I won a $50 gift card for a poem!
Current mood: pleased

Hi, all,

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My new book is now available! See A.F. Stewart’s great review!
Current mood: excited
Category: Writing and Poetry

My new book is available at DragonCon! With cover art by the amazing Gareth Botha and fascinating women of the blues to write about, I think you'll find T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do a fast and interesting read.

See what writer A.F. Stewart had to say about it here:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=201501535&blogID=418031320&indicate=1

and then go to Amazon and type in Rhetta Akamatsu to see it and my book Ghost to Coast there!

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Got the proof copy of my book!

I got the proof copy of my new book, "T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do: Blues Women Past and Present" yesterday, and it's just beautiful. The pictures all printed perfectly and the cover is gorgeous! Gareth did such a fabulous job designing it for me. I did have to correct one thing (there was an extra  blank page in the middle,) but aside from that, it's perfect. I'm really excited to have a chance with this book to showcase the women blues singers, who so often get mostly ignored by the blues books. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and the other early singers and Bonnie Raitt and the other contemporary singers deserve recognition, and this book gives it to them. I just hope people will actually buy it, when it's available in a couple of weeks.

If anybody has suggestions for places or events to promote this book, let me know!

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Just Ordered the Proof Copy of My New Book!
Current mood: excited

So after my friend and great graphic artist Gareth finished my book cover and I managed to properly format and upload my manuscript and the cover, I got word that the book was published and I could order the proof copy! I am supposed to receive it by July 11th, and if all the picture printed properly and everything, it will be available for sale on Amazon immediatly thereafter!

I'm so excited. I'm really proud of this book, T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do, about blues WOMEN. I wrote it because I could not believe I was picking up blues books that did not even mention Ma Rainey, or Bessie Smith, or Sippie Wallace, or any of the other female blues greats, much less the women who carry on the tradition today, like Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, and Susan Tadeschi.  My book at least puts their stories out there.

I really can't wait to get my copy and see how it  all looks..

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Guess who’s the new assistant editor of Paranexus Paranormal Research Magazine

I am! And when I learn the job, I'll be the editor!

Go check http://www.paranexus.org and see what's it all about!

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Ghostock 6 was a blast!

Last weekend, May 8-11, we went to Ghostock 6 in Savannah, hosted and
organized by Patrick Burns. I had been doing pr for months and so had
Patrick and Pam, and a lot of people helped spread the word, but
there were still only about 100 of us, a bit disappointing for
Patrick, but great for the rest of us! The smaller size makes the Con
intimate and gives everyone a chance to interact with everyone,
guests and intendees alike. And with guests like Keith Age from
Spooked! and Children of the Grave!, my favorite speaker ever, Murray
K. Silver, psychics Michael and Marti Parri, and John J. Oliver,
Patrick's costar on Haunting Evidence, the interaction was intensely
interesting and a whole lot of fun.

As for the investigations, almost every team had at least some
evidence and a lot of personal experiences. A couple of the teams got
to experiment with brand new equipmend designed by guest Bill
Chappell specifically for paranormal investigation, a whole new
concept since everything else we use was invented for some other
field. They got some pretty amazing results, particularly in apparent
audio communication.

Overall, it was a great four days, in one of America's most beautiful
cities. If you've never been, another one comes around in the fall,
and it will be worth every penny for you to attend.

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Help Save Troy Davis!
Current mood: determined

On May 17th, 2008, from 10 AM until 2 PM, there will be a rally at the State Capital in Georgia to urgently demand that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Patrols prevent the execution of Troy Davis, a man on Death Row who may very well be innocent.

Are we sure Troy Davis is innocent? That is the not the question. The question is,

Are we sure Troy Davis is guilty?

The answer to that question is obvious: No, we are not.

And once a person is dead, if the real killer is found, what do we say?

"Oh, we made a mistake," and then we bring Troy Davis back?

No, once he's dead, Troy Davis is dead and we cannot go back and say we were wrong.

Why do we believe Troy Davis is innocent?

Because the conviction was not based on any physical evidence. The murder weapon, for instance, was never found.

In 1991, Troy Davis, a black man, was convicted and sent to Death Row for the murder of a white police officer in Savannah. The conviction was based on the testimony of nine witnesses.

Seven of those witnesses have since recanted or changed their stories, and one of the witnesses may be the actual murderer, according to the testimony of these same witnesses.

