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Alright folks, we're putting it to a poll for you all to decide!
#polls#You can find Brandy on my select page#or if you're on mobile just search Brandy Voleon#and in his profile is a link to Scotch's toyhouse
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All Episodes Edit Bookcast Episode 65: I thought about doing Vlogmas...
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... but I'm boring.
I'm DL White, author of 12 contemporary southern and romantic fiction novels featuring Black men and women. I'm also a fanfiction writer and a lover of books. Find all my bookish links at Booksbydlwhite.com. BOOKS ON SALE: HEY LOVER is free at select retail sites AND at my store. Payhip.com/Booksbydlwhite has the links you need. Tap the bar at the top of the page and I think I will add an easy to see link on the front page. Alternatively you can go to any retail site except Amazon to grab that book. It's a new month, so your Spotify listens renew! Head on over to pick out a new audiobook to listen to if you're a Spotify premium subbie! Stay tuned for STUFF YOUR E-READER and ALL BLACK BOOK AFFAIR, both are coming up later in December.
LISTEN TO TODAY’S SHOW (Grab an excerpt here)
I talked about the following books in today's episode: A Steele for Christmas (Forged of Steele #9) by Brenda Jackson Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich The Stubborn Kind by Jessica Terry Three Day Weekend (Ideal Arrangements Book 2) by Kianna Alexander Birthday Girl by Brandy Bush Remember the Time: A Thanksgiving Short by Aubreé Pynn A Promise Kept by Anissa Garcia Snow Place Like Home by Lacey Baker After Dark by Minka Kent Writing Update: I am at 20/30K of my writing goal. I had a very good writing week, and I'm pleased with current progress. I wrote a lot of cameos of Potter Lake townspeople including Mayor KC. I was going to include a sample sunday recording, but Riverside and I were beefing today and the audio is trash. Next week! But stay tuned to the blog (booksbydlwhite.com/blog) because I will post another Sample Sunday. My Publishing BFF tools mentioned in today's podcast: VELLUM on sale until December 4th! 30% off Dabblewriter- referral code for a $20 discount: Allauthor.com Canva Deposit Photos Buffer
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guarded | jhs x reader | chapter three: exotic pets
summary: you’ve tried to separate yourself from your infamous crime family, but a new case has your carefully-constructed world crashing down around you. now you have to figure out how to heal old wounds and handle the new man who enters your orbit.
pairing: hoseok x reader
genre: mafia AU, E2L, slow burn, tsundere, eventual smut
rating: 18+
word count: 3.4K
A/N: i hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! i’d love to hear what you think. thank you so much for your support. things are going to start ramping up on the whole slow burn angle from here. once again i must thank the fabulous @ladyartemesia for both this killer graphic and beta reading for me -- as well as the amazing @taetaewonderland. pouring out a sunkist in your honor today xoxo
Chapter 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | EPILOGUE
********************
It’s funny how people believe the shit they see in movies.
For instance, most film fans think it’s entirely possible to break a bottle over someone’s head. One character grabs for an empty beer during a fight and the glass explodes in dramatic fashion with just one crack across another character’s skull.
You know better.
You know there’s way too much give to the human body to shatter glass like that.
If you want to break a bottle you’ve got to connect with something much harder. The corner of a table. A fireplace mantle. That’s how it works in the real world.
You stare into the mirror and run the pad of one finger along the raised scar that mars your left collarbone. All these years later and it’s paler and smoother but it’s still hideous, taunting you in your reflection.
Today you cover it with an oversized scarf carefully matched to a silk blouse. Tomorrow it will be a turtleneck. You’ve come up with dozens of ways to hide the ruined skin, but there’s never going to be a way to get rid of it.
It will always be a physical reminder that there are some pieces of your past you can never leave behind.
************************
Hoseok has a cold.
There was extra gravel in his voice this morning as he went over your schedule for the day. You can detect the faint scent of a cough drop in the shared air of his car.
But he doesn’t mention it and neither do you.
This morning, you’re glad for it -- glad for the absence of small talk.
In a few minutes, you get to walk into your boss’s office and announce that half the evidence in what should be a home-run case has vanished into thin air. You have to pretend to have no idea why someone would want to sabotage a seemingly minor prosecution of a couple of idiot gangsters and you have to do it without so much as hinting at your family’s connection to organized crime in this town.
There’s a knot in your stomach so tight you feel nauseous.
Hoseok’s phone buzzes with an incoming call from the mount on the dash and he frowns for a split-second before sending it to voicemail. One minute later it buzzes again and he rejects it again. Seconds later and he makes it three in a row.
You know damned well that if those calls were about business, Hoseok would have answered them right away. The knot in your stomach tightens even more and you turn your head to stare out of the window.
It’s an unfair situation, this arrangement. Hoseok has access to every corner of your life while you don’t know a damned thing about him. Who would he be going home to every night if he weren’t under orders to stay with you? Who is waiting for him when this is all over?
Someone, certainly.
Willing women are in abundance in his line of work. You grew up around them -- a revolving door of beautiful, vulnerable girls who thought nothing of trading their bodies for gifts and cash. Women so eager for security and love they accepted whatever scraps were thrown their way.
In a way, you were like them -- a motherless little girl living in the midst of male-dominated chaos and desperate for female connection. You watched the way they styled their hair and applied their makeup and how they went about the myriad tasks of being women. Then inevitably you’d grow too attached too fast only to have your heart broken when one day they just disappeared.
And they always disappeared.
You wonder what the woman trying to reach Hoseok this morning looks like. You wonder if she’s angry that he’s had to be away so long. You wonder what version she gets of him and how different it must be from the version you get. The knot in your stomach is replaced by something else.
Something you’d rather not examine too closely.
**************************
“You should let me take you to lunch.”
Donghyuk interrupts what must be the worst morning of your entire career without so much as a knock or a hello. He drops into the empty chair in your office uninvited and doesn’t wait for you to answer.
“We could ditch the busy work, slip out the back entrance -- ” he grins conspiratorially, “ -- have a two-martini meal at Congdu and then sneak into the bathroom to fool around. What do you think?”
You groan out loud. You are not in the mood for this shit right now.
“This is not a good time, ‘Hyuk.”
He sighs. “Yeah, I heard.”
Of course he’s heard. Everyone in a hundred-foot radius has heard. To say your bosses were displeased with the bomb you dropped on them this morning is an understatement.
“So then why are you in my office asking me to go day drinking? Do you want me to be fired?”
“Of course not,” he says, looking offended. “I just thought you deserved a break from the madness for a minute.”
You laugh without a hint of humor.
“I’m going to get a permanent break from the madness if I don’t rescue this case somehow. So no -- no lunch today. Probably no lunch for the next six months, actually.”
Donghyuk frowns.
“Dinner, then? There’s a new spot in Gangnam I’ve been wanting to try. We could go tomorrow night.”
Christ, the man is insistent these days.
You are too mentally worn out to figure out why your casual arrangement with Donghyuk feels a hell of a lot less casual of late. If he’s suddenly decided he wants more than just the occasional meal-to-mattress thing you’ve enjoyed for months, he’s in for a disappointment. You are tapped out.
“I’ve got -- It’s just complicated for me right now,” you manage.
“Yeah, I get it,” he agrees sympathetically. “The bodyguard thing, right?”
“Right,” you repeat slowly, mind suddenly flipping back to Hoseok. Back to this morning’s car ride.
Back to those missed calls.
Something childish and petty and unbecoming stirs inside of you.
“You know what? Dinner tomorrow night could work, actually.”
Donghyuk leans back and smiles wide.
“Great.”
*********************
Hoseok’s cold hasn’t improved.
The ride to the restaurant is radio silent, but for the sound of his occasional sniffle. You could have sworn you saw actual displeasure cross his face when you’d asked him to take you to meet Donghyuk tonight. It feels like the air between you is crackling with tension.
But it’s probably your imagination.
Hoseok says nothing as he closes the car door behind you, nothing as he holds the door to the restaurant open for you, and nothing when you thank him as you step inside.
Donghyuk has a table waiting. No small feat because this place is packed.
It’s a brand-new restaurant and apparently one of the most expensive and coveted dining spots in the city. In an instant, it dawns on you that there’s no table for Hoseok. You turn to ask him where he wants to be, but he brushes past you to take a seat at the bar.
Again, he says nothing.
You huff your frustration under your breath as you slide into the chair across from Donghyuk. He’s got a snifter of what’s sure to be some pricey brandy in his hand.
“Germain-Robin Select Barrel,” he declares, swirling the amber liquid in his glass before taking a sip. “Best stuff in town.”
Of course it is.
Donghyuk is accustomed to having only the best of the best; a natural by-product of his upbringing. You’ve known one another since you were pupils at the same prep school, living parallel lives. You both had expensive homes and pricey tutors and fancy clothes -- but his family graced the pages of the society magazines while yours graced the pages of the newspapers.
This thing you have with him is supposed to be easy; an uncomplicated diversion. But lately, it's a hell of a lot less satisfying than it used to be. Either Donghyuk is really getting more self-absorbed and less interesting -- or you are just starting to not give a shit about anything he has to say.
He’s droning on about something golf-related when you tune out completely. Your eyes wander to Hoseok at the bar.
He still hasn’t ordered anything to eat and a drink sits untouched on the bartop.
“Sharp dresser, that guy.”
“What?”
You swing your focus back to Donghyuk like you’ve just come out of a trance.
“The bodyguard,” he says around a fork full of food. “He’s got pretty good taste for some street gangster. I should find out where he shops.”
You’re caught by surprise -- by his comment, by the way it makes your chest tighten. By the force of the second-hand embarrassment you suddenly feel on behalf of Hoseok.
“He’s not some -- street gangster,” you say quietly, slowly.
“Oh, he’s not?” Donghyuk asks, looking genuinely confused. “He’s not one of your brother’s guys?”
Red-hot anger blossoms inside of you so fast you can barely contain it. You stare Donghyuk down with the most venomous look you can muster.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t,” you bite out. “But you have no clue what you’re talking about. And keep any mention of my brother out of your mouth.”
“Jeez, sorry,” Donghyuk fires back, lifting his hands in surrender. “I didn’t realize I was touching on a nerve. I thought you hated your family. That’s what everyone says, anyway.”
You jerk out of the chair so abruptly it nearly falls back. The napkin in your lap falls to the floor and the people sitting at the tables nearby stop to look. Donghyuk’s mouth falls open with surprise.
“I’m done,” you grind out, grabbing for your purse.
“Sit down,” Donghyuk hisses. “You’re making a scene.”
“She said she’s done.”
You never saw Hoseok move, never registered him leaving the bar -- but when you rip your gaze away from Donghyuk, he is at your side.
Hoseok opens his wallet and throws a pile of bills down on the table. He doesn’t spare a glance at Donghyuk as he calmly ushers you away from the table.
“Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
***************************
The ride home from the restaurant is just as silent as the ride there.
Hoseok drives and you stare blankly out the window as you replay Donghyuk’s words in your mind.
I thought you hated your family. That’s what everyone says.
Yes -- you hated your father. You had your reasons and you had earned that right.
But Namjoon? Never. You could never hate your brother.
The fact that you’d given anyone -- even Donghyuk -- reason to believe otherwise makes you feel sick to your stomach. Shames weighs so heavy on your chest it feels like you can’t breathe.
You don’t even have the energy to devote to being embarrassed at how that whole scene played out in front of Hoseok. By the time he walks you into your apartment, you’re just desperate to wash up and fall into bed. Hoseok lingers in the living room but you don’t even look at him. You head straight for your bedroom.
The tears come the moment the latch clicks closed.
Followed closely by the screams.
**********************
HOSEOK
What a shitty way to end what had really shaped up to be an enjoyable night.
Hoseok could see the moment things went south at dinner. You’d looked disinterested from the second you sat down, distracted the entire time you ate your meal. But then the strangest look came over you at the end, something Hoseok couldn’t quite decipher. Until it was replaced by something he understood loud and clear from all the way across the room.
Fury.
It was way too fucking satisfying, really.
The look on that idiot’s face when you humiliated him in front of an entire restaurant full of his shitty little peers. The way his mouth dropped open when you told him you were done and the way his cheeks burned red when Hoseok tossed the money on the table.
That would have been the perfect way to end the night.
But then you started screaming.
Hoseok’s body is moving before his mind does. In seconds, he’s crossed the apartment and ripped your bedroom door open.
“Holy shit,” he breathes.
You are pressed against the far wall of the room, staring down at the floor. Hoseok follows your terrified gaze down to the large black snake coiled just a few feet away.
“Okay, wow. Fuck,” he mutters, shoving his hand through this hair, trying like hell to formulate a cohesive thought. “Okay just...just stay calm for me, okay? Can you do that?”
You say nothing, out of screams and out of words as you stare back at him. It’s clear that no, staying calm is the last thing you can do right now but staying silent is a pretty good second option.
