Where is here? At Thrillerfest in Phoenix. Come check out the ReadersRoom.com blog to see pictures and read dispatches about the activities…

http://www.readersroom.com/blog.html

Today, our special guest is Sara Rosett, author of MOVING IS MURDER, which sounds like a really GREAT cozy mystery. The book is a “mom lit” mystery about a military spouse who runs a professional organizing business. Ellie Avery’s ordered world is thrown into chaos when she finds a dead body at the squadron barbeque and suspects the death wasn’t an accident.

Living close to an Air Force base, and having taught some air force kids, I know how often they are forced to move, and I’m guessing they DO get pretty good at it, so I love Sara’s premise. This book is next on my TBB list.

And now, Sara answers the “Trapped” questions for us.

1. If you had to be “Trapped” somewhere, where would it be?

I’d love to be trapped in a mall. I’d have clothes, food, and, most important, books—lots of books!

2. If you could pick your “Trapped” companions, what three people would you want with you, and why?

I’d have to pick my family (my husband and two kids). Good thing there’s only four in my family! I’d be too lonely without them.

3. If you could only pick five books to be “Trapped” with, what would they be?

The Secret Garden, This Rough Magic (Mary Stewart), Crocodile on the Sandbank (Elizabeth Peters), The Moonspinners (Mary Stewart), and Catering to Nobody (Diane Mott Davidson).

4. What ONE famous person would you absolutely NOT want to be “Trapped” with?

Tom Cruise—he’s getting just a little too kooky for me.

5. You can bring three things from your “former” life to “Trapped.” What would those three things be?

My laptop, a blank journal, and picture albums.

6. Where is one place you absolutely would NOT want to be “Trapped.”

A hospital!

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So there you have it. Thanks for visiting, Sara, and I must say, anyone who feels the same way as I do about FrankenCruise has my vote!

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When I worked for the Tribune, I also knew that I would never really fit in at the Deseret News. It’s a WHOLE nuther atmosphere over there, something illustrated in GREAT BIG WHOLESOME MORMON FASHION for the world to see by columnist Doug Robinson.

He claims that Nielsen got what was coming to him, because you do not “bite the hand that feeds you.” Of course Robinson HIMSELF fails to note that the HAND THAT FEEDS him is the same hand. It is EXTREMELY hypocritical of him to admonish Nielsen to NOT BITE THE HAND, when Robinson HIMSELF is STROKING the hand just by writing the COLUMN.

Robinson writes:

There are a few long-standing, common sense rules to remember if you want to keep your job.

Never beat the boss at golf. Never fail to laugh at his jokes. Never yawn when he’s telling stories about his adorable kids. Never take his parking spot. And, oh yeah, don’t go to the newspaper and say something that challenges his agenda and supports his competition.

In other words, PLEASE KISS ASS.

I would like Robinson to give me ONE INSTANCE–that didn’t end up in a court battle–in recent years of an employee being fired because they gently disagreed with their employer’s stance. And that is what Nielsen did.

By TELLING their many members how to think, at, vote, and WHO TO MAKE A TELEPHONE CALL TO, the LDS Church is yet again dabbling in politics, and throwing their VERY BIG, very rich HAND into the mix, and guess what? That HAND IS GOING TO get slapped.

So keep stroking the hand, Doug. It doesn’t matter. The world at large sees it for what it is.

I just want you all to know that as I write this post, I DEFINITELY have my big girl panties on, and I am READY to deal with any repercussions that might come from this post.

Paris Hilton. Singing? I heard this on the radio, and thought it MUST be an error. Actually, it was an error, but not the kind I thought it was.

Paris? Keep your day jo…. er. Keep your night jo…. er. DON’T FUCKING SING. Good God.

Further proof that if you have enough money, you can pretty much convince anyone to let you do anything. Next thing we know Paris will be singing with the MOTAB choir. NOT. Those Jesus Jammies are NOT HOT.

…I am weighing in on the Jeffrey Nielsen debacle. Nielsen, as many of you know, was the BYU professor who wrote an opinion piece in The Salt Lake Tribune about how the Mormon Church’s position on gay marriage was wrong.

In an absolutely SHOCKING move by the LDS Church, Nielsen was fired. Heh. Okay, so it was no surprise, but “job security” at BYU is a little different than it is at, say, The New York Times. Or 97.1 Zht. Or even McDonalds.

At BYU or any other church-owned entity, INCLUDING the Deseret News, if you don’t parrot the party/church line, kiss your job goodbye.

Everybody knows this. While there are still some mysteries in this world–like how the hell Paris Hilton manages to get out of BED every morning, and find her way home, and just what chip the Scientologists implanted in Tom Cruise’s brain to turn him into a Stepford Husband–Nielsen undoubtedly knew this, too.

While people are weighing in on both sides of the issue, and the Mormons get MORE bad publicity (just what they need), I think Nielsen knew what he was doing.

You don’t cross the LDS Church and remain in their ranks. Unless somehow you cross under their RADAR. That doesn’t happen when you are in their employ. Nielsen had to have known, and he took a stand anyway.

And that’s my take. He knew he would get fired. He took a stand. He is making a statement. Kudos to him. I sincerely doubt he was stupid enough to think there would be no repercussions.

But what has been gained by his firing and by his taking a stand? I’d love to hear what you readers have to think.