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B. Catling
Our Haunted Year 2020
December 27, 2020 December 30, 2020 Brian J. ShowersB. Catling, Brian Coldrick, Dave McKean, Ethel Mannin, Ghosts of the Chit-Chat, John Coulthart, Katharine Tynan, Leaves for the Burning, Lorena Carrington, Lucifer and the Child, Mervyn Wall, Munky, Niall McCormack, Peter Bell, Robert Lloyd Parry, Susan Tomaselli, The Death Spancel, The Green Book, Timothy J. Jarvis, UncertaintiesLeave a comment
We can probably safely say that few could have guessed what 2020 would have in store for us. I haven't quite decided yet whether or not I take comfort in the fact that this can be said at the start of any given year. Anyway, here at Swan River Press I had to adjust quickly: I started to work my day job from home last March, which then blurred daily into the evening hours that I put into the press. Time is a bit elastic in this room, and it isn't uncommon to find myself wondering what day of the week it is.
Whenever I write one of these annual reviews, it seems that the most recent passing year is the "most ambitious yet". This year feels no different, if only because most of my free moments—for better or for worse—were given over to Swan River. I suppose one must keep oneself distracted, right? I admit, I enjoy the indulgence in work. At least this sort of work.
But here we are at the end of a difficult year, and it's time for me to take stock of what we've accomplished on the publishing front. I say "we" because, though it's just been me in this room for the majority of the year, Swan River is far from just myself as you'll quickly see.
So let's start at the beginning.
Our first book of the year was the fourth instalment in our ongoing anthology series, Uncertainties, our showcase of new writing—featuring contributions from Britain, America, Canada, Australia, and the Philippines—each writer exploring the idea of increasingly fragmented senses of reality. This year's volume was edited by Timothy J. Jarvis, and included an impressive line-up of stories from fourteen contemporary writers such as Lucie McKnight Hardy, Camilla Grudova, John Darnielle, Brian Evenson, and Claire Dean. I was particularly delighted to feature on the cover a painting by B. Catling, who we'll return to in a moment. David Longhorn of Supernatural Tales had some kind things to say about the anthology: "[Uncertainties 4] has, for me, illustrated yet again the broad range of Gothic fiction, and more than hints at a genre revival in this century far more impressive than anything in the last. Perhaps this is because, like the Victorian era, ours is one of uncertain peace, irrational fads, scientific progress, and deeply unstable societies that are mirrored in confused personal identities and relationships. And people still like spooky stuff a lot."
(Buy Uncertainties 4 here.)
Lucifer and the Child by Ethel Mannin felt like one of our biggest discoveries of the year, something to be truly excited about: the first Irish edition of an overlooked novel once banned in this country. An atypical book from Mannin, Lucifer and the Child was originally published in 1945, then reviewed in the Irish Times as "a strange, but gripping book". Our new edition of this extraordinary novel features an introduction by Rosanne Rabinowitz, and was given favourable notice in the Dublin Inquirer: "It is not surprising that this book was deemed unsuitable for 1940s Ireland. The allure of Lucifer and the occult would certainly have been deemed inappropriate, as would the depictions of female sexuality." (Although no records exist that give reason, I personally suspect it wasn't the occult themes that got the book banned, but rather the mention of abortion.) Despite the challenges it poses to conservative pearl-clutchers, this book was warmly received as evidenced by the many emails I got from delighted readers. The cover is by Australian artist Lorena Carrington—she did a wonderful job of depicting the dark faerie tale within its pages.
(Buy Lucifer and the Child here.)
Our next title, Munky, allowed us not only to work with artist and novelist B. Catling RA, author of the Vorrh trilogy, but for the cover art the opportunity to team up with artist Dave McKean. This project started as a submission to Uncertainties 4, but after some consideration, we decided it stood better on its own. Munky is a quirky novella that illustrates an English town and its inhabitants, as ridiculous as they are quaint, evoking an atmosphere that "might be called M. R. James with a soupçon of P. G. Wodehouse and a dash of Viz" (The Scotsman). We had also arranged for this edition to be signed by both author and artist, making this book one helluva package. Once a book is published, I tend not to go back and read it (yet again). Not so with Munky. Over these past months I found myself picking it up on occasion to revisit Catling's charmingly cracked world.
(Buy Munky here.)
Our fourth book this year was also our fourth by Irish author Mervyn Wall: Leaves for the Burning, originally published in 1952. We've been championing Wall's work for quite some time now: The Unfortunate Fursey (2015), The Return of Fursey (2015), A Flutter of Wings (2017), and in a few issues of The Green Book. A mid-century portrait of Ireland, Leaves for the Burning is rich in grotesque humour and savage absurdity, depicting a middle-aged public servant who works in a shabby county council sub-office in the bleak Irish midlands, mired in Kafkaesque bureaucracy and petty skirmishes with locals. Although we stray from our typical fantastical themes with this one, we hope you'll still give it a chance. With an introduction by Susan Tomaselli, editor of gorse, we are proud to make available again Mervyn Wall's great "half-bitter book"—as it was judged by Seán O'Faoláin—surely now just as relevant as it was over half a century ago. The cover art for this one is by Niall McCormack, whose work will be recognisable to those who read Tomaselli's gorse.
(Buy Leaves for the Burning here.)
