#i feel like an author being interviewed about characters in my new york bestselling book ty anon 💕

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

heeello! your secret pal here :D

i have a few questions about haelyn and trystan:

1. what are her (and trystan's) thoughts about the winter holidays? do they celebrate it? if they do, do they have any traditions or special routines/rituals?

2. otherwise, are there any activities that they like to do together?

3. what sort of things does haelyn sketch?

thank you for your time!! (=^. .^=)ㅅ

OMG HI!! This is so exciting I haven't really talked about my beloved so this is a super fun opportunity ty!!

I haven't thought about it much, but they would have different feelings towards holidays. In general, Trystan would be more excited about them even if he had to spend them with his sus siblings while Haelyn would be more pragmatic, if that makes sense. Trystan would go all out for holiday parties, while Haelyn would prefer spending the holidays with her close friends and family she could use more happy memories. She's not someone who needs material goods to prove a relationship's worth, so something like a personal scrapbook would be more valuable than a random piece of ornate jewelry. Trystan or Marguerite would probably plan a huge holiday party and Lyn would attend for their sake she has a lower social battery but they definitely have a mini party at The Drunk Tank after (present exchange, holiday movie binge, game night, all that jazz). I feel like another tradition would be hosting events to fundraise for charities. Oh, and each year they dedicate the holidays to learning something from the other's culture like a dance, or cooking a cultural dish, or sm because I think that's adorable. It was a cute accident that became a yearly tradition.

You didn't ask for this, but going back to the gift thing, I headcanon that Lyn and Trystan wanted to propose to each other at the same time. So, Lyn commissioned (?) a handmade ring to propose, but Trystan beat her to it lol. He proposed with some kind of expensive family heirloom a week before the custom ring was done and now I realize this is a fic I need to write-

2. Again, I haven't really thought about it but their activities would probably be alternating from super relaxing cozy activities (puzzles, dog walks, sketching, movie night) to super energetic or outdoorsy activities like camping, traveling, hot air ballooning, something sports-related, etc.

3. In the intro post I mentioned Haelyn is left-handed and does abstract sketches when she's having trouble with a case. This is a way for her to brainstorm and use the "other half of her brain" to see the case from a different angle. She does like realistic sketching when she has free time such as still-life, landscape sketches, or just portraits. Trystan is an excellent muse and never lets her forget it lol

TY again secret pal! Hope this was helpful, mwah 🫶🏽

#i feel like an author being interviewed about characters in my new york bestselling book ty anon 💕 #asks #playchoices #crimes of passion #trystan thorne #trystan thorne x mc #haelstan🌹 #haelyn rózsa oc

[redhoodssweetheart]

Flowers in My Lungs Part Two

Genre: Hanahaki AU

Pairing: Clark Kent x Gender Neutral!Reader

Requested: Yes (REQUESTS ARE CLOSED, this was for my 1.5K follower celebration)

Word Count: 1.5K

Warnings: Talks of death, flowers growing in the lungs, angst, unrequited love

Description:  It’s been six months since the last of the flowers disappeared from your lungs.  In that time you’ve written a book based on your experiences and are now on a book tour.  Your first stop?  Metropolis.  How will seeing Clark go?

A/N: The ending is purposefully left open.  I didn’t know if people would want a happy, sad, or a neutral ending.  I can write a third and final part if people would like to see one or the other, or you can decide for yourself what happens between the Reader and Clark.  Also the request was for a fem!Reader, but the first part was Gender Neutral.  I don’t use female pronouns or even they/them in here.

It had been six months since the last of the flowers disappeared from your lungs.  It had taken a lot of hardwork and determination, but with the help of therapists and doctors alike you had managed to beat the Hanahaki disease and get better.  You had even turned your pain into a book that quickly became a New York Times bestseller.  While it was listed under fiction you had based it off your own story, although it had a happy end compared to yours.

Now you were being interviewed on a morning television show that the Daily Planet hosted.  It was the first time you had been back to Metropolis since healing and you were a little nervous.  Everyone knew that you were in town talking about your new book and that meant that Clark knew as well.

You wondered if he would try to talk to you.  Were you ready for that?

“Good morning everyone and please welcome Y/N Y/L/N, the author of the wildly popular novel Flowers in My Lungs!”  Kerry turned to face you, a smile plastered on her face, “Thank you for coming on the show.”

You smiled back, though your stomach was turning uneasily.  This was the first interview you had done since your book released and you knew everyone was dying to find out the juicy details behind it.  “Thank you for having me,” you responded.

“I know you’ve said that this was based on your own battle with Hanahaki, and your main character is somewhat based off of you, but what about Jack?  Who is he based on?”  Kerry asked, hunger in her eyes as she thought you would unload the truth right there and she would get the biggest scoop before any other reporters.

You tried not to squirm as you felt every gaze in the room on you as you thought of how to best answer this question.  “I’d rather not say who it is,” you told her.  “I don’t want to put them on blast like that.  It wasn’t their fault that I wound up getting Hanahaki disease.  Blaming me or them does no good, you can’t help your feelings and I don’t want anyone to go and send hate to this person.”

“Could you at least tell us a little about your relationship with them?  Was it like your characters in your book?”

“We were really good friends, and I happened to fall in love with him.  After a while I started to cough up the flower petals and I knew what was happening.”  You took in a deep breath trying to compose yourself.  “I hate that it happened and I haven’t seen or talked to him since it all went down.”

“Do you think you’ll ever talk to him again?”  She asked.

“I hope so,” you said truthfully.  “I do miss him.”

You had to go to commercial and when your eyes scanned the room you saw Clark standing at the back, hidden in the shadows.  He smiled when he noticed you looking and you gave him one back before looking away before Kerry noticed the two of you.  The commercial break ended and thankfully the next set of questions were more about your writing style and other inspirations for how your story played out plus what the disease was like while you were trying to heal from it.

After the interview you headed up to the main offices of the Daily Planet where you knew you’d find Clark at his desk.  He was sitting there typing away as you approached and didn’t look up until you said, “Hey stranger.”

“Hey,” Clark stood, surprised to see you.  He clearly hadn’t thought you’d come up to see him.

“Long time no see,” you leaned against his desk, your arms crossed over your chest so that he couldn’t see how badly your hands were shaking.  He was still as handsome as ever, and you had to remind yourself that you were in a better place now.  Those old feelings weren’t going to come rushing back just because you were in the same room as him.  “How’ve you been?”

“Good,” he said, nodding his head slightly.  “I’m glad you’re doing better… I worried about you when you were away.”

You gave him a small smile, “I worried about you too, Clark.”

He hesitated for a moment and then asked, “Do you want to have dinner tonight, like old times?  If not that’s okay, but I’d really like to have a chance to talk with you.”

You nodded your head and said, “That sounds great.  How about tonight at six?”

“That sounds fine, I’ll order in that way we don’t have to deal with anyone bugging you,” he said.  He knew that your book had blown up and any interactions would be scrutinized and that someone would assume that he could be the one that caused you to have Hanahaki disease.  They would be right, but he knew that you didn’t want to bring any trouble to his door.

You could have blasted him and told the world that Clark Kent was the man that gave you the disease, that you had fallen in love with your best friend, but he didn’t love you back.  It had been heartbreaking, but people were entitled to their feelings.  He had only ever seen you as a friend and you didn’t fault him for that.  

When the day ended you headed to Clark’s, you would be leaving in a few days to make it to your next stop on the book tour.  You were nervous for the rest of your travels so you were glad that you could have one night of peace with a friend.  Was it weird that you still considered him a friend even though you hadn’t spoken in ages?

You had known one another for a long time that you didn’t think you would ever stop considering him a friend even if things never went back to how they were.  He was still important to you.

Knocking on his door he quickly came to greet you, already you could smell a delicious aroma and knew that he had chosen your favorite place.  You sighed happily as you stepped into his apartment, “Just as I remember it.”

He smiled sheepishly, “Is that a good thing?”

You patted his arm, “It’s comforting, don’t be so nervous Clark.  We’ve had dinner together hundreds of times.”

“I know, but… things are different now,” he said, his sheepish smile dropping to a look of regret.  “I just don’t want to upset you.”

“Clark if you’re afraid flowers are just going to start sprouting in my lungs again don’t.  I’m fine,” you reassured him.  “Now let's eat!”

Once the awkwardness faded away the two of you picked up like old times and you had a wonderful evening with him.  You told him stories of people you had met in your counseling group and how wild they were as you all tried to find reasons to smile despite the pain the flowers caused.  He was relieved to hear that you had support by your side as you went through therapy and treatments to help.

Halfway through desert he began coughing and at first everything was fine until you noticed a petal land on the table.  Your eyes widened as you realized what this meant.  Clark had Hanahaki disease.  “I didn’t want you to know,” he said, his eyes not meeting yours as he crushed the petal in his hand.

“Who?”  Your voice was soft.

“Lois,” he leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.  “It just started.”

Your heart broke for him, “At least it just started, the pain won’t be unbearable yet.  It’ll be easier to reverse.”

“How?”  He looked at you then, turning his head so that his gaze met yours.  “I work with her, Y/N/N.  I see her on a near constant basis.  You were able to walk away, you didn’t have to see me all the time.  She is a constant reminder of  what’s happening inside me.”

You wracked your brain trying to find an answer or solution to Clark’s problem.  “Come with me,” you said suddenly, startling him.

“What?”

“On my tour, you can follow me and write a story about me.  No holds barred.  No question too big or small.  You’re the only person I would trust enough to do this with.  You could get away from Metropolis and Lois and heal.  If it’s still in the early stages it’s easier to reverse.”  He still looked unsure.  “Please just think about it.  I leave in a few days, text me and let me know what you decide regardless if you come or not.”

He studied you and asked, “Are you sure?”

Rolling your eyes you smirked, “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure.”

“I’ll think about it,” he promised.

Dinner ended shortly after that and you gave him a hug before you left.  All the way to your hotel you wondered if Clark would take you up on your offer, and you wondered what would happen from here.

#Clark Kent x Reader #Clark Kent x Reader angst #Clark Kent #Clark Kent fanfic #Clark Kent fanfiction #Clark Kent angst #Requested

[richincolor]

Interview with Dr. Yusef Salaam & Ibi Zoboi

From the publisher: Dr. Yusef Salaam, a member of “The Exonerated Five” (formerly known as “The Central Park Five”) and Ibi Zoboi, author of Pride and the National Book Award finalist American Street, have collaborated on a young adult novel, Punching the Air.

Punching the Air follows Amal Shahid, a teenager who has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then, one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white. Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words: his art.

This novel in verse is simply stunning. The poetry is powerful and the story itself is heartbreaking and yet still hopeful. Amal's story definitely points out some of the major issues with the criminal justice system. It also shows how the education system can also be harmful to young people of color. As a teacher, that was a hard aspect to read about. Amal's teachers and even his lawyer fail to see his humanity.

All of the Rich in Color contributors are reading Punching the Air right now for our discussion that will be posted on October 7th so be sure to stop back by to participate or read more about the book. In preparation for our discussion, we're happy to hear from the authors today.

Crystal: The verse format was a brilliant choice for Amal's story. Was there anything unexpected about writing a novel in verse?

Ibi: I loved how ideas just came to me as I was working through a poem. I’d start a poem as a couplet and then I’d realize that I can shape it into a box or a pyramid. Making shapes out of poems is like collaging or putting puzzle pieces together. The words not only have to fit into the shape, but they have the right metaphor and convey the right mood. It really is art on every level.

Crystal: Do you think we will see more poetry from you?

Ibi: Absolutely. All my novels have had some form of poetry.

