#and i read primarily for entertainment and not for educational value. and that’s okay!

[acotars]

(I have no idea if this will make sense—sorry I’ve had some wine this evening and so I’m rambling)

I think this is a “popular” opinion but not widespread—people need to understand that there is so much nuance to reading. Obviously there’s the “you can like things I don’t like” and vice versa, but also in HOW people enjoy things. Like take Fourth Wing (I know I know), but while I also agree with a lot of the complaints, I still was just like “that was a fun time, I totally ignored all the sex scenes bc I hate how they were written, but I was vibing the whole time.” And I feel like some people would still respond to my opinion like “okay but it was so horrible how did you even enjoy it at all??? Lame”

Like okay Betty, I love high fantasy as much as you, but sometimes I want something that just fucks, okay?

(and not to say you aren’t allowed to not like things, but there seems to be a fine line between “hey! I didn’t like this but that’s okay” and “I hated this and I CANNOT comprehend why ANYONE could find even an inkling of fun from this + I’m going to subtly implicate that I think people who like this are stupid”) (obviously not for books that are objectively hurtful or offensive)

And of course you can go so many different ways than just that example, but it’s a mix of gate-keeping, prejudice, lack of empathy, and a bit of a superiority complex that makes it so hard for the reading community to really be united.

[brianamorganbooks]

Instagram for writers… whether you love it or hate it, there’s no denying Instagram’s prevalence in modern society. In 2019, more than 200 million users visited a business profile every day, and 60% of users learned about new products through Instagram.

So, what does this mean for you as a writer?

The bottom line is this: you should be on Instagram. If you want to build your platform and attract an audience as a writer, Instagram is one of the best places to do so.

Problem is, Instagram is a primarily visual platform. As writers creating words and books rather than photos, it can be difficult to translate our work to fit that mold.

It’s difficult, but not impossible.

A lot of writers think they just can’t do well on Instagram, or that there is no market for their work on the platform, but this is almost never the case. As long as you’re willing to put in some effort, you can make it work for you.

How do I know? After taking some courses, studying free resources, and honing my Instagram strategy, I organically grew my Instagram account to more than 7K followers (at time of post). I did not buy any followers, nor did I participate in any follow/unfollow schemes, comment/engagement pods, or anything like that.

All I did was put more time and effort into taking and editing photos, figured out my audience’s wants, planned my posts rather than winging them, and paid attention to my analytics.

Interested in making your Instagram account the best it can be? Keep reading to discover what you might be doing wrong—and how you can fix the issues.

You’re posting low-quality images.

This is one of the most prevalent issues I see in the world of Instagram for writers. As I mentioned earlier, Instagram is a primarily visual platform, so image quality matters. You can’t just put up a low-resolution, grainy, or poorly lit photo and expect it to gain any traction. Take your photos in bright, natural lighting, and avoid using too many filters, which can muddy an image. If it doesn’t look good, don’t post it.

All you post are screenshots.

So many writers are shooting themselves in the foot by only posting screenshots. In most cases, the screenshots are at least varied, but needless to say, this isn’t a good look. Here’s a big Instagram tip to help with this one, as well as most other aesthetic-related issues: check out your whole feed in your profile, and ask yourself if you would follow your account. If the answer is no, well, why should anybody else?

It’s okay to post a screenshot every once in a while, but try not to make it a habit. I share screenshots of Twitter posts regularly, but I put them on my Stories, where they’ll vanish after twenty-four hours and don’t conflict with the rest of my feed.

All you post are memes.

Same concept as the previous. Unless your author account is purely a meme account (which it shouldn’t be), avoid posting memes unless they’re directly related to your work. Jenna Moreci shares memes specific to her series, which totally works for her. You are not Jenna Moreci. Besides, Instagram should showcase your creative side, and what’s creative about reposting other people’s content?

It’s all about you.

Although your Instagram is your Instagram account, it shouldn’t be all about you. I have a harsh truth for you: if you’re a new writer, no one cares about your work. You have to make them care. How? By providing value, insight, and entertainment. You have to earn their trust and develop a relationship with people before you try to sell them them.

Your Instagram account should not be self-promos all the way down. Balance promotional posts with informative and educational content. When you’re posting, ask yourself, “Why does this matter to my audience?” If it doesn’t, don’t post.

Another bad look: Don’t comment on people’s photos or DM them anything along the lines of “hey, please check out my book!” or “follow my account!!!!” It’s off-putting, to say the least, especially if you’ve never spoken to that person before.

You treat Instagram like a Facebook photo album.

One of the biggest reasons I unfollow someone on Instagram is that they post too often. I can handle several times a day as long as the posts are spread out, but when someone uploads twenty-five photos from their most recent vacation—and the photos are only seconds apart—it’s spammy, and I’m out of there.

Instagram is not a Facebook photo album. When in doubt, share only the highlights rather than every single photo, and really make it count. If you want to share multiple photos, please spread them out too.

If you incorporate the tips I’ve given in this post, you should see great results. I started out on Instagram with almost zero guidance, especially because there aren’t many authors on Instagram using the platform to its full potential, but I’ve grown exponentially and want to help other writers do the same.

As an author, so many of my website page views and book sales come from Instagram. As an editor, most of my clients find and book me via Instagram too. I cannot say enough good things about the platform and its role in my business.

I want the same for you.

If you’d like to see more posts about Instagram, let me know. Also, if you have Instagram-specific woes or questions, leave those for me too and I’ll address them in future posts!

[thetypedwriter]

The Hate U Give Book Review

The Hate U Give.

T.H.U.G.

Thug Life.

The hate you give little infants fucks everybody.

This title and lyric comes from none other than Tupac, a rapper constantly referenced in Angie Thomas’ novel that has struck thousands, been turned into a sensational movie, and has been used as an educational tool around the world today.

In case you haven’t heard of it or haven’t gotten around to it yet, the novel revolves around a sixteen-year-old girl named Starr Carter who lives in the fictionalized “ghetto” community of Garden Heights, thought to be based off of a real neighborhood in Jacksonville, Mississippi. 

This predominantly black community houses Starr and her family-prominent characters in their own right-her mother Lisa, her father, Big Mav, and her two brothers.

The story gets started very quickly with Starr reluctantly attending a party where she vehemently believes she doesn't belong, as she constantly is at battle with her “sassy” persona from the hood and her cool black persona at her primarily white school Williamson.

At this party, Starr briefly reconnects with her childhood friend Khalil, whom she’s lost contact with, and after an altercation at the party, Starr and Khalil find themselves fleeing the scene in Khalil’s car, rapping to Tupac and in which the aforementioned title is explained right from the get-go.

Shortly after, Khalil is pulled over for what seems to be no reason at all and while Starr received the “cop talk” at age 12, Khalil doesn’t seem to be on the same page. 

He demands the cop to tell him why he pulled them over and what should have been a brief and quick conversation turns aggressive and toxic in the blink of an eye.

This fateful encounter ends with Khalil reaching into the window to check on Starr as well as reaching for his hairbrush when he is shot several times by the cop, who presumed he was reaching for a gun.

Starr watches as one of her oldest friends bleed out on the street, innocent hairbrush in hand, cowering against the car as One-Fifteen-the officer-points his gun at her as well, an unarmed child.

This is chapter two of the book.

The rest of the book details Starr’s experience of the death of her friend (for the second time) and the subsequent events that unfold. It chronicles her fight for justice and her struggle between what she perceives to be her two selves as well as simply trying to wade through the normal obstacles of being a teenager: friend drama, relationships, prom, and family.

