Goals for 2013

Last year I had a lot of goals. This year I only have one:

Stay in the game.

After four years out of work, I’m focusing all of my energy on staying afloat. Down to my last three hundred dollars in the bank, my mission is just surviving 2013.

Paperback sales have been stagnant. If it weren't for eBook sales I wouldn't be making any money.

Unfortunately, it's not enough to live on yet.

So one of my goals is to find a way to keep going in the face of all these challenges.

The publishing business is filled with struggles. But anyone who is a part of it knows it’s a long-haul business. I’m praying I can get through this rough period and eventually get to a better place.

With me unable to find that full-time job it’s going to be a struggle to keep my books in print this year and the SJS DIRECT imprint going. All About Marilyn and The Temptation of John Haynes may get one more year in print. That’s all I can afford at this juncture.

Unfortunately, due to my ongoing financial issues the paperback edition of All About Nikki-The Fabulous First Season will be going out of print this August. While the eBook does well sales wise, the paperback has never sold a single copy.

So with a heavy heart I have to say goodbye to the Nikki paperback. It’s a shame too. There's a lot of  great work I put into the page layouts for that book and no one but book reviewers saw it. The production quality of that book is on par with anything coming out of a trade publishing house.

In spite of that setback, I’m working towards getting All About Nikki- The Sensational Second Season published as an eBook. I was halfway done with preparing the print version of that book when financial issues and slowing sales forced me to stop production. Seven episodes are complete. Six more need to be done to finish the overall storyline I outlined. Not making any promises, but it or part of it may be one of the offerings for the Summer YA eBook exclusive series.

I’m also working towards getting The Thetas ready for publication. My first full novel after two years focusing on self-publishing and promoting, working on that book has been a challenge. The first act is where I want it to be, but I’m still in revisions of the second and third acts. I’d like to have The Thetas be part of the YA eBook Exclusive series in some capacity. But with all the hours I’ve put into that book (research, editing, and writing) I really want to see it make some sort of financial return.

Due to my financial issues, I’m forced to take paperback production of my future titles to CreateSpace. That’s how Isis: Amari’s Revenge and Isis: The Ultimate fight were produced last year. While I prefer Lighting Source for my print needs due to their large international distribution network, CreateSpace allows me to keep the SJS DIRECT imprint publishing for the interim through Amazon.

In spite of my financial and personal issues, there will be a Summer YA eBook series for 2013 on Smashwords. I love doing that campaign. I love sharing the gift of reading with people all over the world. I’d like to think I’m helping people with that project.
As I persevere in the face of these obstacles I still have some goals set for 2013. Goals such as:

I hope to write more about Writing on the blog this year. I know I make this promise every year, but I’d like to dedicate at least a blog a week to that subject. With my 20 years of experience, I’d also like to think that I could show other writers a thing or two on the subject.

Writing more about Men’s issues. Another subject I love writing about is Men’s issues. Over the past year those blogs are some of the most popular, with some getting over a hundred pageviews. And the feedback I’ve been getting on those Men’s issues pieces has been extremely positive. So I’d love to just dedicate a day just for blogs featuring men’s issues.

No more articles about Black women. In shifting the focus of my writing about Men’s issues, I’ll be leaving Black women alone. While I wrote pieces in the past about Black women, from a Man’s perspective so sistas could understand how men felt about them, I realize it’s just counterproductive to write on that subject. Instead I’d rather focus on how men can improve themselves and improve their quality of life.
Doing something to spur eBook sales. I’ve been brainstorming on ways to get people buying eBooks.

Networking with other writers and professionals in the publishing industry. I think social media has taken me as far it can go. If I’m going to further expand my readership and get more new readers to discover my work I’m going to have to network with other writers and professionals. Now I can’t afford writers’ conferences, but I’m brainstorming ways of meeting new business contacts. I even floated the idea of just standing in front of Rockefeller Center and handing out promotional cards for my books.

Moving past the African-American audience.  My demographics for my paperbacks, eBooks and the blog have been mostly White and foreign readers. When I first got into writing, my mission was to serve the African-American audience and enrich the African-American community.

But in spite of my best efforts most brothers and sisters don’t seem to be interested in reading the stories I want to tell.

So I’m pondering moving past that audience of readers to the larger audience of people all over the world who want to read my writing. It’s a scary place for a Black writer like myself, but I feel I have to go where the readers are. That’s the only way I can make money on my writing.

2013 is going to be a rough period for me. If I can get through it in one piece I’ll thank God. I’m just hoping I can make some progress this year and I’m not set back.

2012 Year in Review

2012 for me was a year filled with progress. And a few setbacks. As I go into 2013 I’m hoping I can still find a way to build on that momentum in the face of shrinking finances.

Ten Years in Print! Yay!

I celebrated 10 years as a self publisher this year. I’ve actually been publishing books and eBooks longer than I’ve actually had paying jobs.

Ten years ago I had one book. Today I have close to 25 available.

I gained some new skills this year. With my catalog of paperbacks and eBooks expanding to close to 25 titles, I’ve had to learn how to manage my catalog so I could maximize readership and keep titles relevant with readers.

What I’ve learned is that catalog management is something a publisher has to do to spur interest in poorer selling titles. Some of these books are great, but haven’t found an audience, others have fell off or stalled.

Most of these titles just need a little promotional jolt to get them back on the track to sales again. And with some online promotion, I managed to get sales back up on these titles again.

As a part of catalog management, I’ve moved some titles around. That’s why readers won’t see some eBook titles on Smashwords or Pubit! but will find them on Amazon.

On the eBook front I’ve managed to further expand my readership. Thanks to Amazon’s KDP select program and Smashwords I was able to reach even more readers all over the world this year.

Some writers may hate the free promotions of the KDP Select program, but it has pretty much built up my readership. The eBooks I gave away helped me establish an audience over the course of this year.

First title to have 1000 digital sales!
(counting free copies)

With the help of these free campaigns, I had my first eBook to go over 1000 sales. The retitiled Cassandra Cookbook, A Recipe For $ucce$$ was a runaway hit in digital format. The eBook got quite a few positive reviews at bn.com and is starting to sell on Amazon’s kindle.

Second eBook to get over 1000
readers!

All About Marilyn also moved over 1000 free units on Kindle with the KDP Select program. Each time I’ve posted up as free it’s been ranked #1 in screenplays, #1 in screenwriting and for a moment on Christmas Day it was #3 in African-American Women’s fiction.

The YA eBook exclusive promotion was a huge success this year. The four offerings Stop Simpin, The Politics of Hell, Spray Em’ Up and All About Nikki-Sensational Season 2 Sneak preview were runaway hits.

All About Nikki Sensational Season 2 sneak Preview got over 400 downloads across Smashwords’ network. And over 30 Facebook likes on Smashwords.

Stop Simpin got over 200 downloads across Smashwords’ network. But it got over 50 Facebook likes.

Spray Em’ up was a sleeper hit with over 125 downloads. It got 25 Facebook likes.