“I have to leave you for a second, okay? Just one second. Can you stay calm for me?” Hoseok repeats, taking a tentative step out the door. “You don’t have to answer me, just nod. I’m going to be back in seconds and I’m going to get this thing out of here. Are you with me?”
Hoseok watches as you pull in one shaky breath and nod woodenly. That’s all the affirmation he needs.
He runs to rip a pillowcase off one of the pillows on his bed. When he gets back to your room, the snake has stretched it’s long body into a flat line and you look somehow more terrified than you did when he left.
“I’m back, okay?” he reassures, even though he’s certain you already know that. But you won’t take your eyes off that snake and he wants you to hear the artificial calm in his voice. “Don’t make any sudden moves. I’m going to get this thing into this pillowcase in my hands.”
He talks you through what he’s doing like it’s going to somehow reinforce that he’s in control when he knows that he’s anything but. Hoseok has seen and done a lot of weird shit in this line of work, but he’s never had to wrangle a fucking snake. He has a basic understanding of what needs to be done, but that’s still a far damned cry from actually doing it.
He takes one deep breath and starts forward with careful steps.
The fact that the snake has uncoiled might work to his advantage, he reasons. From this angle he can probably reach the tail without coming too close to the head. He knows that whatever move he makes has to be fast and decisive -- and he understands instinctively that your composure relies almost entirely on him maintaining his.
He sees you clap a hand over your mouth to stop from screaming when he grabs for the snake. The animal’s long body undulates in his grip, stronger than he expected, and he has to pull back when the snake swings its head in his direction. The entire debacle couldn’t have lasted any more than five seconds, but by the time Hoseok gets an opportunity to pull the pillowcase over the snake’s body, it feels like an eternity.
He wonders if you could see how badly his hands were shaking the entire time.
*******************
“So wait, what kind of snake is it?”
“Fuck Yoongi, I don’t know,” Hoseok snaps, pulling the cabinets under your bathroom sink open. He rifles through the contents, checking to make sure nothing else has been left behind.
“Black. Shiny. Doesn’t look friendly. You gonna come help me toss this apartment or do you want to talk exotic pets?”
“Don’t be a dick,” Yoongi chuckles, “and don’t do anything to that snake. I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”
Hoseok ends the call without so much as a goodbye.
He takes a break from inspecting your room to walk out into the living room to check on you. You are seated cross-legged on your couch, staring into nothing.
“Yoongi is on his way,” he says, rubbing one hand across the back of his neck. “He’s going to help me do a deep dive in all the rooms.”
You don’t respond.
“You okay?”
You turn your head slowly and blink up at him like you’ve just registered the sound of his voice.
“Uh, yeah,” you say slowly, even though you sound anything but. “I’m okay.”
Hoseok tongues his cheek. He wishes he knew what to do or what to say to make you feel more at ease. He chides himself for the thought almost as soon as it comes. You probably wouldn’t want to hear it from him, anyway.
“Alright,” he sighs, turning back towards your bedroom. “Just give me a minute to get through everything in here and then you can get some sleep.”
“Hoseok?”
You call to him from the couch and he turns back to face you.
“Thank you,” you say quietly.
Something twists inside Hoseok’s stomach at the despondent look on your face. It’s such a contrast to the look he saw tonight at the restaurant -- the fiery, angry one that made him feel like he could understand you a bit more. He would rather see any other version of you than the one he sees right now.
“You’re welcome,” he says thickly, turning away to get back to work.
***********************
You are still sleeping when Hoseok leaves Seokjin at your apartment in his place.
Namjoon is standing at his office window this morning, like he often does when he’s thinking. Yoongi nods when Hoseok enters the office and helps himself to the only other empty chair.
“What happened last night?” Namjoon asks, not bothering to turn away from the window.
Yoongi shoots Hoseok a look that says you first and Hoseok returns with one of his own that says no shit, sherlock.
“There’s not much that you’re not already briefed on,” Hoseok starts, “I brought your sister home from a social outing and when we got home she found a snake on her bedroom floor. I was able to contain the snake and Yoongi and I searched every inch of the apartment after that. Didn’t turn up anything else.”
“Any sign of forced entry?”
“No,” Hoseok admits. “I couldn’t find any. I have a locksmith working with Seokjin on replacing the deadbolt again this morning.”
“Right,” Namjoon says, turning away from the window to walk back to his desk. “So that makes twice now that we’ve changed her locks, twice now that someone has managed to get in anyway. What about the cameras outside?”
“I checked the footage,” Yoongi says. “Someone used a pole or a stick to put a physical block over the lens. It was still up there when I checked this morning. Duct tape.”
Namjoon scrubs a hand across his jaw, sighs out loud.
“Fuck. Where are we with tracking the Lee girl?”
Yoongi clears his throat. “I’ve been out on a few runs so far; nothing out of the norm. Work to home to work. I’ve got Jimin and Tae checking out some other stuff but nothing to report back yet.”
“Keep digging,” Namjoon insists. “She has everything she needs. The knowledge and the access, but most importantly she has my sister’s trust. That’s what worries me the most.”
He turns his attention to Hoseok. “My sister. How is she holding up?”
Hoseok thinks back to the way you looked last night, back to that blank look on your face.
Not well.
“She’s tired,” he replies carefully. “Stressed out because she’s trying to rescue her case. The snake shit did not help.”
“I’m sure it didn’t.”
“Speaking of which -- ” Yoongi interjects, “ -- that snake. It’s an Indigo snake. Not venomous.”
Namjoon lifts one eyebrow.
“I’m saying the Ssijog are not trying to hurt her, not really. They only want to scare her into fucking up this case,” Yoongi reasons. “Trust me, they don’t want to make shit worse for themselves right now by adding a dead prosecutor to the mix.”
Hoseok winces at the logical-but-clumsy delivery of that last line.
Namjoon’s mouth pulls into a tight line as he leans back in his chair and steeples his fingers. Hoseok has worked for the man long enough to know that he’s not the type to lash out when he gets angry. Namjoon is the type to go quiet.
Like right now.
He narrows his eyes at Yoongi before opening his mouth to speak.
“You’re probably right about that, Yoongi,” he says in a low, careful tone. “But let me ask you this. Is that a bet you’re willing to make with my sister’s life on the line?”
Yoongi -- wisely -- doesn’t answer that.
****************************
tag list!
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#hoseok smut#hoseok x reader#bts mafia#bts tsundere#hoseok mafia au#bangtanarmynet#btswriterscollective#ksmutclub#ficswithluv#btscreatorscorner#networkbangtan
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my august playlist for you ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
• Thirsty Seconds To Mars — walk on water
• Sleeping Wolf — wasted
• Crown The Empire — blurry
• Story Untold ft. Kellin Quinn — i luv that u hate me
• Shorelines - let us go
• Point North — dearly departed
• Theory of a Deadman — history of violence
• No Signal — vanished
• No Signal — shadow people
• No Signal — the trap
• Lissie — go your own way
• Lissie — nothing else matters
• Lissie — meet me in the mystery
• Lissie ft. Morgan Page — open heart (acoustic)
• Julia Michaels — if you need me
• Gabrielle Aplin — please don't say you love me
• Brandi Carlile — what can i say
• David Rawlings — cumberland gap
• Mark Knopfier — postcards from paraguay
• Simple Plan — this song saved my life
• Dishwalla — every little thing
• Lifehouse ft. Natasha Bedingfield — between the raindrops
• Declan McKenna — the kay to life on earth
• Biffy Clyro — tiny indoor fireworks
• 5 Seconds of Summer — jet black heart
• Faouzia — you don't even know me
• Lauren Babic ft. Jenny Palacios — erase
• Kendrick Lamar ft. SZA — all the stars
♡
and here it is: playlist
what is your august's music?
the music is selected according to the mood. I tried very hard to combine similar styles of music. you can find a link to all playlists in my bio. hope you like it!
like or reblog, please. thank you.
#aesthetic#music#aesthetic music#mood#summer#summer aesthetic#playlist#summer playlist#songs#august#august songs#august playlist#august aesthetic#atmosphere#photography#photographers on tumblr#photo by matialonsor#nature#nature aesthetic#nature photography#details#art#sea#sea aesthetic#2020#2020 playlist#2020 aesthetic#summer 2020
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On Space Art by Xin Liu & Xin Wang
Xin Liu, Orbit Weaver, 2017. Production still of artist's performance during a parabolic flight. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo by Steve Boxell.
During the prolonged lockdown that defined much of 2020, the Xinjiang-born, New York-based artist and engineer Xin Liu juggled multiple roles. These included participating in a volunteering network that supplied PPE to medical workers in dire need of protection against Covid-19; designing an indie game, Sleepwalk (2020), which reflected on the conditions of confinement and hyper-connectivity; engineering a series of hypnotic sound experiences with her partner Gershon Dublon titled The Wandering Mind (2020), which guides the dreams of a sleeping audience with source materials organized by an AI system; and live-streaming an ambient soundscape recorded on Whitehead Island, off the coast of Maine, for the Camden International Film Festival.1
As the Arts Curator at MIT Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative and an artist who makes work for exhibition spaces, film festivals, and astronautical conferences, Liu’s ongoing fascination with space as a medium and destination for new art has seen her send a wisdom tooth into outer space, cultivate potato seeds that had travelled to the International Space Station, and imagine weightlessness as an intimate, “body-opening” condition. In this interview, we spoke about the past lives and expansive futures of Space Art, her unique mixture of academic and identitarian backgrounds, and the creative strategies of innovation and resistance while working at the juncture of art and technology.
Xin Wang: You’ve recently been referred to as a “famous space artist” in a panel discussion poster, which suggests that this is a solidified genre.
Xin Liu: It is a genre! If you google “Space Art,” there’s a Wikipedia page that defines it, though it’s very much about visual artists depicting the vision of space exploration, like images of Martian colonies, weightlessness, spaceships, etc. It was also called Astronomical Art, with notable artists such as Chesley Bonestell. These artists really tried to define the aesthetics of space, which even changed the way we would later color actual scientific images captured through different telescopes. Even now, if you look at NASA’s art programs, that’s still basically the main concept. Slowly it diverged into art in space, or art that uses space and environmental textures for creation, experimentation, and storytelling.
For me, Space Art conceptually connects more to Land Art in the seventies; the questions they were asking—regarding spatial-temporal dimensions and the way we engage with geological transformation—are more related. However, there is this jump in the Space Art medium from astronomical paintings right away to “art in space.” It is a gap in our understanding of Space Art; in my position as the Space Art curator at MIT, I have made sure to take into account Land Art, science fiction, and so on, in lectures.
XW: What questions do you want to ask with your Space Art?
XL: First of all, the duality in our perception of the world: being a human being walking, eating, sleeping, drinking, and laughing on this planet; and on the other hand, knowing that we exist on a gigantic rock spinning around another hot rock in endless space. The epistemological jump is exciting but also problematic when we distance one from the other. People talk about science versus culture as if they are the polar opposites. I’m trying to reconcile the two views of the world and find places to live in-between. My other interest has more to do with the body, our sensations, our death, and the cycles of life and materials.
XW: Your works have always struck me as poetic—you sent one of your wisdom teeth into space in Living Distance (2019), which was inspired by childhood folktales and executed with robust engineering. But the whole debate around the idea that culture and science are antithetical has a long history. Susan Sontag wrote about it in the sixties, for example; what are you seeing in terms of new manifestations of, and challenges to, that tension?
XL: The philosopher Yuk Hui has proposed the concept of cosmotechnics, which argues that science and technology aren’t objective but are born of human cultures. One of my current projects, Unearthing Futures, is a collaboration with the Peruvian artist Lucia Monge, the International Potato Center in Lima, and the International Space Station (ISS).2 We are interested in potato history as human history; native to Peru, the potato’s journey becoming one of the most widely grown crops in the world mirrors colonial history. As we set foot and grow crops beyond the earth bond, one option here is to engineer the perfect potato that survives all conditions, while the other is to trust the possibilities of biodiversity, where a consortium of diverse species that are mutually dependent yields a higher chance of survival in extreme environments. Both are questions of science and technology, but at the same time they reflect philosophies—ones about how we survive.
We selected six varieties of native Peruvian potatoes with different characteristics, sent the potato seeds to the ISS to spend a month in microgravity, and exposed them to environment stressors such as radiation. The project has not grown potatoes in space, but it’s a significant step to understanding how environmental stressors affect thesis seeds. Having harvested the first generation in our respective studios, we plan to grow multiple generations and increase the numbers that we can process. Maybe in the fourth or fifth generation we can cook them and use them in workshops that involve the general public (we are working with public elementary schools in Portland) to think about the possibilities of food and agriculture in space exploration. Space potatoes are the protagonists in our stories and would facilitate these dialogues.
