The eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair has released the full list of nominees for the 2nd annual Best of the Independent eBook Awards. The Best of the Independent eBook Awards is a peer-nominated program designed to showcase the depth and range of content available in digital format from small presses, micro publishers, [...]
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May 1, 2013
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Book Marketing Online, Books, Creative Writing, Fiction, Literature, Poetry, Prose, Self-Help, Short Stories
 Leave a comment March 11, 2013
Sunspots by Karen S. Bell
Sunspots follows the healing journey of a young woman thrown into the horror of losing a spouse. It is a love story of loss and redemption and the ghosts that haunt our lives and our houses. Skirting the genres of magical realism and romance, Sunspots, explores [...] March 9, 2013
Book Cover for Finding Esta About the book:
A young journalist sets off to find Esta, but is unprepared for all she finds, and soon realises it’s a journey from which she may never return. * * * An unusual young woman and fledgling journalist, Luna has various restrictive oddities, all of [...] February 18, 2013
Book cover of A Walk On the Darkside About the book: Pearl Blackthorn is a novelist and investigative reporter for Darkside paranormal magazine. Armed with her digital recorder and accompanied by her friend and photographer Harry Raymond, Pearl is sent by her editor J.J Benson – affectionately known as Benny – to [...] February 4, 2013
About the Book: For ages, Masters of spirituality have been teaching the simple principles of living and of being. In our modern time, it has become increasingly difficult to implement the teachings to our everyday lives. Attributes of Mastery is a revised interpretation of specific states of being that can lead us to walk [...] September 23, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Current Events, Fiction, Geopolitical Events, Israel
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In this doomsday thriller “ripped from the headlines,” Iran has threatened to destroy Israel while actively developing the nuclear means to do so. Israel’s Prime Minister is suddenly hospitalized — shortly after learning that Iran is just a week away from entering the so-called “zone of immunity” [...] August 14, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Communications, Computers, Creative Writing, Current Events, Entertainment, Internet, Literature, Publishing, Short Stories, The Writer's Corner
Leave a comment What: eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair When: August 17th-19th, 2012 Where: www.efestivalofwords.com The eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair is the first virtual book fair dedicated to connecting readers with independent authors and small presspublishers of ebooks. The efestival is free to attend and will feature panel discussions, workshops, a scavenger hunt, a [...] June 21, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Book Marketing Online, Book Review, Books, Creative Writing, Entertainment, Fiction
Leave a comment About the book: Suze Hall is at a crossroads. Her nemesis at work, Wanda, has been promoted and now will be her boss. Her husband, Bob, is leaving her and the three kids for a six-month sabbatical down under. To top it off, her best friend, Marcia, is missing in action—playing footsie with [...] June 12, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Creative Writing, Entertainment, General Topics, Interview, Literature
Leave a comment Dakota Franklin’s Le Mans is nominated in the Best Action/Adventure category for the eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards. Dakota was kind enough to participate in a micro-interview about herself and the book. You can learn more about the book on the CoolMain Press website. JD: What is the last book [...] June 11, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Entertainment, Fiction, Homosexuality, Literature, Publishing
Leave a comment Shira Anthony is the author of Dreams of a Thousand Nights, published by Dreamspinner Press. The book is nominated in the Best Fantasy/Urban Fantasy category for the eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards. You can learn more about Shira and the book by visiting www.shiraanthony.com.
JAD: What is the last [...] June 8, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Commentary, Creative Writing, General Topics, Internet, Letters, Literature, Personal Experiences
Leave a comment I publish ebooks. I buy ebooks. I own three different Kindles. I embraced digital media a long time ago and know it is a good and useful thing. And yet… Yesterday I wrote a blog post regarding my thoughts on the passing of Ray Bradbury. In it, I reflected on how I actually first [...] June 4, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: America, Books, Current Events, Education, Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, Internet
Leave a comment I’d like to ask everyone’s support to help spread the word about a charity fundraiser I am launching right now. In 2004, I published my first roleplaying game product, Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss. Over the years, the setting has built a loyal fan base. One of the things fans have requested [...] May 7, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Comments & Discussion, Entertainment, Publishing
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Nothing helps us tap into the minds of writers like asking them ridiculous questions and forcing them to try to be witty, don’t you think?
