ONE MORE DAY, now! Yeah! http://www.sallyember.com/CHANGES for more info on this and future shows, and on how to become a guest yourself on this LIVE G+ HOA in which authors converse about sci-fi, fantasy, philosophy, politics, religion, spirituality, art, feminism, gender, sexual orientation, music, and whatever else we want!
Deadly Lipsticks
Hold on just a minute: what are you putting on your lips? What are you kissing on someone else’s? LEAD, if you use commercial lipsticks these days, and other poisons.
image from: http://rosearden.blogspot.com
Don’t believe me?
“[Researchers in 2013 and earlier found that] women who apply lipstick two to three times daily can ingest a significant amount—–20 percent of the daily amount that’s considered safe in drinking water or more—–of aluminum, cadmium, chromium, and manganese. Depending on the lipstick, in some cases women who slathered it on (14 times a day or more) were meeting or surpassing the daily recommended exposure to chromium, aluminum, and manganese.”
How many ways does the “beauty” industry despise, disrespect and want to murder women? It’s enough to make anyone sick.
Here are some lipstick facts.
As of 2007, Burt’s Bees, owned by Clorox but which claims to be a down-home, “natural” product company, had lead in its chapsticks and did not respond to Mother Jones‘ inquiries as of 2013 asking what they had done to eliminate lead. This does NOT just affect adult women: children and men use Burt’s Bees’ lip balms.
Not to single out Burt’s Bees, but I’m hitting that company harder than others because of its atrocious pretense to “natural” ingredients. FRAUD.
Instead of getting the lead out, lipsticks tested in 2007, 2009 and 2013 got WORSE over those years, with products made by Maybelline, Cover Girl, L’Oreal, Revlon, Stargazer, and others, including Burt’s Bees, all selling popular colors/brands of lipstick containing lead.
“Lead, a metal that humans should avoid exposure to entirely, was detected in 75 percent of the samples.”
What if you are lucky enough to have a lipstick that does not have lead? Are you safe, then?
Oh, no, you’re not.
“…[L]ead isn’t the only toxin lurking in your lippy—–a new study finds cadmium, aluminum, and other heavy metals, too.”
The research showed that only a few companies, notably Wet n’ Wild, Bobbi Brown, and Shiseido, had zero lead in their lipsticks as of 2012. However, these companies’ products are not necessarily “healthy” for you, just not deadly.
To learn know more about the toxic and disease-inducing effects of these chemicals when they are ingested by humans (not to mention getting into our water system when wearers wash their faces and hands), please read the article.
(Original article is By Maggie Severns | published 5/6/13 in Mother Jones magazine. Read it!
Lead in your Lipsticks link:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/05/study-lead-metals-lipstick-top-20)
You want to cover/decorate your lips, anyway?
Please use healthy, all-natural, proven and tested as well as beautiful products: lip glosses, tinted “shimmers” and balms from Badger. Badger Balm‘s products and the company itself are winning significant “green” and “B” Corporation awards annually. ALL Badger products are completely safe, mostly organic, and never tested on animals. They have hair oils, a line of products for men, skin products and much more than lip treatments.
Please check them out: http://www.badgerbalm.com
Now, what about that “extra” hair? If you insist on removing it, how to remove body hair safely?
Hair Removal is Causing Infections: Folliculitis with MRSA and others that can Kill
First, some definitions:
Folliculitis
“Folliculitis is an inflammation and infection of hair follicles, the tiny openings in the skin from which hair grows. Folliculitisis due to an invasion of bacteria that enter the follicles and cause a bacterial infection. Folliculitisis most commonly the result of an infection of staphylococcal bacteria. This causes inflammation and a red rash that is bumpy and itchy. The rash can occur anywhere on the skin or scalp.”
How does one get Folliculitis? Let me count the ways…
“Folliculitisis often caused by an infection that occurs after shaving, waxing, tweezing and other types of hair removal methods.” (The above info is from: http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/f/folliculitis/intro.htm)
The ONLY method that does NOT lead to Folliculitis is mentioned, below. I still do NOT recommend removing unwanted hair, though. Just my personal preference: cut it.
MRSA
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus = MRSA is basically a “staph” infection that is resistant to treatment/cure by most/conventional antibiotics, which means MRSA is much more dangerous and can be deadly. Some have called MRSA a “flesh-eating” bacteria, but that is a misnomer. MRSA can erode flesh, but not any more often or thoroughly than other untreated bacteria in the staph family.
image from http://www.research.ibm.com
Let’s say you’re a “modern” female or male who wants to get rid of some (or all!?!) of your body hair who doesn’t want infections that maim or kill. Picky, picky. What to do?
First of all, WHY do you have to remove body hair? I haven’t used a razor since 1978 and I am quite happy with that choice. Misplaced vanity and age inspire me to cut my chin hairs, but trimming is very different from actual removal (and completely harmless).
Unless you suffer from a disorder that covers your face, arms, legs and other parts with hair and you are NOT okay with that, I just don’t understand why anyone “needs” to remove hair. Don’t send me comments explaining, though: I am not interested in your rationales. I just want you to do it more safely.
Let’s go on to safe(r) hair removal methods.
HOW are you going to engage in /have you already been doing removal of YOUR body hair? What will result from your chosen method(s)? Are you DIY or do you go to a “salon” or “spa” or other commercial establishment and have them do the removal?
BEWARE!
MRSA, HIV, Hepatitis B, STDs and other infectious/contagious diseases lurk in public spas/salons, worldwide!
“No matter how posh or pricey a salon or spa is, if it isn’t keeping up with health and safety standards, it can easily be a breeding ground for harmful bacteria and germs. Be sure that all non-disposable instruments used are sterilised in an autoclave, a medical-grade device that uses superheated steam to sterilise. It’s the only way to be sure that infectious organisms have been destroyed.”
The article I am quoting, here, was published in India, but the safety recommendations and problems it researched apply everywhere. Not only women are affected, either.
“Men need to make sure that disposable razor blades are used to trim their hair (shaving) so as to avoid hepatitis B and HIV.” This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many men go to barber shops to get haircuts and never ask if the razors used to shave their NECKS (which is part of providing all “short” haircuts) have been sterilized or used prior to their shaves without having been replaced. This warning applies to electric as well as manual razors.
image from http://www.wisegeek.com
What is required to keep hair removal equipment safe? More than some shops do.
“Dipping the instruments in some solution is not going to kill bacteria and fungi. The place should use either a proper disinfectant or an autoclave for sterilising the instruments. Check the labels. Spa or salon disinfectant should be EPA-registered hospital-level liquid that is virucidal, bactericidal and fungicidal that is 10 per cent bleach; 70 per cent or higher isopropyl or ethyl alcohol.”
Think about ALL the re-usable instruments/tools that come into contact with your body in commercial establishments. I’ve had a pedicure and manicure occasionally in recent years, but I have never asked these questions or checked out these procedures.
I will NOW! This article is worth reading (link below).
Let’s talk about waxing safety measures, since waxing is currently THE most popular and commercialized hair removal method, especially for younger women and most men.
“Body hair removal techniques like waxing sometimes can cause redness, breakouts, severe infections, irritant reactions and ingrown hair. Always check if salon staff doing waxing are using a fresh wax jar and maintaining proper hygiene and sanitation. Confirm that there is no double-dipping (putting an earlier used tool back into the wax) and no double-using (reusing wax) policies to avoid product contamination.”
Re-using wax? Ewww. That is truly disgusting to contemplate. How do they remove all the hair from the wax? Yuck.
There are so many ways for hair removal methods to be done sloppily that I shudder to consider them all, especially due to the severity of the potential outcomes.
“…[If] hygiene and sanitary measures during waxing (especially bikini waxing) go haywire, then there is a risk of getting infected by viruses like herpes, molluscum contagiosum and genital warts, which, otherwise in adults, are sexually transmitted. These can be transferred from an infected client to a healthy customer specially while getting waxed in and around bikini and gluteal areas.”
Picture this: a woman (or man) goes in to get her hair removed. Waxing ensures. All seems to go well UNTIL a few weeks later, s/he develops herpes or warts in the groin area. These diseases are incurable, painful, contagious and recurring. For the rest of the victim’s LIFE and possibly any future partners’ lives.