Continuing with our "recovered voices" of Irish women writers of the supernatural, this year we published The Death Spancel and Others by Katharine Tynan. Research for this project started over three years ago—though you'll recall we featured Tynan in Bending to Earth: Strange Stories by Irish Women (2019) and in various issues of The Green Book. Consisting of fifteen stories, seven poems, three appendices, and an introduction by Peter Bell, The Death Spancel is the first collection to showcase Katharine Tynan's tales of the macabre and supernatural. It is also the only volume of this once-popular Irish author's work currently in print, perhaps making this book all the more important. The Death Spancel was reviewed in Hellnotes by Mario Guslani to be "of remarkably high literary quality . . . a great collection recommended to any good fiction lover." Brian Coldrick, who is quickly becoming one of our favourite artists to work with, did the cover for this one. You might recognise his work from the cover of Rosa Mulholland's Not to Be Taken at Bed-time (2019).
(Buy The Death Spancel here.)
The final hardback of the year was Ghosts of the Chit-Chat, edited by actor and scholar Robert Lloyd Parry. The book is as much an anthology of stories and poems as it is a work of scholarship. Lloyd Parry introduces each author with a short biographical sketch, building a portrait of those in the orbit of M. R. James, who debuted his own ghost stories on the evening of Saturday, 28 October 1893, Cambridge University's Chit-Chat Club. Like many of our books, this one was long in the works. In addition to reprinting numerous rare and only recently discovered pieces, Ghosts of the Chit-Chat also features earlier, slightly different versions of James's "Canon Alberic's Scrap-book" (here titled "The Scrap-book of Canon Alberic") and "Lost Hearts". We also had a Zoom launch for Chit-Chat, and though it wasn't recorded, we've got a video of Lloyd Parry reading Maurice Baring's "The Ikon". The volume was published on 8 December, and proved to be so popular that the already extended edition of 500 swiftly went out of print on 20 December, breaking some sort of record for us. Reception has been encouraging, with James scholar Rosemary Pardoe noting, "People who've missed out on it should be kicking themselves." But don't worry. We have plans for a paperback edition next year—sign up to our mailing list if you want advance notice.
(Buy Ghosts of the Chit-Chat here.)
We also published three issues of our journal The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural and the Fantastic. Issue 14, outstanding from 2019, was published simultaneously with Issue 15. Based loosely around the theme of memoir and biographical sketches, Issue 14 contained pieces by or about Dorothy Macardle, Fitz-James O'Brien, Rosa Mulholland, among others. Issue 15 was a departure from our standard practice: we decided to feature fiction, and so reprinted rare pieces by Conall Cearnach, Herbert Moore Pim, Robert Cromie, and others. Issue 16 featured ten entries from our (still tentatively titled) Guide to Irish Gothic and Supernatural Fiction Writers project, including profiles of Edmund Burke, L. T. Meade, Forrest Read, Elizabeth Bowen, and more. Our issues for 2021 are already coming together nicely.
(Buy The Green Book here.)
So is anyone interested in the final tallies? I've got my nifty spreadsheets set up to spit out some figures. We published 8 new titles this year, totalling 1,584 pages, 2,950 copies, and 462,763 words.
Naturally we attended no conventions this year, either online or in person. I think the last might have been FantasyCon in Glasgow. But I look forward to seeing everyone again soon!
Perhaps the biggest Swan River development over these past twelve months was a long-mooted foray into paperbacks. We've dipped our toes in the water so far with Earth-Bound (Dorothy Macardle), The House on the Borderland (William Hope Hodgson), and Insect Literature (Lafcadio Hearn). We'll be doing more in 2021, so it will be your chance to read some of our out-of-print books at a more reasonable price. The reason it took so long is because I wanted to make sure we were doing paperbacks as best we could given the myriad challenges I had to consider and balance. This not only includes the books themselves, but also the behind-the-scenes admin work they create. But I'm happy we'll been able to make available again some great stories. If you want to read more about our paperbacks, I wrote an entire blogpost about it.
(Buy Swan River Paperbacks here.)
Next I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Timothy J. Jarvis, who will be joining (actually, already has) the Swan River team. I've known and worked with Tim for a good many years now. I've always found both his fiction and writings on supernatural literature to be nothing but insightful; and I, as I am sure do many, value his generosity, passion, and friendship highly. If you want to check out Tim's work, I suggest starting with his novel The Wanderer (2014). Tim also edited Uncertainties 4 this year, and his short fiction and articles can be found in innumerable anthologies. He is also co-editor of Faunus, the journal of the Friends of Arthur Machen (to which you should subscribe if you don't already!). Welcome, Tim!
Not forgetting the Swan River team, who make sure that I've not sat alone in this room for the year: Meggan Kehrli, who has once again done a superb job designing and laying out all our titles (not to mention the various other ads and graphics I occasionally need); Jim Rockhill, who is always at the read to provide proofreading and sage editorial input, always backed with his thoughtful scholarship; and Ken Mackenzie, who takes care of all our books' insides, always patiently putting up with my dithering until things are just right. And finally, Alison Lyons of Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, who continues to give her support, encouragement, and enthusiasm for our on-going work, allowing us to reach just a bit further than we might otherwise be able to.