As part of the festivities for the 2012 eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards, we’ve spent some time with a few of the nominees [...] May 1, 2012
The eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair announces the nominees for the first Best of the Independent eBook Awards. The complete list of nominees can be found at www.efestivalofwords.com. The eFestival of Words, scheduled for August 17-19, 2012, is the first virtual book fair designed specifically to highlight the best of the independent digital [...] April 16, 2012
Bards and Sages Publishing’s Bethany Beard conducted a micro-interview with romance writer Enid Wilson regarding her Jane Austen-inspired books as part of the Positively Published! Virtual Book Tour Program. For more information on Enid, visit her website at www.enidwilson.com BB- How are your books different from others that focus on Pride and [...] April 13, 2012
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Current Events, Democrat, Government, Healthcare, Opinion, Politics, Women's Perspective, Women's Rights, Working Women
16 comments When I was a child, I remember my father waking us up in the middle of the night, on a nightly basis, to get us in the car to go pick up my mother from her job at the sewing factory. My parents had one car. The factory was in a bad neighborhood. It [...] March 26, 2012
I feel left out. And it isn’t just me. I’ve spoken privately with a lot of folks like me. You know, those of us that operate small presses or micro presses. In the entire Indie versus trad discussion, it feels like writers have forgotten that there is an ocean of publishers who function outside [...] March 23, 2012
About the book: Witnessing a brutal murder at work is only the beginning of Celia’s problems. The fact that the victim is a vampire only proves to complicate her life even more. The vampires of New England have always had an undetected existence among humans but with the unprovoked death of one of [...] March 4, 2012
Snowmaggedon is currently a free download on Smashwords.com. About the book: Strange snow creatures are attacking the small town of Haydens’ Point and sending the residents into a panicked frenzy. Will the townsfolk be able to band together to eliminate this evil or, is it already too late? Excerpt: There are few things as [...] February 7, 2012
Craig Comer is one of three authors involved in The Roads to Baldairn Motte, a collection of three novellas linked by a common field of battle. Plunged into a war of succession, captains, lords, and simple crofters struggle against the winds of fate. But try as they might, all roads lead them to [...] January 18, 2012
Sometimes, I am overwhelmed at the generosity of the human spirit. Sometimes, I am dumbfounded by the lack of survival instinct in the human species. Once in a while, these two feelings hit me at the same time. The recent case of Amelia Rivera is one of those times.
