...at Tabby's Nocturnal Nights Blog. http://www.tabithablakesnocturnalnights.com/interviews_3.html
Thanks to Tabitha Blake for the opportunity!
A plotter tries pantsing
I downloaded a comp and the germ of a story idea took form in my mind. I write romances, or mainstream with romantic elements, so the germ was romantic.
I had the impression of a woman being driven down this scary road by a man she didn't know -- and, of course, being afraid. But since it would be a romance, they'd get past her initial fear, develop a relationship and end up with their own HEA. The title "Wrong Turn" came to me, so I made a cover (these are inspirational motivators for me) and put it on the back burner.
I'm a plotter -- have to outline, have to make notes, have to do research, have to illustrate... Gotta know my characters, gotta know what happens, and when, and why.
But I decided to write the novella by the seat of my pants. Pantsers, as they are known, just sit down and start typing, and go wherever the story leads. They don't know when they start where it might end up.
I've read that most writers are a little of both -- that pantsers do a little plotting; and that plotters sometimes let the story, or a character, lead them where they will.
I don't know if I can do this pantser stuff. Where this story's taking me is absolutely bizarre. It started taking on a "paranormal" cast. I don't do paranormal. Vampires, shifters, aliens -- forget it. Gimme a real flesh-and-blood son of Adam, a human male, a MAN for my hero. So my hero remained human, and the paranormal elements came from something else.
Bigfoot.
Yes, Bigfoot in Dixie, since my stories are set in the South. Don't laugh. The Pacific Northwest doesn't have a corner on crypto-primates.
So the story started taking shape... and unfortunately did a little plot shape-shifting, if you'll pardon the pun. What started out as a heroine lost in a storm and then trapped with a mysterious hero by flood waters, now has mad scientists and crypto-monkeys with psychotronic brain implants. Bizarre!
I'm tempted to give up on this story. Just toss it and start plotting a real romance, like normal. But I said I was going to pants it, so I'll keep plugging away at it, until I'm absolutely certain it is a lost cause.
Meanwhile, you natural pantsers out there... Does this ever happen to you?
First harvest...
These are the first items from my upside-down garden -- a couple of cucumbers. Frankly, folks, I'm amazed that this even happened. The big one is a bit small--about five inches long. But I've got 'em in the fridge cooling down. Looking forward to a cuke-and-ranch salad!
Yum!
Book trailers revisited
In my latest essay for The False Rape Society blog, my subject was false sexual harassment statistics. (You can read the essay here: Rape Culture 101: The Little Brother of War.)
I gave a little background about my online search for the statistics, which I needed for a promotional video for my novel, Southern Man.
Now, because I enjoy editing videos (and Movie Maker is fun to play with) I ended up making four book trailer videos for Southern Man. But the one with the EEO stats has the greatest impact, I think.
Writing about my search made me nostalgic, so I've decided to post the video here. Enjoy!
I gave a little background about my online search for the statistics, which I needed for a promotional video for my novel, Southern Man.
Now, because I enjoy editing videos (and Movie Maker is fun to play with) I ended up making four book trailer videos for Southern Man. But the one with the EEO stats has the greatest impact, I think.
Writing about my search made me nostalgic, so I've decided to post the video here. Enjoy!
Southern Man by Connie Chastain -- Book Trailer II from Connie Chastain on Vimeo.
Sweet Southern Boys -- Excerpt
Sweet Southern Boys is the sequel to Southern Man. The manuscript is about fifty percent complete. Here's the blurb and an excerpt, the opener. Enjoy! And e-mail me your comments!
Shelby and the Other-Brothers ....
Shelby Kincaid, Randy Stevenson and John Mark Jordan have been best friends since grade school. Growing up in a small town in south Georgia, they have watched out for Shelby's little sister, Ainsley, and butted heads with Shelby's rival, Wesley Bratcher, a Northern-transplant. They've hunted and fished, played football, studied and learned, worked and worshipped -- together. The sons of close-knit families, they have been raised to be responsible, to revere God, and to love.
But when they are seniors in high school, they are charged with unspeakable crimes. Branded as criminals in headlines from coast to coast, persecuted by the justice system, abandoned by their community, their lives shattered and their futures jeopardized, they have nowhere to turn but themselves, their families and their faith.
