tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62467715719446835372024-03-27T02:36:16.623-04:00Blerdy Binge ReaderA blerdy binge reader comes clean, and riffs about books and life.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-25895736386196985612024-03-24T11:03:00.000-04:002024-03-24T11:03:41.491-04:00Spring Showers Reading Hours <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Saturday's deluge made it easy to stay home and read rather than go run errands. Today's lovely weather means no more outdoor to-do list avoidance and reading has to wait until this evening. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Hope your week is filled with reading (& all kinds of) joy! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">currently reading, already read & will read eventually </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRUreTSs7Y9otdFT8sJ2UQHins3aOfuLMvtWRXHQOWsje1Tabo9jUi-sKbNlt-5tVkfWlSLlLANM8glS51S8es8ZDTWE7x3s0sCOzeuKVzOIge-kbW92_zpx4yCtuaVS6_qBA7xHrp5XllYhnmbn5pQ55QsNnfK01pysrVA3YHveKGw9C07O7IdYPs_HT/s4160/20240323_124054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRUreTSs7Y9otdFT8sJ2UQHins3aOfuLMvtWRXHQOWsje1Tabo9jUi-sKbNlt-5tVkfWlSLlLANM8glS51S8es8ZDTWE7x3s0sCOzeuKVzOIge-kbW92_zpx4yCtuaVS6_qBA7xHrp5XllYhnmbn5pQ55QsNnfK01pysrVA3YHveKGw9C07O7IdYPs_HT/s320/20240323_124054.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Girls with Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod, Always Only You by Chloe Liese, Faking It by Beth Reekles </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82yEGgH9_EaArZrSmM35NF5aJvHYRhvUSIddtsjDf_MecmcKzFAU__q9Fn1fFQpm97rpymZ7VmcD16npxaaatKUwO7YBE0QVSAm-GligmyO3tKFifx7IY678pbZdwaJHoH7hkqeYbDCHOQPEINWCH3MZmEeZjLMNfKzqlWQyBnWpDkFzzI9aDURPMKMsN/s2046/20240323_125015-COLLAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="2046" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82yEGgH9_EaArZrSmM35NF5aJvHYRhvUSIddtsjDf_MecmcKzFAU__q9Fn1fFQpm97rpymZ7VmcD16npxaaatKUwO7YBE0QVSAm-GligmyO3tKFifx7IY678pbZdwaJHoH7hkqeYbDCHOQPEINWCH3MZmEeZjLMNfKzqlWQyBnWpDkFzzI9aDURPMKMsN/s320/20240323_125015-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Magnolia Flower by Zora Neale Hurston & adapted by Ibram X. Kendi; a "Read a new book that is primarily intended for children" prompt from The Ultimate Reading Challenge, Complete a Goal, Open an Envelope, and Reveal a Bookish Prize! </span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_l_JbE0LHuIXGbqh98EwS_lCNRui-IphoupEoF77qNApzjrVVX4cnCvsCBTtNNwysjgsnQ4kPcJqxuFqvoqBSaaCdtNcgR9mrZJY-oA7l62T6TAPR558CmWCZ_IXLGyoM88zW3ZFXiTY3Np6SfKDQ9aWIjqEQYj4L6zACaZz6GiYK0Gm5ECZ9HvF5165J/s4160/20240315_214924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_l_JbE0LHuIXGbqh98EwS_lCNRui-IphoupEoF77qNApzjrVVX4cnCvsCBTtNNwysjgsnQ4kPcJqxuFqvoqBSaaCdtNcgR9mrZJY-oA7l62T6TAPR558CmWCZ_IXLGyoM88zW3ZFXiTY3Np6SfKDQ9aWIjqEQYj4L6zACaZz6GiYK0Gm5ECZ9HvF5165J/s320/20240315_214924.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Forget What You Know by Christina Dodd, First Down by Grace Reilly, Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee, All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata, The Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-46790559453401104332024-03-17T15:57:00.001-04:002024-03-17T15:57:47.063-04:00Making Your Own Luck <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8QfAX5WLM5woBJUogPp3qNNlmSFviMI2EPOtdtke7d_8YjuJXw0jLd9OFp95FNMG0RjGo0HYNa6gEOJxNH3Q7vZtu-jQ76z_om8O6GNmWwvppDL_Z09TwfpMpeWZZHI-Y3lrirQiaU5SEZyJCQ6Fm5BFXQ9M9grYsU_SsWI9X1xKgEUuNZfyfvQ69fbs/s4160/20240313_010232.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8QfAX5WLM5woBJUogPp3qNNlmSFviMI2EPOtdtke7d_8YjuJXw0jLd9OFp95FNMG0RjGo0HYNa6gEOJxNH3Q7vZtu-jQ76z_om8O6GNmWwvppDL_Z09TwfpMpeWZZHI-Y3lrirQiaU5SEZyJCQ6Fm5BFXQ9M9grYsU_SsWI9X1xKgEUuNZfyfvQ69fbs/s320/20240313_010232.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Calamity (Uncharted Hearts #1) by Constance Fay </span><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Sci-fi romance </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Bramble, November 2023 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Temperance Reed has fallen from being a recognized member of one of the most elite families in the universe to being a banished scout among a ragtag band of other outsiders. Romantic drama collides with political intrigue and double-dealing in this outstanding sci-fi genre mashup that's action-packed, funny, and tender. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEpwWWkWSdP7GupN979_CijaeOi1_CDJkSAzypW1-KPIWcGYy4BG72X3tlcdfZkA7LaOjHsANFbxaTpBvxx-_LpBgok2b8APD-bpt5-YnaHViY3Lf6O0BX_r2Et8RB47KFkYJoE3lyAS70s9Pozrdr1_d-sJ7wqkEWwPy0qHCtjUeOE6XsibQhtDzSPQb/s4160/20240305_151228.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuEpwWWkWSdP7GupN979_CijaeOi1_CDJkSAzypW1-KPIWcGYy4BG72X3tlcdfZkA7LaOjHsANFbxaTpBvxx-_LpBgok2b8APD-bpt5-YnaHViY3Lf6O0BX_r2Et8RB47KFkYJoE3lyAS70s9Pozrdr1_d-sJ7wqkEWwPy0qHCtjUeOE6XsibQhtDzSPQb/s320/20240305_151228.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Winter's Eve: Then, Now & Always (Three Kings #2) </span><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">by A.E. Valdez, author/publisher </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Contemporary romance/fiction/women's fiction </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">August 2023 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">A decade earlier, Eve Valentine and Winter King's love burned hot and bright until tragedy struck and the devastating fallout ended their relationship. Now connections between family, friends, and the best interests of their community force them back together. Will their love rekindle or incinerate? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">The exquisite blend of intricate family and friendship dynamics combined with themes of trauma, grief, and recovery as an ongoing, evolving process make this second-chance romance something much more than the sum of its excellent parts in the tradition of Kennedy Ryan. </span><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQrZ5ECyFRQbY9BLLI99dmexkq_1pySAx07WUo2cJ2Bwssy0G0TwcYe8ZGOmdCivMysT7kjvDjBL7LpgoRDS1vtR52lPzyI5EqmoLxeJMBlClliSzyoj3azT1UrYROqZPFH_9uJQKwHyCLv2aPI172ZJ2IErMLREd1jqC83WNoTmjm3OThmdh1LRUAWuc/s2016/IMG-20240310-WA0002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1134" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQrZ5ECyFRQbY9BLLI99dmexkq_1pySAx07WUo2cJ2Bwssy0G0TwcYe8ZGOmdCivMysT7kjvDjBL7LpgoRDS1vtR52lPzyI5EqmoLxeJMBlClliSzyoj3azT1UrYROqZPFH_9uJQKwHyCLv2aPI172ZJ2IErMLREd1jqC83WNoTmjm3OThmdh1LRUAWuc/s320/IMG-20240310-WA0002.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Many thanks to Patti Ross and her EC Poetry & Prose team for inviting my kidlit co-author and me to read our upcoming book, How Our Family Was Made (A Love Story for My Child), about a single-parent-by-choice family at this month's Second Sundays at OCA Mocha Cafe UMBC in Arbutus, Maryland! We enjoyed our experience of reading while sharing the images on a screen (that we did make level after this pic was snapped), and listening to a line-up of talented poets and other spoken word artists. </span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Happy creating! </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-12096493514307263782024-03-03T14:33:00.000-05:002024-03-03T14:33:10.780-05:00Finding Your People, Creating Home <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRLPIE1x_u2Z8lSkdMSlVWS4WrdKFOCPkWNS0l-6lDPSI8-tLiKFPf1aPjevFZ2_PRAozWL8RUKLk3DdasCKb-OFWQ9vl6wpBKPsegnpkyZkzHs7v71G_sUqn9wyJUBsWfJQa1nvXYxe9-PASYGbKCVqb5DIhNS4MQSno8y-s4zkaDuJ2Wx8aRj6FGY36/s4160/20240229_090551.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRLPIE1x_u2Z8lSkdMSlVWS4WrdKFOCPkWNS0l-6lDPSI8-tLiKFPf1aPjevFZ2_PRAozWL8RUKLk3DdasCKb-OFWQ9vl6wpBKPsegnpkyZkzHs7v71G_sUqn9wyJUBsWfJQa1nvXYxe9-PASYGbKCVqb5DIhNS4MQSno8y-s4zkaDuJ2Wx8aRj6FGY36/s320/20240229_090551.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">[The American Queen by Vanessa Miller, Bride by Ali Hazelwood, Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday] </span><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LOtAenHQ1qfzMJSVxlx93ttHpzZOju1KeUUBEPBgAHzDk4eQek077uslk68mAbx8UFk-LqY2x9yNX54_c1uBS-XPQZihSIe_XhnrCYCXzjOatxLO8-9YcQql4CdDKcHXG9hbjPQCU6T8eBtiMMwimwtV-kXpaZnsAYRX-foFdA7UVj97YARKUUXF6I6H/s4160/20240228_143255.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LOtAenHQ1qfzMJSVxlx93ttHpzZOju1KeUUBEPBgAHzDk4eQek077uslk68mAbx8UFk-LqY2x9yNX54_c1uBS-XPQZihSIe_XhnrCYCXzjOatxLO8-9YcQql4CdDKcHXG9hbjPQCU6T8eBtiMMwimwtV-kXpaZnsAYRX-foFdA7UVj97YARKUUXF6I6H/s320/20240228_143255.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">[Goal by Alexandria House] </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">What's even better than a hockey romance? A BLACK hockey romance that incorporates multiple facets of the complexity of Blackness while delivering humor and tenderness along with lots of family and relationship drama. Plus, scorching hot sexy times. Nuri and Maleek's love story beautifully depicts ways in which two people work on themselves as individuals as they become a healthy couple. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">(cw: miscarriage) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Currently reading The American Queen by Vanessa Miller. Enjoyed Bride by Ali Hazelwood, and Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday is a binge read option for later this week. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Happy creating! </span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-57095249161408206782024-02-25T23:17:00.004-05:002024-02-25T23:17:49.991-05:00Final Weekend of BHM Events, Reimagined Tales & an Unlikely Mystery + Cake <div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg592yudhXCojkdMvagyRYqEyrbCs-wQYZIlbIqkxqHxCaqWIThOdyRfG5q7WRHOhgPppacWYwiBU4vAS9tP8S7h_SxF1nx6jyZaxpIaWWpDTx_CG89TGYhO4PtAKI5JP4ILjgFNUM8wnMI1Pd03vW48hmQOTLnR13KdYpKuzPljEJXOr4KhsjeM7Ze_Eu2/s4160/20240224_153223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg592yudhXCojkdMvagyRYqEyrbCs-wQYZIlbIqkxqHxCaqWIThOdyRfG5q7WRHOhgPppacWYwiBU4vAS9tP8S7h_SxF1nx6jyZaxpIaWWpDTx_CG89TGYhO4PtAKI5JP4ILjgFNUM8wnMI1Pd03vW48hmQOTLnR13KdYpKuzPljEJXOr4KhsjeM7Ze_Eu2/s320/20240224_153223.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe75UnaomiC1EVhlufY20oWeZW0ZM5pmw_uFm9ttbBTcaomz2tYYDBbRbfAr-wH-Yt8TQCteNd3d9xRJPNJfjP5XvbWzJ5phIE8HEMsssZHi93rvuj07Fct97HKpTPGyhCRVgml3ZaozUYgu1wlxMaxhAbnzmRA7ULARe-IaBvfAmv5O0bvTYGmwl_ccSg/s4160/20240225_213702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe75UnaomiC1EVhlufY20oWeZW0ZM5pmw_uFm9ttbBTcaomz2tYYDBbRbfAr-wH-Yt8TQCteNd3d9xRJPNJfjP5XvbWzJ5phIE8HEMsssZHi93rvuj07Fct97HKpTPGyhCRVgml3ZaozUYgu1wlxMaxhAbnzmRA7ULARe-IaBvfAmv5O0bvTYGmwl_ccSg/s320/20240225_213702.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Spent the weekend with a beloved child (who isn't mine:-). We attended the 2nd annual Black History Fest held at the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center in Columbia, Maryland, which offered a variety of entertainment, education, books, clothes - a handcrafted skirt from Fashion by Abisola, accessories - a beaded bracelet from I-am.com, decorative goods and more from talented creatives across the spectrum of artistic endeavors. The father of author Tamilore Adejumo (Along the Way, Christian nonfiction) made such a compelling pitch that his daughter's book has been added to my very long TBR list. Subject Matter Experts in various aspects of business were there too. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Kid duties shrank my weekend reading time, but currently reading Sex, Lies, and Sensibility by Nikki Payne that among other themes opens with prime examples of Prosecutor Fani Willis's "A man is not a plan" maxim. It's layered and emotionally fraught so I'm not doing my usual voracious binge read, but alternating a few chapters with reading less personally devastating books from Eloisa James - Two Dances and a Duke, Two Masquerades and a Major - and Simply the Best by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTDmJ0bObcpgdjuqs-yJ6XLDTLt7O-nXJtfozCspIk4iIDff8OIfoYzgM6A35QeXztMdQb4Gq6B7cXUyN0D4ukGQMc0HU9-KMs2b1XhOM5U-sj4SbwxPP3PgprfXn4UvixVK1ggwPjxOciVolIQBzf4mBAXoLU7B4DAh0-olMJZcEKK7wQ0RleWVComxs/s4160/20240224_215411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTDmJ0bObcpgdjuqs-yJ6XLDTLt7O-nXJtfozCspIk4iIDff8OIfoYzgM6A35QeXztMdQb4Gq6B7cXUyN0D4ukGQMc0HU9-KMs2b1XhOM5U-sj4SbwxPP3PgprfXn4UvixVK1ggwPjxOciVolIQBzf4mBAXoLU7B4DAh0-olMJZcEKK7wQ0RleWVComxs/s320/20240224_215411.