I was looking through older posts from various bloggers, and I found this–I love this sentiment!
Month: February 2017
Brandy Maxie, Bone Woman: What Non-Indians Just Learned About the Power of Voice
StandardThis post is excellent and needs to be read! As K.C. Redding-Gonzalez says, “Brandy Maxie is a Bone Woman, a keeper of sacred Voice.”
As writers, it is a grail second only to the holy one of publication… finding and using your Voice…
And here in the last days of Women in Horror Month, comes Brandy Maxie – at once a beautiful, striking young woman and a single, solitary figure standing in tears and alone at the DAPL protest campground, being vacated under threat of arrest.
Some would say the reporter covered her because of that: a vulnerable and pretty woman is always good press. But I say the reason is otherwise. Brandy Maxie is a Bone Woman, a keeper of sacred Voice.
Voice is about Knowledge, and Power, and Heart.
So clearly distressed, so clearly heartbroken, her words rattle the houses of denial where we all choose to live, a Powerful wind born of the earth itself. Her tears are transformative, even as she does not seem to know it yet –…
View original post 1,684 more words
Importance of Freedom of the Press
StandardIn our current political climate, in which the Press has been attacked as somehow against the people, it is important to remember that a free Press was seen by the founders of the United States of America as a crucial element to keeping the nation free. Other thinkers have argued for the maintenance of the free Press as a necessary aspect of battling tyranny and supporting freedom. The Press is one of the institutions that must be preserved if the nation is to remain a free democracy.
One of the writers whose work most clearly illustrated the abuse of power and the effects of the suppression of the Press was George Orwell.
“Freedom of the Press, if it means anything at all,
means the freedom to criticize and oppose.”
George Orwell
In an example of the use of the free press itself, Teddy Roosevelt said, in an editorial in The Kansas City Star, 1918:
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Perhaps the most important words about the Press come from the paramount document for the country: The Constitution of the United States of America, The First Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
BURNING DOWN THE SYSTEM TO THE GROUND?
StandardI have until now avoided political commentary on my blog, keeping it mainly for writing. But I can no longer stand by and say nothing, not when a person who so clearly despises democracy has the ear of the President of the United States. Bannon’s heroes are fascists, and these are the people that America fought against in World War Two. This is an excellent post, and it needs to be read.
Why does Steve Bannon want to “burn down our form of government to the ground?” By Steve Bannon’s definition, it means doing away with our democratic system of government. With words like nationalism, populism, and his strong belief in Eurasian, the writing is on the wall, literally.
Eurasian means a system of authoritarian government that is, at best a dictatorship, at worse a medieval form of governance. Think, the Ottoman Empire. Bannon is not a conservative, he is an “Imperialist – like Putin – but worse.
Bannon’s belief in Eurasian, is a system of government that loathes secular modernity, like America and most Western European countries. Bannon’s belief heralds back to the Slavic-Turkic land empire and it is Bannon’s wish to do just that, democracy must go, ergo, he intends through Trump to do just that – “burn down our system of government to the ground.”
How do I know…
View original post 53 more words
What I Love Most About WordPress
I thought this post about the diversity of people we connect with on WordPress was important and powerful! And if you have not read any of artemisdelmar’s posts, please visit her site.
If you have a blog, take a moment and look at the map of countries in your stats.
When I realized what this map was, I knew I wanted to increase the number of countries on my map. I had no idea how to do that. I would stare at my map after logging in and wonder just how to reach people in different parts of the world. Though, I had no real plan of action for this; my followers were mainly in the United States, with a couple in the United Kingdom and one in India, and I had no idea how to market this blog internationally.
How was I going to reach parts of the world that I’ve only visited through movies, books or my imagination? Again, there was no plan of action for this, I just wanted people in different countries to visit my blog.
Last night my…
View original post 168 more words
Point of View
StandardThanks to Karen Dowdall at Pen and Paper for this excellent discussion of point-of-view in writing.
I believe that in order to tell a story well, it depends most specifically on a point of view. What Point-of-View do you think meets your style of writing most often or does it all depend on the story you are writing? Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing, by Melissa Donovan, chapter six: “Narrative Point of View.”
(The terms story and narrative can be used interchangeably, meaning a sequence of events, real or fictional, that are conveyed through any medium ranging from prose to film. However, when we talk about narrative, we’re often referring to the structural nature or presentation of a story, the manner in which it’s told.)
Point of View in Storytelling
The narrator of a story is the in-world storyteller, the voice that imparts the story events to the audience. Narrative point of view, often called POV…
View original post 785 more words
Needed Books For Our Time
StandardSome books speak to a specific time, and some reach across eras with their messages. Some include a message for a definite audience, while others span a more general readership. And some times call out for certain books to be read.
Books are one form of the Media, which must remain free if freedom itself is to survive. Given the turmoil of our present time, I am suggesting these books as crucial reading for today’s world:
1984
George Orwell
(https://commons.wikimedia.org)
Night
Elie Wiesel
(http://night2011.wikispaces.com)
It Can’t Happen Here
Sinclair Lewis
A Day at the Art Museum – Inspiring Children
StandardThis post is a very important piece on the importance of art for children. And I should add, for all people.
Art and preschoolers go hand-in-hand. If I want children to feel excited and inspired by art, it must begin with me. I recently visited the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire and… oh my!
Let me back up. I want to talk about real with young children. This is important. Learning and joy come from playing with real things; tree stumps for building, tools at a workbench, cooking, forging through snow without sleds or shovels, live animals, musical instruments. When I introduce something real, every child instantly wants to ‘be there’. Art is no exception.
I was struck by this painting, a view of Mount Washington in 1880, by Gamaliel Beaman. Then I looked closely. This is what I saw:
Every brush stroke. Raised paint. Light. Intense color. I was inches away from a masterpiece. Real.
Art. I need to share all of these real elements…
View original post 269 more words
Thank You to Everyone Who Helped Me Win on Cover Wars!
Standard
Thank you to everyone who helped me in this Cover Wars contest at authorshout.com. I know that I was a bit of a pest with my posts about voting for me, so I do apologize if I went overboard. To all who helped me with voting and with excellent suggestions on how to reach people–Thank you!!! I have received a great deal of aid from my wife, family, friends, and friends from the wonderful community I have found at WordPress.
I also want to thank Judy Bullard at customebookcovers@cox.net for her wonderful work on my book. I will certainly work with her again, and I give her my highest recommendation.
Please follow the following links to find my novel:
Thank you!
The book trailer:
Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I
My radio interview:
One Last Request for Votes for Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book I by Charles F. French in Cover Wars
StandardOnce more unto the breach, dear friends….But to Cover Wars, not real wars…The contest is almost over, and it has become very tight, so if you can vote again tonight, I am asking you to do so. And thank you!
Thank you to everyone who has supported my cover and voted in Cover Wars! The competition is almost over–8 A.M on Sunday morning, so if you have already voted for my book, I am asking you to vote again on Saturday in the final stretch of this competition. If you have not voted, I am asking for you to consider it. You are allowed to vote multiple times, as long as it is only once every 24 hours. I am currently leading but only by a few votes, so once again, I am engaging in shameless begging and asking all for your help. I appreciate it deeply if you do vote for my cover!
Please visit this site to vote! Cover Wars
Please follow the following links to find my novel:
Thank you!
The book trailer:
Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I
My radio interview:
charles french words reading and writing 