On this day of your life I believe God wants you to know that false modesty will get you nowhere — nor will genuine modesty when it is not required.

Modesty is rarely required by Life, did you know that? It’s true. People are more self-deprecating than they ever need to be. God says it’s okay to celebrate your self. Honor the self, and delight in expressing
your talents and your gifts.

It is through the happy sharing of your treasures that you show other people that they are treasured.
Always, always remember that. www.CWGPortal.com

In addition…I do what I do for my authors. They are the “rock stars” of the literary world. I am Oz.

 Submitting Literary Works

Students who are members of a group called PALASA at Southern Crescent Technical College asked Debbie Jones to speak April 7 for their creative writing group. These are the questions they specifically asked Debbie to cover. She, in turn, did a spontaneous poll of friends and colleagues who are in the publishing industry. Here are my answers which I thought may be helpful to you as well. Please read the Loiacono Literary Agency guidelines for more details.

https://loiaconoliteraryagency.com/submission-guidelines/

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1. I’ve always heard that publishers would rather publish writers who are already published. How do you get published without being published? Well, sometimes you have to start with smaller publishers who are establishing themselves as well. It is a win-win situation, especially if both the author and the publisher are highly, self-motivated and ready to do whatever it takes to sell books. Sometimes these small houses sell lots of books with better royalty percentages and eventually merge with bigger houses which, in turn, means better sales. Then everyone sees this author in a different light. Please read this blog I did: https://loiaconoliteraryagency.com/on-this-day-of-your-life-i-believe-god-wants-you-to-know-that-enthusiasm-means-everything-not-just-a-little-everything/

2. Are all publishing opportunities worth pursuing? If not, how do you tell the good from the bad? That is where having an agent is beneficial. Agents deal with editors/publishers on a daily basis and know from experience what is good or bad. Never go with ANYONE who asks for money upfront. You may as well self-publish and keep all the profits. This includes publishers who tell you in the contract that you have to buy/pre-purchase any number of copies upfront. NO. Do not do it.

3. How do you avoid being taken advantage of in the publishing world? Get an agent. Having an advocate/mediator/professional to look out for your best interest, is a plus.

4. What websites or other resources should aspiring writers look to for publishing opportunities? Anything that is FREE. Try to avoid sites that require a membership, reading fee or that asks you to buy some of their books first, then after reading, submit your work. Do your research. Use Google to find anything you are interested in within your genre.

5. What is the best way (or ways) to pitch a book idea to a publisher? YOU DON’T. You get an agent. Agents make sure your work is polished, does a submission package, researches the correct acquisition editors to submit to and then does it via the agency. 99.9% of the publishers out there will delete or shred any submissions coming directly from an author. They get tons of submissions yearly and know if it comes from an agency, it is not junk. Put yourself in their shoes. Uh-huh.

6. How do you retain your creative integrity if editors want you to change your writing beyond your comfort level? That is a decision you must make. Do you want to be published that bad? First-time authors need to get some publishing credits in order to advance their careers. I know your manuscript is your baby; you think it is perfect the way it is, yep, but it is not. No matter how many have proofed it beforehand, it will need to be edited for content and copy edited. You must get past it. It is like taking your child to kindergarten the first day. You have to cut the umbilical cord several times before they fly. You have to give up a little bit of control or you may never be published. If you have signed a contract with a publisher and it is stated in that contract that they have the final decision, and all do, you have to swallow the editing pill and hope you feel better in the morning. That is why self-publishing has such a bad name. SO many books are out there that are just bad—period. They have not been edited in any way, professionally, or were “edited” poorly. Get an agent and let them get you a good publisher. A good editor works with the author to perfect a story he/she has fallen in love with/believes in and wants to see soar.

7. What advice can you give for developing the thick skin necessary to deal with rejection? Let your agent take the hits, give you constructive feedback and send you all the positive information, as well as the bites. If I sent my authors all the responses, most would be on anti-depressants. I take it in stride knowing that particular publisher was not the one. It all happens in God’s time, not ours. So when the right one sees what we see, then you can do the Snoopy Dance.