XW: When we were reviewing proposals for Sojourner 2020, an open call for artworks to be sent into low earth orbit by the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative, there were equally visible tendencies to flatten the crossover between art and technology into very gimmicky projects. In your position as both curator and artist working in this increasingly hyped juncture of art and tech, what are some of your goals and challenges?
XL: With the dropping costs of space launches and privatization, we are entering the New Space Age. Space Art is truly at the frontier now (no pun intended). There are many amazing art practitioners I’ve been able to invite to MIT and imagine together what this practice can be. The artist Agnes Meyer-Brandis, for example, created The Moon Goose Colony, where she trained geese on planetary science and different flight patterns to prepare them for the Moon.3 She even incubated and hatched the eggs herself. In 42-The Large Meteor T-R-A-P (2014), she uses electronic magnetic devices to guide the movement of meteorites, which can be viewed as a planetary defense system. In fact, the first planetary defense systems launched by NASA (the Double Asteroid Redirection Test) this past year also had to do with devices latching onto the meteorites to change their course of movement. I really like projects that are ambitious, beautifully executed, and which explore scientific possibilities as well as artistic ones. Unapologetically inserting yourself into other domains is also something I’m passionate about.
XW: What are some examples of such insertions?
XL: I recently had a conversation with the researcher Weng Jia, who looked into the detailed history of weather satellites beyond the pragmatics of weather forecast—itself a form of weather control that generates state power. It’s important to understand that history, but at the same time we can ask, as cultural producers, what now? We can either involve public engagement and sign petitions to request open access, or we can learn from the hackers—there are so many amateur enthusiasts who eavesdrop on state-owned radio signals, and through listening we are able to understand so much already. During the pandemic, my partner Gershon Dublon and I have tinkered with software-defined radio. Using just a tiny, 20-dollar USB dongle with an antenna we built from our clothing wires, we could receive the signals from retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather satellites as they pass through the sky.
Even before the pandemic, my partner was looking into personal monitoring of air traffic, as most aircrafts have to broadcast their locations after reaching 18,000 ft. This was a fun plane-tracking activity at home. But later on we were put in touch with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, who were protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline encroaching their territories. They were being illegally harassed and even sprayed with unknown chemicals by aircraft flying over their encampment, but couldn’t track the perpetrators. We helped them set up the aforementioned system using a computer, a 20-dollar dongle, and electrical metal wires, with which they were actually able to “see,” ID, and track the aircraft. Using that data and US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the water protectors were able to pursue their harassers and hold them accountable. Is it art practice? I think it’s important and exciting to examine the “wall”; there’s no wall that’s perfect—there are always cracks. You can find things between the breaks and slowly percolate, and, in a way, take back those powers—I found those processes most exciting.
XW: I think this is a powerful approach that counters the general pessimism towards big tech, technocratic states, and surveillance to the point that people don’t even want to think about the possibilities of cracks.
XL: But that’s a facade, and I don’t know who marvelously crafted it. A lot of these things, such as the radio, are not so complicated. Given a week and the internet, most people can figure it out; it’s not rocket science. You know who is most interested in amateur radio nowadays? The fifty-plus generation, sometimes grandpas. There is a big community in Staten Island in New York. However, in the arts, these systems and disciplines are rendered unfathomable, which prohibits further investigation. That’s the problem.
XW: When you were speaking about “the cracks in the wall” earlier, I had a very dark thought—in the future, planetary warfare will look drastically different and be much more deadly than the wars currently taking place on Earth.
XL: Future wars may not be quite so physical as we imagine—the virus is a powerful model for what could happen. It shows how fragile and resilient humans are; cyberattack, trade wars, geoengineering manipulation of nature—these are all struggles on different planetary scales, and we have to constantly self-educate as citizens and decode what the decision makers are actually saying.
XW: You received your undergraduate training at Tsinghua University, which is known for its rigorous focus on scientific training and as a place that has groomed many of China’s top technocratic leaders. It’s also considered the Chinese counterpart of MIT, where you completed a graduate program. How do those experiences compare and inform your trajectory?
XL: When I was in Tsinghua, I studied mathematics, physics, and mechanical engineering; my degree was in precision instruments. Nowadays I still practice them in my sculpture in its manufacturing and fabricating processes. It’s a craft. I later went to Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), not because I wanted to be an artist, but out of a sad realization. In China, we separated art and science education since high school, and my liberal arts education was limited.
It was a selfish desire to study fine arts after college just to become a “complete” human being. I am very grateful that my parents didn’t disapprove this decision. At the time I told myself that I’d probably still end up working for Google and Microsoft; I had interned at both places during graduate school, thinking that’s how I would make a living eventually. But those two years were transformative and gave me an absolutely new way of looking at the world. Even graduating with an MFA from RISD, I still couldn’t commit a hundred percent to being a professional artist, as it is really difficult financially. I’m a practical immigrant. I had to figure out a way to stay in the country and feed myself. Then I went to MIT, because it was fully funded and I had the luxury to do research; after another two years in school, I decided that I wanted to work freely, and “artist” is the title that offers the most freedom.
XW: Do you still believe that?
XL: I do. If you tell people you are an artist, whatever you do doesn’t surprise them as much. It’s harder to talk about sending a tooth to space as a physicist.
XW: I’m struck by the way you describe gravity as a “momentum of feelings” on your website.
XL: That’s something I was thinking about when I first experienced weightlessness in 2017, during a parabolic flight. The plane literally free-falls in the sky, and in reference to the cabin, everything inside the plane is weightless. I had a bit of a performance background in dance. The experience was shocking: there was no “free from gravity”—gravity is always there. It was just everything falling together. The experience was less about me floating or flying than about the ground beneath me dropping. It’s not liberating in the way that you are accelerating and going up, which is what we associate with space exploration probably, but rather a kind of letting-go and descending. It was an eye-opening—body-opening—experience for me, and a bitter-sweet moment as well.
XW: Speaking of bodies and embodiment, do you find this excessive attention to—often performances of—an artist’s identity shows up more or less or differently for you, given the curious juncture of disciplines and identities you inhabit?
XL: It depends on who is seeing me. The tech aspect of me can seem alarming to people who are used to traditional practices, and in the so-called media/tech/science art world, gender might manifest more. The audience decides who I am. My name reads as gender-neutral in both English and Chinese. Sometimes people assume I’m a man initially, because I’m working with technology; but a bit more engagement with the work might compel one to realize that I could be a woman, because of the way I deal with technology. Still deeper into it, you might realize I’m Asian.
Another interesting aspect comes from the fact that I don’t just participate in art events; I also present my works at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), where it’s just pleasing to see my portrait—that of a young Asian woman—next to attendees that are largely from different demographics. And I enjoy that—inserting myself in different systems. It’s not just gender, but also geographic. I am an outlier in many ways—I went to a military-affiliated high school, so the instinct to fit in was strong growing up. But here, as people of color and women, we naturally stand out and have more identities. It could be tiring but it’s also our power—meaning that we can potentially empathize with more people. People like you and me—when we talk about America in a positive light in China or criticize the Chinese government, we are perceived as brainwashed by Western liberalism; but when we talk about Chinese companies like WeChat positively here, or the effective Covid-19 responses and technological innovations in China, we’d be considered brainwashed in the other direction too.
XW: I always feel that exposure to different systems of brainwash leads to utmost clarity. What do you think the future of space art will be, or what you hope it could be like?
XL: I think it will mature like digital art, bio art, internet art, AR/VR art—all these sub-domains. I read extensively on space policies, which obviously figure prominently on many nation states’ agendas. At the IAC conference in 2020, eight national space agencies just signed the Artemis Accords, which is an international agreement on the principles for corporations and civil explorations for the moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids. Particularly notable is the encouragement and protection for private entities to participate in the future of space exploration, and its effect on commercial activities will be significant; even the ISS is going through a commercialization process already. Space will become more commercial and privatized; it will engender more conversations and force us to be involved and investigate the industry.
XW: What’s your favorite Space Art piece?
XL: I was struck by Ilya Kabakov’s The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment (1985) when I first knew about it. I have been (and am still) confined in my apartment due to the pandemic. It is the absolute desire to break the ceiling and get out. Though both are heading towards outer space, the Soviet campaign in space exploration and a personal desire to leave, to be free, cannot be more different. In fact, one is defeating the other.
_____________________
Xin Liu (b. 1991, Xinjiang/China) is an artist and engineer. She is the Arts Curator in the Space Exploration Initiative in MIT Media Lab, a member of New INC in New Museum, and a studio resident in Queens Museum. She is also an artist-in-residence in SETI Institute and the recipient of numerous awards and residencies.
Xin Wang is a curator and art historian based in New York. She is currently planning an exhibition that explores Asian Futurisms for The Museum of Chinese in America, New York. While pursuing her PhD in art history at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, she’s also been conducting a series of public zoom webinars on topics of technology, new media, and Asian American perspectives for the Whitney Museum of American Art since spring 2020.
Source: https://www.art-agenda.com/features/372727/on-space-art
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The Whole Truth - 3
(Chapter 3, and something has started to happen! Read the whole fic on AO3, or ask to be tagged as I post to Tumblr.)
Tuesday
Aziraphale bustled around behind the customer, who had been keeping him from his work all day.
Well, not all day, but for at least forty-five minutes, which was long enough. He had given her several hints to leave, yet she continued to wander about his shop, grabbing up volumes as if this were a common Waterstones.
“Look at this! A first edition, how marvelous.” She hefted the hundred-and-fifty-year-old book, riffling through it excitedly.
“Yes,” Aziraphale reached to take it from her hands. “It took me rather a long time to find, and I’d…”
“The illustrations! Exquisite!”
“Yes, they are very good, if you could just…”
“How much are you asking for this?” She flipped to the front cover, nearly tearing a page in the process.
“More than you’re willing to pay,” he said firmly, relieving her of the book.
“Oh, no, name your price! Money is no object.”
Behind her, a dark shape lurched through the door, hands in his pockets.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, we just closed.” He pushed the clothbound book back onto the shelf and gave her his most courteous smile.
“But I was offering you—”
“I have watched you walk around this shop, madam,” he continued, smile not wavering, “and in my expert opinion, you would take that poor book home and utterly destroy it. Now, please leave, I would like to go and speak to my friend.”
The door locked firmly behind the aghast woman, Aziraphale turned to the demon lounging on his sofa. “New way to chase them off, Angel? You’re rarely so direct.”
“Yes, it does rather take the fun out of it. Tea? Something stronger?”
“Whatever you’re having.”
“After that woman, I don’t think there’s enough brandy in the shop, but I’ll see what I have.” He hurried into the back room, humming happily. He selected a bottle from the corner of the shelf, hidden behind a few others.
“Is that…” Crowley lounged against the doorframe, dark glasses tipped down to reveal the shine of golden eyes. “That’s the Cognac you picked up last time you were in France. You said you were saving it for something special.”
“Did I? Oh.” Aziraphale stared at the bottle, and almost had to force himself to return it to its place. “Yes, I…I’m not really sure what I’m saving it for.” He stared at the rows of bottles, feeling oddly puzzled.
“Just grab that stuff we had last time.” Crowley wandered up behind him. “Look, this one, this was fine.” A dark sleeve reached over Aziraphale’s shoulder and plucked up the half-empty bottle of brandy.
“You would say that, Crowley. With your palate, I could serve olive oil and vinegar and you’d hardly notice.” He reached for the glasses.
“Ooh, what’s gotten into you, Angel?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Aziraphale sat at the little back table, settling himself comfortably while Crowley poured.
“I can always tell when you’re in a bad mood. Bit of cheek and all that. But today,” Crowley set down the bottle and sat across from him, first edges of a grin appearing on his lips, “you’re downright sassy.”
“I’m an angel, my dear fellow, I don’t sass.” He took a sip of the brandy – a little sharper than he liked, probably not aged properly. A little miracle fixed that. “As for my mood, well, you saw that customer.”
“Hmm, yes, how dare she come into a bookshop and expect to buy a book. The nerve.”
“Well exactly.” Aziraphale waved his drink. “It’s probably because I let that young man take home a few paperbacks last month. The word is out now. There’ll be no end to them.”
“That’s a right shame.” Crowley wasn’t even trying to hide that awful smirk now.
Aziraphale set his glass down sharply. “You could try to have a little more sympathy. I’ve only got three and a half days left to decipher that book. I don’t need nuisances. Every moment is critical.”
“Is it?” Crowley’s eyebrows shot up, drawing Aziraphale’s attention to a strand of hair that had broken loose from the gel’s hold. It looked ridiculous, hanging across his face like that. Aziraphale’s fingers itched to tuck it into place. “Well, perhaps I should leave you to it.”
“Oh, nonsense, Crowley, you’re never a nuisance.”
They both leaned back in surprise, Aziraphale taking another sip to try and hide the flush creeping up his face. What on Earth had made him say such a thing?
