Weekend Coffee Share…Of Walter Dean Myers, bucket lists, baby goats, and writing goals.

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share!  Please don’t hate me because I live in Florida, and it will be close to 80 degrees today.  At least my iced coffee is pumpkin spice flavor!  😉

First, I’d like to ask, which rings true for you?  Here are two alternate skits:

Child:  Grandpa, why are we here?

Grandfather:  To love one another and care for this great Earth.

Alternate:

Child:  Grandpa, why are we here?

Grandfather:  To compete with each other, destroy our enemies, and turn a profit.

I will not deny that this may seem a little political.  I have a hard time verbalizing such things.  I love people regardless of their political beliefs.  But I am having such a hard time lately dealing with recent policy changes, seeing the earth pilfered, people hurt, and families torn apart.  I may seem like a pipe dreamer, but I have long ago realized that was my place on this Earth.  If we all saw things in black and red (monetarily and us vs. them), it would be an ugly world indeed.  I’ve also accepted that, if I were alive in the Middle Ages, I would have been an artisan, poor indeed, but I would make people smile or cry, and they’d throw me enough crumbs to keep me alive.  I’d also be least likely to get beheaded.  I obviously would dress for comfort and not to impress some king into putting jewels on my head.  I’m perfectly fine with my place in life.  If I should ever make it big as an author, I’ll wear what the heck I want to book signings, just like Stephen King.

Now, off of my soapbox.  I have not participated in Weekend Coffee Share in a while!  Part of that is due to neglecting to blog more than once a week.  I’ve been doing the flash fiction entries since it’s tickles my fancy, but only once a week.  It’s good to be back, even if for once in a blue moon.  I love my writers’ community, and I’m glad you all are still here in this space!

Work has kept me busy, busy, while I try to promote my published books.  I’m not writing a book for NANOWRIMO, but I am fleshing out and revising the one I wrote last November.  It is a sequel to my time travel novel, Detours in Time .  This sequel has gone from 45,000 words to 56,000 when I last checked, so I am making progress.  Still, some nights, I get home from work and just want to read and relax.  It may not be completely revised at the end of November, and that’s okay.  I get achy in my hands and arms at times, either due to arthritis or the way I manage stress (internalizing).  So, I’m not pushing it.  All will happen in due time.  I don’t see myself quitting the job to just write until I most likely legitimately retire from teaching.

The workplace has given me more challenges than last year, I believe.  My family life is calmer, but I come home from work good and tired.  I won’t complain about the job; there are good days and bad days.  Sometimes, you can know just what to say to tell a student you’ve “got their number,” and it may work.  Other days, it’s quite overwhelming and you just wonder why they have to be manipulated or pleaded with to do the right thing?  Ah, the nature of middle-schoolers.  They don’t always know who they are.

At least I get to teach one of my favorite books again:  Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers.  Talk about a struggle for identity.  This book is about his life, and he sure went through some hard times regarding: poverty, race, identity, growing up in Harlem, family issues, and adolescence in general.  I know I mentioned this last week in my Stream of Consciousness post.  This book stays with me.  We are starting to study author’s point of view in a memoir.  I’m hoping I have enough artistic kids, because what I’d like to do is have posters of his head opening like a box with a hinge, and his thoughts on paper strips coming out.  Truly, isn’t that what a writer does?  We open it up for others to see what is inside.  Usually, there is an end goal.  He obviously wants to inspire kids of today to stop making excuses and go for their dreams.  I know Myers inspires me.

Well, Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, is coming soon.  We’re going to NC to see my brother and sister-in-law.  The cooler weather will be nice.  I think I’ll gain weight.  I do yoga once or twice a week, but my cardio is faltering.  I blame it on weather fluctuations and writing goals.  I just have to do enough to make sure my clothes still fit.  Buying a whole new wardrobe doesn’t appeal to me like it used to.  I guess I’m getting more practical as I move toward fifty.  It’s gonna be awesome.  I will make it awesome.  I’ve added beer yoga, baby-goat yoga, trying helium beer with my high-school best friend, and still have sky-diving on my bucket list.  Wish me luck in these endeavors!      (Seriously, find a video of baby goat yoga.  They jump all over the place and look so light-weight.  It just seems like a joyful, laughter-filled experience I’d love to try.  Watch it and feel your blood pressure drop)!

