M.L. Desir's Blog, page 74
February 27, 2016
Does Hillary Clinton know the difference between public education in China, India and the United States?
“In China mandatory education ends at age 15 before senior high school begins—grades 10, 11 and 12 are not mandatory—and millions of mostly rural Chinese students have already left the academic public education system by the end of 6th grade.” Hmmm.
Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé
At a recent Town Hall event in South Carolina, audience member John Loveday asked Hillary Clinton a question. He wanted to know if she would support a longer school day or school year to keep up with India and...
February 20, 2016
R.I.P. Umberto Eco and Harper Lee
:) Learned a lot more about Umberto Eco that I don’t recall from my high school days.
charles french words reading and writing
The world lost two of its most important writers today, Friday February 19, 2016: Harper Lee and Umberto Eco. I offer this small post in remembrance of their brilliance.
Umberto Eco was a renowned professor of semiotics, the study of language and signs, as well as a best-selling novelist, and he died at the age of 8...
February 19, 2016
Writers, If You Beta Read, Read Before You Comment
I was a member of two writer’s groups up until recently. A book by public speaker and writer, Brian Tracy, motivated me to find a writer’s group in order to learn from other writers. That’s not a bad idea at all. But I learned that many fellow writers can’t turn off the competition switch. They will constantly compare their writing to your as they read your writing, or even if they just hear aboutit. They will snub your story without hearing the whole plot. This is done to protec...
Twitter Tips for Authors
Wonderful, sound advice. Thank you! :)
Ok. I admit it. I just don’t get Twitter. My promotion savvy brother, Ken Ross, advised me when I was becoming an agent, that I should market myself on social media, which means Twitter. So I signed up and waited around for followers. After the first 20 prostitutes tried to contact me, I gave it up. Today we are having a guest blog from Charlotte Ashlock, who is digital editor at Berrett-Koehler Books in Oakland. She likes to tweet and see...
February 18, 2016
February 17, 2016
You Can’t Write That.
You Can’t Write That. Oh really? Just watch. :)
The title of this blog post comes from a very tender spot in my life as an author and a Black woman growing up in the USA. Several years ago, I dated a close-minded individual (Who Shall Remain Nameless) told me that I couldn’t write my recently published novel, Forbidden: Book One of the Gabriel Lennox Series. At the time, it wasn’t published and while I waited for that new chapter in my life, I had continued writing additional books for the se...
February 16, 2016
Why You Should Work With an Editor Before Pitching an Agent
by Katie McCoach
Sending your manuscript out to agents and editors for possible representation and publication is exciting, but mostly terrifying. You hope that your query will make a good enough impression and that an agent will be intrigued and request the full manuscript!
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January 22, 2016
Pasco County Teacher Resigns
As a fellow teacher, this is so sad and so true.
The following resignation letter was written by Tracey Suits, 10th grade English teacher in Pasco County.
Oftentimes people in social situations ask me about my job. When I answer that I am a teacher, I frequently get a response of: “How do you do it?” or “I could never do that.” Well, the time has come when I have to ask myself “How DO I do it?” The answer is, I cannot.
I cannot continue to teach students to regurgi...
January 4, 2016
Consumer Power, Author Responsibility & Why Book Reviews MATTER
Thank you for this great post, Kristen. :)
Too many choices!
We’ve had an eventful week or so with my last couple of unplanned posts.In all fairness, I did expect to get some knickers in a twist (which I did) with my post Pay the Writer. As a quick recap, I love used bookstores. They get a lot more of my money than I like to admit *looks up number to 12 Step Sponsor*
You don’tunderstand. Half Price Books has books ZEN DOODLES. Nofrigging idea what those are…just that I...
Monday Minute: You Know You’re a Writer When…
Well done! :)
I’ve seen a lot of funny lists about the habits and traits of writers. Each time I see them, it makes me laugh because I can see some common habit or trait of myself in the list. To have a bit of fun, I decided to compile my own list.
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