One Step Closer!

Tonight I received from BearManor Media in .pdf format what amounts to the finished insides of my book, all formatted and stylized. It is AWESOME!! There isn't a Table of Contents or index yet, however, there is a copyright page which makes it look all the more official including an ISBN! The photos are part of the body of the book which is really cool as well.

Now I just need to go through it, make sure everything looks like I want and add anything missing and send it back.

I'm having a dilemma, though, about something that I find humorous but maybe my readers, for the most part, won't. That is, I refer to Samantha's husband throughout 99% of the book in the same manner Endora would - Durwood. I've never liked the character of Darrin and so for all the witches and warlocks to get his name wrong I find humorous.

What do you think? Should I keep it as Durwood or refer to him as his boring mortal name, well, really, his "birth" name, Darrin?

The book announced by BearManor!

This morning I received BearManor Media's monthly e-mail newsletter that showcases the new releases and author interviews as well as a section titled "Books coming soon." This is what this mornings list looked like:

TELEVISION'S FIRE & EMS SHOW
SHENRY DARROW: LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
ERROL FLYNN
BOGIE: THE FINAL CHAPTER
A DISNEY CHILDHOOD
JOE ESTEVEZ: Wiping Off the Sheen
THE BEWITCHED HISTORY BOOK
WILD, WILD WESTERNERS by Tom Weaver
HARRY LANGDON
HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN (8x10 size)
KATE SMITH SPEAKS
and more!

My book is amongst their number! It's awesome that the publisher's readers are aware of my upcoming book!

No News is Good News!

So I just wanted to remind everyone of the old adage - no news is good news.

I will post anything more I hear or see about the book (i.e. the cover, actual publish date, book signings) here when I know.

In the mean time, thank you for your support and keep spreading the word!

"Everybody's a critic!"

So ever since I went public with the publishing of my book, I've experienced nothing but positivity and joy. It's been awesome, but on the back burner of my mind, I've known that eventually I'm going to have to face some critics and harsh words.

Eventually has arrived.

Apparently someone I used to converse with a lot, whom I haven't spoken to in years, has decided to "review" my book (but really review myself) without having ever read it in it's full form. I'm sure he had read my posts on Harpies Bizarre (or elsewhere as I understand someone had copied them and posted to another site of less than stellar reputation) and thinks the book will be just that. Let's forget that it's been through many revisions and additions...anyway, apparently my "book is just his opinions of each Bewitched episode with said opinion's being of less then sound mind and body."

I love it!

It reminds me of this awesome quote by Teddy Roosevelt:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Now, I'm not saying writing the book was done in sweat and blood, but it was many, many hours of writing as well as research, and it was all done with great enthusiasm and devotion. So what if my book is not a best seller? If it's not so perfect, so what? Quite frankly, I wrote it specifically for myself and it's just a bonus that there were other people who also enjoyed it enough to ask that I would get my writings published.

I'm not going to say anything derisive about my first critic, as really he's not criticizing the book so much as he's making an uniformed personal attack on myself, I shall just quote Endora when Durwood's mother asked her not to criticize Durwood:

"Durwood needs no criticism from me...what's wrong with him is for the whole world to see!" Bewitched, Episode #103: "It's Wishcraft"

Over 100 fans and counting!

The Facebook fan page for the book has reached over 100 fans (at this moment in time it is at 109)!! I'm so excited for all the interest in the book!

Hopefully soon I'll be able to see what the cover will look like so I can share it with you all (I get final approval) but I thank you for all your support! And please share this page and the Facebook page with everyone!

Paula Abdul's connection to Bewitched

My book would not be in the process of being published had it not been for pop princess and X Factor judge, Paula Abdul. It was she who pushed all her fans to work on their goals in the Fall of 2010 which is why I decided to give the book a go and submit it.

It may be that I go looking for it, but Paula has some pretty strong ties to the show which I'd like to present here.

Her second album was entitled Spellbound, a term often used in reference to witchcraft. But even more so, on the cover, Paula looked very much like Samantha's sexy cousin, Serena with short raven hair and a feather boa. In fact, as part of the publicity for the album, Paula did a photo shoot where she looks just like Serena in "Darrin Goes Ape."

One of the chart topping singles from Spellbound was "Blowing Kisses in the Wind." On Bewitched, Serena writes a song entitled "I'll Blow You a Kiss in the Wind" from "Serena Stops the Show."

Just as several celebrities (i.e. Willie Mays, Steve McQueen) were warlocks on Bewitched, Paula "proved" her witch-hood during her Under My Spell tour when she would fly up from the stage. A little later, during a benefit concert for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation (Elizabeth Montgomery was a big champion for AIDS education) called For Our Children, Paula magically appeared on the stage.

In the mid part of the last decade Paula released an exercise DVD program called Cardio-Cheer which was filmed at the Warner Brothers Studio Ranch out in the park and in the street. This was the same place that the outdoor scenes of Bewitched were filmed and there are times you can see the Bewitched house, like you can in this screen cap behind her.

Just recently Paula had an estate sale and Erin Murphy attended it and Tweeted that she was surprised to find that she and Paula wear the same size, so now Tabitha is wearing some of Paula's clothes!

I'll be forever grateful to her for being so inspiring, especially inspiring me to go after my dreams. You can follow Paula on Twitter @PaulaAbdul.

Do You Like Us, Really Like Us?

And by "us" I mean the book....

...there is a Facebook fan page set up at http://tinyurl.com/7gty9gm where you can interact with other fans of the book and also keep up on the progress of the book.

We are at 76 fans as of tonight and I'm really hoping to get to 100 before the end of the weekend. So please pop on over to Facebook and join the page!