-Pamela

#WeekendCoffeeShare is now hosted at https://eclecticali.wordpress.com/ Please visit the blog to view other weekend coffee shares and to enter your own.

How was your week?  What’s going on in your life and your artistic/ blogging endeavors?

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Society’s Tourniquet By Raymond Roy #FFFAW

I am proud to say my photo was featured in the Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers this week! There are many inspiring responses. Here is one writer’s take on the prompt!

goroyboy's Blog

Rattle Rattle, “spare change?” , “help a brother out”?
Pan handling, it’s not so bad. You never have to worry about making eye contact with anybody. Although the concrete IS hot in the summer and sucks the life’s blood out of you in the winter. My knees ache, and butt gets numb at times. Don’t have to worry about feet getting cold since I left those back in Afghanistan.

Hard concrete flashback: snapping in honing our marksmanship skills in the Marine Corps. The circle was asphalt, the rifle sling was tourniquet tight. We knelt facing a target, not firing, just developing muscle memory. Bam!! I saw stars as the DI slapped the rifle against my face, “tighten it up maggot”.

Bam!! Back to reality, a car backfires.

A long legged fur coat wearing high society type approaches the entrance to the high rise apartments with her fru-fru K9. She stops…

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Reviews coming in for #scifi novel, Detours in Time

Detours in Time, my latest book about two friends and their time travel adventures/mishaps, now has 15 reviews on Amazon!  You can preview it at this Universal link: https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0711ZW6XF  The most recent was a four star review, which really brightened my day, since I have struggled with sinusitis for a good week now!  I even cancelled my plan to try a book signing this month.  😦

I still have the internet, though!  Having said that, I’ve been working on improving my newsletter process through Mailchimp.  If you are interested in seeing a sample of Detours in Time, you may click on this Instafreebie link.  You will also be signed up for my author news, but it only comes to your inbox once or twice a month.  You’ll be sure to get word of book deals and news of upcoming books!  https://instafreebie.com/free/RJVlq

Now, as for those reviews, thank you to Joel Thimmell for the four stars:  “I enjoyed this offbeat time travel adventure. The main characters, Pinky and Milt, are quirky and charming with an endearing cuteness in their super-slow-motion romance. The tone is light and humorous and the heroes’ encounters with future technologies are primarily played for laughs.

Unfortunately, in accordance with the unwritten (yet apparently iron-clad and unbreakable) law of time travel stories, some action by any and all time travelers MUST alter the flow of history in potentially disastrous ways. At this point, the tone becomes somewhat somber and the fun quotient drops precipitously. Nevertheless, fans of the genre will appreciate Milt and Pinky’s heartfelt efforts to undo the damage they have caused.

My chief complaint about “Detours in Time,” was the abrupt ending. I know that it’s just the first book in a planned trilogy but for me each book needs to stand on it’s own with a fully satisfying ending. I also know that is extremely hard to pull off.”

Then there’s this, from Dianne at Tome Tender Book Blog (http://tometender.blogspot.com)

4.5 stars (rounded to 5)  “In the spirit of the most adventurous of explorers, Professor Milton Braddock and his best friend, the feisty Tabitha (aka: Pinky) travel through time conducting scientific studies of the eras they visit. An unlikely pair, their personal takes on what they witness and their witty repartee makes Pamela Schloesser Canepa’s DETOURS IN TIME a great way to spend a few hours in both another world and another time!….”

Please go to the Universal link and preview the book and reviews.  Detours in Time is also free on Kindle Unlimited as well as available in Kindle and in paperback!  Thank you to those who have read or who are reading my first full-length novel, Detours in Time!