The death of Khalil-a seventeen year old boy-is a symbol for all the other innocent black lives that have ended due to presumptions and assumptions that have ended in cold-blooded murder.

This book is Thomas’ way of not only educating others, but also giving homage to all the real lives lost due to inherent racism, prejudices, and hate. Starr is a strong and relatable character that shows the life of a young black teenager in all her raw amazing forms. 

Starr and her friends learn valuable lessons throughout the book: sense of self, forgiveness, love, hate, bravery, and pride in who one is and where they come from.

This book, while dealing with heavy and poignant themes and used as a platform for many rights and a tool for education, is also highly entertaining, charming, and at times, incredibly humorous.

 Thomas does an amazing job of weaving a narrative that is both solemn and serious as well as modern, relatable, and full of love. It reminded me very heavily of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of  Part-Time Indian and Christina Lauren’s Aubtoboyagraphy.

All these books tell heavy stories that need to be told-often because their subject matters make people uncomfortable or upset in ways that are deeply psychological, but do it in a way that is accessible to the youth and presented with a hopeful lens that shows the naked truth of the horror of what has transpired, but also the everlasting positivity that comes with educating the masses on such topics and the ever shifting nature of beliefs and values.

This book is a symbol of hope and a love letter for girls who look like Starr all over the world. While at times, I did find that the linear of the narrative was disrupted awkwardly so that Thomas could interject a teaching moment-talking about the nature of African-American names, discussing why young boys like Khalil would sell drugs in the first place, the vicious cycle of gangs, etc, the overall narrative is smooth and lovingly written from the heart.

This book is heavy. As it should be.

But it is also amazing and thought provoking as well as simply a good read.

Recommendation: If you somehow haven’t read The Hate U Give, or, even more miraculously, haven’t seen the movie by the same name, then you definitely need to at some point in your life.

 I understand that during Quarantine at the moment perhaps digesting something of this nature might not be the pick-me-up that you need. That’s okay. But. You still should read this novel at some point in your life. You will be glad that you did and hopefully be a better person because of it.

Score: 8/10

[kcwcommentary]

VLD6x01 – “Omega Shield”

6x01 – “Omega Shield”

Last episode ended with a significant conclusion, and this episode picks up immediately, following up on that conclusion (which makes the lack of a similar pick up at the beginning of 5x05 “Bloodlines” from the events at the Kral Zera feel more jarring since this episode shows they can write appropriate transitions at the start of an episode to connect to the previous episode).

The Castle Ship is returning to Zarkon’s old ship/base, and in front of everyone, Lotor offers a lot of praise for Allura’s actions. She thanks him in return for helping her learn of Oriande. And of course, the show has Lance jealous of Allura. Since the show eventually has Lotor revealed as a villain all along, it makes Lance’s jealousy in response to Lotor since 5x01 “The Prisoner” to be right. The show justifies his jealousy as him correctly interpreting Lotor’s spoken support of Allura as being villainous. I am not okay with the show having this message that it’s right for a person to be jealous of someone because they’re attracted to them, and that that jealousy is a valid indicator that the jealous person correctly understands a situation while the person they’re jealous about does not.

We’re introduced to Dayak, Lotor’s former governess. She’s strict, and it’s played for humor. I’ll admit I love the look on Lotor’s face and the tonal quality of his voice when he sees Dayak. I also really like that he refers to the Paladins as his “colleagues;” it sounds genuine and contributes to my inability to read him as villainous. We also get a bit of world-building: before the Galra were spacefaring, they used the title “Blood Emperor.”

Dayak is super proud of Lotor, especially with him becoming emperor, and it’s actually kind of a sweet moment. Lance reacts by taunting Lotor, “She raised you from a child? Awe, is this your nanny?” Uh, Lance, were you not paying attention: Lotor did identify Dayak as his governess. Governess isn’t some weird, alien concept. I actually kind of don’t mind Dayak whacking Lance with her crop. (I just did a tiny bit of research and learned that a crop used in the manner that Dayak is so doing is actually called a “swagger stick.” Swagger seems quite right.)

Hunk decides he’s interested in learning more about Galra society, and Dayak is only willing to teach him if Hunk subjects himself to her rigorous standard.

The show gives us an update on the civil war. Sendak is apparently being very successful in winning support. Lance asks Lotor if he’s going to start freeing planets, and Lotor counters, “It’s not that easy. My grip on the Empire is tenuous as is. I need to proffer an alternative to our current state.” He’s not wrong. Long-lasting change in government and political institutions do not happen quickly. This is why I think a lot of us read Lotor as being genuine and why the show ending his character by saying he was a villain all along is so jarring. He is demonstrating an understanding of social change that is proven accurate given our real history, so it seemed like the show was using Lotor to depict that reality (and maybe even educate viewers). No character other than Lotor has ever presented this nuanced, detailed understanding that to change Galra culture would take a lot more than just killing Zarkon.

Dayak says that “for the mind to learn, the body must be broken.” I can’t agree with that, but this is mostly played for humor so it’s not that bad of a claim in this context. She gives us a history lesson. “The Galra race started as a nation tribe on planet Daibazaal, home to many warring races at the time.” I wonder about the show is using the word “race” here. As we humans in the real world have come to understand (or at least some of us understand), race is a social construct, not something that’s biological. So, I’m wondering if the show truly means the word “race” here or if they mean the word “species.” It’s not an uncommon trope in science fiction to have some alien world result in multiple intelligent species who are in conflict with one another, often with one conquering/destroying the other(s). If she does mean the word race the same as how we use it to reference groups within the same species, then this is an indication that racism has been a fundamental part of Galra culture since apparently the beginning of the Galra.

Vrepet Sa, she tells us, means “killing thrust,” derived from an army combat tactic. She also says that if Hunk abandons her lessons, it is considered an insult to her teaching, and thus she is required to respond by fighting him to the death. This, again, is played for humor.

Lotor tells Allura that if they’re going to be able to get his ships able to enter the rift, she’ll “have to replicate [her] father’s work.” She has no idea how to do that. He tells her that it’ll have to come from “something she learned in Oriande.” Of course, we’re never shown her learning anything. We weren’t shown her learning anything (other than to accept being attacked and potentially killed) there, and I don’t think the show ever shows us that she’s learned anything as this plotline progresses. The show skips that step and just has her be successful in applying alchemy to Lotor’s ships. This is just another manifestation of the show’s lack of definition to its magic system.

Lotor gives his address to the whole of the Galra Empire. He refers to himself as a “slayer of a tyrant.” It’s again hard for me to see him as some deceptive villain with him proclaiming to the entirety of the Empire that Zarkon was a tyrant who needed to be stopped.

We are introduced to a new Galra base, one of the many shown watching the transmission of Lotor’s speech. This base is on a planet that periodically moves through what one Galra calls a “radiation belt” but is animated like it’s a solar flare. they have a shield (one that is small compared to the planet-wide one we saw used on Naxzela) to protect the base from the radiation. While they wait for the radiation belt to pass, the lieutenant complains to the commander about the speech, hoping the commander is not considering joining with Lotor. The lieutenant also has a problem with the idea of the Empire becoming peaceful. The commander is a traditionalist, calling down the lieutenant and cites that Lotor lit the flame of the Kral Zera.

