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Friday Q&A
January 31, 2014 | Annie Cardi
You've got questions, we've got answers! On Fridays, the OneFours answer questions about their books, writing processes, life, favorite flavors of ice cream, and more. This week's question:
Which book by another author would you love to claim as your own and why?
I'd love to pass off MONSTERS OF MEN by Patrick Ness as my own. His whole Chaos Walking Trilogy, really. It contains such an interesting sci-fi concept, and Ness isn't afraid to put his characters into the kind of horrible situations that make you want to simultaneously punch him in the face and sob for a million years. My goal as a writer is to make people feel the way I feel when I read his books.
–Stephanie Diaz, EXTRACTION
Maggie Stiefvater's book always make me feel like I have no business writing, but I've learned that a lot of newer authors feel that way. So, I'm going to say Amber Dermont's THE STARBOARD SEA, which is a coming-of-age story (classified as adult, but I'd readily recommend to teens who appreciate beautiful words). It's the kind of book that deepens with repeated reading and a protagonist who really got under my skin and made my cry (which is the benchmark of a good book for me).
–Helene Dunbar, THESE GENTLE WOUNDS
I'm gonna cheat and go with a whole series here, but they're short! The Ruby Oliver series (THE BOY BOOK, etc.) by E. Lockhart is, in my opinion, the most dead-on insight into the teen female mind. The writing is great, and Ruby's a really fun character, but what really gets me about it is the way four strong books are crafted out of the kind of real, true dramas I remember experiencing that age, which no crazy, unrelatable plot points thrown in for sympathy points or dramatic effect or to scream "High concept!" It's really just a girl learning to prioritize her life and embrace herself, while understanding what makes some relationships stronger and more worthwhile than others. To pull off that kind of thing while also being quirky and entertaining and unique isn't easy, and it's the kind of thing I'd love to contribute to the YA canon!
–Dahlia Adler, BEHIND THE SCENES
Would anyone notice if I replaced Ellen Raskin's name with my own? Even now, The Westing Game has everything I love in a book. A central mystery. The reading of a will. Cryptic clues. A race to solve them. An ensemble cast of interesting, complex characters. A flawed but funny mini-heroine with a great name (Turtle). And at no point does the book talk down to kids: the plot includes bombs, bookies, religious extremism, and degenerative disease. I read this book over and over as a kid, and I still pick it up and re-read it! I think that's the dream of any author–to write a book that has something to say to every reader.
–Laura Marx Fitzgerald, UNDER THE EGG
Oh, Libba Bray's BEAUTY QUEENS, without a doubt. It's smart and funny. A brilliant work of satire! I had writer-envy right from page one.
–Skila Brown, CAMINAR
I'm a sucker for a good romance, and it doesn't get more perfect than ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins. I don't know anyone who isn't in love with both Etienne and Anna, and the perfect Parisian setting is just the icing on this delicious cake. I would love to be able to craft such a perfect romance.
–Jessica Love, PUSH GIRL
I'd be thrilled to be able to slap my name onto WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead. Fantastic characters and setting, and a plot that fits together like a perfect puzzle? Something to aspire to, for sure.
–Tara Dairman, ALL FOUR STARS
I was so endlessly captivated by the world building in DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, by Laini Taylor. Her ability to create a world that is so vivid and lush, while also creating real, relatable characters blew me away. I wish I wrote in that genre because every word on her pages would be such an incredible study in craft.
–Kelsey Macke, DAMSEL DISTRESSED
Another vote for DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. Laini Taylor's prose is breathtakingly gorgeous, and her world-building is some of the best I've ever come across. I read that book twice—once in complete awe of its craft and once more just for fun.
–Meredith McCardle, THE EIGHTH GUARDIAN
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. From the very first sentence, I knew it was going to be a bad idea to read it, because it 's so good, with such completely compelling prose, I felt like a total hack in comparison. It's the kind of book that makes you want to be a better writer.
–Lisa Maxwell, SWEET UNREST
If I'd written BREADCRUMBS by Anne Ursu, I could die happy. I love the way she combines the real world with fantasy and brings alive the hurt of losing a friend. She manages to make being human seem hyper real through fantasy, and her writing makes me so immersed. Breadcrumbs is also super dark and scary, and I love that!
–Edith Cohn, SPIRIT'S KEY
One day I would love to write a book like The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. I love it for its scope and the incredible characters she creates and follows through out their lives.
–Sashi Kaufman, THE OTHER WAY AROUND
This is a hard one! I'm so tempted to say Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, but I'm going to have to go with God-Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo. It was the first book I had to re-read immediately after finishing it.
–Julie Murphy, SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY
I'm tempted to say The Hunger Games, because, helloooo, BANK. But I'm going to say Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere. Beautiful prose, quirky characters, gorgeous setting, poetry. It's basically like the best date ever in a book.
–Jaye Robin Brown, NO PLACE TO FALL
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor because HOLY GORGEOUS WRITING, BATMAN. She could write about knitting and I'd be captivated.
–Lori M. Lee, GATES OF THREAD AND STONE
I'd love to claim MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY (the whole series) by Rachel Harris. The characters are so real, the romance makes me swoon, and I love the time travel elements. (I've always wanted to write a time travel book, but I'm so afraid I'd mess it all up!) Or if I can't have that series, I'd claim the CAMP BOYFRIEND series by J.K. Rock for the same reason: characters that feel like real people and romance that makes my heart flutter.
–Veronica Bartles, TWELVE STEP
I'm going to say CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare. There's something about her writing that makes me care so freaking much about the characters, and the romance between Will and Tessa is one of my all time favourites. The scene where they first kiss is a masterpiece of an example of how to create an incredible amount of romantic tension with the simple act of removing a glove.
–Danielle L. Jensen, STOLEN SONGBIRD
My choice would go to JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta. I read it last year and was so struck by the beautiful writing and the stunning plot craftsmanship. And all of the characters felt so real and genuine to me; I didn't want to leave them behind when I got to the last page. I didn't at all expect it to affect me like it did, and I only wish I could write something so complex and touching.
–Annie Cardi, THE CHANCE YOU WON'T RETURN
I'd love to be able to claim SAVVY by Ingrid Law. I am so intrigued by the idea of turning 13 and having a special power! I was captivated from the first page of her wonderful book.
–Kate Hannigan, CUPCAKE COUSINS
Jaye stole my idea of Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere. You know what they say about great minds… Beyond the heartfelt way Jandy weaves a tale of both grief and love, loss and new beginnings, the use of Lenny's discarded poetry is genius. I had ALL the feels after readings that book. In fact, I think I need to reread it right now!
–Bethany Neal, MY LAST KISS
The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. I don't recall how old I was when I read it, but those are the books that made me look for the small crevices and sheltered places in my own world where magic might hide. Which is another way of saying they turned me into a bizarre little child writer. I'd like to do that for some other unsuspecting creature.
–Natalie Parker, BEWARE THE WILD
What book do you wish you could claim as your own? Share in the comments!
Annie Cardi lives outside Boston, MA, where she spends her time baking, creating alternate lyrics for tv show theme songs, and writing YA fiction. Her debut novel, THE CHANCE YOU WON'T RETURN, is forthcoming from Candlewick Press on April 22 2014. Her writing is fueled by copious amounts of coffee and chocolate.
Books Friday Q&A Reading	booksOneFoursQ&Areading
Setting; or, That Special Feeling
January 30, 2014 | Amber Lough
If you open any book called, say, How to Write Anything With the Slightest Possibility of Getting Published, there will be a chapter or a clipart bubble about setting. It doesn't matter if your plot is unique, your dialogue is witty, and your prose is long-steeped in descriptive phrases. If you don't have a sense of place and time for your scene, then it's nothing more than a passing dream.
Setting is what grounds the story. It is what frames the story. It is what enriches the story.
The hard part is how to write setting well. I'm not an expert, but I do enjoy writing setting more than, well, any other part.
Here are some tips I use to develop setting:
1) Decide on where the story takes place. Start big-picture, such as "a New York public high school" or "the planet Schwarz." Then work your way down to where the imminent action is taking place ("the janitor's closet" or "on the riverbank").
2) Imagine what this place looks like—and then record every detail you can think of, going through the five senses. What colors do you see? What are the textures like in the rug, the pebbles, the crispy strings of the dried-out mop? What do you hear? Are there other people talking, far off? Is there an animal purring or howling? Is there water flowing or dribbling past? Can you hear the wind? Can you smell a paper mill? Or flowers? Or body odor? You get the idea. Work through these, and jot them down.
3) Now, when does this scene take place?
4) What sort of feeling do you want your reader to get from this time and place, in this scene?
Once you've got your setting all set up (haha), you're ready for the fun part: weaving it in to the story.
Why don't you just start off with several paragraphs describing every detail of the setting?
You can, but you might put your reader to sleep. My favorite thing to do is texturize the dialogue and some of the descriptions with little details that put the reader into the right frame of mind. I want her to feel the setting, as if she's actually there. I want him to taste that cupcake. I want her to feel the sting of saltwater against her battle wounds. I want the reader to feel his bare feet against the cold marble tiles just as the main character feels them.
All the Feels…
To do this, you need to have your character notice these details. Don't have your character tell the reader that the daylight is waning. Have him notice that the waxy leaves on the magnolia have lost their sheen and are deep in matte shadow. If the reader experiences these details while the characters notice them, it will develop immediacy and intimacy between the reader and the story. This is what I aim for every time I sit down to write.
Other tips:
1) Setting descriptions are like salt…not enough, and the story is bland. Too much, and it turns the reader off.
2) Let the details flow naturally in the story. Blend them into the dialogue, or the inner monologue (if there is any), or the narration.
3) If you're stuck, close your eyes and put yourself in your character's shoes. This always grounds me back into the story.
(but worth it)
Amber Lough lives with her husband, their two kids, and their cat, Popcorn, in Syracuse, NY. She spent much of her childhood in Japan and Bahrain. Later, she returned to the Middle East as an Air Force intelligence officer to spend eight months in Baghdad, where the ancient sands still echo the voices lost to wind and time. Her Middle Eastern fantasy, THE FIRE WISH, is due from Random House Children's in July 2014.
Writing	settingwriting
The Author's Voice: interview with OneFour author Robin Constantine
January 29, 2014 | kateboorman
Tacky hors d'oeuvres and longing glances!
Robin speaks with us about her YA contemporary The Promise of Amazing (Balzer + Bray, 2014).
Kate Boorman is an independent artist and writer from the Canadian prairies. She was born in Nepal (where she was carried up the Himalayas in a basket) and she grew up in a small Albertan town (where she rode her bike to Girl Guides). She is fond of creepy things. Speaking of! Her YA fantasy WINTERKILL debuts in November 2014 (Abrams/Amulet and Faber & Faber).
Interview	Balzer + BrayinterviewRobin ConstantineYAya contemporary
Joshua David Bellin: SURVIVAL COLONY NINE
January 23, 2014 | Joshua David Bellin
Though he doesn't debut until September, Joshua David Bellin just couldn't wait to tell the world about his book, the YA sci-fi adventure SURVIVAL COLONY NINE. (Josh gets that way sometimes.) Let's forgive his impetuosity and welcome him to the OneFourKidLit blog!
So we understand you can't wait to tell the world about Survival Colony Nine, right?
Well, then, tell us already!
Oh. Okay.
War and environmental catastrophe have ravaged the world, and all that's left of human society are the survival colonies: small, mobile units clinging to the remnants of past technology as they crisscross a hostile desert landscape. Heat, dust, and starvation aren't their only enemies. They also must evade the Skaldi, creatures with the ability to consume and mimic human hosts that mysteriously appeared on the planet after the wars of destruction.
Fourteen-year-old Querry Genn, a member of Survival Colony Nine, has problems of his own. The leader of his colony–his father, Laman Genn–is never satisfied with him. The girl he loves, Korah, is someone else's girlfriend. And six months ago, he lost his memory during a Skaldi attack on the colony. If he can recover his past, he might possess the key to defeat the Skaldi.
If he can't, he's their next victim.
Sounds pretty cool! Is Survival Colony Nine the first novel you've written?
Far from it! The first novel I wrote was titled "The Slowest Runner," which I typed (laboriously, on a manual typewriter) when I was eight. It ended up being about two pages long. The first novel-length novel I wrote was an epic fantasy titled To Alter the Past, which I wrote when I was sixteen. A family friend who was in publishing took a look at it, but he told me (quite kindly, thank goodness) that I needed to work longer on my craft before I'd be ready for publication. As it turns out, "longer" meant about thirty years!
That's not so long. So where did the idea for Survival Colony Nine come from?
Growing up, I was sure I was going to be a comic-book artist. Though that career didn't pan out, I remain a very visual thinker, even when I'm writing. So my best ideas come to me first as images, not words. In the case of Survival Colony Nine, I woke up one morning with an image buzzing in my brain: the image of a desert landscape and a small group of people in camouflage uniforms traveling across the waste. I had no idea what this world was or how the people had gotten there, but the image wouldn't go away. I had to create a story to fit the world, and that meant I had to create a main character, a history for him and his people, and all the rest of it.
One more question before we go. What was your favorite book when you were fourteen?
Hands down, my favorite book then remains my favorite book now: J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I read it when I was thirteen (a year after the first Star Wars film came out), and I've loved it ever since. I read all kinds of stuff when I was a teen and pre-teen, including Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Madeleine L'Engle, some adult titles (mostly fantasy and sci-fi), but I was blown away by Tolkien's ability to create a fantasy world that seemed as necessary and complete as the real world. I don't read much epic fantasy these days–I've shifted to sci-fi, dystopian, and contemporary–but I think everything I write is shaped by my formative experience of immersing myself in Tolkien's great imaginative act.
