One Moment One Morning

Exclusive interview with author Sarah Raynere and a review of her new book about friendship and how to keep going durring difficult times. *** 3 Stars

By Gabrielle Pantera

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 2012/5/17 - “I was sitting on the Brighton to London train one morning, when a passenger was taken ill on board and an ambulance called,” says One Moment One Morning author Sarah Rayner. “We all had to get out at a stop en route, and I ended up sharing a taxi with a group of women I’d not met before to a stop further up the line. A few weeks later, I lay awake unable to sleep, and remembered this event, and thought it would be a great premise for a novel. I started writing the very next day.”

It’s a story surviving and moving on, of growing, of exploring the human condition. The characters are believable and you will empathize with the character and what they’re going through. Feminists will like the women’s empowerment theme. One of the characters is a lesbian. If you’re looking for something light, this isn’t it.  The story is full of angst. It’s about death and friendship and how to go on living.

One Moment, One Morning is the story of how one incident on the train impacts on the lives of three different passengers. On the 7:44am train from Brighton, Anna is impatient. She’s, on her way to a big meeting in London. Also travelling to London, Lou is relaxed and watching others in the car around her. Across the aisle, a husband strokes his wife’s hand. Then suddenly the man collapses, the train is stopped at the next stop to get an ambulance Karen, the man’s wife, Anna and Lou will have their lives changed by what happens on the train.  One Moment, One Morning is about family, love and loss and friendship.

“From the outset my aim was to write something that didn’t shy from difficult emotional issues,” says Raynor. “I felt I had something fresh to say about three themes: bereavement, alcoholism and hidden sexuality in the context of friendship. I like to be entertained but also touched…gain greater understanding when I read, so that’s what I tried to deliver.”

“Most of One Moment, One Morning was written from my heart and life experience rather than research,” says Raynor. “But, I did find online forums brilliant. There is a lot out there about bereavement and grief, and also about coming to terms with being gay. To be able to tap into other people’s experiences and insights was extremely helpful.”

Raynor says that a side effect of writing One Moment, One Morning has been that many old friends have got back in touch. “I’ve not changed my name, so I’m still Sarah Rayner, just as I was at school and university, and because the book has been a bestseller in the UK and there’s my web address inside, it’s brought many people back into my life. My old school friends, people I studied with at university, ex colleagues, even my old English teacher have all got in touch and I’ve met up with a good many of them. Because my book is partly about how old friends help one another through crises, it seems particularly appropriate that it’s brought so many people back into my life.”

One Moment, One Morning is Raynor’s third book. Its international sales have enabled Raynor to pursue fiction writing full time. Her first two novels, The Other Half (2001) and Getting Even (2002) were well received and translated across Europe.

Rayner didn’t set out to be a novelist. Her first job was in fashion PR. “One day my boss took me on one side and told me she thought I was better at writing than schmoozing clients, and suggested I become an advertising copywriter. I took the hint, for ten years worked in various London agencies.” She had short stories published by the weekly magazine Woman’s Own, was for many years an author and copywriter.

Raynor’s fourth novel, The Two Week Wait, is being published in the UK at the same time her third novel is being released in America. Raynor is busy promoting both books. She’s also revising The Other Half and Getting Even so they can be re-released later this year.

Raynor says the most challenging part of working with a publisher is the covers. “I’m absolutely passionate about the covers of my books. I grew up in a household where words and pictures worked together. My mother wrote and illustrated children’s books. Plus I have an advertising background, so I’m used to having a big input into how things look. As a result, I find it very hard to let the design side of a book go. I imagine I am a nightmare for Picador, my UK publisher, because I am very opinionated, but hopefully it pays off. I adore the teacups cover for One Moment, One Morning. I like the American edition best of all.”

Raynor lives by the sea in Brighton. She’s lived there nine years. “The presence of the city is very strong in my book. One reader described One Moment as ‘a love song to Brighton’.” Raynor was born in London, and spent my childhood in Richmond, Surrey. She studied English at Leeds University.

www.thecreativepumpkin.com

Twitter @creativepumpkin

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000201987213#!/pages/Sarah-Rayner/272812046079462

One Moment One Morning by Sarah Rayner

Trade Paperback, 416 pages, Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin; Reprint edition (December 20, 2011) Language: English ISBN: 9781250000194 $14.99

Minibar flowerbox

With Mother’s Day right aroud the corner here are a few ideas of what to get mom to show her how much you love her.

