Sally Ember's Blog, page 99
October 17, 2014
World Food Day – Five Contemplations from Buddhist Global Relief
Donate your lunch money or latte money or SOME money to your local hunger-relief organization or donate actual food to a local food bank. Or, volunteer somewhere that feeds people. Or, SHARE this! YOU CAN HELP!
Originally posted on grevilleacorner:
Buddhist Global Relief
On this World Food Day, please remember those around the world who may not be able to fill their stomachs as well as the Five Contemplations before a meal:
1. This food is the due to the hard work of many and a product of our home, the Earth.
2. Eating with mindfulness and proper conduct so as to be worthy to receive it.
3. Being aware of greed and learning to eat with moderation.
4. Eating what is only necessary and reduce the suffering of living beings and preserve our environment.
5. Accepting this food as cultivation to realize the Way and to help relieve the suffering of others.
#WorldFoodDay #WFD2014
Filed under: Writing
My First Year as an Indie Author Giveaway
Get some great MG/YA/adult #sci-fi and #fantasy and whatever else Nicholas C. Rossis has cooked up for FREE today and support an excellent #indie #author!
Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:
Party cat found on wall4all.me
Today is my authorversary Indieversaryone-year anniversary since the publication of Pearseus: Schism, the first book of my epic fantasy series!
Twelve exciting months and four books later, I’d like to celebrate by sharing with you my work. So, anyone who leaves a comment below until the end of the month, will receive a free copy of one of my books – your choice!
So, what are you waiting for? Tell me which book you’d like to receive, and enjoy some of the greatest stories of all times (hmm… too much?) :D
Also, don’t forget that you can download Pearseus: Schism for free on Goodreads.
And the most important part: Thank you for all your love and support! I know I keep saying this, but that’s only because it bears repeating: I couldn’t have done it without you! I love…
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Filed under: Writing
October 16, 2014
#Love According to #Psychology and #Biology
I was going to write an entire post on the biology and psychology of love, but I realized many have already done so and several have collected/written great books on the subjects. There are even videos. So, instead of adding my less-than-expert two cents’ worth, I compiled what I believe to be the best of these and guide you to them, here.
If you, as I do, feel mystified, bamboozled, defeated and enraptured in our lives by love, you WILL find answers, explanations, reasons and perhaps excuses in these researchers’ contributions to the subject. You can find ideas that help you choose better (or refrain from choosing) when deciding how to proceed in your relationship life.
You will not, however, get that person to love you, find a way to get over a broken heart any faster, or make yourself more lovable by reading these books. In fact, if you do read/review all of this material, you’ll probably be a royal pain in most people’s behinds as you quote from them. But, so what? Would you rather be informed or falsely loved?
Okay, okay: that’s a false choice. So, read away, but don’t spout too much from your research.
image from http://twistales.com
Here is the selection, numbered but not in any priority order:
1. Molecules of Emotion:The Scientific Basis Behind Mind-Body Medicine, the late Candace Pert, Ph.D., pharmacologist and biologist
2. A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis, Ph.D., Fari Amini, Ph.D. and Richard Lannon, Ph.D., psychologists
3. Falling in Love: Why We Choose the Lovers We Choose, social psychologist and researcher, Ayala Malach Pines
4. Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, biological anthropologist, Helen Fisher
5. Biology of the Mind: Helen Fisher, Ph.D., biologist, video from TEDxEast
6. Why We Love: 5 Books on the Psychology of Love by Maria Popova, including some of the above with more info about them, on:
http://www.brainpickings.org/2011/04/18/5-must-read-books-on-love/
7. The Science of Love, from Your Amazing Brain‘s site
http://www.youramazingbrain.org/lovesex/sciencelove.htm
In case you thought falling in love was so special, check this out, from the above article: “York psychologist, Professor Arthur Arun, has been studying why people fall in love. He asked his subjects to carry out the[se] 3 steps and found that many of his couples felt deeply attracted after the 34-minute experiment [below]. Two of his subjects later got married.”
how to fall in love:
Find a complete stranger.
Reveal to each other intimate details about your lives for half an hour.
Then, stare deeply into each other’s eyes without talking for four minutes.
And, this:
Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who’d been madly in love for less than six months. She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover, were related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder [OCD] patients.
8. What Is Romantic Love? on The Anatomy of Love site:
http://theanatomyoflove.com/what-is-love/what-is-love/
Providing this list of usual “symptoms” of “falling in love” makes one wonder why ANYONE would want to do so and why, once we do, we aren’t immediately taking psychotropic medications to help us get over it!
Behavioral traits of early stage romantic love:
Special meaning: the romantic partner is the center of the world, and you like anything they like
Intense energy and it’s hard to sleep
Loss of appetite
Mood swings
Separation anxiety
Craving
Intense motivation for emotional union
Possessive[ness]
Intrusive thinking
Sure; fall in love. Just don’t get too attached….
Filed under: Life lessons, Personal stories, Science Tagged: biology, falling in love, love, psychology, relationships, romantic love
October 13, 2014
#Nobel Prize Winners 2014: Why we should pay attention and be grateful
#Nobel Prize Winners 2014: Why we should pay attention and be grateful
Thanks to these scientists, researchers, activists and one writer, we can now enjoy advances and new inventions very soon in a variety of areas. This year, two women (one quite young) and several men (big surprise, there) were honored by these esteemed prizes. Check out their accomplishments!
Literature, Patrick Modiano: “for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation.”
Wikipedia tells us: “Patrick Modiano …previously won the 2012 Austrian State Prize for European Literature, the 2010 Prix mondial Cino Del Duca from the Institut de France for lifetime achievement, the 1978 Prix Goncourt for Rue des boutiques obscures, and the 1972 Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française for Les Boulevards de ceinture. His works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have been celebrated in and around France, though only a few have been in circulation in English by the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Modiano
Anybody read any of his books? Not I (yet).
Physiology or Medicine, Edvard Moser, May Britt Moser, John O’Keefe: “for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.” Their combined research reveals the ways the brain understands its location even when underwater, upside down, without gravity and without visual cues.
for ground-breaking research on “The Brain’s GPS: how the brain knows where it is.”
Physics, Shuji Nakamura, Hiroshi Amano, Isamu Akasaki: “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources.” We will soon have inexpensive, “green” light sources widely available, thanks to these scientists/inventors.
for inventing/discovering “a new, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly light source” image from http://www.theguardian.com/science/live/2014/oct/07/nobel-prize-physics-2014-stockholm-live
Peace, Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan) and Kailash Satyarthi (India): “for their struggles against the suppression of children and for young people’s rights, including the right to education”
Malala Yousafzai is the young woman who was almost fatally shot while trying to get to school in Pakistan. During and after her recovery, she has become a vocal and well-respected advocate for girls’ rights to be educated in countries that oppress women and girls. She is also the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Kailash Satyarthi is a globally recognized hero for rescuing children from forced labor, sexual exploitation and slavery and working to prevent these from occurring image from http://www.myhero.ws
Chemistry, W.E. Moerner, Stefan Hell, Eric Betzig: “for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy” which “brings optical microscopy into the nanodimension.” We can now SEE the extremely tiny stuff even better than ever. Wow!
“A network of filaments in a mammalian cell revealed by fluorescence microscopy. Photograph: Stefan W Hell/Division of Optical Nanoscopy/German Cancer Research Center” image from http://www.theguardian.com
Get more info here:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/year/?year=2014
Filed under: Blogging and others' content, Life lessons, Science, Support for Good Causes Tagged: Chemistry, Children, education, light, Literature, Medicine, Nobel Prize, peace, physics, Physiology, science
October 12, 2014
The Four Reliances – for #meditation and #reflection
Excellent for contemplation this Sunday morning! Thanks, Stephanie!
Originally posted on grevilleacorner:
The Four Reliances
First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words; Second, rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher; Third, rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation; And fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind, not on judgmental perceptions.
~ Traditional Buddhist teaching ~
For reflection
We can all easily fall into the trap of not following these “four reliances” – reflect on where in your practice/life you might be currently relying a little too much on words, personality, superficial interpretation or judgmental perceptions
Filed under: Writing
October 9, 2014
Reblogging: 7 #Tips for #Self-Pub #Authors on Using #Metadata
7 Tips for #Metadata Magic for Self-Publishers
By Betty Kelly Sargent, guest blogging on TheBookDesigner.com
posted by JOEL FRIEDLANDER on 9/29/14
image from http://www.thebookdesigner.com
“…if you are publishing electronically with #ebooks and/or #POD [Print On Demand, like CreateSpace or LuLu], almost the only way potential readers can discover your book is through the carefully selected keywords in your metadata.”
This article lays out how #self-pub #authors can “create specific, tailored-to-fit-your-book #metadata that can help your customer/reader slice through all the noise out there and find what you have written.”
“If you need a little help coming up with just the right #keywords for your book, check out: http://www.googlekeywordtool.com.”
image from http://www.digireado.com.au which also has a great article about metadata
I list the 7 Tips here, but you should go to the article (links below) and find out more about how and why to use these Tips.
Title
Genre
Emotions
Story Elements
Target Market
Marketing Suggestions
BISAC [Book Industry Standards and Communication] Subject Codes
“If you still need some help try going to http://www.Amazon.com/books and take look at how other authors of books in your category describe their work.”
“You can even narrow your search by going to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-eBooks and type in a descriptive word or two and see what other words pop up in the drop-down menu.”
The screenshot, below, shows the category rankings system in Amazon and how to “game” it for your book’s best sales and search optimization:
image from http://okdork.com
“The good news about metadata is that you can update it any time so you might want to go back and freshen yours up a little.”
“Betty Kelly Sargent
is the founder of BookWorks, and The Educated Author which will launch in January. She was Editor-in-Chief of William Morrow, Executive Editor at Harper Collins, Fiction and a Books editor at Cosmopolitan and is the author of seven traditionally published books and one self-published book.”
Reach Betty on Twitter: @BookWorksNYC and visit her site: http://www.bookworks.com/ Subscribe to her blog! It’s great!
Read the full article on Joel’s site and subscribe to his blog as well:
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/09/7-tips-for-metadata-magic-for-self-publishers/
Filed under: Blogging and others' content, Indie or Self-Publishing, Marketing, Writing Tagged: ebook, indie authors, marketing, metadata, self-publishing
October 8, 2014
In case you missed it: Day 1 of TEDGlobal 2014
Try to watch! I am, also!
Originally posted on TED Blog:
Dave Troy speaking at the TED University session of TEDGlobal 2014. Photo: Ryan Lash/TED
Today was the first day of TEDGlobal 2014. If you weren’t able to clear your schedule to watch TED Live today and experience the magic in real-time, we’re here to help. Here are some highlights from the day:
What maps can tell you about hip-hop fans
At TED University, a session of talks by conference attendees, Dave Troy maps the social media use in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, to reveal some surprising micro-communities within the city. He shows how hobbies can overlap across demographics — geeks and hip-hop fans, who are largely separate on his map, overlap to talk about the Baltimore Orioles. As he says: “Segregation is a social construct. It’s something we choose to do, and we can choose not to do it.” [See the recap.]
Nerding out on a boiling river
As a child…
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Filed under: Writing
October 7, 2014
Not on the Rag but Still Feeling It
An EXCELLENT cause and one worth giving to, for sure. Don’t forget to include a variety of types of products and also, many sizes of adult-sized diapers for those with incontinence/heavier flows. Been there; done that; burned THAT T-shirt!
Originally posted on Red's Wrap:
Is there possibly a more inelegant phrase than ‘she’s on the rag?’
Maybe. I’ll search for it later.
My mother told me that when she was a teenager growing up in a small town during the Depression, she and her sister actually used rags that were washed and bleached and hung out on the clothesline to dry, each rag hand-fed through a wringer washer. Nothing came easy then. If you were going to be on the rag, you better learn to wash them. Harsh business.
