Annette Mori's Blog, page 7
June 28, 2024
An Error or Not?
No, I’m not touching the disastrous debate last night with a hundred-foot pole for this week’s topic. Instead, I’d like to talk about the many differences between UK manuscripts and US manuscripts. Recently, I was tasked to proof read a fellow author’s book that resides in the UK. I’m well aware of the spelling differences between the UK and US. I also know some of the different names for certain common items. I am even vaguely aware of certain stylistic differences, such as US writers preferring to add “define articles” and UK authors leaving them off. More about this one later. However, what I was not familiar with was the different rules for the use of commas.
Now, I’m not a professional editor, my only qualification for proofing manuscripts is my tendency toward OCD. Thus, I am often able to pick up on very minor typos that get missed in the first go around. In the past, because quite honestly, I’m not an expert on commas, I’ve often blown past any questionable use or missing commas unless it was so obvious. However, I thought I had a pretty good handle on the use of commas when separating two independent clauses and the rule around the use of a comma with “coordinating conjunctions.” I started adding commas throughout the document and was quite surprised there were so many that were missed. So, I decided to provide a link to the rule for the author in case she wondered why I was messing with her use of commas. After numerous articles citing the rule that I was familiar with, I came upon an article on how UK authors view the use of commas separating independent clauses, and I was aghast to learn their rules were different. A comma separating independent clauses in the UK is not necessary. That shook me to the core. I had to go back and correct my corrections. Then, of course, because I am very OCD, I had to correct the instances where the editor had corrected the comma use to a US style of writing because I suggested whatever the author chose should be consistent throughout. How many other rules are different? Are there others out there who may judge something to be incorrect, when it isn’t? Most of us who read don’t limit our reading to authors who reside in our own countries.
Spelling differences in the UK: Here are the most common ones: adding an o or a to words like anaemia or diarrhoea; using a t at the end of a word to words like burnt; using a c versus an s to words like licence; using two lls with words like jeweller; using an s versus a z with words like familiarise; using one l versus two lls with words like fulfil; adding ue to the end of words like catalogue; adding a u after o to words like colour; using a y instead an i in words like tyre.Different words for common things such as: boot versus trunk; bonnet versus hood; trousers versus pants, flat versus apartment; lorry versus truck; jumper versus sweater; crisps versus chips; chips versus fries; biscuit versus cookie; chemist versus drugstore; fizzy drink versus soda or pop; football versus soccer.Collective nouns are usually plural in the UK and singular in US. For example: the band are playing versus the band is playing.UK is more formal at times, such as the use of shall versus will or should.Needn’t is occasionally used in the UK, where it is almost never used in the US.In the UK “define articles” are often omitted. For example, in the UK, the sentence might be, “Right, I’m off to hospital.” Where in the US we like to add a few words such as, “Right, well, I’m off to the hospital.”Shortening past participles such as saying got in the UK versus gotten as the past participle of get.In addition to the comma rule I cited above, there is also a slight difference with the serial comma where, in the UK, a comma is omitted after the last item on the list of three or more items.Although not always the case, UK authors will sometimes use single quotes versus double quotes for dialogue.The spaced en dash is more typical in the UK, and the unspaced em dash is more typical in the US.Although I’ve never seen this done, I found an article where the punctuation places the comma or period after the quotation mark in the UK. For example, “No shit”, Annette said. That looks incredibly odd to me, and I’ve never come across that in any UK author’s writing, but apparently, that might be considered correct in the UK.
So, next time you think you may have noted multiple errors in an author’s work, do some research. There may be other differences I wasn’t able to find. Jumping to the conclusion that it’s an error is just wrong…LOL. What isn’t wrong is checking out my books which have a very American colloquial style of writing that hopefully those across the pond won’t judge too harshly. You know the drill, just click on one of the links below. Since this is the final blog for Pride Month, please send me a private Facebook message if you would like a free audible code or free ebook (reader’s choice), and please let me know where you reside.
