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Editorial Review
December 9, 20210

The Whiskey Vault

Even if you don’t drink whiskey, these videos are a source of entertainment. Hosted by Daniel and Rex, each video features a deep dive (well sometimes) into a bottled whiskey (or several bottles) along with many shenanigans. Sure, you could take it all seriously, but why do that when you can explore every nuance of the brand, bottler, source, distillery, grains, smells, tastes, and yes, there’s more, while at the same time laughing? That was a long sentence. Sorry.

Watching these videos, you can learn more than whiskey facts and lore. You might also note they’ve added a splash of edgy marketing techniques. How could you take a single product, whiskey, and make a daily video without becoming boring, over-repetitive, and coma-inducing yawners? Daniel and Rex have a style that adds much more to the whiskey. From the start, they gear up their energy with masculine banter and fictional posturing. Add a dash of meet the employees, a twist of touring their distillery, a mix of practical jokes, and pours of weird challenges, and the videos become tasty. Well, sticky. Uh, tasty sticky treats?

Crowded Barrel, Whiskey Tribe, Whiskey Vault, are just a few of the many business creative ideas they’ve crafted. My personal favorite is the Whiskey Vault, where I can find a daily video and the Rare Whiskey Friday episodes. Often raw, seemingly unrehearsed, and still fresh. If they are tired, if it’s been a brutal week in the distillery, when they’re short-staffed or dealing with problematic suppliers, typical problems all businesses face; the videos go forward. 

I dare you to watch a few videos and not subscribe to the channel.

Character Interviews
December 8, 20210

Shavarah, Celebrity Interview

Tight-lipped and controlled. She’s a seasoned politician, and professional at wording her answers to convey the answer indirectly and camouflaged. The interview went by at a brisk pace and without surprise. Shavarah clearly desires to play a larger part in the story and she probably deserves her own story at some point.

  1. Who is your favorite band?

    Thank you for taking a few minutes to let the readers know — Something — about me. It’s nice to be something more than a one-sentence response to a question. Not that I’m complaining. Being part of the cast in the book is a great honor. What was the question again? Oh yes, my favorite band. The Renaissance period and Handel would be my choice of composer.
  2. What’s your name?

    I’m Shavarah and from the third family. We have taken charge with upholding the vow we shall abstain from stealing here. The laws from the lord buddha are the purest and only laws that ensure humanity will liberate. Liberation is the ultimate mental state.
  3. How old are you?

    I’ve had this conversation with Drrea and Danhip once. It was following the town hall meeting I held in their community. They took a lot of time explaining how gravity and distance from the center of mass play a role in the speed of light. I am a fair mathematician, but those space-time quantum theories are confusing for almost everyone. The best I can tell is I’m forty-one Earth years old. Sorry for giving such long responses to the questions. It’s just that I don’t get a lot of opportunities to be written about or read. 
  4. Are you gender-specific?

    Yes. On Planet 444 there are both men and women. As you can see, I am a big-breasted woman with a round ass and wide hips. So, of course, when you combine those desirable curves with short legs, and you have a plump woman.
  5. Are you related to anyone in the story?

    No? I mean, I’m not sure if there’s a man in my life or not. Probably a few kids, but none of us know anything much about me other than…. Oh wait, I can’t say because of my contract. It forbids me from giving away the story. You know, my one-sentence story. Please don’t take this as sarcasm. I genuinely love being a character in this book.
  6. Where does your accent come from?

    I don’t have an accent. Most people sound like we’re all from Redondo Beach or Van Nuys.
  7. If you were to define one or two of the most crucial problems facing you, what are they and why?

    The population growth may be slowing, but the people are scattering further away from the center. There’s a risk involved here. Those in the center will be different from those away from the center. The mind does that separation without our control. Even though we know that our minds will cause us-and-them phenomena, it still happens. Without the proper social management, leadership, and constant shared values and awareness, we risk becoming divided. As a whole, we are powerful and a force against Mara and the duality of samsara. We have to stay together.
  8. What would a perfect world look like to you?

    Unfortunately, some people have already begun to forget the intention of our community. Liberation awaits, and Nirvana is how it looks.
  9. What needs to happen to get from the problems to the perfect world you defined?

    Well, that’s the five million dollar question, isn’t it? A King with the charisma and the right intention is the answer. So far, this hasn’t happened. Maybe a divine bodhisattva visit or the Buddha himself.
  10. If you weren’t a character in this story who would you be in real life?

    Trick question? I’m only kidding. I admire Kamal Harris so much. It would be my honor to be someone like her.
  11.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?

    My work in the community and with the King is critical and more important than words could explain. There should be an entire novel written about the experiences and the community outreach of Planet 444.
  12. What would you like to say to the reader?

    Thank you for reading these beautiful stories and giving us life. The other characters are so wonderful, and your interest in us is everything we exist to provide.
Interview with the celbrity
Shavarah Celebrity Interview
Character Interviews
December 8, 20210

Drrea, Celebrity Interview

Passionate. That’s how I would sum up my feelings about Drrea. My interview with him left me elevated in both mood and mind. He’s got charisma and that sort of stage style that makes you want to hang out with him. Maybe even emulate him. He has that kind of cool, suave, smooth masculine personality and a diction that is unique and passionate. I hope you enjoy his answers as much as I.

