S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 81

My Commute

Back to the 30-day blogging challenge (that I'm doing once a week). This week's topic is "Your commute to and from work." Or in my case, from and to work. I'll explain.

As a writer, I work out of my home. So in a way, my commute to work is walk down the stairs into my office and start working (after checking out Facebook, of course).

But it's more than that. To prevent cabin fever and to actually interact with humans, I first make a commute from work to Starbucks, then from Starbucks back to work. I do this nearly every morning (yes, I've added up what it costs and it's frightening).

To the Starbucks I go to (which is not the closest one; I go to the one by the Interstate because you see more interesting people) it is just over five miles. I have on the way there two stop signs. One stop sign is at a busy road and sometimes you wait a while to have an opening to cross it. The other stop sign is just getting out of my neighborhood.

Getting back there's two stop signs, also. The first as getting onto the road that is the longest part of the trip, and the other is crossing that busy street again.

But, here's the thing: I'm never in traffic (unless there's a back up behind a slow-moving tractor). Crossing that busy street is the most stressful part of the trip. Sometimes you have to deal with local drivers (I've lived in this town for going on 17 years and I still call them "local drivers") who take miles and miles to accelerate to the speed limit, if they ever bother to do so.

So my commute is pretty easy. I'm a lucky guy.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Keshawn Dodds and Barb Jones

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Keshawn Dodds and Barb Jones.
Keshawn DoddsKeshawn Dodds

Keshawn Dodds was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts on February 24, 1978.  He still resides there with his wife, Tamara Dodds and daughter, Sydney Sharee Dodds. Becoming known as a well-established football player in Springfield, he was awarded a football scholarship to American International College in 1997.  Mr. Dodds played football all four years at A.I.C., and later graduated with a B.S. in Education in 2001 and a Master of Education in 2009.

After graduating with his Bachelor’s degree, Keshawn went on to become a fourth and fifth grade elementary school teacher within the Springfield Public Schools. During his tenure, Mr. Dodds taught at the Homer and Washington Elementary Schools from 2001 - 2005. He later took a job under Springfield's Mayor, Charles V. Ryan, as a Mayoral Aide. After his time in the Mayor’s office, Keshawn went back to AIC and worked there for ten years and most recently held the position as the Director of Diversity & Community Engagement. Moving forward, Keshawn is now the new Executive Director of the Springfield, MA Boys & Girls Club Family Center.

Along Mr. Dodds’ career journey, he has also become a published author of a juvenile fiction series, which is known as the Menzuo - Solar Warrior’s series. Keshawn has written eight books within the series, and has currently republished the first book, “Menzuo: The Calling of the Sun Prince,” in August of 2010, through Cosby Media Productions and in October of 2015, it became an Amazon.com Best Selling book. Mr. Dodds is also awaiting the release of the highly anticipated second book, Menzuo: Legend of the Blue Diamond. The rest of the books within the eight book series are due out in the years to come.

Mr. Keshawn Dodds is an avid writer and strong supporter of education. His long term goal is to become a well-known educational advocate and motivational speaker. Keshawn wants to continue to spread his words of faith towards obtaining a great education and achieving all goals that a person has set in their life. Being raised by his mother, Elizabeth Dodd, Keshawn was always instilled with what a good education can bring to a person. Mr. Dodds firmly believes that, when hard work meets dedication, success is born.

Keshawn's Books:

Menzuo: The Calling of the Sun Prince

Menzuo: Legend of the Blue Diamond

Who's On My Side? The Story of Kalen Brown

Keshawn's Links:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Barb JonesBarb Jones

Born and raised in Hawaii, Barb is a single mother of two great children, one of whom is now a teenager. She works in Information Technology in addition to being an author. When people have asked her who she is, she’s said that, “it’s hard to write at times. I’m a mother, first and foremost, and then a hard-working author and IT professional”. She loves living in Florida even though she misses Seattle, but the warm weather reminds her of why she moved there.  She currently resides in Sarasota, a nice town with a few quirky attractions that make living in a smaller city fun.

Barb's Books:

The Queen’s Destiny

Marcus: Origins

The Queen’s Enemy

Barb's Links:
Website Blog Facebook Twitter
From Today's show: Moon Cave May Provide Shelter for Astronauts.
Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

It is to Laugh

Back to the 30-day blogging challenge. The next category is "You current relationship." Well, I've been married to the same woman for 34 years. So that's not very interesting.

The next category is "Two words/phrases that make you laugh." I had to think about his because I'm always quoting popular culture for a laugh.