“You take that back,” Crowley said, sounding mystified.
“I only meant I enjoy talking to you,” Aziraphale found himself elaborating, rather to his horror. “I’m always glad when you show up. It helps me think.”
“Does it now?” Crowley leaned forward, elbow resting on the table, smile on his face predatory in some entirely new way. “Please, go on.”
“I – I – I – that doesn’t mean I have time for small talk.” He finished his glass quickly and stood up. “I need to get to work most urgently. But…er…” He really ought to give Crowley the hint to leave. It seemed a pity – he’d only just arrived – but already things were getting out of hand.
Already Crowley was getting to his feet, disappointment clear in the slump of his shoulders.
“I do…there are some odd diagrams of plant life in this book. I could use your help deciphering them.”
Crowley’s hand shot to his glasses, adjusting them, pressing them against his face. “Are you asking me to help you on an assignment? An actual research assignment from Heaven?”
“I…suppose I am.” Aziraphale caught his hands twisting, and quickly set them to smoothing his waistcoat instead. “I told you, I only have three days, and anything could be a clue. And I know research isn’t - isn’t really what you do, but I would nonetheless appreciate your assistance and —”
Your company. He barely stopped himself from saying the words, but they hung in the air anyway, filling the space between them.
“Angel...”
“You don’t have to stay,” he desperately tried to backpedal. “Especially not if you’re going to—”
“I’ll help.”
Simple as that.
Why was it suddenly so difficult to breathe?
--
Late in the night, Aziraphale bent over the book again, glasses perched on his nose. He traced his fingers across the strange characters.
There, that looked like – no, it was gone. Surely this word over here had Sanskrit roots…no, he couldn’t make it out. And that one? Looked like a name. A real instinct or a wild guess?
He bent over the book, surrounding himself in the smell of dust and spice.
--
(Thanks for reading! More around noon EST!)
@black-velvet-roses-tea
#good omens prime#good omens fanfiction#ineffable husbands#aziraphale loves crowley#aziraphale is a bastard#fluff and angst#good omens#crowley#Anthony J. Crowley#crowley loves his angel#ao3 link#ao3#My writing#current wip#The Whole Truth#AZ Fell's Back Room#bickerflirt
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Hello friends and fans!
Welcome to my 45th newsletter – September 2020!
On A Personal Note
August was a blurry month – it really doesn’t feel like September, it feels more like March the 342nd! Know what I mean? Anyway, between work and everything else I have going on the side, the last six months or so have literally disappeared! For most people, this year has been a complete loss, for me I’ve at least published 7 new titles. Not to brag, but this brings my tally up to 30 books!
On the home front, my workshop is where I indulge my creative side in wood and metal work. Some years ago however, I got sick and tired of sharing my workspace with the rest of the garage! When it rained, it meant I couldn’t run my vintage bug outside, and the small space available meant I wouldn’t be able to work in there that day! About two years ago, I built a greenhouse against the side of the house across the alleyway between the house wall and the boundary wall, bordering on the back garden, which in the end my love convinced me to use as a workshop space instead! For the past two years, this has been where I worked on various projects, regardless of the weather. The only problem with that was again, space. While I had more permanently accessible space to keep my tools and to work, quite a lot of my tools were actually kept in shelving under the work benches. I needed more space – or to be more specific, a broader room to work in.
So, finally, last week I finally gave up on the bar area. It was where we entertained friends and it consisted of an actual bar room with an adjoining dining area with casual benches and a table for when we had barbeques etc. It’s been a considerable amount of time since we’ve entertained anyone who drinks, and neither of us actually drinks much more than a brandy now and then – scarcely enough to warrant wasting the useful premium real-estate on a bar! It would be far better to just dedicate a cupboard inside the house to housing the drinks, glasses and accoutrements – and all my collectibles, antique cameras and telephones etc. on the walls could be redistributed around the rest of the house.
That said, Wendy could have her greenhouse back – and so last week I relocated my workshop to the larger space where I have more room to work on projects and store and organize my tools and materials! For the first time, I feel I actually have the right space to indulge my creativity! The adjoining stoop will still be reserved for chats, game nights and barbeques – should they ever arise again.
Aside from that little personal ramble ,I also have some very good writing-related news to share with you this time – another two of my books have come out as audiobooks, and I’ve also published a new novelette called “Lifetime”! Moon Books also released an anthology I was the Editor for, so it’s really been a productive year for me so far!
Art
I also indulge in painting from time to time – and no, I don’t mean walls! The following paintings are in my portfolio:
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“Human Nature” 2017 A4 acrylic canvas
“Balancier” 2020 A2 acrylic canvas
“Rescuer” 2020 A2 acrylic canvas
“The Awakening” 2020 A2 acrylic canvas
“The Earth Wept” 2020 40x40cm acrylic on canvas
You can read more about my art projects on the Art page.
What do you think of them? Feel free to let me know!
Music
Yes – I also make music from time to time!
A selection of music tracks I made using eJay and other similar apps between 1999 – 2008 are available on my YouTube channel.
You can read more on the Music page on my website!
Activism
For those of you interested in my activism-related posts and activities, you can follow them at “Sour Grapes: The Fruit Of Ignorance“.
Current Writing Projects
On a suggestion of Brandon Mullins from Moon Books, I agreed to a combined edition of “Duck Blind” and “The Next Room”, to replace the two novellas published in February this year. The new book is novel length at over 46000 words, and I also wrote a short foreword and an introductory portion to precede the first part of the story.
As I mentioned several times previously, I have still a lot of work to do! I have a number of part-way completed stories awaiting my loving attention! Unfortunately, life and work have a nasty habit of getting in the way!
Also, thanks to Lulu.com’s spite in throwing their entire publishing platform into a mincer and expecting users to just shut up and like it, I have left the platform entirely – but aside from the immense amount of work that precipitated on my side with having to relocate all my books from there to other platforms, it also means I’ll have to rebuild one of my books entirely from the ground up! “The Pitfalls of South African Self-Publishing” is now out of print thanks to Lulu. Why? Because the second half of the book details the ease of self-publishing using Lulu’s old platform – the one they entirely scrapped and replaced with a vague, useless monstrosity – and gives a step-by-step example with screenshots, and is practically a love-letter to Lulu! I will now have to redraft that entire portion of the book, thanks to them!
In the past week or so I’ve been working on an editing project for Moon Books, and you can read more about that in the next section.
Editing
I completed editing an anthology for Moon Books in mid-August entitled “Moon Books Horror Anthology V”. This book contains 7 short stories filled with pure dread – and it was released on 20 August. It’s already available in eBook and paperback.
Currently I’m close to finishing the edit of a sci-fi tale for Moon Books. “Avenging Aranis” is by UK writer Steve McElhenny, and it’s the first part of a trilogy!
Marketing – The Dreaded “M” Word!
Portfolio 2020!
I thought it would be nice if I could produce a neat, organized catalog of all my books that interested parties could download and browse – a free, distributable and shareable catalog, and so I created “Portfolio 2020!” – a listing of all my currently available titles!
Portfolio is more than that though, because it also contains a biography as well as synopses for most of my titles – and I have a plan to update it regularly, perhaps on an annual basis! Portfolio 2020 is available as a free download from my website.
Videos
In August, Nigel Peever made this amazing audiobook trailer video for the newly released “Demonspawn” – have a look, isn’t it beautiful?
https://christinaengela.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/demonspawn-video-by-nigel-peever.mp4
Sales
Let’s start with the good news! Audiobook sales over July were truly amazing – with a massive (by my previous standards) 42 copies of “Blachart” sold from Audible during that month! This frenetic surge in sales didn’t last very long, just to the end of July, with just 3 sales of that book in August. I realize a slowdown is inevitable as a new title stops being new. In fact, August proved to be rather dull in comparison, with just 3 sales of “Blachart“, and 3 sales of a new audiobook title, “When Darkness Calls“. This of course led me to formulate a new personal theory regarding sales, popularity and choice of narrator when publishing an audiobook – one I will probably explore later in the second edition of “The Pitfalls of South African Self-publishing”, which I am working on as time allows.
But I digress! Ebooks sales on Ebooks2go have picked up a bit over August since I transferred my titles there at the start of the month, culminating in three whole sales (sarcasm definitely intended). To give you an idea how writers get ripped off by some distribution channels, just check out the screenshot below:
The three top-most entries show three eBook sales via Hoopla – and each of those titles sold for $2.99. What do I get out of it? 14 US cents out of $2.99 per sale! It’s positively downright bloody criminal! For comparison, the one beneath that – a sale via B&N at least gave me $1.64 out of $2.99 – but only one of those from July. No wonder so many writers give up!
Over-all though, I’ve got the idea that sales have been dwindling globally and not just for me, so I’m by no means feeling picked on. I realize that with economies teetering on the brink of disaster – and so many of my contacts on Facebook posting the sad news that they will be homeless and sleeping in their cars or on the streets within days – how very, very lucky I am. I may not be raking it in as an author – but at least I have a secure job, for which I’m very thankful indeed!
Publishing
These are the books I’ve released so far this year!
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Between January and September 2020 I released eight new titles! Of these, two – “Duck Blind” and “The Next Room” have been replaced by one combined title, “Mirror, Mirror” which includes both of them. Of course, this reduces my count back to 30 again – but when you already have 30 or so books to your name, what’s one here or there?
New Releases:
“Lifetime”
On August 07 Moon Books Publishing released a novella of mine called “Lifetime“, bringing my title-count up to 30! Here’s a look at the back cover blurb for the book:
“An entrepreneurial couple, happily married, run their deep-space prospecting company together. They are unexpectedly separated when the ship one of them is aboard is lost during a prospecting voyage. The other spares no effort in an attempt to find her, and immediately sets out on another ship to find her. Meanwhile on a remote planet, surrounded by wreckage and the bodies of her crewmates, she has survived and treated her injuries, and fights to stay alive while she awaits rescue…”
Buy now: eBook Paperback Audiobook (coming soon)
“Lifetime” is available in ebook and paperback and will be coming out in audiobook format soon, narrated by Miciah Dodge.
“Mirror, Mirror”
This was shortly thereafter followed by another new title “Mirror, Mirror”, on August 11, which repackages “Duck Blind” and “The Next Room” into one single novel-length book. “Duck Blind” and “The Next Room” are also now out of print – being henceforth exclusively available in “Mirror, Mirror”.
Buy now: eBook Paperback Audiobook (coming soon)
Here’s a look at the description:
“Things aren’t always as they seem. Neither was Charlie Branson – or Andy Niksn.
Outwardly, Charlie appeared to be the successful, respected, somewhat over-paid Captain of a commercial space liner.
In truth, it was 2025 – space liners did not yet exist, and the space liner Freedom was really just a very expensive set – a fancy simulator for wealthy clients the company took on simulated cruises into deep space to forget the real world for a while, to get away from it all – and they loved them for it!
In an atmosphere where people were locked away from reality for weeks at a time, and cos-playing and roleplaying redefined ‘normal’, telling fact and fantasy apart became more complicated than expected. For those who preferred the pleasant escape from the harsh realities of life outside, like Charlie, wishing it could all just be real became something almost like a prayer.
Andy Niksn, by contrast, was the very successful respected and somewhat over-paid Captain of an actual commercial space liner in the year 2773. Trouble was, Andy felt trapped! He was in a relationship – a dead-end partnership that had no future and promised both even less happiness. On top of that, his friend Jim had died recently, leaving Andy in the darkest place he’d ever been – and he didn’t mean space!
Andy wished he could just wake up to a different reality where everything could make sense again! For Andy, this too became something almost like a prayer!
As it turned out, someone heard them.
The answer wasn’t quite what they expected.”
Audiobooks
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“All That Remains” JEA (2019)
“See Them Aliens” MBP (2019)
“Blachart” MBP (2020)
“When Darkness Calls” (2020)
“Demonspawn” MBP (2020)
On August 7th I received the completed audiobook of book 2 in the Galaxii series, “Demonspawn“, narrated (and dramatized) by Nigel Peever! The audiobook was finally released on August 31, and it was worth every minute I waited for it!
Nigel has also committed to narrating book 3 in Galaxii, after the five or so other books he has waiting in the queue, so he should only get round to that one somewhere around January ’21. In the meantime, that gives me time to work on Galaxii book 4! 😉
On August 20, “When Darkness Calls“, narrated by Miciah Dodge, was released via Audible! You can read more about it here.
Coming Soon
In the meantime, here’s a look at the covers for hot new audiobooks currently in the pipeline:
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“Malice!” (2020) COMING SOON!
“Lifetime” (2020) COMING SOON!
Stay tuned for updates!
Reviews
You can see all my previous reviews here.
Currently Available Titles
I now have 30 unique titles available in 4 series (not including books I’ve been the editor for, and my 16 free promotional items)! My books are available in three different formats: EBooks, Paperbacks and Audiobooks. Click the links or images below to view titles available in these formats.