Sweet Southern Boys is a tale of what happens when societal watchdogs run amok and political correctness carries more weight than truth.
___________________________
Sweet Southern Boys
by
Connie Chastain
Excerpt
Prologue
Verona, Georgia
January 15, 1993The vehicle streaked westward on a dirt road through sparse woodlands, kicking up dust in its wake. Behind the wheel, Randy Stevenson, soon to turn eighteen, monitored the road ahead. Tall and broad shouldered, he was a gracefully muscled athlete. Shaggy black hair framed his face -- a sensitive, enigmatic face that captivated girls at Verona High School.
Only people who knew him well--and the two boys with him knew him as well as anyone in the world-- would know how agitated he was behind his stony expression. His nostrils flared, his respiration was rapid and shallow. His hands were not trembling only because they held the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip.
A last quarter moon hung in the sky ahead, glowing through a hazy cloud cover. It was eight o'clock. The temperature hovered around forty degrees and the three boys wore lightweight jackets over their jeans and shirts.
Randy's eyes darted to the rear view mirror. In the distance, a dusk-to-dawn light cast a circular glow in the misty darkness and shone down on the riverside cabin the boys had hastily departed moments before. The cabin and the half dozen vehicles parked around it disappeared as trees closed in behind the speeding car.
How does my garden grow?
Frankly, I'm amazed. I didn't know whether this was gonna work or not. And it's still open to question. I won't call it a success until I have a tasty tomato sandwich, some cheesy squash and a cuke-and-ranch salad on my table....
I keep watering and feeding and checking. So far no worms or bugs, although some of the tomato leaves have turned dark at the edges. The plant seems okay though.
I'm kinda proud. I'm no farm girl and this is miraculous stuff for me.
They're really growing!
First cucumber blooms -- there were two this day.
Many more now.
Tomato bloom -- there are actually four cozily sharing a stem.
Squash blooms. There are tons of them!
But the plants are growing and blooming. The squash is particularly active, with literally dozens of buds -- and blooms opening every day. I read that the early blooms on squash plants are usually male, and that's why they fall off; the female blooms have little bulges at the base.
I keep watering and feeding and checking. So far no worms or bugs, although some of the tomato leaves have turned dark at the edges. The plant seems okay though.
I'm kinda proud. I'm no farm girl and this is miraculous stuff for me.
Authonomizing!
After reading about authonomy for several months, I decided to check it out for myself. Basically, authonomy is HarperCollins' experimental e-alternative to the traditional paper slushpile. It's a website where writers, readers, agents, editors and publishers gather to read and evaluate unpublished or self-published works.
The uploaded material, most often several chapters of novels, but there's nonfiction, too, is read and rated, and the ratings calculated into rankings. The top five ranking books each month make it to the "editor's desk" where a board made of HarperCollins editors read at least 10,000 words and offer feedback to the author.
The hope is that the editors will find among the electronic slushpile offerings a submission they'd like to publish. Thus far (authonomy has been operating for several months), three novels have been found on authonomy and published by HarperCollins. Ironically, they weren't among those making it to the top five and the editors' desk.
The odds of your novel being found and snatched up at authonomy look, well, pretty dismal. However, there's more going on there than meets the eye. Editors and agents not affiliated with HarperCollins are said to lurk there. How many publishable jewels they might have found, nobody is saying.
I published Southern Man myself because I thought the underlying theme of anti-feminism would make it unpalatable to traditional publishers. Nevertheless, I decided to upload my novel at authonomy and just see what would happen.
HarperCollins is a British company with branches around the world. A great many participants at authonomy are European. My impression, just from reading the offerings at authonomy, is that writers across the pond, and in Australia and New Zealand, are talented wordsmiths and story tellers, and I've been gratified by the reception they've given Southern Man.
If I understand the rankings, Southern Man has gone from 5261 when uploaded on April 30 to 971 today, May 16. The green up arrow indicates that it has gained 97 points in rankings over the last time is was calculated (which I assume is daily). I don't know that it will sustain this climb in the rankings enough to make it to the Editor's Desk. Time will tell.
