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Never in my wildest dreams (and yes I have wild ones) would I think a short observation would spur such a nourishing conversation! Thank you @richardmurray, @Troy and @Kalexander2 for you evocative perspectives!

I never heard this before, but it is a brilliant observation.

Thanks Richard. Of course spam on your blog has increased since i blocked guest posts on the forum… i honestly believe someone just wants to make my life miserable. @Pioneer1 would say it is an overt act of racism.

I would like to live in this painting (the house by the river) with someone.

Thank you, Mel. You have made my day. Yes, the text next to each picture gives ingredients, process, and an anecdote that includes a quote from my mother or a story that illustrates not only her philosophy about food, but, of course, about life. From the beginning, I make it clear that it is not a cookbook or a how to book, but a book that will inspire some to create their own culinary art, others to enjoy the art when they frame the perforated large format prints on their wall, and everyone to be touched by my mother's story. It is a companion book to the first book, An Extraordinary Life: Josephine E. Jones. The talented illustrator has created an elegant cover that is a work of art, just like the contents of the book. Now if I can get the emergency loan-grant to pay the publicist, I won't have to attempt to do it myself. Thanks again.

Okay, WOW! I am going to make a notebook to keep up with this information. Thank you @Mel Hopkins I am going to break this down and digest this. OMGOSH! I can understand this.

@Chevdove Thank you for asking!!! (I'm so excited)...ACCESS = LOCATION and refers to where people are most likely to get information about something that interest them. Example - If you are interested in creole cooking - you're are likely to show up to a location that either serves creole food or teaches creole cooking. You will most likely search for creole recipes and even find a creole history club to join locally or the internet. You may even show up here AALBC to look for books on the origins of creole culture or if experts post here. You might even start your own thread about creole culture. NOTE: business owners provide what customers need so the customer can get what they want. Your interest in creole cooking means either you or loved one wants to eat it. So business owners fills the need - by selling a cookbook, opening a restaurant or inviting you to take a trip to the source. So, someone who is promoting, lets say Louisiana travel tours, will make sure they share their information at all those access points where you are likely to show up. They will be at the places where you might look for information creole cooking. It may be advertisement or even information about authentic creole cooking spot on the tour - or even the best dish and include a recipe... Now they have your attention you may even jot down their information for future reference - and remember them when you plan your trip so you can get some good food. This is how the best marketers are getting noticed in today's marketplace. EDUCATION = A MOVEMENT A lot of independent authors think they don't know their audience. My suggestion is to start of movement of one. Ask yourself, "what do I believe needs changing?" I did something similar when starting this blog. I believe Marketing = Change. Marketing is a force that shakes up the status quo. I believe independent authors are unaware they use marketing in the course of their daily living. Therefore, my mission is to help authors realize they can create change through intentional use of the marketing techniques they unwittingly use daily. I was the first person in my "marketing is a four-letter word" movement. I was the first one in the audience. I'm so passionate about this topic, I just want to spread the word to anyone who will listen. I believe, "If you don't believe in your movement or are passionate about it - no one will be." Creating a movement of one is the first step. It will help you clarify what you intend to change. Then, you will be able to identify the people who are interested in your subject matter. You'll notice there are "followers" who will agree with your mission. (note: it might not happen immediately - that's why you have to be patient and passionate.) These people are your core audience. Don't waste your time trying convert anyone who is not interested. Focus on those who are interested. -These "followers" will become your ambassadors who will bring other like-minded people to the movement. How to start a movement: Now, the best thing about being a writer is ideas and words are our movement. We just have to educate others and lead them to the goal we he hope to accomplish. If we didn't believe in changing something we wouldn't write in the first place. And the best way to help others make a change is by sharing information (Education). So when you start your movement answer "Who, what,where, when, why and how." from there you will understand what information you need to share to build your audience.

@Troy The action is here! Some of Independent authors here seem to echo the same thing "I didn't know how to market my book." Except, they do. -It appears they're not strategic in their marketing practices. I was the same way with my first novel - I knew what to do but I didn't work my plan. I like how you call it a (book marketing )"clinic" because it is! We, independent authors, already know what's wrong - we just aren't consistent with our "outpatient" care. I'm writing this out for me too. I believe this is one the best places for original content on the subject. By the way, I like that I don't even have to repost it to my profile - the software keeps track of all my postings as long as I'm signed in. Oh! I'll check out @dtpollard. @Troy OMG @hen81 is my writing "hero"! He didn't come here to play with us one-book every 20 year folks !!! 65 titles according to his last post!