Communication
Below are links to a few of my most recent posts and articles since my last newsletter:
New Release: Demonspawn Audiobook
New Release: When Darkness Calls Audiobook
New Release: Horror Anthology V
Sinotec SJ86C LED Projector Review
New Release: Lifetime by Christina Engela
New Release: Mirror, Mirror by Christina Engela
“Demonspawn” Audiobook Now In For Review!
New Release: Lifetime by Christina Engela
Some Great Resources For Writers
Another Round At The Crow Bar #44 August 2020
If you want to see more articles, just click on the category links below:
Elements of Horror
FAQ Answered
Fun Facts
LGBT Heroes
The Tech Side
Secret Weapons of the Resistance
Writing Advice
Guest Writers
Newsletters
Interactions
Fan Mail, Reader Reviews & Honorable Mentions
I found the following awesome items to show you this month!
Great Book July 20, 2020 review on Audible for “Blachart” (audiobook):
Excellent story! “This is a very well written Sci-Fi tale that is told by an awesome narrator. I can’t wait to hear book 2!” – D. Sturgeon, Aug 13, 2020 on Audible for “Blachart” (audiobook).
Epic!!! “Another great tale told by narrator Nigel Peever. I look forward to the continuing Adventures of Blachart and Michael.” – Justin Bradley, Aug 16, 2020 on Audible for “Blachart” (audiobook).
Great Narrator “The story is pretty creepy, it takes place in South Africa. I’ve never heard haunting stories from this area. It’s a fun little story if you’re doing a drive on a dark night. The narration sounded excellent, and the protagonist in the story wasn’t taking no crap from the evil dead!” – Jeff Spencer, Aug 21, 2020 on Audible for “When Darkness Calls” (audiobook).
I display my Fan Mail, Reviews & Compliments with pride, gratitude and humility. You’re always welcome to have a look.
Hate Mail & Horrible Mentions
I’m rather proud of my hate mail, and you can review my collection here – but be forewarned, don’t do it while eating or drinking, or you might choke while laughing!
Interviews
All my interviews are linked to from this page. If you would like to do an interview with me about my work, please do get in touch!
In Closing
Well, that’s all for this time, folks! 🙂
Thanks again for all your support, friendship and interaction!
Feel free to email or message me via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn if you have any comments or questions!
Until next time, keep reading!
Cheers! 🙂
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If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.
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Show your appreciation for Christina’s work!
All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2020.
Another Round At The Crow Bar #45 September 2020 Hello friends and fans! Welcome to my 45th newsletter - September 2020!
#About#amwriting#audiobooks#author#communication#discount#English#Fan Mail#fictionwriting#hate mail#horror#horrorfan#indie#interaction#lgbt heroes#Moon Books Publishing#news#newsletter#novels#poetry#recommendedreading#sale#sci-fi#short fiction#special#writer#writerslife
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Tastiest Sacra Tomatoes?
Factors influencing which tomato varieties we can and want to grow each summer can include: regional taste tests, availability, media buzz, comfort factor (growing the same variety year after year 'cause it never did you wrong), productivity, fun factor (does it have a cool name or history?), looks (is it pretty? is it freaky looking?), and dumb luck (your neighbor started too many 'Early Girl' seedlings). But, let's face it... around here, it's less about what we can grow and more about what tastes great. We live in such a tomato-friendly region that there's no excuse for growing a flavorless tomato. Who cares how many pounds a 'Pasty Bland' Tomato plant yields, right? Luckily, there are plenty of taste-conscious gardeners in our area making it their business to find burger-worthy tomatoes packed with flavor! The only hitch is that some years are bad for certain tomatoes (i.e. a bad year for 'Brandy wine') or for tomatoes in general (i.e. summer, 2003). Oh well... At least we know we're starting with varieties possessing a high potential for great taste.
To make the often daunting selection process a little easier, I did a little poking around and found the following tomato varieties earning high flavor ratings from local and regional expert evaluations. You may want to print this list and take it with you when you go to the nursery... just don't let it stop you from making an impulse purchase! You'll be helping us find next year's candidates...
Keep in mind that some of the following varieties may not be carried locally. If your local nursery isn't going to carry it, you may want to order seeds from suppliers listed at the bottom of this page: 'Sun Gold' (cherry, "consensus winner for flavor among all tomatoes" Sunset Magazine, 2003/ Farmer Fred, "... Tried it in 2003...and it turned out to be last year's winner in the August trials here! I like it so much, I will not be planting any Sweet Million cherry tomatoes this year!..." 2003/ 2.58 out of 3, 3 being "superb", 2 being "OK", Morning sun Herb Farm 2003 Tomato Day) 'Isis Candy' (cherry, "almost as much praise as 'Sun Gold'", Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Yellow Pear'(cherry, "...mild...some rated it the highest...", Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Caspian Pink' (slicer, "... mild, pink-fleshed fruit whose flavor was preferred to that of 'Brandy wine' in some recent tastings..." Sunset Magazine, 2000) 'Brandy wine' (slicer, "...hands-down favorite..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Odoriko' (slicer, "... perfect balance between sweet and acid flavors..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Paul Robeson' (slicer, "... richly flavored, sometimes with hints of spice or red wine..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Cherokee Purple' (slicer, "... outstandingly rich black variety..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Black Prince' (slicer, "... flavorful and juicy, and can be sweet when it gets enough summer heat..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Earl of Edgecombe' (slicer, "... superb flavor..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Flammé' (slicer, "... nicely balanced sweetness..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Dona' (slicer, "... was bred for the fresh market, where flavor is at a premium..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Pineapple' (slicer, "... placed highly in tastings..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Nebraska Wedding' (slicer, "... placed highly in tastings..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'San Marzano' (paste, rated higher than 'Roma', "...full-flavored..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Viva Italia' (paste, rated higher than 'Roma', "...sweet..." Sunset Magazine, 2003) 'Ace', rated tops for taste, texture and appearance (UC Master Gardener Tomato Trial, 1998) 'Green Grape' 2.70 (3 being "superb", 2 being "OK", Morning sun Herb Farm, 2003 Tomato Day) 'Super Sweet' 2.69 (3 being "superb", 2 being "OK", Morning sun Herb Farm 2003 Tomato Day) 'Carbon X' 2.64 (3 being "superb", 2 being "OK", Morning sun Herb Farm 2003 Tomato Day) 'Evergreen' 2.64 (3 being "superb", 2 being "OK", Morning sun Herb Farm 2003 Tomato Day) 'Sun Sugar' (Farmer Fred, "... Wow! The sweetest cherry tomato I ever tasted!..." 2003) 'Brandy Boy' (Dan Vierria, Sacramento Bee's California Life, "... was an excellent tomato in my garden..." 2003).
Varieties getting a favorable flavor mention from locals on the Sac-gardening message board: 'Green Zebra', 'Amish Paste', 'Sweet 100', 'Sun Gold' (2 mentions), 'Yellow Pear', 'Heartland', 'Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter', 'Floramerica', 'Better Boy', 'Celebrity', 'Early Girl', 'San Marzano', 'Ace', 'Roma', 'Lemon Boy' and 'Mama Mia'
For summer 2004, so far I've started some 'Caspian Pink' seeds, along with 'Micro-Tom', the "Worlds Smallest Tomato Variety", which got me with its high fun factor... You had me at "micro", Tom... Will most definitely look for 'Sun Gold' and a few other tasty tomatoes I don't yet know I must... have. By the way, if I've omitted your favorite flavorless tomato, send a DM.
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This February, celebrate Black History Month with Black authors!
Culture is important, whether it’s your own to celebrate or someone else’s that you can learn about and appreciate. In the last few years, we’ve seen a steady increase in people of colour, LGBT communities, non-Christian religions, and non-European cultures represented in young adult and middle-grade fiction. While this is a great improvement and definitely a step in the right direction, people of colour are still underrepresented. We can do more to make sure that authors of colour are seen and heard. The following list, while by no means exhaustive, is a selection of excellent YA and MG novels written by Black authors*. This month, take some time to explore their stories.
*This list appears in no particular order and is not intended to be read as though any one book is superior to another.
1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Young Adult)
When sixteen-year-old Starr Carter witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, she must decide whether to lie low or to join the protesters who seek justice for Khalil. A touching, timely, and often raw story about a girl who finds herself when she feels most lost, it’s no wonder this book has spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list.
2. Riding Chance by Christine Kendall (Young Adult)
Based on Philadelphia’s Work to Ride program, this novel follows a young man who gets into some trouble at school and winds up doing community service at the Chamounix Stables in Fairmount Park. There, he learns to play polo, an intense sport that teaches perseverance and focus. This book really hit home for me, having spent most of my childhood at polo matches with WTR. In real life, Work to Ride provides underprivileged children and teenagers in Philadelphia with constructive extracurricular activities, peer mentorship, and even college enrollment assistance. To learn more about Work to Ride, check our their website or Facebook page!
3. Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann (Young Adult/New Adult)
Let’s talk about the amazing QPoC rep in this book! Alice, who is asexual and biromantic, is determined to spend her post-breakup summer on a tv binge. She definitely does not intend to fall for her co-worker, Takumi. Whoops. This book is a mostly-fluffy slow-burn romance, full of nerdy pop-culture references. If you remember tumblr circa 2011, this book is for you.
4. Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes (Middle Grade)
Garvey’s father has always wanted him to be an athlete, but Garvey is just not interested. When his only friend convinces him to join their school chorus, Garvey finds confidence and a new way to communicate to his distant dad. Told in verse, this is a heartfelt novel about one boy’s transformation through music.
5. American Street by Ibi Zoboi (Young Adult)
In her debut novel, Ibi Zoboi draws on her experience as a Haitian immigrant to tell the story of Fabiola, a young woman whose mother is detained by U.S. Immigration when they emigrate from Port-au-Prince to Detroit. This book explores the cost of the “American dream” with a mix of family drama, romance, and a hint of magical realism.
6. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (Young Adult)
Xiomara feels both invisible and too visible in a world that doesn’t want to hear her but is happy to objectify her. To express herself and to find some relief from her religious mother’s strict expectations, she turns to slam poetry. This novel-in-verse includes romance, wavering faith, and feminism.
7. Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson (Young Adult)
This powerful novel features a young woman who is determined to make it out of her impoverished neighbourhood. Jade’s mother taught her to take every opportunity she’s offered, so every day she takes the bus across town to a private school where there are plenty of opportunities, even if she doesn’t quite fit in. But some opportunities are less welcome than others, like the chance to join a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Sick of being singled out as someone who needs help, Jade hopes to find some autonomy and to stay true to herself.
8. Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (Young Adult)
Suzette is home in Los Angeles for the summer and she isn’t sure she ever wants to go back to boarding school. Between supporting her bipolar brother, Lionel, and trying not to think about her clandestine relationship with her roommate, she’s got a pretty full plate. Unfortunately, she’s also falling for the same girl that Lionel likes. When Lionel’s mental illness sends him spiraling, Suzette must face her past to help him. This family features a blended family, Black Jewish characters, and a queer woman of colour.
9. Courage by Barbara Binns (Middle Grade)
T’Shawn has done his best to help out since his father’s death, but life gets complicated when his brother Lamont comes home from a stint in prison. T’Shawn finds peace on the diving board, and earns a scholarship to join a prestigious team at a local swim club. But when the neighbourhood crime rate starts to rise, T starts to think that he and Lamont may never put their pieces back together.
10. Monster by Walter Dean Myers (Young Adult)
A murdered drugstore clerk, a trial, and a young man in crisis. Monster is the story of Steve Harmon, amateur filmmaker and alleged murderer. To cope with the trial, Steve writes down the proceedings as if it were a film script, but as he tries to tell his own story, the truth starts to feel a little hazy. This one has also been adapted as a graphic novel.
11. All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds (Young Adult)
Rashad wasn’t stealing, but people sure seem to think he was. After he drops a bag of chips and a police officer beats him for it, Rashad is stuck in a hospital bed while the nation debates his character. Meanwhile, Quinn, a white boy who witnessed the beating, comes to learn that racism didn’t end with the Civil Rights Movement.
12. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (Young Adult)
Sunny is an albino girl living in Nigeria. Her skin tone often makes her an outsider, but she soon finds herself drawn into a community of magic users called Leopard People. Together with her new friends, Sunny is tasked with tracking down a killer known for maiming children.
13. The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Middle Grade)
Amira is finally twelve and hopes to start school, but her life is turned upside down when the Janjaweed militia attacks her Sudanese village and her family must make the long and difficult journey to a refugee camp. Life at the camp is hard, but when an aid worker gives her a pencil and paper, Amira’s world begins to expand.
14. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Middle Grade)
Delphine Gaither and her two younger sisters travel from Brooklyn to Oakland to spend the summer with a mother they barely know. Imagine their surprise when she sends them to a Black Panther summer camp. Set in 1968, this historical fiction novel explores family dynamics and the importance of sisterhood.
15. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (Middle Grade)
In powerfully emotional poetry, Woodson tells the story of her childhood and what it was like to grow up Black in the 1960s and 70s. This novel-in-verse won the National Book Award and the Coretta Scott King Award.
16. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (Middle Grade)
Between the depression and threats from the night riders, the Logan family has had a tough year. Cassie doesn’t see why her family’s land is so important, but as she becomes more aware of the way their white neighbours treat them, she soon comes to understand that the family’s strength comes from having their own place in the world. This book tackles the ugly reality of racism in the deep south from the perspective of a precocious nine-year-old. It can be hard to stomach at times, but I think that just makes it more important.
17. Zora and Me by Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon (Middle Grade)
Part historical fiction and part small-town mystery, this fictional imagining of Zora Neale Hurston’s early days sees the author as a young girl, exercising her skills as a storyteller. When one of Zora’s tales seems to come true and a man winds up dead, she and her friend Carrie find that things in their little town are not as peaceful as they appear.
18. Blended by Sharon M. Draper (Middle Grade)
Every since her parents’ divorce, Isabella has felt torn in two. Two houses, two families, two races. Switching between her parents, also means switching between two different identities. How can she ever feel whole when she’s constantly split in half? This book examines the life of a biracial girl, and doesn’t shy away from addressing exoticism and the (PG) fetishisation of mixed-race people.
19. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi (Young Adult)
This contemporary anthology delves into the many-faceted lives of Black teens in the United States. Popular authors from a wide variety of backgrounds have contributed their voices to show that being young and Black in America is not just one singular experience, but a constellation.
20. The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson (Middle Grade)
A hidden letter and a summer mystery are what await Candace when she pokes through an old box in the attic. With the help of her neighbour, Brandon, she deciphers the letter’s clues in the hopes of discovering a forgotten fortune. This book is perfect for readers who like a good puzzle.
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Welcome!
If you came from my other social media, feel free to say hi :)
https://www.tiktok.com/@perfumebouquet?lang=en
Created this page to have an outlet to write down answers for frequently asked questions I receive
FAQ
Top 5 Perfumes of All Time? (updated regularly)
Viktor and Rolf Dancing Roses - Sour Cherry, Brandy, Rose, Lychee, Pink Pepper, Saffron.
Francis Kurkdjian Feminin Pluriel - Iris from Florence, Violet, Rose from Grasse, Jasmine from Egypt, Lily of the valley, Orange blossom, Vetiver, Patchouli from Indonesia.
Indult Tihota - Highest grade Tahitian vanilla, muscovado, cane sugar, cream, almond milk accord, Tonka bean, benzoin absolute, Palo Santo, white woods, white musk, amber.
Alkemia Silken Tent - Candied angelica, chrysanthemums, white flowering Nardo, clove flowers, jasmine-scented rice pudding, blonde caramel, infused with golden amber.
Pulp Fragrances Sonnet X - Black Vanilla, White Amber, and a single snowdrop pressed between the pages of an old album.
What Nail Colour do you Wear?
I add 3 drops of a cool-toned burgundy nail polish into a bottle of clear topcoat. I don't care for brands, I just buy whatever is on sale. Currently using Essie Berry Naughty and the Revlon Top Coat.
Where do you buy decants or samples?
Decants are the little vials of perfumes that are not in the brand's original packaging. I buy them from other people who have huge fragrance collections who transfer the juice into those vials. I usually find these people in fragrance groups on Facebook. You'll know who is trustworthy by asking other active members if this person/seller is legit. People are quite brutally honest in these groups so you'll know.
But, if you're iffy about that, there are decant websites such as:
- Twistedlily.com (I am affiliated with this brand and have a code: PB10 for 10% off)
- Scentsplit.com
- Decantboutique.com
- luckyscent.com
- surrendertochance.com
(tbh decant websites are more expensive though, so I usually just stick to fragrance groups) BUT if you're NEW to the fragrance community, I do recommend checking out those sites first. Navigating through trustworthy fragrance communities can be challenging.
If you prefer sampling in person, Sephora/Ulta/Shoppers Drug Mart has a good selection of designer perfumes to start you off. The only downside is you don't get decants, you must test in the store.
Where do you buy perfumes with discounts?
- fragrancebuy.ca (my go-to)
- fragrancenet.com
- or 2nd hand from Facebook groups (sometimes even FB marketplace)
- Sephora (only during their annual sales)
- If you're from Canada, we can use our PC points to buy perfumes at Shoppers!
Cruelty-free perfume brands? (will update regularly)
- Skylar
- Clean Reserve
- Nest
- Pacifica
- Etat Libre D'Orange
- Clean Reserve
- Lush
- The 7 Virtues
- Haus of Gloi
- Solstice Scents
- Pulp Fragrances
- Stereoplasm
- Alkemia
- Andromeda's Curse
- Sugar Milk Co.
- Poesie
- Nui Cobalt
- Black Hearted Tart
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HEBREWS: A Letter From GOD Specifically to YOU!!!
Marcus Edmond Marcus Edmond Marcus Edmond I WENT IN PERSON TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM ON CASE #180707-3298539 Print complaint OPEN Submitted STATUS Submitted to the CFPB on 7/7/2018 PRODUCT Mortgage ISSUE Trouble during payment process I SPOKE TO MR RICHARD FAIRBANKS ASSOCIATE ERIC AND ASK FOR A MEETING WITH CEO WHY CAPITAL ONE REFUSE TO SET UP A MEETING WITH THE DIVINE KING! I LIKE TO LOOK AT THE PERSON IN HIS EYES AND SEE IF WILL LIE TO THE DIVINE KING.. LIKE I TOLD ERIC. I'M NOT GOING ON THE WELFARE SYSTEM EVER AGAIN BECAUSE OF MY NET-WORTH OF $39.7 ZILLION HOLDINGS WITH CAPITAL ONE DISCOVER FIDELITY AND US BANK WHO HOLDS THE DIVINE ASSETS ON RECORD WITH OUR US TREASURY AND FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OUR GRANTOR. I WAS DENIED MY RIGHTS TO FILL OUT A POLICE REPORT WITH LOCAL PRIVATE DC METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT WHY? DO THE BANKS OWN OUR JUDGES AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS? WHY WAS I REFUSE TO SCHEDULE A MEETING CONCERNS ON THE FUTURE OF AMERICA FINANCIAL SYSTEMS AND MY FATHER IS WATCHING EVERYTHING 3EYE VISION! SO WHY WAS I REFUSE A MEETING THE GIVEN $3 DOLLARS FOR TRAIN MONEY WHEN THE TRAIN COST $3.85 LUCKY THE HOMELESSNESS WILL FALL ON THE WHOLE CAPITAL ONE FRANCHISE FOR DEFRAUDING THE LIVING GOD LUCIFER LORD EAENKI MARCUS DWAYNE EDMOND SR Manage Like · Reply · 1m Marcus Edmond Marcus Edmond You have successfully submitted your complaint! A message has been sent to you with instructions on how to track your complaint. ID FOR COMPLAINT SENT TO FIDELITY ACCOUNT SERVICES LLC 180718-3326766 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmkOrEZLEic Manage
YOUTUBE.COM Intel: SWIFT, ACH & FED Wire Transfer Completely Secured;… Like · Reply · Remove Preview · 4m Marcus Edmond Marcus Edmond We received your complaint.
07/18/2018 Hello, Thank you for your complaint 180718-3326766 about FIDELITY ACCOUNT SERVICES LLC. Keep this communication and your complaint number so you’ll be able to track your complaint throughout the complaint process. The complaint process involves 5 steps. Step 1 is complaint submitted. Step 2 is review and route. Step 3 is company review and response. Step 4 is complaint closed and published. Step 5 is consumer reviews response. Step 1: Complaint Submitted is currently selected. Summary of your complaint Complaint number: 180718-3326766 Date submitted to CFPB: 07/18/2018 Product: Credit card or prepaid card Issue: Trouble using your card do your job are you can turn in your badge Lucifer Yahawashi Lord EaEnki Marcus Edmond
Grateful to Senator Mitch McConnell for his strong support. As President Donald J. Trumpsaid last night, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a man of impeccable credentials and character, and he is the most qualified and most deserving nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States.
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Owner/CEO at Denim South Hustler Entertainment LLc
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Studied Mechanical engineering at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Studies Business management at University of Phoenix
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Seannika Smothers
Shafonta Perry
Shaniqua Felix
Shanique Morson
Sharid Joseph
Shasta Solomon
Shavontay Hutchins
Shawanna Davis
Shayna Sam
Shelia Cormier
Shelia Green
Shelley Klassykountryriders Breaux
Shiquita FirstLady Levy
Shonna Sampy
Sierra Brooke
Sissybosslady Goodbeir
Sonnier Sammy
Sophia Meche
Soraia Gomes
Stephanie Gaspard
Sukie Bee
Sweetz Gutted
Sygourney Jackson
Tamika Caillier Thomas
Tammy M. DeSantis
Tammy Mathews
Tamyra Taylor
Tangela Elaire-Eaglin
Tasha Gogetta
Tayler Rivero
Terrance Mccray
Terrance StJulien
Terrence Francis
Thea Batiste
TieraRenee Pete
Tinia Alyce Collins Dugas
Tori Culmer
Tory Andrus
Tory Lynch
Tosha White
Tracey Zenon
Tracy Brown
Tracy Minor
Trameeka Jackson
Tresha Eaglin
Triscette KillinEm
Tristyan Vincent Garrett
Tya Martin
Vanessa Fuselier-Johnson
Veronica Garnett
Vicky StJulien Zenon
Vonda Ponce
Wayne Williams
Wendy Monet Ollier
Yanick Amei
Zeno Sadereia
Zy'sT-Lady Poydras
More stories loaded.
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SHIPPING INFO | ABOUT MUN. REPOST DON’T REBLOG.
✧ WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?
mei x freedom, mei x love, mei x safety, mei x never having to feel caged or in danger of being caged ever again bc she’s totally and utterly free to live the life she deserves.
✧ WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO RP WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING?
pretty much anything my partner and i are having fun with, as long as it’s not hurting anybody or perpetuating some nasty nonsense. i wouldn’t have fun with gross shit anyway, obviously, so...hit me with all the cheesy tropes and indulgent aus that are pure and silly and angsty and fun. i love that shit. be wholesome w/ me.
✧ HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?
this...kinda depends on how old the characters are at the time. mei is one of my wardens who’s on the younger side (19 when the blight starts, turns 20 about halfway through), and she’s not a very experienced person where relationships are concerned. so during the blight i’d probably place the cutoff around 5 or 6 years, depending on the dynamic, and overall i think the largest gap i’d be comfortable with is 10 years.
but a 10 year gap would be more likely when mei is older and her formative years are behind her and so there isn’t so much of a disparity in where she and her partner are in terms of life journeys. at that point, whether it’s with older or younger partners, the limit is about the same. mei would have to feel like she’s neither way ahead of her partner where personal development is concerned, nor significantly behind.
they have to be near the same page, or at least within the same few chapters.
✧ ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?
usually, yes? there are a lot of things i ship in theory, so i never know how they’ll actually go until a partner starts developing it with me in that direction because up until then i can only hazard a guess at how the other party would respond to my muse. i also need to be sure i really feel it with our muses so that i can show my partner the enthusiasm we both deserve. it involves a level of comfort ooc as well, which is why i tend to find shipping quicker and easier with people i’ve known for a bit.
this isn’t to say exceptions are never made. sometimes i trip and fall into shipping with somebody brandy new and it’s great. it all depends. but i don’t generally pursue ships with everyone bc a) i like variety!!!!! and b) some characters (or portrayals of characters) just work better in non-romantic relationships and i love that shit too.
✧ HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NSFW?
if i don’t want a coworker seeing it, then it’s nsfw. truth be told, i don’t write smut very often, especially not in rp (i’m more likely to drabble that stuff out when i’m feelin like it). not that i’m opposed; it can be fun and offer opportunities to develop muses and their dynamics in a unique way. i don’t typically seek it out, though. i just yell about intimacy headcanons in the dead of night and cry.
✧ WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?
mei x zevran w/ @corvidblade. i’d forgotten how otp surana/zevran was until this blog and yarrow. mei and zev are just two soft caged kids breaking free and i love them. mei x brett w/ @bretttal. i love???? these two soft slow burning babs. both traumatized and content to just be until they’re read to share. in like a year. or two. or five. doesn’t matter because they’re friends and that’s the best part of any relationship. mei x lucy w/ @fadedreamed. lucretia cousland is all thorns and mei-lin surana is her flower petals and they’re beautiful and wonderful and mei loves her so much.
✧ DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?
it can be good just so everyone is on the same page.
✧ HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?
when it fits, it fits! ships typically just kinda happen for me, i don’t always plan for it.