The Politics of Hell did fairly well with over 100 downloads. It got 7 Facebook likes, but in spite of the slow movement, it led to some indirect sales of The Temptation of John Haynes and Isis.

In August I launched a new campaign called Hot N’ Steamy Shorts for Kindle. It was a moderate success on Kindle. The Muse did much better in the U.S. than Happy Birthday which did much better in foreign markets.

I also self-published more non-fiction titles this year. Encouraged by my writer friends to expand the readership of my blogs, and with the success of An Analysis of the Comic Book Industry’s business issues, I decided to produce a series of eBooks based on some of the more popular subjects. Books like Stop Simpin, A Counteranalysis of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Myth of the Strong Black Woman were originally popular blogs or based on popular blogs. Thanks to those eBooks I’ve managed to reach readers who wouldn’t regularly read the blog or who haven’t discovered the blog.

All new for 2012!

In the fall I managed to publish a pair of paperbacks to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Isis in print. Isis: Amari’s Revenge and Isis: The Ultimate Fight.

New for 2012!

The digital versions of both books were smash hits on Black Friday in November with over 250 downloads of both on a free promotion.

A Holiday campaign netted over 125 readers for both.

The eBook version of Lawrence Cherry’s Commencement is a big hit with Christian readers. Every time Larry offers it for free it seems to do well. Even better, people are willing to pay for it after the promotion ends.

The Temptation of John Haynes had double digit sales in digital copies.

All About Nikki-The Fabulous First Season also had double digit sales in eBooks.

With the free promotions and other campaigns, I managed to sell over 5000 eBooks this year.

Along with growth in the digital market, The blog also expanded its audience. This year shawnsjames.blogspot.com broke over 50,000 pageviews. We had our first day with over 300 hits and several weeks with over 200 hit and 250 hit days.

Several articles were huge hits this year. Several articles got over a hundred hits this year. A few got over two hundred. And a couple got over four hundred.

Most of the blogs related to Men’s issues have been very popular with men all over the world. In fact, most of the articles I’ve done relating to men’s issues have become reader favorites. In the keyword search, many men are looking for those particular blogs.

And people all over the world have been linking to the blog. The blog has been referenced by other bloggers, tumblrs, message boards, and even some news sites. It’s also been linked by sites like WordslikeWhoa.com and several others dozens of times.

Guest blogger Lawrence Cherry was a huge hit in his first two blogs. Expect more from him in the future.

Along with all the progress came a few setbacks. In spite of all my best efforts, paperback sales are still stagnant. I haven’t moved a paperback since March 2012. I’m still trying to find a way to make paperbacks move, but from what I’ve been seeing more people want eBooks today.

But I really want to keep my paperbacks in print. And I’d like to see them start selling regularly.

I was also setback in my quest to bring a scene of All About Marilyn and All About Nikki to YouTube. I guess I was a bit too lofty with that goal. But I'm still working out a way to do it.

I’m getting the hang of making YouTube Videos. And I think I’ve found a format that makes me comfortable. A simple black screen with audio.

And I think I’ve found what I want to talk about in those videos. Originally I wanted to make videos about my books and promoting them.. But I’m finding that I’m more comfortable with making videos about writing. So if I make any more videos, they’ll be about writing and related to writing and the business of writing..

2012 was a good year for me. I moved a little further along the road of progress, but I still have a long way to go. I still don’t make enough money to live off my writing. But I’ve made some progress towards making it pay.

I want to take a moment to thank all my readers for taking the time to check out the blog. Without all of you I wouldn't have come this far.

Shawn Gets Racially Profiled At Associated Supermarket- He's NOT Shopping There Anymore

Today December 29, 2012 I got racially profiled at my neighborhood Associated Supermarket on 167th Street and Sheridan Avenue .

At around 12:00 I’d just gotten off the bus from Path Mark and I had bags with me. After I went in with my bags I bought two gallons of water. After I paid for my purchase I was stopped by some dude in a coat. Not a licensed certified security guard in a uniform but some Hispanic dude. He pointed to the Digiorno pizza I had bough talking about I had stolen it. I showed them my receipt from PathMark and they backed off.

Why am I mad? I’ve gone into this store for over 25 years. I’ve walked past their bag check for over two decades with no problems. And I’ve walked into this store with hundreds of dollars of merchandise from other stores.

Today they decide to racially profile me. Now several other Hispanic women had walked into that store with bags, strollers, backpacks, and just about anything else. And they walked out with no problems.

Me and my sister walked into that store the day before with bags, bought some eggs on sale and walked out with no problems.

But today they decide to racially profile me. Me. the Black customer.

Why do people walk by that bag check with their bags in that store? Because it’s NOT SAFE. People leave bags there and the clerks just WALK AWAY. Yeah, they leave your stuff there UNATTENDED so ANYONE could steal it.

And all those shopping carts left at the front are a FIRE HAZARD.

Worse, when they lose a customer’s property they refuse to take responsibility for the loss. That’s right these ghetto stores want the right to check your property but don’t want to exercise REASONABLE CARE when it’s in their hands.

When I was a kid I was told we had to take racist treatment like this. That it was a part of life in the ghetto.

I’m sorry but those unwritten racist policies of life in the inner-city are no longer acceptable to me. Because they’re just a revision of Jim Crow laws for the 21st Century.

As a Black man who knows his rights I’m no longer taking this type of abuse sitting down. Along with this blog I’ve sent an e-mail to Associated’s corporate offices letting them know I won’t be shopping at their 167th Street location or any of their other stores.

My money is valuable.

And my time is precious.

When the employees of businesses racially profile me, they show me they don’t value my business. And when a business doesn’t value me, they don’t get any more of my money.

Now that I’m an adult I understand that Racial profiling isn’t bad customer service. It’s just bad business.

And I don’t have to put up with it anymore.

Associated Supermarkets you have lost a life-long customer today December 29, 2012. I’ll be taking my business to your competitors from now on

Holiday Hiatus Random Pics #2

Custom Action figure pics!

Year in Review up Sunday! New blogs return in January! 

The Holiday Hiatus begins...New Blogs return in January!

....And that ends another year on the blog. Going on Hiatus until January 2013. Wrote more articles this year than last. Thanks for taking the time to read my blogs and supporting my writing.

While there won't be articles  there will be filler this year and it'll be mostly art, action figure photos and the like. After getting my DC Universe Signature Lead, Platinum and Tin,  I now have a complete set of  DC Comics' Metal Men. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Metal Men! 

Continuity- Crutch or Tool?

One of the elements of serialized storytelling is making sure that events from previous stories flow seamlessly into the current stories. This is called continuity.

But over the past decade writers of long-running series such as soap operas and comic books have struggled to keep past stories flowing seamlessly into the current ones. This has led to two camps forming on the issue:

A group of writers who believe that the continuity of previous stories is a hindrance to writers trying telling new stories,

And a group of writers who believe that continuity is a tool that can be used to mine for new ideas for new stories.

