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Shirley Gale

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Posts posted by Shirley Gale

  1. Thanks Troy, I am just trying to get in where I can fit in. I don't want to put too much out there in ads before I can pull my book from Archway in February. I will have to do quite a bit to get it back out there after I pull it. That's why I have a little inventory on hand just in case I get a few sells after it is temporarily taken down. My name is going to have to come before people are willing to follow me. When I am well known for my P.A.S.T., Passions, Attitude, Successes, and Talents, then all will hopefully be well. Of course, I will still need money to play in the games.

    Hi Chris, you said it. We are truly missing "that extra push to get things done that we need." OMG, if we could just multiply our passionate attitudes and work ethics by a million each, life sure would be grand :). I love the encouragement and support that is given here. 

    • Like 2
  2. It is all about the money that can be made. The color is greeeeeen! I am still sick of it. But Troy, you are absolutely right about us needing validation. :) Why don't we start our own great publishing company. From what I am getting, Y'all already know how. I am only half-joking here!

    Authonomy, sponsored by Harper Collins had a great thing going for new authors, but they pulled the site. I sure wish there was something along those lines for more of us trying to break through. It would certainly be a great start.

    • Like 1
  3. I hope I am commenting on what I think I read. Rather tired right now.  While I certainly realize what is happening. After scanning this, I am totally exhausted and could find myself utterly and completely discouraged. I said it once, I will say it again. I am not  going to do it. I am going to write from my heart and soul about those things that impact me, my kind, and my community --be it women, black women, challenged youths, etc. Maybe I will never get published the traditional route, but as I have learned there are other avenues. I am sick of trying to play by their rules. Where is all the fairness? Where are the black publishers, editors, agents, etc.?  We need our own to publish and promote our own. What a stupid question I just asked!!! Yes, people read what they are interested in and reject everything else most likely. That's why many of our people are still experiencing identity crisis. I AM NOT A WHITE WOMAN!!! I can't write from the white experience. I can write about it. There is definitely a difference.

    Thanks for allowing me to vent :).

    • Like 3
  4. Re-post

    “Why didn’t you make the mermaids White?” he said. “You would sell more books if they were white.” These words still echo in my head.

    Everything had seemingly come together. At the onset of my dream to bring Shimmer, StarFire, and SeaStar to life, my research directed me to Archway Publishing’s Author Solutions, a division of Simon and Schuster. I went online completely ignorant of what it would take to become a published author. I did know, however, that as a first time, no name, writer, I didn’t stand a chance of getting a literary agent to even think about considering my work. Self-Publishing was my only option if ever I wanted my three mermaids to swim into existence.

    Archway Publishing offered five packages for getting published. I choose the ILLUSTRATOR Package for $3,999.00 that included everything I needed to get started. The packages ranged from $1,599.00 to $8,499.00. In addition to this package that included only eight color illustrations, I added another four illustrations at $399.00 each so that I would have adequate representation of my characters. You see, I truly believe that Black mermaids should be a part of our mighty oceans. I paid the price for their inclusion.

    At first, everything was going along well. The timeline toward publication was on point. I paid an additional $250.00 to have my narrative edited. While the editing was taking place, the artwork got started.  With only a few revisions here and there, Shimmer, StarFire, and SeaStar were born into literary bliss. They were perfectly suited for their ocean environment. I loved them—their voices, actions and attitudes, expressions, and more importantly, their beautiful brown skin.  My young mermaids were complete in every way that I could imagine, except one—the price of integration.

    During production, Archway told me that they would set the price for my book and that I would not have any input in negotiating a change to lower it. I could request to raise it, but I could not go lower.  They told me that the price would be based on color and the number of pages. Honestly, I had no idea that this 60 page children’s fantasy would come back with a price tag of $31.99 for the hardcover and $23.99 for the soft cover. After the book’s completion, I was very concerned at first, but my Book Consultant, along with others that I spoke with, convinced me that all the beautiful color and the great narrative would move my book with no problem. I went along with what they said because the eProofs looked great. The colors were vivid and the mermaid sisters were performing just as I had envisioned.

