On Saturday, Oct. 4 beginning at 8:30 am in Norfolk Virginia, the American Cancer Society will host the annual Walk for Breast Cancer. The event is free to participate and the rewards are immeasurable. For those in the Norfolk area, please check it out. Support by walking, cheering others on or with a donation.
Visit the American Cancer Society website HERE for full details.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Late Night Commentary
Our late night talk show "pundit's" have a little fun with McCain and Palin. Click on the link below to view video.
Late Night Comics on McCain/Palin
http://www.politico.com/largevideobox.html?id=1817751207
Late Night Comics on McCain/Palin
http://www.politico.com/largevideobox.html?id=1817751207
Monday, September 22, 2008
Writing Workshops Starting Soon-Register
Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center Fall Writing Workshops
The below classes are those that are confirmed at this point. There WILL BE additions and deletions based on the number of registrations. All workshops are $200. for the 8-week cycle. For Brooklyn Workshops please call 718-270-6400. The Brooklyn Workshops begin on Tuesday, October 6th.
The Open House is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Srevices.
Thursday, October 2
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Crafting the Novel-From Concept to Publication by Donna Hill
This class is for those who have a story concept or draft of their novel and those who wish to flesh out their novel in progress. Made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Monday, September 29
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Writing and Re-Writing the Novel
Led by the award winning author Grace Edwards
An emphasis in this class on those who have already their first draft but also open to those looking to get started. Sponsored in part by NYSCA/ Literature Grant.
Monday, September 29
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Acting Workshop
Led by the award winning director/co-founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Alfred Preisser. This workshop is sponsored in part by funding from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Monday, September 29
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Writing for Daytime Television
Sojourna Collier
A workshop for those interested in drafting a daytime television pilot or with an interest in learning to write for that field. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.
Monday, September 29
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Playwriting
Leslie Lee
A workshop directed to those who have at least begun the first draft of their play or have a good idea of what they want to write and have finished a draft of a play previously. This class is supported in part by funding from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Creative Writing
Sherée R. Thomas
Prize-Winning author and editor and also former FDCAC student, Ms. Thomas takes the class through a selection of writing exercises that include the short story and non-fiction essays, with an eye to assisting in the process of selecting the style of writing most appropriate for the individual students goals. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Short Story
Nathasha Brooks-Harris
A workshop involved in not only writing and polishing your short stories, but also in offering guidance in where and how to get your stories published. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Childrens Books
Laura Pegram
This fiction workshop AND craft class includes a close reading of excerpts from diverse voices within the genre (e.g., Angela Johnson, Cristina Garcia, Sherman Alexie, Christopher Paul Curtis, Karen Hesse, etc.), as well as a structured written commentary. Emerging writers at all levels will learn to develop their craft and the language of critique during this intensive workshop. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Acting Jacqueline Wade
A workshop for all levels of actors. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Poetry
Jacqueline Johnson
A workshop devoted to the structure and creation of the poem with insight on where and how to get published. Made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Screenwriting
Alan Zatkow
In this workshop the class will begin the first draft of their screenplay getting feedback from both the class and the instructor with insights into what to do once the screenplay is completed. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Beginning Playwriting
Sophia Romma
In this workshop the class will begin the first draft of their play getting feedback from both the class and the instructor. There will also be discussions of individual goals for the completed works. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Literary Non-Fiction/Memoir
Michel Marriott
In this workshop the class will explore all forms of non-fiction writing, including journalism. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Beginning your Novel
Jaira Placide
In this workshop the class will begin the process of taking that idea for a novel and transfer it onto the page. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Thursday, October 2
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Television Writing
Alan Zatkow
In this workshop the class will work on drafting a television script, and get an understanding of how the TV industry works. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.
Thursday, October 2
6:00 pm - 8:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Directing
Led by the award winning director/co-founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Alfred Preisser. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Thursday, October 2
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Screenwriting
Myla Churchill
In this workshop the class will edit their screenplay, getting feedback from both the class and the instructor with insights into what to do to improve their work. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center
270 West 96th Street
New York, NY 10025
212-864-3375
Fax 212-864-3474
E-mail: Fdcac@aol.com
Web Site: www.Fdcac.org
The below classes are those that are confirmed at this point. There WILL BE additions and deletions based on the number of registrations. All workshops are $200. for the 8-week cycle. For Brooklyn Workshops please call 718-270-6400. The Brooklyn Workshops begin on Tuesday, October 6th.
The Open House is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Srevices.
Thursday, October 2
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Crafting the Novel-From Concept to Publication by Donna Hill
This class is for those who have a story concept or draft of their novel and those who wish to flesh out their novel in progress. Made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Monday, September 29
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Writing and Re-Writing the Novel
Led by the award winning author Grace Edwards
An emphasis in this class on those who have already their first draft but also open to those looking to get started. Sponsored in part by NYSCA/ Literature Grant.
Monday, September 29
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Acting Workshop
Led by the award winning director/co-founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Alfred Preisser. This workshop is sponsored in part by funding from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Monday, September 29
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Writing for Daytime Television
Sojourna Collier
A workshop for those interested in drafting a daytime television pilot or with an interest in learning to write for that field. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.
Monday, September 29
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Playwriting
Leslie Lee
A workshop directed to those who have at least begun the first draft of their play or have a good idea of what they want to write and have finished a draft of a play previously. This class is supported in part by funding from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Creative Writing
Sherée R. Thomas
Prize-Winning author and editor and also former FDCAC student, Ms. Thomas takes the class through a selection of writing exercises that include the short story and non-fiction essays, with an eye to assisting in the process of selecting the style of writing most appropriate for the individual students goals. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Short Story
Nathasha Brooks-Harris
A workshop involved in not only writing and polishing your short stories, but also in offering guidance in where and how to get your stories published. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Childrens Books
Laura Pegram
This fiction workshop AND craft class includes a close reading of excerpts from diverse voices within the genre (e.g., Angela Johnson, Cristina Garcia, Sherman Alexie, Christopher Paul Curtis, Karen Hesse, etc.), as well as a structured written commentary. Emerging writers at all levels will learn to develop their craft and the language of critique during this intensive workshop. This workshop is sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Tuesday, September 30
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Acting Jacqueline Wade
A workshop for all levels of actors. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 - 9:00 pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Poetry
Jacqueline Johnson
A workshop devoted to the structure and creation of the poem with insight on where and how to get published. Made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Screenwriting
Alan Zatkow
In this workshop the class will begin the first draft of their screenplay getting feedback from both the class and the instructor with insights into what to do once the screenplay is completed. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Beginning Playwriting
Sophia Romma
In this workshop the class will begin the first draft of their play getting feedback from both the class and the instructor. There will also be discussions of individual goals for the completed works. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Literary Non-Fiction/Memoir
Michel Marriott
In this workshop the class will explore all forms of non-fiction writing, including journalism. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Wednesday, October 1
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Beginning your Novel
Jaira Placide
In this workshop the class will begin the process of taking that idea for a novel and transfer it onto the page. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Literature.
Thursday, October 2
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Television Writing
Alan Zatkow
In this workshop the class will work on drafting a television script, and get an understanding of how the TV industry works. This workshop is made possible in part by support from NYSCA/Electronic Media and Film.
Thursday, October 2
6:00 pm - 8:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Directing
Led by the award winning director/co-founder of the Classical Theatre of Harlem
Alfred Preisser. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Thursday, October 2
7:00 pm - 9:00pm
8-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Advanced Screenwriting
Myla Churchill
In this workshop the class will edit their screenplay, getting feedback from both the class and the instructor with insights into what to do to improve their work. Sponsored in part by support from NYSCA/Special Arts Services.
Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center
270 West 96th Street
New York, NY 10025
212-864-3375
Fax 212-864-3474
E-mail: Fdcac@aol.com
Web Site: www.Fdcac.org
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Victor's Back
Hey folks . . .here is what Victor had to say. Enjoy!
Victor, my girlfriend told me about your blog. I read it, laughed, and thought how could that many women be so stupid? Now, here I am asking for your opinion about my shameful dilemma. Last year I fell in love, had second thoughts then backed out of a good situation. I was afraid to fully commit when I should have let it all hang out. Subsequently, he found someone else. It didn’t last so I got him back. Bad thing is, his old romance resulted in a pregnancy. My hair is falling out over dealing with loving him crazy while another woman is having his baby.
I keep telling myself that love is stronger than pride but I don’t think my love is tough enough to endure the circumstances. Now, here I am looking stupid too.
