Valerie Webster's Blog, page 9
January 6, 2022
DECEMBER AMAZON CARD WINNER
Diane Banti of Lake Wales, FL! Our December Quiz winner of the $25 Amazon gift card. You can be our next winner.
Sign up on our site and answer this month’s crime fiction quiz question. Once you sign up, you are eligible every month your name remains on the list. Get on the list and give yourself a shot. https://valeriewebster.com/do-you-know/
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December 13, 2021
Donate. Be Generous. Be Grateful
Thanks to The New York Times for publishing legitimate local and national organizations collecting funds and other donations for those hard hit by the recent mid-west tornadoes. Be generous – and be grateful.
Local
Brother’s Brother Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based organization that provides disaster relief, is accepting donations so it can donate to food banks in Arkansas and Kentucky. It is also sending items to victims and emergency crews in affected areas.
Taylor County Bank in Campbellsville, Ky., is accepting donations by mail to its fund for tornado victims. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 200 Campbellsville, Ky., 42719.
The Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, created by Gov. Andy Beshear, is collecting donations for victims in the western portion of the state.
National
AmeriCares, a health-focused relief and development organization, has sent an emergency response team to Kentucky and has offered assistance to health care facilities in several states. The organization is accepting donations to help fund these efforts.
CARE, an organization that works with impoverished communities, is collecting money to provide food, cash and clean water to the tornado victims.
Convoy of Hope, an organization that feeds the hungry, is asking for donations to help the survivors across the affected states.
A Feeding America location in Kentucky is raising funds to help provide people with “ready-to-eat bags of food.”
Global Empowerment Mission, a disaster-relief organization, has partnered with local groups and is raising money to help its team on the ground in Kentucky.
GoFundMe has created a centralized hub with verified fund-raisers to help those affected by the tornadoes. It will be updated with new fund-raisers as they are verified.
International Medical Corps, an organization that provides emergency medical services, is raising funds to give people shelter and essential items.
The Red Cross has opened shelters and is asking people to make appointments to give blood. Both its national arm and its local chapter in Western Kentucky are collecting donations.
The Salvation Army is soliciting donations to help tornado victims in Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Team Rubicon, a disaster-relief organization, is raising money to help its team of military veterans and volunteers clear roads in Western Kentucky.
The United Way of Kentucky is asking for donations to provide support services for families in the state who were affected by the tornadoes.
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December 10, 2021
IT’S THAT TIME – GIFT THE READERS ON YOUR LIST
Great Gifts for Readers on Your Holiday List
We enjoy hearing the gossip about the rich and infamous. This book tells it all about the authors we loved – stuff we never learned in English class.
From the Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild. Start your day with some of the greatest opening gambits ever penned.
From the Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild. The Guild offers you those fab literary finishes as well.
Writer, author, poet or if you just love writing, slip on this t-shirt to feel proud and be cool.
Book lovers may swear they’d rather read from a book rather than a screen. Even those folks have to admit traveling is more convenient with this six-inch, high-res, waterproof Kindle reader.
This plush book holder makes a thoughtful gift for friends, family and colleagues. It’s great for Kindle, iPad, tablets, ebook readers and it can even double as a travel pillow.
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December 8, 2021
PHISHING – IT’S NOT A WATERSPORT
Let’s start with a definition of phishing. It is the practice of tricking Internet users, through the use of deceptive email messages, phone calls or websites, into revealing personal or confidential information which can then be used to perpetuate identity theft, access sensitive data and/or steal financial assets from the victim.
Email messages employ “spoofing.” A hacker sends emails that appear to originate from trustworthy sources. They may appear to be sent from legitimate companies, from friends, family members or coworkers.
Hackers also spoof websites. They accomplish this via a technique called URL “cloaking” or “masking” Through the use of specialized scripts of computer code, hackers can cover up a legitimate URL with one that is associated with a trusted website.
The most common phishing scams involve bank or credit card notifications, unsolicited tech support notifications, “receipts” of high-priced items that you supposedly purchased, cut off of a service you use such as email or Amazon or even black mail attempts threatening to “out” your viewing of pornographic sites.
Common features to be aware of in email phishing:
Too good to be true offersUrgency, you must act nowHyperlinks within an email – ways to get you to a fraudulent site to complete the theftAttachments in an email – often contain viruses or ransomware to seize your machineUnknown senders – maybe not the Nigerian prince but folks you don’t know with requests or offersSpotting the suspects:
Misspellings and poor grammarPoor graphic reproduction, i.e., fuzzy logos or other graphicsAddress from incorrect domain – if Bank of America sends you an email, it certainly will not come from @gmail.com or other personal account.Emails from people you don’t know asking you to look at embarrassing pics of a friend.Pop-ups – don’t be quick on the click.Here are a few good ways to explore without getting snagged by the “phisher”:
Hover your PC mouse over the email address to expose the real sender. If you’re using a mobile device (Android, Apple), investigate an email address by tapping on the address with your finger or stylus. You will see the actual sender’s address.Keep your browser up to dateMaintain your firewallsUsing anti-phishing toolbars or appsMOST OF ALL – THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK!Extricating yourself from the clutches of internet thieves can be costly in more than one way. Identity theft can take years of legal work to resolve. Be aware of the many ways internet bad guys try to steal from you.
