10,000 Views — Thank You

~~ a short essay ~~

by tkbrown

Once again, I utter a resounding, “Thank You,” and humbly ask your continued support. I cannot tell you how surprised I was when I accessed my message from WordPress this past week. There are no words to describe how strongly I appreciate the continued support I receive from followers and from others. To have surpassed 10,000 Views of my website — tkbrown.org — is an amazing feat which has only been made possible by those who have and those who continue to support my authorship.

This is an Award I had actually never contemplated receiving. It tells me my writing touches some people strongly, and I appreciate that. Since I write in a variety of forms, my followers and readers are a diverse group. My goal has never been to appeal to only one group of readers. I hope to ultimately touch most readers on some level.

Whether you like what I write or dislike it, you have impacted my number of viewers, and I invite you to continue returning and reading my posts. One day, those of you who have not liked what I write may decide you do like a particular post. My goal is to continue attracting diverse groupings of readers and touching the hearts and souls of people everywhere.

I am now approaching 250 posts. I am not quite there, but I am closing in on it. So, if to date you have not found a post you like, please come back and sit a spell while you read from my various writing styles. I can almost guarantee you will eventually find something you like. When you do, don’t forget to scroll down and click on the “Like” button and “Share via Facebook and/or Twitter.”

I have made 230 posts on my website — tkbrown.org. I invite you to see what you think of them and let me know in the comments at the bottom of each posting.

Again, Thank You for such amazing support and loyalty to my site! I appreciate each of you!

Sincerely,
tkbrown

My Morning Do . . . Writing Interrupted

~~ by tkbrown

21 January 2021 — I want to apologize for being absent so long. My computer was hacked and contracted a Trojan virus in early December. I just now am back up and running. It has been an interesting experience. I won’t bore you with the details. But, I will say I am learning a lot to facilitate my writing in the future. Each day brings new lessons in Internet Technology (IT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and a host of other concepts.

I was beginning to feel lost without my computer and the ability to write productively. I find I must type when I write. When I try to write my thoughts by hand, my brain goes much faster than I can write. So, I tend to lose a lot of my thoughts before I can put them to paper. When I sit down to type, more often than not, my thoughts seem to flow through my fingertips to the keys beneath them. Thus, another thing I have learned during this time of absentia is that my computer is a great writing companion.

I see that many of you have checked daily for my return, and I am very appreciative of your loyalty. You are each a true blessing to me, and I will do my best to make up for my absence. You have shown me, beyond any doubt, the true allegiance of your following. When I said I needed to take time for the writing of my books and not make quite so many posts, I did not intend to go a month or more between postings. Thank You for bearing with me.

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Photo Above: by Aaron Burden @Unsplash.com.

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2 Year Blogging Anniversary

~~ by tkbrown ~~

14 December 2020

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 2 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

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Thank You! ~~ Thank You! ~~ Thank You!

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Two years ago, I decided to jump into blogging with both feet. Then, once I jumped in, I had no idea how to proceed and the cold water got the best of me. I decided to jump out and watch from the bank until I learned what to do. HaHa!

Little did I know, the learning comes from the doing — not from the watching. So, about a year ago, I decided to try again with the intention of “sink or swim.” At times, this approach has served me well and others, not so well! But, one day at a time, I am getting there — I think!

Sometimes, I get too much going and have to back off a bit. During those times, all of you — my faithful followers — have stood by me until I got my land-legs again. I appreciate the ongoing patience you have all shown me. I am sure, I will need that patience more times in the future, but hopefully it will be less and less frequently as time goes by.

With my 2 Year Anniversary with WordPress, and their most appreciated reminder of this milestone, I am looking at needing to alot time for completing my books for publication. While I will try not to appear to have dropped off the planet, I do need to space out my posts a bit as I do this publication prep work. I ask that you all bear with me as I find my pace again. I will continue all of the various types of posts I have been doing, albeit not as often with some of them.

You are Much Appreciated, and I look forward to recognizing each new milestone with each of YOU by my side! As we approach the end of this year and the beginning of a new one, I wish all of you around the world:

Happy Holidays!

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tkbrown.org — My New Milestone

~~ by tkbrown

I am in the process of remaking my website and transitioning it from tkbrownwriter.wordpress.com to tkbrown.org which will ultimately be my author website. I ask your patience during this time as I upgrade and learn how to do all of the transitioning. Thank You so very much for helping me arrive at this new milestone in my progress.

Have a Great Day!

