When they arrived at the cabin, they set their bags on the
porch and opened the door. Inside, the last people who were there had left some
firewood. Otherwise, everything was clean. The men claimed their bunks, lit a
fire in the stove, and started preparing dinner. After dinner, there was card
game, jokes, and beverages. It had been a long day for everyone, and the short
trip to the cabin was enough to tire them out. They decided to call it a night.
Upon release of his fourth installation in the Michael Vey series, Author Richard Paul Evans wrote a letter in response to some fans asking why he would write young adult fiction when they want to read something else. In spite of these protests, the number of comic con attendees that call themselves Veyniacs attests to the popularity of Vey and his adventures.
Evans says that Vey bucks the trend of dystopia and pride
that much of young adult fiction subscribes to. Vey himself experiences
Tourette’s syndrome, but doesn’t allow his disability to define him. He offers
a character that others who experience disabilities can relate to.
This positivity combined with the moral aesthetic of Vey
conveys hope that the world needs right now. Rather than focusing on the
possible outcomes that lead to dystopia, Evans has created a place where people
value loyalty and friendship while trying to make the world better.
While the Vey series doesn’t lack for strong female
characters, Evans says that he has come under fire for making a male hero at a
time when Hollywood has focused on female heroes of The Hunger Games, Divergent
and Twilight. Yet, male role models,
even fictional ones, are important to help keep boys reading and involved in
life.
Evans makes an appeal in his letter to all of his fans:
“So even if you don’t think Michael Vey is for you, the
cause may be. I invite you to join the cause, because this is one where we can
make a difference shaping culture. Introduce Michael Vey to your children, your
grandchildren, to a neighbor. Purchase a copy or two and donate it to your
school or church. Many schools have library waiting lists for Michael Vey
numbering in the hundreds. (Trust me, if you’re 300 on the waiting list, you’re
not going to get to read it.)”
By buying the books that deliver a message that is uplifting
and important to others, readers can make a difference not only in the lives of
others but in culture itself. The success of a certain book will prompt the
creation of other stories that are along the same lines. For anyone who wants
not only more from a certain author but also more of the same type of story,
voting with dollars and social media support is a good way to ensure that
publishers and movie makers listen to the demand.
This article was originally published at examiner.com. The
links have been updated September 2019.
If you haven’t met Pear Penguin, yet, be ready for a dose of cuteness. Pear Penguin loves fall weather, colored leaves, and fresh fruit – (and fish!) Pear made me type that last part. Pear’s puffy belly always looks full, but it’s really Pear’s heart that is full of love for you.
Pear is looking for a forever family. As one of the few
plush black and white penguins available for adoption, Pear is sure to add joy
and friendship to your life or the life of someone you care about. Once the adoption
fees are taken care of, Pear can be shipped worldwide.
Pear has been listening to Patch and taking Patch’s advice
to heart. At about 6 and ¾ inches, Pear is the perfect size to take with you
wherever you go.
Pear may be our newest penguin, but we have plenty of other penguins waiting for adoption. For every penguin adopted, $1 goes to the Global Penguin Society. Order your penguin today and have it in time for the holidays. (Only good through October 15 and while supplies last.)
We’re so excited because “Polly Penguin Wants to Fly” is available on Amazon, right now! You can get it in paperback or on Kindle! This is my 10th book.
When Polly hatches, she sees her father first and then she
looks up into the sky and sees the terns. She’s immediately fascinated. Polly
Penguin wants to fly, but she’s a penguin. Penguins can’t fly, can they?
I wrote this for parents to read to their older children ages
four and above. It’s also for children who are beginning to read. If your child
loves penguins, Polly Penguin is a good introduction to reading without
pictures. The pictures are formed in your mind.
This post will mark my 251st consecutive day of
publishing on Penguinate.com. For the last 8+ months, I have posted at least
one article. I didn’t take any weekends off, and some days I posted more than
one article. All of that work, plus what came from the beginning of November 2018,
has created less than $2 worth of revenue, and August was the worst month for
income, even though views were the third highest. So, I must be doing something
wrong.
With this information, I have decided that I probably need to step back from publishing so much on Penguinate.com and start concentrating on the places where I can bring in more money. To that end, a lot more of what I publish here will be accessible by Penguinators (those who are a part of my wifes and my Patreon campaign) only. Not everything, just much of it.
