Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 68
July 20, 2012
Have you seen Libba Bray’s post today?
I always believe in the need for compassion, for love, for kindness. There is so much hatred in the world–hatred, violence, terror. Acts that should never happen. I’ve seen what pure hatred can do. But our compassion and kindness helps make a positive difference. Helps to counteract some of that, helps give some people a reason to be here through their pain. Helps make the world a better place (as cliche as that sounds).
Today, the awesome Libba Bray talks about compassion, kindness, and empathy in the face of horror–and specifically, today, with a horrific shooting in a movie theater in Colorado It’s something I try to hold on to, too–compassion, love, making a positive difference in the world, not adding to the pain. Trying to face the horrors in the world, and not come away so empty or hardened that there’s no room for love. And, like Libba (and probably most writers), I use my writing to try to make sense of the world and my past, and try to make a difference.
Libba’s post really resonates with me. I’m grateful for her words today. We need compassion and kindness–it helps to counteract even the worst things people can do. I hope you’ll check out her post.
Also see Barry Lyga’s post in response to the tragedy. I very much agree with gun control, too, and not blaming art for people acting out. And also in *prevention* (which is in part gun control–and, I believe, counselling, prevention of child abuse, and more).
photo by:
Thai Jasmine (Smile..smile...Smile..)
July 18, 2012
Guest Post by author L. M. Preston: Teasing VS Bullying. & enter to win a copy of Flutter of Luv
Today author LM Preston joins us as part of her blog tour to celebrate the release of her new book Flutter Of Luv. I think she has a lot of thoughtful and important things to say about bullying. Read on!
Want to win a copy of Flutter of Luv? Leave a comment on this blog post to enter.
Guest Post: TEASING VS BULLYING
by LM Preston
While writing FLUTTER OF LUV, I had to think about how I would approach “friendly teasing”.
I did a recent middle school visit at a school and found that a child committed suicide in the school. Sadness. My heart broke for the school and the child. During my visit on the STOP THE VIOLENCE panel the kids asked all kinds of questions, but most of them focused around bullying.
This one question stuck firmly in my mind and made me remember something my grandmother used to tell me.
IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, DON’T SAY NOTHING AT ALL!
I used to hate when she reminded me of that considering I was a snarky teen who thought she knew it all. I had an opinion on everything and didn’t have a problem telling it the way I saw it – especially because people didn’t have a problem reminding me that I was “short”, a “four eyes”, a “square”, a “bastard”, had a uni-brow and much more.
TEASING CAN LEAD TO BULLYING
Although it may seem innocent, teasing can stir the beginnings of bullying. I’ll take my own childhood example.
I was constantly teased for having a uni-brow and being fat. I mean, I was teased about this by my family, by friends, by teachers, heck even people I didn’t know.
My response usually was to just laugh it off. So those perpetrators thought that their teasing didn’t mean anything to me and that I Was In On Their Joke….but deep down inside, with all those people saying the same thing over and over to me – well, I started to think that what they said was true.
HOW TEASING TURNS TO BULLYING
So, since so many people were ‘teasing’ me about my uni-brow and my weight, I started to hate those things about myself, because…THEY DIDN’T CHOSE TO SAY SOMETHING NICE – WHAT THEY SAID WAS MEAN, and even now as a writer – I have to fight the negativity and let only the positivity in. But at that time, I was a kid, and all any kid wants to do is – be accepted.
I figured I could change those things about myself, and the first thing I did was shave my eyebrows. Let me tell you – that didn’t go over too well. Everyone noticed and I got teased worst for it. I let them grow back.
My weight, well, I wasn’t fat, but I was chuncky and at 14yrs old when I wanted a boyfriend like my friends had, I thought I could set off to drop some weight. Then the ‘teasing’ changed and people started giving me compliments, only thing was, I was losing weight to the point of near starvation, fainting, and anorexia. Thankfully I had a very aware grandmother, who stepped in, talked to me, explained to me how beautiful I was inside, that I had to eat and she made sure I did. She told me NO ONE WILL LOVE YOU IF YOU DON’T LOVE YOURSELF FIRST.