Here's one phrase that makes me laugh: "Put Edwina back in bowl." It's from a movie called All of Me starring Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. It's silly little movie where a guru is going to put the soul of Edwina (played by Tomlin) into a bowl and then transfer it to a younger woman since Edwina was sickly her entire life. Of course, it doesn't go as planned and at one point the Steve Martin character tells the guru to put Edwina back in the bowl. And the guru says in an Indian accent "Put Edwina back in bowl." It's funnier when you hear it in the movie. So, given the slights prompt ("Please hand me that bowl") I'll say "Put Edwina back in bowl" and I laugh and laugh while people think I'm nuts.

Another phrase that makes me laugh comes from a Looney Tunes cartoon. There so many to choose from (Duck season! Rabbit season!) but the one that never fails to make me laugh is from "What's Opera Doc." It goes something like this (sung to Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyrie" by Elmer Fudd): "Kill the Wabbit / Kill the Wabbit / Kill the Wabbit / Oh oh oh!"

But really, almost any Looney Tunes cartoon will have a gold mind of memorable phrases ("Had the silly thing in reverse").

And then there's Ghostbusters . . .

New Five-Star Review for Treasure of the Black Hole

There is a new five-star review of Treasure of the Black Hole on the "Bella Reads and Reviews Books" blog. Check it out here.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Daniel Peyton and Ephrat Livni

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are happy to welcome Daniel Peyton and Ephrat Livni.
Daniel PaytonDaniel Peyton

Daniel Peyton was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and now resides near the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee. He is an honorary member of the Sigma Alpha Iota, professional performer with the Miyagi Ryu Nosho Kai, and a longtime member of the Embroiderers Guild of America. Daniel is an award winning stitcher, graphic artist, stage performer, and cook. The verities of experiences have helped him develop rich worlds and characters for his fiction works. Since the fourth grade he has never stopped penning stories for the entertainment of others.

Daniel's Books:

Legacy of Dragonwand

Wisdom Springs 

The Crystal Needle

Daniel's Links:

Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest

Ephrat Livni

TLDR is inspired by tech culture and my work as an attorney on Google's Legal Document Review Team (LDRT). Currently, I blog for FindLaw in Silicon Valley and live large in a tiny cabin in the redwood forest. Among many adventures, I wrote for ABC News in New York and The Jerusalem Report in Israel, was a public defender in Florida, served in the Peace Corps in Senegal, and taught English in Japan. My fiction is published in 365 tomorrows, my paintings are on Brooklyn Street Art, and my stitching was in The New York Times Sunday Styles. I studied journalism at Boston University, religion at Columbia University, and law at City University of New York (licensed in NY and FL).

Ephrat's Books:

Too Long Don't Read (blogged)

Ephrat's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

From today's Show: Asteroid Impacts Incubated Mars' Oceans.

Listen to today's show live at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

"Boosting" a Facebook Post

I experimented with "boosting" a Facebook post on Monday. To boost a post, you pay money to Facebook and it becomes one of those "Sponsored" posts you see in your time line. This has to be done through a Facebook "page" such as my author page. You can set up who you want to see it. I set it up so that it was people in the US, 18 - 65+, and one of their interests is "Science Fiction." I boosted a post about Treasure of the Black Hole. And I set a budget of $10.

The first time I tried to boost a post, it was rejected because there was too much text in the graphic (which was just my book cover). So I had my wife, who does graphic things on her iPad I can't do, make a graphic with less text:

I boosted the post with that graphic and it was accepted.

So what were the results? There were 870 people "reached" (I assume that means they saw the post). Of those, 235 were "organic" (meaning they would have seen the post without boosting it). The rest, 635, were paid. I had 21 posts "likes" (which probably increased the organic reach) and 7 post "clicks" which would have taken them to the Amazon page for the book.

Of the $10 budget, I spent $7.03 (you pay for clicks). But, I didn't sell one book, either paperback or ebook.

With that result, I'm not sure "boosting" is worth it. Yesterday I posted a post about another book and it's organic reach was 182 people "reached." And that was all free.

So now I'm thinking boosting isn't worth it. Or do I need to boost it again to drive the point home to people? You know, sort of like they do on TV with running the same ad over and over again? I don't know.

Grapefruit, the Yucky Fruit

Time once again for the 30-day blogging challenge that I'm doing over (approximately) thirty weeks.

Today's prompt is "A fruit you dislike and why." I had to think about this because I generally like fruit, especially oranges and peaches.

Then I remembered grapefruit.

Whenever I taste grapefruit I am reminded of the taste in your mouth right after you've vomited. The sharp tang of stomach acid (which is hydrochloric acid) that coats the inside of your mouth. And to me, that's what grapefruit tastes like. I don't know if it has a lot of citric acid in it or what, but to me, it literally tastes like vomit.