Amelia suffers from Wolf-Hirschhorn [...] December 16, 2011
About the book: Young Girl with a dysfunctional family losses her grandmother to brain cancer. In an attempt to forget it all she turns to sex, drugs and self mutilation to numb the pain. Fifteen-year-old Faith Jordaine has a secret. Then again, who doesn’t? But this secret is tearing her apart. She can’t [...] November 14, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Entertainment, Fiction, Journalism, The Writer's Corner
One comment Bards and Sages Publishing’s own Cassandra Ganzak interviewed award-winning author Peter A. Balaskas in regards to his upcoming short story collection In Our House: Tantalizing Tales of Terror. About the Author: An accidental renaissance man, Peter A. Balaskas has been a chemist, theatre actor, camera technician for NBC Studios, freelance editor, voice-over artist, and most importantly, a lover of speculative fiction. His first book is the award-winning The Grandmaster, a supernatural thriller that takes place during the Holocaust. In Our House: Tantalizing Tales of Terror was featured at The New Short Fiction Series in Hollywood; previously showcased authors included critically-acclaimed Tod Goldberg, Aimee Bender and the legendary Ray Bradbury (whose work is a primary influence to Peter’s writing). He often serves as a journalist for L.A. Splash Magazine (www.lasplash.com). Continue reading Interview with Author Peter A. Balaskas
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November 7, 2011
The screaming was the first clue that I’d turned invisible again. Above the steady roar of the river, my teammates shouted: some with paddles flailing, others frozen mid-stroke. I’d never disappeared in front of anyone. Before this, I hadn’t even known if it was real or if I was losing my grip on sanity. But now, surrounded by people who looked terrified, I knew it was real. Continue reading Book Excerpt: Rippler by Cindy Swanson
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October 28, 2011
About the book: If you could speak to the dead, anyone at all, who would it be? When Jeni asked this question, Shada Emery figured it was a joke. So both she and Willow joined in the fun, naming their favorite dead celebrities. And then there was Ember Cole. Ember wants one more talk with her Grandpa Normie, whose death a year ago began a year of tragedy. So when Jeni suggests a camping trip into the dense woods of northwestern Wisconsin to hold a seance, Shada and Willow put off their misgivings and agree for the sake of their friend. Ember hopes to find the answers she seeks among the dead. But sometimes the dead have their own agenda. Continue reading Book Excerpt: Shada (Paranormal YA) by Craig Hansen
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October 6, 2011
Ron Boyer is one of the contributors to the upcoming America the Horrific horror anthology. The book features eleven tales of horror set against a backdrop of American legends and folklore. Ron’s short story, The Curse of Black Wolf Lake, follows a team of film makers who get more than they bargained for during a midnight shoot at a remote location. Ron is an award-winning poet, author, and screenwriter whose long list of accomplishments include being a two-time recipient of the Jefferson Scholarship, a two-time winner in the literature category from the John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts in Santa Barbara, and achieving the winner’s circle in the Television/Movie Script category of the 77th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing competition. Cassandra Ganzak conducted an interview with Ron to get his thoughts about his story and the horror genre in general. C.G. The story is focused on a group of filmmakers, and several famous horror movies are mentioned. Do you think it’s more difficult to bring horror to a written story or a film? What do you think are the key ingredients in a horror novel? Continue reading An Interview with Ron Boyer (America the Horrific Contributor)
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October 3, 2011
So once again we begin the month-long “celebration” of the Cult of Breast Cancer Awareness. And make no mistake, it is a cult. It is a cult committed to raising funds to sustain itself without actually achieving anything. Pink buttons. Pink ribbons. Pink bracelets celebrating “boobies.” All to raise funds in order to pay for more fundraising. Breast Cancer Awareness crusades by the cultists have become big business, meanwhile the best screening we have after all of this awareness is to squeeze my breasts between two cold, metal plates until I am in tears while all while exposing me to radiation. THAT IS THE BEST WE CAN DO? My mother has often said that if men had to place their balls between two cold metal plates and have them squeezed flat every year to look for potential signs of cancer, we’d have better treatment already. She’s right. But we’re not supposed to talk about that. That’s being negative. And we should instead be showering the world in pink ribbons to raise awareness while subjecting ourselves annually to barbaric torture in the name of early detection. Early detection that, more often than not, turns up erroneous positives or non-cancerous growths. Early detection that, more often than not, leads to unnecessary, intrusive medical procedures which cause increased stress and anxiety in the patients. Continue reading I don’t want more awareness. I want a cure.
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September 28, 2011
In 2010, the ratio of CEO pay to average employee pay was an astonishing 325-to-1. For every dollar the average worker was paid, the CEO was paid $325. There is a fundamental flaw in the system here. Raising the minimum wage won’t resolve this problem, because CEOs will preserve their pay by simply laying off people and moving jobs overseas.
Now before I get too far into this, let me say I have no problem with anyone making as much money as he or she is capable of making. If you come out with a great product or service and can maximize your profits on that product or service, I say “good for you!” People should have every right to profit from their own hard work.