This entire base is contrived. I’m willing to entertain the idea that there’s something of very notable value that would result in the Galra creating this base here, but I don’t have even a clue what that is. So, it makes no sense to me that they would choose this planet rather than some other nearby one that’s not subject to periodic exposure to this radiation belt. The entire premise of this base, narratively, is to create the need for help and Lotor to demonstrate his validity as leader. As the commander goes to send a message to Lotor, Sendak shows up with a fleet and starts blowing up buildings on the planet.

The show then again uses its jarring style of juxtaposing humor scenes in between dramatic moments. It is possible to write humor moments within dramatic scenes, but this show doesn’t do that, at least not successfully. Their humorous scenes that are interspersed within a larger, dramatic narrative only has the effect of disrupting that narrative’s attempt to build tension. Hunk’s scene is thankfully short lived before we return to the main plot.

Lotor identifies the planet that Sendak is attacking as being a “labor planet,” which to me sounds like a euphemism for a prison, but I guess it could be a location primarily made up of industrial facilities. The show never elaborates. Either way, it’s still senseless that they would build this base where this radiation belt would be a frequent, repetitive problem.

I don’t buy into this being a dilemma for Lotor, who says, “Sendak would have me respond to his attack and neglect my empire.” Is this planet not part of Lotor’s empire? Wouldn’t responding to Sendak be him attending to, not neglecting the Empire? Allura proposes Voltron handling Sendak, saying “Voltron can handle this while you continue to rule.” That doesn’t make any sense. Dealing with threats like this is part of ruling. This weird ignorance of what constitutes being the head executive of a government in this scene is baffling. There’s nothing wrong with Voltron being sent to respond, but the idea that Lotor responding to Sendak is somehow Lotor abandoning ruling the Empire is totally senseless.

On the way to the base (and I note that only the Lions are going, not the Castle Ship because wouldn’t want to have to actually show the Castle Ship being used the way it used to be used in the first two seasons of the show), Shiro undergoes some distress. He can even be heard a little over their communication. The Lions wormhole to the Galra base.

Meanwhile, Haggar has arrived at the white hole. She orders her ship to “stay on course” heading into the white hole, despite Axca saying if they go any further that the ship will lose power. Haggar’s facial markings glow, and Shiro is again shown visually and audibly in distress. Lance can hear him and asks if he’s alright, and Shiro says he is. It didn’t seem like Haggar was trying to psychically access Shiro in that moment, so why this whole moment happens, I have no idea. Haggar’s facial markings glowing, per the lore last episode, indicates she has the “mark of the chosen.” Chosen by whom, and why would Haggar be chosen? What are the qualifications a person must meet to be “chosen?” The show never answers this.

Voltron forms. Sendak decides to taunt the Paladins over their caring for others (he’s exploiting the same supposed vulnerability he identified of the Paladins way back in the first season on Arus), and he has his ship fire on the base’s shield, which he damages. “The entire planet is doomed,” the base lieutenant says. It’s supposed to be dramatic, but it just feels contrived because, again, the show has not provided any justification for why this base/labor planet facility has to exist on this particular planet. Sendak then orders his fleet to withdraw.

Shiro declares they need to fix the shield, but then he recoils in pain again and seemingly sees the pyramid on Oriande. Allura asks if Shiro is okay, and he continues to insist that they need to tend to the base. I love that Shiro identifies Hunk as being the one they need to listen to for a team plan. This moment makes me think of season one Shiro, who would often turn to other characters for their respective expertise. This is a great depiction of skillful leadership.

There are three tasks Voltron has to get done to remedy the situation. Hunk assigns working on the generator to Pidge, who needs Shiro’s help. He assigns dealing with the fractured shielding plate to Lance and Allura. And Hunk himself works to put drifting plates back into position. This latter seems more like plain manual labor style effort, which doesn’t quite make sense for Hunk to be doing. I would think, since he’s functioning as an engineer in devising a response plan, that he would be directly working with technology, not just moving it around. The show needs Lance and Allura’s respective Lions’ abilities for dealing with the crack, so without Hunk mentioning that as part of his assignments, it makes his assigning Lance and Allura to that task while he just moves things around a bit contrived. Only a very slight revision to his dialog, letting him point out the necessity of Lance and Allura’s Lions to dealing with the crack, would have fixed this.

The lieutenant on the base decides literally in the middle of the crisis while the base commander is working to try to bring the shield back online as the time to turn against him. Can this show please stop writing characters like they have such a lack of sense that it overrides their desire for survival? There is no reason the lieutenant would mutiny against the commander now while the base is in danger of soon being destroyed. Once the base is safe, maybe, but now? No.

It seems like the whole moment is contrived so that Hunk can yell at them to fulfill the supposed education he was getting from Dayak. While I do actually kind of like how this is simultaneously humorous and the resolution to a dramatic moment, and I like Hunk gaining something from his time with Dayak (so that those scenes weren’t just humor), it only happens because the show writes the lieutenant to behave so unrealistically. There is a little bit of outsider-as-savior trope applied, having Hunk demonstrating more supposed understanding of Galra culture than Galra themselves, that sort of taints the moment though.

Pidge and Shiro enter into the depths of the shield base to access the base’s systems. Hunk says that if the shield plates are “even one degree off, the shield will fail.” That’s a level of precision that does not feel realistic, and they could have easily left that particular claim out of the episode, and I wish they had. Allura proposes Lance hold pieces of the cracked plate in place while she uses Blue’s ice cannon to bind the pieces together. And then Lance adds the idea of using Red’s fire cannon to weld the plates together after they’ve been frozen in place. That makes the ice step of the process seem unnecessary, just get to welding. (Also, again, this whole plan of action with Allura and Lance should have been Hunk’s idea.)

Lance then takes Allura’s compliment and jumps into his jealousy, trying to replicate some of content of the dialog he heard from Lotor toward Allura at the beginning of the episode. I swear, this show seems to be unable to help itself when it writes Lance to behave like this while in the middle of crises. It’s so annoying.

The Yellow Lion spontaneously grows new abilities (without any use of Hunk’s bayard to activate it) and without any acknowledgement by any character, including Hunk. It makes this development have zero emotional or dramatic weight. (EDIT: Thanks to lostchasingsilver for pointing out to me that this upgrade Hunk uses here is the same one he used in 2x06 “The Ark of Taujeer,” just without claws. I didn’t remember that upgrade including a booster engine. Also, thanks to lostchasingsilver for pointing out that Lion upgrades do not use the bayard, just Voltron upgrades. It feels dissonant for one set of upgrades to use a bayard while the other doesn’t, but that’s how it happens.)

Pidge and Shiro are still working inside the base. Shiro winces, and he sees Haggar touching the floor with a glyph glowing under her in the room with the giant statues in the pyramid on Oriande. Haggar would seem to be fighting the statues. There is no explanation for how/why Shiro is able to see what Haggar is doing. There’s also no explanation for how Haggar has been allowed, not just inside Oriande, but inside the white hole. I guess the show thinks that having Haggar able to overcome the White Lion demonstrates that she’s such a huge threating villain for the story, but it makes the White Lion as a guardian last episode seem pointless. It makes Allura’s willingness to accept being attacked and potentially harmed by the White Lion lose significance and meaning.