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June 21, 2024
Vagina Elasticity
In my weekly peruse through the news feed on my iPad, I came across a very brief article titled, “People Are Just Realizing What Happens To the Vagina After Sex, And Wow, We Were Taught Nothing.” It was such a letdown to read the article. The information provided was so minimal compared to the long ass title. Nevertheless, I decided to do a bit of research on my own to find out more. Basically what the article stated was that it doesn’t matter how much sex a person has, the vagina will return to its original shape within minutes after sex, unlike my biking shorts or T-shirts after they’ve been washed too many times. However, I suppose it might be an appropriate analogy in some regards, because eventually, like those old shorts and T-shirts, our bodies do age and eventually become less elastic. However the culprit is not too much sex. Here’s what else I learned:
Returning to its original shape takes a hell of a lot longer after childbirth. Try up to six weeks and in some cases, the vagina may not return to its pre-birth shape completely.Women over forty begin to lose that elasticity and their vaginas will become looser with age, unfortunately we also lose lubrication with age, so don’t think you can just use a bigger toy without preparation!There are small folds or rather bands of muscles in the vagina that allow for this elasticity and expand kind of like an accordion. Cool, huh?During sex, the vaginal muscles relax which is what allows for that elasticity, but since those muscles relax slowly, foreplay becomes very important. So, it’s not so great to put that oversized dildo or several fingers inside without properly arousing your partner!
While most of this was something I already knew, I did kind of get a kick out of the description of the vagina as an accordion. For those who love the accordion as an instrument, go out and play that baby and make sweet, sweet, music. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to weave this little tidbit into a future book, because I am quite sure none of this is in any book I’ve written thus far. Oh well, that shouldn’t stop you from checking out my books, because I often include interesting bits and pieces into them alongside some very obvious political messages! Simply click the links below. New out is Love Hacks and the audible version of The Book Witch. For the Pride Month Giveaway, today I am offering up more audible books from The Organization Universe, reader choice. First two readers to message me on Facebook will win.
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June 14, 2024
Pride Flags
In years past, I’ve written about the history of Pride month. I thought it was about time to write about Pride Flags since they’ve evolved so much over the years, and now there is not just one. In fact, when going to the HRC site, I found twenty-five different flags, representing almost everyone I could think of in our wonderful diverse community. Then, I found a picture with 128 versions, including an ally flag. When I was in New Orleans with my sister, we went into this shop that had all the different flags, and my sister wanted to buy an ally flag, but they were out. So, I went online and bought her one to hang on her gold cart and irritate the Trumpers in her stuffy retirement community. She loved it!
So…let’s delve into the rich history. Here are the most interesting tidbits I could find about Pride Flags:
The original Pride Flag was a simple rainbow developed by Gilbert Baker, after Harvey Milk asked his friend to design something that represented what he referred to as the “gay” community. Baker collaborated with Lynn Segerblom (also known as Faerie Argyle Rainbow) to design the rainbow-striped flag with eight colors. Red signifies life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for serenity, and purple for spirit. This flag was debuted in 1978 in San Francisco at the Gay Freedom Day parade.In 2017 a black and brown stripe was added to the original flag to represent people of color in the queer community. Then, in 2019, the Progress Pride Flag was rolled out to include the trans community with a triangle of blue, white, and pink stripes taken from the trans flag.Rather than list all the different Pride Flags, here is a link to the HRC site that lists them all: https://www.hrc.org/resources/lgbtq-pride-flagsSince I’m a lesbian I was very interested in the Lesbian Pride Flag, of which there are multiple historical versions. The first one, created in 1999 by gay graphic designer Sean Campbell, features a labrys, a double-headed axe, on top of an inverted black triangle against a violet background. The labrys was used as a weapon by the Amazons in mythology and as a symbol of empowerment by the lesbian feminist community in the 1970s. The flag was published in the Gay and Lesbian Times Pride issue in June 2000. Then came the different versions of the pink and orange striped flags, starting with the lipstick lesbian flag in 2010, which had a lipstick kiss in the upper left corner on top of different shades of pink, white, and orange. The other versions include a flag without the lipstick kiss but with the same colors and order, then a flag where the order of the shades of pink and orange are flipped, to a simplified five-color flag with fewer shades of pink and orange, to an original pride flag rainbow with the double venus symbol. The HRC site shows the simple 5-striped flag as the official Lesbian Pride Flag.