Watch RWISA Write Showcase, Linda Mims, an Author Discovered

Please join me in welcoming author Linda Mims to my blog today for a sample of her writing!  Linda is a supportive, fellow member of Rave Reviews Book Club, and is also a member of Rave Writers International Society of Authors.  If you like futuristic sci-fi, check out her novel, The Neon Houses!

 Linda Mims

You Take the Blue Pill, the Story Ends. You Take the Red Pill …

By Linda Mims

 I was sixteen when I first suspected that I might be the one. I’d seen people in my family striving for excellence all my life. My parents’ friends were creative types who often took time to quiz me about my goals and what I was doing to achieve them. I had been persistently pleading with a leader at my church who had the power to make one of my goals a reality.

 

This woman headed the Womens’ Ministry. Everything from church announcements to annual celebrations fell under her domain. I wanted to be the youth announcer on the weekly, hour-long radio broadcast that emanated from our church, but she was speaking a language that I didn’t understand.

 

“Take some speech lessons and come back to me.”

 

Where in the world was I going to get speech lessons and how would I pay for them? My family knew some people, and the house did overflow from Friday to Sunday with weekend guests, but that didn’t mean we had money. A party costs maybe $25 back then—especially if everybody brought food and drinks.

 

Bottom line, we didn’t have money for speech lessons. Still, I wasn’t going to give up. I was a spiritual youngster, even before I knew what spiritual meant. I told the Lord what I wanted and then forgot about it. While I was waiting, strange, but wonderful things were happening to me. I was voted vice president of my choir and I was chosen to deliver the Youth Day Address. Go figure!

 

One Friday evening, my mother received a phone call. The church maven and her assistant had gone on strike. I was too young to understand everything a strike entailed. I just knew that I was being asked to fill in as the main radio announcer for the broadcast; the very thing I’d wanted in the first place.  That broadcast went out to hundreds, maybe thousands in the Chicago listening area.

 

When she returned from her strike, Ms. Maven kept me on as a junior announcer and she became one of my most revered mentors. That was the year I discovered that I was tight with God. I could get a prayer through! Was I the one?

 

I’m every woman. It’s all in me

 

While in college a few years later, I watched a bold, beautiful young woman, with a voice as big as a brass saxophone, sing on a makeshift stage. It was an impromptu concert behind one of the lecture halls on my university campus. The day was balmy and the sun was bright. We shaded our eyes as we stared straight into the golden orb that bathed her in its light.

 

She looked like a woman and a child at the same time. She wore very few clothes. Just a band around her breasts, a pair of short shorts, ankle boots, and a tall feather stuck in the crown of one of the biggest afros I’d ever seen.

 

We were fascinated, and her voice held us captivated. After the performance, members of the group handed out bills that said their name was Rufus, featuring Chaka Khan. They would be performing at a local club that night.

 

We showed up to the club, but a multi-ethnic crowd had filled the place to capacity. You don’t need to ask for racial diversity once everybody realizes you have something we all desire. Anyway, we couldn’t get in. That day would be the first and only time I’d hear Chaka Khan sing for free. At the time, I wondered if she was also the one!

 

In 1978, Chaka Khan recorded her first solo album, Chaka. One song from that album would define the rest of my life. In it, she sang my truth! I’d always felt that I could do anything, but it wasn’t until Ms. Khan sang the words, that I knew how to describe what I’d always known.

 

“I’m every woman. It’s all in me. Anything you want done, baby, I do it naturally. I ain’t bragging, but I’m the one. Just ask me and it shall be done.”

 

I had a theme song!

 

You may not know the purpose, but know that there is a purpose

 

In The Matrix, one of my favorite movies of all time, there’s the scene where Morpheus gives Neo a choice between the red pill or the blue pill. Neo has been searching for information about the matrix. Morpheus has to convince Neo that he isn’t looking for the matrix, but what he’s really looking for is more. Morpheus believes that once Neo has answers to his questions, he will come to accept what Morpheus already knows. Neo is the one.