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October 30, 2021
Sisters in Crime
Sisters in Crime is sponsoring NaNoWriMo this November. They will schedule write-ins and weekly Twitter sprints to help you get to 50K words. They will also make other resources and support available.
The #SinC50K will offer:
2 write-ins a day 6 days a weekTwitter sprints twice a weekA private Facebook groupA weekly check-in with other membersJoin and SinC will send you more information as November 1 approaches! Even if you’re not a member, SinC allows for non-members to participate if you’ve created a Guest – Non-Member account and signed in
Need a contact? Julie Hennrikus ed@sistersincrime.org
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October 18, 2021
Dark Money: How Rita Did It
In Driven: A Rita Mars Thriller, Rita spends time wading through corporate records, social media and online sources in her quest to identify the killer of her reporter friend, Bobby Ellis.
Why is this such a slavish task when we believe the Federal Election Commission (FEC) requires periodic reports that disclose the total amount of all contributions they receive, and the identity, address, occupation, and employer of any person who contributes more than $200 during a calendar year?
Secret contributions and dark money took on new freedoms in 1976 with the Buckley v. Valeo, landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on campaign finance. The justices held that limits on election spending in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 were unconstitutional.
The Court ruled that expenditure limits contravened the First Amendment provision on freedom of speech because a restriction on spending for political communication necessarily reduces the quantity of expression. It limited disclosure provisions and limited the Federal Election Commission‘s power.
At the heart of this ruling and subsequent gaming of the system, is the shielding of donations via non-profits. These are the organizations given free rein: 501(c)(4) (“social welfare”), 501(c)(5) (unions) and 501(c)(6) (trade association) groups not to disclose donors. These groups receive unlimited donations from corporations, individuals and unions and not discloses to voters where the money came from.
Examples of 501(c)(4) are National Rifle Association, Planned Parenthood, Majority Forward, One Nation. 501(c)(5) examples are Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Examples of
501(c)(6) include US Chamber of Commerce, American Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors.
Beyond the nondisclosure provision, Political Action Committees (PACs) frequently employ LLCs to disguise the identity of a donor or source of money spent on behalf of a political candidate.
LLCs are governed by state law but minimal information is necessary to file the required articles of incorporation. In states such as Delaware, New Mexico, Nevada and Wyoming, LLCs may be incorporated without reporting names of members or managers.
The lack of transparency helps disguise the source of millions of dollars in political spending. Shell LLC companies make major contributions to super PACs each election cycle, leaving voters in the dark while the recipient often knows the donor’s true identity. The influx of dark money jumped from around $5M in 2012 election to over $1B in the 2020 cycle.
So how can anyone like a Rita Mars get to the truth of backers/donors from these organizations when there is no comprehensive federal finance accountability legislation in place? There are some methods to put names to these mystery donors. Here is a list of tactics to track dark money expenditures:
Researching IRS Form 990s using GuideStarSearching Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings to find details of corporate contributionsCross referencing “voluntary corporate filings” (which are neither standardized nor comprehensive)Searching news articles for relevant informationExplore Federal Election Commission (FEC) filingsLabor union disclosuresIssue One, OpenSecrets, and PBS are all organizations that have conducted extensive research into dark money but they have only modest access to reveal the biggest spenders.
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Dark Money: How Rita Did It?
In Driven: A Rita Mars Thriller, Rita spends time wading through corporate records, social media and online sources in her quest to identify the killer of her reporter friend, Bobby Ellis.
Why is this such a slavish task when we believe the Federal Election Commission (FEC) requires periodic reports that disclose the total amount of all contributions they receive, and the identity, address, occupation, and employer of any person who contributes more than $200 during a calendar year?
Secret contributions and dark money took on new freedoms in 1976 with the Buckley v. Valeo, landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on campaign finance. The justices held that limits on election spending in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 were unconstitutional.
The Court ruled that expenditure limits contravened the First Amendment provision on freedom of speech because a restriction on spending for political communication necessarily reduces the quantity of expression. It limited disclosure provisions and limited the Federal Election Commission‘s power.
At the heart of this ruling and subsequent gaming of the system, is the shielding of donations via non-profits. These are the organizations given free rein: 501(c)(4) (“social welfare”), 501(c)(5) (unions) and 501(c)(6) (trade association) groups not to disclose donors. These groups receive unlimited donations from corporations, individuals and unions and not discloses to voters where the money came from.
Examples of 501(c)(4) are National Rifle Association, Planned Parenthood, Majority Forward, One Nation. 501(c)(5) examples are Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Examples of
501(c)(6) include US Chamber of Commerce, American Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors.
Beyond the nondisclosure provision, Political Action Committees (PACs) frequently employ LLCs to disguise the identity of a donor or source of money spent on behalf of a political candidate.