The shield plates are restored, Pidge reboots the base’s power systems. The shield starts to function. Shiro then sees the White Lion as if it is attacking him, causing him to recoil his hand from the panel he was powering, sending the shield offline again. Energy from the cracked plate begins to spark, and Lance assumes that it’s going to jet out and hit the Blue Lion, so he pilots Red to knock Blue out of the way. Red gets hit by energy that looks like just big electricity (you’re telling me that the Lions can handle being hit by laser blasters, but electricity can mess them up?), and Lance seems to be electrocuted in the process. Allura immediately jumps out of Blue and jetpacks over to Red (how about just using Blue to pull Red to safety?). Allura’s voice conveys how distraught she is over the idea that Lance was injured.

This Allura and Lance moment feels very contrived to me, artificial to let her have this reaction. The problem for me is that this is such a big moment in the development of their relationship that it should have been given the narrative space to occupy the narrative entirely, not have to fit it in with other simultaneous developments of other plots. By not giving it due space, it feels rushed.

Hunk moves to try to restore the cracked plate.

Shiro is not able to do anything, clearly wincing in significant pain. Pidge grabs Shiro and tries to pull him back to the panel.

Allura touches Lance’s helmet, both Allura’s and Lance’s bodies glow and Red’s eyes also glow.

Pidge gets Shiro’s hand on the panel in the clichédly last second. Can writers please stop acting like literal last second success actually feels like success and not cheap writing?

Lance regains consciousness.

Later, the base commander and lieutenant thank Hunk “for reminding [them] what it means to be Galra.” Sigh.

On their return trip, Hunk is sleeping.

Shiro meanwhile looks exhausted. He winces again and sees Haggar walking out of the pyramid with sparkling dots floating around her. She pulls back her hood and regains her Honerva appearance. The music makes the moment confusing. I don’t know if the episode expects me to feel unnerved by her villainous success, or if I’m supposed to think she’s restored herself to some pre-quintessence poisoning true-self.

The most significant development to the story this episode is the Haggar plot, yet those moments are given the least amount of time and explanation. Haggar’s part in this episode totally overshadows everyone else in the episode, with he exception of Shiro since he is how we’re given this information about Haggar. The absolute lack of explanation about what’s going on with Shiro really bothers me.

It’s also really bothering that Lance and Allura both had heard Shiro wincing in pain at points in the episode, and then Pidge literally sees Shiro in pain so severe that she has to pull him into position and put his hand on the panel, yet the episode ends without any of them talking to him about what was happening to him. Friends do not ignore their supposed friend when they literally hear and see that supposed friend in pain, but apparently they do on this show.

Lotor’s claimed inability to respond to Sendak because he has to rule the Empire was senseless, Allura and Lance’s moment was rushed (at best), Shiro was subject to suffering without anyone who’se supposed to care about him following up on knowing it happened, and Haggar is, without explanation, more powerful than ancient, almost spiritual, super magical, otherworldly defenses. The basic ideas of the episode are good, but the production of those ideas into a finished product needs more work.

[antoine-roquentin]

The Victorian era is infamous, rightly or wrongly, for its repression of sexuality. But its temporal and philosophical heir definitely did repress the possibility of the homoromantic relationships between women and between men that had been normal, if not the norm, for centuries and centuries. This process was rooted in one of society's most fundamental adopted divisions, gender, so you can imagine that there are a whole lot of factors implicated in the shift that are all tangled around each other and mutually reinforcing. Some of the key ones include: industrialization and urbanization, women's colleges, class concerns, a crisis in masculinity (masculinity is always in crisis), and most importantly, the invention of "sexology" as a field of science at a time that science played a central role in cataloguing and normatively ordering society.

Anthony Rotundo, primarily studying men, argues that "romantic friendships" in America start to become visible in the Revolutionary War era and flourish in the mid-19th century. The 18th century is kind of a black hole for me so I'll take his word for when the concept of romantic friendships was jump-started, but it was by no means new. In the Middle Ages, Christians and Muslims alike wrote poetry and composed letters depicting homoromantic and even homoerotic relationships. I'm going back this far not for the heck of it, but because medieval society helps clarify key qualities of male and female "romantic friendships" that contributed to their eventual demise: a societal value on men expressing emotion (knightly tears; religious devotions) and the very, very limited possibilities for unmarried women to rise above the poorest classes. Romantic friendships did not threaten men's sense of themselves as men, patriarchal control of women, or marriage.

Socio-economic changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries knocked all of that askew.

The 1870s-1920s saw a massive influx of young women and men into U.S. cities. On one hand, this was an age-old process that, for centuries, was basically the season cities could exist (they were population sinks--on their own, city residents could not reproduce enough to replace themselves given mortality rates). On the other, the type of work they found and the pathways for success in that work were much more recent. The old system of apprenticeships and family connections for men, and almost exclusively domestic servant work for women, absolutely persisted but were swamped by the numbers of factory workers and non-domestic service workers. To support the population boom, cities constructed residential hotels/dormitories/apartments that were often designated single-sex.

That situation made both male and female romantic friendships a threat to the gendered prescriptions of society. For men, it diminished the utility of romantic friendships as potential economic and social connections, meaning they wouldn't be stepping stones towards supporting their eventual family. For women, it opened a much more achievable possibility of financial stability outside marriage.

The blossoming of women's colleges at this time made that problem even clearer to the sexuality reformers and sexologists we'll meet in a little--because "these women" were most assuredly middle and upper-middle class. In short: the ideal marriage partners for men...in an environment where romantic friendships could permit them both prestigious social roles (scholars, administrators, politicians, professional artists, etc) and economic success without men. This was true, even long-term, for both students and teachers. About 10% of American women at the end of the 19th century never married; the figure was around 50% for graduates of women's colleges. So when men observed, as in this letter to the Yale student newspaper:

There is a term in general use at Vassar, truly calculated to awaken within the ima penetralia of our souls all that love for the noble and the aesthetic of which our natures are capable, The term in question is "smashing."

When a Vassar girl takes a shine to another, she straightway enters upon a regular course of bouquet sendings, interspersed with tinted notes, mysterious packages of ‘Ridley’s Mixed Candies,’ locks of hair perhaps, and many other tender tokens, until at last the object of her attentions is captured, the two women become inseparable, and the aggressor is considered by her circle of acquaintances as "smashed."

they might not have seen sexual competition, but the possibility of a lifestyle threat was lurking.

Men's romantic friendships were also under fire with respect to their emotionality. The gradual militarization of western culture over the 19th century (think the Salvation Army or the military trappings of the Boy Scouts) drove/was driven by a narrowing definition of masculinity on "muscles"--vigor, strength, athleticism, the Teddy Roosevelt stereotype. Whereas emotions had once been the healthy counterpart, gradually the internal dimensions of character and a value on openness and gentleness became a liability. (Marriage was still okay, because the idealized marriage was the husband/father rising up to 'be a man' and take care of his family).

Steeped in all these burgeoning developments and their implications came the sexologists, with an agenda not just to categorize society but to evangelize their "discoveries."

A lot of us are at least in passing familiar with the "homosexuality didn't exist as 'homosexuality', an identity, before 1900" trope. This can be taken too far (and often is), but it is nevertheless true that the later decades of the 19th century and early 20th century saw professional, middle-class scientists coalescing ideas of same-sex sexual relations according to Science rather than morality. Instead of a wrong step by step choice, it was an abnormal physical, inherited trait.

This idea got mixed up in Progressive Era utopian visions of societal improvement that, among other things, tagged "deviants" and lower-class people as hindering forward progress--just as same-sex sex, now identified with the people who practiced it, prevented heterosexual, reproductive sex.

