Lots of exciting news!
Friday, January 24, 2003Well, I was honored today with a wonderful promotion. As of today, I will begin my official tenure as forum manager at www.FictionAddiction.net. I am very excited...I'll be the main persoon that people come to in the forums for problems, and I'll be helping run the chats. They have some really great authors lined up, so I'm excited....hopefully aol will cooporate better than it did *ladt* year. I may end up going to the chats via Juno, because of the 12 hours free thing. I am also very grateful for the opportunity. I feel like my career is slowly building up, you know? Like I'm getting somewhere.
With my hoped for promotion on AOL to helping my lady Netera every week with chats, I'll be all chatted up. :)
Let's see...I'll also be changing domain names. I've decided to go with www.apenandfire.com because, even though a guy at a forum convinced me that I need to have my name scrawled all over the place (You may recall just a short time ago this page had my name in huge yellow letters across the top) it made me really uncomfortable. And A Pen and Fire has such a nice ring. Also, apenandfire has a sort of vauge alliteration with Andromeda Pendragon, my first charcater, who I hope to keep as a serial character. I have lots of Andromeda stories...and stories with the absolutely beautiful Prince Sevrin of the vampires, (I've got one in my head which is sort of a prequel...'Meda and her beloved Alaister are still litttle kids)
Also, a really special chat tonight at Writer to Writer. If you've never been, this is the night to try it.
Georgia Durante has been a sought after model, a stunt car diver, a ganster's wife...and she'll tell us all about it:
The Writer to Writer chat will welcome
Georgia Durante to its corner of cyberspace
on Friday, Jan. 24, from 9-10 PM ET.
We'll meet at:
http://chat.iuniverse.com/default/default.asp
channel=Writer_to_Writer.
About Georgia:
Georgia Durante has packed a lifetime of lessons into forty-eight years. Those who have known her for the past twenty years as one of Hollywood's most successful female commercial stunt drivers have been shocked by the truth of her past.Hollywood producers have known two Georgia Durantes: the steely-nerved stuntwoman with the skill to handle a three-ton high-performance vehicle in high-speed precision maneuvers; and the beautiful model and actress who, at seventeen, was considered the most photographed girl in the country.They knew only those sides of her because that was all she chose to reveal. Only now does she share the full story of her life, in The Company She Keeps. Compelling and terrifying, The Company She Keeps tells the true story of Georgia Durante's storybook beginnings in Upstate, New York when at the tender age of twelve, the radiant little girl began her national modeling career. At seventeen, she became the "Kodak Girl" immortalized with her life-size image displayed in more than 80,000 retail stores throughout the world.Soon the magnetic smile that propelled Georgia's modeling career served only to mask the pain she endured, her first brushes with mob violence, the birth of her daughter, and a failed marriage, all before she turned twenty. The roller-coaster that had become her life continued its downward ride as Georgia met, fell in love with, and married Joe Lamendola, a respected businessman, but one with a dark secret and ties to the Syndicate. Her retelling of the facts paints a picture of a victim hopelessly caught in a web constructed of her own emotions as well as the abuse and threats of the tyrant whose wife she had become. Suspense and intrigue abound as Georgia recounts the fighter she became in response to her surroundings. She, alone, determined the fate of the madman who had stalked her and kidnapped her daughter. Her constant search for meaning and the life she had always sought but could never quite find, manifested itself with many heartbreaking turns. Along the way, she's faced with:
Tragedy in her life and those whom she loves
The struggle of a child with a drug addiction
Fortunes made and lost
A confrontation with the "prince of darkness" which ends in death The Company She Keeps is powerful and raw; a deeply personal account of one woman's life. Model, Mafia wife, victim and victor, Georgia Durante saw the worst that life had to offer and escaped it. She embraced the positive, but kept the negatives so as never to forget. "Life is what it is," Georgia writes. "How we deal with it is what matters." She has dealt with it the only way she knew how: with determination and courage.###With her company, Performance Two, Georgia Durante has performed in hundreds of national and international television commercial campaigns. Her clients include all of the major automobile manufacturers as well as many of the most recognized brands and products in the world. Additionally she has appeared in numerous feature films and network television shows. Georgia's current boyfriend is the former Chief of the Strike Force on Organized Crime and she continues to make her home in Southern California.
