Flash Fiction Friday 045: Modestina by Marlene Caroselli

Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the forty-fifth piece of flash fiction in this series. This week’s is a 825-worder by non-fiction author Marlene Caroselli.

Modestina

In that room of shadows and half-lights, the crucifix on the wall stood silhouetted by the sun. I remember that–the memory is carved, a wooden memory. I moved to give that infant a regular if abrupt passage from his world in the womb to the light outside his mother’s stomach. I saw her weep then and I wondered: Were her tears for the belly that would soon be emptied? Were they for the pain that left her quivering still? Was she looking ahead to the other savage lacerations that inevitably were to come? She was still a young woman; more pregnancies were in store.

But I did not have much time to think about this. The child had come. There was no wail, though, and I soon saw he had somehow tied a knot in the thread that bound him to his mother’s inner life. I had to work quickly then. I had to untie that knot before it strangled this tiny creature, had to try instead to weave that thread into the fabric that makes up a life. I sliced the cord but already, I could tell it was too late. The baby was nothing more than a limp, gray lump. One look at his charcoal skin and I knew: the cord that lay tangled around his neck had strangled him after all.

Erminia became my only concern then. I plucked that shriveled lump away–laying him aside, on the floor, to be disposed of later. I went to her. This was her first child and she had been laboring for many hours now. With my hand, I wiped from her forehead the glistening sweat that smelled of acid. Gently, I placed my other hand upon her stomach and rubbed. I, too, have known the pain of birthing.

Hoping the tone of my voice would be like sawdust on the fire of her unspoken question, I told her she would be fine. But Erminia would not be fooled. “My baby, my baby,” she cried. “What have you done with my baby?”

“Stop!” I scolded. “He came out dead. Forget him!” I hurled the words at her, hoping to startle her into concern for herself. But grief clambered from her heart, too awkward, too grotesque to be stopped with mere syllables. She raised her white arms in that room of terra cotta shadows. “Give him to me,” she demanded, her voice rasping against the soft stillness of the afternoon.

I refused. I am not proud of the thoughts that came to me next but they came, unbidden. I thought that her husband Pasquale would be very disappointed. Probably, he would not reward me as he would have if the baby boy had lived. Would I receive one chicken when I had been expecting two? The thoughts evaporated almost at the same moment they slithered into my head.

Again, I told her the child was dead and she wrapped her arms around herself as if she were sheltering a ghost. She pulled that sadness into her being and sank back upon the pillow, her mourning already begun. She was not speaking words, only sounds that came from deep within her. I stood there helpless. Finally, I began to clean up the room, my thoughts punctuated by her half-sighs and stifled moans.

And then we heard a mewling. I looked at her and found the same perplexing question in her reddened eyes that I had bouncing in my head. From that placenta-shrouded bundle we heard it again. It was fainter this time, almost like the whispered good-bye of a lover reluctant to leave, an utterance more felt than heard.

“Lui e renato,” she shouted, raising herself on her elbows, her eyes straining to see movement in that heap on the floor. “Renato! Renato,” she cried, her words curving around the inert form, as if willing his rebirth.

Could it be? Was God so good that he would restore life to this bundle of flesh and provide another chicken or two for me? I ran to him and saw his tiny fists raised in triumph. I turned him over and slapped his back to clear whatever residue of his previous life lay in his throat. And then I took water from my birthing pail. It was still warm, still good for making little blood-flecked rivers run across his puny chest. My hands had done this hundreds of times; they moved with little direction from me. Even as I cleansed him, I was reaching for the blanket that would offer an early protection from life’s sorrows.

She held out her arms, beseeching me to give her what she had carried inside for nine long months. The baby’s color was restored by now. The danger had passed. I helped her cradle the tiny form in her arms.

She cooed the whole time, “Renato. Renato.”

This is how he came by his name. He came to life a second time.

***

Wow, thank you, Marlene.

Dr. Marlene Caroselli (www.saatchionline.com/LainaCelano), is an author, keynoter, and corporate trainer.

She has published over 60 books, including Jesus, Jonas, and Janus: The Leadership Triumvirate, and Principled Persuasion, named a Director’s Choice by Doubleday Book Club.

 

If you’d like to submit your 1,000-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here.