With all the recent uproar about flags and who is flying or carrying what flags, I especially feel a sense of pride that our community absolutely kicks ass with the number and variety versus the lame Trump flag, upside down American flag, religious, revolution, or confederate flags that the hard right comes up with. Ours are definitely more colorful and aesthetically pleasing to look at! Not sure that I have ever written a scene prominently showing off any of our Pride Flags, but perhaps that is something to tuck away for a future book. However, I most certainly highlight pride in many of my books. You know the drill, just click the links below to get any of my books. And for those of you who have hung in there, reading this entire blog, simply send me a direct message, and the first few folks to do that will receive a free promo code for my entire San Diego series audible books! Don’t forget to let me know if you need a US or UK code!
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June 7, 2024
Life Expectancy of Lesbians
I almost can’t believe that my Medicare card came in the mail while I was in Mexico…proof that my sixty-fifth birthday is just around the corner. I’m all set to go on Medicare, I’ve been retired for over 4 years now, and I spend an inordinate amount of time in lesbian pajamas (sweats and a t-shirt or shorts and a tank top). I’ve officially reached the sunset stage of life. I can no longer claim to be a middle-aged woman. Unfortunately, at the same time that this realization hit, during the daily scroll of my news feed, I came across an article titled, “Lesbian and bisexual women live shorter lives than straight women. Here’s why.” WTAF! Of course, I couldn’t help myself I had to zoom right in and read this disturbing piece.
Well…let’s get right into it. First, it isn’t research from some hokey magazine. The research was published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), a highly respected journal and the researchers were from Harvard. Now, the only comfort I got from reading the article was that the research was done with a subset of the population (nurses born between 1945 and 1964). Sure, I worked in healthcare, but not as a nurse. The other astounding fact was that of the over 90,000 participants, less than one percent identified as lesbian and less than a half percent as bisexual. That made me a little suspicious, I have to admit, because, especially now, there seems to be a consensus that there is a much larger number of women who identify as other than straight. But, let’s get back to the study. Bisexual women had the shortest life expectancy, dying 37% sooner, and lesbians died 26% sooner than straight women. Here are the reasons cited in the study for the lower life expectancy:
“Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) women have systematically worse physical, mental, and behavioral health than heterosexual women. These disparities are due to chronic and cumulative exposure to stressors (including interpersonal and structural stigma) that propagates and magnifies ill health throughout the life course, manifesting in disparities across the breadth of adverse health outcomes that tend to become more pronounced as individuals age.” The study further noted that because bisexual women were “more concealable” the stressors to disclose and thus remain closeted were much higher.“Biases in care based on sexual orientation occur at every point in the care curriculum.” Healthcare professionals clearly need to step up their game!The needed screening and treatment referral for tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use is just not happening because of bias, and this group may have even more issues because of societal stressors. No wonder I probably drink too much alcohol…just kidding (I only do that in Mexico, because, come on…it’s Mexico at an all-inclusive.
Normally, I don’t write about women in the sunset of their life. The only book I can think of that has two healthy older characters is Georgetown Glen (which won an award…just saying…). It occurred to me that while I can find books with characters who are on the upper edge of middle age, I rarely read about characters in their sixties and seventies. Elena Graf is the only author who consistently writes books about characters in that age group. Perhaps, we, as writers, need to change that. We need to write about healthy, mature women to change the narrative. Because I don’t want to go without a fight and let the fact that I’m a lesbian make me more susceptible to health issues! It is, after all, Pride Month. Let’s be proud out there! I have a new book in The Next Generation series, titled Love Hacks that I hope you will check out…that will certainly help with my personal stressors! Help me live a long and healthy life! Also, for those with KU, The Dream Catcher is now on Kindle Unlimited, adding to the growing number of my books on KU.