Being on the rag is not a situation for me anymore. One of the many benefits of getting older is being able to wear white pants anytime, not having to rummage through the drawer for a Tampax like I was looking for the last remaining cigarette on earth, the one that would save me from nicotine withdrawal and wanting to kill all my children…
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Filed under: Writing
FALLING LEAVES, FALLING PRICES: CLEAN INDIE READS (#CIR) Fall #Book #Sale Blog Tour
http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
FALLING LEAVES, FALLING PRICES
Clean Indie Reads, the home of Flinch-Free Fiction, is having a #Fall #Book #Sale
October 5 thru October 11!
Check out all the sale books HERE! http://arcaniarts.com/index.php/fall-clean-book-sale
Or, if you would like to go directly to Amazon and peruse the sale books by genre, check out these on Listmania: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A1DSK2JI3W8GDJ/ref=cm_aya_bb_lists
To celebrate, we are having a #blog #hop where you can learn more about some of our authors and their books. Our bloggers will also be answering the question: “Do the changing seasons influence your writing and/or choice of books to read?”
Please join the discussion on this site by commenting, below, and please visit all the participating blog sites: you might win a prize or two! Happy Hopping!
My post:
The Sirian Experiments‘ Take on Changing Seasons
The best science-fiction series I have ever read that utilizes the idea of changing seasons is Doris Lessing’s The Sirian Experiments, which won the Man Booker Prize in 1981. It is Volume III of her Canopus in Argos: Archives Series, a masterwork of new ideas in philosophy, gender identity, sexuality, social relationships, ecology, geology, psychology and so much more. I highly recommend you start at the beginning and read the entire series. Then, start over. Really.
The main premise of The Sirian Experiments which relates to today’s thematic question is this: Humans and Earth itself are an experiment conducted by those from the planet Siria. Part of that experiment was to tilt Earth on its axis, creating seasons in most parts of the planet, and then to track the effects of this tilt on humans.
The main way that humans responded to this tilt was that we developed varying emotions. According to the Sirian experimenters, humans’ becoming emotionally labile, meaning quite reactive, sometimes inexplicably positive or negative, was a direct result of the planet’s switch from having temperate, monochromatic climates to having changing/seasonal climates.
Fascinating, right? After many centuries of observation, the Sirian experimenters further theorized that the more extreme the climate seasons changes were, the more radical the changes in the emotions of the humans living in those latitudes became. Those that lived closer to Earth’s equator and therefore experienced fewer and smaller annual seasonal changes were the least emotional, for example.
With the more recent understandings of the ways reduced sunlight affects many people, bringing to our attention extreme reactions, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and high rates of suicide in latitudes of Earth that have fewer annual days/hours of sunlight, we now have support for Lessing’s “far-fetched” propositions.
Interestingly, SAD wasn’t “discovered” until after Lessing’s books had been published (SAD was formally described and named in 1984). Hmmmm…..
I recently moved from a more monochromatic climate (the San Francisco Bay Area) back to a more temperate/seasonal climate (Missouri). I wonder if I will become more “emotional”? I grew up here and I lived in temperate climates for most of my life, only inhabiting the more monochromatic climates for the last 15 years or so. However, that time also coincided with intensification in my Buddhist meditation practice, higher attendance at more and longer meditation retreats, many periods (years, not months) of unemployment, and fewer intimate relationships, so the experimental “controls” fail for THIS experiment.
All that being known, I am interested to find out how returning to a place that has actual seasons affects me. I’ll let you know!
First: have to buy some new winter boots. Mine rotted and molded from lack of use. LOL.
Second: get some more good books!
If you, as I do, like to curl up with a good book as we sit by a warming fire or other heating source as the weather gets rainier, colder, snowier or frosty, please consider getting the volumes in Lessing’s Sci-Fi series.
Then, for even more fun, download the first volume of my own sci-fi/ romance/ multiverse/ utopian Spanners Series, This Changes Everything (which is free) and then, Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, as well. Also, please try some of the others’ books in this CIR Blog Hop!
Here are my books. All links can be found on my website: http://www.sallyember.com Look right and scroll.
Now PERMA-FREE everywhere ebooks are sold.
