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There are still lots of authors who write for the love of it and not for the money. There is I believe a priority that should be placed on things versus an all or nothing choice forced. Writing can be profitable but writing for profit only is not something I'm comfortable doing because that would mean writing stories I'd never read. This is the problem for me. I don't write in the genre's that most African American's read because it isn't my cup of tea but I'm sure I could make more money if I did. Writing clean fiction, suburban Christian fiction (my category), urban Christian fiction, serialized fiction (coming in 2013) and devotionals hasn't put me in the "baller" category and I accepted a long time ago it might not ever put me on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Writing" but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop. Publishers told me my writing was solid but were concerned about stories my subject matter and didn't want to take the risk so I brought the books to ebook and POD markets on my own. I love the creative expression self publishing affords me and I take improving my craft serious, my stories aren't perfect but they're from my heart. I believe passion for the story and reason for writing if not founded in something more than monetary gain will be the best vetting system for the people writing for profit and if that doesn't work readers are smarter than some publishers give them credit. Readers want to read a story that the author believes in not just something written for profit.

IMAGING,OUR VOICES TOGETHER,WE COULD BE STRONG AND PROFOUND..INSTEAD, SILENCE LIKE FALLING SNOW IS THE,REALITY, SOUND...BLACK PEOPLE,EACH DAY,EACH HOUR,EACH SECOND.,LIKE A WINTER SEASON IT SEEMS..SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE NAKED WINTER TREES...THE ADDICTS,SELF DESTRUCTION,THERE ARE THOSE WITH WITHERED SOULS AMONG US...THE FIENDS,SABOTEURS, GANGSTERS,THAT WANT OUR RACE TO BE TOWARD A EXODUS...BLACK LEADERS,WATCHING THIS,SOME IGNORE,SOME RETREAT, OTHERS FLEE..SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE WINTER NAKED TREES...THE RIGHTEOUS BLACK FOLKS WHO ARE CHURCH SUNDAY BOUND..SINISTER PREACHERS HAVE THEIR SOULS MORE WITHERED THAN THE LEAVES UPON THE GROUND..SOULS DRIFTING LIKE SNOWFLAKES UPON THE WINTER BREEZE.SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE WINTER NAKED TREES....PLANTATION SLAVE HOUSES,EACH BLACK COMMUNITY SEEMS TO CONTAIN..BLACK PEOPLE,ENSLAVED,CONFINED AS IF THEY WERE I N CHAINS..ENEMIES OF BLACK PEOPLE WATCHING THIS, CAN SIT BACK WITH EASE.SO DARK AND SO BARE LIKE WINTER NAKED TREES...../.

After a long and overbearing presidential race, President Barack Obama has been re-elected. We no longer have to wonder who will lead our nation for the next 4 years and all major political campaigning can be put aside for a few years. The president and the DNC ran a great campaign and both should enjoy their victory, but the battle to improve the economy has just begun. Will President Obama be able to lead our nation into economic prosperity? Will congress come together to help improve this nation, instead of playing politics? I believe the answers to these questions are not as important as many people may think. Why? The answer is simple; government does not dictate the direction of the economy. That charge remains firmly in the grasp of all American citizens. We must make the important decisions that will dictate the direction of the U.S. economy. We will have to decide if we will continue to support companies that ship jobs American jobs overseas. We must be motivated to create new ways to address our constant need for energy and convenience. Most importantly, we must hold all politicians responsible for fulfilling their promises. President Obama and all other winners from last night's election have made a lot of promises, but we can't accept another 40 - 60 percent fulfillment rate. We must hold them all responsible for their failures. How can we do this? While voting is a powerful tool for us to express our feelings, more is needed to hold politicians accountable for their commitments. We can't simply wait another two years to kick some people out of their government offices. We have to address their failures by cutting off the money supply. If political season promises are not kept, don't contribute a dime towards the next campaign. We should stop supporting all companies and organizations that openly support these promises breakers. Money talks in D.C. and it is time for our voices to be heard. This is where the opportunity to improve our government resides and we must use it to our advantage. http://moneyetiquette.com/blog

