Monday, November 30, 2015

Link to iTunes Store as an iBook- Available Worldwide!

Hello everyone! Here is the link to the iTunes Store as an iBook: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/construction-tales-vol-1/id725235089?mt=11 Available worldwide on iTunes and Amazon! Check out my book on the Apple website. Here is my YouTube book trailer: https://youtu.be/U4rEOnGPU2I www.lesliemjasper.com is my website. Have a great day! Cheers! Leslie M Jasper See the video clip on my Facebook page for the book:

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Signed 2nd Construction Tales Book Purchased Today

Hello everyone, I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates. I stopped by a friend's house today to spend some time with him. My big brother, Donny, is in the book. He has been a mentor and a big brother to me for many years. I got to see his fiance's, Liz, engagement ring and the new home projects. His brother has vowed to buy the book and read it for me and offer a review. I got to sign his book. It was the second book purchased when I released it August of 2013. It took about over 2 years for him to find it and me to remember to sign it. My sister, Kim, was the first person to buy the book. I was very grateful to people who have supported my book. As of today, I have no reviews of the teen version of my book. I have passed out many free copies but no one has followed through on their promise of a review. I find it frustrating since I don't have enough time to hound people. At some point, someone will give it a first review. My nephew, Trey, is supposed to read the book and offer his review. My nephew's grandmother is reading the book. He is waiting for it to be returned so he can do the review as promised. When I get feedback I will share the review. My son finished the audiobooks edit and it should be loaded to Amazon soon. I will share when it is ready. The teen version must go on iTunes as well. It is on my to-do list. Have a great day and speak to you all soon!! Cheers! Leslie M Jasper

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Construction Tales Book Videos and Trailer Links For YouTube

Hello everyone! Here are some links to my book promotions and videos for the book. Give some feedback if you would like. Have a great night! Cheers! Leslie M Jasper Book Promo: http://youtu.be/-MQAV8hQfr0 Book trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U4rEOnGPU2I Book interview: http://youtu.be/gNiI08b0evs 100th book interview episode: http://youtu.be/DU9B9k5jyUA

Sunday, November 15, 2015

I Support The Whitehouse Council on Women and Girls Campaign

Hello everyone! I am pleased to see the Whitehhouse is taking initiatives to empower women, girls, and minorities. I am tickled at the hashtag for the campaign that is #YesSheCan. I fully believe that if you are strong and smart and have a burningn desire to learn, there is NOTHING you can't do!!! My dad used to say that to me all the time! He used to tell me that I had an ability with my hands and was capable of doing anything my heart desired. He knew that way before I saw my own potential. Mentoring young people is vital to help society in the future. Someone has to take over the wheel some day when I retire. It is about time to see evidence of change! It is great to see the American culture has somewhat evolved in the position taken regarding women and minorities. I know all too well that change doesn't happen overnight. I see more messages of encouraging girls to chase their dreams than ever before. It will still take many more years before women and minorities can get a good shake at equality. I find it funny that women were called to work in male-dominated jobs duriing World War II. Once the men returned home, women had to retreat back to the kitchen. I know the push back has alot to do with white men not losing their economic foot hold in the work field. God forbid they have to step up their game and compete with hard working women and minorities. I am happy affirmative action gave me a means to get my foot in the door in my trade. If it wasn't for that, I would not have great income and a pension on the horizon. By the way, I am a proud union journeywoman electrician out of Local #3 IBEW in New York City. I get the same pay as the man standing next to me. I thank the union for making that possible!! It makes sense why unions are degraded in society. Meanwhile, they offer a path for equal pay and work opportunities! I do not mention my union affiliation or the names of coworkers or contractors in my book for potential legal issues. It is not skipped out of lack of pride I assure you. I enjoy teaching a course to electrician apprentices called, Principles of Trade Unionism. It is great to mentor and inform the next generation of electricians. Knowledge is indeed power. I encourage women and minorities to join a union if you want equal pay and a fair shot at learning a trade. It is a huge challenge to get people to stop discounting a person's ability simply based on skin color or gender. It is frustrating to show up on the job to work and coworkers (women do it too) discount ability based on an initial appearance. I know I used to run around and carry double of what my male coworkers would do. This was in an effort to display what I was capable of and earn respect. I ended up ruining my body in this process. I knew I was making progress when my coworkers stopped seeing me as a female and just one of the guys. I knew all too well that my personal life could tamper my reputation. I was careful to maintain a professional relationship with my peers and avoid putting too much of my personal life on display at work. No matter how private you try to be, people will still make assumptionss as to what you do on your own time. Some of these assumptions can be negative in nature and some can be made to find humor. My hope is that my efforts helped the next female who steps on the job hungry for a paycheck and earned respect as an equal. At the end of the day, a great means to take care of your family and not rely on anyone else. I never wanted to rely on a man for my welfare. I did that once in my life and learned a powerful lesson. I married at 18 yrs old and he passed in an accident just before my 21st birthday. I was left stranded trying to pick up the pieces of my life. I knew from there on to make my own money and take care of myself. Anyone who comes into the situation is extra icing on the cake. I have a censored version of my book. The book is entitled, Consruction Tales: A Young Person's Guide to Accomplish Anything in Life. It is geared for younger readers in an effort to show them difficult things can be accomplished. No matter the push back, I was there to work and earn a paycheck. It is not easy to endure negativity on a regular basis. You must just dig deep and prove them wrong. Once you prove them wrong, you will gain a form of acceptance and life can become easier. I never concern myself with what people have to say. I usually make fun of it and keep chasing my goals. You can do it too! I am off to get some more things accomplished today! Construction Tales (adult/teen) can be found for Kindle, Nook, iTunes, and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple. As always, thanks for reading! Cheers! Leslie M Jasper (future Stakley)