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />Another project that filled the weekend was making this cartoon cake from a Jonny Cakes baking kit. Good things first: The items in the kit and the tutorial (video & text) provide what's needed to create this awesome cake that looks super cool and tastes delicious. Challenges to consider: The tutorial estimates 6 hours, but it took us - one adult and an unusually patient 7-year-old - 8 hours total. We baked the cake Friday night, then finished it Saturday. So plan accordingly. Also, the enclosed postcard listing what's included and needed lists 2 sticks of butter AND vegetable oil when it should say OR; you don't need both. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Okay, that's all for now. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Happy reading & creating! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-80800544964920062822024-02-17T20:26:00.001-05:002024-02-17T21:39:03.587-05:00Tempting Books & Bookish Loot<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNaETpJtdlFHp-7obY5iF-nXrrw5dUP9hCb-1Yhy0RsvDdmgMJjMyzociIzXhswrIE2Zf6VuyIoAZch9hMLskypOf-xL_7qtVLGhpUb8IelPkSXvjdAo-ZHV3XZjOzcdZXydNlmMB3L4KMx9qql6qRiXdvYATcuw1sAB0SQFOf60E9tKPHBjxGcaTMs50/s4160/20240217_144840.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNaETpJtdlFHp-7obY5iF-nXrrw5dUP9hCb-1Yhy0RsvDdmgMJjMyzociIzXhswrIE2Zf6VuyIoAZch9hMLskypOf-xL_7qtVLGhpUb8IelPkSXvjdAo-ZHV3XZjOzcdZXydNlmMB3L4KMx9qql6qRiXdvYATcuw1sAB0SQFOf60E9tKPHBjxGcaTMs50/s320/20240217_144840.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Quicksand;">[Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne, Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen, Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao, Two Vows and a Viscount (Seduction 2) by Eloisa James, At First Spite by Olivia Dade, The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain] </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">In theory, a three-day weekend offers the perfect opportunity to focus on making progress with multiple WIPs that are behind schedule. My reality is that using the holiday for reading the books shown above is a temptation likely beyond my ability to resist. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Author and founder of The Write Women Book Fest Heather Brooks gave me awesome presents from her trip to the Hampton Roads writers event she attended at the end of last year. A sturdy canvas tote bag and a clever portable storage journal from Novel Grounds for organizing bookmarks, stickers, and other author swag is so practical and attractive! Plus, she gave me a signed copy of The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope (and said something silly about feeling okay if I wanted to re-gift it since I've already read a library copy - as if). So now that's on my TBRe-Read list! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9fB357KatByq7LO01AygaYPzoocI4Q8JOYy7TZQeI7AQlyPnHFYFL3vhIu8A9RPy9jnkVkCD3Xh3E519xzbN59N2AMCJct7gbmcx7UJalqW5BQSulZdSZYFGpuAHgfoELHPzydgB3Q96Z5Sr9LYj9KzRaty-uImBrDFblRsqKbPK6U4HorlDpdy_88NT/s2046/20240217_144113-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2046" data-original-width="2046" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9fB357KatByq7LO01AygaYPzoocI4Q8JOYy7TZQeI7AQlyPnHFYFL3vhIu8A9RPy9jnkVkCD3Xh3E519xzbN59N2AMCJct7gbmcx7UJalqW5BQSulZdSZYFGpuAHgfoELHPzydgB3Q96Z5Sr9LYj9KzRaty-uImBrDFblRsqKbPK6U4HorlDpdy_88NT/s320/20240217_144113-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: large;">Happy reading & creating! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-21476522621480511522024-02-11T13:13:00.000-05:002024-02-11T13:13:44.423-05:00The Big Game, Books & Baking <p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Reading options to occupy me until the Usher half-time show:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3GST_Cs9eTp6bpnfsBx3AlQ04oXrPWazmVEicCP3f7w3-8Ql_B1br_IcM6pQX1nduxutVUb57ExM9F-1tMLoyqv78Qt4N9oSk9KfQZv52nO48PWoONCFVOcs0L0PCbqmc-BY0lz5J9kplAl1U1qI1hVypyOlLoVtWNV6vDyyolknWd1UM6lJsKSIJGEs/s4160/20240210_150445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3GST_Cs9eTp6bpnfsBx3AlQ04oXrPWazmVEicCP3f7w3-8Ql_B1br_IcM6pQX1nduxutVUb57ExM9F-1tMLoyqv78Qt4N9oSk9KfQZv52nO48PWoONCFVOcs0L0PCbqmc-BY0lz5J9kplAl1U1qI1hVypyOlLoVtWNV6vDyyolknWd1UM6lJsKSIJGEs/s320/20240210_150445.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">[Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones, A Christmas to Remember by (The Ms.) Beverly Jenkins, The Takedown by Carlie Walker, Clover Hendry's Day Off by Beth Morrey] </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Baking is my year-round love language amplified during the month of February. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUWet4k8JFRoQarqRPW2a5RwcQx5gPvB2AsSucFFQhYKspvxl1VYSkii7pzucAMwg1fB_oqDgLfQ-dQbccGi9RYBOkba623ucoS-A7lXUTFB8IByXdKzVB6dxVgEQdS_QYPKPfciUt6mQAUQ1lV1mGa2FKuRPTBQa0WKOs-dSw-5n3thnS2H2ZdXpW4T6/s4160/20240211_111913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUWet4k8JFRoQarqRPW2a5RwcQx5gPvB2AsSucFFQhYKspvxl1VYSkii7pzucAMwg1fB_oqDgLfQ-dQbccGi9RYBOkba623ucoS-A7lXUTFB8IByXdKzVB6dxVgEQdS_QYPKPfciUt6mQAUQ1lV1mGa2FKuRPTBQa0WKOs-dSw-5n3thnS2H2ZdXpW4T6/s320/20240211_111913.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Wishing you healthy love and assorted goodies every day of the year.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-84577732350393872912024-02-04T10:17:00.000-05:002024-02-04T10:17:47.903-05:00DMV-Area & TWWBF Authors at PGCMLS South Bowie Branch <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFpa7EKO9DPCIF2P6Tnd35swveEglLTDRlj3ka7aC9f46UJ9tpFuZuWCn3z5rLO8iREZCH3sigIldxil8eGztsbLRqCmqQBR_yekqCK-FlW5Iu3jv0TtTje2uq68iaLveC61qMLUGWmuLz5O2QXxvOUkFU4_N_ri7KKGcLLJc34v_UskKdiVXsQKYyvUV/s2046/20240203_135403-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2046" data-original-width="2046" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFpa7EKO9DPCIF2P6Tnd35swveEglLTDRlj3ka7aC9f46UJ9tpFuZuWCn3z5rLO8iREZCH3sigIldxil8eGztsbLRqCmqQBR_yekqCK-FlW5Iu3jv0TtTje2uq68iaLveC61qMLUGWmuLz5O2QXxvOUkFU4_N_ri7KKGcLLJc34v_UskKdiVXsQKYyvUV/s320/20240203_135403-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">[TWWBF2023 authors Shameka Erby, Eden Appiah-Kubi & author Courtney Duke Foster, who also supported TWWBF2023 by attending; TWWBF2023 author Briana L. Smith; book baskets as raffle prizes created by Nikki Payne's mom; the edge of PGCMLS Community Outreach Facilitator's left arm, Shameka Erby, Eden Appiah-Kubi, Nikki Payne; Briana & Eden looking toward the 1st raffle winner; Eden, Nikki & Courtney] </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Saturday's "Celebrating Black Women's Voices in Fiction" with authors Eden Appiah-Kubi, Courtney Duke Foster, Shameka Erby, and Nikki Payne offered an abundance of thoughtful insights, personal revelations, and laughs from these brilliant, generous, successful human beings. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">As moderator, Eden Appiah-Kubi's questions about inspirational authors, pivotal reads, book recommendations, the writing craft, self-publishing versus traditional publishing pros and cons, and more invited panelists to answer beyond the superficial, which offered the audience encouragement to read others' works and to write their own. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Some memorable tidbits that stood out for me... </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">from Eden Appiah-Kubi: Use the Libby app, especially for plays and audiobooks. The audio version of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is narrated by Ruby Dee! (Oh, yes please and thank you.) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">from Shameka Erby: Create for yourself first before worrying about the business of publishing, marketing, etc. For her, self-publishing means she doesn't have to wait for her stories to go out into the world to her readers. Plus, when she's not writing, there's no pressure of external deadlines to stress her. [The passage she read from her own "Blood Ties" immediately added it to my TBR list.] </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">from Courtney Duke Foster: Don't wait until you think you're "ready" to write; just start writing even if you don't know what you're doing because you can learn as you go.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">from Nikki Payne: Do your best to let go of the sadness that multiple rejections can cause and focus on your joy in writing. Zora Neale Hurston's work as an ethnoanthropologist inspired Nikki's professional career path. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">A few authors & books they recommended: </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Zora Neale Hurston as an accessible introduction to literary fiction (note: short story collection Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick includes African American Vernacular English -AAVE- and is worth taking the extra time to acclimate to it) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Christina C. Jones </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Kennedy Ryan </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Tia Williams </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Britt (whose last name has completely left my brain)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The Personal Librarian </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In Every Mirror She's Black by Lola Akinmade Akerstrom</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson (Tyler Perry movie about the Six Triple Eight streaming sometime this month) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">My Sister is a Serial Killer </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">(title & author totally gone from my memory of) a retelling of Carrie (novel by Stephen King) but featuring a young Black teen </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">There were many more, but I wasn't taking notes because I didn't want to miss anything any of them said while being distracted by writing. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">All the authors suggested that borrowing books from the library or submitting purchase requests to the library are great ways for readers to access materials that interest them and to support authors without spending any money. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">my weekly binge reads & library requests wait list </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKO9dXD2leWErMrMi0jvz_l3qO_YCUZVQLFvu261ejHN-wvNW6BUvU6GNPE-KLedooN3hN1kPkYI4NuuYny1QKpTw7QxoGXsDX26i3uefQnsmcccHv2T2T-BupZZUNmSfEQOuJzgY9Z5WYGeZpznmyseX1K-AesTC6HLJDqImngBm1GEbdC3YV6GBPKs3M/s1280/IMG_20240203_200150.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKO9dXD2leWErMrMi0jvz_l3qO_YCUZVQLFvu261ejHN-wvNW6BUvU6GNPE-KLedooN3hN1kPkYI4NuuYny1QKpTw7QxoGXsDX26i3uefQnsmcccHv2T2T-BupZZUNmSfEQOuJzgY9Z5WYGeZpznmyseX1K-AesTC6HLJDqImngBm1GEbdC3YV6GBPKs3M/s320/IMG_20240203_200150.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6S_clYaZCsEXoefEPQU16XhVpWM_BRSjWErv-6X1dl4PREeDBGh4YaCGbum05R89oQxsRKWvpSzm-FC5n2abHIvdJ__I9xq9afGRhJeeuUFW8okj_5wfkadwdhJ7P3sEnddRshP5lhQP8cwSHLJcsipbCZwi0hesyk2_nnrUJ1zwT_EQcRXjDnnbaJDo-/s4160/20240202_171643.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6S_clYaZCsEXoefEPQU16XhVpWM_BRSjWErv-6X1dl4PREeDBGh4YaCGbum05R89oQxsRKWvpSzm-FC5n2abHIvdJ__I9xq9afGRhJeeuUFW8okj_5wfkadwdhJ7P3sEnddRshP5lhQP8cwSHLJcsipbCZwi0hesyk2_nnrUJ1zwT_EQcRXjDnnbaJDo-/s320/20240202_171643.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Happy reading & creating! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-59023357146526492762024-01-27T14:39:00.002-05:002024-01-27T14:39:43.461-05:00Hairy Situation Headed to Court <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyA4jrOWEK4LMEWiQM2q2J4xuaD1IOZD2PN75NKlThzcpUSoajcaEuwm5WptERMHspmzBkjAbeDUAWACs01FmenFbqj-pn22euS20gafKxaViK-mLm02XxPi45gOq_RRsL4IhLJ6dGYfrTkmt3dgIX0mwtIJ6J5LntHlW7npZwStYWcKwZ7dJThl5_54l/s4160/20240126_183228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyA4jrOWEK4LMEWiQM2q2J4xuaD1IOZD2PN75NKlThzcpUSoajcaEuwm5WptERMHspmzBkjAbeDUAWACs01FmenFbqj-pn22euS20gafKxaViK-mLm02XxPi45gOq_RRsL4IhLJ6dGYfrTkmt3dgIX0mwtIJ6J5LntHlW7npZwStYWcKwZ7dJThl5_54l/s320/20240126_183228.