Writing saves kids
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WWWeb
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Innerwife Fall Holiday tips
The Official Chad Hunter H4 Fall 2016 Newsletter
Welcome Fall is my favorite time of the year. It’s the weather, the holidays of fright and gratitude and it’s all the pumpkin flavored items at stores (which is a strange reason for me since I hate pumpkin!) Fall also marks the return to school and to this day, I still feel that transition from summer to dry leaves and gray skies. And I love it. From me to you, enjoy this edition of the H4 newsletter as we discuss how writing can save kids, seasonal excerpts from Black Parakeets, horror news, tips from the Innerwife on the holidays and more. Thank you for reading & enjoy that pumpkin spice latte. Because I won’t! Chad
Back to School - Writing can save our kids Everyday we receive information, more news driving into us that our future is dim and our children are lost. And even worse, is that they are lost and there is no way to reach them. This is a belief given to us by those who do not know the power of writing - the force of creation. Writing can save our kids. How? The same core issues that have always faced our humanity has not changed, only those issues’ media and times. Lack of money. Racism. Anger. Broken
homes. Health problems. These are the same issues that plagued those in the days of Byron, Shakespeare, Poe, Cather, Hughes, Bradbury, Baldwin, Garcia and Angelou. All of these historical writers faced lives of uncertain directly or indirectly and through writing, they created beyond their circumstances. The key is using writing as the coping mechanism to the difficult lives our children (and ourselves) face daily. These three concepts are at the core of (continued on pg. 2)
writing to save a child’s life. • Give a child a book – let them READ. • Give a child a blank book - let them WRITE. • Give a child their creativity - let them BUILD. • You will be saving that child’s life. One cannot wholly discuss writing without discussing reading as well. As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, reading is “the action or skill of reading written or printed matter silently or aloud.” A child’s reading skills are important to their success in school, future work and life overall. Simply put – reading directly influences a child’s life by giving them glimpses of a world bigger than the one they know; a world where there are more opportunities and more possibilities than just that block or house in which they live. A staggering fact, in previous years, the average cost to keep a 25 year-old man incarcerated is approximately $32,000 a year; For 10 years, that is $320,000. Families will make time, take leave do whatever it takes to see this man on prison visits, phone calls, etc. The question for those who worry about the dedication and time it takes to foster reading and writing in a child - what if this incarcerated man
was given a book when he was ten? When he was five? What if a fraction of that $320,000 was used to get this man - as a boy - a book? What if the time found for prison visits, could have been found for a child’s reading and development? Reading is more than just scanning a page with the eye and taking it in. Reading is the searching AND the finding of information. Reading is the soul trying to figure things out. Writing is defined as “the activity or skill of marking coherent words on paper and composing text.” If reading is the reception of emotions and ideas, writing is the mirrored expression. And for anyone who is besieged by anger, sorrow, pain and so on, expression is Freedom from that Anger, from that Pain and from darkness itself. Great authors such as Anne Frank used writing to deliver themselves from the dire circumstances around them. Rather than maintain their pain inside until it became violence or continued despair, they exorcised it via writing. And not all writing must be wounded storytelling. Expression is also sharing of joy, of laughter, of the very light that is within us.
Five Steps to reading Black Parakeets Only Hatch in December I could be biased but Black Parakeets Only Hatch in December is a book worth reading. Why? Because it has done its job – telling stories that have made people laugh, cry and feel – especially about moments in their own lives. For those who have yet to experience this little birdie, here are tips on truly enjoying Black Parakeets! 1.Open up – Black Parakeets is about more than a black male growing up in Northwest SMALLER Pages from Black Parakeets Only Hatch in December-FINAL-COVERIndiana. There have been countless people of different walks of life that have found the book striking a chord deeper and closer with them than they expected. Open up because the Parakeet is about human connectivity and you’re human so get connected. 2.Read randomly – The book is written in episodic form and does not run in order. This allows readers to pick up and jump on anywhere. This makes it the perfect book for reading while on the road. 3.Compare to yourself – You might be thinking “I’ve got nothing in common with Chad Hunter.” This is untrue (especially if you’re a member of my family!) because being human means we’ve experienced a lot of the same emotions and experiences. As you read, let the stories remind you of similar moments in your life. 4.Do what you’re asking yourself to do – Laugh. Cry. Think. Ponder. Do whatever it is that you experiencing as you read. A fan of the book read it while sitting with a family member undergoing chemotherapy. She found stories hilarious and laughed while in an otherwise potentially somber environment. The book brought her humor in a tough situation and she went with it. Do the same when the story is right. 5.Enjoy – Possibly the most important tip of all. Have fun with the book. It is meant to share, to discuss and to enjoy.