Don’t even get me started on what imbalance or illness has developed in a modern girl’s or woman’s self-regard that makes her believe her vaginal area is supposed to be almost or completely hairless (making it resemble a pre-pubescent girl’s) or for males to believe that a hairless chest or back (again, relegating “attractiveness” in adult males to pre-pubescence) is all their partners will accept. These cultural constructs make me both sad and furious.
I like hairy, adult, male chests? Am I the only one left who remembers Sean Connery as James Bond, hairy chest exposed, with great affection and attraction? Ahhh.
Are the so-called benefits of waxing worth the risks?
I say not.
Read on. Please regard and share these extra and specific cautions, below.
Other wax warnings:
- Do not wax over an area that has had a botox injection for at least 72 hours.
- Do not wax if you have protruding varicose veins, diabetes, skin eczema or infection.
- Do not wax if you are using any anti-ageing or acne creams that may contain a retinoid, as skin will be extra susceptible to getting burned and peeled off.
Read full article here:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140727/spectrum/fitness2.htm
Deciding you may want to keep your “unwanted” hair rather than acquire even more seriously unwanted problems? Good choice!
Or, if you INSIST or removing hair, try lasers! These are expensive if you buy one for your home or get treatments at dermatologists’ offices, BUT laser removal methods are considered safer than other methods because laser removal “damages the hair follicle at its root without damaging the surrounding skin tissue.”
I usually ignore or deride Fox “NEWS,” but this article quoted above and below seems well-researched and the info corresponds to many others I read. (Credit goes to Julie Revelant (who is a freelancer and does NOT work for Fox NEWS), published 8/29/14: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/08/29/4-hair-removal-methods-that-really-work/ ) for the following list (and she gives more info) about SAFE HAIR REMOVAL methods, to date.
- 1. Diode laser hair removal (GETS MY VOTE)
- 2. Sugaring (THIS IS STILL WAXING, though)
- 3. Threading (STILL too much like TWEEZING)
- 4. Electrolysis (STILL too much like TWEEZING)
If you want to know more about these methods, please go read her article. (Julie Revelant is a freelance writer and copywriter specializing in parenting, health, healthcare, nutrition, food and women’s issues. She’s also a mom of two. Learn more about Julie at http://revelantwriting.com)
I’m sticking with my Badger Balm lip balms and lip shimmers and my hair-cutting scissors for my errant chin hairs.
Meanwhile, I plan to visualize that everyone gains more positive self-esteem, higher self-acceptance and an expanded view of “beauty.”
Also, I wish you all the best, whatever you choose.
Fantastic documentaries list, with links, categorized into about 30 somewhat not-overlapping groups! Thanks for curating this list!
I came across this list of documentaries. I just found it fascinating and I could not resist to share it with all of you!
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“…the act of writing itself leads to strong physical and mental health benefits, like long-term improvements in mood, stress levels and depressive symptoms. Just 15 to 20 minutes of writing three to five times over the course of the four-month study was enough to make a difference.” http://nicholasrossis.me/2014/10/19/writing-makes-you-healthy/
Writing makes you healthy. Grammar, not so much.
We authors may be creative cheats, but is there any good news about our profession? Actually, yes! According to research cited by Arts.Mic, the benefits of writing go far beyond building up your vocabulary.
In fact, the act of writing itself leads to strong physical and mental health benefits, like long-term improvements in mood, stress levels and depressive symptoms. Just 15 to 20 minutes of writing three to five times over the course of the four-month study was enough to make a difference.
By writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events, participants were significantly more likely to have fewer illnesses and be less affected by trauma. Participants ultimately spent less time in the hospital, enjoyed lower blood pressure and had better liver functionality than their counterparts.
Even physical wounds heal faster. In 2013, New Zealand researchers conducted an experiment on…
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Come one, come all! Interrogate…. I mean converse with us LIVE or listen later!
Get over Hump Day with me as I have my first LIVE interview courtesy of Sally Ember!For fun, here are some tips I’ve received:
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Join host, Sally Ember, Ed.D., LIVE, conversing with Charles on Wednesday, October 22, 9 – 10 AM Central Time USA ,
https://plus.google.com/events/cq1ajreuhaqds7s83onqhse6jq8 or catch our conversation any time on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkD67YcWJvY
I first read The Prodigy of Rainbow Tower back in 2013. Here’s the Amazon review I wrote for it:
Months after reading this book, my mind is still drawn to it. The fight scenes are descriptive without being overdone, the characters are realistic and dynamic, and there are surprise punches I just didn’t see coming. It’s a great adventure story. There’s a lot going on in this book, but Charles Yallowitz somehow made it all flow together seamlessly. I’ll continue to recommend this series to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy.
That holds as true now as it did when I first read the book. Nyx is a complex, exciting character who I feel really compliments Luke Callindor’s character. The fight scenes are realistic and the action is both fast-paced and smooth. It kept me reading and reading.
It’s been a busy week, so I haven’t finished reading through The Prodigy…
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listen more to Charles this week on *CHANGES*: Join host, Sally Ember, Ed.D., LIVE, conversing with Charles on Wednesday, October 22, 9 – 10 AM Central Time USA ,
https://plus.google.com/events/cq1ajreuhaqds7s83onqhse6jq8 or catch our conversation any time on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkD67YcWJvY
Yola Biggs by Kayla Matt
Before anyone screams about sequel, I’m going to put a disclaimer. This is a possible story and it can happen no matter what happens in Legends of Windemere. The reason for this is because it revolves around Yola Biggs the Goddess of Chaos. She can be a factor whether she lives, dies, goes good, goes evil, ends the series with an anti-gravity tea party, or ends up wandering to Earth where she rules the marmosets with an iron fist. Seriously, this is a ‘villain’ whose combat repertoire may including taking off her own head and wielding it by the hair like a flail. Basically, she’s nuts, a goddess, gets a lot of growth in Book 8, and has a story that can be told if I feel like it. Still, I’m going to put the ‘more below’ thing here just to be safe.
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Self- and un-published #authors: Submit the first 8,000 words of your #novel to competition@janklow.co.uk, along with a 500-word outline of the remaining chapters, by January 30, 2015.
http://thursdayfiction.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/mumsnet-and-janklow-nesbit-debut-novel-competition/For full details see: http://www.mumsnet.com/books/janklow-nesbit-writing-competition
http://www.mumsnet.com/books/janklow-nesbit-terms-and-conditions
Submit the first 8,000 words of your novel to competition@janklow.co.uk, along with a 500-word outline of the remaining chapters, by 30 January 2015.
“The prize is the offer of representation by Janklow & Nesbit , during which you’ll be mentored and supported by one of their agents. They’ll help you get your novel into the best possible shape, and use their exhaustive knowledge of the publishing world to make sure it’s seen by the right people.”
Janklow & Nesbit guarantee that every entry will be read by one of their agents.
Donate your lunch money or latte money or SOME money to your local hunger-relief organization or donate actual food to a local food bank. Or, volunteer somewhere that feeds people. Or, SHARE this! YOU CAN HELP!
Get some great MG/YA/adult #sci-fi and #fantasy and whatever else Nicholas C. Rossis has cooked up for FREE today and support an excellent #indie #author!
Party cat found on wall4all.me
Today is my authorversary Indieversaryone-year anniversary since the publication of Pearseus: Schism, the first book of my epic fantasy series!
Twelve exciting months and four books later, I’d like to celebrate by sharing with you my work. So, anyone who leaves a comment below until the end of the month, will receive a free copy of one of my books – your choice!
So, what are you waiting for? Tell me which book you’d like to receive, and enjoy some of the greatest stories of all times (hmm… too much?) 😀
And the most important part: Thank you for all your love and support! I know I keep saying this, but that’s only because it bears repeating: I couldn’t have done it without you! I love…
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I was going to write an entire post on the biology and psychology of love, but I realized many have already done so and several have collected/written great books on the subjects. There are even videos. So, instead of adding my less-than-expert two cents’ worth, I compiled what I believe to be the best of these and guide you to them, here.
If you, as I do, feel mystified, bamboozled, defeated and enraptured in our lives by love, you WILL find answers, explanations, reasons and perhaps excuses in these researchers’ contributions to the subject. You can find ideas that help you choose better (or refrain from choosing) when deciding how to proceed in your relationship life.
