, that's why."

Read the entire piece HERE.

Betty Confidential on Jett Travolta

http://www.bettyconfidential.com/ar/h/a/a03692.html

To an Angel in New York: "....."



Speechless. And that ain't easy. Thank you.

Yummy Water Ice!

Oooh! Ice Cream!

Mmmm. Icy cocktails!

Miracle on Ice!

Nice ice!

ICE. No school.

Is your laundry clothesline fresh? Mine is!

Ladies and gentlemen, housework scofflaws, mega-maids, Alice's of America, I have to tell you that my laundry is now clothesline fresh. Are you jealous? Are you imagining me hanging out laundry for five in my backyard? Apron around my waist, curlers in my hair (as if it needs more curl) and a pair of cropped Laura Petrie pants on my currently fat ass? (Christmas, waaaay too many treats.)

I'll share my secret to the crisply fresh air scented laundry now gracing my children's closets, beds and linen shelves. You ready? Forget to fold the laundry for two days.

Yes, that's the secret. You see, the dryer has a hose that goes outside. In the winter that cold air seeps into the dryer while you are drinking coffee, blogging, or otherwise ignoring housework. When you finally open the dryer door, like Geraldo opening whatshisname's treasure chest, you will be rewarded with crisp, airy (albeit horribly wrinkled) clothing.

Next housework lesson? How ants can do the floor cleaning for you. Stayed tuned!

Waterford Wedgewood: BANKRUPT

When was the last time you bought fine crystal? If you're a newlywed or engaged to be married, did you register for fine China and/or Crystal? Waterford Wedgewood just filed for bankruptcy. Meet the new year? Same as the old year? NO NO NO!!!

2009 is going to bring happiness, success, contentment and joy to us all. Dammit.

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK.

Counting the hours until Monday am. New Year. Got to be better than the old year (God laughs.) Kids go back to school. Mommy loves you! Get OUT the door. Mark leaves for the Gift Show in Atlanta Tuesday am. Lots of friends and business contacts there, I'm so glad he's going. And I need to WRITE WRITE WRITE. Hurry up tomorrow!

Dear 2008: