Sally Ember's Blog, page 43
July 9, 2016
All Lives Matter as a response to #BlackLivesMatter is offensive because… — the becoming radical
All Lives Matter as a response to Black Lives Matter is offensive because it is a white response that denies we live in a country that daily shows that white lives matter more and black lives often matter very little. Whites with LESS education than blacks earn the same and higher salaries. Whites who commit […]
via All Lives Matter as a response to #BlackLivesMatter is offensive because… — the becoming radical
Filed under: Writing
July 8, 2016
Current Research in Speculative Fiction Liverpool, UK, (CRSF) Conference was June 27, 2016
Current Research in Speculative Fiction Liverpool, England, UK (CRSF) Conference was Monday, June 27, 2016, at the University of Liverpool!
Here is their report:
CRSF 2016 Post-conference Report
Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:26 AM PDT
The sixth annual Current Research in Speculative Fiction [CRSF] conference was held last week on Monday 27th June and was a great success.
As usual, the papers delivered were of a high quality and a diverse range of topics from D&D bestiaries to feminist utopia, ecological disaster to Harry Potter, medieval English horror to Japanese dystopian YA and far more besides. As usual huge thanks go to those who presented a paper: thank you for the enthusiasm with which you approached the task and for the hard work you did preparing for the conference, a conference – no matter how the organising goes – is nothing without its delegates.
…
CRSF 2016 represents a record year for number of delegates, with non-presenting delegates outnumbering presenters for the first time. This was in no small part thanks to the excellent Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) conference also held in Liverpool on the 28th-30th June, a number of whose delegates came along to see CRSF in action. There were, however, a number of non-presenting delegates, including former presenters from previous years, who made the trip to Liverpool especially to see CRSF, I cannot think of a better endorsement for the atmosphere and organisation of the conference than for those who have been before to want to come back, even if they’re no longer eligible to present.
In total we had fifty-six attendees and thirty papers presented, over three parallel streams, by delegates from institutions throughout the UK, as well as Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Spain, Russia, Israel, Canada, and the United States, among others.
Thank you to all who attended. Additional thanks to all those who engaged with the conference on social media. I’m a firm believer in the Twitter back channel for conferences, and CRSF performed ably in this regard too. If you’re not on Twitter and you want to (re)discover the tweet-by-tweet coverage of the conference it’s been conveniently archived on Storify here for you.
Thanks also to our wonderful keynote speakers: Dr. Caroline Edwards (Birkbeck University of London) and Dr. Pat Wheeler (University of Hertfordshire) who not only gave fascinating and insightful keynote lectures, but also attended numerous panels, asking insightful and constructive questions throughout, and offering many a kind and supportive word for delegates in the breaks and more informal moments of the conference. Caroline’s paper opened the conference and was entitled ‘”But there is still such beauty”: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction and Eco-Eschatological Time in the 21st-Century’, it took us through such post-apocalyptic novels as Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and Maggie Gee’s The Flood, highlighting the pastoral beauty often found in these texts and the implications of that for our vision of the apocalypse and the future (if any) of humanity’s role on the Earth. Pat’s keynote was entitled ‘”She can’t love you, she’s just a machine’: Metal-fevered Boys and their Passion for New Eves’, which challenged how we should read gynoids in the twenty-first century: as either challenge or constriction to women’s agency.
Thanks as ever to the University of Liverpool staff who provided support both in the build up to, and during, the conference: the Rendall Building staff, and Filomena Saltao, the Administrator of the School of the Arts, and Siobhan Quinn. Thanks also to Andy Sawyer, academic librarian for the Science Fiction Foundation collection at the University of Liverpool’s Sydney Jones Library, for once again arranging for all delegates to receive free copies of Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction. Thanks also to the staff at Il Forno, our traditional restaurant of choice, who once again dealt with our large numbers with aplomb.
As always we welcome your feedback on CRSF 2016, all comments are useful and appreciated. Please leave a comment on our website’s post at http://currentresearchinspeculativefiction.blogspot.com, or e-mail them to us at crsf.team@gmail.com.
CRSF will return in 2017….
Glyn Morgan,
Molly Cobb,
Leimar Garcia-Siino,
Chris Pak
I wish I could have been there.
To refresh, if you missed my explanatory pre-conference post, read below:
CRSF is a postgraduate conference designed to promote the research of speculative fictions including, but not limited to, science fiction, fantasy and horror.
Our aim is to showcase some of the latest developments in this dynamic and evolving field, by providing a platform for the presentation of current research by postgraduates. The conference will also encourage the discussion of this research and the construction of crucial networks with fellow researchers.
The planned schedule was as follows:
9:00-9:30: Registration and Refreshments
9:30-10:30: Keynote Lecture #1: Dr Caroline Edwards,
“But there is still such beauty”: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction and Eco-Eschatological Time in the 21st-Century
10:30 -12:00: First Round of Panels
1.1: Press START to Play
– Andrew Ferguson – Clipping Out of Bounds: Reading House of Leaves Through Portal
Britanny Kuhn – [Awaiting Title]
Ivaylo Shmilev – Oppression, Warfare and Transcultural Memory in the Complex Post- Apocalyptic Environments of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Game Series
1.2: Horrific Narratives
– Travis Gasque – The New Cosmic Horror: A Genre Molded by Tabletop Roleplaying Games and Postmodern Horror
– Matthew McCall – “My manez mynde to maddyng malte”: Tracing Horror in the Middle English Pearl
Selena Middleton – Climate Collapse and the Uncontained Body in James Tiptree Jr.’s A Momentary Taste of Being
(in the 1975 anthology, The New Atlantis and Other Novellas of Science-Fiction)
1.3: You’re Only Young Once
– Lan Ma – Censorship and Resistance: Information Control in Japanese Dystopian Young Adult Fiction in the 21st Century
– Alison Baker – Protocols for the education of young witches and wizards
– Arunima Dey – The Grotesque in the Harry Potter Series
12:00 -13:00: Second Round of Panels
2.1: Beasts and Bestiaries
– Rob O’Connor – “The History of All Hitherto-Existing Societies is the History of Monsters”: The Bestiary and the Depiction of Monsters as Social Commentary
– Sandra Mänty – Representation and function of animals in the world of Harry Potter
2.2: The Greater Good
– Maxine Gee – “If something stinks put a lid on it, don’t see it”: Self-censorship and the brave new world of Psycho Pass
Jonathan Ferguson – Crimes Against The Greater Good are Victimless Crimes?
2.3: Character Studies
– Beata Gubacsi – Monstrous Transformations: Becoming posthuman through art in Vandermeer’s Ambergris novels
Matteo Barbagallo – Do we have a deal? Petyr Baelish, Varys, Rumpelstiltskin and their role as Doppelganger
13:00 -13:45: Lunch Break
13:45 -14:45: Keynote Lecture #2: Dr Patricia Wheeler
“She can’t love you, she’s just a machine”: Metal-fevered Boys and their Passion for New Eves
14:45 -16:15: Third Round of Panels
3.1: Revenge of the Film
– Pablo Gómez Muñoz – Greening Apocalypse: Eco-Conscious Disaster in Twenty-First Century Science-Fiction Cinema
– Josephine Swarbrick – Monstrous Men and Masculine Monsters: Gender and the Cyborg in Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop (1987) and José Padilha’s Robocop (2014)
David Contreras – Gothic Surrealism in Mexican Cyberpunk Short Film: The Borderlands Strike Back
3.2: Theoretically Speaking
– Jo Lindsay Walton – The Dystopian Glimpse
– Artem Zubov – Science-fiction studies and genre theory
– Pascal Lemaire – Fans of history first, fans of S-F more distantly ? Alternate History as a form of History’s fan fiction
3.3: Tell Me a Tale
– Kanta Dihal – Science and Religion in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
Rina Jean Baroukh – “Your Light Has Come” : Fantasy and Reality in Shimon Adaf’s Sunburnt Faces
Laura-Marie von Czarnowsky – Re-Defining the Bildungsroman: Traumatic Journeys as a Trend in Contemporary Fantasy Fiction
16:15 -16:30: Refreshment Break [YES: English Tea Time!]