LLCs are governed by state law but minimal information is necessary to file the required articles of incorporation. In states such as Delaware, New Mexico, Nevada and Wyoming, LLCs may be incorporated without reporting names of members or managers.
The lack of transparency helps disguise the source of millions of dollars in political spending. Shell LLC companies make major contributions to super PACs each election cycle, leaving voters in the dark while the recipient often knows the donor’s true identity. The influx of dark money jumped from around $5M in 2012 election to over $1B in the 2020 cycle.
So how can anyone like a Rita Mars get to the truth of backers/donors from these organizations when there is no comprehensive federal finance accountability legislation in place? There are some methods to put names to these mystery donors. Here is a list of tactics to track dark money expenditures:
Researching IRS Form 990s using GuideStarSearching Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings to find details of corporate contributionsCross referencing “voluntary corporate filings” (which are neither standardized nor comprehensive)Searching news articles for relevant informationExplore Federal Election Commission (FEC) filingsLabor union disclosuresIssue One, OpenSecrets, and PBS are all organizations that have conducted extensive research into dark money but they have only modest access to reveal the biggest spenders.
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October 11, 2021
National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Chris Baty started the project in with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area. Each year since on November 1, thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a new novel. By just the following year, participants or “Wrimos” swelled to over 5,000. Participation skyrocketed.
NaNoWriMo became a nonprofit in 2005; their programs support writing fluency and education. Their website hosts more than a million writers, serving as a social network with author profiles, personal project libraries, and writing buddies. NaNoWriMo tracks words for writers like Fitbit tracks steps. With the help of over 900 volunteers in thousands of partnering libraries and community centers NaNo hosts real-world writing events in cities worldwide.
Hundreds of NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. They include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.
Each year, authors offer mentorship to participants. Past author mentors have included Gene Luen Yang, Roxane Gay, Kacen Callender, John Green, Andy Weir, N. K. Jemisin, and Veronica Roth.
Since NaNoWriMo is used to get people writing, the rules are kept broad and straightforward:
Writing starts at 12:00: a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time.No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point.Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later.Planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel.Participants’ novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language.To win NaNoWriMo, participants must write an average of approximately 1,667 words per day (69 per hour, 1.2 per minute) in November to reach the goal of 50,000 words written toward a novel. Organizers of the event say that the aim is to get people to start writing, using the deadline as an incentive to get the story going and to put words to paper. There is no fee to participate in NaNoWriMo; registration is only required for novel verification.
No official prizes are awarded for length, quality, or speed, though self-awarded badges are available on the site. Anyone who reaches the 50,000-word mark is declared a winner. Beginning November 20, participants can submit their novel to be automatically verified for length and receive a printable certificate, an icon they can display on the web, and inclusion on the list of winners.
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September 23, 2021
Writing Contest for Unpublished Work
Each year the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association presents a contest for best in genre for as yet
unpublished work. You’ll see these “best of” mystery and thrillers soon on shelves and online!
Every genre has a sponsor and this year’s Mystery/Thriller sponsor is author, Robert Dugoni. Dugoni is a critically acclaimed New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon Internationally Best-Selling Author of 17 novels in The Tracy Crosswhite police detective series set in Seattle, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and the Charles Jenkins espionage series.
Mystery/Thriller – Sponsored by Robert Dugoni:
1st Place: “Worse Than Death ” by Brooke Terpening
2nd Place: “Bitter Lake ” by Michael Munro
3nd Place: “The Price ” by David Sullivan
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September 16, 2021
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards
Finalists just announced in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards. RMFW offers encouragement and opportunity to writers in all genres through this annual contest. Winners will be announced and celebrated at the RMFW Hybrid Gold Conference, set to take place October 15th thru the 17th.
Mystery, Thriller
Delve Too Deep by Phillip Castle
One Way In by Susie Lindau
Pieces by Becky Munyon
The Puzzle by Robert Selzer
Worse than Death by Brooke Terpening
Mainstream
Kamikaze Girl by Kevin Campbell
It’s Cool if You Hate Us by Charles Culp
The Ghosts of Chang An by Vickie Fang
Green Side Up by Ann Ivancie
The Band by Jedeane Macdonald
YA, Middle Grade
The Problem with Pamela by Heather Durham
Kung Fu to You, Too by Richard Erixon
True Love Never by Kelley J.P. Lindberg
Elly Elliott – Secret Code Breaker by Jedeane Macdonald
The Serpent’s Covenant by Ann Marie
Women’s Fiction, Romance
Bannock Bliss by Lyda Mary Hardy
Celie Logan’s Gone to the Dogs by Martha McCannon
The Original Handmaid by Margaret Morse
The Sweetest Revenge by Meegan Epps
The Parts We Leave Behind by Rise’ Smith
Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Spec, Horror
To Feel the Earth as Rough by Dani Coleman
The Osect Indiscretion by Matthew Cushing
Seraph by Cheryl Fallin
Thief of Time by Val Moses
Mars Material by John Arthur Neal
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