You are giving a clinic now @Mel Hopkins. DT PollarUsed to posr here quiet regularly. He really was cranking the ebook several a year (or so it seemed).

@richardmurray Thank you! Happy New Year! @Troy LOL! You don't miss a chance to give facebook the boot LOL GOOD JOB!!! Facebook and anything it touches is anti-life...

Making money trumps (pardon the pun) serving the community everyday of the week. Johnson made it clear the "E" stood for "entertainment," not enlightenment or education. The reality is that it stood for enrichment, Johnson's personal enrichment, and that is the legacy of BET.

true @Troy Just today @Mel Hopkins the mayor to new york city, blamed trumps election or racial biases publicity in the usa on rupert murdoch or fox news. He blames someone whose role is to make money through the media for placating how white people raise themselves in their community. It is not murdoch's fault that he saw a mob and played to it, to make money, in the usa, where making money is the way to anything. Again, merit does not matter. De blasio today suggest a certain philosophical merit must come before fiscal profiteering when the fiscal profiteering is the philosophical merit. One note, when chernobyl happened the soviet russian government had soldiers pick up the waste, all those soldiers died of radiation sickness. Over 10,000 have died from the world trade center wreckage, but if we all recall, mayor guiliani let those people ,fiscally poor people or municipal workers,pick up waste just like the soviet government did the military at chernobyl... ah welll

The irony of this article dated May 7, 2018 appearing here as a post is that I believe it was inspired by awesomelyluvvie article - dated April 17, 2018 - Still, It drives home the point that unless a black woman's feelings are echoed by a woman of non-color - then those words are just another "fart in the blizzard." Further, tears of woman of non-color are assigned as the attributes of all women especially black women. And if we don't cry at the drop of a hat then we are labeled Angry black women. Or we're not women at all, or rather we're acting like "men"...because we don't act weak. When in reality women are not weak at all - but women of non-color just play men that way. Now, they've joined the me-too movement to kick men out of their offices all the while playing victim but getting the corner offices in the process. All I got to say is "well-played women of non-color; well-played.

@richardmurray: Doubt sister Hopkins meant where that's going, but i'll leave it up her to check it up!

@Mel Hopkins true:) but, what separate a baby from a program is a baby while it is created at least physically through parents, its design is special. the parents can not determine what it will be, like all the rest created from humans. @Kalexander2 yes , the one key thing that black people must state or remember is that our vote would not had changed it. The presidential election in the u.s.a. is fifty elections. whomever get the majority vote in a state gain all their electoral votes, except for two states, where the votes are divided upon the percentage. Black people do not have a majority vote in any state in the usa, and the white vote this past election voted as a block for donald trump. The black vote voted against trump, all non white votes , voted against trump side carson, but none of them separately or together did and do have the quantity to win it alone, as the white vote proved.

@richardmurray ... OMG!!! this is true of everything we create. Understanding the creator reveals the creator.. I knew this to be true of my writing ... to read me is to know my heart - (good bad or indifferent). BUT now looking from your perspective I'd say this is true of what we consume. @Kalexander2., "It's not that I have something to hide. It's that I have nothing I want you to see." ~ANON (Netflix) @Kalexander2 If I understand this premise correctly, if the state is receiving the money - then why aren't officials distributing the HUD funds based on needs - rather than using the cash to integrate communities. One challenge, however, is to make sure millionaires such as Fox News Sean Hannity don't get the HUD money and then fix up buildings in areas - and charge exorbitant amount of rent for each apartment. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/sean-hannity-under-fire-for-allegedly-using-hud-money-to-help-buy-housing-property-in-georgia/85-548596246

Remember @Kalexander2 every machine purpose stem from its creator, not itself

The esteem commentary here is encouraging and I'm especially happy to hear Black folk speak this way. All too often people tend to hide from themselves, who they are and how they feel. While I'm no great admirer of anyone putting all their cards on any table unnecessarily, I do believe anyone with something to hide exposes everything about her/his self. Machine learning, AI, data mining, analysis, etc., does indeed seek to learn in efforts to control and manipulate to gain some advantage over others; to little avail, because there is no 'human' touch (or intimacy). There may be an advantage, however, when people, government advance programs based on such intelligence; what they think they see or know, because a person's true feeling, beliefs, and principles get ignored in all the excitement of so-call innovative technics of 'social engineering,' (use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behavior of a society). Thanks guys, for giving me an additional way of seeing things.

@richardmurray , interesting perspective and one that makes a lot of sense - especially with the history of humans seeking to control each other.

I see @Mel Hopkins yes, one member in the masses at a time:) Nice line Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. For me, artificial intelligence will never be truly intelligent. Merely an illusion alluding to intelligence that serve the vanity in humans to be masters to something.

@richardmurray & @Troy I hadn't thought about involuntary ways we share our stories. I was thinking more about how we share moments, and events with each other. For example, I can tell a part of your story, Troy, that took place at Brooklyn Tech because it was my journey too. Or Richard, I can share a little of your writing journey as I know it from AALBC because both of us look for ways to get our words to the masses. But your responses allow my little observation to become so much more than I'd realized. Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. Humans are too fluid. We possess innate ability to connect with another human in a way that allows us to feel what the other person is feeling in that moment. This is one reason, Artificial Intelligence will never become the standard. It can never be intimate - because it doesn't understand vulnerability. Such as the intimacy of community. In a community, we allow ourselves to see others and " be seen" by them. Looking through our data and trying to figure out the human experience is as hard as looking through our excrement and understanding WHY we eat the things we do. To know WHY we eat, takes sharing a meal and feeling the nuances of the story we tell. Speaking of meal and stories, -Amistad author Michael W. Twitty, won the James Beard Foundation Award for his book - The Cooking Gene. But I digress. I happened to stumble on this early tedtalk yesterday and while the speaker rambles on, he expands on this concept when he said "emotional empathy, feeling with the other person" His talk reminded me of why it is a lot easier to turn humans into robots than it will be for Artificial Intelligence to reach the level of humanity. Humans will always have shared stories; AI, not so much.

That would pretty much be anyone with a smart phone. Even tbe senior citizen with all those plastic rewards card attached to their keyring. It is hard not to freely share your information.

I amend:) especially today:) I do not have the numbers but how many people had their informatios shared from others, given freely from others in the internet age.

@TSegal, those are some views you got there, brother! However, this mess goes a lot deeper than most people realize. For the sake of this discussion let’s say that instead of 400+ years for European White folks to get it together; they had over 1000+ years of planning. I must use caution here as all I say must be accurate, though ever so unpopular. Allegations of ‘anti-semitism’ holds must greater penalties than violations of civil rights. Here we go! Since before the Roman empire was established, Jews who separated from other European Whites were prosecuted by virtually every society on earth, they got tired and got smart. Really evil smart. More than 1000+ years developing the theory of ‘double entry (modern-day accounting); 1000+ years studying (sizing-up their enemies) habits, likes and dislikes; 1000+ years stealing (plagiarizing) ideas, philosophies, science, ways of ruling a nation, and medicine from Black Africa (there were more than 2000 Black/Muslim universities in Africa) while infiltrating the very government they were subject to. Gaining trust, even marrying into families of their taskmasters. How astute would that group be after 1000+ years trial and error, and what would they do to the people who looked down upon them? Yes, it has always been White on White crime before the phrase was invented. Never forget for one moment, or underestimate the resolve of greed and power, and how even innocent children are fair game in the name of maintaining that power and feeding that greed. NO! No sir, White folks are not hypocrites, they not fools; they have always practiced what they preach. What they preach are all lies, contrary to the theologian riddled metaphor “mixing lies with the truth.” They always lie and cause us to think it’s the truth. I’ll prove it to you, right here and now! How often do we hear Blacks (you and me) asset that we are entitled to the same rights as White folks? What are those rights, I might ask? Freedom of life liberty and pursuit of happiness. Freedom for White folks is ethnocentric related (right to marginalize anyone different from them), kill whoever they want whenever they want and; freedom to follow the hegemony, their own. SORRY, but I am not entitled to, nor want that kind of freedom. Happiness for White is living perversely. I don’t to be a pervert. Just look at the most basic insignificant ways of living in modern society today, from the substance to subsistence, from what is acceptable to what is looked down upon. What rules and social values would you ordain right and wrong? All on the one hand. On the other hand, it does cause one to think (again), and reconsider principles of theology, all of them, excluding none. You’re on the right track, brother, keep up the question asking!!