The witnesses claim that they were pressured by the police to testify against Troy Davis. Each of these statements is from a different witness:

"[The police] were telling me that I was an accessory to murder amd that I would..go to jail for a long time..I was only sixteen and so scared of going to jail."

"After the officers talked to me, they gave me a statement and told me to sign it. I signed it. I did not read it because I cannot read...I have no idea what the person who shot the officer looks like."

"The thing is, Troy never told me anything about it. I got tired of them harassing me...I told him that Troy did it, but it wasn't true."

"There was and is no doubt in my mind that the person who shot the officer had the gun and was shooting with his left hand." Davis is right-handed.

"People on the streets were talking about Sylvester Coles being involved with klling the police officer, so one day I asked him..Sylvester Coles told me he did shoot the officer."

"I am positive that it was Red [Coles] who shot the police officer...[He] was wearing a white shirt..I would have testified to this but I was not asked by the state or by Troy's lawyer."

Sylvester (Red) Coles, one of the original witnesses against Troy Davis, has since been implicated in sworn statements by 9 witnesses.

So why is Troy Davis still on Death Row?

Recent severe cuts in Georgia's resources for legal defense and changes in death penalty law have made is very difficult to mount an effective defense. Recently, Davis's two lawyers have represented 160 people on Death Row alone. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, passed in 1996, increased restrictions on reviews. So far, no court will even hear the case, so the new evidence has never been heard.

The Death Penalty should only be used in the case of incontrovertible, iron-tight evidence, if at all. Troy Davis, if he is executed, will be the victim of lack of funds and unfair laws.

If you agree, and you cannot or do not wish to attend the rally, please go here to learn more and to sign the petition:

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=10022

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Shakespeare: The Sequel

Just for fun, I've been rewriting Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to A Summer's Day."

Here's his version:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Here's mine:

You sorta make me think of a summer's day.
You're hot like one, but not as sweaty.
We get a lot of rains and storms in May,
And summer days shred just like confetti:
Sometimes the sun is just too doggoned hot,
And many times it doesn't even shine,
And fair-skinned girls get more sun than they thought,
And then their skin doesn't look so fine
As they get old and their skin gets taut.
But you will ever be my summer dream
And your skin will be as clear, unlined and fair;
And you'll never look like Death is on the scene
Even when you are old and sagging here and there.
As long as people live and they can see
They'll read this poem and that's the way you'll be.

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An excellent review for Ghost to Coast!
Current mood: ecstatic

This is a review from a Canadian reader on Amazon.ca and the Lulu website:

Ghost to Coast, penned by Rhetta Akamatsu, is a delightful guidebook to the unexplained and ghostly.  

The lively tone of the book begins with an introduction detailing the author's personal paranormal experiences, and reasons for writing this book; it was appealing enough to make me wish it was longer.

The rest of the book is an excellent paranormal reference manual that includes:

•          A ghost tour directory, cataloguing a list of ghost excursions by state.  It is well researched, with website listings, price lists, contact information, etc.  The directory is peppered with a smattering of reviews, based on the author's personal experience.
•          Two informative articles (one by a contributing writer) on paranormal investigation and ghost hunting, detailing the proper equipment and technical facts needed for ghostly research.  Even if you don't intend on joining the ranks, both items make entertaining and enjoyable reading.   Immediately after these two pieces is a state by state listing of paranormal research and ghost hunting organizations, complete with some intriguing photos.
•          An article (by another contributing writer), discussing both the scientific and metaphysical concept of spirits, that I found a thought provoking commentary.
•          A listing of haunted hotels, with excellent location and contact information and occasional notes of interest.  Always useful knowledge for planning that extraordinary vacation.
•          Also included is a lovely poem or two, which I found an enjoyable treat.

Overall, I found Ghost to Coast to be engaging, out of the ordinary, and well worth reading. 

I am so thrilled with this first review! Now if people start buying the book online and just not from me personally, so that I can afford to buy my own books for resale..

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Grandson Fred (Dog) is on MySpace

My grandson Fred, who happens to be a chihuahua, is so wildly popular he required his own MySpace. I warn you, his language is a bit rough, but hey, he’s a rock star and just so freakin’ cute..

Go check him out!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=361967344

or if the link doesn’t work, he’s Fred Darling in my top 8!

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