rss
email
twitter
facebook

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Diverse Voices Quarterly

Breaking news...

My essay is out. Read the 5th issue online for free!

Read all about it HERE.

Enjoy!


Friday, April 23, 2010

Smexxxy Friday

I am taking a short hiatus from blogging, but I wanted to give you guys your Smexxxy Friday.

So, have you guys heard of the Bunny Boiler? It's a very funny Brittish TV show. I'll post more videos of Tyler in the following weeks.

You can watch the entire sequence on YOUTUBE since it won't let me embed the video here. I recommend clicking the youtube link.

Here's the short version.

Poor Jun...

What would YOU do in this situation?



Be safe, kiddos! I shall return...

TK

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Fuck Shame

An essay, beautifully written by Erobintica at F-Stop. Honestly, I was moved to tears. Everyone should read this essay. It is so inspiring.


This is my Earth Day contribution to the world. I could never hope to write this well, but at least I can share it with you.

Namaste.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Excerpt: Waiting Under A Rug (Essay)

Studying me from across the room, she stiffly straightened her back and pursed her lips. From the moment our eyes met I knew what would happen next, but Trey didn’t. Still smiling valiantly, he gave his mother a nudge and extended his arm towards me. “And this,” he beamed, his green eyes twinkling in the light, “this is my girlfriend, TK!”

Still reaching for a handshake, I parted my lips into the biggest smile I could muster without hurting my face. “It’s so nice to meet you, Carol!” I chirped in the sweetest voice imaginable. “Thank you for inviting me!”

A sudden look of disgust washed over her as she glared at my hand. She tossed a furtive glance to her son and the valiant smile evaporated from his face. By the way his eyes fearfully looked up at me, I could easily guess what his mother’s look had meant.

Throughout the eight-hour drive to Memphis from Dallas, I had mentally prepared the lines I’d say. I had literally spent hours memorizing every aspect of my boyfriend’s family to make a good first impression. Every outfit in my suitcase had been carefully scrutinized before packing. But as my hand still waited for her handshake, it suddenly occurred to me that none of that mattered anymore, and I smiled despite myself. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

Regardless of what I wore or said—to this woman, she couldn’t get past me being black. More specifically, she couldn’t get past her white son dating a black girl.

Carol mustered a wobbly smile and half-heartedly shook my hand. Without speaking, she retreated to the couch and looked away to the wall. Nobody spoke for several long seconds as the three of us fidgeted uncomfortably in her oversized living room.

“I’ll go put my stuff upstairs and go to bed,” I announced into the silence. Without waiting for a response, I shouldered my bag of belongings and started up the staircase to my room. I was irritated but not surprised. More than anything, I was angry that this late in the 2000s I still had to deal with this.

As I neared the top of the stairs, I could hear her hissing to her son; “Just what were you thinking, honey?! Why didn’t you tell me before you came?!” Rolling my eyes, I continued up the steps.

The house had three attics, at least seven bedrooms, and the biggest outdoor pool I’ve ever seen. As an anesthesiologist, she could afford to buy a house with all the pomp and splendor. She decorated all the rooms with ancient Chinese pottery and oversized Victorian beds. Millionaire or not, the house was just too big for one person. The lavish decorations only annoyed me further as I scrutinized the first room along the hall.

Since her other sons hadn’t yet arrived, I used Eric’s room—my boyfriend’s middle youngest brother. After showering, I crawled into his huge king-sized bed, pulled the satin covers over my head, and dozed off. I knew Trey and his mother would be down there for a while and after spending eight hours cramped inside a little car, I was too tired to wait up.

Several hours later, I felt a hand shaking me awake. I awoke, blinking, as my boyfriend pulled me into his arms. My glance towards the digital clock on Eric’s nightstand told me that it was a little after 3AM.

“She’s…disappointed in me,” he lamented, burying his face into my hair. “She told me that she went wrong raising me …and kept asking me if I knew what I was doing, or if I was acting out!”

In the dark, I could see how upset he looked. I had never seen him so angry, and one of the things I loved most about him was his laidback personality—it took a lot to make Trey upset.

“Let me guess, it’s because I’m black, right?” The question lingered in the air for a moment, and after I had said it, I couldn’t help but laugh.

***

Below is a fascinating documentary about racism from the caucasian/white person's perspective. I believe people of ALL RACES can learn something from it and can appreciate the message of this film. There are five parts (9min 30sec each) but I have looped the entire sequence here. When the first part is finished, the second part will automatically start. All you need to do is click PLAY and listen. Comments/reactions are welcome but anything racist/derogatory will be deleted, unread. If you're going to comment, I will only allow intelligent/civil discussion.

