richardmurray

topics 1) The sixty-second of the Cento series. A cento is a poem made by an author from the lines of another author's work. In the series I place my cento and a link to the other authors poem. 2)Soon for the Savory Pie - Jiausiku 3)I.V.D. zone (The Intragalactic Violence Deaccretion Zone) - photomanipulation Shadow Jiausiku Dates- perseids IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR : Clare Lydon with KWL ; 80 sci fi gems ; Bill Cobbs ; hiphopera of babatunde akinboboye ; Who created valerie brown ; when she is mad at you adamw ; Agents of Color URL https://rmnewsletter.over-blog.com/2023/10/07/28/2024-rmnewsletter.html

@Troy thanks for your reply. I admit the source of my approach is two things. First one writer said you can't make a screenplay of Lolita because to be true to the book it has to be from the abusers perspective and has to involve the abuser abusing a child, or underaged female, and the prior two movies production and after effect are examples that give proof to this. But whenever soeone says something can't be written that inspires me. Second, I rarely think of non black characters in my imagination, no matter who. Now to your question, why adapt lolita with black characters? I have questions. Why do you call that the real question? What do you see that is problematic or some negative that I don't? I want to know. I am guessing but I can be wrong, you see Lolita with Black characters as terrible de facto or something negative that I don't, am I right?

Is Lolita impossible to adapt and moreover, what are your thoughts to a "Lolita" involving all black characters ? https://www.tumblr.com/communities/midnight-hour/post/756816864056868864/ebony-lolita-lets-talk i am the moderator so I can invite you if you want

@Lee and Low Books is thrilled to be the recipient of the 2024 ALAN Award, marking the first time a publishing company has been honored! 🎉 Read the press release to learn more about the award and why we were selected. https://alan-ya.org/2024/06/28/press-release-alan-award-2024/ Press Release: Lee & Low wins the ALAN Award 2024 The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) is pleased to announce Lee & Low Books as the recipient of the 2024 ALAN Award. The award honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature. Join us at the ALAN Breakfast to celebrate Lee & Low’s remarkable accomplishments. Lee & Low Books is the largest independent multicultural children’s book publisher in the United States. The family-run and certified 100% Minority Owned Business Enterprise (MBE) produces award-winning, high-quality books that are about everyone, for everyone — from picture books to middle grade and young adult novels as well as a wide selection of bilingual and Spanish language titles. Lee & Low’s commitment to greater representation in the publishing industry is reflected in the often-cited Diversity Baseline Survey and in the writing contests for unpublished writers of color or Indigenous/Native writers: New Voices Award and New Visions Award. The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) is pleased to announce Lee & Low Books as the recipient of the 2024 ALAN Award. The award honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature. Join us at the ALAN Breakfast to celebrate Lee & Low’s remarkable accomplishments. Lee & Low Books is the largest independent multicultural children’s book publisher in the United States. The family-run and certified 100% Minority Owned Business Enterprise (MBE) produces award-winning, high-quality books that are about everyone, for everyone — from picture books to middle grade and young adult novels as well as a wide selection of bilingual and Spanish language titles. Lee & Low’s commitment to greater representation in the publishing industry is reflected in the often-cited Diversity Baseline Survey and in the writing contests for unpublished writers of color or Indigenous/Native writers: New Voices Award and New Visions Award. Over the decades since they were founded, Lee & Low Books has pushed for industry change in remarkable ways and established inventive and sustainable initiatives to support and nurture many authors and illustrators, increasing diversity in the literature available to librarians, educators, and most importantly, young readers. Publisher Jason Low will provide remarks on behalf of Lee & Low Books at the upcoming ALAN breakfast to be held on November 23, during the 2024 NCTE Conference in Boston, MA. The members of the 2024 ALAN Award Committee are Chair Dr. Rob Bittner, Past Chair Shalonda Foster, Tracey Flores, Morgan Jackson, and Karimah Tennyson-Marsh. Register for the ALAN Breakfast at https://convention.ncte.org/2024-convention/ when you register for NCTE and/or ALAN. Want to build a more inclusive collection for your classroom, school, or district this coming school year? Contact our Educational Sales Team for a quote. https://forms.zohopublic.com/leelowbooks/form/CustomizedClassroomLibraries/formperma/CRtCjpJj9zq1uJWpzaZbPECb1ZEZCgleefFo4XN3Xak Join us for a free webinar [ https://forms.zohopublic.com/leelowbooks/form/SIGNUPTODAYWonderKnowledgeandJoyinEarlyLiteracyWeb/formperma/5fmerC2iAPgQGUj5xRK7dYBSVr4X5hLTcfrsZ3CvRHk ] on Wednesday, August 28th, 2024 at 3:00 PM ET with Dr. Barbara Flores, professor, expert bilingual educator, and creator of the groundbreaking Bebop Más Piñata Series. [ https://www.leeandlow.com/imprints/mas-pinata ] She will lead an inspiring discussion on nurturing essential early literacy skills for the start of the school year.