But what I do have a problem with are people who profit off of the hardships they cause to others. Because over the last couple of years, one of the major trends we have seen is that the CEOs who earn the most have done so by laying off the most people and/or outsourcing the most jobs. These people aren’t making money because they created a great product or service. They are making money because they came into a company, laid off thousands of employees, and pocketed the savings for themselves.
And let’s be clear. We aren’t talking about demand-based layoff because of lack of work. Particularly in manufacturing, sometimes you just have to have temporary layoffs because there is no work available. But in normal layoffs, when the work returns, you call back the laid off employees. Continue reading Forget the Minimum Wage. What we need is a Maximum Wage
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September 8, 2011
I am tired of hearing about 9/11.
I’m tired of our leaders invoking it as an excuse to invade other countries that might have had, could possible have, may want to have, are friends with people who may have, or have thought about having weapons of mass destruction. As well as those that just happened to look at us cross-eyed. Firebombing every country that spits in our direction hasn’t accomplished anything but put us on the verge of bankruptcy and create more terrorists.
I’m tired of our leaders invoking it with faux patriotism while usurping my Constitutional rights in order to protect me. 9/11 was not caused because people were not taking off their shoes or submitting to virtual strip searches in airports. It was caused by government agencies not sharing information with each other to protect their little fiefdoms.
I’m tired of special interest groups invoking it whenever they want to dip into my pockets for some new program that will help “heal” our country. We don’t need more monuments, government funded studies on the impact of 9/11, or awareness programs. We need people to get their heads out of their asses and pay attention to what our leaders are doing RIGHT NOW. Continue reading I’m Tired of 9/11
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September 4, 2011
Book Summary : A paranormal thriller set in modern times. This is the second book in the Brodie Wade series. The first is Death Has a Name.
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August 31, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Addiction, America, Commentary, Crime, Current Events, Economics, Family, Government, Politics
13 comments There has been much discussion in regards to Florida’s mandatory drug testing law for welfare recipients. It plays well with the Tea Party crowd, who assumes that all people on welfare are drug addicts and alcoholics and that this will somehow reduce the deficit. The most common defense of the program comes from the fact the employers routinely test employees for drug use. If working people have to submit to drug tests, why don’t welfare recipients? But the problem with this argument is that it assumes employers test for drugs in order to detect illegal activities. That is not the reason. Employers test for drugs due to criminal and civil liability if one of their employees injures someone. My boss doesn’t really care what I do on my own time. If I get drunk on Saturday night and cause an accident, that is on me. But if I show up for work drunk and run someone over with a forklift, that liability falls squaring on the employer. Welfare recipients that do drugs are not a liability to the federal or state government in terms of accidents or injuries. If a welfare recipient gets high and causes an accident, the government is not held criminally or civilly liable. Because there is no direct liability, there is no practical reason to test for drugs. Of course, supporters of testing welfare recipients point to the idea that even if the drug tests are expensive, they will pay for themselves by weeding out addicts and denying their benefits. But this logic only makes sense if you believe that a disproportional number of recipients are drug addicts. Continue reading The Politics of Drug Testing
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August 30, 2011
Book Summary: A wind whips through the trees, carrying with it the call of Pandora’s Box. It will choose one victim, as it does every year, and beckon its quarry to open it. He will have one year to find the box. Or die. Twenty-year-old Fox is heir to the House of Lords, a group dedicated to protecting Pandora’s Box from the chosen who seek to open it. When the new chosen kidnaps her father, Fox rushes to find him. Joined by her best friend Onyx and the mysterious Falcon, her journey leads her to a strange silver-haired man, the ethereal Fae, and what may be her first, and only, chance at love. Continue reading Book Excerpt: Fox by Parrisha Martelly