The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with octogenarian memoirist, non-fiction and fiction author Johnnie Johnson – the four hundred and forty-fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, biographers, agents, publishers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

5PM Fiction 057: Whatever Aunt Agatha has in store for you (second-person future tense story)

Welcome to the fifty-seventh in the series: 5pm Fiction.

Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.

I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second person viewpoint story in future tense where the character is waiting for an important delivery, so here is my 318-worder.

Whatever Aunt Agatha has in store for you

It’ll come and you’ll either be happy about it or how you are now. It can’t get any worse, can it.

Before it arrives though you’ll have to find a space for it. Of course not knowing what you’re going to get doesn’t help but you’ll deal with it. You’re used to dealing with crises and this, you’ve convinced yourself, will not be as bad as losing Brian, or the day the dog… no, you’ll be positive, thank the van driver and wish him a nice day, shut the door, take the parcel into the dining room, unwrap it and deal with it.

Of course you may not want to keep it. You know what strange taste Aunt Agatha had, but to leave you anything had been a shock, but you know her sense of humour too and that it’s not going to be something ordinary… something that’ll just blend into a corner with the rest of the ornaments.

You’ve convinced yourself it’ll be huge. You have visions of the delivery driver having to take the door off its hinges… a life-size wooden elephant, you know Agatha lived overseas for a while but as long as it’s dead you’ll cope.

So you go to the window, pull open the curtains a little to watch the traffic, but not to appear nosy, and you’ll wait… wait for the brown van, the man in the brown uniform to carry, push or wheel whatever’s in store for you and you’ll accept it over the threshold with a smile and thank him for his trouble whether there’s been any or not.

You could do with a new fridge freezer, no more newspaper on the floor to mop up the leaks because the freezer door doesn’t shut. A piece of jewellery would be a treat.

And then you see him, not in a brown van but in a lorry and your heart sinks.

***

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Author interview no.443 with novelist and non-fiction author, and radio host Jim Strait

Welcome to the four hundred and forty-third of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with novelist and non-fiction author, and radio host Jim Strait. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Jim. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Jim: My professional career began as a Special Forces soldier where my only claim to military fame was that of being the youngest recruit to successfully complete Special Forces Training Group. (Not quite certain what that says about me, or the military!)

After the military I enjoyed a thirty-year career as a professional pilot flying over one hundred different types, categories, and models of airplanes. In parallel, I operated a small business providing a variety of services to civilian companies and the military.

After retirement from professional aviation, I transitioned into broadcast radio where I’ve hosted “Strait Talks” radio since 2006 in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania market. My professional writing career began in 2008, and came to be as a function of my having interviewed fortuitous “on air” guests, ultimately leading to their hiring me to write “Weird Missouri”. Since Weird Missouri, and after a couple of false starts, I released my most recent book, “Déjà vu All Over Again”, which is an action adventure novel taking place in the final 57 hours prior to the calendar turning 12-21-2012.

My future projects involve the release of a third book, “Thomas Jefferson is Missing”.

I’m also on the cusp of debuting a new radio format, Book Talk Radio, which will exclusively host authors, publishers, agents, marketers, and others associated with the publishing industry.

Morgen: Wow, you sound busier after your retirement (my mum and I both say there aren’t enough hours in our days but I think most people feel the same whether retired or not). What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Jim: To this point, I’ve written one book that is a hybrid collection of truths and fictions, and two fiction novels. I like fiction because there aren’t any limits to the direction or content of a story line. However, I want my next book to be nonfiction, and am waiting permission to begin a biography about America’s most dynamic cyclist, and it’s not Lance Armstrong!

Morgen: Ah, you’ve got me there then as he’s the only one I can name… but then I only know our Bradley Wiggins because he’s just won the Tour de France (the first Brit to do so apparently). Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Jim: I’ve been fortunate. My first book was published traditionally, however, I was hired to write the book as an independent contractor. All I had to do was submit writing samples to the publisher, and then once given the go ahead, I merely submitted content under the terms of the contract.

My novels on the other hand, are self-published. I like the sense of accomplishment that being an independent affords! Adding to that process is that I understand the marketing end of it, and given that I never sleep, time to market my work is always available.

Morgen: Either way, very rewarding. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Jim: I do not have an agent, however, I would not entirely rule out such a relationship. I’m a notorious control freak, so, working independently may be a happier path for me. It would have to be a remarkable agent, encountering me on an unusual day… in essence; it would have to be a providential meeting.

