M.L. Desir's Blog, page 38
January 27, 2019
Boricua Jazz Pioneer, Rafael Escudero
Here is an interesting piece by Tomás Peña. The article is part of the PR Project; it was first published in jazzdelapena.com. Now, it is also available through Centro Voices magazine. Here are a few excerpts with links to the sources below:
Among the first Boricuas to receive recognition in early jazz was Rafael Escudero. He was born in 1891 and well known in American jazz circles. Today Escudero is mostly forgotten. But this native of Manatí, Puerto Rico was an outstandin...
January 24, 2019
Hating on Fairy Tales: A Not-So-Serious Take on a Ridiculous Article
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Lovely! #NoSatireHere
As much as I’d like to pretend that people don’t write pieces titled: “Five Reasons to Stop Reading Your Children Fairy Tales Now” this is a genuine title of a genuine article. I came across this gem while I was researching for my last piece and being a monkey I just couldn’t resist having my way with it. Rather than deconstructing all their ridiculous claims, I thought it would be far more fun to mock it *ahem* rewrite...
How Fish Eggs are Like Fiction
by Richard Risemberg
After a long, dry spell, I suddenly began placing stories in small-press magazines this year, even some that paid in cash! Since last winter, I have “sold” – sometimes for pay, sometimes compensated only in honor – I have sold six stories to five magazines.
It all started by accident, but the sort of accident that fate contrives when you help it along.
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January 21, 2019
Motivation Monday Quotes
Writers often joke about how their characters talk to them, threaten them, plead with them to spend time with them and write, write, write.
I especially appreciate what George R.R. Martin has to say about the strange and intimate relationship between writers and their characters.
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Now, do excuse me, I have an important date with several individuals that no one else can apparently see.
Yet.
January 19, 2019
Being a Writer Is the Fastest Way to Starve to Death – by Erica Verrillo…
Supporting local and/or independent authors is so important!
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
on Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity: 
When my son was contemplating various professions, I told him, “Whatever you do, don’t become a writer. It’s the fastest way to starve to death.”
It turns out I was right. (I hate being right all the time.)
Continue reading HEREWhy is 2019 an important year for writers?
An informative blog post about Public Domain. What Is Public Domain? (And Why 2019 Is a Big Year) By Brad Frazer AND a terrific short informational video by Steve Shives.
Brad explains what Public Domain is, and also provides us with an Excel spreadsheet listing works of art (movies, books, etc.) which are now free of copyright.
Click to download. Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
Before you use a phrase from a book,...
Another Look At Martin Luther King Jr.
by Norman Richmond aka Jalali“While King spoke for Africans at home and abroad he also supported the liberation of all oppressed people. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King is: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'”
Another Look At Martin Luther King Jr. Dr King was a radical, a democratic socialist who saw economic transformation and social justice as inseparable.
“King never claimed to be a Marxist but had read some Marx and was fiercely anti-capital...
California High School and college students stand with Haitian students
by Seth Donnelly
South Bay students held a rally in Mountain View on Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, to demonstrate their solidarity with Haitian students. – Photo: Haiti Action Committee On Dec. 10, 2018, dozens of people, mostly high school and college students, held a protest at the busy intersection of San Antonio Road and El Camino Avenue in Mountain View, California, to condemn the corruption, brutality and killings by the U.S.-backed regime of Jovenel Moise in Haiti. Protest...
January 15, 2019
More About the Re-Issue of Mistress of the Wind
Watch for the appearance of Mistress of the Wind in its lovely new cover. It should become available on January 15, 2019.
Whew! It’s hard to believe that the re-release of Mistress of the Wind, the first book of my Arucadi series of fantasy novels, is now less than three weeks away. I’m excited to begin the reissuing of my Arucadi novels.
I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to Kyla Cren, the protagonist of Mistressof the Wind. Kyla is the windspeaker for the villa...
An emotional opening for ‘Hamilton’ in Puerto Rico — not just for Lin-Manuel Miranda but an island still reeling from a storm
A report by Peter Marks for The New York Times.
With Lin-Manuel Miranda once again as its star, the celebrated Broadway hit “Hamilton” opened for business in Puerto Rico this weekend — that business being the bolstering of the hopes and finances of a beleaguered U.S. territory mired in debt and still reeling from the devastation wreaked 16 months ago by Hurricane Maria.
The first performance on Friday night of the Tony-winning musical at the Centro de Bellas Artes in the...