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August 29, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Book Marketing Online, Books, Creative Writing, Entertainment, Fiction
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Book summary: Anya Millar had no memory of her life or an instruction manual on how to navigate the insane world of humans, biting, and reality. Instead, Anya has had to learn to navigate the world of love, life, and sanity with little other. This is the ongoing journey of Anya and Nicholas, human loving vampires and the human they love, Declán. What makes it all more complicated is that they are abominations in their own world and Declán is a natural born vampire hunter called a Guardian. Anya must come to terms with who she is and her missing past, Nicholas must win back the object of his eternal love while dealing with new cravings in his silent heart, and Declán must learn to destroy the very creatures that he has unequivocally given his heart and blood too. Learn more about the book at: http://housemillar.host56.com Excerpt: Continue reading Book Except: Blood’s Voice by Aine Massie
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August 4, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Art, Books, Commentary, Internet, Letters, Publishing, Technology
2 comments I was doing some routine updates with my blog last night, when suddenly my system froze up. I don’t know if it was a power surge from everyone in Bellmawr running their air conditioners, or if I accidentally hit the CRASH button and didn’t realize it, or if the cyber kobolds had decided last night was a good time to mess with me. But by the time I got the computer back up and running, my blog was…gone. 404 errors. Couldn’t get into it. Couldn’t even go to the address and SEE it. Gone.
No, it wasn’t backed up. I never thought to back up my blog. I back up my website. I back up my hard drive. But it just never occurred to me to back up my blog. So after a few more minutes of fussing with it, I simply started a new one and thanks to Google’s cache, was able to recover some of the more substantial blog posts.
Knowing how I usually get high strung over computer problems, Mike commented that I seemed surprisingly calm considering I just lost almost a year of blog posts. I said, “Eh, it’s just a blog.”
Earlier in the day, I had spent ten minutes deleting old books from my Kindle. Most of them were books I had been given for review and I wasn’t going to read again. So I deleted about a dozen books. GONE. I didn’t think twice about it. Continue reading Why Print Won’t (and Shouldn’t) Die
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August 3, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Accountability, America, Business, Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Economics, Finance, Government, The Economy
Leave a comment Do you know what the difference is between theory and practice? In theory, there is no difference. In practice, there is. For the last thirty years, a single mantra has dominated the Republican Party: Lower Taxes Equals Economic Growth. The theory behind trickle down economics is relatively simply. When the rich are able to keep more of their wealth, they will invest it into new businesses or expand existing businesses, thus creating jobs. Further, taxes are generally passed on to the consumer anyway, so when you lower taxes on the wealthy, the cost of products and services drop as those tax savings are passed on to the consumer. It is a nice theory, but it has never worked. EVER. There is no scientific data that demonstrates that trickle down has even generated jobs or encouraged economic growth. The Bush tax cuts didn’t create more jobs over the last decade. No, instead we have record unemployment and a record deficit. The ten year cost of those tax cuts? Between 1.3 to 2.8 TRILLION, depending on whether or not you want to follow liberal or conservative math formulae. Where is all that money if it is not creating jobs? Continue reading Ticket Tax Fiasco Proves Trickle Down an Epic Fail
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July 26, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Entertainment, Fiction, General Topics, Literature, Publishing, Short Stories