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Questions Posed to My Nephew Trey About My Book!

Hello everyone! I am a little chatty today. Here are some questions I asked my nephew, Trey, from Abilene, Texas. When he sends them back to me, I will share with you! Questions I asked my nephew Trey who lives in Abilene, Texas: 1-What chapter did you like the most? 2-What do you think it is like for a female to work in construction? 3-What 3 things did you learn from this book? 4-What is your opinion of your Aunt Leslie? 5-What part did you share with your friends? 6-Thoughts on what working in New York is like? I will share when he sends me back his answers! ;) www.lesliemjasper.blogspot.com Have a great day! Cheers! Leslie M Jasper (future Stakley)

A Friend From Kathmandu, Nepal Is Going to Review Construction Tales

Hello everyone, I have a friend who connected on Facebook with me. His name is Ganesh Mc and he is from Kathmandu, Nepal. His name means symbol of God. His nickname is Mesh. He has agreed to give me his opinion on my book. I am looking forward to hearing his thoughts on my book. As soon as he offers his review, I will blog about it. He is taking English classes and is highly motivated to develop a business plan. He works in the hotel and travel industry in Nepal. He says that I must be brave to be a woman in construction. It is true that I must be tough to survive in my business. I look forward to getting more international perspectives on my book. I am grateful for people all over the world finding my blog. I have to start writing Volume 2. I have to get into the habit of just writing 500 words a day to make it happen! I allow life to consume me and doesn't give me much free time. I am always looking for ways to promote my book. Thank you again for reading and please share my blog. If you reach out, I am happy to respond and blog about your thoughts as well. Cheers! Leslie M Jasper

Gave My Nephew My Teen Version of Book

Hello everyone! I sent my nephew, Trey, a copy of the teen version of my book entitled, Construction Tales: A Young Person's Guide to Accomplish Anything in Life. He was kind to send me a picture he made, a baseball card, and a small note to say hi and acknowledge that he received my book. I plan to write some questions down and send them to him to answer. Once I get his review, I will blog about his answers. I am trying to get reviews from my other nephews. As always, I am grateful for you stopping by to read the book. Speak to you soon! I plan to post more videos of asking my son, Johnny, questions about the book. Thanks and have a great day! Cheers! Leslie M Jasper (future Stakley)

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Johnny Reading the Teen Version of Construction Tales!

My son Johnny is pitching the teen version of Construction Tales. Available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and iTunes.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

My Time At Crown Plaza in Elizabeth, New Jersey For An Independent Author Book Expo Last Weekend!