Thanks to the feud between both these factions of writers and their followers serialized stories like soap operas and comic books have split their audience. Because both factions strongly believe their viewpoint on storytelling is right it has stagnated serialized storytelling for the past decade.

Leading to declines in sales and declines in television viewership.

The truth is continuity can be both a crutch and a tool. It depends on how the writer wields it.

To a writer who doesn’t understand the history of a character or a series, continuity can be a crutch they use to carry them through telling stories. Writers who use continuity as a crutch limp through their stories re-hashing old stories, focusing on the minutest details only long-time readers only know about.

In this story model there is often no room for a writer to grow in their craft or really get creative. Most of the details are filled in. Because the history of some characters in a series can be decades long, it can be next to impossible for a writer to establish their own voice or tell their stories. And because there are so many established characters it can be difficult for a writer to introduce new characters relatable to new readers or tell relevant stories related to today’s issues.

Writers who are forced to carry the baggage of continuity are often frustrated, tired and burnt out that they limp to the finish line of their story runs.

Usually,the finished product of the writer who uses continuity as a crutch are usually uninspired stories which don’t leave a lasting impact on the reader.

Worse, there is so much focus on previous history it doesn’t let new readers or new viewers access the characters or the series. In some cases the same concepts are re-hashed so many times that veteran readers give up on the series because they’re bored.

To a writer who uses continuity as a tool, there isn’t so much of a focus on tiny details. A writer will acknowledge the essential previous history of a character like their origins, family and supporting cast, but will pick and choose the plot points in a characters’ history to build their new stories on.

If the old stories just don’t connect with the audience anymore, some writers will just disregard all of a character’s past history except for their origin and start fresh.

But with these basic guidelines established they have an opportunity to fill in the details with their imagination.

Writers who use continuity as a tool often are very happy because it gives them room to breathe creatively. Unencumbered by decades of history they feel they have the opportunity to create their own stories. To introduce new concepts and new ideas to today’s readers while refreshing existing concepts and ideas in a characters past history to keep them relevant and relatable to the next generation.

Writers who use this story model often find tremendous success with new viewers, new readers and long-time viewers and readers. New viewers and readers often find the stories in this model easy to access. They often discover what’s great about a character or a series and become new fans. While long-time readers and viewers re-discover the product finding it fresh and exciting again.

Moreover, the new readers and viewers are often so excited about the current stories they’ve read that they go back and actively seek out older volumes or look for older episodes of programs to watch creating a demand for back issues or old episodes.

When this story model is done well both groups can bond and share over the experience of a series and its characters.

Serialized storytellers like the comic book writers and soap opera writers used continuity as a tool for over 50 years. Picking and choosing story points to begin their runs. Using existing characters and introducing new ones. Keeping the stories fresh and relevant for both new and old fans.

Every episode was crafted to seamlessly flow into each other and into the previous history of a series. And each episode was considered an entry point for new viewers to “jump on”

A child who read Batman in the 500s in the 1990s could enjoy a comic the same way as someone who read issue #240 did in the 1970’s. A viewer of All My Children in the 1990s could share the show with their mother who enjoyed the first episodes of the show in the 1970s.

Only during the mid 2000’s have serialized storytellers struggled with issues in regards to continuity.

What went wrong over the past five years?

Are the writers not getting any support from editorial? Are they being micromanaged to the point that they can’t get any creative control? Are they frustrated? Are they burnt out? Is the creative process of a series so bureaucratic that there’s no way for a writer to have any input on the finished product? Is the history of a character so long that it’s impossible to work with?

Or are the writers just plain bad?

That’s the question no one can answer.

But since the mid 2000’s serialized writers have had problems keeping stories fresh. Many often re-hash old stories revising history. Adding on details to past stories that don’t make any sense. Telling the audience that something happened when it was clear in previous episodes that it didn’t. Bringing back old characters whose stories had ended.

And when they bring in new characters they’re often stale and uninspired, having no “voice” of their own. Characters who aren’t allowed to be a part of stories socially relevant to today’s readers and customers. This prevents them from connecting with readers and allowing them to access the series.

Personally, I prefer to use continuity as a tool. In my stories I’m not so married to continuity that I have to focus on every minute detail. That sucks the fun out of storytelling.

To me, every story is its own self-contained piece. I focus on the beginning, middle and end of that story.

I don’t want to directly link every detail to every previous detail in every story. That bogs down a plot and slows it down. I know the readers are smart enough to figure out some things for themselves, so I just focus on the characters I want to use and the plot points from previous stories I want to use as a foundation for my new story.

If something works, I build on it. If it doesn’t I drop it and move on. Simple as that.

It took four stories to write this book.

I pick my story points and build my stories from there. For example to write The Temptation of John Haynes, I took characters from my failed unpublished novel The Changing Soul and my first self-published novel Isis and another short story, The Politics of Hell to make a new story.

I had three stories, one non-canon to create my new story on. Over 15 years of continuity. Working on that kind of story would be daunting for an amateur, but no challenge for me.

I already knew the characters’ history. At the end of The Politics of Hell, E’steem was defeated by Isis and stuck in a dead-end job at Lucifers’s library. At the end of The Changing Soul, John Haynes had been moving forward in his life working at a new job at Sunrise Foods and was in a relationship with his new girlfriend Colleen.

These were my story points. The guidelines were set regarding characters’ existing history. That was the foundation for the structure of my story. All I had to do was fill in the details like plot structures and build the form of the new story details around it to complete the book.

Some older characters like John Haynes himself were redesigned to make them more modern and more relateable. A few like E’steem were given a new direction, and some older characters that I couldn’t use like Colleen anymore were written out and new ones were introduced to replace them. I picked and chose what story elements worked and threw out what didn’t.

The end result of my six years of work was a story that was fresh and new. A story that was accessible to both Isis readers from 2002 and new readers who had never heard of Isis or John Haynes.

A few months later I re-introduced new readers to Isis through an eBook campaign. The three previous back stories The Saga of MastiKatious, Baptism of Blood, and Isis: Trial of the Goddess were standalone stories.

But they each built on the momentum of the other developing anticipation for the digital edition of Isis. When I launched the book, I got over a hundred downloads in two days.

The contnuity of this book....

indirectly connects with  this one! Read
one or both! They're entry points
to a bigger story!  

I’ve also used continuity on the All About Marilyn/All About Nikki series. Readers of the All About Nikki scripts like them so much that have come back to buy the drama All About Marilyn to learn about the actress who played Nikki Desmond.

While others have read All About Marilyn go on to buy All About Nikki to learn about the series Marilyn Marie starred in.

Both were self-contained stories. The only connection they had with each other was that the main character was the alter ego of the other.

And recently I used continuity to write Isis: Amari’s Revenge. From a few lines in a chapter of Isis, I was able to write a brand new Isis story that acknowledged the continuity of the past four books and 15 years of history while making the characters fresh, new and accessible to a new audience of readers.