2 comments Book Summary: A homeless man trapped in a hell of his own making finds a reason to hope in Redemption Song. A camping trip turns into a race for survival after the discovery of a bizarre artifact in The Taking of Michael McConnolly. A man begins to question his sanity as patrons at a cafe begin to vanish one by one in Charlie’s Lunch. Over two dozen exceptional tales of terror from one of the emerging voices in the genre. The Taking of Michael McConnolly was named an Honorable Mention by Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year. “An impressive, often unnerving, and always gutsy collection, Beneath the Surface of Things easily marks Kevin Wallis as a writer to Beware of with such stories as Redemption Song and No Monsters Came That Night. Every story showcases Wallis’ determination to break through the so-called boundaries of dark fiction and explore disturbing and sometimes even eye-opening new worlds, some without, but most within. You owe it to yourself to look Beneath the Surface of Things.” Gary A. Braunbeck Interview conducted by Casey Blackwell for Bards and Sages Publishing Continue reading Author Interview: Kevin Wallis, author of Beneath the Surface of Things
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July 24, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Book Review, Books, Entertainment, Fiction, Literature
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Larabeth McLeod has beauty, money, several patents, a Ph.D., a successful environmental firm, and some very old secrets. When a man with the uncomfortable name of Babykiller begins stalking her, terrorizing her with stories of her darkest days in Vietnam, stories no one else knows, she feels compelled to fight back…until he exposes her most tender secret of all by threatening the daughter she has never met. She turns to private detective J.D. Hatten for help, breaking five years of separation and silence between quarreling friends. And then Babykiller shows his true capabilities. If she goes to the police for protection, people will die. Lots and lots of people will die. And one of them will be her daughter. Larabeth and J.D. are just a normal man and woman, up against a babykiller. But then, maybe Babykiller should have picked somebody else to play his twisted games… Continue reading Book Excerpt: Wounded Earth by Mary Anna Evans
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July 12, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Creative Writing, Entertainment, Family, Fiction, Publishing, The Writer's Corner, Women's Perspective
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Book Summary: What would you give up for the people you love? When Megan Taylor, a single mother and artist, receives the shocking news that her cancer has returned, she’ll be faced with the most difficult decision she’s ever had to make. She’ll endure an emotional journey, questioning her own moral and ethical values, and the decisions she’d made long ago. The love she has for her daughter, Olivia, and her closest friends, will be stretched and frayed. Meanwhile, fourteen-year-old Olivia’s world is falling apart right before her eyes, and there’s nothing she can do about it. She finds herself acting in ways she cannot even begin to understand. When her internal struggles turn to dangerous behavior, her life will hang in the balance. Megan’s closest friends are caught in a tangled web of deceit. Each must figure out how, and if, they can expose their secrets, or forever be haunted by their pasts. Continue reading Book Excerpt: Megan’s Way by Melissa Foster
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July 10, 2011
Christine Amsden is the author of The Immortality Virus. All this week, she is traveling around the web on a virtual book tour to talk about her book. You can find other tour dates here.
In the mid-21st century, the human race stopped aging. Those who know why aren’t talking, and the few who are brave enough to ask questions tend to disappear. To an elite few, The Change means long life and health, but to the ever-increasing masses, it means starvation, desperation, and violence. Four centuries after The Change, Grace Harper, a blacklisted P.I., sets off on a mission to find the man responsible for it all and solicit his help to undo The Change — if he’s still alive. To complicate matters, Grace’s employer is suspected of murdering his father, and when the police learn of their connection, they give her a choice — help them find the evidence they need to convict Matthew Stanton, or die. But if they discover Grace’s true mission, they won’t hesitate to kill her in order to preserve their shot at immortality.
