Sally Ember's Blog, page 8
October 13, 2022
#MacArthur Foundation’s 25 Newest Fellows, 2022: #Scientists, #Filmmakers, #Artists, #Sociologists, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists and #Historians
#MacArthur Foundation’s 25 Newest Fellows, 2022:
#Scientists, #Filmmakers, #Artists, #Sociologists, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists and #Historians

The 2022 MacArthur Fellows are architects of new modes of activism, artistic practice, and citizen science. They are excavators uncovering what has been overlooked, undervalued, or poorly understood. They are archivists reminding us of what should survive.
Their work extends from the molecular level to the land beneath our feet to Earth’s orbital environment—offering new ways for us to understand the communities, systems, and social forces that shape our lives around the globe.
—Marlies Carruth
Director, MacArthur Fellows
“The MacArthur Fellowship is a $800,000, no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential….Since 1981, 1061 people have been named MacArthur Fellows….
“Nominees are brought to the Program’s attention through a constantly changing pool of invited external nominators chosen from as broad a range of fields and areas of interest as possible. They are encouraged to draw on their expertise, accomplishments, and breadth of experience to nominate the most creative people they know within their field and beyond….
“The MacArthur Fellows Program is intended to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations. In keeping with this purpose, the Foundation awards fellowships directly to individuals rather than through institutions. Recipients may be writers, scientists, artists, social scientists, humanists, teachers, entrepreneurs, or those in other fields, with or without institutional affiliations. They may use their fellowship to advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers.
“Although nominees are reviewed for their achievements, the fellowship is not a lifetime achievement award, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential. Indeed, the purpose of the MacArthur Fellows Program is to enable recipients to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society.
“The Foundation does not require or expect specific products or reports from MacArthur Fellows and does not evaluate recipients’ creativity during the term of the fellowship. The MacArthur Fellowship is a “no strings attached” award in support of people, not projects. Each fellowship comes with a stipend of $800,000 to the recipient, paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years….”
“There are three criteria for selection of Fellows:
Exceptional creativityPromise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishmentsPotential for the Fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.”Meet the newest crop of very fortunate creative sorts, this year’s MacArthur Fellows, who will each receive $800,000/year spread over 5 years, to do WHATEVER THEY WANT!

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
For bios, specific info on each Fellow, and more about the Program and the Foundation, check out their website: https://www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/
Imagine: There are no outside or public applications or nominations. The process for selection is so secretive and unknown that very few people (no one outside the Foundation, supposedly) even knows who the nominating and selection committees’ members ARE each year!
In the Foundation’s favor, this year—for the FIRST time since I’ve been tracking it, which is many years—the female-appearing Fellows are exceeding the male-appearing Fellows: 9 seeming males, 16 seeming female and 1 nonbinary fellow. The Fellows process has been great on “diversity” and varying geographic locations for quite a while. This year, only about 5 appear to be Caucasian. You can check out the stats on their site any time.
Again, LOVE this! Here are mini-bios of each Fellow for 2022:
Jennifer Carlson of Tucson, AZ, is a sociologist who studies “the motivations, assumptions, and social forces that drive gun ownership and shape gun culture in the United States.”
Paul Chan of New York, NY, is an artist, “testing the capacity of art to make human experience available for critical reflection and to effect social change.”
Yejin Choi of the University of Washington is a computer scientist who uses, “natural language processing to develop artificial intelligence systems that can understand language and make inferences about the world.”
P. Gabrielle Foreman of Pennsylvania State University is a literary historian and digital humanist who specializes in “nineteenth-century collective Black organizing efforts through initiatives such as the Colored Conventions Project.”
Danna Freedman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a synthetic inorganic chemist, “creating novel molecular materials with unique properties directly relevant to quantum information technologies.”
Martha Gonzalez of Scripps College is a musician, scholar and artist/activist “strengthening cross-border ties and advancing participatory methods of artistic knowledge production in the service of social justice.”