(Don't worry, I'm nearly finished.)
This year has been difficult for many, and I've had a lot of books and media to keep me company lately. I'd like to give a shout out to the creatives that I've been enjoying lately. Maybe you'll find something new and interesting: Tartarus Press, Zagava, Ritual Limited, Egaeus Press, Sarob Press, Side Real Press, Supernatural Tales, Hellbore, Nunkie Productions, Eibonvale Press, Undertow Publications, Nightjar Press, Friends of Arthur Machen—all of these people are doing the sort of things that I love, so be sure to give them your support if you find something new and exciting. Not to mention the many booksellers out there who stock our books—and even if they don't, be sure to support your favourite local, independent bookseller. Choose to put your money into their pockets instead of Am*zon's, because it really does make a difference.
Lastly, thank you to everyone who supported Swan River Press this year: with kind words, by buying books, donating through our patron programme, or simply spreading the word—I'm grateful for it all! If you'd like to keep in touch, do join our mailing list, find us on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram. We've got some exciting projects for next year that I'm looking forward to sharing with you all. Until then, please stay healthy; take care of each other and your communities. I'd like to wish you all a restful holiday season, and hope to hear from you in the New Year!
In Deep League: A Conversation with B. Catling
July 7, 2020 July 7, 2020 Brian J. ShowersB. Catling, Dave McKean, Harry Price, Munky, Timothy J. Jarvis1 Comment
Portrait of B. Catling's "Candleye" by David Tolley
Conducted by Timothy J. Jarvis
Peopled with richly drawn Dickensian grotesques and filled with bizarre and comical incident, Munky is as compelling as it is antic. Catling transports the reader to an interwar England in the throes of change. Part bizarre ghost story, part whimsical farce, part idiosyncratic literary experiment, it could be described as P. G. Wodehouse collaborating with Raymond Roussel, with a dash of M. R. James, if it weren't so uniquely its own thing.
B. Catling, RA, was born in London in 1948. He is a poet, sculptor, filmmaker, and performance artist, currently making egg-tempera paintings and writing novels. He has held solo exhibitions and performances in the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Iceland, Israel, Holland, Norway, Germany, Greenland, USA, and Australia. His Vorrh trilogy and recent novel Earwig have drawn much critical acclaim. He is also Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford.
Timothy J. Jarvis: Munky is many things, a novella that covers a staggering range of modes and styles. But at heart it is a ghost story. Do you enjoy supernatural tales? Any favourite writers?
Brian Catling: Supernatural tales and all the enigmas of life, which get seen in the periphery of normal vision, are a great fascination to me and always have been. Poe is the base of all things. Then the rest of the usual suspects: Arthur Machen (do you know the compelling story of Tessa Farmer?*), M. R. James, Lovecraft, etc., and I have a fondness for Blackwood who I think is often under ranked.
[*Tessa Farmer is sculptor who is Machen's great-grandaughter, and whose extraordinary work, made from insect carcasses and other natural materials, depicts malevolent fairies that resemble in some ways those in certain stories of her forebear's, though she was unfamiliar with his work when she started making them. – Ed.]
TJJ: Munky is also a comedy of manners, in a very British vein — there are some really memorable comic scenes, including one hilarious and acerbic treatment of the social and class niceties of the taking of high tea. What inspired you to bring together the two quite disparate modes of the ghostly tale and the farce?
Landlord of the George Hotel
BC: I never plan my writing in any academic or system-based control. It is all a flowing out. Its momentum gathering images and bits of storage on its way. So to answer this question: I was spending more time in and around Dorchester Abbey, hearing the church and village stories about the living and the dead. Then I found myself face to face with the pencil drawing of the publican of the George Hotel, who claimed to be the heaviest publican in the UK, in the 1950s. Two pints later in the empty bar, the ghost monk walked in, and the story started. How else could it be anything other than it is? It's England. Farce is only a separate subject when it's French. And humour is staunched in the mouths of the American ghost writers until it reaches Ray Bradbury.
TJJ: As a follow-up — Pulborough, the setting for the story, is on the one hand a quaint English village of a recognisable type, and on the other, a place built on the banks of the once great river Tysmundarum and surrounded by ancient earthworks haunted by "elder brooding forces", the influence of which the village's abbey was established to ward off. What role does bringing together the mundane with the liminal and numinous play in this story? And in your work more generally?
BC: The liminal and the numinous are my natural haunts. Amplifiers to the imagination and buffers to the dreary description of everyday life. The very air buzzes in the space between them.
I feel it as a constant in most places that give you time to stop and listen. A village history (stories told backwards). Always seems more alive at twilight and dawn. When all the other animals walk abroad. Churches often become the resounding chamber for the very thing they are built to suppress.
TJJ: You often make use of figures drawn from history in your writing. There's a certain resemblance between Munky's "Ghost-Finder General", Walter Prince, and the real-life ghost hunter, Harry Price. Is Price a figure you're interested in? What led you to put him into your story?
Harry Price, Ghost Hunter