Excerpt: Continue reading Virtual Book Tour: Book Excerpt from The Immortality Virus
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June 21, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Books, Children, Creative Writing, Family, Fiction, Publishing
2 comments
Book Summary: Becky Howard is a teen under pressure. Pressure from her best friend not to breathe a word about the abuse she’s suffering by her mother. Pressure from her sister to understand her marital difficulties. Pressure from her boyfriend to get more physical than she’s ready for. And pressure from the rumors about her boyfriend that are eroding her trust in him. As she prepares for the biggest track meet of her life, Becky’s about to learn that sometimes growing up is about more than having sex, and that clinging to ideals might not be as helpful as learning to expect whatever is MOST LIKELY. ================= Later that afternoon, after they’d all napped, Becky used the time to catch up with her reading in her American Government text. When Geena knocked at her door, she closed the book and looked up. “Come in.” Geena peeked her head in. “Busy?” Continue reading Virtual Book Tour Book Excerpt for Most Likely
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June 15, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Book Marketing Online, Books, Fiction, Literature, Romance
3 comments
Book Excerpt:
Dead people didn’t freak me out. Granted, being in a kitchen with a dead guy wasn’t one of my favourite pastimes, but I’d seen enough of them during my seventeen years in the police force to get used to it. The thing that was really freaking me out was that I’d have to call Romeo and let him know Carl Thomas was as dead as a sabre-toothed tiger. I hadn’t spoken to him for over a week since his ultimatum, and I kind of wanted to be in denial about the whole thing. I punched in his number on my mobile and glanced around the kitchen for anything screaming CLUE in big letters. Continue reading Virtual Book Tour: Book Excerpt
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June 7, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: African-American, Commentary, Congress, Democracy, Democrat, Freedom of Speech, Governance, Government, Homosexuality, Immigration, Islam, Marriage, Minorities, Religion, Republican, Social Issues, Spirituality, Women's Perspective, Women's Rights, Working Women
17 comments I am a registered Democrat, but I suppose you can more accurately say I am a recovering RHINO. Fiscally, I am conservative. I believe in reducing unneeded government regulation on business. I believe in the free market. I believe the tax laws need to be restructured and simplified. I don’t think we should spend money we don’t have. I believe illegal means illegal and as such illegal immigrants should not be granted special treatment. I believe “No Child Left Behind” has turned public education into a year-long testing cycle. I believe teachers should be paid based on merit and not tenure. I think unions have outlived their usefulness in most industries. I believe consumers need to take some responsibility for themselves when they take out mortgages that they can’t afford. And yet I voted Democrat in 2008. And I’ll vote Democrat in 2012. Because even though most Democrats have no clue what they are doing, the Republican Party is controlled by a bunch of extremists sociopaths that want to careen the U.S. toward Armageddon. The party has been hijacked by ignorant rednecks that hate science, hate education, and hate anyone who doesn’t spend every Sunday morning in church. But a few months ago, I started to hear about Herman Cain, and I was liking what I was hearing. This is a man who came from a working class minority family and became a self-made millionaire on hard work. He demonstrated a solid understanding of finance and was a smart business person who understood what it took to be successful. And he supports FairTax. A serious candidate giving serious consideration to FairTax? I had to learn more. But my elation was short lived. See, I did what a lot of people don’t do. I actually went looking for information to learn more. Continue reading Herman Cain: Christian Hypocrite
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May 3, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Art, Book Review, Books, Creative Writing, Entertainment, Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, General Topics, Literature, Publishing, Thought
Leave a comment I first met David Lawrence back in 2005, when he entered our annual writing competition. His short story “Through the Data Storm” was one of those standout pieces that lets you know as an editor that you are dealing with an author willing to take chances. Over the years I’ve read a great deal of David’s work, so it was a pleasure to have a chance to pin him down for a bit and see if I could figure out what makes him tick as an author. JD: While getting some notes together for this interview, I happened upon your Amazon Author Page. Care to explain what “metaphysical science fiction” is for those unfamiliar with your work? DL: Although I’m no Greek scholar, I believe the term metaphysics can be broken down to mean “beyond the physical.” This being the case, I use the word metaphysics to describe my interest in the deeper (spiritual) meaning(s) behind reality. At the same time I am attracted to the technological physicality of the science fiction genre. By pairing these two “opposites,” I hope to create a dynamic link between the natural and the supernatural, between the normal and the exceptional… that sort of thing. Another descriptor that might be used in place of “metaphysical science fiction” would be “spiritual cyberpunk.” And, in case you don’t know, cyberpunk is near-future dystopian science fiction focused on virtual reality and cybernetics. I heard cyberpunk died back in the 90’s (or something), but I never attended that farcical funeral. I never will. JD: infinitebook: From Web to Page is actually a collection of work that originally appeared on your blog, correct? Why put in print what you already released on your blog? What was the reason behind compiling the book? Continue reading Virtual Book Tour: Author Interview with David Lawrence