Crystal: Yusef, when did you begin to write poetry and what has that writing journey been like?

Yusef: I started writing and paying attention to words when I was very young. Hip-hop had a huge impact on me and I wanted to mimic what some rappers were saying in their lyrics--the ones with message-driven content. Like many other boys growing up in my environment, we wanted the world to hear our words. Hip-hop was one way to get our messages across. I kept writing while incarcerated and it’s what kept my mind free.

Crystal: Ibi, you've been writing for young adults for quite some time. Do you feel any specific responsibilities to young readers?

Ibi: Yes, always. I always feel the need to create whole, fully-realized characters. I always return to Adichie’s quote about stereotypes. It’s not that they are untrue, it’s that they are incomplete. I try my best to create complete characters and stores. Yes, Black children are criminalized, but why? I always strive to paint a bigger picture.

Crystal: What were some of the challenges and benefits of co-writing a novel?

Ibi: There were all benefits. I could’ve tried to write this book alone, but I had someone to help guide the emotions of our teen character. Amal would’ve been a very different boy born of my own limited imagination. With Yusef’s help, we created a fully rounded character with every real hopes and fears. I was able to sink into his skin because of my conversations with Yusef.

Yusef: It was a great experience. It’s amazing how someone I met at a time when I was hiding in plain sight, two years after prison, when the world thought wanted to bury us, wanted to help me tell my story. Back then, I wasn’t ready to share everything. But now, Ibi brought her skills to table and we were able to tell this story--Punching the Air--together.

Ibi Zoboi was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her writing has been published in the New York Times Book Review, the Horn Book magazine, and the Rumpus, among others. Her novel American Street was a National Book Award finalist, received five starred reviews, and was a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Pride and My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, which was a New York Times bestseller, as well as being the editor of the anthology Black Enough. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.ibizoboi.net.

In 1989, Dr. Yusef Salaam was just fifteen years old when he was tried and convicted in the “Central Park Jogger Case” along with four other Black and Latino boys. The Exonerated Five spent between seven to 13 years behind bars, until their sentences were overturned in 2002. Since then, they received a multimillion dollar settlement from the City of New York for its injustice and were profiled in award-winning films, including The Central Park Five documentary from Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon and the award-winning Netflix limited series When They See Us, written and directed by Ava DuVernay.

Over the past two decades, Yusef has become a family man, father, poet, activist, and inspirational speaker. He continues to share his story with others to educate the public about the impact of mass incarceration and police brutality. He regularly advocates for criminal justice reform, prison reform, and the abolition of juvenile solitary confinement and capital punishment. Yusef is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama (2016), the Phoenix Award from the Congressional Black Caucus (2019), an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Anointed by God Ministries Alliance & Seminary (2014), and a long list of Proclamations—most notably from New York State Senate (2018), and New York City Council (2013).

#Ibi Zoboi #Yusef Salaam #Punching the Air #interview #novel in verse

[rachelthompsonauthor]

Hi, everyone! It’s time to venture back out into the world which is a little scary, right? That’s where we are in Northern California – like turtles starting to stick our heads out just a little bit. We’re starting to visit family, actually going to the grocery store, and getting haircuts for everyone – a good thing since we’re all looking a bit like muppets.

Though with the latest numbers in California, who knows where we’re headed. It’s terrifying. Masks, masks, masks, wash, wash, wash.

In case you missed the last two installments of my blog posts, you can catch up by clicking here for week one and here for week two.

This week I’m thrilled to share an insider look into the mind of author Barbara Delinsky, who just dropped her latest hot read, A Week At The Shore, which immediately hit the New York Times bestseller list – her twenty-third novel to do so.

Both Pip and I enjoyed A Week At The Shore immensely.

Full disclosure: Barbara is one of my BadRedhead Media clients (and I’m supremely grateful for that!). I handle her social media, street team, blog and book review optimization, and a good deal of her book promotion.

After finishing the book (which I loved), I had a few questions for Barbara about her writing style, so I emailed them to her and she was kind enough to respond.

A Week At The Shore by Barbara Delinsky Interview

Q: I notice you don’t only use ‘she said’ for dialogue, which I personally love, though as I’m sure you know well, it’s a DEBATE.

A: I’ve actually spent a lot of time thinking about this. I don’t use half as many other words (“she exclaimed,” “she intoned,” or “she declared”) as much as I used to. Yes, there’s something to be said for simple and real. That said, the constant monotony of “she said” gets boring, so I try to find a comfortable balance. This actually ties in with your next question.

Sometimes, the sub for “she said” can express emotion, as in “she cried,” or “she dare say,” or “she whispered.” So it does add something. Still, though, not quite the “show, not tell” rule (see more on that below).  

Q: Also, the ‘show, not tell’ rule regarding feelings. You sometimes say what emotions Mallory {Ed. the main character} feels (at times). If I wrote that in my creative writing classes, my teacher would’ve jumped out a window, yet it works. Again, love. All this ‘do this, not that’ advice can be confusing for writers, regardless of genre, myself included.

A: Yes, it does work at times, at least, for me. But then, I never took a creative writing class, so maybe I just don’t know how to show rather than tell. Here, too, I think you have to be guided by common sense. If by “show,” you mean having a character “start to huff and puff,” to show upset, rather than simply to “cry in alarm,” I’d opt for the simpler.  

The image of huffing and puffing will distract the reader from what you’re saying. IMHO, the “show, not tell” rule applies to larger things, like rather than saying “her husband could be nasty,” saying something like, “her husband could see her scrubbing the dinner dishes and tell her she was made for this.” So, it’s really giving an example of what you’re saying in summary. Does that make sense?

Q: Yes, absolutely. Also, you write about the past in the present tense – I do this with memoir and blog posts, and prefer to read books or even blog posts/articles written this way. It’s more immediate. When I work with writers in my workshops, they tend to write in the past tense. I haven’t read all of your other books, so I wonder if you do this with all your books?

A: I’m actually not even aware of writing about the past in the present tense, unless it’s a bonafide flashback, in which case it would be in the present. I’ve been experimenting with different tenses book to book. My last book, BEFORE AND AGAIN, was in the first-person past tense, A WEEK AT THE SHORE is in first person present tense.  

The latter took some getting used to. And it’s possible that I botched the flashback tenses simply because I’m not ultra-experienced with first-person present. My editor didn’t catch or change anything, though. I agree with you. There is an immediacy to first-person present tense that is nice. That said, the new book I’ve started is in first-person past tense.

Q: Basic skills – I get it. This is how new writers learn. You aren’t new (after writing hundreds of books and stories), so you break rules – is that it?

A: I’m not “schooled” in writing, so I don’t know I’m breaking the rules!!

Q: You’re so skilled, Barbara. Your characters are intricate and layered. This book is a CLASS in writing. Do you ever think about young writers reading your work and learning from you?

A: You are too kind, Rachel. Seriously. I’m just muddling along, basically doing what works for me as a reader, since I have no formal training. Truly. Now I’m just enjoying it.

Barbara has written a few articles for me on my biz site about breaking the writing rules, which I hope you’ll read. She’s a true writer’s writer. I hope you’ll read her books and articles. She’s also an avid reader herself and does weekly book reviews on her blog.

What I’m Reading Now

I’m now reading the third book in the Discovery of Witches series, The Book of Life, and it’s fabulous, just like the others in this series. I’m not going to spoil it for you if you haven’t read these. Harkness is a wonderful writer, and she weaves history, passionate love, and the supernatural together in a way that carries you into other worlds. Even though it’s vampires, witches, and demons, it’s not glowy, corny vampires and evil witches on broomsticks. Harkness’ stories are wholly imaginative.

When I found out Sundance made the first book into a series, I paid for the app ($5.99/month – totally worth it) and watched the entire series in one day. SO GREAT. Perfectly cast, well-acted, leaving me yearning for more. I’m now re-watching it.

What Else I’m Watching

I never did see Being John Malkovich so I watched it with my daughter. Weird flick. Good, but super weird. Definitely takes the, ’15 minutes of fame,’ motto and turns it on its head. Speaking of heads, I’ve never seen such horrible hair in any movie.

Have you seen it? What are your thoughts?

Space Force just came out on Netflix and it’s hilarious. If you’re super conservative, you may not like it, so beware (though they poke fun at both parties). If you can laugh at the ridiculousness of government, please watch. Carrell is great, as usual, and the relationship dynamics are brilliant (and there’s John Malkovich again – great, as usual).

Vanderpump Rules I mentioned previously that this is the one reality show I watch with my 20-year-old daughter, Anya, and we watched the reunion shows – all three of them. I know, ridiculous. Jax is such a joke (his blatant homophobia disgusts me, though he says he supports gays – what?), Jax and Brittany together are just ugh, and Max makes me want to vomit (breaking news – he just got fired – ha!).

And honestly, could Vanderpump be any more white? We’ve been saying this for years.

SO much has happened since last week – wowzers. They’ve fired four people as of this writing for making racist remarks. Either the show will be retooled or canceled. I’m sad to see the epitome of white-girl whiteness Stassi gone – she was at least honest about her privilege. What do you think?

I’d be pretty much done with this show if it wasn’t for my daughter begging me to watch with her (we do watch movies and other shows as well). I’m glad Pumpy fired their asses, otherwise, I’d be done DONE.

Compassion

What’s missing from most reality shows is compassion, which is why I don’t enjoy watching them. We see (and hear, loudly and repeatedly) the negativity, toxicity, and the worst in people because that’s what the editors and producers know will keep viewers coming back – drama.

There are flashes of compassion, e.g., when dealing with the death of a loved one, coming out, infidelity, or mental health issues. I appreciate when Bravo, for example, handles these issues well. I don’t appreciate it when they have not – and they have not in many cases. An overall lack of compassion appears to be missing from many of these people’s lives; however, using The Four Agreements, that’s an assumption on my part; we don’t see behind the scenes or when the cameras are off.

I do have compassion for the casts of these shows who have decided money is worth more than their privacy. They are adults making decisions about their lives, and all that comes with it, as any celebrity does. Now, they’re dealing with the fallout.

“Make good choices!” as Jamie Lee Curtis’s mom in Freaky Friday admonishes a young Lindsay Lohan’s Anna (and we all know how that turned out). Oh, Lindsay. Honestly, she’s such a product of dysfunction, it’s truly sad, but that’s a whole other post.

If only people would listen to their Hollywood movie mothers…

Products Supporting Black Lives Matter

In no particular order, here’s what I’ve bought and am loving:

YUBI: The original fingertip makeup brush is amazing. Worth every penny. How did I not know about this?

Pat McGrath Real Makeup: I’m a sucker for a great eye shadow palette. McGrath’s are pricey but fab-u-lous. Why so spendy? All her products are highly-pigmented so you don’t need much; they’ll last a good long time. Here’s the one I purchased on Amazon. For when, ya know, I actually have somewhere to venture out to.

Body Butter Lady: Lip stuff and of course, body butter. Affordable, smells amazing, and will last a good, long, time.

LipBar: Lips for days, tons of colors and textures to suit anyone.

LipSlut: Awesome colors, and 50% of all proceeds go to support women and children’s charities all the time. Right now, they’re supporting Black Lives Matters. 50% towards charity, 100% against tyranny. Cruelty-free, Vegan.

Their newest shade, F*ck Trump on pre-order, will support civil rights organizations specifically targeted by the Trump organization – I mean, administration. Oopsies.

Here is my current personal selection (F*ck Kavanaugh is a favorite – a pretty brownish-red that wears well):

  ***

So that’s it for this week. Would love your feedback on COVID-19, books, movies, shows, makeup, racism, or whatever you want to discuss. Thanks for stopping by!