Sky Hopinka of Bard College is an artist and filmmaker who combines “imagery and language in films and videos that offer new strategies of representation for the expression of Indigenous worldviews.”
June Huh of Princeton University is a mathematician who studies the “underlying connections between disparate areas of mathematics and proving long-standing mathematical conjectures.”
Moriba Jah of the University of Texas, Austin, is an astrodynamicist “envisioning transparent and collaborative solutions for creating a circular space economy that improves oversight of Earth’s orbital spheres.”
Jenna Jambeck of the University of Georgia is an environmental engineer “investigating the scale and pathways of plastic pollution and galvanizing efforts to address plastic waste.”
Monica Kim of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is an historian who examines “the interplay between U.S. foreign policy, military intervention, processes of decolonization, and individual rights in regional settings around the globe.”
Robin Wall Kimmerer of SUNY-Syracuse is a plant ecologist, educator, and writer “articulating an alternative vision of environmental stewardship informed by traditional ecological knowledge.”
Priti Krishtel of the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge (I-MAK) in Oakland, CA, is a health justice lawyer “exposing the inequities in the patent system to increase access to affordable, life-saving medications on a global scale.”
Joseph Drew Lanham of Clemson University is an ornithologist, naturalist and writer “creating a new model of conservation that combines conservation science with personal, historical, and cultural narratives of nature.”
Kiese Laymon of Rice University is a writer “bearing witness to the myriad forms of violence that mark the Black experience in formally inventive fiction and nonfiction.”
Reuben Jonathan Miller of the University of Chicago is a sociologist, criminologist and social worker who traces “the long-term consequences that incarceration and re-entry systems have on the lives of individuals and their families.”
Ikue Mori of New York, NY, is an electronic music composer and performer “transforming the use of percussion in improvisation and expanding the boundaries of machine-based music.”
Steven Prohira of the University of Kansas is a physicist “challenging conventional theories and engineering new tools to detect ultra-high energy subatomic particles that could hold clues to long-held mysteries of our universe.”
Tomeka Reid of Chicago, Ill., is a jazz cellist and composer “forging a unique jazz sound that draws from a range of musical traditions and expanding the expressive possibilities of the cello in improvised music.”
Loretta J. Ross of Smith College is a reproductive justice and human rights advocate “shaping a visionary paradigm linking social justice, human rights, and reproductive justice.”
Steven Ruggles of the University of Minnesota is an historical demographer “setting new standards in quantitative historical research by building the world’s largest publicly available database of population statistics.”
Tavares Strachan of New York, NY, and Nassau, The Bahamas, is an interdisciplinary conceptual artist “expanding the possibilities for what art can be and illuminating overlooked contributions of marginalized figures throughout history.”
Emily Wang of Yale University School of Medicine is a primary care physician and researcher who partners with “people recently released from prison to address their needs and the ways that incarceration influences chronic health conditions.”
Amanda Williams of Chicago, IL, is an artist and architect “reimagining public space to expose the complex ways that value, both cultural and economic, intersects with race in the built environment.”
Melanie Matchett Wood of Harvard University is a mathematician “addressing foundational questions in number theory from the perspective of arithmetic statistics.”
You can view ALL 1061 recipients of this “Genius Grant” (all the Fellows): https://www.macfound.org/fellows/search/all
September 23, 2022
#DoYou10Q? Rosh Hashona through Yom Kippur, September 25 – October 4, 2022,+ (#Jewish New Year/ High Holidays), Read, Respond, Review, Forecast
#DoYou10Q? Rosh Hashona through Yom Kippur, September 25 – October 4, 2022,+
(#Jewish New Year/ High Holidays),
Read, Respond, Review, Forecast
You don’t have to be Jewish or celebrate the #Jewish High Holy Days (Rosh Hashona, Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement”) to want to spend some time considering your life and your goals/ accomplishments each year. I was raised Jewish, but I am a practicing #Buddhist.
