Oprah in Australia

Wow, what an amazing show yesterday on Oprah. The city of Sydney, Australia, gave her a rousing welcome. Prominent Australian celebrities--Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, Bono, all graced the stage and sang together. A very moving moment for Australians and for Oprah, too, no doubt. The number of fans who attended the show was amazing. It is a testament to the incredible power of global media and the rise of world super-stardom.

Celebrity Beginnings in Nashville

For Christmas,2010, I received a compelling book entitled They Came to Nashville. It was written by Marshall Chapman, a graduate of Vanderbilt and a singer-songwriter of note. The book includes Chapman's memories of her early days in Nashville and the people she knew before they became legends of country music. These include Miranda Lambert, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Rodney Crowell and other illustrious singers, songwrtiers, and musicians whose names we all recognize. It also includes transcripts of her taped conversation with each of these luminaries. I have found it be a fascinating read because I now have reference points in Nashville, among other reasons. I recommend the book to anyone who wants to get to know some country music greats as people first. Another interesting note is that another country music legend, Wynona Judd, has just penned her first novel. She will be holding a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Brentwood, south of Nsashville, on February 4. Celebs abound in Music City.

Nashville, Music City, USA

I can't believe I'm blogging again. It's as if I dropped off the earth, isn't it? It has been so long since I've blogged. In spite of all my good intentions, obviously, I did not blog everyday, as I had written that I was going to do. A lot has happened in the interim, which could be the reason I havent' been thinking about blogging. I'm relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, a major-big change from sunny Southwest Florida. I completed the manuscript of my second novel, A Wild Dream of Love, and sent it off the the publisher. A Wild Dream of Love is the sequel to my novel, A Chance to Say Yes. I have the writing bug, but I need to straighten out the practical aspects of my new life, so I must pace myself. Book Three is spinning around in my head. Yes, it has a title--and I have other works sloshing in there along with it. I'm not going to say I'll blog regularly any more because I didn't live up to my words last time I wrote that. Oh, and I just joined www.meetup.nashvillewriters. More about that soon.