✧ ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?
both lmfao.
✧ ARE YOU MULTISHIP?
hella! multiship and polyship, i’m down for both (with consent all around for the latter).
✧ WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SHIP(S) IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?
it’s wherever the inspo happens to be on a given day. i try not to play favorites but y’know, we all do. it changes day-to-day and i dislike actively choosing so i prefer to just let the muse speak for itself.
✧ FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?
write with me! plot with me! send memes! hit me up with a “hey i think this could be an interesting dynamic if you’re open to seeing where it might lead!” i do like to see how things develop on their own before saying for sure, but they can develop as easily through ooc chatting as they can via threads and memes.
TAGGING: @royalmagus @deathtold @sacrificedmore @hiswakes @thundror and/or any of the three tagged up above if they want to and/or haven’t yet :’) TAGGED BY: corvidblade like a month ago lmao
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Based off this post & @captain-flint‘s tags about Flint & books. Although it ended up being from Flint’s pov and not Silver’s. Hope that’s okay! <3
His Love of Books
* * *
"What is this?" Flint frowns at the book sitting on his desk. It wasn't there before. He would have remembered.
“It’s a book.”
“I can see that.” Flint says. “What’s it doing on my desk?”
Silver shifts slightly. "Just something I saw when we were ashore." He edges a little more towards the door like he’d rather be anywhere but right here.
Flint's frown deepens. "When we were ashore...you mean you brought this aboard the ship?" Why on earth would Silver do such a thing?
"Yes."
"Why?"
Silver blinks. He looks at the books on the shelves in the cabin where they're currently standing and then back at Flint like he shouldn't have to explain this. "You...and books?"
"What about me and books?"
"Well, you like them."
He does. Like. That word is an understatement as to what Flint feels for literature, but it’s been a good while since he’s had cause or excuse to truly dwell on the subject. And it doesn't exactly explain why Silver brought him one. Does it?
"Anyway." Silver gestures. "Enjoy."
He's gone before Flint can say anything more.
Flint doesn't know what to make of it. He examines the book. It's a well-preserved edition of Somnium that he's read before but has fond memories of nonetheless.
He keeps it on the desk, his fingers straying over the cover from time to time as he works.
When he finally retires for the night he hesitates and then takes the book with him. Dimming the lantern, he stretched out on the window seat with a low burning candle and a small glass of brandy. He reads quickly, unaware that a smile keeps gathering faintly at the corners of his mouth as he reads, lost in the simple pleasure of words carrying him far away.
The next time it's two small volumes of poetry. He spots them sticking out of Silver's pocket as they're walking back to the dock.
"Find something of interest?"
Silver glances down and his hand goes to his pocket as though reassuring himself they're still there.
"Yes."
Flint waits but Silver doesn't say anything more.
"Like poetry, do you?" He doesn't know why he's prodding other than he's curious, especially at Silver's reluctance to immediately divulge the contents of his pocket.
"Actually," Silver hesitates, then takes them out, "they're for you."
"Me?" Flint can't keep the surprise from his voice. He’d thought the gift of the book last time was a fluke, a one-time foolish gesture on Silver’s part, done most likely to gain favor with him. He hadn’t expected it to happen a second time.
"You do like poetry, don't you?" Silver pushes, like his answer matters.
"Yes." Flint admits, unsure why it feels like he's given something away here.
Silver nods in satisfaction. He's holding them out and finally Flint takes them from him.
"Thank you."
Silver offers him a smile, the rare small sort, like the one he gave Flint after his plan aboard the warship started bearing fruit and Flint hadn't been able to hide his admiration. He finds that smile truly distracting and it stays with him the rest of the day, even though he doesn’t want to admit it.
That evening is particularly fine and Flint finds himself up on the quarter deck, watching the sun set slowly over the town on the shore. As he rests his hands on the railing, his coat presses against his side and he remembers the books.
Taking one out he studies it, eyes skimming over a line here and there. He stops at one page and frowns.
"Not to your liking?" Silver ventures from behind him.
Flint turns his head to see Silver standing on the top step, observing him.
"It's not that," Flint says brusquely. "Just this poem."
Silver steps up on the deck and comes over to stand beside him.
"What if it?"
"It's hard to explain." Flint struggles to say what it is about the poem that strikes him without reading it, "it's difficult without reading it."
"So read it then," Silver murmurs.
Flint glances at him sharply, but Silver's gaze rests upon the waves, the golds and grays and scarlets of the sunset alighting upon the deep blue. His face is held softly to one side and the bruises still lingering from his attempts to win over the crew are fading in different shades of shadows. Flint finds himself briefly distracted by the idea of touching Silver, very gently by the neck and examining them for himself.
He hesitates and then he returns to the page where he was before, clears his throat and reads aloud in the fading twilight.
O heart, the equal poise of love's both parts, Big alike with wounds and darts, Live in these conquering leaves; live all the same, And walk through all tongues one triumphant flame; Live here, great heart, and love and die and kill, And bleed and wound, and yield and conquer still. Let this immortal life, where'er it comes, Walk in a crowd of loves and martyrdoms; Let mystic deaths wait on 't, and wise souls be The love-slain witnesses of this life of thee. O sweet incendiary! show here thy art, Upon this carcass of a hard cold heart,
He stops there abruptly. The poem goes on, but he cannot. The words are too bright, too hard inside his mind, upon his tongue. He wishes he were on the island. There is nowhere to go on this ship that he can get away from the slow burning inside himself.
“Is that the end?” Silver asks after a moment.
“No,” Flint admits. “The rest is…” He glances back at the page, lingering on the last few lines.
Silver draws even closer. “May I?”
And Flint passes the book between them on the railing, watching Silver’s hands as they touch the pages carefully.
By all of him we have in thee, Leave nothing of my self in me: Let me so read thy life that I Unto all life of mine may die.
Silver’s voice is clear and quiet in the stillness of the oncoming night. Flint imagines hearing him read more words, the two of them sitting in his cabin together, watching Silver’s mouth form the words, and that line of thought leads to imagining his mouth in other pursuits.
The words die away and Silver is silent.
Flint reaches for the book, ignoring the brief touch of Silver’s fingertips on his. “You can borrow it from my cabin if you want to read more.” He says and turns to go.
When he pauses on the main deck and looks back against his better judgement, Silver’s still standing up there, gazing out to sea. For a moment Flint considers going back and telling him to come down to the cabin with him now, inviting that brief moment of imagining into reality, making it possible between them.
It’s only a momentary imagining. That is not how things are between them. Silver’s only trying to curry favor with him, and Flint’s weakness for literature is such that he will let him do so, even if he will not give Silver the favor that he seeks.
* * *
The time after that it’s Shakespeare and Flint doesn’t acknowledge it at first. He’s back to not knowing what to make of Silver’s gestures. Much Ado About Nothing. Is Silver trying to tell him something or is he simply making light of their troubles?
“I would have thought you’d bring me one of the tragedies.” Flint mutters under his breath.
Silver glances sidewise at him. “I think you deserve a little levity in your life, captain.”
Flint raises an eyebrow. “Is that right?”
“Would you have preferred a tragedy?” Silver asks curiously.
“I’ve had enough of tragedy to fill my own book, thank you.” Flint turns to look out at the sea once more. He can feel Silver’s eyes on him and he knows the words are there upon his tongue. It would be easy to tell him about the past and for the first time Flint finds himself wanting to.
* * *
The time after that, Flint actually spots the book first. They’re in the house of a wealthy lord on the island. Flint can’t help perusing his bookcases and spotting Sidereus Nuncius there. His fingers itch to take it. How can he know for certain that Silver will select this book out of all of them sitting there on the shelf? It’s tempting fate to leave it there, and yet Flint does. Curious as to whether his own instincts regarding Silver and Silver coming to know him in return will hold true.
They’re back on the ship and it’s late. Flint’s in his cabin when there’s a knock at the door and Silver slides into the room before he can answer.
“What is it?” Flint says.
Silver reaches into his pocket and draws out the exact book Flint had eyed earlier. “You were in that room before me.”
“So what of it?” Flint says.
“I find it hard to believe a man as observant, and as fond of literature as yourself, would have missed this on the shelf then.” Silver’s fingers tap the cover restlessly.
“Your point being?”
“That you did in fact spy its presence there, and yet for whatever personal reason of your own, left it there, to see if I would bring it to you.”
Damn him.
Flint considers. “And?” he says, drawing this out as best as he can because he doesn’t have a better answer for Silver, should he ask a more specific question. All the same he can’t decide if he’s pleased or concerned that Silver knows him this well.
Silver merely smiles. “I just wanted to know that I was right.”
He moves closer to Flint and holds the book out. Flint takes it, still expecting something more. Instead Silver turns and goes back to the door without another word, leaving Flint alone with his thoughts.
* * *
It becomes a habit of Flint’s, waiting to see what Silver will bring him. A small ritual just between them. Sometimes they talk about the books Silver brings him, sometimes they don’t.
But Silver always comes back with something for him and there are expectations now, existing within Flint’s heart, in spite of his attempts to keep any such thing from existing. He can’t halt this from beginning, whatever it is, it’s already begun.
* * *
In the maroon camp, Flint’s leaning back against the bars of the cage, his head sunk low on his shoulders.
Silver’s been gone for what feels like an interminable time. If they’re questioning him…Flint closes his eyes. If they don’t bring Silver back, he doesn’t know what he’ll do.
There are footsteps close by and his head jerks up to see the guard bringing Silver back.
Silver steps inside the cage and watches the guard walk away before he starts to come over to Flint. With a faint groan he sinks down to sit beside him.
“Are you all right?” Flint asks quietly. There’s enough flickering light that he can only see patches of Silver’s face, not well enough to ascertain whether there are bruises or wounds.
“I’m fine.” Silver says. “I think there’s a possibility the daughter will listen to us.” He’s focused on the bars across from them, his hands pressed restlessly on his knees.
“Good.” Flint says without really hearing him.
“Oh, before I forget.” Silver reaches inside his shirt and draws out a small book.
Flint stares at it. “What is that?”
“She has a library in her room. It’s quite impressive. I told her of your love for books and she said you might enjoy this, if you had not read it already.” He passes it to Flint who takes it with trembling fingers.
“You were in there, scheming for our lives and you thought to bring me a book?” Flint asks incredulously. He stares down at the worn volume in his hands. It’s a favorite of his. The Blazing World. He can imagine how it would appeal to the maroon queen’s daughter, and he wonders then, if she would be open to discussing it one day.
“I thought it might take your mind off our predicament.” Silver murmurs wearily.
Flint places a hand on his thigh and Silver looks down at it.
“You never fail to surprise me.” Flint says.
“Is that a compliment or an insult?” Silver inquires lightly.
Flint’s hand travels up his thigh as Silver leans into his touch. He leaves the book in his lap as his other hand comes up to stroke one of Silver’s curls back from his forehead. “A compliment.”
Silver’s lips part faintly as Flint presses a hand against him and then Silver leans in, seeking the kiss that awaits him.
Flint clasps his face, tracing his lips gently over Silver’s mouth. It has been a long time coming, this kiss and he savors the fact that it exists now, in the darkness of this cage and the warmth of Silver’s mouth.
They’ll make it out of there. They’ll survive this. Flint’s confident of it now. There’s no room for doubt now in his mind.
* * *
A few months later.
“What’s this?” Silver taps the book lying on the desk in the captain’s cabin. Their cabin, really.
“I saw it earlier.” Flint doesn’t open his eyes. He’s stretched out upon their bed, taking a brief respite from the heat of the day. “Thought you might find it useful.”
Silver picks it up and looks at it. “A cookbook?” His lips twitch faintly, but Flint’s still not looking at him.
“Mmm.” Flint murmurs.
Silver gives in and smiles over at him. He draws closer to where Flint’s lying and leans down to brush a teasing kiss over his lips, feeling Flint against his mouth.
“Are you telling me you don’t enjoy the taste of charred toast?”
“I admit I’m growing accustomed to it.” Flint responds. His hand comes up to cup the back of Silver’s neck, keeping Silver’s lips close to his. “But there are other tastes I enjoy more.”
Silver grins, sliding his tongue inside Flint’s mouth as he sits upon the bed, straddling Flint, stretching out comfortably atop his body.
“You don’t say.”
Flint’s hands move to cup his backside, holding Silver there against his torso. “I do.”
They take their time kissing in the lazy afternoon, Flint holding Silver in place, right where he belongs, their bodies pressed together as though they were one flesh as well as one mind.
