Linda Naseem's Blog, page 2
October 24, 2017
Arizona
Well, I'm heading south in a few days. Will be speaking in Tucson at the Tucson Baha'i Center on the subject "Our Kids on Drugs--Why? A New Perspective." Drop in if you're in the area---I'd love to meet you.
I will also be speaking at Arizona State in Phoenix in a class on Substance Abuse & Addictive Behavior---a required class for Health Science students.
It will be 25 F when I leave Colorado and, of course, a whole lot warmer when i get to AZ. That means i have to lug a heavy jacket---the trials of a traveler!
I will also be speaking at Arizona State in Phoenix in a class on Substance Abuse & Addictive Behavior---a required class for Health Science students.
It will be 25 F when I leave Colorado and, of course, a whole lot warmer when i get to AZ. That means i have to lug a heavy jacket---the trials of a traveler!
October 16, 2017
200th anniversary
In 1852 a Persian nobleman was arrested and imprisoned. For the next 40 years he remained a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire, banished from country to country and finally dying in Palestine in 1892.
Why am I writing about this?
Because from his prison he sent, in the form of letters, teachings out to the world that we are all in the process of learning: the equality of men and women; the elimination of all forms of prejudice---racial, gender, national, economic, social, religious; the essential unity and common source of all religions; and many more.
In his words: "We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer-up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment...That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled---what harm is there in this?"
His name is Baha'u'llah and today his followers---Baha'is---number in the millions. October 22 will mark the 200th anniversary of his birth. I strongly urge you to contact your nearest Baha'i community to attend their celebration of this remarkable person.
Why am I writing about this?
Because from his prison he sent, in the form of letters, teachings out to the world that we are all in the process of learning: the equality of men and women; the elimination of all forms of prejudice---racial, gender, national, economic, social, religious; the essential unity and common source of all religions; and many more.
In his words: "We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer-up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment...That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled---what harm is there in this?"
His name is Baha'u'llah and today his followers---Baha'is---number in the millions. October 22 will mark the 200th anniversary of his birth. I strongly urge you to contact your nearest Baha'i community to attend their celebration of this remarkable person.
September 30, 2017
Montana
Just returned from a trip to Montana. Spoke at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Helena on "Our Kids on Drugs---Why? A New Perspective" and at a monthly breakfast club in St. Ignatius on the spiritual aspects of substance abuse. (What the heck does that mean?!!!)
Then I drove over to Wall, South Dakota. (Got lost, of course---I always do). Home of the Wall Drug Store, established in the 1930's and is now a whole block long, with lots of different little shops inside--a book store, leather goods, art work, a pharmacy, a restaurant.
Wall is also next door to the Badlands, where I'd never been (I had been to the drug store way back in the 90's). Awesome formations. Anyone interested in geology would love this, and anyone interested in beauty.
And I made the 200-mile round trip to the Wounded Knee Memorial on the Pine Ridge Reservation. For those of you who aren't familiar with US history, Wounded Knee was the site of the last battle---or massacre--between the Indians and the soldiers. Between 200-300 Indians mowed down by Hotchkiss guns, buried in a mass grave at what is now the Memorial. Their crime: dancing the Ghost Dance, which they believed would bring back the life they'd had before the white man came. Their guns had been taken away from them.
Speaking of Indians: for those of you who watch the old westerns---no, they did not attack wagon trains and they did not fight with cowboys. By the time cowboys came on the scene most of the Indians were already on reservations with the spirit sucked out of them. Some of them are still that way.
I don't know if we as a nation will have to stand before our Maker some day and account for the things we've done. Somebody will have to.
Then I drove over to Wall, South Dakota. (Got lost, of course---I always do). Home of the Wall Drug Store, established in the 1930's and is now a whole block long, with lots of different little shops inside--a book store, leather goods, art work, a pharmacy, a restaurant.
Wall is also next door to the Badlands, where I'd never been (I had been to the drug store way back in the 90's). Awesome formations. Anyone interested in geology would love this, and anyone interested in beauty.
