Monthly Newsletter | July [2021]

Hello beautiful people of the Books and Writing Amino Community! Welcome to the April edition of our Monthly Curator Newsletter! We hope you enjoy this month’s recap, highlights, news, and challenges! So without any further ado, let’s get right into it!

We hosted our annual Spirit War this year, and are finally here to announce the winners!

The winning team was Team 2: The Emerald Elves, hosted by Celine and Nemesis! Congrats to all teammates, who will be receiving a complementary title. Be sure to check out the tag here.

Additionally, Nemesis is hosting the The Game OST Challenge. The Deadline is August 8th so get on it soon if you want to !

Weekly Challenges:

Fireworks

One Sentence at a Time

Weekly Photo Challenges:

Summer Scenes

Recreating

Weekly Questions:

Reading/Writing Get-Away

Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing

Invasion Of Bots

Oi People Elon was right about the A.I and bots are taking over the world umm Goodreads and Amino(our badass and not so badass leader raised the iron curtain as a tactical measure) . Gather up the pitch forks WW(III) is going to be against the bots. Meat bags are paying companies to leave positive reviews on books. Sassy versions of the bots leave tons of negative reviews on books messaging authors to pay to have the disses of their books removed.

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Badass Author Dies

Bernette G. Ford author and editor extradinaire who was an advocate in making Children's Books more diverse dies at 70.She authored books like the I Spy Series and No More Pacifier For Piggy.

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Barrack Obama Says The I Word

In a virtual meeting President Barrack Obama told librarians where more important than ever.

You: Yes you the librarian give yourself a pat on the back and go yourself a present.

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Adult Fiction Books Sell Faster Than A Cake On Fire

Sales of adult fiction books are on an all time high. Quick scramble for a quill and pen some adult fiction.

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Militants Off A Bookshop

One of the largest bookshops in Gaza was destroyed in a fight between Israel and Hamas. Donations have been pouring like rain to help rebuild the library.

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#DisneyMustPay

A group of writer organisations have banded up against the Behemoth Disney to create a task force to get Disney to cough up their royalties. *Throws kamehameha at disney

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We did not post any major announcements this month, but we did repost our community lockdown PSA. This just means that we temporarily put B&WA on private while we waited for bots/trolls to subside. The community has since been put back on public.

Dreamer’s Pick

Gosh the collab theme was the best one we picked for this year’s spirit wars. One of the masterpieces to come out of this is If I was a flower, I would be one without petals by Zephyr and Phoebe. The raw emotions that emerge from the narrator’s thoughts created by metaphors and memories is just blinding. Not to mention, the first person pov and present tense of the piece made it feel like I was there myself experiencing all the same feelings they were.

Rose's Pick

I really loved Falling apart in three parts. The emotions were raw and honest, and the words were beautiful. It broke me a little, and made me sob. A beautiful piece.

Zephyr

First up we have our amazing writer Zephyr who might I say is a metaphorical goddess. She not just uses words, but uses some sort of voodoo magic to literally make them her own. All of her pieces speak to your heart and expose you to feelings you never knew you had. She’s not a poet, she’s a creator.

Some of her works:

• if I could see my soul, I’m sure I’ll just see a monster hiding under a cloth

• i cannot decide if this beautiful or sad, maybe it’s both

• Insomniac Nightmares

Her Interview:

What brought you to this community and what convinced you to stay?

I ed this community way before I actually became active on it. I was looking for writing communities because I wanted to convince myself that I really cannot write. I posting a book review that got featured for some reason so that was a major confidence boost and made me wonder if anyone would actually be interested in what I was writing. But the main thing that made me stay then was that I started reading blogs on this community. I was mesmerized by the things people wrote here and it made me wonder about the potential poetry had. Even more, I started writing poetry because this place, the talent everyone has here made me want to try. Now it's the friends I have made in this eventful year that make me stay and of course the poetry I get to read is always an added bonus.

What has been the most enjoyable aspect of B&WA so far?

The lovely here. I hate humans but I hate the people here a little less because they are absolute amazingness and talent and they inspire me on an hourly basis :)

How do you find inspiration for your pieces?

I read a lot. Books whenever I feel like reading them and the blogs here. I like reading and I think every writer should read because it influences and develops the way you write a lot. When I started writing poetry I literally had no clue where to start so I just went and binge read a few poets here who truly spoke to me that time and they do even now, namely Para Phrased, Amaranthine, and Antonia. Some other sources of my Inspiration would be music and my life.

What is your writing process like?

My writing process is abnormal at best. It's extremely chaotic and makes no sense. I am definitely not the kind of writer who thinks before writing and most of what I write is spontaneous poetry. I used to edit a lot in the past but the growth I have seen in my writing is that I prefer to not edit now so it's all just raw emotions. Basically it's just a heart pour and then regretting later, over spilled secrets.

Other than books and writing, what's something you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I like sleeping. But if I *had* to pick up something productive I would say creating art. I have a lot of creativity stuffed in my brain that I don't use so when I let it out eventually for some time, it goes wild.

Anything else to add?

This community means a lot to me because it has introduced me to some of the most amazing people in my life. It has definitely helped the writer in me acknowledge that I can actually write, but the love and kindness I receive from my friends here is overwhelming and always astounds me. So yes, if anyone ever needs help, you always have an awkward anxious writer backing you up in the shadows.

Ghost

Next up we have the lovely Ghost who I first met during a slam poetry session. She not only manipulates words, but she actually brings them to life. I would label her a storyteller, and a fantastic one at that. She’s someone who can drag the reader into the plot and feel like they’re living it themselves.