Now $3.99 wherever ebooks are sold.
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, due out early in 2015. Volumes IV – X in process.
All Spanners‘ cover and logo art by Aidana Willowraven.
As always, REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED!
Blog Hop Schedule
(please note: not all bloggers will be offering giveaways):
October 5:
–Linda Covella http://lindacovella.com/
–Mary Ellen Bramwell http://www.maryellenbramwell.com/
–Tina Webb http://beforethebeginningbook.blogspot.com/
–Logan Crowe http://logancrowe.com/Crowesnest
October 6:
–Barbara A. Martin http://folkstalesthingsblog.me/
–Christina Lorenzen http://christinalorenzen.com
–Shanna Hatfield http://shannahatfield.com
–Tara Fairfield http://makaiqueen.com
October 7:
–Sally Sue Fleischmann Ember http://www.sallyember.com/blog
–Chrystal Lynn Miles Gauthier http://authormom4033.wix.com/crystalmilesgauthier
–Zelda Benjamin http://lovebychocolate.blogspot.com
October 8:
–Kelley Crandall http://thebookstalker.net
–Jennifer Pitkin http://authorjenniferpitkin.blogspot.com
–Mari Barnes http://flyingturtlepublishing.com/category/blog
October 9:
–Sharon Skretting http://questteaching.com/wordpress/
–James DiBenedetto http://writingdreams.net
–Melanie Snitker http://melaniedsnitker.blogspot.com
October 10:
–Felicia Rogers http://feliciarogersauthor.weebly.com/blog
–Ruth Doner O’Neil http://www.ruths-real-life.blogspot.com
–Debbie Brown http://amethysteyesauthor.blogspot.com
October 11:
–Faith Blum http://www.faithblum.wordpress.com
–Kristin Wallace http://kristinwallaceauthor.blogspot.com
–Elizabeth Kaiser http://ekaiserwritesablog.blogspot.com
Check out all the sale books here.
Disclaimer: Comment by 11:59:59 PM Central time on October 10, 2014 for your chance to win. Please leave your email address with your comment. Winners will be contacted by the blog owner by October 13, 2014. Only one entry per ISP address. The contest is open to international readers unless stated by the blog owner. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. The giveaway is the sole responsibility of the blogger. Clean Indie Reads is in no way responsible for providing prizes during this blog hop. Void where prohibited
Please visit the other sites in this Blog Tour! Schedule/URLs above and here: http://lindacovella.com/events-news/clean-indie-reads-fall-sale/
Many thanks to Linda Covello for organizing this and to all who participate as bloggers, all of you who visit, and especially all of your readers who comment, buy, download, read, and review our CIR books!
Enjoy your Clean Indie Reads!
Share /reblog this post!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads!
Filed under: All Volumes, Blogging and others' content, Indie or Self-Publishing, Marketing, Personal stories, The Spanners, This Changes Everything, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, This Is/Is Not the Way I Thought Things Would Change Tagged: #Blog tour, CIR, Clean Indie Reads, indie authors, Indie pub, marketing, Sally Ember, The Spanners Series, This Changes Everything, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, WillowRaven
October 4, 2014
Format Your Book for CreateSpace
For aspiring POD indie authors, some great info, here, about formatting for print.
Originally posted on Roxanne's Space:
How to Format Your Book for CreateSpace
I get a lot of formatting questions, so I thought I’d put it all down in one place. If you find it useful, let me know.
Note: I use Word 2010. Your version of Word might look a bit different, but it should be similar enough for you to figure out.
And now, without further ado, here is how I format a book for CreateSpace.
Ready, Set, Go
Open your Word .doc
Set the margins. Go to PAGE LAYOUT –> MARGINS –> CUSTOM MARGINS.
Under the Margin Tab, make the top 1″, the bottom 1″, the inside .9″, and the outside .6″.
Orientation should be Portrait.
Multiple Pages should be changed to Mirror Margins. That’s it for the Margin Tab. Don’t close the box yet.
Then under the Paper Tab, change the Paper Size to the size of the book you are planning to publish…
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Filed under: Writing