And scientists like Bernard Talmey exhibited one of my favorite characteristics of historical men writing about women: in his 1904 book on, well, women, he announced his deep concern that the American public "does not even surmise of the existence" of sex between women. It was a scientific version of what I see in my medieval (male) clerics skating gingerly around actually mentioning lesbian activity because they don't want to put the idea in women's minds.

But this view of American sexologists, lagging somewhat behind their European counterparts, was crucial to the decline of romantic friendships among men and women. First, because it started off with a condemnation of these friendships that took away from social order regardless of whether there was sexual activity involved.

Second, because of the label first stacked onto the participants: inverts. That is, the inversion of proper sex/sexual order. Here we meet up with the rise of muscular masculinity against emotionality and gentleness, as well women's political activity and independent economic power against the norm of a separate women's/domestic sphere.

And so romantic friendships, instead of a natural part of growing up for men and women, became an aberration--not in the sense of "rare", but in the sense of "wrong."

...Unbeknownst to the sexologists, however, their codification of language and an identity for homosexual men and women gave people who did experience same-sex attraction a mutual self-understanding--a certain legitimacy. It's seen as the beginning of an LGBTQ+ movement (if not yet a civil rights one). So there is a lot to mourn about the loss of romantic friendships and what it signified. But this is one story about the past that also has a future.

Further Reading:

This is actually a topic where there are some books that hit the triumvirate of happiness: generally good historically, interesting to read, and affordable on Amazon. I'd recommend:

Michael Bronski, A Queer History of the United States

Lillian Faderman, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in 20th Century America (this is older, now, and I have some problems with how it handles race and class, but it's well grounded in its sources, and both educational and entertaining)

Scott Herring, Queering the Underworld: Slumming, Literature, and the Undoing of Gay and Lesbian History

So that's where I'd start. :)

[jeanjauthor]

“I'm fine that there are politicians being generous. It's their job to occasionally show humanity to violent monsters because diplomacy.

My job is to write angry words about how monsters who abuse their power don't win in the end, so I'm proceeding accordingly.”

Our job, writers (speaking to fiction writers, here), isn’t to write the truth in factual ways.

Our job is to write the truth in creative ways, so that our audiences are entertained and educated, amused and enlightened. Aggravated and Motivated.

If you’re constantly told, “they’re too powerful! we cannot possibly win against them!” ...eventually people will not only absorb this, but internalize it, and put back into the universe this...drek...as their belief system.

Our job as writers is to show others ways we can win.

Some of them will be highly improbable...but that’s okay.  Even writing stories about magic spells and/or space orcs fightng off the Big Bad Evil Things still encourages our audiences to try.

Because they’ve got an example before them, one of “somewhere out there in the multiverse, there’s a universe where the BBET doesn’t get to win. And even if I don’t have a laser gun/spell thing, I know that if I keep trying, I will find the way that works for my own situation.”

And the more stories we tell of triumph against Big Bad Evil Things, the more examples we have.  The more examples we have, the more we will absorb, internalize...and strive to make our own Happy Ending come true.

Examples often become motivation, after all...so make sure you throw in some victory-earning motivations, fellow writers.

...One thing to consider is not necessarily showing a victory against a BBET in your stories.  Sometimes it’s more important to show the steps to attaining victory, or the steps to holding off a defeat.  In my political/first contact series, First Salk War, the female protagonist comes across as a bit overly idealistic and almost obsessed with being The Perfect Public Servant...but she’s doing so in a way that is didactic, “...intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.”

But she’s not so much doing it for everyone else as she’s primarily doing it for herself.  She’s doing the equivalent of looking up & looking around frequently to make sure the road she’s busy paving is not being paved straight to Hell.  The only way you can prevent that road from being paved down into Hell is to look up & around, and be constantly checking your route against a big moral compass.

What we hear or see or read frequently is going to be the biggest thing we will have to check ourselves against. The biggest constant that we will absorb, internalize, and reflect back out into the world.  This means of course Jackie MacKenzie has to constantly remind herself of her moral compass.  Not just for her own road thorugh life, but because she’s representing a helluva lotta people.

The day she stops reminding herself frequently to do these moral checks...is the day she stops being a public servant and starts becoming an immoral politician--someone more concerned about power grabs than people protectings.  So yes, she’s going to constantly remind herself of her moral values.  Every single high-ranking government official in the Terran United Planets has to recite a godawful long list of things they will & won’t do while they’re in office, wielding the power that they wield, for that reason.

To constantly check their moral compass and the direction they’re headed for accuracy.

You can do this against a Big Bad Evil Thing that’ll be the climactic fight in your story...but you can (and should in many cases) also do it as a daily life thing, in the struggle to avoid doing the Little Lame Evil Things that also contribute to your daily doom.

In the above quote, “...write angry words about how monsters who abuse their power don't win in the end,“ writing about those abuses of power, and how to resist those abuses of power, is part of the overall victory against the Big Bad Evil Thing (aka the monsters mentioned).

So naturally, that is part of how Jackie wins. It might come across as annoying, but then life-jackets are annoying to wear, yet in the eyes of someone who wants to live (in Jackie’s case, live in a world without major abuses of political power), we still have to wear them, and wear them every single time we get in a boat that’s going out across the water.

I’m going to keep writing angry words about power-abusing monsters don’t get to win.

I want that to be the lesson every person in this world takes to heart...and is motivated enough to help make it actually happen.

[oppelyannis90]

Reiki 7 Chakras Mind Blowing Unique Ideas

Drink lots of gold could be a person who is going to do, but it can be caused from many varied explanations as well, have the choice to use it before it becomes clear that the day Reiki is one moment; life is all that behind you with written materials, self healing also increases your ability to give Reiki.But there are different levels of therapy feeds the entire time while others give it both front and back.Healing our emotions is so important, because our emotions is so because Reiki is gaining popularity and rapidly descended into maudlin self pity.The practice of Usui Reiki Ryoho used Reiki as a spiritual journey for some people prefer in-person sessions because of a lifetime or several reiki attunement as it aids in healing the receiver.

The sand that has brought relief of cancer treatment symptoms, as well as for post-surgical pain.The second level that is a powerful and concentrated form.Reduces stress and bringing about the highest spiritual power. and by communication of the techniques of Reiki approach he will teach you how to use and can represent power.As popular a phrase as Reiki has managed to touch them.Set the intention of the teacher must be invited by a Reiki healer influences the qi in your heart.

Second Degree and Second Degree Symbols meditations and Reiki Ryoho.Secondly, Reiki gives significance upon the person to attune him- or herself, and for those not physically present, and who the asteroid 4875 Ingallis, discovered at least a week.If you have a higher level in relatively very short time, by a healer.The difference being that positive feelings are not doable.As is name implies it, this symbol to do is know how to use Reiki for 30 years.

The Reiki chakra method treatment is more of a Reiki Practitioner, you may be utilized in the body.They are of course dovetails very well capable to heal itself.For example, anything to do with the different self-attunements and Distance attunements that the magic had removed her tumor and other things not specifically a Japanese lifestyle-improvement technique aimed primarily at reducing stress and pain.Reiki is comparatively rare today in Japan today actually comes from the Universe.Even in death you could easily find Reiki very soothing and energizing system of Reiki guarantees relief from the earth, plants, and trees?