Joshua David Bellin has been writing novels since age eight (though his first few were admittedly very short). His debut YA science fiction novel SURVIVAL COLONY NINE will be published in September 2014 by Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Josh likes (in no particular order) gorillas, frogs, monsters, and human beings.
Authors Interview YA	2014 debutsscience fictionYA
When We Say YA
Welcome to When We Say YA! Every month, the OneFour YA authors get together to talk about everything related to young adult lit. This is our very first When We Say YA post, so this month's topic is:
Did you always know you wanted to write YA?
I did! When I started writing, I wasn't even a young adult yet. I was about eight, and obsessed with my big sister's Sweet Valley Highs, and I just wanted to create gorgeous and popular California girls of my very own. So I started writing what we'd now call YA, and never stopped.
Yes, I did. I began writing seriously as a teenager, so it made sense to me to write for people in my age group. I love YA so much, I'm not sure I'll ever write anything else!
I didn't! I always thought I would write for adults until I received feedback that various stories of mine might work better as YA. I tried it, and then I was hooked. No going back now!
—AdriAnne Strickland, WORDLESS
I never considered writing fiction! But when I got hooked on reading YA, stories just started collecting in my head and I gave it a try. I can't imagine writing in another age-range now.
No–my first few novels were adult SFF (even though I was a teenager at the time). When one of my adult novels wasn't clicking I re-envisioned the characters as teenagers, and the book fell into place straightaway. All my ideas since have been YA, with a sprinkling of MG. Given that in my time in fandom, I'd spent a lot of time writing characters in that same age range, I wonder why I didn't make the switch sooner!
—Corinne Duyvis, OTHERBOUND
I am a Janie-come-lately to YA novels. I began my career writing and publishing a children's picture story book series, ages 5-9, and NF articles for adult market magazines. Then I went back and got another degree in jounalism and wrote for newspapers. So prior to selling NO SURRENDER SOLDIER to Jacqueline Mitchard, editor of Merit Press (Adams Media/F+W Media) I was published in poetry (in English and French), picture story books, ESL/EFL fiction, HI/LO-ESL NF, NF middle-high school library books, plus articles in newspapers, magazines and journalis. My first choice in writing novels was middle grade. But along this path editors kept telling me over and over that I'm an abstract thinker who writes complex concepts in an understandable manner and I write best for YA.
—Christine Kohler, NO SURRENDER SOLDIER
All of my first literary loves were YA or middle-grade. I grew up living in those imaginary worlds, and I never wanted to leave. So I didn't.
Also, I think it helps that I'm perpetually a teenager at heart. Or at least I retain my teenager sleeping habits. (Mornings? What are mornings?)
—Emily Lloyd-Jones, ILLUSIVE
A friend once suggested to me that we write to the ages at which we most needed stories, the ages when things happened that shaped us in some fundamental way, and I subscribe to that. For me, there are several big signposts starting around age ten and carrying into young adulthood. Since I felt like an adolescent well into my twenties, I have plenty of life experience to tap into in the YA realm, and so far that's where my story brain has wanted to live.
—Rachel M. Wilson, DON'T TOUCH
When I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing fiction, the first idea I had was what would now be considered New Adult. But at the time, NA wasn't a thing at all, so I abandoned the idea because I couldn't find any comp titles to read for genre guidance. Soon after that was when I really got into reading YA and I realized that was where my passion was. I may try to write something else some day, but right now YA is where my heart is!
Not at all! I was working on an adult novel that had some kid characters. I kept getting such great feedback on the kid characters. Everyone was most interested in them and wanted more of them, not the grown ups. That was when I realized I should follow that strength.
I thought I was going to try my hand at romance, but then I had an idea for this book and I knew the character wasn't an adult. And then the more YA I read, the more I loved it. I'm actually writing a middle grade right now, and it feels strangely right.
When I joined SCBWI I wrote picture books, but then I had this idea…I thought it was going to be a short story, but it kept growing and then it sort of stalked me. I think I was afraid of writing something longer – that I couldn't sustain it, but I adore young adult – it's where my voice naturally settles. Such a volatile time of so many changes – how can it be anything but exciting?
—Robin Constantine, THE PROMISE OF AMAZING
I read "The Catcher in the Rye" when I was nineteen and thought it was the best, most powerful book I'd ever read. I wanted to create characters like Holden, with unique voices that critiqued society and carefully examined the world around them. I didn't start seriously writing for a number of years after reading "Catcher", but that voice has always been an inspiration and guide. Sometimes I wonder if "Catcher" is really YA – it came about before the YA category did, so the book could probably lean in either direction (YA or adult or maybe NA) and I think that's the direction I typically lean as well.
—Chris Struyk-Bonn, WHISPER
I didn't think I'd be a writer of anything until I was thirty, but it was a YA novel that inspired me to try. And I wanted to write something my high school (math) students would identify with and want to read. Since then, it's been YA all the way!
—R.C. Lewis, STITCHING SNOW
No. I read a lot of adult SF/F as a teen (and a lot of it from decades ago, when the YA barely existed as a separate category), so I always figured that I would be a general fantasy author–winning the Hugo and the Nebula, of course! But slowly it dawned on me that I kept writing about teenaged protagonists, and that the current YA genre was a really good fit for me. So here I am, and it's awesome! Though I still think I would like to write adult as well someday…
—Rosamund Hodge, CRUEL BEAUTY
I always read YA, and was really disappointed when I graduated high school and felt pressured to move to adult fiction (which, in my mind, was all about middle-aged white men feeling angsty and having sex). But taking fiction classes in college and grad school, I wrote more standard literary fiction, even though I was mostly interested in YA. Then, in my Shakespeare class, I did a project on Shakespearean imagery in YA and realized I was working way harder on that project than on any of my other standard fiction stuff. I threw myself into the genre after that and haven't looked back.
YA is definitely where I feel the most comfortable, although I have written a few picture book manuscripts and a MG contemporary that I absolutely adore. But when I decided to really get serious about my writing a few years ago, YA was my default category. YA contemporary books are my favorite things to read, so naturally that's where my mind goes when I create. (My 13-year-old daughter recently took a "how old are you mentally?" quiz, and when she finished, she told me that I didn't need to take it, because she already knew my results. "It would tell you you're 13-18 years old, because you think just like a teenager. Good thing that's the kind of books you write." High praise from a girl firmly in the middle of her "my parents are so embarrassing!" years.)
—Veronica Bartles, TWELVE STEPS
I've been all over the place as a writer before finding my home in YA. I wrote academic prose, literary fiction, adult fantasy and sci-fi…. And then I had kids. Reading to and with them made me fall in love again with the genre I'd loved when I was a YA myself, and I'm so glad I found my way back. Now I'm re-imagining all my old, unfinished non-YA projects as YA!
—Joshua David Bellin, SURVIVAL COLONY NINE
YA wasn't such a big thing when I was a teen, and I more or less stopped reading it in my last year of high school in favour of adult fantasy novels. I didn't start writing until I was 26, and the first couple novels that I completed were adult epic fantasy. I didn't actually start reading YA again until I picked up a copy of Twilight to see what all the fuss was about, which got me started reading more and more of it. I found I really enjoyed the pacing and character focus in stuff written for teens, so I decided to give it a go. And I never looked back 🙂
Yes! It's 90 percent of what I read, so it only makes sense.
—Livia Blackburne, MIDNIGHT THIEF
I never thought of myself as a writer because I never thought I'd be good enough. But soon the desire to put the stories in my head onto paper overcame that fear. And since my natural voice is definitely YA rather than adult, YA became a natural niche for me.
—Christy Farley, GILDED
Even as an 10-year-old scribbling stories in a notebook, I wrote about characters in their teens. At the time, it was probably just me wishing I was a teenager because, for some reason, that seemed like the ideal age. But as I got older, those sorts of books were the ones that stayed with me and left the strongest impressions. So of course, that was what I wanted to write as well.
I started out trying to write adult chick lit. Whoops! I randomly stumbled upon YA when I saw an online YA writing course offered and figured I had nothing to lose. Since then I've never looked back. Writing for teenagers comes so naturally, I wish I'd thought of it sooner!
—Robin Talley, LIES WE TELL OURSELVES
Was YA always for you, or did you try other categories/genres first? Share your answer in the comments!
Authors Books When We Say YA YA	2014 debutsauthorbooksreadingwhen we say YAwritingYAYA lit
The Author's Voice: interview with OneFour author Danielle L Jensen
Trolls! Romance! Rebellion!
Danielle speaks with us about her forthcoming YA fantasy, STOLEN SONGBIRD.
Cover: Steve Stone, Artist Partners
Authors Interview Writing YA	2014 debutsDanielle JensenFantasyinterviewpodcastStrange ChemistryYA
What I learned from my first Goodreads giveaway
January 20, 2014 | Maria E. Andreu
As I learn how to get the word out about The Secret Side of Empty I grow more and more grateful for Goodreads, the social networking site for readers. Imagine a website full of people who love the very thing you hope to popularize (and which you also love)… books. Amazing, right?
That's why Goodreads giveaways are a great way to help spread the word. You list a free book on their giveaways page and the people who find it intriguing enter to win it. If they really find it interesting, they also add it to their "to-read" shelf.
I just did my first Goodreads giveaway and I learned some tips and tricks that should help you make yours more successful.
Here are the stats on my Goodreads giveaway for my young adult novel:
I ran the giveaway for 3 days.
I had 652 people enter to win the book
I had 304 people add my book to their "to-read" shelf.
That's an average of 200 entries a day – a really good number. My giveaway ran Saturday through Monday, 3:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. Eastern time. (So technically Tuesday. It doesn't let you pick a time). When going for maximum entries, day of the week probably matters. I had over 200 entries on Saturday and Monday and less on Sunday, with Monday being the highest with over 250 entries. I was totally delighted that I averaged over 200 per day.
I have someone that I've never met to thank for this great initial success: the good folks over at NovelPublicity. See below for a link to their tip sheet.
Probably their best tip was to run the giveaway for a short number of days. I am a "more is more" kind of girl, so left to my own devices I would have probably run my giveaway for a long time and promised a whole lot of books, hoping to attract a lot of entries. But that overlooks two of the main ways that people find giveaways on Goodreads: the "Recently Listed" tab and the "Ending Soon" tab. When you first list your giveaway, it will naturally be listed in the "Recently Listed" tab. When it's about to end, it will come up on the "Ending Soon" tab. If you list for a few weeks or a month, as I saw a lot of authors do, there is a whole lot of time in between when your giveaway is languishing in a sea of giveaways. Listing mine for 3 days meant I was getting entries constantly. I saw books with more entries than mine (some over several months) but few with that 200+ a day average.
Also, offering just one book did not slow down the rate of entries at all (other giveaways that were offering more weren't necessarily getting entries at a faster rate). My theory is that if the book looks intriguing, people will enter whether you're offering one copy or ten. (I mean, would you calculate your odds of winning based on entries divided by books available from book to book? I wouldn't. I'm a writer, peeps, not a mathematician).
One other thing I did was employ my know-how from my marketing days. I know that you've got 3 seconds to catch someone's attention. While deep and meaningful descriptions might sell someone on entering, potential entrants won't even get to reading that unless you grab them right at the start. That's why the first two lines of my giveaway were "Signed Copy" and "Junior Library Guild Selection." If your book has gotten an award or an amazing review, put that up at the top where it will make you stand out from the pack.
Running this initial giveaway was a great learning experience. There are a few things I will do differently for my next one. For example, when tagging my giveaway, I looked to the list of tags and picked the one that made the most sense: young-adult. But it wasn't until the giveaway was underway that I realized that you can tag with as many tags as are relevant, not just one. I didn't edit it right then and there because I realized that giveaway changes have to be approved by the Goodreads staff, and approval of my giveaway took several days. When I made one edit pre-start date, it told me it had to be reviewed by the Goodreads staff again so I didn't want to risk taking my giveaway off-line during its short run. I made a mental note to do it better next time. But that meant that if someone looked to narrow their search for giveaways to "YA," (instead of young-adult, which is how I tagged it) The Secret Side of Empty didn't show up.
Here are a few of the ones that are relevant to The Secret Side of Empty:
coming-of-age, ya, young-adult, new-adult, contemporary-fiction, love-story, teens, book-club, teen-fiction, book, books, young-adult-fiction, college, debut-novel, new-york-city, secrets, multicultural, sweet-romance, youth, family-relationships, ya-fiction, yalit, girls, author, juvenile-fiction, young-adult-romance, new-authors, first-love, ya-romance
Be sure to scroll through several pages of potential tags (list is to the right) so that you can jot down all the ones that are available for your genre.
Still, I am beyond thrilled with this amazing early exposure for the book. I thought I'd share my experience for authors finding their way through the wonderful world of Goodreads giveaways.
Write me or tweet me @WriterSideofM and let me know how your own Goodreads giveaways go!
And, in case you're curious, here's a link to my upcoming Goodreads giveaway (ending 1/24/14) so you can see all my tweaks in action. Click here.
Click here for the Novel Publicity tip sheet
Publishing YA	giveawaysgoodreadsgoodreads giveawaymaria andreumaria e. andreuthe secret side of emptyYAya contemporaryYA litYA novel
RT @em_llojo: You can be one of the first people to read THE HEARTS WE SOLD! Enter the giveaway at @Cuddlebuggery! #yalit https://t.co/mtuB… 2 years ago
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Summer, 1384. The sun is hot and high - but storm-clouds of insurrection are gathering over England. Hildegard of Meaux - sleuth, spy and now an abbess of the powerful Cistercian order - has found refuge from a world of violence and blood-feud at her new home in Yorkshire. But by taking a bonded maid into the fold, Hildegard has made a dangerous enemy, an enemy who thinks nothing of destroying her little sanctuary to further his own ends. Meanwhile her own history, and her possession of a priceless relic, threatens to drag her into the schemes of traitors to the crown who seek to overthrow King Richard II - including the ruthless Henry Bolingbroke. And with portents in York that the end of days is imminent; signs expressed by death in fire, can even the resourceful Hildegard unweave the tangled skein of conspiracy?


