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When Gifted Writers Are Taken Away too Soon

On Friday, February 10, one of the most prolific storytellers of our time was driving back from a book signing appearance on a snowy Michigan road. A New York Times best selling author many times over, the writer probably was cautiously driving along reflecting on the night he had just experienced at a signing for his latest book, "The Magic Room." A kind and gentle man, the writer didn't have to trudge out in the snow to meet his fans. He could have cancelled - blamed it on the weather and instead, remained safe in his home with his wife and three daughters. But he didn't and in the blink of an eye, his life was senselessly taken away.

Out of all the journalists I have worked with in my career, Jeffrey Zaslow was by far, one of the kindest. I first had the chance to work with him nearly two decades ago when he had been assigned a USA Weekend cover story on Ricki Lake, who had just launched a new talk show. As publicist for her show, I was there to help facilitate the interview and research process and what I remember back then, was that Jeff Zaslow was incredibly nice, easy going and a great listener who managed to capture the energy and excitement of that time when Ricki's popularity as a talk show host truly began to take flight.

More than 10 years later, I was at the check out line of Barnes & Noble and noticed "The Last Lecture" sitting on the counter. When I saw that Jeff Zaslow had co-authored the book, I snatched it up in an instant and literally read it in one day (crying through many parts of it). I then searched for Jeff's email address so that I could congratulate him on writing such an incredibly moving and inspirational book. And guess what? He wrote back and even said he remembered who I was and was so gracious in his response.

That's why it's no surprise that the man responsible for penning some of our nation's most well read and inspiring books, was doing what he loved the morning he died. Sharing his stories with people who appreciated his incredible gift. The world has lost an incredible person who managed to touch millions of lives with his prose. If you've never read one of Jeff's books, then visit his website and dive into "The Last Lecture," "Highest Duty," "Gabby," and now, "The Magic Room." While he was taken away from his family and friends way too soon, his legacy as a journalist and author will last for generations to come.

Posted in: Blog, News on 02/11/2012

To Spank or Not to Spank, that is the Question...

Today, I got to chance to weigh in or shall I say confess my less than par parenting skills when it comes to the topic of spanking. This morning's 'Mom's the Word' segment on the WPIX morning news tackled the topic of disciplining kids and Dr. Lawrence Balter had some important advice for me and new mom/WPIX anchor Sukanya Krishnan:

Spanking is bad!

Yes - even if you want to smack your toddler's hand when they try to touch the stove, Dr. Balter says don't do it! Instead, take them out of the environment they're in so that they stay away from dangerous situations. Of course, that would require the parent to exert some energy and potentially leave a place earlier than they anticipated (such as the supermarket or a restaurant), but Dr. Balter says, the earlier you nip your kids' negative behavior in the bud, the better off you'll be.

Take a look...

As for my kids, who are now almost nine and 12, we obviously don't resort to spanking but I did admit that I'm a bit of a yeller. And guess what - yelling does not work. It might relieve stress, but Dr. Balter says if you discuss with your child what you should take away if they do something wrong, that's the better way to go. For us, taking sleepovers and cell phones out of the equation oftentimes works like a charm. And as for my son, I'm sure once his brand new eSpark Razor arrives on our doorstep just in time for his birthday, that'll be a good bargaining chip if he misbehaves.

So now it's time for you to weigh in. Do you spank, yell or punish your kids when they do something you're not happy about? No answer is wrong - well, according to Dr. Balter, spanking is - but feel free to share, it's cathartic, really it is!

Posted in: Blog, News, Role Mommy Recommends, TV on 05/04/2011

Beth Feldman Featured in YP.com

We're honored to be a featured Entrepreneur Mom on the Yellow Pages website. Take a look...

Posted in: News on 04/29/2011

We Made the Journal News

Gotta love it when you start your Sunday morning with a google alert that takes you to a really really nice article. Today I was profiled by the Journal News and I have to say, I think I'm going to have permanent smile on my face. Visit their website to take a look...