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:: womxn of color writers challenge 2017::
i challenged myself to read a bunch of written work by womxn of color in 2017. there were so many that i hadn’t read yet, and at times, i found myself struggling to find written work that met the criteria (like, a book published the year i was born). 2017 proved to be a huge growth for my literature journey, and i loved that i found brilliant written work by these phenomenal womxn. below is the challenge and works i’ve read. (favorites are with asterisks; completed are bold. note: some books overlapped/double-dipped)
have more suggestions? see any that you’ve read or would’ve read instead? lemme know your thoughts.
a book that became a movie: joy luck club - amy tan
a book that came out the year you were born: jonah’s gourd vine - zora neale hurston
a book that has been on your tbr for way too long: the reeducation of cherry truong - aimee phan
a book by an author who uses a pseudonym: family - j california cooper
a book published in 2017: this is just my face - gabourey sidibe
**a book about food: the tea girl of hummingbird lane - lisa see
a book with more than 500 pages
a book written by a queer womxn of color: when the moon was ours - anna-marie mclemore
a book written by a trans* womxn of color: surpassing certainty - janet mock
a book in a genre you usually avoid: fledgling - octavia butler
a book with pictures: persepolis - marjane satrapi
a book purchased from a woc owned store
an audiobook at least 10hrs long: bad feminist - roxane gay
a book of poetry: driving without a license - janine joseph
a book becoming a movie in 2017-2020: everything, everything - nicola yoon
**a book with themes of community and support: the mothers - brit bennett
a memoir - with the same racial/ethnic identities as you: i wore my blackest hair - carlina duan
a memoir - with different racial/ethnic identities as you: my beloved world - sonia sotomayor
**a book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit: the best we could do - thi bui
a book that passes the bechdel test: juliet takes a breath - gabby rivera
a book set in two or more different time periods: the god of small things - arundhati roy
a book by or about a person with a disability: frida - barbara mujica
a book about a topic or subject you already love: brown girl dreaming - jacqueline woodson
a book written in languages other than english: the hate u give - angie thomas
a book that features main characters who identify as LGBTQ+: little and lion - brandy colbert
**a book by a best-selling author: redefining realness - janet mock
a book that you have to wait for: [almost every book i borrowed from the library, tbh]
**a book you selected based on the cover: fierce femmes & notorious liars - kai cheng thom
a book whose main character or author owns and expresses their sexuality: fledgling - octavia butler
a book you’ve given to someone as a gift: zami - audre lorde
a book someone recommended to you: the hate u give - angie thomas
a book you don’t want to admit you’re reading, but you’re going to read anyway: the sun is also a star - nicola yoon
**a book about a religion or spirituality different from your own: home fire - kamila shamsie
a book whose main character is 10+ years younger than you: inside out & back again - thanh ha lai
a book whose main character is 10+ years older than you
**a book that was on main display at the library or bookstore: hunger - roxane gay
a book based on a true story: miss burma - charmaine craig
a banned book: their eyes were watching god - zora neale hurston
a book with bad reviews
an e-book: brown girl dreaming - jacqueline woodson
a book of short stories: whatever happened to interracial love? - kathleen collins
a book that has been picked for a book club: song of solomon - toni morrison
a book with multiple heroines: fierces femmes & notorious liars - kai cheng thom
a book that starts with the first letter of your first name: the vicious deep - zoraida cordova
a book accompanied by a podcast, or the author has a podcast: misadventures of awkward black girl - issa rae
a used book that costs $5 or less: the border of paradise - esme weijun wang
a book with a theme of liberation: miss burma - charmaine craig
**a book whose cover has an animal on it: sing, unburied, sing - jesmyn ward
a book you can read in a day: fierce femmes & notorious liars - kai cheng thom
a book you heard from someone: what it means when a man falls from the sky - lesley nneka arimah
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Smashwords Author Interview
Published 2015-05-07.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Yes. Alas, it is lost along with much of my early work done on typewriters with no backups. I will rewrite it some day as it still speaks to me and, like many of my later stories, it delved into the interplay between the conscious and subconscious mind, life lessons and redemption. My second short story, Eternal Quest, survives in my latest short story collection, Mindscapes, and is still a favorite that is little changed from the one written by a young old man of 19 who had already learned some of the most vital lessons about the things that matter that he would ever learn. My philosophy, too, has changed little over the intervening decades.
What is your writing process?
For both my fiction and non-fiction I tend to compose at the keyboard. I do no outlining and seldom work on plot lines ahead of time. Also, my first draft is usually also my final draft with only minor changes. During the day, I almost always have a cup of coffee on hand as I write. At night, it may be tea, diet Coke or Pepsi or a glass of wine. Less often, when writing late into the morning, especially after a particularly good or bad day, the glass of wine may be replaced by a snifter of brandy or an Absolut vodka martini with olives. (No more than 2 drinks a day on average as a rule, though.)
I like to work in significant blocks of time without interruption other than fetching coffee or pestering my wife during very brief breaks until she yells at me and I slink back to work.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I'm not sure what the first story was but it was certainly Disney and about Donald Duck. (In my native Spanish--just like my first Superman comic books and child's version of Homer's Odyssey). I still love these, though I have not read a Superman comic since I was 12 or 13.
My love of fiction was inspired by Disney, Homer, Hans Christian Anderson, Aesop, and blossomed into an even greater love of Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Poe, Wordsworth, Keats, Blake, Niven, Zalazny, Koontz, King, Clarke . . . in a gloriously meandering line that is the only yellow brick road I ever need to walk.
How do you approach cover design?
I like to use my own photographs when possible. Even when using stock photographs or public domain designs, I like to incorporate a photograph that I've taken that means something to me. I've done that in my book of poems, my intellectual property book and in two of three short story collections. (Even my latest audiobook collection cover incorporates one of my photos in the montage of individual short story covers.) Of course, I don't have that luxury with the trade books and textbooks through my traditional publishers--on the upside, they do a far better job of editing my work than I. :)
What are your five favorite books, and why?
It is impossible for me to answer this. So I'll just list the first five that come to mind that have had a significant impact. 1, Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth. I love Wordsworth above all other poets of all times--even more than Shakespeare and Milton. This lengthy Ode encapsulates him for me, and links him to my favorite philosopher, Plato. It has had a profound influence as the first among my beloved Romantic poems.
2. Bleak House by Charles Dickens. "If that is the law, the law is a ass." What more need I say? (A case that drags out for generations until the last farthing is spent and then is finally resolved. That's not fiction. That's an ETERNAL TRUTH! And yet I still went to law school. Maybe I should list Freud next.)
3. Plato's Republic. (And the Socratic Dialogues.) There is Plato's idealism, Aristotle's realism and the rest is largely a historical footnote.
4. Shakespeare's complete works. The comedies. The tragedies. The sonnets. The inferiority complex for the rest of us who dare write anything at all after reading him.
5. Roger Zelazny's Amber series. I know, I know. It's absurd to list it here but it is still my favorite fantasy series of books from one of my favorite writers. I've read thousands upon thousands of pages in favorite fantasy series, including every word in the trillion page (it seems) absurdly long "Sword of Truth" series of books by Terry Goodkind (whom I love). At times I literally screamed in frustration at the repetitiveness GET TO THE F*^%$*#G POINT! George RR Martin (another favorite writer) in his lengthy Game of Thrones series of books (all eagerly digested--likewise the HBO series) also made me squirm and/or skip ahead from time to time lest I tear out the few remaining hairs on my head. I will buy the next long-overdue installment as soon as it is available, though. Likewise many other favorite authors like Stephen King (I almost died of boredom on my way to the Dark Tower on many occasions) -- and on very, very rare occasion even Dean Koontz whom were I pagan I would worship as a demigod. But Zelazny never had that effect on me, especially in his Amber series. Not a single skipped word. Not a single needless, redundant description. Were it not nearly 2:00 a.m. and need I not get up in less than six hours to attend Commencement ceremonies I'd probably rummage through my library for my Book Club two-volume Chronicles of Amber right now.
What do you read for pleasure?
Everything. But mostly science fiction and fantasy--classic and new. I also enjoy non fiction, of course. Just finished Killing Patton by Bill O'reilly, and Charles Krauthammer's Things That Matter. (Krauthammer is a national treasure. All of O'reilly's books are good reads and his Killing Lincoln, Jesus, Kennedy and Patton books are really terrific.) Now I'm working through a couple of anthologies and listening to the audiobook version of Dean Koontz's "Tick-Tock."
What is your e-reading device of choice?
I don't own a dedicated reader [no longer true]. I use a couple of Android tablets that can read anything out there and downloaded audiobooks too. A small laptop works well too.
What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?
Book giveaways have been best at generating interest in my books. I do very little marketing other than an occasional Goodreads ad campaign and short story giveaways through Smashwords from time to time.
Describe your desk
Cluttered.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
Queens, New York mostly. The working class neighborhoods exuding the incredible diversity (ethnic, racial, lingual, political, cultural) that exists everywhere in New York City have enriched my life and broadened my perceptions beyond anything that would have been possible had my parents raised me in their native, homogeneous Galicia (Spain) of the 1960s and '70s.
My writing reflects the vast multicultural soup in which I was thoroughly steeped and slow-cooked. So does my trilingual upbringing (Spanish, Galician, English) with their separate rich roots and very different cadences, sensibilities and predilections. These have informed my poetry, fiction, non-fiction and life in indelible ways at levels beyond conscious thought.
When did you first start writing?
Almost as soon as I learned to write. I was writing (bad) poetry when I was eight years old, and "stories" before that. I kept a journal before I knew what a journal was--and burned it when what it contained was too painful, troubling, embarrassing, or simply too real to deal with at a tender age. I wish I had not for I can't remember what that precocious child found too troubling to keep around. This (no longer precocious) adult would like to know--and smile (mostly) and perhaps shed a tear or two for the unrequited love, frustrations or deep truths learned too young in life to process in a more productive way.
I wrote a lot back then. Doubtless it was full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (apologies to The Bard). Some things don't much change.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
There are a number of factors that led me to explore the indie route after publishing two trade books and five textbooks with traditional publishers (Irwin/Mirror Press, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, McFarland & Co. and Textbook Media Publishing).
First, I wanted to publish a typically short book of poems for which there is essentially no significant market and which no traditional publisher would be likely to consider. Along the same lines, I wanted to publish a short story collection. Because I am not known for my fiction or poetry, I knew that finding a traditional publisher to take on either project would be a very difficult task, if not an impossible one. Most traditional publishers these days won't even read manuscripts from unagented authors, and I was not likely to find a good agent to handle my fiction and poetry without a past track record of success in these fields. Agents that charge up front reading fees (or any fees, for that matter, other than a percentage of the book's royalties/advances) are not agents I would consider in any case, any more than I would consider publishing through a vanity press masquerading as a small press. (Any publisher that requires an author to purchase a minimum number of books at a "discount" is a vanity press by any other name.) I could easily find an agent to represent me as to my non-fiction, especially my textbooks or law-related trade books. But I do not need representation as to these since I've never had difficulty interesting traditional publishers in such projects. When I complete my first novel, I will very likely search for a literary agent as it is a prerequisite for submitting it to most of the leading publishers today. For other projects, I'll go it alone or self-publish.
But I digress. During the summer of 2011, I needed a break from my heavy research agenda that included research for a scholarly article and work on the instructor's manual and test bank for one of my new textbooks. So I decided to collect selected samples of my poetry spanning some 30 years and my favorite short stories written during the same time period and self-publish two books. I used CreateSpace to produce the paperback versions of my first two indie books and Kindle Direct Publishing for the Kindle version of these, later also ported to Barnes & Noble and still later to Smashwords for even wider distribution. Moreover, I wanted to experience complete freedom to publish precisely what I wanted and charge a low price to encourage as wide a distribution as possible. I also wanted to offer the book in both paperback and eBook formats. That was a particularly important consideration for another work that I was working on that summer, my intellectual property general reference work. Ultimately, I published all three books. Finally, I wanted to experience publishing on my timetable with complete editorial control for the first time. There is no question that all three books would be better had they undergone the vetting of the traditional editorial process; I am not the best editor of my own work and without question each work is less perfect than it would have been with an editor to help guide and rein me in when needed. Although it is equally true that at times even the best editors can be difficult to work with, especially when their preferences conflict with a writer's style and voice. The perfect is indeed too often the enemy of the good.
What are you working on next?
I'm winding down a sabbatical leave as I write this. This semester I completed research on usury laws in all 50 states and how these are in effect undermined by federal law. The research was started last summer and completed in late January, with a paper completed in early April and presented at the NEALSB annual conference in late April. It is now out for a first round of reviews in selected first-tier journals and law reviews. I am also currently in the process of researching "good Samaritan" statutes in all 50 states, a project that will continue beyond the summer and will form the foundation for a paper completed before the end of the fall 2015 semester.
This summer, I will also work on a new, expanded 3rd edition on my Business Law and the Legal Environment of Business for my current publisher, Textbook Media Publishing. It should be out early next year. Not much time for fiction or poetry projects in the coming year, I'm afraid, nor for work on my first novel that has been mostly on hold in mid-stream for the better part of a decade due to time constraints.
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