Happy Fourth of July!

By Laurie Epps

I know that many of you are out of town or visiting family this week. I just want to remind you to be safe. I hope you will enjoy yourselves, and come back to visit this column again beginning Monday, July 14, 2014. We will continue to talk about social media, and our next topic is about Copyright Law.

Happy Birthday America!

Vacation 2014

My little daises this past week 

By Laurie Epps

I just wanted to let my know my faithful followers, that I'm on vacation till the end of the month. I had guest bloggers lined up, who've not been able to access my blog successfully. I'll be returning with new content to serve you better in July. I hope you'll continue to check back though since I just haven't had any wifi this past week out in the woods with Girl Scouts. This week, I'll be in civilization and I'll be creating new material in the evenings to serve you better.

Enjoy your travels this summer, and be safe everyone.

Books My Daughter Should Read, Part 2

Easter 2014

By Laurie Epps

My senior year of college, I learned that I'm a feminist. Now, I'm not going to give up my makeup, or shaving, or my dresses mind you, but I firmly believe that equal work deserves equal pay. I believe that a woman's mind works just as well as a man's, and that we should make a little room for each other.

If my life could be an example for my daughter's, I'd like it show them that they can do anything they set their minds to, and not to rely on a man for everything. I love men, don't get me wrong, but they're only human. Just as we'll do, men'll let you down and disappoint you. At times, we even disappoint ourselves. But my mom told me over and over again to have your own "go to hell" money. I didn't really understand all the nuances of that simple statement till my husband of close to twenty years abandoned us two years ago.

We've come a long way with feminism in a lot of ways, but not as far as we need to go. Our heritage of fighters from our moms to our grandmothers to even our great grandmothers paved the way. We've gotta take time to study those women who overcame those stereotypes and broke convention. The strong women who threw their reputation on the line to make an easier life for us. 

Heroism in Battle and Poetry

By Laurie Epps

The story of the boy of Casabianca is shrouded in mystery. There's not enough attention paid to it in classrooms in America. I know it was written across the pond in the U.K. but it has strong literary value. This poem was memorized and recited by school children in England up till the 1930s. Proper homage should be paid.

But first, I'm going to tell you a little about the poet herself, and she had a love of literature at young age just as I did. After a very minimal amount of research, I learned I've got a lot in common with Felicia Dorothea Hemans.

Felicia Dorothea Hemans
1793-1835

What is Klout?

Courtesy of Edie Melson

By Laurie Epps

Are you having trouble managing your social media? Do you wonder what agents and publishers are looking at when they decide your "relevance"? Here to help us along the way is social media expert, Edie Melson.

Edie Melson is my beloved mentor, former boss, and friend. She tours the country extensively, and encourages folks on the writers path who are often afraid of social media. To see her current schedule, click here.

Edie's book, Connections: Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers has been the topic for my Monday Morning Book Club since September of 2013, and I highly recommend it as a reference book to get you in the trenches to best display your work on the Internet stage.

Books My Daughter Should Read, Part 1

My daughter Ellen in the local library

By Laurie Epps

So much of my identity is wrapped up in books that to really know me, my daughters would have to read some of my most favorite books to know anything about me.

In the Joy Luck Club, Ying-Ying attributes her daughter’s instability in the present to her past own weakness: “Now I must tell my daughter everything. That she is the daughter of a ghost. She has no chi. This is my greatest shame. How can I leave this world without leaving her my spirit?” (286)

We Are Seven

William Wordsworth
1770-1850

By Laurie Epps

Coping with death is hard at any age is difficult at best. However, in today's poem, the wisdom is spoken by a child. In this poem from William Wordsworth, I'll give you a little background on the author, and then my analysis.

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cumberland, England to John & Anne Wordsworth. He was the second of five children. His father was a lawyer and owned a lot of property, so the family was well off.

When Woodsworth was 17, his mother died, and he went to study at St. John's College in Cambridge. On his first college break in the summer of 1788, William spent the summer hiking extensively through France, Switzerland, Germany, and Wales.

Google Plus 101: The Basics

Photo courtesy of Edie Melson

By Laurie Epps

There are so many social media forums, but how do I know which one's the most beneficial? For me, I follow writers such as Edie Melson, but I also follow trends. There's a few websites that I like to do that with, but I just googled it when I was starting out. You'll see if you do this, that the trends are pretty much the same no matter which one you choose.

So, to guide us through the pro's and con's is my mentor Edie Melson. We're continuing with our reading in her book, Connections: Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers. The publisher, My Book Therapy is a great resource to learn writing techniques, enter contests, and learn how to create your fiction novel. It's a tireless resource that chalk full of industry insight.