But I do believe that in some instances, agency can accelerate the journey, however, there are multitudes of ways to succeed. Humans are born engineers, and I like to engineer my way to succeeding in the face of those suggesting that such isn’t possible. I’ll admit that, at times, being a strong willed independent is not the most practical path to follow, but, for me it’s less stressful, thus, more enjoyable.

Morgen: I’m the same (a control freak – just ask my brother!) and love doing every aspect of an eBook myself (although I do have an editor and first readers for the crucial content analysis). Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Jim: Yes, “Déjà vu All Over Again” is an e-Book. “Weird Missouri” is not, which is a function of it containing over 250 photographs and illustrations. “Thomas Jefferson is Missing” will come in all formats, just as “Déjà vu All Over Again” is available in hardback, soft back, and e-Book.

Morgen: It’s very wise. Many authors I’ve spoken to have been selling more in eBook format than paper although only a couple of said they only read eBooks themselves. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Jim: I do 99% of the marketing, and what little I do not do is a function of me not having the technological savvy to make something work within the framework of online systems configurations.  Not much of a computer guy, thus, on occasion I hire things done… websites, etc.

Morgen: I’m fortunate in that I grew up with an older brother who’s very tech savy (I design inexpensive blogs for writers – I’ve done everything on this WordPress blog without it costing a penny)). I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this but did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?

Jim: I control all of it. Title and cover are vital. Humans are visual critters, and the cover needs to convey visually the implied content within the pages. A visual tease is how I think of book covers.

Morgen: We are. We think in pictures. If I said to someone “Brad Pitt” or “Audrey Hepburn”, 99.9% (possibly 100%) of people would picture their faces rather than their names written down. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Jim: Marketing is taking up most of my time at the moment. However, as soon as I get the go ahead on the biography, I’ll begin that process immediately.

Morgen: How exciting. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Jim: I do write every day, however, some days are more productive than others. Creating volume is vital from my frame of reference. Keeping forward motion happening, even if it’s content that is later removed, or that I wordsmith heavily…momentum in all things is critical.

I do not suffer writers block in the conventional sense, but I do lose interest frequently. Thus, the need to write constantly, knowing that exercising the writing machine is just as important as exercising the body. When not writing, I’m riding my bike, and when riding my bike, I’m almost always composing a draft in my head. It’s an insidious loop of writing and riding… not that I’m addicted, but yes, I’m addicted to both.

Morgen: When I drove my lodger to work (which I do 5.30am five days a week, 3.30am on Saturdays!) yesterday morning she said I was addicted to this blog… I think she’s right. The trouble (not really the right word) is that I get over 100 blog-related emails a day and if I don’t keep on top of them (to within a week or two) people start chasing me and I only get more frustrated as my inbox fills. Like anything, dealing with something on a regular basis (like housework – my back garden currently resembles a jungle – or a 100,000 word novel at 300 words a day for a year) makes it more manageable. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Jim: I like to think on my feet, I run with it. Writing myself into a plot line corner and having to engineer my way out is half the fun. Not sure what the other half consists of!

Morgen: Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Jim: Characters are easy for me, having been surrounded by so many for over six decades. Naming them is tougher, but I eventually settle on names that allow me to find comfort with them. Believability is that intangible that is also a make or break issue with any story. Writing from the heart seems to work best for me. Not holding back, letting them be darkly evil, or impossibly angelic, allows me to share with the world my multiplicities.

Morgen: I love the sound of ‘darkly evil’. Do you write any poetry? If so, why do you think it’s such a difficult market to break into? Are there any tips you could give to someone wishing to write poetry?

Jim: Many say that my ultimate demise will be poetic, but beyond that unkind event, I’m not a poetic person. Poetry is rare air, and not many people, in the grand scheme of things, think in poetic terms. It’s a tough niche that I’d never consider entering.

Morgen: Me neither. I’ve written some but it’s certainly not a comfort zone. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Jim: I try to not look back when writing. It’s all about forward motion… momentum. Ultimately, I copy edit the hell out of the story, many times over. And yes, the more I write, the more fully formed I find the story. I’m less frequently going back to add elements that should have been there in the first draft. Writing, like all human endeavours, is a process… I’m still processing!

Morgen: and practicing. Do you have to do much research?