But meanwhile, I've enjoyed some of the comments left by readers -- what a boon to an author's ego!
I don't know whether HarperCollins' experiment with an electronic slushpile will ultimately prevail, but something will have to replace paper submissions eventually, to all publishers, just for the sake of saving trees. What shape the future of submissions takes will likely be greatly influenced by the authonomy experience.
The uploaded material, most often several chapters of novels, but there's nonfiction, too, is read and rated, and the ratings calculated into rankings. The top five ranking books each month make it to the "editor's desk" where a board made of HarperCollins editors read at least 10,000 words and offer feedback to the author.
The hope is that the editors will find among the electronic slushpile offerings a submission they'd like to publish. Thus far (authonomy has been operating for several months), three novels have been found on authonomy and published by HarperCollins. Ironically, they weren't among those making it to the top five and the editors' desk.
The odds of your novel being found and snatched up at authonomy look, well, pretty dismal. However, there's more going on there than meets the eye. Editors and agents not affiliated with HarperCollins are said to lurk there. How many publishable jewels they might have found, nobody is saying.
I published Southern Man myself because I thought the underlying theme of anti-feminism would make it unpalatable to traditional publishers. Nevertheless, I decided to upload my novel at authonomy and just see what would happen.
HarperCollins is a British company with branches around the world. A great many participants at authonomy are European. My impression, just from reading the offerings at authonomy, is that writers across the pond, and in Australia and New Zealand, are talented wordsmiths and story tellers, and I've been gratified by the reception they've given Southern Man.
If I understand the rankings, Southern Man has gone from 5261 when uploaded on April 30 to 971 today, May 16. The green up arrow indicates that it has gained 97 points in rankings over the last time is was calculated (which I assume is daily). I don't know that it will sustain this climb in the rankings enough to make it to the Editor's Desk. Time will tell.
But meanwhile, I've enjoyed some of the comments left by readers -- what a boon to an author's ego!
I don't know whether HarperCollins' experiment with an electronic slushpile will ultimately prevail, but something will have to replace paper submissions eventually, to all publishers, just for the sake of saving trees. What shape the future of submissions takes will likely be greatly influenced by the authonomy experience.
Any Web-TV old timers out there?
In about 1998, I learned about the World Wide Web on my computer at work, and when I changed jobs, I was anxious to get online at home. I checked into Web-TV and decided it would be a cost-effective temporary substitute for a computer.
I was a happy webber, and kept my Web-TV subscription for a good while after I got a computer in the summer of 1999. My mom was also bit by the Web-TV bug and we bought her several of the units -- usually they'd meet their demise when lightning struck close by.
She loved her Web-TV and she loved her kitty-cat, Boonie.
One of the things we both loved were some of the background tunes. There were lots of them, in various genres -- we liked jazz, funk and rock the most. Yeah, yeah, they were midi files, very rudimentary electronic music, but there were some that really grabbed us: Cool Shades, Flute Boy, Funky, Future Sound, Groovy, Herbie, Jive Coffee, PCH, Xess, Renegado.
Periodically since I've been online with my computers, I've looked for midi archives with Web-TV's music. Happily, I recently found one here: http://www.gnu-bee.com/webbie_zone.shtml
I've downloaded all my favorites, even though some are rmf (rich music format) files that I can't play with out a Beatnik player, which is no longer supported by Beatnik. I'll keep looking for a player, or a program that will convert .rmf files to .mid files.
If anyone knows how to do this, lemme know!
I was a happy webber, and kept my Web-TV subscription for a good while after I got a computer in the summer of 1999. My mom was also bit by the Web-TV bug and we bought her several of the units -- usually they'd meet their demise when lightning struck close by.
She loved her Web-TV and she loved her kitty-cat, Boonie.
One of the things we both loved were some of the background tunes. There were lots of them, in various genres -- we liked jazz, funk and rock the most. Yeah, yeah, they were midi files, very rudimentary electronic music, but there were some that really grabbed us: Cool Shades, Flute Boy, Funky, Future Sound, Groovy, Herbie, Jive Coffee, PCH, Xess, Renegado.