Her website: Performance Two:The Driving Force
www.performancetwo.com
Synopsis
"The Company She Keeps" is the gripping tale of one woman's struggle to escape from the Mafia underworld. Now a successful stunt driver, Durante can dominate a two-ton vehicle at high speeds, but off road, she has careened from one emotional head-on collision to another.
What People Are saying about "The Company She Keeps"
"Georgia Durante has written a gripping, fast-paced, insider's look at an underworld she knew only too well. Breathtakingly readable." Sidney Sheldon - best-selling Author "We've all heard of the Mafia, and read about mobsters, but Georgia Durante saw them up close. She lived with them. She experienced their violence. She survived their wars. In The Company She Keeps, she tells her fascinating story. Once you read it, you'll never forget it." Jimmy Breslin - Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and best-selling Author "This wonderful story of courage offers an exciting and unique look at how organized crime in this country can destroy much more than the usual victims of its activities. Georgia Durante rose above it. I salute her." James D. Henderson - Former Chief of the Los Angeles Strike Force on Organized Crime, United States Department of Justice "Georgia Durante's life exemplifies many of the strengths I've written about. She refused to surrender to abuse, and moved from being a victim to being a victor. She's an inspiration for any woman who feels her situation is hopeless." Susan Forward, Ph.D. - best-selling Author of Emotional Blackmail and Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them "(Georgia Durante) has had quite a life, and the courage it takes to live it. I would have never imagined all (she's) been through. (She) hides a lot behind that lovely smile." Hugh O'Brian - Actor "I spent a lifetime chasing gangsters out of the lives of decent people with the help of my colleagues in the FBI. Georgia Durante chased them out of her life by herself. She should have worked with us. This is an exceptionally intriguing book with eye-opening lessons for everyone." Bill Fleming, Special Agent - (Retired)Federal Bureau of Investigation. "The Company She Keeps could very well be the woman's version of my biography, "Wiseguy". A truly unique and insightful dimension to the underworld, written with bone chilling detail. Very well done." Henry Hill - Wiseguy Witness Protection Program "Georgia Durante has great skill as an author. Her warmth, her daring and her intelligence make this book a great adventure. I couldn't put it down. Read this book! You'll be amazed, you'll be excited. You'll be grateful I made you do it." Buddy Hackett - Entertainer and Comedian "It's one of those stories that makes you want to write a better critique than anyone else's. But Georgia has written the best one of all. You'll agree with me tomorrow morning when you still haven't put The Company She Keeps to bed." Morton Downey, Jr. - Network Talk Show Pioneer "(The Company She Keeps) is the high-interest, quick paced account of life in the fast lane. At the heart is the love of danger and excitement which is, for (Georgia), almost a fatal flaw. Fortunately, a love of autos and an uncanny ability to control high-horsepower cars led to an unexpected escape route. (Hers) is a story well worth reading." Samuel Hallock duPont, Jr. - Entrepreneur and Philanthropist "Quite unreal, really. What a life."Graham Nash - Musician; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young "Once you start reading this book, you cannot put it down. This book covers everything from flashy show-people, to the mob, to ordinary everyday people. There's a surprise on every page and a twist and turn in every chapter." Dick VanPatten - Actor "(Georgia Durante) has an adventurous spirit and has led a glamorous life. She honestly shares painful experiences in this fascinating and entertaining book." Stella Stevens - Actress "(The Company She Keeps) is a story of today. Women will relate to (Georgia's) inner strength that enabled her to overcome obstacles; and men will relate to (her) courage and admire (her) perseverance." Marty Allen - Entertainer and Comedian "(The Company She Keeps) is a superbly written autobiography about a lovely young woman's struggle and victory. What a struggle; what a victory; and what a woman! Georgia is one of a kind, and so is her book." Alan Young - Actor and Author "In (The Company She Keeps) Georgia Durante, not only survived her years in the underworld, but lived to write about it. A fascinating life. A fascinating book." Nicholas Pileggi - Best selling author of Wiseguy (Goodfellas) and Casino
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