As former Marvel and Valiant comics editor Jim Shooter pointed out in his blog: Every story is an entry point. When the writing is good, people have no problem accessing material at any point whether it’s the beginning, the middle or end. And when it’s compelling enough, they’ll want more. A good writer crafts their stories so their audience anticipating the next episode or going back for previous ones.

Continuity doesn’t have to be a crutch. In the hands of a skilled writer, it can be a tool to build an audience of both older and younger readers and help them form a connection that bridges generations.

Shawn Responds to comments on his Why 70 Percent of Black Women are Single Blog.

I’ve gotten a lot of responses from people from the Why 70 Percent of Black Women are single Blog. While many have praised that piece, some Black women are offended by it.

I don’t care.

Now some think I’m being one-sided.

That’s true. The piece was written to be one-sided. But I was not bashing Black women. I was presenting the views of countless Black men.

And I had to write that particular article that way. It was tough love.

When I volunteered to work at the STRIVE job readiness program twelve years ago, I got a chance to talk to the hardest of hard cases. Ex-offenders, high school dropouts, addicts in recovery, and the homeless. People considered unemployable.

But many of those brothers and sisters were good people. They were just too busy wallowing in self-pity to see that in themselves.

We only had three weeks to get these dysfunctional brothers and sisters job ready. And there was no time for kindness. Those brothers and sisters needed to be shown that their attitudes and approaches to life were failures and keeping them stranded in poverty.

Today’s American Black woman is just as dysfunctional about her relationships with Black men as those ex-offenders, high school dropouts, addicts in recovery, and the homeless I worked with.

Many Black men consider these Black Women considered unmarriageable. Worse, they consider them intolerable. Their approaches to life are failures and keeping them single.

At STRIVE we confronted those program participants considered to be unemployable with the reasons why their attitudes and approaches to life were failures. It was blunt, it was raw and no-nonsense.

But it worked. In three weeks most of those people got their shit together. Many went on to find jobs. A few went on to careers. And close to eighty percent of them kept those jobs for more than two years. And quite a few moved on to the middle class.

The way I see it, today’s American Black woman needs to be confronted about her dysfunctional behavior and her dysfunctional approach to life.

She needs to be shown why her bad attitude and bad behavior are preventing her from connecting with Black men and having healthy relationships with brothers.

Is this approach one sided? Yeah, it is.

But it’s all a part of tough love. Tough love is Raw, it’s hard, it’s direct. The people who practice it are coming at you hard because they know that the people they care about need to see the painful truth about the dangerous direction they’re going in.

They understand that while it may hurt that person to be confronted with that raw honest truth about themselves in the short-term, as they heal they’ll grow to be better people in the long term.

Now I wrote that piece to have an impact on Black women. To confront those dysfunctional Sistas about their dysfunctional approach to relationships with Black men.

I’m not going to sugarcoat things and patronize sistas by patting them on the head and catering to their false victim status. Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry Steve Harvey and countless others have tried that approach for close to 30 years.

That approach may sell books, movies and lots of DVDs. It may put money in the pockets of a few hustlers.

But it doesn’t help my people grow to be better people.

The goal of that blog was to get Black women to start taking a look at themselves. To take a look at their failed approaches to relationships and how they treat Black men when they’re involved with them. When two thirds of men avoid pursuing relationships with the women in their community, there’s clearly a problem in that community.

What I presented in that piece are the issues Black Men have with Black women. How we see the women in our community.

At STRIVE we had no choice but to confront our program participants but with how other people saw them. That was the only way they could make the changes towards becoming better people. The kinds of people who were employable and could retain full-time employment that would give them economic independence.

It’s these little things that are preventing sistas from connecting with brothas. It’s these behaviors that are preventing Black women from having healthy relationships with Black men. These barriers are preventing many Black women from coming together and having the kinds of relationships they want with Black men.

If I come hard at the sistas, it’s because I care. Not because I’m bitter. I love Black women enough to tell them to truth about what's making their relationships fail. And i do this because I want to foster healing between Black men and Black women, not continue to maintain this 40-year-enmity between us.

Support The Work Of Independent Self-Published Authors This Holiday Season!

This Holiday Season many will give out books and gift cards as Holiday gifts. If you’re looking for books to give out to friends and family as presents, please consider giving the gift of books by Independent self-published authors like myself.

Independent self-published authors like myself offer a variety of great titles in fiction and nonfiction genres. Unique books with unique perspectives and one-of-a-kind stories.

All the titles I offer in eBook and paperback! Give them a try this Holiday Season! 

Want to share the story of that obscure historical figure? Give the gift of an independent self-published book. Want to share that great story you read in a unique genre like African-American fantasy or African-American Sci fi? Give the gift of an independent self-published book. Want to share that interracial romance? Give the gift of an independent self-published book. Want to share that lighthearted romantic comedy? Give the gift of an independent self-published book. Want to share the art of screenwriting and television writing? Give the gift of an independent self-published book.

And if you want to share great stories with your children Independent publisher like myself offer a variety of titles aimed at Independent readers, teens, tweens, and young adults.

There’s no reason to be apprehensive about buying or trying books by independent self-published authors. Over the past decade, most authors like myself have improved the quality of their published books to the point where they’re on par with any paperback sold by a trade publisher on a bookstore shelf.

Some titles are so great that they receive critical acclaim from book clubs and readers who can’t tell the difference between an independent self-published book and one from a trade publishing house!

What makes today’s independent self-published books great gifts are that most titles cost about the same as a regular paperback or a regular eBook title. Some like mine even cost as little as 99 cents!

And during this Holiday season many new titles like mine will be available for free on Kindle the day after Christmas for you to try out!

So if you’re online and you’re looking for a gift or if you’ve received a gift card for a place like Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com please try a paperback or an eBook from an independent self-published author. You may find a new favorite author!

Free with code RA65B Until Jan 13th!

Along with several other titles I’ll be giving away on Kindle like Isis: Amari’s Revenge, this Holiday Season from December 25-26th, I’ll be giving away a free copy of All About Nikki Sensational Season 2 Sneak Preview on Smashwords until January 13. All you have to do is put in coupon code RA65B when you checkout!

Thoughts on the Sandy Hook Massacre.

I had another blog planned for this Sunday.

But I decided to scrap it after hearing about the tragic massacre at the Newton Elementary School in Sandy Hook Connecticut. The reason for the long delay was because I wanted to be as tactful as possible in writing a blog about the tragedy in.

That Friday Twenty-seven people lost their lives. Twenty of those dead were six and seven year old children.

I feel sorry for the losses of All of those families who lost children that Friday. They’re in my prayers.

In the aftermath of that tragedy committed by Adam Lanza everyone is looking for something to blame. Something to make sense of all the senseless violence.

Some politicians want stricter gun control laws.

We had gun control laws. At the height of the Crack epidemic, an assault weapons ban was passed in 1992. It was a law designed to prevent people from buying the military grade weaponslike the ones Adam Lanza’s mother owned in her arsenal.

George W. Bush and the Republican congress allowed that law to expire around 2004.

But I doubt gun laws would change anything. Connecticut has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country.