Periodically since I've been online with my computers, I've looked for midi archives with Web-TV's music. Happily, I recently found one here: http://www.gnu-bee.com/webbie_zone.shtml
I've downloaded all my favorites, even though some are rmf (rich music format) files that I can't play with out a Beatnik player, which is no longer supported by Beatnik. I'll keep looking for a player, or a program that will convert .rmf files to .mid files.
If anyone knows how to do this, lemme know!
Raising gardens, raising books...
My little upside down garden seems to be doing well. There's a bloom on the tomato plant!
I'm also very excited to have received a request from a publisher for a partial (first three chapters) of Storm Surge! It will be several weeks before I hear from them about whether to submit the entire manuscript. Meanwhile, I'm working on Sweet Southern Boys and some other writing projects.
Looking forward to the day a few weeks from now when I'm sitting at the computer, preparing my next query/submission, with a plate next to my keyboard -- tempting me with a sandwich made with tomatoes from my own little upside down garden!
I'm also very excited to have received a request from a publisher for a partial (first three chapters) of Storm Surge! It will be several weeks before I hear from them about whether to submit the entire manuscript. Meanwhile, I'm working on Sweet Southern Boys and some other writing projects.
Looking forward to the day a few weeks from now when I'm sitting at the computer, preparing my next query/submission, with a plate next to my keyboard -- tempting me with a sandwich made with tomatoes from my own little upside down garden!
Blogging at The False Rape Society
I'm gratified by the opportunity to become a contributor to this fantastic blog begun by Attorney Pierce Harlan. You can't read my blog or website -- or my novels -- without concluding that I'm no feminist and that I support the men's rights movement. And false rape accusations overwhelmingly impact men.
Over time, I'll educate myself on what feminists say about the "rape culture" and how it appears to impact the growing number of false rape accusations. Actually, do anyone but feminists talk about a "rape culture"? I think the claim is as dubious as the article positing that overwhelming "hatred of women" exists in the United States (it was on truthout years ago, or Daily Kos or one of those ultra-lib websites -- I'll find it and post a link when I have time). Really? The USA, where women have excessive influence over government, run public education, and enjoy the cushiest female existence on the planet? Gimme a break!
In any case, I'll post what I discover in short essays at The False Rape Society. Many thanks to Pierce for the opportunity!
Over time, I'll educate myself on what feminists say about the "rape culture" and how it appears to impact the growing number of false rape accusations. Actually, do anyone but feminists talk about a "rape culture"? I think the claim is as dubious as the article positing that overwhelming "hatred of women" exists in the United States (it was on truthout years ago, or Daily Kos or one of those ultra-lib websites -- I'll find it and post a link when I have time). Really? The USA, where women have excessive influence over government, run public education, and enjoy the cushiest female existence on the planet? Gimme a break!
In any case, I'll post what I discover in short essays at The False Rape Society. Many thanks to Pierce for the opportunity!
Taking a break from writing...
...to mess around in the great outdoors....
My Upside Down Garden
I'm not much of a TV watcher, but I've been doing a little more of that lately and one thing that's caught my eye is something called the Topsy Turvy tomato planter. Last time I tried to grow tomatoes, squirrels and some kind of little worm shredded the plants, so I wondered if this off-the-ground garden might work for me.
But with my track record, I didn't want to spend twenty bucks per planter. Soooo, I got online and found all sorts of do-it-yourself upside down planter instructions (I do love the Internet!) and decided to try my hand at upside down gardening on the cheap.
My planters are gallon ice cream buckets (I've been sticking them in the back of the cabinet for-ever -- always knew they'd come in handy for something!). They're smaller than the Topsy Turvy and some other homemade solutions (five-gallon hard plastic buckets, for example), which means I'll have to water and feed the plants more often.
But here's my first attempt, cobbled together Tuesday and Wednesday, April 20 and 21, 2010.
Below: My happy little ice cream bucket upside-down planters -- one missing a top. Various sites recommend keeping a top on the planter, to keep in moisture. Apparently these things can dry out pretty fast. Recommendations are to water once or twice a day, and feed the plants every couple of weeks.
Below: Yellow crookneck squash. (Love cheesy squash!) Sixty-five days to harvest.
Below: Cucumber. Fifty-five days to harvest after transplanting. Ah, I can taste the cuke and tomato salad now!
