Curie Author Showcase (July 3rd, 2018)

• In the spirit of Curie's mission to promote undiscovered but exceptional content, we wish to use this twice weekly section to provide an author showcase for some of the outstanding authors who received Curie upvotes in past week. Curie curators and reviewers nominate authors for inclusion in this showcase and author approval is sought and attained.

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Featured Author: @jarvie
FAITH IN AMERICA BOOK - 5yrs in making ... big update.

Images property of @jarvie

Today's Showcase Post starts off taking you to church. Not for a catharsis or even an absolution for sins, but to explore the "faith" in America through the visual lens of a full-time Photographer, Jarvie.

This post is about a collaborative work Jarvie is undertaking with his publishers to release a sequel to an earlier self-published book. This time a much bigger compilation of faith and worship centers in America.

Certainly a kind of project that can make you cry, as expressed by one of the commenters. The sheer scale is dense; the numbers are intimidating: "hundreds of thousands of pictures and over 4,000 buildings," according to its crooner. From the podium in Georgia where Martin Luther King Jr. preached, across the Glass Churches in Nebraska, up to California, Jarvie spent 13 months travelling 40,000+ miles of hard, coal tar to deliver his calling. Over 300k images (or Two 5D Mk III cameras maxed to manufacturer-guaranteed shutter life span) taken along this journey. And they are breath-taking architecture photography, thanks to Jarvie's experience shooting weddings and portraits!

Was it worth it at all? Here's Jarvie's thought:

"It wasn't "fun" but it was worth it. Seems like our culture is obsessed with things being FUN. Fun isn't the ultimate goal of life. I think doing something grand and noble and beneficial is even better. I think progressing and pushing yourself to be better is more important than moments of fun.
...
"This will not be a money maker (compared to what I spent)... this is strictly a labor of love and a project that I will be proud to say I had a hand in"

Although much of the heavy-lifting has been done regards the production (which this post details), there is still some work left with selling the idea, thus a release date has not been set for this book of the century.

This post will pull you in from the first image. The narration is compelling. And at the end of it all this is a project you may want to keep up with.

Go check it out!

Featured Author: @vaughndemont
The Last Jedi and the Dark Side of the Fandom

Images property of Lucasfilm and Disney

Our next featured author/post is a personal favorite of mine. Vaughn R. Demont describes himself as "the guy who wanted to understand and appreciate popular culture instead of calling it tripe and moving on." I suppose such inquisition inspired his recent opinionated review of not just the Star Wars prequels up to The Last Jedi, but the culture that has stemmed from the cult following these have garnered, that spans generations. "The Last Jedi and the Dark Side of the Fandom" is a study material for a film/writing schools, and a befitting fixture in pop writing.

Vaughn pivots his argument around the progressivism in the evolution of Star Wars, mostly on issues of sexism. He discusses inclusion, compares and contrasts characterization, across generations of the movie, over chronologies of audience.

"In the era of the alt-right, Gamergate, and toxic masculinity being called out, the screeching backlash to The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi is by no means justified, but it’s understandable why it’s there." - Vaughn R. Demont

And a bit of 'fan'-rage hit on Vaughn's doorstep after this featured post met a large niche audience. Here is the author's personal account:

"I don't really know what to say, honestly, because of what happened AFTER I posted that. My husband posted a link to the comics writer Gail Simone, and she liked it, retweeted it to her several hundred thousand followers. After that my website's e-mail was flooded with hate mail, and a couple people tweeting the (thankfully inaccurate) address put on the WHOIS of my website, trying to dox me. It was a post about the dark side of the Star Wars fandom, and I ended up getting a taste of how bad they can be."

If you have had to put up with spates of awful pieces about TLJ, on and off Steemit, this one is a relieve to your intelligent side. And, be prepared to stare truth in the eyes.

Worth the read. Check it out.

Featured Author: @llfarms
Reptile Gardens | An Animal Habitat Adventure

Images property of @llfarms

When life throws at you an area "that has the largest collection of reptiles in the world," you take your camera and make a detailed documentary of all that fauna.

Let's take a ride to Reptiles Garden in South Dakota. From snakes to turtles to frogs to 'gators. Name them, @LLFarms got them all in this photo album. Even Quazi, the 113 year old tortoise got a cameo.

This author is known for her ability to deliver high quality homesteading and nature posts, with photography and storytelling that pulls you in on a full experience, be it a Beehive tutorial or just another day on the homestead.

Head over to be thrilled by those beauties of nature.

Featured Author: @goldygoody
Why Hereditary is one of the scariest movies of recent memory and why some are disappointed

Images property of PalmStar Media

This next author showcase is another movie review. In a rather simplistic but well articulated piece, Vitto (@goldygoody) lists what he thinks are the best qualities of Hereditary that make it "one of the scariest movies of recent memory." As many good reviews, he balances it with the possible things people are disappointed about the Ari Aster blockbuster horror.

"Jump scares on horror movies are similar to slapstick in comedies," according to Vitto. Put to full effect since Jaw, this tactic has been dragged to the mud by most horror filmmakers. "Hereditary however, [is] one of those rare horror gems that don’t rely on such cheap tactics." Such intricate details characterizes this brilliant review piece.

Without spoiling the review so much, go have a read.

Featured Author: @amy-goodrich
BANANA PEANUT BUTTER MOUSSE & OATMEAL CHOCOLATE COOKIE CRUMBLE PARFAITS FOR #FRUITSANDVEGGIESMONDAY (VEGAN & GF)

Images property of @my-goodrich

To wrap up this edition of the Author Showcase it seems appropriate to call up a delicious dessert. If you are looking for a stop-over blog for great recipes, Amy is the one to call. From Pumpkin Man 'n' Cheese With Roasted Cauliflowers and Chickpeas; to Turmeric-Infused Fried Quinoa With Pineapple. There is a lot of options for your (vegan) taste bud.

The story goes that Amy harvested bananas, and went all bananas, seeking banana recipes and making a ton of banana foods and sharing them with us. It looks delicious, I swear you will go all bananas for them. Let's get on an adventure with Amy while she makes gluten-free peanut butter chocolate cookies, banana peanut butter mousse, chocolate sauce and toppings. I promise you it's a mouth full.

This Curie Author Showcase was written by Curie Curator @misterakpan (Ubokobong Akpan), often with input from other Curie curators and reviewers. All images and quoted texts are the copyright of their respective authors and publishers.