If you aspire to write, you know the dream—quit the day job, write full time, make bucketloads of money doing it. Yeah. I’m familiar with that one, too. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, at least not for most of us. Even published writers have said to break-out sessions at conferences, “Don’t quit your day…
Author: DremaDeoraich
Arkwright
by Allen Steele Tor Books/Tom Doherty Associates, LLC © 2016 ISBN 978-0-7653-8215-3 (Hardcover) Print length 336 pages, $23.58 Nathan Arkwright, best-selling science fiction writer and wealthy philanthropist, dies without providing for his daughter Sylvia or granddaughter Kate. Instead, he leaves his entire considerable fortune to the Arkwright Foundation, a nonprofit organization to be established and…
Why Bad Things Happen to Good Characters
I’ve heard it stated over and over at conferences, in blog posts and articles, and from my editor, Paula. Good writing isn’t about a character, or group of characters. It isn’t even about those characters doing things. It’s about those characters being prevented from achieving a goal. The whole point of a good story is…
48 Slaves: Slaves to Tech
The world in which we live grows more dependent on technology with every passing day. Even now, you are reading this on a computer, laptop or mobile device. Unfortunately for millions of individuals — many of them children — our dependency rests on their shoulders. Many metals go into the production of these technical marvels…
48 Slaves: Guilty Pleasures
Mmmmmmm … can you smell it? That warm, rich, inviting aroma of freshly brewed coffee? Over 75% of all U.S. adults look forward to that first-sip moment, most on a daily basis. The morning beverage of choice is in fact the second most valuable commodity in international commerce, after oil. Despite the fact that coffee…
48 Slaves: Mindful Ignorance
There has been a shift in how officials view the crime of trafficking in persons; whereas it was once considered an immigration issue, more and more enforcement agencies are approaching it as a human rights violation. Efforts toward prevention of human trafficking and prosecution of traffickers are in flux. Outreach to victims is a major…
48 Slaves: Gadgets and the Girly Trade
The detail that most affected my personal slavery footprint was the purchase/ownership of products like stereo equipment, cell phone, computers, television, BluRay and CD players and the discs that go with them, etc. I’m sure to be in good company in a world where even modest U.S. households are filled with technology. It seems obvious…
48 Slaves: How Many Slaves Work for You?
48 slaves work for me. No, I’m not rich. I don’t live in a big house sitting on acres of land. I’m an average, 50-something woman with an average life. I’ve never personally met the faceless individuals who mine the gold and silver in my jewelry and the minerals in my personal care products, or…
Awakening
In golf, players who are progressing through the game at a swifter pace will sometimes be allowed to “play through” or pass slower golfers ahead of them on the course. I’m not a golfer. But I am a deeply spiritual being. So I want to explain what I mean by “playing through” in the context…
Choices
I sometimes envy people who have had that “Aha!” moment which inspires the words, “This is what I was born for!” To have that certainty, that conviction, that gut-deep knowing that you have found your true purpose must be profoundly and life-alteringly fulfilling! It would, of necessity, focus you, give you “permission” to dismiss all…