Signed,
Wearing wigs & worrying
Victor Said…
Wearing wigs and worrying,
Please don’t let your hair fall out over any man who isn't your husband. And, asking for an honest opinion is never stupid. However, a bad response may be. While I can’t do anything about the pregnancy, I have a few comments regarding the love of a man with delicate baggage.
Obviously, you have a strong connection with this dude. Consider his feelings for you and obligations to provide for his child. While it’s very possible to take care of both without missing a step, the other side of the same coin could be disastrous. Problems generally begin with stories about the baby needing things at inopportune times, namely on nights and weekends. Then the baby’s momma gets clingy and starts complaining about the lack of parental bonding. Guilt and regret are powerful tools in the hands of a lonely woman with a toddler to raise all alone. See where I’m going with this? Maintaining the type of romance you currently enjoy would probably be harder to do than you’ve imagined. Besides, if your man isn’t really into the whole ‘wig thing,’ the decision to hang on may not be yours before long.
Victorism: When a romance breaks off your hair at the root, get it out of your head.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
A Message from Donna Grant & Virginia DeBerry
My dear sisterfriends and fab writer duo Donna Grant and Virginia Deberry asked that I share the following with my readers. How could I say no to the Girlz! Please read, share and do your part.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
For the past 11 years, wherever we have been in front of an audience of any size during election season, we have emphasized the importance of voting--for whichever candidate is your choice. This year, more than any in the past generation, casting a ballot is crucial, so we take this opportunity to reach out with this reminder-- we CANNOT assume that everyone we know is registered or will vote in November. Time is flying. Registration deadlines are approaching.
It's easy to assume that since we are registered to vote, that our friends, neighbors, or classmates-- people we see every day, folks we have lunch with, stand next to in the alto section of the choir, gab with at the hairdresser, complain with in the supermarket, work with on committees in our sorority, discuss our child care constraints with when we're picking up our kids from pre-school--or, heaven help us, even those in whose care we put the education of our children, are REGISTERED VOTERS.
Let's break this down--women in this country did not gain the right to vote until 1920. For African Americans the right to vote was not routinely enforced until the 60's. It's not all that long ago. Many made sacrifices, including their lives, so that we could all have a say in the way we are governed.
So we ask that each of you ask the people in your life-the ones you see every day, if they're registered, and encourage them to do so, if they are not.
Please repost and send this to all your lists and ask each of them to do the same. WHOEVER YOU VOTE FOR IN NOVEMBER--WE ALL MUST VOTE. No voting means no complaining.
Here are two links about voter registration. The first lists voter registration deadlines in all 50 states (including Alaska). The second actually gives you specific, individual voter registration information...
http://www.declareyourself.com/?gclid=CMqxhZvuzpUCFR8SQQodmmu6iw
http://www.voteforchange.com/index_obama.php?source=091008emailR
VDB
Barack the Vote!!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
For the past 11 years, wherever we have been in front of an audience of any size during election season, we have emphasized the importance of voting--for whichever candidate is your choice. This year, more than any in the past generation, casting a ballot is crucial, so we take this opportunity to reach out with this reminder-- we CANNOT assume that everyone we know is registered or will vote in November. Time is flying. Registration deadlines are approaching.
It's easy to assume that since we are registered to vote, that our friends, neighbors, or classmates-- people we see every day, folks we have lunch with, stand next to in the alto section of the choir, gab with at the hairdresser, complain with in the supermarket, work with on committees in our sorority, discuss our child care constraints with when we're picking up our kids from pre-school--or, heaven help us, even those in whose care we put the education of our children, are REGISTERED VOTERS.
Let's break this down--women in this country did not gain the right to vote until 1920. For African Americans the right to vote was not routinely enforced until the 60's. It's not all that long ago. Many made sacrifices, including their lives, so that we could all have a say in the way we are governed.
So we ask that each of you ask the people in your life-the ones you see every day, if they're registered, and encourage them to do so, if they are not.
Please repost and send this to all your lists and ask each of them to do the same. WHOEVER YOU VOTE FOR IN NOVEMBER--WE ALL MUST VOTE. No voting means no complaining.
Here are two links about voter registration. The first lists voter registration deadlines in all 50 states (including Alaska). The second actually gives you specific, individual voter registration information...
http://www.declareyourself.com/?gclid=CMqxhZvuzpUCFR8SQQodmmu6iw
http://www.voteforchange.com/index_obama.php?source=091008emailR
VDB
Barack the Vote!!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Protesters Rally Against Palin in Alaska
Click on link to read the full article.
Huffington Post Article
About two hours after Palin's speech Saturday, hundreds of people protesting the policies of Palin lined a busy Anchorage street, waving signs and chanting "Obama!"
In addition to Obama supporters, the protesters included those who don't agree with Palin's positions against abortion, her support for the Iraq war and other issues. One woman held a sign that read, "I'm Bail'in on Palin!" Another said, "Pro Woman, Anti-Palin." Another read, "What About Healthcare?"
"We're not alone. A lot of people are worried about the nomination of Sarah Palin," said rally organizer Angie Doroff, 46, as cars drove by honking their horns in support.
Despite overcast skies and a forecast for rain, there was a rally here today. Oh man, was there! In fact, it was by most accounts the largest protest rally in the history of Alaska. The Anchorage Daily News wrote that the rally drew an "estimated" 1500 people. Let me be clear: the organizers used a hand-clicker and counted at least 1,483 Alaskans, mostly women, who showed up to say that Sarah Palin does not speak for them.
Huffington Post Article
About two hours after Palin's speech Saturday, hundreds of people protesting the policies of Palin lined a busy Anchorage street, waving signs and chanting "Obama!"
In addition to Obama supporters, the protesters included those who don't agree with Palin's positions against abortion, her support for the Iraq war and other issues. One woman held a sign that read, "I'm Bail'in on Palin!" Another said, "Pro Woman, Anti-Palin." Another read, "What About Healthcare?"
"We're not alone. A lot of people are worried about the nomination of Sarah Palin," said rally organizer Angie Doroff, 46, as cars drove by honking their horns in support.
Despite overcast skies and a forecast for rain, there was a rally here today. Oh man, was there! In fact, it was by most accounts the largest protest rally in the history of Alaska. The Anchorage Daily News wrote that the rally drew an "estimated" 1500 people. Let me be clear: the organizers used a hand-clicker and counted at least 1,483 Alaskans, mostly women, who showed up to say that Sarah Palin does not speak for them.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Victor Says
Hey Folks,
Well my brotha Victor is back this week with words to the wise or unwise! Read and enjoy.
Sept. 12, 2008
Victor,
First let me state that I know I’m wrong but I can’t help it. My best friend is the kindest man I’ve ever met. He’s funny, respectful, handsome and he’s about to propose to my cousin. The problem is I want him for myself. On one hand, I was happy when he showed me the engagement ring. On the other, I was sick to my stomach. My biggest regret is blowing him off when he chased me years ago in college. I was in love with someone else then and now he is. It’s getting so hard for me to hide what I feel for him. I can’t sleep at night thinking about him and my cousin’s future. I get upset when they show up together at family events hand in hand. And, I don’t even want to imagine how good he makes her feel in bed. Like I said, I know I’m wrong for wanting him to love and care for me like he does her. Yet and still, I can't help it.
Signed,
Can’t let go
Victor Said…
Can’t let go,
You need to… no seriously before somebody gets hurt. Other than being so right about being wrong, you got it bad for your cousin’s man and that ain’t good. Often times the people we love come into possessions we’d like to have for ourselves not limited to shoes, cars, homes or someone who loves them so good it makes us ache with envy. (That’s just what I heard) However, you have to be honest with yourself. Is the desire for this man driven by your disappointment of previous love lost? Are you jealous of your cousin’s successful relationship because you find yourself alone? Or, is your proclaimed best friend the man you’ve watched mature into someone perfectly suited for your needs? Actually, it really doesn’t matter. You had your chance, the timing was all wrong, if you know now what you knew then, etc. are adequate cliché’s that fit the situation. My suggestion: Pray for God to ease your pain, smile when you see your BFF and kinfolk happy together and lend a voice of reason when they falter. If you can’t sing—hum something nice at the wedding and find a way to let go of the man and the love that wasn’t meant for you.
Victorism: Very few of the things we lose, really ever belonged to us.
Sistahs...
If you want to understand the complicated black man (like there is any other kind) or advice to help you get what you want from yours, ask Victor by sending an email message to Thewritebrother@hotmail.com. Submissions will be posted on the VictorMcGlothin.com web site.
Please note: Victor McGlothin is not a licensed psychologist, sex therapist, or marriage counselor and his responses are meant for entertainment purposes only.
All submissions should be limited to fifty words and have a short title i.e. "Confused in Chicago," "Freaky from Fountainhead," "Tired of the lies," "He might be crazy but I ain't," etc.
