Tag: wordpress

Renaissance: The Nora White Story

Dear Ms. Morrison,

Now that I’ve actually finished the first draft, received some feedback, and am on my way to the next part of the process, I’ve changed the name of my upcoming novel. I am almost brave enough to share some excerpts with you! Time permitting, I’ll be releasing chapters this fall and all that fun stuff.

New Title: Renaissance – The Nora White Story

Log-Line: “A young woman seeks to pursue a writing career in The Harlem Renaissance Movement. Meanwhile, her parents search for their daughter’s disappearance.”

I’ll have a full description of what this book is about at a later date. Stay tuned.

Coffee Date With Yecheilyah

Morning!

For those of you who are not already familiar, Coffee Dates are popular here in the blogosphere. Personally, I like to use them as a time to get personal. Not too much, but enough to let you in on what’s going on in my life. You know, just so you all are reminded that I’m not a robot.

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You know what I would absolutely love? If you would share with me how you like your coffee in the comments! Don’t drink coffee? Tell me about Tea! Or Hot Chocolate. Wait, it’s too hot for hot chocolate. OK whatever, let’s begin.

So..while you run out to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts and my Folgers is brewing, I’ll take out the International Delight Sweet Cream and a few coffee mugs. Oh, don’t worry about that, I have plenty. If there’s one thing I have tons of, its coffee mugs!

Whew, careful, that one’s hot. Let’s bring this on over to the couch. Yall know how we do. I like to get comfortable. Watch it, don’t trip over the boxes. I do apologize. I suppose I can start with those.

  • If we were having coffee right now, I’ll explain in great detail why my house is a mess right now. I’m actually an OCD cleaner but you can’t tell right now. Half full boxes is blocking the hallway, dishes are sitting on the couch with us, and the printer on top the kitchen table looks like our office space. Don’t worry, we aren’t hoarders or anything. Hubby and I are actually preparing to move which is both exhausting and exciting all the same. You may remember our last date when I spoke about our new place I was hoping (no, praying) we’d get. Well, we got it and I celebrated by going shopping for my bathrooms as if I’m already in the place. Yaass.
  • In honor of the 6 month anniversary of my latest book, I posted about my goal to reach 15 total reviews by August 15th a couple days ago. If you remember, I listed a few options to give everyone variety on how to help. Well, if we were having coffee right now I’ll say I’ve been bit by the doubt bug. I mean sure, I know this kinda thing only works with certain people and perhaps I was foolish to try it? I am ashamed to say that I’ve only received one response. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely thrilled about that! And to my credit, it’s only been a couple days. Check back with me in let’s say, a week. Maybe things will pick up.
  • If we were having coffee right now I’ll remind you about the play I was scheduled to be in, Blakk Amerika: From Prophets to Pimps. The production covers over 4,000 years of black history. We were scheduled to go on this past weekend in San Antonio Texas but we actually had to post-pone. I’ll keep you posted on the next showing. Who knows, maybe I’ll see you there!
  • I’m thinking about changing things around a bit here. If we were having coffee right now, I’ll tell you I figure since I’ll be decorating my home, I may as well decorate the blog too! What do you think? Do you like this design? Think I should change it? Which WordPress theme would you recommend?
  • If we were having coffee right now, I’ll inform you that I am finally starting to see some progress on my blog posts over at My Trending Stories where I freelance as well. It’s always exciting to notice the small progressions in your life and not just the negative stuff.
  • I ran across some interesting blog articles this week. If we were having coffee right now, I’ll tell you about the one that really caught my attention and why it gave me such inspiration. Kristen Lambs blog is always buzzing with excellent lessons and articles on writing. The one that caught my eye this week was her latest: Breaking Facebook Dependence—How to Create an Enduring Author Brand. Of course, based on the wealth of interaction on this post (as usual with Kristen), I can tell this one caught your eye as well. But let me explain why it caught mine.

This post was really personal to me. I am not very into Facebook and of late I have really not been into it. In truth, the only reason it’s not on deactivation mode right now is because my business pages are connected to my personal account and I don’t know how to cut my ties with the book without deleting those pages (if someone has insight, do tell!). So any who, I was feeling some type of way about Facebook already, especially far as using it for my authorpreneurship. I’ve read all of this information about how great Facebook is as a tool for writers and, of course it’s just good business since to have some presence there, but I just have not been feeling it of late far as Author Branding is concerned. And then came this post. In it, Kristen speaks about how the blog helps to build a closer and lasting relationship between the author and reader even more so than Facebook. Her many examples were the difference between working your butt off for a few more likes to a page vs working to stay consistent on your blog to gain faithful readers. I really connected with this because it’s one of the reasons I spend so much time with you! I’m just an all or nothing kind of person and I think it’s part of my work to be consistent here. Does it take away from my writing? Nope. Contrary to popular belief it is possible to maintain a healthy balance between blogging and your general writing schedule that does not distract from the other. Anyway, back to the post. Kristen’s most striking example however, the one that spoke to me the most, was this one:

“We are feeding all this great “bait” to “fish” we’ve already caught. Sure, good content on Facebook will lead to more people “liking” our page, but the shelf life is incredibly short.” – Kristen Lamb

I soo agree with this! I love the fish analogy. Especially since most people on our Facebook  pages are, let’s just go ahead and keep it real, fish we’ve already caught. I know for me, Facebook is filled with my Fam; people who love and support me and will support me in everything that I do. They are in essence fish I’ve already caught! I think investing in fam is important, but to grow readership will require attention to readers we have not yet attracted and this is why  I think this post is so important.