Two stageplays Soon for the Savory Pie https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/1077780099 I.V.D. zone (The Intragalactic Violence Deaccretion Zone) https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/1077788765

any member in this group is a member of the following https://newplayexchange.org/ please tell me your experience with it? this is my yearly project for stageplays, tell me what you think of any of them https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/gallery/90812819/jiausiku-2024

The 29th edition of the 2024 Richard Murray Newsletter. topics The sixty-first of the Cento series. A cento is a poem made by an author from the lines of another author's work. In the series I place my cento and a link to the other authors poem. Dates IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR : Frog and Toad from India Rose Crawford ; Carbon armor ; Design to Repair ; Tom Bombadil and telling a story in different ways ; Sensitivity ; Gundam ; George RR Martin made winds of winter unfinishable URL https://rmnewsletter.over-blog.com/2023/10/07/21/2024-rmnewsletter.html

congrats

MY REPLY At the end of the day it is simple. At the least the wealthy countries in humanity's artists will be fully supported by computer programs. Those artists in the wealthy countries who don't use it will either be financially unprofitable or undercut themselves. Now of course artists outside wealthy countries who will either not have access to these computer programs but will have their art mimicked and mirrored by artist in the wealthy countries aided by said computer programs. Clearly a counter movement will arise that will probably demand live creating such that the audience is interested in the craft but also the absence of computer program assistance in creating itself. Even now you see the seeds that culture too which have its own difficulties for artists who want privacy or can't afford event spaces. Where do I reside? I have never minded artists using any tool and I support artists on places like Deviantart or Kobo in using such tools but I don't use them myself. What does that mean to my future ability to make profit from my art. It is possible financial obsolescence is my future. But financial obsolescence isn't creative obsolescence. No one is stopping any creator from creating. So keep creating. I am lucky that I don't have to rely on my art to make money to survive. But...who knows the future. THE ARTICLE Like It or Not, Publishers Are Licensing Books for AI Training—And Using AI Themselves updated July 18, 2024 first published July 17, 2024 by Jane Friedman The following article condenses material that I’ve been writing about for the last 18 months in my paid newsletter, The Hot Sheet. [ http://hotsheetpub.com/] The train has left the station, the ship has sailed, pick your preferred metaphor. This week, the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) announced [https://www.copyright.com/media-press-releases/ccc-pioneers-collective-licensing-solution-for-content-usage-in-internal-ai-systems/] the ability for publishers and other rights holders to include AI training rights as part of licensing arrangements. In other words, they’re giving AI companies a one-stop shop for all their model training needs. Update: An article in Publishers Weekly notes [https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/95512-ccc-launches-collective-licensing-for-ai.html] this licensing would be limited to internal use for licensees, which means it would not extend to public-facing models such as ChatGPT. However, it’s easy to see how the CCC is taking steps to position itself to offer something more extensive. What is the CCC? It is a for-profit company that manages collective copyright licensing for corporate and academic publishers. Generally, its mission is to help publishers earn money off copyright and expand copyright protections for rights holders. In the CCC’s announcement, the president of the Association of American Publishers says, “Voluntary licensing solutions are a win-win for everybody in the value chain, including AI developers who want to do the right thing. I am grateful to organizations like CCC, as they are helping the next generation marketplace to evolve robustly and in forward-thinking fashion.” A handful of book publishers have already struck deals with the AI companies directly. Wiley, a major academic publisher who is also known for the Dummies series, announced two deals in June, to the tune of $44 million. Many major media organizations, like News Corp and The Atlantic, have also struck deals. (Here is a running list. [ https://originality.ai/blog/openai-partnerships ]) I think it’s fair to say that, before long, every major publisher will be earning money through AI training, whether it’s through the CCC, another collective licensing agency, or directly with tech