@booknerd529 Asked: What Does Ben Barnes Smell Like?

So mad that when my hair was short and easy to straighten(once you reach mid length with 4c hair, it's just a challenge to straighten for me) I didn't do something amazing like this. 2016 i am definitely doing something amazing with my hair, color might be my weapon of choice. (Not me in pic, but her hair is bomb)

Shout out to the cutie at #Starbucks that hooked me up with a free #caramelbruleelatte AND for spelling my name right. I love my local Starbucks, they stay hooking me up! #Libertad

Forget “strong female character.” Aim for: “Woman or girl with agency.” One who makes decisions, affects the story, pushes the plot. –– Chuck Wendig

Navigating an All-White Publishing Industry

By Ebony LaDelle, marketing manager at Simon & Schuster

At this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my favorite authors, Edwidge Danticat. When she found out I worked in publishing, she looked at me and said, “So you’re like a unicorn.” “I’m sorry?” I replied, star struck. “You’re one of the few black people who actually work in publishing,” she said, “You’re a unicorn.”

Growing up in the Midwest, I was fortunate. My mother taught me the power of reading at a young age. She couldn’t afford to buy me a collection of books, but she made sure to take me to our local library. Goosebumps, The Boxcar Children, The Baby-Sitters Club…those books transported me into a world of make-believe.

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It's Day 7 of the #authorlifemonth challenge! Much like @dos_twinjas it’s hard for me to actually write “while” I’m listening to music, but I get hype af listening to playlists in anticipation for writing! My first two projects in the #NA #Romance genres have similar tones. So I basically listen to 50% of the same artists. #SamePage has more #NewJackSwing and #90sRnB while what makes #FTHS #playlist different, is due to the Miami vibe. #Reggaeton, #Spanish #pop music and a bunch of songs that highlight #friendswithbenefits themes! It’s fun! #InterracialLove ##weneeddiverseromance ##bwwm #bookstagram #booknerdigans #GLTomas #NA #NARomnace #ContemporaryRomance #EroticRomance #Diversebooks #diverselit #diverse #bisexual #naturalista #miami #providence #blackgirlmagic #FTHS #FriendsThatStill #SamePage #NextChapter #naija #nigerian #afrolatina #afrolatinx #messyromance #afrocubana #interracial #interracialromance #NA #diversityjedi #portugueseboys

Mindy Kaling talks about her journey in her career as an actress in Hollywood and challenging the status quo. 

See the full video here

The journey never stops..

Cover Reveal: STAKE SAUCE ARC 1: THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS LOVE, NO, REALLY! by @RoAnnaSylver @KrakenColl

Cover Reveal: STAKE SAUCE ARC 1: THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS LOVE, NO, REALLY! by @RoAnnaSylver @KrakenColl

Today I’m helping reveal the cover for STAKE SAUCE ARC 1: THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS LOVE, NO, REALLY! It’s a fun, creepy, and dark-but-hopeful serial about queer punk vampires and the humans who love them, from RoAnna Sylver, author of the CHAMELEON MOON series. STAKE SAUCE releases October 31st, 2017 from The Kraken Collective!Check out the cover and learn more below – including how to pre-order…

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I work retail, and have for many years now. I'm not an easily fazed person and have a Talk No Shit, Take No Shit mentality. However, I also have a pretty intense anxiety disorder on top of other mental health issues and when I started 6+ years ago there were some customers who got to me.

So, to all the workers facing Karens and Kens out in the wild, here's my advice - cry.

If you have the type of relationships with your coworkers and managers that will support you, don't try to hold it in. Cry like the overworked, underpaid peon you are.

Nothing terrifies an asshole Karen like the indisputable proof that their actions/words are affecting you as a real live person. They feel perfectly entitled to cuss out a cashier over a wrong order/no cash policy/ face mask mandate but when that person starts to cry and asks them why they'd say such mean things? A whole other story, my friend.

There's no way to make that situation look good to the manager they demanded to speak with, either. My manager literally got a security guard fired for being so verbally abusive he made one of her employees cry.

This strategy has multiple benefits -

1. You're not standing there trying to pen up your emotions, crying is a great physical release for negative emotions and you may very well feel somewhat better afterwards.