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Projects San Diego Unified Wants to Fund With New Multibillion-Dollar Bond Look Familiar | Voice of San Diego
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Projects San Diego Unified Wants to Fund With New Multibillion-Dollar Bond Look Familiar
Many of the projects being proposed as part of a new $3.5 billion school bond being floated by San Diego Unified are identical to those promised in previous measures.
Ashly McGlone
An $11 million stadium and athletic fields at Mission Bay High were paid for with bond funds. / Photo by Dustin Michelson
On top of projects already listed in previous bonds, there are a few additions that signal the district wants stronger legal footing to pursue projects already in the works. Among them: swimming pools, a new district administration center, stadium lights and replacing artificial turf fields, records posted by the district late Friday show.
If approved by at least 55 percent of voters, the 2018 measure would be the third such multibillion-dollar bond benefiting city school facilities in the last decade.
According to a proposal heading to the Board of Trustees Tuesday night, homeowners would pay an extra 6 cents for every $100 of assessed home value, or $300 for a $500,000 home, as first reported by the Union-Tribune. The district estimates the new tax will raise $193 million annually for 39 years.
What's the money for? "Classrooms in need of repair; Need for stronger safety measures to protect students; Career-oriented classrooms and campuses; Goal of providing students the cleanest drinking water in the nation," district records say.
San Diego Unified is already in the midst of a massive school bond program funded by Props. S and Z, totaling $2.1 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively. To date, the district has spent more than $1.7 billion of those dollars.
That has funded new classroom buildings, built a new school and paid for new athletic facilities and technology. But despite spending $1.7 billion bond dollars since 2008, the district has struggled to improve the overall condition of the district's buildings.
Some bond-funded projects have not stood the test of time, including an array of artificial turf fields and personal technology devices replaced every few years.
Courts also found the district illegally spent millions of bond dollars on stadium lights after a local group of residents sued.
Other projects put front and center in old ballot measures, like asbestos removal, took a back seat when it came to actually spending bond money.
But over the last year, district officials confronted the dangers of old plumbing when lead was found in the water at several schools, including Emerson-Bandini Elementary in Mountain View.
Despite promising to replace old plumbing in both the 2008 and 2012 bond measures, the district hadn't yet done so at Emerson, and instead spent $1.7 million on a wireless network and turf field for the campus.
Plumbing replacement for Emerson makes a repeat appearance on the proposed 2018 bond project list.
So do numerous other projects.
A summary of projects to be built at each or any school site contains some language pulled verbatim from past measures. They include things like: "Repair or replace deteriorating plumbing and underground sewer systems;" "Remove, remediate and abate asbestos, mold, and other potentially dangerous substances;" "Expand or develop joint-use athletic facilities;" "Remove or replace old or inadequate buildings with new facilities" and "Remove excess portable classroom buildings to reduce utility and maintenance costs."
Other projects reappear on the 2018 bond list in a slightly modified form.
For instance, the 2018 bond will "Repair or replace roof systems," whereas the 2012 bond pledged to "Repair or replace aging, leaky roofs." The 2018 bond will "Improve or expand visual and performing arts facilities and classrooms," whereas the 2012 bond aimed to just "Improve visual and performing arts facilities."
Several items in the new bond language stand out, though. And some could give the district stronger legal ground to proceed with projects that it already planned.
The 2018 bond explicitly mentions money will be spent to "Install, renovate or replace athletic field and stadium lighting."
The addition should help the district avoid future legal challenges like the one from residents near Hoover High School, who successfully claimed the district didn't adequately disclose stadium lights in past bond measures.
Artificial turf fields have also been a big part of San Diego Unified's bond program, despite the fact that some fields costing $500,000 to $600,000 each deteriorated not long after they were installed, and needed to be replaced, or repaired with thousands of gallons of glue.
The 2018 bond would "Replace or resurface track and turf surfaces as needed," district records show.
Swimming pools have also been planned for years as part of a Pools for Schools initiative that envisions local YMCA sites operating and maintaining the pools. Some pools would be built on school campuses, while others would be built at nearby YMCAs. Pools faced legal vulnerabilities similar to the stadium lights, and residents threatened to sue over the use of bond dollars to fund them.
Now, the district wants to spend 2018 bond money to "Construct recreational and swimming facilities, including for joint-use with other public agencies and public benefit non-profit entities," the bond project list says.
Another standout entry: money to "Acquire property for, design and construct new school administrative facilities and/or renovate existing school administration center facilities."
Earlier this year, the district sought proposals for a land swap, in which it would trade its existing district headquarters and two other properties – 22 acres in all – for another site to house new headquarters. A local attorney believed the deal would run afoul of state bidding laws, but the district felt otherwise, and proceeded to review proposals. None of them was suitable.
The board rejected all land swap proposals on May 29, district spokeswoman Maureen Magee said.
The new bond could pay for a new or improved district administration center at its current site or elsewhere.
A high-level breakdown of how the district wants to spend the $3.5 billion can be seen here.
School board trustees will officially consider the measure Tuesday, and are scheduled to make a final decision on whether to place it on the ballot July 10.
Proposition S Proposition Z San Diego Unified School Bonds
Ashly McGlone is an investigative reporter for Voice of San Diego. She can be reached at ashly.mcglone@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.894.6397.
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The agreements were revealed via documents which leaked recently and caused uproar from the Bus Association and various taxi associations which felt disenfranchised and affected by the decision to allow a Guatemalan and a Mexican bus company to pick up and transport Belizean passengers traveling to their respective countries. The associations feel that the decision, which they say is unprecedented, hurts their bottom line and takes away business which otherwise would go to Belizean owned buses and taxis.
The association had expected Minister Castro to attend Thursday's meeting, however, they were informed he could not make it due to an emergency Cabinet meeting regarding the landmark injunction against next week's scheduled ICJ referendum. The meeting included the Belize Bus Association with representation from bus operators throughout the country as well as the Market Square Taxi Association, Cinderella Plaza Association and the Belcan Taxi Association, representing some 250 members.
Mark Humes, chairman of the Bus Terminal/Market Square Taxi Cooperative, told the Reporter that the purpose of the meeting was to prepare a united proposal to present to the Ministry of Transport.
"Many of the operators are upset but we are here to make cooler heads prevail…and present options," Humes said; he noted that many of the Belizean operators provide services with large air conditioned buses but are not given the considerations granted to the foreign bus companies and said the association believes Belizeans should be given as much of an opportunity as any foreign company.
Humes also noted that some operators were so frustrated they suggested some form of industrial action but he said the associations are not at that stage yet and are hopeful of a favorable response from the Ministry.
Thomas Shaw, president of the Belize Bus Association, told the Reporter that the problem of foreign buses being granted certain privileges not granted to Belizean bus operators is one that has been going on for years, despite the most recent public outcry about the issue. He further noted that Belizean buses are not even allowed to enter countries such as Mexico and Guatemala.
"Whenever these issues come up at the board level, you hear that we don't have buses in the country to do the runs that the foreign buses are doing, which is totally false. We have reputable operators here. I must applaud my operators because they have upgraded to a certain extent where we have buses with reclining seats and air condition," Shaw said. "If we can't go into your country then let the taxi operators get a piece of the pie from Fort Street to the terminal or local buses get a piece of the pie from the terminal to Benque Viejo or to the northern border and then they take it from there," Shaw added.