    On the day that I received my author’s copies, the color, or lack thereof, was the first thing that caught my attention. The wonderfully vivid colors in the eProofs were not there. The teal blues were teal greens. The color in the soft cover version was a bit richer than the color in the hardcover book. To my misfortune this is where all the back and forth heated discussions began.  Everyone on my team at Archway seemed to resent my disappointment with the finished product. To them, my complaints were totally unwarranted. To add fuel to the fire, the book’s title was not on the spine. Now I am wondering if the color of my mermaids’ skin had anything to do with the high costs and the diluted color.

    Needless to say, the only solution was that I pay more money to send my work back to the illustrators. And on top of that, there was no guarantee that they could improve the colors. In fact, there was a risk of distorting the colors to the point of making my dark-skinned mermaids darker--blacker.

    I was given the option of having another run at printing to see if the printer could at least get the quality to that of the soft cover print. I was also offered thirty additional free copies to see how my reading audience would respond to the look of my book. I hesitantly took Archway up on their compromise and when the thirty books arrived, the colors were a little more representative of what I’d originally specified. I still could not get the title on the spine. Supposedly, I did not have the maximum page count for this feature.

    All of my sampled audience enjoyed their books and when asked about the color, they all said that they liked it. What they did not like was the price of the book. There was no way that they would pay such a high price for a children’s book. I was devastated. My first book with my beautiful brown-skinned mermaids was priced for abject failure. However, despite many back and forth arguments about the pricing, Archway Publishing insisted that the book was priced according to industry standards and they could not do anything about lowering the price without drastically altering the book at my expense.

    Eventually, I did go about trying to market my book without any help from Archway Publishing. I even got Barnes and Noble to purchase a few and put them on display in the local store. The books did not move. My husband ended up purchasing the books in an effort to support me. I did sell four books to faithful friends, along with another five to family members. I purchased an additional twenty-five copies at a 20% author’s discount just so that I could have them on hand to sell or give as gifts.

    My author’s contract with Archway Publishing will be ending in February 2016. I intend to pull The Hunt for the Magic Pearl from them and do a revision so that I can lower the price. It is a great book that encourages young girls in beautiful darker skin tones to be brave, adventurous, smart, and beautiful.  The themes speak to family relationships, loss, and determination. And as Kirkus has stated in their review, “…With it glossary and several paged of mermaid-related information, this book is classroom-room ready, as well as a worthy bedtime tale… “They concluded that The Hunt for the Magic Pearl is “A fun, exciting underwater romp.”

    The purpose for this Three-Part Post is so that I may share with you how difficult it was for me to be writer of diversity and how difficult it was to be a first time independently-published author. The sharks are definitely alive and well. Please don’t get caught up!

    My book is available to you on my website, www.readtoachieve2.com at less than 50% of the original price. I would love for you to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl as a gift for a middle grade child—especially a young girl who is not sure of who she is.

    Please share my story with others who might appreciate knowing about Archway Publishing.

    Support diversity in Children’s Literature. Please visit my website, www.readtoachieve2.com to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl today.

     

    • Like 1
  5. Thanks so much Cynique. Your words are as good as my morning coffee. I am not discouraged. I am usually the one that is put into the fire in order to help others. I am out of a lot of money that I could be definitely using so much better right now. But such is life--live and learn I always say.

    I do intend to spread the word about Archway Publishing to anyone who will listen. I don't have a set plan of action on them as yet because I have to concentrate on keeping my foot on the pedal to get my other publications off the ground. Currently, I am taking some online, professional development courses at Gotham Writers' Workshop. As a lifelong learner, I am already enjoying this experience. I am determined to get my work into the hands of our challenged youths. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

    I so appreciate you all for being such a delightful audience for my three part posts. As you can see, I absolutely love to write. I have more to come. Stay tuned. :)

    • Like 3
  6. OMG Chris, I hope you don't mind me calling you Chris. The video is fantastic!!! Of course, it is a little late for me as I have researched and discovered all of what you shared the hard the way. But there is so much more that I know I can learn from your experiences. As for Archway Publishing, I have contacted one attorney. He did not get back to me yet, and I haven't had time to stay on it. But you've just hit the nail on the head. I am not going to rest until I expose them in one way or another. My contract ends with them in February.