It finally occurred to me that when it comes to the subject of whether or not writers should get paid for their work, I can speak with some degree of relevancy because of what I voluntarily did for free on the Cynique’s Corner site. After an ebook project I signed on with crashed and burned due to problems with implementation, I approached Troy about doing my own version of its concept. He graciously consented, and since he was doing me a favor by allowing me to serialize my book on a chapter-a-week basis, it never occurred to me to expect payment for this. I just thought it would be fun. And it was. I had no idea what the response would be to this updated version of a book I self-published 15 years ago, but I figured what did I have to lose? Well,- I don’t know how many people actually read the 22 chapters that I posted, but in regard to the number of hits, I’d estimate that I averaged about 60 a week. The original run of this paperback was 150 units. Selling copies for 5 bucks a pop at a few local fairs and venues, I got rid of about 100 over a 2-year period. But did I care? Not really. Self-publishing a novel includes total control, and this allows you to play God and create your own little world and your own characters and your own plots. What more can a mere mortal ask for? Positive feed back? I got that, too. Going waay back to the early 1970s, my prodigious letter-writing to editors, earned me a regular column in a Chicago newspaper. As a free lancer, I was given a 25-dollar savings bond for each article I submitted. I never expected to be paid when I requested my own by-line. I just wanted a forum for telling off white people during a racially-charged era when they needed to be put in check. My reward? How the newspaper was bombarded with letters from irate readers, complaining about “that nigger bitch troublemaker”. I loved it! So did the editors who regularly printed censored versions of some of the more outrageous responses. Several years later at a hometown achievers banquet, I was given a plaque for speaking out against racism. Money? No. Just appreciation from my peers. I’ve never considered myself a serious writer and my lackluster book covers and absence of a marketing plan attested to this. I wrote because I was fulfilled by the creative process. This is not to say that I would turn down any money someone offered to pay me. But when it came to writing books, the joy was more in the journey, than the destination. I don’t expect everybody to take this approach. To each his own. Fame and fortune is a powerful incentive. But I can say, that when it comes to my writing endeavors, I’ve never been disappointed.

It may be over, but it ain't done as the media and the internet are still abuzz with post mortems about the result of the presidential election. Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel minced no words in a Fox News interview, when he told Sean Hannity to "shut the f**k up, you lost!". My kind of guy. Another one of the more interesting reactions was that of a FaceBook poster, who opined: "While Romney lost, the Republicans outperformed in the Congressional elections. One would have expected many more losses with a victorious Democratic President, but there were basically no "coat tails" to Obama's victory...the Congressional Republicans are, if anything, more "conservative" than Romney tried to be. This seems to imply that it is not the policies that were rejected, but that Romney was rejected personally, or that people personally like Obama, even as they disagree with some of his policies and, thus, elect a Congress designed to thwart him. This election, in my view, does little to tell us about policy, as it was, essentially, a draw." A thought-provoking article that appeared in the Daily Currant on November 7th. "Conservative political pundit Pat Buchanan stoked controversy today by claiming that Barack Obama's reelection has 'killed White America'. The paleoconservative nativist is no stranger to racial controversy, having previously been accused of writing books with racist and anti-semitic undertones. But the former Nixon advisor was more explicit on the G. Gordon Liddy Show this morning. When asked for his reaction to Obama's victory, Buchanan replied brazenly: "White America died last night. Obama's reelection killed it. Our 200 plus year history as a Western nation is over. We're a Socialist Latin American country now. Venezuela without the oil." Stunned by his clear racisim, Liddy tried to walk his guest back from the ledge: "With what you just said right there...You seem to imply that white people are better than other people. That's not really what you're saying is it?" "Of course that's what I'm saying," Buchanan replied "Isn't it obvious? Anything worth doing on this Earth was done first by white people." "Who landed on the moon? White people. Who climbed Mount Everest? White people. Who invented the transistor? White people. Who invented paper? White people. Who discovered algebra? White people." "And don't give me all this nonsense about Martin Luther King and civil rights and all that. Who do you think freed the slaves? Abraham Lincoln. A white guy!" "But we're not led by Lincoln anymore, we're led by an affirmative-action mulatto who can't physically understand how great America once was." "I cried last night G. I cried for hours. It's over for all of us. The great White nation will never survive another 4 years of Obama's leadership" Liddy tried to reason with Buchanan, reminding him that he shares similar positions with the President on Afghanistan, Iraq, and relations with Russia: "Of course I agree with half of what he does," Buchanan answered, "He's half white! That's not the half I'm worried about." Buchanan served as a speechwriter in the Nixon White House. He was fired as an MSNBC analyst this year following the publication of a book many considered to be racist." A side bar of the presidential election. The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, a four-star general who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and was thought to be a potential candidate for president has once again raised the question as to why men disgrace themselves, sacrificing everything, career, reputation, family, future just to sample a different brand of nookie... Power and prestige cannot stifle the primitive urge of the male of the species to lust after a female. Some can resist consummating their desire. Others can't. So long, Dave. Hope our esteemed President Obama fares better than you and can declare that he has "99 problems, but a bitch ain't one of 'em."