Read more about Rachel’s experiences in the award-winning book, Broken Pieces.

She goes into more detail about living with PTSD and realizing the effects of how being a survivor affected her life in

Broken Places, available in print everywhere!

        The post Venture Out Of Quarantine With Me appeared first on Rachel Thompson.

via Rachel Thompson

#IFTTT #Rachel Thompson

[andrewdburton]

How we raised $10,000+ for a charity (actual metrics)

What happens when you try to raise money for a cause you care about?

Recently, my wife and I held a fundraiser in NYC. We both come from families of immigrants and we wanted to raise money for families being separated at the border. What we’ve seen has made us feel helpless, outraged, and sad. But we also know that we’re in the enviable position of being able to do something about it.

This was the first time we’ve ever raised money for a fundraiser together and I want to share what we learned (plus all the numbers).

VIDEO: My wife and me explaining why we launched this fundraiser

It turns out I LOVE fundraising. I think it’s because…

It’s a cause I care about

I have friends and readers I can share this with

Thanks to having 40,000 customers, I have no fear of asking for money. Especially from IWT readers who asked for a free ticket to my event, and (1) one had spent $10,000 on my products, (2) another worked at Amazon, and (3) a third was an engineer at VISA. I showed no mercy.

MRW when someone asks for a free ticket to my charity event, but they’ve spent $10,000 on my products

Our fundraising metrics

We raised $12,975, beating our goal of $5,000!! (We donated 100% of that money.)

To raise money, we first asked a few friends in the nonprofit space for their advice. They pointed us to groups we started researching, then we settled on Families Belong Together to donate our funds to.

Our next step was to email friends. We emailed about 50 friends and family, raising $2,450. Some people donated to come to the NYC event we held, while others just donated funds.

Then Cass and I recorded a video explaining why we were raising money and why this is important to us, which I posted on my Instagram feed/stories, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The video got watched about 50,000 times.

That video linked back to our Eventbrite page, which got ~2,000 views and raised ~$9,000.

We held an event in NYC, where we hosted about 35 people in a space donated by https://energi.life/welcome/. Paola from Families Belong Together shared stories about what she’s seen along the border, along with drinks served by Andrew from Crafttender (big thanks to everyone for making this possible!!).

Overall, for our first fundraiser, this was a big success!!

Paola shared her experiences working with Families Belong Together. Some of my friends cried during the presentation.

LESSON #1: Get comfortable with small numbers

Initially, Cass and I set a goal of $50,000. When we went to a few fundraising friends and asked for advice, one of them smiled. “Why don’t you start small?” he gently asked us. Even though it was hard to hear, he was right.

I learned that I had to get comfortable with smaller numbers.

This wasn’t some massive fundraiser where we could leverage crazy press or the entire IWT business (e.g., when IWT raised $300,000 for Pencils of Promise).

After running IWT, where I oversee a team that manages complex lead acquisition, funnels, conversion, and products, I’ve gotten used to big numbers. To give you an example, during the week my wife and I raised $12,975 for this fundraiser, one individual IWT student bought 3 courses equaling $10,388.

So with this fundraiser, it was humbling to start small and be satisfied with small numbers and modest goals. This was my wife and me setting up our first fundraiser together, trying to find a free event space, and trying to send anything we can to support families at the border.

I had to reframe our new goal of “only” $5,000 as a win. When you’re starting something new, it’s hard to remember that starting small is how EVERYONE starts off. This was a great reminder. Most of all, we were just thrilled to be able to contribute to a cause we care about.

LESSON #2: When a friend asks, show up

You might have seen “Ramit’s 10 Money Rules” that I posted a while back. Look closely at #4:

#4: “Never question spending money on books, appetizers, health, or donating to a friend’s charity fundraiser.”

Read about Ramit’s Money Rules 

There’s a reason I always donate to friends’ charity events. When your friend emails you for a fundraiser, they really want your help (in general, people HATE asking for money, so when they do, there’s usually a reason for it).

If you respond and donate quickly, they’ll appreciate it.

And if you donate more than they asked for, they will never forget it.

For example, Sam Gavis-Hughson is a Zero To Launch graduate who helps job candidates prepare for their coding interviews at companies like Google and Facebook. He used our Zero To Launch program to recently run a $50,000 launch. When we posted about our fundraiser, he was one of our first donors and came in big with a $500 donation — that’s more than our requested $100 donation. I will never forget it.

Other friends never donated. Maybe they were busy or missed the email. But I’ll never forget that, either.

Showing up doesn’t just mean spending money. It also means physically showing up when it’s important to your friend.

Over the last couple of weeks, two of my friends have launched books. I went to Nir Eyal’s launch of his book. A few days later, Cass and I went to support Paula Rizzo’s launch of her book. Yes, I’m busy. Yes, it was out of the way. Yes, we showed up.

Showing up for Paula Rizzo’s book launch of Listful Living

When an author launches their book, they’re nervous, they’re excited, and most of all, THEY DESPERATELY WANT YOUR SUPPORT.

SHOW UP!! Show up for birthdays parties, weddings, book launches, and charity events. ALWAYS.

Those are moments in someone’s life that mean so much to them.

Cass and I learned the importance of showing up when we were planning our wedding. After we were married, we made a set of joint rules for attending other people’s weddings:

Always be first on the dance floor

Be the couple that you can seat anywhere because you know we’ll get the table having fun (AKA, don’t be a dud)

Make sure your gifts arrive before the wedding

After going through our first fundraiser, our new rules are:

Always donate to our friends’ fundraisers

Always donate MORE than they ask for (an extra $100 or $200 will always be remembered)

LESSON #3: Deal with critics

Invariably, I had some people who didn’t agree with the cause we were raising money for. I think this stops a lot of people from ever getting started with something like this (or starting a business). What will people think? What will they say? Will my friends get annoyed by me asking them for money?

Whenever you try something new, you’re going to encounter critics. It happened with this fundraiser.

LOL at the critics who decided that instead of donating, they’d leave angry comments on a fundraiser for a good cause.

I typically find that they use 3 strategies:

Telling me they disagree with my cause

Hateful comment: “Send everyone the fuck back” (screenshots below)

Confuse the issue by asking seemingly innocent question (concern trolling): “What about X? Have you considered Y? Are you concerned about Z?”

Here’s how I dealt with them.

First, when they disagree with your cause: I had a woman DM me on Instagram and politely tell me that she doesn’t agree with me politically, but she appreciates that I’m using my platform to support a cause I care about. I totally respect that.

Then there were the #MAGA morons who decided to lob potshots from their anonymous accounts with hateful comments.

Unfortunately for them, this New York Times bestselling author is considerably smarter than the usual empty-headed cretins they deal with at the local parking lot where they spend their Saturday nights.

You can safely ignore twitter commenters whose feeds are filled with hateful posts, whose headshots are cartoon characters wearing a birthday hat, and who seem to share one thing in common: the intellectual aptitude of a gnat. Just move on — they already live in a prison in their own mind.

But beyond anonymous critics, there were the more insidious critics who try to confuse the issue by concern trolling, or asking question after question after question.

Here’s what you must understand: These people will never support your cause, whether it’s a fundraiser or a business or your plan to lose weight. They have no interest in a genuine discussion (if they did, they would engage privately). They’re asking questions because getting others riled up is their entertainment. And, to put it delicately, my successful friends never leave comments like this.

“If it was X, MAYBE I would donate” = “I will never donate”

You can delete or ignore these comments. I intentionally responded to a couple so my followers could see my responses.

If you decide to try something new, remember this: Opinions are cheap. You’ll ALWAYS get people saying, “What about this? What about that? How do where every cent of this $100 is going? If you did X, maybe I would donate.”

Oh, ok. Suddenly, some anonymous guy with an icon of a banana has developed a 14-page quiz on Kantian ethics that you must answer before they donate $100. In reality, they have the moral compass of a cupholder.

Guess what? They’re not your audience.

Actual supporters didn’t demand that I jump through their gauntlet of requirements for one hundred dollars. They wanted to get involved, they clicked DONATE, and they showed up.

It’s fine if not everyone supports your cause (whether it’s a business, a new hobby, or a fundraiser). But I wanted to show you some of the worst critics of all — the ones who try to derail you by questioning you, by concern trolling you, by trying to make you second-guess yourself — so you can see that these people are everywhere.

You want to raise money for your own cause? Great! Do it. My wife and I saw something we wanted to support and we raised over $12,000 to help these families. If you’re more comfortable lobbing hateful comments on social media, then sit down and get the fuck out of my way. I have work to do.

LESSON #4: Use your time and money to live a Rich Life

THIS is a Rich Life — where you use your time and money to help other people.

When something outrages you or inspires you…when something makes you MAD or SAD or THRILLED, that’s an opportunity to lean into it and use your time and money to improve it.

It’s not about needing to have $1,000,000. A tiny amount can change someone’s life.

IWT isn’t simply about earning more money. I show you how to do that in my book, my business courses, and my career courses.

But to be able to use your time and money to help other people…that’s another level.

I want you to see how that you can use money to support the things you care about. Your family, your health, and yes — giving back.

I want to show you that raising money for something you believe in comes in lots of shapes and colors and sizes. It doesn’t mean you have to attend a black-tie gala in Manhattan. I never wrote fundraising checks as a child — but I did do “sewa” (volunteer service) at my local Sikh temple.

I want to show you how to pick a goal, then go after it without anyone or anything getting in your way. Critics? GTFO. What about the perfect financial structu–forget all that! Raise the money and send it.

More than anything, I want you to know that you can define your Rich Life. This is ours. I hope you find yours and lean into it.

How we raised $10,000+ for a charity (actual metrics) is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

from Finance https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/how-we-raised-10000-for-a-charity/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Missing Piece by Lescroart

Dismas Hardy #19

 Innocent or Guilty? Sometimes people who are innocent go to jail, sometimes guilty people get off scot free, sometimes the innocent are released after spending time in jail AND sometimes the guilty are let out on a technicality or for other reasons. This book takes a look at what might happen if a man is released from prison and then someone kills him. Who would want to kill him? Was he really guilty? Was it a relative of the person that he went to trial for murdering? Could it be someone else or a vigilante or something new that happened to get him killed after being in jail? Who will defend the man accused of killing him and…well the story gets more and more twisted as the pages go by and the story continues.

 I have to say that I came into this series with book eighteen and thoroughly enjoyed it. This book took me longer to get into and I did wish that I had read the series from the beginning so I would have history of the main characters to fall back on. That said, this was still a good story to read with lawyers, private investigators, police procedural aspects, sleuthing, interviews of potential suspects, cases that overlapped and were similar, friendships forged over time that shored up the story and the characters, and a conclusion that tied all the thread together.

 I have a feeling that I won’t be reading more in this series unless it is to go back and begin at the beginning as I do feel it would help me understand the series and characters better. For those that have read the previous books in order, I am sure that they will enjoy seeing Dismas, Glitsky, and Farley again along with some others that are probably regulars to the series. For me, it was a bit like being at a party with everyone knowing each other and chatting away while I sat on the outside trying to figure out what I might be missing.

 Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Who would I recommend it to? Those who have read and enjoyed previous books in the series

 Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster – This is my honest review.

