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Curiouser Author Society – Official Member!

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Imagine my excitement when I opened my email this morning to find Shayla’s email that I had been invited into The Curiouser Author’s Society! Whoo hoo! For those of you with your noses in the air let me clarify that this is not some ritualistic sell your soul to the devil type thing (You can breathe, no oaths were taken). Curiouser Author Society is an invitation only group of authors, editors, reviewers, and just an entire team of professionals and aspiring professionals who are serious about perfecting their writing. Below is a brief description of our mission, purpose, and goal:

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“The Curiouser Author Society is an exclusive community for serious indie authors who want to write better books and put them in the hands of voracious readers while creating a distinctive author brand.  ” – Curiouser Author Society

I’m really excited to learn all I can from Shayla and her crew. This is the perfect platform to help me to get my publishing goals off to a great start. Here’s a word from Shayla:

“Having come from inside a publishing company to starting my own editing service that quickly grew to be a means of indie-author support, I saw firsthand how badly authors needed to grow and learn and educate themselves in the process. For example, many authors struggle with marketing. No one will know an indie author has written the next great classic if it’s never visible enough in the literary community to be read. The Curiouser Author Society is here to provide that support so authors can educate themselves and sell more books.”

— Shayla Eaton, President of Curiouser Editing and Curiouser Author Society
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I Knew it Was a Mistake the Moment It Was Over

Portia Banks smoothed out the wrinkles forming in her dress, and picked at imaginary lint. She took it all in, snapping imaginary pictures of memory with her eyes as she scanned the room. Bachelors in Computational Journalism from Stanford University, Exceptional Research and Development, the list goes on and on. She wondered if it was all worth it, her name on the door, this office, or the prestigious position she found herself in. She’d come a long way from the dirt roads of Mississippi to a position as one of New York’s top Journalists. And while the check would be huge, she knew it was a mistake the moment it was over.

“Come on now, I know that look. You do know this is the biggest client we’ll ever have; ever.”

Simon fixed his glasses and stared intently at Portia, trying to understand her logic. The woman had talent no doubt, but as Assistant News Editor he had worked side by side with this talent for over two years and a mule could not be more stubborn. Of course he couldn’t say that, Portia was always on a prowl for any glint of racism from her white counterparts, even finding it where it didn’t exist. She believed all Europeans were born racists and that no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t help themselves in their feelings toward blacks. Still, she had managed to become one of his best friends which awarded him the truth concerning her level of racism. Although she wanted him to believe she held this grudge against whites, their friendship told him otherwise. In any event, to take on this case would put The Journal Chronicles on the map and Portia knew it.

“We’re talking about the biggest dollar signs you’ve ever seen in your life. Huge,” he spoke with his hands.

“Trying to persuade me with money is never a good idea Simon you know that. Besides, you do know money is not everything?”

“No, as a matter of fact I don’t.”

Portia laughed, “You’re such a liar.”

“And your such an idiot,” said Simon standing.

“Whatever”, said Portia gathering paperwork from her desk. It was Friday, the most exciting yet busiest day of the week, everyone trying to take weekend vacations and submit final story ideas to the big dogs at the same time.

“I just don’t care much about the man,” she said continuing, “What is there to know about a man we already know everything about?”

Simon looked at his watch; he had exactly two minutes to convince her to take this case. Otherwise it would go to the competition and Anne, the wicked witch of the west who pretended to be their boss, would never let him hear the end of it.

“That’s just it. How do you know we really know him? Because the TV says so? I’m not going for it.”

Portia smiled at Simon as he went on. She was wondering where he’d put his soap box and knew it was only a matter of time before he stood on it. She stopped daydreaming and turned the mental volume back up on Simon’s voice.

“We’ve got an opportunity to present a fresh story, a new look. To gather information about the success of the world’s biggest fragrance chain since Victoria’s Secret, Scentology. By delving deeper into Xavier’s most intimate thoughts, we have the opportunity to present a fresh story. We don’t care about his written rebuttal, let CNN fight over that. Anderson can hold that down…”

“Don’t try to be black Sy…” laughed Portia.

“Portia! WHAT WE WANT is the exclusive hard core truth. WHO is Xavier Thomas?

That was a year ago and Portia cursed herself for having to live the answer to that question. With every nerve in her brain there was an explosion threatening to obliterate pieces of reason. Painfully, Portia sought desperately to understand how she’d allowed herself romantic involvement with this man. Her face contorted, as she floated in and out of consciousness. The womanly intuition she’d always counted on to save her, could not assist her now as she tried not to choke on her own blood. Laying on the bathroom floor, a tattered mess in this abandoned building, where Xavier had just tried to kill her for discovering that he was a clone.