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Situated in Pevensey, this holiday home is located 35 km from Brighton & Hove. The property is 7 km from Eastbourne and free private parking is provid..
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Marina By The Sea B&B is situated in the Kemptown district in Brighton & Hove, 600 metres from The Royal Pavilion. Private parking is available on sit..
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Located in Burwash, Ox Lodge Barn is a cottage boasting a barbecue. It provides free private parking. There is a dining area and a kitchen equipped w..
Location: Burwash, East Sussex, England (12.8 miles, 20.7 km, direction E)
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Mcsweeney offers accommodation in Eastbourne, 5 km from Sovereign Harbour and 800 metres from Eastbourne Borough Council. Offering free private parkin..
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Located 5 km from Sovereign Harbour, Le Brun offers accommodation in Eastbourne. The cottage is 800 metres from Eastbourne Borough Council. There is ..
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Prideaux is a holiday home is situated in Eastbourne is 5 km from Sovereign Harbour. The unit is 800 metres from Eastbourne Borough Council. An oven,..
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The Kemptown Atelier is a studio apartment less than 10 minute's stroll from Brighton Pier, Brighton Marina, Beach and the City Centre. It offers self..
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It was a full house Thursday evening as Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and the Baltimore County Commission for Women recognized three outstanding women at a ceremony in the County Council Chambers in the Historic Courthouse. The annual Woman of the Year awards are given to female Baltimore County residents who have enhanced the lives of others and made significant contributions to their community, workplace, or school to further the interests of women and children.
Laura Clary, BSN, RN as the "Woman of the Year," a GBMC nurse, clinical manager of GBMC's Safe Program, advocate for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence and recipient of the 2017 America's Most Amazing Nurse from Prevention Magazine. She lives in Essex.
Gabriella McLean as the "2018 Young Woman of the Year," a senior at Catonsville High School championing homelessness among children and young adults.
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz participated in the recognition ceremony, together with members of the Commission for Women, the County Council and Baltimore County Statehouse delegation.
"I appreciate the decades of positive impact the Commission for Women has made with their outreach and educational initiatives for women and girls in our County and I especially commend them for their efforts confronting the issue of human trafficking," said Kamenetz.
Photos of the awards ceremony are posted on the County's website, where they may be viewed and downloaded.