In the last 12 months, I have a lot to be grateful forand take none of this for granted:
—my close loved ones and I have made it alive through another year of COVID (although several did get the virus, none was severely ill);
—I have not only survived but thrived after two minor (cataracts) and one major (gall bladder removal) surgeries;
—My mom celebrated her 90th birthday with vaccinated friends and family and I marked my 68th with no fanfare (my choice);
—I helped plan for, then skipped my high school class’ 50th Reunion due to COVID concerns and my recent surgery and did not miss it at all;
—My mom and I watch(ed) all the USA’s Congressional January 6 subcommittee’s hearings and results and pay attention to all indictments, subpoenas, charges, convictions and sentencing as they accumulate for these GOP traitors and crooks; looking forward to more;
—I have learned that, if all goes well, I will become a grandmother some time next spring!
Again this year, the group running this event (http://www.rebooters.net/) has offered 10 important reflective and predictive questions.

It’s free! http://doyou10Q.com and #DoYou10Q are the connection points.
You can respond to all 10 Questions from September 25 through October 4 (and a day or so afterwards), online, and have them put into the “vault” for yourself for next year’s reflections.
10Q: “Reflect. React. Renew. Life’s Biggest Questions. Answered By You.”
The title and all the info, below, come from the 10Q site. Visit! Sign up! Do it!
http://doyou10q.com/
“Answer one question per day [or more than one per day, if you have some to catch up on] in your own secret online 10Q space. Make your answers serious. Silly. Salacious. However you like. It’s your 10Q. When you’re finished, hit the magic button and your answers get sent to the secure online 10Q vault for safekeeping.
“One year later [September 24, 2022, this year], the ‘vault’ will open and your answers will land back in your email inbox for private reflection. [The Hebrew calendar has 13 months, so you can’t go by the Western calendar’s “year.” If you sign up, the site will send you a reminder and an “opening the vault” day email.]
“Want to keep them secret? Perfect. Want to share them, either anonymously or with attribution, with the wider 10Q community? You can do that, too.
“Next year, the whole process begins again. And the year after that, and the year after that.”
Click here to get your 10Q on.
How do you want to 10Q? It’s up to you!
*************************************************
Here are two of my 2021 questions and responses, from the Vault:
Describe a significant experience that has happened in the past year. How did it affect you? Are you grateful? Relieved? Resentful? Inspired?My Answer:
This year, the 2nd year of the COVID pandemic, despite Biden’s “win,” I discovered that all of my misanthropic tendencies were completely justified. There seems to be no limit to how selfish, ignorant, stupid, moronic, greedy, short-sighted, cowardly, criminally dangerous and mean most people are. I am now sadly resigned to the incontrovertible fact that humans are a failed experiment.
11. What are your predictions for the coming year?
My Answer:
1) We will get over COVID as a crisis and begin to live with it as if it were like a bad flu
2) Wearing masks in public and washing hands will become habits we need to keep forever
3) Climate change will continue to ruin lives, property and the planet, with coastal and flood plain inhabitants being forced to relocate permanently and forest fires driving many people to drought-free places NOT near a coasts or flood plains
4) Democrats will continue to be too weak to govern well, but voters will keep putting them in power so that we don’t all die
5) Donald Trump, his oldest 3 children and their spouses, all of his close associates, employees and high-ranking former government workers complicit in treason, lying, graft and theft will be indicted, found guilty and imprisoned, including Barr, Pompeo, many current and former members of the Senate and House and Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh
6) “Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead” will ring out everywhere when the last one goes to prison
July 30, 2022
LAST DAY for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
LAST DAY for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
The discounts will automatically apply to your shopping cart at checkout. There’s no need for you to enter or remember coupon codes!
Many other authors’ ebooks on Smashwords also on sale! VISIT TODAY!
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is STILL having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.99 or $2.99 (usually $3.99) for the entire month of July! See below for info! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales!
