Category Archives: CHALLENGES & MISHAPS

Rocking the Boat Authors must defend themselves

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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? Mean-spirited behavior is a learned behavior. It can be unlearned.

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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 →

What Happened & What’s Happening Our first Facebook Live Stream

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Melissa and I did our first Facebook Live Stream on the 16th. Here it is. SUBJECTS: Hillary’s new book, my new releases, Melissa’s book projects, calling the cops last night because someone shot at our house. … Continue reading →

Workspaces & Tentacle Sex I've got a lot on the docket right now

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Since my surgery at the end of May, I have had to accommodate my recovery, while still getting my work done. The whole thing has made me feel old and decrepit. Our bedroom is now in the living room because it was just easier to put everything in one room. Especially after we realized the landlords weren’t going to cut down the dead trees and falling limbs just outside our wall of windows in the bedroom. We didn’t feel safe there, so the living room became our new bedroom. Only recently, could I sit in a desk chair as I … Continue reading →

I’m Mercury’s Bitch What's a scientifically minded person to do?

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Last night, I spent three solid hours just trying to play a game to relax. But the game wouldn’t download. then it would download but wouldn’t work. Then my screen would jiggle and shake and look like nuclear radiation was nearby. Then every conceivable blockade would happen, to keep me from getting to that relaxing gameplay. I’ve never given astrological I said, “Honey? Is Mercury in retrograde?I’ve never given astrological “Yes, actually.” “I’ll be damned.” I’ve never given astrological powers much credence. It’s hard for me to imagine how the constellations and the heavenly bodies have any bearing on how … Continue reading →

The Quest for a Comfortable Chair What's a special-needs adult to do?

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I fear I must be a special needs child…er…adult… After my military injuries, I was told I’d never walk again. I went from a wheelchair to a scooter, to forearm crutches. Now, I’m walking just fine…except when I’m not. It took years to get myself back on my feet. Now, I have certain limitations that I have always tried to address with clever ergonomic solutions–physical, and otherwise. Ergonomics is not just about efficiency, it’s about comfort. While I always streamline and arrange my workspace to address ease of use, I also must be comfortable, physically. Problem is, my spine doesn’t … Continue reading →

Unmoderated Moderate Attempts Moderation Good communication is less about saying what you mean, and more about defining what you say

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From blog ideas archive…. I got into an unplanned debate on Facebook. Most debates on Facebook are, in fact, unplanned. you know how it is. Most of the time, it begins with some innocent status update of mine, but this time, I started it by responding to something I felt needed clarification. I always feel a need to do that when i think something is being misrepresented or over-simplified. The following exchange was very thought-provoking and I agreed with many of the sensibilities of this poster, but the rub is always in the specifics, the semantics. This sort of debate is … Continue reading →

Colonizing vs. Philosophizing Our planet, our priorities & our politics. It's time we connected the dots.

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From blog-idea archives…. On one of those insipid questions sites, someone asked,  “If something happened to Earth, would you move to another planet?” A few underlying fallacies here. First, if something happened to Earth, you wouldn’t have that choice, so the whole construct of that question falls apart at the beginning. Second, this reasoning is like driving your car until it runs out of gas or breaks down, and then shopping for another one, instead of just maintaining the vehicle properly. Third, not dependant on fossil fuels, we would not be in a battle against climate change, and by extension, fighting … Continue reading →

Projects, Pitfalls, Promise surgery, weight-loss, organic food and current writing projects

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Shame on me. I haven’t posted a blog in a long time. SO much going on with us lately. Dealing with sudden health issues happening all at once, burned out, exhausted, feeling ill all the time, I was certainly not inspired to write. So I decided to take a 6-month sabbatical. It turned into 8 months when I found out in the middle of it I needed major surgery. So, I had to face my #2 biggest fear, (surgery) and I’ve been recovering from a full abdominal hysterectomy, and after almost 8 weeks, I’m still having some issues, which I … Continue reading →

Goodies, Captured Critters & Politics

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Sort of a quick diary entry of our day, with our usual adventures with photography. Allergy shot today (only 28 more to go. LOL) Afterward, we had a joyful visit to Barnes & Noble (a rare treat these days) and got some goodies. Melissa bought me a pen-cup I loved, and we of course bought some books too. Tesla: The Life & Times of an Electric Messiah, Pocket Birds of North America, Speeches That Changed the World, The Total Outdoorsman (read: outdoorswoman–sexist bastards.) and a fabulous journal. On the way home, we saw a fox with an injured paw. Followed … Continue reading →

Why I changed my Pinterest boards to SECRET A lesson that cost me several thousand dollars

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Today I had a revelation. I had forgotten to address a very big problem that had recently applied elsewhere. One I had addressed already in the obvious places, but overlooked for a while. I switched almost all of my Pinterest boards to secret. At first, I was horrified to think I was going to have to delete them all and start over, or cancel my account to prevent a looming disaster. Only recently did Pinterest offer a solution to the legal quagmire they so blithely pied-piper’d us into. By now, you’ve probably guessed I’m referring to copyright infringement. Thankfully, Pinterest … Continue reading →

Nom Nom Nom de Plume (with a side of science and metaphor)

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How delicious. To be someone else. To reinvent oneself. I’m not talking about who you are at your core, but about characteristics that might not be serving you anymore. I’ve done it several times over, and not only with names. As long ago as my early twenties, I began referring to myself and introducing myself to others by another name. Eventually, it led me to legally change it. Psychologically, that was one of the best decisions I ever made for my health. I maintain that the name-change wasn’t running AWAY from something, but running TO. Seeking identity. I wanted to … Continue reading →

Operation Homostead & Dooflingywhatsit Our decision to make homesteading our goal, had to begin with all the preliminaries. Where? When? How?

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While I’m battling The Change of Life, we are also dealing with A Change of Life. Major changes on the horizon, all of which we have chosen for ourselves, which of course, makes it easier to weather. Our decision to make homesteading our goal, had to begin with all the preliminaries. Where? When? How? We know we want to settle in central Wisconsin, mostly because Melissa is from that area, and around Chicago, and her family is all there. She needs to be close to her grandmother, who is well into her 90’s and has had some health scares. But Melissa has … Continue reading →

Thoughts on The Thief of Time by John Boyles I was intrigued by the idea of immortality, and the jaunt through history

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I have missed sitting down with a physical book and reading. My recent decision to take a sabbatical and just allow myself to be creative and deadline-free, had me standing in front of my fiction bookshelf, seeking something new. Something enjoyable. As most of you know by now, I have become quite finicky about my fiction reading. I read so much of my own work in pumping out work in the last ten years, that I have had little time to read for pleasure, and when I do, it’s inevitably just before I go to sleep, and by then, my … Continue reading →

That Whooshing Sound

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Message in a bottle… After almost two years of struggle with the vicissitudes of Indie writing and publishing, I have, I believe, come up with a solution to all that has been vexing me, and keeping me from reaching the goals I have been working so hard to achieve, and all that has annihilated the joy to be found in the journey. With the new lease on life I got after my return from New Zealand, I have been focused mostly on getting my health back, but also in increasing and maintaining the momentum in my career, which I didn’t … Continue reading →