A (Belated) Letter to my Father for Father’s Day

Dear Daddy,

meanddaddy1

I know, Father’s Day has passed.  And while hopefully, you’ve received my card (and I know you got my call), I was always taught that thank yous are better given late than never so with that, I “pen” this letter to you.

Father’s Day.  A day where we’re supposed to honor our fathers.  Like mother’s day and so on and so forth, I’ve always thought these days to be rather cruel for they influence a strong othering of those who have no mother or father figure at all.  Especially in this age of technology, one can’t help but get on Facebook without seeing streams of pictures of siblings, fathers, mothers, grandparents, etc…on their respective day.  You being the man you are, I know you’d be happy ignoring such days and just celebrate others who’ve helped you as you choose.  I get that, I really do.

But sometimes we forget.

I know we shouldn’t, I know I shouldn’t especially after all the things you’ve done for me, all the times you’ve been there, but I do.  I don’t forget you, I just forget to thank you.  Maybe it’s because if I didn’t, I’d never stop.

Thankfully, I’ve been blessed to not only have a father but to have an amazing one.  You have always accepted me, even when I was sure you wouldn’t, held my secrets without me even asking, and supported and loved me even when I know you were disappointed in me.

I guess that’s what parents do, good ones at least.

So following in suit with this wondrous, dangerous, and strangely open age of technology, I would like to state my thanks, for the things you’ve done, to the world (at least anyone who should stumble upon this post).

  • Thank you for always following your dreams
  • Thank you for always supporting mine.  I just love how you always tell me sure, do it, I don’t care what you do as long as you’re happy and can take care of yourself (of course if I decided to become a FBI/CIA agent that might change)
  • Thank you for taking care of yourself, you’re such a crazy old man that it reassures me that you’re at least mentally and physically healthy enough to do the things you do
  • Thank you for allowing me to laugh at you, like seriously…I know you think you can sing but…well, we’ll just keep that one between us
  • Thank you for being mean, or at least trying to.  I think I caught on sooner than the rest that your scariest side is your disappointment not your anger which is always coated on top of a smile (or at least can be made into a smile)
  • Thank you for being weird, like really weird.  Between you and mama, I don’t know how I stay sane but hey, maybe that’s why I’m a writer
  • Thank you for being you :)

LOL (lots of love)

-Patrice

P.S. you can find him at jawanzasankofa.com

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

What Is Normal Behavior?

Reblogged from Bfit Solutions:

Click to visit the original post

To begin with normal isn't normal, what’s normal today wasn't always normal. And who decides what's normal anyways? Is there a normal behavior police out there enforcing, writing tickets and arresting people who break the normal behavior law? Of course not, but there are the controllers and their flunkies who create and direct society along the path they want. These controllers influence society through school, media, advertisements, politics, religion, law, movies, music, etc...

Read more… 435 more words

If everyone was normal, nothing interesting would ever get done. Normal reminds me of setting on an appliance...be yourself, not a machine. -Patrice

The Sunday Scoop (June 1-16, 2013)

Hey Readers!

Yeah, I know…The Sunday Scoop is supposed to be weekly but I’m still getting back in the routine I lost during midterms/finals time (next Sunday, back on schedule, promise!) …without further ado, here’s what happened, the first two weeks of June,  in the world of publishing:

the sunday scoop

Side Note: A lot of pub news had to do with the big eBook price fixing case(s), so, although I love court cases (PoliSci major, hehe) I’ve tried to condense & add in other things :) (for more background you can read an article I wrote on it)

eBook Price Fixing Case Updates – June 7-13th

Background: U.S. v. Apple et al. is a case which will decide if five of the big six publishers (Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster (who have all settled)) and Apple colluded to fix eBook prices.

June 7th - “The Department of Justice shared direct testimony from three Amazon executives about tempestuous negotiations over the agency model for setting eBook prices in 2010.” Read the full GalleyCat Article!

June 12th - “Macmillan CEO John Sargent returned to the witness stand again on the sixth day of the Apple e-book price fixing trial, followed by Apple executive Keith Moerer, a key figure in the negotiation of the agency pricing agreements in question.” Read the full Publishers Weekly Article!

June 13th - “Although Hachette CEO David Young was ostensibly the star of the seventh day of the Apple price fixing trial, it was Apple lawyer Orin Snyder that really grabbed the court’s attention at the end of the day. Beyond his relentless questioning of a government expert witness about what he called factors other than Apple’s MFN that may have forced Amazon to accept agency pricing, Snyder essentially went ballistic when he learned that Random House COO Madeleine McIntosh would not be required to appear in court.” Read the full Publishers Weekly Article!

