September New Beginnings

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash

Growing up my family celebrated the closing of the old year and beginning of the new year in the fall. I don’t know why - and we never had a word for it. I’m not Jewish. The tradition came from my dad’s side, my grandfather specifically. I always wondered if it had to do with school starting and mid-term exam schedules. This was usually when we considered what we would do differently. But this year, something did really change.

This first week of September changed me. Here are some updates:

• I am on indefinite leave from Coffee House Writers. I will be reposting some of my nonfiction works from there to my medium page with updates and edits, but I will not be reposting my fiction or poetry.

• I am updating, editing, and reposting my creative nonfiction articles to Medium. All support for these will be greatly appreciated. These are acting as portfolio pieces.

• I am redoing LoPotterWrites.com. I need a professional website. The website is a disaster and is nothing like what I want, especially with the upcoming launches of “Vi” and “Celestial Navigation” with Pergamena Fajro Gazetaro. I will continue to publish poetry books. These are secondary to my nonfiction writing.

• Support Black Cemeteries of Virginia. Many of these historic cemeteries containing generations of slaves currently underneath parking lots that cities, controlled by white organizations like the Daughters of the Confederacy, are preventing from being properly restored so these dead can receive the respect and reverence they deserve. Communities want reparations in actions.

• I am planning more nonfiction articles on topics I’m interested in. I have a lot of research experience - as in the laboratory kind. From mice high on Salvia to looking at what people brought in by law enforcement actually tested positive for above threshold and synergistic threshold (aka the Bad News Bears). Besides that, I also have a lot of experience in the tech industry, especially on the Quality Control / Quality Assurance side. Besides that, I did a minor in Social Work with classes that compared the United States to Australia and New Zealand. Plus all my other really weird hobbies involving linguistics, archaeology, mathematics, theology, science fiction, etc.

• I published This. It is a big deal to me. If you could take a moment to read it, I would be so grateful. It means a lot.

The thing is I need your support to do it. While I can keep writing these articles (and I will) and keep publishing the highest quality work I can, I need help getting it in front of people who care. That’s where you come in.

How can you help? By sharing the articles you read and connect with (genuinely) with other people, as directly as possible. Tell them why you think it’s for them. By doing these things, you help me be seen. You help me build a following. There are quite a few Medium publications who are interested in my work, but they’re currently interested in seeing me command “traction.”

In fact, that paragraph above? That’s how you help every small artist, YouTuber, musician, writer, photographer, etc. succeed. Our success is in your hands.

I am so grateful to have you on this journey.