    My new Book Consultant is still calling me to try to get me to buy books from them. However, every time I mention lowering the price of the book, all calls suddenly stop. They really think me to be a fool. I know that people are still being victimized and I just want to get to them before they are too deep into Vanity Publishing. From the packages offered, you see that it could have been a lot more expensive. In addition to the package price, they wanted to order to 1,000 books after publication. Had I done that, can you imagine where I would be right now trying to sell my expensive mermaids. Anyway, all is well with me. I have learned an expensive lesson. God has a way of making me an example so that I can help others. Please incorporate this information as you see fit. I am so glad that I have gotten to know you. I think we will have so much to share. Thanks for all that you do to help others.

    • Like 2
  7. I was having trouble posting it for some reason. I am going to try again. I had to go to start my course. I'm back now to fix it :)

    Hello Everyone,

    I tried to post again without success. I don't know what is happening. Well, I will post it here. Troy if you could move it, to where it is supposed to be, that would be great. This is when technology in its finest drives me crazy.

    Part Three: Diversity is Not Racism—The Difficult Road through Publication for Three Mermaid Sisters

    “Why didn’t you make the mermaids White?” he said. “You would sell more books if they were white.” These words still echo in my head.

    Everything had seemingly come together. At the onset of my dream to bring Shimmer, StarFire, and SeaStar to life, my research directed me to Archway Publishing’s Author Solutions, a division of Simon and Schuster. I went online completely ignorant of what it would take to become a published author. I did know, however, that as a first time, no name, writer, I didn’t stand a chance of getting a literary agent to even think about considering my work. Self-Publishing was my only option if ever I wanted my three mermaids to swim into existence.

    Archway Publishing offered five packages for getting published. I choose the ILLUSTRATOR Package for $3,999.00 that included everything I needed to get started. The packages ranged from $1,599.00 to $8,499.00. In addition to this package that included only eight color illustrations, I added another four illustrations at $399.00 each so that I would have adequate representation of my characters. You see, I truly believe that Black mermaids should be a part of our mighty oceans. I paid the price for their inclusion.

    At first, everything was going along well. The timeline toward publication was on point. I paid an additional $250.00 to have my narrative edited. While the editing was taking place, the artwork got started.  With only a few revisions here and there, Shimmer, StarFire, and SeaStar were born into literary bliss. They were perfectly suited for their ocean environment. I loved them—their voices, actions and attitudes, expressions, and more importantly, their beautiful brown skin.  My young mermaids were complete in every way that I could imagine, except one—the price of integration.

    During production, Archway told me that they would set the price for my book and that I would not have any input in negotiating a change to lower it. I could request to raise it, but I could not go lower.  They told me that the price would be based on color and the number of pages. Honestly, I had no idea that this 60 page children’s fantasy would come back with a price tag of $31.99 for the hardcover and $23.99 for the soft cover. After the book’s completion, I was very concerned at first, but my Book Consultant, along with others that I spoke with, convinced me that all the beautiful color and the great narrative would move my book with no problem. I went along with what they said because the eProofs looked great. The colors were vivid and the mermaid sisters were performing just as I had envisioned.

    On the day that I received my author’s copies, the color, or lack thereof, was the first thing that caught my attention. The wonderfully vivid colors in the eProofs were not there. The teal blues were teal greens. The color in the soft cover version was a bit richer than the color in the hardcover book. To my misfortune this is where all the back and forth heated discussions began.  Everyone on my team at Archway seemed to resent my disappointment with the finished product. To them, my complaints were totally unwarranted. To add fuel to the fire, the book’s title was not on the spine. Now I am wondering if the color of my mermaids’ skin had anything to do with the high costs and the diluted color.

    Needless to say, the only solution was that I pay more money to send my work back to the illustrators. And on top of that, there was no guarantee that they could improve the colors. In fact, there was a risk of distorting the colors to the point of making my dark-skinned mermaids darker--blacker.

    I was given the option of having another run at printing to see if the printer could at least get the quality to that of the soft cover print. I was also offered thirty additional free copies to see how my reading audience would respond to the look of my book. I hesitantly took Archway up on their compromise and when the thirty books arrived, the colors were a little more representative of what I’d originally specified. I still could not get the title on the spine. Supposedly, I did not have the maximum page count for this feature.