Posted in: Daily Shout Out, News on 01/16/2011

Project You Magazine featured in She Posts

Check out this article in She Posts by Kim Tracy Prince about our latest Role Mommy venture, Project You magazine.

Posted in: News on 12/25/2010

Our Holiday Viewing Guide

Don't know what to do this holiday break with your kids? No worries - head on over to Lifetime Moms and dive into a movie viewing marathon with our list of must see films in the theater, on TV and on DVD.

Posted in: News on 12/25/2010

Dinner for Busy Moms on TV

Check out the fabulous Jeanne Muchnick on Better TV as she shares her tips to get your family eating right and spending mealtime together! Jeanne is the author of Dinner for Busy Moms and the managing editor of a brand new magazine that we will be launching through Role Mommy in the coming weeks.

For more tips about making mealtime easier, visit Jeanne at Dinner for Busy Moms and order a copy of her book.

Posted in: News on 09/10/2010

Eating Healthy with Chef Mehta

By Role Mommy Contributor Aloha Pat, founder of Mom's Best Bet.

I recently had to the opporunity to meet Chef Jehangir Mehta in Hawaii while he took keiki (children) on a food adventure through Whole Foods Market.

Check out your Whole Foods to see when he will be coming to your store. Your kids will learn a lot about healthy eating and so will you!

WHAT: The Kids Food Adventure with Chef Jehangir, a national children's food tour and cooking class, is coming to a Whole Foods Market near you to offer families a free tour and demonstrations.

This program is a partnership between Whole Foods Market and Chef Jehangir Mehta, runner up on "The Next Iron Chef" and executive chef/owner of Graffiti, to encourage families to make healthier choices while introducing their palates to new
ingredients and exciting flavors.

The food adventure is led by Chef Mehta and includes an interactive store tour,
educational and creative cooking demos as well as interactive discussions
designed to encourage healthy, adventurous cooking at home. Following the
New York City launch in April 2010, The Kids Food Adventure with Chef Jehangir
has made stops in cities around the country and is part of Whole Foods Market's
effort to promote lifelong positive eating habits for children.

For more great travel and food tips from Patrice, visit her at MomsBestBets.com

Posted in: Aloha Pat, News on 08/22/2010

Zac Efron & Charlie Tahan Chat with RoleMommy

Following the screening of Charlie St. Cloud, I attended the junket for the film at the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey along with 8 mom bloggers from across the country. Within 24 hours, we got the chance to see the film (second time around's a charm), attend a cocktail party, enjoy a morning to ourselves (I spent the time walking along the marina and beach, snapping photos along the way) and then the big moment arrived. It was time to interview the cast and producers.

Our first roundtable chat began with the stars of the film, Zac Efron and Charlie Tahan. The pair portray Charlie and Sam, two brothers whose lives are irrevocably changed when they are involved in a car accident and Charile makes a promise to his younger brother that he will never leave him. While Charlie is brought back to life, his younger brother doesn't make it. In a strange twist of fate, Charlie is reunited with Sam every evening in the woods near the cemetery where he is buried. And rather than head off to college on a sailing scholarship, Charlie chooses a different path so that he can see Sam every night for a game of catch.

Here are some of the highlights from our Q&A session with Zac and Charlie:

Question: How did you both prepare emotionally for this role? Dealing with death and dying?
Zac: When I read the script, it was something I noticed, everyone at some point in their life experiences loss and has to go through that. I think everyone has also seen that person who has never really been able to bounce back from that and when I looked at the character and what was happening, it was very easy for me to picture my life without my brother and how that would make me feel and that guilt and that responsibility. I feel very responsible for my brother and I try and protect him every chance I get. I'm very protective over him and just thought in some ways whatever it took to (think about) leaving him behind, is all that I needed to get there emotionally. And not to mention he looks a lot like him (Charlie). (Incidentally, Zac's brother Dylan is now 18 years old).

Q. Did your moms both see the film and did they cry?
Charlie - There were a couple of scenes where we cried. When we were exiting the woods and there was violin music, I saw one little tear. My mom cries at everything. She cried at the end of the Sponge Bob movie.
Zac - My mom hasn't seen it yet but she cries a lot in movies.