You will not, however, get that person to love you, find a way to get over a broken heart any faster, or make yourself more lovable by reading these books. In fact, if you do read/review all of this material, you’ll probably be a royal pain in most people’s behinds as you quote from them. But, so what? Would you rather be informed or falsely loved?
Okay, okay: that’s a false choice. So, read away, but don’t spout too much from your research.
image from http://twistales.com
Here is the selection, numbered but not in any priority order:
1. Molecules of Emotion:The Scientific Basis Behind Mind-Body Medicine, the late Candace Pert, Ph.D., pharmacologist and biologist
2. A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis, Ph.D., Fari Amini, Ph.D. and Richard Lannon, Ph.D., psychologists
3. Falling in Love: Why We Choose the Lovers We Choose, social psychologist and researcher, Ayala Malach Pines
4. Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, biological anthropologist, Helen Fisher
5. Biology of the Mind: Helen Fisher, Ph.D., biologist, video from TEDxEast
6. Why We Love: 5 Books on the Psychology of Love by Maria Popova, including some of the above with more info about them, on:
http://www.brainpickings.org/2011/04/18/5-must-read-books-on-love/
7. The Science of Love, from Your Amazing Brain‘s site
http://www.youramazingbrain.org/lovesex/sciencelove.htm
In case you thought falling in love was so special, check this out, from the above article: “York psychologist, Professor Arthur Arun, has been studying why people fall in love. He asked his subjects to carry out the[se] 3 steps and found that many of his couples felt deeply attracted after the 34-minute experiment [below]. Two of his subjects later got married.”
how to fall in love:
- Find a complete stranger.
- Reveal to each other intimate details about your lives for half an hour.
- Then, stare deeply into each other’s eyes without talking for four minutes.
And, this:
Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who’d been madly in love for less than six months. She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover, were related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder [OCD] patients.
8. What Is Romantic Love? on The Anatomy of Love site:
http://theanatomyoflove.com/what-is-love/what-is-love/
Providing this list of usual “symptoms” of “falling in love” makes one wonder why ANYONE would want to do so and why, once we do, we aren’t immediately taking psychotropic medications to help us get over it!
Behavioral traits of early stage romantic love:
- Special meaning: the romantic partner is the center of the world, and you like anything they like
- Intense energy and it’s hard to sleep
- Loss of appetite
- Mood swings
- Separation anxiety
- Craving
- Intense motivation for emotional union
- Possessive[ness]
- Intrusive thinking
Sure; fall in love. Just don’t get too attached….
#Nobel Prize Winners 2014: Why we should pay attention and be grateful
Thanks to these scientists, researchers, activists and one writer, we can now enjoy advances and new inventions very soon in a variety of areas. This year, two women (one quite young) and several men (big surprise, there) were honored by these esteemed prizes. Check out their accomplishments!
Anybody read any of his books? Not I (yet).
for ground-breaking research on “The Brain’s GPS: how the brain knows where it is.”
for inventing/discovering “a new, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly light source” image from http://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2014/oct/07/nobel-prize-physics-2014-stockholm-live
Malala Yousafzai is the young woman who was almost fatally shot while trying to get to school in Pakistan. During and after her recovery, she has become a vocal and well-respected advocate for girls’ rights to be educated in countries that oppress women and girls. She is also the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Kailash Satyarthi is a globally recognized hero for rescuing children from forced labor, sexual exploitation and slavery and working to prevent these from occurring image from http://www.myhero.ws
“A network of filaments in a mammalian cell revealed by fluorescence microscopy. Photograph: Stefan W Hell/Division of Optical Nanoscopy/German Cancer Research Center” image from http://www.theguardian.com
Get more info here:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/year/?year=2014
Excellent for contemplation this Sunday morning! Thanks, Stephanie!
7 Tips for #Metadata Magic for Self-Publishers
By Betty Kelly Sargent, guest blogging on TheBookDesigner.com
posted by JOEL FRIEDLANDER on 9/29/14
image from http://www.thebookdesigner.com
“…if you are publishing electronically with #ebooks and/or #POD [Print On Demand, like CreateSpace or LuLu], almost the only way potential readers can discover your book is through the carefully selected keywords in your metadata.”
This article lays out how #self-pub #authors can “create specific, tailored-to-fit-your-book #metadata that can help your customer/reader slice through all the noise out there and find what you have written.”
“If you need a little help coming up with just the right #keywords for your book, check out: http://www.googlekeywordtool.com.”
image from http://www.digireado.com.au which also has a great article about metadata
I list the 7 Tips here, but you should go to the article (links below) and find out more about how and why to use these Tips.
- Title
- Genre
- Emotions
- Story Elements
- Target Market
- Marketing Suggestions
- BISAC [Book Industry Standards and Communication] Subject Codes
“If you still need some help try going to http://www.Amazon.com/books and take look at how other authors of books in your category describe their work.”
“You can even narrow your search by going to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-eBooks and type in a descriptive word or two and see what other words pop up in the drop-down menu.”
The screenshot, below, shows the category rankings system in Amazon and how to “game” it for your book’s best sales and search optimization:
image from http://okdork.com
“The good news about metadata is that you can update it any time so you might want to go back and freshen yours up a little.”
“Betty Kelly Sargent
is the founder of BookWorks, and The Educated Author which will launch in January. She was Editor-in-Chief of William Morrow, Executive Editor at Harper Collins, Fiction and a Books editor at Cosmopolitan and is the author of seven traditionally published books and one self-published book.”
Reach Betty on Twitter: @BookWorksNYC and visit her site: http://www.bookworks.com/ Subscribe to her blog! It’s great!
Read the full article on Joel’s site and subscribe to his blog as well:
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/09/7-tips-for-metadata-magic-for-self-publishers/
Try to watch! I am, also!
An EXCELLENT cause and one worth giving to, for sure. Don’t forget to include a variety of types of products and also, many sizes of adult-sized diapers for those with incontinence/heavier flows. Been there; done that; burned THAT T-shirt!
Is there possibly a more inelegant phrase than ‘she’s on the rag?’
Maybe. I’ll search for it later.
My mother told me that when she was a teenager growing up in a small town during the Depression, she and her sister actually used rags that were washed and bleached and hung out on the clothesline to dry, each rag hand-fed through a wringer washer. Nothing came easy then. If you were going to be on the rag, you better learn to wash them. Harsh business.
Being on the rag is not a situation for me anymore. One of the many benefits of getting older is being able to wear white pants anytime, not having to rummage through the drawer for a Tampax like I was looking for the last remaining cigarette on earth, the one that would save me from nicotine withdrawal and wanting to kill all my children…
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http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
FALLING LEAVES, FALLING PRICES
Clean Indie Reads, the home of Flinch-Free Fiction, is having a #Fall #Book #Sale
October 5 thru October 11!
Check out all the sale books HERE! http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
Or, if you would like to go directly to Amazon and peruse the sale books by genre, check out these on Listmania: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A1DSK2JI3W8GDJ/ref=cm_aya_bb_lists
To celebrate, we are having a #blog #hop where you can learn more about some of our authors and their books. Our bloggers will also be answering the question: “Do the changing seasons influence your writing and/or choice of books to read?”
Please join the discussion on this site by commenting, below, and please visit all the participating blog sites: you might win a prize or two! Happy Hopping!
My post:
The Sirian Experiments‘ Take on Changing Seasons
The best science-fiction series I have ever read that utilizes the idea of changing seasons is Doris Lessing’s The Sirian Experiments, which won the Man Booker Prize in 1981. It is Volume III of her Canopus in Argos: Archives Series, a masterwork of new ideas in philosophy, gender identity, sexuality, social relationships, ecology, geology, psychology and so much more. I highly recommend you start at the beginning and read the entire series. Then, start over. Really.
The main premise of The Sirian Experiments which relates to today’s thematic question is this: Humans and Earth itself are an experiment conducted by those from the planet Siria. Part of that experiment was to tilt Earth on its axis, creating seasons in most parts of the planet, and then to track the effects of this tilt on humans.
The main way that humans responded to this tilt was that we developed varying emotions. According to the Sirian experimenters, humans’ becoming emotionally labile, meaning quite reactive, sometimes inexplicably positive or negative, was a direct result of the planet’s switch from having temperate, monochromatic climates to having changing/seasonal climates.