By Gabrielle Pantera

Hollywood CA (Gosh!TV) 2012/5/4 Mother’s Day is right around the corner and below are a few items that mom might enjoy on her special day.

Botanica Basics makes handcrafted soap using nature based ingredients. Botanica Basics is located in the lush, rolling hills of the Missouri Ozarks where they design, formulate and create their own products in a 500 sq ft soap studio and lab. Fragrances for Mother’s Day are Roses, Wine & Chocolate and Le Chocolat.

Roses, Wine & Chocolate combines the fragrant of pink rose, slightly fruity fragrance of Merlot , and semi-sweet dark chocolate ribbons. Le Chocolat soaps comes in dark Chocolate and white chocolate. Le Chocolate dark chocolate is made with bitter-sweet chocolate with hints of ginger, traces of Cardomon and softened with Jasmine. Botanica Basics has other fragrances or you can get unscented items. If you’re unsure what to give the Sampler is a great choice. You can select two, four or six half size soaps. Each soap is wrapped and labeled. These soaps are also the perfect size for traveling.

The www.botanicabasics.com

Dry Diva Floral

Dry Divas shower caps are high end shower caps to protect mom’s hair when she doesn’t have a lot of time to redo her hair. Dry Divas shower caps are designed to fit for every type and length of hair. The bouffant size is great for medium to long hair and the classic size works well for short to medium length hair. Designed to fit means the water stays out and your hair stay dry and voluminous, not wet and flat. A few celebrity moms such as Sharon Stone, Brooke Burke, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Julianna Margulies, Julia Roberts and Lisa Rinna are just a few who have approved them. You can customize your shower cap with the ribbon color of your choice and each cap is adorned with a fashionable embellishment designed to capture the diva in you!

www.drydivas.com

Belldini Cardigan

Belldini makes it easy to pull an outfit together. Whether it’s the weekend or the middle of the week, date night or a a night in with the family. Belldini has the secret have one statement piece that will stand out no matter what the occasion. Belldini specializes in day to evening wear, knits, cardigans and twin sets that come in bold colors, zig zag stripes, pinks, greens and metallic basics and textures. For 30 years, Belldini has been a favorite of stylists in Hollywood, providing exceptional designs catered to the trendsetters of today such as Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Skylar Grey, Kimberly Perry from the Band Perry, Esperanza Spalding, Jane Seymour, Daryl Hannah, Amber Rose, Kyle Richards, Le’Andria Johnson, Pauley Perrette and Victoria Secret model Anne Vyalitsyna.

http://www.belldini.com/

Earrings made in America

KeepAmerica.com is your source for all American made Mother’s Day gifts! From jewelry to flowers, this is the place to go to find made in America Mother’s day gifts.

www.keepamerica.com

Mom’s that like to Rock will enjoy Beethoven Shreds CD by the The Great Kat a Juilliard Grad Violin Virtuoso and World’s Fastest Guitar Shredder. The Great Kat was awarded Top 10 Fastest Shredders of All Time by Guitar One Magazine. She’s had over 1 million YouTube views at http://www.youtube.com/user/KthomasPR.

Beethoven Shreds CD showcases classical music shredded on the guitar & violin. Some of the great music is written by Beethoven, Bach, Paganini and more. Beethoven Shreds CD: $7.95

http://www.greatkat.com

Ladybug Jane Lip balms

Ladybug Jane is the brainchild of Jane May Grave. She aa actress, model and scientist. The Ladybug Jane character was inspired from a dream Jane had when her mom was diagnosed with stage four cancer.

Inspired by her mom’s diagnosis Jane researched the link between the environment, chemicals, and disease. Soon she discovered the ramped use of toxic chemicals in personal care products/cosmetics. First Jane created an award winning animation short, conscious video games and an Eco- health conscious product line  for a younger audiance. Ladybug Jane’s lip balms, are all about pure ingredients without compromising fun or flavor. Each balm is handmade with the finest plant based vegan and organic ingredients. Available at some Whole Foods and at the Lady Bug Jane Website $3.99

http://ladybugjane.com/

By Robin Rowe and Joshua De La Cruz

Coming May 5th, singer-songwriter Brian Burn live on Gosh!Radio

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 2012/5/3 – “I’m a pale white ghost floating,” says indie rock artist Brian Burn. “My music is mellow rock-n-roll, with lyrics that paint imagery of love and sadness. You can take many meanings from my lyrics but mostly they are stories of past experiences.” Burn is recording his first album, Heart Is A Ghost Town.

