On Colorado Blvd.

I want to share a music video with you. A night shot would have been better but I didn't have one, and there are plenty of night shots in the video.

The song is On Colorado Blvd. by Steven Rue. ("Rue" means street or road in French. Coincidence?)

The singer is Liela Avila. What a voice, huh? I haven't heard her sing anything else, but I think she's fab.

This building must be historic, but I couldn't find any information about it. Perhaps you know something? The Kate Spade store is 39 W. Colorado Blvd.

Thanks much to Paula Johnson's flash fiction site, Rose City Sisters, for the song.

Belinda's Birthday

I am going boldly forward into the self-publishing world! So boldly, in fact, that I'm following in Margaret Finnegan's footsteps. It's like when you walk behind someone in deep snow and place your feet in the footprints they made. Bold! Forging behind!

One of these days I swear I'll come up with ideas of my own, but right now I'm thanking Margaret for the courage, and for this sentence: "Just start with a short story." So I've started with Belinda's Birthday on Smashwords. I first published the story on Paula Johnson's The Rose City Sisters (now at its fancy new WordPress location). Belinda's Birthday was a runner-up for story of the year on that site in 2009. Perhaps you've already guessed the winner.

Finnegan's a damned marketing genius. How can I compete with that? I can't. She makes cake with cocoa frosting. I make lentils. We do what we can with what we have.

I hope you'll download Belinda's Birthday for FREE, and maybe even give me a 900-star review. (Or whatever. I don't think  Smashwords will let you give me 900 stars, but I'll take as many as they'll allow.)

This is the first step, of course, to publishing my novel, Camelot & Vine. Camelot, here we come!

Horn Tooting

I know what you're going to say: there are no horns in this picture.

I've decided I'm allowed to toot my own horn every once in a while. I love old phrases like that, don't you? It's easy to figure out how that one arose, but where do you suppose "they had me over a barrel" comes from?

I digress.

Please visit my new website, PetreaBurchard.com, designed by Paula Johnson, which officially launched yesterday. Sign up to be on my mailing list if you'd like to receive the occasional (and I do mean occasional) update. Bookmark it. Read my stuff. Say hello.

Then head over to the mausoleum. You meet the nicest people there. In the picture above are (L-R) Shannon, Kirk, Tracy, a puffball whose name I didn't catch, Ann and Sofia. Sofia was there for her Halloween costume fashion shoot and the others were enjoying Mountain View Mausoleum. It's a gorgeous place, one of the Dena's most beautiful buildings, and you're welcome to visit respectfully weekdays and Saturdays 10-4 and Sundays 11-3.

I was there to interview company members of Wicked Lit about their new show for a piece in Altadena Patch. The show opens at the mausoleum and in the cemetery October 21st. Mosey on over and read my article, if you please. No strings attached.

Update 10/13: By the way, there's currently an art exhibit upstairs at the mausoleum of Halloween-themed art. Shannon Shea, pictured at left, has a painting in the exhibit. Good news: it sold!

Skye and More

Skye Moorhead in her studio

More and more these days you need a professional headshot. That old snapshot of you guzzling a can of PBR in your "Zeppelin Rules!" t-shirt (or was that me?) doesn't cut it for online business networking. You need a pro photographer who's got the studio, equipment, make-up artist, camera, assistant, and all the blah blah blah and dayam! It gets expensive!

Maybe not this time. I was visiting Pasadena photographer Skye Moorhead in her studio the other day and it just so happens that she'll be shooting a special Photo Day this Saturday, May 15th. There are still spaces available. For a discounted rate, you get it all because marketing genius Paula Johnson is putting it together. Paula has produced several of these photo days for Skye (this one's #6) with great results. Check out the links and see all the fantastic faces Skye's photographed.

Skye's passion is photographing people with their pets. Although they won't be there on photo day, a casual visit to Skye's studio can mean a cuddle with Otter and Augustus, her friendly Labrador mixes. Boz doesn't like having his picture taken but Skye makes you feel so comfortable I think he'd enjoy it. And I'd love to have one of her portraits of him and me.

Ooh! I just thought of this:
"More and more these days you need a professional headshot. A Moorhead shot."

Whaddaya think? Think Skye'll use it on her website? Think she'll pay me the big bucks for it? Who's the marketing genius now, huh, Paula? Huh?

Nevermind.