Fascinating, right? After many centuries of observation, the Sirian experimenters further theorized that the more extreme the climate seasons changes were, the more radical the changes in the emotions of the humans living in those latitudes became. Those that lived closer to Earth’s equator and therefore experienced fewer and smaller annual seasonal changes were the least emotional, for example.
With the more recent understandings of the ways reduced sunlight affects many people, bringing to our attention extreme reactions, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and high rates of suicide in latitudes of Earth that have fewer annual days/hours of sunlight, we now have support for Lessing’s “far-fetched” propositions.
Interestingly, SAD wasn’t “discovered” until after Lessing’s books had been published (SAD was formally described and named in 1984). Hmmmm…..
I recently moved from a more monochromatic climate (the San Francisco Bay Area) back to a more temperate/seasonal climate (Missouri). I wonder if I will become more “emotional”? I grew up here and I lived in temperate climates for most of my life, only inhabiting the more monochromatic climates for the last 15 years or so. However, that time also coincided with intensification in my Buddhist meditation practice, higher attendance at more and longer meditation retreats, many periods (years, not months) of unemployment, and fewer intimate relationships, so the experimental “controls” fail for THIS experiment.
All that being known, I am interested to find out how returning to a place that has actual seasons affects me. I’ll let you know!
First: have to buy some new winter boots. Mine rotted and molded from lack of use. LOL.
Second: get some more good books!
If you, as I do, like to curl up with a good book as we sit by a warming fire or other heating source as the weather gets rainier, colder, snowier or frosty, please consider getting the volumes in Lessing’s Sci-Fi series.
Then, for even more fun, download the first volume of my own sci-fi/ romance/ multiverse/ utopian Spanners Series, This Changes Everything (which is free) and then, Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, as well. Also, please try some of the others’ books in this CIR Blog Hop!
Here are my books. All links can be found on my website: http://www.sallyember.com Look right and scroll.
Now PERMA-FREE everywhere ebooks are sold.
Now $3.99 wherever ebooks are sold.
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, due out early in 2015. Volumes IV – X in process.
All Spanners‘ cover and logo art by Aidana Willowraven.
As always, REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED!
Blog Hop Schedule
(please note: not all bloggers will be offering giveaways):
Check out all the sale books here.
Disclaimer: Comment by 11:59:59 PM Central time on October 10, 2014 for your chance to win. Please leave your email address with your comment. Winners will be contacted by the blog owner by October 13, 2014. Only one entry per ISP address. The contest is open to international readers unless stated by the blog owner. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. The giveaway is the sole responsibility of the blogger. Clean Indie Reads is in no way responsible for providing prizes during this blog hop. Void where prohibited
Please visit the other sites in this Blog Tour! Schedule/URLs above and here: http://lindacovella.com/events-news/clean-indie-reads-fall-sale/
Many thanks to Linda Covello for organizing this and to all who participate as bloggers, all of you who visit, and especially all of your readers who comment, buy, download, read, and review our CIR books!
Enjoy your Clean Indie Reads!
Share /reblog this post!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads!
http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
FALLING LEAVES, FALLING PRICES
Clean Indie Reads, the home of Flinch-Free Fiction, is having a #Fall #Book #Sale
October 5 thru October 11!
Check out all the sale books HERE! http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
Or, if you would like to go directly to Amazon and peruse the sale books by genre, check out these on Listmania: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A1DSK2JI3W8GDJ/ref=cm_aya_bb_lists
To celebrate, we are having a #blog #hop where you can learn more about some of our authors and their books. Our bloggers will also be answering the question: “Do the changing seasons influence your writing and/or choice of books to read?”
Please join the discussion on this site by commenting, below, and please visit all the participating blog sites: you might win a prize or two! Happy Hopping!
My post:
The Sirian Experiments‘ Take on Changing Seasons
The best science-fiction series I have ever read that utilizes the idea of changing seasons is Doris Lessing’s The Sirian Experiments, which won the Man Booker Prize in 1981. It is Volume III of her Canopus in Argos: Archives Series, a masterwork of new ideas in philosophy, gender identity, sexuality, social relationships, ecology, geology, psychology and so much more. I highly recommend you start at the beginning and read the entire series. Then, start over. Really.
The main premise of The Sirian Experiments which relates to today’s thematic question is this: Humans and Earth itself are an experiment conducted by those from the planet Siria. Part of that experiment was to tilt Earth on its axis, creating seasons in most parts of the planet, and then to track the effects of this tilt on humans.
The main way that humans responded to this tilt was that we developed varying emotions. According to the Sirian experimenters, humans’ becoming emotionally labile, meaning quite reactive, sometimes inexplicably positive or negative, was a direct result of the planet’s switch from having temperate, monochromatic climates to having changing/seasonal climates.
Fascinating, right? After many centuries of observation, the Sirian experimenters further theorized that the more extreme the climate seasons changes were, the more radical the changes in the emotions of the humans living in those latitudes became. Those that lived closer to Earth’s equator and therefore experienced fewer and smaller annual seasonal changes were the least emotional, for example.
With the more recent understandings of the ways reduced sunlight affects many people, bringing to our attention extreme reactions, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and high rates of suicide in latitudes of Earth that have fewer annual days/hours of sunlight, we now have support for Lessing’s “far-fetched” propositions.
Interestingly, SAD wasn’t “discovered” until after Lessing’s books had been published (SAD was formally described and named in 1984). Hmmmm…..
I recently moved from a more monochromatic climate (the San Francisco Bay Area) back to a more temperate/seasonal climate (Missouri). I wonder if I will become more “emotional”? I grew up here and I lived in temperate climates for most of my life, only inhabiting the more monochromatic climates for the last 15 years or so. However, that time also coincided with intensification in my Buddhist meditation practice, higher attendance at more and longer meditation retreats, many periods (years, not months) of unemployment, and fewer intimate relationships, so the experimental “controls” fail for THIS experiment.
All that being known, I am interested to find out how returning to a place that has actual seasons affects me. I’ll let you know!
First: have to buy some new winter boots. Mine rotted and molded from lack of use. LOL.
Second: get some more good books!
If you, as I do, like to curl up with a good book as we sit by a warming fire or other heating source as the weather gets rainier, colder, snowier or frosty, please consider getting the volumes in Lessing’s Sci-Fi series.
Then, for even more fun, download the first volume of my own sci-fi/ romance/ multiverse/ utopian Spanners Series, This Changes Everything (which is free) and then, Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, as well. Also, please try some of the others’ books in this CIR Blog Hop!
Here are my books. All links can be found on my website: http://www.sallyember.com Look right and scroll.
Now PERMA-FREE everywhere ebooks are sold.
Now $3.99 wherever ebooks are sold.
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, due out early in 2015. Volumes IV – X in process.
All Spanners‘ cover and logo art by Aidana Willowraven.
As always, REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED!
Blog Hop Schedule
(please note: not all bloggers will be offering giveaways):
Check out all the sale books here.
Disclaimer: Comment by 11:59:59 PM Central time on October 10, 2014 for your chance to win. Please leave your email address with your comment. Winners will be contacted by the blog owner by October 13, 2014. Only one entry per ISP address. The contest is open to international readers unless stated by the blog owner. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. The giveaway is the sole responsibility of the blogger. Clean Indie Reads is in no way responsible for providing prizes during this blog hop. Void where prohibited
Please visit the other sites in this Blog Tour! Schedule/URLs above and here: http://lindacovella.com/events-news/clean-indie-reads-fall-sale/
Many thanks to Linda Covello for organizing this and to all who participate as bloggers, all of you who visit, and especially all of your readers who comment, buy, download, read, and review our CIR books!
Enjoy your Clean Indie Reads!
Share /reblog this post!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads!
For aspiring POD indie authors, some great info, here, about formatting for print.
How to Format Your Book for CreateSpace
I get a lot of formatting questions, so I thought I’d put it all down in one place. If you find it useful, let me know.
Note: I use Word 2010. Your version of Word might look a bit different, but it should be similar enough for you to figure out.
And now, without further ado, here is how I format a book for CreateSpace.
Ready, Set, Go
View original post 1,088 more words
Some good and new recommendations, here. I added to the list in the COMMENTS section, also.