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April 20, 2011
About the Author: Geraldine originally wrote and published children’s books and middle-grade novels but found her true calling in Romance and Women’s fiction novels. She is the co-founder of Wild Mind Writer Presents–a non-profit company that organizes retreats, workshops and conferences for writers.Geraldine has studied writing courses at Stanford University where she currently works. She lives in the SF Bay area and is currently working on her next novel, Chocolicious–a story about love, loss, hope and redemption. You can find out more about Geraldine and her works at www.geraldinesolon.com. About the Book: Continue reading Virtual Book Tour: Geraldine Solon, Book Excerpt from Love Letter
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March 23, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Adoption, America, Children, Faith, Family, Government, Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Medical, Women's Rights
5 comments So South Dakota has passed a law that requires women seeking an abortion to wait three days before they can have the procedure, and suffer through a “counseling” session with unlicensed and noncertified counselors to…eh hem…make sure they are not being coerced into getting an abortion and that they understand their options. Now forget the fact for a moment that, contrary to pro-life advocates’ opinions, women do not seek abortions in the same manner that one would decide what color socks to wear. This is an exceptionally traumatic experience. Now forget the fact for a moment that women already are forced to wait, because South Dakota doesn’t even have its own abortion providers. Planned Parenthood has to fly in a provider once a week to perform the procedure, because death threats and artificially imposed legal hurdles in the state have prevented in state doctors from performing the procedure. It’s not like you can just walk in and get an abortion on your lunch break. It needs to be scheduled in advance for the day the doctor will be there. Now lets forget the fact that the ‘available options” are often non-existent. Do they mean the state and federal welfare programs (which are being slashed with hatchets left and right and are severely underfunded to begin with)? Maybe they mean adoption, which is a great theory but in practice horrifyingly stressful. Continue reading I suppose it isn’t hypocrisy if you agree with it, right?
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March 12, 2011
The downfall of the U.S. political system began with C-Span. Now to preface this, I want to say that I completely abide by the old standard “trust, but verify.” Making information available to citizens is a vital part of a democracy. We need to know what our elected officials are doing. The problem, however, is that we have become obsessed with EVERY single thing our elected officials are doing, at every waking moment. We fixate on things that have no bearing on the final goal, which leads us to misinterpret the actual scope of the final goal. Further, we have a class of professional politicians that have become rather adept at using smoke and mirrors to distract us with these unrelated, often completely false “facts” in order to confuse the general population. And yes, I blame C-Span. In 1979, C-Span launched as a means to provide America with complete coverage of its elected officials. The goal, though noble, provided the seed for what has become the 24-hour news cycle. Now, for the first time, Americans across the country could witness democracy in action as their elected officials debated bills on the floors of the House and Senate. The beauty of C-Span was that the average American could watch bills unfold as they happened. The problem of C-span was that the average American could watch bills unfold as they happened. And the average American has no clue what is going on. Continue reading The Transparency Myth
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January 17, 2011
Posted by Julie Ann Dawson in: Accountability, Commentary, Congress, Democracy, Economics, Education, Family
3 comments I firmly believe the single largest redistribution of wealth in our country is not taking from the rich and giving to the poor, but taking from those without children and giving to those that do. [...] January 10, 2011
Remember the fable about the boy that cried wolf? I’m reminded of this old fable when I read the reports regarding the assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords. In hindsight, someone should have realized there was an issue. But then again, how could they have heard the legitimate screams over the mundane whines for attention? [...] |
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Transcript from the live Q & A with Dr. Gregory Newby
Dr. Gregory Newby is the CEO and Director of the not-for-profit the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive. Dr. Newby participated in a live chat session on Sunday, August 19th as part of the eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair.
The following transcript has been edited as follows:
1. Chatbot log in/log outs and time [...]