The Best Advice We’ve Ever Heard About growing up Black Parakeets Only Hatch in December is, if nothing else, about human connectedness. A giant part of what connects us is that we all had to grow up (some of us are still working on that!). During our childhood and even after, we have all heard wisdom, sayings, clichés and more about becoming adults. Some was completely ridiculous. Some was pure gold. This is some of the best advice we’ve ever heard about growing up. Appreciate people everyday – As you grow up, you learn that life is short. And even
much shorter, it seems, is the time you have with the people you love. Appreciate people that you know and even people that you meet in passing. Let people know that you see their efforts and acknowledge what they do and who they are. Laugh more – Growing up can try its damnedest to take away your smile and humor. Don’t let it. Watch more comedies. Skip the news. Only read the comics. Watch cartoons and play with your kids – like really play – be goofy and enjoy a good belly laugh. Your heart, mind and body will appreciate it. Enjoy the small things – Children see almost everything as new. When rain falls, they scream-laugh at getting wet; while we complain about the umbrella breaking. In the winter, they eat snowflakes; while we gripe over the cold. In the morning, they think sun is pretty; while we get upset because its the start of another work or school day. Enjoy the small things because they’re free and because they matter more than we know. Do what you love to do – Growing up, we did what we loved to do. Play. Read things we were interested in. Eat things that tasted good. Run. Laugh. In the hustle and bustle of twelve hour work days and mid-terms, take time to do something you love to do. You don’t have to do it – Growing older is nature. Growing up is optional. Sure you must embrace more adult level responsibilities but you do not have to lose the wonder and zeal of your childhood self. Forget the umbrella and jump in the rain. Get spontaneous ice cream. Buy yourself a toy. Get some back to school supplies for yourself just because they look fun. Imagine you have childhood you around except you can buy them stuff.
Happy Halloween - WWWeb!! Light the pumpkins and rise from the graves! It’s that time of year and we’re proud to announce WWWebb - a free ezine spotlighting standalone stories and tales of the wild, the weird and the strange. Referring to everything that is Wild, Weird, Wonderous , Exotic and Bizarre, WWWeb will be a collection of stories, art and more which are uniquely tied together by the facts that they excite and that they are not tied together. In WWWeb, you will meet characters such as Jonathan Portray, Woodrow N. Coffin and Daniel Collingsworth - all hunters of horrors and myths in their own right. Enter the world of the Imaginarium where the very thoughts in your creative mind can destroy with great ease. And finally journey to Mexico where the ghosts and the dead run down cobblestones. Get caught in the WWWeb.
One man, many monsters - The Return of the Parannihilator When I was a kid, one of my first creations was the character of Jonathan Portray - college professor, parapsychologist and government operative. Oh yeah, and monster-hunter. Jonathan Portray was created as a childhood reflexive fear of just about everything! Being a child of 80’s, I saw the growth of gore in films. Movies like Return of the Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and other films were being born and it seemed they never missed my mom’s Zenith TV. Not to mention the omnipresence of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and shows like Tales from the Darkside. All these things swirled together into an obvious fact - monsters were real (at least in my mind.) I could not only fear them, I had to combat them. I had to take the fight to the creepies and crawlies that lurked in the dark spaces of the new house we had just moved into. My mind was filled with superheroes who fought the supernatural like Doctor Fate, Doctor Strange (apparently that is what doctors really do!) and TV shows like Kolchak: The Night Stalker became a type of primordial soup for my imagination. From this stew came the cool body armor with performance enhancing exoskeleton and an arsenal of monster-hunting gadgets. The hero had to be edgy and dark but noble and with a true heart. Throw in a bit of The Man with no Name and Jonathan Michael Portay - the Parannihilator - leapt into creation. The Parannihilator appeared on an old websote called Dark Tales (I think) and it was not his story but a stomach-churning tale of his adopted sister Nancy titled “Good Girls Finish Their Plates.” After this story, Jonathan went through more development and more adventures - enough to generate more tales of suspense and terror and a full-length novel. He was a hero of my childhood and now he’s back. Check out the upcoming webzine WWWeb for The Portray Protocols Tales of the Parannihilator.