Wow – and she told me to LOOK IN THE MIRROR to REMIND MYSELF I AM LOVED. You know what, she did it with me that first day, and even more so after that, until one day – I started to do it for myself.
SO SHARE WITH ME HOW YOU HAVE OVERCOME BULLYING. How you don’t let negativity from nasty words affect you.
About Flutter of Luv:
Dawn, the neighborhood tomboy is happy to be her best friend’s shadow. Acceptance comes from playing football after school with the guys on the block while hiding safely behind her glasses, braces and boyish ways. But Tony moves in, becomes the star running back on her school’s team and changes her world and her view of herself forever.
author bio:
LM. Preston loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. She worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. Her passion for writing science fiction was born under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids. Her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds feeds her creation of multiple series for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers thirsty for an adventure. She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.
author links:
web site: lmpreston.com
Join in the blog tour with these stops:
Twitter Party:
Friday, July 27th, 5pm – 6pm, use hashtag #FlutterOfLuv and follow @Lm_Preston
Facebook Party:
Saturday, July 28th, 12pm-9pm EST
Party on Event Page
Blog Tour Stops:
ini Blog Tour:
LM Preston’s Ramblings – 7/13/2012
Indies Unlimited – 7/13/2012
A Little Bit Of R&R – 7/13/2012
Doreen McGettigan – 7/17/2012
Writer’s Alley – 7/17/2012
I Want To Read That – 7/18/2012
The Daily Harrell – 7/19/2012
Word Forge Books – 7/20/2012
Searching For An Escape – 7/21/2012
and http://www.facebook.com/MHAFH
The Write Game – 7/23/2012
Stephen Penner – 7/24/2012
Black Words White Pages – 7/26/2012
Curiosity Key – 7/27/2012
SomeoneWhoActuallyCares – 7/27/2012
LM Preston’s Ramblings – 7/28/2012
Tribute Books Reviews & Giveaways – 7/23/2012
Tribute Books Mama – 7/24/2012
The Character Connection – 7/25/2012
The Plot Thickens – 7/26/2012
City Girl Who Loved To Read – 7/27/2012
Twitter Release Party! – 5pm-6pm use hashtag #FlutterOfLuv
FACEBOOK Release Party! – 7/28/2012
July 11, 2012
Another reason we need strong voices & YA books: Comedian Daniel Tosh suggests an audience member should be gang-raped
I can’t believe *anyone* actually thinks it’s okay to tell rape jokes–never mind that they mind be funny. To me, that’s a sign of great disconnectedness from compassion, from emotion, and from their own vulnerability. Yet that’s just what comedian Daniel Tosh does. Apparently he frequently tells rape jokes in his spiel.
And when, in a recent performance, he was telling rape jokes, and a woman audience woman yelled out that rape jokes are never funny, according to the audience member, Daniel said: “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…”
Okay. Wow. Let’s just pause here for a minute. In a world where women are frequently raped–every 2 minutes in the US, someone is raped, and 9 out of 10 of them are usually women–this man thinks he suggest a woman get gang-raped? Seriously?
As a woman, I am offended and outraged. As a incest and sexual abuse survivor, as a ritual abuse survivor, I am horrified. I know what it’s like to be raped. It leaves emotional and psychic wounds that don’t go away. It dehumanizes us. It makes us feel worthless, dirty, like garbage.
Stances like Daniel’s are one of the reasons I write the kind of books I do. Books that talk about rape and sexual abuse, victimization and oppression. Books that also talk about the strength of survivors, and our ability to not only fight back and heal, but to thrive after something so traumatic. To find safety for ourselves, and to help others find it, too.
We need strong voices to counteract voices like Daniel’s. And so I am so grateful to the woman audience member who stood up to him in the show, and who then blogged about it so other people could hear about it. When we raise our voices, we are often heard. We CAN make a difference.
That’s something that, to me, is so powerful about books. We can help others who don’t understand an issue really get inside another person’s experience and emotions through story. We can help them feel. I’m always grateful when people stand up to oppression–in real-life situations, in conversation, and in books, film, art. I hope for a world without hatred. Without abuse, rape, oppression. I will never stop hoping for that. Care to join me?
