Creative Leaps

Island Fiction e-books available online! St. Francois Girls, Belmont We put everything on the menu for our children, except the treasures that  require at least a little effort, self respect and discipline.  Then we lambaste "Them" with the burden of every social ill. We hear ad nauseum about "The Youth Today" as though they are a separate specie, as though we adults and parents and leaders had nothing to do with who they are becoming. With the exception of crime, we protect our kids from nothing these days. Well, another exception is suffering. We seem intent on protecting them from every good, ole healthy struggle, with the promise of building character, that comes along. Teens want a legit stretch that's why there's so much mischief when they are not challenged. Island Fiction series was published with this in mind. Our heroes struggle with themselves and their circumstances and make the journey home, metaphorically and sometimes, literally. I...

I've always believed that it is never too late for anything. If your ego rears up with resistance and complaints, and many a logical 'good reason to debunnk that concept - just meet George Dawson here....How can you NOT rethink such a self defeating stance after hearing his true story? His bestseller "Life is Good" is available on Amazon.com Above All, Write On! JJ

  Maureen Marks-Mendonca, author of Island Fiction's Legend of the Swan Children is employing internet technology to full effect!  Guyanese born, Ontario-based, Maureen's story is a coming of age adventure involving the fulfillment of a prophecy and a secret society to boot. Published author and Trinidadian journalist Debbie Jacob touts Legend as one of her favorite Island Fiction reads and reviewed it for Caribbean Beat: "Mendonca has beautiful, elegant language reminiscent of good magical realism. The imagery is spectacular and the story very inviting." Since publication, Maureen has developed a book trailer, and an active website www.swanislandhome.com.    Rich in relevant content, fans of the book can see video/ photos of Guyana's majestic landscapes , join the secret society Friends of the Flame and learn about animals in the book. Maureen ups the ante with each feature she adds. Not only does she offer interesting trivia about each animal, she created...

http://meaningfulbooks.blogspot.com/2011/03/3-nudges-with-new-york-times.html Keeping good company online is a great way to maximize your profile and marketing potential. Provide more useful content for your readers and you're likely to get more links, more hits and more exposure. One surefire way to do this is to post a book review or  interview with an  author in your genre. Select someone whose work you genuinely admire. On my Meaningful Books blog I've recently had the privilege of highlighting Warren Hason's The Next Place and Deborah Underwood's The Quiet Book. Two of my favorite,  "must-have" meaningful  books for young children. While my work may be classified as "Caribbean",  I consider that we are each playing on a global stage and it is up to us to confidently claim that role. Promoting books by international authors I admire, I expand my potential audience base - not only for my blog but for my book sales as well. There's no point I ...

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http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search/label/In%20My%20Own%20Words   In My Own Words...Joanne Gail Johnson “Nuff Respeck!” My Caribbean Children’s Books are “Self Organized Learning Environments” excerpt: "I heard it said that V.S. Naipaul, in a lecture at U.W.I. during his two million dollar, 2007 visit to Trinidad, responded to a question about Caribbean children’s literature by saying something to this effect: “There is no such thing. Children are in fact not capable of understanding any work which could qualify as literature.” This amounts to hearsay, I know. But I will address the thought itself and will acknowledge first that the tone of the word “literature” spoken in the mouth of a Nobel Laureate dictates a very capital and intimidating “L.” Even so, I will risk a bit of adventure..." Read more - click link to Geoffrey's blog, JJ

  BRAVO JC! A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF JOEY CLARKE A moving tribute service took place in Trinidad  on Saturday January 22 nd 2011 at the Top of the Mount, Mount St. Benedict at from 4 to 7 p.m.  Bio: Master Playwright, Director, Actor, Producer, Writer, Broadcaster and Copywriter Joey Clarke passed away in Belize on Monday 17 th January 2011 from a massive heart attack.  He was forty-seven years old.  For more than three decades his prolific talents graced both the Arts and Advertising Industries locally, regionally and internationally.  Born in the UK of Jamaican parentage, his early life and career blossomed in Jamaica where he wrote, produced and directed.  In 1995, Clarke came to Trinidad and joined the Sugar House Drama Company run by Patti-Anne Ali.   Between 1996 and 1999 Sugar House staged five original productions– Matrimoney(Clarke), Maubee (Ali&Clarke), Treasure(Clarke), More Maubee (Ali&Clarke) and Devilish (Cl...