16:30 -18:00: Fourth Round of Panels
4.1: Perceptions of the Female Self
– Sonya Dyer – aPOCalypso: Janelle Monae and (Science) Fictional Black Feminisms
– Sarah Lohmann – “Solar Loyalties”: The Utopian Ethics of Posthumanism in Naomi Mitchison’s Memoirs of a Spacewoman
Mylène Branco – The Construction of the Female Self in L.P. Hartley’s Facial Justice
4.2: Alternate Beings
– Tom Kewin – ‘A Society of Screens’: The State of Digital Surveillance and the Repercussions for the Humanist Subject
– Mattia Petricola – From mesmeric trance to living avatars: Rethinking consciousness and death after Mr. Valdemar
4.3: Dystopian Time, Resurgent Space
– Gabrielle Bunn – Future Ruins: The intersection of nature and culture in the post-apocalyptic landscape of J. G. Ballard’s The Drowned World (1962)
Hollie Johnson – Anarchy, Nostalgia, and Resistance: The Role of Nature in We, Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four
Thomas Connolly – “There was a thing called Heaven”: The end of time in Huxley’s Brave New World
18.00 -19.00: Post-Conference Wine Reception and Official Conference Group Photo
Download a PDF of the entire schedule here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4DNnD_AmJQmeWdEREJfemd1YWs/view
Want to present or attend next year? The “Call for Papers” usually occurs in early December for the following June’s annual conference. Check out past conferences/calls and get more information here and visit their
website: http://currentresearchinspeculativefiction.blogspot.com/ or contact their team (the team members’ list has not been recently updated, yet: CRSF.team@gmail.com and follow their Tweets: @CRSFteam
Their website is not very “interesting,” IMHO, but the topics ARE. Here is a sampling of Q & A from their FAQs…
FAQ
What is CRSF?
CRSF is short for Current Research in Speculative Fiction, an annual conference organised by postgraduate students for postgraduate students. The conference was first held in 2010 at the University of Liverpool and has been held annually since, attracting an international selection of speakers from as far afield as Turkey and the USA. The conference aims to provide a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for researchers who are at the very beginnings of their fields to test ideas, network with others, and gain valuable conference experience.
What is Speculative Fiction?
Simply put, we consider speculative fiction to be the collective name for the non-mimetic genres of science-fiction, fantasy, horror, and their related sub-genres. Essentially, if it’s a bit weird, it’s probably eligible. If in doubt, feel free to run your idea by us. At this juncture, it’s probably also worth us pointing out that the conference doesn’t discriminate among media: papers on television, film, video games, music, fan culture, etc., are as welcome at CRSF as papers on literature.
I’m an undergraduate student/ university faculty member/ speculative fiction fan/ author, can I attend?
We welcome non-presenting delegates from all aspects of speculative fiction whether you be a non-academic fan or a professor at a university.
How much does CRSF cost to attend?
Since CRSF is funded entirely off the delegate fees we can never be 100% sure of our budget until we know how many papers we will be accepting for the conference. As such, confirmed fees are not available until after abstracts have been processed and invitations to present accepted. However, as a guide, past conferences have charged £30 (about $44 USA) for the day with an early bird discount available for those who register early. This fee includes lunch and refreshments.
Filed under: Science Fiction and Fantasy, Writing Tagged: authors, conference, CRSF, Current Research on Speculative Fiction, dystopia, fantasy, fiction, graduate students, horror, Liverpool, research, researchers, scifi, Specfic, speculative fiction
July 7, 2016
‘The Unknown Universe’: From Stuart Clark’s Fascinating Guide to Modern Cosmology — Flavorwire
Modern cosmology has a civic duty to provide a guide for those of us who aren’t in control of its instruments or math. The ideal guide would be sensitive to observations both standard and radically new, and it would factor in the personalities of the scientists. It would be a well-written work of the humanities and the…
via ‘The Unknown Universe’: From Stuart Clark’s Fascinating Guide to Modern Cosmology — Flavorwire
Filed under: Writing
JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 75% off & #CreateSpace #paperbacks 25% off for the rest of July!
JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 75% off & #CreateSpace #paperbacks 25% off for the rest of July!