It must contain a significant amount of acid. I used to work with a guy who ate a grapefruit every day at lunch. His dentist told him to cut back because it was eating his teeth.

I don't know how or why people eat grapefruit. To me, it is disgusting.

And that's a fruit I don't like.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with C. F. Waller and Clay Gilbert

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers C. F. Waller and Clay Gilbert.
C. F. Waller

Award winning author Charles Waller published his first science fiction novel at age forty-seven, after a flight on an ill-fated commercial airliner over the Atlantic Ocean nearly became an episode of Why Planes Crash. This experience illustrated for him first hand that writing about exotic or dangerous locales was safer than traveling to them. Since then, he likes to think his meticulous research and storytelling gives readers a clear sense of their grandeur, without the inherent risk of flying.

After narrowly escaping the academic death-grip of several universities, Charles worked in nightclubs, took a turn as a new car salesman, and also as a hurricane shutter engineer. His favorite authors include, Oscar Wilde, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Michael Crichton. The latter being especially close to his heart as Crichton epitomizes the techno-thriller genre and the failure of humans to interact with technology.

Though he will forever be a Midwestern boy at heart, he now lives on the gulf coast of Florida with his wife, Tina, and one fuzzy feline companion. If he’s not working on a new novel, you can find him volunteering at church, playing overly competitive Yahtzee with his spouse, or indulging in an unhealthy addiction to competitive cooking shows on television.

C. F.'s Books:
Tourists of the Apocalypse
The Calling Tree
South Face
C. F.'s Links:
Website Facebook Twitter Amazon
Clay GilbertClay Gilbert
Clay Gilbert has been hearing the voices of aliens, vampires, and people from the future since about the age of four.  It wasn't long before he started to think taking notes on what they said might be a good idea.  This has led him many places—through the halls and classrooms of many schools, where he's been both in front of the teacher's desk and behind it, himself—to presenter's podiums at conventions, and, most often, to the comfortable chair behind his writing desk at home, where he uses his Dell computer as both a beacon and a translator for the voices that still find their way through from countless worlds and planes of existence. Clay is the author of Annah: Children of Evohe, Book One, Dark Road to Paradise, and Eternity, as well as the Chief Editor for PDMI Publishing.  These days, the place he calls home is Knoxville, Tennessee, where his cat, Bella, and his ball python, Andy, keep him company between visits from a teenaged alien named Annah, an undead, blood-drinking English professor named Martin Cabot, and a boy from the future named Eternity.  And it's a good thing, too—life is busy.  And Clay's still taking notes.

Clay's Books:
Annah
Dark Road to Paradise
Clay's Links:
Website Blog Facebook Twitter Goodreads
From Today's Show: Light from a Black Hole Collision
Listen to today's show live at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Ageism

Once again, back to the thirty day blogging challenge. The next prompt is "Your feelings on ageism."

This is a tough one because I haven't spent much time thinking about ageism. Ageism is discrimination of people based on their age. Any discrimination is bad if it's based solely on some factor about the person they can't help. But you have to realize that a 90-year-old man is probably not going to be a very good fire fighter because he can't move as fast or be as strong as a 25-year-old man. Of course, there are exceptions. The 90 year old could be an exercise nut and the 25 year old a couch potato.

My thoughts on ageism or any type of discrimination (including affirmative action) is that people, no matter their sex, race, or age should be judged on their individual abilities, not on attributes they have no control over (such as sex, race, and age).

So this was pretty easy.

A Speculative Fiction Cantina Reply with Amy H. Sturgis

Today on a special replay edition of the Speculative Fiction Cantina, we welcome speculative fiction expert, Dr. Amy H. Sturgis.
Amy H. SturgisAmy H. Sturgis

Amy H. Sturgis earned her PhD in intellectual history from Vanderbilt University, specializes in Science Fiction/Fantasy and Native American Studies, and teaches at Lenoir-Rhyne University. In addition, she contributes the regular “Looking Back on Genre History” segment to StarShipSofa, which in 2010 became the first podcast in history to win a Hugo Award. In 2006, Sturgis was honored with the Imperishable Flame Award for Achievement in J.R.R. Tolkien/Inklings scholarship. In 2015, the Los Angeles Press Club named her Reason Magazine article "Not Your Parents' Dystopias: Millennial Fondness for Worlds Gone Wrong" the "Best Magazine Review/Criticism/Column" of the year. She has authored four books, edited six others, published over fifty essays in scholarly and popular publications, and given over 200 presentations at universities, science fiction conventions, and other venues across North American and Europe. She also has been interviewed as a genre expert in a variety of programs and publications such as NPR's "Talk of the Nation" and The Huffington Post. Sturgis lives with her husband in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Her official website is amyhsturgis.com.

Listen to today's replay at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.