Green Merchant Promotion: Part 2

Last week I wrote about the group giveaway in which I’m involved. It means a lot to me to be able to promote positive environmental ideals with other politically and spiritually committed authors. You can download as many as you want.

The giveaway is from June 1 to June 15. Go to http://wildpolitics.co/20authors for more information and to download.

Here are some examples:

Wild Roots: Coming Alive in the French Amazon/Donna Mulvenna

This memoir will make you want to reclaim your life and live out your wildest dreams.

Against the Grain: Phil M. Williams

A tyrannical high school principal. A young anarchist with nothing left to lose. One way or another, this place is goin’ down.

The Heart of a Mouse Mandy Pang
With themes of friendship, and family, this woodland adventure story encourages readers to work through their fears, and find the courage within themselves to follow their dreams.

All Things Breathe Alike: A Wildlife Anthology

Donna Mulvenna, Jessica Groenendijk, and Margi Prideaux
Some believe the natural world is our real home. Could the eternal pull we feel toward the golden warmth of a rising sun, the tumbling waves of the ocean, or the soothing sound of birdsong, be nature’s way of calling us back? One wildlife anthology. Three passionate nature writers. Nine evocative stories.

Junction, Utah: Rebecca Lawton

This WILLA award-winning novel is “A fresh female voice and a bold take on environmental awareness–great read!”

In the coming days, I will list other books.

The giveaway is from June 1 to June 15. Go to http://wildpolitics.co/20authors for more information.

Love Your Planet: 20 Environmental Authors Explore the Natural World

GreenMerchants_NEWSLETTER

Dear reader, I’m not what you’d call an ace promoter. I barely know how to tweet, and the idea of self-promotion makes me want to crawl beneath my desk.

That’s why I was so excited about the idea of joining a group promotion with authors of fiction and nonfiction who explore our relationship with the natural world. Political events of this year are teaching us that defending the natural world means defending ourselves and future generations of all species. To be involved in a group promoting writing that supports these values inspires me.

After visiting the Florida Everglades and falling in love with it, I decided to write about a water dragon who lived in a swamp whose existence was endangered. That’s how The Dragon Who Didn’t Fly, the first book of A Dragon’s Guide to Destiny, began.

All of the books represented in the giveaway are free, and you can download as many as you want.

The giveaway is from June 1 to June 15. Go to http://wildpolitics.co/20authors for more information.

Mindfulness and Laughter

Where I live, it’s winter, and though snow came late to the party, it didn’t neglect to arise. In the Northeast, we are approaching the time traditionally known as that of cabin fever. This period is characterized by restlessness, irritability, and the desire to see something green.

It’s a time when a good laugh can make a difference. Laughter is mindful. It puts us completely in the moment. Past and future fade away as we enjoy the hilarity of the present moment.

With this in mind, I invite you to visit the following web site:

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

The URL will take you to the winning entries for the 2015 Bulwer-Lytton contest. Bulwer-Lytton was the author of the classic phrase, “It was a dark and stormy night,” and the contest challenges entrants to compose bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Many are so bad that they’re very good.

Since the contest is completely about shameless bad writing, I have no hesitation in stating that I won a runner-up award in 2005 in the Fantasy category. Here’s my entry:

?The dragon cast his wet, rheumy eyes, heavy-lidded with misery, over his kingdom – a malodorous, rot-ridden swamp, with moss cloaking brooding, gloomy cypresses, tree trunks like decayed teeth rising from stagnant ponds, creatures with mildewed fur and scales whom the meanest roadside zoo would have rejected – and hoped the antidepressants would kick in soon.”

In a very different form, this entry became the basis for Big Dragons Don’t Cry, the first book of A Dragon’s Guide to Destiny. You can see the link to the right for more information.

This kind of humor may not be for you, in which case, I invite you to search on YouTube for one of Jimmy Fallon’s impersonations of famous singers. Or get a Laughing Buddha and contemplate why he’s laughing.