The Spanners Series first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW! Proud member of Clean Indie Reads #CR4U and Fantasy and Science-Fiction Network #FSFnet
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is STILL having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.00 (usually $3.99) for the entire month! See below for info and coupon codes! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales! Three more weeks!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes at 25% off on CreateSpace! See below for details and coupon codes for each of the Volumes!
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
Paperbacks are now $13.49, 25% off the regular price of $17.99, on CreateSpace, using coupon code H93664AM: https://www.createspace.com/5837347
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $1.00, 75% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice), using coupon code AX85E on: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks are now $14.99, 25% off the regular price of $19.99 on CreateSpace using coupon code H93664AM: https://www.createspace.com/5844431
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.00, 75% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice), using coupon code QR62C: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks are now $14.99, 25% off the regular price of $19.99 on CreateSpace using coupon code H93664AM: https://www.createspace.com/5844474
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on CreateSpace
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers and more: http://www.sallyember.com
Filed under: Indie or Self-Publishing, Marketing, This Changes Everything, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Timult Books, Volume I of The Spanners, Volume II of The Spanners, Volume III Tagged: Book sale, CreateSpace, discount coupons, free ebooks, Smashwords, The Spanners Series
July 5, 2016
The Chosen: Now Available! — Dr. Shay West
My first *CHANGES* conversations between authors video casts’ guest, Dr. Shay West, has a new release ina new series! Her scifi/fantasy series, Portals of Destiny, now has Book One, The Chosen, available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble online! Mazel Tov, Shay!
via The Chosen: Now Available! — Dr. Shay West
Filed under: Writing
The Dictionary of Purple Prose: 100 More Words for Logophiles — Kate McClelland
Originally posted on Memoirs of a Time Here-After: I’m a bit of a collector of words. Several years ago, I began keeping a list known as The Dictionary of Purple Prose, which has been quite well-received among this blog’s readers. Occasionally, I remember to update the thing, as I did last year. It’s time to do…
via The Dictionary of Purple Prose: 100 More Words for Logophiles — Kate McClelland
Filed under: Writing
July 4, 2016
Patriotism Kills: 50 Reasons Why and When I Stopped Being “Patriotic”
Patriotism Kills: 50 Reasons Why and When I Stopped Being “Patriotic”
I was born and raised here in the midwest USA. My grandparents were all born in this country (in Louisville, Kentucky and St. Louis, Missouri), My great-grandparents immigrated here to escape discrimination, pogroms and other ongoing (endlessly ongoing) European persecution of Jews to come to the USA in the late 1800s.
I feel grateful that my ancestors, four of whom I knew as a child, were allowed to enter this country. Being here as a “native” gave me many of the privileges of a white, educated Jewish girl born in 1954.
Why and when did I stop being “patriotic” (ever notice how that rhymes with “idiotic”)? I get teary when Barbra Streisand sings “America, the Beautiful” because I want to feel good about being an American. But, I cannot and have not since 1967.
My conclusion then and only strengthened since then: Patriotism kills.
Here are the first 50 reasons I cannot be patriotic as a USA citizen.
1) Because Richard Nixon. Nixon and his gang of criminals began to do their dirty work when I was 13 and he resigned in the middle of my undergrad college years. How could I grow up “patriotic” after that?
2) Because Vietnam and all wars. Since World War II—which the USA entered far too late and then did more damage than good in Japan—the USA has had NO BUSINESS being in ANY wars, anywhere, yet we have not had even 2 years without being involved in “military actions.” Disgusting.
3) Because JFK. He was an over-privileged, drug-addicted, adulterous war-monger who has been glorified beyond belief after his death.
4) Because MLK, Jr. A great leader, murdered.
5) Because Malcolm X. Another great leader, murdered.
6) Because Karen Silkwood. Another great leader, murdered.
7) Because the ERA. The defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment (remember that, anyone?)
8) Because government dysfunction and greed. The bought-out FDA and the bribed EPA and the absurdly stupid Dept of Education and the bribed, lying and bought-out Dept of Energy and all the other “cabinet” and “government” departments that do the OPPOSITES of their stated jobs.