 3-4 Stars

        BLURB

 The beloved New York Times bestselling Dismas Hardy series returns with this “perfect piece of entertainment from a master storyteller” (Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author) about a relentlessly twisty murder mystery. No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison eleven years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. And no one is particularly happy to see him again when he’s released after The Exoneration Initiative uncovered evidence that pinned the crime on someone else. In fact, Riley soon turns up murdered, surrounded by the loot from his latest scam. But if Riley was really innocent all along, who wanted him dead? To the cops, it’s straightforward: the still-grieving father of Riley’s dead girlfriend killed the former prisoner. Farrell, now out of politics and practicing law with master attorney Dismas Hardy, agrees to represent the defendant, Doug Rush—and is left in the dust when Rush suddenly vanishes. At a loss, Farrell and Hardy ask PI Abe Glitsky to track down the potentially lethal defendant. The search takes Glitsky through an investigative hall of mirrors populated by wounded parents, crooked cops, cheating spouses, and single-minded vigilantes. As Glitsky embraces and then discards one enticing theory after another, the truth seems to recede ever farther. So far that he begins to question his own moral compass in this “superb thriller from a veteran crime writer” (Jeffrey Deaver, New York Times bestselling author) that you’ll savor to the last word.

#John Lescroart #Dismas Hardy 19 #Legal Thriller #PI #Whodunnit #Mystery #Murder #Crime #Vigilante Justice

[aion-rsa]

The Suicide Squad: John Cena and the Secrets of Peacemaker

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

John Cena is everywhere. He’s a seasoned television host, currently co-hosting TBS’ absurdly fun Wipeout, a #1 New York Times bestselling author with two new books on shelves, and one of the most in-demand, silver screen actors appearing in comedies, family films, and unsurprisingly, action movies alike. For someone whose catchphrase is “You can’t see me!” we sure have been seeing a lot of Cena.

Over Cena’s 18 years in the WWE, the charismatic sports entertainer has collected 16 World Titles and served as the face of the company and moralistic brand ambassador. Cena reigned at the top of the WWE pecking order longer than past favorites like Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and did so with a smile, whether the WWE Universe was behind him or not. Like most of the company’s top stars, Cena inevitably found his way to Hollywood and, after some half-hearted initial forays, has found himself to be an adept and engaging screen presence. You don’t log that many hours on weekly live television without learning how to be a skilled performer.

This summer, Cena’s star looks like it will be shining brighter than ever. Not only will he serve as the main antagonist in the latest Fast & Furious film, F9, but he’s set to make his debut in the DCEU as Peacemaker in James Gunn’s highly anticipated The Suicide Squad. He told us all about it and more in this exclusive interview…

Den of Geek: How did you get the role of Peacemaker?

John Cena: I had tried my hand at trying to crack the DC code for a long time with multiple failures. It was brought to my attention that James had an interest in me playing Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad, and he just wanted to meet with me in person to solidify his instincts. His reputation is one thing, but to see him in action…I got to actually go to the production offices and just see all of their preparation. It’s like nothing I’d ever seen before. 

He really just prepares as good as, or better than, anyone and adds to that his passion for filmmaking and his passion for storytelling. I think he sees his story and then he puts together a list of suspects that could be possible fits, and I was one of those and we hit it off. 

Based on your physique and your background in sports entertainment, many people expected you to book more of these macho action hero roles, but you’ve sort of subverted that expectation with movies like Trainwreck and Blockers. Is Peacemaker meant to continue that subversion of audiences’ preconceived notions about you or does it sort of play into them?

Well, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with diving into preconceived notions, if that’s who you are. I mean, if you can remember, that’s exactly what I did at first. I did macho action movies that were complete failures. So I did that and it wasn’t really who I was at the time.

I compare the experience by saying I got to be put in these action sequences with these tremendous stunts, but yet I was doing that every night in front of 20,000 people and the electric passion you feel and certainly the love and excitement I have had and will have for WWE is unwavering. So given the choice between doing stunts surrounded by 36 cameras and no one else watching or doing stuff in a live arena, I wanted to be in the ring. Especially at that point in my life when I began doing these movies, that would be 2004. I was literally just getting comfortable on the WWE canvas and deciding that that was really where I wanted to be.

Fast forward to now, a decade and a half later, and I don’t think anything’s out of reach, with Fast Nine coming up, that certainly is a blockbuster action installment. The Suicide Squad has a lot of gore and a lot of action involved in it, but it’s me realizing who I am and who I’m not.

I think that’s why you see me all over the map from family movies that Playing With Fire to R-rated comedies like Trainwreck to PG-13’s like Daddy’s Home, to a DC movie like The Suicide Squad, to a straight-up blockbuster action like F9. I have an R-rated comedy coming out on Hulu called Vacation Friends, to a straight-up action two-hander with Jackie Chan called Project X that was filmed in China. Everyone always asks, “Well, what’s the next movie you’re looking for?” And my answer is always the same. I say, “I’ll know it when I read it.” I just like to read stuff and see myself in the story. Because that’s the one thing that’s really helped me with WWE, me being able to absorb the story with whoever I stand across the ring from.

Based on what we’ve seen in the trailers, it almost seems like Peacemaker could be a warped version of your character in WWE. Did you draw any inspiration specifically from the “John Cena,” boy scout-esque character?

I remember meeting with James and asking if I should dive into the comics history of Peacemaker, and he specifically told me not to. I think that’s because James likes to navigate his story. He just was like, “you have what I’m looking for. Just be yourself, and if you’re willing to take direction, I think we can do something special.” 

I originally had approached this character as much more of an angular, drill sergeant, Full Metal Jacket-esque personality, and about 20 minutes into filming our first scene, James came over to me and was like, “This is not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for a douchey, bro-y Captain America.” We do draw from the do-gooder side of John Cena, who has a strong set of values and doesn’t waver from those values. So the answer is yes, but not in my eyes. Whenever I play a role in a movie, it really is never myself. Whereas WWE is the odd thing that a lot of times you have to create an extension of yourself because the narrative is just so damn long. 

The Suicide Squad are a bunch of super-villains and every villain has to believe what they’re doing is right and just, and it’s just their warped perspective of society that makes them evil. I think that’s a great way to describe Peacemaker. He thinks what he is doing is right and just. He just has a really abstract perspective.

What’s it been like to work with James Gunn and develop this character together? 

It’s amazing. He provides you the freedom to take chances, very much like Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer did in Trainwreck, but man, his preparedness and his commitment to narratives in their entirety, from things as simple as the score— it can’t just be a song, it needs to be this particular song at this particular point. He is passionately immersed in the totality of the experience. I just let go and realize that I am far from the smartest person in the room. I’m going to be my nice little piece, pun intended, on the chessboard and let the master figure out what the opening is and what the next move is.

Peacemaker is also getting an HBO Max series. How does it feel to be entrusted with what is essentially the first television series in the DCEU?

I’m very excited. DC has been trying to create excitement and buzz and it has had tremendous success and it has had its share of setbacks, but at the same time they know what their fans want and they know the satisfaction that their fans are looking for. I really think they’re stepping up to give fans what they’ve been waiting for. They’re taking bold and brave chances with completely new characters like you see in The Suicide Squad or completely new takes on all the properties that they have in their bank. I think both of these projects, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, are steps in the right direction.

Did it help to have such a strong grasp on the character from working on the movie first? Or do you think there are aspects of your performance that you found while filming the series that you thought, “Man, I wish I would’ve had this light bulb go off while I was filming the movie.” 

Man, hindsight’s a dirty rabbit hole to go down. If I could tell my former self a bunch of stuff it would be like Hot Tub Time Machine. So it’s just… That’s not the way I operate. I’m absolutely grateful for what’s put in front of me. I just try my best every day to do my best every day. I don’t look back on any experience saying “I wish I would have” I look back on experiences and say “What did I learn?”

Dwayne Johnson is also coming into the DCEU. I think anybody that knows the history you share would love to see you guys square off on the big screen. Do you have any hopes for your respective characters crossing paths someday?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Well, like I said before, I think the DCU is making steps in the right direction, and certainly, there’s a lot of buzz behind Black Adam as well. We’re all kind of under the same umbrella. So do I have hope? I always have hope. I know audiences really enjoyed what we were able to do [in WWE] and if we’re able to transfer that excitement and passion from live entertainment to the big screen, I think it seems like a pretty logical jump, but I don’t make those choices. So all I can do is just keep doing me, man.

The Suicide Squad opens on Aug. 6 in theaters and HBO Max. 

Check out more on The Suicide Squad in the latest issue of Den of Geek!

The post The Suicide Squad: John Cena and the Secrets of Peacemaker appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3aNmJui

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[wantisamlindyla]

Your Ghost - Chapter 1

New York, 1999.

He wanted her to live again, even if she could only come back to him through the pages of a book. 

A/N: Hi all. I’ve been sitting on this for a while I finally decided to post the first chapter.  I have a rough outline but I don’t know how many chapters there are going to be, maybe 6? This is AU, Mileven, takes place 15 years after Eleven disappeared. Most of season 2 still happened, but there was no Mike/Eleven Reunion at the end of episode 8. Will eventually post on Ao3, but I dunno when I’m gonna get my invite to set up an account. Enjoy!

28 October 1999

 “Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming here today. There will be a book signing of this amazing book after this session. Now, the reason for why we are all here today, and why some of you have been lining up outside the venue all night, is currently backstage, waiting patiently for me to stop nerding out and pull myself together to introduce him!

 After publishing his first novel and topping the New York bestseller’s list at only the age of 23, he is here tonight to talk about his newest novel, titled the Ides of Winter, and the third book in the world famous Montauk series. Everybody, please join me in welcoming to the stage, Michael Wheeler!”

***

It was one month and 17 days into the book tour. Mike had one more stop in New York before he could call it a day and go home.

He was so goddamned tired, he still had several book signings, an interview with the New Yorker (with that pretentious prig, Howell), a TV appearance on the Today Show, and, a few radio interviews, before he can escape back to the Lake house in Lovell, Maine which he now called home.

It’s not all bad news though. New York means seeing Will again for the first time since Christmas.

Not that Mike has completely lost all touch with his old friends, quite on the contrary.  

After graduating from a fine arts course at his brother’s alma mater, NYU, Will had decided to stay in the city. He’d eventually landed an unpaid internship at a small start up animation studio. Now Will split his time travelling back and forth from California to New York as the head character designer on a number of superhero animated cartoons that Mike watched religiously on Saturday mornings.

It wasn’t hard to stay in touch with Will, it was just that this last year had been manic. Mike had barely fit in time for sleep what with working frantically to get his novel finished, having to attend stressful and tense meetings with his editor, forcing himself to return his lawyers’ phone calls about a copyright infringement litigation his publishers had commenced on his behalf, and having to deal with ideas about for the short story anthology he had been working on springing up at the most inconvenient times.

He and Will still managed to talk every other day though, either by telephone or AIM.

Ever since Nancy and Jonathan officially became a couple around Christmas of ‘84, Jonathan and Will became regular dinner guests at the Wheeler residence. He and Will had become almost inseparable, more than anybody in the party.

During his parents’ divorce, which took place during Mike’s sophomore year of high school, with Nancy and Jonathan away at college, Mike spent more and more time at the Byers’ residence, trying to escape the tensions at home, right up until he left for college in ‘89.

At college, Mike made new friends, attended dumb keg parties, dated girls, but he never lost touch with Dustin, Will, Lucas, or Max.

You didn’t help save the end of the world with your friends, twice, and then drift away from them over trivial things like distance and attending different colleges.

In fact, Mike had just met up with Dustin only a few months ago. Dustin had been in Maine for some reason connected with his annoyingly mysterious job.

After Dustin had graduated from MIT he had immediately been recruited by a secretive tech company in California. Dustin couldn’t talk about where he worked or what he did at his job. Whenever people asked him where he worked he’d tell them Cyberdyne Systems with a straight face.