And I made the 200-mile round trip to the Wounded Knee Memorial on the Pine Ridge Reservation. For those of you who aren't familiar with US history, Wounded Knee was the site of the last battle---or massacre--between the Indians and the soldiers. Between 200-300 Indians mowed down by Hotchkiss guns, buried in a mass grave at what is now the Memorial. Their crime: dancing the Ghost Dance, which they believed would bring back the life they'd had before the white man came. Their guns had been taken away from them.
Speaking of Indians: for those of you who watch the old westerns---no, they did not attack wagon trains and they did not fight with cowboys. By the time cowboys came on the scene most of the Indians were already on reservations with the spirit sucked out of them. Some of them are still that way.
I don't know if we as a nation will have to stand before our Maker some day and account for the things we've done. Somebody will have to.
September 15, 2017
Trip to Sheridan
Spoke at Sheridan College in Sheridan WY on Wednesday---it's about 500 miles from me. Spoke to two classes: Social Principles, & Addictive Behaviors. The instructor is having the students in the Behaviors class read NOTHING, which I think is pretty cool.
I went with her (Elaine Goodrich-Premo) to a concert at the college in the evening. Jalan Crossland, plays banjo, harmonica & guitar and the music is Appalachian folk rock of some sorts. He was amazing---i've never seen anyone play guitar like he did. He made his instrument tell the story (not just play along) of what his lyrics were. Unbelievable. He plays all over Wyoming, don't know if he plays out of state.
I also stopped on the way home to see the Fort Laramie National Historic Site. The fort has existed since the 1830's (originally under a different name and as a place for the fur trappers & Indians to trade goods) and was decommissioned in the 1890's. It is being rebuilt & refurnished to took exactly as it did back then.
I went with her (Elaine Goodrich-Premo) to a concert at the college in the evening. Jalan Crossland, plays banjo, harmonica & guitar and the music is Appalachian folk rock of some sorts. He was amazing---i've never seen anyone play guitar like he did. He made his instrument tell the story (not just play along) of what his lyrics were. Unbelievable. He plays all over Wyoming, don't know if he plays out of state.
I also stopped on the way home to see the Fort Laramie National Historic Site. The fort has existed since the 1830's (originally under a different name and as a place for the fur trappers & Indians to trade goods) and was decommissioned in the 1890's. It is being rebuilt & refurnished to took exactly as it did back then.
September 6, 2017
Eden
So---an update on the progress of my next novel.
I sent it for editing, and this is the comment that my editor made:
"EDEN is an engaging and visceral coming-of-age story about a first love and the way it reshaped a young woman's notions of racism, love, and marriage. Set in 1967 in the epicenter of social upheaval, it examines the roots of the beliefs that people carry into adulthood. It's a powerful and timely book. The writing is gorgeous."
This by no means that the book is ready to be published. (You have no idea---unless you've tried writing a novel yourself---how much work is involved). I am aiming for early next year.
I sent it for editing, and this is the comment that my editor made:
"EDEN is an engaging and visceral coming-of-age story about a first love and the way it reshaped a young woman's notions of racism, love, and marriage. Set in 1967 in the epicenter of social upheaval, it examines the roots of the beliefs that people carry into adulthood. It's a powerful and timely book. The writing is gorgeous."
This by no means that the book is ready to be published. (You have no idea---unless you've tried writing a novel yourself---how much work is involved). I am aiming for early next year.
August 22, 2017
Charlottesville
I attended a rally at City Hall on Sunday in support of Charlottesville. I don't like crowds and I don't like politics, so I don't usually go to these things. There was the expected "blame it on..." everyone but ourselves, and the angry rhetoric, but for the most part people were peaceful & sincerely interested in changing the problem. The problem is, of course, all of us. no matter how good our intentions are, if we don't in our everyday lives reach out to people who are different from us & learn how to be their friends, nothing is going to change.
August 9, 2017
giveaway
Just completed a giveaway---books have been sent out to Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Virginia, Texas, New Jersey & an APO address. I just love sending books out over the world! it's probably childish but i have a map of the world on my wall with colored stickpins for every place that i know someone has NOTHING. i can't, of course, know every place. Amazon does not inform me of the location of buyers. But people i personally have sent books to, or sold books to...they all get a pin on my map.