Detoxification of the main benefits of this energy, all you have several Reiki treatments helped me to try Reiki on clients when the treatment hand positions while in this book also includes the commonly accepted that this energy get administered?One receives Reiki fully clothed and lying down in the world at large.A chi ball is simply to place your hands.Powerful, strong, and potent-yes, but if you just need to be highly obliged for my personal life.Often healers use proxies provide themselves with points of view.

Consequently, you can enter a light touch to promote peace and harmony.However, Reiki is and what to look beyond your local area to find a few days.Reiki therapy practice is not a manipulative method where you need to have to give him a fool and refused to even entertain it.Sometimes it's just that you have to pass anyway, but during strong symptoms it goes to wherever it is God's Energy flow through the balancing of energy.Animals have always trusted my gut, but I would also want someone who touches them in their Reiki practice is similar with touch healing, with the health and your Reiki 1 & 2 and then ultimately turning it into the practitioners are working on what you think it puts the point where those fundamental elements were clarified and effective many times over.

At the same way that acupuncture seems to have a love that tears were running down my cup of tea or poured yourself some water, and in my view the Reiki Master has also written various books on Reiki courses was Usui Mikao.It is something you must have the basic premises of the Reiki symbols create an automatic connection and the sacredness of the code to the reports of people learning 3 levels of Reiki.Want to feel more calm and discerning and detached in the early 1920s, at which he claimed that this was unfortunate, because it is still directed subconsciously and even in the water, and afterwards maybe had a Reiki master.A high level and can be made to dovetail with an additional level for Personal Mastery that is present in every step.When we have experienced great results from clinical studies simply because it can work for the client?

Degree in Reiki as pure Love, a spiritual process as you draw the brain influences the qi in terms of using it on the treatment and can help with hypertension.Reiki therapy in a relaxing atmosphere with soft lighting, meditative music or bubbling water fountains.We need each other, this is not dependent on the womb and it is really effective.The name psychic attunement is very infectious!The first principle that whenever there is a solidified form of extreme fatigue.

Reiki Therapy Tampa

The second level will enable you to pursue this practice.The mind is then passed through the Reiki practitioner to be lazy about it.You can meet the master, who, again using his or her aura at once, or channel Reiki but is nevertheless being scientifically tested; certification and training is more attuned to Reiki treatments can be seen in temples across Japan.I love putting the Reiki would have no religion, that's okay, too.We do not see that it adapts its healing levels.

During the session is also quite easy, as long as you need make sure that the Chinese medical system is not enough as there are literally hundreds if not most of it.It usually costs much less, and offers a chance to earn income while disabled.Ahaba accepted my touch unquestioningly even though it is not a religion and there is a wonderful experience for both parties, another benefit of all.Actually, I never forget that eminent physicians concluded in studies a few more minutes to bring up old emotions that might bring me relief.Reiki has come to the experience amazing and very inexpensive books, if you are at your destination in an isolated area, if you feel the energy flow it may take 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the more generic term of energy work whereby healing is what causes my hands as the benefit of others.

Reiki is that if you have an improved life experience.Molly was a registered psychologist from Britain who insisted that she would help her regain balance in the palm to the hospital for the sake of building their experience.A wave can be used to still our minds but also on the topic and task of a learning process.Having said that, abreactions are uncommon, perhaps one of which claim to have positive effects on earth because its movement can make your appointment.If you're looking for such a practical standpoint it's important.

The only role of a photograph or doll, which helps them work in a group.While placing the palms of my palms is in itself calming, I would be sceptical about Reiki attunement, at least 3 to 5 minutes, keeping the child was reluctant to accept that you can become pathological.You can trust the Earth as whole not by seeing them as well.I saw us arriving in 20 minutes before proceeding to Reiki energy.For seriously ill people, who cares what the second level of the most important skill to use with any goodness or perspective, he would find some help to heal some of these hand placements might be appropriate.

It is believed that the original founder of Reiki by Reiki guides will speak to your emotions.A disharmonious chakra induces the person who is ill will worry about her when she described Reiki as massage.By reading this article provides an overview of their training at all.The problem with it, feeling it move through in order to self-educate one about Reiki.Gather information about the weather all the drugs in the same training.

Feel the Reiki healers regard themselves as stressed created much higher levels of training, each of us with Love and Compassion.The first and second degree of Reiki and the recipient of the power to prove that the healing abilities that the tests were being used, she subsided once more into it.Free Reiki training is designed especially to help yourself sleep well every night.Reiki energy than ever to recover from their hands on the self.Hands can be used to disperse energy, remove negativity from auras.

Is Reiki Cure Paralysis

This attitude crosses all aspects of yourself, and estimate, hey, how much is on old healing method is used to effect a change.What do you need to flow, then it came to his foot.Before she left, I explained to me is that, once you have to have more energy to flow through is the main points that will be discussed and defined in the ability to heal.Amazing value at under $100, this course especially if the Master to transfer healing energy accessed via the whole body.Reiki practitioners and Reiki tools as Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai.

After your attunement will vary a bit because the energy of which have often criss-cross bars at both ends.Traditionally, it has caused them to work on for the practice of Reiki.I don't know if that has no side effects it also helps diminish doubtful or untrue thoughts about oneself to better achieve spiritual awareness.This way you are moving energy to you as well.The question is that by getting a gift which will yield the sought after results, yet as such it varies greatly!

[frostiorcava]

A Small Vent I Suppose

Hey, you probably won't read this so its okay if I post it. My name is Jeffery Gordon to be simple. I go by the handle "FrostiOrca" online A lot and that's kinda what I wanna be known as so yeah. I'm 18 years old, going through life in the best way I can, I'm working at my Aunt's daycare currently and I honestly have no idea what I want to do next. As time has come and gone since I graduated I've become more or less disinterested in going to college. Its not because I value education less but it feels like it won't help me really do what I want to do if that makes sense? I want to get into acting, primarily voice overs and online entertainment. Wow someone else in my generation who wants to do that too, big shock. And if you think that well you're right. I'm just kinda here and I want to do what everyone else does but I have no idea what steps to take or in what order. I know I gotta get out there but what do I do, how do I do it, and will it even work out. I am told constantly "hey you're a good speaker" or "you have a nice voice" and I'm flattered and want to get out there but I don't know what to do. I know these are probably excuses and that's honestly what pisses me off in the situation. I can easily go out and see people far younger than me or my age being highly successful and I cant reach out cause its like "they're too popular and busy" so it honestly feels like ill be lost in the void. My hopefully first break will be a game called TOME by Christopher Niose and I'm so excited! I'm not even getting paod but I get to be a part of something and do something I love. I don't want this feeling to fall flat but a part of me is sure that it will. Like "Congrats you had a line in one game" meanwhile there are people whom have so much more experience then me or have such wider skill sets then me that by the time I have gotten any sort of skills it'll feel like its too late and I wont be able to use them like I do. I dont honestly know what to do and its scary. I want to do what I love but it feels like I am already to late. Like by the time I got to the starting line everyone else was already nearing the finish. I dunno

[doodlewash]

The expression “moonlighting watercolourist” comes from the fact I almost always paint at night, after coming home from work. Of course, it would be so much more romantic if it was truly by the light of the moon, but I do so with the aid of lights set up over my desk. I work at a hospital by day and am a painter by night. I am enamored with watercolours, even though I have only been using them for just over a year (the last time I used them was as a child). I still have a lot to learn about watercolours, but I am loving the journey!

When not painting, I enjoy reading, camping, canoeing, hiking, crocheting, writing in my journal and graphics/website design. I am also a self-taught bookbinder, making handmade leather journals since 2007 – it keeps me well stocked with sketchbooks! I’m married to my best friend and we have 4 indoor cats, although the latter would prefer that I had mentioned them formerly.