“Hell for the holidays?” – Using the Innerwife for Managing the HoliThe Innerwife and its counterpart Innerhusband are tools that can truly enrich relationships across the board. Even more so, Innerspouses can bring some enlightenment to one of the biggest stressors that rear up seasonally – Bah Humbug! It’s juggling the holidays! How to Use Your Innerspouse for Managing the Holidays Mentally review your spouse’s past holiday stories – Your special someone has told you stories about their family. Whether it was eating turkey the night before Thanksgiving, opening gifts Christmas Eve or going to temple with their special aunt, you’ve heard stories about your baby’s holidays. Turn back your mental recorder and take note of what’s been important to their celebrations. Mentally review previous holidays you’ve shared with your spouse – Build your Innerspouse with information of yoursnowy days with your wifey or hubby. Did they put special focus on the prayer of giving thanks? Did they make sure it was a real tree instead of a fake one? What events made them happy as a sugar plum fairy, sad like a lump of coal or happy like a joyous elf? You can build a simulation of your Innerspouse with the copious amount of information you’ve recorded in your mind over your time together.
Get an early view of seasonal plans – Talk to your family and your spouse’s (if you can) ahead of time. When you know what’s coming, you can try to plan and maneuver yourself around the pitfalls ahead. Inquiring about what’s going on may allow you to get in on the planning phase. You could be able to help schedule and avoid stress! Communicate – Talk, talk and talk with your spouse. Plain and simple. Make sure you both know that neither of you is trying to “get over” on the other one. Emphasis that while you’ll be running around seeing each other’s family, the holidays are about YOUR family together first and foremost. Volunteer – Doing community service together can get your perspectives in order. You’ll naturally feel the good work you’re doing radiate into you both. Plus, you’ll be helping out others. Be flexible – It will take some managing here and there. It will be give and take but in the end, after good meals, happy moments and joyous time, your hazardous-holiday minefield-maneuvering will have been worth it. ** Click the image below to order How To Lists from the Innerwife from AMAZON!
It is Fall and with the dying of leaves comes the trick of the treating! With the Monster Man - King of Fools still ranking high with critics, we had to pay homage to the monsters we love the most! Check out these short blurbs on the Count and the lab experiment himself, the Frankenstein’s Monster! ** Click the image below to order The Monster Man from AMAZON!
Why do we love Dracula? “I have crossed oceans of time to find you!” - Dracula From the real life Vlad the Impaled to the caped character on movie screens, we love and have always loved Dracula. For those who may not know, the Lord of the Vampires himself is a major antagonist in The Monster Man series. He is brutal, intelligent, cunning and cruel. His powers of immortality, shape-shifting and command over the creatures of the night all nearly pale in comparison to his brilliant mind and force of will. Dracula is a dark force, a ruthless general and a fanged nightmare all wrapped up together. So why do we love Dracula? The Lord of Vampires, the Prince of Darkness, the Scourge of Transylvania, whatever you want to call him, is the embodiment of absolute freedom. He does what he wants, when he wants and how he wants. He is free from time and death itself. He boasts about the range of his powers and his words are true. Despite major weaknesses such as decreased power during the day, holy items and a stake through the heart, Dracula is still free. And that is why we love him because we want to be him. Maybe not bloodthirsty warlords from beyond the grave but we want his freedom, we want his attitude because ultimately Dracula is confident and confidence is sexy. We love Dracula because we want to be like him and who does not want to be sexy?