Yes Troy, afromerica is my site and we still around. We were on hiatus for awhile but came back last year. Google has filtered some sites but we started back in 2000 so the Internet has not spit us out yet.

Fear is tool that provokes are real-life response. Fight or Flight... Prolonged fear leads to mental breakdown. It's not easy to just resist because most people are approaching psychotic breaks. Most people of EVERY color. We are not just humans; we are human animals and animals all react differently when they're afraid. Some animals play dead, faint and poop when they're afraid and there are animals that make themselves bigger when they're afraid and if pushed to their limit, they will attack. This is where we are today - you can't use a weapon without expecting a weapon to be used against you. Use of fear has pushed everyone to mental instability. Danger is real and it also provokes the same response as those experiencing fear... Fight or Flight. There is another way to combat danger and its through the use of CHAOS... Clear Head Assess Observe Situation then respond. Response requires training. Those who are in imminent danger are usually not of the mindset to survive the danger... especially those who have experienced duress due to prolonged fear. So first we must learn how to respond to a situation. However I suggest first locating the fire (the danger) because fighting smoke (fear) is a waste of resources.

Happily ever after is the problem, in literary terms. I will reply to your personal query but after I speak on the problem with the entire modern relationship genre. The first problem is where happily ever after came from. It came from a change in european fairy tales. Originally fairy tales were meant to refer to tales concerning the magical. A fairy traditionally is not positive or negative, in literary terms fairies is a magical label, how the magic apply to humans or the human world depend on the fairies, the humans, the various natural aspects. Most of these fairy tales were variations on pre christian stories from various places in europe that were becoming or would become heavily christian, at the zealot level. The christian clergy to their part, maintained the original christian method, making non christian things negative. This is why the word villans means criminal or peasant is low class compared to urban, where the christian church started, in modernity.Originally fairy tales had many unhappy endings. Some meant to scare, some meant to educate, others cause the story was good. But, over time, as books were being created, some writers decided to omit the unhappily ending fairy tales and only include the happy ones, or convert the unhappy ending ones into happy ending ones. This was the way in the european literary world; that coincided to the european global colonial age. The funny thing is that many of the conquered peoples native to <using commonly used geographic nameplace, not appropriate ones>: Africa/Asia/America had their own fairy tales which reflected the same style that the original european fairy tales did; but, these non european or non white fairy tales were barely transcribed or remembered or recalled through enslaved or genocidal histories. This lead up to modernity, in the united states. The U.S.A. media traditionally likes an inhuman position. From davey croket <is that the correct spelling> to the founding fathers , whether referring to real or unreal history the u.s.a. puts a happily ever after spin on all tales. When, the world wars are ended, the USA through its relatively advanced media machine, spread the happily ever after style and embedded it in films or entertainment. Artists who tried to reject this had to be independent or their work was undermined in advertising. The original scarface black and white film/comedy shows on early television/tales from the crypt comic books are all examples of media in the u.s.a. where someone was telling a story that did not end happy ever after and in each genre rules were set up to enforce a happily ever after product. From the movie ratings to comic code to prewritten shows on television. The artistic goal was blocking unhappily ever after from being experienced. Now, in modernity, the film industries technological capability has allowed an audience to see some of the most fantastic written elements absent reading or use of their imagination. The non science fiction or high fantasy fiction genre's like relationships or biographies are where books are making the most money. And, with centuries of happily ever after saturating the media in anglo led ,u.k. then u.s.a. , humanity you get to the current scenario. Now to answer your query, I believe in being happy in the now and not expecting anything tomorrow. Time is a teacher, treasure each moment you live, hope for the better tomorrow, praise the best from yesterday. Expectation is the enemy to a happy life, cause humanity live in nature, not dominate it, nature will give sad days, unhappy days, and nature is no sinner for it.