A selection of recommended books about Consciousness for anyone on the path to awakening and self-knowledge. These are some of the books I’ve found particularly helpful or interesting over the years. There are longer reviews attached via links, and more to come…
This is an astonishing account of a neurosurgeon’s Near Death Experience after suffering bacterial meningitis and falling into a coma. What he saw led him to question everything he believed in. This case of NDE is particularly interesting because Dr Alexander is uniquely qualified to explain exactly how and why his experience couldn’t be a mere hallucination as his neocortex wasn’t functioning. The book recounts in detail what happened during the week he was in a coma, pieced together from his medical records and testimony by his family and the doctors who helped him to recover.
View original post 1,180 more words
This Changes Everything, Vol I, The Spanners Series, gets a great review from Quick Book Reviews back in January but I just found out this week!
Here are two quotes from the review:
“I found the story itself to be one of the most immersive and original ones I have read recently. Amongst the sea of science fiction novel clones, there is This Changes Everything, a book in which old ideas are taken in completely new directions (such as the whole intergalactic committee actually trying to help the humans), and new ideas are spawned by the dozens.”
“This Changes Everything is certainly much more than what I expected from it, presenting us an enthralling and original storyline set in a majestic and extremely-detailed world, populated by many characters that will stay with you once the last pages are closed. I wholeheartedly recommend the book to science-fiction fans, especially the ones who prefer their literature to explore ideas and concepts through words rather than actions.”
This Changes Everything is now PERMAFREE everywhere ebooks are sold and Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, is $3.99.
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, is due out early in 2015.
Read the full review here:
http://quick-book-review.blogspot.com/2014/01/this-changes-everything-volume-one-by-sally-ember.html
This Changes Everything, Vol I, The Spanners Series, gets a great review from Quick Book Reviews back in January but I just found out this week!
Here are two quotes from the review:
“I found the story itself to be one of the most immersive and original ones I have read recently. Amongst the sea of science fiction novel clones, there is This Changes Everything, a book in which old ideas are taken in completely new directions (such as the whole intergalactic committee actually trying to help the humans), and new ideas are spawned by the dozens.”
“This Changes Everything is certainly much more than what I expected from it, presenting us an enthralling and original storyline set in a majestic and extremely-detailed world, populated by many characters that will stay with you once the last pages are closed. I wholeheartedly recommend the book to science-fiction fans, especially the ones who prefer their literature to explore ideas and concepts through words rather than actions.”
This Changes Everything is now PERMAFREE everywhere ebooks are sold and Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, is $3.99.
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, is due out early in 2015.
Read the full review here:
http://quick-book-review.blogspot.com/2014/01/this-changes-everything-volume-one-by-sally-ember.html
Pick a poem and share it! National Poetry Day is TODAY!
This year’s National Poetry Day will take place on Thursday 2 October… TODAY!
The theme for 2014 is ‘remember‘.
Recollect those little things
Each cup with two sugars in,
Mother’s bright red hat and scarf,
Evergreen trees, bumble bees,
Mirror-pictures in the bath.
Bring them to life, they will talk
Even if you think them poor
Riches grow from every thought.
By ECvW ©2014
Why don’ you have a go and write your ‘remember’ poem? 🙂
And enjoy this wonderful poetical day!!!
Look what happened to my most recent guest, Nicholas C. Rossis’, book of short stories, featured on CHANGES G+ HOA the very next day after his appearance!! Seeking new guests! http://www.sallyember.com/CHANGES for more info! Congrats to Nicholas!
I woke up this morning to a lovely surprise: The Power of Six had reached #1 on Amazon – without any ads or promotion!
So, I wanted to thank you all for your help with that. I know a lot of you have been kind enough to buy the book after finding out about it here, and I wish I could hug each and every one of you to thank you.
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Oh, and a teaser: October 17 sees the one-year anniversary since Pearseus was first published. I have something very special planned for that date, with lots of giveaways, so mark the date on your calendar!
For a few more days, The Power of Six will be on sale. Read seven short sci-fi stories for only 99c!
10 Obsolete Beliefs that Can Block Self-Publishing Success
by Anne R. Allen
This is an excellent post with pertinent, supportive, specific information for indie writers. Please read the whole article on her blog (link is below).
My favorites of Anne’s 10 points:
#1: Do we really need paper books to be “successful”?
Apparently not: “EVERY SUCCESSFUL INDIE AUTHOR YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS HAS MADE THE BULK OF THEIR INCOME SELLING E-BOOKS.”
image from: http://blog.nathanbransford.com
#4: Does book “swag” sell books?
Apparently not: “Toys don’t sell books. Word of mouth from readers sells books. Especially word of mouth online, where people can simply click through to a buy page.”
image from: http://lizcoley.com
and, best of all, #10 (and previous ones relate to this as well):
“So what’s the best way to launch a book in this new publishing world? Nobody really knows. Sometimes books take off and the author doesn’t have a clue why…”
Imagine this next image with a big red line diagonally running through it!
image from: http://ebooklaunch.com
What do I keep reading/hearing, repeatedly, sells more ebooks? QUALITY and QUANTITY, both. Write well and publish a lot!
Please go to Anne’s site, read and comment/thank her for the rest. Great post, Anne. Thanks!
posted 8/24/14 and STILL HELPFUL every day!
http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2014/08/10-obsolete-beliefs-that-can-block-self.html
10 Obsolete Beliefs that Can Block Self-Publishing Success
by Anne R. Allen
This is an excellent post with pertinent, supportive, specific information for indie writers. Please read the whole article on her blog (link is below).
My favorites of Anne’s 10 points:
#1: Do we really need paper books to be “successful”?
Apparently not: “EVERY SUCCESSFUL INDIE AUTHOR YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS HAS MADE THE BULK OF THEIR INCOME SELLING E-BOOKS.”
image from: http://blog.nathanbransford.com
#4: Does book “swag” sell books?
Apparently not: “Toys don’t sell books. Word of mouth from readers sells books. Especially word of mouth online, where people can simply click through to a buy page.”
image from: http://lizcoley.com
and, best of all, #10 (and previous ones relate to this as well):
“So what’s the best way to launch a book in this new publishing world? Nobody really knows. Sometimes books take off and the author doesn’t have a clue why…”
Imagine this next image with a big red line diagonally running through it!
image from: http://ebooklaunch.com
What do I keep reading/hearing, repeatedly, sells more ebooks? QUALITY and QUANTITY, both. Write well and publish a lot!
Please go to Anne’s site, read and comment/thank her for the rest. Great post, Anne. Thanks!
posted 8/24/14 and STILL HELPFUL every day!
http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2014/08/10-obsolete-beliefs-that-can-block-self.html
Yes: I watch TV. Not reality shows, not zombie shows, not most half-hour sit coms and not late-night or daytime shows. But, prime time shows sometimes get my attention.
I have a few I keep watching (until they end or are cancelled; you can find most of those on my Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember), but this post is about new shows.
Then, there are this Fall’s new shows. For a somewhat unbiased summary of each new show, check TV Guide: http://www.tvguide.com/special/fall-preview/new-shows.aspx
Since my mom and I are sampling some of the new shows, I kindly provide my /our recommendations and opinions, below.
#unexpectedlygreatTV: Red Band Society premiered this week and blew me away. My mom didn’t want to watch it since it features adolescents and she isn’t so interested (well, she is over 80…). But I have a soft spot for teens and decided to give it a try. It has Octavia Spencer and Dave Annabelle, it is produced by Steven Spielberg: how bad could it be?
#RedBandSociety is astonishingly excellent: script, acting, story, values, humor, poignancy, pathos, hope. It’s got it all. The promos (branding it as “‘The Breakfast Club’ in a hospital” does NOT do it justice) are not sufficient.
Give it a watch. I promise you’ll be pleasantly surprise. Bring tissues. BTW: I am not paid or compensated in any way for this review. I HATE Fox news, but Fox TV is often great.
Episode 2 was also good, but not as good as Episode 1, BTW. http://www.fox.com/red-band-society/
#asgoodasexpectedTV: Madam Secretary was excellent. If you like great acting, scripting, suspense and twists in your political dramas, watch #MadamSecretary!
Kudos to Tea Leoni for picking, co-producing and starring in this intriguing show and to producer Barbara Hall for bringing another of her favorites from other shows into this one: great to see Tim Daly again. Enjoying the relationship between his character and Tea’s (married to each other).