Obviously, I’m not going to try to keep my streak alive. I
may or may not publish anything tomorrow. Those 251 articles represent enough
material to make a book if it had been written as such. So, I urge you to join my
wife’s and my Patreon to help me continue writing and to read all the great
content you get here. No matter what level you join at, you’ll have access to
everything on Penguinate.com.
If you have a better idea of how to overcome this
discrepancy in work versus pay, let me know. Leave your content. Otherwise,
thanks so much for reading and through that supporting our creative endeavors.
If you haven’t read the introduction yet, you can do so here. The first chapter to the story will be posted on Friday Sep. 6, 2019. I’ll add a link when it comes on line. The series will then become a Patreon exclusive weekly story until it becomes a book. Join our Patreon, and don’t miss a story, get access to other great content, and find your favorite penguins.
As Boccaccio’s “Decameron,” Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur,”
and Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” can attest, our forebears were, much as they
were in everything, better at telling stories. For what else was there to do in
times before the Internet, television, movies, and radio? While modern man
finds the need and the capacity to tell stories, the ability and opportunity is
much diminished.
This was interesting on how penguins fly through the air
when they leave the sea to get on the ice. Emperors can weigh up to 89 pounds, “the
same weight as a baby hippo.” So how does it get out of the water? Based on a
new study, it could be preening that allows them to get so high in the air to
make it over the ice shelf. Check out the video to see the details.
Polly is a newly hatched chick who wants to fly, but penguins can’t fly, can they? If you want your name in “Polly Penguin Wants to Fly,” sign up for our Patreon at any level before August 30, 2019. You’ll get a mention in the acknowledgements.
When someone is “in the zone,” he or she is exhibiting the
highest level of his or her talent through a seemingly effortless expenditure
of energy. Michael Jordan’s 38 pts, 7 rebound, five assists, three steals and a
block stat line while having the flu or his hitting six triples against Portland
and shrugging about it after being criticized for his lack of three-point
shooting skills are both great examples of being in the zone. Athletes are most
often described this way because they are most often in the limelight, but
artists, scientists and hobbyists can feel as if they are in the zone or, as creativity
pioneer Csikszentmihalyi called it, “the flow.”
Clear goals with no ambiguity: In the case of Jordan’s basketball games, the goal is clear; put the ball in your hoop. Whether you do it or you get a teammate to do it, the ball needs to get in your hoop.
Immediate feedback: The ball either goes in the hoop or it doesn’t. The feedback is immediate.
Challenge and skills are balanced: This is a little more difficult to illustrate. Basically, the question is whether or not the person’s skills are balanced with the challenge he or she is facing. If the challenge is too easy or too difficult, the person will not be able to enter the flow. It’s when the two are in alignment that the person enters the flow state.
Action merges with awareness: The person is focused on what he or she is doing. They do not think about anything other than the activity in the here and now.
No distractions: They exclude distraction from their minds. They are in the moment.
No concern about failure: The activity that the person is involved in is too consuming to give the person the opportunity to worry about failing or the outcome of failure.
No self-consciousness: The activity is too consuming for the person to be worried about how he or she appears to the outside world.
Time changes: Things slow down and time speeds up so that while the person is doing the activity, every detail can be examined, everyone else around him or her is slower, but when the activity is over the person doesn’t feel as if any time at all has passed. He or she loses track of time.
The activity is the end not the means to an end: If the activity is itself the goal and the required means to get to a greater goal, it becomes easier to enter the flow. If an author is writing to write a book and not to publish it or make money from it, he or she is more likely to enter the flow.
Getting into the flow creatively is why artists are depicted
as absent-minded or the author doesn’t her someone calling out to him while he
or she sits at the typewriter. It’s also what makes creativity so rewarding.
Being in the flow indicates the person is operating at his or her highest
possible ability without being overwhelmed. Get in the flow, or the zone, if
you prefer, become more creative.
After watching “The Calling” on Netflix, I wondered what the show would look like in the U.S. First, I think there would be a lot more game playing and strategizing than there has been through the first seven episodes of the Indian incarnation of the show. That would take away from the appeal of the show because “The Calling” is at its best when the three contestants are helping each other and taking their individual strengths into consideration, rather than just focusing on winning.
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 