companies, if they are big or desirable enough (as Wiley is). How do writers protect themselves? I’m asked this question a lot, and often I say things like “Join the Authors Guild,” since they’re deeply involved in the issue of compensation for authors and advocate for their rights. But increasingly, I’m also pushing back on the question: What do you need protecting from? While the AI companies will always carry the original sin of training on copyrighted work without permission or licensing, they’re now going through appropriate channels to obtain training material. Yes, there are lawsuits underway (by the New York Times and the Authors Guild, among others) that have to play out and may settle out of court. But even if the rights holders win in the end, the models will not shut down. The AI companies will not go out of business. Instead, remedies will be found for rights holders and business will continue as usual. Recently, Mary Rasenberger at the Authors Guild told [ https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2024/06/former-scribd-co-founder-launches-ai-licensing-company-for-books/] Publishers Marketplace (sub required) that they see AI licensing as a good source of income for writers down the road and that they’ve been talking to publishers for months about who owns AI training rights and how to work the revenue splits. She said, “I am completely optimistic there will be joint agreements between publishers and authors on this. It is not the hardest problem in the world.” Fortunately, she says publishers so far agree they need permission from authors to license books for AI. Theoretically, authors could object and withhold their material from training, but that would be turning down free money. The average author’s concerns about AI training or ingestion often betrays a misunderstanding about what today’s large-language models are intended to do. They are not databases where you retrieve information. They are not machines that intend to steal, plagiarize, or regurgitate. (If and when they do, the developers consider that a flaw to be worked out.) Benedict Evans has expressed[ https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2023/8/27/generative-ai-ad-intellectual-property] this eloquently: “OpenAI hasn’t ‘pirated’ your book or your story in the sense that we normally use that word, and it isn’t handing it out for free. Indeed, it doesn’t need that one novel in particular at all. In Tim O’Reilly’s great phrase, data isn’t oil; data is sand. It’s only valuable in the aggregate of billions, and your novel or song or article is just one grain of dust in the Great Pyramid.” That said, authors might certainly object to the AI companies themselves, how they are run, the ethics of the people behind them, the future implications of AI use, etc—and avoid involvement for that reason. But refusing to engage at all with the technology may end up penalizing yourself more than them—not because there’s going to be some incredible revolution (I don’t buy into most of the hype surrounding AI), but because you’ll end up working harder or spending more money than everyone else who is using these tools. The technology is destined to be integrated into daily life, for better and for worse. Authors and publishers are using AI to write and publish—today. And it plays a role at all stages of the writing and publishing process that many professionals would find acceptable and ethical. While it may be unethical for someone to use AI to generate 5,000 spammy reviews, in other cases people prefer AI content, like when it’s used to improve summaries of scientific articles. Publishers are beginning to differentiate between two types of AI use in the writing and publishing process. During a Book Industry Study Group panel about AI use, Gregory M. Britton, editorial director at Johns Hopkins University Press, discussed [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nYQpzm6OmU ] these two types. One is content creation, which publishers have legal concerns about, and the other is the content management, or the editorial tools, which JHU encourages. “I think it would be foolish for an author to submit a manuscript without running spell check on it before they turn it in,” and he sees AI editing tools as analogous. One of JHU’s authors, José Antonio Bowen, used AI to find all the places where he may have been repetitive in the manuscript, and he also used AI successfully to help him with fact-checking and citations. He disclosed all of this use to his editors. Some may be surprised that AI can find factual errors in a manuscript, given the problematic results it can generate, but much depends on the tool, the user, and the prompt. Which brings us to the next important point. Authors are responsible for the quality and correctness of their work, whether they use AI or not. Even if the use of AI in content creation blurs