BC: Harry Price keeps getting in. Have you seen the film of him talking his "lab"? A twitching, snobbish, born liar, whose own personal form of womanising removes him from a Carry On cartoon, into a grotesque Uriah Heep/Jimmy Saville hybrid. His books groan with inflated importance and wasted opportunity. The Return of Miss Stella C. and The Haunting of Cashen's Gap being the most blatant. Most psychical investigators treat him as an embarrassment because how far he dragged down the credibility of the subject. He is a perfect and demanding character who will always have something else to tell me.
TJJ: The Haunting of Cashen's Gap tells the story of the investigation into the Dalby Spook, the talking mongoose, Gef, who lived behind the wooden panelling of a farmhouse on the Isle of Man in the 1930s. I know you have a fascination for this phenomenon. Gef's "haunting" was characterised by a puckish nature, not dissimilar to that of the ghostly monk in Munky. Are you drawn to mischievous spirits of this kind?
BC: Have you seen Vanished! A Video Séance, the Gef story Tony Grisoni and I made? A mischievous spirit seems to offer more than a terrifying one. Because it demands instant reflection between two worlds and hold its presence in comparison. We smile as much out of nervousness as we do out of joy. The transcendent entity also tests and illuminates the gateways of reality, which evolves our perceptions. Much in the same way that the Khidr, the Islamic green man, and the Celtic Trickster do. Its enigma is active in perversity and therefore not in the declaration of death.
Gef had a cameo part in my new book Hollow. But upstaged it to become an almost major character (I should have guest!). He shuffled in and out of a fleet of Bosch creatures that somnambulistically stumble into agreed reality to find out what they are.
TJJ: There seems to be an enigmatic linguistic ritual behind the narrative of Munky that is reminiscent of the oeuvre of Raymond Roussel, a writer who has been a character in other work of yours. And your literary poetics has its roots in innovative and playful poetry. How does experimenting with language feed your fiction practice?
BC: Again, I am afraid it's difficult for me to answer your question, because I am not conscious of literal and linguistic streams, and experiments in my writing. This must come from early dyslexia and an art school education, rather than an academic literary one (thank God). My poetry is constant and in deep league with my visual imagination. This much I know.
So the critical and editorial surgery always occurs after the accident of writing has happened, which might seem pathological. Raymond Roussel is a typical example. My first and significant influence came from the visualisation of the tableaux and machines he invented in Impressions of Africa and Locus Solus. Not from the convoluted experiments in the structure of language that he devised to create them. That was never my concern. When it comes to poetic language I grasp the opposite terminals of Beckett and Kipling to recharge my batteries. With bit of J. H. Prynne, Flann O'Brien, and Yeats thrown in to confuse the voltage.
Image by Dave McKean
TJJ: Are there any other important precursors or contemporary influences on Munky?
BC: I don't think Munky would have existed if I hadn't read The Third Policeman and The White Hotel in my youth.
TJJ: Since you began publishing fiction, you've worked with publishers both large and small. How have you made radical practices work in the mainstream? And is there something freeing about working with small presses?
BC: I greatly enjoy working with presses of different size. Being given an agent was the only thing that shifted my writing from small presses to mega ones. I personally did very little to make that occur. And intend to continue working between the international and the intimate and love the quality of a press like Swan River.
TJJ: Is there anything you're currently working on you'd like to share with us?
BC: Last year, Only the Lowly came out with Storr Books, a small press who wanted to do it as their second publication. And Earwig, which was published by Hodder & Stoughton, soon to be made into a feature film by Lucile Hadzihalilovic.
The final edit of Hollow has just gone back to Random House/Penguin, NYC, for publication next year. Think of it as Peckinpah meets Bruegel, on the snow-covered mountain which was once the Tower of Babel. With lots of escapees from Bosch paintings getting in the way.
And I am now working on a ghost story set in stone called Transi. Which is the name given to cadaver effigies, in tomb sculptures, in the late Middle Ages. Not a lot of knock-about comedy in this one.
TJJ: And lastly, I know that William Blake is an important figure for you. To what extent do you think a Blakean visionary approach to art is possible in the early twenty-first century?
BC: Blake is another Khidr, he won't go away. It's not his visionary approach that fascinates me. It's his down-to-earth need to get things on paper. For me he is not a frocked dreamer wafting about and talking to angels. He is a grafter, a working man, whose small factory was crowded with other beings while he daily had to make crappy prints for other artists. His own work sandwiched between his bread-and-butter labour without ever becoming infected or diluted. For me that is a much weirder picture than the hippy poster of him. Gawd knows about his work in the art of the twenty-first century . . . I never understand or care to place art in those restriction. All my tenses are continually jumbled. A constant joy to my editors.
Order a copy of Munky.
Timothy J. Jarvis is a writer and scholar with an interest in the antic, the weird, the strange. His first novel, The Wanderer, was published by Perfect Edge Books in 2014. His short fiction has appeared in The Flower Book, The Shadow Booth Vol. 1, The Scarlet Soul, Murder Ballads, Uncertainties I, and The Far Tower, among other places. In 2020 he edited Uncertainties IV for Swan River Press. He also writes criticism and reviews, and is co-editor of Faunus, the journal of the Friends of Arthur Machen. timothyjjarvis.wordpress.com