I just recently completed Toni Morrison’s latest book “Home”, a novel I have been looking forward to reading because its advance notices promoted it as being set in the 1950s, an era I could relate to. Since many of Morrison’s novels take place way back in the day, I was glad she had chosen to write about what was, to me, a more recent period in history. I was curious about how Ms Morrison would portray the 1950s which have been referred to as not only a bland and innocent time populated by the “silent generation“, but also the decade that was ripe for the civil rights movement it spawned. I anticipated she would write about a passive race of people, done with being patient, spurred into protest by dynamic leaders like Martin Luther King, and inspirational ones like Rosa Parks, and martyrs like Emmet Till, all played out against a backdrop of doo-wop music and Amos ‘N Andy TV and Dorothy Dandridge celebrity. The ‘50s I knew. Silly me. I should’ve realized that Toni Morrison would never stoop to such mundane predictability. With Toni it’s never easy. And “Home” is vintage Morrison. So, before long, through the vividness of her prose fraught with its extraordinary metaphors, and the wretched poignancy of her characters, I was beyond reading this book; I was experiencing it. In my imagination I was there, immersed in a version of life in the 50s that was diametrically opposed to the one I led back then as a young black woman residing in a small integrated suburb of Chicago. Crouched in the unforgiving frozen terrain of Korea, killing to keep from being killed while dodging bullets, I was there with the book's protagonist, Frank Money, as he witnessed the horrible deaths of the homeboys with whom he had enlisted in the Army, hoping to escape the dead-end drudgery that was their fate as black youth bogged down in the dusty little rural town of Lotus, Georgia. There, following Frank through the post traumatic stress that plagues him as a shell-shocked war veteran, wandering the dangerous streets of northern cities, working his way through despair with whiskey and the fleeting love of Lilly, a comely, ambitious woman not content to be his ongoing caregiver. There, listening to the frenetic be-bop music in a smoky little night club, visited between trains on his way back to rescue his gullible younger sister, “Cee”, who has been victimized and sterilized by a mad professor of eugenics. And, in the end, there, back in the confines of a hapless little town that modernization forgot, and slavery remembered. Yet a place that is also a welcoming haven not lacking in the homespun warmth and time-worn wisdom embodied by its black inhabitants, common folk of varying degrees of good and evil who, through the worst of conditions have endured, blissful in their ignorance, secure in their belief that “be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home”. As the book draws to its close I was also there, witnessing a reappearing zoot-suited phantom who like the style he sported, comes and finally goes with a smile on his face, signalling that "all's well, that ends well". At 145 pages, “Home” is a short intense novel, something which always earns points with me, and a satisfactory read for those who are up to the challenge of spinning straw into gold. Finally, because it is what it is, I have no choice but to give this good thing that came in a small package, 4 stars. * * * *

I found the article below which not surprisingly appeared on the Fox News site interesting because it's an example of how this election is not only polarizing the country but is reinforcing a rift in the black community. Voting for Obama has become a litmus test for a person's blackness. Race still matters. This time next month what will the situation be?? I hope the election is not a close one because I don't know what Blacks will do if Obama loses. Will they simply be demoralized or will they be in a rebellious state of mind?? I think white people will handle a Romney loss better. They are not passionate in their support for his candidacy but have lost confidence in Obama and simply want change. I also believe the electoral college might be on its last legs as America embarks on a path where in the future the "United States" will be a misnomer. We shall see... “Clueless” star Stacey Dash recently tweeted her support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, accompanied by a patriotic swimsuit picture of herself. But now her political viewpoint has become the subject of online attacks, with many expressing crude distaste that she isn’t endorsing President Obama – and race has become a key motivator behind the digital abuse. “You’re an unemployed black woman endorsing Mitt Romney. You’re voting against yourself thrice. You poor beautiful idiot,” one Twitter user wrote, while @Black Voice wrote, “Stacey Dash had a perm since birth. I knew I couldn’t trust her.. lol.” Others accused the actress of “voting for white supremacy,” claiming she “is white with a dark tan,” and calling Dash a slew of offensive names. Several other Obama supporters even went as far as to encourage “the old hag” to “kill herself.” One suicide encourager is listed as a doctor and politically active Democrat in Washington D.C., and although he reportedly has deleted the inflammatory “kill yourself” tweet, it was captured by social media news site, Twitchy.com. But Dash seems to be taking the backlash in stride. “My humble opinion… EVERYONE is entitled to one,” she tweeted in response. But the 46-year-old's plug for Romney attracted plenty of applause, too. “Thank you for being willing to think for yourself despite what your haters have to say,” tweeted one user, while another noted, “You can NEVER, EVER (did I say never?) NEVER leave the Dem party if you r Black. Once you do, the name calling begins.” Dash did not respond to a request for further comment.