thanks @TroyImagine if we can get aalbc to grow more:) wouldn't that be great @Mel Hopkins as the online black community, this should be our goal, to make a black owned website more popular:) Ok Mel:) private message me on here, we will work something out. I will say this, the promote or social share is not present on blogs and i think is not needed. let us be honest. more and more online people, spend their time with photo viewing or tweeting but very few of them spend alot of time with in depth looking at any level. So, social promotion is good but in the end of the day, we have to come up with ways to engender them to us. many people today have filters to their social experience that grooms it.

Thanks so much Richard for your response. You make a good point that goes to the heart of the contradiction in American history. The genocide of indigenous people and enslavement of blacks were conscious collectively racist acts by people who built a legal and constitutional framework around individualism. In a sense racism is systemic even collective yet it enables white people to view themselves and function as individuals. They then deny the systemic problem and black experience.

Happy belated new year/perihelion and any thoughts to the upcoming MLK jr day? @Mel Hopkins

well done @Mel Hopkins and thanks for the information in the comments

This was a made up example but Gladys (Brown) West is the "hidden figures" of the GPS. I don't think her biography is complete but I read her story recently

I can understand why sites don't allow guest posting so many abuse the privilege. It is a pain to manage.

Bravo! Art is often commentary and commentary reflects a perspective. Eliminating that perspective or the one who perceives it is akin to censorship ... and similar to what happens in war. Removing artwork and the artist is an attempt to silence. Not cool. I rather be offended than to be a witness someone losing the right to express themselves.

I'm glad you took the feedback as it was intended. We can all use Feedback.

Hi @Kween Yakini you can embed video directly by just pasting the the unshortened URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RriAEfw57W8 We need the truth for real! Just a bit of unsolicited feedback: the background music is too loud and distracts from you piece.

Tanks for sharing this research Richard. I went directy to the Pew Study: http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/ I'm really so very glad I grew up in a world before social media. I hate to think that I'd be walking around with a device in my hand constantly subjecting myself to bullying, pressure, and worse of all marketers. The did not speak to very many Black people about just over 100, so I'm not too sure this survey speaks to our experience (but what is is new). I collect similar data from my students a slightly older demographic and I think a more influential demographic. The most surprising thing I learned speaking to my students, and this is reflected in the pew data, is how irrelevant Twitter is. I was also surprised by how popular Instagram has become by largely copying and improving upon Snapchat. I find the fact Facebook owns instagram troubling, but that is another story. My students have suggested to me that I use Instagram to market AALBC.com. This is something that I have, believe it or not, decided to try. The most difficult thing in this process for me was installing instagram on my phone. I'm completely against having social media apps installed on my phone, but for the sake of learning I decided to experiment with Instagram. Interestingly, I'm not finding the application particularly intuitive. the concept of, and how to create a "story," is not really clear to me. But I'll learn. If a 13-year-old can do is so can I. I've always had an instagram account; I just never used it, so I'm starting out with over 1,000 followers. In additional to learning the application I'm trying to build up my fan base which I'm largely doing by following others. I'll probably look into using a bot to amp up my followers but I wanna learn more about the system first. Below is are the results of a surveys with my students over the last three semesters. I allowed students to pick their two favorite social media platforms, unlike Pew I did not have them select from a list, so I discovered platforms I never heard of. The frequency of use of these platforms too small to have an individual column and are included in the "other" category. For the spring 2018 semester more than 50% of my students said Facebook or Instagram were their favorite social media platforms.