 

Being the one is about knowing that you want more. You want to change things. You may not know what your ultimate purpose is, but you know that there is a purpose. You’re so absolutely self-motivated and focused, that God himself delights in your purpose. I told you I’ve always been spiritual, so, I’ll say that I believe when God and the universe delight in your purpose, there’s no stopping you.

 

The Matrix is fiction, so let’s take a look at real-life people who wanted more. One such person was the late author, Janet Dailey. A prolific writer, Dailey thought she could write better than most of the romance writers she was reading. She knew she was the one. When people referred to her as “just a secretary” who writes romance novels, Dailey said the following, and I quote:

 

 “One of the things that to me is the biggest compliment any writer can get is hearing from the ones who say, ‘I used to think reading was boring until I picked up one of your books.’ ” 

 

Between 1974 and 2007, Janet Dailey sold over 300 million copies of more than 100 titles. Not bad for “just a secretary”.

 

Then, there was Steve Jobs. Steve dropped out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon after six months, but he stayed there and audited creative classes over the next 18 months. A course in calligraphy developed his love of typography. Apple and Macintosh computers would be the first to offer creative fonts, including calligraphy, for the consumer’s use.

 

Steve Jobs partnered with his friend, Steve Wozniak, to start Apple Computer, in the Jobs’ family garage. Steve Jobs said, “I want to put a ding in the universe”.

 

I guess he knew that he was the one!

 

Being the one comes with certain responsibilities

 

Many of you have already realized that you are the one; you just haven’t taken the red pill yet. When you’re ready, there are some responsibilities:

 

1. Toot your own horn
2. Don’t give up
3. Throw away false humility

 

First, toot your own horn! You can’t be afraid of appearing to be too much of a showoff. Waiting patiently for others to give you the rewards you so richly deserve, may yield nothing but hurt and disappointment. Individuals will slink away with your destiny in their greedy little hands without so much as a backwards glance for you.

 

A few times, I spoke too quietly in meetings or waited until it was too late to claim my own ideas that I’d shared with others in private. I watched, stunned, as another, bolder individual stole my idea, shouted it out, and received my praise. I had to wise up quickly and realize that there are differences in the way that leaders and achievers talk and present. First, leaders declare that they have something to say. Then, when everyone is focused, they speak. They make sure their ideas are credited.

 

Don’t give up, opportunity does knock more than once.

 

I’ve learned that opportunity knocks more than once. Heck, when you’re the one, you create opportunities. When one door closes, another door really does open. If you weren’t ready the first time, the truth is, you can keep reinventing yourself until your moment comes or until you’re tired of trying.

 

“Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.” —Steve Jobs

 

Throw away that false humility! It’s okay to hang back while you formulate your plan. Go ahead! Get the lay of the land. If you are confident in the knowledge that you can do anything, take as much time as you need. Just don’t overdo humble. That’s almost as bad as having too much pride.

 

It’s permissible to show pride in yourself and your accomplishments. The 21st Century is begging for your stories, calling for your experiences, and expecting you to step up and lead, in every way imaginable. Women like Oprah Winfrey—women like Taylor Swift—they are leading change with their out-of-the-box ideas and sweeping changes to the status quo.

 

Men like Barack Obama are stepping out of obscurity and into the Senate and the office of the President of the United States. Have the audacity to dream! Wear your mantle of distinction with pride. Step-up, speak-out! You are the one!

 

*Thank you for supporting this member along the WATCH “RWISA” WRITE Showcase Tour today!  We ask that if you have enjoyed this member’s writing, to please visit their Author Page on the RWISA site, where you can find more of their writing, along with their contact and social media links, if they’ve turned you into a fan.  WE ask that you also check out their books in the RWISA or RRBC catalogs.  Thanks, again for your support and we hope that you will follow each member along this amazing tour of talent!  Don’t forget to click the link below to learn more about this author:

Linda Mims RWISA Author Page

Watch RWISA Write! Marcha Fox, an Author Discovered.