July 10, 2012
Judy Blume’s Forever Now An eBook
Judy Blume’s Forever is now an ebook! It’s very cool to see a book that has been banned so many times become an ebook–even more accessible to readers!
It’s available on Amazon, B&N, IndieBound (yay, Simon & Schuster!) and iBooks.
July 9, 2012
Gmail Signature Fix – How To Move Gmail Sig Before Quoted Text
Do you use Gmail? I do, regularly. And I have a signature I use. I like my email to look professional–and I also want to make sure my books are there, identifying me. It is SO annoying to, every time I respond to an email, have to cut and paste my email all the way from the bottom of the other person’s email. If that bugs you, too, here is a quick and easy way to fix it permanently in Gmail! I am SO glad I found this!
July 6, 2012
Can we help Camp Kanuwodi? (sexual abuse survivors)
Nathan Deveau is a Maine artist who is working to build a camp for children to use art to heal from abuse. This art retreat is named “Kanuwodi” which is the Cherokee word for healing. Nathan was inspired to create this camp because, as a child he and his older brother, Mark, were survivors of physical and sexual abuse. Nathan found art as a means of healing and hopes to bring this gift to other children suffering the affects of abuse. Kanuwodi was the dream of both Nathan and Mark, unfortunately Mark is not able to be a part of getting the camp off the ground. Mark took his own life. Nathan has taken on the mission of making Kanuwodi a reality for himself, for the community, family and children, and for Mark. Kanuwodi is in need for funding to become a reality. Nathan and Kanuwodi presently have a deadline of August to raise $17,500. This will allow them to get the road completed for the camp, to keep the 503(c)(3) status, and to keep the dream of healing alive.
Can you help with a small contribution, even $5 or $10? Can you help by spreading the word about their fundraising effort?
More info at kanuwodi.org
July 5, 2012
Evernote: A Great Free Tool For Writers
Lately I’ve really been wanting software that allows me to easily organize all my notes, research, photos for characters, emails, etc for the manuscripts I’m working on. I use MS Word to write my novels (since I have to deliver it through MS Word–it’s industry standard), but it’s cumbersome and non-intuitive to add all the extra information that comes up while you’re writing or editing a draft.
I was putting links to research articles, character names and meanings, photos that felt like they fit my characters, all at the bottom of my manuscript, but it was a pain to sort through. And then I had a separate file for notes on what I wanted to add or change or do a separate edit for in the novel, and character names, descriptions, etc for all the characters of all my books…and it just got to be hard to sort through all the material. I also have so many bookmarks of great articles and information that I don’t want to lose–but that become hard to find. I was using OneNote for a while (which comes with MS Office), but it didn’t feel intuitive or easy to use, somehow.
And then I remembered a program I’d tried years ago. It hadn’t quite worked for me then, but it’s gotten so much better–in fact, I think it may be my dream software.
What is it? You guessed it–Evernote. And it’s free. It’s also easy to use, does all the things I want it to do, and things I hadn’t even thought of yet that are super appealing. There’s also a handy web clipper tool that you can add to most browsers. I easily installed it for Chrome and it works perfectly.
A few things I love about Evernote. You can:
use it on all your various computers and phones, including Windows, Mac, and Android, and through their website
sync everything in Evernote through all your devices and access it on any of them. So once you’ve entered something from one place, it’s automatically updated on all your devices, including online. That means you can use it at home, on the go, at a friend’s house–basically anywhere that has internet access (or, if you don’t have internet access but still have your tablet/laptop, there, too.)
easily and quickly clip any article online
create separate notebooks to easily organize all your various projects or topics (this works very well for the way my brain works)
forward or send emails to Evernote, even to specific notebooks
drag and drop photos, video, even music
easily search and find articles, research, etc that you want–even *text within a document* (which is crucial to me; sometimes I forget what I titled a document and where I stored it)
tag any note with tags that make sense to you
have everything all in one place AND see everything easily. I love that all the different forms of media can all be accessed in one program (and within specific notebooks), with a file-like list on the left, the articles and notes down the middle, and new notes on the right. SO easy to see and find everything I want!