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Q: Problem appending to ManyToMany form field when cleaning data Just moved from Django 1.00 to 1.30 and I'm suddenly getting an error during form validation:
AttributeError: 'QuerySet' object has no attribute 'append'

The code is below.  While cleaning the list of coordinators specified by the user in the form, I want to include all super-users as well.
The problem seems to be that the cleaned_data.get() call is returning a QuerySet. I thought it returned an object representing the field type.  As I said above, this code used to work in 1.0, but maybe that was an accident.
Can someone tell me what cleaned_data.get is returning in this case and how I can add other values to it?
Thanks.
class Party(models.Model):
    coordinators = models.ManyToManyField( 'PersonProfile', blank=True, related_name='event_coordinator_set', help_text='' )

class PartyForm(ModelForm):

    class Meta:
        model = Party

    def __init__( self, *args, **kwargs ):
        super( PartyForm, self ).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.fields['coordinators'].queryset = PersonProfile.objects.exclude( user__is_superuser=1 )

    def clean_coordinators( self ):
        coordinators = self.cleaned_data.get( 'coordinators', '' )
        superuser_list = PersonProfile.objects.filter( user__is_superuser=1 )
        for superuser in superuser_list:
            coordinators.append( superuser )
        return coordinators

A: Try the following:
from django.db.models import Q

def clean_coordinators( self ):
    coordinators = self.cleaned_data.get( 'coordinators', '' )
    if coordinators:
        return PersonProfile.objects.filter(
            Q(pk__in=coordinators) | Q(user__is_superuser=1)
        )
    else:
        return PersonProfile.objects.filter(user__is_superuser=1)

A: As soon as you found out it was a QuerySet, you could have just turned the queryset into a list and leave the rest of your code intact... coordinatiors = list(myqueryset), but I would recommend Thierry's solution.
Anyho, you're right: I looked at django 1.0, and ModelMultipleChoiceField used to return a list. Now, it returns a QuerySet.
Django 1.0 ModelMultipleChoiceField.clean()
final_values = []
for val in value:
    try:
        obj = self.queryset.get(pk=val)
    except self.queryset.model.DoesNotExist:
        raise ValidationError(self.error_messages['invalid_choice'] % val)
    else:
        final_values.append(obj)
return final_values

Django 1.3 ModelMultipleChoiceField.clean()
    for pk in value:
        try:
            self.queryset.filter(**{key: pk})
        except ValueError:
            raise ValidationError(self.error_messages['invalid_pk_value'] % pk)
    qs = self.queryset.filter(**{'%s__in' % key: value})
    pks = set([force_unicode(getattr(o, key)) for o in qs])
    for val in value:
        if force_unicode(val) not in pks:
            raise ValidationError(self.error_messages['invalid_choice'] % val)
    # Since this overrides the inherited ModelChoiceField.clean
    # we run custom validators here
    self.run_validators(value)
    return qs

