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A laugh could be described as an exaggerated smile. Unless it’s a giggle, a laugh involves showing your teeth, whether they be straight and white or crooked and stained. Laughing is good for your health in a number of ways, but doing it confidently will almost certainly require the services of a cosmetic dentist in Miami FL.

The post How a Cosmetic Dentist Can Make it Easier to Laugh appeared first on Jessabella Reads.

AdoraPet’s Pima Puppy and Pico Puppy Series  4 stars Author: YiShaun Yang Illustrators: Jeeyun Lee & Claire Cho Publisher: AdoraPet Publishing Publication Date: 2011 Number of Pages: 24 each book The AdoraPet’s Series, star Pima Puppy and Pico Puppy, two lovable characters ready to take your children on many journeys.  At a time when children’s [...]

We've all been asking the question. Where is publishing going next? In particular, I've been asking what an aspiring author should do in this day and age? Go traditional? Self-publish? This is a not-to-be-missed post about the future from A Newbie's Guide to Publishing entitled "Ebooks and Self-Publishing - A Dialog Between Authors Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath." Which makes me wonder if it's like Glenda the Good Witch said, you've had the power all along. Srsly thinking about clicking my ruby slippers together.

Today I went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I really think that one shouldn't move AND have their teeth cleaned too. Moving isn't really fun. Neither is having your teeth cleaned. But...NO cavities:) We've had some powerful storms here. Hail this morning. Over the weekend, on Saturday night, the storm was so crazy it blew over a portion of our grape-stake fence, the one between us and a neighbor up the hill. We went out to get stakes to make repairs and when we got back our neighbors had already shored the fence up. Nice surprise. Made getting the repairs done much easier. And it was a cool way to meet the neighbors.

Image by illuminaut via Flickr

What’s one of the most vivid childhood memories you have about a visit to the dentist?

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Yesterday, after my root canal, my dashing doc informed me that I have "unusual roots" and pointed to the x-ray of said tooth and told me my roots "talk to each other." I smiled. I have extra bones in my feet too, I said [which led to me being a writer, but that's another story]. He smiled. I'm a mutant. It's funny. And, I have to admit that I'm not shocked that the roots of my teeth "talk" to each other. Guess that's where all my characters come from:)

Feeling better than expected, in spite of my "unusual roots" which took a bit longer to canal then those boring regular roots everyone else seems to have, I floated out of the dentist chair and found Mx waiting for me, curled up with the Rob Pattinson Vanity Fair article. She handed me a teddy bear. It was the best surprise. And he's really fluffy too. The nice, soft kind of teddy bear. And I needed a teddy bear. I fell asleep with him last night, still wearing my glasses with my current read, The Ghost Sea, folded on top of me.

Teddy bear in hand, Mx and I went for a mani/pedi and shuffled over to the cinema in those girly pedi flip-flops you get after a pedi to see Nine.

Every writer should see Nine. It got the cold shoulder at the box office this holiday season because, well, there were SO many fabulous movies released this season. But, if you write GO. It explores the imagination and POV in ways seldom seen in cinema.



I often wonder why, with such an appetite for movies, I don't try and write a screenplay. I guess I know my own long-winded nature. Heck, my roots talk to each other. I don't think I'll ever have the talent to write a story in 120 pages and show, show, show. I guess it's the window into a character's mind that so intrigues me about novels and that movies can't accomplish in the same, intimate way. But, Nine comes close even if it was slow in spots. I felt that The Story Fairy paid me a visit during this movie and showed me what can be done with POV and its intimacy in movies.

Candy and I visit a 500 year old tree in the town where she and her boyfriend are waiting out the winter so they can hit the road again come March

Laura who? Um...yeah, about that. Happens to everybody. A break in "the MO." It's like working out. Whenever I travel, I usually break my routine and sometimes it takes weeks to recover. That's sorta what happened to my posts. And what's funny is I wonder if anything that I write is every really missed. I'm sure in a world of hundreds of years of novels to catch up on and infinite Internet reading this lil' ol' blog isn't a big deal in the scheme of things. But, well, I miss it. And I miss you.



Catching up: The long and winding road from Cali to Florida

Got to make a few dreams come true over the past few weeks. Flew to New York and met with my editor. Talked story and had lunch in cafes and wrote and wrote and wrote. Best part? I think I have a great idea for an ending. Well, at least the last scene. Makes me happy. And I had a great time visitng with my sis and her family and my parents and my daughter and her boyfriend in Florida:)



Mom and Dad and Me enjoying a walk at their beautiful new home



Me and my sis



Candy's new pad

I was talking with my bro this AM about how a holiday can take every emotion we feel and blow them up to epic proportions. Case in point? Yesterday. Finding out I needed a crown. Sitting in the dentist's chair with all my shopping to do and baking to do. Admittedly most of the baking is self-inflicted this year as a random chain of events/life changes leave Joe and I alone this Thanksgiving. We are going to our neighbor's for turkey and a bonfire this year. I might get to see a friend on her way through Big Sur with her family. She's Welsh and they are admittedly Thanksgiving challenged:) Anyway, I arrive home late last night to find that the garlic didn't make it home. I live one hour and 20 minutes from a grocery store. And, I had the world's best chicken soup to make because, well, I needed it. NO GARLIC was the last straw.

It's kinda funny. What's your last straw? You got plenty left? Well back to the cooking and the 20K left on my nano novel. I do hope the soup turns out ok. It's kind of funny how every time I decide to cook like a mad woman the weather heats up. It's hot, hot, hot here....