Below. Another view of my upside down veggie garden. I knotted the plant hangers from clothesline -- it's made to take what the outdoors dishes out -- purchased at a big box store.
Below: The, um, gallows? I made it myself from two old fence posts and a somewhat curved two by four.
Below: Another tip found online. Make a "soaker" waterer out of an old gallon milk jug with pinholes punched in the bottom. Since my planters are "half-size" I'm using a half-gallon jug.
Just released -- High On a Mountain by Tommie Lyn
A MacLachlainn Saga, Book One: Ailean.
The stirring tale of one man's remarkable journey through life; a story of adventure and love...of faith, loss and redemption.
Dedicated to our Scottish ancestors,
who suffered so much, yet
endured it all without complaint
and without succumbing to self-pity.
As a boy, Ailean MacLachlainn dreamed of living an adventurous life and longed to be a celebrated warrior of his clan. Until a shy smile and a glance from Mùirne's blue eyes turned his head and escalated his rivalry with Latharn into enmity and open conflict.
When Ailean became a man, his boyhood dreams faded. Until Bonnie Prince Charlie came to reclaim his father's throne. The Jacobite loyalties of Ailean's clan chief involved the MacLachlainns in the uprising and set Ailean on a course toward a destiny of which he could never have dreamed.
A hearty congratualtions to my sister, Tommie Lyn, on the publication of the book that started it all for her. Fantastic job, sis!
The stirring tale of one man's remarkable journey through life; a story of adventure and love...of faith, loss and redemption.
who suffered so much, yet
endured it all without complaint
and without succumbing to self-pity.
As a boy, Ailean MacLachlainn dreamed of living an adventurous life and longed to be a celebrated warrior of his clan. Until a shy smile and a glance from Mùirne's blue eyes turned his head and escalated his rivalry with Latharn into enmity and open conflict.
When Ailean became a man, his boyhood dreams faded. Until Bonnie Prince Charlie came to reclaim his father's throne. The Jacobite loyalties of Ailean's clan chief involved the MacLachlainns in the uprising and set Ailean on a course toward a destiny of which he could never have dreamed.
A hearty congratualtions to my sister, Tommie Lyn, on the publication of the book that started it all for her. Fantastic job, sis!
Confederate History Month
"The SOUTH is a land that has known sorrows; it is a land that has broken the ashen crust and moistened it with tears; a land scarred and riven by the plowshare of war and billowed with the graves of her dead; but a land of legend, a land of song, a land of hallowed and heroic memories.
"To that land every drop of my blood, every fiber of my being, every pulsation of my heart, is consecrated forever. I was born of her womb; I was nurtured at her breast; and when my last hour shall come, I pray GOD that I may be pillowed upon her bosom and rocked to sleep within her tender and encircling arms."Edward Ward Carmack (1858-1908),
United States Representative, Tennessee
It's unfortunate if anyone is offended by my tribute to Confederate History Month, but I don't apologize for esteeming my Southern ancestors, or blame them for fighting an invading army that brought waste, fire and death to their homes and region.
My position is that the people of the Confederacy were no worse than anyone else -- particularly the ones who came South and made war on them.
I'm not one of those who claim, "The war had nothing to do with slavery." Nor do I accept the simplistic reasoning that slavery was the only reason for the war. A review of history plainly shows that there had been bad blood between north and South since colonial days; slavery was just an excuse to bring the animosity to blows.
I can't say it any better than Douglas Harper has written it:
Dealing with American history on this level requires patience and the ability to get past attitudes unwilling to go further than, "They had slaves, slaves were wrong, the South deserves everything it got." The American Civil War was "about" slavery like the Boston Tea Party was "about" tea. Slavery became the symbol and character of all sectional differences. It was the emotional gasoline on the sectional fires. Its moral and social implications colored every issue in terms of right and rights. William Seward, the Republican leader whose party made so much of this, recognized the fact: "Every question, political, civil, or ecclesiastical, however foreign to the subject of slavery, brings up slavery as an incident, and the incident supplants the principal question."
No matter what squabbles the regions had, and there were many, somebody always brought slavery into the argument, so that what has come down to us is an erroneous emphasis on slavery as the only issue.