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


He talks of the popularity of the sport, which is second only to football in Senegal, and it's clear that this man who can fill stadiums is only here tonight to encourage the young local boys. The entourage closes in again, someone finds me a Coke and I escape outside for a breather.
The ringside is filling up and the ring is full of leaping, strutting, chasing and grappling children mimicking their heroes. The night-time chill reminds me of the desert. It must have been around 35°C/95°F on the streets of Dakar this afternoon. Now it's cool enough to pull on a sweater.
Mor Fadan asks me to sit beside him during the fights. This is quite a moment for a shy boy from Sheffield, entering the ring and being introduced to the local mafia as Mor's new bosom buddy, but there's still no sign of any serious grappling taking place.
elephants. The drummers, stripped to the waist and glistening like contestants themselves, keep up a relentless, brain-scouring beat.
A couple of comperes work the crowd, screaming themselves hoarse, urging, exhorting, praising, joking. It's after midnight when the local politicians, bigwigs and worthies make their appearance, all anxious to clutch, and be seen to be clutching, the champion's hand.


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Q: Push array into array I want to create 2d array and fill it with elements. In every subarray should be one random digit.
    var n = 11; //number of elements in subarray
    var listofnumbers = [];
    var rows = [];
    var cols = [];
    var rand;

    //fill listofnumbers array by numbers
    for(i=0; i<=n-1; i++) {
        listofnumbers[i] = n - i;
    }
    //reverse listofnumbers array
    listofnumbers.reverse();

    //fill array 'cols' with another arrays
    for(k=0; k<=n-1; k++) {

        rand = listofnumbers[Math.floor(Math.random()*listofnumbers.length)]; // random digit from listofnumbers array

        for(j=0; j<=n-1; j++) {
            if(j == rand-1) {
                rows[j] = rand-1;
            } else {
                rows[j] = "*";
            }
        }

        console.log("rowsarr at iteration " + k + ": " + rows);

        cols[k] = rows;

        console.log("colsarr at iteration " + k + ": " + cols);
    }

For some reason the output is something like:
rowsarr at iteration 0: *,*,*,*,*,*,*,7,*,*,*
colsarr at iteration 0: *,*,*,*,*,*,*,7,*,*,*
rowsarr at iteration 1: *,*,*,*,*,*,*,7,*,*,*
colsarr at iteration 1: *,*,*,*,*,*,*,7,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,7,*,*,*
rowsarr at iteration 2: *,*,*,3,*,*,*,*,*,*,*
colsarr at iteration 2: *,*,*,3,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,3,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,3,*,*,*,*,*,*,*

and so on till n iteration.
Question1: why array "cols" fills all it's elements by the last generated "rows" array? It should push last generated array "rows" to the end.
Question2: how could I get 2d array like cols = [[n,n,n,n,n], [n,n,n,n,n], ...]. Now I have only cols = [n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n,n] ?
At the moment my code looks like this: https://jsfiddle.net/qqf3fL5L/10/

A: Solution:
you should declare array 'rows' inside the first loop like this: https://jsfiddle.net/qqf3fL5L/12/
for(k=0; k<n; k++) {
        var rows = [];
                for(j=0; j<n; j++) {
                    rows[j] = "*";
                }

