MERCURY: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury 
by award-winning rock journalist Lesley-Ann Jones

As the lead vocalist for the iconic rock band Queen, Freddie Mercury’s unmatched skills as a songwriter and flamboyant showmanship made him a superstar, and Queen became a household name. But few people ever really glimpsed the man behind the glittering faÇade. 

Lesley-Ann Jones presents the full portrait of both the complex man and the myth in her new book Mercury.  Jones who toured widely with Queen, has secured more than 100 interviews with key people in the life of pop star Freddie Mercury,  one of pop music’s best-loved and most complex figures.


Mercury was the first major rock star to die from AIDS. Now, twenty years after his death, those closest to him are finally opening up about this pivotal figure in rock n’ roll. With unprecedented access to Mercury’s tribe, rock journalist Lesley-Ann Jones has crafted the definitive account of Mercury’s legendary life. Jones details Queen’s slow but steady rise to fame, and Mercury’s descent into dangerous, pleasure-seeking excesses. Jones doesn’t shy away from Mercury’s often colorful lifestyle—this was, after all, a man who once declared, “Darling, I’m doing everything with everyone.”

In her journey to understand Mercury, Jones traveled to London, Zanzibar, and India—talking with everyone from Freddie’s closest friends, to the sound engineer at Band Aid (who was responsible for making Queen louder than the other bands), to second cousins halfway around the world, an intimate and complicated portrait emerges. Meticulously researched, sympathetic yet not sensational, Mercury offers an unvarnished, revealing look at the extreme highs and lows of life in the fast lane. 

Freddie Mercury will be the subject of a major motion picture titled Mercury, slated for 2012 production, produced by Graham King, starring Sacha Baron Cohen. This book is a key source for the film. Mercury is the most compelling, up-to-date portrait of an enigmatic entertainer who thrilled audiences around the world with a magnetism matched by few performers.

Meticulously researched, sympathetic yet not sensational, MERCURY offers an unvarnished, revealing look at the extreme highs and lows of life in the fast lane. Jones details it all from Queen’s slow but steady rise to fame, to the creation of ground breaking songs like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, to the decadent, raucous after parties Queen became infamous for, to the band’s creative process and their perpetual quest to challenge themselves musically. 

To gain a better understanding of Mercury’s early life and his somewhat fraught relationship with his traditional, conservative past Jones traveled to Zanzibar, his birthplace, and India, where he attended boarding school.  Jones also provides new insights into the great loves of Mercury’s life—long-time girlfriend Mary Austin, chef Joe Fanelli, German soft-porn star Barbara Valentin, live-in-lover Jim Hutton—and what those relationships meant to him.  In MERCURY a compelling, definitive portrait emerges of this enigmatic entertainer who thrilled audiences around the world with a magnetism matched by few performers.

*Freddie Mercury continues to be a cultural icon.  Adam Lambert, who has often express his adoration of Mercury, will reportedly will join Queen in concert at the Sonisphere Festival this July.  Also author Lesley-Ann Jones was consulted personally by screenwriter Peter Morgan as a significant source for the upcoming major motion picture titled Mercury starring Sacha Baron Cohen, produced by Graham King.

Touchstone • $28.00 • on sale July 3, 2012.

Release date: April 27, 2012.
As the fight for marriage equality continues, co-authors and newlyweds Alvin and Antonio Lopez-Woods have written a book to further bridge the equality gap by focusing on several facets of two people in a relationship. Contrary to the book title, the overall theme of this book is love and respect two principles that all humans crave. In The Best Workout is “Sex”: A Gay Guide to Your Ideal Marriage,  Mr. and Mr. Lopez-Woods encourage couples to work on intimate relationship factors such as emotional and mental “sex” that will ultimately enhance the physical connection. For additional information, visit http://www.thebestworkoutissex.com.

Thursday, February 11th, 2010
by Page Hodel (Abrams)


Artist Page Hodel gifted her girl every Monday with a homemade heart throughout their relationship. They were made of hardware, grass, fruit and flowers as a show of love—a literal assertion that said, “I give you my heart.” However later, following the tragic passing of Hodel’s partner, she kept crafting those hearts in a tradition emoting a message of undying love.

Monday Hearts for Madelene features 100 images of Hodel’s hearts in a hardcover photo book exhibiting her unique, beautiful and inspiring handcrafted art pieces with a portion of the book’s royalties benefiting the Women’s Cancer Research Center in Oakland, CA.  

Chocolate Bliss by Susie Norris


Rub it on your body, pass it along, save it for future generations or eat it: Chocolate—the fermented seeds of the cacao tree yields a delicacy that has won the world over throughout history in almost every culture that ever existed. Artisinan chocolatier and pastry chef Susie Norris’s comprehensive celebration of which, per the book jacket, fully documents the sugary food stuffs “types and flavors, health and beauty benefits, origins, baking secrets, ecological influences, and gifting delights.”