2. The person who precipitated the situation is forced to not only see you as a person with feelings, but also has to confront the fact that their abuse has consequences beyond themselves.

3. It can actually give your higher-ups leverage to address these situations. 'They yelled at my employee' is one thing, but 'They yelled at my employee until they were in tears' is a waaaaay worse offense. A good manager can use that. Hell, it can get a security guard fired!

tl;dr: We live in a capitalist hell but we can work the system and cry at work to shame awful customers

Dear followers, what you see here is an issue taking place in the heart of South Africa. Now, I’ve been debating for sometime now on whether to make this post or not. Time and time again, I’ve thought “but this doesn’t appeal to them. My followers are not South African”. And it finally dawned on me today that, it doesn’t matter whether you’re South African or not. This is a revolution the youth of my country are fighting for. And it’s not an issue that any other country hasn’t faced. I am sick and tired of sitting back and have CNN and world news stations send me countless updates on the Rugby World Cup and news of a single psychopath killing at least one person in Sweden when the whole youth of SA is in uproar against the corruption and apathy of our government. People around the world should be exposed to this kind of activity, regardless of where it is. If anything, I find this situation very similar to that of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the states. So please take the time to read this and share it. You can have your own opinions on the matter, but at least don’t be ignorant to what happening around you in the world. This could be your country one day. 

All across South Africa, tertiary education systems have been shut down due to protests against tuition fees increases. Many people are in dire situations and consequently cannot afford the 10% increases of fees  every year and as a result get financially excluded, thus ending any opportunity of education that they are entitled to. Now I know that this is an economical issue that the government has to sort out and South Africa has had economical issues for quite sometime but it has taken way too long for the people of this country to realise that the government is spending BILLIONS of rands on trivial things such as nuclear deals, VIP jets, Etoll projects in addition to losses from inadequate handling of petrol and post office companies. This money could’ve been used to fund millions of students across the country and their education but yet the government continues to horde it and act like nobody notices what they’re doing with our tax money. I do not agree with the mentality that “if you cannot afford it, then don’t go to university” or even “you should work harder for what you want”. Whilst these arguments each have their own backing, I don’t believe that students should have their opportunities taken away simply because our government is run by greedy pigs exploiting the people of this country for their money. 

The pictures above are only a squint at the events taking place nationwide. Yesterday, thousands of students marched to Parliament in Cape Town city centre in order to have our voices heard. Instead, we were met with the apathetic attitude of our ministers, and even our own president refused to show face and address the crowd. The march was meant to be peaceful, but when the students furthered demanded response from government, they set the police on the crowd and chaos ensued. Rubber bullets, stun grenades, tear gas, armed forces, army brigade worth armour were all used. The level of police brutality on students was absolutely disgusting. How can they respond in such a manner when all we did was demand our voices be heard? When all we want is our right to fair and equal education? Several students were arrested and charged with ‘terrorism’ and ‘high treason’. And now the media even has the balls to go and lie about it. The South African youth is in a dire situation here. What must we do when our own government refuses to listen to us? When the ones that are supposed to be protecting us turn and attack us? 

Again, this is only a squint at what has been happening in South Africa. Please google up on what has been happening as I don’t have the capacity to cover it all in one post. There are tons of videos and articles available. Because of all this, many students have had their rights violated, they are subjected to enormous amounts of stress especially because exams are around the corner, and some are even suffering from severe trauma from this. Nobody deserves this no matter what side of the argument they are on. 

I, as a student caught in all this have been feeling overwhelmingly sad, confused, disgusted and generally frustrated in light of the events from the past week.

Started off feeling quite positive that substantive action has been taken by brave students and that a revolution away from oppression and marginalisation is finally underway. But the way in which the authorities and other people have been reacting to the movement makes me extremely upset.

I apologise for the long post and the rant, and I’ll probably lose followers for this but all I ask from you guys, is that you share this and inform others around the world of what’s happening. That you stand in solidarity with us. Don’t just like the post, reblog it too! If our own government will not listen to us, then maybe international pressure will do something. Help us have our voices heard. 

#FeesMustFall #ANCMustFall #NationalShutdown 

photo creds to Imraan Christian

Artist:  nessa_ninona instagram