All of the guns used in the shooting were purchased legally by his Adam’ Lanza’s mother. She was preparing for class warfare.

Some want more security in public schools.

The elementary school already had tight security. But like most public schools here in New York and across the country, all of the security is usually stationed to protect the front door. No one ever guards the back or side doors like Adam Lanza barged through.

That security hole has been there since I was a little kid. And no one has ever made plans to patch it because having guards at every entrance costs too much.

No one thinks an intruder will ever use those entrances to gain access to a school.

Except a psychopath.

Some in Hollywood like Jamie Foxx want to blame violent movies and video games for Adam Lanza’s rampage.

I doubt that had any influence on Adam Lanza.

An antisocial person will be influenced to commit acts of violence if they watched Sesame Street every day.

The truth is none of these things are to blame for the tragedy that transpired at the Sandy Hook school.

We’ll never know why Adam Lanza killed his mother. We’ll never know why he chose that particular school for his rampage.

All those reasons died with Adam Lanza.

And he was following his own twisted logic. Insane people don’t make sense.

Here’s the sad truth: You can’t explain crazy.

Which is what makes this tragedy so sad.

No law can stop crazy. Connecticut had the strictest gun laws. They had some of the tightest school security at the Sandy Hook school.

Censoring the media won’t stop crazy either. Psychopaths live in their own world. They follow their own logic. They interpret the facts differently from other people.

What inspires a psychopath to act in a violent manner could be something as simple as there not being any more Hostess fruit pies at the 7-Eleven.

If anything this tragedy shows America is that we can’t keep being ashamed of mental illness. We can’t keep sweeping the mentally ill under a rug and denying they have problems.

Because it’s only a matter of time before the problems of one mentally ill individual will affect all the members of a community.

Many Americans try to pretend that an untreated mentally ill person isn’t a ticking time bomb. They minimize and ignore the individual’s unstable behavior by saying that they’re “odd” they “get that way sometimes”, “that’s just the way he is” or that they’re “strange”.

Not understanding they’re coming face-to-face with danger every day.

Some parents of mentally ill people are so ashamed of their child’s sickness they try to contain children like Adam Lanza’s mom did with home schooling. They keep them isolated from others in the hopes that they can keep them under their control.

Not understanding that they’re going to get older. And their child is going to get older.

And one day when they’re too old they’re going to lose control over them. And when they can’t handle them anymore they become a danger to all society.

Then they become a problem Law Enforcement has to deal with. Usually, when their parents become too old and unable to control them, mentally ill people wind up being taken care of by the prison system.

That’s where most wind up getting the care that they need.

If they’re not killed by the police for resisting arrest.

In between the shame of parents and the stigma of corrupt mental health facilities  like Willowbrook in the 1970’s America dismantled its mental healthcare system in the 1980’s. And because America doesn’t have a quality mental healthcare system, people have to literally commit crimes to get treatment for their mental illnesses.

The mindset of most Americans is: If a mentally ill person isn’t acting aggressively or dangerously, they aren’t considered a threat by their families and mental health professionals.

So they can go on about their business. Usually medicating themselves with illegal drugs like marijuana, methamphetamine, PCP and angeldust. We don’t see them as a danger to themselves or others when they talk to themselves. We don’t see the threat to others.

Until they kill someone.

Then they’re a danger to everyone else.

If anything, this tragedy shows us that America must make serious efforts to revamp its mental health system. Mental illness can no longer be swept under a rug. It can’t be hidden from the world. We have to take the stigma of shame off this disease. There’s been too many mass murders, murder-suicides, family homicdes and shootings over the past year by psychotic people to keep denying that there’s a problem with the way America treats mental illness. Maybe if we focused on prevention and treatment of people’s mental health issues we could save some lives in the future.

Let's pray for the families. 

But let's also make efforts towards changing our mental healthcare system. 

The Difference Between The Streets and The Neighborhood

The terms “Street” and “Hood” they use them interchangeably to describe people who come from the inner-city. However, they’re not the same thing.

The “Hood” person is just that a person from the neighborhood. While they may live in poverty, they’re growing up in a home with parents taking care of their needs and giving them most of the financial and emotional essentials they need to be healthy functioning people when they become adults.

They may not be able to afford the best but they’re doing okay.

The “Street person is a person who also grew up in the neighborhood. But they had a harder life. A life where they had to run up and down the streets of that neighborhood to find a way to survive to the next day.

A lot of brothers and sisters come from the Hood but they don’t have the streets in them.

That’s because the hood and the streets aren’t physical places. They’re a mindset.

And it’s a mindset a child adopts at an early age. A street person learns at an early age that his or her parents aren’t going to meet their needs.

So they have to go out on their own to meet those needs on their own. By any means necessary.

Street people learn that they have to lie, cheat, and steal to survive. They prowl the streets of the neighborhood looking for any opportunity they can capitalize on to get what they need to live. From an early age they learn it’s all about paper.

People in the neighborhood are just tools for people who live in the streets. An end to a means. A way to get ahead.

There are no friends in the street. In the streets there are takers and those who are getting took. A street person can size up a mark, a person they’re looking to take advantage of in less than five seconds. They know the tells in their body language and the way they speak.

As they get older, the kid growing up on the streets learns how to talk. To develop a mouthpiece that will persuade others to act favorably towards them. That’s how they can capitalize on the moneymaking opportunities others can’t see.

When they learn how to capitalize on these opportunities they learn how to hustle. A street person is always on the lookout for opportunities that others in the neighborhood just aren’t looking for.

True street hustlers don’t need to sell drugs. A true hustler has the mouthpiece and the game to sell anything and keep the paper flowing into his or her pockets.

And if there’s a way for them to make money on it, they’ll have made that money and been on their way long before everyone else in the neighborhood has jumped on the bandwagon.

Because they know they have to keep moving to avoid getting caught by the police. Or worse, competitors looking to beat them to the punch on the next hustle.

True Street hustlers know how to get in and out of a hustle. Their main focus is money. Stacking paper. Getting the cash and going. Because at the end of the day he or she who has the most paper has the most power in the streets.

Not guns. Not bodies. Not fights. Not even women. That doesn’t make for cred in the streets.

The only thing that matters most is paper. Paper and the skills to make paper earn a person respect in the streets.

And in the streets it’s not just about being known. It’s about being known to the right people. That’s what’s going to make them money.

Many brothers and sisters who live in the neighborhood think they know street life because they live in the neighborhood as Street people. Or they watch some movie like Scarface or New Jack City.

But again, the streets ain’t in them.

Because they didn’t grow up living in this value system they don’t understand the subtle politics transpiring in the street. These lost brothers and sisters get caught up in the glamour of the flashy clothes, the cell phones and the luxury cars. They get mesmerized by the sight of the guns and the power they wield. They get excited by the fantastic stories about street fights, shootings and stabbings.

And they want the fame and notoriety of being a street hood. A gangsta. A thug.

But they don’t want to do the work of a street hustler.