It isn’t enough to say that Chocolate Bliss: Sensuous recipes, spa treatments, and other divine indulgencesis a book for the chocolate lover, but perhaps it’s more a book for chocolate’s lover.

by Anneka Manning (Thunder Bay Press)

If you dream of decadent desserts, this book will feed your weaknesses. From custards to brulees, after reading this book you will want all meals to START with desserts. And what would Valentines Day be with chocolate? Luckily, this book has options for all the chocoholics out there.Featured proudly on the cover of 101 Desserts to Eat Before You Die(t) is the chocolate brownie raspberry ice cream sandwich – a perfect Valentine’s Day treat! 

Chocolate Brownie Raspberry Ice Cream Sandwich

Ingredients (Makes 12)
8 cups fresh or thawed frozen raspberries
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
6 cups vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

chocolate brownies
2/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
12/3 cups superfine sugar
2/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
12/3 cups finely chopped dark chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:
Line a large square cake pan with baking paper, leaving a generous overhang on two opposite sides. Put raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a blender and blend to a pure?e. Reserve 1/2 cup of the puree and fold the remainder through the ice cream. Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Freeze for 2 hours, or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8 x 12-inch cake pan and line with baking paper, leaving the paper hanging over the two long sides. To make the brownies, sift the flour and cocoa into a bowl. Add the sugar, nuts, and chocolate. Mix together and make a well in the center. Pour the butter into the well, add the vanilla extract and eggs, and mix well. Pour into the pan, smooth the surface, and bake for 45 minutes (the mixture will still be a bit soft in the middle).

Allow the brownies to cool, then chill for at least 2 hours. Lift out, using the paper as handles. Trim and cut into twelve 2 x 3 1/2 inch rectangles. Then, using a serrated knife, cut through the center of each brownie to form two thinner brownie slices.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer. To remove it from the pan, use the overhanging paper. Cut the ice cream into 12 rectangles, the same size as the brownies. To assemble, put 12 brownie slices on a tray, top with a rectangle of ice cream, and then another brownie slice. Smooth the sides of the ice cream to neaten, if necessary. Freeze for 10 minutes until firm. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with the reserved raspberry sauce.

by Jose Lima & David Cohen • photography by David Vance

From Navyman to ballet dancer to Revlon’s Global Advertising Director and more––one would think that David Leddick has done it all. According to the 80-year-old Leddick, the answer is no.

At the age of 65, Leddick began his fourth career as a writer and actor. Since then, he has published 21 books, and he has no intention of stopping. Leddick firmly believes living to the fullest during his “middle-age years.” With the publication of his latest book How to be Gay in the 21st Century, Leddick is doing just that.

“Being gay is just like being Swedish. It’s a little different, but in no important way.” Or that’s what Leddick thought in 2005, as he was beginning to write this book. After getting a grip on what it is like to be gay in the 21st century, everything changed..

Leddick had many reasons to wait until after the new century to begin this book. “When I wrote this book five years into this new century, I felt many gay men still interacted with the world in a very old fashioned way,” stated Leddick. “They just weren’t ready to see it, and it has taken a while for people to grasp how different things have become.”

In this book, Leddick uses humor to explore the 21st century’s mind set on how to get gay right. As the cover states, “There’s nothing wrong with being gay, but a lot of people do it wrong.” Leddick looks at old clichés and taboos that need to be discarded and declares his mantra: find out who you really are and have the courage to create your life.

Being born in the 1930s, Leddick has seen much evolution in the gay world–especially during the beginning of this century. “There is a growing feeling that life is about fulfillment, not about what the neighbors think,” says Leddick. “I think you change as you are fulfilled.”

The 70-page humorous how-to-be-gay guide features witty and wicked photos of Leddick at the beginning of each chapter. The photos were ttaken by photographer David Vance. The book is dedicated to one of Leddick’s heroes, Quentin Crisp, who left a huge impact on his life. Leddick wrote, “I can only hope he would like this book: He probably wouldn’t.”

Leddick’s career as an author has included numerous fiction and nonfiction books. He has a number of art books focusing on the male body including The Nude Male, Naked in the Sun, Male Nude, and Male Nude Now.

Inspired by the art world in the late 1920s to the early 1950s, Leddick wrote the biography Intimate Companions: A Triography of George Platt Lynes, Paul Cadmus, Lincoln Kirstein, and Their Circle (2000).

Working as a dancer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in the 1950s gave Leddick the inspiration for his second novel The Sex Squad (1998), a tale of the golden age of the ‘50s at the Opera’s ballet.