Liebster Award Nomination

Hi Everyone, I have just received one of the greatest complements to be granted a relative ‘newbie’ in the blogging arena. Sonal Mishra, at http://www.ouractionisourluck.wordpress.com, has visited quite a number of my posts here on my WordPress page. Just the reading of so many posts on my blog, in and of the behavior itself, is such a high honor to me. There is no greater honor to an author than to be deemed worthy–by another author–of being read. No words can express my gratitude to Sonal for reading my blog so voraciously. Now she steps up to a much higher rung on the ladder and shouts my blog to the world as being read-worthy. Sonal, Thank You! I am humbled by your praise. As you read my blog, please visit Sonal Mishra’s blog as well: http://www.ouractionisourluck.wordpress.com. She is a young and upcoming author searching for all the input she can possibly gain from fellow writers, poets, sketchers, and artists of all forms. The illustrations on each of her blog posts is her own. Her talents abound, and she is using those talents abundantly–so she will continue to amass new talents. This is our promise with assurance. Sonal also engages in the most effective learning and refining tool a writer has–she reads and peruses the work of fellow artists. This will contribute to your success, Sonal. As you journey various paths throughout life, this habit alone will refine you and your talents. Thank You for sharing paths with me. I am honored! You are an artist who speaks and illustrates from the heart.

I urge you, please visit Sonal Mishara’s wordpress blog page and support her efforts as an up and coming author / poet / writer /artist / sketcher / illustrator / etc. Her blog post link is: http://www.ouractionisourluck.wordpress.com. Again, Thank You, Sonal!!!

The Liebster Award is given to bloggers by other bloggers, https://bloggingfilter.com/liebster-award/. This blog post tells us “Liebster is German — it means ‘sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.'”

Rules to the Liebster Blogger Award:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and give a link to their blog–which I have done above. Never can I Thank her enough for this nomination. Again, Sonal, Thank You for this high honor!
  2. Answer the 11 questions given to you.
  3. Nominate between 5–11 other bloggers.
  4. Ask your nominees 11 questions.
  5. Notify your nominees once you’ve uploaded your post.

Sonal Mishra’s Questions for me:

“If you want to become a Great Writer, you have to be a Great Reader.” Do you agree?”

Yes, it is not possible to understand all the nuances of great writing from a vacuum. The works of other writers, great or not, teach us by example. There is no greater way to learn than by example. I am honored that you find my postings so readable. You do my heart good!

What is the Purpose of your blog?

I started my blog as a means of developing my Writer’s Platform. Since I write such varied works, my postings might confuse the visitor in the beginning. However, as the postings are read, a common thread in each alludes to who I am. I strive to live my life in honesty, integrity, compassion, acceptance, understanding, and with agape love as demonstrated by Jesus Christ when He lived on this earth. I hope my poetry, prose, and poetic prose postings depict this. Thus, the purpose of my blog is to introduce myself and my authorial creations to those who choose to read. As I move further along the timeline of my blog, I will share my paintings and sketches as well.

Give two good and two bad habits of yours.

Two Good Habits: I would say my two strengths are persistence and caring about others. I am persistent to a fault. Once I begin something, I want to finish it, sometimes to the point of not getting away from it until it is done. This is both good and bad. So, it is one of my bad habits as well. I have been known to neglect myself in order to finish the project on which I am working.

Caring about others is the second good habit I would share. It is a most important factor in my work. I try to soften more pointed factors in my work by providing reasons for a certain aspect or characteristic. My acceptance of a particular concept or belief promotes my sharing it in my writings. That sharing does not mean I expect the reader to embrace the same concept or belief. I strive to accept each person as he or she presents. I do not try to mold them to my own form. The world would be a very boring place if we were all formed from the same mold.

Two Bad Habits: As mentioned above, persistence is both a good and a bad habit for me. While it is most valuable in my ability to see a project through to completion, regardless of how long the project takes, it is also a deterrent because neglecting myself due to persistence can lead to serious health problems. So, I make a conscious effort to spend adequate time taking care of me.

The second Bad Habit I would share: I sometimes care too much about others and what they need from be becomes sort of distorted. I have to be careful that I do not give of myself and what I have so much I do not have sufficient left for myself–whether it be energy, physical supplies, etc. For the most part, I have learned through the years to balance this.

According to you, “What defines a Writer?”

A writer is someone who puts personal thoughts to paper. It matters not whether those thoughts are ever published. If the writer/author has composed a work of value to others, it will be published at some point in time. If it is only of value to the one who does the writing, he/she is still a writer. Journaling is not typically intended to be shared. It is for the personal and private growth and reflection of the individual writer. There again, some of the best writers were discovered posthumously.

