The Optimist-Kit: Support This Creative, Inspirational, and Motivational Project Today!

I have been blessed to meet wonderful people who exude positive energy, an energy that not only attracts you to them but also makes you want to be filled with that same positive energy.

Author and entrepreneur Pachet Burson is one of those people in my life, and when she told me about her new endeavor, I was compelled to share in the hope that those who love to inspire, who love to be inspired, who love to dwell in and celebrate their and others' creativity would join in and contribute to this worthwhile project!

Pachet Burson is a mother of three, wife, writer, blogger, and creative mind. She’s been called a “creative trifecta” because of her love of all things innovative. Whether she’s taking pictures, writing stories or making jewelry, Pachet believes that creativity is something that everyone possesses and it should be utilized daily to aid in inspiring, motivating and problem solving. She aspires to encourage and empower others to tap into their creative sides and continue the cycle of inspiration, motivation and empowerment. When she’s not working, avid coffee drinker Pachet is reading with the kids, eating sushi with her husband in Chicago, or lusting after Optimus Prime while eating butter pecan ice cream. You can learn more about Pachet at the following online outlets: her blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram




Not too long ago, Pachet was inspired to create her new project, THE OPTIMIST-KIT. The Optimist-Kit is a monthly subscription box service featuring a journal, a writing utensil, stimulating trinkets and a unique 30-day inspirational challenge all packaged together with a creative theme.

Pachet told me that inspiration for The Optimist-Kit struck "when one of my followers on Instagram commented on a picture I took of an affirmation I wrote. Something told me to reach out to her, and I did via email. After she emailed me, I told her that I wanted to send her something like a care package. At that time I had no idea what I wanted to send, but I swear, God spoke to me and told me 'This is what you’re going to do. This is your business.' And just like that, I started drafting my idea of The Optimist-Kit."

With her divine inspiration for the kits, Pachet sees big things for what the Optimist-Kit can do. "At the end of the day," she said, "I want to share the power of creativity and passion with the world. I believe that we harbor so many thoughts, dreams and even baggage that we cannot truly be ourselves because we fear of what others think. 

"I used to fear sharing my ideas, dreams and even past experiences with others out of fear of what they would say, but journaling helped me open up and also helped me share some of my experiences with others. I said recently, if I can inspire one person then that’s enough for me and it’s true. All it takes is one."


Pachet's ultimate goal of The Optimist-Kit is broken down in four words: CREATE. INSPIRE. MOTIVATE. REPEAT.

• CREATE: A daily writing ritual to ignite innovation and positive thinking.
• INSPIRE: Oneself and others to find their passion(s), let go of negativity and embrace the person that we have all been blessed to be and become.
• MOTIVATE: Others to be part of a positive movement and pay it forward.
• REPEAT: Create the ultimate cycle of optimism and passion.

Pachet has already launched her April kits, and is currently fundraising for The Optimist-Kit via Booster.com. She is looking to raise $600 to help fund the upcoming kits for May, June and July through the purchase of t-shirts that she has designed.

Pachet is selling shirts featuring these four cores via Booster for just $24. These shirts will not only help raise funds, but they will also help spread the word about The Optimist-Kit.

"I believe that The Optimist-Kit is needed for anyone and everyone looking to release their inner thoughts and/or uncover their passions," Pachet said. "I would truly appreciate your support in any way that you can give it. Buy a shirt, spread the word about the fundraiser daily or weekly, no matter how you do it, please know that it will not be taken for granted."

To purchase a shirt and view Pachet's campaign, please check out her Booster campaign HERE.

Authors, Clothing Designers: Get Your Wares in an Upcoming Movie

Want to know how?

Help fund writer, director J.D. Walker's KICKSTARTER campaign for her movie, THE POSTWOMAN!

There are NINE days left until the campaign in, and funds are still needed for this worthwhile movie, which has been featured in The Huffington Post and Indiewire's Shadow and Act: On Cinema of the African Diaspora. You can head to J.D.'s KS page to watch a video and learn more about the movie and campaign, but here's how you can get your wares into the production.

BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT

With a $75 pledge, you can enjoy your book being featured in the Bookstore scene and a digital link to watch the feature film (after the film's theatrical release and all restrictions placed on the project by TV or distributors). Clean "TITLES" only: Non-offensive. Children, Romance, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Erotica, Poetry, Spiritual, Motivational, LGBT, and other titles, okay. Just look for Pledge $50 or more [BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT: ALTERNATE $75 PLEDGE] in the list of pledges you can make!

BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT: THE SUPREME EDITION

With a pledge of $100 or more, you can enjoy your book being featured in the Bookstore scene, your name in the closing credits, two tickets to an advanced screening, and a digital link to watch the feature film (after the film's theatrical release and all restrictions placed on the project by TV or distributors). Package also includes a PDF of the shooting script, a Postwoman Movie luggage tag, and a grocery tote. Clean "TITLES" only: Non-offensive. Children, Romance, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Erotica, Poetry, Spiritual, Motivational, LGBT, and other titles, okay. Just look for Pledge $100 or more [BOOK LOVERS DELIGHT: THE SUPREME EDITION] in the list of pledges you can make!

CLOTHING LOVERS DELIGHT

With a pledge of $100 or more, you can enjoy having your clothing line featured in THE POSTWOMAN, your name in the closing credits of the feature film, two tickets to an advanced screening, and a digital link to watch the feature film (after the film's theatrical release and all restrictions placed on the project by TV or distributors). Just look for Pledge $100 or more [CLOTHING LOVERS DELIGHT: ALTERNATE $100 PLEDGE] in the list of pledges you can make!

GET TO PLEDGING!

Funding a Dream: Author Alisa Valdes

Nine years ago, Alisa Valdes' debut novel, The Dirty Girls Social Club, had people wondering if she was "The Latina Terry McMillan." The novel, about the loves and lives of six eclectic friends in their late twenties, not only garnered media attention, but it also became a New York Times bestseller.

Now, Valdes is moving to bring her bestselling novel to the BIG SCREEN... and you can help! Through Fundly.com, Valdes has kicked off a campaign to raise funds for a Dirty Girls movie. When talking about the book on Fundly, Valdes says, "I wrote the book I wanted to read but couldn't find." It was also the first book to explore the racial and socioeconomic diversity of Latinos in America that the mainstream completely ignores, with a black Colombian character, a blonde Cuban Jewish character, etc. -- and that, says the author, was the key to its success. "The book showed us as we truly are - multifaceted, complex, fully human - not as the dominant culture fantasizes us to be," she says.

With such a hot property like Dirty Girls, there were plenty of opportunities to bring the novel to the big or small screen, and at Fundly, you can read about those experiences and what has led Valdes to now pursue securing funds to make the movie herself.

When I asked Valdes what it would mean to have this campaign funded, COMMUNITY was a keyword for her: "We are looking to raise a small portion of our budget through crowdfunding. If we can do it, emotionally it will mean that we have the support of the community. Community is important to me."

If you loved the novel and would love even more to see the movie version, fund this campaign today! If you want to support an endeavor that would spotlight positive images of Latinas, then help fund this campaign! Be sure to watch the comical (yet painfully truthful) and entertaining video at the campaign site!

You can also help the cause by clicking any of the buttons at the end of this post to share it on G+, Facebook, and Twitter.

Like Valdes, I, too, believe in community. It takes a community to raise an indie talent. Support this one today!

Funding a Dream: Author Tananarive Due

One of my favorite authors is Tananarive Due. Her biggest fan is my sister. I'd put a bet on that. My sister has read and reread Due's books as if she's writing a dissertation on Due. Whenever a new one drops, she's big-eyed, excited, and on her way to a bookstore or online to buy.

The minute I learned that Tananarive, along with her husband Steven Barnes, had started a fundraising campaign for their short horror film Danger Word, I knew I wanted to put a shout out to the blogosphere in the hopes that people would hear this news and jump on board to support the project.

If you don't know Tananarive Due (and I'll try not to hold that against you), let me give you the skinny. She's an American Book Award winner and the author of the bestseller My Soul to Keep (my fave book of hers!). Her husband, Steven Barnes, has his truckload of talent as well, having written for several major TV science fiction series in the past 20 years to include The Outer Limits, The New Twilight Zone, and Andromeda.

Their short film Danger Word tells the powerful story of a 13-year-old girl and her grandfather who have survived the zombie plague in his wooded cabin—and how her birthday outing goes badly awry. It's a story about love and survival that empowers young girls.

A cool thing about this project? There are already 200 backers, including Hollywood insiders.

The Indiegogo fundraising campaign, which ends on July 29, 2013, would assist Due and Barnes on finishing post-production.