WE MISS YOU MX!!! Hope they have good pumpkin pie in Italy:)

Hope this Thanksgiving finds you surrounded by those that you love! [and lots of straws left :) ]

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It’s time for your semi-annual visit to your dentist. What better way to pass the time than to read a fortune cookie saying. Here are fifteen sayings from your dentist for your amusement:

1. A smile will get you everywhere unless you have a mouth full of rotten teeth.
2. Go ahead and eat all the sweets that you like. After all, you are supporting my son’s education.
3. It is impolite to floss in front of your girlfriend.
4. It’s time that you got at the root of your problems.
5. Hey, hey, hey, you have a lot of decay.
6. You will soon get a thrill at our powerful new drill.
7. You do not get gum disease by chewing gum.
8. Brace yourself for this important message. Your daughter needs braces.
9. Getting a crown on your tooth does not make you a King.
10. You’ll never pass the kissing test if your mouth has bad breath.
11. Make haste and go out and buy some toothpaste.
12. Never pick at your teeth with a fork.
13. Green teeth are not pretty or natural unless your name is Shrek.
14. Vampires should gargle twice a day with blood after brushing their teeth.
15. The tooth fairy is not real. Deal with it!

I dreaded last Monday. I sat in the dentist’s chair and knew my relationship with molar number 19 would change forever. We’d had a lot of good years together. I’d avoided this apt. for about two months now. The only postponement was legit. I swear. A sinus infection. Srsly. Glad I postponed because I needed all my breathing power. Here’s how it went:

Cue the drill, that high-pitched screech. Chills raced down my spine and my eyes widened in the way that only a dentist’s drill causes, a sort of nonchalant bug-eye. This is followed by a weird rattling in my mouth and sometimes, well, pain. I told the good doc about not being quite numb enough [surprising since Dr. McD has what I’d call a heavy hand with the Lidocaine, if he had poured wine I’d have called it a fine hand, which seems a little discriminatory to me]. Dr. McD numbed me some more, a Lidocaine fountain spilled out of my mouth on the last shot as if I couldn’t get any more numb. Back to drilling.

As far as I’m concerned the most crucial decision came pre-drill. And involved my drilling playlist. I hadn’t created one on my iPod so I had to figure it out on the fly. I wouldn’t really call myself a coward. I had two babies, C-section, and I was awake so I could hold them right after the birth. But when the Dr. asked me if I wanted a mirror to watch the actual birth I passed. I don’t think that’s exactly cowardly. I just had this whole Lord-Of-The-Flies creepy moment about being operated on and then being asked if I wanted to see myself being operated on. No, thanks. Crowns are different but just as big in the world of teeth. It’s not like they are “filling” a tooth. A whole new one is being made for you. You don’t have that tooth when you leave. One of the extraordinarily cool things about having a baby is you leave the hospital with something really cool.

Anyway, back to the playlist. I chose Michael McDonald singing covers of lots of R & B hits. And I have to say, if it wasn’t for Michael’s crooning, I probably wouldn’t have gotten through this thing ok. He’s kinda like an old friend. I saw the Doobie Brothers on their first farewell tour in 1981 at Navy Pier.

About ¾ of the way through grinding ol’ number 19 into oblivion, Dr. McD says, “You have a very strong tongue. Just try and relax it a little.”

That’s one I haven’t heard before. Strong tongue, huh. OK. Relax my tongue. Relax my tongue. But all that happened when I focused on my tongue was that it seemed to swell to five times its size and interfered with my breathing. I had to tell myself: breathe in, breathe out.

“Relax your tongue if you can.” This he said bracing my tongue on the right side of my mouth as Roxy, his assistant, pulled on the left with one of those mirror thingys while Dr. McD desperately drilled away the last bit of my tooth. I almost asked them to take a picture for the blog.

Reminding myself to breathe, being a little high-maintenance with the tilt of the chair, and having Michael stop singing was too much for me. I raised my iPod up trying to select more music, any album. I click and click so that I wouldn’t have to hear the drill. No matter what I did I couldn’t get another song to play due to a combination of things really: my mouth being stretched so wide my eyes were little slits, not having my glasses and not knowing my iPod well enough so I could use it blindfold. In short, I’m old. Old people get crowns and don’t know their iPods blindfold. I raised the iPod higher, past the fuzzy silhouette of instruments hanging out of my mouth. A song played, The Overture to Phantom of the Opera. Matched the drama of the moment but I really didn’t need any more drama right now. Didn’t seem quite right as some of the notes sung hit the same frequency as the drill.

End the end, all was well. Dr. McD and I are still on speaking terms even in light of my powerful tongue. I’m still a little sore but I’ve learned a few things I didn’t know about myself. I love learning new things about people and places I’ve known for a long time. I may have a strong tongue but I’m no coward. I kept the apt. And soon I’ll be welcoming a porcelain cast of ol’ number 19 who I’m hoping will find a happy home for many years to come.

No More Gunk! is a Double Doozie - two books in one! This book is the first for a new imprint of Guardian Angel Publishing. The Health & Hygiene line features books teaching children about taking care of their bodies.In No More Gunk! by Donna J. Shepherd, short, playful rhymes and Kevin Scott Collier's humorous illustrations help children learn in a fun way the importance of proper dental

Kevin and I have teamed up again. Guardian Angel Publishing will release No More Gunk! - an ebook for kids about taking care of teeth. Another exciting development - this book along with Ouch! Sunburn! will be released together as a print book. They both address a children's health issue. Watch for more news soon!