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The Pump-and-Dump Feminist
Posted on | January 22, 2016 | 154 Comments
Reina Gattuso (@reinagattuso on Twitter) is a Harvard-educated feminist and a compelling argument for why men should be warned to avoid Harvard-educated feminists. If it were up to me, heterosexuality would be strictly prohibited at Harvard University for the very reason that no man should ever have sex with the kind of women who attend Harvard University, of whom Reina Gattuso is a typical example.
Actually, Ms. Gattuso is a typical example of many things, none of them good. She is an extraordinarily bad human being, which is why she was chosen as a student speaker at Harvard's 2015 Class Day:
Reina has spent the past four years studying Comparative Literature and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; co-founding a feminist magazine, Manifesta; reading poetry at The Harvard Advocate; and writing for The Crimson, where she co-founded an inclusivity and diversity working group. . . . She is looking forward to spending next year on a Fulbright-Nehru Student fellowship in Delhi, India. But first, Reina is looking forward to outing herself to her grandmother on Class Day.
Yes, American parents, this is why you should send your daughter Harvard (annual tuition $45,278), so that she can celebrate her graduation by "outing herself to her grandmother." Just in case anyone missed her baccalaureate coming-out speech, however, Ms. Gattuso wrote a column for the Washington Post in which she mentioned that she "has publicly admitted to making out with half the lesbian, queer, bisexual, bicurious and questioning women at Harvard."
That column, in which she describes herself as "selfish" and "reckless," was published with the headline, "Why monogamy's not for me," which is a rather transparent sour-grapes rationalization. Has anyone ever sought a monogamous relationship with Ms. Gattuso? Of course not. To borrow a line from an old Steppenwolf song, she is evil, wicked, mean and nasty.
No decent person would seek an intimate association with Reina Gatttuso, certainly not on a permanent basis. The Ivy League is decadent and depraved, but she is a very bad person even by Harvard's abysmally low standards. Among the notorious graduates of Harvard, she is perhaps not as bad as Ted Kaczynski (Class of 1962), but the Unabomber wrote only one manifesto, whereas Ms. Gattuso issues her demands sequentially and in installments as a columnist for Feministing, where she delivers such empowering messages as "Romantic Love Is a Patriarchal Conspiracy," "My Vagina Is Tired of Compromise" and, best of all, "Sexual Objectification Is an Evil Male Plot for World Domination," which includes this astonishing sentence:
I literally cannot talk to other women about how upsetting I find being street harassed without part of me feeling a little smug about it.
This is an astonishing sentence, I say, because it is difficult to imagine that Harvard University would award a diploma in literature to someone who would write such a sentence. As much as I enjoy mocking the Ivy League — meritocracy, my ass — is it too much to expect a Harvard graduate to avoid this ignorant juvenile habit of haphazardly dropping "literally" into sentences as an intensifier? At least Ms. Gattuso did not commit the common error of using "literally" when she meant "figuratively," but if we ask what function "literally" serves in that sentence, the answer is, none whatsoever.
Would you say that I am being pedantic? Nitpicky and hypercritical? Yes, and deliberately so, because I do not like Reina Gattuso, and one way people communicate hostility is through this kind of fault-finding attitude, where everything the other person does is subjected to mocking criticism and ridicule. This is how feminists treat men, habitually, yet they will start shrieking in panicked victim mode — "Harassment!" "Abuse!" "Misogyny!" — if any man dares call them out on it.
Feminists are simply women who do not like men. They have converted their anti-male hostility into a simulacrum of a political ideology, and expect the rest of us to take their rants and screeds seriously. In the feminist's mind, she is in the position of a tenured professor and we are all a bunch of clueless kids who have signed up for her Gender Studies class. She is an expert, and we are in need of her enlightenment. The subject of today's lecture is the same as yesterday and the day before: "Men Are Bad and Stupid, and You Should Hate Them."
It really is as simple as that. The feminist is a grievance collector, who spends her life cataloguing the wrongs and evils for which men are responsible — that is to say, everything — and encouraging other women to do the same. This endless repetition of gripes and complaints about men is occasionally interrupted by endorsement of some other trendy progressive cause (global warming) as well as predictable electioneering efforts on behalf of left-wing candidates.
For example, whenever CNN goes off one of its periodic white-cop-shoots-black-teenager binges, feminist bloggers will reinvent themselves as experts on racial injustice and after the storm of made-for-TV protests blows over, feminist bloggers go back to ranting about abortion rights and "rape culture." Their interest in politics is similarly episodic, following whatever is in vogue among progressives. When Bush was president, feminists pretended to be experts on terrorism and foreign policy, but once Obama was elected, feminists suddenly became experts in health-care policy. Currently, feminists seem intent on convincing the world that Donald Trump is the Worst Racist Sexist Homophobe in the History of the World, Ever. However, if Trump should lose the Republican nomination — to Cruz or Rubio or whoever — then feminists will discover that, contrary to their earlier judgment, the GOP candidate who beats Trump is actually the Real Worst Racist Sexist Homophobe in the History of the World, Ever. But I digress . . .
In addition to "making out with half the lesbian, queer, bisexual, bicurious and questioning women at Harvard," Reina Gattuso also occasionally decides to subject herself to the patriarchal oppression of heterosexual intercourse, and she has written an 1,800-word column explaining how and why she generally despises the men she has sex with:
Alas, friend of mine, you have had an orgasm and are falling asleep. I have not had an orgasm and am not falling asleep, which means I am awake, which means I am now going to lecture you about feminism.
Who are you? (Big questions.) You are anyman, everyman, you are one of any number of lucky bastards with whom I have happened to roll into bed because baby, it's been a few months and none of the cute activists are texting me back. Or maybe you are a cute activist who texted me back — in which case listen up, buddy, because this one's for you, too.
Who are you? You're a decent guy. You're solid. I do not feel like you are going to rape me. (Yay! Let's throw a party!)
No, you're not a bad guy. The sex wasn't particularly bad, either. And I know bad sex. I know sex that tastes like coercion and I know sex that tastes like endings and I know sex that tastes like hand sanitizer, which is a bad thing to put on your hands before you finger someone.
No, friend, it was not bad sex. It was normal sex. Normal, boring, vaguely dehumanizing hetero sex.
Which is precisely the point: The normalcy.
Believe me: I enjoy having someone mortar-and-pestle me for a few minutes as much as the next ornery bisexual. But friend, I feel that you can do better. . . . .
Here I will interrupt to explain that I can find no independent corroboration that Reina Gattuso has ever had sex with a man. Or a woman, for that matter. Of course, I can understand why anyone would be reluctant to admit that they had sex with a Harvard feminist, but that's not my point. What I'm saying is I was unable to find a column anywhere with a headline like, "I Banged Reina Gattuso," so that what she says about having sex with men (or women, or transsexuals, or whatever) is unverified. She claims to have had sex with men, but no men have stepped forward testifying to the truth of her claim. With that stipulation in mind, please continue, Ms. Gattuso:
Because there was something in the choreography of the whole thing that just struck me as, I don't know — unsatisfying in a way only feminism can remedy.
Yup, I'm talking about the orgasm deficit. . . .
Sex is now over. Sex is now over because you have decided it is over. You have decided sex is over because you are a man, and because this choreography that favors men with penises — man becomes erect, man penetrates woman, man ejaculates — is what we have been told sex is.
Because we're brainwashed.
Ever heard of a thing called patriarchy? . . .
Your boyfriend is a loser and, therefore, patriarchy.
How many times do we have to read variations of this same tired theme? Anything and everything that any feminist decides to complain about is always blamed on "male supremacy." Everybody has been brainwashed by the patriarchy, we are expected to believe, and therefore we need feminists to tell us The Hidden Truth of the Oppressive Conspiracy that, in this example, has cheated Ms. Gattuso out of her orgasm. But the Oppressive Conspiracy of male supremacy is so vastly powerful that it can explain whatever irritates or annoys a feminist. The patriarchy is the Swiss Army Knife of feminism, an all-purpose tool of theory and analysis. After several paragraphs of ranting about the patriarchy, Ms. Gattuso finally reaches the, uh, climax of her argument:
We f–k until you come, I do not come, you do not ask if I would like to come or if you can help make me come, and then we're done f–king, because you have decided we are done f–king, and everyone is supposedly happy.
OK, enough. Anyone who wants to subject themselves to the rest of Raina Gattuso's lecture can go read the whole thing, but let me suggest that if she is accurately describing an actual experience, she may have misunderstood it.
"Pump and dump" — this is a phrase that the pick-up artist (PUA) community uses to describe a situation in which a guy decides to make a move on a woman who interests him only in terms of a one-time opportunity for sex. This kind of play is also known as "hit-it-and-quit-it," and may be part of a PUA's general strategy of running up his number just for the sake of the game. It's Tuesday night at the local sports bar, not a lot of action available, and here's this woman who's giving him green-light signals. She is not the kind of woman he would consider for anything like a actual relationship, but (a) she is clearly signaling her interest and (b) it's Tuesday.
What the heck, why not? Run up the score. "Pump and dump."
That's how the PUA sees it, but — plot twist — he doesn't want the woman to realize how low she rates in his estimation. The game is about psychology, and the shrewd PUA realizes that the woman flashing him the green light is probably hoping for more than just a one-night stand. In all likelihood, she has in mind some kind of audition, where if everything goes well, he will want to develop a relationship. In that kind of situation, you see, there isn't much incentive for the PUA to make any extra effort, to be sensitive and considerate. He doesn't love her. He doesn't respect her. He has no reason to do anything more than the necessary minimum: "Pump and dump."
Now, the key to the PUA's success is this: She never realizes it's a game. If a player is really skilled, his targets don't even suspect he's a pick-up artist. Everybody thinks of PUAs in terms of the bar scene, but a master of the game could be just any guy anywhere. Nobody suspected Asheville, N.C., coffee shop owner Jared Rutledge of being a PUA master during the months he was running up his number:
In 2013, he hooked up with 15 different women, and in 2014, he achieved 22 "scores" (a new woman every 16 days, on average).
Alas, the damned fool decided to brag about his conquests on an "anonymous" blog, and thereby destroyed himself. What was interesting was that some of Rutledge's targets insisted angrily that they had real relationships with him that weren't "just about sex," so that even after they were told they had been played, they still didn't fully realize the nature of his game. Even though all decent people must deplore Rutledge's unethical behavior, his remarkable success demonstrates how easily women can be deceived by a skilled player.
And this is what Raina Gattuso doesn't understand about the men who play her as a "pump-and-dump." Whether or not any of them would describe themselves as PUAs, they are treating her the way we might expect a player to treat a woman he regards as a "low-value target." She directs her feminist "orgasm deficit" rant toward "any number of lucky bastards with whom I have happened to roll into bed," evidently with no thought of how these "lucky bastards" viewed their encounters with her. Does she think they were all incompetent and clueless? Or was it the case, as we might more readily imagine, that these guys didn't feel the need to waste any extra effort on a casual "hit-it-and-quit-it" score?
An alternate theory is that Raina Gattuso has a (not uncommon) combination of bad judgment and bad attitude. Such women exude a general hostility toward men, a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude that is a sort of pre-emptive defense against unwanted attention. In their minds, they are signaling how "strong" they are, but others just perceive them as rude and bitchy. (Males commit similar errors as, for example, the guy postures as cool and aloof but is perceived by others as merely sullen and hostile.) A woman who tries to strike the "strong woman" pose will, quite predictably, be avoided by most men. What this type of woman will typically do, however, is to aggressively pursue men who strike her fancy, and this is where her bad judgment comes into play, in that she invariably chooses bad men or, at least, men who are wrong for her.
Recall that Ms. Gattuso described herself as "selfish" and "reckless," which is to say that she is impulsive and irresponsible and makes bad decisions. She has apparently never been in any enduring or stable relationship with any of her lovers, male or female, and what else would we expect? When a young woman makes this kind of attitude and behavior her habit, it is unlikely she will ever change, especially when she has made this the basis of her political identity. Ms. Gattuso has gone out of her way to publicize herself as a promiscuous bisexual feminist — "outing herself to her grandmother" as a graduation stunt at Harvard — and perhaps you can imagine her repudiating her self-created identity, but I can't. She is utterly doomed to become a crazy cat lady.
Pretty sure @reinagattuso could use one of these. https://t.co/dvEZLPGeOC pic.twitter.com/4zghYDbjUe
— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) January 23, 2016
Knowing that the comments at Feministing are moderated, I decided to use the system to communicate some useful truth:
The real problem — and I say this merely for the benefit of whichever editor is assigned to delete my comment — is that (a) Reina Gattuso does not actually like men and yet (b) she continues to have sex with men, while (c) believing that the men she has sex with are too stupid to figure out her game. Given her avowed lesbian preference, why is Ms. Gattuso having sex with men at all? In a word: narcissism. She enjoys being the center of attention, and if no lesbians are available to serve her narcissistic need, she'll settle for whatever male is available. Assuming that these men are even minimally perceptive, however, they can see exactly what kind of game she's playing.
Well, OK, buddy: You have been invited to worship The Bitch Goddess, who views you as an abject and inferior servant — a mere instrument for her pleasure — and you can either (a) humiliate yourself in masochistic supplication to her imperious demands, or (b) just get it over with and try never to be so foolish again in the future.
While it is futile to offer advice to the omniscient Ms. Gattuso, who already knows everything, I hope the editor assigned to delete this comment will heed my suggestion: Stop treating men as if they are your moral and intellectual inferiors, simply because they are male. Any honest and intelligent man will refuse to be treated in such an insulting manner. This is why the anti-male prejudices of feminists tend to become self-fulfilling prophecies: Feminists treat men badly, and good men therefore avoid feminists, and then feminists wonder why all the men they meet are so bad.
That's the bottom line, really. For women like Raina Gattuso, feminism is just a political rationalization of their sadistic tendencies.
The fact that all the men you date are worthless losers is not a political issue, ma'am. @reinagattuso @MollyRoseBell @DateOffCampus
BREAKING NEWS: Promiscuous women have bad sex with bad men. @antifemz @MollyRoseBell @DateOffCampus @reinagattuso @feministing
UPDATE: Linked at First Street Journal and the Political Hat and by Maetenloch in the AOSHQ overnight thread — thanks! — and welcome, Instapundit readers!
Category: Sex Trouble
154 Responses to "The Pump-and-Dump Feminist"
January 26th, 2016 @ 10:25 am
Self-fulfilling prophecy is a bitch…and I mean that in the most utterly distastefully patriarchal way possible…because that's just the way I am…because, I like to dream, yes, yes, right between my sound machine…
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January 26th, 2016 @ 4:16 pm
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February 5th, 2016 @ 4:27 pm
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What a grand little Rosie lamb you've adopted!
Gorgeous fiber :) I'm in the BBF2 fiber club and can't wait to get my first installment!!!
I think I adopted Rosie's sister hehehe. I called her Sweet Pea (what else :)). I also adopted Freckles, just because I liked her name.
Tell the Kiddo that is a most excellent idea. When I get it I will put my sheep (Kira) pic on the fridge at my house as well.
That Alpaca blend roving is just fantastic, isn't it? Have you worked with it yet? I hope she sells more!
Cute little model you've got there! The blues in the fiber are very pretty.
Oh what a sweet little lamb ... including your son!