He and Dustin had attended the Phantom Menace premiere together with Dustin’s then-girlfriend, Cindy. The boys had left the movie theatre deflated and heartsore while Cindy had tried valiantly to console them by saying all the wrong things.

Dustin called Mike a few weeks later to inform him that he and Cindy were no longer going out.

“I had to dump her Mike, she said she thought Jar Jar Binks was cute. Also she refused to share her food with me when we went out.”

“So?”

 “So? So? It’s weird. We go out for Italian and I end up having to eat an entire Pepperoni pizza on my own, which I don’t really mind, but then her ravioli looks good too, but she won’t let me have any because she likes us to have our own meals. And don’t even get me started on that time I took her to Wang’s Treasure Palace.” 

Besides those occasional and surprising visits during the year there was always Christmas and New Years at Lucas and Max’s place to look forward to.

Of all of them only Lucas and Max had opted to return to Hawkins. Lucas quit his mechanical engineering job and got a position as an assistant professor, teaching at the community college only after a few years in Chicago. Max got a job as a mechanic at a garage. They bought a house, got married, and got busy starting a family.

Mike smiled at the memory of last year’s Christmas.

He’d practically lived at Lucas and Max’s house the whole time he was there since the picture perfect Wheeler family Christmases that his mom had worked so hard to create during his childhood was now only a distant memory.

Nancy preferred to spend her Christmases in New York with Jonathan and Mrs Byers. The Wheeler home had been sold a few years ago when Holly had left to go to college. Holly preferred to spend her holidays in Chicago with her boyfriend’s family.

His mom was away on another cruise, and, his dad was busy with wife number two.

So, Mike spent his Christmas and News Years at the Sinclairs. He’d taught their three-year-old son, Robbie, how to build a snowman. He conducted a twelve-hour D & D Campaign, pelted Dustin with snowballs, watched a pregnant Max eat all the ice-cream and listened to her complain about how gassy pregnancy made her, watched a star wars marathon and gorged on pizza on Christmas day (just because Max was the only girl in the party did not mean that she would be cooking and cleaning for four man-child wastoids who liked to mooch off her and Lucas).  

Mike considered a detour to Hawkins for a visit after New York so he could meet the newest addition to the Sinclair family, baby Grace, who was about to turn 6 months old. He decided to bring it up with Will tonight at dinner.

Mike pulled himself back to the present and to the interviewer who was introducing him to her broadcast audience.  

“You’re listening to Terry Gross on Fresh Air. Joining us today is Michael Wheeler, author of the best selling book series, Montauk. The series is set in the 60s, in the small town of Montauk in upstate New York, the town is haunted by the misdeeds of its occupants.

The main protagonist is Millie, a brave young girl, with a few secrets of her own.

When Millie’s best friend, Noah, goes missing in mysterious and sinister circumstances, she sets out on a journey into the woods near the town to find him. The first two books in the series have already sold over 80 million copies worldwide and a movie adaptation of the first novel is currently in the works. The third book in the series, Ides of Winter, was released recently.

Michael was only 23 when the first novel in the series was published. He was awarded the Hugo Award for best new author in ‘95 and he has been named one of Time’s most influential people of the year. Michael thank you so much for joining us today.”

“Of course, thank you for having me.”

Terry was one of the best interviewers Mike had the pleasure of meeting. Her soft spoken and inquisitive questions put him immediately at ease, so much so that so he almost forgot he was being interviewed on radio.

He didn’t forget to lie though.

When Terry asked him about where he’d drawn inspiration from for his twelve-year-old girl protagonist, he told her Millie was a blend of himself and the two sisters whom he’d grown up with.

When Terry asked him what drew him to the supernatural and horror themes prevalent in his novels, he only talked about the books and authors he’d read growing up.

“Michael, my favourite chapter of your second novel is the Cave of Horrors. I’m sure you get that a lot. I just wanted to ask you about that chapter, because it’s pivotal, its when Millie comes to believe that she may have truly lost her friend forever, and you write so well about grief, and loss, and the trauma associated with that at such a young age. I guess what I wonder is, was this kind of loss something you had experience with?”

Mike pauses for a long moment.

He doesn’t know what it was, perhaps it’s the kindness in Terry’s voice.

Maybe it was the year he’d just had, it’d been especially difficult.  

Maybe it was the tour.

Maybe it was the thought of that big empty lake house waiting for him at the end of the tour.

Maybe he’s just so tired of the lies and the bullshit. He didn’t really even understand why he still did it; it’s as natural as breathing, but its been almost 15 years. All the men who could punish him or his friends for saying the wrong thing are long gone.

He doesn’t know why or what it is, but all of a sudden his chest feels as if it’s been cracked wide open and its like everyone can see the wound inside him, vulnerable and raw as the day it happened. He wants to tell the world about her, he wants to scream it from the top of the Empire State Building.

He’s twelve years old again, he can smell the tang of blood and the smoke of ashes that had never touched fire. He can hear the violent and desperate screams of a dying creature ringing in his ears and in between darkness and the flickering fluorescent lights, he sees her eyes, tired, resigned, and filled with pain.

Goodbye Mike.

He wanted her to live again, even if she could only come back to him through the pages of a book.

So he’d saved her the only way he knew how. She came back to life by people reading his book, by growing to love and adore Millie, the brave and wonderful girl that would face monsters and death in order to save her friends.

“I….I lost a friend when I was a kid Terry. I don’t really speak about it often. But the way that it happened….it was violent and sudden. I don’t think I was able to come to grips with it for many years. It’s hard to admit sometimes, I think I lie to myself about it, but so much of her is in my writing.”

Terry nodded thoughtfully even though though the gesture won’t be captured by the microphone.

“Did writing help you with dealing with that loss?”

Mike answered honestly, “I don’t know. Some days I think it’s made it worse, because she’s with me, everyday. I live and breathe the loss of her in work. But its just become inseparable from me, the pain. I think it’s just like an arm, or a leg. You heal, but you’re not ever the same. And you never really forget what you lost.” 

#mike/eleven #mileven #fanfic #stranger things #au mileven #chapter 1 #authormike

[booksbakingandblogging]

It’s time to step up and do the work to eradicate racism. That’s an abrupt start to a blog post, but it’s also the truth and one that we shouldn’t ignore any longer. Over the past week, protests have erupted all over the world in response to the murder of George Floyd, and it doesn’t look like they’re stopping any time soon – and with good reason. Black people have been faced with racism every day for centuries and they are tired of it. Of course they are. It’s a gross injustice and it’s taking human lives. This isn’t a political issue – it’s a human rights issue, and we need to stop looking away and face it. We live in a world with systemic racism, where Black people (and people of colour in general) face microaggressions every single day. Racism is a system created by white people, so it will need to be dismantled by white people as well. Let’s stand up, and get to work (follow this link to find out how you can help).

That was my little speech. Now, let’s get down to specifics of this post: we need to educate ourselves. A lot of people (myself included) have been too ignorant about racism for a long time, and in order to be able to help, we need to learn. Part of that is reading books by Black authors, both fiction and non-fiction. Fiction can teach us empathy and it can create understanding, which is extremely important. On the other hand, non-fiction faces us with our history and everything that’s going on in the world in concrete terms. Let’s educate ourselves and read books by Black authors. Not just the ones that tell us about pain and trauma, but also the ones about joy and happiness. We need to learn, and this is a good way to do it. Plus, by reading more Black authors, we’re giving off a sign to the publishing industry that books by Black authors are wanted and cherished.

10 books by Black authors to read right now

While putting together this list, I realised that I can do much better myself as well: I need to read more books by Black authors too. Luckily, there are tons of other people out there making lists of books by Black authors, so I’ve found many books to add to my TBR already. I recommend checking out these two lists by Chapters of May and Electric Lit, too. If you’re looking for more non-fiction resources, including articles, films and podcasts, you can check out this list!

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1. The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas (2017)

Let’s start with the most obvious one first given the current situation. If you’re a fan of YA and haven’t read this yet: what are you doing? This novel tells the story of Starr, a Black girl who sees her best friend be murdered by the police right in front of her eyes. It deals with the aftermath of this traumatic and terrible event, as Starr struggles with what happened while having to see her friend be talked about all over the media. At the same time, it’s also a story about Starr as a teenage girl, and her loving family. This book was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and it’s extremely important. I’m happy to say that it’s a bestseller and has sold millions of copies.

2. Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid (2019)

In Such a Fun Age, our 25-year-old Black protagonist Emira works as a babysitter for a white family, caring for three-year-old Briar. The story kicks off when Emira is apprehended by a security guard in a grocery store because he thinks she has kidnapped Briar. The book deals with racism and white privilege and it’s a very eye-opening read. I learned a lot from it in terms of unintentional racism (remember: impact is more important than intent). Plus, the writing is phenomenal. I can’t wait to read more by this debut author.

3. A Different Drummer – William Melvin Kelley (1962)

I read this book last month, and it’s the best book I’ve read in a long time (read my full review here). It is a literary masterpiece: stylistically brilliant and a story that takes on epic proportions. On a random day in 1957, in a fictional state in the deep south of the USA, the entire Black population decides to leave. They pack their things and leave the state, fed up with its racist history and the way they are being treated by the white population. The story is told through the perspective of this white population that is left behind and it is so incredibly powerful. William Melvin Kelley was described as ‘the lost giant of American literature’. Why was he forgotten? Let’s just say it: it was most likely because of racism. Go read this book!

4. Let’s Talk About Love – Claire Kann (2018)

June is also pride month, so I want to add at least one LGBTQIA+ book to this list. Alice is a Black, biromantic, asexual girl in college and she is done with dating after her girlfriend breaks up with her for being asexual. But then Takumi becomes her new co-worker at the library she works at, and she can’t stop thinking about him. This novel explores asexuality in such a wonderful way and I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. I’d highly recommend picking it up!

5. There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé – Morgan Parker (2017)

Let’s throw some poetry in the mix! In this collection, Morgan Parker explores what it’s like to be a Black American woman in the 21st century. She uses pop-culture and political references as her framework and doesn’t shy away from important and difficult topics such a depression, isolation, and exoticism. Thought-provoking and confronting, this is an essential collection for anyone who is into modern poetry.

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6. Dear Martin – Nic Stone (2017)

In Dear Martin, main character Justyce tries to do everything ‘right’: get good grades, dress appropriately, and be an all-around upstanding citizen. Nevertheless, when he tries to help out his drunk ex-girlfriend, he is arrested by a (racist) white cop, and he realises he cannot escape racial profiling from the institution that is meant to protect him. He feels a lot of frustration and anger at this realisation and decides to try and apply the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. He begins to write letters to MLK as he tries to find his place in the world, dealing with white privileged, racist assholes (let’s just say it as it is) and police brutality. Another book that taught me so, so much.

7. Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge (2017)

This is the only book on this list that I haven’t read in its entirety – but I’m in the middle of it and I am learning an awful lot about racism and white privilege in Britain. For those of you who think that racism is only a big problem in the USA: think again, and read this. Reni Eddo-Lodge didn’t plan on writing this book; she wrote a blog post with the same title, explaining that whenever she talked to white people about racism, she encountered skeptical stares and people unwilling to learn. Wanting to protect herself from that in the future, she vowed to stop talking about racism to white people. The response to the blog post was so enormous, however, that she ended up writing this book. It’s been on my radar for a few years now, but I’m ashamed to admit that it apparently took an uprising for me to get up off my lazy ass and actually read this, and educate myself. I urge you to do the same!

8. Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi (2018)

More of a fantasy reader? No problem, I’ve got a recommendation for that as well, even though fantasy is a notoriously white genre. Children of Blood and Bone is a YA fantasy novel based on West African mythology. It tells the story of a land in which magic has disappeared. When that happened, the king ordered all maji to be murdered. The children of these maji remain alive, though, but they become outcasts. They have darker skin than the rest of the population and are judged and discriminated against because of it (sound familiar?). The novel tells the story of Zélie, who finds herself with a chance to bring magic back, but has to race against the clock to do so. This is a YA fantasy story that has an all-black cast of character and explores and condemns racism: such an important addition to the genre.

9. With the Fire on High – Elizabeth Acevedo (2019)

This book tells the story of Emoni, who lives with her grandmother and is still in high school – but also has a young daughter to take care of. Emoni loves to cook, and the novel is filled with delicious descriptions of food and some of the recipes Emoni creates from scratch, which I always love in a book. It also deals with all the prejudice Emoni encounters as a Black teenage mother, however, and how it differs from how her daughter’s white teenage father is treated. Sexism and racism are both explored, but this novel is also a wonderful coming of age story as Emoni tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life.

10. The Sun Is Also a Star – Nicola Yoon (2016)

Spanning one single day in New York, this YA novel deals with racism and immigration, but it’s also a story of two people falling in love. Natasha has one day before her family will be deported to Jamaica, and she is desperate to find a way to stay in the USA. In the meantime, Korean-American Daniel is on his way to his college admission interview. They meet by chance and they spend one day together, Daniel wanting to fall in love and Natasha feeling the absolute opposite. I learned a lot about both of these two characters’ cultures and about what it is like to be an immigrant in the USA. As far as learning about other perspectives goes, this is a very good book to pick up.

With everything that's going on in the world, I wanted to do my part to raise some awareness and hopefully help educate some people. Here are 10 great books by Black authors to pick up and read today! It's time to step up and do the work to eradicate racism. That's an abrupt start to a blog post, but it's also the truth and one that we shouldn't ignore any longer.

#Black Lives Matter #Books #List #Novels #Reading #Recommendations

[oliverphisher]

June Loves

June Loves is a well-respected author who has written over 100 books, including non-fiction and fiction for children, reference books and academic publications, over the past 20 years. June’s combined career as a newspaper journalist, freelance writer, teacher-librarian and bookseller enable her to empathise, comfort and keep young and old writers on track.

She is a mother of four and grandmother of 11 grandchildren and two great grandchildren, all of whom delight in spending time with her. She lives in coastal Victoria with her husband.

Modern Grandparenting: Games and Activities to Enjoy with Your Grandchildren By June Loves

She lives near the beach in Victoria, Australia with her husband. Her latest books are The Shelly Beach Writers' Group and Modern Grandparenting.

Where have I been & what have I been writing lately?

Nearly three years ago I fell down Alice’s rabbit holeand started following signs – Tell Your Story. This Way!I’ve taken lots of detours. Thankfully I can see a light at the end of the tunnel!

Detours

I detoured to assist writers to tell their story via email Q&A’s, I’vepresentednumerous workshops and talks at the U3A, community centres and libraries – even on a cruise ship (which stopped me jumping overboard!)And I’ve completed my book

How to Tell Your Story A-Z. I’ve also been filing through memories to write my complicated memoir.(‘Unfinished!’)

Remembering 1950’s Rural school teaching I’ve been writing a fake tell-all memoir –Miss Abigail Peabody.

(A Mostly True Memoir) (Unfinished!)

Now I can assure fellow writers the process of writing a memoir or an autobiography(your life from cradle to grave) is hard work and it will become your passion.

Many prime ministers and famous celebs dash off auto bio 700-page tomes. Lesser mortals will feel good (or bad) writing their memoirs. A memoir being parts or events of a lifeis doable!

Where to start?

It’s easy to start. Well relatively easy. You have the plot, characters and setting. You can begin at any place but be prepared. It takes a mammoth effort to work through the difficult, seemingly boring bits to the last page.Then you need to take a deep breath. Get ready to revise, rewrite and edit.It will be worth it!

I believe I’ve nailed the essentials you need to ‘Tell Your Story’ in my (Five Steps? or Ten Top Tips?)

 PS: If you’re cashed up you can employ a Publishing Consultant, Ghostwriter, editor/s, or a biographer to assist you in writing your story. (Caution: This couldbe easier or more difficult than writing your story!)

PPS: Leave out writing that could be construed as libel – writing that could be injurious to others. It’s not so much a case of black or white but of the greys between.However it’s your story. If you decide to leavedodgy content in – your story could become a brilliant best-seller novel!Woo Hoo!

Three books: bios or memoirs that have influenced me.

1. Storyteller. The Life of Roald Dahl by Donald Sturrock.

Roald Dahl is my favourite children’s author.Reading his stories kept children sitting on the mat during storytime in my library. Storytelleris a masterly biography and an example of how to include private papers, references and other end-page info in a book.

Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl By Donald Sturrock

2. I Remember Nothing And Other Reflections by Nora Ephron.  

This book is hilarious musings on ageing by the writer of the New York Times bestseller Heartburn,and writer and director of the brilliantscreenplays When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood and Sleepless in Seattle.

(I poached Nora Ephron’s structure of including recipes from her title Heartburnand used in my children’s novel One Wild Week With My Grandmother.)

I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections By Nora Ephron

3. Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas.

This book is a perfectly designed, usefulhandbook. I purchased it 15 years ago according to the bookshop tag and it’sbeen hidden in my bookshelf before I thought of writing my memoir. I love Abigail Thomas’s quote, ‘Memoir is the story of how we got here from there.’

Thinking About Memoir (AARP) By Abigail Thomas

What purchase of $100 has impacted on your life in the last six months?

Last week I purchased a pack of Artline 220 Super Fine 0.2mm Fine Line Black pens and I ordered 10 Chunky notebooks online. Both purchases added up to about $100. My comforting purchases are stacked in a cupboard. Now I have a supply of pens and notebooks to record ideas, characters, plots & dialogue – and I’ll be able to capture that best-selling 3am idea!

How has failure set you up for later success?

I believe if you enjoy writing the only way a writer can fail is to give up. And it helps to have a skin like a salt-water crocodile to cope with rejections. Writers have to accept that rejection will be part and parcel of the professional writing process if you want to publish your writing.

Don’t bin or delete a rejection straight away. Sometimes an agent or editor will write encouraging and helpful comments. They may even say they’re interested in reading your work again – if you do a ‘rewrite’.

It’s up to you.

I’ve known editors, agents or publishers to change their mind. They ask to see your work again and they accept your submission after they’ve rejected it!

Rejection can have positive as well as negative outcomes. On the positive side, rejection can inspire you to improve your writing skills.

You can re-evaluate your writing after a rejection – rewrite or stand by what you’ve written.

If you self-publish you don’t have to worry about rejections. Then again online reviews can be dodgy and hurtful. And you’ll probably feel rejected if sales numbers are low.

Do a little war dance and start writing again!

Are there any quotes you live your life by?

When I was a 15-year old and found myself a job as a Lois Lane reporter in a newspaper my grandmother’s advise was to ‘Work Hard! Work as hard as you can!

Be polite and smile!’ This has proved excellent advise in my 25-year career as a teacher librarian, and 24 years as a working writer.

What is the best writing resource investment you’ve made?

My second-hand clunky Remington Rand typewriter I purchased when I was 15. I paid it off in instalments. Then came the Apple computers I purchased (and have loved) beginning in the 80s.

What’s an unusual habit you have?

In winter when I spend long hours at the computer I wear a woolly, faded blue dressing gown over my clothes. I enjoy the startled looks of visitors when they think they’ve disturbed a sick old lady – not knowing this old writer has been living the most exciting life typing chapter after chapter of her scandalous novel.

What advice would you give to a smart, driven, aspiring author?

Make sure you use a correct chair, and your writing space is arranged ergonomically.

Keep a glass of water on your desk. Be organised. Plan daily blocks of time within your week or a set amount of time over a week. Develop a routine.

Don’t wait for the ‘muse’ or for inspiration. Just write! Set yourself writing goals for each writing session. Aim for a word count goal of 500 to 1,000, a set number of hours, or a specific number of scenes. Work to deadlines. File or basket your work so you can locate it at a minute’s notice. (Good practice in working with editors!)

Keep learning your writer’s craft across new media. Appreciate your imagination. It’s a writer’s gift.

In the last five years how have you become better at saying ‘No’?

I’ve finally learnt ‘The Gracious No’ Reply. This is an excellent excuse for writers who are desperate to find time to write. ‘The Gracious No’ conversation can go like this. ‘Are you free to meet tomorrow?’ A writer’s reply, ‘Just let me check my diary.’

Then after the writer checks they’re diary. ‘Sorry I’d love to meet with you but I have to take the goldfish to the vet.’ Fortunately the goldfish recovers! And the writer has time to write.

What marketing tactics should authors avoid?

I haven’t a clue. Obviously dodgy social media but I’m rubbish at marketing. However I’ve made a list of DIY Marketing Tips I intend to follow to market my two novels – The Governess, and The Secret Memoir of Abigail Peabody, and my latest non-fiction How-2 Write Your Life Story A-Z: Everything U Need 2 Know

• Don’t underestimate the value of word-of-mouth advertising. Think locally… contact newspapers, radio & TV stations, bookshops, libraries, and local markets to promote your book.

• Select the pricing of your book with care. You need to check similar books and decide whether to match, undercut, ignore their pricing and/or offer free copies for a certain time.

• Make yourself available for photo shoots, interviews and to write promotional pieces about your book.

• Use marketing tools such as: posters, reviews, interviews, media appearances, podcasts and social media.

• Write short form copy e.g. sound bites, tweets, taglines and headlines to market your life story. Be prepared to describe your memoir in 140 characters or less. Have a list of snappy phrases and sound bites ready-to-go.

• Submit your life story for competitions and to be reviewed.

What new realisation helped you achieve your goals?

Just recently three of my writerly friends have passed away leaving unfinished novels on their desks. I decided I wasn’t going to die with two unfinished novels and a How-2 trapped inside me so I completed my projects. They’re in typescript stacks on my desk and in folders on my computer.

Now I can start writing short story! A definitely shorter project! Or Essays!

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed and lose focus?

I divide a writing project into doable steps – words, pages, chapters? Even volumes!

(I’ve spent two years of my life writing the multi-volume The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia, (First and Second Editions). I enjoyed working through volume after volume. When each volume was completed I took it to the publisher.

I give myself a ‘cushion deadline’ – an easy, or an earlier deadline if I have a professional deadline to meet. (You never know when you have to take the cat to the vet!)

I don’t beat myself up if I have a Bad-writing day, week or months. I accept King-hits from life events. You have to start again. Set yourself a new goal, and a new cushion deadline.

________

Enjoyed this Q&A? Want to discuss in more depth? Join Community Writers. You'll get access to 100+ exclusive writing tips. Q&As with successful authors, an exclusive ebook on building an audience and much more. Sign-up for free as a community writer here

source https://www.thecommunitywriter.com/blog/june-loves-1

#Writing WriteMotivation WritingAdvice

[richincolor]

Interview with Sandhya Menon - There’s Something About Sweetie

We're happy to have Sandhya Menon with us today to answer a few questions about her writing life and her newest book There's Something About Sweetie. [Crystal's Review]

From the Press Release: The irresistible companion novel to the New York Times bestseller When Dimple Met Rishi, THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SWEETIE (Simon Pulse) by Sandhya Menon follows Rishi’s brother, Ashish, and a confident, self-proclaimed fat athlete named Sweetie as they both discover what love means to them. With the intersectional body-positivity of Dumplin’ and the emotional heartstrings of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, this swoon-worthy rom-com celebrates Indian culture and the power of falling for someone who likes you for you.

Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up. The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death. Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

There's Something About Sweetie is a laugh-out-loud funny coming-of-age novel full of warmth with a will-they-won’t-they romance that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

The cover of There's Something About Sweetie overflows with joy and makes me smile every time I see it. What was your response when you first saw Sweetie and what have you been hearing from readers about the cover image?

I’d already had the honor of picking the specific model for the cover, so I knew it was going to be adorable! However, actually seeing the finished product was such a brilliant experience. I remember bursting into the biggest smile when I saw her radiant smile!

Readers of every background are really connecting with Sweetie’s picture. I’ve had so many other self-proclaimed fat readers tell me her double chin gives them life! It’s a rare occasion for most people to see such an unapologetically beautiful, happy fat model on a book cover.

Can you tell us a little about the Sassy Sweetie Project and if you ever thought up such a project for yourself?

The Sassy Sweetie Project is something Sweetie comes up with to show the world the confident, kickass girl she is! She already knows she’s beautiful and perfect the way she is, but she’s very aware that the world around her doesn’t think she deserves to be happy. The Sassy Sweetie Project is her way of owning that happiness, of refusing to let other people dictate what a “happily ever after” should look like.

I personally am a huge fan of “fake it till you make it” in situations I find disconcerting or intimidating, but I’ve never launched something as official as a Sassy Sandhya Project! Maybe I should…hmm…

What has it meant to you to see more and more books out in the world about girls like Sweetie, Dimple, and Twinkle?

The diversity in publishing, especially children’s publishing, is so wonderful! I love seeing such a wide variety of main characters, and that children of every identity out can see themselves in a story. I also feel incredibly lucky to be publishing with a house that welcomes my stories and pushes them so hard.

When did you catch the writing bug and when did you feel like this was something you wanted to do for a career?

I’ve been writing since I was very young, probably around kindergarten or first grade! I only began seriously pursuing publishing in my late twenties. When Dimple Met Rishi, my first book, came out when I was 33, so I was a late bloomer in that regard.

I see that you have a series in the works. Can you share a little bit about that yet or is it top secret?

Thanks for asking; I’m so excited about my contemporary fairy tale-retelling series! The first book, Of Curses and Kisses, comes out in February 2020. Of Curses and Kisses has modern-day royals, an elite boarding school, and a sprinkling of Beauty and the Beast! The story follows an Indian princess, Jaya Rao, who enrolls at St. Rosetta’s Academy just outside of Aspen, Colorado, to con a misanthropic British aristocrat named Grey Emerson into falling in love with her so she can break his heart. The Raos and the Emersons have been feuding for a long time, and Jaya wants to exact revenge for all the wrongs the Emersons have committed against her family. There’s no outright magic in Of Curses and Kisses, but you’ll be left wondering what, if anything, an ancient curse has to do with a rose-shaped ruby pendant…

Have Bollywood movies influenced your writing in any way?

I grew up watching Bollywood movies, which is why I think I’m so partial to happily-ever-afters!

As of May you're officially a "mid-career author" with three published books, so it's likely you've had many interesting experiences. What has been your strangest or most humorous publishing related moment?

Gosh, so many! One of my favorites is the time an older Indian mom attended my signing and tried to get me to go out with her son. I told her I was married with kids, and she said that was okay with her. *jaw drop*

Thanks so much for sharing love and laughter with the world through your books. Thanks also for taking the time to answer questions for us. We look forward to reading more of your writing over the years.

Thanks so much for having me, and for all the great work you do!

Sandhya Menon is the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi; From Twinkle, with Love; and There’s Something About Sweetie. A full-time dog-servant and part-time writer, she makes her home in the foggy mountains of Colorado. Visit her online at SandhyaMenon.com.

#Sandhya Menon #There's Something About Sweetie #YALit

[aaronjameswriting]

8 tips continued... Tip #4

4. Get Input From Real Teenagers

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult has written close to two dozen novels, many of which—like My Sister’s Keeper and Nineteen Minutes—focus on memorable teenage characters. But it wasn’t until last year that she wrote a book specifically for young-adult readers, Between the Lines, which she co-wrote with her teenage daughter, Samantha van Leer.

“Having a co-writer who was a teenager was like having a built-in B.S. meter sitting next to me,” Picoult says. “Every now and then, Sammy would say something out loud that was such an apt metaphor. It wasn’t something I would have thought of, but it was something she was living every day because she was in high school when she was writing this book. The example I always think about is a group of popular girls in the book who are described as being like a bunch of grapes because, honestly, do you ever see just one of them alone? I thought it was hilarious because it was so true.”

It’s not the first time Picoult used a real-life teenager to make her writing more accurate. When she was writing The Pact, a 1998 novel about a teenage suicide pact, she picked up some pizza and soda, called up her babysitter, and interviewed her and her friends. “I just listened to them talk to each other and tried to hone in on where their minds were about that topic,” Picoult says. “I think if you’re a writer, you do your research and do your due diligence. It sounds funny to listen to teenagers as research.”

Not every writer takes this approach—Rowell didn’t need to investigate online fan communities when crafting the characters of Fangirl. “I’m addicted to Tumblr, so when I was writing, I had read so much fan fiction and spend so much time in fandom places on the Internet, a lot of it I had internalized,” says Rowell, a former newspaper columnist. (Fangirl, unsurprisingly, was the first pick for Tumblr’s official book club).

But Rowell did draw on those communities when she needed feedback. “I had friends in fandom who I would say to, every once in awhile, ‘Tell me how you feel about this, does this ring true to you, talk to me,’” she says. “I write from what I know, and if I write something I don’t know, I’ll go out and talk to them. It doesn’t feel like an expedition to find out what the teens are doing. Because I was a reporter for so long, it makes sense to me.”

#writing #writing blog #new writers on tumblr #writing guide #young adult lit

[acehotel]

INTERVIEW: Leslie Jamison

Leslie Jamison’s New York Times-bestselling essay collection The Empathy Exams drew comparisons to the work of Susan Sontag, Joan Didion and John Jeremiah Sullivan, quickly rooting her as a visionary nonfiction writer of our time. She’s also a novelist (The Gin Closet), a columnist for The New York Times Book Review, and—drumroll, please—this month’s Dear Reader author at Ace Hotel New York. 

Earlier this month, Leslie spent one night at Ace, penning a letter to an imagined audience. What she wrote has been kept secret until today, when her letter will be placed bedside in each room. We caught up with Leslie to talk disruption, the associative logic of the essay and feeling lucky.  

If you could correspond with any fictional character or literary figure via letters, who would it be?  And why?

LESLIE JAMISON: How to choose? I love letters. I’ll say the first answer that comes to mind. Recently, I’ve been rereading Zora Neal Hurston’s Of Mules and Men—an account of gathering folklore from her childhood home in Florida, as well as an exploration of voodoo culture in New Orleans—and would love to have corresponded with her as she wrote it; to hear the fuller version of her fraught feelings about being an ethnographer in her own hometown.

Do you map out your writing, or do you discover your path as you go? How often does your work go in directions you never expected?

There’s always some kind of plan and there’s always a disruption of the plan. It’s so different with every project, and my pieces range from personal essays to critical pieces to longform narrative journalism, but the work always surprises me somehow: the essay about an ultra-runner in prison in West Virginia also ends up becoming a piece about the West Virginia prison industry; the piece about past-life memories also becomes an interrogation of what journalists owe their subjects, the essay about my obsession with Kevin Durant also becomes an account of the week Alton Sterling and Philando Castile died. There’s something about the associative logic of the essay itself that invites surprise, and certain something about the act of reporting that seems to demand a level of openness to it: How can you know what you will discover, before you discover it?

Dear Reader tasks you with writing for an imagined audience of strangers. How much do you think about your audience when you write? Have you ever been surprised by who is drawn to your work?

I loved writing for anonymous strangers staying in various hotel rooms, largely because whenever I stay in hotel rooms, I always think about strangers—specifically, the other strangers who have stayed in that same room, and what happened to them while they were staying there. I never pretend to imagine what other people will make of my work, so I find it hard to write “for” an audience in any way—it seems like a necessary species of humility to confess: I have no idea what you will think, or how you will respond! But I do love hearing from people who are drawn to my work, and am often surprised by the people I hear from: One of the first people who ever wrote to me about an essay I wrote about (among other things) an abortion was an elderly man writing from his nursing home, saying how much the piece had spoken to his experience. There are dangers to universalizing—to pretending we can all share experiences, or common ground—but also dangers to precluding certain kinds of resonance across predictable category boundaries.

What's a book that you wish more people knew about?

I recently read and loved Kathleen Collins’ posthumous collection of short stories, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? It’s a stylistically jagged and provocative collection. Some of the pieces read like one-act plays, a lot of them left me feeling like I was eavesdropping on someone from the inside of her kitchen cupboards. They were raw and penetrating: about creativity, passion, race, being young, trying to be young with other people who are young. She never takes herself too seriously; there’s something witty and tonic about every move.

Do you have any rituals, ceremonies or requirements that accompany your writing process?

My main “ritual” involves writing whenever I am not teaching, commuting on the subway, paying bills, or caring for an eight-year-old. Which is not to say that life or writing is drudgery—my writing is the sacred clearing I try so hard to clear room for, because I love it and feel grateful whenever I am able to inhabit it, and I genuinely believe that the various parts of life, logistical and creative, are not forces in opposition but can speak to each other in weirdly generative ways—but that I write whatever I can, whenever I can, and feel fucking lucky whenever I get to do it. I’m not precious about it.

Dear Reader is a collaboration with Ace Hotel New York and Tin House. See this interview and other great things over at their website. 

#yes #interview #dear reader #leslie jamison #tin house #ace hotel new york #nyc

[stellatex]

Nine Questions I Need Teresa Giudice to Answer: Updated

Originally published February 15, 2016 I actually gave up Bravo for Lent, but I've already floundered on day one by continuing to watch, think about, and write about this bullshit. Sunk costs and all that.

So, here is my updated scorecard on the nine questions I needed Teresa to answer if she expected the viewing public to continue watching and supporting her.

1. You said in your statement to the judge during sentencing that you “fully take responsibility” for your actions. You said, “It’s time for me to wake up… I will make this right no matter what it takes.” Why, immediately afterward, in your interview on Watch What Happens Live, did you backtrack and try to deflect blame to your husband while insisting things were just put before you to sign?

In my opinion, she's doing this because she's being coached, either by her lawyer or a new PR team, or both, probably because they mistakenly believe that painting Teresa as some kind of innocent bedazzled Madonna will allow her to keep the Bravo Sunday gravy train chugging along. It's also possible that Teresa's advisors, friends, and various hangers-on, whoever they may be, are telling her how faaaaabulous she is--that's it's obvious she's the wronged party, and that she's so very strong and inspiring, etc., etc.--because they know who butters their bread, and, if history is any guide, Teresa has a habit of cutting out anyone who questions her lies and self deception (as we've seen both on the show and in the news reports about how she fired her publicist, her lawyers, and her co-writer). It's obvious that there are still a few small-time Jersey famewhores buzzing around Teresa in the mistaken belief that she is a queen bee. Typical celebrity yes-men and con-men. We've seen this over and over with celebrities, and it never turns out well, though a lot of people may make a lot of money in the short-term, and get some of that reflected spotlight that they so obviously crave. Regardless, like I said in my original post, if Teresa thinks she can just skate out of federal prison as a sinewy, chilled-out felon and continue to stonewall and deny and refuse to acknowledge any criminal culpability whatsoever, she has severely misjudged the nature of her dubious fame. But more on that in a moment.