Moreover, they don’t understand how to do the work of a street hustler. Most of the gangstas and thugs have to sell drugs because they don’t have the mouthpiece or the people skills to sell anything else. Dope boys can’t move candy they bought legit on a moving train and flip it for more than the box cost.

Nor do they have the people skills to network with other hustlers towards finding other opportunities to make money when that hustle goes stale.

They have to use violence to terrorize people because they don’t have the skills to sell their product and keep it selling.

And the thugs and gangstas with the weakest game of all have to do things like purse snatchings and bodega stick-ups. Because they don’t have the people skills to talk that money out of that purse or out of that store owners’ till.

Which is why most of these hood guys wind up getting killed or going to jail over stupid shit like street beefs, women, and turf wars.

These attention whores are too busy wanting stories to be told about them to see how they’re disrupting the flow of money to them.

While the true street hustler goes on to hustle for another day. Making that money and stacking those chips. They know that’s what going to get the right people talking about them.

Most true street guys are quiet. Again, these guys know how to talk. And they know how to take no for an answer. Because they know it takes a lot of no to get to yes. And that yes is what’s going to get them the paper.

And to keep that paper flowing into their pockets they maintain the lowest of low profiles.

You wouldn’t know a true street person if you saw them. They’re not the ones wearing expensive clothes and driving luxury cars on the block.

No, those are the hood posers and wannabes. True street hustlers see them for the Simps and Tricks that they are and keep their distance from them.

True street people don’t want anyone drawing attention to those who can disrupt the flow of that paper to them. People like snitches. People like law enforcement. People like family members.

Again, there are no friends and family in the streets. It’s all about survival out in the streets. Every man and woman is out for themselves.

Which makes it a lonely place.

That’s what makes the streets a sad place. A hustler doesn’t know who to trust. Everyone is out for themselves so a dude or a chick can wind up stabbed in the back by just about anyone else looking to get ahead. They can be flipped by people looking to get out of a jam with the cops at any time.

Street people live in constant fear. They don’t know when someone is going to draw a gun on them, rob them or even if they’re walking into an ambush. In between the hustles it’s a hard life of running, hiding and thinking of ways to outwit and outlast other people who live in the streets and want to get ahead on their names.

So a street hustler sleeps with a gun under his pillow and his eyes open.

While the brothers and sisters in the neighborhood misled by Madison Avenue and Hollywood dreams of being just like them.

Not knowing they're being lied to.

Here’s the truth: Most people who live in the streets don’t want to be there. If anything, they’d give up all that money they earned hustling to have a loving caring family like the people who live in poverty in the neighborhood have. Many brothers and sisters who struggle in the inner-city neighborhood may think that street people are having a great time living in the streets, but the truth is they don’t understand how good they have it. Don’t believe the hype and don’t fall for the game. If the streets ain’t in you, don’t try to make them a part of yourself.

How Tattoo Ink Can Cost A Woman a Wedding Ring

Ladies who are considering getting a tattoo here’s another reason to think before you ink: That ink could cost you a wedding ring.

Ladies you may be trying to make a statement about yourself with that ink on your skin, but it sends a unwritten message to men about you.

That you’re a whore.

Historically, tattoos on women have been associated with prostitution. Pimps used to tattoo the backs of their prostitutes to denote that a woman was his property. To send a message to other pimps and to the johns she was having sex with that she belonged to him.

Tattoos on a woman’s body tell a one story to a man: That she’s an easy lay. A one-night stand. A woman to be pumped and dumped and passed on to the next man for a sexual conquest.

The woman with tattoos on her body is the type of woman a desperate man will take to a motel bed for a quick fuck, but she’s not the woman a Real Man is going to bring home to his mother to present as his future wife.

Tattooed women may suck on his thing, but they never get the ring.

So women, you have to ask yourselves: Do you want to be his wife or do you want to be his whore?

Because he’s only going to let you be one of the two.

And when you choose to get a tattoo, most men are automatically going to put you in the whore category.

As a woman is that what you want to say about yourself?

Because that’s the message you’re sending out there to men when you get those colorful tattoos embedded into your skin.

No matter how cool Madison Avenue and Hollywood try to present them as, Women who get tattoos are always seen at the bottom of society by most men. Very few of those tattooed females we see in the public eye are married and even fewer are married for 10 years or longer. Most of celebrities we see with tattoos like the late Amy Winehouse are some of the biggest mental wrecks in society. Women with drug and alcohol problems. Women with mental health issues.

Women who no one but a desperate man wants but for an easy lay on a Saturday night in a cheap motel. Because he’s definitely not bringing a her back to his house to be around his family and friends.

Again, is that who you want to emulate? Is that who you want to be like? The the lowest of lowlifes. Bottom feeders. People with no sense of self-esteem or self-worth.

Ladies, if you don’t love yourself enough to value the body God gave you how can men see you as someone they value in their lives?

And there’s the truth about women who get tattoos: They don’t love themselves. They feel the body God gave them wasn’t good enough. So they try to change it.

And they keep trying to change it to get more and more attention from other men. That one tattoo soon becomes three. And three becomes five.

And soon the outside of a woman’s body becomes just as ugly as the woman feels about herself on the inside.

A woman who values themselves doesn’t need to tell a story with some picture of someone else’s logo on their body or some generic rose or whatever icon they embed into their skin. They’re intelligent enough to tell their own stories about their own lives. They’re confident enough to go for their own dreams. They can win a man’s heart by showing how great they are through their actions, not disfiguring their bodies.

Ladies, in order for a man to find you attractive, you have to value yourself as a woman. You have to see the beauty in who you are from the inside and let it radiate to the outside. When you put a tattoo on your body it says you don’t have any confidence in yourself. That you need something to get his attention other than who you are. And that you’re as forgettable as whatever design is on whatever part of your body.

Again, ladies think before you ink. That $25 butterfly or whatever else design could cost you a wedding ring and a husband. Men don’t take tattooed women home to meet their mothers. They leave them to let themselves out at the motel room when the hour is up.

Isis: Amari's Revenge Chapter 3

Kinda tired today, So I'm posting a sample chapter of Amari's Revenge. Articles will be back Thursday if I come up with a new topic...

I smile as Isis is sent back to her quarters. It looks like the Prince is finally showing some leadership ability. I didn’t think he’d be ruthless enough to behead someone he loved.

“Finally acting like a man.” I say. “We’ll make a king of you yet boy prince.”

Ammon grabs me violently. He chokes back tears. The sadness in his eyes tells me that he truly loves her with all his heart. “I’d rather be at the side of a slave like Isis in the fields than be in the royal palace with a beast like you.”

“You’d side with a treasonous cow like Isis!” I say shoving him away from me.

“Treasonous! It was you who tried to kill her!” Ammon orders.

“She pulled a knife on me-”

“The same dagger you tried to stab her with as she left the dungeon after one of your beatings-”

My eyes grow wide on the revelation. “You saw me?”