9) Because slavery. Should never have and still exists: check out today’s private prisons.
10) Because racism. Is worse than ever in many places and we export it.
11) Because health care. Still no national health care with universal payer for everyone.
12) Because maternal and infant mortality Rates are too high.
13) Because most school lunches. Are horrible.
14) Because deception by government. The “wars” on poverty, drugs, terrorism and whatever else made everything 100 times worse.
15) Because broken promises. Too many to list.
16) Because dishonorable leaders. Many leaders (elected, appointed and volunteer) lie. Then, they personally and financially benefit, and so do their cronies, families and friends.
17) Because Monica Lewinsky. Sex is sex. Lying is lying.
18) Because Vince Foster. Murdered by greed, political gain and selfishness.
19) Because veterans. I see too many body bags, amputees and PTSD sufferers from wars that enrich only a few and do nothing good for anyone else, ever. Enlistees and draftees are constantly lied to so that impoverished/uneducated people (mostly Black and Latino) are shamed and machismo-ed into serving.
20) Because secularism. “God” should never have been added to our money, Pledge of Allegiance and other statements, and public meetings should NOT open with “prayers.”
21) Because Christians. Many still insist that this is a “Christian” nation. Christmas and New Year’s Day are national holidays but no other religion’s holy days have those designations in the USA.
22) Because the military-industrial takeover of the world. Led by USA-owned companies and military.
23) Because Guantanamo. Never helped, never should have existed, and still does.
24) Because Leonard Pelletier Should never have been and is still in prison.
25) Because UC Berkeley. All the protesters are/were RIGHT.
26) Because Lawrence Livermore Labs. Bombs. More bombs.
27) Because Monsanto, Dow, Dupont. Liars, polluters, killers.
28) Because union-busting. Should never have been made legal.
29) Because coal mine owners. Kill miners daily.
30) Because nuclear power plants. Never were and still aren’t safe.
image from http://kractivist.wordpress.com
31) Because transit. We waited over 50 years to have electric and solar cars and they’re still not prevalent. Mass transit in most areas is non-existent or insufficient.
32) Because bees and food. We never needed or should have allowed our land and food to be poisoned. (see Monsanto, etc.)
33) Because Planned Parenthood. Constantly being targeted for doing GOOD.
34) Because health. Autism and cancers are on the rise (see Monsanto, etc.). Vaccinations do kill and maim children and many are ineffective at prevention as well.
35) Because big pharma and others lied. Especially about marijuana and tobacco. Cures exist for cancer but we aren’t provided them. We are overcharged for ALL medications.
36) Because inequality. I grew up in Missouri under “Jim Crow” racist segregation and inequality/discrimination laws. That we have to have civil rights’, gay rights’, disability rights’, sexual harassment cases, domestic violence shelters, rape shield and other “movements” to get common decency in this country to be legalized and people STILL don’t adhere to the laws is terrible.
37) Because sexism. Still everywhere. Must have feminism.
38) Because the children and youth. Child abuse and rape, incest and child molestation horrors in addition to murders perpetrated by teachers, parents, step- and foster parents, group home and youth detention center staff, religious leaders and politicians that are STILL being uncovered/discovered even though MANY knew about each and every incident. Runaways are almost always first abused, then become criminalized/imprisoned youth.
39) Because the environment. This country has many beautiful places that are being ruined by greed, selfishness and short-sightedness.
40) Because Native Americans.If you need me to explain, you’re on the wrong blog.
41) Because Election Fraud in the last five presidential and who knows how many other elections and especially during this current primary season.
42) Because Dick Cheney. If you need me to explain, you’re on the wrong blog, still.
43) Because Clarence Thomas. How was he ever and still on the Supreme Court?
44) Because Anita Hill. We all should have believed her. I did.
45) Because Dr. Jocelyn Elders. She was right. About everything, especially how healthy it is to masturbate and that abstinence-only “sex ed” is not “education” and does not work.
46) Because Bill Cosby. People are still protecting this monster.
47) Because freedom. The USA had such great promise and potential and has squandered almost all of it.
48) Because Nestle’s. Still killing children worldwide by promoting feeding infants formula over breastfeeding.