Responses to Victor said... may be edited and shortened for the sake of space. Don't forget to check in every Friday to see whatVictor said.. on www.VictorMcGlothin.com
Dare To Dream!!
Its up to us now! Follow the link and view the awesome pictures
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/21040/3558/576/577074
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/21040/3558/576/577074
Writers & Readers Beware
I had the pleasure of reading this article that originated from Marilynn Byerly's Blog which dares to look publishing in the face and say "hey whatsup?" Marilynn was kind enough to allow me to repost. It's long but well-worth the read.
THE NEAR AND FAR FUTURE OF PUBLISHING
Here's my forecast on the future of publishing.
Essentially, most publishing professionals are worried about the wrong things and not paying attention to the real dangers as the publishing world changes.
It's not about too many titles, it's not about the change from paper to ebook, it's not about what bookstores are doing.
It's about the fight for the conduits of media, both paper and digital, to the consumer, and it's a fight that may already be lost to Amazon.
Amazon is doing everything right. They are bleeding publishing through used books and pricing control while doing almost everything better than brick and mortar stores, and now they are making a dramatic move to take over a major chunk of the digital arena with the Kindle.
Big publishing, meanwhile, is looking the other way as small publishers are fighting Amazon about POD and even greater price controls because the big guys don't think Amazon will go after them next.
Paper, ink, and bookstores are still here and will be here for some time, but they can't survive long term because digital books are simply too dang efficient in every sense.
The bookstores will go first because people are more stressed for time than for money, and online is easier. Before the bookstores go, they will effectively kill what is left of midlist fiction in their ongoing effort to stock bestsellers and list leaders to the exclusion of midlist.
Meanwhile, the used book industry will suck away even more of the profit from paper publishing until it collapses in a sea of red ink.
Books will move into digital format, but new books and new writers will continue to be buried under a sea of backlist moving into digital format.
Platforms will continue to be the means of success for most authors, and other authors will be relegated to niche markets and scrambling for readers.
A long story short. Sell all your stock in bookstores and publishers, and buy Amazon stock. It's probably the only way any of us will make much money in the coming climate of change.
THE FUTURE FOR WRITERS?
It's been many years since most authors have supported themselves through their words, and this will not improve.
Publishing in its usual heedless manner will use the authors' profits as a means to bolster its own bottom line as the distributors suck the publisher dry.
As history has proven, most readers will be more concerned with their own time and money than the future of writers and publishing so they will continue to frequent Amazon, one stop online digital providers, and the box stores for their reading.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Write if it's a joy, work hard toward whatever goal you have for success in your writing career, educate yourself on the business, and plan for your future as if you won't see much income coming from that writing.
Don't trade your life for writing dreams. It will be a bitter and uneven trade even if you succeed beyond your wildest dreams.
And do dream. It's what makes you the unique writer and person you are.
Posted by Marilynn Byerly at 2:45 PM 1 comments
Labels: Amazon, genre publishing, markets, publishing trends
Monday, June 16, 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Part Seven
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 7
HOW DO THE READER AND THE WRITER FIGHT BACK?
The reader is the writer's best friend. If the writer educates her readers about the publishing business, the reader will help the writer fight back.
Here is the "Book Biz 101" fact sheet, I share with readers.
•Thank the bookstore manager for carrying the kinds of books you like.
•If you can't find a book, ask the bookstore to special order it for you. If enough people do this, they'll order the author's next book.
•Don't pass around new books to friends. A bookstore and the publisher can only tell how popular a book is by the number of copies sold. If you share your one book with six friends, the publisher and the bookstore won't know this. Get those six friends to buy the book themselves. And give good books good word of mouth so others will buy it!
•Buy the book new, not used. If you buy the book used, you won't be counted as a reader. It costs more money, but you will insure that more books like it will be printed.
In the days before the paranormal romance became popular, a used bookstore owner told me that the average paranormal romance was traded at least 10 times before it disintegrated. It rarely stayed in the store more than a few hours because readers were on waiting lists for these books. The readers said they couldn't find the books anywhere but at the used bookstore, and the regular bookstore said no one wanted to buy these books so fewer books were sold new, and fewer books were published. A very vicious cycle.
•Don't take a book to the used bookstore until it is no longer on the bookstore shelves. Two to three months from the time you buy it is a good rule of thumb.
•Paperback books without their covers are stolen books. Tell the person at the flea market or used bookstore that it's illegal to sell and show them the legal note to this effect at the front of the book. If you continue to see books like this sold, send a letter to the publisher and tell them.
•If you absolutely must choose two books, one new and one used, buy the "name" author used and the unknown author new. The name author can survive a few used books, the new author may never sell another story because her first book sold poorly.
•If you see an electronic version of a copyrighted novel available for free at some website or on a newsgroup, contact the publisher or author immediately and tell them. Not only is this illegal, but it is the financial murder of your favorite authors and the end of the kind of books you love.
•If you like a book or a publisher's line, write the publisher and tell them. (The publisher's address is in the front of the book.) The people who usually write are the ones who don't like that kind of book. In your letter, tell the publisher how many books a month you buy. If you are a younger reader, tell the publisher that you'll want to read these books for a long time, and you recommend them to your friends.
A fan letter to the author also works.
Authors remember to send copies of these letters to your editor and agent!
•If you hear a line is closing, write the publisher and complain. Don't let that vampire or sf romance go gently into the good night without a hardy complaint or indignant werewolf howl of unhappiness.
•Buy books from the small presses and e-publishers who are publishing the kinds of books you like. Continue to buy from these small publishers when the major publishers move into this market to keep the small publisher alive. Major publishers are notoriously fickle about remaining in certain markets.
•It may be simpler to buy all your books at Amazon or Fictionwise, but you can often save money by buying directly from the publisher's site. At most epublisher sites, the author makes a higher percentage of the sale.
Amazon is trashing the publishing industry and its authors because the buyers have given them that power. Take it away by spending your money elsewhere.
•Buy from local independent bookstores.
~*~
Tomorrow, I'll finish this series with some educated guesses about what the near and far future will bring to publishing and bookselling.
Posted by Marilynn Byerly at 1:53 PM 1 comments
Labels: Amazon, publishing trends, readers
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Part Six
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 6
WHAT ABOUT EPUBLISHING?
Right now, few authors can make a living at epublishing. Even erotica, the growth industry of epublishing, no longer pays the bills as it once did.
The market has become glutted with books from other small publishers, and the major publishers have moved into the market in ebook and paper formats.
Venues for ebooks like Fictionwise are currently being glutted with backlist from major publishers so that unknown authors can sink in a sea of books quite fast. Romance is particularly prone to this.
The authors who are successful in epublishing are prolific, produce quality books of one kind so they build their sales through backlist and loyal readers, and they market constantly to sell that first book to new readers.
Of course, this is the primary survival means in paper book publishing for most authors right now.
~*~
Tomorrow, I'll suggest ways that readers and writers can fight to save the books they love.
Posted by Marilynn Byerly at 2:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: book trends, e-publishing, market trends, publishing
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Part Five
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 5
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
For authors, in the short term, all the news is bad unless you are already a "name" author. Midlist paper books are disappearing in bookstores and box stores.
According to my writing friends, a novel at Walmart accounted for almost thirty percent of all their books sold. Now, their books aren't available there. Their publishers are also losing out on those extra sales.
With bookstores also taking fewer titles in a publisher's line each month, some titles are available nowhere but a few independent booksellers and online.
If already established bestselling authors are the only ones sold at the major venues, where and how can an author build an audience big enough to join this exclusive club?
With most of the time and expense of promotion falling on the author's shoulders, how will the author manage financially? How will the author be able to produce the number of books needed yearly to grow their audience?
For publishers, if they can't find many places to sell that month's entire line of books, what can they do?
Do they drop most of their authors and only print "names?"
Where do they grow their talent to add to that list of names?
Do they start a farm system similar to major league baseball where new authors rise up through the ranks via ebooks?
Do they only recruit authors already building a name with small publishers?
I imagine we'll see a number of different "solutions" to these questions as authors and publishers try to survive this new hostile environment to selling books.
WHITHER READERS?
Any solution to this problem depends on what the readers will do.
Will readers be willing to only buy the name authors they see at Walmart and other places where they usually shop, or will they start depending on physical bookstores?
Will they be willing to buy online?
If they can't get paper books, will they move to ebooks?
If history is any indication, a majority will stop buying paper books. When science fiction disappeared from those dimestore racks years ago, the market plummeted, and the market has been rebuilding ever since.