July 31, 2017
Kid's Unity Festival
It was a great success---my guess is between 75-100 kids joined us, most of whose parents had never met us (nor had the kids). We made balloon animals, straw-and-bead necklaces, blew bubbles, colored pictures of children of all races having fun together, played with a big parachute and painted kids' faces. Although none of our scheduled face-painters showed up, people who were there with their children volunteered and were awesome. At the end the kids were actually painting each others' faces.
Most of them were playing in the park & came over to see what we were up to.
And then, of course, this year is a rainy summer: it poured. Our awnings were dumping water on us. By then most of the kids were gone anyway, so we just packed up in the rain. My shoes are still wet.
Most of them were playing in the park & came over to see what we were up to.
And then, of course, this year is a rainy summer: it poured. Our awnings were dumping water on us. By then most of the kids were gone anyway, so we just packed up in the rain. My shoes are still wet.
July 24, 2017
it's been a while
yes, it's been a while since you've heard from me. let me bring you up-to-date in as few words as possible:
next book---EDEN---back from my Beta readers & I'm incorporating their suggestions and will soon be sending it to a professional editor.
what I've been doing: in June I spent 3 weeks with my sister in Montana. Went to a Race Unity picnic on the Flathead Indian Reservation, also visited the National Bison refuge & saw a lot of baby bison. so cool.
yesterday my oldest son & his family & i went to Rocky Mountain National Park, about 3 hours' drive from us. INCREDIBLE!!! Took the Trail Ridge Road which runs between 11,000 feet and 12,000+ feet, in between mountain tops that still have snow and through TUNDRA---so amazing! we are still saying ooh and aah today.
what's on my agenda: a Kids Unity Festival here in town next week, to help kids learn as young as possible to get along with everyone (actually, kids know this right from the beginning. it's their parents who work hard to get it into their kids' heads that people have to look a certain way to be good people). in september i will be speaking at Sheridan College in Wyoming and in Helena & St. Ignatius in Montana. I'm set up for Arizona State in Phoenix in October. am working on a few more engagements---will let you know.
in case you haven't noticed, i do have a giveaway of NOTHING going on this month on Goodreads---please sign up if you haven't already.
talk to you all soon---i promise!
next book---EDEN---back from my Beta readers & I'm incorporating their suggestions and will soon be sending it to a professional editor.
what I've been doing: in June I spent 3 weeks with my sister in Montana. Went to a Race Unity picnic on the Flathead Indian Reservation, also visited the National Bison refuge & saw a lot of baby bison. so cool.
yesterday my oldest son & his family & i went to Rocky Mountain National Park, about 3 hours' drive from us. INCREDIBLE!!! Took the Trail Ridge Road which runs between 11,000 feet and 12,000+ feet, in between mountain tops that still have snow and through TUNDRA---so amazing! we are still saying ooh and aah today.
what's on my agenda: a Kids Unity Festival here in town next week, to help kids learn as young as possible to get along with everyone (actually, kids know this right from the beginning. it's their parents who work hard to get it into their kids' heads that people have to look a certain way to be good people). in september i will be speaking at Sheridan College in Wyoming and in Helena & St. Ignatius in Montana. I'm set up for Arizona State in Phoenix in October. am working on a few more engagements---will let you know.
in case you haven't noticed, i do have a giveaway of NOTHING going on this month on Goodreads---please sign up if you haven't already.
talk to you all soon---i promise!
May 15, 2017
Next Book
i am happy to be able to inform you that my next novel, EDEN, is now with my Beta readers ---Sheldon in Colorado, Gail in Washington, Bert in California, Barb in Montana.
After they have read and made their comments/suggestions i will do one more editing pass and then send it to a professional editor. I am hoping that it will be published in January.
This book is a love story---but not a romance!---set in San Francisco in 1968, against the backdrop of the hippie culture (yes, I was one of those!), the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam war. It is not quite as intense as NOTHING.
My first giveaway will be to the people on my email list, so if you aren't already signed up for that you can do so on my website, lindanaseem.com.
After they have read and made their comments/suggestions i will do one more editing pass and then send it to a professional editor. I am hoping that it will be published in January.
This book is a love story---but not a romance!---set in San Francisco in 1968, against the backdrop of the hippie culture (yes, I was one of those!), the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam war. It is not quite as intense as NOTHING.
My first giveaway will be to the people on my email list, so if you aren't already signed up for that you can do so on my website, lindanaseem.com.