June 13th – “If there was a conspiracy to push Amazon off its $9.99 e-book pricing, Apple was not part of it, testified Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue in his long-anticipated turn on the witness stand at Apple’s e-book trial. In front of a packed courtroom, Cue testified that he had no idea whether any of the six publishers with which he was negotiating at the time were communicating with each other, whether in phone calls, meetings or dinners.” Read the full Publishers Weekly Article!

OpenDyslexic Font Helps Readers with Dyslexia Read – June 10th

“Designer Abelardo Gonzalez has created OpenDyslexic, a free, open-sourced font that can help people with dyslexia read a book more effectively.” Read the full GalleyCat Article!

Kenn Nesbitt Named Children’s Poet Laureate – June 11th

Poetry Foundation created the post “to raise awareness that children have a natural receptivity to poetry and are its most appreciative audience, especially when poems are written specifically for them.” Read the Full GalleyCat Article!

ABFFE Joins Campaign Against NSA Surveillance - June 12th

“The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) has joined a number of other civil liberties organizations, including the ACLU, to protest the National Security Administration’s surveillance of Americans’ Internet activity and phone records. The recently revealed news of the NSA’s actions spurred ABFFE and the other groups to write an open letter to members of Congress.”  Read the full Publishers Weekly Article!

Public Libraries Outnumber McDonald’s (& Starbucks) – June 14th

“Institute of Museum and Library Services statistician Justin Grimes mapped all 17,000 public libraries in the United States, revealing there are more public libraries (about 17,000) in America than outposts of the burger mega-chain (about 14,000). The same is true of Starbucks (about 11,000 coffee shops nationally).” Read the Full GalleyCat Article!

*Bonus: 

-Happy 30th Anniversary, Reading Rainbow! – June 6th Read the Full GalleyCat Article!

-NYPL Reminds Patrons ‘Why Children’s Books Matter’ – June 13th Read the Full GalleyCat Article!

-Oxford English Dictionary Adds ‘Tweet’ & ‘Crowdsourcing’ – June 14th Read the Full GalleyCat Article!

And that’s all folks!

What are you thoughts on what’s going on in publishing and do you have any publishing (etc…) news of your own???

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

MAAAIIIIIIILLLLLLLLL Time!!!!!

Yep, I just got mail *sings Blue’s Clues mail song*!!! And while all mail doesn’t make me want to wag my tail, there’s something special about book mail.

all our yesterdays

I went to the post office expecting the package my mom sent me, and came back with my ARC of ALL OUR YESTERDAY’S (of course, the package would’ve been nice…I miss my snacks)!!!

Guess what?  It’s a Time Travel YA :)  I’ve been postponing the start of my own time travel book (A. because I have other WIPs I started first & B. because it’s going to be a real mind challenge).  However after reading this one I have a feel my characters will be about ready to beat me if I don’t start their story.  *sighs* what’s a writer to do?

(from the looks of the Goodreads page, the final version will have a different cover, FYI)

Anyway, I’m excited.  I’m participating in the blog tour of ALL OUR YESTERDAY’S so you won’t be seeing the review of it until late August/early September but below is the book blurb, just to get you ready!  Here’s the author, Cristin Terrill’s, inspiration video (I highly recommend it).

And if you want, you can also check out my time travel blurb (you’ll have to scroll down…it’s the second to last one :)

“You have to kill him.” Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside.

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was.

Sayonara!

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

What’s Up Wednesday/Ready Set Write #1

wear pink twilight

Good Morning! I hope you’re all have a not so “stuck in the mud” humpday As a part of Ready. Set. Write. I’m participating in my first of many What’s Up Wednesday posts where I tell you what’s going on in my life :)

What I’m Reading

Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)
It’s a great Adult Fantasy novel by the fabulous Fantasy author Richelle Mead. It’s just the break from YA I needed.  It’s reminding me how much I like Adult novels for what they do that YA doesn’t. This doesn’t apply as much since YA is becoming quite the crossover category, but I love the depth of this world, how Mead can feel comfortable to plunge us right into the world with no explanations whatsover…yes YA does that but not as well because YA readers aren’t that patient for the most part. Like seriously, I know almost nothing and I love it. Here’s the blurb:
In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Check back for my review sometime this weekend!

What I’m Writing

My WIP — that I’m going to finish rewriting as a part of Ready. Set. Write. — BLOOD OF ISIS, a YA Contemporary Fantasy. The first draft ended at about 47,000 words with 58,000 in the latest. I suspect this draft will be longer as I know it’s going to include more things.

