Writer Focus
The Time My Cat Made Me Buy Google With My Passive Income
New writer spotlight and update on June writing challenges
Yep, the Google.com domain was up for sale, and you missed out on buying it. Find out how one person did, spend some time chasing Pikachu or Squirtle, see if you are being domesticated by your pet, and much more in today’s feature.
Grab your imagination and your Poke Ball and let’s read some excellent stories by new writers on Illumination!
Each day in June I hope to feature a few articles from writers that have just recently been added to the publication. I am doing this because I want to make a point of welcoming and getting acquainted with the new writers, and doing a feature allows me to read some of their work and pick items that catch my eye each day.
My hope is to get these authors a few extra eyes on their writing and perhaps gain a few fans that otherwise might not have seen their work. If these new-to-Illumination writers don’t have bios yet, we hope they write one soon so we can add it to our growing list:
But until then, my aim is to choose a handful of writers from the ranks of the newly added to Illumination and highlight one of their articles. Then I will have an ask of them afterward (Hint: I will ask that they pay it forward by doing the same thing for other writers).
Plus, an ongoing list of writer challenges follows the feature articles below! So, without further ado:
New Writer Spotlight
First today is a story about a rather weighty issue which I really had no idea about. That goes to show how much we can learn when we listen to one another. Charushila Biswas very candidly relates how colorism is powerfully entrenched in India, and the huge negative impact it has on people.
The color discrimination runs deep and even infiltrates mainstream media and television as fair skinned are depicted as gods while those with darker skin are portrayed in role of demons. Allow yourself a glimpse into Charushila’s experiences in this eye-opening piece:
Next, Bill Christian does a great job of explaining why there is nothing passive about earning “passive income”. Bill doesn’t quibble over the fact that you have to actively do something to earn income.
It might seem like some income streams flow easier than others, but hunting for the perfect passive income might be a lot like hunting Pokemon; largely time spent chasing the imaginary:
Next is certainly an unusual recounting of Keith Dias‘s father’s interactions with Army Commander Idi Amin in Uganda. The author, yet unborn at time of story, tells the tale of how his father and mother were able to get to the hospital for his birth during a lockdown in the aftermath of a political coup.
Read how Keith’s father actually phoned the Last King of Scotland to ask how he could get his wife to the hospital for delivery during the lockdown. Truly an interesting read:
And that one of a kind tale begets a different sort. Read about how a former Google employee was able to purchase the Google.com domain name via a glitch in Google’s internal systems.
Kunal Mishra tells us how a late-night domain name search revealed that Google.com was legitimately up for sale, and Sandmay Ved bought it. Find out what happened in the aftermath and maybe you will be up late at night searching for available domains yourself:
And finally, something I have always kind of wondered about myself; are animals actually the ones domesticating us humans, rather than the other way around?
Jessica Kiev poses this interesting question and explores just who might be the master and whom is the servant in this entertaining story:
Let’s Make a Connection
Next I want to broker an introduction of the new writers tagged in this article and one of our editors and/or writers who has been at Illumination for a bit.
Today I am again putting the spotlight on someone that is brand new in the editor role at Illumination. B. A. Cumberlidge. joined the editor ranks just in the past few days. That is likely because of his tireless engagement and support of other writers; a welcome addition for sure!
Brian has been prolific of late in generating and answering writing prompts and has provided several for these features. I missed one along the way, so I want to highlight it here. As a note to Brian, I responded to the superhero prompt, but have been swamped and haven’t done any of the rest yet. I will get on it soon. I have a good story for the most memorable day prompt — hopefully tomorrow!
If you want to connect with me or any of the editors, please consider joining the Illumination Slack workgroup. You can request an invitation to Slack by contacting Dr Mehmet Yildiz from this link. Please type “Request for Slack” on the heading as Dr. Yildiz has many other requests from this link.
I am always willing to answer questions and provide information for anyone. The other editors and writers are as well. Slack is the best way to interact if you have questions.
If you need some tips to get up and running on Slack, this article is a good starting point:
The Big Ask
As promised, if I featured your story here, or are reading this and feel inspired, I encourage you to pay forward the concept of highlighting the work of others.
Please consider choosing another writer (or writers) and creating a story that emphasizes aspects that you appreciate about their work. It could be their style, topic choices, voice, technical aspects of writing, or maybe you just like their profile picture.
Supporting others is one of the core premises and values of Illumination, and when you engage you will find that you reap dividends. I encourage you to give it a whirl. And, when you do, tag me in your article. I love being exposed to stuff I might not have otherwise seen.
Bonus Gift — The Writing Challenge
There are two types of writers in the world. Those who have experienced writer’s block, and those that will.
One of the great remedies to the question, “What do I write next?” is responding to a prompt or challenge provided by another writer.
List of New Challenges and Prompts
Send me your writing prompts! Here’s what we have so far:
Kevin Buddaeus
Sarah E Sturgis
Sherry McGuinn
Tree Langdon ♾️
Holly Jahangiri — A challenge, sneakily hidden in a newsletter!
INFJ Elder
If you are participating in or originating a challenge and you want to include it here for people to find, either respond to this article or hit me up on Slack (@timothykey).
Next Group
Tomorrow I will pull from this new group of recently added writers:
Emily Morgan, David Hope, Sadhana G, Divya Karnani, Tamara Mitrofanova, Aseka Warnakulasooriya, Ethan Eros, Nimisha Gorasia, Aaron Quist, Lex Nickels, Scarla Knight, Infiniti, Taylor Napior, Ilene Kuehl, Ria Tagulinao, Yusra Dahri, Glenn Stok, Jon Turner, Lee Nourse, Michael J. Vowles, Eddy Bishogo, Steven G, Phil Brakefield, Kate Dawn Smith, TheSkepticalStatistician, Juho Bäckman, Steven G, Emily Morgan, David Hope, Sadhana G, Rachel Clifton, TanyaIv.
If you want me to highlight one of your stories in particular, or have any questions just respond to this story, or better yet, find me on Slack!
Thanks for reading, I am enjoying getting to know all the new writers on Illumination!
If you liked this article, you may also like:
Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.