Who is the best mother in fiction? any phenotype/religion/genre/language/age/species apply. @Mel Hopkins @Troy @Cynique @Kalexander2

interesting multilog

Cryptocurrency is now a new object interest for me, thank you @Mel Hopkins. I've been researching, investigating digital assets that use cryptocurrencies using an encryption technique, for security; how it is used to buy and sell goods and services. People are able to use cryptocurrency under near-anonymity, peer-to-peer purchasing eliminating of financial intermediaries, and some other “smart,” programmable capabilities that Bitcoin currently does not possess. There two major categories utilized for the purchase of goods and services and those that allow for the creation of a sort of “smart contracts;” agreements that enforce themselves per a code rather than the courts. With over 1,000 cryptocurrencies in existence as of January 2018 (called “altcoins”); over 600 have market capitalizations of over $100,000. I've noticed at least five-countries using this form of digital financial assets as well as identified several major companies all of which are U.S. affiliated, and thirteen major retail outlets. Brother Troy is on to something very interesting, in his post response. Like the NRA whom I believe is unofficially trading in cryptocurrency. Though FEC has officially prohibited trading in this form of financial asset, some traders are seemingly getting away with it. I'm still sometime away from getting all the information to satisfy my curiosity; though the ease of getting involved and the direction global economics is heading, I'm quite skeptical. Cryptocurrency appear to be soaked in blood!

@Kalexander2 According to Anari Sengbe in this talk, the internet of things (IoT) allows the devices to mine bitcoins for others and earn a fee for the transaction. In short, your refrigerator, thermostat or any device in your home can become a virtual "Check Cashing Place" except its mining bitcoins or any other cryptocurrencies.

Yes, this is a very old aphorism. I've read one about fishing poles to fisherwomen/men. But do we still find value in tools today? Also, do you think wealthy people are “careful”? Let's unpack this sage advice using the top 25 wealthiest people in the world. (1) Jeff Bezos–sells tools, provides a virtual and real location for tools and storage for information. (2) Bill Gates – makes and sells tools (3) Warren Buffet buys companies that sell tools, transportation and shelter & tools protection (4) Bernard Arnault sells luxury tools and goods (5) Mark Zuckerberg’s product is people and sells their attention Mark Zuckerberg provides the tools, but his company, Facebook’s product is people and he sells their attention. Allegedly, he doesn't even sell personal information, he sells access to those who’d like to get in front of specific eyes. In this case, is attention the shovel/fishing pole? I'm not sure. Also, MZ allows those who want access to determine the value of those eyes. Although this tends to be my blind spot, most of these people on the list "sell shovels/fishing poles", some sell "fish” but there are a few gold-miners /fisherwomen/men here too. But all those businesses have one thing in common – they earn and require currency. Now bitcoin is cryptocurrency, and its value is in the exchange. I don’t know if the goal is to get rich quick from using bitcoin but rather allowing those who use it, determine its value. It’s practically an egalitarian currency that’s in use nearly worldwide. So, I guess the key to predict who will profit from the proverbial gold rush is the one provides the platform for trading. Currently, heavily regulated financial institutions are the ones who profit. But now we have the Winklevoss Twins who were awarded a patent for ETP (exchange-traded products (ETPs) using cryptocurrencies) –(See Vanguard ETF) Then on a smaller scale we have Anari Sengbe's website OWO where gaming and purchasing products at a discount using cryptocurrency gives the platform its value. We still have bitcoin miners (With Bitcoin, miners use special software to solve math problems and are issued a certain number of bitcoins in exchange) AND cryptocurrency platforms just might be the new “shovels or fishing poles" in this digital economy. Edit: to change but to AND. According to Anari Sengbe in this talk, the internet of things (IoT) allows the devices to mine bitcoins for others and earn a fee for the transaction. In short your refrigerator, thermostat or any device in your home can become a virtual "Check Cashing Place" except its mining bitcoins or any other cryptocurrencies. I don't think the Black community can afford to be ignorant of cryptocurrencies. We're already 10 years behind.

For kobo Authors This week we’re announcing our upcoming takeover of the Reedsy short story contest! Who is Reedsy? Reedsy is an online marketplace of professional editors, marketers, and cover designers who are available to guide you through every stage of the publishing process. Reedsy handpicks these professionals for their incredible work experience in the publishing industry. As well, Reedsy offers beautiful and easy collaboration tools to help you co-author your next book. As a Kobo Writing Life author, you are entitled to a $20 credit when you sign up for Reedsy. To get started, visit the link below: https://reedsy.com/a/kobo What is the Reedsy Short Story contest? Every Friday, Reedsy kicks off a weekly short story contest by sending out a newsletter that includes five themed writing prompts. Subscribers have one week to submit a short story based on one of the prompts. One winner will receive $50 and publications on Reedsy’s blog. For our takeover, we’re also adding in an extra prize: a 60 minute one-on-one consultation with the Kobo Writing Life team! How do I enter? Head to http://www.reedsy.com/writing to subscribe and you’ll receive a newsletter with our theme and our five writing prompts. To enter, submit a short story based on one of the prompts by April 27th. Don’t forget to read the contest rules. We can’t wait to read your stories!