LAST DAY!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, smoked-out, flooded, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are available on Amazon. Check out the KINDLEMATCH program for deals when you buy both ebooks and paperbacks of the same volume at the same time.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Family-Forever-Spanners/dp/0996999817
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.99, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Want-Things-Change-Spanners/dp/0996999825/
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on Amazon
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers, proofreading/editing services and more: http://www.sallyember.com
July 28, 2022
3 more days for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
3 more days for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
The discounts will automatically apply to your shopping cart at checkout. There’s no need for you to enter or remember coupon codes!
Many other authors’ ebooks on Smashwords also on sale! VISIT THIS WEEK!
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is STILL having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.99 or $2.99 (usually $3.99) for the entire month of July! See below for info! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales!
Three more days!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, smoked-out, flooded, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are available on Amazon. Check out the KINDLEMATCH program for deals when you buy both ebooks and paperbacks of the same volume at the same time.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Family-Forever-Spanners/dp/0996999817
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.99, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Want-Things-Change-Spanners/dp/0996999825/
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on Amazon
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers, proofreading/editing services and more: http://www.sallyember.com
July 23, 2022
One More Week for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
One More Week for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
The discounts will automatically apply to your shopping cart at checkout. There’s no need for you to enter or remember coupon codes!
Many other authors’ ebooks on Smashwords also on sale! VISIT THIS WEEK!
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is STILL having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.99 or $2.99 (usually $3.99) for the entire month of July! See below for info! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales!
Three more days!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, smoked-out, flooded, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are available on Amazon. Check out the KINDLEMATCH program for deals when you buy both ebooks and paperbacks of the same volume at the same time.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Family-Forever-Spanners/dp/0996999817
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.99, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Want-Things-Change-Spanners/dp/0996999825/
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on Amazon
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers, proofreading/editing services and more: http://www.sallyember.com
July 22, 2022
The Newest Poet Laureate of the USA, number 24: Ada Limón!
The Newest Poet Laureate of the USA, number 24: Ada Limón!

Limón is the first female U.S. poet laureate of Latino and Mexican American heritage to be so honored. Born and raised in Sonoma, California (in the North Bay area of San Francisco, where I used to live!), she self-describes as “polyethnic.” In the bio from Sandra Lilley, the managing editor of NBC Latino, Lilley wrote that Limón “has Mexican and Indigenous ancestry, and on her mother’s side there’s ‘a lot’ of Scottish and Irish.” This article, announcing her selection, is here:
Limón, born in 1976 (the year I graduated college), has published six books of her poetry, two of which were honored by: the National Book Critics Circle Award (her 2018 book, The Carrying, won!); and, the National Book Award (her 2015 book, Bright Dead Things, was a finalist).
Some of her poetry, from these six poetry collections: The Hurting Kind (2022, Milkweed Editions); The Carrying (2018, Milkweed Editions); Bright Dead Things (2015, Milkweed Editions); Sharks in the Rivers (2010, Milkweed Editions); Lucky Wreck (2005, Autumn House Press, reissued 2021); and, This Big Fake World (2005, Pearl Editions). can be found here, on the Poetry Foundation‘s website: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ada-limon
This site has print and audio versions of many poems from thousands of poets. One of my favorites of Limón is reprinted here:
“How to Triumph Like a Girl”by ADA LIMÓN
from Bright Dead Things. Copyright © 2015 by Ada Limón. Reprinted by permission of Milkweed Editions, http://www.milkweed.org
I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let’s be honest, I like
that they’re ladies. As if this big
dangerous animal is also a part of me,
that somewhere inside the delicate
skin of my body, there pumps
an 8-pound female horse heart,
giant with power, heavy with blood.
Don’t you want to believe it?
Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see
the huge beating genius machine
that thinks, no, it knows,
it’s going to come in first.