Why do we love Frankenstein’s Monster? The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” – The Monster, Frankenstein He is a tall and massive lumbering ghoul; consisting of the most horrible reminders of our mortality – pieces of corpses stitched together. He has been re-imagined and redefined but in each instance, there is a constant – the Monster is loved, not by the characters in his tale but by we the audience. But why? (continued on page 9)
Given his morbid and tragic existence, we do we love Frankenstein’s Monster? The Monster gives us the chance to both love and fear death in the same breath, cold as it may seem. He represents our hope to defy the inevitable fate which all life must face – its own end. For the Monster, there is no “momento mori,” he is immortal in a sense and represents our desire to be the same. The Monster is also a sympathetic character. He wants to be loved. He wants to be accepted. And of all the things he wanted, existing was never one of them. Yet he is dragged into life via the ratings of a grief-stricken genius. The Monster is the broken-heart, he is the unrequited affection and he is the shattered hope of the misunderstood. Where Dracula is loved because he is our desires of seduction, Frankenstein’s Monster is loved because he is our unadmitted sorrows. If Dracula is the lothario, the Monster is the hopeless romantic. And that is why we love Frankenstein’s Monster.
FALL - Black Parakeets EXCERPT Halloween was always a big holiday for my brother and me. When we were much younger, Jaime would have decorated the entire house in fright-fest ornamentation. For days, my older sibling would dip fingers and hands into papier-mâché mix and turn newspaper into goblins and masking tape into ghouls. And he was good at it. Not only did water and flour pour into a giant clear plastic bowl, but imagination itself was found into the mix. For all my years of knowing the gentle giant, my brother was always at his happiest creating and, in part, scaring the crap out of me. His creations were not only life-sized but life-like. To a fiveyear-old, a creature born from hangers and wet paper may as well have been made of claw and fang. Once he made a witch that scared me so much he had to take it down. I know, it sounds like I was always scared. Probably because I was. As we grew, so did our love for the holiday. Only now, as we had moved from house to house, the attention shifted from an entire landscape to costumes. All my schools had costume contests. To my brother, these were challenges; like gloves slapped across the face or gauntlets thrown down. Each time, Jaime accepted. For my three years in Washington Elementary on Euclid and Chicago Avenue, I dominated the costume contests. My brother’s creations had gotten so good that the other students wanted to see what he had cooked up this year and the next. I remember going as Optimus Prime from the Transformers. I was half-man, half-fly and once, I was an evil knight with a bat’s head replacing my own. Each time, from vampire’s bite until the last wolf’s howl, I was a supernatural su-
perstar. But really, each time I wore my brother’s creation with pride Years after sixth grade, the contests had died off. I had grown up. Jaime had lost a bit of the zeal for the holiday and had done his last cardboard headstone. But in high school, my senior year, we heard those three words. Halloween Costume Contest. And something woke up in us again. Every mummy tore loose its one good arm in a dusted resurrection. Every lagoon’s creature bubbled up from murky depths. Every zombie moaned with newfound unlife.
It’s Fall and two things come to mind besides leaves, the color orange, pumpkins and turkeys - hot drinks. Coffee. Hot chocolate. Every good writer and every good reader need one or the other at some time in their lives. Here go two recipes worth the effort to enjoy the best there is. Courtest of www.mrfood.com. Mochachino SERVES 8 What You'll Need: 6 measuring cups brewed coffee 1/2 cup chocolate-flavored syrup 1/2 cup whipped cream or frozen whipped topping, thawed What To Do: 1.Place hot brewed coffee in a medium-sized saucepan and add chocolate syrup; stir well. Pour into individual cups and top each with a dollop of whipped topping and a sprinkle of cocoa
Hot chocoloate What You'll Need: 3/4 cup cocoa powder 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 cups warm water 8 cups half-and-half campaignIcon Coupons 48 mini marshmallows What To Do: 1.In a large saucepan, combine cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Gradually stir in the water and simmer over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Gradually add the half-and-half and heat, but do not allow mixture to boil. 2.Remove from heat and serve in mugs, topped with mini marshmallows. Note You may substitute skim milk for the half-and-half if you want to cut down on the fat in this drink.
Interested in the books mentioned and featured in this newseletter? Click on any of the images below for the link to each book on Amazon!
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