the lines of intellectual property and originality, authors remain accountable for the quality of their work. That means you can’t blame the AI for getting something wrong; you remain responsible for vetting what the AI does. Even those who question the ethicality of generative AI believe that writers and students today should (or must) learn to use it. “What faculty and teachers call cheating, business calls progress,” Bowen said during the panel. “If you say you can’t use a tool or refuse to use it, your colleagues who use the tool will complete their work faster and better.” In other words, AI is raising the average. However, Bowen said, “AI is better than 80 percent of humans at a lot of things, but it’s not better than the experts. … The best writers, the best experts are better than AI.” AI is being used to fuel translated works. Machine translation has been around for a long time, but advances in generative AI are leading to a new renaissance in book translation. Once again, a Book Industry Study Group panel examined [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMwm8NBmycI ] how AI is being used right now to translate and to assist human translators; panelists included Robert Casten Carlberg, the CEO and co-founder of Nuanxed, a translation agency. Because AI-assisted translation is incredibly cheaper and faster, it has the potential to grow the market for translations and lead to new jobs in the management of translations. Founded in 2021, translation firm Nuanxed [ https://www.nuanxed.com/ ] works mostly on translating commercial fiction between European languages, using a hybrid process that includes AI tools before, during, and after translation. They pass savings onto the publishers while still paying a good market rate to human translators. Carlberg said, “Most publishers we start working with are very skeptical to the way we are working but realize once they’ve tried it, the quality is good, and the readers really like it.” And the authors also like it, he added. Carlberg’s firm is growing fast, and he’s hearing from more translators who want to work with Nuanxed. He says their big value add is that they pass every translation through the appropriate “cultural lens” and make sure the work is coherent throughout. Yes, there are still problems and valid fears. Some writers fear that AI use will pollute the market (as it’s doing now) and lead to various types of AI fraud—the kind of thing that happened to me. [ https://janefriedman.com/i-would-rather-see-my-books-pirated/ ]Some form of this fraud has existed for as long as am*zon KDP or digital publishing has existed, only it’s more prevalent now and easy to execute with AI tools. I sometimes get upset about the pollution as well and what it might mean for writers and publishers over the long term. But I’m hoping we’ll also gain methods of filtering the garbage just as we have in the past. The other concern is that AI-generated work will be less creative and interesting in the long run, since it tends to generate what’s rather average or what’s already dominant in the culture. For example, a recent study [ https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/12/experiment-finds-ai-boosts-creativity-individually-but-lowers-it-collectively/?guccounter=1 ] showed that AI could boost creativity individually, but it lowers creativity collectively. (A friend of mine who reads a lot of genre fiction that’s heavily AI-assisted or AI-generated said she’s read five novels recently all featuring a main character named “Jaxon.”) That’s what AI does. Revert to the mean or what’s most predictable. I expect more progress and more tools that modify these predictable outcomes when they’re not desirable for the user or the output. I’ll close with the words of The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson:[ https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/11/24196396/the-atlantic-openai-licensing-deal-ai-news-journalism-web-future-decoder-podcasts ] AI is this rainstorm, or it’s this hurricane, and it’s coming towards our industry, right? It’s tempting to just go out and be like, “Oh my God, there’s a hurricane that’s coming,” and I’m angry about that. But what you really want to do is, it’s a rainstorm, you want to put on a raincoat and put on an umbrella. If you’re a farmer, you want to figure out what new crops to plant. You want to prepare and deal with it. And so my job is to try to separate the fear of what might happen and work as hard as I can for the best possible outcome, knowing that because I have done a deal with an AI company, people will be angry because AI could be a very bad thing, and so there’s this association. But regardless, I have to try to do what is best for The Atlantic and for the industry. url https://janefriedman.com/like-it-or-not-publishers-are-licensing-material-for-ai-training-and-using-ai-themselves/