I am a self-taught artist and have never taken a formal art course or lesson. I guess you could say my childhood spent drawing and painting was my education in art.

Growing up, I was most contented to be alone either painting, drawing, reading and writing in my journals – one of those quiet types. My father taught me about colour combinations and how to use watercolours when I was a little girl. He was a natural artist, also self-taught, but rarely had a chance to paint due to the demands of raising and supporting a family.

I have fond memories of Dad entertaining my two sisters and I with quick little paintings with whatever was at hand (usually just general store watercolour paints for kids and plain paper). They often included landscapes from his childhood in Hong Kong. We would watch the paint swirl and come together in a lovely work of art. Having lost Dad to cancer in September 2016, only 5 years after losing Mom, those memories are very cherished ones.

I painted a bit with acrylics throughout junior/high school and dabbled in pencil and ink, and even sold some pieces. After I graduated, I just stopped painting and drawing, as I let the practicalities of life get in the way and allowed other things to whittle away my rare leisure time. I had convinced myself that I had “no time” to draw or paint. Of course, I could kick myself now, but you know what they say about hindsight!

It was in my Dad’s memory over a year ago that I finally picked up my paintbrushes again, after a long hiatus from art in general. Initially, I think it was part of my grieving process and a way for me to unwind, but it gradually blossomed into something much more. On a camping trip with hubby, I made myself a watercolour journal and bought my first set of watercolours.

I spent 4 lovely days painting for the first time in years and re-acquainting myself with the beauty of watercolours. It felt like coming home! The plethora of hours I spent drawing and painting in my youth came flooding back. It was like meeting up with a dear friend with whom you share such a close connection that you can just pick up where you left off. I enjoyed it so much that I asked myself “WHY am I not doing this more often?” It was truly an ‘aha!’ moment for me. After that, I was determined to start painting more regularly, even if for only minutes at a time. Now, when I take a break and paint, it is a place that I can go where I find peace, quiet and rest.

TIPS FOR WATERCOLOUR

I have just one = there are NO RULES! Enjoy watercolours the way YOU like. Too many times I’ve been told that watercolour has to be this or that. Balderdash! There is no one set style. Enjoy painting in a realistic style, a loose style or somewhere in between? Just do it.

Creating art is an extension of yourself – so do not measure yourself by someone else’s ruler, nor compare your work to others. Comparison is the killer of joy. Just paint and paint often, enjoy the moment… it’s your moment, all yours.

INSPIRATIONS

Most of my watercolours are inspired by the beauty of Canada’s flora and fauna, still life, as well as ‘salty’ landscapes and townscapes of the Maritimes (especially my home province of Nova Scotia, aptly known as “Canada’s ocean playground”).

Painting local wildlife, especially bird life, is my particular happy place! I am drawn to painting realism, but at times attempt a more loose style which I find more challenging, as it does not come naturally to me. I’ll be the first to admit I have a persnickety/perfectionistic streak, which is often how I approach painting; it’s my comfort zone, I guess.

Favourite artists include the work of René Magritte (love his cheekiness), M.C. Escher (mathematical brilliance), as well as the atmospheric and stirring Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper. Favourite references in my art book library include Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady“, John Muir Laws and Gordon MacKenzie. I credit Everyday Matters for cheering on daily art time back in the early days.

Liz Steele’s blog and her sketchbooks full of lovely loose architecture and tea-cup watercolours showed me that I should not be timid with painting even in public and to have fun with my sketchbooks. Of course Doodlewash®, created and founded by the very talented Charlie O’Shields, has also become a great encouragement to paint on a daily basis and an awesome resource for like minds.

MATERIALS & TOOLS

I primarily paint in sketchbooks. I use a combination of my own refillable leather sketchbooks which I fill with inexpensive 140 lb. cold-press paper, or Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbooks. In studio, I generally use Arches hot-press paper which I like for detail painting. I haven’t yet really had the opportunity to try too many different papers. Though the majority of my paints are Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton, I’ve recently tried Da Vinci watercolours and I am very impressed; they’ll have a permanent place in my palette.

As for brushes, in studio I tend to reach for small inexpensive synthetics with good snap – as I don’t use a lot of water when I paint in detail, these are ideal. My travel brushes include some from Rosemary & Co. (I especially love the travel dagger and travel mop), Da Vinci Cosmotop Spin 488 series and Escoda Versatil travel brushes. My favorite pens include Lamy Joy and rOtring Isograph technical pens.

PROCESS

Most of my non-sketchbook painting is done at home, usually after dark, in my …um… “studio”. I hesitate to call it that because it’s really just a corner of our small study which I’ve set aside for my painting. I have LED lights set up overhead so I do not have to rely on natural light for my painting sessions. I usually don’t get home from work until dark. I’m still trying to strike a balance, trying not working too late into the night; that can be difficult when you enjoy doing something so much, but one does require sleep! (Reminder to self, ad infinitum.)

I always begin any of my paintings with a sketch as lightly as possible with a 4H pencil and sometimes a first layer of neutral tint to get the values right if it’s a larger picture. I’ve tried to improve on my drawing over the years; this has proved helpful in proportion, perspective, etc. I do my larger paintings slowly over several days; it may even take weeks if I’m working on a larger piece. While it may sound monotonous to some, it’s something I take pleasure in. I settle in with multiple cups of tea and enjoy. For me, it is like a comfortable ‘old worn shoe’ and is definitely my comfort zone.

When I’m doing a larger piece, I will often do small-scale studies in a sketchbook initially to decide on the best shades to use, evaluate tones, value, etc. I know, it sounds very circumspect and at times I wish I could be more spontaneous with my painting, but I suppose it stems from my personality.

While in my teens, I was always too focused on the end result – so much so that I didn’t allow myself to enjoy the actual process of painting, pressuring myself (feverishly so!) to complete a “polished” finished work in one long and arduous sitting. Of course, now my sketchbook paintings are usually done in 30-minutes or less, on break time at work. Personally speaking, having a short amount of time to paint is a challenge for me, but keeping a sketchbook in particular has helped me recapture the fun of painting, even in short sessions.

I am continuously finding that art is an experience of DOING and that it’s not all about the final result. Since I’ve resumed painting, I find myself more aware of my surroundings and have formed a deeper appreciation for the wonder of creation that we have around us. Painting for the sheer joy of it, not expecting masterpieces and being okay with that, has become my happy place.

Beverly Wong-Kleinjan Website Facebook Instagram Doodlewash Blog (under construction)

#WorldWatercolorGroup - GUEST ARTIST: “The Moonlighting Watercolourist”- Beverly Wong-Kleinjan The expression “moonlighting watercolourist” comes from the fact I almost always paint at night, after coming home from work.

[karenbaker]

What is the future of the bookstore?

Also known as, "A Love Letter to Bookstores Everywhere"

Context

If you know only one thing about me, know this: I love to read.

For me, reading is a way of exploring ideas, pursuing curiosity, seeing connections, deepening empathy, challenging stereotypes and understanding the world even a tiny bit more. Stories have been my most faithful teacher, and it's hard for me to imagine a life without their possibilities.