Please join me in welcoming author Marcha Fox to my blog.  Marcha is a fellow member of Rave Reviews Book Club, in addition to being a member of RWISA (Rave Writers’ International Society of Authors).  Marcha is sharing a sample of her writing.  By the way, I’ve just started reading her book,  The Terra Debacle!

 Marcha Fox

Your Wildest Dreams

I inhaled sharply when I recognized the introductory riff wafting from my favorite 80s station as Your Wildest Dreams by the Moody Blues. Even though I had the original 45 RPM record, the album on cassette tape, and more recently, the CD, I kept them safely locked away so I wouldn’t binge on it. Nonetheless, when KPLV, 93.1 FM in Vegas, got around to playing it every few weeks or so, I’d indulge in a break, a delicious reminder of why I was here.

Consumed by ethereal and intimately familiar soundwaves, I got up, closed the blinds, and even though it was unlikely the song’s strains would penetrate my office’s cinder block walls, plugged in my headset so I could crank it up—I mean really up. I melted back into my chair, eyes closed, with what was probably an idiotic smile on my face, savoring each note as the song segued into its lively, 142 BPM tempo. The next three minutes and forty-one seconds, I’d be in heaven.

Even though this song came out eight years after she left, the first time I heard it, back when I was still in college in ’86, I knew two things: One, it would always be “our song”; and Two, I had to find her.

My heart leapt with visions of galaxies beyond, of what might be out there, where she might be. I plunged headlong through space and time, besieged by memories burned into my heart as permanently and painfully as branding was to a newborn calf. Did she remember? Feel the same thing I did? Sense the enchantment of fate-entangled lives?

I memorize pretty easily, which comes in handy, especially with things like the Periodic Table or Maxwell’s equations. And of course, favorite songs. These particular lyrics struck me, hard and personal, from day one, certain it’d been written exclusively for me.

As my eyes teared up, logic intervened and yanked me back to planet Earth.

Grow up, Benson! What are you, a total schmaltz or what?

We were kids, for heaven sakes. A teenage crush. I should’ve gotten over it, but never did. No wonder. Girls like her are rare. One of a kind. She’d already experienced things I never would. Things that were part of my wildest dreams.

The admonition failed, pushed aside by that part of me that felt alive again, jammin’ like a total jerk, mouthing the words as I sang along in my head. It’s not like I’m a teenager anymore, though at the moment I felt like one. No, memories of the heart never die—can’t die, ever—even if you try to kill them.

I’d give anything to talk to her. Which of course I have, numerous times over the years, if only in my head. Okay, aloud more often than I care to admit. I could swear it even felt as if she answered a time or two. I suppose that’s how it is with your first love. Or your first kiss, even if it was only a peck on the cheek. It penetrates your soul and stays there forever.

That mid-summer day in ’78 hauling hay was as vivid as yesterday in my mind’s eye. The cloudless sky, sun hot on my neck, the aroma of first-crop alfalfa sweetening the mountain air. I scratched my shoulder, a reflex memory of itchy, stray leaves sticking through my T-shirt. My chest ached as I remembered tear tracks streaking her dust-covered face at something I’d said. Then, days later, that withering look when we lied about her ship.

The one we still have. What’s left of it quietly abandoned beneath a tarp in Building 15, here at Area 51.

How she knew we weren’t telling the truth, I’ll never know. Pretty funny it’s still sitting there. And I’m sure she’d think so, too. I can just hear her saying, “Stupid snurks, I knew they’d never figure it out.” Though actually they did, just didn’t find technology worth pursuing. Even contractors didn’t want it.

I had to admit it was pretty crazy, but she was my motivation to get where I was today: just short of a decade of college linked with serendipity that put me in the right place at the right time, hoping someday I’d find her. My life had changed a lot since then. How much had hers changed? Did she make it home? Was she still alive? With the effects of relativistic travel, which I understood only too well, she could still be a teenager, while I was easing into the infamous dirty thirties.