  1. Who is your favorite band?
    Oh shit. Sorry. I wasn’t expecting that question at all. Something about soil and plant nutrition or the like was what I thought you were going to ask. This one is more personal. I’m a huge listener of hip hop and Backxwash, is top’n my charts. You’re likely thinking, of course, Drrea would pick a gay band.
  2. What’s your name?
    I’m Drrea. It’s pronounced, Dray. My family adopted the cultural norms of spelling names when living for six generations on the planet, Copetrrea. My family is number 35. We will have good friends here. It’s my family’s responsibility to uphold what that means. That means we teach everyone what good friends means, and we provide a lot of examples and advice to make everyone follow the intention of a good friend. Am I talking too much?
  3. How old are you?
    Age is sort of an odd concept you know there’s this space-time age based on physicality, and then there’s this biological age strain. Revolutions of Blue Origin around its star (the Sun) has always been the normal relationship on human-inhabited planets. By that standard, I’m twenty-three. Our planet has more density than Earth’s and that makes our bio age slow because of the lower gravitational potential. Which makes me about twelve.
  4. Are you gender-specific?
    Yes, sure. I’m all man.
  5. Are you related to anyone in the story?
    Yes. I’m married to Danip, he’s my husband and best friend. Marriage is a relationship on Planet 444. I think it still a relationship on most planets. Maybe not. Actually, I’m not sure bout dat.
  6. Where does your accent come from?
    Accent? What! I don’t have an accent. Everyone adopted Space X English since we left Blue Origin to explore space. There’s no accent. Well, wait. Vallena has a definite Hindu accent and the King has a distinct speech style. 
  7. If you were to define one or two of the most crucial problems facing you, what are they and why?
    Crucial crunch time to get some help from computer technology. Our work in soil conservation and plant nutritional value for a growing population on this land disadvantaged planet has reached the end of our human ability. Cyborgs wanted us to develop a social norm without technology-fueled greed and the destruction of natural resources that technology cause we all. But, we’ll starve to death in three hundred years if we can’t find solutions to the limited soil here.
  8. What would a perfect world look like to you?
    Sweet candied walnuts, baby! We all get out of this Samsara trap and back to the source. Nobody knows what it look like because it isn’t dis. But, that’s the goal. Kung fu, perfect.
  9. What needs to happen to get from the problems to the perfect world you defined?
    I’m really hoping that linking Mahá (The King) and Visákhá (The Queen) guiding our civilization to the intention of the Cyborg experiment, we will succeed. Everyone will have to do their part. Crucial this.
  10.  If you weren’t a character in this story who would you be in real life?
    Everyone tells me I look like Fred The Godson. I’m arighwit it. He was poppin. Yeah, I could be dat.
  11. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?
    Hell no, you can’t ask a man that. Wow. So what I would change bout me is to lose some of the extra weight. It’s not healthy for my organs and frame to be this big. That’s all though. Just the weight.
  12. What would you like to say to the reader?
    Thanks, man! If it wasn’t for you readers, I would be able to exist at all. If you would do me just one favor, baby. Tell the author to write more about me and my husband. We got some drama for you all. You need my story, y’all!
Interview with the celbrity
Drrea Celebrity Interview
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  • If a story could be described as powerful, this one is. I enjoyed reading Starzel In my opinion, the story's main strength lies in its compelling storyline, multi-genre infusion, immersive descriptions, and compelling characters. Niskak Edet

  • Starzel is a really exciting story. I was really entertained by how you took events that have happened recently and pulled them together into this really dark potential future. Fingers crossed we don’t go down that road, though honestly, I wouldn’t be too surprised. Allison Collins

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  • The most striking and intriguing part of this story (The Dot) for me was the unique fusion of science and Buddha principles. I found it very engaging and enjoyed how the science and Buddha principles were consistent throughout the story. It was a unique point in a futuristic story such as this being that some civilizations in the future came not just to reconcile science with religion but also to make them complement each other.

  • R. Dawson

  • Amazing storyline! The storyline was unique and easily engaging after I read The Dot’s introduction, I became increasingly interested in the story. Although I feel the prologue and introduction need to be tightened up more, They achieved its purpose of capturing my attention and building interest in the story. 

  • S. Stewart

  • The conversation style was fluid and very easy to follow. I liked the simple prose of the story; it made the story very easy to read, such that I understood the thoughts and actions of the characters. Although the discussions included the scientific details involved such as quantum fields, vector, scalar, and even vibrational frequency which may be hard for non-science-inclined readers to follow, the overall narrative helped readers to easily grasp what it is about.

  • K. D. Montoya

  • Interesting Characters! The Dot is packed with distinct and well-fleshed-out characters. Each character felt distinct from the others. This is something I find most authors struggle with. For instance, Kelv’s calmness radiates and fits his character. Also, Zosimos is superior but then still has some weaknesses which he built on throughout the story. The characters were vivid and relatable.

  • T. Howards