For white folks reading and watching, I imagine this documentary could (potentially) offend or disturb you. You may not want to watch the documentary in its entirety and that is OK. But if you chose not to watch the whole thing, ask yourself WHY. You don't have to explain yourself here, I only ask that you think about it. I don't wish "existential crisis" upon anyone, lol, so if the video is too "raw" and "distressing" do not torture yourself by watching the whole thing! However, this documentary is MEANT to provoke a strong response. It is MEANT to challenge your existing cognitive-schemas, so go into it with that expectation. For all the people of color reading and watching...this documentary is nothing new to y'all! :D With that disclaimer out of the way, please enjoy the film! :)


Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible

Monday, April 19, 2010

Status Update: 4/10 Pt. 2

Like I mentioned before in the last status update, I had an essay pending at Diverse Voices Quarterly. I was informed today that my essay has been accepted and will published in their next issue on May 1st.

You have no idea how hard I worked to get this essay published. I'll speak on that in a minute. FYI in my next post I'll post an excerpt along with a series of videos relating to the topic, but for now let me tell you what this essay is about and why I wrote it.

This is a serious topic, so if you're not donning your thinking cap (or planning to) don't bother continuing through the rest of my post.



It has taken a WHOLE YEAR for me to get this essay published. I wrote this essay for an assignment given to me in English Composition during summer school. We were supposed to write a narrative essay dealing with social issues and I chose to write about my experiences with racism. Specifically, interracial dating.

To be fair, I DID NOT want to publish this essay. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I was 19yrs old. I had other things on my mind, much less writing! But my professor pulled me aside after class and told me it was one of the best essays she had ever read from an undergraduate student at UTA. SHE insisted that I try to get it published and once the thought of "publication" wormed inside my brain, I began my career as a serious writer.

This essay represents the beginning of my publishing career. And I owe it all to my professor, Toni Holland, for really pushing me to believe in myself and in my abilities as a writer. I am forever grateful to her. She taught me I had a VOICE and that I shouldn't be afraid to use it--and at 19, that was a very important lesson for me to learn. I had A LOT on my plate back then... I had just "run away" from an abusive home with just $300 to my name. I spent that money on a one-way flight to Texas and "shacked up" with an older man I only knew previously from chat rooms and social networking sites. True story, hahaha. But enough about that.

Out of 6 or 7 publishers, no wanted to touch this essay. I was asked to "lie" about the outcome of the essay, or change the format into something more "tame," like, a poem. No one wanted my essay as is and I believe it was because it embarrassed the white editors I submitted it to. They all said it was a well-written and poignant essay, even offered me books on the subject they had read so to appear like they weren't rejecting me based on "content" alone...but in the end they all told me "No."

Until now.

I'll post an excerpt next time, along with some interesting videos of "racism" from the "white" point-of-view.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Smexxxy Friday

INTRODUCING SMEXY FRIDAY!

Why? Because I can.

I was looking for something smexy to put on my blog and I came across this really HAWT music video. It's Hindi I think, but the vocals are in English.

Now I'm not gonna lie, y'all. If my boyfriend and I weren't together I would ride the guy in the music video so hard he wouldn't be able to walk right the next day. And that's just the straight-up truth. Hahaha! The woman is really cute too. Hell, I'll take them both! LOL!

Every week I'll have something different! A song, a video, a picture, an excerpt! It all just depends! I wanted to give you something to look forward to each week...and Friday seemed a good day to do it. I want my blog to be more fun. Less about me (because I happen to be quite boring, if you haven't noticed)

Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Status Update: 4/10

First and foremost my poetry at Dark Gothic Resurrected is finally out! You can buy your copy at lulu for just 10 bucks! OR...download it for half the price! You will NOT be disappointed--the artwork is incredible and the stories are top-notch!



Secondly, I have two works that have been accepted since my last status update in March. The first to be accepted was my horror/dark humor piece titled "Odd Orval Goes To Heaven." The editors have released the cover of the anthology. Here it is...


Pretty cool, right? Fantabulous job by the cover artist, if I must say so myself. Still no release date, so I'll let you know when I do! I'll post an excerpt of "Orval" when the anthology date is announced. I'm just so happy I'm going to be in a BOOK! Yay!

...which brings me to my third announcement.

My bestest westest friend in the whole wide world challenged me to write a flash fiction piece since I never wrote one before. Pill Hill Press is calling for flash erotic pieces for their upcoming anthology in 2011.

Just for shits and giggles, I wrote a little piece, 499 words titled, "Buttercream Quickie." In less than a day it was accepted! So I'm proud to say I'll be in another anthology. The story is about a pastry chef with a fetish for buttercream. Don't...um...read too much into that. Anyways, I'll have an excerpt of that in a bit.