Not good. If I ever did find her, she’d probably think I was some lecherous old fart. Either that, or, with my luck, she’d be married with a bunch of kids. I winced with the thought.

My sentimental reverie vanished when my office door slammed open and Hector Buckhorn rolled in. Literally. Hec’s been stuck in a wheelchair ever since he crashed his hang glider into a New Mexico mountainside during spring break his last semester of college. He ridge soared a lot, particularly around Dulce, over restricted areas where he wasn’t supposed to be. Got caught a couple times, but being Native American, never got in trouble, even though it wasn’t his home reservation. He’s amazingly good at playing dumb, in spite of—or possibly because of—his 150ish IQ. He never talked about his accident, said he couldn’t remember. Makes sense, actually, given he suffered a massive concussion. The only time I ever saw him pissed him off was when he woke up in the hospital and discovered they’d shaved off his hair, since grown back beyond shoulder length.

I dropped the headset around my neck and faked a frown. “Don’t you ever knock, butthead?”

“Hey, man, wazzup?” he said, giving me a funny look. “You okay?”

I laughed. “Of course. Just thinking. Remembering. You know.”

“Ahhh. They played that song again, didn’t they?”

“Can’t hide anything from you, can I, Chief?”

“Nope. I figured you were up to somethin’ with your blinds closed.”

He wheeled over to the grey metal, government-issue table on the other side of the room and helped himself to a handful of peanut M&Ms. Once I’d realized during my PhD days at Cal Tech that, in a pinch, they made a pretty decent meal, I’d kept that old, wide-mouth canning jar full. He dumped them in his mouth, perusing me with knowing, dark eyes.

“You were sure enjoyin’ that song of yours,” he said, not even trying to stifle his crooked grin as he munched away.

“Yeah,” I replied, uncomfortable with the conversation’s direction.

“We’ve known each other a long time, Allen,” he said. “Don’t you think it’s time you told me about her?”

“Not much to tell.”

He let fly with a popular expletive related to bovine excrement. “C’mon! What’s her name?” he persisted.

I blew out my cheeks and sighed, knowing resistance was futile. “Creena,” I answered, surprising myself when, again, I got a little choked up. I avoided his eyes by likewise heading for the M&Ms.

“So find her,” he said.

“It’s not that simple,” I replied, pouring myself a handful. “I don’t know where she is.” A statement that was truer than he could possibly imagine.

“I have some resources who could help,” he offered with a conspiratorial wink.

I shook my head, then stalled by popping a few colorful orbs in my mouth.

“Why not? If she’s anywhere on this planet, these guys’ll find her.”

I swallowed hard and paused; met his gaze. “She’s not.”

He scowled, making him look a lot like those old pictures of Cochise. “Say again?”

“She’s. Not.”

“Oh! I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I assumed she’s dead. She must’ve been quite a girl.”

“She was. Is. She’s not dead. At least as far as I know.”

His jaw dropped, shocked expression broadcasting the fact he’d caught the implications. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Abductee?” he whispered.

“Nope,” I answered, raiding the candy jar again. “Immigrant.”

His eyes widened as he spewed an expletive that elevated excrement to sanctified status. “Don’t tell me she’s an EBE!”

I nearly spewed partially chewed M&Ms across the room. Extraterrestrial biological entity, indeed! Yet by definition, actually, she was.

I chuckled at his expression and shook my head. “No. Quite human. At least as far as I know.”

“Are you?” he added, chocolate-colored irises rimmed with white. His reaction surprised me—UFOs, even aliens, were no big deal in his culture, just business as usual with the Star People.

“C’mon, Chief! You’ve known me since tenth grade, running high school track!”

He leaned back, searching my face with more solemnity than I’d seen since I told him how Dad died. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, bro,” he said finally, shaking his head.

“You have no idea,” I said, throat constricting as scratchy lyrics from the headset, audible only to me, issued another reminder of why I was here.