I asked Tananarive what it would mean to her to have this campaign fully funded, and her final response echoed that of author Liz DeJesus, who talked about dream fulfillment when asked about her fundraising campaign. Tananarive said

Aside from a few short scenes Steve and I wrote for a book trailer for FROM CAPE TOWN WITH LOVE with Blair Underwood, I have never seen my work translated to screen. I love movies, and I took up screenwriting in Los Angeles with the hope of seeing one of my book adaptations produced, but it hasn't happened so far. The idea to write our own movie came like a lightning bolt, and it has been one of the most liberating experiences of my life. The trailer is the only footage I've seen so far, and even that short snippet is so thrilling! I know there are other fans out there who would like to see the movies I want to see, and it's a dream come true to make those stories come to life on the screen.

You know, being a bestseller, being an award winner, being a successful writer does not mean you will always get a YES to projects you want to develop, projects you feel need to be developed. Sometimes, you can't wait for the YES of others; you have to make your own YES and work to build your dreams into realities. That's what this fundraising campaign does, just as it is doing for both writer, director J.D. Walker and author Liz DeJesus.

But even as you make your own YES, community love and involvement are important. It takes a community to raise an indie talent. Support this Indiegogo project from Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes today! While there, DEFINITELY take in the fantastic video that features Due and Barnes, the director Luchina Fisher, and the fantastic trailer to Danger Word.

You can also help the cause by clicking any of the buttons at the end of this post to share it on G+, Facebook, and Twitter.

Funding a Dream: Author Liz DeJesus

If you don't know Liz DeJesus, you should. Especially if you love stories with wonderfully intriguing, engaging female main characters and fantastical twists. I've known Liz for many years and have been honored to have been one of the first people to touch many of her stories during their editing phase.

Yesterday, I mentioned J.D. Walker and the fundraising campaign currently underway for her movie, The Postwoman.

Liz, too, is on a fundraising journey. For what?

For the rest of her book tour--the tour enables Liz to promote her two YA fantasy novels, First Frost [which has received amazing reviews from bloggers and other authors] and Glass Frost [which is set to be released July 19].

I was so happy to learn recently that Liz was invited to go to the Baltimore Comic Con and Baltimore Book Festival. She's eager to get there and continue on with her tour. Funds from her campaign would be used to pay for limited edition copies of First Frost, promotional items, and other travel expenses.

Just $500 would help Liz make her goal and send her to Baltimore.

Liz talked to me about what achieving her fundraising goal would mean to her. For her, it goes beyond just fulfilling this tour; it continues her childhood dreams.

It would mean that people support my artistic endeavors. That they believe that I can make my dream come true. I know it sounds cheesy, but this was what I dreamed of doing when I was a little girl stuck in the mountains of Puerto Rico. I wanted to be a writer. More importantly, I wanted to be a working author. One that was traveling and meeting new people. It's one of my favorite things to do. LOL In the past few months, I have met so many incredible people, and I want to continue to go places and meet new people. But the financial strain is making things difficult.

Help Liz continue on her literary journey by supporting her FundRazr campaign, which ends on August 20, 2013.

You can also help the cause by clicking any of the buttons at the end of this post to share it on G+, Facebook, and Twitter. It takes a community to raise an indie talent. Support this one today!

Funding a Dream: Writer, Director J.D. Walker

Lately, a lot of talented writers I know have created fundraising campaigns to assist in their creative pursuits. One such talent is writer, director J.D. Walker. J.D. is a Sundance Film Festival Pitching Contest winner and also an Honorable Mention winner for The Postwoman in the Sundance Table Read My Screenplay Contest. I met J.D. on Facebook and am a definite fan of her constant push to develop her craft, to place herself in places and spaces and before people that can help propel her to new levels in her endeavors.

Using Kickstarter, J.D. is seeking funds for her movie, The Postwoman. The dramatic feature film is about a single mom who develops the courage to confront her ex-husband, dysfunctional family, and teenage daughter about her secret life with another woman. Funds received from the Kickstarter campaign would be used to assist with production expenses.

When I asked J.D. what it would mean to her to have this campaign funded, she said, "It means that we can proceed with filming, get the film distributed in theaters, film some of the first early scenes of the film, market what we film to private donors and investors, and it also means a step toward the second feature film on Oscar Micheaux, which won the pitching contest at Sundance."

Please take time to visit J.D.'s Kickstarter campaign for The Postwoman and consider backing this project. Even a dollar can help, but the more you pledge, the closer J.D. will get to securing production-expense funds. It doesn't hurt that there are cool Thank You "gifts" for backers, too.

You can also help the cause by clicking any of the buttons at the end of this post to share it on G+, Facebook, and Twitter. Let other people know about this great project and equally great talent.