So what am I working on right NOW???

Well...as you all know, I'm currently working on a novel. It is a composite novel of seven parts. I'm expecting it to range between 45-55K words when it is finished. I'm not going to say too much about what it's about just yet, but it is an erotic sci-fi novel.

I'm also working on three other short erotic stories, but they've been put on hold for my novel.

I'm still submitting "Hurricane and Panther" to the sharks and have an essay pending at Diverse Voices Quarterly. If it gets accepted, I'll post an excerpt. They requested a few changes to my essay and I have resubmitted it. We'll see what happens.

That's about it. When I start on something else I'll do another status update.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Stuff My Mom Sends Me

Since you moved out the house, have you noticed your parents behaving differently towards you? Does your mom send you really corny jokes or emails every week?

Mine does.

She's fond of chain letters, in particular. But because I love my mother very much, I thought I'd put them up on my blog just for fun. :D I don't think she'd mind and some of them are pretty funny.

Enjoy the randomness that is my wonderful mother!

THIS IS GREAT!!! Read all the way to the end.... This took a lot of work to put together!!!
You think English is easy??? Read to the end . . a new twist

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce .

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row ...

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented inEngland or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guineanor is it a pig..

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people not computers and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why when the stars are out they are visible but when the lights are out they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .

There is a two-letter word that perhaps

has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is
'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call
UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warmUP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stirUP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this
UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed
UPabout UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UPalmost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP , you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP .. When the sun comes out we say it is clearingUP ...

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP .

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP , so.........it is time to shut UP !

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Purple prose, say it isn't so!


Now...I've been beta-ing for a few authors recently and purple prose always comes up in some of my critiques. I'll admit...sometimes I'm guilty of doing it myself. No one likes purple prose, it's the quintessential indication of bad writing! So do you know what purple prose is, class?

If not, get out your notebooks and pencils and start taking down notes. There will be a quiz.

So what is purple prose?

Quite simply, purple prose is when a writer uses overly descriptive language, wordy (verbose) sentences, and unnecessary, flowery adverbs and adjectives. Teenagers are notorious offenders of purple prose. In an effort to appear profound, they use big words and drag out their sentences to an absurd length. Although the words look pretty, the sentence loses its punch, and your reader begins to glaze across the page. This isn't what you want your readers to do.

Now I can hear some of you whining already: "But what's wrong with using big word and descriptive narrative?! Isn't that a good thing?!"

Yes. But if you're using too many big words and your narration is full of flowery, ridiculous adjectives, your sentence is going to read like some cheesy paragraph out of a Hallmark card. Not only that, but it'll look like you're trying too hard--and your readers will probably laugh at you.

Still not understanding what I'm talking about? Here are some examples of REALLY bad purple prose:

1. ``Nigel lifted his Mont Blanc pen and held it in brief repose as he gazed past the conflagrative crackling of the fire in the hearth, through the triple-plate bay window, watching the incandescence of the twinkling stars like the detonation of a million flashbulbs, and the preponderance of frothy snowflakes blanketing the earth as creamily as marshmallow fluff, then, refreshed and inspired, he began to compose his annual Christmas form letter.'' From Linda Gauer, Norton, Ohio.

2. "Ace, watch your head!'' hissed Wanda urgently, yet somehow provocatively, through red, full, sensuous lips, but he couldn't, you know, since nobody can actually watch more than part of his nose or a little cheek or lips if he really tries, but he appreciated her warning.'' From Janice Estey, Aspen, Colo.

3. Following the unfortunate bucking of his horse when it was startled by the posse's shots, Tex who now lay in a disheveled heap in the sagebrush pushed back his sweat-stained Stetson from one deep-set eye, spat a stream of tobacco juice at the nearest cactus, and reflected momentarily that the men approaching him with ropes probably weren't just out for a skip, and if they were his freshly broken ankle would have to cause him to decline any entreaties to join them.'' From Becky Mushko, Roanoke, Va.
Did your eyes glaze over? Mine certainly did.

I found all of these examples on Phillip's Corner. Romance authors use a lot of purple prose too, as Deb Stover describes in her hilarious article.

I admit, everytime I read "conflagrative crackling of the fire" and "as creamily as marshmellow fluff" I start giggling like crazy. In fact, my boyfriend and I were in the car the other day, and I had a full-on giggle fit over the first example while we were on our way to dinner. Hahaha, I'm laughing as I type this sentence!

So what can you do to fix purple prose once you spot it?