                cols[k] = rows;
                var rand = listofnumbers[Math.floor(Math.random()*listofnumbers.length)]; // random digit from listofnumbers array
                cols[k][rand-1] = rand;
            }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Jessica gives the guidance that will take your business to the next level! She introduces the strategies to target and reach the right clients, create strategic partnerships, and expand your offerings.
With experience coaching startups, small businesses, and charities, Jessica brings expertise in creative problem-solving. She finds new profit streams and opportunities to accelerate growth.
Prodigy & Co changes the way businesses make breakthroughs, so you can grow exponentially instead of incrementally.
We create dynamic solutions, plans, and strategies for businesses who are tired of the "one size fits all" mentality. Using creative breakthrough strategies to increase market exposure, we make key connections, create viable products, increase profits and maximize your impact.
No two businesses are the same. Yet so much of their copy is. Rena sets the tone, does the research, and designs content that meets your specific business needs. Rena helps you learn what to say and how to say it with effective copy. She crafts an authentic voice in the content for your business to represent your unique perspective.
P*ink is a boutique writing company that creates authentic copy your readers and clients will connect with. From new webcopy material to major copy revisions, P*ink puts a voice to your business writing.
Connect with potential clients using simple but engaging language. Showcase your product or service with clarity and energy. P*ink provides professional writing services that set your business apart.
Your brand needs to resonate with your target audience from the beginning of your promotions. Consistency in content is vital for effective communications!
Amanda specializes in developing brands that catch and keep attention. Her expertise will help your business develop an image and ensure that it is seen.
AM:Marketing provides strategic marketing consulting for your business. Whether you are launching, revamping or just need a refresh, AM: Marketing is ready to wake up your branding!
After identification of your business goals, industry research and analysis of previous marketing efforts, AM:Marketing works with you directly to understand your objectives and build a marketing plan to achieve your strategic goals.
A successful sales funnel is the difference between a prospect and a paying customer. Site-visits are only window-shoppers—sales are what matter.
Cindy is the architect who designs the flow for effective conversions. With her expertise, your customers' purchasing experience will be effortless.
Cindy is an online business consultant and educator, specializing in sales funnel strategy, design, and implementation.
When working with clients, Cindy obsesses over three things: her client's target customers (their needs, wants & desires), conversion rates, and helping her clients achieve momentum.
One-hour recorded "Personal Webinar" to brainstorm and develop your website, newsletter, or another project.
Lessons in website maintenance and management that give you the confidence to get exposure and clients.
Terra teaches entrepreneurs and business owners the computer skills they need to launch their business and spread their mission to the world. By teaching you to make use of the latest tools available, Terra empowers you to be as efficient and effective as possible.
Terra believes that technology runs on creative energy. When you're crafting websites and emails, you send your energy to potential clients.
That means it should be nothing short of confident, positive, and enlightening! Terra brings the energy and expertise to accomplish this!
Ieva teaches clients how to promote their product or service and pinpoint expansive publicity strategies to reach their target audience. You will leave the call with an actionable plan that will guide you in promoting your brand.
With her friendly, practical guidance, Ieva's clients gain confidence in seeking publicity to broadcast their brand.
Ieva teaches entrepreneurs to gain confidence in building a sustainable network positioning themselves as a leader in their field.
Inner-Leader Coaching: Begin the journey of becoming a true leader in the modern workforce through this one-hour coaching session.
Leading Change: Launching a new product, pivoting a strategy, or achieving significant growth all require the ability to adapt. Learn the framework and methods to overcome challenges and position yourself for success.
Meg's insights provide the inspiration and tools to become an effective leader. Her lessons are tailored to her client's current position and include follow-up guides with books, podcasts, and articles.
"Stop looking. Be found." This is the mindset The Faithful Leader™ brings to each and every coaching client. If you are tired of spinning your wheels or don't know what to do in order to advance–to move forward in your mission–then it's time to take daring action.
With proper direction, tools, and strategy, I help non-profit world changers, corporate hustlers, and entrepreneurs become true leaders in our modern world.
Social Media Content & Conversion Ability: Determine how best to leverage social media in your digital marketing strategy.
Facebook Ads: Learn how to choose the right campaign, optimize ad creation, manipulate algorithms, and more.
Amanda's specialized knowledge will help you to harness the potential which social media offers. Her consultations include a set of follow-up recommendations for applicable next steps in social media marketing.
Amanda has consulted for small businesses and ministries alike, creating and executing digital marketing campaigns, and training others the power of Facebook ads.
She has hosted various seminars, webinars and events covering topics such as: Creating Content an Audience says YES to, Facebook Back to the Basics: Boosted posts, Ad campaigns, Ad Creation and Targeting development, Facebook and Google Analytics: Reading and Assessment, Conversion and Funneling of Qualified Leads, and more.
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Nancy provides administrative support to the school at CTL. Nancy has worked in the non-profit community in Brookfield as an Office Manager and Administrative Assistant for the last fifteen years. She has studied business with a focus in organization and change. The experience of working with families and students has given her a deeper appreciation for how non-profits value their beliefs, witnessing the quality of kindness, concern and compassion for others.
In her free time, she enjoys time with her daughters, grandchildren, hanging out with friends and trying very hard to be the best "Armenian" cook in Waukesha. She currently resides in Waukesha with her cat, Neko.


City and Adelaide United produced an entertaining goalless draw with a finals-like intensity in front of 7,720 at AAMI Park.
With two rounds to go it is possible these two sides could meet again – either at Hindmarsh or AAMI Park – but neither side are willing to speculate or drop the f-bomb just yet.
A win would have made City mathematically safe inside the top six, albeit a loss for the Newcastle Jets against the Perth Glory will ensure this.
The contest which unfolded was a dogfight – with intensity reserved for two sides fighting relegation.
Both sides had chances to steal the points with City hitting the woodwork three times and Eugene Galekovic did everything he could and more to keep Adelaide out.
The Reds jump into fourth for now while City face another elimination final-like type match away to the Wellington Phoenix next week.
The third Sydney derby this season would have had large viewership numbers coming from Western Australia.
Any result but a win for the Sky Blues gives Perth the opportunity to win the Premiership should they defeat the Newcastle Jets.
Though Sydney sought to drag the fight out for as long as possible with captain Alex Brosque opening the scoring in the seventh minute.
But the Wanderers, as they have recently done, pushed their opposition and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 55th minute through Alexander Baumjohann.
Both sides continued to press right until the 97th minute, with the result not only opening the door for the Glory but gives Melbourne Victory hope of sneaking into second place by season's end.