Give this one a chance. http://www.cbs.com/shows/madam-secretary/
#reallylikethisshow Forever has an interesting premise, a good-to-excellent cast, and Sherlock-like mysteries/crimes to solve. Well-timed flashbacks give just enough to tantalize and inform slightly. What’s not to like?
Good to see Judd Hirsch, again (liked him in NUMBERS), and I like the dynamic between him and Ioan Gruffudd (the lead). Their actual relationship becomes apparent and is fascinating. Ioan Gruffudd and the police detective, Alana De La Garza, have great potential as well.
Also interesting to see one of the former interns from BONES working in another morgue-like setting (Joel David Moore) and Lorraine Toussaint in another role as a high-up police officer.
Give #Forever a whirl! Both the pilot and Episode 2 (playing in the same week for inexplicable reasons) were fun. http://abc.go.com/shows/forever
#fantasticTV Scorpion delivers, bigtime, especially if you like harrowing, fast-car and airplane antics, last-minute rescues and strange combinations of characters and plot. I like the “true-story” basis, with the backstory and complicated relationship between the Robert Patrick character (loved his irascible self on the X-FILES and his odd-ball, shapeshifting father on TRUE BLOOD, among other roles) and one of the leads,
Elyes Gabel.
Great to see Katherine McPhee in a non-singing, maternal-figure role and getting to play an action heroine as well. So far, so great! Had some great actors in bit parts for the Pilot which bodes well for future episodes.
Plus, the co-producers/exec producers is like a who’s who of film and TV producers that spans SCRUBS to STAR TREK to THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN to FAST & FURIOUS. Unique plot and effects combos can come from that crew!
If you liked and miss TOUCH, ALPHAS, SNEAKERS (film), and/or other ensemble cast of misfits shows in which they each showcase their talents/skills and solve problems/crimes and save lives, #Scorpion is for you. http://www.cbs.com/shows/scorpion/
#ShondaRhimesdoesitagainTV I predict that Shonda Rhimes has another hit on her hands with How To Get Away with Murder. Strong female leads, especially African-Americans, are her specialty: THANKS for those, Shonda: great storylines, interesting supporting characters, fascinating peeks into medicine, politics, and now, law. Throw in parenting, marriage, college/graduate school, small business dynamics and sex and you can see the formula but it doesn’t feel formulaic at all.
I like the writing, by Peter Nowalk. Viola Davis was provided a nuanced, deeply troubled character to play: a brilliant role that Davis plays to perfection. Good to see [a very much blonder and thinner (why?)] Liza Weil (loved her in Gilmore Girl, among other series and guest appearances), Alfie Enoch (from Harry Potter movies, now all grown up and calling himself Alfred) again along with many surprise “new” and not-overused faces in this diverse cast.
If you like courtroom/law and mixed-age dramas, you’ll like this! #Howtogetawaywithmurder does not disappoint! http://abc.go.com/shows/how-to-get-away-with-murder
#triteandprobablycancelledTV The Mysteries of Laura, with Debra Messing, should have been better. Instead, the script was predicatable and trite, many of the fine actors were wasted, there were too many car chase sequences, and her single-mom-as-crack-detective is not credible, if only because she keeps leaving her NOT pre-school (but billed as such) twin hellion boys with random staff and who knows whom to race off to solve crimes. Sure.
And no one predicted (SPOILER ALERT) that her soon-to-be-ex is her new boss. Right.
Messing looks great and has wonderful acting chops but is wasted in this travesty of a cop show. Give it a miss.
I did watch Episode 2, just so no one could say I made a hasty judgment. It was marginally better than Episode 1, but only in that they kept the fake pre-school-aged kids mostly out of it. Otherwise, The Mysteries of Laura is now is a parody of itself, cliches abounding. Too bad.
My prediction: #MysteriesofLaura will run probably 4 shows, tops. http://www.nbc.com/the-mysteries-of-laura
#beentheredonethatbetterthanthisTV Gotham was disappointing in almost every way. First of all, do the writers not understand anachronisms? E.g.:
Sheesh.
Next, why is the character of Alfred suddenly more Australian than British? Was that an accident or are the writers that ignorant of the original Batman story?
Finally, the story was improbably, boring, and untrue to the origins in too many other ways. Whenever any TV show or film spends a lot of time in “chases” or creepy entrances, we know they are short on plot and low on in-depth characterization.
Too bad. The original story and premise would have made great TV. Oh, wait; they already DID movies and a TV show about Batman. http://www.fox.com/gotham/
#anotherdisappointingspinoffTV NCIS New Orleans is not only disappointing but completely unnecessary. There was not one original moment in the entire first Episode of the series even though NCIS and NCIS Los Angelesgave this series a running start and even had many of the characters and the setting pre-trialed last year on NCIS.
What a waste of the many talents of Scott Bakula (he wasn’t even playing the piano live in the jazz music scene!), C.C.H. Pounder and the rest of the cast, writers, crew and director. Too bad. No wonder they don’t look happy in this promo shot…
Even staunch fans of NCIS‘ other two shows, like my mom, didn’t like it. She and I agreed that it was BORING.
I give it a half season at best. #NCISNO is a no-go. http://www.cbs.com/shows/ncis-new-orleans/
October 2 and beyond:
#lookingforwardtoTV
Kathyrn Heigl’s new drama, State of Affairs (Mon., 11/17)
#suretoskipTV
Kate Walsh’s sure-to-be-short-lived “comedy,” Bad Judge (Thurs., 10/2, NBC)
#mightgiveitatryTV
Cristela Alonzo’s semi-autobiographical comedy, Cristela (Fri., 10/10, ABC)
#neverina1000yearsTV
Jane the Virgin (Mon., 10/13, CW) offends me just by the title.
Shows I already Skipped and I am not Sorry:
A – Z
The Affair
Black-ish
Constantine
The Flash
Gracepoint
Happy Land
Intruders
Kingdom
Manhattan Love Story
Marry Me
The McCarthys
Mulaney
Selfie
Stalker
Survivor’s Remorse
Utopia
Z-Nation
Thanks for a fun and great #interview, Connie, conducted/recorded on September 4, 2014, despite numerous technical difficulties!
My interview goes live TODAY, September 29, 2014. We talked about #writing, #science-fiction, The Spanners Series and its #aliens, the Series’ #cover art and Aidana Willowraven as the cover artist,
my #utopian views, writing in the present tense to emphasize the #multiverse/#paranormal/#psi elements, #science/#research, book #reviews, “crowd creating” and other #collaborations, ghost writing, #series writing, writing across #genres and for multiple audiences/age groups, inspiration/creativity, my writing history (from age 9 on), #editing, #indie publishing and much more.
http://publishwithconnie.com/mondaymorning is the link to Connie’s website. Please visit, look at her books and what she offers to authors!
From there, you can go listen to my interview: http://publishwithconnie.com/teleseminar-dashboard/sally-ember/
Do you like to read and/or write: mysteries, fantasy, science-fiction, romance, children’s, young adult (YA) or any combination of these? Genre is what we call those types of stories and novels, and if you say “YES!” then this Blog Tour is for YOU! Visit, read, comment, LIKE, share, reblog!
My “COMFORT” post appears today, on Sept. 27, so visit other sites, below, also!
THE COMFORT THAT COMES FROM WRITING AND READING
UTOPIAN SPECULATIVE FICTION
by Sally Ember, Ed.D., author of The Spanners Series ebooks, blogger and host of CHANGES, almost-weekly Google + Hangout On Air (HOA)
When I’m discouraged, disheartened, heartbroken, experiencing achingly painful unrequited love, unemployed, displaced, uprooted, tired, in physical pain, lonely, confused, disempowered and in despair about the state of world affairs, our climate and so much more, what do I do? I write my way out of this mess into my imagined (and actual, according to multiverse theories) utopian near-futures in The Spanners Series ebooks (full-length novels) and short stories.
Why be “here” when I can be in a better “there”?
Some of the themes and problems I “tackle” and “solve” or at least improve via my plotting in The Spanners Series via extraordinary applications of science, intervention of the paranormal, including the newly or not-yet invented and/or the embellished, are:
and even more.
It is SO MUCH FUN as well as comforting to write my way out of difficulties we face into better circumstances, situations and experiences.
