Why I Hate "Strong Female Characters"

Like nonplussed and literally, the phrase “strong female character” has come to mean its antithesis. When people hear it they picture a full fleshed out woman with her own wants and desires. What they get is a woman in a mini skirt and thigh high boots that occasionally punches people.

But, and this is vital, that strong female character, cannot actually save the day. Her entire existence is for the main male hero. She may be spunky and sassy and is always met beating up some guys, but the second she teams up with MMH (main male hero) she abandons everything in her life to help him on his quest. Perhaps she manages to get captured and somehow fully forget how to fight allowing the MMH to do all the cool stuff while she sits around in a metal bikini.

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Do you feel you deserve success?

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As you know I am a prolific listener of books by new age thinkers. Mostly because they always give me a new prospective... right now I am listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer and although I have just been listening casually to the book. Something he said rang a cord in me this morning and the more I thought about it the more I wondered. He was quoting Neville Goddard on the basis of feelings and how important it is to feel that you deserve whatever goals you have set for yourself, the reason being that if you cannot feel as if you are, then you will not be.  I drove for a few minutes listening to the wisdom behind the thought, turned the radio off and really thought about it. Do we ever really feel like the path we have chosen to follow is the right one for us? That we deserve success or are we just saying the words and going through the actions never really expecting the wanted outcome.  Of course you deserve success, but do you like feel it, really deep down in your bones?

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Welcome to this Angell's Life

Hello folks! I am new to Author's Info, and excited to get to know people! I figured I'd take a moment to introduce myself in my first blog post. I am Heidi Angell and I am an author. Author. That is such a funny word. The Merriam Webster online dictionary define an author as- a : one that originates or creates : source b the writer of a literary work (as a book) So, yes, I am an author. I have written several books. I am also a PUBLISHED author, as I currently have two books for sale on Amazon and Nook. ( Royal prince Vince is a charming children's book and Creative Exercises to Inspire is a great way to get your creative juices flowing!) Yet, because I self-published, I am classified as a "Self-published author" which, is somehow considered less than a "real author". Here is where we escape the niceties of Miriam Webster and enter into definitions which are subjective. It really is quite messy. Many self-published authors are so frightened by the stigma of "self-published" that we would rather ride on the coat tails of "indie author" (which, until a few years ago, was as dirty a word as Self-published, but I shall not digress!) We form our own publishing companies, to make ourselves more presentable. But if a publishing company only publishes work by one author, and is owned and operated by the author, is it really an indie publishing house? Hmm.... Yet, I have one. Angell Enterprises, where on my site, I offer services to help other authors publish as well. (Everything I have done so far has been for free, even. Go figure!) I have not published anyone else's work, but I have given advice on manuscripts, helped edit, and am even helping other authors to market their own work... which they have decided to publish under their own indie companies.Part of me thinks that if a handful of us got together and agreed to operate under one publishing house, and to pool our efforts with one another, then we could compete with the bigger houses better. But how does one go about this? Especially when it comes time to split the checks? Who gets to be the CEO, the CFO, etc. Hmm... it gets messier. So currently I am my own CEO, CFO, Editor, marketer, social media expert, etc. I work in collaboration with other authors and their publishing houses (Such as Dawn Tevy of Soul Star Multimedia, LLC. and Lee Newman of Fisticuffs Publications), Depending on the services, I get a mention in the book, maybe a percentage of sales during a marketing campaign, or just a great big smiley face on Facebook ;). Around all of that, I am also working on my next release, The Hunters, and waiting for my agent contract to expire on a psychic thriller series, so I can publish those next! And you thought I was just an author!

