Leon Stevens's Blog, page 66
October 4, 2023
Weird Wednesday Oct 4th: Cartoon and Traditions
Canada elected their new house speaker today, and as tradition dictates, he was ceremoniously dragged against his will to the chair at the front of the parliament chamber:
Why?
“The newly elected speaker, by tradition, feigns reluctance as they are “dragged” to the chair in a practice dating from the days when British speakers risked execution if the news they reported to the king was displeasing.”
And now you know.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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October 3, 2023
Tuesday Tidbits: ‘Tis the Season(ing)
You now know how I feel about that.
October. It’s the season where Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas meet—at Costco and many of the Big big box stores at least. Spirit of Halloween stores spring up where other stores have failed, people are scrambling to book their travel plans (or thinking of excuses not to) for the next 3 months, dentists are rubbing their hands together thinking of all the sugar that will be consumed in 21 days, and we all are thinking the same thing:
“Is it January yet?“
Back to the spice. Not the Dune version or the term used by authors to denote erotic content in their books*.
Cinnamon: Mmm. What a wonderful spice. sprinkle a little on you coffee grounds before brewing for a pleasant change.
Ginger: What would ginger beef be without it? Yeah, just beef.
Nutmeg: No sir, I don’t like it—or do I? You find it in two forms, the bitter, acrid powder in the square metal container that never seems to run out, or the nut (which never runs out) you have to rub on a kitchen rasp (putting your fingertips in jeopardy). I can’t remember what the last thing I used it in.
Cloves: Yuck.
Allspice: Despite the name, it’s not all the spices.
Honorable mention goes to …
Salt: Not included in pumpkin spice, but I like salt. I use it sparingly, I’ll always taste before adding. I just counted and I have nine containers of salt: Table, two different sea salts pink Himalayan, flake, oak-smoked, habanero infused, another flaked salt that tastes different from the other one, and a mushroom-infused one. I’m not counting the garlic and onion salts, or the seasoning salt.
Speaking of salt, I made bread yesterday and completely forgot to add salt. Did it taste OK? Yeah. Coulda’ used some salt though.
-Leon
*Spice level in books by Leon Stevens: 0, unless you count the short romance story I penned on a whim which is level 1 – no Shades of Gray here.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
October 2, 2023
Music Monday Oct 2: Martin Sexton
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it.
Maybe you will find a new favorite.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
I found a stack of CDs (what are those?) yesterday, and came across a few that I had not listened too (probably for lack of a CD player—a what?) for quite a while.
I heard, and this is just an unconfirmed rumor, that Martin Sexton was discovered busking in a Boston subway station. True or not, this song would make everyone miss their train if they heard it resonating off the subway tiles.
Martin Sexton knew his destiny was to be a singer when he was nine, singing in the bathtub. This was further reinforced when he received his first guitar. Determined to succeed, Sexton set to playing on the streets of Boston, using showmanship as much as singing to get people to listen. His persistence paid off, as he has recorded several albums and owns his own recording company.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
October 1, 2023
October Thoughts: #Inktober
It gets dark earlier. When I wake up it’s dark. The green grass is littered with leaves. It doesn’t feel like summer anymore. It can only mean one thing: Pumpkin spice.
With the exception of pumpkin pie, which I have eaten every year of my life (before pumpkin spice was a ‘thing’), I am proud to say I have never consumed anything with pumpkin spice.
Oh, and October means: Inktober, but you knew that because of the above image.
It’s the month that challenges you with a daily prompt to draw something each day for 31 days. It’s also the month when I attempt to draw something each day for 31 days based on a given prompt, but usually either give up on the first day because the prompt was “gargoyle” (thanks for an easy one…), or incorporate The Miniscules into each one:
In 2021 I did complete the challenge, but true to form, I took a few liberties to make it entertaining:
Inktober
What’s in store this year? I took a look at the prompts and the first two were “Dream” and “Spiders”, so …
I guess that’s where things are going.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
October Thoughts
It gets dark earlier. When I wake up it’s dark. The green grass is littered with leaves. It doesn’t feel like summer anymore. It can only mean one thing: Pumpkin spice.
