My One Year Blogiversary

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Many of you have probably noticed an extreme increase in the amount of re-posts from this blog, or re-spins. I have been doing this to lead up to this day or rather, yesterday: My One Year Blogiversary! I remember the exact date I published my first post here on The PBS Blog. It was August 18, 2014.

I have learned so much about the blogging experience and writing in general from this blog. Primarily, I believe I was capable of being progressive with this blog  in particular because I set out to devote more time to it. I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone. I subscribed to other blogs, commented on other blogs, shared other people’s material that I found interesting, and participated in writing Challenges and Blog Awards. I also publish very frequently, at least 2-3 times or more every day for at least 5 and sometimes 6 days a week and I have done this since the beginning. I don’t exactly consider myself a power blogger but I do believe that the quantity of my posting has played a big part in the growth of my blog. If I could at all help it, I tried not to miss more than a day without publishing something to my blog. A poem, an article, current events / news, etc., whatever I found to be of quality material or funny material or thought provoking, I shared. I set time aside specifically to blog. I treated this like a part time job and it has paid off. That is because I believe in consistency. I am a very dedicated and loyal individual and I transferred this over to my blog. I try to make sure that my blog is not one stale compilation of regurgitated ignorance and conscientious stupidity. I believe this draws people in and helps build solid supporters. All of these components together assists me in reaching my blogging goals which I must say, were not very clear in the beginning. I had a purpose, but I was not sure how I wanted to navigate the online world. In fact, I remember my first few posts, which got no likes, no comments, and no views for the first few months of blogging.

I hope that the future of this blog will continue to hold the same versatility in which I now strive for. It was not this way initially, but over time as I gained more understanding on how to blog, I unintentionally created a place where all people could get something out of it, despite where they were in their lives. In short, I hope that the contents of this blog will always be thought provoking and inspirational for positive change and growth.

In honor of my first year completion, I have decided to change my blogs theme up a bit. I’m still working on putting everything back since the new theme did away with the sidebar and pages (now located at the bottom).  I appreciate your patience as I rearrange everything.

But how does everything look so far? I’m going for a neat, clean feel. Yay or Nay? Keep it or Trade it?

Writer’s Quote Wednesday – The Short Story

My Writer’s Quote Wednesday for this week is in honor of the Short Story. Wendell Harris says:

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“…the short story is a ….presentation of a moment whose intensity makes it seem outside the ordinary stream of time, or the significance is outside the ordinary range of experience.” —Wendell Harris

I really like how Harris spoke about, “the presentation of a moment” because it is what I think about when I think of short stories. It’s like a sampling of the authors writing, pulling as much life from the story as is possible and then storing it into as few pages as possible, which is my goal for my current short story trilogy. To fit as much information as possible in just a few pages, while simultaneously providing for that bit of mystery that I think is important for the short story. I think Stella relates to this quote because it is the presentation of a single moment in history. It tackles the ongoing racial intensity of the past and brings it into our present day so that we are experiencing, in a unique way, the co-existing of past, present, and future.

I wanted to include an Author Bio from the quote but I read this as part of a list of short story quotes and saved them to my drive awhile back so I’m not sure who this particular Wendell Harris is, but what a great quote!

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And that’s it for this week’s episode of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, as hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading.

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One Week to Go!

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OK people, we have only one week before we go Beyond The Colored Line, so what are we doing about it? I’m not sure. I have been pondering how to culminate to Launch Day and I’m not exactly sure what I want to do. So I’m asking for your help. Below is a multiple choice questionnaire for you to help me decide what to do by telling me what sounds like the most fun. This will only work if everyone participates. I will be making a decision based on the poll no later than Wednesday. That gives everyone a little over two days to vote. The book comes out next Monday. Should I:

a). Hold a 3 Day Giveaway (8/19 Wed-8/21 Fri)

b). Hold a 1 Day Giveaway the day of Launch (8/24)

c). Create a Contest with one grand prize winner announced on Launch Day

d). A and C

Please use this form to submit your answers. I will respond by launching the winning letter Wednesday. If for any reason you have trouble with the form just hit my email directly at ahouseofpoetry@gmail.com.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

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Ten Seconds to Stand

Painting Copyright ©Tim Okamura
Painting Copyright ©Tim Okamura

You stand an awkward 5’3, and barely 140lbs to this 10ft over 300 lb. monster of a circumstance. Your back is against the rope. Body leaning, and tumbling over an agonizing blow to the face, body, and jaw until finally you topple. Come crashing down a lifeless breath of humiliation and shame. Through bloody and blurred eyes you see the referee coming, a glint of mercy. Here comes the slow count. You have fallen down. You have been defeated. You have been humiliated and you’ve got 10 seconds to stand back on your feet. Yes, only 10. You have been knocked out cold by life and mercy isn’t as tall nor does he appear to be as strong as this circumstance, and yet here he is. This tiny stature of a man, who doesn’t seem to know the taste of the ground or the enticing sound of “Give Up” but he is here. Approaching your situation with iron style arms and a dove for a face. What will be your decision? There’s only ten seconds to make one. Will you stand?

Couch Convos w/ Lisa W. Tetting featuring Author Yecheilyah Ysrayl

My Author Interview with the beautiful Lisa Tetting.

Lisa W Tetting's avatarLisa W. Tetting

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Welcome to another edition of Couch Convos with your girl, Lisa W. Tetting. Today we have a special treat for you. Author Yecheilyah Ysrayl, aka EC, joins us to talk about her short story trilogy, Stella. It is a unique take on racism, slavery and provides a history lesson we all need to learn.

Part I

LWT: Welcome EC, let’s get started. What was your inspiration behind Stella?

YY: “Well, I used to teach third and fourth grade creative writing as part of a Home School program and we studied black literature a lot. In that process, Stella was conceived during an assignment I’d given my students on writing about that era, about slavery and discrimination. I always seek to be an example, especially to children, so I occasionally participated in these assignments to show my students that we were in this together and if I could do…

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