Silent Supporters MayChallengeDay16-17

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Dare I capture a photo of last nights meal? I suppose I could upload it to IG. At least then you’ll know I’ve eaten, right? Or maybe I’ll weigh my self-esteem against the number of followers, out of which only a handful are actually interested. What if my anniversary was yesterday? Does it cheapen the experience that I didn’t post about it?

We live in a world so dominated by technology and by sight that we rarely take the time to notice the small, silent, and seemingly insignificant. Usually, when we think of supporters we hearken to those who are outspoken enough to make themselves known. Visible. These are the commenters, likers, subscribers, and followers. After all, without this kind of support, how do we know if we’re doing something worthwhile? Is our content life changing or are we wasting dashboard space? Well, this thought led me to the intriguing world of the silent supporter. You know, that person who supports everything you do on the low. You may find them listed among your every social media outlet. Silent Supporters. The people who support your every endeavor but never have anything vocal to say. Instead they hang on to your every word in the background, taking it all in, applying, researching, and agreeing in the dark.

I think silent supporters are great and may actually be the backbone to success because they are the people who do. Act. Apply. Listen. Now success is more so determined by the personal standards of the individual, but from the basic perspective of the kind of primary support we all need to keep going, silent supporters play a significant role. They are the people you inspire every day but you will never know it. Well, if your paying attention you just might. You see, the silent supporter doesn’t say anything, his presence alone is necessary. He’ll follow you any and everywhere as long as you have something to say. The point is: don’t lose hope and don’t give up. There are people who actually follow your advice, except you won’t know it because they choose to instead put it into practice. (They laugh at your not-so-funny jokes too). And when it comes down to investing, these are the people who put their money where their mouth is, hanging on to your every word and taking into account the wisdom of your perspective. Makes you consider the weight of influence we each have on every single eye that scans across these blogs. It’s really something if you think about it. As individuals we make such great impacts on so many people worldwide and we would never really know to what depths. So then, what are we giving them? Is it something worth having or a waste of someone’s time? Are we givers of life or takers? How will your blog influence someone today? You choose.

Success is not always what you can see. Silent Supporters are out there. They are listening, they are watching, and they are learning. Never lose sight of that.

Making Money in a World Addicted to FREE—What Do Writers DO?

Most excellent article. Worth the read for Authors and Aspiring Authors.

Author Kristen Lamb's avatarKristen Lamb's Blog

Might I suggest one of these... I think we need to renegotiate the terms…

One of the reasons I did such a detailed post about the pop culture and how it’s impacting artists (A Culture Addicted to FREE) is that for us to make any solid plan, we need to gain a good understanding of how things are being run and also grasp current consumer habits.

To fix any problem, we must be aware of what are called operational constraints.

Operational constraints are any real or potential roadblocks in the way of our goals. If you ever do a S.W.O.T. Analysis, which I strongly recommend, it stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Any time we do business—which writing IS a business—we need an accurate picture of the terrain so we make wise business decisions and can plan ahead.

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The entire reason for me blogging about the impact streaming could…

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The Unknown Woman

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Wisdom is an unknown woman

her identity absent for too long now

a distorted image of degrees and formulas

neatly wrapped into the deceptive image

of professors and graduates of universities

with egos that stand taller than the academic buildings

from which they’ve misplaced their minds

creativity hung

twisted

in the silent hallways of repeated ignorance

wisdom is an unknown woman

hastening to make herself known to those who seek her

a radiant beauty of lawful lips she descends

into the beautiful body of instruction

only the most sincere men are courageous enough to approach her

and only the strong can be heard by her

for she whispers soft delicacies

into ears that wish her breath to brush upon their cheeks

but she is abandoned by men who do not delight in her structures

who believe her throne is a worthless scepter

that she wears like a burden

too foolish to know that there is nothing

that she cannot carry

But fools do not speak the language of wisdom

cannot hear the prayers coming from her tongues

the songs pouring forth from her words

wisdom is an unknown woman

to the man

to the woman

to the person

who values the knowledge of custom papers

with expensive ink,

this they chose over her

they cannot see that gold is but a little sand in her sight

and that silver is like clay before her

because her radiance never ceases

and in her hands is unaccounted

wealth

What I Learned About Blogging, Writing, and Life #MayChallengeDay 11-12

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Sometimes we just want the easy answer. The easy answer, and the smooth path. We want to lower mountains, and bring them down to our understanding. And we want as many tips on how to do so as is possible; we want things to be as easy as possible. But what I have learned, whether about blogging, writing, or life in general is this: You can have all the talent, and all of the opportunity in the world but if you do not have the persistence, the endurance, or the discipline to keep working then you do not have anything. Determination is called drive for a reason, it moves you.