All that's necessary to see there was far more to the war than slavery is to read the declarations of secession issued by the states. On anti-Southern blogs, you sometimes find the declarations with everything deleted but the passages referring to slavery.
This is possibly a photo of my ancestor, Private Balus Brackett, Company I, 39th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Tennessee, C.S.A. Gilmer County, Georgia, "Gilmer Tigers #2" Joined the Confederate Army March 4, 1862. Fought in the Battle of Corinth, Miss, October 3-4, 1862
In any case, whatever others may choose, I will honor my Confederate ancestors and their causes, plural, their gallantry, their nobility, their sacrifice. Had the Confederate States of America prevailed, had slavery ended peacefully, the victim of economics and industrialization, as it had ended everywhere else up till then, I can't imagine the CSA would be any more screwed up today than the United States of America is....
Heroines of the Confederate States of America
A politically incorrect tribute on the occasion of Women's History Month 2010
Varina Howell Davis
First Lady of the Confederacy
http://www.civilwar.si.edu/leaders_varinadavis.html# ________________________________________
Mary Boykin Chesnut
The Confederacy's Renown Diarist http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnut/bio.html
Diary here: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnut/menu.html ________________________________________
Rose O'Neal Greenhow
Famous Confederate Spy and Courier to Europe http://www.mycivilwar.com/leaders/greenhow_rose.htm________________________________________
Belle Boyd
Confederate Spy and "Cleopatra of Secession"
http://civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/maria-belle-boyd.html ________________________________________
Emma Sansom, Gallant Frarm Girl of Alabama http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1360________________________________________
LaGrange, Georgia's female militia, The Nancy Harts
Named for a Georgia heroine of the American Revolution
http://www.forttyler.com/nancyharts.htm
http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/nancyharts.html________________________________________
The Women of Roswell Mills, Georgia
Civilian captives of the Yankee invader
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1086
Photos: Varina Davis, Wikipedia; Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina; Belle Boyd, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina; Mary Boykin Chesnut, City of Alexandria website: Emma Sansom, Alabama Archives and History via FindAGrave.
First Lady of the Confederacy
http://www.civilwar.si.edu/leaders_varinadavis.html#
The Confederacy's Renown Diarist
Diary here: http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/chesnut/menu.html
Famous Confederate Spy and Courier to Europe
Confederate Spy and "Cleopatra of Secession"
http://civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/maria-belle-boyd.html
Named for a Georgia heroine of the American Revolution
http://www.forttyler.com/nancyharts.htm
http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/nancyharts.html
The Women of Roswell Mills, Georgia
Civilian captives of the Yankee invader
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1086
Photos: Varina Davis, Wikipedia; Rose O'Neal Greenhow, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina; Belle Boyd, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina; Mary Boykin Chesnut, City of Alexandria website: Emma Sansom, Alabama Archives and History via FindAGrave.
A great cause to support
Men's Studies. But really? Is that necessary?
For decades, education in the United States has been oriented to the way girls learn while showing hostility to how boys learn. As a result, boys are falling behind in school. Almost two-thirds of college students are females, which is used as justification for denying male students participation in sports. Boys are three to four times as likely as girls to commit suicide.
Men die sooner. They account for over 90% of workplace deaths. They have been hit particularly hard by the service economy and the current recession. Men are disproportionately victimized by America's family court system, having their children and livelihood stolen from them. Male victims of domestic violence are routinely ignored by legislators, law enforcement and the public. Men are disproportionately demonized in the media and the popular culture.
Feminism claims to be about equality of the sexes. Why, then, have there been Women's Studies courses in our universities for decades, but no Men's Studies?
Hopefully, that is about to change, thanks to the On Step Institute which is sponsoring a symposium on Male Studies on April 7, 2010.
As a supporter of Men's Rights, I give the On Step Institute a hearty cheer.
For decades, education in the United States has been oriented to the way girls learn while showing hostility to how boys learn. As a result, boys are falling behind in school. Almost two-thirds of college students are females, which is used as justification for denying male students participation in sports. Boys are three to four times as likely as girls to commit suicide.