With the exception of pumpkin pie, which I have eaten every year of my life (before pumpkin spice was a ‘thing’), I am proud to say I have never consumed anything with pumpkin spice.
Oh, and October means: Inktober, but you knew that because of the above image.
It’s the month that challenges you with a daily prompt to draw something each day for 31 days. It’s also the month when I attempt to draw something each day for 31 days based on a given prompt, but usually either give up on the first day because the prompt was “gargoyle” (thanks for an easy one…), or incorporate The Miniscules into each one:
In 2021 I did complete the challenge, but true to form, I took a few liberties to make it entertaining:
Inktober
What’s in store this year? I took a look at the prompts and the first two were “Dream” and “Spiders”, so …
I guess that’s where things are going.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
September 30, 2023
Weekend Wrap-up Sept 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. [from Canada.ca]
Indigenous children were taken from their homes and forced into schools run by the church. They were physically and mentally abused, while being denied the right to speak their native language and observe their culture.
Many did not return home, and over the past several years, unmarked graves have been discovered at these residential schools all across the country. But it didn’t stop there.
In the 60s, the government took children from their families under the guise of child protection and adopted them to non-indigenous families in and outside the country. Many of those children never saw their real families again. This is commonly called the 60s scoop and this practice continued into the 80s. The last residential school closed in 1996.
According to a UN document, here were residential schools in the US, Central and South America and Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Russian Federation, Asia, Middle East, and Africa, with the purpose of cultural assimilation of the native population by the newcomers.
The pain indigenous people suffer from because of government continues.
History of Residential Schools
On my blog this week:
Free Book Friday Sept 29: Book Promos and Author Features
Thursday Thoughts: Seasons
Weird Wednesday Sept. 27th: Cartoons and Wordnesia
Tuesday Tidbits: Whahappen? (and It’s All About the Bass – Music Monday)
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
September 29, 2023
Free Book Friday Sept 29: Book Promos and Author Features
Friday. If you have a Monday – Friday job this is pretty exciting. If you happen to work Friday – Tuesday, well, I hope you enjoyed your days off.
Check out Sally’s blog today (and everyday) for a peek at one of my poetry books!
Smorgasbord Free Book Promotions 2023- Share an Excerpt from one of your published books – #Poetry – A Wonder of Words by Leon Stevens
Wait! Don’t forget that The View from Here is 99 cents until the end of the month and if you want The Knot at the End of the Rope or a poetry book for free: books.linesbyleon.com/Newslettersignup
Read Leon’s other self interviews: linesbyleon.com/the-interviews/
The story behind Free Book Friday: I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?
Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.
Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.
Featured Authors: Greg Sorber and R.B. O’Brien
Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnelStoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!
Since my newsletter goes out bi-weekly, I offer book promos on those dates, so here are last week’s:
Free Books
Sept 15 – Oct 16Last chance:
Purchase Links
There are two platforms with different poets for this one: Story Origin / BookFunnel
Sept 1-30Current promos: Discover New Authors
Review Copies (These are free!)Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction or both): Leon’s Newsletter
Buy all three for less than $7: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BZFMXQYY
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
September 28, 2023
Thursday Thoughts: Seasons
Four seasons and twelve months. Does that make for equal seasons? Maybe if you are between the tropics where there isn’t as much variation in the temperatures, but if you live above or below them, you know there is definitely a difference. Being in the northern hemisphere, here are the seasons as I experience them.
Winter. Sometimes it’s reaaaaly long, but usually it’s just really long. The date it begins to feel like winter varies as you can never accurately predict the first snowfall and when the snow is going to stay (for that long time). December to February is definitely winter, but when March rolls around and the days are noticeably longer, it does have a springtime feel, but don’t get complacent and put that shovel away because there’s going to be snow and cold.
Spring. You know the saying, “April showers bring May flowers” so it’s got to be spring, right?
