Lyons' Tales, Summer 2007

Lyons' Tales, Summer 2007

In this issue:
--CJ's News
--Where in the world is CJ?
--Exclusive for subscribers
--Contest Winner
--New Contest: Win an Evening with George Clooney, Patrick Dempsey, and Godiva Chocolate!!

CJ's News:
We now have a title and release date for my first Berkley medical suspense. LIFELINES is due out April 1, 2008!

LIFELINES follows the women of Pittsburgh 's Angels of Mercy Medical Center as they fight to save lives and stop a killer.

I'm currently hard at work on the second in the series, CHANCE TO CUT, and hope to have more news on it, cover art for LIFELINES, and some early reviews in the next issue of Lyons ' Tales.

Where in the world is CJ?
ThrillerFest was a blast—for anyone who hasn't been, definitely mark your calendars for next July!

Next up I've been invited to be the Kickoff Keynote Speaker for the Colorado Gold Conference, September 14-16, 2007.

I've also been invited to give my Chasing the Muse half day workshop for the Heart of Denver's RWA on October 20, 2007.

Upcoming online courses include:
--Kills, Chills, and Thrills: Writing the Thriller Novel, August, Carolina Romance Writers

--Chasing the Muse, September, Outreach International

--Trauma 101, October, LowCountry RWA

Be sure to check out my website http://www.cjlyons.net/ for new appearances and workshops!

Exclusive for Lyons ' Tales Subscribers!
As a thank you to all my loyal supporters, I'm continuing to offer content that is exclusively for you and students of my workshops.

This issue I'm giving you access to my Secrets of Pitching article. Next issue, I'll be giving you my interview with Lisa Gardner about her Adventures in Research. If you want to receive either of these articles, sign up for my mailing list by clicking here.

Contest Winner!
The winner of this issue's contest prize, a $25 dollar Barnes and Noble gift card is….L. Messer!

Send me your snail mail address and I'll get your prize out to you, asap!

New Contest!
All Lyons ' Tales subscribers will be entered in my new contest:

Win an Evening with George Clooney, Patrick Dempsey, and Godiva Chocolate!!

You'll have a chance to win DVD's of Season One of ER and Grey's Anatomy as well as a box of Godiva Chocolate!

Look for the winner in the next issue of Lyons ' Tales!

Note: this contest will be open to continental addresses only


That's it for now! Anyone in Denver or taking my online workshops between now and the Fall issue of Lyons ' Tales, be sure to give a shout out and tell your friends.

And as always, thanks for reading!
CJ
No One is Immune to Danger...
http://www.cjlyons.net/
LIFELINES, Berkley April, 2008

Truth, Fiction and the News...

The headline reads: New Drug Deletes Bad Memories

Wow! Sounds like this must be cutting edge science, right?

Only two problems: the drug isn't new and it doesn't "delete" memories.

In fact, this drug has been around for a long time and for years has been used in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy to treat Post-Traumatic Stress, panic attacks and other anxiety-spectrum disorders.

And no, it doesn't delete or erase bad memories. Rather, it blocks the physiologic effects (racing heart, palpitations, sense of panic, etc) produced by the stress hormones when people re-live those memories.

Why does the media feel like it has to lie to us in order to get our attention long enough to tell us the truth?

Although, I must admit, these folks (Dinner guest finds host's wife and son in freezer) might have wished it was the truth!

Girls gone wild....

What is going on here?

Police in Oklahoma arrested a 12 year old and her 10 year old sister.

Why? What normal childhood hi-jinks did these two girls get involved in?

They kidnapped a neighbor's infant baby. Yes, these two budding criminal masterminds snuck into the neighbor's house at night, took the baby and left a note demanding a ransom of $200,000.00

They were caught when their mother found them hiding the baby boy. If it wasn't for the fact that babies are hard to hide when you're too young to drive them anywhere, these girls would have followed through with their plans.

And then there's the 11 year old who led police on a high speed chase topping 100mpg. Where was she headed in such a hurry? To pick her sister up at a concert.

Oh yeah, she was also intoxicated when the police stopped her.

Finally, how about the 4 year old who called 911 almost 300 times last month? What was her emergency?

She wanted the police to bring her food from McDonald's--guess her mom was trying to get her to eat healthy.

So.....the big questions: Where were the parents? And where did things go wrong with these kids?

Heroes Next Door

Happy Fourth of July!

Today we celebrate the birth of our nation. Yes, there will be fireworks and hotdogs and picnics. But without our heroes, it would all be meaningless.

Heroes come in many sizes. There are the larger than life ones: presidents and astronauts and religious figures.

Then there are the men and women who live next door. The often unsung heroes.

The wife preparing her family before she leaves for war. The father who carries a beeper and leaves the fireworks to go care for a sick child in the ICU. The ones working today wearing the uniforms of police, fire, rescue, EMS, nurses, etc…

We Americans pride ourselves on our humble roots that gave birth to a great nation. A nation built by heroes.

Who are your heroes?

While you’re standing at the grill today, take a look around–they might be standing right beside you.

Don’t be shy, shake their hand, and let them know that today’s celebration is for them!

Thanks for reading,

CJ