I don’t understand why some of you burden yourselves. Life is hard enough that we don’t have to add unnecessary baggage. Like, why do I have to buy the organic egg vs. the regular egg? The organic salad vs. the regular salad? And what’s wrong with tap water? 100 yrs ago we couldn’t have dreamed of buying water and yet here we are. I bet you they ain’t tripping over water in Africa though, or in some third world country where they drink water you wouldn’t even bathe in. Goldberg gonna be selling you air next though, then there’s gonna be a debate about which air tank is the healthiest. There is just so much more important things in the world to worry about than what we choose to carry. Sometimes it’s not the load that breaks us down, it’s both how we choose to carry the load and the load we choose to carry.
Tag: pbs
Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies
So if you’re a non-chef like me but you’re also married and enjoy serving your hubby delicious recipes, today’s Sunday Sweet Treat is definitely for you, it’s even all natural.
Today we are cooking up Chocolate Fudge Brownies using Marie Callender’s Fudge Brownie Mix.
Directions:
You Will Need:
1/3 cup oil, 2 large eggs, (2 Large eggs for chewy brownies. 3 Large eggs for cakey brownies) 1 Tbsp water, Chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. In a bowl combine 2 large eggs, 1 Tbsp water, 1/3 cup oil. Mix well.
2. Add dry mix and mix only until combined (about 30 strokes).
3. Now, this recipe is for extra fudge, chocolate chip brownies. So at this point you are going to take your chocolate chips and place them into a greased baking pan. I like to use the muffin pan (as those of you who are familiar with this blog already know), but you can do the same thing for a regular one sheet baking pan as well. Grease the pan and place the chocolate chips down first. I used Hershey’s Baking Melts, round flat chocolates, and placed them at the bottom of the greased pan.
4. Pour brownie mix from step #2 into greased baking pan, spread evenly. (For chocolate layered brownies, pour some of the mix into the pan first, then the chocolate chips, and then pour the rest of the mix in last.)
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes. High Altitude Baking: Add 2 Tbsp of water. Yield: 12 (1.75 x 1.75) bars. To make 8 x 8 pan use (1 lb) of mix and bake for 30- 35 minutes at 325 degrees F. For richer brownies, substitute melted butter or margarine for oil.
Step #6: Enjoy!
Tribulation
“They didn’t understand…that this voice was once pregnant, and had to go through labor pains before it gave birth.”
Broke up with my other blog
At least now I have an excuse to buy chocolates < What’s with this anyway? Where’s the book that says chocolate heals a broken heart? I can’t answer that for you, but I will say it is some prescription. But anyways, I’m digressing < seems I do that a lot.
So, as I was saying, a house of poetry and I finally broke it off. After just a year of hot and steamy poetry I just couldn’t do it anymore. I mean it was nice in the beginning no doubt, but I obviously have fidelity issues. I’m actually not that bad really. I mean, I haven’t thought of any new blogs to create ever since me and PBS started hanging out <why does The PBS Blog bring this smile to my face? See, that’s my problem, I’m in love with the PBS blog, not like we haven’t been over this already though (Ok, so I said the same thing about you, but why we bringing up old stuff tho?) And why am I explaining myself? It’s not like I have to report to a house of poetry posts anymore anyway. Not like I got metaphors hanging from dashboards and love notes between comments and whatnot. Speaking of which, I was really good to you so you can stop making me out to be the bad girl here. I mean, I know that you technically don’t exist anymore but you can give me some credit. You act like I just up and left. I did give you a warning this was going nowhere so technically I didn’t really cheat on you behind your back. Is it really my fault that you ignored the signs? Like you didn’t see all these followers easing their way to the PBS blog in the middle of the night.
Show, don’t tell
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov
Power of Words
Do you not know that your words declare to the world who you are?
I’m starting to understand more and more the power we have as individuals and how we so readily give this power away with the speed of thought. One of the reasons I happen to love words is for the power that they hold. When you speak your words begin to act upon what has been spoken, in other words they live. Poetry then becomes such an attractive art because it’s not just the reading and reciting of words, but it’s the emotion and exact senses that encompasses the words that are spoken. I sometimes find it hard to really judge poetry because it’s such a personal part of the poet and there are so many different kinds of styles and tones. But the kind of poetry I really fall for is the delicious kind, the tasty kind; the kind of poetry that speaks so personally to the reader / listener that we will believe that this poem was a gift specifically granted to us. When I read a poem about running I want to feel your heartbeat, I want your breath to brush upon my cheeks; I want my feet to ache from the unforgiving concrete of the ground. I want to feel you as if I invaded your body only to live in your existence for the remainder of the poem. I want to be one with you on that intimate level. If you possess power, when you speak then so should I. That’s the kind of poetry that inspires me, and I must say the kind of writing as well; the kind that possesses power. I always encourage new poets to make sure their delivery is superb. Writing is in many ways the easy part, but when you approach an audience make sure they can feel what you felt when you wrote that poem. Don’t tell me its poetry, just paint poetic justice against the backdrop of heavy keystrokes. Let me “bathe in the blank wake of your passion and be kissed by white paper” (Mark Strand). Far as general speech is concerned we have to learn to stop being so sensitive. Nothing others do or say is always about you. Whether that’s blogging, writing, posting, etc, when we stop worrying about how others see us we can then stop being the victims of needless suffering. The power of words always comes back to self and what self is willing and not willing to allow in his / her space. A lot of the negativity we walk around with is due our own making, it is simply made up of elements we allowed to come in. We are thus bearing the burden of self inflicted scars, but we should never let anyone dilute the power of our words. I’m realizing now that whenever we say that we “can’t” do something, we unconsciously weaken ourselves just a little bit more than we were just moments before. How much worse when we allow the words of others to do the same.