What changes have I made?

Well… while Aziza is still 17 & finds out she’s the descendant of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, the entire story now take splace over the course of four days…yikes! Also it’s all set in Egypt whereas before, Part One was at their boarding school in Boston and Part Two was in Egypt.  I did this because I got some great advice that I needed to take out the convenient”ness” of everyone ending up in Cairo so now they’re participating in a pre-college, two-week summer program they’ve all been invited to attend :)

Blurb:

Getting killed isn’t likely for the first day of a pre-college summer program. But that’s exactly what almost happens to seventeen-year-old Aziza Harper when she receives a mysterious jewel, from an old woman in Cairo, and is attacked by a classmate who sprouts a lion’s head and turns into the ruthless Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet.

To make matters worse, her grandma disappears and Aziza is dragged from the trashed apartment by teenagers claiming to be descendants of Egyptian deities. They are the Peacekeepers, members of the Order of Ma’at — an ancient society charged with keeping the balance between the mortal world and the world of the gods. To her dismay, Aziza is the one they’ve been waiting for, the heir of Isis, the one to whom the Blood of Isis, an ancient jewel holding Isis’ blood — with the power to give and take away life — will appear. The descendant fated to defeat the power-hungry god Seth thus restoring peace to the cosmos by ending a centuries old war between the agents of chaos and those of the light.

Now Aziza her newfound companions have until her eighteen birthday — four days away — to find the Eye of Horus and Eye of Ra. Two amulets that when combined with Isis’ blood will have the power to lock away Seth’s body and soul, forever. But to succeed, defeating Seth is not all Aziza must do; she must learn to trust in herself and her companions to find the real source of the chaos, the one who try to destroy them all.

Also don’t forget to read the newly updated first chapter!

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Let’s see…I’m at my college all summer because I’m one of two students who are in charge of planning the first-year orientation, so that’s a bit exciting. However that means 1. This is my first summer away from home for the entirety (so it’s a little odd because although I attend a college far from home usually the summer is my time to reunite with the fam) 2. unlike inlast summer where I had a lot of free time and could write for at least half of the time I was at work now, during the week, I can only write when I get back to my dorm (a single…finally!!!) which means I end up staying up late to write since I just can’t stop thinking about my WIP! Luckily I have the weekends.

But yeah, it’s nice being alone but it’s kind of weird, especially after people leave my room/quiet down in the dorm and it’s just the sound of me, typing or talking to myself as I try to work through a scene.

It looks like I might get my tattoo this month (more details to follow). I’ve been thinking about it for a while, a Sankofa bird which means a lot to me and my family, on my inner wrist.

I’ve also been reading a lot, I have tons of books to read & review, and I need to get caught up on Game of Thrones, I’m on season 3, Episode 3 or 4 (…at least I’m on the most recent season).

I’m getting ready to start my summer health plan, it’s really important for me to stay/get in shape and eat healthy especially since I’m planning on a career as a writer, which although what I love to do isn’t necessarily a career that comes with a full retirement/pension/health care package. Also staying healthy is directly important now as a writer since the healthier and happier I am the more attention I can devote to my writing & reading :)

What Inspires Me Right Now

This quote:

It’s literally my writing and possible my life motto. As I promised myself in January, 2013 is the year of me, as such I have to not be afraid to fail. Failure is the true path to success. Rewriting this story has taught me so much. It’s taught me to not be afraid to start something one way then change it to another, better way. I really think writing has made me into a  more adventurous, happier, and complete person.

This guy:

Yep, that’s my daddy. He’s one of the strongest, most amazing people I know. He, even if he was afraid, has never shown that fear to his children, and even at forty-something continues to follow and accomplish his dreams. You know, people really don’t follow their dreams, and me being a daddy’s girl and all I think if he hadn’t followed his I’m not sure if I’d be doing what I’m doing now. But he always has pushed me to do what I want to do and not force myself to follow a conventional path. Anyway…more on his awesomeness for my Father’s Day post, since I’m away from him and all.

And… my siblings, because as the oldest (of five!), it’s really important to me for me to build on my father’s teachings and show them that you really can do what you want to do with your life now instead of waiting until your old and gray and eighty…like does that make any sense??? Not to tell them that if you wait you’re going to fail, that’s false, but more to encourage them to ignore their fears (false evidence appearing real as my dad says) and go for their dreams!

What have you been up to lately?

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

–Don’t forget to wear pink!