    All of my sampled audience enjoyed their books and when asked about the color, they all said that they liked it. What they did not like was the price of the book. There was no way that they would pay such a high price for a children’s book. I was devastated. My first book with my beautiful brown-skinned mermaids was priced for abject failure. However, despite many back and forth arguments about the pricing, Archway Publishing insisted that the book was priced according to industry standards and they could not do anything about lowering the price without drastically altering the book at my expense.

    Eventually, I did go about trying to market my book without any help from Archway Publishing. I even got Barnes and Noble to purchase a few and put them on display in the local store. The books did not move. My husband ended up purchasing the books in an effort to support me. I did sell four books to faithful friends, along with another five to family members. I purchased an additional twenty-five copies at a 20% author’s discount just so that I could have them on hand to sell or give as gifts.

    My author’s contract with Archway Publishing will be ending in February 2016. I intend to pull The Hunt for the Magic Pearl from them and do a revision so that I can lower the price. It is a great book that encourages young girls in beautiful darker skin tones to be brave, adventurous, smart, and beautiful.  The themes speak to family relationships, loss, and determination. And as Kirkus has stated in their review, “…With it glossary and several paged of mermaid-related information, this book is classroom-room ready, as well as a worthy bedtime tale… “They concluded that The Hunt for the Magic Pearl is “A fun, exciting underwater romp.”

    The purpose for this Three-Part Post is so that I may share with you how difficult it was for me to be writer of diversity and how difficult it was to be a first time independently-published author. The sharks are definitely alive and well. Please don’t get caught up!

    My book is available to you on my website, www.readtoachieve2.com at less than 50% of the original price. I would love for you to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl as a gift for a middle grade child—especially a young girl who is not sure of who she is.

    Please share my story with others who might appreciate knowing a little something about Archway Publishing.

    Support diversity in Children’s Literature. Please visit my website, www.readtoachieve2.com to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl today.

     

    • Like 2
  8. Thanks guys for the excellent info and advice. Troy, I cannot lower the price of the book as it stands--Archway Publishing has complete control over it. I can only lower it on my website. In fact, the soft cover is priced at $10.99 on my site. I have explained this fiasco in Part Three of my story which I will post right after this. I want people to know about Archway Publishing and many others out there who are killing new authors. Also, I see that people are reluctant to purchase directly from unknown sites. I have placed added security in terms of having the lock displayed on the website's URL and also on my check out. I am hoping that this will eventually help.  My shipping is based on weight. For the book, the shipping is $4.50. And the delivery is placed at a standard three weeks because I had to order the books from Archway. I did order some books and have a small inventory. However, I will not order a large quantity of books from them because I am being robbed with their meager author's discount. I can definitely change the shipping time with ease. Next month, I will be pulling my book from Archway. This is another issue in and of itself.

    Troy, I am certainly going to market/advertise on this site. I love aalbc.com. I left a response on your post for more info. As soon as you get back to me, I will place the order for a spot on the author's page. Thanks for that :).

    When you read Part Three of my post, you will understand what I did with Archway Publishing. I think I must have bumped my head. Now, I have to fix it! "Live and Learn" is the saying. I would much rather learn and live! It's what you don't know that bites hardest!!!

    CDBurns, thanks for the advice on getting into the classroom. I will try it. I have much to do. Right now, I have enrolled in Gotham Writer's Workshop, It starts today, so I will be a little busy with the courses. But the fliers are an excellent idea. I have this as part of the plan for my marketing strategy starting early spring.

    All I can say is that I sure wish I had known about aalbc.com earlier. You all have provided me with so much support. I am very grateful.

    • Like 1
  9. Continued from Part One

    In order to give life and purpose to the three faceless mermaids that hang on my wall, I had to first give them names. Shimmer, StarFire, and SeaStar came to life in my literary vision. I could see them at long last and they were beautiful, brown-skinned,orphaned, mermaid sisters. They reached out to me every time I passed their stilled images on the wall. I had to tell their story. The voice that continually awakened me up in the middle of the night, beckoned me to write a book. Always three and four o’clock in the morning, I could be found in my dimly lit bedroom frantically writing. The question that plagued my thoughts was this: What were my mermaids doing out there in the vastness of the mighty ocean? Of course, they were hunting. But, hunting for what? Well, in my mind, since they weren’t supposed to be there in the first place, they were hunting for magic. Why magic? Because, magic had to be found in order to protect them. Protect them from what? They needed protection from predators. What kind of predators? The Great White Sharks, of course. So, where would this magic come from? And why would they need protection? So many questions popped into my mind. I often looked into the vastness of their blank faces for the answers.