Hello Everyone! I am happy that I joined the group of 34 fellow independent authors at the 2nd annual Independent Author Book Expo in Elizabeth, New Jersey. I got to meet Renaee Smith. She is a fellow author and organizer of the event. As a way of paying it forward, I am going to list the names and contact info of those who joined me for the event. The event was busy, at different times, during the event. I must say I as happy to hear that not only these people were authors, they had other achievements under their belt. I usually am not intimidated by an audience. I must say that I got really nervous speaking to the group. I was going to read an exerpt from my book but forgot to do so. I was disappointed with that. I saw the facial expressions of the people as I walked up to speak. It seemed they were rather skeptical as to who I am and what I am about. It gave me a little anxiety. I knew I was attempting to tap into a new market. The majority of the audience was African American as well as from different islands in the Caribbean. While that was exciting to speak to a different group of readers, I was nervous of not being received correctly. I was afraid of saying something that I would perceive as funny and it could be taken the wrong way. My fiance is of African American and Native American descent. I was initially hoping he would come with me. I believe my initial fear was I would be viewed as an annoying outsider. Probably the same feelings I used to have on a jobsite as an apprentice. It was a fear that I had to push out of me. I develop a stubbornness to not allow anyone to intimidate me or push me away. After awhile, I pushed away the nervousness and said what needed to be said. Overall, I think I walked away with some future readers of my book. People know it exists and will tell others about it at the very least! I pushed my edited version of the book for younger readers. I talked about the need for young people to push for what they want to do and not give up. My story can align itself with minorities since I had to work hard to develop a good reputation amongst people who doubted my ability. This doubt was from nothing more than my gender. I know what it feels like to have people discount you just based upon an initial glance. I must say I will never know the plight of a minoriy. I have only an 8 hour a day sense of what it is like to be discounted for no other reason than my gender. It has definitely given me a different perspective on life and what people must go through 24/7 in their lives. My fiance, Curt, and I have many discussions on the topic. The best compliment I ever received was that I "work like a man". That and people have told me that they forgot I was a woman. It means I have blurred the lines in the sand in their mind. Perhaps the next woman that comes around will get a better chance at acceptannce and not total doubt. I look forward to talking to Renaee about developing an Independent Author union in the future shopping for publishers. I also look forward to next year's event! Check out the website www.iabx.org for info on the group I am a part of now. Here is the line-up: Aaron Southerland- www.blueauraoasis.bigcartel.com A.D.- www.theauthorad.com Athena Dent- ad.peaceofmind@yahoo.com Bayyinah Monk-Nduaka- www.gimmethatrecipe.com Candice Nicole Werts- www.candicenicolewerts.com Chris Avery- www.turningstonechoice.org Christopher Signil- www.racefaithandpolitics.com Christian Writers Ministry- www.empoweredpages.com Denise Bolds- www.BoldDoula.com John D. King- www.thebridgeportbookclub.org Josuanne Denis-Frasier- www.josuannedenis-frasier.com Keli Matthews- www.FocusWrieInspire.com Latisha Marie- www.officiallatishamarie.com Leslie M Jasper- www.lesliemjasper.comm LSO- www.treatsnthingslso.com Melica Niccole- www.MelicaNicole.com Nichole Nunes- www.ConsultFirstLLC.com Nigeria Lockley- www.nigerialockley.com Oumar Hill- www.passionwith-in.com Phillip Fusaro- serphisofficial@gmail.com Rashaun Allen- www.royalbluepublishing.com Se'Quince Aiken- sequinceaiken@yahoo.com Shani McIlwain- www.shanimcilwain.com Sudha Ramaswami- sudharamaswami9@gmail.com Sonya Felice Jenkins- www.sonyafjenkins.wix.com T.C. Spellen- www.tcspellen.com Tamara Brown- www.theinsidersbookclub.com Teresa Marita McGuire- saywriteheart2serve@gmail.com Theresa Campbell- www.theresaacampbell.com Vanessa Santiago-Jerman- www.busybeeboutique.webs.com Yara Kaleemah- www.yarakaleemah.com Yolanda Ceasar- peacehavenva@yahoo.com Zakiyyah Madyun- theherbalist1750@gmail.com Iris Dudley- 347-351-4796 Michelle Drummond www.drumstrings.com Cheers! Leslie M Jasper (future Stakley)

Photos From Independent Author Book Expo October 24, 2015

Happy Halloween 2015 Everyone!!

Hello everyone! I celebrated Halloween last night coming to the door dressed as a granny. It seemed like not as many kids go trick or treating these days. I was hoping to see more costumes. I went with my fiance to the casino afterwards and pulled the handle a few times. I won some money to offset my donation to Mohegan Sun. I will talk about my trip to New Jersey last weekend in the next blog. I joined a group of 34 authors for an event to showcase our books collectively. Speak to you soon! Cheers! Leslie M Jasper (Stakley in future)