Or, if I’m not in the mood to write, then I go searching for others’ “solutions.” I need to read some stories with a “happy ending” or immerse myself in other uplifting genre or humorous modern fiction to COMFORT my spirit during these awful times. Fiction’s positive possibilities are endless: the love is sublime, the heroes and “good” guys/women prevail, the “bad” guys/women are caught/stopped. Aaahh.
image from: http://hopelovehappyendings.blogspot.com
I rely on getting to the beneficial outcomes: all is made right by the last page (or as right as it can be). I sigh with contentment, relief, happiness as I read/write.
What about you? What in your writing and reading comforts YOU? What do you look for in genre fiction to soothe your spirit?
Leave comments and suggestions here, please! And, don’t forget to visit and comment on the other sites’ posts in this blog hop tour! Thanks!
Goodreads’ Genre-Specific Review Group’s Fall 2014 Blog Hop Tour: “COMFORT” is this year’s theme.
TOUR DATES and SITES
(Posts are still LIVE or available in archives on and after the listed date, so visit any time!)
September 23 – http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com
September 24 – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/387792.Marilyn_Peake/blog
— http://www.marilynpeake.com
September 25 – http://rjcrayton.com/blog
September 26 – http://www.susandayauthor.com
September 27 – http://www.sallyember.com/blog
— http://michelle-abbott.weebly.com/
Do you like to read and/or write: mysteries, fantasy, science-fiction, romance, children’s, young adult (YA) or any combination of these? Genre is what we call those types of stories and novels, and if you say “YES!” then this Blog Tour is for YOU! Visit, read, comment, LIKE, share, reblog!
My “COMFORT” post appears today, on Sept. 27, so visit other sites, below, also!
THE COMFORT THAT COMES FROM WRITING AND READING
UTOPIAN SPECULATIVE FICTION
by Sally Ember, Ed.D., author of The Spanners Series ebooks, blogger and host of CHANGES, almost-weekly Google + Hangout On Air (HOA)
When I’m discouraged, disheartened, heartbroken, experiencing achingly painful unrequited love, unemployed, displaced, uprooted, tired, in physical pain, lonely, confused, disempowered and in despair about the state of world affairs, our climate and so much more, what do I do? I write my way out of this mess into my imagined (and actual, according to multiverse theories) utopian near-futures in The Spanners Series ebooks (full-length novels) and short stories.
Why be “here” when I can be in a better “there”?
Some of the themes and problems I “tackle” and “solve” or at least improve via my plotting in The Spanners Series via extraordinary applications of science, intervention of the paranormal, including the newly or not-yet invented and/or the embellished, are:
and even more.
It is SO MUCH FUN as well as comforting to write my way out of difficulties we face into better circumstances, situations and experiences.
Or, if I’m not in the mood to write, then I go searching for others’ “solutions.” I need to read some stories with a “happy ending” or immerse myself in other uplifting genre or humorous modern fiction to COMFORT my spirit during these awful times. Fiction’s positive possibilities are endless: the love is sublime, the heroes and “good” guys/women prevail, the “bad” guys/women are caught/stopped. Aaahh.
image from: http://hopelovehappyendings.blogspot.com
I rely on getting to the beneficial outcomes: all is made right by the last page (or as right as it can be). I sigh with contentment, relief, happiness as I read/write.
What about you? What in your writing and reading comforts YOU? What do you look for in genre fiction to soothe your spirit?
Leave comments and suggestions here, please! And, don’t forget to visit and comment on the other sites’ posts in this blog hop tour! Thanks!
Goodreads’ Genre-Specific Review Group’s Fall 2014 Blog Hop Tour: “COMFORT” is this year’s theme.
TOUR DATES and SITES
(Posts are still LIVE or available in archives on and after the listed date, so visit any time!)
September 23 – http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com
September 24 – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/387792.Marilyn_Peake/blog
— http://www.marilynpeake.com
September 25 – http://rjcrayton.com/blog
September 26 – http://www.susandayauthor.com
September 27 – http://www.sallyember.com/blog
— http://michelle-abbott.weebly.com/
This list is upsetting on so many levels I can’t think where to begin. Only three female writers out of 10, to start. The first two of the 10 are compilations of fantasies, stories, pithy statements and/or doctrines that have relied/still rely on forced conversion to gain readers and have no actual author. Four of the books are fantasies that are arguably NOT well-written to the point of being awful examples of writing/editing. One is “nonfiction” yet makes ridiculous claims, among them that reading it can help readers “get rich”: really?
I’m disappointed with most readers when I see this list.
5 Stars for This Changes Everything, Volume I, The Spanners Series, by Sally Ember, Ed.D., from “Raving in Alaska” on Amazon!
Here is his/her review:
After seeing all the other reviews why did I give this one five stars? Because it was not light entertainment and did cause me to think. Much like a role-playing video game, the entire book shifted perspective, past, present, future, within a page or paragraph. Interesting concept. And, at times I had to put it down and think about what I just read. Intriguing and with a bit of a twist. How would I react in the given premises? Very good question indeed.
Read review and my response here: http://goo.gl/e47jZ6
Now Permafree everywhere ebooks are available!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFELTG8?tag=viewbookat0e-20
More links for purchase of Volumes for the series and much more info: http://www.sallyember.com Look to the right and scroll down!
5 Stars for This Changes Everything, Volume I, The Spanners Series, by Sally Ember, Ed.D., from “Raving in Alaska” on Amazon!
Here is his/her review:
After seeing all the other reviews why did I give this one five stars? Because it was not light entertainment and did cause me to think. Much like a role-playing video game, the entire book shifted perspective, past, present, future, within a page or paragraph. Interesting concept. And, at times I had to put it down and think about what I just read. Intriguing and with a bit of a twist. How would I react in the given premises? Very good question indeed.
Read review and my response here: http://goo.gl/e47jZ6
Now Permafree everywhere ebooks are available!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFELTG8?tag=viewbookat0e-20
More links for purchase of Volumes for the series and much more info: http://www.sallyember.com Look to the right and scroll down!
Do you like to read and/or write: mysteries, fantasy, science-fiction, romance, children’s, young adult (YA) or any combination of these? Genre is what we call those types of stories and novels, and if you say “YES!” then this Blog Tour is for YOU! Visit, read, comment, LIKE, share, reblog!
My “COMFORT” post appears in a week, on Sept. 27, so visit these sites, below, and then please come back!
Goodreads’ Genre-Specific Review Group’s Fall 2014 Blog Hop Tour: “COMFORT” is this year’s theme.
TOUR DATES and SITES
September 21 – http://www.elizabethlos.com AS OF 9/25: NOT POSTED
— http://thebaffledkingcomposing.wordpress.com AS OF 9/25: NOT POSTED
— http://www.melindabrasher.com/ AS OF 9/25: NOT POSTED
September 22 – http://kchrisbacherauthor.weebly.com AS OF 9/25: NOT POSTED
— http://sue-blake.com/ AS OF 9/25: NOT POSTED
September 23 – http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com AS OF 9/25: NOT POSTED
September 24 – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/387792.Marilyn_Peake/blog
— http://www.marilynpeake.com
September 25 – http://rjcrayton.com/blog
September 26 – http://www.susandayauthor.com
September 27 – http://www.sallyember.com/blog
— http://michelle-abbott.weebly.com/
10Q begins September 24th, 2014 (Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah)
image from: http://9pixs.com
“The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur are commonly known as the ‘Days of Awe’ (Yamim Noraim) or the ‘Days of Repentance.’ This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur.”
from http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday3.htm
10 Days. 10 Questions.
Whether you’re an observant Jew or not Jewish at all or don’t observe Jewish holidays for whatever reasons, this exercise/personal/spiritual practice is an excellent self-assessment/check-in tool to be used during the special ten days that are between the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This can be done online, but you can use it during those days or other days, offline or on, for whatever purposes you want, which I highly recommend.
Here is the way 10Q works:
10Q : Reflect. React. Renew.
Life’s Biggest Questions. Answered By You.
- 1) Answer one question per day in your own secret online 10Q space. Make your answers serious. Silly. Salacious. However you like. It’s your 10Q.
- 2) When you’re finished, hit the button and your answers get sent to the secure online 10Q vault for safekeeping.
