New Audio-book free to reviewers! :-)

Happy Friday! I have free download codes for reviewers for my new audio-book--Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four. The narrator, Joshua Mackey, is fantastic! 

This book, which I co-authored book with my son Josh, is about his successful four-year quest to obtain posthumous pardons for the Groveland Four. Josh was inspired to take up this cause after reading Gilbert King’s Pulitzer Prize winning book chronicling this terrible racial injustice from Florida’s past.  

Leave a comment if you'd like a code for review purposes.

Here’s the link on Audible: 

https://www.audible.com/pd/Accidental-Activist-Audiobook/B083VT41DG?qid=1579281534&sr=1-12&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=43JZQYYRY0RXW65ZTY3P&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_12

  

Book Description: This book will take you through my incredible four year quest for justice for The Groveland Four and teach you how to pursue your own causes, whatever they may be. It is a primer for positive action, a journey through Florida's past as well as its future. Some of the things you will learn: everything takes more time than you think, nothing ever goes according to plan, help can come from unexpected places, time is on your side, everyone is connected to everyone else, you can reach your tipping point for success and not even realize it, your goals can change along the way, and flexibility is key. Let's get started, shall we? 

Accidental Activist is now out in paperback :-)

My new book, "Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four", which I co-authored with my son Josh, is now available in paperback for the low price of $6.00. 

It would make a great gift for the activists in your circle, or anyone who wants to be inspired to take action for social justice, but doesn't know how to start. Josh's four year quest for justice for the Groveland Four is a true story, filled with memorable people, and one you won't soon forget.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1672730864?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

Groveland Four Update!

If you've read my new book, "Accidental Activist: Justice for The Groveland Four" which I co-authored with my son Josh, you will be happy to see that history is still being made and the story isn't over yet. 

This article came out today: https://www.wmfe.org/exoneration-for-the-groveland-four-state-leaders-call-on-desantis-to-sign-order/140993?fbclid=IwAR3trDBBJ3I8mWDbtyGauRIcV_DtvMPcs8Pme8DXnwaEwQ8TzRe_BmUM4kw

State leaders are calling on the DeSantis administration to exonerate four black men accused of raping a white woman in Lake County in 1949. 

The leaders will demonstrate today in Tallahassee with family members of the Groveland Four.  

The DeSantis administration pardoned the men earlier this year. But family members, along with Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, State Senator Gary Farmer and State Representative Geraldine Thompson say only exoneration fully acknowledges their innocence.

Commissioner Fried who is on the Clemency Board says exoneration is the only way to fully acknowledge the men’s innocence. 

“And a pardon is saying almost like you have been forgiven for the acts that you were convicted of. But an exoneration says you should have never been convicted or charged to begin with.”

State Representative Thompson says exonerating the men would set a precedent for criminal justice reform in the state. 

“It would mean that we are committed to righting a wrong, we’re committed to justice, and we’re committed to racial reconciliation.”

Hooray for a New Audio book & Free Download Codes! :-D

Happy Holidays! :-D

I'm thrilled to announce that my children's book, "The Fight for Magicallus", has finally become an audio book, thanks to the beautiful narration of Sara M. Sapp. 

Check out the sample:

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fight-for-Magicallus-Audiobook/B0822KMLZ9?qid=1575306550&sr=1-11&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=E2PB18TSN86HM33ZAMB2&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_11

Here's the blurb:

While experimenting with a magic wand, two young brothers are pulled into a computer game called: The Fight for Magicallus. In the land of Magicallus, they encounter goblins and knights who are on the brink of war because their ruler has mysteriously disappeared and the knights blame the goblins! The boys learn of a frightening prophecy that foretells the end of Magicallus. They must find an ancient book hidden in a dragon’s lair before the prophecy comes to pass and they are all destroyed...

Can the boys find their way home? Will the knights and goblins go to war? Or will the dragon destroy them all? With both humor and suspense, this story pulls you in and doesn't let go.

Message me if you'd like a free Audible download code, and not just because it's Cyber Monday. This offer doesn't expire until I run out of codes. :-D

New Book Free on Kindle thru 10/21 :-D

I'm excited to announce the arrival of a new book I co-authored with my son Josh about his quest for social justice: Accident Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four.

It is free on Kindle today through 10/21, so please check it out. Thanks!

Blurb:  This book will take you through my incredible four year quest for justice for The Groveland Four and teach you how to pursue your own causes, whatever they may be. It is a primer for positive action, a journey through Florida's past as well as its future. Some of the things you will learn: everything takes more time than you think, nothing ever goes according to plan, help can come from unexpected places, time is on your side, everyone is connected to everyone else, you can reach your tipping point for success and not even realize it, your goals can change along the way, and flexibility is key. Let's get started, shall we?

LINK:

https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Activist-Justice-Groveland-Four-ebook/dp/B07Z5TYNT7/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=josh+venkataraman&qid=1571316927&sr=8-1

The Workaround :-)

I'm technologically challenged and odds are you are too. Let's face it, someone is keeping all those IT call centers in business and it's not me. I'm a do-it-yourselfer. When a gadget goes on the fritz I try to muddle through and hope I get lucky. I figure even a broken clock is right twice a day. Last week, my luck ran out. 

I'd parked myself in front of my computer to complete an online training course but the program refused to run. I was alarmed when the screen suddenly went blank so I switched browsers, which didn't help at all (thanks for nothing, Firefox). I then followed the troubleshooting instructions (trouble is my middle name) and tried to download a new version of Adobe Flash. That's when all hell broke loose and my keyboard became possessed by evil spirits. The shift key stopped responding as did the caps lock. I could have lived with typing in lower case letters like e.e. cummings, but there were more problems to come. When I touched the control button the calculator kept popping up and the keyboard lit up like Christmas. Had my car gone crazy like this while I was driving I would've been in full panic mode. I closed the program but that didn't stop the demonic possession so I shut down the computer and restarted it, which also didn't help. It didn't seem like a malware problem--more like a 'me' problem--so I started Googling all the reasons these things could be happening and how to fix them. I tried a few of them, typing my inquiries in lower case letters, of course, and avoiding the control button since it wasn't a complex math problem that required a dozen calculators. No luck. I finally arrived at my tried and true method, banging my head on the keyboard because it feels so right.

I forgot to mention how this was the last possible day to complete a training I desperately needed. Foiled by my procrastinating ways, I'd been hoisted by my own petard. Again.

I texted my husband for advice but he had none to offer, so I gave up. I drowned my sorrows in a bowl of chocolate ice cream and waited for my very own IT guy to get home. The first thing he did after he kicked off his shoes was switch out the keyboard for an old one in the closet. Problem solved. All the demons went back to hell and I finished my training before midnight. 

Whew! It's a good thing I'm so self-sufficient.  

Free Audiobook Download Codes! :-)

I have a new audiobook of essays and wanted to offer some free download codes in exchange for an honest review.  

Here’s the link on Amazon to check it out, please let me know if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/Smidge-Crazy-Quirky-Essays-People-ebook/dp/B07C7184KH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=J06DLGI883KM&keywords=a+smidge+of+crazy&qid=1563492233&s=gateway&sprefix=a+smidge%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1   

Thanks!