49) Because Palestine. USA is on the wrong side of this one, too. MUST be a two-state solution, but can’t negotiate with terrorists. Trouble is, they’re ALL terrorists, now.
50) Because 9/11. Was not what we’ve been told. First responders are dying/have died and money “for them” has not reached them or their families. Bush’s planes flew Bin Laden’s family out of the USA. Trade Towers did not fall due only to being hit by one airplane each. The lies go on and on.
Remember: DISSENT is patriotism at its best.
Filed under: Life lessons, Opinions Tagged: July 4th, patriotic, patriotism, USA
10 Maps That Will Change How You View The World — Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog
Originally posted on ALK3R: Maps are one of those things you can lose yourself in for hours. Since their humble origins as scribbles in the sand thousands of millennia ago, maps have been useful companions during the development of human culture and society. Now, in an age of seemingly endless information, maps are more abundant, advanced and fascinating…
via 10 Maps That Will Change How You View The World — Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog
Filed under: Writing
July 3, 2016
Should Clara send this letter to Epifanio as is, edited (how?), or at all?
Should Clara send this letter to Epifanio as is, edited (how?), or at all?
Seeking #readers’ opinions, please.
NOTES: Since the ebook of Volume I of The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything, is perma-FREE, and the paperback is 25% off for July, please read Vol. I before offering your ideas!
Also, Vol. II and III ebooks are only $1 and are also 25% off the paperbacks right now! Best is to read them ALL before commenting!
Coupon codes for 25% off discount on CreateSpace paperbacks is in previous blog post: http://www.sallyember.com/blog 7/1/16.
For more info about The Spanners Series: http://www.sallyember.com/Spanners
REVIEWERS always are provided coupons to get my ebooks for free. Contact me: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com if you want review copies.
Thanks!
Below, the letter in question. When it’s finalized, this letter goes into Volume V, Spanning the Transformative Years: The Interstitial Changes, of The Spanners Series, featuring the on-again, off-again love relationship between Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, Ph.D., Chief Communicator/liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective, and Epifanio Dang, artist, writer, musician, dancer, both in their late 60s by this time.
Currently (July, 2016) I am two-thirds finished with Volume IV, Changes in Attitude, Changes in Latitude, and beginning Volume V.
Dear Epifanio,
I don’t write you a letter for a while, in this timeline. When I wait so long, what I have to say to you accumulates uncomfortably.
Like plaque or tartar on my teeth, the questions, emotions and thoughts I feel moved to share with you begin to feel more like an interference with my normal digestion of daily life. This all must be removed by cleaning out my psychological mouth and putting what’s inside onto some document.
Unlike the metaphorical build-up, however, these words don’t “go down the drain” when I “rinse and spit,” especially when I don’t send the letters. I plan to send this one.
Or, do they?
Do you actually read my letters, in their entirety? I don’t get much of a response, or any at all, usually.
I’m going to assume you are reading and responding to this one. It comforts me to view our communication as if it were completely mutual.
I love you. I miss you. I miss us.
I believe you love me even though, in this and many timelines at this and “later” points, you don’t seem to know or believe that. Or, you say you love me as a friend, as family.
You also say I irritate you. Mostly, you avoid me.
Or, we’re in love, we are living together, we are partnered/married, and very happy.
Not today.
Once again, I’m trying to find out why we are not together “today,” to see if I can move the needle of our relationship’s direction closer to my understanding of “true north.”
Here are my concerns and questions. I start, usually, at this point in our estrangement, with creating a progression, of sorts, that attempts to discover how hopeless my wishes for our closeness and/or reconciliation are.
First, the deal-breakers:
Am I physically repulsive to you? Is that the major issue?
Does the thought of our being intimate (e.g., kissing and more) make you want to vomit? Does the idea of confiding in me and my knowing your secrets make your skin crawl?
I recognize that if your answer to even one of the above questions is “yes,” there is no hope. I know what it’s like to feel that way about someone and it doesn’t change much.
If you would please tell me that now, it helps me a lot. When I know you can’t even stomach being near me, I am then able to figure out a way to surrender my wishes, to believe firmly that our closeness is impossible.
