DALANEL

Kindle Version of My Book Back On Market At Reduced Price!

I just talked to you about my goal of making an audiobook of my book. I also recently mentioned how I took my Kindle version down for some updating in terms of appearance. Well, as the title of the post would suggest, it’s over and done with. Good news, I was able to fix up some formatting issues and I have put the book back on the market. Also, instead of $4.99, it’s now $2.99.

Now, again, there’s the MatchBook program at Amazon. I’ll let the program tell you what they told me:

The Kindle MatchBook program offers customers who purchase, or have previously purchased, a print book from Amazon.com the option to purchase the Kindle version of that title for $2.99 or less. If you have a print version of your title and enroll the Kindle version in Kindle MatchBook you can earn a royalty from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) based on the Promotional List Price (choose from $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free) for any Kindle MatchBook sale. Choose a Promotional List Price of $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free; as long as the price selected is at least 50% lower than the regular Digital List Price.

I set my book to free. So, if you buy the paper on Amazon.com, if you look for the same book on Kindle, they should be able to match the books for you and then you’ll be able to get the Kindle for free. My gift to you for buying one version. Buy one get one free sort of thing in my case.

So, either buy the Kindle version for $2.99, or buy the print at $10 and get Kindle for free. I’m going to post something ultimately describing how the various discounts for my books work. And of course, I have my page dedicated to all info about my book so check there if you want more details about anything. Until then, let me work on the audiobook. There’s no “MatchBook” type thing there as far as I can tell from Audible, but maybe there will be someday. If that day comes, you already know I’ll be all up in that.

Ew.

-DALANEL

 

Daily Good News 39: Man overcomes incredible odds, TradeWind donates school buses, and Good Samaritan stops purse snatcher

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A good samaritan witnessed a woman have her purse stolen and chased after the guy and got the purse back.

A woman was outside the store when a man walked up and snatched her purse from her, police said. A witness saw the attack and chased the suspect who was running away with the stolen purse. The Good Samaritan caught up with the suspect and got the purse back as patrol officers were arriving on the scene, investigators said.

Next, a company donates a couple of school buses for a school district in need.

Continue reading →

How The Great Paul Benjamin Inspires Me

PaulBenjamin_HiI’m a big fan of the great Paul Benjamin. Who is he? An actor. A good actor. A very good actor.

Am I saying this because he’s also my uncle? Probably.

Have you seen some of his work? Probably. Examples? Well:

Movies:

Midnight Cowboy (debut)

Distance

The Education of Sonny Carson

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Escape from Alcatraz

Do the Right Thing

The Five Heartbeats

Television:

Starsky and Hutch

Kojak

New York Undercover

ER

Law & Order

The Shield

He’s done a lot more of course. I’ll let IMDb handle the rest of the list and bio.

So, I have made it a personal goal to watch each and every one of his movies. I get all giggly when I see him. Whether he’s a lead or small part, he’s my uncle and he’s the best.

He and I have the same nickname, although for different reasons. Heck if I know his story. I’ll have to ask. Anyway, our nickname is “Boy”. I know. For me, there was a short period after I was born where I was nameless. Dante was not my name for my whole life. So, until my parents could decide my name, family members would refer to me as “the boy”. How’s the boy doing? That’s an example of how slightly awkward things were.

My dad wanted to name me something African-y. He was shot down. Now-a-days, learning that I’m West African, perhaps my dad was on to something. However, I and my sisters don’t know which of our parents are of the origin. My mom wanted to name me after dad. She got shot down. Thank God. I love Christopher but I’m glad I have my own name. Dante Jr. ain’t happening.

I have the chops to be an actor. I don’t have the physical appearance to make it big unless most of my comedy makes fun of it. Think Kevin Hart and his getting old short jokes. Most likely, I would be stand-up comedian with plenty of voice over work for shows and movies. I have an odd voice that, while I hate, would probably make good for comedy.

Nah, I’m pretty sure I could make it if I put the effort in. My uncle does inspire me to do it. Since I have never known what to do while in school…since I don’t know what I “want to be when I grow up” perhaps acting is something I should get into. Like I said, I gotta be willing to put effort into it. I know it’s not a “one role and now a big star” thing. I’m willing to start small. And I may never make it big, although that would be fine. Good even.

Are you a fan of his work? Have you enjoyed the shows and movies that he has been a part of? Let me know!

-DALANEL

Dante vs God Part 2

Welp, here we go again. This one is a little more humorous. God is funny sometimes.

Round Two: Christmas Cantata 2013

If you are new here, I’m sorry but, I’ve hit on a lot of details already. My regular readers are probably ready to decimate me if I go into it again.

Last year, the show went badly for me. Emotional, mental, and physical breakdown all came together that Saturday.

People tell me all the time that I’m the man for the job. I disagree strongly. I believe that there’s plenty who can do so much better than what I’ve done. I spent 2013 gagging at the thought of going into the flames again. Next thing I know, there’s a new director and new script that looked rather complex. Still, this new director came at me hard. For one, she told me of quite a few people that recommended me for the job of lighting.

See, when I heard of the new director and new script, I wasn’t going to volunteer myself. She was going to have to track me down or get somebody else. She must’ve asked people who could handle the lighting and they said me. Great.

