So Cal Nancy

My first blog! This should be great fun. North Sister-South Sister, as you may already know, means my sister & I live in opposite parts of California. We also sometimes have opposing views, likes and dislikes. Amazing to have grown up together in southern California during the late 40’s, the 50’s and early 60’s, only 2 years apart and to have developed into two diverse & unique women. I continue to live within 5 miles of where I was born even though I always thought the East Coast was where I belonged. As a wee tike I spoke as a native New Yorker or Bostonian. Maybe a past life? When I visited New England in 1985, I felt like I had come home. I still plan to return there but watching the weather daily in Bar Harbor, Maine, I don’t think I’m a person who would be happy with 7 months of winter.

Having stayed in this area means I have seen enormous growth, change (not all for the better), congestion and influx of so many cultures. One major change is that people have become so rude. Not on a one-to-one basis, but when they are in a group or out in public it seems nobody wants to be accountable for their actions. In the drive thru lane at Starbucks every once in awhile there is a car ahead of me with a driver who is not paying attention to their surroundings and refuse to move up in the lane in a timely fashion. The problem with that is the traffic which is trying to turn in off the street ends up blocking the cars that are trying to get where they’re going. It seems everyone has their iPod or phone in their ear and is in their own little universe. Then there is the person who gets their drink at the pick up window and promptly wads up their receipt and drops it on the ground. Even though there is a trash can past the window for just that purpose.

Who do people think is going to come behind them and pick up their mess? It’s left for all of us to see blowing around on our streets and sitting on and under the shrubs along the roadway. Last week end as I was driving home from my son’s house, in the middle of the street just west of the left turn signal I saw a half full gallon of milk sitting on the pavement. What??? Who would have done that? You have to wonder if it was still cold, or all clumped together and smelly. Would the street sweeper pick that up in the middle of the road like that? The problem with crowded southern California is that there are so many of these instances that it just becomes part of our landscape. And what is familiar, that you see everyday, becomes acceptable.

Nancy February 6, 2007

Linda's Saturday Night Musings

I am excited to have a joint blog with my sister, Nancy. After getting the blog up and going today, my last couple of hours have been spent wondering what to write for my first entry.

I am an author. When asked what I write, my response most often is, "Fiction and nonfiction. My writing goes from flying angels to flying bullets!" I may also then add, "Of course, not usually in the same book."

My writings cover a variety of genres: inspirational/new age nonfiction, mystery/suspense, Comic books, poetry, angel cards, ecourses, and screenplays. A lifelong interest in the fields of metaphysics and the paranormal has influenced my writing and research.

In 1990, the nonfiction book, "To Dance With Angels," coauthored with my husband, renowned author Don Pendleton, was published by Kensington Books, and is now in its fourth edition. The book is a definitive study of life and death and spirit communication and was my first book of several nonfiction books in the area of metaphysics, spirit communication, the paranormal, and self-help.

My fiction includes mystery, suspense, historical novels; Comic adaptation and scripting of two of my late husband’s action/adventure series novels, "The Executioner: War Against the Mafia" and "Death Squad"; screenplay adaptations of several of our novels; and an original screenplay. I recently completed a private eye novel (doing the hard work now of finding a publisher) and am currently at work on two novels. You can read more about my books at my website: http://www.lindapendleton.com

Actually I have three websites, listed below under Favorite Links. My excellent web designer, Judy will probably be thrilled to see I now have a blog so I won’t be bugging her all the time to add to my websites. LOL

I was pleased to learn today that Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was recently inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2007. It is too bad she was not given that honor before her passing in August of 2004. She was an incredible woman, and I was lucky enough to have known her personally. Her last book, "On Grief and Grieving," written with David Kessler, completed shortly before her death, is excellent for anyone who has lost a loved one. Her work on death and dying has impacted millions of people and will continue to do so for many years to come.

I was saddened earlier this week to learn of author Sydney Sheldon’s death. I very much enjoyed his novels. His characterization of female protagonists was so good that you’d forget a man had written the book. I heard him speak at the Santa Barbara California Writers Conference in 1983 or 1984. A very interesting man.

Until next time, Linda