First off? Break up your sentences! Instead of one long, rambling, monster-of-a-sentence, break it down into two or three. You can still get all your ideas across without cramming them all together in one sentence.

Secondly, don't overuse your adverbs and adjectives! "As creamily as marshmallow fluff" sounds very pretty...but it's too much. Pick the strongest adjective or adverb for your sentence and use just that one instead of all of them at once.

Lastly, don't be afraid of concise writing! Readers actually prefer short, punchy descriptions to the long epic paragraphs. Less strenuous on the eyes and allows the reader to fill in the gaps with their imaginations. We don't need to know exactly what magazines and books were on the coffee table. Just tell us there were magazines and books there. Don't count and describe every article of clothing in the closet, simply tell us the woman had a lot of clothes.

Purple prose is easier to spot the longer you've been writing. So be on the lookout for it in your own writing and in those you beta. No one likes purple prose. And now you know how to fix it from reading my post! There's no excuse!

Happy writing and reading everybody! Until next time...

TK

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Funny Easter Video

OK, OK...I promised myself I wouldn't do this...but I just couldn't help myself! You HAVE to see this video! Consider it my Happy Easter gift to you.

Enjoy! And Happy Easter! (Or if you're atheist like me, enjoy your weekend!)



Saturday, April 3, 2010

Acceptance into my first anthology!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!

My short horror story has been accepted into an anthology at lamegoat press. Huzzah!

It's a story about an angel, an anal probe, and the resurrection of Christ. Not...necessarily in that order, lol. I wrote this as a black comedy/horror. It took a while for it to get accepted because it is a little...offensive to Catholics, I think. Other publishers told me it was too much. It's pretty twisted...but in a funny way. I had a lot of fun writing this story. It has my warped sense of humor all over it.

The editor of the antho seemed to find it as funny as I did. His exact words in the acceptance letter were:
Your story "Odd Orval Goes to Heaven" will be included in Novus Creatura...what sold me in the end were these hilarious lines:

“The angel tricked me! My ass, there’s something in my ass!” he shouted, falling back to his side.

I laugh each time I read those lines, and I just laughed again while thinking about it while writing this. The lines by itself isn't special; it's the entire story building up to those lines.

Edits and contracts will be emailed soon. Good job.
A genuine acceptance, I think. :D

I'll post an excerpt when I know more about what's going on with the book. For horror writers reading, lamegoat press is worth a look! They're partnered with a few other publishers like Liquid Imagination, Silverblade Magazine, and Pill Hill Press (I think, so don't quote me on that!) They're a lot like Library of the Living Dead. There are some fantastic horror writers over there and I'm happy to be included with such a talented bunch!

I don't have any ideas for future horror stories at the moment. I've been focusing on my novel and a few other erotic short stories. Excerpts are coming soon, I promise! AND one of my erotic poems will be out in a few days at Dark Gothic Resurrected. For $10 you can buy a copy of the magazine. It's beautiful...the artwork is fantastic and the horror stories are top notch! I'll have a status update next week with pricing details and where to buy. :)

If you celebrate Easter, Happy Easter! If you don't, have a good weekend!

TK

Friday, April 2, 2010

4/10: MEDIA OF THE MONTH!!!!

It's that time of the month again! (Not referring to your menstrual cycle, I promise!) It's another Media of the Month!!!

Last month we explored The Cove and the truth behind the Japanese whaling industry. You can check back HERE to refresh your memory on the subject. It was a very depressing...sobering article, so this month we're going to do something fun like I promised! So...without further ado...

This month's theme?

CUTE ONLINE GAMES!

Now I know what you're thinking, but this particular site is different from the thousands of other online gaming sites. I promise! There's cute little animals and the music is done by a composer!

Quite posh! And the perfect time waster!

If you like cuddly characters and soothing, relaxing music, this site is for you!


I'm not a very good gamer (although my boyfriend kicks ass in these games) but I'm going to post my high scores and challenge you to do the same. If you can beat my score (which you probably can) feel free to gloat in my face.

I already know I suck.

Sunny Day Sky: 5520 (If you get over 3,000 in this game, you've got wicked skills!)

Winter Bells: 2890 (Watch out, this game is probably the most addictive!!!)

A Daily Cup of Tea: 1922 (This game is my favorite! So snazzy!)

Fire Dragon: 2360 (Very cool, this game!)

Rainmaker, Bungee Bear, It Takes Two, Flight of the Season, and all of the others are very cute games! Play them all, if you can!

I only have one tidbit of advice. The games are easier to play if you have a mouse and not a touchpad.

Good luck!

And stay tuned for the next Media of the Month!!!!

TK

Related Posts with Thumbnails