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Learning from a Master #Storyteller and sign up for free #literary events in May! #CoreyRosen #The Moth #BATSImprov #LiterASIAN #writinglife

art, Artsy Raven, editing, self-publishing, Writing

Today I released one of my favorite podcast episodes (I love all my guests of course) featuring Corey Rosen, an improv artist and “master storyteller.”  He is the San Francisco host of “The Moth” a story telling competition and he wrote a book on how to tell stories recently. In the Moth events you have 5 minutes to tell a story and then get judged: https://themoth.org/storytellers/corey-rosen. One day I’ll work up the courage to participate! Meanwhile listen to Corey on the podcast episode and scribble down his tips because he was very generous in sharing different techniques about storytelling!

Artsy Raven ep 7 Corey Rosen Anchor FM/Spotify link: https://anchor.fm/jf-garrard
Artsy Raven ep 7 Corey Rosen Youtube video: https://youtu.be/3vN_u3KaZwY

For the entire month of May, LiterASIAN 2021 festival is happening! Lots of free events for writers and readers alike, everyone welcomed! Event schedule and signup links here: https://literasian.com/2021-event-schedule/

On May 8, 3pm EST, I’m participating in a panel to talk about self-publishing with Jackie Lau, Diana Morita Cole, Diana Ng, and Cynda Yeasting. We will be doing a short reading and then discussing our techniques on how we self-published our works and how it’s different from traditional publishing. Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WVpNDY3kRgWR_ZICIFx3vg

Belief review on the #RawMikeRichards Show with @TheIdeaShopca this morning! Some thoughts…#Toronto #Vancouver #canlit #youtube #soundcloud

Anthologies, asian, editing, interviews, marketing, radio

This morning we woke up early to listen to “The Raw Mike Richards Show” on Sauga 960am which caters mainly to the Toronto area. Once a month, The Idea Shop goes onto the show to promote the latest book releases in the Canadian market.

To be honest I was a bit nervous about what people would think about the book because although I think it’s fantastic, I’m also the gardener who helped plant the flowers, so my perspective is biased!

It was wonderful to listen to the opinion that the stories were like a “box of chocolates” which cheered up the readers during COVID and also brought up memories of the host (Mike Richards) being close to an Asian family in the town they grew up in. Canada’s strength lies in diversity and the ability for people to work together to transform society for the better.

Have a listen to the audio here: https://soundcloud.com/ideashop/reading-is-beliving-the-idea-shop-april-2021

Youtube video here:https://youtu.be/Tq-o_7RnXkg

Have a great day, good luck hunting for the COVID vaccine and stay safe!

FoodSanity – #BettyCrocker #RedVelvet #cake mix with icing #review. #COVIDbaking

children, family, food, fun, kids, Uncategorized

Recently I saw a Betty Crocker Red Velvet cupcake mix selling on Amazon (couldn’t find at supermarket though) which came with icing, all in one box. I thought I would give this a try since it sounded so convenient.

It surprised me that the box made less cake than the usual box mixes. Instead of 24 cupcakes, you get 12. There are two bags of icing in the box for frosting. To make the cake mix taste better, I made some adjustments – 1) added one more egg, 2) used unsalted butter versus oil, 3) used milk versus water and 4) added a teaspoon of vanilla.

With the cake mix I made 6 Elmo cupcakes (used gel coloring to dye one bag of icing red) and 3 fancy tiered adult cakes. I lost some icing because of the piping process and would have liked more icing. I only took a picture of 4 Elmo cupcakes because 2 of them didn’t turn out as nice. Since I made this around Easter, I added m & m chocolate eggs and fruit to decorate the adult cakes. I think the cakes turned out well and made great Instagram pics!

Food score:

Sight (20/20): A little frosting and color makes all cakes pretty!

Availability (10/20): You can only order from Amazon, I couldn’t find this set at my supermarket. It was also hard to find the red velvet Betty Crocker mix or the cream cheese frosting in the supermarket as well, though there are other brands available. The common flavors of vanilla or chocolate cake mix and frosting are easier to find.

Smell (20/20): Smells like cake while baking!

Taste (18/20): The cake itself wasn’t very sweet, but the icing was, so the flavors balance. This is cake mix so it’s not going to be as good as the cakes from fancy pastry stores!

Touch (20/20): The cakes were springy when done, baked perfectly! Icing was sticky, which is normal.

Overall score: 88/100

Would I order again? Yes! Recently I have been making smaller batches when baking since I can’t share with office folks because of COVID. Making an equivalent of 24 cupcakes would have been a lot, while 12 was just enough to share with a few other people.

Price point note – this box was around $4 Cdn for 12 cupcakes and frosting, or about $0.33/cupcake. For normal size box and frosting, it would have cost around $3.50 for red velvet cake mix, $3.50 for frosting or about $0.29/cupcake for 24 cupcakes. The normal box is cheaper overall, but for some reason it is difficult to find the red velvet box mix and cream cheese frosting in Canada. I really miss crossing the border to visit the US to buy things at their grocery stores!