Q. What did you have the most fun doing during the film?
Charlie - The rain scene (the brothers go sliding through the mud on garbage can lids).
Zac - I really liked the scene at the beginning of the movie where we were playing catch on the street. I just think for some reason there was something about that location that was really beautiful and it brought me back to playing catch with my dad which are some of my fondest memories, I think. That's exactly what we would do - we'd just go into the street and play catch. It was just so real and I haven't seen that in movies a whole heck of a lot.

Q. What about the characters were most like you?
Charlie: Well mostly the way he said things. I didn't really change the voice or anything or the personality.
Zac: At the beginning of the movie he didn't have all the advantages that a lot of kids have. He didn't grow up wealthy but he's sort of playing the dad for his little brother and trying to raise him into the man he knows he can be and teach him sort of rules. Like if you put your heart and soul into something and you really commit and give it 110 percent then you can be the best at anything you want to do. And you can make it in this world and all of the hardship that we've had to deal with so far, is out the window because you're going to make it and you can do whatever you want to do - make it out of this town. And I've always had that sort of philosophy in me. My dad instilled that in me - he always made me believe that I could really do whatever I wanted to do and I really believed it. It was the most powerful thing for me when I was growing up.

Q. Do you believe in ghosts - did you get creeped out in the cemetery?
Zac: When we were in the graveyard most of the time it wasn't that scary because there were so many people out there. It was actually a really lovely place. However, one night, we did a lot of night shoots and at around 4 in the morning me and Amanda were kind of falling asleep and we said let's go do something so we said, do you want to walk into the graveyard? So we left set for a little while and kind of got lost in the graveyard and suddenly it was very scary. You realize - we couldn't even see the lights from set anymore and it was thick fog. Vancouver gets that really thick fog - and it was very very scary.
Charlie: It wasn't really scary spooky scenes in the graveyard it was mostly him seeing his friends who were dead.

Q. What was it like having Kim Basinger play your mother in the film?
Zac: It was weird, she was too pretty. At the same time it was amazing - she was so warm and open and sharing. Every time we had scenes together I couldn't wait to get out there because in between takes rather than going off and doing something, I would just sit and talk with her because she's so amazing. She's got this magnetic personality, you don't really want to leave her alone. She's very very cool.

Q. What was it like working with Ray Liotta?
Zac: He's like the opposite - just kidding. No he's not. He's awesome first of all and he's so funny and so smart and really and just knows everything to say that's cool. I don't know how you get like that. He's got like a swagger that he doesn't even know he posseses which is what makes it so cool. And he's never afraid to improv or go outside the script. And every scene he does he has a different approach to it. It's amazing what happens from one take to another. I don't know what goes on in his head but he's able to come at it from so many different angles. I learned a lot from working with him.

More interviews to come! In the meantime, check out the photo montage from the Charlie St. Cloud junket. The film opens nationwide in theaters July 30.

Related Links:
Our Movie Review: Charlie St. Cloud

Where in the World is Role Mommy?

Posted in: Blog, News, Role Mommy TV & Film News on 07/27/2010

Audible.com Releases See Mom Run!

News Flash for my fellow Role Mommies! Get ready to laugh! For those of you who have confessed you never have time to read, we have the perfect solution for you. For the past several months, the fabulous contributors of our humor anthology were in the recording studio bringing their incredible stories to life and starting today, you can enjoy all our harried moments in the palm of your hand on your iPhone, iTouch, MP3 or iPad and even on your home computer!

While the book normally retails for $13.95, Audible is offering a special deal for our readers where you can join as a member of Audible and get the book for $7.49. That's the price of a grande skinny vanilla latte and a biscotti! Come on people, what are you waiting for. Here's the link to the special offer as well as the See Mom Run page on Audible which features a laugh out loud essay by the fabulously talented Jenna McCarthy. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did recording it!

Posted in: Blog, News on 07/14/2010