Join Tree Frog Treks and our experienced Wild Science team for 2 sessions of Spring exploration and learning through active observation as we journey from Precita Park to discover the wild side of San Francisco! Campers will travel to local wildlife areas such as Land's End and Glen Canyon to discover the amazing plants and animals who inhabit our beautiful city, from soaring Red-tailed Hawks to slimy Slender Salamanders. In addition to outdoor adventures, campers will perform hands-on science experiments, play games, and make nature-inspired art. They'll even get to have face-to-face encounters with our creepy crawly Animal Ambassadors like Thorny the Bearded Dragon or Blondie the Burmese Python!
It's the perfect time to get out and get dirty, so put on your explorer hat, grab your binoculars and bug nets, and let's hit the trail for some science fun!!
Making friends with Tiki the Bearded Dragon!


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College Universitaire Caraibe ( C.U.C.) was founded in 1988 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  It is a school in Haiti affiliated with Université Caraïbe's College of Education.
 Has classes from Pre-school to High School.
 Approximately 350 students in attendance
 Approximately 35 Faculty and Staff
 Teaches students in Creole, French and English

References

External links
 University of Caraibe Website
 College Universitaire Caraibe Website
 Haiti Schools

Buildings and structures in Port-au-Prince
Educational institutions established in 1988
Schools in Haiti
1988 establishments in Haiti

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home / Silent Hill (PSX) (US) (Signed)
Silent Hill (PSX) (US) (Signed)
Autographs, Games/Demos, SH1
[table class= "table table-striped" th="0″] Format:, PSX NTSC-U/C retail game
Released:, 1998/1999
Catalog Number:, SLUS-00707
ISBN:, ISBN 083717170372
Purchased:, "January," 1999
Where:, Local Funcoland
Autograph(s):, Akira Yamaoka
My very first Silent Hill purchase! The first American retail edition of the game that comes in a jewel case with an English instruction manual. There are two slightly different versions of the black US edition. There are some like mine which have a more muted silver front cover with the collage on the front with a very low contrast which were part of the initial release. Later prints before the Greatest Hits edition still had the black Playstation spine but the cover became a high contrast black and white image. This and the US Greatest Hits edition of Silent Hill are the only ones known to be uncensored.
I had the game cover signed signed by Akira Yamaoka at the Silent Hill Revelation 3D movie Premiere October 24, 2012. It was such an honor to meet him.
Akira and Me
Black Label Versions
Silent Hill (PSX) (Store) Demo (US) Silent Hill (PSX) (ASN) (Sealed)


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Tag Archives: Henry Lincoln
The Dominators
Almost universally condemned as one of the worst Doctor Who serials ever, The Dominators was the serial Patrick Troughton personally requested be screened at the convention he was attending at the time of his death. Perhaps Troughton could see something of merit in The Dominators that fans and critics were unable to discern. But then again, in 1987 there weren't many extant Second Doctor serials available. There aren't many more accessible today. That's probably reason enough to at least try to detect something favourable about the serial. Thankfully the good contributors to Celebrate Regenerate have come to our rescue and said this about The Dominators:
The Quarks were less than convincing as monsters
I think I knew The Dominators was the weakest of the bunch. But I still loved it: it was funny. It's the only Doctor Who story I know of that's based on a clash of household furnishings. Guys wearing sofas invade a world of people dressed in curtains. The natives immediately surrender to them despite the fact that they're incompetent (those other ten galaxies must have really been pushovers). And then there are the Quarks. Small, slow, waddling, penguin-esque with squeaky voices and very low-capacity batteries. But at the end of the day , I love the Dominators …
Edited by Lewis Christian, Celebrate Regenerate is a fan produced chronicle of every Doctor Who episode
Save for its slowness and distinct lack of plot, the principal criticism directed at The Dominators is the writers' reactionary premise that pacifism is abhorrent and pacifists gullible and unintelligent. In their third and final outing as writers for Doctor Who Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln took a direct swipe at the growing anti-war movement. The Dulcians are pacifists and presented as unquestioning morons. Although they have two hearts they are physically weak and not use to manual labour. When forced to labour as slaves to the aggressors, the Dominators, they are next to useless and are seen to struggle under the burden of moving heavy rocks. The Dulcians' education system appears to prioritize rote learning over intellectual enquiry and they accept any statements as fact until they are otherwise proved false. It isn't too hard to envisage what Haisman and Lincoln's perception of anti-war protestors were.
The Dulcians are not use to physical labour
The Dominators was not Doctor Who's first anti-pacifist adventure. That dishonour goes to Terry Nation's The Daleks in which the gorgeous Thals are pilloried for their being unprepared to fight . In my review of The Daleks I examined Nation's contempt for the 1930's British policy of Appeasement. Unlike the Thals, Haisman and Lincoln do not afford the Dulcians any redemption. They are portrayed in an unfavourable light throughout the whole of the serial. Given that Doctor Who has generally taken a more liberal view on political issues this contempt for pacifism is all the more extraordinary.
The aliens with perhaps the most inept name ever, the Dominators
More than 40 years later such distain for pacifism was again evidenced in Toby Whitehouse's Series Six story, The God Complex (2011). This time, however, a reactionary political message was veiled in humour. When the Eleventh Doctor asks Gibbis, a native of Tivoli, how he arrived at the "hotel" his response was enlightening – "I was at work. I'm in town planning. We're lining all the highways with trees so invading forces can march in the shade. It's nice for them". Tivoli is the most conquered planet in the galaxy and its residents have resigned themselves to being constantly overrun. Accordingly they welcome invading armies and their national anthem reflects the ease with which they accept domination – "Glory to <Insert Name Here>".
Another pacifist portrayed in an unfavourable light was Gibbis in The God Complex (2011)
What I also found disturbing about The Dominators was the patriarchal nature of the Dulcians' society. Only men, and old ones at that, are members of their governing council. Certainly there are numerous other Doctor Who serials which are guilty of not positively representing women, however The Dominators totally disenfranchises them. I would hope that this says more about the writers' views than those espoused by the producers of Doctor Who. That being said, the decision to give the Quarks childish female voices is bizarre, to say the least. Hitherto all monsters, without exception, have had masculine voices even if their bodies are not specifically gendered. The one and only time that a woman is used to voice a monster, the voices are clumsy and laughable. It left me wondering if this was some form of bad joke in which women, in general, were being ridiculed.
Only men are members of the Dulcian ruling elite
Unfortunately the Quarks proved to be appalling monsters. Small in stature, school children were encased within them for the filming. They shuffled around, always looking as though they were about to tumble over, and had arms that were even more impractical than the Daleks'. They were easily defeated, at one stage by a conveniently light boulder pushed from a hill top by Cully, the only resident of Dulkis to rebel from their pacifism. Created by Haisman and Lincoln specifically for their marketing potential, the Quarks were almost the subject of legal proceedings between the writers and the BBC. Relations between the writers and Doctor Who deteriorated further when the serial was cut from six episodes to five and substantially rewritten. Haisman and Lincoln sought to have their names removed from the credits and accordingly a pseudonym, "Norman Asby", which was taken from the first names of the writers' father-in-laws, was adopted.
The marketing rights to the Quarks almost resulted in legal proceedings between the writers and the BBC
Although the Quarks were never again seen on TV they were encountered in comics
The Doctor's ethics in The Dominators are also questionable. He is responsible for the deaths of the two Dominators after he places their atomic seed-device, intended to destroy the planet, onto the aggressor's own space craft. This is plainly an example of lazy writing as it was the easy option for disposing of the bomb quickly. Surely the Doctor could have diffused it rather than acting as judge, jury and executioner.
The Doctor and Jamie hold hands again
Despite its many failing I surprised myself by actually enjoying The Dominators. Perhaps I was just relieved at watching the first complete serial since The Tomb of the Cybermen or maybe, just maybe, I could see in the story the good that Patrick Troughton evidently saw. I really don't know, however I am sure that our next story, The Mind Robber, lives up to its reputation as Troughton's favourite serial. Please join me for my next review as we enter the land of fiction.
The Dominators was originally broadcast in the UK between 10 August and 7 September 1968
©Vivien Fleming, 2013.
Filed under Jamie McCrimmon, Season 6, Second Doctor, Zoe Heriot and tagged BBC, Celebrate Regenerate, Doctor Who, Henry Lincoln, Mervyn Haisman, Quarks, Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Second Doctor, The Daleks, The Dominators, The God Complex, The Mind Robber, The Tomb of the Cybermen |	7 Comments


