March | 2012 | Debra R. Borys

This opportunity happened so quickly there wasn’t time to give anyone an advance heads up. She has a variety of interesting authors highlighted on her site so after you take a peek at what I had to say, I suggested browsing a bit to see what else she has to offer.

The original idea for the Painted Black suspense plot came from a news article I read years ago in the Chicago Tribune. It was about a new method of preservation being used by taxidermists who freeze dried people’s pets to produce lifelike replicas that would last indefinitely. One person they interviewed stated that freeze drying could be used on people as well, and compared the process to cooking pizzas in an oven. He sounded so bizarre and unconcerned about it. In my research, I actually found an article in a mortuary magazine about a firm that did preserve a man in this manner.

via Literature & Fiction.

I’m not into sports. But I’m a big fan of teams. Teams work together and depend on each member. You don’t pick just anyone to be on your team. You pick dependable, hard working people who will push toward success.

You pick homeless people. Yes, that’s right, homeless people. That’s what Urban Ministries did in Charlotte, and look what they accomplished.

How do you give the homeless new goals and dreams? Urban Ministries in Charlotte did just that by creating a street soccer team with homeless men playing men of all backgrounds, both racial and financial, all around the county.

“Because they look and act just like everyone else on that field they’re treated like everyone else,” said Fink.

The team went on to win a USA street soccer championship, which made the newspaper and caught the attention of Bert Hesse, Executive Director of Central Avenue Pictures.

via Homeless soccer team inspires movie filmed in Charlotte | WCNC.com Charlotte.