    Now, that I had the beginning of the plot for my fantasy, I still needed to see the three mermaids on the pages of the book that I’d titled The Hunt for the Magic Pearl. With pencils and paint brushes in hand, I set out to give my half human, half fish their faces—beautiful brown faces. However, each time, I contemplated making them African-American, something inside of me cautioned against it. I had to keep telling myself that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Why shouldn’t they look like me in skin color, hair texture, and body build--strong hips and thighs? Why at my age and cultural experience was I having trouble with my own skin color and reflection? Could I, me, still be subconsciously brainwashed in some way--influenced by a horrible history that should be relived only in my past?

    I know that I loved me and I also knew that I wouldn't change one single thing about who I am--especially my skin color... My struggle served to let me know what our children are still experiencing in terms of acceptance of their African-American features and identity. This realization also warned me that there is not nearly enough diversity in our children's literature. I was in a battle to resist my warped concept of beauty.

    Despite my unfounded reluctance, I did it. I drew samples and painted them to have brown skin. But I still did not like these images as much as I liked them with White skin. I forced myself to move ahead with illustrations and had my illustrator to produce exactly what I was visualizing. My three mermaid sisters came to life at long last on the pages of my book. They are beautiful renditions of myself. I am pleasantly pleased that they are very much a part of the audience that I seek to reach and teach. I am still drawing and painting my mermaids--turning them from blank, penciled images on white sheets of paper to strong, dark, powerful princesses that protect the Kingdom of Merland.

    Please see Part Three for the conclusion of this story.

    Part Three: Diversity is Not Racism—The Difficult Road through Publication for Three Mermaid Sisters

    “Why didn’t you make the mermaids White?” he said. “You would sell more books if they were white.” These words still echo in my head.

    Support diversity in Children’s Literature. Please visit my website, www.readtoachieve2.com to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl today.

     

     

    • Like 4
  10. Cynique, it is certainly a battle for us. Why can't we be beautiful and black in superhero roles, princesses of the deep, wizards and good witches, etc.? I am so tired of this. I want our children to see themselves as beautiful, strong, and powerful... We want to save the world sometimes too! Well, despite the fight, Black Oz is here along with other victories. My dreams are to see my dark-skinned mermaid trio on the big screen. I want them to reintroduce our non-swimming babies to the joys of not only reading, but swimming as well. That's another subject of contention. Some in society still don't want us in swimming pools--Olympic swimming pools, that is. That's another reason why I choose powerful dark-skinned swimmers to save Merland.

    Thanks CDBurns. You are the third professional person who have told me how nice my website is. I so appreciate you sharing it. It was hard work to get it where it is currently. I have many visitors, but not many to actually make a purchase. I think it may do better in the Spring and Summer.  I am researching advertising under Children's Books on Mermaids and Mermaid Art on Google. Now that you've seen the website, what you do think about this type of advertising? I want my books in schools, libraries, and in the hands of all children--especially our Brown and Black children who struggle with literacy.

    • Like 2
  11. Troy, I know that's right. We do need more stories like Cynique's, yours, and mine. However, my recent experience with trying to acquire representation is telling me that the literary powers that be aren't really interested in our stories right now. I have started using more racy language and scenes in some of my writings. It is not so much that I want to--however, I am finding that this is what gets more attention. The more F words, the more eyes are on it.  What a pity to have to do this. I just want to write for the purpose of empowering our youths. Unfortunately, all of us couldn't be born with a silver spoon. But you know, I think that's what makes our stories so rich. I, for one, will never sell out. I will publish, promote, and market my own if it comes down to that. I am no longer struggling with my brief stint of identity crisis :). By the way, I saw Hateful Eight last night. OMG! While it did disturb me to some degree, I was rather entertained despite the language, racial insults, assaults on the woman, etc. See what I mean. The more trash the merrier the audience. This is our sad world!!!! 