Anyway, enough about me. I’ve rambled on long enough. What about you? Tell me how you’re drinking your coffee / Tea this morning! (Or evening!)

The Potent Word

 

Can I spit poison into your life just by speaking words into your skin? Or can I speak life into your life by cultivating peace into your heart? Words. So important and potent, life threatening and life creating. We must never forget the power of words, their motives and intentions, their power and potency. I marvel at how easily we curse one another. Every day there is someone trying to clean up the blood they spilled by gossiping behind someone’s back, or begging for wishful deaths to go back to its chamber of meaning. Never tell someone you wish they’d leave this earth, or that you hate their guts. You may indeed be charged with murder before the words escape your mouth. I often wonder why I have taken on the task of this kind of bravery, to become a professor of words. To become part of a community where the next murderer is just one page away from me. Perhaps I have a death wish, releasing words into the air with only the hope that they will bring back life. I publish each post with shaking hands, a trembling finger; a focused mind. Carefully crafting and considering the words I put into the air. Writers. The bravest people I know. Managers of the potent word.

May I Ask

captura-de-pantalla-a-las-1414601240g4nk8Who taught you to hate yourself?

“Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? To such extent you bleach, to get like the white man. Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? The most disrespected woman in America, is the black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America, is the black woman.”

– Malcolm X, May 5, 1962 at the funeral service of Ronald Stokes in Los Angeles.

What I Said

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Is….it…Friday…yet…?

OK so you remember that post we talked about last night? Yea, well, we’ll have to wait on that. We’re in that transitional stage of moving and after packing all day I….can’t….even.

Enough about me, how are things with you? Been awhile since we just talked. How is life? Let’s have coffee tomorrow, what do you say? Yea? Excellent! Its a coffee date. Tomorrow at 8am CST. Be here.

My First Comment! – Hard Work Pays Off Part 1

No, not on this blog, obviously.

I started two new blog positions a few weeks, almost a month or so ago that are quickly gaining momentum, adding more features every day to help better the platforms and expand their reach. These blogs are IH Blogs and My Trending Stories.

Don’t look at me like that. I know I didn’t tell you about my blogs on the side. It’s just, I’ve been, well… tied up. In my defense, you can literally see them on the side bar there. Just click on their badges to learn more.

So anyways, I didn’t want to mention anything until I started to see some real results. Even more, until I have done enough research to know MTS was legit (hey, gotta do your research). I wanted to wait and I am glad I did. Anywho, to the point (I have until my husband gets out the shower to finish this post or you’ll be reading this in the morning. Movie Night is a ritual. Gotta keep the spark ladies!)

My Trending Stories had me stumped a bit. Why? Because the platform was different. Since I’ve never blogged outside of WordPress (to include Self-Hosted), I don’t have much experience outside the good ole posts dashboard here. My new dashboard space includes Meta Tags, Meta descriptions, Slugs, the works. Of course, if this is baby talk then you understand what I mean by I’m green to this. Since the typical blog gives you the opportunity to like and comment and share posts, on Self-Hosted blogging sites it’s not so easy to get likes and shares. First, people have to find the article important enough to share on their social media accounts. It’s not like they can just reblog the post or like it right here like you just liked this post. No, they have to share it via their social medias (I currently have no shares but my likes are starting to trickle in!) and comments are usually made by way of Facebook. This means, as I’ve discovered, readers have to find the information extremely useful and I’ve found (both by experience and by monitoring other peoples blogs), that it takes a lot of work to get reactions to a post when you don’t have the luxury of…

Hubby’s out of the shower. Sorry guys. We’ll pick this up in tomorrows post. We’ll call it…Overcoming Blog Learning Curves. I’ll give you a few bullet points on how I managed not to pull my locs out and went from zero followers and zero interaction on my new freelance blog positions until now starting to see some pick me up. Not a lot, but every little bit counts. Hard work truly does pay off.

Click Here to Follow Me at My Trending Stories.

I don't really sleep with a Teddy Bear. I would though.
I don’t really sleep with a Teddy Bear. That’s what husbands R for.

Ask and Receive. Don’t Ask and Don’t.

Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”

I’ve recently stepped out to complete a goal that was awkward for me. I am embarking on a journey that required me to ask. Asking. It sounds simple enough but in truth requires humility and courage. You risk potential ridicule. You risk being made fun of. You risk assumption, presumption and all the other ‘sumptions. “What does this person really want from me?” They’ll likely ask themselves. “Do they wish to use me?” Asking is not easy and you risk feeling awkward, uncomfortable and probably the most frightening of all, you risk feeling needed. Ah, there it is, the humility. For everyone needs someone in some capacity, some day. I remember a woman once told me, she said, “No one really works for themselves.” Interesting. How so? The woman said, “The beauty salon shop owner may own the shop, but she still needs the electric company, the distribution warehouses, the janitor, the employees, and even the customers. She works for herself and yet, she is dependent on everyone around her to make sure that shop stays open.” Wow, I thought. I never thought about it like that.

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Asking will make you feel needy, awkward, and uncomfortable. However, asking also opens the door for new opportunities, new experiences, and growth. Like my husband always say, “The worst case scenario is that they’ll say no.” He’s right because no is actually not so bad. Even though they said no, you got something back in return. You got an answer. A definite answer you can work with. Ask and receive. Don’t ask and don’t.