The music of Brian Burn is an indie rock sound in the genre of Echo & the Bunnymen, Vast and David Bowie. The poetic lyrics hint at Burn’s spiritual depth as an artist. A strong mix of melody and vocals drives the music into the psyche of the listener. The songs go from soft ballads, like Alive and Hope Is a Grave, to faster uptempo numbers like Follow Me, where guitar riffs linger like shades of grey over the pounding beat of the drums.

Host Gabrielle Pantera will interview Brian Burn and take callers’ questions on Gosh!Radio Meet the Music. Watch the show live at www.goshradio.com. Viewers call in each week during the show to ask questions or give a shout out to the guests. Callers phone (559) 546 1700 in the United States: and enter code 472737. Gosh!Radio provides callers with local numbers in 15 countries that are listed on the web site. The show broadcasts worldwide on Saturday mornings at 10am Pacific time. Gabrielle Pantera is the entertainment editor for Hollywood Today.

Burn’s approach to songwriting is to try to set a mood. “I figure out what I want to say and how I want to say it,” says Burn. “I then come up with a melody. Usually the acoustic guitar helps me develop a rough skeleton of the song. I get inspired by movies and by interactions with people I love. I’m influenced by John Lennon, The Beatles, David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails.”

Burn has worked with producer Don Peake, who played guitar with the Everly Brothers and Ray Charles. Burn says he learned to produce from Phil Spector, Freddy Washington (Steely Dan) and James Gadson (Bill Withers), who came down and played on a song. Burn is currently working with Mark Dutton (Brian Jonestown Massacre) and Josh Fields on a new record. Burn, who started as a singer-songwriter this year, is putting together a full band.

“Singing is something that just came naturally,” says Burn. “I have been singing since I was a little boy, I have always loved music. As a child my mom would play music in the car everywhere we went and we would sing.” Burn sings and plays the guitar and bass.

Burn has played in Los Angeles at The Viper Room, Crane’s Tavern, Bordello Bar, The Key Club, The Gig, Cat Club. He’s played at Vino’s in Little Rock and the Rockit Room in San Francisco. No upcoming performances are scheduled, but Burn says he expects to be at The Viper Room or Hemingway’s soon, to check on the web site.

Artists who Burn would like to perform with someday include Marilyn Manson, Josh Homme, Jimmy Gnecco, Ethan Johns and Ryan Adams. “I love the work these artists have done,” says Burn. “They have inspired me so much.”

Brian Burn as born in the city of Orange in California. He grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. “I really enjoyed growing up there,” says Burn. “My mom took me to my first Marilyn Manson concert when I was 13 at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock. I have really fond memories of going to concerts and becoming a huge Marilyn Manson fan.”

Links

• facebook.com/brianburnmusic
• www.brianburn.com
• Twitter @brianburnla

Shokoufeh Malekkiani

Shokoufeh Malekkiani a young Iranian artist who’s photographic exhibit Altered States of Reality is at the Agora Gallery in New York from Tuesday April 24th through May 15th.

By Gabrielle Pantera

HOLLYWOOD, CA (GoshTV) 2012/4/26 “As a young girl my father was the first to give me a camera, encouraging me to capture images and scenarios by looking beyond the lens and into the grittiness of real life,” says photographer Shokoufeh Malekkiani. “Now, whilst acknowledging the help a legal background provides when working to effect change for the disadvantaged, I use my camera to help the underprivileged to be noticed.”

“For me, the hardest thing about my work is that I become so involved with the stories, the people or the culture or whatever I am shooting,” says Malekkiani. “One of the most difficult journeys that I have ever had if not the only one goes back to six years ago when I had decided to live with nomads to feel their pain and suffer by near which resulted in to a big risk of my health and left me with almost six months sickness and hospitalization.”

“Movement is the symbol of life and hope in different stage of my life and that’s what you can see in my photos,” says Malekkiani. “Life is moving on under any situations of said and unsaid of human being in different atmosphere and time which (lots) are still remained under the shadow of ambiguity. Yet, the truth of seeking for hope and self-wishes exist among thousands of unsaid words that are spreading like dandelion in universe which are observed in my photos.”

“Human moves on in an indescribable silence,” says Malekkiani. “One of the challenges of human being has always been the dream of saying the unsaid words. In my point of view, there’s not even a word unsaid on earth because human has been all the time whispering them during night or in the silence of oneself which was given for safe to water, soil and wind.”