- 3) One year later, the vault will open and your answers will land back in your email inbox for further private reflection.
- 4) You may keep your responses secret or share them, either anonymously or with attribution, with the wider 10Q community.
- 5) Next year, the whole process begins again. Could become an annual ritual even if you’re not an observant Jew.
Do you 10Q? Try it. You will like it.
And, in case you are observant and want to have Tashlich, the ceremonial casting away of “sins,” misdeeds, regrets, mistakes, which usually requires having some moving water nearby that you can go cast these symbolic negativities into during the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, you can do THAT online as well!
May all beings benefit and have a better year than ever before. Blessings and sweetness to you all! L’Shana Tova!
10Q begins September 24th, 2014 (Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah)
image from: http://9pixs.com
“The ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur are commonly known as the ‘Days of Awe’ (Yamim Noraim) or the ‘Days of Repentance.’ This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur.”
from http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday3.htm
10 Days. 10 Questions.
Whether you’re an observant Jew or not Jewish at all or don’t observe Jewish holidays for whatever reasons, this exercise/personal/spiritual practice is an excellent self-assessment/check-in tool to be used during the special ten days that are between the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This can be done online, but you can use it during those days or other days, offline or on, for whatever purposes you want, which I highly recommend.
Here is the way 10Q works:
10Q : Reflect. React. Renew.
Life’s Biggest Questions. Answered By You.
- 1) Answer one question per day in your own secret online 10Q space. Make your answers serious. Silly. Salacious. However you like. It’s your 10Q.
- 2) When you’re finished, hit the button and your answers get sent to the secure online 10Q vault for safekeeping.
- 3) One year later, the vault will open and your answers will land back in your email inbox for further private reflection.
- 4) You may keep your responses secret or share them, either anonymously or with attribution, with the wider 10Q community.
- 5) Next year, the whole process begins again. Could become an annual ritual even if you’re not an observant Jew.
Do you 10Q? Try it. You will like it.
And, in case you are observant and want to have Tashlich, the ceremonial casting away of “sins,” misdeeds, regrets, mistakes, which usually requires having some moving water nearby that you can go cast these symbolic negativities into during the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, you can do THAT online as well!
May all beings benefit and have a better year than ever before. Blessings and sweetness to you all! L’Shana Tova!
Get on it, you scientists of all sorts, engineers, artists, filmmakers, photojournalists, entrepreneurs, NGO founders, technologists, inventors, human rights activists and more.
One of my favorite practices! #Rejoicing in others’ good fortune is extroverting #gratitude!
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have not read the book, FICTION IN THE QUANTUM UNIVERSE, being reviewed in the blog post I am quoting, written by Marti. I probably won’t.
But, I’m fascinated by the topic, which relates directly to my own writing and choices in The Spanners Series ebooks and appreciate her review and snippets enormously.
I’m sharing some of Marti’s review, linking to her blog (below) and commenting here on mine.
Of course, I encourage anyone interested to read the full review AND read Susan Strehle’s book. Some day, I will.
FICTION IN THE QUANTUM UNIVERSE by Susan Strehle
Reviewed by Marti on What has Been Read Cannot Be Unread book blog
9/15/14
Marti characterizes this as an “interesting but academic book” which is hard to argue with, for sure. Her summary of Strehle’s premise is: “a new fiction has developed from the influence of modern physics.”
I LOVE this idea! As a new-ish speculative fiction writer (This Changes Everything, Volume I, and This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Volume II, published as ebooks, so far) who would definitely fit into this category, I’m glad to have these choices honored and recognized as parts of a trend.
Strehle calls this new fiction actualism, which I like as a term. However, I don’t like her positioning realism as its opposite, since Buddhists and quantum physicists all realize that NOTHING is “REAL” in the sense of the word as we currently know it.
Marti writes that Strehle claims we actualists are writing the way we do “in order to reflect more accurately what we now understand as real.”
This I do agree with. For example, I am choosing to write my novels in the present tense (which aggravates and confounds many readers and reviewers; too bad) to emphasize the simultaneity of time and the “nowness” of everything. I also write about the existence of multiple timelines and some people’s abilities to know facts, events, circumstances, etc., across these timelines in the multiverse. How would I and and other sci-fi writers be doing this without the influences of quantum physics?
I adore these quotes from Marti’s review, some of which are double quoted, since they’re from the book:
[Strehle] says that in the new physical or quantum universe, reality is discontinuous, energetic, relative, statistical, subjectively seen, and uncertainly known — all terms taken from new physics, and that rather than choosing between art and actuality, contemporary novelists pursue both in fiction.
“Contemporary fiction departs from realism without losing interest in reality. Reality is no longer realistic; it has more energy and mystery, rendering the observer’s position more uncertain and more involved.”
Actualist fiction is characterized by incompletions, indeterminacy, and “open” endings unsatisfying to the readerly wish for fulfilled promises and completed patterns. Gravity’s Rainbow [by Thomas Pynchon], for example, ends not with a period but with a dash. Strehle argues that such innovations in narrative reflect on twentieth-century history, politics, science, and discourse.
Read Marti’s full review by following the link, here, and read Strehle’s book by following her links to it or getting it from your local library. Enjoy!
http://whathasbeenread.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/fiction-in-the-quantum-universe-by-susan-strehle/
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have not read the book, FICTION IN THE QUANTUM UNIVERSE, being reviewed in the blog post I am quoting, written by Marti. I probably won’t.
But, I’m fascinated by the topic, which relates directly to my own writing and choices in The Spanners Series ebooks and appreciate her review and snippets enormously.
I’m sharing some of Marti’s review, linking to her blog (below) and commenting here on mine.
Of course, I encourage anyone interested to read the full review AND read Susan Strehle’s book. Some day, I will.
FICTION IN THE QUANTUM UNIVERSE by Susan Strehle
Reviewed by Marti on What has Been Read Cannot Be Unread book blog
9/15/14
Marti characterizes this as an “interesting but academic book” which is hard to argue with, for sure. Her summary of Strehle’s premise is: “a new fiction has developed from the influence of modern physics.”
I LOVE this idea! As a new-ish speculative fiction writer (This Changes Everything, Volume I, and This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Volume II, published as ebooks, so far) who would definitely fit into this category, I’m glad to have these choices honored and recognized as parts of a trend.
Strehle calls this new fiction actualism, which I like as a term. However, I don’t like her positioning realism as its opposite, since Buddhists and quantum physicists all realize that NOTHING is “REAL” in the sense of the word as we currently know it.
Marti writes that Strehle claims we actualists are writing the way we do “in order to reflect more accurately what we now understand as real.”
This I do agree with. For example, I am choosing to write my novels in the present tense (which aggravates and confounds many readers and reviewers; too bad) to emphasize the simultaneity of time and the “nowness” of everything. I also write about the existence of multiple timelines and some people’s abilities to know facts, events, circumstances, etc., across these timelines in the multiverse. How would I and and other sci-fi writers be doing this without the influences of quantum physics?
I adore these quotes from Marti’s review, some of which are double quoted, since they’re from the book:
[Strehle] says that in the new physical or quantum universe, reality is discontinuous, energetic, relative, statistical, subjectively seen, and uncertainly known — all terms taken from new physics, and that rather than choosing between art and actuality, contemporary novelists pursue both in fiction.
“Contemporary fiction departs from realism without losing interest in reality. Reality is no longer realistic; it has more energy and mystery, rendering the observer’s position more uncertain and more involved.”
Actualist fiction is characterized by incompletions, indeterminacy, and “open” endings unsatisfying to the readerly wish for fulfilled promises and completed patterns. Gravity’s Rainbow [by Thomas Pynchon], for example, ends not with a period but with a dash. Strehle argues that such innovations in narrative reflect on twentieth-century history, politics, science, and discourse.
Read Marti’s full review by following the link, here, and read Strehle’s book by following her links to it or getting it from your local library. Enjoy!
http://whathasbeenread.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/fiction-in-the-quantum-universe-by-susan-strehle/
Sharing books, author voices, and news from the University of Washington Press
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A novelist with a passion for reading and traveling shares his view of the world and his adventures.
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#Evola #Traditionalism #Metaphysics #Initiation #Esotericism #JuliusEvola #SpiritualHierarchy #Transcendence
Sally Ember, Ed.D. 
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