On the other hand, when readers discovered erotica which was almost exclusively available as ebooks, the market expanded to the point that publishers like Ellora's Cave became multimillion dollar companies, and authors made money envied by their paper-published contemporaries.
Readers of erotica and romance are voracious readers, though, and smaller markets like science fiction haven't had the same online success even proportional to the number of readers of paper books.
Those of us who love to read and write can hope others will follow us online and into digital format, and I imagine some will, but will the numbers be enough to support the publishers and the authors?
No one can guess.
~*~
Part Four
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 4
AMAZON, THE 900 POUND GORILLA
Some writers see Amazon as the writer's and reader's friend, but, increasingly, Amazon is showing its ugly profit-is-everything nature.
The used book shown with the new book in search results is one example of this. Amazon makes more profit by acting as middleman for used booksellers than it does by selling new books.
Amazon's current attempt to force publishers to use their POD provider is an even more frightening example of its methods.
In recent years, as bookstores have carried fewer books from big publishers and almost none of the small publishers, Amazon has been seen as the even playing field by many writers and publishers. If you had a book to sell, Amazon was there to sell it.
A few years back, Amazon made it much harder for small press to sell on Amazon, and some publishers went out of business.
Now, Amazon is tightening their grip on the smaller publishers by telling them they have to use Amazon-owned Booksurge for POD.
Amazon's contract says that Amazon will control the price of the book sold, its price cannot be lowered at any other venue including the publisher's site, and it will control the look of the book and its quality.
For the right to have a "buy now" on their books, publishers will be at the whim of Amazon in most aspects of their product.
With Amazon moving aggressively into epublishing with the Kindle, publishers may lose all control of their product if they knuckle under to these tactics.
Amazon justifies all this as a means to make it simpler for them to ship books all at once, but they don't say that POD books printed through Ingram's Lightning Source and other POD providers are shipped the same day with the Amazon label attached so the buyer can't tell who has printed it or shipped it.
For complete details on this situation and the class action lawsuit by some small publishers against Amazon, go here http://antitrust.booklocker.com/
Only small press is the victim of this current Amazon contract stipulation right now, but, if the publishing industry doesn't stand firm against it, the Amazon gorilla will squash the rest of the publishing industry.
Part Three
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 3
Continuing my overview of what has happened in recent months.
EBOOKS
Ebooks are as much a part of the publishing scene these days as paper books. Most genre publishers offer the ebook version at the same time as the paper book, and backlist is being converted to ebooks at an incredible rate.
Ebooks continue to be the primary route of distribution for smaller publishers.
Most of the major book distributors have their own ebook distribution system, and Amazon is using its ebook reader, the Kindle, to make it as much a leader in ebook distribution as paper book distribution.
Ebooks are the primary growth area right now for most publishers, but the so-called "tipping point" in their popularity hasn't been reached according to most pundits.
USED BOOKS
Used book sales are a profit hemorrhage in the publishing industry.
The publisher and the author make nothing on used books so the industry is being starved by used book sales. This is a particular hardship for authors who don't have as diversified a number of titles as the publisher does.
This means that the author makes little money, the publisher loses sales on that author, and the author is less likely to sell another book to that publisher.
In other words, the big publisher and name authors with lots of backlist like Nora Roberts are hurt by used book sales, but the smaller authors and small publishers can be killed because they lose more than they gain.
Publishing is like investing, the more diversified you are, the better the chance for survival and profit.
The Internet has made used books an even greater problem because so many books can be found used.
The old belief that a buyer will choose new after discovering a new author through a used book is less true because it is so easy to find a used book within hours or less of the book hitting the physical shelves. Some books, courtesy of book clubs and advanced review copies, can be found used weeks or months before they hit the shelves.
~*~
Vist Marilynn's Blog for the complete articles. And be sure to visit her website
THE NEAR AND FAR FUTURE OF PUBLISHING
Here's my forecast on the future of publishing.
Essentially, most publishing professionals are worried about the wrong things and not paying attention to the real dangers as the publishing world changes.
It's not about too many titles, it's not about the change from paper to ebook, it's not about what bookstores are doing.
It's about the fight for the conduits of media, both paper and digital, to the consumer, and it's a fight that may already be lost to Amazon.
Amazon is doing everything right. They are bleeding publishing through used books and pricing control while doing almost everything better than brick and mortar stores, and now they are making a dramatic move to take over a major chunk of the digital arena with the Kindle.
Big publishing, meanwhile, is looking the other way as small publishers are fighting Amazon about POD and even greater price controls because the big guys don't think Amazon will go after them next.
Paper, ink, and bookstores are still here and will be here for some time, but they can't survive long term because digital books are simply too dang efficient in every sense.
The bookstores will go first because people are more stressed for time than for money, and online is easier. Before the bookstores go, they will effectively kill what is left of midlist fiction in their ongoing effort to stock bestsellers and list leaders to the exclusion of midlist.
Meanwhile, the used book industry will suck away even more of the profit from paper publishing until it collapses in a sea of red ink.
Books will move into digital format, but new books and new writers will continue to be buried under a sea of backlist moving into digital format.
Platforms will continue to be the means of success for most authors, and other authors will be relegated to niche markets and scrambling for readers.
A long story short. Sell all your stock in bookstores and publishers, and buy Amazon stock. It's probably the only way any of us will make much money in the coming climate of change.
THE FUTURE FOR WRITERS?
It's been many years since most authors have supported themselves through their words, and this will not improve.
Publishing in its usual heedless manner will use the authors' profits as a means to bolster its own bottom line as the distributors suck the publisher dry.
As history has proven, most readers will be more concerned with their own time and money than the future of writers and publishing so they will continue to frequent Amazon, one stop online digital providers, and the box stores for their reading.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Write if it's a joy, work hard toward whatever goal you have for success in your writing career, educate yourself on the business, and plan for your future as if you won't see much income coming from that writing.
Don't trade your life for writing dreams. It will be a bitter and uneven trade even if you succeed beyond your wildest dreams.
And do dream. It's what makes you the unique writer and person you are.
Posted by Marilynn Byerly at 2:45 PM 1 comments
Labels: Amazon, genre publishing, markets, publishing trends
Monday, June 16, 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Part Seven
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 7
HOW DO THE READER AND THE WRITER FIGHT BACK?
The reader is the writer's best friend. If the writer educates her readers about the publishing business, the reader will help the writer fight back.
Here is the "Book Biz 101" fact sheet, I share with readers.
•Thank the bookstore manager for carrying the kinds of books you like.
•If you can't find a book, ask the bookstore to special order it for you. If enough people do this, they'll order the author's next book.
•Don't pass around new books to friends. A bookstore and the publisher can only tell how popular a book is by the number of copies sold. If you share your one book with six friends, the publisher and the bookstore won't know this. Get those six friends to buy the book themselves. And give good books good word of mouth so others will buy it!
•Buy the book new, not used. If you buy the book used, you won't be counted as a reader. It costs more money, but you will insure that more books like it will be printed.
In the days before the paranormal romance became popular, a used bookstore owner told me that the average paranormal romance was traded at least 10 times before it disintegrated. It rarely stayed in the store more than a few hours because readers were on waiting lists for these books. The readers said they couldn't find the books anywhere but at the used bookstore, and the regular bookstore said no one wanted to buy these books so fewer books were sold new, and fewer books were published. A very vicious cycle.
•Don't take a book to the used bookstore until it is no longer on the bookstore shelves. Two to three months from the time you buy it is a good rule of thumb.
•Paperback books without their covers are stolen books. Tell the person at the flea market or used bookstore that it's illegal to sell and show them the legal note to this effect at the front of the book. If you continue to see books like this sold, send a letter to the publisher and tell them.
•If you absolutely must choose two books, one new and one used, buy the "name" author used and the unknown author new. The name author can survive a few used books, the new author may never sell another story because her first book sold poorly.
•If you see an electronic version of a copyrighted novel available for free at some website or on a newsgroup, contact the publisher or author immediately and tell them. Not only is this illegal, but it is the financial murder of your favorite authors and the end of the kind of books you love.
•If you like a book or a publisher's line, write the publisher and tell them. (The publisher's address is in the front of the book.) The people who usually write are the ones who don't like that kind of book. In your letter, tell the publisher how many books a month you buy. If you are a younger reader, tell the publisher that you'll want to read these books for a long time, and you recommend them to your friends.
A fan letter to the author also works.
Authors remember to send copies of these letters to your editor and agent!
•If you hear a line is closing, write the publisher and complain. Don't let that vampire or sf romance go gently into the good night without a hardy complaint or indignant werewolf howl of unhappiness.