Would you rather travel or read a book at home?

Initially, I prefer to read a book in order to learn about the place I would then like to visit. If the author has taken the time to properly research the locale, either in person or through the writings of others, references in the book to specific places will be well-placed. This will assist me in choosing my agenda while visiting in person, should I choose to do so.

What is your favorite genre?

I would tend to say historical fiction is my favorite genre – with conditions. The work must be well written, well researched and appropriately reference events and persons from that time period, unless the foreword specifies otherwise. Sometimes authors insert people and events. This should be noted out of respect for the reader. Leading the reader to believe the events and characters actually played roles in that time period when they did not can confuse novice readers regarding actual historical timelines.

Now, with all that said, I actually love reading many genres — so long as they do not have too much violence, blood and gore, obscenity and sexual focus. These abound and allude my interests. Any genre presenting intellectual authorship is actually to my enjoyment. I also enjoy reading non-fiction in many areas of the Dewey Decimal designations.

How are you spending your time in this lockdown?

I am remaining very active during the lockdown. In my normal routine, I engage in many activities around my home. I am proficient in several needlecrafts, I paint, try to sketch, read, write both poetry and prose. I also enjoy cooking and cleaning. I research healthy eating for specific medical concerns, find recipes using the ingredients needed, then create my version of those entrées to enhance my own health. These are things I could never find the time to do while working outside my home. So, I am enjoying my time in lockdown. The only thing I do not enjoy about it is: my family has not been able to come see me. I look forward to the day the virus is controlled enough that it will be safe for them to come visit again.

What is your favorite book?

Actually, there are so many it is hard to narrow down to just one. My all-time favorite book is the Holy Bible — King James Version. I grew up reading it and often turned to it for guidance in daily living concerns.

However, I believe in this instance I should note my favorite person-authored book. After much thought, I believe it would be a non-fiction book by Alison Weir: Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters who ruled Europe. The book is written much like a well-written historical fiction novel, but with historical accuracy throughout. I also enjoyed reading Sharon Kay Penman’s Lionheart. On a lighter note, I enjoyed J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, and various other books too numerous to mention here.

Reading is our connection to the world as it is seen by others. The author tells his/her view of the world whether or not the book is historical. The readers see the world as presented by favorite authors. As a result of this interaction, the world is viewed differently with each person.

What would you do if you received an extra day in a year?

Since I stay busy with activities I enjoy, my preference would be to spend that day with my family. If that is not possible, I would choose one of my favorite hobbies and strive to do something different with that talent. I try not to allow any of my talents to stagnate. I always look for ways to increase my talent and skills.

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The award is a way to be discovered but also to connect and support the blogging community. A great idea in promoting your own blog and others. Originally it was given out to blogs with less than 2000 readers but this has slowly lowed as the reward has gained popularity. It is now only 200 readers or less. It’s really an arbitrary number. If you like helping other blogs out go ahead and do it regardless of its size. This award is all about promoting and viewing other peoples blogs. 

What is the Liebster Award?

The Liebster Award is an award that exists only on the internet and is given to bloggers by other bloggers. The earliest case of the award goes as far back as 2011. Liebster in German means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

Original Liebster Award

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My Nominees are:

https://shreyavikram.com/posts/

https://3amthoughtsmusings.com/

https://connoisseurofanecdotesblog.wordpress.com/

https://rsciipher.wordpress.com/

https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/

https://mitchteemley.com/

https://getthemysteriousblogger.com/

https://onetahayes.com/

https://stevescountry.com/daily-pics/

https://peblogs.com/blog/

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Ask Your Nominees 11 Questions:

Like Sonal, I would like to put these same questions to my nominees.

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Again, Thank You — Sonal Mishra — for being so kind as to nominate me for this award! You consume what you read and take it into yourself to be used in the things you write. This is the mark of a writer to be recognized. You illustrate with the best already. I am highly impressed with such advanced talents in an up and coming author / illustrator. You are a rare individual to have developed your talents to this level. I commend you! This makes your nomination of me so much more touching.

I encourage all whom I have nominated to visit Sonal’s blog, https://ouractionisourluck.com, and peruse her writings and artistic illustrations. She is very talented! I also thank all of you for the support and referrals you have given. Please continue to do so. Your “Likes”, “Comments”, and referrals are Much Appreciated. Blessings to all!

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https://tkbrownwriter.wordpress.com/2020/05/30/liebster-award/