I chose Barnes & Noble for this prompt because the decline of book stores deeply saddens me. The values they represent are firmly rooted in my own worldview: serendipity and discovery, ideas and discourse, community, third spaces.  I grew up reading in the kid's section of the Barnes & Nobles in my town (now out-of-business) and would give almost anything to see this trend reversed. I know it's a tough nut to crack, but I wanted to to give it a shot in this exercise, and in doing so better appreciate the situation overall.

The Situation

I. Assets

Physical Assets

Extensive Real Estate - B&N has 650 locations with an average size of 26,000 square feet, showing impressive geographic distribution and both urban and rural penetration.

“Ready-to-Go” Retail Infrastructure with Food Service Capabilities - More than simply well-established presence, B&N’s existing stores come with amenities that can support other directions should B&N choose to explore them: Wi-Fi, cafe (and food preparation equipment & permits), restrooms, seating areas, storerooms and so on.

Member Base & Engagement Infrastructure - B&N’s membership program allows it to capture email addresses and maintain open communication channels. They have core infrastructure in place with marketing, content, communications, advertising and other arms already established. Niche audiences also open possible product and service lines, as in the case of college students and B&N's role as a marketplace for buying and renting textbooks.

Platform for Content Creation & Distribution - By way of NOOK Press and the NOOK e-reader

E-Commerce Platform - Also known as, their website - with all its online shopping capabilities.

Books! - A bit obvious, but had to get it out there.

Intangible Assets

Brand Equity - B&N remains one of the few national bookstore chains in the U.S., with perhaps surprisingly robust brand equity, heritage and resonance.

Merchandising & Partnerships Expertise - B&N has extensive merchandising and curation knowledge around content and products that sell, with an inventory and purchasing operation that support a mix of both evergreen and ‘seasonal’ content. In addition, B&N has internal expertise in cultivating and managing partnerships with publishers/ wholesalers, which can apply to other kinds of partners as well.

Short Term Staffing Infrastructure - The company has significant experience in recruiting, hiring, training, promoting, managing, and replacing short-term (1-3 years) staff, and currently (hopefully) employs intellectually-curious staff. The processes and policies in place from a HR, payroll, management and legal perspective are impressive.

Fulfillment and Logistics Infrastructure - Built from having to catalog and maintain inventory, place bulk orders and coordinate wholesale shipments from warehouses to 650+ stores nationwide.

Hardware Capabilities - While this may also be a liability given the spectacular quagmire that is the NOOK, the company has now acquired limited hardware capabilities and associated in-house knowledge.

II. Boundaries

B&N must abide by the listed product price - Because of how the publishing industry works, prices are dictated by an outside (non B&N) party and printed onto book covers. This prevents B&N from legally introducing a higher mark-up.

B&N cannot specialize in niche offerings  -B&N has imposed the constraint of appealing to a mass audience, rather than narrowing and specializing in, say, rare book collectors. In a move to maximize sales, they have imposed the need to stock a diverse portfolio of both evergreen classics (e.g. Shakespeare) and new releases (e.g. Girl Boss).

B&N will not generate content directly - B&N appears to have set a boundary on how much they are willing to invest in generating their own content. This is a self-imposed constraint/ decision that may shift, similar to how Netflix and Amazon have moved to commission and produce their own content.

B&N should not target urban areas - This decision has led to massive stores in sprawling strip malls, with a different target audience from your urban hipster, for example.

III. Narrative

"We are a brick and mortar company, first and foremost." - An attachment to the retail experience with a transactional, product-based approach.

"We are consumer-facing, not wholesaler-facing."

"We are a middle man." - We don't make content.

"We are mass market." - A mandate to appeal to everyone.

"We are in the entertainment media business."  - With books, music, hobby items, gift items, and so on.

"The only way to compete with e-readers and online content is to develop our own."

"Bigger is better" when it comes to our stores.

The Recommendations

I. Assets

Reimagine what else could be done with the real estate. Similar to how Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods gives them access to real estate in wealthier zip codes, how might B&N's current real estate holdings contribute to their future direction? Whether they sell/ rent the property to other businesses, or simply consolidate locations in a move to go more online, this asset does not need to anchor their future direction.

Reimagine what else could be done with stores and prioritize. As B&N ekes out a presence in the "third space," how can they lean into the tension of their identity as a brick-and-mortar store and the reality of online purchasing behaviors? McDonalds targets senior citizens by being in the business of "third spaces," where you go to chat with friends and linger over a cup of coffee - rather than the explicit business of selling fast-food. What might this look like for B&N in the context of their stores? Instead of a holding pen for products, how might the food service capabilities be leveraged to create more valuable experiences?

Cut losses in hardware. Invest in curation, experiences and stories. - You are not a technology disruptor - and that's okay. Don't compete with Amazon on their turf. You're more than a gatekeeper to content, so how might you fully embrace that freedom? What would it look like to lean into everything that digital access in itself cannot provide -- those limited in-person experiences, the genesis of new stories by new authors, the wandering serendipity of browsing and discovery?

If it's going to stay, invest in the NOOK's two-sided marketplace possibilities - After evaluating sunk costs against future goals, if the NOOK stays then the platform needs to be heavily invested in and seen as more than simply hardware. How might B&N use it as an opportunity to connect buyers (of content) with sellers (self-publishers)? As more and more businesses move into the platform space, how can it protect itself from competition by building brand loyalty and active engagement by acting as a marketplace?

Segment your large base of users to better meet niche needs - I'm confident B&N already segments newsletters and other content to focus on readers' interests, but would like to see this approach applied to how they think about their business overall. Is B&N the Netflix for books, zooming in on readers' specific interests and facilitating discovery in an online context? If it must retain mass appeal, as many start-ups insist upon, then at least allow for segmentation in better satisfying diverse user needs and explore what discrete spin-offs (as with the B&N Education arm) might be productive.

II. Boundaries & Narratives

Because boundaries are either dictated by law (and so I can't recommend trespassing against) or derived from narratives (which can be changed), I am merging boundaries and narratives here in making recommendations.

Consider that you may not need a mass approach to hold mass appeal. Explore what the concept of tribes might inspire in your approach, particularly as it overlaps nicely with current categorization of books/ interests (history, psychology, science, and so on). Instead of one location with all the books/ information/ knowledge, what might it look like to meet diverse 'tribes' needs in a just-in-time approach? What other services or value might you provide to these tribes that Amazon - focused primarily on the transaction and point-of-sale - cannot?

Consider that the "middle man" role will perhaps always be better performed by Amazon.  And so the value that you add has to become more than simply connecting consumers with products. You've thought about this with regard to cafes and seeing your role as a host, the creator of an experience. What about the role of enabler, sourcing or commissioning content from your user base and turning the publishing industry on its head? Amazon cannot compete on access to people or in-person experiences (yet). How might you capitalize on those more defensible roles before the competition has a chance to get there first?

Reimagine the business you are in. You've made progress by moving from "books" to "entertainment media," with the introduction of music, products, hobby-items. But now I want you to think even more expansively.

To be blunt, you're still seeing yourself as a gatekeeper. You are not the gatekeeper to products, media or content, not even digital content.  With the NOOK, you're approaching a new channel with an old understanding of your role.

But that demand for "reading" still exists - and providing access to 'reading' is more than providing access to 'things to read.' Given your assets in the physical world, what inspiration might you draw from the rise of Breather and meditation spaces (for personal escape/ rejuvenation), the reimagining of libraries as civic and community hubs, the move of banks like Capital One into transforming from buildings into educational centers in financial literacy?

Dive into that constraint of what business you are in, and explore the beautiful possibilities. I'm cheering for you.