•Buy books from the small presses and e-publishers who are publishing the kinds of books you like. Continue to buy from these small publishers when the major publishers move into this market to keep the small publisher alive. Major publishers are notoriously fickle about remaining in certain markets.
•It may be simpler to buy all your books at Amazon or Fictionwise, but you can often save money by buying directly from the publisher's site. At most epublisher sites, the author makes a higher percentage of the sale.
Amazon is trashing the publishing industry and its authors because the buyers have given them that power. Take it away by spending your money elsewhere.
•Buy from local independent bookstores.
~*~
Tomorrow, I'll finish this series with some educated guesses about what the near and far future will bring to publishing and bookselling.
Posted by Marilynn Byerly at 1:53 PM 1 comments
Labels: Amazon, publishing trends, readers
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Part Six
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 6
WHAT ABOUT EPUBLISHING?
Right now, few authors can make a living at epublishing. Even erotica, the growth industry of epublishing, no longer pays the bills as it once did.
The market has become glutted with books from other small publishers, and the major publishers have moved into the market in ebook and paper formats.
Venues for ebooks like Fictionwise are currently being glutted with backlist from major publishers so that unknown authors can sink in a sea of books quite fast. Romance is particularly prone to this.
The authors who are successful in epublishing are prolific, produce quality books of one kind so they build their sales through backlist and loyal readers, and they market constantly to sell that first book to new readers.
Of course, this is the primary survival means in paper book publishing for most authors right now.
~*~
Tomorrow, I'll suggest ways that readers and writers can fight to save the books they love.
Posted by Marilynn Byerly at 2:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: book trends, e-publishing, market trends, publishing
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Part Five
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 5
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
For authors, in the short term, all the news is bad unless you are already a "name" author. Midlist paper books are disappearing in bookstores and box stores.
According to my writing friends, a novel at Walmart accounted for almost thirty percent of all their books sold. Now, their books aren't available there. Their publishers are also losing out on those extra sales.
With bookstores also taking fewer titles in a publisher's line each month, some titles are available nowhere but a few independent booksellers and online.
If already established bestselling authors are the only ones sold at the major venues, where and how can an author build an audience big enough to join this exclusive club?
With most of the time and expense of promotion falling on the author's shoulders, how will the author manage financially? How will the author be able to produce the number of books needed yearly to grow their audience?
For publishers, if they can't find many places to sell that month's entire line of books, what can they do?
Do they drop most of their authors and only print "names?"
Where do they grow their talent to add to that list of names?
Do they start a farm system similar to major league baseball where new authors rise up through the ranks via ebooks?
Do they only recruit authors already building a name with small publishers?
I imagine we'll see a number of different "solutions" to these questions as authors and publishers try to survive this new hostile environment to selling books.
WHITHER READERS?
Any solution to this problem depends on what the readers will do.
Will readers be willing to only buy the name authors they see at Walmart and other places where they usually shop, or will they start depending on physical bookstores?
Will they be willing to buy online?
If they can't get paper books, will they move to ebooks?
If history is any indication, a majority will stop buying paper books. When science fiction disappeared from those dimestore racks years ago, the market plummeted, and the market has been rebuilding ever since.
On the other hand, when readers discovered erotica which was almost exclusively available as ebooks, the market expanded to the point that publishers like Ellora's Cave became multimillion dollar companies, and authors made money envied by their paper-published contemporaries.
Readers of erotica and romance are voracious readers, though, and smaller markets like science fiction haven't had the same online success even proportional to the number of readers of paper books.
Those of us who love to read and write can hope others will follow us online and into digital format, and I imagine some will, but will the numbers be enough to support the publishers and the authors?
No one can guess.
~*~
Part Four
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 4
AMAZON, THE 900 POUND GORILLA
Some writers see Amazon as the writer's and reader's friend, but, increasingly, Amazon is showing its ugly profit-is-everything nature.
The used book shown with the new book in search results is one example of this. Amazon makes more profit by acting as middleman for used booksellers than it does by selling new books.
Amazon's current attempt to force publishers to use their POD provider is an even more frightening example of its methods.
In recent years, as bookstores have carried fewer books from big publishers and almost none of the small publishers, Amazon has been seen as the even playing field by many writers and publishers. If you had a book to sell, Amazon was there to sell it.
A few years back, Amazon made it much harder for small press to sell on Amazon, and some publishers went out of business.
Now, Amazon is tightening their grip on the smaller publishers by telling them they have to use Amazon-owned Booksurge for POD.
Amazon's contract says that Amazon will control the price of the book sold, its price cannot be lowered at any other venue including the publisher's site, and it will control the look of the book and its quality.
For the right to have a "buy now" on their books, publishers will be at the whim of Amazon in most aspects of their product.
With Amazon moving aggressively into epublishing with the Kindle, publishers may lose all control of their product if they knuckle under to these tactics.
Amazon justifies all this as a means to make it simpler for them to ship books all at once, but they don't say that POD books printed through Ingram's Lightning Source and other POD providers are shipped the same day with the Amazon label attached so the buyer can't tell who has printed it or shipped it.
For complete details on this situation and the class action lawsuit by some small publishers against Amazon, go here http://antitrust.booklocker.com/
Only small press is the victim of this current Amazon contract stipulation right now, but, if the publishing industry doesn't stand firm against it, the Amazon gorilla will squash the rest of the publishing industry.
Part Three
The Current State of Publishing and Bookselling, Part 3
Continuing my overview of what has happened in recent months.
EBOOKS
Ebooks are as much a part of the publishing scene these days as paper books. Most genre publishers offer the ebook version at the same time as the paper book, and backlist is being converted to ebooks at an incredible rate.
Ebooks continue to be the primary route of distribution for smaller publishers.
Most of the major book distributors have their own ebook distribution system, and Amazon is using its ebook reader, the Kindle, to make it as much a leader in ebook distribution as paper book distribution.
Ebooks are the primary growth area right now for most publishers, but the so-called "tipping point" in their popularity hasn't been reached according to most pundits.
USED BOOKS
Used book sales are a profit hemorrhage in the publishing industry.
The publisher and the author make nothing on used books so the industry is being starved by used book sales. This is a particular hardship for authors who don't have as diversified a number of titles as the publisher does.
This means that the author makes little money, the publisher loses sales on that author, and the author is less likely to sell another book to that publisher.
In other words, the big publisher and name authors with lots of backlist like Nora Roberts are hurt by used book sales, but the smaller authors and small publishers can be killed because they lose more than they gain.
Publishing is like investing, the more diversified you are, the better the chance for survival and profit.
The Internet has made used books an even greater problem because so many books can be found used.
The old belief that a buyer will choose new after discovering a new author through a used book is less true because it is so easy to find a used book within hours or less of the book hitting the physical shelves. Some books, courtesy of book clubs and advanced review copies, can be found used weeks or months before they hit the shelves.
~*~
Vist Marilynn's Blog for the complete articles. And be sure to visit her website
Thursday, September 11, 2008
A Chilling Message from Deepak Chopra
OBAMA AND PALIN EFFECT
Deepak Chopra
Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech
Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.
Look at what she stands for:
--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.
Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.
Deepak Chopra
Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech
Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.
Look at what she stands for:
--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.
Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Join Me On Tour
Hello Folks!
As you're moving through your day, stop by and say hello while I'm touring with Sable Lit Reviews I'm the featured author for the week of 9/8-9/13.
So drop by, leave your comments and if you have questions, I pop in and out all day and will be happy to answer them for you!
As you're moving through your day, stop by and say hello while I'm touring with Sable Lit Reviews I'm the featured author for the week of 9/8-9/13.
So drop by, leave your comments and if you have questions, I pop in and out all day and will be happy to answer them for you!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Banned Books.... What Next
Greetings my fellow book lovers. As a writer I feel it is my duty to share any and all information regarding what we love .... books. Therefore, when I received the following, I knew that it was my responsibility to pass this along. Believe or disbelieve--just dont ignore this. It is too important.
The following is what I received.
___________________________________________________________
>
> Below is a paragraph from this week's Time magazine article on Sarah Palin:
>
> "[Former Wasilla mayor] Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued
to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library
how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had
inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary
Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time
show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor."
Mary Ellen Baker resigned from her library director job in 1999.