Middleman was diagnosed with strep throat on Friday, and with that comes a ten day round of antibiotics. When medicine has to be given twice a day for ten days it is easy to loose track of when the medicine was given. I found this momma hack awhile ago and it has been a life savor.
On the side of the bottle make a chart that has the number of days you have to take the medicine and for how many times each day. When you get the medicine out to take make a mark on the chart.


Buon giorno. This article has been buzzing around in my mind for quite some time, and I finally decided to put it down in pixels. But I do not wish to spend a great deal of time explaining the Appeal to Emotion because I am tired. There are certain aspects that I want to bring to your attention. Also note that this, like many other fallacies, is not simply cut-and-dried; it will often overlap with other fallacies, and sometimes it is difficult to spot at all. Other times, the appearance of a fallacy can be deceiving. For instance, when attempting to motivate people, showing a direct cause to what we want them to do will usually provoke an emotional response, and that can be valid. It is not evil manipulation or a fallacy. A good explanation of the Appeal to Emotion fallacy is here.
Pride. Man up and do the debate.
Ridicule. If you refuse to debate, Jesus will cry.
Purpose. You could make converts if you do the debate.
Fear. If you refuse to debate, I will mock you all over the Internet and tell your wife untrue things about you with those girls in Accounting.
Pity. I really need you to do this debate because it will look good on my CV.
These are more obvious plays to manipulate your emotions. Unfortunately, some people are skilled at the more subtle forms of manipulation. In fact, some have this dubious skill naturally, and may not even realize that they are being manipulative.
Something that I want to emphasize is that people with a bumper sticker mentality (they can handle slogans, but are unwilling or unable to deal with more profound concepts) are easily influenced by labels. Brand someone with a label that has negative connotations and you can win over the weak minded to your side.
One of the favorites of leftists in America is to call someone a "racist". Well, what does that mean, really? That you roll up your car windows and lock the doors when you drive past people of that ethnic group? Big deal. But the connotation is, "I'm gonna kill me some niggers/kikes/spicks/wops/gooks/honkies and I'm gonna love it!" Pick a word with angry, violent connotations and slap your enemy down with it, getting other people to hate him on your say-so.
One of the most blatantly stupid attack labels is "liar for Jesus". It is immediately laughable to anyone with a grain of sense because it implies the accuser has some kind of Godlike power to know the thoughts and motives of the person they are attacking. Further, the phrase itself is nonsensical: Jesus does not approve of lying to get someone to believe in a holy, just, righteous God! It is obvious that this remark deserves a resounding "Duh!" for its utter absurdity.
"Freethinker", "rationalist" and other atheistic buzzwords are emotionally loaded, with a built-in insult. That is, they are the rational ones by virtue of being atheists. This Genetic Fallacy conveniently ignores the fact that many of the world's greatest thinkers and scientists have been Bible-believing Christians.
The following is hilarious because it involved several fallacies: Certain atheists managed to get themselves booted from creationists' "Pages" on Facebook. They whined in another page about "rational" people being kicked out, deviously using the Fallacy of Equivocation to imply that they were being sensible, the only reason for them to be kicked out was because of expressing their "rational" views. This appeal to emotion used both the Genetic Fallacy (atheists are "rational" just because they are atheists) and Equivocation (where "rational" has the usual meaning in the mind of the reader, but the atheists are being manipulative because they have their own meaning of the word). Sneaky, capice?
One problem with labels is that it seems to be human nature. We like to categorize and identify people and people types in our thought processes. It's not possible to avoid all labels and connotations. Sometimes labels serve a useful purpose for our cognitive processes.
My advice to you is to pay attention when someone is using labels. Watch yourself as well. When they contain emotional impact and manipulation, I think it's fair to suspect that someone is trying to manipulate you.
Buon giorno. The "Question Evolution Day" project is now more ambitious. It is now "The Question Evolution Project". Yes, we're still going to be heard on February 12 (Darwin's birthday), but the page at Piltdown Superman and the Facebook Page are resources to encourage and provide information for those of us who do not think according to the dictates of others. We think for ourselves, capice?
I've got some bad news for you, Sunshine, evolution is a bad philosophy. And no, it's still not a place for atheists and evolutionists to badger creationists and ID proponents. Troublemakers get banned. Bwahahaha!
"What possessed you to write about Demonic, Cowboy Bob?"
Thanks a lot. That was supposed to be my joke.
As I've said before, doing book reviews is not something that comes easily to me. But non-fiction is easier than fiction because I don't have to be concerned with messing up the plot for someone. This is a "sorta" book review because (a) I'm late, comparatively speaking, and there are plenty of other ones out there (like so), and (b) I'm going to add my own thoughts and experiences, things that Annie, My One True Love, may not have thought about.
I have liked Ann Coulter's work for years. Even so, I do not agree with every stance she takes, and am not thrilled with each and every book. But this one, I am strongly recommending. As expected, the writing of Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America is typical of what I expect from Ann Coulter. She has humor, insight, extensive documentation to back up her claims (she generously nails down her point about the way American liberals fawn over their politicians, for example), and she persists in her ability to needle leftists with the truth. Ann's perspectives on history and its application to her topic were rather amazing.