I am taking a class on multielectromagnetic wave observation. Which means functionally deciphering images made from telescopes viewing electromagnetic emissions about the earth. I have already learned the important to electronic based observation. In time keeping as well as existence. In many way, the key today is not that people know but that people have tools that allow observations having a width in types, a speed in retrieving, that it allows for many things to be known. I am in a very creative mode. Skylight: More Than Meets the Eye December 2017 [The Museum’s logo appears] [RAVEL’S BOLERO PLAYS] [Clear dark sky with stars, rotating from left to right throughout video.] Under a dark sky, the human eye sees thousands of stars, and the glow of the Milky Way.] [Cloudy patches of Milky Way come into view.] Our sight is limited to the visible spectrum, but many telescopes detect light beyond that narrow range. [Vertical spectrum appears on far left, with gamma rays at top, radio at bottom. An arrow indicates the part of the spectrum currently shown: visible. Arrows moves down to infrared as sky transitions to infrared view. The band of the galaxy is brightest, with wispy features filling the rest of the sky.] The dark dust lanes along the Milky Way are transparent to infrared. Stars don’t shine brightly at all wavelengths, but we’ll show the visible stars for reference. Infrared demonstrates that the Milky Way is more than just a narrow band of light in the sky. We also see gas in nearby galaxies, such as Andromeda. [Circle marks position of Andromeda galaxy. View shifts through microwave to radio light. Circles mark both Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies, which appear as pink spots against otherwise blue-green wisps.] A different wavelength shows the gases within the Andromeda and the Triangulum galaxies, as well as our own. High concentrations of gas and dust fuel the formation of stars in the Milky Way. [Band of Milky Way rotates through view again. Shift to microwave light.] Outside the plane of the galaxy, we see the Cosmic Microwave Background. This “baby picture” of the universe shows the earliest light after the Big Bang. [Shift from microwave, through infrared, visible, and x-ray, to gamma ray light. Band of Milky Way is brightest, with bright points appears away from the band.] Gamma rays show light from high-energy pulsars and black holes in our galaxy… … as well as the luminous cores of galaxies far, far away. [Spectrum and arrow fade out. Six panels simultaneously show sky in radio, microwave, infrared, visible, x-ray and gamma ray light. The constellation Orion moves across all six, sequentially.] By examining the entire spectrum, astronomers are able to probe distinct aspects of the cosmos. We need space telescopes to see those parts of the spectrum blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. [Visible sky extends to full screen.] We see only a sliver of the spectrum— there’s much more to the sky than meets the eye. [Credits roll.] Page https://www.amnh.org/our-research/hayden-planetarium/blog/skylight-more-than-meets-the-eye Video