Now here's a great way to end the self publishing debate - submit your new or self-published manuscript. Vindication at this level will certainly mean sales and an open door to your next work. JJ https://www.createspace.com/abna Do you have an unpublished or self-published novel you know Amazon.com readers will love? Enter your novel in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for a chance to win one of two $15,000 publishing contracts with Penguin USA and distribution of your novel on Amazon.com.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_133378976726591&id=133575523373603 I too recently self published even though I had an offer to publish PINK CARNIVAL I wanted to have creative control and fulfill a longer term vision for Meaningful Books in addition to the work I get published with Macmillan ( I have several children's books, readers and stories published by them). I do strongly believe however that until Caribbean publishers are set up to publish writers OTHER than themselves or their friends and family members, we are not yet publishers or really publishing on our own terms. Until book sellers are NOT linked to government contracted text book publishers....Writers published and unpublished would do well to volunteer time to read to kids at schools, hospitals, orphanages, libraries - we need to cultivate a market that reads, loves books and is willing to take part of their income to make the purchase. Our local (T&T) reading of Caribbean books for...

http://www.bocaslitfest.com/index.html  From their Home Page: The Bocas Lit Fest, based in Trinidad and Tobago, is an annual celebration of books, writing, and writers. Launching in April 2011, the Bocas Lit Fest is an exciting new addition to the Caribbean’s literary calendar. The centrepiece of the festival will be the award ceremony for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature , a major new award for Caribbean writers of poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction. Boca is the Spanish word for mouth — the organ of speech and song and storytelling. And the Bocas del Dragón — the Dragon’s Mouths — are the narrow straits off Trinidad’s northwest peninsula, which connect the sheltered Gulf of Paria to the open Caribbean Sea. For centuries, the Bocas were the gateways connecting Trinidad to the Caribbean and the Atlantic. The Bocas Lit Fest invites readers from around the world to enter through the Dragon’s Mouths and celebrate with us the rich literary heritage of...

Excerpt: Reflections on the Life of Jan Wiener - Freedom Fighter and Friend by Gerald Hausman staythirstymedia.com "Jan Wiener's narrow escape from the Nazis, and later, several prison camps in Italy is the stuff movies are made of. Therefore, it's not surprising that his life story has been depicted in the award-winning documentary film , Fighter . Read more at staythirstymedia.com The respect Hausman has for his Beloved Friend Jan Weiner is moving.  The maturity of Hausman's craft and way of seeing is evident and reminds me of how privileged we all are to include ourselves as a part of his literary world through Macmillan's Island Fiction series. If you haven't read his title Time Swimmer - give yourself that gift in 2011!

See my featured author article at Sormag blog: click link on title of this article or - http://sormag.blogspot.com/search?q=Pink+Carnival KEEPING THE WORK ALIVE! The best "give" with which  an author can bless herself (sorry guys, this time the pronoun goes to us OK?smiles) is to work to keep her published book(s) in circulation.  When I got my first three contracts in children's books there was no real internet and definitely no Google search!!  I hope you use and bless it now as much as I do!  Why not commit to even just fifteen minutes a week -  (while sipping a guilt-free cup of creative self-love)-  to surfing online for leads, book blog promoters, links etc that will potentially guide readers online to click "BUY NOW!" on your books at Amazon or to seek you out on your blog/ web site/ you tube/ Face Book - use the tools that feel right for your energy level. Remember to use your book trailers and keep it fresh - update your blog, photo or post ...