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Proof reading

I remember when I first started writing and I decided to take the plunge and expose myself on the internet. I would post articles and essays I had written on several different websites. My first love at that time was politics, so naturally, I decided to write about that topic,—it was my only area of expertise. Readers scorned my politics--as anyone would expect (at least those who disagreed); however, the worst tongue lashings I received were for my grammar, spelling, and general syntax. The biggest reason for this was that I never proof read anything before I pushed the “publish” button. Yes, there I was, an unfound literary master, one who was so good that my work should be published pure, as it was first written—blah, blah, blah—(sighing loudly) the ego of a writer can be quit ugly in its raw form. I have to give myself some credit for being so brave. My wife Lori would cringe as she sat and listened to some of the comments readers wrote about my work. One guy told me that I was an affront to the Liberal Arts (laughing). Lori, my dear wife, began to meekly suggest that allow her to read my work for a second opinion, you know (she said) a second pair of eyes. I begrudgingly agreed; however, this was also an interesting display of ego. She would point out areas that needed editing only to hear me growl at here like a dog that guards his bone. Over time, I was verbally beat into submission by readers who saw themselves as the guardians of syntax. Then, it happened, I mustered enough courage to take an honest look at my readers, their comments, and for that matter, my overall traffic. It told the real “tale of the tape.” I sucked. No one was reading my work—not really. I came to the horrid reality that I needed to work on my skills as a writer, that I wasn`t the natural born, unfound, literary master that I thought I was. I was just another garden variety writer who needed to study the craft and practice more. And more importantly I needed to PROOF READ!One of the top ten books that I ever read about the craft of writing (and there are so many) was a book called “Write good or die” by Scott Nicholson. This book is a compilation of shared advice and experience from published authors. It’s free for download and well worth a read. This book revealed to me some harsh truths about my craft from real writers who knew what it was like and what it takes to make it. One author in particular spoke to the issue of proof reading. He said that he would proof read no less than five times. Each time working to make his sentences more concise, looking for awkward sentences and poor grammar, and making sure the final product was truly his best. As indie authors and freelance writers, we are often times our own editors. We don`t have the luxury of an editor that we pay, like perhaps Steven King or some other best-selling author. We will make mistakes and typos; however, we must try our best to drop the ego and realize our first writing is not as good as the third or fourth. God bless--WP

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The price of Eurocentrism for non-Europeans