Being yourself is key I concur to this post , what I have learned is patience is massive, if you keep at it the community will grow who are truly interested and reply to inquest. but you have to be patient, and don't beg, simply state what you are doing. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/01/29/be-authentic-how-to-build-relationships-with-readers grammar thoughts https://kobowritinglife.com/2017/12/21/grammar-girls-top-10-language-myths/ I only wrote romance in a story collection. I have yet to produce a book intentionally displaying positive sultry intimacy between characters from cover to cover but I know many who read romance novels in various sub genres: tech/adult/noir et cetera. Considering what you said about critics, or judges, the issue may be they are afraid to have positive relationships dominate in stories more. Negative friction is easier to utilize than positive friction. more tweets are about negative interactions than positive ones. Romance novels by default are displaying positive relationship, through various environments. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/05/romance-writers-dont-need-your-love-theyre-too-busy-making-bank/ Kobo authors do check this out , I suggest all go for it. so many of us are online all the time. @sabine ziya https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/06/kobo-affiliate-links/ join the affiliate program https://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/affiliate I had and have total opposition to the message in the following article. I saw many beautiful book cover in my time. I think book coveres have value, especially to attract. The problem is in molding readers. Readers when best, are unconcerned to a book cover. The literature between the cover is the content. not the book cover, the movie poster, the music video. I wonder what film sales will be absent, film posters/previews imagine if the only way to see a film would be in a movie house, what will sales be? I wonder who will be the top charting artist absent the music video, the album cover, the concert. what if you can only hear the music? Viewers/audience are groomed to expect the main content to come in a package and i think that augments the value or the intake to the main content. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/07/the-importance-of-a-professional-book-cover-design/ Authors on a Train sound fun, If anyone want to collaborate, on short stories I am game If Authors on a Train sounds like something you’d want to attend, we are currently accepting applications for our 2018 retreat. It will take place November 11-16, and again head to New Orleans by way of Amtrak from Chicago. For more information, go to http://www.authorsonatrain.com Part 1 https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/01/authors-on-a-train-part-i-the-beginning/ Part 2 https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/08/authors-on-a-train-part-ii/ If you want to be part of Kobo's beta promotions program and are a kobo writing life member send an email to support@kobowritinglife.zendesk.com A kobo author shares her experience https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/12/how-to-reach-readers-on-kobo/ Great tools in the blog entry to be honest, i am one of those people who changes my environment when in writing mode. When I feel an urge to write I cut off and write only. I think that old tool is still the best. Sometimes not the most functional but, works for me, when I am in a writing groove. no net, phone, anyone else. Luckily, I don't have a fiscal scenario that disallows that as well. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/09/eight-tools-that-will-help-you-start-your-novel/ The following is a great idea. Communicate as a character in your story. I like this idea lot. I will give it a go. Any suggestions on a character from a story I did not compose that interest you ? https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/03/02/becoming-sophie-a-unique-way-to-engage-your-readers-on-social-media/ Rachel Grant who opens up her email to query from kobo writers who have thoughts about the industry, as what makes your story unique. But I go one further and ask what have you read that is unique? https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/03/05/13860/ Self publishing in the netherlands, a good read https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/03/06/not-taboo-anymore-the-rise-of-self-publishing-in-the-netherlands/

OVerdrive is a system that allows you to access EBooks through it like a traditional library system. IT is a member of the Rakuten family, which owns my publisher Kobo. Each page to a book linked below has a sample page. Enjoy. are your already published works on overdrive? @Troy @Mel Hopkins @Cynique *My books* Sunset Children Stories https://www.overdrive.com/media/3670145/sunset-children-stories Looking West and West https://www.overdrive.com/media/3670099/looking-west-and-west The Visasiki https://www.overdrive.com/media/3670180/the-visasiki The Janidogo https://www.overdrive.com/media/3670162/the-janidogo Overdrive library location https://www.overdrive.com/libraries app for overdrive https://meet.libbyapp.com *For Writing life authors* Once your eBook is live on OverDrive, spread the words to your fans so they can request your eBook at their local library. OverDrive also launched a great free app, Libby, where users can browse eBooks right on their devices. As you can see, the process is incredibly simple and a fantastic way to get your book out to a new market—and help you increase your earnings! If you’d like to enable OverDrive distribution on your account, send an email to the KWL team now and we’ll get you set up.

Well that is great news! Please share something you think will appeal to readers of Black literature, that is on your site, and I'll see if I can work it into my newsletter. Welcome back and keep us posted on what new.

Me too! And I was also referring to the your response to the literary angle too. Many fairies in various parts of the motherland (Africa) had different powers too - some would bring happy endings especially to young girls... and there were other fairies that would act as shapeshifters and their outcomes would depend on if their spirit and the spirit of the story. My stories tend to be bittersweet. I've tried my hand at writing HEA romance but it tends to turn dark. I do like reading /watching HEA romance. As for my own HEA , I haven't had one but I have lasting friendships and wonderful experiences.

I finally listened, your voice is so sexy, if i ever do a read for a female character, you will be one of the fertile ones:) @Mel Hopkins

Thank you @richardmurray - I'm writing right now too - maybe we can come up with something together. Hold off for now and finish your book. I'll send you a message to check with you on your schedule. I know what it's like to juggle so many projects.