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May 31, 2024
Historical…
I wasn’t sure I would write a blog this week, but considering I skipped last week, I thought I really needed to. Originally, I had a completely different topic in mind, and then it happened…the verdict came in, and I knew I could not ignore this topic. I’m only partially embarrassed to say that I was one of the individuals celebrating the outcome. I’m not sure what that says about my integrity. The reality is that this was a very sad day in our history, but not for the reasons you might expect me to say. After the verdict, the pundits started their never-ending chatter about what this might mean for our country. Some truly horrific realities began to emerge. The first that really got my heart pumping, and not in a good way, was the notion that Trump’s guilty verdict might actually help him and ensure that he will indeed become the 47th President despite a conviction. The second most horrifying outcome is that his fundraising is off the charts after the announcement of the guilty verdict.
I titled this blog historical, because this will likely be the most significant event in my generation, especially if the nightmare comes to pass and Trump becomes the 47th President. It will be proven again that humans are incapable of learning from their past historical mistakes. Like other truly horrific events in history, we will not know the full impact until many years later, perhaps not until I am long dead. Future historians will pick apart the events and wonder what was the actual turning point, and how could this have been avoided? Like in Nazi Germany, many will wonder how so many could have been so complicit. Two possible explanations that are parallel to today’s events include: 1) If a lie is repeated so many times, the masses will believe it; 2) If it doesn’t directly impact me, it’s easy to ignore atrocities. I tried to discover if there were any other countries that have voted in a convicted felon to their highest office. Certainly, there are ex-leaders of other countries convicted and jailed for their crimes, but I could not actually find any country that actually put that leader back into office after the conviction. America may truly be the first. And what does that say about us?
I like to write fiction that includes political messages not so cleverly hidden. My politics are readily known in the books I write, which often have nods to current events. However, in my fictional world, most everything works out because I am a huge proponent of happily ever after. I believe a large part of why I’ve been so compelled to continue my Asset Management/The Organization series, even imaging our world twenty years from now, is my hope that after all is said and done, our country will come to its senses and the worst outcome will not come to pass. I suppose we shall see come November. If only there were a covert organization with badass women to come save the day for us all…The second book in the spin-off series, Love Hacks, comes out tomorrow; feel free to get the book and drown in the fictional world where the good guys prevail!
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May 17, 2024
Women’s Contributions to Society
This past week I read a thread on Facebook related to contributions that different countries have made to society. There were some very surprising ones that I had no idea about as well as a small amount of disagreement over which countries those contributions actually belonged to. While that was interesting, I thought to myself, I would really like to know about women’s contributions…you know the ones that have been overlooked by the masses for years. So…of course I decided to do a bit of research and dig out a few that might interest others. In no particular order, these were the ones that most impressed me…
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) an English mathematician and writer was widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer after writing an algorithm for the Analytical Engine. Her work was not was not fully recognized during her lifetime because, duh, the prevailing attitudes towards women in science were legendary in misogyny and she was not allowed to formally study mathematics at university, facing both criticism and distain for her work.Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 350-415) a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in Alexandria, Egypt was known for her contributions to mathematics, particularly in the field of algebra. Hypatia was also a skilled astronomer credited with inventing the hydrometer, a tool used to measure the density of liquids. Tragically, she was murdered by a mob opposed to her teachings and influence as a woman in a male-dominated field.Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was an astronomer that in a recent social media repost (that’s been around since 2018) credited her for discovering the composition of the universe. Writing a dissertation in 1925 she challenged the prevailing view that the universe was essentially the same composition as earth. However, to be fair, a graduate student by the name of Donald Menzel, came to the same conclusion as Payne and presented it to an esteemed Princeton Astronomer named Henry Norris Russell. At the time Russell rejected Menzel’s conclusions, but then later changed his conclusion after reviewing Payne’s research. Of course the discovery was credited to Russell and other male scientists. Although, big whoop, he did cite her work, confirming her conclusions.Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) was an African-American mathematician who made significant contributions to the U.S. space program during her career at NASA. Johnson was a brilliant mathematician who performed complex calculations for the early manned space flights, including the first human spaceflight by American astronaut Alan Shepard. Her work was instrumental in ensuring the success of the Apollo moon landing and the safe return of the crew of the Apollo 13 mission. Despite facing discrimination as a woman and as an African American, Johnson persevered and became a respected leader in her field. She was a pioneer for women and minorities in STEM. At least the movie Hidden Figures brought this out in the open…many years too late in my opinion.Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) was an Austrian-born American actress and inventor who made significant contributions to the field of wireless communications during World War II. She co-invented a frequency-hopping system that would later become the foundation for modern Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS technologies. Many of us know her as the beautiful actress, but not the brilliant scientist…she definitely needs a movie made about her life! Eunice Foote (1819–1888) was an American scientist now credited with being the first person to theorize and demonstrate the greenhouse effect. In 1857, she published her findings in the American Journal of Science, but was largely overlooked and had to ask a male colleague to present her findings at a scientific conference that she was not allowed to attend. Despite publishing her results three years before Tyndall, he was credited with discovering the greenhouse effect. Thankfully current climate scientists are correcting that past oversight.Lise Meitner (1878-1968) was a Austrian and Swedish physicist who suggested to her colleagues, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, that they try bombarding uranium atoms with neutrons in order to learn more about uranium decay, leading basically to the discovery of Nuclear Fission. Since Meitner was a Jewish woman in Berlin in 1938, she was forced into exile while Hahn and Strassman took her suggestion. She then partnered with Austrian-born British physicist Otto Frisch, who was also in Sweden at the time, and the duo named and described what Hanh and Strassman uncovered: fission. But of course when the Nobel Prize was awarded to Hahn in 1945, for this discovery, Meitner was never mentioned.Alice Ball an African American chemist discovered the treatment for leprosy by transforming chaulmoogra oil (something known to help with symptoms) into fatty acids and ethyl esters that would make the medicine injectable. Unfortunately she died from complications as a result of a lab accident and the head of her department, Arthur Dean, continued her work and published Ball’s chemical process under the name “Dean’s method” after himself. Fortunately, one of Ball’s colleagues corrected the oversight by ratting him out and it was changed to Ball’s method.Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) was a British Chemist who took the x-ray Photo 51 of the double helix DNA in 1952, but took about a year to interpret the photo. There is some controversy about what really happened, but around the same time, Watson and Crick, also trying to map the structure, came to a similar conclusion — possibly by sneaking a peek at Franklin’s Photo 51. Franklin’s work appeared in the same journal but behind Watson and Crick’s paper, so everyone assumed her work supported their research. Tragically, she died of cancer before the papers were published, so guess who got the credit? I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.
Whew…I know there are tons more, but I didn’t want to write a novel in my weekly blog! Although, I very much enjoy writing genius characters who invent all kinds of cool stuff. You’ll definitely find that in my most recent series as I bring back a favorite character from the women in The Organization and introduce the Next Generation of geniuses. I find intelligent women extremely sexy…don’t you? New out in Audible….The Book Addict with a very sexy genius lead! Computers and chess are her super powers…plus more with a hint of magic!
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May 10, 2024
International Masturbation Month
Yup…now you know I was definitely going there once I learned that May is International Masturbation Month. I mean, I did write two previous blogs on masturbation. It’s a favorite topic of mine! Contrary to popular belief, this is not a joke. I probably should have written about this last week, but unfortunately I only learned about this after hearing it on SNL. Of course the main stream media and far right propaganda networks did not cover this because, gasp, the right wingers would have been out in full force with their pitchforks and fire ready to burn everyone at the stake. Initially, I thought it was merely a joke, but nope, there is actually a history to establishing May as Masturbation month. It used to be only a day…let that sink in. Now why can’t we have lesbian visibility month? Honestly, I can’t keep track of all these designations! So…I am sure you cannot wait to find out exactly what I learned about the origins of Masturbation month.