Regardless, all of the interviewers asked her a fairly direct version of the question above; shockingly, Andy Cohen pushed it the hardest, asking point-blank, "What did you do? Can you tell us what you did?" And still she played dumb, owning up to merely "signing some papers." Girlfriend, we can all read the indictment. If you're so innocent, why didn't you take your case to trial? You admitted in the process of accepting a plea deal that you were guilty. Accepting a plea deal necessitates that you not only agree to pleading guilty, but that you are fully cognizant of what you are pleading to and that you understand the consequences. We all know what you did, Teresa.

2. You claim to be “business savvy,” telling your husband on an episode of RHONJ, “Like, you know, that’s what I do now. I’m a businesswoman, so I’m thinking business.” You’ve touted your online businesses, your Fabellini drink line, your Milania hair care line, your success as a “New York Time [sic] best-selling author.” So how is it that you are also simultaneously claiming to be a clueless housewife who knows nothing of her own finances, including the assets from said businesses that you tried to hide during both your fraudulent bankruptcy and your sentencing?

See above. This is bullshit.

3. If you are blaming your husband Joe for your ten-plus-years of financial fraud and the year you spent unjustly incarcerated in a federal prison, why are you still with him?

"Because I know he would never do anything to hurt me. He didn't mean to."

Uh, okay. That is also bullshit. Just transparently, obviously, self evidently, undeniably, total bullshit.

4. What would you say to the creditors, banks, and, most importantly, small business owners of New Jersey whom you and your husband fleeced to the tune of millions of dollars? Do you feel any obligation to repay these debts?

Still waiting on someone, anyone, to ask her this obvious follow-up question.

Furthermore, Teresa: I don't want to hear anything else about how this is all Joe's fault, or your brother Joe Gorga's fault, or your sister-in-law Melissa's fault, or your cousin Kathy's fault, or your accountants' fault, or your bankers' fault, or your attorneys' fault. It's not. It's 100% your fault. You're the one who committed the crimes. You're the one who went on national television flaunting thousands of dollars of cash purchases despite the fact that neither you nor your uneducated, clueless husband could possibly ever earn that much money legitimately. And, most importantly, you're the one who cravenly filed for bankruptcy to the tune of $13+ million dollars when you could no longer prop up your charade of nouveau riche consumerism for America's most satanic cable network. You're the one who stole from banks and fleeced businesses. You're a thief, a liar, and, now, a felon.

5. Explain this.

Everybody asked her about this, but instead of answering, she just blamed Joe, who leased it for her (another obvious lie; how did the bankrupt, apparently unemployed felon, who currently has a lien on his house to the tune of half a million dollars, get a lease?). She even blamed Lexus for putting a big red bow on top--which she claims they did because they knew it would be good publicity for Lexus! Uh, okay. I'm sure Lexus wants their brand to be associated with tacky low-life Jersey felons. Sure. Yep. Nobody asked her, "Why not a cheaper car, though?"

6. Why are you and your husband suing your bankruptcy attorney? Furthermore, do you not realize that, in doing so, you will be giving up your attorney-client privilege and opening yourselves up to a new investigation of your finances during the discovery process?

Nobody has asked her this. I am sure she's just say she can't talk about it. But I wonder if these questions have even occurred to her tiny, pisello brain.

7. What are you going to do when Joe is deported?

She demurs on this one, too, probably because--as Vicki Hyman points out--she doesn't want to jeopardize the incredibly small chance Joe has of not being deported per federal guidelines by admitting that she would move to Italy with him.

8. You talk constantly about your love, love, love for your four beautiful dorters. Why did you put them in this position?

I don't think anyone has really asked her this recently, but she is still selling the story that none of the dorters but Gia know what's going on. Which is obviously ridiculous.

And remember how she previously whined on-camera about how haaaaard all of this financial mess (i.e. her multiple felonies) has been on her four beautiful dorters, who don't even have a college fund!

So, you were busy stealing $13+ million dollars, and earning tens of thousands per episode appearing on Bravo, and earning more selling tabloid stories and writing multiple "New York Time bestseller [sic]" books, and buying all those designer clothes and bags and luxury cars, and creating that hideous redone home, and yet you didn't put any of the money aside for your kids? Honey, that's not on anyone but you. And you've made it abundantly clear from your actions that you do not give a single shit about the well-being of your girls. So shut the fuck up with the martyred mother pity party. America ain't buying it.

9. Why should viewers overlook your felonious criminal past and continue to support you by watching RHONJ or buying your books or products?

??????

This is the question.

I, for one, am not.It was clear from five minutes into Teresa's comeback tour that she hasn't changed one whit.

As a fan of the show from the first notes of the opening credits of the first episode, I was shocked when Teresa was sentenced. I had followed the news all day, waiting... waiting... waiting... for the verdicts to come down. And, much like her famewhore family members who allowed their reaction to be filmed (or recreated...) for RHONJ, I was utterly gobsmacked. This zany, silly, thoroughly unserious woman, whom we had all watched for years, was in fact "going away" to prison--and for a not-insignificant amount of time. In that moment, everything changed. This was really real. And I couldn't help thinking about the shock Teresa herself must've felt. She was clearly still in shock when she and Joe sat down for a WWHL special with Andy less than 24 hours after their sentencing.

But it was also kind of cathartic. It was obvious to everyone that the Giudices were Up To Something--from the first episode with the wads of cash and carefree spending. Having followed the case closely and read the indictments, I was not surprised--not really. Even as someone who had a love/hate relationship with the Bravo character called "Tre," it was an awful thing to witness--but it seemed just. And there was a sliver of hope there... that maybe Teresa would, finally, be forced to her own personal reckoning. Maybe, just maybe, all that time away from her children and the onyx manse and the cameras might give Teresa's limited mind the space it needed to feel a small glimmer of shame. That maybe the dawning light of that shame would lead to some actual introspection. She even used the vanity vehicle of "Teresa Checks In" (which I maintain should've been called "Teresa Goes Away") to brag about how much praying she was doing in there. I think many of us more savvy viewers were really hoping she was experiencing genuine remorse.

But nope.

The truly staggering thing to me about all of this is that even eleven months in federal prison wasn't enough to lead to any moral progress at all for this self-obsessed, brain-dead, glitter-bombed Portrait of Dorian Gray.

She will never change.

She is irredeemable.

Her story is over.

There is nothing new to see here. Watching the continuing cautionary tale that is Teresa Giudice is not only a waste of time and potentially personally morally corrosive, but--even worse--it's boring.

And the cherry top? Her blithe, casual endorsement of the candidacy of Donald Trump. I wasn't expecting that--though I probably should've--and it is so much more perfect than either of them could ever realize.

Both of them think they're famous; but, in reality, they're only infamous.

#RHONJ

[madewithpastels]

HOLDING UP THE UNIVERSE

4.5 /5 STARS from me, no need for explanation...because... truly, in love with this book, I LAUGHED, TEARY-SMILES, S ALL GOOD!!! summary i took from:

About Holding Up the Universe. From the author of the New York Times bestseller All the Bright Places comes a heart-wrenching story about what it means to see someone—and love someone—for who they truly are. Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America's Fattest Teen.”

Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” But no one’s taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom’s death, she’s been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby’s ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for EVERY POSSIBILITY LIFE HAS TO OFFER. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High. I want to be the girl who can do anything. Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he’s got swagger, but he’s also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can’t recognize faces. Even his own brothers are strangers to him. He’s the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything in new and bad-ass ways, but he can’t understand what’s going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don’t get too close to anyone. Until he meets Libby. When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school game—which lands them in group counseling and community service—Libby and Jack are both pissed, and then surprised. Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they feel. . . . Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours.

source: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/237457/holding-up-the-universe-by-jennifer-niven/9780385755955/

★★★★★★

Everytime i read this, i always imagined a character named Jack Masselin as SUPER DUPER KYLE. because Jack is goofy, awkward, and nice :) + also creative! and... a (such a dork-flirty-boy)..but I’ve got some alternatives hehe.

I thought..... it’s because, I had seen THE AFTER PARTY

and it was super good, he’s reallllyyyy GOOOOOOOOOD! check out the movie on NETFLIX! 

Dearest @jenniferniven​ please please please...I hope you, the team, the managers, the publishers, the agencies, the pr, the filmmakers, the producers, and all...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE making this come true #netflix original movie / anywhere on the MOVIE SCREENS, because we need more REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT BODY POSITIVITY AND MIX-DIVERSE CAST! I support you big time! <3 

★★★★★★

here goes my fan-cast: 

LIBBY STROUTS

I was having a hard time to imagine what would LIBBY look like? she’s a girl,  she’s in teen (hi-skool), she’s pretty and unique also talented dancing girl, so...i tried to a bit of quick research to find “Libby”. I think, I wanted them to be casted, like a lot...some of these girls, are fresh & up coming rising stars, model, public figures, internet darlings,, I want “LIBBY” to look natural, just the way Libby is /does ;) 

1. Barbie Ferreira

i found her thru this article, she’s one of the coolest girl ever : https://www.teenvogue.com/story/barbie-ferreira-reclaiming-fat 

OMG!!! SHE’S PERFECT AS LIBBY! also she’s going to join an HBO SHOW “EUPHORIA” A TEEN DRAMA series, produced by DRAKE! aaah can’t wait to see them. 

https://www.instagram.com/barbienox/?hl=en

2. Naomi Shimada

reading her interview, made me smile, yes we all deserve to be seen and heard :”) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/refuse-made-invisible-says-naomi-shimada-face-amazons-new-campaign/

https://www.instagram.com/naomishimada/?hl=en

3. Danielle Macdonald

First time, I saw Danielle’s performance was on Easy, Netflix, Season 2. She’s lovely & also a debuted rapper on her latest movie Patti Cake$! AH-MAZING!

4. Beanie Feldstein

LADY BIRD! NO NEED TO EXPLAIN MORE, CUZ SHE’S NOT JUST JONAH HILL’S LIL SIS, BUT SHE’S AWESOME :)

yep, obsessed with the fams, hehehe: 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheridanwatson/photos-that-prove-jonah-hill-and-beanie-feldste

5. Lulu Bonfils 

internet darlings/ models, also had some campaigns along with Barbie Nox too... love her for being confident :) 

★★★★★★

as for JACK MASSELIN

1. SUPER DUPER KYLE

like I told ya before, yes cannot get enough of him <3 

sc: http://greenlabel.com/just-keep-swimming-playground-conversations-with-super-duper-kyle/

2.  Jacob Latimore

Watched him on Collateral Beauty, The Chi, Candy Jar (Netflix), also MAZE RUNNER?! remember, yo he gonna GO BIG!!! he’s perfect as Jack. 

3. Jacob Artist

I saw him on Glee... he’s good loookin! also heard, he’s coming to AHS SEASON 6!

that’s all i can think about....and as for the DIRECTOR’S WISHLIST, yep, s all in my head he he he: 

my #wishlist directors: Kay Cannon, Abby Kohn, Anne Fletcher, Rick Famuyiwa, Geremy Jasper

hope you read, enjoy :)

thanks for being an amazing author, you inspire me <3

@jenniferniven  @penguinteen @penguinrandomhouse @penguindesign

#jennifer niven #jenniferniven #holding up the universe #book review #fan casting #wishlist #netflix #movie #ya #ya books #libby strout #jack masselin #fiction #prosopagnosia #young adult #romance #relationshio #book #novel #to read #super duper kyle #KYLE #jacob latimore #jacob artist #Barbie Ferreira #Naomi Shimada #Beanie Feldstein #Danielle Macdonald #Lulu Bonfils #director