>
>
> Here is the list of books Palin tried to have banned:
>
> A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
> A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
> Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
> As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
> Blubber by Judy Blume
> Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
> Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
> Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
> Carrie by Stephen King
> Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
> Christine by Stephen King
> Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
> Cujo by Stephen King
> Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
> Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
> Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
> Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
> Decameron by Boccaccio
> East of Eden by John Steinbeck
> Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
> Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
> Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
> Forever by Judy Blume
> Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
> Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
> Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
> Have to Go by Robert Munsch
> Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
> How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
> Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
> I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
> Impressions edited by Jack Booth
> In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
> It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
> James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
> Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
> Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
> Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
> Lord of the Flies by William Golding
> Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
> Lysistrata by Aristophanes
> More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
> My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher
Collier
> My House by Nikki Giovanni
> My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
> Night Chills by Dean Koontz
> Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
> On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
> One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
> One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
> One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
> Ordinary People by Judith Guest
> Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
> Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
> Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
> Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
> Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
> Separate Peace by John Knowles
> Silas Marner by George Eliot
> Slaughterhouse- Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
> Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
> The Bastard by John Jakes
> The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
> The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
> The Color Purple by Alice Walker
> The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
> The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
> The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
> The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
> The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
> The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
> The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
> The Living Bible by William C. Bower
> The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
> The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
> The Pigman by Paul Zindel
> The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
> The Shining by Stephen King
> The Witches by Roald Dahl
> The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
> Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
> To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
> Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
> Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster
Editorial Staff
> Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
Symbols by Edna Barth
The following is what I received.
___________________________________________________________
>
> Below is a paragraph from this week's Time magazine article on Sarah Palin:
>
> "[Former Wasilla mayor] Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued
to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library
how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had
inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary
Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time
show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor."
Mary Ellen Baker resigned
>
>
> Here is the list of books Palin tried to have banned:
>
> A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
> A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
> Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
> As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
> Blubber by Judy Blume
> Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
> Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
> Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
> Carrie by Stephen King
> Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
> Christine by Stephen King
> Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
> Cujo by Stephen King
> Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
> Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
> Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
> Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
> Decameron by Boccaccio
> East of Eden by John Steinbeck
> Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
> Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
> Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
> Forever by Judy Blume
> Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
> Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
> Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
> Have to Go by Robert Munsch
> Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
> How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
> Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
> I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
> Impressions edited by Jack Booth
> In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
> It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
> James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
> Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
> Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
> Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
> Lord of the Flies by William Golding
> Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
> Lysistrata by Aristophanes
> More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
> My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher
Collier
> My House by Nikki Giovanni
> My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
> Night Chills by Dean Koontz
> Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
> On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
> One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
> One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
> One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
> Ordinary People by Judith Guest
> Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
> Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
> Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
> Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
> Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
> Separate Peace by John Knowles
> Silas Marner by George Eliot
> Slaughterhouse- Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
> Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
> The Bastard by John Jakes
> The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
> The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
> The Color Purple by Alice Walker
> The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
> The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
> The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
> The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
> The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
> The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
> The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
> The Living Bible by William C. Bower
> The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
> The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
> The Pigman by Paul Zindel
> The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
> The Shining by Stephen King
> The Witches by Roald Dahl
> The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
> Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
> To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
> Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
> Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster
Editorial Staff
> Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
Symbols by Edna Barth
Monday, September 08, 2008
BET Launches in Sitcom
I haven't always been a fan of BET, but I pray for them! LOL. So, for those who may be interested, they launch a new sitcom on Tues. Sept. 9. Follow the link or copy and paste into your browser.
BET LAUNCHES NEW SITCOM
http://email.bet.com/a/hBIxRUMA-01tPB7Sxx0Bwqdfist/somebodies
BET LAUNCHES NEW SITCOM
http://email.bet.com/a/hBIxRUMA-01tPB7Sxx0Bwqdfist/somebodies
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Alaskans Speak Out on Palin's Racist Comments
This is something that we ALL need to know about and share with others. This is who the republicans are trying to shove down our throats. Don't fall for the hype. Read this article and pass along.
Palin calls Obama "Sambo."
http://tinyurl.com/6zetn4
Palin calls Obama "Sambo."
http://tinyurl.com/6zetn4
Friday, September 05, 2008
Danger Ahead . . .
Below, my girl L.A. Banks aka Leslie Esdaile, gave me permission to share her letter that she fired off to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
This whole Palin nomination thing triggered a writing fit to the Op-ed pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The day after I listened to her speech in horror (and the pundits praise of this kook), I really had to take flaming pen in hand. The only thing that made me feel better was Gloria Steinem's rebuttal that Gwen sent today (Thank you Gwen)... see Steinem's letter below... but mine is attached. So, the attachment is something different--check it out, but I wanted to copy the text of what Gwen sent me, too. Write y'all... make your voices heard, this is sooo bogus I cannot even believe it's happening -- worse yet, it is DANGEROUS.
Much Love, Leslie
Last night I watched, appalled, as Governor Palin completely distorted the facts, used smokescreens to keep the media from legitimately inquiring about her checkered political past, and then launched into one of the most vicious and unnecessary attacks by a person at her “supposed level” as a Vice Presidential candidate that I've seen in a long time. I sat mouth agape in outrage wondering if anyone else was witnessing the RNC circus in the same way.
As a woman, I am offended... as someone who has worked in grassroots organizations I am offended, and as an American I am offended. How can John McCain and the Republican Party bring out a candidate who is so small-minded that she would use her power of office to make her ex-brother-in-law lose his job? Is that someone you want to take the 3AM call about a potential war, is that the person you really want to be a heartbeat away from leading the nation--a person so vindictive and pedestrian in thinking that she’d also call for the resignation of a librarian for not supporting her desire to ban books? John McCain picked Palin, does that seem like sound judgment to you? I have hard questions for the old guard of the Republican Party, but even harder questions for women voters. Do we really want to roll the clock back to rebuff science and start teaching kids one religion's concept of the origins of mankind while we trash the periodic table, as well as trash the evidence of evolution because it suits a select, hard core, right wing group?
Or maybe we'd be more comfortable just claiming that any war we've decided to engage in was "God's will and task," and then turn a blind eye to the fact that within that very same Bible Palin beats at the prime time podium it says to love one's neighbors. So now we’ve devolved into fundamentalist politics at the highest office, the very same echo of madness we so abhor in terrorists?
From ignoring global warming as a manmade reality that can be addressed, to trying to BAN BOOKS (people are you listening?), to supporting incredibly stupid and expensive legislation--like the now infamous "bridge to nowhere," this woman is a disaster. I have to go back to her attempt at banning books, though, in this rant. I'm an author and I am shaking my head. Do people really want to put someone in the White House, give her control over the education of the largest most formidable country in the free world, when this person wants to ban books, and was so vicious that she even tried to fire a poor librarian? That theme of Palin throwing her weight around is becoming a refrain. Things that make you go, hmmm... Given that we’re all under the Bush Administration’s Patriot Act, which has taken away too many civil liberties to count here, would you want a potential Commander In Chief who is given to “snits” when you disagree with her, and like an old Mafioso, would possibly take your job if you crossed her?
Then, when Palin was challenged by the legitimate media, right off the bat she played the "woman card?" If Obama had played the "race card," the country would have been all over him. Hilary didn’t go there—maybe that was because she had a platform, had some REAL experience, and had enough substance that she didn’t have to. Hmmm. So, I guess now, if during the debates, if Senator Biden goes after Palin, as is typical debate strategy, he'd then be labeled a chauvinist pig?
Ladies, as a fellow feminist and someone who highly respected Hilary Clinton's journey, DO NOT FALL FOR IT. We as a nation have been had. This woman, Palin, is out of step with reality, has a serious vindictive streak, and is being used as McCain's shield. Right now, the Republican platform is weak. It is as old, ailing, and doddering as its Presidential nominee. They don’t respect true women of power and authority. What tells me that is the number of excellent Republican female candidates they by-passed. This isn’t a historic moment; this is a media ploy, a game. Don’t be bamboozled. As a last minute desperation attempt, they pulled a right wing extremist, married to big oil, soccer mom out of the farthest hinterlands they could find and threw her to the public, knowing that there were disgruntled Clinton supporters. But Palin is no Hilary Clinton, and we voters with a little common sense know that. We also know that, if McCain is going to continue to support the Oil Industry lobby and drill in Alaska, it helps to have Alaskan politicos on your ticket waving the flag. You’d want those folks to get the benefits of your office while you destroy pristine natural resources, I suppose.
And, since the men opposing this atrocity can't go after Palin without some whining backlash about fairness coming from the GOP, let me chime in with millions of other women who were not fooled last night by saying, "Are you insane?" Or, how about this, "We ain't buying it, lady!" There, I’ve said it, you can count my voice in, because I will be loud and vocal, and since I’m a female I can’t be anti-feminist, can I?
