Tag: literacy

A Second-Time Author: Writing Stories That Matter

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“While my story is about basketball, it also has deeper messages about life and the adult world.”

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A Two-Time Self-Published Author and Capturing and Promoting the Journey

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to publish my own posts here on the Big Words Blog Site, but life has given me a window to do so now. I monetized my blog for a season from 2016 until recently, 10 years in the area of SEO. I think that season may have come to an end, which I plan to write about sometime. It’s hard to believe that it has been 10 years.

During that 10-year span I became a two-time self-published author. You can read about my book project entitled, The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story on the writer’s blog Big Words Authors. Part one of the story is subtitled Innocent Basketball Dreams, and there is a special significance to that name. I envision part two being subtitled, The Fate Of Innocent Basketball Dreams.

Starting as early as 2014 when I wrote for the Examiner, I wrote promotional essays about this project. I interviewed a total of 43 players and coaches for the project and starting in 2018, I started publishing what I called the ‘big ones’, the notable interviews. Leading up to the publishing part one of my two-part story in 2024, I generated roughly 13 promotional essays, and book and interview excerpts. Early in 2026, I decided to compile this promotional content into my second book entitled, Western New York Basketball Stories: Basketball Essays And Interviews From The Far West Region Of New York State.

Why Bother Writing These Stories?

These compiled essays and interviews give insight as to why I wrote my two-part story, and they provide a record of them should the internet go down for some reason. This second book also provided a way to spread my story. I know that my family, people from the Buffalo community, and people who I’ve met since leaving Buffalo for school and then settling in my career have likely wondered why I would write something like this. Many may have also wondered what qualifies me to write something like this and why I wouldn’t focus strictly on my career.

I’ll answer that by saying that while my story is about basketball, it also has deeper messages about life and the adult world. There is more to it than simply that I wanted to be a basketball player when I was younger, and that dream didn’t pan out like the majority of kids. This might shock some readers, but our civilization is facing some stark challenges right now, many of which most people don’t see. One is making and teaching masculinity to boys so that they can become competent and functional men. That’s actually something that’s getting lost, and as fellow author and clinical psychologist Dr. Orion Taraban stated in one of his videos, masculinity in itself is a culture, and it can be lost in three generations. Author Erica Komisar stated the same thing about motherhood. Our current society is actually flirting with losing both of them right now, believe it or not.

Literacy: A New Class Divide?

Publishing these books has been quite the adventure for me and I’ve learned a lot. One of the most valuable lessons you learn as a self-published author is that you have to get your messaging and writings out to the masses somehow. Publishing quality books is just part of the journey, but who will support you after that? Who will care? Going forward I also want to use my voice to at least try to help reinvigorate a love for reading. Afterall in this new digital era of artificial intelligence and digital devices, many believe that literacy is becoming the new class divide.

If you haven’t, please check out the page for my books on my writer’s blog Big Words Authors. Also with the 2026 holiday season upon us, please consider purchasing a copy for a younger person in your network, or for yourself if you like stories. Please consider purchasing a copy no matter what season we’re in. Both of my books are available on Amazon and at my online store. And with that I’ll end this blog post. As the late Coach Ken Jones, a key figure in my story, used to tell us as his players, “YOURS IN GOOD SPORTS!”

The Importance of Financial Literacy and How It Affects Your Life

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. Many people don’t respect it’s importance, but Financial Literacy can be the difference between a good quality of life, or a life of struggle. The following guest post is entitled, The Importance of Financial Literacy and How It Affects Your Life.

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It’s not easy to learn how to manage your money properly. However, if you want to become wealthy in the future, you need to know the importance of financial management and begin integrating techniques into your daily lifestyle.

There’s a huge difference between earning a huge amount and being rich. Some people may make a decent amount of money every month but not manage their earnings very well. As a result, they tend to spend their money on wasteful expenses or useless purposes. They develop a habit of earning and letting the money go without saving or investing some of it.

Meanwhile, wealthy people often have peace of mind knowing they can live comfortably. They can finance their expenses for the following months, and they have a stable income to rely on. Often, these are the people with multiple investments and savings in the bank.

Learning financial management involves developing practices and habits that will help you accumulate security and wealth in the long run. Integrating financial management also considers your personal goals, needs, and risks as you focus on making wise financial decisions. The practice also encourages you to look back on your old habits that may block your success. Further, it can also involve a humble awareness about specific elements that you can no longer control, such as taxes, inflation, market volatility, and debt.

Basic Financial Literacy

Not understanding the principles of using money can lead to several issues. For instance, if you don’t know the relationship between credit and interest, you might end up swiping your credit card for a small amount that may cost you 20% more of the total amount. The truth is that many people are paying a specific thing repeatedly, basically wasting their money.

When this happens, you could end up with a poor credit score. Credit scoring solutions can identify individuals with poor financial management practices, which could be why you will not get approved for house or car loans in the future.

Without the proper knowledge and understanding about financial matters, you will most likely end up like most people-paying high fees, uncertain about where they have spent their money, and paying debts for so many years.

Here are some financial management tips to get you started.

1. Track Your Money

Many young individuals are not even aware of where they have spent their money. If this is the case, there is certainly room for improvement to eliminate the bad habits.

Financial management always begins with spending awareness. List down your monthly expenses or use a management app to track where your money goes. Doing so will help you identify if you are spending too much on unimportant things. Once you’re aware of your spending habits, you can make a plan to improve.

2. Create a Budget

Compute your estimated income and how much you spend every month to create a realistic budget. You don’t have to implement drastic changes right away; you will only deprive yourself of what you usually enjoy, like eating out or shopping for clothes.

Instead, create a budget that aligns with your lifestyle. Over time, you will embrace the small changes that will enable you to develop healthy spending habits.

3. Save

Saving is an essential factor in proper financial management. It gives you financial security and protects you from uncertainties that may cost you money. Save as much as you can, do it little by little until you can finally put more money into your savings account.

4. Pay Your Bills

Your bills should always be on top of your budget. Always prioritize your payment for electricity, credit cards, rent, and other vital expenses to ensure that you allot money for them before anything else. In addition, ensure to pay your bills on time as that may also affect your credit score.

5. Check Your Subscriptions

Many of us tend to subscribe to platforms and automate payments through credit cards. However, it would be wiser to check if you are actually using these subscriptions. Otherwise, you’re wasting money. Review your credit card bills regularly and see if there are some subscriptions you no longer need.

6. Learn to Invest

Like saving, investing is another crucial part of financial management. Learning how to invest your money where it will grow ensures that your money is working for you, giving you more income and higher savings in the long run. Investing is also a great way to ensure that you have funds when you retire.

Knowing how to manage your money is an opportunity to obtain financial freedom. Through your financial skills, you can manage your money well without sacrificing the lifestyle you want while you save, invest, manage your cash flow and secure a bright future for yourself and your family.