Yes, that is a supermodel...whatever the hell that is. Once again on another social site this pic of "supermodel" Naomi Campbell was posted with the title of "Unbeweavable" in the caption. At first I thought it was a Haitian refugee being rescued from another earthquake but no that's Naomi Campbell. I was like wow, my girl done turned into a Shaolin Monk or something but no, that's her taking a dip. Some pictures the paparazzi take should really be distributed and published in good taste. God DAMN!!! Right about now I know some of y'all are thinking "If this muthafucka says something else, so help me..." Good. My last blog talks about successful Black men now let's talk about the sistas this time. A dog is a dog. Yeah, that's what I wrote. A dog is a dog . Now think about it for a second. Calm down, calm down. A few minutes ago you was just thinking the same thing! I know most of y'all were and still is quick to criticize people but let's take a closer look at this picture then really give it some "critical" thought. Now let's start from the first line in this paragraph...a female dog is a female dog. I can already tell it ain't sinking in. Y'all still too pisst off at me for literacy to kick in. If you are an Afrikan woman and you physically and financially changed the look and style of your appearance to resemble the look of a race of women whose appearance is a genetic mutation of your natural beauty then you are either confused, trained like a dog or both. You think Naomi looks bad? Michael Jackson looked like Frankenstein when he died. It is what it is. Let's try again, a dog is a dog. Now what's the definition of a female dog? I'm going to stick with the first and only definition a female dog and there's a word for it. I'm not going too far, I'm accurate and correct or right and exact. I wish Naomi Campbell would see this article and try to sue me for deformation of character! Why do you think I'm writing it? Stop and think, if this woman had knowledge of SELF you damn sure would not have known her in this way. Let's keep it 100. She was bred, groomed, and compensated like a what for what? Sit Naomi sit, good girl. Don't be mad, just saying. Y'all see an abused hairline from too tight weaves. I see a woman who has absolutely no confidence or education of SELF. Yeah, she was "raised" like every other Eurocentric Black person to believe her skin color, hair texture and race are ugly. She's a supermodel, that's even worse! You're suppose to be what EVERY woman wants to be and what all men want to have, NOT what Europeans want you to be. That's a slave. The part that make Europeans laugh at you and us is she protested to be accepted the from the same people who didn't want her. Y'all still hung up on the b!tch part. Ok, so what's the definition of a supermodel? Now who came up with the concept? We didn't! What I meant by we is mean Afrikans. Let's go even deeper, why should we? The nurturer of ALL life on this planet is who? Not Jesus, Allah, Yashua, Jehovah or the rest of these make believe fairytale spooks! No, it's the NATURAL AFRIKAN WOMAN. Prove me wrong and I'll give you a million dollars. I'm not a racist, I'm a realist. Let's keep it 100. Naomi is a beautiful woman, and her mother is beautiful too! So why the weaves, perms, plastic surgeries, make-up and all the rest of that bullshit which is not good for melaninated skin? Because it don't pay the bills. Is it like that? Who pays your bills? Who buys the magazine your pictures are in? Wake up Afrikans! We are just as responsible for this if not totally responsible for this queen to abdicate her title to be a slave TODAY. How many of you so-called Afrikan American women have done the same thing this sistas did to get paid? It's so bad that I saw a sista, at the DMV in Cobb County GA, rock a magnificent natural salt n peppa afro in full bloom. I complimented her and my wife was sitting next to me! For real! But most sistas where doing the usual Black thing, you know...laughing at this sista, pointing and tapping each other on legs giggling and carrying on. Yeah the Black thing; nigga, nigger and negro mean Black. That's a European thing! Get ya facts straight. Still pisst! If your child has to chemically change the texture of their hair before the age of 15 because they don't like their hair based solely on imagery without research then they are uneducated and you're trained. Keep letting Eurocentric societies run your household and see what happens. A person who does not have knowledge of self and continues to maintain a society of another race by receiving compensation and allows that controlling race to benefit is a slave. Guess what? It's 100% voluntary. This article/blog is NOT about Naomi Campbell. It's about the price of Eurocentrism for non-Europeans. Neely Fuller Jr. said that White Supremacy is a business, Racism is the actions and I figured out Eurocentrism is the lifestyle or society. Y'all mock this picture. Trust me, Europeans world wide needed a picture like this to promote White Supremacy to keep us in check. In America we call it "Pulling Yo Nigger Card". You know like in soccer they pull a card for penalties. We all know what a penalty is. So who enforces it? That's my point. When y'all gone stop punishing ya'selves for somebody else's "benefit"? Peace.

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Opportunities for aspiring writers

I was talking with a friend of mine on Twitter and we were discussing what writers can do now a-days to jump-start their careers. Compared to how things were even 10 years ago--writers have enormous opportunities at their fingertips to advance their writing careers. There are multiple sites that pay for content if a writer either wants a "copy writing" career, or simply wants to make a few bucks from home. There are single parents who make several hundred dollars a week just writing for content sites. This is also a great way to hone your writing skills.

 If you are more of a creative writer (stories, poetry, etc.) than there are a number of sites like “The Hubpages,” “Helium,” and others, that will allow aspiring writers to not only gain exposure and experience, but also get paid for doing what they love. These sites also offer opportunities for aspiring writers to meet and gain knowledge from more experiences writers and authors. The Hubpages is a fantastic community of writers and authors who are supportive of one another.

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A failed system, or is it?

    Above is a picture of Frederico Bruno, he is accused of pushing his ex-girlfriend and 3 month old child out of a window three stories high.  He climbs down from the same window, finds a metal bar stool leg and beats her with it as she is lying on top of the 3 month old baby who broke her fall to a concrete ground.  Read that over again.  Take a deep breath.  Now who is the blame for this type of violence?  Before you go any further, let me add this too...the widow also had an air conditioner installed in it.  For real!  Who do you blame for this type of violence?  Violence has such a profound meaning.  It sure can sway any jury.  Oh did I tell you, he sliced up the victim's friend who attempted to call the police.  Yes sir!  He left them all for dead.  Sad ain't it, or is it?  What if I told you crimes like these are good for business?  Business?!  

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Mahogany Keys: The Complex Image of the African American Man.Part 3.The Black Man as a Protector

   The Black Man as a Protector

                                                                                  

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