cool @Troy

topics 1) The sixtieth of the Cento series. A cento is a poem made by an author from the lines of another author's work. In the series I place my cento and a link to the other authors poem. Dates: astrology , astronomy, appllo IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR : Happy Belated Fathers Day ; How the Boy and the Heron exposed the USA's problem with animation ; Skettel trailer from Moon Ferguson ; Tarustrian ; Kobo 2024 romcom challenge ; Metallurgy+misconceptions ; Playing the odds by MVMedia URL https://rmnewsletter.over-blog.com/2023/10/07/14/2024-rmnewsletter.html

@Troy I apologize , I comprehend fully well, the levers of opportunity have immense value. I should had been more verbose and said, creating engaging content is what one can always control , effective discoverability sadly, is not controllable by all.

My pleasure @Troy I it takes a village

Despite the results of the Lee & Low Books 2023 survey, revealing that 72.5% of the publishing industry predominantly identified as white, Literary Agents of Change and I strive to continue making agenting and publishing more accessible to marginalized communities. To aid this effort, we launched the Equity Directory in February 2024 to provide BIPOC authors and editors with a database of BIPOC agents. In a recent interview with Poets & Writers, Inc., vice president of LAoC Katie Kotchman and I shared the impact of the Equity Directory, as well as the success rate of BIPOC agents through mentorship programs that give rising agents the chance to learn from agenting. You can read the full interview here: https://www.pw.org/content/connecting_writers_to_agents_of_color You can access the Equity Directory database here: https://www.equitydirectory.org/ referral https://www.linkedin.com/posts/regina-brooks_poets-writers-equity-directory-interview-activity-7217540246136045570-nga_?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

@TroyI saw the new format on your blog, looks fine to me, but I admit, my agenda is to be more interesting and creative on aalbc, at the end of the day, content that engages people is key. thanks for sharing

topics The fifty-ninth of the Cento series. A cento is a poem made by an author from the lines of another author's work. In the series I place my cento and a link to the other authors poem. Mushroom perspective Horror synth Mister Mxyzptlk's Mysterious Mix Up Dates : happy anniversary to Bertie the fastest tortoise plus Charlotte's Web IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR : Black Butterfly from Deniece Williams ; The Glassworker ; African Doers ; Finding Your Roots exceptions ; Space Funk ; Bruce Lee exercises ; writer Angela Bofil URL https://rmnewsletter.over-blog.com/2023/10/07/07/2024-rmnewsletter.html

well @aka Contrarian I hope you are around but around healthy I don't know about the usa government, but in the end, all governments in humanity get what the people under them lead themselves to

Today the earth is farthest from the sun and will get closer and closer on its elliptical orbit till the perihelion in early january

I am kidding. But since @Troy seems to enjoy sharing generated content. I figure I will place this in culture. For a laugh https://www.udio.com/songs/jujrXW7gaRmmHvag7ojqXh soulless lyrics Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide; When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me. I need Thy presence every passing hour; What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power? Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies; Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; In life, in death, O Lord, In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. abide with me.

The official Philly: The Capital of Black Indie Komix Artist Walk and Talk Tour and Reception is TODAY at City Hall. Wednesday, June 26th / 4:30p.m. - 6:30p.m Exhibition ends at july 17th City Council Caucus Room / 4th Floor. This will be a first-of-a-kind event at Philadelphia's City Hall Details: - Gallery Talk (4th Floor Showcases #'s1 - 5) from 4:30p.m. - 5:15 p.m - Reception w/ light refreshments supplied by The City Hall Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) in the City Council Caucus Room from 5:30p.m. - 6:30p.m TICKETS ENDED https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-walk-and-talk-philly-the-capital-of-black-indie-komix-tickets-921568545327?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwY2xjawDtcqNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRDeNAL3JOxKwP-WOab-7T08eElug_z7icSQtj9qk0P5yo0xnyT_96CZow_aem_QbyB7jkMcn3JWLmBQqhLbg

@Dee Miller this is a learning experience for us both, i only just started doing this, so my moderation or control is very inexperienced.

Valerie Brown was the tambourinest for the premiere of Josie and the Pussy Cats a comic girl group and one of the best mystery solving crews, and trailblazing characters in comics. The first black female lead and first regular featured black character in morning cartoons, after the Harlem Globetrotters and a Hardy Boys character which was not voiced by a black person. Valerie was voiced by Barbra Pariot, another black actress, but owes her existence to Patrice Halloway who was related to Motown’s Brenda Halloway (her younger sister). With the launch of the show which was a tv made band (alá the partridges and monkeys) the music producer and writer Danny Jansen casted Halloway. He wanted a Jackson 5 pop sound and attributing her vocals was the magic that was needed in the group. Though pressure to maintain an all-white trio which had already been featured in the early Archie Comics Halloway’s vocals with support from cartoonist Valerie Brown was born. Halloway would sing lead on many tracks. Valerie would go on to be the smart, sensible, genius of the group. Other black cartoon characters would not come for years.

haha @Dee Miller you should be able to enter now. thanks for messaging in the emergency section