Check out Limón‘s own website here: http://www.adalimon.net

Her podcast, The Slowdown, from American Public Media and The Poetry Foundation, in which she tells stories and reads her own and showcases others’ poetry in her beautifully melodious voice, can be found here: https://www.slowdownshow.org/
In July 12, 2022’s Episode, Limón described what it was like to be invited to be chosen as the Poet Laureate in a Zoom meeting this past June and her subsequent visit to the Library of Congress. Then, because it “anchored her” during this “disorientation,” she read aloud the most recent USA Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo‘s, poem, “Without.”
You can sign up on this website for a daily dose of whatever she produces for this podcast (sometimes in print, sometimes an audio file; sometimes, a guest host takes over). Each Episode is about five minutes long, FYI. You can also donate to support her work on that site as well.
In case you’re wondering, : “Poets Laureate receive a $35,000 annual stipend for the usual 10-year termplus $5,000 to cover travel expenses, but that doesn’t come out of your taxes. The position is endowed by a gift from Archer M. Huntington, who established the original consultant in poetry position….Each year, the American poet laureate gives a lecture. At this event, they also read from their poetry. Poet laureates can also invite other poets to read for the Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature. They are also able to work on special projects.”
July 15, 2022
Two More Weeks for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
Two More Weeks for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
The discounts will automatically apply to your shopping cart at checkout. There’s no need for you to enter or remember coupon codes!
Many other authors’ ebooks on Smashwords also on sale! VISIT THIS MONTH!
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is STILL having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.99 or $2.99 (usually $3.99) for the entire month of July! See below for info! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales!
Two More Weeks!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, smoked-out, flooded, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are available on Amazon. Check out the KINDLEMATCH program for deals when you buy both ebooks and paperbacks of the same volume at the same time.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Family-Forever-Spanners/dp/0996999817
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.99, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Want-Things-Change-Spanners/dp/0996999825/
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on Amazon
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers, proofreading/editing services and more: http://www.sallyember.com
July 6, 2022
Three More Weeks for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
Three More Weeks for JULY SALE! #Smashwords The Spanners Series’ #ebooks 25-50% off through 7/31/22!
The discounts will automatically apply to your shopping cart at checkout. There’s no need for you to enter or remember coupon codes!
Many other authors’ ebooks on Smashwords also on sale! VISIT THIS MONTH!
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is STILL having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.99 or $2.99 (usually $3.99) for the entire month of July! See below for info! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales!
Two More Weeks!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, smoked-out, flooded, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are available on Amazon. Check out the KINDLEMATCH program for deals when you buy both ebooks and paperbacks of the same volume at the same time.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Family-Forever-Spanners/dp/0996999817
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.99, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Want-Things-Change-Spanners/dp/0996999825/
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on Amazon
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers, proofreading/editing services and more: http://www.sallyember.com
June 29, 2022
#Ebooks #Smashwords 14th Annual Summer/Winter Sale! #Free, 25-50% off! 7/1—7/31/22
#Ebooks #Smashwords 14th Annual Summer/Winter Sale! #Free, 25-50% off! 7/1—7/31/22
The discounts will automatically apply to your shopping cart at checkout. There’s no need for you to enter or remember coupon codes!
Many other authors’ ebooks on Smashwords also on sale! VISIT TODAY!
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is STILL having its annual July Summer/Winter Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are either free (Volume I) or only $1.99 or $2.99 (usually $3.99) for the entire month of July! See below for info! And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales!
VISIT THIS MONTH!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, smoked-out, flooded, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give books for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are available on Amazon. Check out the KINDLEMATCH program for deals when you buy both ebooks and paperbacks of the same volume at the same time.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Family-Forever-Spanners/dp/0996999817
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $1.99, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/588331
Paperbacks and ebooks are on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/This-Want-Things-Change-Spanners/dp/0996999825/
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks on Amazon
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers, proofreading/editing services and more: http://www.sallyember.com