Tuesday, February 5, 2019

YouTube Adventures #2 – Story Time

By Toi Thomas










In my last YouTube adventure, I talked about my ToiBox of Words, but today I’m sharing something from my Lit Carnivale channel.

Today, I share a little project I’ve been working on for a while. I finally got fed up with people not knowing about my children’s books, so I decided to share them with the world. Yes, I’d love to be able to make money off my writing (and hopefully a few people will support my work) but right now, I want to share it. I’ll be sharing it directly with all my old teacher friends as well as any parents I know.

These are not book trailers. This is a playlist of story time, read aloud videos of my 5 current children’s books. They are really short and really cute. I hope you will give them a look and will share them with your friends and family.



It is my hope to offer this type of video to other authors who like the idea of it and would like to see their books turned into story time videos. We’ll see what happens.
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Find out more about me, my work, and my inspiration at the following links:

Amazon | Goodreads The ToiBox of Words | YouTube | See a list of my other posts here.

Click here to read more posts at our Blog Post Gallery

Monday, February 4, 2019

Women in Science Fiction – Mary Griffith

The first edition title page
Mary Corré Griffith (1772-1846) was the first (known) American woman to write a utopian novel as well as the first author to project the main character into the far future.

Paperback edition (2017)
Not only did her book Three Hundred Years Hence predict a strongly feminist future, it also presented a peaceful resolution to slavery and a voluntary return to Africa by African-Americans, where they were able to build a successful society without interference from white society. The story also predicted the extinction of Native Americans, which while true in the case of some tribes, fortunately did not become a reality for all the tribal nations.

From the 2017 paperback edition:
A sleeping young man is sealed in his house by an avalanche and awakens 300 years later in the year 2135 when the house is uncovered by excavation. Through this character, Griffith looks into the future of America from her time in 1836 as America's first known female utopian writer. She foretells a new form of power replacing steam engines, prohibition of liquor, women working jobs outside of the home, self-propelled farm equipment, income taxes, buildings made of fireproof materials, public construction and ownership of roads, breakup of monopolies, and other changes that were to come to America. 

First published in 1836 as part of her collection, Camperdown, or News from Our Neighborhood, Prime Press republished the novel in 1950 in a limited edition of 300 copies. Authors and critics Anthony Boucher and Jesse Francis McComas called the 1950 edition "an odd and delightful item of 1836 dealing with a strongly feminist future."

In addition to Three Hundred Years Hence, Griffith was deeply interested in the natural sciences, including horticulture, natural history, and the earth sciences. She conducted experiments on her Charlieshope estate in New Jersey and published the results in newspapers and scientific and literary journals.

From the digital library at UPenn: Three Hundred Years Hence
Amazon: Three Hundred Years Hence


Sunday, February 3, 2019

Book Promo Sunday!

Book Promo Sunday

We're starting a new tradition at #OurAuthorGang.
Every Thursday we'll add a book promo post to our Facebook page such as this POST

Image may contain: phone and text

We'll pick four books from the post to promote on our blog.
Enjoy this week's selection:





Science Fiction
Lacy Dawn's father relives the never-ending Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. She has one advantage - an android was inserted into her life and is working with her to cure her parents. But, he wants something in exchange. It's up to her to save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn't mind saving the universe, but her family and friends come first.

An award winning adult social science fiction novel filled with tragedy, comedy, and satire that raises funds to help abused children.





Children's Fantasy
Adana is a small, brown, earth dragon. She longs to play with the other dragons, but none of them will accept her as a friend. One day a giant wanders into the land of the dragons and scares all the other dragons.

Can Adana save the day and prove that even a small brown earth dragon can do big things?

An elemental tale from the author of P.A.W.S. and Esmeralda Grunch and the Red Tulip. Illustrated by Tina Wijesiri.

"This is a wonderful story that kids will fall in love with. Beautifully written and illustrated. " Cindy Shirley, The Fabulous Life of Minnie the Sassy Chick


Epic High Fantasy for Adults
Half-cast, spell-weaving prodigy, Malandar Denarlin, has failed the realms of Dallancea only once: when he died!

Now Reborn a Guardian by the grace of the Maker, he exists for little other than the promise of vengeance and to protect the Veils of Time – something that has brought a measure of peace to his jaded nature. Yet when the Veils nearly fall and magic is laid to waste in an act of betrayal seemingly carried out by the one person he still trusts, Malandar knows that the very darkness he is oath-sworn to fight might yet return to offer him a second chance for redemption.

The questions are many. The answers few. As old animosities flare up, are the allies Malandar is sworn to stand with till the end of time, still to be trusted?


Dark Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
When English beauty and avid poetry lover Ophelia is holidaying with her two sisters in 19th century Blackpool, she finds herself unmistakably called to the water. Will she flee in horror at what lies beneath the waves, or can she learn to look beyond the shallows?


There is a lot going on in our Facebook group:
Join us


 Our Facebook page where we share blog posts and offer promos:
Like and follow us




COMMENTS

Erika M Szabo via Google+

23 hours ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great selection of books at #OurAuthorGang
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Thank you Erika!

Rick Haynes

38 minutes ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great covers. Methinks some good work here.
 

Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

14 hours ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Another great group of books and a free story featured on #OurAuthorGang today!

You too can be featured on Sunday's post, just add your book links to the Thursday post on the Our Author Gang Page (on Facebook) AND share that post! (Please make it public so I can see that you shared it!)
 
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Ruth de Jauregui

14 hours ago  -  Shared publicly
 
It was a pleasure to look at the books and a hard choice. Don't forget the two qualifications to have your book selected. Add the links to the Thursday post on the Our Author Gang Page on Facebook AND share that post. (Please make it public so I can see the share -- THANKS!)
 
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Toi Thomas via Google+

18 hours ago  -  Shared publicly
 
It's Book Promo Sunday! #OurAuthorGang
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Thank you for sharing!

Eva Pasco

22 hours ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Congrats to the featured authors!
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A great group of authors!

Stephanie Collins via Google+

22 hours ago  -  Shared publicly
Erika M Szabo originally shared this
 
Great selection of books at #OurAuthorGang
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Saturday, February 2, 2019

#OurAuthorGang February 2019 Online Magazine

Our February online magazine is published
Enjoy!



Read our 2017 posts HERE
Read our 2018 posts HERE
Read our 2019 posts HERE

COMMENTS

Erika M Szabo shared this via Google+

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Toi Thomas via Google+

1 day ago  -  Shared publicly
Today, #OurAuthorGang presents our February Online Magazine. Meet the protagonsts and antagonsits.
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Rick Haynes

1 day ago  -  Shared publicly
Lovely cover and even better inside.
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Stephanie Collins shared this via Google+

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Eva Pasco shared this via Google+

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