8. What advice do you have for someone interested in self-publishing an e-book? You can do whatever you like, but from my POV, I don’t recommend self-publishing unless it is a personal memoir, cookbook or family history that you just want to see in print or on an ebook. Those are hard to sell if you are not a celebrity. Anything else, get an agent.

9. Do you have any advice for someone wishing to specifically carve a path into writing for TV and film? Do your research, friend those in the industry on all the social medias, send them samples of your work and get an agent. Agents have contacts/connections you don’t. You will be taken advantage of without one.

Debbie is a freelance editor, artist and teacher (and she can sing!)

D. Savannah George

www.dsavannah.com

www.dsavannah.com/blog/

www.facebook.com/dsavannahcreative

www.twitter.com/dsavannahcreate
www.goodreads.com/author/show/6883909.D_Savannah_George

On this day of your life I believe God wants you to know that enthusiasm means everything. Not just a little. Everything.

If you are involved in some kind of project right now, or launching any personal endeavor, your enthusiasm (or lack of it) will directly determine how successful this undertaking will be.

If you are not excited at the core of your being by it, drop it right now. If you are excited at the core of
your being, demonstrate that in everything you think and say and do.

You will not have to think but a second to know exactly why you received this message today. www.CWGPortal.com

 One step further…Authors, if you don’t believe in your work, are not willing to put forth the effort to promote or market yourself and your work, or be happy about being published, how can you expect people to buy it, read it and recommend it? This is not just when the book comes out, but continuously. Ahhh, there is so much more to being an author than just writing a book! Ya think? Uh-huh.

Buzz Bernard’s Tornado Almanac

www.buzzbernard.com

Buzz Bernard’s PLAGUE wins the 2014 EPIC eBook Award for Suspense/thriller!!!

http://www.epicorg.com/

In only a matter of days, 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers will be rivaled by a lone-wolf terrorist attack on America. Atlanta is targeted as Ground Zero for the most horrifying plague in modern times.

Deep in the secret recesses of a Cold War lab, the Russians created tons of deadly bio-weapons. Now, decades later, a protégé of that Russian research is about to release weaponized Ebola into the heart of the South’s most iconic city: Atlanta, where the symbols of American “decadence” range from a happily diverse population to the Coca-Cola museum and CNN building.

A preliminary test of the horrifying virus demonstrates the unspeakable suffering of its victims-and alerts the Centers for Disease Control that a terrible pandemic is in the making. CDC Virologist Dr. Dwight Butler begins a frantic effort to track down the source before it’s too late.

For new BioDawn CEO Richard Wainwright, it quickly becomes clear that the “accidental” plane crash that killed the pharmaceutical company’s entire executive hierarchy may have some connection to the evolving threat. Suddenly Richard is being stalked by a hit woman. He and Butler join forces to find the lone terrorist at the center of a plan that could unleash a modern Black Plague on the western world.

H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is an Air Force veteran and retired Weather Channel meteorologist. Bernard’s other two thrillers are also available, published by BelleBooks: EYEWALL and SUPERCELL. Visit him at www.buzzbernard.com . www.bellebooks.com www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

On this day of your life I believe God wants you to know that less and less do you need to force things, until you finally arrive at non-action.

This is the message of the Tao Te Ching, and it is true. Werner Erhard has taught, “Life will resolve
itself in the process of Life Itself.” Byron Katie says that liberation is “Loving What Is.”
And Stephen Mitchell calls non-action “the purest and most effective form of action. The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can’t tell the dancer from the dance.
Perhaps the best thing you can do right now is nothing at all.www.CWGPortal.com

I will go a step further in saying:

It happens in God time, not ours.

The Weakly Post

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Webster: “The action or habit of estimating something as worthless, or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value.” With 29 characters, it’s hardly a household word, unless your intent is to impress folks. Don’t overshoot your goal. There are easier ways.

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My wife and I share words. It’s not the same as ‘having words,’ but sometimes it gets close. No, today at breakfast we’re discussing the word ‘floccinaucinihilipilification.’ It’s a perfect word to pop a Pepto pill.

She discovers it in a newspaper article. Yes, the New York Times. Would you expect less from that paper? I think the context was a toothless bark by Obama to Putin, “Get off the next exit ramp with Crimea.” It was a rhetorical reach, an attempt to describe something of no interest.  Consider the source.