Next, the inconsistencies:
Do you want us “together,” as friends, at least?
I know you enjoy being with me some of the time. You prolong our talking together on several occasions, by more than an hour or two, sometimes.
How do you seemingly want me around you so much and then not be in touch at all most of the time?
Third, the reasons:
Why do you want to keep yourself separate?
In what way does our being separate achieve whatever you want to avoid, protect, defend or prevent? What are the outcomes you’re attempting to circumvent?
Why are you so certain these are potential threats? How do you know these are possible, much less likely, results of being closer to me?
Fourth, the mysteries:
What scares you? Why do you fling yourself away from me every time we do get closer? How do your fears involve me, exactly?
How are you sure you’re afraid of me?
Finally, the clincher:
How do you know our seeming future?
Since you tell me you can’t timult—don’t know your own or anyone else’s current or alternate timelines, potential karma, destiny/fate—why do you claim that you and I don’t ever have that kind of relationship?
Why do you believe that?
Why should I believe you?
What if…
— your fears are unfounded;
— you’re not repulsed by me (in fact, you’re often attracted to me; I can feel it);
— your predictions are flawed; and
— your negative beliefs about our being closer are all unwarranted?
We laugh together, we have the same core values and a lot of other important aspects in common. We’re almost the same age. We don’t intimidate each other. We don’t need each other to be different than who we are, yet we are wanting and seeking the challenge and support to improve continually from an intimate partner.
Unlike many of our previous partners, neither of us is depressed, too young, wanting to have children or going back to school and moving away. We usually enjoy each other enormously (when you are “with” me).
Please: open your heart/mind and spend some time with me to find out how we are together before deciding we are a “bad idea”?
If you do that and we aren’t compatible, we’ll both know it. It is obvious. I then can surrender my hopes and beliefs. I promise.
If you do that and we are great together, I promise not to say “I told you so” more than once a year.
Offering you my love in every timeline,
Clara
Readers, write to me with your comments on this potential communication. Please send your reactions, suggestions, edits, ridicule, sympathy, empathy and more to http://www.sallyember.com/blog .
Filed under: Indie or Self-Publishing, Life lessons, Opinions, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Spanning the Transformative Years: The Interstitial Changes, The Spanners, Timult Books, Volume V, Writing Tagged: Clara Branon, Epifanio Dang, Many Worlds Collective, readers' opinions, romance, Sally Ember Ed.D Author, science fiction, Spanning the Transformative Years: The Interstitial Changes, The Spanners Series, Unrequited love, Volume V
July 1, 2016
#Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 75% off & #CreateSpace #paperbacks 25% off for July!
JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 75% off & #CreateSpace #paperbacks 25% off for July!
The Spanners Series first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW! Proud member of Clean Indie Reads #CR4U and Fantasy and Science-Fiction Network #FSFnet
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.00 (usually $3.99) for the entire month! See below for info and coupon codes! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, it’s time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes at 25% off on CreateSpace! See below for details and coupon codes for each of the Volumes!
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
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and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
Paperbacks are now $13.49, 25% off the regular price of $17.99, on CreateSpace, using coupon code H93664AM: https://www.createspace.com/5837347
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $1.00, 75% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice), using coupon code AX85E on: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks are now $14.99, 25% off the regular price of $19.99 on CreateSpace using coupon code H93664AM: https://www.createspace.com/5844431
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.00, 75% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice), using coupon code QR62C: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks are now $14.99, 25% off the regular price of $19.99 on CreateSpace using coupon code H93664AM: https://www.createspace.com/5844474
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on CreateSpace
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers and more: http://www.sallyember.com
Filed under: All Volumes, Indie or Self-Publishing, Marketing, The Spanners, This Changes Everything, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Timult Books, Volume I of The Spanners, Volume II of The Spanners, Volume III Tagged: aliens, coupon code, CreateSpace, Discount coupon, ebooks, July Sale, multiverse, paperbacks, Psi, Psi-Defiers, Psi-Warriors, Psi-Wars, romance, Sally Ember Ed.D Author, science fiction, Smashwords, The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, utopian, Volume I, Volume II, Volume III