In 1994, the US had a very progressive Surgeon General by the name of Dr. Jocelyn Elders. She was a huge supporter of sex education, including teaching kids that it was perfectly acceptable to masturbate. In her own words, which was the beginning of the end for her, “As per your specific question in regard to masturbation, I think that is something that is a part of human sexuality and it’s a part of something that perhaps should be taught. But we’ve not even taught our children the very basics.” Pitchforks came out on both the right and the left…we weren’t ready for such a progressive perspective on sex education. The media’s spin on her words went something like this, “let’s bring some dildos to class and teach these kindergartners to have some fun!” To add insult to injury she further explained that masturbation could help to prevent the spread of AIDS. Gasp. She was forced to resign, but not everyone agreed that was the best outcome. So…in 1995 a notorious sex shop called Good Vibrations designated May National Masturbation month which evolved to International Masturbation Month. Technically it started as National Masturbation Day on May 7, 1995. Why May you ask? Pleasure activist and sex education specialist, Carol Queen shared that May was selected to give them enough time to designate the month and quote, “Well, it’s alliterative. Also it’s the merry, merry month of May!”
Once again, I haven’t done a thorough search through all my books, but I know I’ve definitely written masturbation scenes in some of my books, because…of course I have! Feel free to do your own perusal through my books by clicking on the follow links to find them! Don’t forget that the worldwide release of Love Hacks is just around the corner and to be prepared, be sure to get The Next Generation, the first book in the action-packed series!
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May 3, 2024
Altered States for Dolphins
As someone that smoked a fair amount of weed in my youth and live in a state where recreational use is still legal, I found it fascinating when I read an article about Dolphins and the reasons they play with pufferfish. Now, I know y’all are just dying to learn all about this phenomenon, and I am quite happy to share what I learned from the article!
Apparently, pufferfish have the ability to create a defensive chemical when they feel threatened. However in small doses this toxin creates a kind of “trance-like state.” In this BBC documentary, called Spy in the Pod, instead of tearing into fish like they normally would, the dolphins gently play with the pufferfish and toss them back and forth (kind of like passing around a joint). You know…puff, pass, puff, pass. So, who says drugs are only for humans! I knew I always like dolphins, but this latest piece of information raises my esteem for the playful creatures to a whole new level. Not that I want to give it a try or anything, but I wonder if humans played with pufferfish would we benefit from the same effect of the small doses of toxin? Disclaimer: Do not try this at home…after briefly researching this, the toxin in one pufferfish is enough to kill 30 humans.
I wrote an earlier blog about lesbian dolphins, and I just had to weave in what I had learned when I wrote that blog into the book I wrote with Ali Spooner, called Trouble in Paradise (the fourth book in the Trophy Wives Club series). Of course, since it was set in the Caribbean, we had to incorporate those playful sea creatures into the story. As always, want to read about how I weave this kind of information into books, feel free to click the links below!
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April 26, 2024
Clothes Make the Woman…
A few months back, I read this article about why men’s and women’s shirts are buttoned on different sides. I’ll get to that, but that got me thinking about a number of things I was curious about relating to lesbians and clothes. I wondered when was the first time a woman wore a tuxedo, they’re quite popular for lesbians! Then, I started thinking about when boxers, Flannel shirts, and Doc Martins became popular for lesbians. So…of course, I did some research. Here are a few things I learned:
Let’s talk buttons. Buttonholes were invented in the 13th century, and wearing gold, silver, and ivory buttons was a sign of wealth. For women of wealth, dressing up was quite the production, and if you were wealthy, you did not dress yourself as a woman. Because most people are right-handed, it was easier for maids to help a woman dress if their buttons were on the left. Since most men, including those of wealth, dressed themselves, having the buttons on the right was easier for them. I still have a favorite flannel shirt that has buttons on the right!In 1927 Dorothy Mackaill is recognized as one of the first to wear a tuxedo on set for the movie ‘The Crystal Cup’. But it was Marlene Dietrich who stunned audiences, three years later by wearing