I was coming in from the courtyard when I saw Isis heading back to her quarters from the latest lashing you gave her. That’s when I saw you rush behind her with the dagger in hand to kill her.”

I gasp on hearing his testimony regarding my action. If I were a common woman he’d have all the rights to behead me.

It’s a great regret that I have to be wed to a dog like you to keep peace in my kingdom.” Ammon spits.

I let out a sigh of relief knowing my kingdom is safe. “But what will you do with Isis? I inquire.

“That’s for me to decide.”

“But to let one like her roam freely across the countryside could be dangerous. She’s a plucky one, one with a charming tongue and a mirthful smile that can inspire others. The type who’d lead an insurrection against the royal family.”

“Isis is more loyal to this kingdom then you’ll ever be. Her love for Nubia is greater than her love for me. She’ll never betray us.”

“Did you not see the things she did? How she was faster than the cheetah and stronger than our best men? How a dagger of forged steel broke against her breasts?

Ammon looks out to the guards “You are never to speak of what you have seen this night to anyone.”

The looks on the guards’ faces will take what they’ve seen this night to their graves. “Yes my prince.” They say acknowledging his authority.

“And you will never speak of what you have seen to anyone. Nor will you speak of it ever again. Swear to this.”

“I don’t believe you-”

“Swear to it.”

The intense look in Ammon’s eyes shakes me to the core. I think he’d kill me himself if I didn’t take the oath. “I swear never to speak of this.” I spit.

Ammon gestures to one of the guards. He steps forward. “Mufassa, prepare my chariot.”

The guard nods his head. As Ammon storms away from me, I grab his arm. “Ammon, where are you going?”

“To deal with Isis.” He orders pulling out of my grasp.

Pick up Isis Amari's Revenge in Paperback or on Kindle!

The insanity of Free Comic book Day

The definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing and expecting a different result. And insanity has become a way of life in the comic book industry.

For over 10 years Diamond Comics Distributors have coordinated Free Comic Book day. A day where comic shop owners reach out to new readers by offering them free comics to sample and try out.

So why aren’t there more new readers buying comics?

Because the only place to get a free comic book is at a comic book store.

Here are the facts: There are less than a thousand comic book stores in the United States. And only 2000 comic book stores in 30 countries participate in this event.

Here’s another fact: Most comic book stores terrify average everyday people.

Comic shops have a bad reputation. While some stores like Jim Hanley’s Universe and Midtown Comics have clean professional layouts, others across the country reinforce the stereotypes about Comic shops and their customers. Dingy lighting, middle-aged guys in trenchcoats, hostile clerks, and a weird smell. To the new or casual customer a comic shop is not a fun place to be. In fact, it’s considered to be one of the least inviting places for customers. Especially customers with children.

Children the industry desperately needs to buy comic books.

But many in the industry swear up and down that Free Comic Book Day has an impact. That it brings new readers into the shops.

Then why are the sales numbers for most comics stagnant or on the decline? Why haven’t the demographics changed in over a decade? Why hasn’t the median age of a comic book reader declined?

If Free Comic Book Day worked at bringing in new readers publishers like Marvel and DC wouldn’t need to reboot their titles every 24-36 months. There would be enough new readers from the people who sampled those free comics to create sustainable numbers for a publisher to maintain profitability.

Would we really need a new 52 or a Marvel Now event to get new readers into the medium if Free Comic Book Day worked? Wouldn’t all those free samples given out at the comic shop reach all those new readers and give them an incentive to try new product? Wouldn’t that free comic they got at the comic shop persuaded customers to keep buying comics long-term?

Let’s face it Free Comic Book Day only works for that day. It’s the kind of promotion that gets people’s attention, but doesn’t allow businesses to keep customers coming back for product long-term.

As it stands now, Free Comic Book Day is just a way to take money out of the Comic shop owners’ hands and flush it down the toilet. That’s right the shop owners pay at least 50 cents a copy wholesale for these comics.

And they lose money with each book they give out.

The only institution making money on Free Comic Book Day is Diamond Comic Distributors. And it isn’t fair to the comic shop owners who get nothing out of the deal for all their hard work except a one-day boost in sales.

It’s time for Time Warner and Disney to start footing some of the bill for Free Comic Book Day. It’s time for them to start reaching out to get new customers for their properties. The comic shop owners shouldn’t have to put forth all the effort. These are their properties and they should make some serious efforts towards invest in the marketing of them.

It’s time to take Free Comic book Day out of the comic book store. The goal of any successful promotional campaign like this is getting product in the hands of people who don’t read comic books. Taking the comic books to THEM so they can see how great they are.

So they can go to the comic shops to buy them. And so they can go to other retailers and start asking them to start stocking them.

Larger publishers like Marvel and DC have to do things like offering comics as an insert in cereal boxes, with Sunday Newspapers, and as a supplement to pages of a top selling magazine like Family Circle or AARP. Places where they can be seen. Places where they can be read. Places where customers can demand for the comics or find out where comic books and trade paperbacks can be sold.

Free Comic Book Day also has to head into cyberspace. Digital Comics are cheaper and easier for publishers to produce than printing thousands of comics shop owners have to pay for and take a loss on.

And it wouldn’t hurt to send out copies of comics free through direct mail. Sure people hate junk mail, but any catalog retailer knows that for every catalog that goes straight to the trash, they get a sale or two on the ones that don’t. If those customers like what they see they buy more. Some even become long-term customers.

All of these approaches are a great way to reach out to those twenty million younger readers who could become new customers in the future.

I offer various free eBooks throughout the year on Amazon through the KDP select program and on Smashwords through promotions like my YA eBook exclusive series. Distributing these free digital copies is no cost to me, but it does lead to worldwide sales of eBooks throughout the year. Once a customer tries out one of my free eBooks, sometimes they actually come back and buy other books in the series like Isis or All About Nikki. Others just come back and buy the same book at another site because they like it so much. And quite a few people recommend my work to their friends. If this business strategy can work for me on a small scale, it should be able to work on a larger scale for a multibillion dollar corporation like Time Warner or Disney.

All New Isis stories Are Now Available in Paperback on Amazon.com!

Both Isis: Amari’s Revenge and Isis: The Ultimate Fight are now available in paperback! 

Pick up both these Young Adult fiction titles for the tween or teen in your family! They’re action-packed African-American fantasy fiction written to inspire the imagination of young brothers and sisters and take their literacy to the next level!   

And Catch up on the Entire Isis series in paperback! 

Isis: Amari's Revenge paperback on Amazon

Isis: The Ultimate Fight on Amazon

And they're also available for Kindle too! 

Isis: Amari's Revenge on Kindle

Isis: The Ultimate Fight on Kindle

Shawn checks A Cowardly Single Black Woman

Some people read this blog and like what they read.


Some like it so much they link to my blogs in their message boards and forum posts. I’ve even had other bloggers like the opinions I present they use me as a source to reinforce the arguments on their blogs.

Others read it and don’t.

Now some who are offended will leave a comment about the article they just read. If they’re civil enough I’ll reply to them.