#EdSeaward #ArtsyRaven #podcast out and draw for two #Amazon #giftcards April 4-9 on #kingsumo

Artsy Raven, podcast, Writing, you tube

Happy Easter Sunday!

Ed Seaward’s interview and reading with the Artsy Raven is now live. He is the happiest person I know and yet his latest book Fair, is about the violent life on the LA streets. He was a screenwriter, worked in the energy field and now retired from “real work” but is writing novels. He has a lot of good advice to give writers and I consider him a great mentor. Check out our episode below to gain some of his wisdom.

In addition, he is giving copies of Fair along with a $10 USD Amazon gift card. Two winners will each receive one e-book and one Amazon gift card. Enter between April 4-9, 2021, winners will be contacted via e-mail!

Enter here: https://kingsumo.com/g/eyskok/ed-seawards-fair-e-book-and-amazon-gift-card-giveaways-2-winners

What are the barriers for #Asians to obtain #mentalhealth help? It’s Real Magazine Co-Networking Director discusses this on the #ArtsyRaven #podcast #AsianAmericans

Artsy Raven, depression, health, publishing

Jing Jing Wang is the Co-Networking Director of It’s Real Magazine, an online magazine which focuses on Asian American mental health issues. It’s more than a magazine, the organization is also involved with making documentaries and other community activities.

We had a frank conversation about why it’s so hard for Asian Americans to obtain mental health care and the differences in mental health outlook within our own Asian families although we were both born in North America. Mental health still has a big stigma attached to it within Asian communities although attitudes are slowly changing. There’s even a wiki page on Hong Kong student suicides which explains some factors which include the Hong Kong education system and pressure from families. April first is also coming up in which the famous singer Leslie Cheung jumped from the roof of the the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, which led to more awareness in the community of the harmful effects of depression.

I assure you the podcast is quite positive as Jing Jing is one person out of many in the Asian community making a difference by making it more acceptable to discuss mental health within society!

To listen to the podcast, click below or visit: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ryXubn5BMBYo9pk5hErAu.

Patreon supporters remember to access your bonus episode related to this podcast about how to be successful in a stressful job: https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard.

an intersectional feminist and artist. On this episode of the Artsy Raven, JF Garrard discusses with them the purpose of It’s Real Magazine, why it’s so hard for Asian Americans to obtain mental health care and the differences in mental health outlook within our own Asian families although we were both born in North America. It’s Real Magazine website: https://www.itsrealmagazine.org/ Jing Jing’s instagram is @jingshiwang01. For more about The Artsy Raven Podcast or to join our exclusive Artsy Raven club to receive free books and other cool stuff, visit: https://jfgarrard.com/arpodcast Remember, Patreon subscribers have bonus content for every episode on the secrets of success! https://www.patreon.com/jfgarrard

Making #3d #bookcovers for #free! How to with link…#indie #publishing #writinglife #selfpublishing #marketing

Books, branding, business, publishing, self-publishing, Uncategorized

On some sites I’ve seen 3d covers of books and wondered how people did it. Well, I know I can hire someone or buy software. But being a frugal person I wasn’t sure if it was worth the money so I never tried to do this. Fast forward a few years later and I’m talking to a book marketing person who is asking me about 3d covers.

Doing a Google search I found a website which lets you render a 3d cover for free! Of course it’s not the best quality (the graphic is small in size) and for a small fee you can pay to download the better version.

You will need 3 images in hand before you start: 1) Front cover, 2) spine only and 3) back cover. You can use any graphic program to crop your print book image file into pieces and just save as separate files.

For those who want to test out 3d covers, visit Boxshot which offers a free online program for use as well as better paid options: https://boxshot.com/3d-pack/3d-book/

On this website after uploading the 3 images of your book (front, spine, back), you can move the book around until you find an angle you like and then save the 3d image.

I did a test run for the Belief cover with the free option and it looks spiffy!

$30 gift card #giveaway by #ArtsyRaven #podcast guest #MayaSvevak, #writing, #writinglife, #publishing

Artsy Raven, podcast, Uncategorized, Writing, you tube

The second episode of The Artsy Raven podcast features Maya Svevak, a scientist, lawyer, activist and author of Svevi Avatar: Persecution of Constantina. She shares with us what inspired her to create a fantasy world in her series of books which take place in an alternate timeline where European colonization didn’t happen. Her world explores the 7 core ecosocial (ecological + social) issues of our time which include issues related to: indigenous peoples, environment, identity, gender violence, capitalism, health, and culture. She also shares writing tips, how she published her books and the collaborative relationship she has with her team of artists.