IN 1930, JAMES CAMERON WAS 16. HE AND HIS 2 FRIENDS WERE CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF A WHITE MAN AND ATTEMPTED RAPE OF HIS GIRL FRIEND.. ALL 3 WERE TAKEN OUT BY A DEMONIC WHITE MOB..IN A TREE BY THE COURT HOUSE CAMERON WATCH HIS FRIENDS LYNCHED..ROPE AROUND HIS NECK, SOMEONE SAID HE WAS INNOCENT BARELY ESCAPING BEING HUNG...CAMERON SAID THE ROPE SCARRED HIS NECK...JAMES CAMERON WAS INVOLVED WITH CIVIL RIGHTS, NAACP AND FOUNDED THE BLACK HOLOCOST MUSEUM...THERE IS A PICTURE OF THOMAS SHIPP AND ABRAM SMITH LYNCHED IN AUGUST IN 1930...JAMES CAMERON IS DECEASED.//

BLACK ACTOR AND COMEDIAN D.L. HUGELY SAYS BLACK MEN, BLACK PEOPLE SHOULD BE ON THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST.OKAY...ANIMALS ARE EXTINCT AND BECOMING EXTINCE BECAUSE OF MAN MOSTLY....I WATCH NATURE SHOWS, ELEPHANTS AND RHINOS KILLED BY POACHERS FOR THEIR TUSK AND HORNS...AFRICAN ANIMALS ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST INCLUDE, BLACK RHINOCERUS , LEMURS, GAZELLES ,CHIPS, LEOPARDS ,WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLAS AND ADDAX-LARGE ANTELOPE......BLACK PEOPLE KNOWING THAT FOR CENTURIES THE WHITE MAN HAS BEEN TRYING TO GENOCIDE AND EXTERMINATE THE BLACK RACE FOR CENTURIES ARE HELPING WITH THE EXTINCTION...BLACK PEOPLE HAVING UNPROTECTED SEX WITH OVER 30 YEARS KOWLEDGE OF AIDS, HIV VIRUS... STREET GANGS ARE AS BAD AS NEO NAZI KLAN GROUPS....DRUGS AND ADDICTS.....BLACK LEADERS, NAACP, CHURCH PREACHERS, BLACK POLITICIANS ARE PLANTATION HOUSE NEGROES AND OVERSEER'S..CHURCHES ARE AS CORRUPT AS PIMP HOUSES AND DRUG HOUSES.//////

Because gang related violence has become so rampant in this country’s inner cities, attempts to focus on this problem have taken on celebrity involvement. Recently ABC news anchor, Diane Sawyer, showed up in Chicago to cover a gang summit being sponsored by Father Michael Pfleger, local hero, activist Catholic priest, and the white leader of an all black congregation. These high level meetings between the hierarchy of Chicago’s gangs have been held before and have not worked or will they ever because guards can never be lowered and ground never conceded. Reputations have to be maintained. What I find compelling about the situation is the reaity of what is at the root of a lot of the violence. Poverty and lack of jobs and the breakdown of the family don’t tell the whole story. It’s assumed that the wanton slayings are all gang-related, all about turfs and drugs and retaliations . But a lot of the killings are actually personal vendettas by macho cowards, - nonentities who are so consumed with their need to feel important that they cannot deal with rejection. Time and time again a familiar scenario is what triggers murder and mayhem. Someone is having a party with family and friends when an individual or a group crashes the affair and after stirring up trouble, are asked to leave. The second act of this drama plays out with the resentful offenders showing back up with a gun to shoot up the place. Other situations involve love triangles where one rival will gun down his cock-blocking competitor. Even making longer than necessary eye contact between adversaries can lead to drawn weapons. Any act of disrespect shown by one homie toward another, be it on a playground or at the club or on a FaceBook wall, or at a funeral for a murdered friend is grounds for pulled triggers. What used to be settled with fists is now finalized with guns in the hands of those who invaribly slaughter innocent bystanders, all in the ritual of proving one’s manhood by getting even. Unfortunately, this need to beat one’s chest doesn’t restrict itself to the ghetto. A more cold-blooded version exists across the board on all levels of society and can even lead to war. When the collective ego of one country is insulted by the collective ego of another country, battle lines are drawn. It's a fact life that an insatiable ego is an intrinsic part of all living creatures. It’s the nature of the beast to take offense at anything that constitutes a slight, and threatens one’s self esteem or, worse yet, exposes one’s insecurity. All cooler heads advocate replacing false pride with peace and love, citing these virtues as being the source of true strength because they call for the restraint that saves lives. "Blessed be the peacemakers", but everybody didn’t get the memo. The ruthless ego will not be denied. It rules everywhere as lions fight to be king of the jungle, - and men fight to be king of the hill. Crushing a threat to your status gives the ego an erection. That damned ego is at the root of all the problems of the world because it goes hand in hand with the quest for power. And power corrupts. God, you sure screwed up when you created us - in your image...

I just can't get enough of this silly song. Why, I don't know. My grandson even threatened to shoot a video of me singing it so he could add it to YouTube's collection of diffent covers of it. This link provides one of the more interesting versions for those of you who are tired of serious subjects. http://youtu.be/lEsPhTbJhuo

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