Common Self-Publishing Mistakes
Really? Is she really talking about self-publishing again? Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I already told you I’m in love with writing.
So, we’ve discussed briefly some Common Sense reasons to take advantage of the Self-Publishing Industry, and we’ve even talked about the professionalism (or lack thereof) among the industry. Today however, I would like to feature an article (with my 2 cents in-between) that will shed some light on some of the most common self-publishing mistakes known to Indie Authors. Ready? Alrighty then, let’s go. Excerpts written by Cate Baum:
Book Cover Designs
“It may seem very easy to take a snap and use it as a cover, slotting it into one of the simple templates available on many of the book publishing platforms such as Createspace at Amazon. However, these templates should be used only as a very last resort. Why? Because these templates are truly only there for the most design illiterate of us all, and for those who don’t much care about how their book looks, for instance, maybe the book is being published for a charity or a niche, local audience who anticipate the book’s availability. There is a completely blank template for adding your own design, which is perfectly sized. I use this one with my own design, forgoing all of the added titles and image holders on the others; because if you wish to sell your book to a new audience out there, you’re going to need to spend some time or some money on a cover. Make sure your cover is eye-catching and clean, and can be seen at a distance because thumbnails on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and most other book sites are going to use a thumbnail to show your book off as a first point of sale.”
Very good advice! I must admit I am guilty of doing this very thing years ago as I embarked on the Self-Publishing path. But as I began to look more deeply into the professional outcome of the product, it became clear to me how important the book cover design was to the book. The content is the most important no doubt, but book cover designs are also just as important. I think authors should sit back and ask themselves (as I ask myself), no matter the audience, and no matter whether or not you’re trying to make Oprah’s book club, “what do I really want from the end product?” Just because you don’t expect to get rich, doesn’t mean your work can’t be the best. Remember, “Be exceptionally good at everything you do because light attracts light.” Check out these “Lousy Book Covers” for an example of what not to do (really, that’s the name of the website, I didn’t make that up): http://lousybookcovers.com/
Not Spending Enough Energy on Editing
“We say this many times over, and I am constantly surprised by the number of self-publishers who go ahead and publish anyway, even when they know themselves their book contains errors! This is death to your book sales, and will not be ignored by readers, not just for this book but for all your books connected to your name. Editing is fairly expensive and tedious, but if you wish to make sales and give up the day job, it is vital you edit your work. Two-part edits are minimum: a proofread to find spelling and grammar errors, and then a formatting pass, followed by a structural edit to the actual story and characters. This will flag up any parts of the book that do not communicate well and parts where you’ve dragged on or skipped over detail that could become boring or confusing to your readers. In such a tough and competitive market an edit is an essential, professional process for any serious writer, even if you think you can spell, write, format and structure I bet you money an editor will find a bunch of stuff that you had missed, wood-for-the-trees style.”
So true. I know I know, would all of the grammatical geeks please calm down? Nobody cares that you’ve counted over 50 grammatical errors in this post already, that’s what we have you for. 🙂
But seriously, I notice that one of the hardest stumbling blocks to tackle for some Indie Authors is finances. Often, we don’t put a lot into the editing of the material because we can’t afford it. But, if you want the most professional look possible, I would highly suggest you invest in editing. If nothing else, put some sheckles (yea, I said that), away for a decent editor to be your extra set of eyes, it may just save your novel’s life. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not as critical a reader as some may be when it comes to grammatical errors but I’m telling you now, if it’s so bad that it becomes hard to read, that’s going to throw me off completely and I’m gonna care more about watching the Walking Dead than reading your book.
Insisting on a Fancy Font
Ok, thanks a lot Cate, but I think I’ll take it from here.
Please don’t do this people. Unless your book is some kind of graphic specialty or Children’s Book or something that requires some kind of cursive expertise, please don’t adjust your fonts in fancy writing. Only because you’re not in grade school anymore, the focus here is not how cute it looks, but how professional. Below is a basic list of the kinds of fonts that I would suggest for Chapters and such:
• Times New Roman
• Verdana
• Calibri
• Garamond
• Tahoma
Since I have to go now, I’d have to come back to this topic, but I hope what little information I was able to share may be of assistance to you. The most important obvious investments you can start out with though is Editing and Book Cover Design.
The PBS Blog 