    • Like 1
  12. This all started after my husband’s beloved mother died mid-September 2013. His niece graciously arranged for us to stay in a three story condo in Cape Charles, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The condo was wonderfully decorated to represent an oceanic theme—huge seashells, pictured images of magnificent sea creatures, and sea ornaments, purposefully arranged to reflect life in the nearby Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. However, with all the wonderful décor, there was one piece in particular that captured my attention. It was a framed painting of a mermaid displayed in the master bedroom, titled Metamorphosis by Sheila Wolk. Her beauty captivated me to the point where I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

    A few days following the funeral, we returned home to Louisiana. I desperately missed the ocean beauty that had mesmerized me. I had to have this mermaid poster. When I found her online, I purchased two of them—I wanted my brother in SC to share in my discovery. I was surprised by his reaction when he received my gift. He expressed how beautiful she was, but toward the end of our discussion on where we would display her, he said, “I wish she was black.” I agreed with him—in my heart and soul, I wanted to see what she would look like with a brown complexion. For days I wondered why something of such extraordinary beauty could not possess our dark skin color and still maintain her perfection. My thoughts made me feel guilty. Surely, I was not a racist for wanting to see this image in darker skin. The mermaid was beautiful just as she was, why then should I want to see her any differently?

    As the days passed, I contemplated having her framed and mounted on my wall. But this would prove to be very expensive as the print was 266” x 375” which also left the question of where I would place such a large piece in my home that boasted African-American historical art throughout. A huge painting of The Buffalo Soldiers’ March on Fort Sumter was displayed over the fireplace, The Civil Rights icon, Rosa Parks was displayed on an adjacent corner wall, and other smaller figurines representative of African-American culture were displayed throughout my home.

    To my regret, I could not hang this beautiful sea creature up without disrupting my historical theme. I had to put her away until I could figure out how to incorporate her display. Meanwhile, I could not stop thinking about mermaids—in particular, Black mermaids. I recall that I had never really seen a black mermaid in literature. I decided to do a search on Google ™ and low and behold, there they were—lots of beautiful images. However, when I searched local libraries and bookstores, I discovered very few, if any, in children’s or adult literature—that is very few Black mermaids.

    During the summer break of 2014, I decided to try my hand at painting. I wanted to paint my own version of the beautiful mermaid that had captured my heart on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She was perfectly fine as I drew her void of color onto paper. The problem for me started when I applied brown paint to her face. I absolutely hated it. She was ugly to me and completely destroyed what I’d perceived for a beautiful brown-skinned sea creature. I decided as a compromise to make her white and faceless with an orange outline. I was so disappointed in myself. Why couldn’t I paint a black mermaid and see the beauty in her?

    Despite my obvious conflict with diversity, I finally embraced my painted "white" rendition  My reasoning being, she was abstract and could represent any and every one of us—Black, Brown, or White. For me, she represented acceptance—my warped acceptance. Now, there was one little feature that I had subconsciously added. My abstract image of “mermaid acceptance” had curly, short hair at first. Then she evolved into having long, golden, straight hair, and then in her final evolution, she ended up with long, wavy, wet hair that cascaded down her back.  The little bit of my image that I had allowed came in terms of her thick, wavy, golden-brown hair.

    I still had more work to do. One abstract mermaid in a vast ocean environment wasn’t nearly enough. I needed more to integrate our mighty Atlantic ocean. I decided to make a template of her and reproduced two more mermaids to her exact specifications. The triplets all had white, feature-less faces with varying degrees of curly hair. While I was disappointed in myself for not creating them to be Black, I readily accepted my compromise and decided to have my three nameless, faceless, beauties framed as an original work of art (artwork included in my book).

    My framers loved them and favored me by showing off my mermaids and introducing me as an artist--me, an artist. I brought my work of art home and proudly mounted my faceless, white mermaids onto my wall. My son also loved my work and applauded it to be as good as any professional could produce. He often stared at the three mermaids in wonder, just as I did during my days of summer bliss. What were they thinking? How did they fit into their ocean environment? Were they even supposed to be there in all their faceless, nameless, glory?