Men die sooner. They account for over 90% of workplace deaths. They have been hit particularly hard by the service economy and the current recession. Men are disproportionately victimized by America's family court system, having their children and livelihood stolen from them. Male victims of domestic violence are routinely ignored by legislators, law enforcement and the public. Men are disproportionately demonized in the media and the popular culture.
Feminism claims to be about equality of the sexes. Why, then, have there been Women's Studies courses in our universities for decades, but no Men's Studies?
Hopefully, that is about to change, thanks to the On Step Institute which is sponsoring a symposium on Male Studies on April 7, 2010.
As a supporter of Men's Rights, I give the On Step Institute a hearty cheer.
We have a winner!
Folks, I apologize for my Itsy Bitsy Story Contest being sabotaged by technology (or the failure thereof) among other things. We had one vote, cast by starfleetbrat, which went to Shannon. And here's Shannon's winning entry:
Congratulation, Shannon. And thanks to all who participated!
Connie
The vice president had told him to create a "game plan" to sell the stockholders on the new direction the company was taking. Mark knew what he was - a shill for the suits. It was time to learn how to talk out of both sides of his mouth, he figured. No one really believed those motivational posters right? Supposedly inspirational pictures with pithy sayings to keep the grunts from complaining too loudly. His promotion put him on the inside and so he had to wear the mask. His boss, of course, called it being a team player.
Congratulation, Shannon. And thanks to all who participated!
Connie
Let the voting begin
Congrats and thanks to the seven entrants in the Itsy Bitsy Story Contest. I'm glad I'm the moderator and don't get a vote, because they're all great and I'd lose sleep trying to choose!
Read the stories here: Entries
Then, beginning at midnight (February 8) choose your favorite by number or author name -- and vote in the comments HERE.
Voting ends Sunday, February 14, 2010 at midnight.
1. Alison McEvoy Murray
"She loves me...she loves me not....
2. Rowan Elizabeth
"She watches him from across the library...."
3. starfleetbrat
"He sees her by the water cooler..."
4. lastingdreams
"With all the technology surrounding us..."
5. Shannon
"The vice president had told to create a 'game plan'..."
6. serafine-fic
"Surrounded by the files they had worked so hard on...."
7. Ai
"Dear Mom, Boarding school sucks..."
It's been great fun and I hope to do it again, with more promotion and, hopefully, more great entries!
Thanks again to all who entered stories. You're all great writers!
Connie
Read the stories here: Entries
Then, beginning at midnight (February 8) choose your favorite by number or author name -- and vote in the comments HERE.
Voting ends Sunday, February 14, 2010 at midnight.
1. Alison McEvoy Murray
"She loves me...she loves me not....
2. Rowan Elizabeth
"She watches him from across the library...."
3. starfleetbrat
"He sees her by the water cooler..."
4. lastingdreams
"With all the technology surrounding us..."
5. Shannon
"The vice president had told to create a 'game plan'..."
6. serafine-fic
"Surrounded by the files they had worked so hard on...."
7. Ai
"Dear Mom, Boarding school sucks..."
It's been great fun and I hope to do it again, with more promotion and, hopefully, more great entries!
Thanks again to all who entered stories. You're all great writers!
Connie
Woohoo, Saints Superbowl Champs!
Congrats to Coach Sean Peyton, Quarterback Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints on their Superbowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Husband ecstatic; crying tears of joy. He's a Louisiana Boy who's been waiting for this for decades!
Contest Deadline Extended
Thanks to the slimy black-hat hackers who created "Internet Security 2010" fake anti-virus malware -- which has attacked my computer several times, caused loss of time and data, necessitated two restores of my system, and thus kept me from promoting the Itsy Bitsy Story Contest as I'd planned -- I'm extending the deadline another week, to February 7th. Voting for the winner will start February 8th and run until February 14 -- Valentine's Day! Post both your contest entry and your votes in the comments section.
There are some great entries already. Go read them, you'll enjoy them. Many thanks to the entrants!
So join in! Tell fellow writers in your forums and groups. It's great fun and because of the word restriction, it really is a challenge!
There are some great entries already. Go read them, you'll enjoy them. Many thanks to the entrants!
So join in! Tell fellow writers in your forums and groups. It's great fun and because of the word restriction, it really is a challenge!
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