NEEDED A MOCKUP JUST TO SEE HOW IT MIGHT LOOK So…my first experience with a cover designer on Fiverr. In one word: bleh. In good part it was my fault, because I was in a hurry and didn’t want to spend more than $150 Cdn total for all four unique...
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Intersex. Non-binary biology. DSD (Differences in Sexual Development). This condition used to be known as “hermaphrodite,” a term that today is considered neither technically accurate nor socially acceptable. The more I find out about it the more I understand why. I chose to give my protagonist intersex biology. Why? For...
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So, been using HootSuite for a while to help me centrally manage my social media postings. It’s tagline is, after all, “Manage all your social media in one place.” Thing is I have mixed opinions about this tool. It does enable me to organize my Tweets, Posts and Updates in...
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My initial #pre-marketing efforts are bearing fruit. As a novice novelist-in-process I consider Twitter a key social media property. @MarkDSwartz is gaining some traction. Here’s how I increased twitter organic impressions 2,000 percent over a 28 day period, May to June 2017. Not Starting From Scratch Note that I’d worked...
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I was visiting GoodReads the other day, updating my profile as I prepare to pre-market myself as a novelist-in-process. On a whim I checked out the page of a writer whose oeuvre, and reputation, has soared over the past two decades. It turns out her debut novel (Mouthing The Words)...
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Of all the pre-writing promotional tactics at my beck and call, deciding on my social media strategy tops the list. Which for me is kind of a shame, since I’m not thrilled about the constant self-boasting – and artificially polished imagery – that saturates the web. Is this something of...
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The debate about how to represent images of children with Down Syndrome on French TV rages on. “Smiling Down Syndrome Kids Banned from French TV in Case they Offend Post-Abortive Women” by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. Nov 24 2016. France’s Conseil d’État (State Council) has confirmed its ban of the award-winning...
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Down Syndrome Beauty Asher Nash is a beautiful 15 month old child. His parents felt he was so adorable they submitted his photo to a talent agency that was looking for kids to represent OshKosh in advertisements. The agency did not present Asher’s photos to their client. Emails appear to...
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And so it begins. The adventure I’d been forced to defer for years is upon me. My keyboard is getting a workout. There’s the 15 pages of “What If’s” to help spark plot and character concepts. Another 10 pages of “Starting Stuff,” in which I outline my idealized reader (curious...
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How encouraging to see that empathy – the understanding and sharing of emotions and experiences of another person (Merriam-Webster.com) – is a focus in the upcoming Netflix sitcom Master of None.
In an age of Twitter storms and social shouting, does it sometimes feel that listening-to-understand gets quashed?
I, for one, would love to see more time taken to learn where other people are coming from, before judging and responding. Empathy is a crucial feature of humankind. But it ain’t always easy. Winston Churchill said it well: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
You go, Aziz!
See National Post article at http://news.nationalpost.com/…/can-you-hear-me-now-aziz-ans….
Keywords: aziz ansari sitcom empathy