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Remembering Bill Cobbs Reflecting on his life and legacy of the prolific Bill Cobbs (1924- 2024) with two of his co-starring roles. MAYA CADE JUN 27 On June 25, 2024, Willbert Francisco Cobbs passed away at the age of 90. The character actor— as Bill Cobbs gloriously was— gave face to the ambiguities of humanity and a moral throughline and diversion in which we could all better see ourselves. Cobbs, a prolific Drama-Desk award-winning¹ theater actor, was a bridge for Black talent of yesterday and today as he worked for 5 decades on the screen and stage. His first acting role was in the Negro Ensemble Company’s ‘Ride a Black Horse,’² from there he planted his roots in the Black Arts scene as a board member of burgeoning Black arts organizations, featured player, stage director³, and esteemed peer. The Ohio Native’s first role on screen was in “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (1974), a role he was cast in just four years after dedicated his life to acting. Elain Graham, Phylicia Rashad, and Seret Scott with Bill Cobbs in the 1981 Negro Ensemble Company play “Weep Not For Me;” New York Amsterdam News Archives Though Cobbs is often boiled down to being of the known-by-face-and-not-by-name variety, his extensive career of over 200 credits reminds us that there are no small parts for Black actors who make a way out of no way. Each life, each career, and role—especially in the interconnected world of Black artistry— awakens possibility in another peer, generation, and audience. As Wendell Pierce writes,[look below] Cobbs was a “father figure, a griot, an iconic artist, that mentored me by the way he led his life as an actor.” Here are two films to remember him by: Tuesday Morning Ride (1995) Bill Cobbs and the legendary Ruby Dee co-star in this this Oscar-nominated short as an aging couple who have reached an impasse. Based on the story by Arna Bontemps, Cobbs shines as the tender connecting tissue as the couple indulge in one day of pleasure. Watch here. https://blackfilmarchive.com/Tuesday-Morning-Ride Always Outnumbered (1998) Based on the Walter Mosley novel of the same name, Bill Cobbs portrays an elder dying of cancer who pushes the hardboiled Socrates Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne) to reconsider how he can make a difference in his community. In this wonderful HBO film— co-starring Natalie Cole, Cicely Tyson, Bill Nunn, and Bill Duke, among others —Bill Cobbs showcases the fullness of his capacity as moral center and a grounding force that made him shine on screen. Watch here. https://blackfilmarchive.com/Always-Outnumbered 1 He won a Drama Desk special award in 1973 for his role in “Freeman” and “What the Wine Sellers Buy” 2 He also acted in several other NEC plays including “Waiting for Mongo.'“ He also Ntozake Shange’s debut as a director “Mighty Gents” 3 Cobbs directed several plays across the country including “Hotel Happiness,” “Candyman’s Dance,” and “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men” From Wendell Pierce Days after his 90th Birthday, Bill Cobbs died today. A father figure, a griot, an iconic artist, that mentored me by the way he led his life as an actor. He played my father twice: in I’ll Fly Away & The Gregory Hines Show.Each time imparting wisdom with a word of encouragement https://x.com/WendellPierce/status/1806081169588416513 URL https://blackfilmarchive.substack.com/p/remembering-bill-cobbs?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2143&post_id=146050696&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=xit0b&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