attach paper notes (just take a photo and send it to Evernote) and audio notes
The ways I’m using it so far as a writer (and I’m only on my second day):
dragged and dropped photos that represent my characters into a notebook for my current WIP
created notebooks not only for my WIP, but also on writing technique, book promotion, and tips on using Evernote itself, and already clipped articles on the subjects that I think are great and that I don’t want to lose
emailed myself an email about writing techinque that I want to remember, to a separate notebook
synced all my accounts so that the information appears on my laptop, desktop, tablet, and phone, and I can easily access it all
wrote ideas about my WIP while I was on the subway, and sent them to Evernote, to my WIP notebook, so I didn’t lose them
moved notes from one notebook to another
I just discovered that there’s a free online tool Clippings Converter, that you can use to upload your Kindle “my clippings” right into Evernote. What an incredible bonus! I have so many notes that I take and passages I’ve highlighted while reading a good book. I’m definitely going to use this feature.
There’s also a premium version (that you pay for) if you want more features and more upload storage capacity.
I feel like I’m only just starting to see what’s possible with Evernote–and I’m loving it all.
Do you use Evernote? How do you use it as a writer?
If you don’t use Evernote, what’s your favorite comparable program?
June 30, 2012
HUNTED in local newspaper–again!
I just found out from a writing friend that HUNTED is mentioned in today’s Toronto Star article “Great Escapes for Kids and Teens” (reviews by Deirdre Baker)! It’s even got Hunted’s cover in it, in the print and web version! (beaming)
So of course after my friend told me, I had to run out to the store and buy myself a copy! (Online isn’t quite the same when your book is mentioned in a newspaper.) And there HUNTED is–the cover is the top left image of the book covers! And a lovely mini review by Deirdre Baker, sure to get readers interested.
What a thrill! (beaming and beaming)
This is the second time in a short period that HUNTED has been in a Canadian newspaper. The first was in The National Post when HUNTED was shortlisted for the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the second is today! Yes, I’m still smiling!
It’s nice to have local exposure, and a Canadian press (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) as well as an American one (WestSide Books).
PS IF you’re in Canada, HUNTED is now in Chapters/Indigo stores! As well as, in Toronto, Bakka-Phoenix Books (who have signed copies), and many Book City locations (the Annex location had one signed copy last time I checked).
June 23, 2012
Pay It Forward Giveaway Hop – ecopy of Scars and Hunted
The Pay It Forward Giveaway Hop is to celebrate Catherine Ryan Hyde and her books, including Pay It Forward–she’s a fantastic writer and person, so I’m happy to be a part of this! Giveway is from June 23-June 30th.
Here on my blog, I’m giving away an ebook copy of SCARS, and a digital review copy of HUNTED. SCARS is a Governor General Literary Award Finalist, #1 in ALA’s Top 10 Quick Picks, and got a starred review in SLJ. HUNTED is a finalist for the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy, and also got glowing reviews. I put a lot of my heart into both books; I hope you’ll enter to win and read them if you haven’t yet.
To enter, leave a comment on this blog post.
You get an extra entry if you follow me on Twitter (or are already) or FaceBook.
Check out the other blogs participating in the giveaway hop!
Linky List:
Roof Beam Reader (Int)
Shooting Stars Mag (Int)
Karen White Audiobooks (USA)
BookHounds (USA)
BookHounds YA (USA)
Jinky is Reading (Int)
Abel G. de la Cruz (UK)
Noble Valerie (USA)
There’s A Book (US/Canada)
Life as a Spaz (Int)
Tales of an Intrepid Pantster (USA)
Leeswamme’s Blog (Int)
The Lupine Librarian (USA)
Sweeping Me (USA/CAN)
Kristen Pelfrey Writes (USA)
Love Saves the World(Int)
Reading With a Broken Heart (Int)
Book Addict (Int)
Cheryl Rainfield (Int)
Candace’s Book Blog (Int)