What outrages me so about Governor Palin even being allowed to grace the podium has nothing to do with her chaotic personal life. On that I agree with Senator Obama, who elected, as always (and has throughout the campaign) to take the high road. What disturbs me to my core is that, in this twenty-first century, I want my daughter to have a choice, ESPECIALLY if she is God forbid raped or God forbid, ever fell victim to incest. I want my daughter to get a REAL education, which means reading opposing points of view, understanding diversity, and yes, being fully versed on the way her body works. I want that smug, self-proclaimed Washington outsider, Palin, to take note of the fact that, I'd rather, at this juncture, take my chances with some folks who know their way around the Capital than with someone who is plugged into BIG OIL -- literally married to it like a lobbyist. And, for the record, getting elected as a Senator of Illinois, a huge, densely populated state, is quite different than being Governor of a place that has more wildlife and Caribou than people, let’s be real. Wishing you were something doesn’t make you that, hon. Let’s give credit to the Obama/Biden ticket where it is due. Only a couple of months ago, you (Palin) were quoted in the media as saying you didn’t know much about Vice Presidential responsibilities and didn’t know what a VP did. The sound-bite was stunningly that of an airhead, but that’s just my opinion.
Bottom line is, I want my kid to be able to look up to the Oval office and see people there who have integrity, not a bunch of liars and scam artists who threw the Constitution under a bus for the sake of gaining political office.
Lastly, Governor Palin, I wouldn't tout your "executive decisions" too loudly as a campaign platform, given they were foolish and mean-spirited decisions. The record doesn't help you, sis.
Angrily submitted by
L.A. Banks, Philadelphia
This whole Palin nomination thing triggered a writing fit to the Op-ed pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The day after I listened to her speech in horror (and the pundits praise of this kook), I really had to take flaming pen in hand. The only thing that made me feel better was Gloria Steinem's rebuttal that Gwen sent today (Thank you Gwen)... see Steinem's letter below... but mine is attached. So, the attachment is something different--check it out, but I wanted to copy the text of what Gwen sent me, too. Write y'all... make your voices heard, this is sooo bogus I cannot even believe it's happening -- worse yet, it is DANGEROUS.
Much Love, Leslie
Last night I watched, appalled, as Governor Palin completely distorted the facts, used smokescreens to keep the media from legitimately inquiring about her checkered political past, and then launched into one of the most vicious and unnecessary attacks by a person at her “supposed level” as a Vice Presidential candidate that I've seen in a long time. I sat mouth agape in outrage wondering if anyone else was witnessing the RNC circus in the same way.
As a woman, I am offended... as someone who has worked in grassroots organizations I am offended, and as an American I am offended. How can John McCain and the Republican Party bring out a candidate who is so small-minded that she would use her power of office to make her ex-brother-in-law lose his job? Is that someone you want to take the 3AM call about a potential war, is that the person you really want to be a heartbeat away from leading the nation--a person so vindictive and pedestrian in thinking that she’d also call for the resignation of a librarian for not supporting her desire to ban books? John McCain picked Palin, does that seem like sound judgment to you? I have hard questions for the old guard of the Republican Party, but even harder questions for women voters. Do we really want to roll the clock back to rebuff science and start teaching kids one religion's concept of the origins of mankind while we trash the periodic table, as well as trash the evidence of evolution because it suits a select, hard core, right wing group?
Or maybe we'd be more comfortable just claiming that any war we've decided to engage in was "God's will and task," and then turn a blind eye to the fact that within that very same Bible Palin beats at the prime time podium it says to love one's neighbors. So now we’ve devolved into fundamentalist politics at the highest office, the very same echo of madness we so abhor in terrorists?
From ignoring global warming as a manmade reality that can be addressed, to trying to BAN BOOKS (people are you listening?), to supporting incredibly stupid and expensive legislation--like the now infamous "bridge to nowhere," this woman is a disaster. I have to go back to her attempt at banning books, though, in this rant. I'm an author and I am shaking my head. Do people really want to put someone in the White House, give her control over the education of the largest most formidable country in the free world, when this person wants to ban books, and was so vicious that she even tried to fire a poor librarian? That theme of Palin throwing her weight around is becoming a refrain. Things that make you go, hmmm... Given that we’re all under the Bush Administration’s Patriot Act, which has taken away too many civil liberties to count here, would you want a potential Commander In Chief who is given to “snits” when you disagree with her, and like an old Mafioso, would possibly take your job if you crossed her?
Then, when Palin was challenged by the legitimate media, right off the bat she played the "woman card?" If Obama had played the "race card," the country would have been all over him. Hilary didn’t go there—maybe that was because she had a platform, had some REAL experience, and had enough substance that she didn’t have to. Hmmm. So, I guess now, if during the debates, if Senator Biden goes after Palin, as is typical debate strategy, he'd then be labeled a chauvinist pig?
Ladies, as a fellow feminist and someone who highly respected Hilary Clinton's journey, DO NOT FALL FOR IT. We as a nation have been had. This woman, Palin, is out of step with reality, has a serious vindictive streak, and is being used as McCain's shield. Right now, the Republican platform is weak. It is as old, ailing, and doddering as its Presidential nominee. They don’t respect true women of power and authority. What tells me that is the number of excellent Republican female candidates they by-passed. This isn’t a historic moment; this is a media ploy, a game. Don’t be bamboozled. As a last minute desperation attempt, they pulled a right wing extremist, married to big oil, soccer mom out of the farthest hinterlands they could find and threw her to the public, knowing that there were disgruntled Clinton supporters. But Palin is no Hilary Clinton, and we voters with a little common sense know that. We also know that, if McCain is going to continue to support the Oil Industry lobby and drill in Alaska, it helps to have Alaskan politicos on your ticket waving the flag. You’d want those folks to get the benefits of your office while you destroy pristine natural resources, I suppose.
And, since the men opposing this atrocity can't go after Palin without some whining backlash about fairness coming from the GOP, let me chime in with millions of other women who were not fooled last night by saying, "Are you insane?" Or, how about this, "We ain't buying it, lady!" There, I’ve said it, you can count my voice in, because I will be loud and vocal, and since I’m a female I can’t be anti-feminist, can I?
What outrages me so about Governor Palin even being allowed to grace the podium has nothing to do with her chaotic personal life. On that I agree with Senator Obama, who elected, as always (and has throughout the campaign) to take the high road. What disturbs me to my core is that, in this twenty-first century, I want my daughter to have a choice, ESPECIALLY if she is God forbid raped or God forbid, ever fell victim to incest. I want my daughter to get a REAL education, which means reading opposing points of view, understanding diversity, and yes, being fully versed on the way her body works. I want that smug, self-proclaimed Washington outsider, Palin, to take note of the fact that, I'd rather, at this juncture, take my chances with some folks who know their way around the Capital than with someone who is plugged into BIG OIL -- literally married to it like a lobbyist. And, for the record, getting elected as a Senator of Illinois, a huge, densely populated state, is quite different than being Governor of a place that has more wildlife and Caribou than people, let’s be real. Wishing you were something doesn’t make you that, hon. Let’s give credit to the Obama/Biden ticket where it is due. Only a couple of months ago, you (Palin) were quoted in the media as saying you didn’t know much about Vice Presidential responsibilities and didn’t know what a VP did. The sound-bite was stunningly that of an airhead, but that’s just my opinion.
Bottom line is, I want my kid to be able to look up to the Oval office and see people there who have integrity, not a bunch of liars and scam artists who threw the Constitution under a bus for the sake of gaining political office.
Lastly, Governor Palin, I wouldn't tout your "executive decisions" too loudly as a campaign platform, given they were foolish and mean-spirited decisions. The record doesn't help you, sis.
Angrily submitted by
L.A. Banks, Philadelphia
Victor Said...
My dear friend and brother (in spirit) has a weekly column that either makes me smile or say hmmm. In any case they are always entertaining and I thought I'd share with you! Enjoy
September 5, 2008
Victor,
I have a serious issue. My friends think my soul mate is gay. I think they’re crazy and jealous because I got him and they don’t. He’s strong and fine and there’s nothing soft about him. What am I to believe? Just because he dances in a bi-strip club doesn’t mean he gets down like that. He makes damn good money and that’s why he does it. When I asked him who this guy was that called my cell talking about catching his ex-boyfriend with mine after work, my honey denied it. He said someone was trying to come between us. Sometimes I feel like I’m all by myself because my girls have turned on me. I don’t want to be stupid but I don’t want to give up on a good thing either.
I got troubles in my head… and maybe a stranger in my bed.
