After Words

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Thoughts on my current post-apocalyptic novel. Available May 2019 My paranoia began with the trump administration. Many Americans felt immediately in peril when that dangerous orange buffoon stole the election. I had heard the buzzword infrastructure, and warnings about how it was failing, but until the last few years, I wasn’t even sure what infrastructure really was. I thought it just meant roads and bridges. When I learned that it also included, most crucially, our utility/electrical grids, and then when there were reports that Russian hackers had infiltrated our grid and were just perched there, able to attack at any … Continue reading →

Impeachment & the Fever Dream

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Every day, now, I fight the urge to flee to wilderness, and hide until all this is over, one way or another. Election night, 2016, was devastating. It was like that carnival ride where you spin around and the floor drops out from under you. Since then, I’ve developed all sorts of health issues, including a depression I couldn’t shake. I finally had to take medication for that. Since the election, I’ve developed an interest in survival skills, in keeping a go-bag and emergency supplies “just in case.” Now, I’m not a full-fledged prepper, but I am a survivor, and … Continue reading →

Avenatti AveNAUGHTY AveNOTti

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Jumping from the idea of power, directly into a powerful position, is often the seedling that overgrows into a sort of Kudzu of Corruption. All due respect, Mr A, this is not your A-game.

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It’s a Brave New World–For Women

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I want a new category on Amazon that more accurately reflects the changes afoot in our ideation of a woman’s place in the world. In order to do this, I feel I have to branch out in my writing and create stories in genres that are typically male-dominated. Women need in a voice in those, too. Thus, I will be adding this new tag to all my books. I call it #FemFic. I hope all of you in the Twitterverse will use it, too–help get it going. IF it can gain traction, i will petition Amazon to include it in … Continue reading →

Out of this world…

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I think I just might be in love with KB Draper’s writing. Dramedy is difficult to pull off, but so is this genre of adventure-comedy, which I would call “Adventurdy.” Since I am both a reader and a writer, I have two categories in which to sing her praises. First, as a reader: Spirits Smirits is immediately engaging, laugh out loud funny, and a happy circus of quirky humans, clever monsters and universal themes that will have you on tenterhooks drying out after feeling you have experienced everything right along with the main character. And that main character is a … Continue reading →

FALL IN LOVE WITH LESFIC SALE

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I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to stay focused on work this time of year. With nighttime falling earlier and the temperature getting chillier, all I want to do is log off the computer and curl up on the couch with a cup of tea, a cozy blanket, my grouchy but lovable cat at my feet, and a book. I need to stock up on books for winter. How about you? Eleven authors (including me) have joined forces to keep you entertained at rock-bottom prices. Below, you’ll find all the goodies on offer. Before I get … Continue reading →

Gun Control vs. Second Amendment

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  When I was in the military, I could disassemble an M-16A1 and put it back together. I qualified as Expert, only one shot away from Hawkeye, (due to a miscommunication by the Drill Sergeant with the tower). I appreciated and admired the design and power of this weapon. But as a civilian vet, now, do I need an automatic weapon? No. No, I do not. And neither does any other civilian. These guns are for killing. They are for killing other human beings. IN WAR. They are not toys. Neither should they be a civic statement of outrage or bitterness … Continue reading →

Reviving Dead Spots

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One quarter to one third of the way through a novel, I sometimes hit this dead spot. I’m not sure where the story is going. For instance, this happened with Building Character (Book 2 of the Northwoods Trilogy).  Instead of a linear progression from one scene to the next I had a beginning and an end, but there was this entire middle part missing. I wondered how I was going to fill it in. There didn’t seem to be much room for story there. One character was in transit to the location of the other characters and I wondered how I … Continue reading →

Apple in my Eye

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I’m done with you, Apple. You hear me? Done. I can recall the joy I felt when I got my first iPhone. I was thrilled with the phone, and I used it for everything, and it made my life so much easier. I was in love with it. Now, the honeymoon is over. The love didn’t just fade, it was like continued infidelity. Spousal abuse. After the last few years of Apple’s proprietary restrictions, the constant purposeful inconveniences. To wit: …repetitive requests to logon after every update, which happened whether i was currently using the phone or not, the inability … Continue reading →

Rocking the Boat

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Don’t say anything. Don’t make a comment. It will make you look bad. That’s the usual advice in the publishing industry when someone posts a caustic review of your book, under the assumption that this is about some type of insecurity on the part of a writer. This is not insecurity. It is frustration, and in this case, it’s also outrage. In fact, historically, authors are expected to keep their mouth shut about these things, but I am a proponent of the adage Silence equals Death. This advice to stay mum strikes me as the same mentality that got that Orange Nightmare in the Oval … Continue reading →

Is it Goodreads or Badreaders?

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I’ve always believed that every ill in our society falls under one or more of three categories: Greed, Ignorance or Zealotry. I was faced with an example of one or more of these while updating my author page on Goodreads. I came across a negative review, quite by accident, of one of my earlier books. Against my better judgment, I read it, and was horrified. The reviewer, obviously, did not like my book, and that’s fine, in and of itself, but this reviewer made statements that were patently false. She claimed the character in my book was “helping a pedophile.” … Continue reading →