Some of her pieces:

• shooting stars are long dead before we ever see their light, just like us

• [over || drown. || think|http://aminoapps.vertvonline.info/p/ii08x0]

• a story

Her Interview:

What brought you to this community and what convinced you to stay?

Lex and Aiden brought me here and I stayed for everyone else I met and the welcome I found here as well as the talent pool, pushed me to be better -3-

What has been the most enjoyable aspect of B&WA so far?

I enjoy our chat rooms and clubs! The clubs add a bit of fun, but I have to say the wars have been the best for me [as taxing as they also are haha]

How do you find inspiration for your pieces?

Various things, other works, sudden flights of fancy, songs, moods, my own impending existential crises. You know, anything at all

What is your writing process like?

Spiral, cry, then write, cry, then look at it, cry, read aloud once, cry, edit, perhaps ask a friend for help, cry, forget about it for a day-week, cry, rediscover it, edit, cry, and post. The crying is the most important part, I promise.

Other than books and writing, what's something you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Jewelry making and drawing! Im an all around artist, of everything and nothing and sometimes and all the time. Haha also confusing people, that’s a big one.

Anything else to add?

I love everyone here and I’m so glad I stayed, you’ve brought me so far!

Deb

Last but not least, we have the sweet Deb. I’ve had the pleasure to read some of her work and let me tell you, there was no other time where I truly felt like I was the narrator. She’s also extremely friendly and her aesthetic blogs only pull me in even further. I was super glad to see more of her work during this year’s spirit wars.

Some of her works:

• Icebreaker

• Night Terrors

• Savior or Sabotage?

• What our silences mean to those who keep listening anyway

Her Interview:

What brought you to this community and what convinced you to stay?

If we were to go into the most minor details I'd say that I had JUST found middle ground with literature back then, when I first found B&WA. I realized I could write, thankfully not absolutely horribly, and my sister had just found amino. So I thought maybe I should look for some app related to books as well since I used to be an avid reader ever since I was four. I found B&WA in the process. I didn't stay around for long that time around. I got locked out because I forgot my and my was linked to a device. It broke me because even though I was painfully timid back then, and basically had no friends I thought I'd lost a part of me. I didn't have the courage to go back.

Fast forwarding to September 2020, I realised through my sister that B&WA had gone through some major changes while I was away, I saw the feature pages updating more frequently, the people seemed friendlier somehow and the most novel concept was that of clubs! I being resolute to the B &WA after reading Han's analysis my sister's piece for party. THAT'S what made me come back a second time.

To anyone who's stayed around a long enough time to level up, the reason for why I stayed might not be so difficult to unravel. I stayed back for the amazing original content, the informative book reviews and most importantly hardworking and friendly leaders and having amazing people as my friends^^. I've never wanted to leave, not even once.

What has been the most enjoyable aspect of B&WA so far?

The most enjoyable aspect of B&WA for me so far has been writing for various people and getting in return. Like I said, the committee was what brought me around to the community the second time around. I found the idea so enthralling and intriguing that people would be so open to having their pieces publicly critiqued. When I commented on the pieces firsthand, I realised that people really were very receptive to advice. They actually listened and implemented the things they were advised to. It was an amazing process, I've found out myself that good really has the ability to turn a person's day around, and I thank the committee every single day in my mind for having me be a part of this time taking yet rewarding process. Everyone there is truly amazing.

How do you find inspiration for your pieces?

I have no idea if this is the norm but I generally find inspiration for my pieces from nature. Okay that probably came out a bit too weird. I'll explain. So basically I love photographing the various shades of the sky, looking out my bedroom's window when it rains heavily, then looking at the sunrise, set, and the birds flying around. Those things give me a sense of extraordinaryness, an inspiring feeling that can't be explained in words alone. I also mostly derive ideas from my life, wherei focus on the emotion coursing through me, turn it into words to the beat of my ability, personify it and stuff. I can also behave like a normal person on occasion :joy: , and therefore also listen to music of a particular genre to fully immerse me into an emotion I want to be feeling while I write the piece.

What is your writing process like?

It varies. I think I discovered more about my writing process during spiritwars than anything else. I've noticed that I generally like to directly write the final piece than make rough drafts. On the chance where I do not find the right words for the purpose, I generally store the ideas in the form of points or words one after the other, or incomplete verses. I come back to those later when I find more ideas that click with the previous ones and there! we have a new piece in the flesh. I've also discovered that listening to music before I write rather than while I write helps me focus on a particular emotion more swiftly, especially since I listen to worded songs rather than music only. More often than not, I proofread my work multiple times just to make sure there's nothing amiss, but there's always scope for mistakes anyway. I generally read out my pieces before I've posted them because articulating the punctuations and words and seeing exactly how they are perceived by the general reader helps.

Other than books and writing, what's something you enjoy doing in your spare time?

There are honestly so many hobbies I enjoy in my spare time. I keep finding new ones. I sing when I'm feeling like it, paint when I'm inspired. I also enjoy photography as a hobby although one might argue I'm not very good at it. Then there's reading poetry from ancient writer's, listening to music, oh and chalk sculpting! I also enjoy cooking once in a while. Then, I'm a serious Asian drama addict. You can find me lapping up predictable storylines of Turkish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese dramas when I'm not doing anything else.

Anything else to add?

Of course! A big thank you for having me share the spotlight with these other very very talented writers! I can't begin to explain how thankful I am for this opportunity. I'm so glad that I came to this community and stayed because this right here feels more like home than anything else, truly. Just, thank you so much everyone for making my stay here special.