a tuxedo and a top hat in the movie, ‘Morocco’. At the time, it shocked audiences because it pushed the boundaries of societal norms at the time. Marlene was considerably more well-known.Flannel shirts and Doc Martins started their popularity around 1970 when women started rejecting societal standards of beauty and feminity. Flannel shirts seemed to peak in the 90s, but I still love them. I never quite got into Doc Martins.Finally, how about boxers for women. It was quite difficult to find information on this other than TomboyX, the popular clothing company that lesbians adore, began in 2011 after a group of women got together at a Seattle Storm game and talked about starting a company. In the Fall of 2014, the Lady Boxer was born and sold out. Now, of course, I know many lesbians bought men’s boxers before this. I had an ex that wore them and that was back in the 80’s. So, I suspect that lesbians wearing boxer briefs go back much further than that. Perhaps that started at the same time Flannel and Doc Martins became popular! Or maybe, even before that, when the first boxer came out in 1925. History shows many examples of women dressing as men.Finally, the last interesting fact, which, if the Republicans have their way, might make its way back into law, is when it was illegal for women to dress as men. The first cross-dressing law to forbid this appeared in St Louis, Missouri, in 1843. Next was Ohio in 1948, which forbade a person from appearing in public “in a dress not belonging to his or her sex.” But the police really began using the laws as a tool to harass the queer community in the 1950s, and raids often occurred, arresting individuals who violated the rule requiring people to wear three articles of gender-appropriate clothing or face arrest.
cats are getting ready for the new yearSometimes, I read books that give lengthy descriptions of what the main characters are wearing, everything from casual wear to fancy dresses and tuxedos. I’m not one of those who often describe in detail what a character is wearing unless it is pertinent to the plot or fits the scene. Even then, I might mention the clothes without going into minute detail. However, I do enjoy reading those descriptions sometimes, and I admit it gives me a little more insight into the characters. Feel free to click on the links to learn when I do find it important to talk about the clothes a character chooses!
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April 19, 2024
The Mystery of TikTok
This past week, I took the plunge. I didn’t exactly want to, and kind of went there kicking and screaming. But, I realize there is a significant segment of the sapphic world that prefers this particular social media venue. Is venue the right word? Shrugs shoulders! With an astounding 102.3 million active users per month in the US and one billion worldwide, it was hard to ignore. Then I learned that with over 181.7 billion viewers and 28.6M hashtag views, BookTok was among the platform’s top-ranking content categories. So…if you can’t beat em, join em!
I feel embarrassed to state that I was late to the game with Twitter and audiobooks. Of course, I abandoned Twitter (yes, I know the stupid name is X now) after the megalomaniac Musk took it over and made it a place where hate grows. I just can’t support that. Now, it seems that TikTok may be going away as well. Apparently, the House bill on aid for Ukraine and Israel has a proposal to give TikTok up to a year to find a buyer. Although, given how legislation works in the US right now, that could very well be squashed if Trump gets into office because the so-called ban is not very popular with Trump, who appears to owe something to a billionaire with a big stake in TikTok. So…I guess I’ll simply stay the course and continue to learn about the strange animal. Have I mentioned how much I hate learning new tech? I don’t have many followers, so we shall see if it’s worth the effort! And because I’m not enough of a glutton for punishment, I even developed the Affinity Rainbow Publications TikTok account.
Some of you may have noticed my pathetic attempts at creating content ranging from 12 seconds to twenty minutes. I’ve decided my little talking pet videos are perfect for TikTok, so you’ll definitely be seeing more of those. Look for more in the future to let folks know about my books and the new books being released from Affinity. In case you’re interested in checking them out…just click the links below!
Follow Affinity Rainbow Publications on TikTok
Buy the audible of The Organization Buy the audible of Asset Management
Audio links: Audible in US Audible in UK
Audio links: Audible in US Audible in UK
Now in Audio ! Audio links: Audible in US Audible in UK
Recent double Award-Winning novel….
Links to the Books in Audible:
Undercover Love Politics of Love Love Bonds Sculpting Her Heart Disconnected Artist Free Zone Locked Inside
Proud to be an Affinity Rainbow Publications author!