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The Atmospheric Railway
Page updated 26th February 2014
Back to historic events in Exeter
When the Bristol and Taunton railway reached Exeter St David's, in May 1844, plans were were already in hand to continue the line down to Plymouth and beyond. The Plymouth, Devonport & Exeter Railway Company had been formed as early as 1840 to promote such a line. In 1843, when I K Brunel was appointed as its engineer, the name was changed to the South Devon Railway. On the 4th July 1844, an Act of Parliament was obtained for its construction and work commenced. This history is only concerned with the atmospheric railway line as far as Newton Abbot.
The first consideration for Brunel was the route to be taken; despite warnings from others, he decided that the line would follow the west bank of the Exe estuary, hug the coast between Dawlish and Teignmouth, in parts tunnelling through headlands, while in other places it would run on a narrow strip between the English Channel and steep, red sandstone cliffs. From Teignmouth, the line would pass along the northern bank of the Teign estuary until it reached Newton Abbot. The line was to be single track, broad gauge and, most controversially, worked by the still experimental system of atmospheric propulsion.
Brunel proposed the single track, broad gauge line to save on engineering costs. Leaving St David's, the line immediately crossed the River Exe on a wooden bridge to St Thomas which it crossed on a 548 yard viaduct, built by Samuda & Clegg, to clear the three main roads converging on the Exe Bridge. In St Thomas, a station by Cowick Street was built which would become the head quarters of the South Devon Railway Co. The station that we see today was built in 1861 when the track was twinned and the viaduct widened, as is evident by the two styles of stone work under the arches.
The line as far as Newton Abbot would be level, although, as since demonstrated, at the mercy of storm waves from the English Channel. Brunel was concerned that the current technology of the steam engine would prove to be inadequate for the steep gradients that the line would encounter beyond Newton Abbot as it approached Totnes, and later, as it skirted Dartmoor.
The Atmospheric System
The choice of the atmospheric propulsion system was made after Brunel had seen the atmospheric Samuda and Clegg built Kingston & Dalkley Railway near Dublin in operation. Along with a test line at Croydon, the system had impressed Brunel for him to recommend it to the shareholders of the South Devon Railway.
He believed that the system would be economical to build, save fuel, allow trains to ascend the steep gradients beyond Newton Abbot, give a silent, smooth and fast ride for the passengers, and would be clean, avoiding the smuts that plagued conventional railway systems.
The proposed system used a 15 inch pipe with a slit along the top that was covered with a flap valve to maintain an internal vacuum, positioned between the rails. The valve had an ox-hide leather seal which was greased, initially with lime soap and later with cod oil and soap. Pumping stations were constructed every three miles at Exeter St David's (became a water tower), Countess Wear, Turf, Starcross (still exists), Dawlish, Teignmouth, Bishopsteignton and Newton Abbot. Each pumping station would evacuate the pipe of air, according to the timetable, which proved to be very wasteful if the train was no ready to leave the previous stop. Although the telegraph had been run along the line, it was not installed in the pumping stations - if it had, precious coal would have been saved.
Beneath the leading piston carriage hung a 15 ft long piston shaped like a dumbbell, with small wheels outside the pipe, and before and after the piston, that opened and pressed close the iron and leather flap valve. The piston entered the end of the pipe from which the air had been evacuated, the brakes released, and pressure from the atmosphere would push the piston up the pipe, behind the vacuum created by the pumping engine. A small, supplementary vacuum pipe and piston to the side of the rail and between each section was used to haul the train with a rope to the next main section of vacuum pipe at stations.
The first trains
The route as far as Teignmouth opened on 30th May 1846 with conventional engines and on the 22 December 1846 the first train, comprising of a large number of trucks, hauled by two engines, in total weighing 300 to 400 tons, reached Newton Abbot. On the 31 December, after the line had been passed as safe by the Government inspector, the Sun Class locomotive, Antelope left Exeter at 9.55 am and arrived at Newton at 10.45 am with its first passengers.
During 1846, the installation of the atmospheric system took place alongside the regular timetable to Teignmouth. On 25 February 1847 the first carriage with a piston attached was delivered at Exeter and a short test to Turf made on the same evening. Problems were apparent from the start, as the carriage, towing a locomotive proceeded very slowly due to water and dirt in the pipe.
The next day Brunel with Samuda made his first trip, although the middle section at Countess Wear needed a tow, as the pumping house was not working. Over the next few months, many problems became apparent to the engineers. The steam engines at the pumping houses were underpowered, and unreliable, due to poor workmanship, and the valve on the pipe was causing problems. It was not until the 16 August 1847 that the first atmospheric hauled train reached Teignmouth.
Two atmospheric trains per day left Exeter, for a return trip to Teignmouth on an experimental basis. Speeds as high as 45 mph were reached in the 40 minute journey, albeit, without a single passenger. Trials with trains hauling 120 tons were made and on one occasion, the 8½ mile journey from Exeter to Starcross took just 15 minutes. On the 13 September, the public were allowed to ride on the train for the first time, when two trains per day were run.
Gradually, over the next few months, the conventional locomotives were withdrawn from service, and the atmospheric system took over. By 17 December, atmospheric trains were reaching as far as Newton Abbot. On the 23 February 1848, the changeover was complete, and the worlds longest atmospheric railway was in full operation.
More problems
The valve in the pipe continued to give problems, and to keep the railway running a gang of men was employed full time to keep the valve well greased and free from leakage.
In addition, the pumping engines, designed for 13 inch pipes, were taking longer than expected to exhaust all the air from the pipe ready for a train. This along with the lack of a telegraph increased coal consumption, and costs.
The service was remarkably reliable, despite the difficulties, until December 1847 and January 1848, when the severe cold froze the valve shut on several occasions, or it leaked due to cracking; on these days, a conventional locomotive was used to maintain the service.
Losses mount
By June 1848, the increased cost of coal, and maintenance, incurred a loss for the previous six months, of £2,487. The actual running cost was more than 7 pence per mile higher than a locomotive hauled railway. Brunel discovered that each pumping engine required almost three times the power that he first calculated to exhaust the pipe, primarily due to leakage.
Plans were made to improve the system to prevent failure in the future and reduce running costs. A rubber valve was ordered, and the feasibility of galvanising the valve was investigated, to prevent corrosion. The cost was estimated at £1,160 per mile of some £25,000 in total.
However, by August, the directors of the railway were becoming impatient with Brunel, and indeed, Brunel was becoming disillusioned with the project. Brunel had submitted a verbal report to the directors on 1 August when he outlined the difficulties so far encountered with the system. He considered that virtually the whole of the valve would need replacing, a job that would take a year, and that the underpowered pumping engines would need a good deal of work to upgrade them. As a consequence, he did not recommend that the atmospheric working be extended beyond Newton Abbot, and recommended that the expense of putting the system right could not be justified, unless Samuda would guarantee the works.
On 29 August, the Board of the South Devon Railway Company decided that atmospheric working would cease on the 9 September. From that date steam locomotives replaced the pumping houses, and the atmospheric equipment sold off. One pumping engine found its way to a lead mine near Ashburton, and some of the pipe was used to drain the marshes of Goodrington for the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway Company. The only reminder of Brunel's Atmospheric Caper is the engine house at Starcross. Nothing can be found of the pumping houses at Turf and Countess Wear, although the Exeter St David's pumping house had a water tower added to it before it was removed quite recently.
Brunel was heavily criticized by the board of the South Devon Railway, some of whom had questioned the fees that Brunel had negotiated. Brunel countered this charge by stating that he had reduced the fee for his workmen on the system, had not taken his own £6,000 fee, and had lost £20,000 of his own money which had been invested in the venture.
It is apparent now, that Brunel made two fatal mistakes. The first was that he failed to understand, that steam engine technology was evolving very fast, and that by the time his railway was running to Plymouth, the latest steam engines would have more than enough power to climb the gradients, west of Newton Abbot. His second mistake is that he placed too much faith in Samuda and Clegg's technology, which had proved effective for a short time, on the much smaller system at Croydon – however, material technology of the time was not advanced enough, leading to the ineffective leather valve system, which could not withstand the elements. Even with our modern materials, it is unlikely that an atmospheric railway, similar to Brunel's would be successful today. Brunel was a brave engineer who backed an unproven system – in his favour, he was also brave enough to go to the directors and tell them that the system wasn't working, losing a large amount of his own money in the process.
Sources - The South Devon Railway by R H Gregory, Exeter to Newton Abbot by Mitchell and Smith, and the Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1870) by I Brunel (son of IKB)
The leading engine with the piston in the tube.
A train at Dawlish, heading towards Exeter.
The Samuda and Clegg viaduct just to the south of St Thomas Station. © Dick Passmore.
A section of the atmospheric tube. © Alan Mazonowicz.
This print of the railway at Dawlish clearly shows a conventional train approaching the station and pumping engine.
The arch of the viaduct in the foreground is the original structure by Samuda and Clegg. © Exeter Memories
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