So yeah, I wasn’t going to get involved unless she asked me. And, even then, I wasn’t going to just jump in like it was nothing. In August, she started making moves. One of the moves was to take the miming team, which was a bunch of teens and some kids and axed their usual part in the previous cantatas. My sister is in the group so I was aware. Also, Nia is part of it too.

By the way, I have a fear of mimes so hearing that they wouldn’t appear didn’t kill me inside. But, the church absolutely loves them. Whatever.

Continue reading →

Daily Good News 38: Seven Year Old Donates $750, Six Year Old Saves Life

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A 7 year old leads a charge to donate to a family that is supported by a woman’s shelter.

By the end of the year Kathryn had saved more than $54. “We thought that Halton Women’s Place in Burlington would be excellent (to donate to),” wrote John. “In late November we found out about the program that HWP offers whereby you can sponsor a family who needs it the most.”

Healey’s Allstate office team wanted to contribute to what his daughter had started. “Through passion and dedication we were able to cover off all of the requests on the family’s list,” he wrote. In the end, the effort raised a donation of $750 to the family supported by the shelter.

Good job, Kathryn!

Next, a little boy jumps out of a moving car to save his grand father’s life. Not kidding:

Sullivyn Vedaa and his grandfather Ronald were driving to a relatives home for Christmas dinner on Wednesday night when Ronald went into diabetic shock.  Sullivyn, who was sitting in the backseat of Ronalds Chrystler 300 noticed his grandfather acting strangely and very sleepy.  When Sullivyn realized Ronald was not responsive, he decided to jump out of the moving vehicle and run to the nearest house to call for help.

Yeah…there’s your action movie star right there!

Did I mention that kids are awesome? Because, they kind of are.

-DALANEL

Dante vs God Part 1

Before we start, this isn’t a headline ploy to drag you here. This year, I’ve literally called God out on a few things. Considering how great and powerful God is, this probably isn’t the best thing to do. But, I’ve been doing it big time this year. There’s a few things I’ve challenged God on. Let’s take a look.

Round One: Foodbank

I mentioned how I finally found my role at Foodbank. I briefly mentioned how I told God that I wasn’t gonna go back unless certain things happened. Okay, so, I’ve gotten used to talking to the clients at foodbank who sit in our “waiting room” waiting for their number to be called so they could get their food. Right now, it’s me, and a couple of…er…older gentlemen. One guy tends to engage the crowd while the other does this sort of sermon. Me? I always tend to do a little of both. I’m all about the future. And I understand that, at some point, I’ll have to step in as the head…I don’t even know what to call it.

But, like I said before in my original post, going to foodbank is a pain more times than not. And, a lot of times, I just go there and sit there while the other two guys handle it. There have been a few times where I’ve been the only one so I would step in to handle the “service”. As usual, the rubber band that I am, there was eventually one incident that set me off. See, one of the clients ended up shoving one of our volunteers in their quest for food. The victim? A ten year old girl. This girl just so happened to be Nia, one of my assistants for the cantata. I’ve grown attached to her so hearing about this hurt. She’s 11 now so time has passed but, it was then that I was ready to tear heads off. Considering that both of my little sisters volunteer there, I considered what would happen if some fool pushed my sister.

And it was then that I had to call it a day. See, I used to help people carry their food to their cars. It got tiring because they would do this towards me. They also played mental games. My favorite was how they would ask me if they were supposed to get meat of a canned good or type of produce. For the record, we prepare each bag the same. Each thing has the same stuff. Exceptions? We do give extra for families of the larger size. Also, seniors get a little something every once in a while. There’s a program for them that I forget what it’s called but it’s something from the state. Other than that, you get the same stuff. Some people try to get over though. No problem with that; I expect them to do that. Just don’t drag me along for the ride. They would turn to me as if I’m supposed to storm the castle on their behalf for them to get something. I never went for it. I always claimed ignorance. Whether I knew or not didn’t matter.

Anyway, I had to get away from it and the other stuff. So, I went to the other side. And it’s kinda cool. They are a different people on the other side, which amazes me. I’m the only person to have done both sides so I see both sides of the people. They are so nice and calm on the waiting side. It’s amazing. But, still, I was on that side when I heard about the shove. So, I called it a day. I tried to convince my mom not to let my sisters go back. No avail. Me? I was out.

But God was like “Nah”. I knew what I had to do. But I didn’t want to. I’m Jonah like that. So, I decided to hand it over to God. Here was my offer to Him: I’ll come back when I need to. If there’s a need, then I’ll step in.

What I am about to say might put God in a bad light, especially if you’re not a big fan of His.

One of the gentlemen had a stroke shortly after my offer. Now, some might say God did this. Me? Nope. I figured God was letting me know that I was needed because He saw the stroke coming. I just have to be ready because both of these gentlemen are…over 60…ish. And, males in this country don’t hit 70 on average. Just saying. Anyway, I embraced this incident and go to foodbank as a way of training myself for my eventual emergence as the head…guy…or something.

The key for me is that God wants me there. I think I know why now. Oh, I’m still Jonah about it. I usually go there kicking and screaming. But, I have to be ready to do God’s will. I have to suck it up and move on. If God wants me to do this, I will.

So, that’s part one. I’m not going to let you know how many there are yet.