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Unprofessional. Messy. Out-of-control. Unkempt. Not well-groomed. Strange. Weird. Wrong. Ugly. Dirty. Hair </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">"Why don't you...?" </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">[Just conform to whatever expectations make the oppressors feel comfortable while reinforcing their sense of cultural dominance.] </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">For months, the Barbers Hill Independent School District in Houston,Texas has been waging war against a child (who's now 18 years old) because, in my opinion, they want to crush him into conformity by bullying him about his hair. Two weeks ago the Barbers Hill Superintendent used a full-page print ad to justify and endorse the continued bullying of this child by some adults who believe doing so is a worthwhile use of their time, energy and taxpayers' dollars. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/barbers-hill-isd-crown-act-18617658.php">https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/barbers-hill-isd-crown-act-18617658.php</a><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This ongoing saga poked at my own past wounds related to my "ethnic" hair and expectations of conformity among people and in spaces where Blackness and anything that respects and celebrates the multiplicity of its expressions without apology become targets for ridicule, punishment and elimination. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/crown-act-update-darryl-george-barbers-hill-isd-18626074.php">https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/crown-act-update- </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/crown-act-update-darryl-george-barbers-hill-isd-18626074.php">darryl-george-barbers-hill-isd-18626074.php</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rebel. Maverick. Non-conformist. Trendsetter. Individualist. Cowboy up. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It seems as if American Exceptionalism is encouraged and praised less often when embodied in members of communities that are regularly shoved into the margins. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This child and this child's family are scheduled to have their day in court in February. Since a willingness to abide by the rules has already been exhibited, my prayer is that the law grants him the justice of vindication. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">some of this week's reads </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKohS0mTRG11j8llB7G5jwHg4PKoAZCIoYI1x5sOsJDPtzjSlegGXTxif4LYN5DzIMhgLzxjk8Hgct4MymR5YvpBkWFNag83ZAmkWMumEWmPzQkoNmc5EAgIowLTI2zlMJsnxwqKL9o-BhRDNtAf8YUB6R-wAJ-Wt9lPKYBrTiD0dkCb4la5YQ-2XlIaU/s1280/IMG_20240127_142614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKohS0mTRG11j8llB7G5jwHg4PKoAZCIoYI1x5sOsJDPtzjSlegGXTxif4LYN5DzIMhgLzxjk8Hgct4MymR5YvpBkWFNag83ZAmkWMumEWmPzQkoNmc5EAgIowLTI2zlMJsnxwqKL9o-BhRDNtAf8YUB6R-wAJ-Wt9lPKYBrTiD0dkCb4la5YQ-2XlIaU/s320/IMG_20240127_142614.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;">Tidbits 12 oz. bag of chocolate drizzle coconut macaroons, The Chosen One by Echo Brown, Random in Death by J.D. Robb, The Worst Best Man by Lucy Score, Hedging Your Bets by Jayne Denker, The Mom Com by Adriana Mather</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-90235676361930553282024-01-21T16:09:00.001-05:002024-01-21T16:22:07.194-05:00Coding Ethics, Romance & Snow Removal<div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22D1ufzoSXPumf7ZzENK4iOypRlEAdJQ5kaCRiSA1XshUXotPIDZ1EDrnRxA010cERDejzlvVjcAFvGp_SbXaJ1uq2Zpjd5Nzg_oBhHurGhjiQ-pT7mxdtORVsYXqmQa1cJOYwF87FxP2eEkjxAFvrwCG7Xrz61H8TA7zF7sQ6dUbDG-vOL0ZCu5fU8VW/s4160/20240121_103021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22D1ufzoSXPumf7ZzENK4iOypRlEAdJQ5kaCRiSA1XshUXotPIDZ1EDrnRxA010cERDejzlvVjcAFvGp_SbXaJ1uq2Zpjd5Nzg_oBhHurGhjiQ-pT7mxdtORVsYXqmQa1cJOYwF87FxP2eEkjxAFvrwCG7Xrz61H8TA7zF7sQ6dUbDG-vOL0ZCu5fU8VW/s320/20240121_103021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Currently reading </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What is Human in a World of Machines </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">by Joy Boulamwini, Random House, October 2023 (a complementary read to Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Umoja Noble, 2018) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Comfort reading a sweet historical as a brain break from the seriousness of contemplating the proliferation of the machines. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">And our across-the-street neighbor with a snow blower that hadn't been needed for the past two years cleared our driveway and sidewalk, allowing us to stay inside to read and bake! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-wa84dwDytAlssxlcDjGJuIk72KZYjhWY7XyyJOk5A27V9Nt7-HPTrvRProgHUVq8cwERWl1m4v8Wl9exLfs-2zzp34eLD4_ziVvrpyArqOCJUlOitGr872omku8PFCucradxS1zD9gFfG5X-O5wj6l1_NoQMofvkGij2wKktWBSbaTCmoIIh_VpsFh1/s4160/20240120_131959.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-wa84dwDytAlssxlcDjGJuIk72KZYjhWY7XyyJOk5A27V9Nt7-HPTrvRProgHUVq8cwERWl1m4v8Wl9exLfs-2zzp34eLD4_ziVvrpyArqOCJUlOitGr872omku8PFCucradxS1zD9gFfG5X-O5wj6l1_NoQMofvkGij2wKktWBSbaTCmoIIh_VpsFh1/s320/20240120_131959.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-57990741267741199672024-01-14T12:25:00.000-05:002024-01-14T12:25:13.844-05:00More Memoirs & MLK, Jr. Weekend Bad Weather Bookstack Stockpile<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Since 2024 is off to a super hectic start for me, probably no more actual reviews this month, just book pics of current reads and binge options. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFb5rd7rDwb6hCJT8RNV0xC2PsK0-Z0WuhK9adnH6VM3Js47yvFW52penzHcDYaY_448TwKPkCiZt5cPc1qjyAnMMvuUuE9JhV5cIJDvsDIxLMa1bbGQXynIMypK416Eum-vH24bqZ5jezyf7N6D-BnLF-RpVIFYMwFQIKuO9CO6OZWnn3MU2Am-YU5ngh/s1280/IMG_20240114_120403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFb5rd7rDwb6hCJT8RNV0xC2PsK0-Z0WuhK9adnH6VM3Js47yvFW52penzHcDYaY_448TwKPkCiZt5cPc1qjyAnMMvuUuE9JhV5cIJDvsDIxLMa1bbGQXynIMypK416Eum-vH24bqZ5jezyf7N6D-BnLF-RpVIFYMwFQIKuO9CO6OZWnn3MU2Am-YU5ngh/s320/IMG_20240114_120403.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">My version of emergency preparedness</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidr2UENnElakNmvlS0Jd30AzsexyF2VNq6Xw8P261Im2l1N-1CHItgDt12Jpll65BlpCQGvztuNVgARy5oDi3-VYh9liEcaWW2Y0ju1w9KJPcynpjY7XYuEOcA9vnJ-sr1VfXvisy1W2SYSaEE-7ksIZeFzbCRaEi8wjZ3Epp5l3g7za0CUb4fIvIw1J7c/s4160/20240113_093948.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidr2UENnElakNmvlS0Jd30AzsexyF2VNq6Xw8P261Im2l1N-1CHItgDt12Jpll65BlpCQGvztuNVgARy5oDi3-VYh9liEcaWW2Y0ju1w9KJPcynpjY7XYuEOcA9vnJ-sr1VfXvisy1W2SYSaEE-7ksIZeFzbCRaEi8wjZ3Epp5l3g7za0CUb4fIvIw1J7c/w320-h226/20240113_093948.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Happy reading! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">(& yes, that includes audiobooks, Braille text, comix...) </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-13004752019015110172024-01-07T08:57:00.002-05:002024-01-07T08:57:22.643-05:00Eyewitness to American History Gives Testimony to the World <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxstwg1hkCQByDUeGDHTDRxqX8qApvoBbavCIFNwuTRRb0aQNyyPh2MXkZR_mQJGRKXJbp8JpR7z_TCb1BWKn-eYL6ljNEqi8vy0zMyrPx54Fn1GX94y40s6Bt5KILh9zJuUwuQji3dyGuRWH12zPMiTz0JY0F4yLe7n3uhvcwXDmnKU75apRzR7no4W2/s4160/20240103_215553.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxstwg1hkCQByDUeGDHTDRxqX8qApvoBbavCIFNwuTRRb0aQNyyPh2MXkZR_mQJGRKXJbp8JpR7z_TCb1BWKn-eYL6ljNEqi8vy0zMyrPx54Fn1GX94y40s6Bt5KILh9zJuUwuQji3dyGuRWH12zPMiTz0JY0F4yLe7n3uhvcwXDmnKU75apRzR7no4W2/s320/20240103_215553.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Don't Let Them Bury My Story, The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Her Own Words by Viola Ford Fletcher & her grandson, Ike Howard </span><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Mocha Media Publishing, August 2023 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">non-fiction autobiography & history </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">This gripping, emotionally grueling, compact autobiography begins and ends with Mother Fletcher's and her brother Mr. Hugh "Uncle Redd" Van Ellis's May 2021 testimony to the U.S. Congress regarding the massacre of Black people in the Greenwood community in Tulsa, Oklahoma in May 1921. Divided into three parts, her story personalizes the history of the United States in multiple layers: ideals, strengths, weaknesses, tragedies, triumphs, and wisdom earned the hard way. The foreword by her brother and the introduction by her grandson provide more essential context. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Mother Fletcher, her family, and her community were hunted, traumatized,and temporarily erased from the official historical record. Don't Let Them Bury My Story ends with an appendix that lists "known Massacres of Black Americans" from 1863 to 2015 along with a call to action for everyone, regardless of ethnicity or skin color. This book is worthy of being required reading for all high school and college students, everyone over the age of sixteen. For those of us who are serious about eradicating racism, Mother Fletcher's autobiography offers proof of why doing so is necessary</span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">More information about her foundation found here: <a href="https://www.violafordfletcherfoundation.org/">https://www.violafordfletcherfoundation.org/</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Snow-in-the-forecast binge reads selection </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvjmzKnwg8O3GoczsJ0a9VICSe2tzXfFbpgMCvjGuKdRNbyK36CxaJzpc1Zk6gZVR1RBIeRJluTHHw_vkiCZjKiyngbMJL7QlDf7f_jyVdQeJdAXzpzwFHUr5Zvn2LD6o2NjjODIOdjPJJdSqNzTF2WkynefbCNapXVzBbJfVDejyFxaGlbf2SOL1CyJh/s4160/20240106_131956.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvjmzKnwg8O3GoczsJ0a9VICSe2tzXfFbpgMCvjGuKdRNbyK36CxaJzpc1Zk6gZVR1RBIeRJluTHHw_vkiCZjKiyngbMJL7QlDf7f_jyVdQeJdAXzpzwFHUr5Zvn2LD6o2NjjODIOdjPJJdSqNzTF2WkynefbCNapXVzBbJfVDejyFxaGlbf2SOL1CyJh/s320/20240106_131956.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-23417309896104652772023-12-31T10:43:00.006-05:002023-12-31T18:49:22.154-05:00123123! Goodbye 2023! Hello 2024! <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZsRcbE6hv7U2bspl06PIL1yQxO4WV67xrFn8ZN1Mut80RT_eBzSumxi3rDXzCPi6P8u9PRruIpswy7yGHKJ5isD-Tge3rpe4EKetg7Cyrz0vcPnRpXKyE-9QiAYIFkwe1q8n3JvBJQbTXxOLKaqoZmcIUJWV3JYPRYWJaRk05nxDMRb7x3uy7x23S5sS/s4160/20231231_090843.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZsRcbE6hv7U2bspl06PIL1yQxO4WV67xrFn8ZN1Mut80RT_eBzSumxi3rDXzCPi6P8u9PRruIpswy7yGHKJ5isD-Tge3rpe4EKetg7Cyrz0vcPnRpXKyE-9QiAYIFkwe1q8n3JvBJQbTXxOLKaqoZmcIUJWV3JYPRYWJaRk05nxDMRb7x3uy7x23S5sS/s320/20231231_090843.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXGLjla0tzh-6JSrcyN4OgNlVAfnJmBBFAcgJ46axh8CBBl1jJQRUTxA6cWT_hbDZOD-Wi48vjzhfQQh00wblDnlTi3Avfzbjf5xHEsigh4jI3hwBkA9mBERNXG1v7PKsnlahXz_slznk5BOD4kOKoaN9iBxja_camzKl0g9J-29bwZBTyHIhDPmPxjIM/s4160/20231231_093255.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXGLjla0tzh-6JSrcyN4OgNlVAfnJmBBFAcgJ46axh8CBBl1jJQRUTxA6cWT_hbDZOD-Wi48vjzhfQQh00wblDnlTi3Avfzbjf5xHEsigh4jI3hwBkA9mBERNXG1v7PKsnlahXz_slznk5BOD4kOKoaN9iBxja_camzKl0g9J-29bwZBTyHIhDPmPxjIM/s320/20231231_093255.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">A Marquis to Protect the Governess by Parker J. Cole </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">historical romance fiction </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Harlequin Historical, December 26, 2023 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Sometimes scrolling through new releases available on Libby (even though there's a stack of physical books within arm's reach), leads to unexpected reading pleasure. That's what happened with me upon starting this gem of a tale. Like opening my first books by Ms. Bev(erly Jenkins), Gay G. Gunn, Vanessa Riley, Alyssa Cole, and Lisa Rayne, Isadora and Andre's rocky love story hooked me from the first page. Using a seamless integration of historical context, character evolution, and high stakes combined with emotional nuances, this author has crafted an engaging tale that organically includes people and places too often erased from historical romance fiction. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwe5_m7WitrSyIm8s6emdCQ0XMKEvB957iGHIAXVriIUXmbOPDDbGq_YJJaOB5-Wpmx1QhVJ2JHk3DVVhyphenhyphenn-76AeWdIDNwTioC-PrTKm06KL2w95jD-iqMvrGCuAJQK9KoAGNHOROqlcqmXDiBnqSpn6lNn7aPruX_I7RAauIVBFwUgQ4eDYH42zqTZksN/s1280/IMG_20231231_100018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwe5_m7WitrSyIm8s6emdCQ0XMKEvB957iGHIAXVriIUXmbOPDDbGq_YJJaOB5-Wpmx1QhVJ2JHk3DVVhyphenhyphenn-76AeWdIDNwTioC-PrTKm06KL2w95jD-iqMvrGCuAJQK9KoAGNHOROqlcqmXDiBnqSpn6lNn7aPruX_I7RAauIVBFwUgQ4eDYH42zqTZksN/s320/IMG_20231231_100018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Hot Flashes and Hockey Slashes by Marika Ray & Sylvie Stewart, authors & publisher </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">contemporary romance fiction </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">October 2023 </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Who knew that normalizing open discussion about the aches and pains of growing "older" (early 40s!) in a romance novel would offer so many laughs and so much relatable emotional vulnerability? These talented authors did. Obviously. Olivia and Roman's love story offers readers all of the fun expected from a fake dating, impress-a-smug-ex, meddling matchmakers tropes smashup. Layers of messiness deepen the intimate resonance of regrets and new intentions motivated by hard-won personal insights. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">It seems as if for now only one more book is planned for this series. Fingers crossed that popular demand leads to many more. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">New Year's Eve plans;-)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkqqKHwlMtM9jCPhXtleugQwmdcNPS0FKgWYEAgdt66OnYTq09sZqZCJah2NcxvX54ZkYLrqhul0-v3TT2t5ugItIW3Pymn2kEvA_mGmw1OXiVJCdRyjqu3PT-oZlvmJt8D9pvg4Tl4azMCf1ZdPn8-lBZ-yeaa_ierQLnA1cmeX5KWHSLRS2G6HMJyAU/s2047/20231228_141900-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2047" data-original-width="2047" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIkqqKHwlMtM9jCPhXtleugQwmdcNPS0FKgWYEAgdt66OnYTq09sZqZCJah2NcxvX54ZkYLrqhul0-v3TT2t5ugItIW3Pymn2kEvA_mGmw1OXiVJCdRyjqu3PT-oZlvmJt8D9pvg4Tl4azMCf1ZdPn8-lBZ-yeaa_ierQLnA1cmeX5KWHSLRS2G6HMJyAU/s320/20231228_141900-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf9BIRMeOiTSaXsgK_dqie8HaUGaQcxGe9gh47S6WkKWvX46s-sUZR0DgfQy6myLTd8XwwBP6d847OxTPqulFSCPp6pSYXzS2lCvvgf5iBZKuNtsm0FvfAHqMU0zbEcYPsN7mHgyxEAgYQlElMqr8O1nid0xxgBMxzbX5xPF-bfQaC3c26MwhSrRSLDC3/s1280/IMG_20231231_103530.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf9BIRMeOiTSaXsgK_dqie8HaUGaQcxGe9gh47S6WkKWvX46s-sUZR0DgfQy6myLTd8XwwBP6d847OxTPqulFSCPp6pSYXzS2lCvvgf5iBZKuNtsm0FvfAHqMU0zbEcYPsN7mHgyxEAgYQlElMqr8O1nid0xxgBMxzbX5xPF-bfQaC3c26MwhSrRSLDC3/s320/IMG_20231231_103530.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">(Plus that stack of physical books mentioned earlier.) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Out with the old negative thoughts and insecurities. In with the new granting of more grace to ourselves and others, and to new opportunities to evolve and thrive. Wishing you and those you love good health, peace of mind, safety & joy. </span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-21897912838069254502023-12-25T07:19:00.000-05:002023-12-25T07:19:40.052-05:00Christmas Day 2023!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXVIx2eW68j90QXR3_OhHZQ-iKOKY04e65ADSEdHb7w6XmglIxAQ6fRJNkdL5hFm1wQ-PZIgz2lLvsPz5QZ651nB36M9stWGwvScuF1X30FS12g6YEWbvDl7QcJ-u9gKTIRKNRr3PmtiRi4yks9h35wZfseXcdLMjeqOGh30HFqVpSNLuWLI1MZND0nwg/s4160/20231225_015552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXVIx2eW68j90QXR3_OhHZQ-iKOKY04e65ADSEdHb7w6XmglIxAQ6fRJNkdL5hFm1wQ-PZIgz2lLvsPz5QZ651nB36M9stWGwvScuF1X30FS12g6YEWbvDl7QcJ-u9gKTIRKNRr3PmtiRi4yks9h35wZfseXcdLMjeqOGh30HFqVpSNLuWLI1MZND0nwg/s320/20231225_015552.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Above sugar cookies tasted delicious, but were super time-consuming to make and bake compared to making a pan of crispy rice cereal treats (using the vintage recipe of 4 or 5 - instead of 3 - TBSP of butter + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract) pressed out on a 18 inch x 15 inch cookie sheet or jelly roll pan as shown below.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqcofDu4ZqRtJ-iY6L1RP8N7Slis_uaH2xi5TYSaHmtb0ZG1NEzyhvhVogUoP1ng1yaYH78CHsH8i8Zkh4C0USolLrRewDaXAMEKrmKb_6WdKNrMqjakrcA3py17ibsUIE-X2EXoOyTU1mu1pWLPNihctah24zyPmYmFXt0nKJt8tvhPwuTWgOY0beVuX/s4160/20231223_110619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqcofDu4ZqRtJ-iY6L1RP8N7Slis_uaH2xi5TYSaHmtb0ZG1NEzyhvhVogUoP1ng1yaYH78CHsH8i8Zkh4C0USolLrRewDaXAMEKrmKb_6WdKNrMqjakrcA3py17ibsUIE-X2EXoOyTU1mu1pWLPNihctah24zyPmYmFXt0nKJt8tvhPwuTWgOY0beVuX/s320/20231223_110619.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZxQbberNSuBQUBn6GqFeyO-49brAGgRHmpYT0AR9vh2fcTG0srSbOZWwDtaE8IpKirJT26kV1aSthh76uDxKrYu9vEz-1tR5EidfzSvnbc_qDmeC3nLjL1__kcCXKJKdxFjOqszVOJA9NnQq6fncK_KwDJsji-Ykfg2O0Ib_xLC6l5Lzuig0oe1nws76/s4160/20231223_121147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZxQbberNSuBQUBn6GqFeyO-49brAGgRHmpYT0AR9vh2fcTG0srSbOZWwDtaE8IpKirJT26kV1aSthh76uDxKrYu9vEz-1tR5EidfzSvnbc_qDmeC3nLjL1__kcCXKJKdxFjOqszVOJA9NnQq6fncK_KwDJsji-Ykfg2O0Ib_xLC6l5Lzuig0oe1nws76/s320/20231223_121147.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCxghV54fiPuOOSpb-pgIqwLFKIb4T5LAe_vnVBnaJPXsBxqgWux-_OcW-_MjpRY_1N9XBY_XfNH__95VhSFJoCZQyzzjVlFoXK5WKYJDuVESbOueYkettfGYEd2b_qN0GUzurRgfFoPvt23ZuUTHaEyomO4jE61y56RejRt2ahwvivG0SOGaJzp_B0i1/s4160/20231223_131046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCxghV54fiPuOOSpb-pgIqwLFKIb4T5LAe_vnVBnaJPXsBxqgWux-_OcW-_MjpRY_1N9XBY_XfNH__95VhSFJoCZQyzzjVlFoXK5WKYJDuVESbOueYkettfGYEd2b_qN0GUzurRgfFoPvt23ZuUTHaEyomO4jE61y56RejRt2ahwvivG0SOGaJzp_B0i1/s320/20231223_131046.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Multiple reading breaks may have caused me to stay up really late to finish wrapping gifts. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxpEEUvOMsMEHKLbaU8pOe-Q0NxDFLQXhYXHQXghAwvf41LnPvXCdF1BLy93wDjYRansyj6LY0jXs3Zaa2UlwjgJd9EmEutuAfwQNQGhcptw1B-3K9AwJyaVI7nJl0DJiMQkqMszXMr-9oA2vHFwy58pMYKXpLApixukIwEQu-vt-_hA9j4BTrajJaTkn/s4160/20231225_054037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxpEEUvOMsMEHKLbaU8pOe-Q0NxDFLQXhYXHQXghAwvf41LnPvXCdF1BLy93wDjYRansyj6LY0jXs3Zaa2UlwjgJd9EmEutuAfwQNQGhcptw1B-3K9AwJyaVI7nJl0DJiMQkqMszXMr-9oA2vHFwy58pMYKXpLApixukIwEQu-vt-_hA9j4BTrajJaTkn/s320/20231225_054037.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Wherever you fall on the winter holidays celebration spectrum, hope you survive and thrive this season. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-90869968919036935772023-12-17T11:56:00.002-05:002023-12-17T22:30:14.718-05:00Black Comic Book History in Full Color<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6AgOeCI69Npcsphng5docBIIvovqS3jLrqLrGP6-tbMBBbG1samzxZ-EVA5tOIWBrlF7Tfw4gqPNKL68vKz6JR3wctaS_vYSbtqQXhLU3575XKq62dF2GgXY1VwfHgVsWF-yysqIuZD5CUfAYSdDnKPysnDCcbj3h0nfFNqQx7-HeMJ4PSr-jhtYpzPYK/s4160/20231217_100658.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6AgOeCI69Npcsphng5docBIIvovqS3jLrqLrGP6-tbMBBbG1samzxZ-EVA5tOIWBrlF7Tfw4gqPNKL68vKz6JR3wctaS_vYSbtqQXhLU3575XKq62dF2GgXY1VwfHgVsWF-yysqIuZD5CUfAYSdDnKPysnDCcbj3h0nfFNqQx7-HeMJ4PSr-jhtYpzPYK/s320/20231217_100658.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Black Comic Book History by Demetrius Sherman, author & publisher </span><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">nonfiction </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Lion Man. Ace Harlem. The Phantom. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Using the Dumas Family as its foundation, this compact text starts with the fact that in 1844 The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas was banned by the Catholic Church. From there it moves to the 1947 debut of Lion Man in All Negro Comics. Parallels between that fictitious character's goal of protecting Africa, its people and natural resources and the current real-life in/humanitarian crisis on the African continent related to cobalt mining are hard to ignore (or avoid being complicit in as my laptop, tablet, and cellphone are used to produce this content and live my daily life). Incidents of racist caricatures and the white-washing of Black characters created by Black artists and publishers also seem relevant to conversations about the <i>American Fiction</i> film currently in theaters. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Black Comic Book History offers readers an intriguing overview in seven parts, encouraging further investigation into the Dumas Family (my personal rec: The Black Count, Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss), All Negro Comics, Crown Comics, artist/illustrator Matt Baker and more truth milestones as it lays out the long and winding path from The Three Musketeers in the 19th century to Black Panther now. This author's enthusiasm for the topic radiates outward and sparks inspiration for deeper study. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Winter Holidays Reading Extravaganza </span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowfUVA9lPHtt1tQ0-aQjRpM6KsIn9xlKxzRoCfdGZVSzk5vWm8lqWLyzdna6G11ecw2JPEDNX8pYH04p9IzPQbEuvm_4OwEWOIqDVvjXslF2BLKH-9Qe6Pw1RXMjKbHpj3uqQxDmh_T2gV1TsB1mI_boebNhAU35y34kdzWNZM_zI8QuNfOH_9bV0lRgp/s4160/20231216_232852.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowfUVA9lPHtt1tQ0-aQjRpM6KsIn9xlKxzRoCfdGZVSzk5vWm8lqWLyzdna6G11ecw2JPEDNX8pYH04p9IzPQbEuvm_4OwEWOIqDVvjXslF2BLKH-9Qe6Pw1RXMjKbHpj3uqQxDmh_T2gV1TsB1mI_boebNhAU35y34kdzWNZM_zI8QuNfOH_9bV0lRgp/s320/20231216_232852.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: Poppins;">[Don't Let Them Bury My Story by Viola Ford Fletcher & Ike Howard, Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown, The Chosen One by Echo Brown, Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura, Better Hate Than Never by Chloe Liese, The Island Villa by Sarah Morgan, From a Certain Point of View anthology, Slay by Laurell K. Hamilton] </span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-42429621887728813782023-12-10T12:31:00.000-05:002023-12-10T12:31:15.174-05:00Fantasies, Realities, Margins & Postcards<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCS9gzLxgIdb_WHhp-9sZ21Xy2oRT86DUmBapRlqSe9RB1fU9K7VM6xTLoDhnIvs0tG2Yegs-CdmSTTBp322kFvMEZLbigAHo96UTK2YHI0uolvF1qZsvRI1kWwKX62ax_dS0MqNGLCrjtqWfGQX3l8owPY4WWdbXQtZczeUJbsi3E6gAYf0h_lKBPJEGH/s4160/20231205_115913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCS9gzLxgIdb_WHhp-9sZ21Xy2oRT86DUmBapRlqSe9RB1fU9K7VM6xTLoDhnIvs0tG2Yegs-CdmSTTBp322kFvMEZLbigAHo96UTK2YHI0uolvF1qZsvRI1kWwKX62ax_dS0MqNGLCrjtqWfGQX3l8owPY4WWdbXQtZczeUJbsi3E6gAYf0h_lKBPJEGH/s320/20231205_115913.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyBuN4SDTnScpjXbSpDoNwiRlroLdAOzwnrd-FXRRWme_tWoY1awgJ-XkQxfbFGhcW3KIK9_EE6TOVtqa8Q9EDkCQ_yisSfC0LYQOFJDxCmDbf5nO6Yr3a4i7M6-2b7RpOi81QNvyxd04cvcfm-2I3jbIlAyLr-wEh1LuBDCbLHWjbB5Z_Goo6FPZI_k_/s4160/20231210_085537.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyBuN4SDTnScpjXbSpDoNwiRlroLdAOzwnrd-FXRRWme_tWoY1awgJ-XkQxfbFGhcW3KIK9_EE6TOVtqa8Q9EDkCQ_yisSfC0LYQOFJDxCmDbf5nO6Yr3a4i7M6-2b7RpOi81QNvyxd04cvcfm-2I3jbIlAyLr-wEh1LuBDCbLHWjbB5Z_Goo6FPZI_k_/s320/20231210_085537.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6C6YVq6aB-xeFREEYliSSLeCQjP3H1tFQvCE-e3bmMi_xnLwcECsn0iifwFH-6Gi9KPfmRM6KYvwEAJd2aBpIHn43FxdJ32rEpj4nlEM61cVxqg1E9VoZhMcWk4gJ0a9Sr-B3qI3XvT2LheckfQ3AY9oF-GyubQ9dkUOLWC3r06L6p4hKbREb7eTfqVrc/s4160/20231210_085416.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6C6YVq6aB-xeFREEYliSSLeCQjP3H1tFQvCE-e3bmMi_xnLwcECsn0iifwFH-6Gi9KPfmRM6KYvwEAJd2aBpIHn43FxdJ32rEpj4nlEM61cVxqg1E9VoZhMcWk4gJ0a9Sr-B3qI3XvT2LheckfQ3AY9oF-GyubQ9dkUOLWC3r06L6p4hKbREb7eTfqVrc/s320/20231210_085416.