Leddick has also written and performed in six musicals, and appears regularly on the various Sout Florida stages.

Leddick’s new blog “David’s Gay Dish” has quickly become a magnet for straight women and hetrosexual couples. “My work is ringing bells for many people who are not gay because I encourage my readers to reject what others might want them to be,” says Leddick.
“I advise everyone to know who you are, what will make you happy, and then pursue it.”
Leddick’s next two books, scheduled for release in the summer of 2012, are Meaningless Hugs, Meaningless Kisses and Hitting 80/Doing 100.
On the topic of aging, Leddick promises to forge forward. “I think living in your 80s is just middle-age. You can keep growing, keep changing, keep loving, and enjoy adventure. You can’t chicken out just because you’re older–you just have to be brave, which has been necessary all your life. Perhaps it has taken all these years to see what you’d like to experience in life. Now you must do it.”
Published by White Lake Press, How to Be Gay in the 21st Century is available for purchase at www.davidleddick.net ($14.95). You also can visit his blog www.davidgaydish.blogspot.com.

Monday, October 10th, 2011

by Aaron Brost
In her debut children’s book Luvable Lucinda: “Jacob and the Bullies” published by AuthorHouse author Mariette Herold educates young readers on the effects of bullying while delivering an engaging tale of fantasy, magic, humor and exploration.  The fairy tale features a princess and prince who must stop a neighbor from being bullied by two classmates while navigating a nasty spell by the Dark Witch.  Herold intends for Luvable Lucinda to be a series of 10 books dealing with topics such as kindness, good manners, social skills, helping others, etc. that each deliver an important message or lesson.


More information can be found at www.LuvableLucinda.com.
Source: AuthorHouse, authorhouse.com

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

“Female Force: Kathy Griffin-The Whole Damned Story” and “Female Force: Ruth Handler, the Creator of Barbie” are scheduled to hit newsstands, comic bookstores and online venues on Wednesday, June 15.

The upcoming Griffin biography uniquely examines the comedian’s early years and how it shaped and propelled her rise to one of the most outrageously outspoken and polarizing performers. It also features how Griffin also makes a difference in the world from her outreach in various communities such as the LGBT community. “Female Force: Kathy Griffin-The Whole Damned Story” was written by Marc Shapiro and penciled by Gene DeCicco.

“ The Handler/Barbie biography penciled by Neil Alexander tells the story of how America’s favorite fashion doll emerged from the seedy underworld of German sex symbols and cigarette shop gag gifts to become one of history’s most iconic women. Barbie and her creators, specifically Handler, will leave her (Barbie and Handler) maybe a bit exposed,” issue author Tara Broeckel revealed. “Their collective story is so complex that often times the darker narrative is left untold.”

Bluewater first published the “Female Force” titles in 2008 as a broad examination of strong and influential women who are shaping modern history and culture. In past issues, the monthly series has featured Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Thatcher, JK Rowling, Sarah Palin and others.  Upcoming “Female Force” comic book subjects are Martha Stewart, & Ayn Rand.

Each issue retails for $3.99. For more information, visit www.bluewaterprod.com.

Friday, April 1st, 2011
Famed ABC soap star Susan Lucci discusses her childhood and career in her book, All My Life: A Memoir, on sale as of March 29, 2011.

When Lucci and All My Children were introduced to the world in 1971, American television changed forever. Lucci’s character, the beautiful, spirited, and mercurial Erica Kane, was an original—the first vixen viewers loved to hate. But while millions have enjoyed getting to know Erica’s many sides—and have been awed at how this character has continually remade herself—the woman who plays her has remained a mystery.

In her memoir, this private actress, wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, friend, and entrepreneur pulls back the curtain to reveal her story.

Lucci, like Erica Kane, has undergone a metamorphosis many times. All My Life shares the stories of those transformations: starring in roles on television and stage, where she took Broadway not just by storm but “by tsunami” as one critic raved about her performance inAnnie Get Your Gun; mounting successful cabaret acts (solo and with Regis Philbin); bringing art and joy back to New York in the wake of 9/11; conquering the tango with Tony Dovolani on ABC’s hit show Dancing with the Stars; and building a successful career as an entrepreneur with a signature line of products.

Lucci goes beyond her success to talk about the darker moments, too, including the childhood guilt she harbored over the death of her dear grandmother, the car accident that nearly took away her career and her eyesight, her newborn son’s life-threatening illness, coping with her husband’s cancer, and the pain of miscarriage—one of the many parallels between her Erica Kane.

As charming, down-to-earth, and compelling as the woman whose story it tells, All My Life shines a spotlight on one of our most popular stars and reminds us of the power of dreams and how we can find the courage and tenacity to make them come true.
Source: Book Description by publisher Harper Collins via www.hapercollins.com.