“Do you know what this word means?” she asks.

     “No. Why?” I ask, knowing that not knowing the ‘why’ of everything drives her mad.  It’s exhilarating to stoke the fires of passion of a spouse at early morning coffee. It sets the day’s tone.

     “Why would anybody use such an inscrutable word?” she asks. Her ‘why’ becomes a yoyo, spinning wildly at the end of a long string of inconsistencies. Once in motion, you can’t get rid of it.

     “Gibberish,” I say. “Who cares?” Short answers are safe.  Less noose to get hung by.

     “There’re 1,025,908 words in the English language. Why choose this word?” she asks.

Why indeed? But she has a point. It’s haunting, like the Mary Poppins song, supercalifragilisticeexpialidocious, that stupid alien jingle that homesteads in your brain. It’s worse than David Frizzell’s hit, “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home.” These were Abu Ghraib torture tunes that succeeded in exposing Cheney’s sadistic infatuation with Judge Judy.

I grab Webster, read her the meaning. “Sounds like a word your father would have used to describe your youth,” she comments.

     “Absolutely not!” I say. “My daddy was short on verbiage. ‘Fishing’ was the longest word he knew.” The comment brings back a memory of the man who regularly kept a can of fishing bait—worms—in the refrigerator for freshness. I remind her of that.

     “The fruitcake, uh, fruit, never falls far from the tree,” she replies.

She has another point. I remember a confusing comment from my father. I was about ten. “Daddy, what does ‘worthless’ mean?”

     “Son, look it up. When you find it, you’ll see your picture.” I didn’t get it. I’m still looking.

Well, returning to ‘more about nothing.’ Floccinaucinihilipilification consists of four Latin words. Bottom line?  It’s irrelevant. Like high school Latin. Have you ever tried to recite Latin with a Southern dialect? Besides, where is Gaul today, anyway? Still, her question of ‘Why’ stalks me.

But not for long. All men have opinions. The wise have learned to express them to themselves in silence. I avoid that advice today.

     “Honey, only showoffs and blow-hards use such arcana. Think politicians and you’ll get closer to the meaning. One might say they’re hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian.”  Pride swells within me at the mention of folks who use big words.

I want to evoke the word used by Duke Ellington, antidisestablishmentarianism, just to make a point.  But I could see it would fall on deaf ears. Who cares about the Church of England anyway?

I continue unabated.  She sits motionless, stunned by my erudition. “Sweetie, users of such nonsense are just trying to impress people.  You know, like women trying to out-do one another with clothes.”  I should have left that last part off.

I shift the subject, dredge up a maxim by La Rochefoucauld: “In every walk of life each man puts on a personality and outward appearance so as to look what he wants to be thought. You might say that society is entirely made up of assumed personalities.” Now there’s a thought that will separate the Erudite from the Troglodyte.

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As in most things, women have the last word. So I ask her what she thinks floccinaucinihilipification means. She takes a long look at me. “I think your daddy had you figured out…you aim for nothing and rarely miss.” 

 Bud Hearn

March 14, 2014

Sketch courtesy of Leslie Hearn

Tom Simmons, author of The Man Called Brown Condor, goes to Ethiopia!!!

 Tom Simmons

Tom Simmons, author of The Man Called Brown Condor,  has been invited by Mr. Yaw Davis, the Executive Director of the Pan African Technical Association and H.E. the former President of Ethiopia Girma Wolde Giorgis to attend special ceremonies in honor of John Robinson, The Man Called Brown Condor.

Thomas E. Simmons, author of The Man Called Brown Condor will be speaking at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, Wednesday March 26, 2014. He will then be speaking at a luncheon hosted by His Excellency the former President of Ethiopia Girma Wolde Giorgis Thursday March 27^th. Then on Friday March 28th he will be speaking at St. Joseph Academy.

Mr. Yaw Davis and His Excellency the former President of Ethiopia Girma Wolde Giorgis

The Man Called Brown Condor

The Forgotten History of an African American Fighter Pilot

The forgotten true story of American war hero John Charles Robinson, a.k.a. The Brown Condor of Ethiopia.