    While I loved my creation, I knew deep in my heart that they weren’t complete. One night in the wee hours of the morning, I got up out of bed and went to the wall where the three mermaids were displayed. They needed to talk to me—but they had no voice, no facial expressions. Even I, their creator, could not connect to their blank white faces. I knew at that exact moment I had to name them. I had to write about them. I had to give them some of my own identity before I could bring them to life.                                        

     – Continued in Part Two

    Support diversity in Children’s Literature. Please visit my website, www.readtoachieve2.com to purchase The Hunt for the Magic Pearl today.

    http://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Magic-Pearl-Shirley-Perry-Church/dp/1480814814 Seek Preview with the image of the three faceless mermaid sisters.

    • Like 1
  13. Hello Cynique, Happy belated Holidays. Well, I have just learned how you spent a portion of your holiday. We all have unique family members. I agree with Troy on how well you handled the announcement. I also agree that you should write. You are a fine storyteller.  Recapturing one's life is really a big task indeed.You are rich in your wisdom, I think you should try it.

    Now, there is one thing that I cannot hear from you--the time we have left, and of course, the lazy part. I am in the same boat--not the lazy part. I feel like if I don't get it done now, it won't happen. For this I say, leave instructions for your memoir for a dear family member to write--perhaps your grand daughter. That's exactly what I am going to do if my clock tries to stop ticking before I get my stories done :)

    Finally, homosexuality is no longer a secret to be left in the closet. My oldest sister was gay for a while and then she went back to men. Was she gay or not? I am still confused (LOL). Looks like the discussion board is off to a great start.

     

    Hello Troy,

    I just finished listening to the sample audio version of Home Is #@%*!#@ Burning. OMG! I am working on my semi-biography now. I have been wrestling with how intense to make it. I think I just got my answer.  I've got to get this book. Glad to be back.

    • Like 3
  14. Harry, your words bring pleasant memories. I too, am not a Christmas person because of all the commercialism. However, if it brings family and friends together in joy and peace, then you can count me in,

    Happy Holidays to all my new AALBC friends :)

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  15. My hubby said, "The best thoughts and discussions take you to places that you may not have imagined."  Hey Y'all, this is the type of discussion I love--a whole lot of sharing and learning.  Like CDBurns said, "It's all connected." I think I need to keep the poems going!!! ha ha ha. Seriously, thanks for all the valuable insights on social media. I certainly feel less stressed about it now. I wrote a piece pertaining to my book, The Hunt for the Magic Pearl, titled: Diversity is Not Racism, Parts One, Two, and Three. I might post it under literature. I have it posted on LinkedIn and Twitter. But, I don't think the White folks quite know how to take what I have to say. I am thinking about what type of impact it might have on this site. Y'all know me, I love to drum up a little controversy. Again, thanks for allowing my voice and participation.

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  16. I absolutely love National Geographic Magazine. Troy, I am going to resubscribe as well.  It is absolutely informative. I used to subscribe to it for my students. We know that climate change is real. Our planet and everything on it is impacted as a result of it. Why this phenomenon is being denied by so many is simply beyond me. Climate Warming is denied as readily as the coming of Christ. Sorry, I don't mean to bring religion into the discussion. This is my belief.

    Cynique, here is something else that I was not aware of. This is quite interesting--how ironic is this?!!! How is that folks who know the truth, often hide behind their lies, only to have their truths revealed in their actions? This is just hilarious to me.  I would love to hear Rupert Murdoch's position on this one.

    You know with climate change, we can see the evidence with our own two eyes. This brings me to this: "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" I love it!

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  17. Troy, I so agree with you about Twitter. It's just that people are constantly asking me if I am on Twitter, FB, Instagram, and LinkedIn. It really drives me crazy. I closed my FB account down, but I am going to re-establish it again so that I can communicate with my Beautiful Young Lady (BYL) Mentoring Club members in Lafayette. It was really a good way to stay in contact with them. Twitter does consume way too much of my time. But I am keeping it just so that it is out there. But thanks to you I don't feel so bad in my resentment for having it. I don't have any idea what Instagram is all about--I don't need to know right now. I just tell myself it is more for young folks and keep it moving.  I have too much on my social plate as it is. 

    CDBurns, I agree that these platforms are definitely "necessary evils" in today's competitive, global marketplace!!! I am struggling to keep up with it all.

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