Summer. Technically, June is still spring but who are we kidding? It’s warm, you’ve been cutting your grass for weeks, the garden’s been planted, school’s almost done, so yeah, it’s summer. And it’s three months long.
Fall. At the end of August, some leaves decide to piss you off and start to change color. There’s a reason it’s called fall. Fall has been extending its reach over the last few decades, but after Halloween, “Yer outta here.”
What about the astronomical seasons? Sure, the shortest day in the northern hemisphere sounds like a good place to start winter, and when the days are the longest, “Bam!” summer. But those dates are always out a day or two each year, so who’s going to remember that?
So, where does that leave us now? Well, half the leaves are on the ground—or clogging your eavestroughs …
-Leon
This price promo ends soon, then you get to pay $2.99!
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
September 27, 2023
Weird Wednesday Sept. 27th: Cartoons and Wordnesia
Why do some words look odd when you spell them? From http://www.annhgabhart.com:
Have you ever blanked out on a word that you were writing? You know the word but suddenly you have no idea how to spell it. Or perhaps you have written a word, but it doesn’t look right.
From http://www.smithsonianmag.com
It’s just a common brain glitch called wordnesia. This problem crops up when you can’t spell the simplest words. When familiar words suddenly seem like the strangest things. We don’t know what exactly happens in the brain when wordnesia occurs, but some researchers have an idea.
When you’re reading, what you’ve got is a very practiced part of the brain that responds automatically. I mean, when is the last time you looked at colonel and realized it was spelled funny? The automatic parts of reading take over. My guess, in the phenomenon you’re talking about, is that, very briefly, the automatic parts hit a speed bump and go, ‘that can’t be right.’ And those automatic tasks, when you disrupt them at all—when you think, ‘am I breathing on my backswing,’ or when you think, ‘should I push the clutch with my left foot’—anytime that you engage conscious monitoring of those parts that ought to be automatic, you get a hiccup.
So, it’s not just me…
Beginnings, colonel, conscience, weird, definitely, muscle to name a few. I blame spellcheck. We no longer have to consciously have to think what we write, just as long as our fingers are in the general vicinity of the keys, the computer will take care of the rest.
When I pick of a pen and write, it is a slower process, but I make less mistakes. Muscle memory perhaps? I used to hand write everything, taking notes as the teacher, then later professor stood at the front of the class and talked and talked and talked …
I developed a shorthand version of my writing which was a combination of printing/cursive/shortened words. Maybe I shortened the words that were hard to spell, but there are still words that I spell incorrectly and others that I second guess because they don’t look right.
Then there’s that i before e rule that has so many exceptions that it shouldn’t be a rule at all …
-Leon
Who are the Miniscules? The Miniscules: Humble Beginnings4 days left!
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
September 26, 2023
Tuesday Tidbits: Whahappen? (and It’s All About the Bass – Music Monday)
This is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show. Three of the funniest movies in my opinion.
In A Mighty Wind, Fred Willard’s child actor’s catch phrase was, “Whaahappen?”. I felt like that yesterday, So what happened to Music Monday? Did you miss it? I did. Literally. No excuses. To quote another catchphrase: S%#t happens.
There are many jokes about bass players. Usually targeting their intelligence, or lack thereof. (see what I did there?).
Since most bass guitars have only four strings, it does limit it’s melodic and harmonic potential—or does it? It doesn’t matter what instrument it is, there will always be musicians who push the envelope of what it can do.
Are there great bass players? Of course there are. That’s a stupid question. Here’s just one of many top 10 lists:
#10 – John Paul Jones
#9 – Jaco Pastorius
#8 – Victor Wooten
#7 – Geddy Lee
#6 – Stanley Clarke
#5 – Les Claypool
#4 – Larry Graham
#3 – James Jamerson
#2 – Flea
#1 – John Entwistle
Here is another for your consideration. Was Michael Manring the first to make the bass guitar a melodic solo instrument? Probably not, but he’s pretty good. His debut album, Drastic Measures blew me away. These first two selections are from Drastic Measures released in 1991.
Need something more upbeat?
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