Malekkiani is dedicating one of her masterpieces to the United Nations for their work in maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

“Since 2009, I have been working at United Nations World Food Programme office in Iran on the position of the Honorably Artistic Consultant, and ever since I have sincerely dedicated all my life providing more benefit and help for not only the underprivileged in my country but also in the world,” says Malekkiani. “My upcoming exhibition in Agora gallery, Chelsea New York city is a collective exhibition is the recent dedication of one of my works on 50th anniversary of world food programme (WFP) fighting hunger worldwide for a better tomorrow,” says Malekkiani. “ WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger and the name of my collection is Magic of Words and it ‘s Photography with Persian calligraphy and at last, being one in the universe.

Malekkiani was born in Tehran and is still based there. You can find her online at www.shokoufehmalekkiani.com or
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Shokoufeh/252305864855023

By Kandis Newman and Robin Rowe

Folk rock band Wicked Saints live on Meet the Music

HOLLYWOOD, CA (GoshTV) 2012/4/25 – “Our slogan isn’t completely true,,” says Wicked Saints lead singer Paul McCarty. “Raw organic music with no artificial sweeteners that’s good for you? Some of it is slightly toxic.”

Host Gabrielle Pantera will interview Wicked Saints and take callers’ questions on Gosh!Radio Meet the Music. Watch the show live at www.goshradio.com. Viewers can call in questions during the show. Gosh!Radio provides callers with local numbers in 15 countries. The show broadcasts worldwide on Saturday mornings at 10am Pacific time.

The music of Wicked Saints is from the heart and original. It’s folk rock mixed with Americana. Folk rock combines elements of American folk music and British beat rock music. Americana is an mixture of folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and bluegrass.
The band’s debut album is their self-titled album Wicked Saints. The first album is entirely Paul McCarty originals. The next album will include co-writes with local artist Raspin Stuwart, with Carrie Wade and a cover of a Chauncey Bowers. Wicked Saints has a digital distribution deal with Cinderella Records at MusicXray.com. All music is available on the bands website wickedsaints.net, iTunes and Amazon.

The Wicked Saints members are Paul McCarty, John Gannon, Chad Watson, Bobby Thomas. McCarty plays guitar, harmonica and is lead vocalist. Gannon does drums, cajon and backup vocals. When not playing with the Wicked Saints, Gannon plays guitar, sings and performs his own originals. Thomas plays accordion, piano and keyboards. Watson plays bass. “Chad Watson, our bass player, has a rich past,” says McCarty. “He’s played with guys like Freddie Fender, Charlie Rich, Janis Ian.”

“Wicked Saints is my outlet for original songs,” says McCarty. “I almost always start with a groove and a melody and then fit words into the melody. Each individual song might have it’s own message. For example, ‘Todd Palin should leave his wife’ or ‘Paul will never have a successful relationship’ or ‘Be kind to blackbirds’.” McCarty’s songwriting influences are Ryan Adams, Gordon Lightfoot, and Neil Young.
In Los Angeles, the band has played at Molly Malone’s, Genghis Cohen and Kulak’s Woodshed. McCarty has played solo shows in Austin and New Orleans. Gannon recently at SXSW with Brent Michelle. Watson has also toured extensively.

Wicked Saints is performing in Carmel on April 14th at the Plaza Linda Mexican Cantina. “Opening for a legendary act like Neil Young or Tom Petty would be an experience of a lifetime,” says McCarty.

“I’m from New Orleans,” says McCarty. “It has of course a great musical tradition as everyone knows.” McCarty began playing in bands in high school, then studied voice during college. McCarty played bass in Marc Platt’s band. McCarty works with the charity Treepeople.org, planting trees around Los Angeles.

Links

• http://wickedsaints.net/
• http://www.facebook.com/wickedsaints

Gabrielle Pantera is the entertainment editor for Hollywood Today.

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 2012/4/23-”If they win, I’m going to sit there and go, ‘Gosh!,’” says Kevin Davitian.

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HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 2012/4/23-”It’s called MOVE mobile closet… and it’s kinda like… the old steamer trunks…how they used to travel around in the olden days,” says co-founder Rachel Matthai.

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HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 2012/4/23-”It’s all about nail polish and it’s all about color…. so we have our Oscar collection that we’re featuring here at GBK,” says marketing manager Susie Nalivka.

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HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 2012/4/23-”[Our GBK cake] is just dramatic and has Oscar spirit,” says owner Paul Delagnes

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HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 2012/4/23-”From the last time we saw you we now have about 800 members.” says member Nikki Cutro.

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