Signed,
In love with a stripper
Victor Said…
In love with a stripper,
The troubles in your head makes mine hurt and I can’t even lie about it. You got g-string blues and I’m sorry for you. Look here, and this is just me talking but I think your girls might be on to something. Whoever that dude was that called your cell, had to have gotten the number from your man’s phone or from his ex’s. Not that it means anything but it could mean everything. Any time a spurned lover contacts you to drop dime, it’s worth considering their two cents. Most people don’t go out of their way getting into your business unless it has a great deal to do with their own. Maybe he just wants his man back and can’t do it without bringing drama to your door. Maybe it’s a simple misunderstanding. Maybe the caller is wrong about catching your soul mate slobbing down his… or worse. Maybe you are stupid. After all, stupid is as stupid does. But I digress.
No man, no straight man, would be caught dead or damn near naked in a bi or gay strip club; neither as an entertainer nor an innocent bi-stander. Pun intended. I mean come on now, a dude who gets all oiled up to swing from a pole so that other dudes can howl, huff, and stuff money in his tiny thong. Dang it! I just got a mental picture and now I’m nauseas. (Note to self, never-ever-ever go there again)
Suggestion: If you still have the secret caller’s number in your phone (and I bet you do), set a meet and greet. I am certain you will get the dirty details in Technicolor. It might be more than you ever wanted to know about a certain soul mate on the down low.
Victorism: If there’s a fool in the room and you’re home alone… raise your hand.
Sistahs...
If you want to understand the complicated black man (like there is any other kind) or advice to help you get what you want from yours, ask Victor by sending an email message to Thewritebrother@hotmail.com. Submissions will be posted on the VictorMcGlothin.com web site.
Please note: Victor McGlothin is not a licensed psychologist, sex therapist, or marriage counselor and his responses are meant for entertainment purposes only.
All submissions should be limited to fifty words and have a short title i.e. "Confused in Chicago," "Freaky from Fountainhead," "Tired of the lies," "He might be crazy but I ain't," etc.
Responses to Victor said... may be edited and shortened for the sake of space. Don't forget to check in every Friday to see whatVictor said.. on www.VictorMcGlothin.com
September 5, 2008
Victor,
I have a serious issue. My friends think my soul mate is gay. I think they’re crazy and jealous because I got him and they don’t. He’s strong and fine and there’s nothing soft about him. What am I to believe? Just because he dances in a bi-strip club doesn’t mean he gets down like that. He makes damn good money and that’s why he does it. When I asked him who this guy was that called my cell talking about catching his ex-boyfriend with mine after work, my honey denied it. He said someone was trying to come between us. Sometimes I feel like I’m all by myself because my girls have turned on me. I don’t want to be stupid but I don’t want to give up on a good thing either.
I got troubles in my head… and maybe a stranger in my bed.
Signed,
In love with a stripper
Victor Said…
In love with a stripper,
The troubles in your head makes mine hurt and I can’t even lie about it. You got g-string blues and I’m sorry for you. Look here, and this is just me talking but I think your girls might be on to something. Whoever that dude was that called your cell, had to have gotten the number from your man’s phone or from his ex’s. Not that it means anything but it could mean everything. Any time a spurned lover contacts you to drop dime, it’s worth considering their two cents. Most people don’t go out of their way getting into your business unless it has a great deal to do with their own. Maybe he just wants his man back and can’t do it without bringing drama to your door. Maybe it’s a simple misunderstanding. Maybe the caller is wrong about catching your soul mate slobbing down his… or worse. Maybe you are stupid. After all, stupid is as stupid does. But I digress.
No man, no straight man, would be caught dead or damn near naked in a bi or gay strip club; neither as an entertainer nor an innocent bi-stander. Pun intended. I mean come on now, a dude who gets all oiled up to swing from a pole so that other dudes can howl, huff, and stuff money in his tiny thong. Dang it! I just got a mental picture and now I’m nauseas. (Note to self, never-ever-ever go there again)
Suggestion: If you still have the secret caller’s number in your phone (and I bet you do), set a meet and greet. I am certain you will get the dirty details in Technicolor. It might be more than you ever wanted to know about a certain soul mate on the down low.
Victorism: If there’s a fool in the room and you’re home alone… raise your hand.
Sistahs...
If you want to understand the complicated black man (like there is any other kind) or advice to help you get what you want from yours, ask Victor by sending an email message to Thewritebrother@hotmail.com. Submissions will be posted on the VictorMcGlothin.com web site.
Please note: Victor McGlothin is not a licensed psychologist, sex therapist, or marriage counselor and his responses are meant for entertainment purposes only.
All submissions should be limited to fifty words and have a short title i.e. "Confused in Chicago," "Freaky from Fountainhead," "Tired of the lies," "He might be crazy but I ain't," etc.
Responses to Victor said... may be edited and shortened for the sake of space. Don't forget to check in every Friday to see whatVictor said.. on www.VictorMcGlothin.com
Wrong Woman,Wrong Message
Happy Friday. The following article was sent to me and I feel duty bound to share it with you. I hope you will be so inclined to do the same with your friends and associates.
Thu Sep 4, 2008 10:45 am (PDT)
Palin: wrong woman, wrong message
Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.
But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.
Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."
She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.
So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband.
Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.
Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.
This could be huge.
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.
Thu Sep 4, 2008 10:45 am (PDT)
Palin: wrong woman, wrong message
Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
By Gloria Steinem
September 4, 2008
Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.
But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."
This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.
Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."
She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.
So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.
So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband.
Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.
Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.
This could be huge.
Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Busy, Busy...
Hey Family,
So many things are going on in the world, Gustav pummeling the Gulf Coast (but at least this time it appears that the Government is on their job). My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected. Then, this woman, Sarah Palin for V.P. announces that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant.(oh dayum) Of course McCain said he knew this.... bullsh&#@! He is lying through his old-ass teeth. He's as stunned as anyone. On a festive note, the biggest parade in New York City took place today...the annual West Indian Day Parade--my kinsmen/women were out there!!! Holla. On another festive note, on Saturday, August 30, the divine sisters of Sugar and Spice Book Club based in Queens New York, hosted me as their guest. There was a Hawaiian theme so the ladies had on grass skirts, did the limbo, doled out pina coladas and pineapple chicken. I had a ball. And me being inquisitive (another word for nosey)joined "Twitter" ask me why. Why Donna why? (she shrugs). Also, finally after weeks of being off the wagon I went back to the gym with my man. Got a good workout (not that kind haha). And I feel pretty good. I'm also supposed to be fasting this month. Today was the first day. Did good until about 5 when I petered out. And in between mother nature's wrath, an asshole running for the GOP nod and his unqualified sidekick, the West Indies coming to Brooklyn, and my return to the gym, I was able to do my edits for Temptation and Lies (Book 3 of the Ladies Cartel series) and begin a proposal for a reality television book (both of which are due tomorrow 9/2) wish me luck. LUCK!
Ooooh in other news... I will be doing my first virtual book tour. Ella has me just about everywhere in the cyber universe! I'm gonna get sick of seeing my ownself! LOL. But if I come your way, I do hope that you will leave me a comment. My tour begins Sept. 5 and will end Sept 30.
Hope to meet up with you all online!
Happy reading... and if you haven't joined my fanclub... stop on by. We'd love to have you.
So many things are going on in the world, Gustav pummeling the Gulf Coast (but at least this time it appears that the Government is on their job). My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected. Then, this woman, Sarah Palin for V.P. announces that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant.(oh dayum) Of course McCain said he knew this.... bullsh&#@! He is lying through his old-ass teeth. He's as stunned as anyone. On a festive note, the biggest parade in New York City took place today...the annual West Indian Day Parade--my kinsmen/women were out there!!! Holla. On another festive note, on Saturday, August 30, the divine sisters of Sugar and Spice Book Club based in Queens New York, hosted me as their guest. There was a Hawaiian theme so the ladies had on grass skirts, did the limbo, doled out pina coladas and pineapple chicken. I had a ball. And me being inquisitive (another word for nosey)joined "Twitter" ask me why. Why Donna why? (she shrugs). Also, finally after weeks of being off the wagon I went back to the gym with my man. Got a good workout (not that kind haha). And I feel pretty good. I'm also supposed to be fasting this month. Today was the first day. Did good until about 5 when I petered out. And in between mother nature's wrath, an asshole running for the GOP nod and his unqualified sidekick, the West Indies coming to Brooklyn, and my return to the gym, I was able to do my edits for Temptation and Lies (Book 3 of the Ladies Cartel series) and begin a proposal for a reality television book (both of which are due tomorrow 9/2) wish me luck. LUCK!
Ooooh in other news... I will be doing my first virtual book tour. Ella has me just about everywhere in the cyber universe! I'm gonna get sick of seeing my ownself! LOL. But if I come your way, I do hope that you will leave me a comment. My tour begins Sept. 5 and will end Sept 30.
Hope to meet up with you all online!
Happy reading... and if you haven't joined my fanclub... stop on by. We'd love to have you.
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