And I don’t mind hearing from them. Just like I have the right to write about what I want on this blog you readers have the right to express your opinions about it.

And I can respect the fact that you came to the page left a comment and presented your points directly to me in the comments section.

But what I can’t respect are cowards. Punks like the bitches on the diaperswappers boards I dealt with at the end of 2010.

These are Bitch-Made™ cowards who go to another forum or their own blog to post negative comments about what they’ve read on the blog. People who make their personal attacks in secret where they think I can’t see them.

Or so they think.
What those people don’t know is that I can track them from the traffic sources section of the blog. And I can find them.

All by clicking a link.

The latest cowardly attack comes from a bitter Black woman offended by my Why  Black women will remain single for the rest of their lives blog. Specifically this paragraph:

From the day they were born these women were taught that Black men had no value in their lives. This ideology was reinforced by the verbal statements their single mothers made like talking about their children’s “no good daddy” or other “no good niggers in the neighborhood.”

Moreover, it was also reinforced by White Supremacy and White feminism. Brainwashed by the false ideologies of White feminism, Black women were tricked into believing they didn’t need a Black man. And With the help of Uncle Sam’s government programs and White Supremacist Corporate America’s entry-level jobs, Black women achieved financial independence and the economic power to devalue the leadership and authority of the Black men in their communities.

I guess the truth hurts.

Butthurt by the truth she read, she starts out her blog by belittling my library of self-published books and mocking me for drawing my own covers.

In the short piece she tries to minimize my observations with shaming language. She seems to be offended by me saying that Black women were manipulated into being single by the social engineering of White feminism and all the help they got from the Government and Corporate America.

When this is a known historical FACT. During the late 1960’s and 1970’s it was a legal requirement for the father to NOT be in the home for a woman to collect welfare benefits.

And many Black women tossed their children’s fathers out of the home so she could reap the economic bounty of free housing, food stamps financial aid and other government benefits. Not to mention court-ordered child support.

I grew up in the South Bronx and saw this FIRST HAND.

And living here all my life, I’ve watched the daughters and granddaughters of  these Black women who imbibed this feminist bullshit grow up to become single mothers stranded in poverty.

These were the kids of my generation and two others who grew up imbibing misandristic statements like those above along with feminist slogans like that they “didn’t need no man” and they could “do it on their own” and that a woman could be. “a mother and a father” presented to them on everything from movies, TV Shows, napkins and newspapers. They heard those mantras so much that they became a reality for them.

A self-fulfilling prophecy that socially engineered them to become single mothers just like mom did when she threw dad out of the house in the 1970s.

40 years later some of the kids I grew up with raise their kids in the same projects and Section 8 housing their Moms moved into back in the 70’s and 80’s.

If there was no social engineering involved in destroying the Black family how did “Baby Mama” and "baby daddy" become a common word used in American vernacular?

Before Welfare was integrated in the late 1960s, Many Black women were ashamed to have children out of wedlock. Fast forward 40 years and these strong independent Black women are proud to be single mothers of bastard children. And eager to get the government benefits or child support instead of getting married.

That’s how they were tricked by the feminists and the government into believing they didn’t need a Black man. That’s how they continue to have financial independence and power to devalue the leadership and authority of a Black Man.

Which is why we have “baby daddies” who  live away from their  families and visit their kids…whenever.  Not FATHERS in the Black community who live in the home with them.

Ironic how she proves my words true in her attempt to minimize my writing.

She then goes on to try to use the U.S. Census to try to justify that 70 percent of Black women are not single.

Only I see through that deflection.

When I say 70 percent of Black women are single I’m not following those Govenrment statistics.

In the eyes of God a woman is single until she’s married.

And seriously, how do we get 72 percent of Black children are born out of wedlock if 70 percent of Black women aren’t single?

Just because you have been tricked by Madison Avenue and Hollywood’s social engineering to think that you’re not single because you have a baby daddy, man, a boyfriend, a fuck buddy, a dude, live-in lover or whatever male has a penis in your life God still sees you as single.

As a Christian I follow His standard. And He says you’re single if the man you’re with is not your HUSBAND.

And any kids you have with whatever man that isn’t a husband they’re bastard children.

So you 72 percent of Single Christian Black women who profess to love God with the baby daddy, boyfriend, fuck buddy, man, dude live-in lover or whatever has a penis are actually living in SIN by God’s standard.

Now this woman also goes on to say that I’m stupid and I’ll be single for the rest of my life.

*Shawn falls out of his chair laughing at this woman.*

I want to be single. Why?

I don’t have time for a woman right now.

And I’m not ready for one. Me being out of work for the past four years the last thing I need right now is a relationship. I’ve been working over the past 18 years on getting my shit together so when I do decide to have a relationship I’ll be in a position to bring something substantive to the table.

I’m working towards my personal and professional goals. I’m focused on getting to the next level as a writer and a self-publisher. Expanding my audience of readers.

Working towards the day where I can hire out so I don’t have to draw my own covers. But short-sighted Black women like this one are too busy bashing, minimizing and dismissing guys like me to see the covers I draw today on the self-published books I produce are a just a small sketch in a bigger picture for my future.

Many of the comic books I read as a kid featured cover art hand-drawn by the creators when they were first published during the 1940’s. Now those crudely drawn first editions are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And those some of those creators are now millionaires.

So there go your attempts to emasculate me with personal attacks.

Maybe if Black women like you supported brothers like me 70 percent of you wouldn’t be single. Maybe if you wouldn’t minimize and dismiss people like me, we could build the Black community into something. Maybe the Black communities across this country still wouldn’t be ghettoes with no businesses and no jobs even though we have a Black President.

Whoever you are, I’ve run into a hundred of you since I was 12 back in Junior High school. And now I’m hip to the bullshit head games people like you play. Thanks to the videos of people like The Advise Show, Thugtician, RealManAllen, The Iceman Show, Avenue Rants, Tariq Nasheed, Tommy Sotomayor and many more brothas and Sistas I’ve watched on YouTube I’ve gained perspective on my experiences and finally know how to deal with people like you, your deflections, shaming tactics and mental manipulations.

By taking you HEAD ON.

As I’ve stated before, I’m not Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels, Steve Harvey, Kevin Hart or any of the Simps, Pussy Beggars, and Manginas you and other Black women are used to. I’m not pandering to you. I’m not going to patronize you. I’m not going to kneel down and worship to the altar of Black Matriarchy.

The Black Woman is not God in my eyes. Jesus Christ is God.

You don’t like what you read, go find another blog. There’s over fifty trillion pages of media on this World Wide Web. You don’t have to stop at my blog. Go find something that will validate the false ideas Madison Avenue and Hollywood have brainwashed you with.

But if you have an issue with what you’ve read in the blog, then present it in the comments section like a woman. You have an issue with my books, my twitter and facebook is on the last page. Hell, they’re in the links section of the blog if you scroll down. Drop me a message. Approach me like an ADULT. Don’t hide behind the internet like a coward posting and running. That makes you look WEAK.