Link to listen to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Kgj96vRR9B6kczMhgjtkQ

Link to listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcntlRlmdW2nzFZnzq2dA_Q

Her book is launching March 20, 2021 and to celebrate, she is offering The Artsy Raven listeners a chance to win a $30USD Amazon gift card to use to buy her book.

Click here to enter the free giveaway between March 20-25, 2021: https://kingsumo.com/g/nsnpof/maya-svevak-amazon-gift-card-giveaway

March 19 – #WriteRice session with #VincentTernida coming up: What is the difference between #shortstories, #novels and #poetry? #writinglife #ricepapermagazine #acww #canlit

Uncategorized

Write-Rice is an Asian Writers support group which gathers once a month. It’s an informal session in which a host leads a conversation aimed to improve the craft of writing. It’s also a place for people to share things they have experienced in their writing careers and to help each other do better as writers. While it’s aimed at Asian writers, it is an inclusive group and everyone is welcomed to join in!

On March 19, Vincent Ternida will be leading the discussion on what is the difference between short stories, novels and poetry. Some writers can create all of these forms of writing and it’s truly a gift to be able to do so! Vincent made the short list for the CBC Fiction prize before and he is an excellent writer. He will be sharing a lot of knowledge and it’s also a chance to interrogate, er, ask him questions!

This session is free and will require Zoom registration, visit the main website for details: https://ricepapermagazine.ca/writerice/

Live on #Spotify, Ep 1 of the #ArtsyRaven! #ChrisGorman, #fantasy #writer, shares his #writing tips and reads from Dawn of Magic!

Artsy Raven, editing, food, podcast, podcast, publishing, Uncategorized, Writing, you tube

The first episode of The Artsy Raven podcast is live! It’s available on Spotify and YouTube at the moment. Anchor will be sending out the podcast to other channels as well, but it’s still early so the computers are all talking to each other and negotiating, I presume. Bonus content about the secrets of success from the guests for each episode is available exclusively on Patreon.

We had a tiny party with myself, my husband and my little one because of COVID and we didn’t feel comfortable asking people over to our tiny apartment. The cake was baked by Ginny who is fighting on Food Network’s Great Chocolate Showdown and it is a chocolate cake. She said all sorts of fancy words like “caramel something” and “ganache something,” I will have to ask her for exact terms before I post about the specifics of the cake! But it was yummy, that’s the important part!

Chris Gorman, the first guest on The Artsy Raven, has been recording the Words with Writers podcast for a while now and he was the most prepared guest. I had sent him questions and he actually wrote out almost every word he was going to say and even practiced reading the entire transcript to note his speaking time! Of course when we actually did the recording, we interjected impromptu things and I had to cut him off from answering three questions or else we would go overtime.

It’s a bit frightening how fast the podcast went up after the files were ready for uploading. With the click of a button, it was live on Spotify/YouTube and I could see it in the search engines when I look for it. Editing the podcast took a few hours in comparison and I hope in the future I can produce these episodes faster as I become more experienced. At the moment I’ve booked a lot of “local” guests and the challenge in the future is asking “strangers” to come onto the show. I feel I need to have a few more episodes up before approaching big potatoes to come onto the show.

Forward and onwards!

Let’s have a happy Friday and avoid digital violence in the imperial palace! #asian #chinese #gaming

asian, fun, Geek stuff, Uncategorized

In the historical imperial palace game I play there are dual competitions once in a while. As a concubine you build up a team of confidants who are princes, eunuchs, maids, friends and foreign diplomats. Over time you gather potions and collect items to increase their tactics, glamour, wisdom and vigour.

When the duals open, for a week you slaughter other people’s teams by beating the butterflies out of them. Yes, you read right, butterflies instead of blood because this is a civilized girly palace game after all! There are random battles and you can choose to challenge players. To win, some players challenge the same person over and over again until they are negative in scoring.

I died quite quickly since opposition had better stats! You can see me beat some butterflies out of her in this picture…

On the server I am playing on, the top player or winner believes that using any strategy to win is fair, so during duals week, they pretty much kill everyone since they have such a strong team. The winner runs a “palace” (to be a member you must convert your name to include a swastika Buddhist symbol and listen to the winner who is the “Master”) and they send orders to other girls to go after certain players to ensure only their palace members will make the top ten. There is one particular player the winner will send orders to be destroyed every time. The person they bullied went onto the chat board and said quite a few horrible things such as the winner’s mom being a street prostitute and hoping that the winner gets COVID.

While a lot of us were sympathetic originally to the person being bullied, we then felt lines were being crossed on both sides. The winner shouldn’t be bullying others so much but the game rules allow this and the person being bullied shouldn’t be saying such horrible things. After a few days of endless chat messages, a lot of us just gave up being peacekeepers and ignored the drama.

Being an online game, we don’t know each other’s true identities and it’s just ok to walk away sometimes because not all fights are worth fighting! And so, once a month, drama fills the game…