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Soul Jar, Thirty-one Fantastical Tales by Disabled Authors </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">edited by Annie Carl with Foreword by Nicola Griffith </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">fantasy </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Forest Avenue Press, October 2023 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">from the introduction: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Western society is beginning to understand, after centuries of ignorance, that the disabled community is like other minorities. We're made up of real people with real lives and real stories. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">The foreword, introduction, thirty-one stories divided into four thematic sections--Earth in Retrograde, Gone Astray, Wild Space, Creature Feature--acknowledgements, about the editor, contributors' biographies, and a reader's guide work in concert to mesmerize and entertain as they prove the essential premise stated in the foreword: Ableism is a crap story... What disables a person in our culture is not impairment but society's attitude to that impairment... We need to hear our own voices. Our strong, beautiful, ordinary, disabled voices... </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">The voices in these stories sing some familiar and new tunes in original, provocative, fantastical and relatable compositions. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Our Hidden Conversations </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity by Michele Norris </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">non-fiction </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Simon & Schuster, January 2024 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">"Race, Your Thoughts, 6 Words. Please send." </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">An invitation. A challenge. A dare more daunting than composing Haiku. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">The responses contain multitudes of clever, insightful, provocative, amusing, furious, compassionate, simple, and complicated personal revelations, inquiries, and declarations.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">A prologue, introduction, twelve chapters of interviews, essays, images and more, an epilogue, acknowledgements, gratitude passage, about the author, and image credits for the abundance of compelling photos map the path of this author's "magnificent detour" from an intention to writing "a book about how Americans talk and think about race" during Pres. Barack Obama's political ascension to The Race Card Project. Our Hidden Conversations is an origin story that starts with the author's intriguing family and moves outward, eventually encompassing thousands of people and more than one-hundred countries. The project and the conversations continue. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Some Binge-Read Options </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU5C2qkNLlI2AND_VKPWpABIF4m2THN2dVcorMSnS8iQdLrJK5UcNTWHdcwT220cqvAkByH8n_U9kN_XbiSGWshyphenhyphenC-n7j9nJXdgdrD9jPR3CZi6Ed_0yLjGxkDr6H_7vlZZ0tkjx92FaDQnPTzCHSyqB5e_lS4zdkXOceTa8fnnoP2yu_-vI2rliRaOrn/s4160/20231206_082524.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU5C2qkNLlI2AND_VKPWpABIF4m2THN2dVcorMSnS8iQdLrJK5UcNTWHdcwT220cqvAkByH8n_U9kN_XbiSGWshyphenhyphenC-n7j9nJXdgdrD9jPR3CZi6Ed_0yLjGxkDr6H_7vlZZ0tkjx92FaDQnPTzCHSyqB5e_lS4zdkXOceTa8fnnoP2yu_-vI2rliRaOrn/s320/20231206_082524.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-72271973928617358572023-11-05T10:30:00.001-05:002023-11-05T11:14:12.355-05:00More TWWBF2023 Content Soon...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFcIFrmd7fHCv6dhSyZCtJr8JoQPig0dusaqfC_eT7-m9u7DoOAK36HXrAvWhb3MwpxLsE64gCWx8tOnWlYAJ7lrIwgocIox84Kv5US_0SmEdtPMFsgRaGitM2OTqs5oqPiSaU3Smftg__gerceLRt6D4NP-hnxey4v9IPPBIaNMSpzNc7QUuwfjlfLLg/s4160/20231105_095539.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFcIFrmd7fHCv6dhSyZCtJr8JoQPig0dusaqfC_eT7-m9u7DoOAK36HXrAvWhb3MwpxLsE64gCWx8tOnWlYAJ7lrIwgocIox84Kv5US_0SmEdtPMFsgRaGitM2OTqs5oqPiSaU3Smftg__gerceLRt6D4NP-hnxey4v9IPPBIaNMSpzNc7QUuwfjlfLLg/s320/20231105_095539.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">There's video to upload from TWWBF2023 day one panels and the keynote from day 2, but the delay in sharing is 100% due to my lack of anything beyond the most basic tech savvy combined with still recovering from successful event crash, and deciding at the last minute to use NaNoWriMo to complete book 2 in my polyamorous erotica series. (Book 1 was written in 2020, then shelved for various personal and professional reasons.) </span><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">And of course, so many books, never enough hours to read... </span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">current binge reading selections</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJYWCHGnBu0h_OqOIbN21NSxekKHHymmnYjfu57km4U7v6cv5cy4jPi09SJ_72HEYZUq8B8W3FMmUMrmBpHJrk4l_UuBrP-gEGyK1rJeKDbw13pBTw-vK1q05VjMNbcrqn314dXKT50V1Z7IY8Th9EEfi1vN3q0x6qcmHySE4WPJn6lKAK2WZ9LyQEukl/s4160/20231024_185725.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJYWCHGnBu0h_OqOIbN21NSxekKHHymmnYjfu57km4U7v6cv5cy4jPi09SJ_72HEYZUq8B8W3FMmUMrmBpHJrk4l_UuBrP-gEGyK1rJeKDbw13pBTw-vK1q05VjMNbcrqn314dXKT50V1Z7IY8Th9EEfi1vN3q0x6qcmHySE4WPJn6lKAK2WZ9LyQEukl/s320/20231024_185725.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Happy thriving & creating! </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-71283372664176632752023-10-22T10:50:00.001-04:002023-10-22T10:50:28.406-04:00Grief, Inheritances & Legacies <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Recent & Current Reads </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MdKtU3Sme4HigVQzIy-MGbYA28J_Ga7ntYmcFO0tmwb4VaICbeJUAAZam1z8BFlrq-fncpmQh4pH9xB_XbMLles50iaUywGlkge1ElVubD-W6jVdL37OjcIbr6O35d81bKWxJKk1U0da19_Fbv40A5NIcG4yvgLJImVwOQr6sFE6c7pI9WDsXgM80kuA/s4160/20231017_200627.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MdKtU3Sme4HigVQzIy-MGbYA28J_Ga7ntYmcFO0tmwb4VaICbeJUAAZam1z8BFlrq-fncpmQh4pH9xB_XbMLles50iaUywGlkge1ElVubD-W6jVdL37OjcIbr6O35d81bKWxJKk1U0da19_Fbv40A5NIcG4yvgLJImVwOQr6sFE6c7pI9WDsXgM80kuA/s320/20231017_200627.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">And this review of mine from January 2020 seems particularly relevant. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span>Legacy of Empire by Gardner Thompson</span><br />Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel<br />political history<br />Saqi, February 2020 (U.S.)<br /><br /><br />With meticulously researched and annotated details worthy of the most strenuously vetted academic text deconstructed from the Ottoman Empire forward, Legacy of Empire satisfies the intellectual cravings of serious sociopolitical historians and curious everyday citizens. Maps, illustrations, photographs, a timeline, nine chapters, a bibliography, an index, and acknowledgements provide factual structure for a compelling narrative that fills in layers of overlapping and competing personal beliefs, religious ideology, shifting political interests and military objectives.<br /><br />The introduction examines the differences between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. These distinctions substantially impacted the reasoning and motivations of the men who mandated changes to the map of the world before, during, and after the two world wars. In providing context for the unique traits of The Jewish Question relative to other circumstances of subjugated people, the author states this puzzling opinion on page xii:<br /><br /><i><b>For the most part, previous British imperial decision-making along such lines had been shrewd and realistic… And not all colonialism caused trauma among the colonized. </b></i><br /><br />Although there’s overwhelming documentation in the historical record to refute this odd claim, the remainder of the text stays true to its stated goal of being a multifaceted, impartial study of the many complicated factors that contributed to the current political quagmire and territorial friction between Israeli and Arab people in Palestine.<br /><br />Legacy of Empire primarily addresses the question of “How did we get here?” regarding the failure of a peaceful two-state solution for the Israelis and the Arabs. It also considers colonialism more broadly as an entrenched sociopolitical ideology and economic strategy for amassing power, wealth, and resources. Political versus cultural and spiritual definitions of identity, mainstream assimilation, political expediency, personal biases, competing concepts of nationhood, ignorance, and more contribute to sorting those who rule from those who are ruled; oppressors from oppressed; privileged and exploited.<br /><br />If at its core colonialism is governance without representation, then there are parallels between The Jewish Question connected to the attempted exclusion of Arabs from Palestine as indigenous people, The Indian Question, The African Question, and The Irish Problem with Edwin Montagu as a 20th-century Cassandra.<br /><br />Legacy of Empire examines Britain’s culpability as originators of the Israeli-Arab conflict in Palestine who through ignorance and arrogance created a problem for which they abdicated responsibility when an easy solution became impossible to achieve. By the time the author states on page 275 that “Their legacy was a continuing conflict between two communities they had done so much to bring to mutual antagonism,” the facts presented establish strong support for this conclusion.<br /></span><br /><a href="https://saqibooks.com/books/saqi/legacy-of-empire/">https://saqibooks.com/books/saqi/legacy-of-empire/</a> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99sabSdgAeGyFTvQuuTkG_s3GPvuDsix_7NO9BRD0kmXqVC5gFDFyvW4mFFxJszUzQgge6PH2CxYyHMcjeaKsQmU1XPbQkpguYf9dzVcqobIHpEucUo2TqWqAr34MbHIaPFmTA9DxCC7FQeu8d6mRUqOj13rawk8_RsBlvuduMCsxkcASrivzKiNFwa52/s4160/20231017_200743.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99sabSdgAeGyFTvQuuTkG_s3GPvuDsix_7NO9BRD0kmXqVC5gFDFyvW4mFFxJszUzQgge6PH2CxYyHMcjeaKsQmU1XPbQkpguYf9dzVcqobIHpEucUo2TqWqAr34MbHIaPFmTA9DxCC7FQeu8d6mRUqOj13rawk8_RsBlvuduMCsxkcASrivzKiNFwa52/s320/20231017_200743.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Freedom in the Family, A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights </span><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">by Tananarive Due & Patricia Stephens Due </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">non-fiction </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">One World, 2003 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">It's the intimate family volley of thoughts, observations, and insights within the context of regional, national, and international sociopolitical events that distinguishes Freedom in the Family from typical Civil Rights memoirs. Contrasts in points of view between parent versus child and elder versus youngster magnify the nuances of their personal experiences. Icons and celebrities are mentioned, but it's history as recalled through deep private memories that makes this book a distinctive examination of trials, tribulations, and triumphs. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Make sure to read every word: dedication, 33 chapters of alternating points of view, two sets of acknowledgments, and extensive notes. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Blue Mind, The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">by Wallace J. Nichols </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">non-fiction </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Abacus, 2018</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">from the end of the foreword by Celine Cousteau, grandchild of Jacques Cousteau: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">It's about reconnecting our sense of self and soul with our waterways and oceans. It's about finding creativity, clarity, and confidence in our deep Blue Minds. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Together, nine chapters, acknowledgments, notes, and an index offer readers a blend of science, philosophy, and natural resources preservation objectives to make the case for humans as stewards of the earth to generate mutual benefits for people and the environment. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-61786213561045121802023-10-21T11:08:00.005-04:002023-10-21T15:00:55.769-04:00Gratitude & Growing Pains, TWWBF2023 Edition <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVM7Gdfyhm613VAT1TGtWoZmshPuKoHEHyiZcQLJgG7MVk1fOZu35qSdQkeb2z5OGgyocDbWTQKHQroXkCH7JtOg3yg25HjbXrfXlRIzfAm_V8899sQ2yc5l50Pmmjnk-YCsia0RjrqMs6NPB7rksm2wb7tS_enT2aJ-jkWquX5uheA-g-ygtYxBiNRDg/s4160/20231017_131411.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcVM7Gdfyhm613VAT1TGtWoZmshPuKoHEHyiZcQLJgG7MVk1fOZu35qSdQkeb2z5OGgyocDbWTQKHQroXkCH7JtOg3yg25HjbXrfXlRIzfAm_V8899sQ2yc5l50Pmmjnk-YCsia0RjrqMs6NPB7rksm2wb7tS_enT2aJ-jkWquX5uheA-g-ygtYxBiNRDg/s320/20231017_131411.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfZR3BeOdOuuBL0vCx1Jio1eD2zmmEi8yAaIi_wYxo9BVzrQjVhYKLSmzARQMOqWld1-_2s5V2znVW8VPqgMfY0Mg_C0Lpzvth_8W0UJSf6tqxD6KEfdLHTrIRDdu5BvPJ021Fq5nWzVJ5losBu02O5QHfXBm17oaMd-dDD_fiHTVE20uOaoyvGEX8CuS/s4160/20231017_133647.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfZR3BeOdOuuBL0vCx1Jio1eD2zmmEi8yAaIi_wYxo9BVzrQjVhYKLSmzARQMOqWld1-_2s5V2znVW8VPqgMfY0Mg_C0Lpzvth_8W0UJSf6tqxD6KEfdLHTrIRDdu5BvPJ021Fq5nWzVJ5losBu02O5QHfXBm17oaMd-dDD_fiHTVE20uOaoyvGEX8CuS/s320/20231017_133647.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEice6gpqWIQXCSf8sskVCWLNFZB3FfutuZi8mT5maeFfcVgkqZ5UcemByTuDUssut1ti9LpEONlUk0dOjyHybRQnmkyCMRNKbo8vz5HeTrlWlrL_gmRV4Um2UJQE2CLi7zFIrF7F0FrCTgLvQBvwtF0chxRqU7UyA-izWkiNdLHy54_rYglG4Vwl67rEEsY/s4160/20231017_133444.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEice6gpqWIQXCSf8sskVCWLNFZB3FfutuZi8mT5maeFfcVgkqZ5UcemByTuDUssut1ti9LpEONlUk0dOjyHybRQnmkyCMRNKbo8vz5HeTrlWlrL_gmRV4Um2UJQE2CLi7zFIrF7F0FrCTgLvQBvwtF0chxRqU7UyA-izWkiNdLHy54_rYglG4Vwl67rEEsY/s320/20231017_133444.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgdsFuwEgm9OKfQASyUNTvWOqzhJhL8wOpPQjrGREfqyvZG_iyJ5uF2QxN0A3cYvRU-c4UQQf9mXJDbbqdHeSoaNBbDEPdpigi6xDCnAfv7wloDMnF2miwyF-z0Tj4QvIC1FGgG4uCqs4BrYyhwj6i9LyWBdKty9s1LQqhSjnyTscEpKZ0iMbVscVD5De/s4160/20231001_145412.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgdsFuwEgm9OKfQASyUNTvWOqzhJhL8wOpPQjrGREfqyvZG_iyJ5uF2QxN0A3cYvRU-c4UQQf9mXJDbbqdHeSoaNBbDEPdpigi6xDCnAfv7wloDMnF2miwyF-z0Tj4QvIC1FGgG4uCqs4BrYyhwj6i9LyWBdKty9s1LQqhSjnyTscEpKZ0iMbVscVD5De/s320/20231001_145412.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxjOaQgi4XzUBEIzYFuHxYsXoI7M5OBCzNLH-VUin57X9i17G0CggKH4CE2kdU_oQnJ32pUkXxWPR0wD2gxc-kt6KL8SJDZChyphenhyphenq3YNEwZi9M8_cyiL5MURe_IOjLnRFObsq8DdE5gS4kn1FDbqtU3Vg94cI9Zr2J37RHuI672zDr4mrUU1DCRQrm1sBXh/s4160/20231001_150016.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxjOaQgi4XzUBEIzYFuHxYsXoI7M5OBCzNLH-VUin57X9i17G0CggKH4CE2kdU_oQnJ32pUkXxWPR0wD2gxc-kt6KL8SJDZChyphenhyphenq3YNEwZi9M8_cyiL5MURe_IOjLnRFObsq8DdE5gS4kn1FDbqtU3Vg94cI9Zr2J37RHuI672zDr4mrUU1DCRQrm1sBXh/s320/20231001_150016.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Thank you! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">The Write Women Book Fest team thanks the long list of people who made this year's success possible: EC Poetry & Prose, each participating author & vendor (especially those who travelled long distances by train, plane or automobile), the featured panelists, panelists* & moderators, each day 2 workshop presenter, everyone who attended one or both days, our Chief Voluntolder, our day-of operations manager, all of the volunteers, supportive family and friends... </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Extra Special Thanks to </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Author Leslye Penelope, featured panelist on day 1 & day 2 keynote speaker</span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Marietta House Museum, our partner in bookish endeavors since year one</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">EC Poetry & Prose </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">TWWBF Poet Laureate Aressa V. Williams </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Prince George's County Memorial Library System </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Barnes & Noble Booksellers at the Bowie Town Center</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Curmudgeon Books at Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Draft2Digital </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Michelle Fewer!!! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Digital Creator & Mompreneur @lifeandworkbetter</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Erin P.T. Canning </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Maria Secoy</span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Parents who Write </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">DC Vegan</span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Bowie Comfort Inn Conference Center</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">*Jeaniene Frost, who registered without any fanfare, as if her storied career hasn't earned her lots & lots of fanfare! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ec7cde77-7fff-41cc-2ef0-755ab54d7782"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">About participating TWWBF2023 authors and bookstores… </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Having 100+ participating authors this year who are mostly self-pubbed, indie or through Amazon combined with the complicated ordering criteria for Barnes & Noble and independent bookstores like Curmudgeon Books when stocking books that aren’t from the big major publishers created a bit of an administrative mess that we’re still working to untangle. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Sincerest apologies for underestimating how much more time was needed to make this element of TWWBF go smoothly. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">The good news is that B & N and Curmudgeon Books still plan to create displays of books by TWWBF authors and to keep them up later into the winter holiday shopping season. B & N’s is currently a work in progress using books by TWWBF authors that were already in-stock to get started. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Is my book in the store? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Here's how to check for B & N: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Go to </span><a href="http://barnesandnoble.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">barnesandnoble.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, search for your book by title or author, then under "Pick Up In Store" click the "Check Availability at Nearby Stores" and change the distance to 5mi, enter 20716 zip code, which will yield the Bowie Town Center store as the only result. Green check marks next to "in stock in store" and "available for pick up in store" mean it's there; red check marks mean it's not. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">A reminder that the store has complete control over this and their decision is final. Also, please be patient. This year's list of authors was significantly longer than previous years and has shown that we need a much longer lead time on ordering. On the plus side, books that make the bookstore criteria will be on display deeper into the winter holiday gift-buying season than in previous years. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">And you can always encourage your fans to buy books at the Bowie Town Center B & N in-person or online year-round, which still helps you as the author, the store and TWWBF.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Details are less defined right now for Curmudgeon Books, but here are the links for their store website and for bookshop.org: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><a href="https://curmudgeonbooks.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://curmudgeonbooks.com/</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/shop/curmudgeonbooks" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://bookshop.org/shop/curmudgeonbooks</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Happy creating & reading! </span></span></div></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-2880234132178475942023-10-15T22:37:00.001-04:002023-10-15T22:37:38.865-04:00Thank You for 2 Fun Productive Days of TWWBF2023!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7V02cbPm1RWHfk4vDx0aGwhM34V-k9FAAX9eozibtXiVqSf073vYFHvYOHPwC7_Q8GaZ79evbdzezSDGigPy1EEYUdwTw4BPtlxJlmLeOlQOT9hyVjChoTIVpFcP3blbb_F9DiqTOSt6mtQb2L7Pk0EVuwVg2MIo9HiH2cQfElU3OPhshRvEdsEVB2_0/s4160/20231015_213858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7V02cbPm1RWHfk4vDx0aGwhM34V-k9FAAX9eozibtXiVqSf073vYFHvYOHPwC7_Q8GaZ79evbdzezSDGigPy1EEYUdwTw4BPtlxJlmLeOlQOT9hyVjChoTIVpFcP3blbb_F9DiqTOSt6mtQb2L7Pk0EVuwVg2MIo9HiH2cQfElU3OPhshRvEdsEVB2_0/s320/20231015_213858.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: x-large;"><b>Thank you! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">EC Poetry & Prose, authors (& their assistants), poets, featured guests, panelists, moderators, attendees, day-of volunteers, voluntolders (family members drafted into book fest service), the Bowie Comfort Inn team, the Marietta House Museum team, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Bowie B & N, Curmudgeon Books, Mark Leslie Lefebvre with Draft2Digital, all of the Sunday workshop leaders and students... </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Apologies to anyone omitted during this brief first gratitude post. My sleep-deprived brain is operating at maybe 2% coherent thoughts capacity. Next weekend I'll post a more detailed recap of what turned out to be an outstanding event because so many people showed up for us in a variety of substantial ways. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Happy creating! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-40350017705730916682023-10-07T08:33:00.002-04:002023-10-07T09:09:52.969-04:00TWWBF2023 Is One Week Away! <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHJ1zK4j8f-CL2DGYCp1W8gqOrxJoxx9kfff1tc7WZmmHdyd2vHhXpUJxXmRznhetGHVLJlSe7c1VFzMlHRkllvlItKruN672-WNcoypEjA_yGbaY6kML7k3mq8CWeLwrnaEH3K0hybiah7nP_cuXlAqOTReJK-G-RMN11qzM4NkCe5d555kFQPfRroKh/s4160/20231004_100327.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHJ1zK4j8f-CL2DGYCp1W8gqOrxJoxx9kfff1tc7WZmmHdyd2vHhXpUJxXmRznhetGHVLJlSe7c1VFzMlHRkllvlItKruN672-WNcoypEjA_yGbaY6kML7k3mq8CWeLwrnaEH3K0hybiah7nP_cuXlAqOTReJK-G-RMN11qzM4NkCe5d555kFQPfRroKh/s320/20231004_100327.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjr5dZCILvp7DoovSwFJJ1lrZcBum8q0abofSqMU6edv_MtPm0bRyWbY4JvJcoN7vt30XEFmHGxi-pHg4mTbBFu_SDZyYQ2EDOFlMhq1qvheZgK5JQbrdP2769fLjc9NVkhRpsYyZ4b5g9FO5suKiUHCwB8Z8JGFTbPO4ELBv4RZLk4uSfw43LZK2TEKj/s4160/20231005_122403.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjr5dZCILvp7DoovSwFJJ1lrZcBum8q0abofSqMU6edv_MtPm0bRyWbY4JvJcoN7vt30XEFmHGxi-pHg4mTbBFu_SDZyYQ2EDOFlMhq1qvheZgK5JQbrdP2769fLjc9NVkhRpsYyZ4b5g9FO5suKiUHCwB8Z8JGFTbPO4ELBv4RZLk4uSfw43LZK2TEKj/s320/20231005_122403.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxo0jbRiLWLJ5l92TyRRdG572TEz2frj-YbdFt7GcsablIkm16PXT7WvSXVK1GLxga85O9L9ZcNlgp6JWpPkyEy8T0rlzHuazUp2VPBiAlmQhHUa0CH7SqJFzxlYhBJOZhmcdRwdTD8tRpcIFFjPU4GK8d9vhOaTCr3P4iCXyiGBH-C5t-T8qWQG7iq0S/s4160/20231005_140042.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxo0jbRiLWLJ5l92TyRRdG572TEz2frj-YbdFt7GcsablIkm16PXT7WvSXVK1GLxga85O9L9ZcNlgp6JWpPkyEy8T0rlzHuazUp2VPBiAlmQhHUa0CH7SqJFzxlYhBJOZhmcdRwdTD8tRpcIFFjPU4GK8d9vhOaTCr3P4iCXyiGBH-C5t-T8qWQG7iq0S/s320/20231005_140042.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2AMJIZaqhJfH8kKzHxctml0S1VQ7ocXM0nmn0PJ_sINxIHcdX3YW_adek6zPJ71_ccFvH0fcJeFpPogB_U-m0JcWzmix3VTZ11lBXfBiOqIULDSsAgO0PsGe30xqFw1O9Yt4UR9jaVEjPX0SMcPjuMz74X7aEHn-Z5JTqHifS-73m5dd2vbzkVOirLHlk/s4160/20231005_140006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2AMJIZaqhJfH8kKzHxctml0S1VQ7ocXM0nmn0PJ_sINxIHcdX3YW_adek6zPJ71_ccFvH0fcJeFpPogB_U-m0JcWzmix3VTZ11lBXfBiOqIULDSsAgO0PsGe30xqFw1O9Yt4UR9jaVEjPX0SMcPjuMz74X7aEHn-Z5JTqHifS-73m5dd2vbzkVOirLHlk/s320/20231005_140006.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii133OJlfQnV7xBvmZVK0gBh0d5srhibj53oaVJKT9zPwrERtsLNjELGHBwPsrfzzmlYKdo1v9g0LD1wsI4nB68zVNM4WX-m087Ec0H8YVxmUbWgMr1d1v8to7iJ9jz2g7hGXVM6CRnhmCgr1r4yRmnxKbILGHmGo8y43B4rksWRXjtjjNtmFGrY37RRT8/s4160/20231005_121213.