The Kobo Writing Life team invites you to join us on June 27th from 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EST for an exciting Pride-filled live Q&A event with author Clare Lydon. KWL director Tara and author engagement manager Laura will chat with Clare for an hour filled with insightful conversation around writing queer love stories. MY questions I wonder what Clare's favorite representation of lesbians are in literature or movies? 0:43:00 jj arias, her own book https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/before-you-say-i-do-10 Did you try university presses circa 2013? Did they reject them to? what is the book goes against formula? https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/it-started-with-a-kiss-33 Interview q and a 0:14:00 what are challenges for lesbian writers she says many , she gets many homophobic 0:15:00 she was part of a independent writers conference and met a group of women called, later life lesbians They said they are reading characters they don't see anywhere else 0:16:00 It is important for people who are not queer to read these books, she has read many straight books Your books having a happy ending seemed not normal 0:17:00 when I was growing up, the lesbians were all really said. They were good at motorbikes. They always had to be sad or struggling. She had emails from people age 15 to 19 that read her books and were amazed this is something that can happen. She always encourages people to write more queer stories. What makes a perfect kiss scene? 0:20:00 It is a challenge. For kissing for me is more important than the first sex scene, it is when the two characters make that first connection. IT is not only the physical barriers but the mental barriers. They are crucial to the plot like a fight scene in an action story. Romance novels do follow a formula. Are their any first kiss scenes you struggle with? 0:22:00 she struggles with sex scenes though she is with a friend who said she loves writing sex scenes, but it is strange that kiss scenes are harder How do you structure your writing around a book? 0:23:00 from about book 4 or 5 I plan it out. It is not fixed, she plans out. I am quite unusual. Many research online. But she likes to talk to people. She wrote a book that involved a Christmas tree farm and talked to a guy who had a Christmas tree farm... and she sent him the book after. What marketing do you think works best, what marketing works best for queer as opposed to mainstream? 0:26:00 my main marketing stuff is my newsletter. She started it 2003 , it is her core marketing, how she gets to her readers, every two weeks. what books she read, I ask them a question and they reply. Then everytime I release a book, it is a great form of marketing and connection. I do facebook ads. In 2016 she signed up but putting lesbian didn't get the right readers to her book, but now that they changed their targeting, it changes, but she also gets a lot of homophobic comments from around the world. Social media can be good. She is active in Instagram, facebook and just started TikTok. In her view, the best marketing is to write the next book, more people find you every time you do. She does podcast. She did podcast for ten years in different guises and just stopped Clare's newsletter https://www.clarelydon.co.uk/newsletter-sign-up/ You were the cohost for lesbians who write fiction...the cool thing about podcast is ever green content but after 200 episodes why did it end 0:29:00 we did it for five years and they felt them repeating. But their time became more busy. She believes if you want something new you have to give space to it. And as she gets older she wants to do less but never wants to write less. I am not saying I will never do it again, but just having a break. Lesbians who write podcast https://lesbianswhowrite.com/ Is it deliberate or natural, do you market as a series or a coincidence that someone can read one book and stop right out 0:32:00 She has more standalone books than series. She had so many people asking for a kate story, she is a secondary character. She will start her own shopify store, but her books are standalone. She is a standalone author who happens to write series. Do you find it hard to balance fan request for what you want to write? 0:35:00 You have to learn to stick up for what you want to do. You also have to look at the commercial. Some people may want but others may not. In LAurie, what are the common misconceptions straight writers should avoid or be wary when writing queer 0:36:00 I think people go into it thinking of it too complicated, think about it commonly, put yourself in their shoes. Is connecting with other writers important? 0:37:00 Yeah, in where she was recently, she met with other sapphic writers and they had a laugh. It is very important, work colleagues, people comprehending what you doing It is a very non competitive space. How did hotshot come off, you you plan to write more sport romances? 0:38:00 She is a huge football fan. Seeing the rise of women's football has given her such joy. I didn't even know it would do that. I remember, in Canada. She remembers her nieces playing football, soccer for you guys. She is a Tottenham hotspurs ticket holder, she became a Tottenham womens season ticket holder and after she saw the womens euros with her wife when England won she was inspired. People have asked for She wrote a story where a bridesmaid falls in love with the bride Are you really enjoying the genre, will you do others? 0:42:00 she can't see herself writing other things. she enjoys writing romance, she can't see herself writing any other, her wife will like her to write detective. Would you like your books to go before the silver screen? 0:45:00 She thinks the book with the bridesmaid getting in love with the bride will make a great movie. She met someone. I kissed a girl, is a lesbian reality show. Before she was a novelist she wrote screenplays. She never had any done but she has written them. Do you have any advice for an author starting out now and readers for queer stories? 0:46:00 now the market is hungry than ever for queer stories. It isn't too late. as more books enter the marker and more come to you. I am getting people coming to me who never found me before. If you are an inspiring writer. Don't get caught up in perfection. the book in my head is very shiny and the result is not that. They ideas always come out differently when they get to paper. and it does take courage for parts of you to come out into the world, and don't get caught into perfection. Find out what you want to write and find out what people want to read and the overlap is the sweet spot. She is going to up her TikTok game. Do you think social media should start before or after you have books written? 0:49:00 I wish she had started earlier on social media. You need a group of readers who want to buy your book. They give encouragement and cheerleaders. it is a solitary job. She has sixty or seventy people on her reading team What are your thoughts on tropes , in marketing? 0:50:00 Tropes in show, she heard that before, she published "before you say i do" she heard about microtropes. If you love writing and you have readers you will have mini tropes, romantic walk on the beach. I always know the overarching trope https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/before-you-say-i-do-10 Is your favorite one the fake dating? 0:53:00 She likes the fake dating trope. What are you currently writing and for the rest of the year? 0:54:00 She is writing Christmas book this year, every other year a Christmas book. She will go on safari, and she will go on to the football book. Where people can find you? 0:55:00 https://www.clarelydon.co.uk/ free novella waiting for you , in the next newsletter URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlOEDRLgS-0