AngelaBenson.com

The SORMAG Online Conference is now going on!  This is a great online conference for writers and readers.  It’s the perfect opportunity for you to meet authors, editors, agents and others in the publishing business. 

The conference started on August 26th and ends on September 1st.  The goods news is that the conference is free!  You have the wonderfully giving LaShaunda Hoffman, who’s provided this fantastic opportunity for a few years now, to thank. Kudos, LaShaunda! Your good work has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. 

So head on over to http://sormag.blogspot.com/ and join in the fun.  The conference is hosted in a blog format so even though you’ll be joining late, you won’t have missed a thing! 

Oh, yeah, you can see the full conference agenda here: http://sormag.blogspot.com/2007/07/online-conference-august-26-sept-1st.html

Last, not but least, be sure to click on one of those “Make a Donation” buttons and support the conference effort. 

Enjoy!

If anyone tells you’re they’re fun, don’t believe them! 

I bet you’ve guessed that I’m on deadline. What I bet you don’t know is that I’m always on deadline.  Something is always due, and if you’re a teacher or a working mother or a writer with a full-time job or just a very busy person, I’m sure you understand.  To keep my sanity, I maintain a calendar in Outlook to manage my deadlines.  I’m due date driven so seeing that task list helps keep me focused.

I read something on Tyler Perry’s web page (by the way, House of Payne was kicking this week) that’s been sticking with me as I work through all my task list.  It’s something we all know, but it’s nice to be reminded.  Here it is for you to ponder:

. . .we as human beings almost always sabotage our own success.

There are many reasons why we do this but the main reason that I used to do it and so many of us still do it is because we don’t feel that we deserve good things to happen to us. Be it because of what we were told as children or what someone may have done to us, even as of late. . .

. . .if you are the type of person that gets close but never makes it in, what that tells me is that you have the faith to get to the door, but not enough to open it. There are different levels of faith. One can take you to the door. Then you need faith to open it. A lot of times fear will keep you from opening it, because a lot of us are afraid of change.  Then you need faith to go through the door. This is the biggest part because it means you have to conquer the unknown. This kind of faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Let’s walk through the door, y’all.

Okay, it’s time. . .

I gotta get this off my chest first: Tyler, get rid of the laugh tracks. They drive me CRAZY!

Okay, now I feel better.

About the show. . .I don’t think it’s great, but neither do I think it’s as bad as other people say it is. I used to be a big-time sitcom watcher, but nowaways House of Payne is the only one I watch. I record the shows each week and watch them before the week ends so I’ve seen every episode.

As with all new sitcoms, I think these actors have to get comfortable in their roles. I’m beginning to see that growth in these actors. Some of the acting makes me cringe, but I did a lot of cringing in the early days of “The Cosby Show” and “Family Ties” and a whole bunch of other sitcoms. The actors will be better.

I think what will help them get better is better storylines. The good news is that the storylines are getting better, but Tyler is going to continue to be challenged to keep it comedy when the topics being covered are far from funny. Maybe he should give up the laugh track and just tell the story. I think the laughs would still be there but they would come out of the situations. I mean, a crackhead wife and mother is not exactly a laughing matter, but sometimes you have laugh to keep from crying. I encourage Tyler to trust us, his audience, a bit more. He doesn’t have to try so hard to make us laugh. Just give us an honest portrayal of ourselves up there on the screen and we’ll laugh. I guarantee it.

I didn’t realize Tyler was getting a lot of flack because two of his lead characters (Ella and Curtis) are overweight by more than a few pounds. This surprised me. Apparently, some consider the “fat” female a negative portrayal of black womanhood. Even though Tyler sent out a letter defending his actors, he did add a slim Hispanic female to the cast. I wonder how many letters he’s going to get about that. Anyway, you can read the “Overweight and on TV” letter on his web site at TylerPerry.com Use the right arrow to scroll to the letter. It’s dated 6/18/07. I have to give him props for it. What do you think?

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When I was with my friends the other week, we watched the movie, Stomp the Yard. (Thanks to Cassandra, who always brings the goodies). Anyway, I’d seen this movie advertised and it never appealed to me. But this turned out to be a verygood movie. I watched it twice. And I had the nerve to make folks be quiet so they wouldn’t miss some important lines!

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