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii133OJlfQnV7xBvmZVK0gBh0d5srhibj53oaVJKT9zPwrERtsLNjELGHBwPsrfzzmlYKdo1v9g0LD1wsI4nB68zVNM4WX-m087Ec0H8YVxmUbWgMr1d1v8to7iJ9jz2g7hGXVM6CRnhmCgr1r4yRmnxKbILGHmGo8y43B4rksWRXjtjjNtmFGrY37RRT8/s320/20231005_121213.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEb_UBV1t_We6XSl7PC6z4j74mWfBtKs4YaWpkEhdRR4ELKRb_rhDyvW_nRh8JBO18CflFRLsCmUu97HjNx6buuoAqnKeH0lpoFEMZhmRR7zDSh3Z6WpHjYAL3i7T4joSQ-0Vrz5z_hLTZ0orPXOh-THHB0uBvogzgIebRxNGLnl5HosBaDzjPw2RqXq0M/s4160/20231005_124647.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEb_UBV1t_We6XSl7PC6z4j74mWfBtKs4YaWpkEhdRR4ELKRb_rhDyvW_nRh8JBO18CflFRLsCmUu97HjNx6buuoAqnKeH0lpoFEMZhmRR7zDSh3Z6WpHjYAL3i7T4joSQ-0Vrz5z_hLTZ0orPXOh-THHB0uBvogzgIebRxNGLnl5HosBaDzjPw2RqXq0M/s320/20231005_124647.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipjMfr6dalFThG0gzIhyT1-mLVNkUdf0dn1Dzz0chqBJzyL5jxMaOlaOfzZM3z3WjFU8N7hrJB37L41tJwBLB7UJdn6-aXKVsqSDDp3L2UGxkDnyxCzrKK4EC0fwDjh7VXDvcbM04FqYIZCh7_JMIgtC703_m9wn1YUhI-nEn4QHFRCfrllgUhx1HH4gxw/s4160/20231005_151653.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipjMfr6dalFThG0gzIhyT1-mLVNkUdf0dn1Dzz0chqBJzyL5jxMaOlaOfzZM3z3WjFU8N7hrJB37L41tJwBLB7UJdn6-aXKVsqSDDp3L2UGxkDnyxCzrKK4EC0fwDjh7VXDvcbM04FqYIZCh7_JMIgtC703_m9wn1YUhI-nEn4QHFRCfrllgUhx1HH4gxw/s320/20231005_151653.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xysu9bFCOqwotJPPrgx_7vIony27O4-MaNcxTOfbEu7L8gicbZlDd31kiJUrZad34znL3p1lBWz1F-7rqS3w_5_rnn7eVyQCWV-vTU3HVfUJZn2muB773vG-ER3vH5kaFQXhLjQFDLcj-ON2Pi5otYPRRqHLaZ2NHZqRIfwCWHQceYSaIa_UDXq5TQM7/s3270/Library%20Document%20Station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3270" data-original-width="2471" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xysu9bFCOqwotJPPrgx_7vIony27O4-MaNcxTOfbEu7L8gicbZlDd31kiJUrZad34znL3p1lBWz1F-7rqS3w_5_rnn7eVyQCWV-vTU3HVfUJZn2muB773vG-ER3vH5kaFQXhLjQFDLcj-ON2Pi5otYPRRqHLaZ2NHZqRIfwCWHQceYSaIa_UDXq5TQM7/s320/Library%20Document%20Station.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>One week until the 5th annual The Write Women Book Fest! <a href="http://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org">thewritewomenbookfest.org</a> </div></span><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Swag bags for influencers, volunteers, 100+ authors/poets/creatives and the first 50 visitors? Check. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Escalating nerves as day one approaches? Check. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">Excitement for two days of bookish fun? Check. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Stress reduction reading options </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcopRjEB3Jy3jSjHDJNwyyq2ZeVoVtrxCQoKF0bMgPDDYSkf-Ai02da4FtUqgh7yLKl5Qa7N9Iwa3KsjV3vuJX5zEbisuy5vurDNuXPEGm15rsev9BOHNl1o2pD5V9hOAADoODoBO2WZ5HJHqqoi4C7PE9I-mbxWnM1I2MV1mj8UH87_OtPlHS_j16M1-/s4160/20231001_083328.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcopRjEB3Jy3jSjHDJNwyyq2ZeVoVtrxCQoKF0bMgPDDYSkf-Ai02da4FtUqgh7yLKl5Qa7N9Iwa3KsjV3vuJX5zEbisuy5vurDNuXPEGm15rsev9BOHNl1o2pD5V9hOAADoODoBO2WZ5HJHqqoi4C7PE9I-mbxWnM1I2MV1mj8UH87_OtPlHS_j16M1-/s320/20231001_083328.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-17894840965941810842023-09-29T14:33:00.000-04:002023-09-29T14:33:01.023-04:00Author Chat with Keka Novales! <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWyJf3CiCt9cFPEVcBJOplu9tz0CuPyWao3ReJ-y2MMb9y4UN6-T8GZQjMegbZYMEanW067ztmKOOVQ9sVwSMpVK_TdoDLN8tjr07WAzFeR74L7W4wUqrXlMwxmhNqh-csNXl4Rm6a55JILyigJUuEPqhSEyvXExbADB3Fa67Z7qzJ46mkvgyNJ1HGoiW/s4160/20230928_171327.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWyJf3CiCt9cFPEVcBJOplu9tz0CuPyWao3ReJ-y2MMb9y4UN6-T8GZQjMegbZYMEanW067ztmKOOVQ9sVwSMpVK_TdoDLN8tjr07WAzFeR74L7W4wUqrXlMwxmhNqh-csNXl4Rm6a55JILyigJUuEPqhSEyvXExbADB3Fa67Z7qzJ46mkvgyNJ1HGoiW/s320/20230928_171327.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <span id="docs-internal-guid-15bf1429-7fff-0e91-b452-273df11d113f"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Chat with Children’s Author Keka Novales </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I won an author chat with Keka Novales through her Instagram feed, and just like her “Hola, Lola!” series, she delivered thoughtful observations, encouragement, and humor. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Since pressing “record” is evidently beyond my technical abilities, here’s a summary of our engaging exchange: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After introductions, we discussed Keka’s original idea of a picture book. It was her agent who recognized Hola, Lola! as suitable for a chapbook series. As a first-generation U.S. citizen of Guatamalan heritage, Keka’s desire to preserve and share her cultural connections and family legacy with her children inspired her to create this series. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">During Keka’s travels and in response to her socials posts, readers of all ages have shared that Hola, Lola! has encouraged them, helped them feel connected to their heritage, and expanded their horizons. For one young reader, reading and rereading </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lola and the New School</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> whenever the challenges of being in a new school feel overwhelming reassures and helps build confidence. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We closed our conversation with Keka’s expressions of gratitude for the ways in which so many people have embraced the Hola, Lola! series. Two more books are scheduled for next year. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In addition to substantive storytelling excellence, Keka Novales exudes kindness, generosity, and a sense of purpose that contributes to the greater good. </span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><br /><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Weekend Binge Reading Options (on a gloomy Friday)</span></div></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHO209g4gQSqbEMxzWA3DH83WF-qyxovkyXV4cZu4F99_SWQakv1P82jzU3pjVLPnm8CKWgIwnK_7ej6aFY-ef-eBUaNJ_5KXDmaNIxek1hBxrzfAV8piEOVEjoJyQVQ0WvoiVaefnVZwSxBhoy98Wk4_AJzBABj6awq8LGdj1iRtRP4In-HKtcGfB6AAz/s4160/20230927_135835.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHO209g4gQSqbEMxzWA3DH83WF-qyxovkyXV4cZu4F99_SWQakv1P82jzU3pjVLPnm8CKWgIwnK_7ej6aFY-ef-eBUaNJ_5KXDmaNIxek1hBxrzfAV8piEOVEjoJyQVQ0WvoiVaefnVZwSxBhoy98Wk4_AJzBABj6awq8LGdj1iRtRP4In-HKtcGfB6AAz/s320/20230927_135835.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-69961273993338049442023-09-22T14:54:00.000-04:002023-09-22T14:54:36.576-04:00Meeting Some Author Sheroes IRL at the Yale Pop Rom Fic Conference<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Cybr3_Y032og25yKi8tdsOSAVCXsTc_L7sP4ti_oe_APx-1Ar5fs2JjNFFq1pl0wStCnSqkjWmm5YVEAH7EIFc1S1ALFdOGvWpJ95kB3ErO9c3TISHfLwv1cl6lO7tj3wYBsku5Z6OKn8Zih8Uq4f64J7KzN9PVjl9TWN0O8XLHQD_pt72DGgvr3FKtK/s1280/IMG_20230922_135634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Cybr3_Y032og25yKi8tdsOSAVCXsTc_L7sP4ti_oe_APx-1Ar5fs2JjNFFq1pl0wStCnSqkjWmm5YVEAH7EIFc1S1ALFdOGvWpJ95kB3ErO9c3TISHfLwv1cl6lO7tj3wYBsku5Z6OKn8Zih8Uq4f64J7KzN9PVjl9TWN0O8XLHQD_pt72DGgvr3FKtK/s320/IMG_20230922_135634.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0GC5sHINVROOU_dwxvXDokB-NgP44McHEHW6feqpp6GRycohxmwiRcuz2cZMwWr_d7-czAOD9ipn6_ZTpZ4NSn1MgDdenYSJ0SlYVBl-cyAGQvnk7VJyecVmPiHMpMqh1X18CCGJEbOw8YglnPQbHQi3aAYU4oSwjmbCwt-wqR8GOO8z5a9_Mg4deQnC/s2047/20230908_071707-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2047" data-original-width="2047" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0GC5sHINVROOU_dwxvXDokB-NgP44McHEHW6feqpp6GRycohxmwiRcuz2cZMwWr_d7-czAOD9ipn6_ZTpZ4NSn1MgDdenYSJ0SlYVBl-cyAGQvnk7VJyecVmPiHMpMqh1X18CCGJEbOw8YglnPQbHQi3aAYU4oSwjmbCwt-wqR8GOO8z5a9_Mg4deQnC/w320-h320/20230908_071707-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsK7xVB5o0tCX64uWiWWX4Nmrg9j4v4FEGNp1NQgpB1V-QIQq5bUzZpyE70iCGPZQ3jHhNcufOq2u2FHznveWZz9OvNrXXI6KZ79GfCxtumzFXsUH1obhu408P5S5XBp6DN8YS_MKeJjUqtdM9mROVNTrrQRDhdiJ0T1N0trev6ar0V6-mYBDrU8JyAJE/s2046/20230908_124753-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2046" data-original-width="2046" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsK7xVB5o0tCX64uWiWWX4Nmrg9j4v4FEGNp1NQgpB1V-QIQq5bUzZpyE70iCGPZQ3jHhNcufOq2u2FHznveWZz9OvNrXXI6KZ79GfCxtumzFXsUH1obhu408P5S5XBp6DN8YS_MKeJjUqtdM9mROVNTrrQRDhdiJ0T1N0trev6ar0V6-mYBDrU8JyAJE/s320/20230908_124753-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhFLBWTNgG4rrVDGk7SnAv89YCXCtUJ2trWoq1ugdBZh9aO0wDZnxaQ2UC_6rPPBPodMYreeQfBMpmhZVmZtChBU4FoZ68CGyUFhkRB1anV6CX2WeqENf1wukI4WnVpCJXdWHytus84_S69a3mFLrcCZJuKVmeQKb5mggQkfpTO-kiJGTrRau98rruzsj/s2046/20230909_064859-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2046" data-original-width="2046" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhFLBWTNgG4rrVDGk7SnAv89YCXCtUJ2trWoq1ugdBZh9aO0wDZnxaQ2UC_6rPPBPodMYreeQfBMpmhZVmZtChBU4FoZ68CGyUFhkRB1anV6CX2WeqENf1wukI4WnVpCJXdWHytus84_S69a3mFLrcCZJuKVmeQKb5mggQkfpTO-kiJGTrRau98rruzsj/s320/20230909_064859-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdZ5toQGXNwotcncTnDpX2Ud-mjOCMGvV__9jnkBCN8BvHCTxq-txJT1JTiS-YWMEtYg0wnXd5K3rEqTgqyUoah3CUZH3qQ8VdA1u1UbAeFaa5jmJVgH8e9o5pSn4ZYi-rOUjaQaivcQJtxsgoTu0JSKQFstgxaUR2y9rwnBH7WfN9LPhp-166CDu86Fl/s2046/20230909_115334-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2046" data-original-width="2046" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdZ5toQGXNwotcncTnDpX2Ud-mjOCMGvV__9jnkBCN8BvHCTxq-txJT1JTiS-YWMEtYg0wnXd5K3rEqTgqyUoah3CUZH3qQ8VdA1u1UbAeFaa5jmJVgH8e9o5pSn4ZYi-rOUjaQaivcQJtxsgoTu0JSKQFstgxaUR2y9rwnBH7WfN9LPhp-166CDu86Fl/s320/20230909_115334-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTEpGQfrmscyXAL1ndm6M0509xvtaabn6Z0Cc0Qph-ngyzq6uqFOFMGxGEOrxXOmnRseXYSLnrZ3E2W3K2wotDAc8CNDwKItKdrM-OL-70quK-5fws2QoYnYeT9wSSp2pksELDgtKDfjk5jJjKIjqAbBl1KOrP4J-lF3hkw30nKadHBksl43xXyXSu4m7/s2047/20230908_122030-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2047" data-original-width="2047" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTEpGQfrmscyXAL1ndm6M0509xvtaabn6Z0Cc0Qph-ngyzq6uqFOFMGxGEOrxXOmnRseXYSLnrZ3E2W3K2wotDAc8CNDwKItKdrM-OL-70quK-5fws2QoYnYeT9wSSp2pksELDgtKDfjk5jJjKIjqAbBl1KOrP4J-lF3hkw30nKadHBksl43xXyXSu4m7/s320/20230908_122030-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Flashback Friday to 2 weeks ago when my fandom for romance authors was rewarded while sitting in a Yale University auditorium in a How to Write a Romance Novel workshop taught by publishing phenoms Adriana Herrera & Sarah MacLean! With my sitting in the front row seated next to brilliant Dr. Margo Henderson (Elysabeth Grace*) and Legendary Shirley Hailstock on one side; TWWBF2023 participating author Briana Ellis on the other, who recognized me even with my face half-hidden by my mask! I THINK Nalini Singh was in the audience along with Ms. Bev and so many other super talented, successful authors and book industry professionals. 5th annual The Write Women Book Fest featured panelist Leslye Penelope and I crossed paths in a hallway while searching for the ladies room. WordLink literary agent Macey Howell and I had a lovely chat after a different session. The sister to the documentarian for "Love Between the Covers" was quite engaging as she snapped pics per her sibling's instructions. </span><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Rev. Jeania Ree Moore and Dr. Katrina Jackson expanded our intellectual and historical horizons in providing context for the student-curated exhibit of "Black Historical Romance and the Archive" artifacts displayed. <br /></span><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Practical information, thoughtful insights, a palpable sense of community, and fun and laughter and too much goodness to itemize. See some of the content here: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://romancefictionconference.yale.edu/program-september-8-9-2023">https://romancefictionconference.yale.edu/program-september-8-9-2023</a> <br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://romancefictionconference.yale.edu/resources">https://romancefictionconference.yale.edu/resources</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/lit-fest-brings-black-romance-to-dixwell">https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/lit-fest-brings-black-romance-to-dixwell</a> <br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Oh, and books by featured participants are still available for purchase from Possible Futures until 9/30: <a href="https://possiblefuturesbooks.com/events/lit-fest-2023">https://possiblefuturesbooks.com/events/lit-fest-2023</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">*Her Cock & Oyster historical cozy mystery series along with her other works are available here: <a href="https://www.elysabethgrace.com/egs-bookshop">https://www.elysabethgrace.com/egs-bookshop</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Also, my binge reading inclinations prevent me from ordering the C & O series until AFTER TWWBF2023 is over - like as a reward for surviving the event and resisting that particular reading temptation when there's so much work still to do before 10/14. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">[Whenever I spoke to Dr. Margo or Ms. Bev or Ms. Hailstock or Adriana Herrera or Prof. Bly (Eloisa James), my inner dialogue went something like, "Breathe. Make eye contact, but not like a hyperventillating creepazoid freak! Like a sane person!" No one called security so...] </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Hope they do it again next year! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;">Even my inner hermit is excited about it.;-) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-75494135236081012922023-09-17T09:48:00.002-04:002023-09-21T17:02:13.825-04:00Last Chance MYFANS2023 Discount Code for #TWWBF2023! $10 Tix!!! <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJ0PeKGzZPTUe206X-wz8wXIxlsAqa9piU2SD7qjtApuuHZiAtCuKYkUN019u4byGGjqwZIg7zAnaK0E6xoed0SKRrQpq0-th0Axd6oGCP2YkXNkI6W03OXHY5ambNwmfJwqfGJMPR_NBL_Tzqjx3MQHwk4ZpKsJcy9yyRVlfNts4VlmK2s4pmMLVrLjL/s1520/20230916_153823-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="1520" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJ0PeKGzZPTUe206X-wz8wXIxlsAqa9piU2SD7qjtApuuHZiAtCuKYkUN019u4byGGjqwZIg7zAnaK0E6xoed0SKRrQpq0-th0Axd6oGCP2YkXNkI6W03OXHY5ambNwmfJwqfGJMPR_NBL_Tzqjx3MQHwk4ZpKsJcy9yyRVlfNts4VlmK2s4pmMLVrLjL/s320/20230916_153823-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;">It's the last day to use discount code MYFANS2023* to get $19 off tickets for Saturday, October 14 day 1 of The Write Women Book Fest with more than 100 authors of fiction, non-fiction, poetry & kids books! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-write-women-book-fest-author-expo-reader-event-tickets-572092844097?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-write-women-book-fest-author-expo-reader-event-tickets-572092844097?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete</a> <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">In between my co-organizer duties, I'm prepping to moderate the featured panel, "Fantasy & Romance: Myth, Magic, Love, and Steamy Stories as Told by Women Authors" with Golden Angel, Mariah Ankenman, H.L. Brooks, Mary E. Jung, Leslye Penelope, and Maria Vale. Golden's, Mariah's, and Mary's works are my TBR priorities this week. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">A Cat & Bones fan? Jeaniene Frost will be a panelist on the "Women Authors & Storytelling: FIction" and "Been There, Done That: Making Romance Stories New and Relatable" panels. Start thinking about your questions now. (Hey, we would've invited her as a featured panelist for the "Fantasy & Romance..." chat but she registered without any don't-you-know-who-I-am fanfare! We didn't realize we'd been granted the gift of her participation until after that panel was already set with an embarrassment of accomplished riches in panelists. We feel so lucky to have her presence along with that of all of the 100+ other talented, exciting authors.) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><a href="https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2023-attending-authors.html">https://www.thewritewomenbookfest.org/2023-attending-authors.html</a> <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">This is the 5th year of TWWBF and we've grown significantly in authors and attendees each year. What hasn't grown? Our two-person organizing team beyond a brilliant part-time assistant for Heather (with week-of and day-of support from family and friends as voluntolders). Going to two days with day one at a hotel is a huge leap for us. We're working hard to make sure it's a soaring success and not a crash landing. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">We can't wait to see you on Saturday, October 14th at the Bowie Comfort Inn Conference Center from 12 noon - 5 p.m.! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">P.S. The time-sensitive nature of the discount code expiration bumped my planned post about my experiences at the Yale University Popular Romance Fiction: Literature of Hope Conference to next week. So much greatness packed into 48 hours! Connecting with #TWWBF2023 participants Briana Smith and Leslye Penelope was a delightful bonus. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">*A few people have had problems applying the discount code. If you're charged full price, please give us until the first week of October to issue the $19 (per ticket) refund. Our apologies for the inconvenience and malfunction are profuse and immediate! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-85110606336375580062023-09-03T08:58:00.001-04:002023-09-03T08:58:32.335-04:00Time to DIY Swag & Read More Books! <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2CAIJnrdC-B06RZeZV985qLWxv67t4raIoJ9SVIqqsFx3WFnACK7fpGSZmgq23ECSPLY48wF7U0g6ZmG75ONrtck5vGC2xkCgYfgGybnw7xZO9rfRXcOrwzM2WTnxv4f0lnFeUlXZ0TUqiaDIeX0xA4emrJY8nM3JD19jBMMltWaUMY7MdKDexZ5UHm8/s4160/20230825_093146.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2CAIJnrdC-B06RZeZV985qLWxv67t4raIoJ9SVIqqsFx3WFnACK7fpGSZmgq23ECSPLY48wF7U0g6ZmG75ONrtck5vGC2xkCgYfgGybnw7xZO9rfRXcOrwzM2WTnxv4f0lnFeUlXZ0TUqiaDIeX0xA4emrJY8nM3JD19jBMMltWaUMY7MdKDexZ5UHm8/s320/20230825_093146.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Six weeks until the 5th annual The Write Women Book Fest on Saturday, October 14 & Sunday, October 15!!! <a href="http://thewritewomenbookfest.org">thewritewomenbookfest.org</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Use discount code: MYFANS2023 until Sunday 9/17 to get $19 off, making tickets only $10 each! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-write-women-book-fest-author-expo-reader-event-tickets-572092844097?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-write-women-book-fest-author-expo-reader-event-tickets-572092844097?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete</a> <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">My DIY decorated shirts for book lovers are given in thanks to people who buy my books at events. TWWBF2023 next month, then a TBA library event in November. I'm overdue for restocking. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">And of course, more books borrowed even though the two book stacks shown in last week's post are only half-read, but the library is closed for Labor Day on Monday and there's no such thing as having too many reading options (according to book hoarders and binge readers). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Also, celebrating the fortitude of SAG-AFTRA and striking workers in other industries <a href="https://aflcio.org/strike-map">https://aflcio.org/strike-map</a> who are standing up for themselves and their fellow laborers--present and future. For anyone who defends unconscionable, unliveable wages by saying, "It's Capitalism." My pushback is this: Actual Capitalism requires equitably compensated laborers in the workplace to act as robust consumers in the retail marketplace. That's how legitimate Capitalism is structured. Siphoning wages from the workers and redirecting them to finance exorbitant executive compensation unbalances the whole system along with excessive consumer revolving credit debt and too many other financial disasters to list here. [soapbox moment end] </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">additional binge reading options </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJq2rxwR_uOT3TR_XHjqbZC6XGTdNlFGqd8U3epkY5M7OfRuuy6Y_UiiLqPSsC_UQ2vzX1og97bF8n3xKO2up9ET3r52vmLFMCO3xauUj5ugcWT9AR_TY8vWDiWvWdRPtpewnffI-z50UcKvk1i-Nu_H0QXGeNrf6jvISX_v7cRtWswqB4B53wrwxBsbt0/s4160/20230903_003331.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJq2rxwR_uOT3TR_XHjqbZC6XGTdNlFGqd8U3epkY5M7OfRuuy6Y_UiiLqPSsC_UQ2vzX1og97bF8n3xKO2up9ET3r52vmLFMCO3xauUj5ugcWT9AR_TY8vWDiWvWdRPtpewnffI-z50UcKvk1i-Nu_H0QXGeNrf6jvISX_v7cRtWswqB4B53wrwxBsbt0/s320/20230903_003331.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6246771571944683537.post-51591075558997410022023-08-27T22:21:00.000-04:002023-08-27T22:21:23.126-04:00Calls to Action, a Goodbye Summer Feast & Books <div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPb2GlVO-qVZC8EECXuYqHj7s6YFhnmfOM272MnxciuptiO01_tC_fCW9NjRnB9fr8FtAbtNxTsbWTtSEThJOqBjNYiGXoFKSNXLhKvu2__diH-Emhgu78AmRNlcfBXwx5JqWXqpezq8pbwP4OEVqhPyU1tEhwsUXoT4vRrZ1WnFNl7ZQOvtzAPAOhq5k/s2046/20230826_204305-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1535" data-original-width="2046" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPb2GlVO-qVZC8EECXuYqHj7s6YFhnmfOM272MnxciuptiO01_tC_fCW9NjRnB9fr8FtAbtNxTsbWTtSEThJOqBjNYiGXoFKSNXLhKvu2__diH-Emhgu78AmRNlcfBXwx5JqWXqpezq8pbwP4OEVqhPyU1tEhwsUXoT4vRrZ1WnFNl7ZQOvtzAPAOhq5k/s320/20230826_204305-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1w_R3cBfuteChBtml-3NvvfBetmtUr2r5Hr-3FfvZmvFwooheP2uDPpo8scme5PnQgxYjaDY69wPmJrnadH8ywybMdbMVpxYYk2IugBJx8Nmapx8MYUa9rfpDo3HhYhe__GqP7dJ4MTr8Bh84al8xkL15oiRfEWfHXu44hF2-5CG0nx6KPCkc3bfbIZB/s2046/20230823_083237-COLLAGE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2046" data-original-width="2046" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1w_R3cBfuteChBtml-3NvvfBetmtUr2r5Hr-3FfvZmvFwooheP2uDPpo8scme5PnQgxYjaDY69wPmJrnadH8ywybMdbMVpxYYk2IugBJx8Nmapx8MYUa9rfpDo3HhYhe__GqP7dJ4MTr8Bh84al8xkL15oiRfEWfHXu44hF2-5CG0nx6KPCkc3bfbIZB/s320/20230823_083237-COLLAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">On Saturday, the 60th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, I spent a delightful evening at Wolf Trap listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter's enchanting voice with appreciation for her upbeat spirit and musical talents in addition to her acknowledgement of this significant historical date, along with reminders about the importance of voting, and the ways in which the events of that day improved life for everyone. Also, hearing her new "A Girl and Her Dog" song generated anticipation for her next project. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">Then Sunday was all about hanging with close friends (with pool benefits) who also provided a delectable buffet in celebration of the upcoming end of summer and the start of school tomorrow for the teachers and students in our group. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">And finally, here's photo evidence that shows why it's always better for me to return my borrowed library items using the book drop rather than going inside the library where enticing book displays tempt me beyond my ability to resist even though there's already a big stack of unread books at home waiting for me to read them. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;">[Background stack is of the older books; foreground stack newer books.] </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3Y3uzdKpwydnRpSaK72N3UnuVtvBEzOuZ-qBDHBjILuH2hz84a6l_6bdnIk3Ip6Agf59wZSA8ujZm5i-5-m68MblWdH2XziQAKu1pQyRHcuMVkYMyUH6fSQVmxpzXwrUQZUZ1i4H8lVgfpwfTsh3mpvB_lHEYrHNExru7HjRJJApyCacy5MZ6xhqp11f/s4160/20230824_134500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3Y3uzdKpwydnRpSaK72N3UnuVtvBEzOuZ-qBDHBjILuH2hz84a6l_6bdnIk3Ip6Agf59wZSA8ujZm5i-5-m68MblWdH2XziQAKu1pQyRHcuMVkYMyUH6fSQVmxpzXwrUQZUZ1i4H8lVgfpwfTsh3mpvB_lHEYrHNExru7HjRJJApyCacy5MZ6xhqp11f/s320/20230824_134500.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins;"> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0