Robinson’s struggles to overcome the racial prejudice that all but closed the field of aviation to Blacks. His outstanding success in accomplishing his dream of flying, his influence toward the establishment of a school of aviation at Tuskegee Institute (there would have been no Tuskegee Airmen without him) and his courageous wartime service in Ethiopia during the Italian invasion in 1935 are brought to life.

It was during Robinson’s service to Ethiopia that he took to the air in opposition to the first Fascist invasion of what would become World War II. This remarkable American Hero may have been the first American to oppose Fascism in combat.

Tom Simmons is the author of three books to date: Forgotten Heroes of WWII, Escape From Archangel and By Accident of Birth. He has also written numerous magazine articles, an example of which, Growing Up With Mr. Faulkner, was published in The Oxford American, a literary magazine founded by John Grisham.

Simmons grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi, and attended Marion Military Institute, the US Naval Academy, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the University of Alabama. He has been a pilot since the age of sixteen and participated in air shows, flying aerobatics in open-cockpit biplanes. In the late 1950s, he served as an artillery officer in Korea. He lives in Gulfport, Mississippi. www.thomasesimmons.net

Published by Skyhorse Publishing www.skyhorsepublishing.com

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

On this day of your life I believe God wants you to know that you are making a difference, whether you know it or not.

So have no doubt about that.

You did it again yesterday. The way you touched someone’s life just yesterday made a difference. And
you are always doing that, do you know that?

Yes, yes…your smile, your encouraging word, your willingness to just be “present” with another, has
touched people in more ways than you realize.

I only tell you this today so that you never lose faith. Faith in how life is moving through you — and how
you are moving through life. www.CWGPortal.com

Build Characters Carefully, or Show, Don’t Tell

By Joyce Zeller, author of Maddie’s Choice and Love in a Small Town

www.joycezeller.com

Characters build the novel. If your protagonists don’t have enough substance so you can get into their soul and experience what they feel, through your understanding of how they got there, or predict how they are going to respond to a situation, you are going to lose your reader. Beginning writers hear, from their writer’s group constantly, the words, “Show, don’t tell.”

Is it enough to say, ‘he felt lonely, alone and abandoned’?

No, it is not. Consider my male protagonist, Gideon, in Maddie’s Choice. Grandparents raised Gideon and his brother when their parents were killed. Zeke was about ten. Gid was about six. His grandfather, who had no time for the rebellious Gid, favored Zeke. After Gid’s grandmother died, when he was about ten, there was no love at all for Gid, so he joined the military right after high school, and became a sniper in Afghanistan, which led to his return to the ranch with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Now, this is entirely too much backstory to dump on a reader during a scene. Bits and pieces of this are revealed throughout the book, but I use a flashback scene to reveal the source of Gideon’s loneliness. To whit:

“A wisp of memory floated through his mind, of a time right after his parents disappeared. He was six years old, feeling sad and lost because his dad had gone. He wondered if they were dead, but the word was never used. He’d been told Dad and Mom went to “a better place,” and it confused him. They were his whole world. Why would they go someplace better and leave him behind?

On that day, lonely and yearning for comfort, he’d found his grandfather working in his office. Needing to be held. He tried to climb up onto his lap, only to be pushed off.

“I don’t have time to play with you, Gideon. Go find Zeke.”

As young as he was, he understood that is grandfather was lost to him. His older brother, Zeke, was the favored one with lap privileges.”

Where did that scene come from? It came to mind when I remembered something similar happening to my young son and his grandfather.

As I said before, draw from within yourself to give life to your writing. This tale is a preface to a PTSD attack in which Gideon seeks refuge in the corner of the barn, where Maddie finds him.

This is much better than simply saying, “Lonely, and distraught, he sought refuge in the corner of the barn.”

I’ve had readers ask me if Maddie was somehow me in this book. Well, yeah, as it will be in every other book. If you don’t pour yourself into your book, the famous advice to ‘open a vein and bleed,’ your readers won’t sense the realness of the story. It doesn’t have to be you, but you have to listen to every conversation you will ever have and sense the story underneath, so you might use it.

There is a t-shirt out there that says, “Careful, you might be in my next book.”

So true!