 

Copyright © 2017 by Marcha Fox

 

[NOTE:–This is an excerpt from my upcoming novel, Dark Circles, a slightly dark, hard sci-fi love story. No release date has been set.]

Thank you for supporting this member along the WATCH “RWISA” WRITE Showcase Tour today!  We ask that if you have enjoyed this member’s writing, to please visit their Author Page on the RWISA site, where you can find more of their writing, along with their contact and social media links, if they’ve turned you into a fan.  WE ask that you also check out their books in the RWISA or RRBC catalogs.  Thanks, again for your support and we hope that you will follow each member along this amazing tour of talent!  Don’t forget to click the link below to learn more about this author:

 

Marcha Fox  RWISA Author Page

​

 

 

#WeekendCoffeeShare, I’ll Keep Dancing ‘cuz I Love Dancing!

 

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Emily at nerdinthebrain.com and soon to be hosted again by parttimemonsterblog.com.  As you can see in the photo, there are many days lately where my coffee of choice is ICED!  The heat here in Florida is amazing lately.  This coffee drink was iced mocha.  Yum!  I actually met with some friends and fellow writers Thursday for a fellow writers’ chat.  Hence, the above photo, which is perfect for summer!  If we were having coffee today, on the 9th of July, I would tell you:

*Book News:  Most days this week, I have sold one or two of the Detours in Time books at Amazon.  Some days, I think it’s because of the book postcard I gave to the cashier or customer service manager at the grocery store or the coffee shop.  This is one way I’m getting the word out.  I got a graphic designer to make this design, and then I ordered the postcards to be printed.  I hand them out in many places, and Wow!  They look very professional, and they make me look legitimate, so they make me talk to people about my writing!  Imagine that!  People don’t know I’m an author.  I need to tell them!  I should be proud!  I worked hard on this book.  I paid for editing, cover design, graphics, postcard, formatting, and there’s something I missed, but you get the drift.  I should be proud.  Plus, I really enjoyed the writing of this book.  I do this because I enjoy it, so I should be proud.  I’m working on this poem in my mind about it.  It’s like, I’m displaying my talent and hard work, so I don’t want people to ignore or to look away, even if I am only earning a few dollars on it.  Well, there are some days it seems no one sees my Facebook posts, and sometimes you’ll have some days without a sale.  Come on, you indie authors know what I’m talking about! Anyway, I’ll likely order more postcards.  It has been fun talking about my writing with strangers.  (It’s helping me develop my elevator pitch). 🙂  This is what it looks like, designed by Kat Mellon:

Also in book news, a big thanks to Jackie O. who, starting Monday, gave me a book/author feature on her blog this week!  See it at https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/2017/07/03/bring-your-books-5-author-zone/

Another round of thanks to Katrina Robinson, who hosted my “Interview with a Character” from Detours in Time this Weds., 7/05.  Please visit and give it a read at https://calliopewriting.com/2017/07/05/guest-blog-post-interview-with-a-character-from-pamela-schloesser-canepas-detours-in-time/   It is a different sort of post on the blog tour for my new sci-fi novel, Detours in Time.

This week I have also have a book spotlight at princessofthelight.wordpress.com.  They are pleasant to work with, and have a lot of Twitter followers who have retweeted my book spotlight!

*A big topic of discussion with my fellow writers at coffee was recent movies.  I had been bad about attending movies, but I have finally seen The Guardians of the Galaxy 2, (and then rented part 1 on Netflix) and more recently, Wonder Woman.  I loved both!  There has been a lot of talk about theology in Wonder Woman, and then, I saw another article that cited Buddhists principles in Wonder Woman!  The point is, people are seeing a moral or spiritual element in the movie, and I noticed a similarity of the god Ares’ fall to that of Lucifer.  I did not love it for the fight scenes, but for many of the other elements present.  Many people are seeing different things.  Go see it!  GOTG: it’s just awesome, full of action, great music, and characters you can easily fall for.  Enough said.  See them both, especially if you love sci-fi and superheroes.  Next up, War for the Planet of the Apes.  I am there!  I’ve seen people guffaw at it as racist.  Huh?  You can see it in many different ways.  What I see is that the apes are closer to nature than mankind, and therefore they would save it (and fight for it) as opposed to our destruction of the planet.  I know the original condemns mankind for blowing up the planet, and it made quite an impression on the young me.  I am curious and will certainly see this one too.  My next on Netflix is The Man From UNCLE.  Yes, I’ve seen it before, but it’s worth a revisit!  Spy intrigue, handsome lead, 60’s fashion, 60’s classic cars, exciting love story, and HENRY CAVILL.  I am a fan.  🙂  Worth revisiting!