If this book had been written before the insane animalistic "Occupy" movement, she would have had at least two more chapters. In fact, that exercise in obscenity can give her enough material for an entirely new book as a sequel, you savvy?
After Ann gives us her observations, commentary and snark, she moves into the serious material. In 1895, Gustave LeBon wrote The Crowd , which describes the thoughts and actions of modern liberalism in America, and leftist politics in general.
I have written extensively over the past year or two about logical fallacies, and how they are used by evolutionists and atheists patrolling the Internet. Therefore, it is easy for me to see that leftists use these same fallacies very frequently. (I have been frustrated watching or hearing a Conservative arguing with an American liberal and falling for their tricks.) There are very few atheist Conservatives, and I bet it would be interesting to have discussions with them. These liberals freely use the genetic fallacy, poisoning the well, ad hominem of course, appeal to motive, false dilemma and argument from silence, the obligatory straw man argument — like the Christophobes I encounter, they even manage to make up their own fallacies. I have no desire to be a part of a group that is dominated by hate and stupidity.
When people think like a mob (which is the absence of thought, they just follow the leader), they are much more susceptible to manipulation.
The above is a typical example of mob mentality. The Gospels inform us that Pilate tried three times to get Jesus released, but they preferred to have the murderer Barabbas released instead. And Pilate, being the stalwart and courageous governor that he was, gave in to them. It looks like mob mentality just keeps on growing.
Liberals are statists, which means that "The State" is the most important thing. The place of the individual is to be a cog in the wheel for the state. There is no room for God, because believing Jews and Christians give him priority. Mobs rely on appealing to emotion, to sloganeering (just read the bumper stickers on a Democrat's car sometime for a reminder), and they rely on violence.
In the French Revolution, 170,000 Vendéeans were murdered because of their religious beliefs. Ann Coulter describes in abundant detail the atrocities committed during the French Revolution. In the American Revolution, the colonists and the British respected each other. We had reason, planned efforts, organization and restraint, the French had the Reign of Terror. (Did you know that the Boston Tea Party was actually an embarrassment to the colonists? Ben Franklin insisted that the tea company be repaid for their losses!) Coulter proves how the mindless French mob cannot be legitimately compared to the American Revolution, despite the efforts of some to rewrite history and glamorize the French events.
A fascinating section for people who like both history and philosophy was the way Ann Coulter compared the guiding philosophies of the French Revolution and the American Revolution. The French had Rousseau, while the American Founding Fathers were, for the most part, Bible-believing Christians (or, in today's parlance, "Raving Fundie fanatics").
Modern "Tea Party" patriots dislike the mob mentality. Their protests are orderly and clean. Mob-mentality protests of the left are characterized by noise, violence, mindlessness and trash. Leftists glamorize the French Revolution, conveniently ignoring the astonishingly brutal violence and murders of thousands while glamorizing atheism. Liberals glamorize the French Revolution, and mimic its mindless rage in many ways.
Another feature of liberals is their fondness for cults of personality. When someone is recognized as a "leader" in a mob movement, watch for name calling, appealing to emotions, inciting violence and near-violence (which was also demonstrated quite clearly in the book) and other dirty tricks. I have seen this with both atheists and other leftists: If you cannot destroy the message through logic, use emotion and ridicule. Then, attempt to destroy the person behind the message. Mock, hate, malign, castigate, selective-cite, misquote, outright lie — I've seen it all from atheists attacking Christians and from leftists attacking Conservatives.
Ann points out that the left not only excuses the actions of psychotics, but praises them and gives them teaching jobs. Several dangerous criminals were inexplicably pardoned by Bill Clinton (with Eric Holder's help) during his last days in office. She lists some of the rotten things that liberal approve of and actually do, including violence and insults, that you do not see Republicans and Conservatives approving. Our side has voluntary resignations, their side has "circle the wagons" mentality unless it is politically expedient to trash someone; Liberals celebrate outrageous and immoral behavior. This happens while desperately seeking slur, but it seems that Republicans act up far less than leftists.
The "Intellectuals" (read: leftists who act superior, use big words and detest you and me for having faith in God instead of the state) praise the left and their own kind, and use ridicule to enforce that they control the leftist mobs. Mob mentality is irresistible to people with a need to feel popular. People follow along with their bandwagon convictions, not out of real convictions.
There is an emotional co-dependance to build each other up. There is also pressure, humiliation, ridicule, snobbery, bigotry, threats and more to keep people in line with groupthink. The "Intellectuals" remind us, "You're not as smart as we are. We know best. Do as we say". I have had this kind of experience when people demand to know my credentials when I say that evolution is untrue. They appeal to the "scientists" who "know more than you do", and expect those of us who disbelieve in Darwinism to just swallow their "facts" without question. In either case, they put others down to build themselves up: "We believe the right things, you're a doo-doo head!"
Again, I highly recommend Ann Coulter's Demonic. I hope you'll come right back here and see how my own observations support hers. Ann, the next time you're in upstate New York (only two hours north of NYC), call me, OK?


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