Jim: With “Weird Missouri” I spent eight weeks in state, drove 8,500 miles, visited hundreds of venues, interviewed hundreds of people, took 2700 photographs, and then sat down and wrote the book in three months. So yes, in that instance research was required.

However, with “Déjà vu All Over Again”, the only research I had to do was discover the weight of the International Space Station (one million pounds for the curious) and over what part of our tortured planet the Space Shuttle had to initiate a de-orbit burn in order to land at Roberts Dry Lakebed in California (over the Indian Ocean, for the curious).

I can’t imagine writing an involved story that did not require some modest element of research. We never know as much as we think… even the events of our own lives.

Morgen: Absolutely, and there will always be someone who knows more about a topic than we do… and be happy to put us right. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Jim: I have a couple of false starts that I think will ultimately become whole. I’m still sorting out what it is about the work that I find lacking. I like a fast-paced story, and I think I just need to compress the time lines… we’ll see!

Morgen: A book has to be a page-turner, regardless of genre, really doesn’t it. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Jim: I like it all. As an artist, you get to be the boss. I get to make all of the rules, change them at my whim, or delete them if feeling self indulgent, or if I discover that it was just a dumb rule in the first place. No rules is my favorite part!

If there has been a surprise it’s how prolific I think I can be. It seems to come easy and natural…we’ll see if it lasts.

Morgen: I’m not a red tape fan either. I used to temp, staying no longer than one month at any one place, then I was offered a job at one of them and was there for a couple of years before they moved and I decided to quit and stay at home full-time… I love it. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Jim: Never second guess yourself, always keep the forward motion happening, and realize that marketing is far more laborious than writing.

Morgen: Isn’t it. It’s usually the answer to “what’s your least favourite aspect of writing”. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Jim:  I like the word; “vacuous”… it’s so often applicable!

My favorite quote today is, “The stupid never forgive, nor forget” …Decartes

Yesterday, it was “The only statistics you can trust are those you create yourself”…Churchill

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Jim: I race bicycles on the track (velodromes), and play with my grandkids (5), they can be pretty tricky!

Morgen: Ah, so children’s stories perhaps? What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Jim: For this writer, my hope is a long and prolific career. For others, we’re all authors during an incredible moment of change within the industry. Man communicating with man is always going to happen, thus, writing will be with us always… or, at least some form of communicative interaction. I think in the near term, twenty-five years, writers will still enjoy the conventional process of creating books. Beyond that, books may disappear and be replaced by thought pills, or story injections. Hey, it’s possible!

Morgen: Anything is… I often wonder where technology will go next and it’s usually an unexpected improvement. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Jim: www.straittalks.com, www.weirdmissouri.com, www.dejavualloveragainbook.com, https://www.facebook.com/JamesStraitAuthor

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Jim: I’d like to thank you for this very helpful and generous service!

Morgen: You’re very welcome. Thank you for spending time with me today.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

• http://nonfictionwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/335526669896374

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group

• http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189

Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group

• http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934

Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group

• http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017

Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group

• http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

5a.m. Flash 270712 – How to get massive free publicity for your book

Every now and then at 5a.m. (probably posted by my clone) I will be bringing you a newsflash, update on what I’m doing, invited guest pieces, or whatever takes my fancy, and today’s is on the topic of free publicity…

How to get massive free publicity for your book

On last Sunday’s edition of my eNewspaper The Morgen Bailey Daily, I spotted a retweet of Jonathan Gunson’s article http://bestsellerlabs.com/how-to-get-massive-free-publicity-for-your-book which recommends getting pally with book reviewers and bloggers and includes the following 5 Tips For Building Rapport With Book Bloggers

1.  Find book bloggers who ‘fit’ with your genre best and have a large readership;

2.  Check their availability;

3.  Support them on Twitter;

4.  Canvas their ‘expert’ opinion;

5.  Support them on their blog.

As a blogger (though not a novel reviewer), I’d concur with that.

and on the other side of the coin… Indie Author News’ How to avoid bad book reviews.

Finally I’ve been emailed these, on a similar subject, which is very encouraging…

25 Famously Successful People Who Started Off Freelancing

***

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups listed below:

Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

• http://nonfictionwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/335526669896374

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group

• http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189

Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group

• http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934

Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group

• http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017

Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group

• http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445

We look forward to reading your comments.