*Writing?  Yes, I wrote a story this week!  Well, two, but one of them is still secret.  The other is a flash fiction that I wrote here on WordPress for the Flash fiction for Aspiring Writers Challenge.  It is in reaction to a photo prompt.  I love these and will likely try them with my English Language Arts students.  Someone should love writing like I do!  Here is my response:                                                        https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/flashfictionforaspiringwriters-i-took-the-fall/

*So, beyond that, I got the dog groomed, spent some time with my son, went to Artwalk with my significant other, and read at least one book this week, and there were two yoga classes.  I also went to a fundraiser yoga class this morning that was different than my usual practice.  It was great, even though I modified a lot.  Yes, it is a common thread in my posts.  Yoga-dogs-books.  If I spend my time doing those things, it means I am loving my life!

Visit   Emily at http://www.nerdinthebrain.com/weekendcoffeeshare-the-one-where-i-pass-the-reigns-back/  for her week’s insights and for the coffee shares of some fellow bloggers.  You may add yours by clicking on the InLinks button.

Thank you for reading this far, especially if you haven’t tired of me “spitting out the butt-ends of my days and ways,” (From a T.S. Eliot poem) which amounts to:  Yoga, books, dogs.  Add Family.  Friends.  Coffee!  I shall have to add food next time.  🙂 Have a great week!

 

One Year Anniversary! #indiewriter #amwriting #RRBC

It’s my one-year anniversary with Rave Reviews Book Club!  I’ve just renewed for another year with them because 1.  the exposure can’t be beaten  2.  I’ve gained readers and reviewers through them  3.  I am part of a network of authors on Twitter who all help each other build a platform and gain exposure.  All of this is really priceless, especially for an Indie author.  I’m still new and still learning things almost daily to help my author promotion and platform, but this book club has really helped.  I’ve been featured as book of the week, invited as a guest on two blog radio talk shows, part of a Book trailer party that got my book video seen, and have been welcome to many other opportunities, some which I haven’t tried yet, but I may do so this year.  (There are a writer’s conference and the Spring Blog Party that I have yet to try).  If you’d like to know more about this Book Club and author’s resource, go to http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com and see if you might want to join!

There is also another anniversary worth celebrating here.  It has been one year and one month since I self-published a book!  I’m still writing and getting ready to publish another, but I’d like to thank all of the helpful people I have met through various Facebook and other online groups as well!  I’ve learned invaluable lessons such as where to get attribution-free photos, how to use Canva, what are some alternate e-book publishing venues, and how one actually writes a good blurb.  I’m still working on that one!  I love the camaraderie among indie authors, and though self-publishing is a time-consuming venture, I plan to continue!  Look for news in June regarding my new release, a time-travel novel, and the Facebook event I have planned.

Along with the self-publishing journey, it was a year ago in January when I started blogging here at WordPress.  I am so thankful for the bloggers I have met who share other writers’ material and posts and offer regular chances, such as Jackie’s “Echoes of My Neighborhood” at acookingpotandtwistedtales.com and Daniel Ray’s Re-blog opportunities at dreambigdreamoften.com.  That and the many writing prompt opportunities, as well as the #weekendcoffeeshare, have helped me to meet more writers, network, and learn more about sharing my writing in multiple ways.  Thank you, fellow writers!