Category Archives: society

What Sally McBurgerflipper Deserves:
Rebuttal To Splenetic Diatribe Against Low Wage Workers

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This was originally on a Facebook post in 2014. I thought it needed to be shared on my blog. First, let me say that I am a veteran. I have a lifetime disability compensation due to injuries I suffered while enlisted, and trauma afterward. I joined the Army because I wanted an education, so that I wouldn’t be stuck flipping burgers the rest of my life. I worked at nearly every fast food chain you can name, and in most other service industry segments. I was only able to get an education because of my military disability and being helped … Continue reading →

Good Luck With That:
Hubris in Pricing Indie Author's Books

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My wife belongs to several writing and reading groups on Facebook (as do I, of course) and she engages with many of them. She is constantly sharing with me the idiotic stuff some writers do and say. Recently, there was a conversation on one group where an author was selling a 90 page book for $18, and my wife, Melissa, pointed out that this was a ridiculous price. The author balked, and said that Melissa cared more about the price per page than the quality of the writing. My wife responded: Melissa Walker : here’s what it’s about to me…Let’s … Continue reading →

No Such Thing As a Protest Vote:
In which I dare to question a non-voting professor

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I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being a snowflake. It’s well and truly time for Democrats to stop whining and being precious, and Board the Blue Choo Choo. We have many changes to make, and by now, we should all agree that those changes will never be made with a corrupted party in charge. My skin may not be black, but I know what it’s like to be a minority, and to be punished for it. I’m an Indie author. A disabled veteran. I’m not just a woman, but a gay woman, married to a woman. I’m … Continue reading →

Goldilocks & the BlueWho Dilemma:
A Way to Think About the 2020 Candidates

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It’s obvious we have an unprecedented amount of indecision about who to choose for the Democratic candidate. This undecided #BlueWho thing really matters, and deserves some thoughtful and no-nonsense scrutiny. I believe that most of the undecided voters have the same antecedent. If we can’t know whether we have the Senate, too, we can’t gauge which candidate we can safely vote for, in order to unseat the Orange Little Dicktater. We no longer have the luxury of treating out political candidates like rock stars. We have to get over the idea that they have to be perfect, or check all … Continue reading →

Yes I Want to Take Your (War) Guns

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First, I am a humanist and a liberal Democrat. I am also a military veteran. I don’t hunt, because I don’t have the heart for it, and would only do it in a survival situation. I do, however, feel better if I have a gun of some kind to protect me and mine against break-ins. (See, women are naturally like that, since we are the ones who get raped by men). I have no problem doing the gun ownership legally, and proving that I can safely own and use a firearm. Check my background. I have nothing to hide.   … Continue reading →

It’s a Brave New World–For Women:
I call it FemFic

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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 →

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 →

Circling Uranus

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Done with final draft of Circling Uranus: Samegenders in Space & Elsewhere. Edit/betaread in the hand of Melissa Walker. My short story turned into a novella, and this might be Episode One, as i have ideas for future installments. The blurb isn’t written yet, but here’s the BEFORE WORDS: (at the moment) This story was inspired by the character, India Bell, of the Rain Falls series. As a ruse, she had supposedly written a science fiction book titled Circling Uranus, and it became a bestseller, much to her chagrin. It reportedly included some form of tentacle sex with an alien. I … Continue reading →

Unmoderated Moderate Attempts Moderation

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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 →

Why I changed my Pinterest boards to SECRET

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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 →

Policing the Police

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UPDATE: see end of this essay for my updated remarks after learning new information…. Few things are black and white, unless you’re talking about racism. In regard to gun violence and police shootings, there are solid arguments on either side of this contentious issue which tells me once again that the truth is most often found in the middle and that extremism of any kind is both dangerous and counterproductive. Right out of the chute, let me say that I know there are good cops out there. In fact, I believe that MOST cops are honorable, compassionate people who really … Continue reading →

A Toxic Person

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This is precisely the thing I am living right now. I needed this reminder to hold my head high, knowing that what any toxic person might say or do to impugn me, I can choose courage and integrity, that I have the truth on my side, and that thinking, discerning people will understand that. ‪#‎TruthWins‬

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Don’t be part of the problem

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If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. We’ve all heard that mantra, but it’s true. Recently, I was caught at just the right moment (inopportune, maybe) by a post a “writer” made, asking for help with formatting, and lamenting how hard it was and wondering why she had to worry about it at all. Her posts throughout also revealed that she could not even handle a few sentences without making errors. And then there were all the commenters helping her like she was a child. So I posted an angry comment. I don’t like to … Continue reading →

The Pitfall of Literary Segregation

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I believe it is a pitfall to think that fiction for lesbians is all that different from/than fiction for straight people. And I can say that as a person who reads largely mainstream fiction, and very little of what is termed “lesfic.” I grew up reading mainstream, and I continue to do so, and I am quite picky about what I read. It’s hard for an author to get and keep my attention, if there are any thin spots in his/her craft. I think I might be in the process of forming a new list of Favorite Authors. So far, … Continue reading →

Muse Recovery & Descriptive Prose

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{dusting off the blog}. It’s been a while since my last entry. I was busy with moving back from New Zealand to Denver area, to prepare a life for me and my Sweetie, and we have of course been missing each other desperately, and spending lots of time online Skyping and Typing. And I had to get settled for a while, so I can work out the other plans on the horizon. I am currently residing in an extended stay suite and will probably be here for a while, so i have been trying to climb back on the writing-horse … Continue reading →