Just a quick note to remind you all that we are in the middle of Hurricane Season. Yes, we should stock up on water, non-perishables, etc… but we should also stand ready to assist our friends and neighbors should the storms decide to make us their target.

Wherever you are, do what you can, with what you have. And help anyone you can.

“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
Those words are no less true today than they were in 1776 when Thomas Paine wrote of summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. Indeed, these trying times seem to come around over and over again, and each generation is faced with a choice; to stand aside, and let the forces of those who would destroy us continue to grow in power, or to stand up, each voice echoing the call for freedom for all. When faced with violent, racist fools who have no qualms with killing those who oppose them, standing up is a frightening thought. But that is what we must do. It’s not going to be pretty, nor will it be easy. There will be times when you alone may be the voice that steps up and faces this fascist garbage that has once again raised its putrid head from the filth of the shadows. But you are not alone – there are more of us, more people who believe in freedom, equality, kindness, than you will ever find hiding behind the cross, wrapped in confederate flags and raising a ‘Heil’ as they flood the night carrying torches.

Working Title
Dead Ringer

Synopsis:
Martin Richards doesn’t tell many people about his life. Ever since early childhood, he’s been plagued with sharp pains in his arms and sometimes his legs, every few days. There have even been times where wounds have opened on his body, sometimes small incisions, sometimes large cuts that went deep; but there was never an explanation. Institutionalized as a teen, no one ever witnessed Marty harming himself, yet occasionally, new wounds would open up, and no one ever knew why. By his mid twenties, Marty had learned to live with the pains that came and went, and he truly started a life of his own, telling no one about his childhood, or the regular, unexplained pain he endured. When he visits a psychic on the ‘off chance’ that he is being haunted in some way, he finds the truth to be far more disturbing than something as mundane as a ghost.

CoastCon 40 is behind us, and I have to say I had a fantastic time! I got to spend time with friends, fans, and fan who have become friends! I met new and awesome people, and got to BS and joke my way through the weekend (seriously, what could possibly be better for me??).

Now, we go back to work on life, kids, and MORE BOOKS! (plus a thousand side projects like I always have).

OH! BTW –

I donated some of my MONEY ART (Alternate US Currency) to the Charity auction, and folks really liked it! So, I will not only be doing more, but for next year, I’ll have it framed up in a nice display, etc etc …

It was a great weekend, spent with people I love, doing things I love.

Saying THANK YOU to everyone just doesn’t seem to be quite enough.

The only difference is in how we pay attention to what they say; but *that* element has always been there.

I offer this, to consider;

MOST of these kids are NOT ‘entitled’. They have grown up, danced between households and household – (or in a one parent household). These kids have had to grow up FAR faster than we did, because they were often the only one they could fall back on ; Grown ups were working to keep a roof over their head, and day to day ‘LIFE’ took an aside.

These kids see the world “WE” gave them to see; If I were them, I’d feel powerless too.

The Millennials are NOT the problem; the world *WE* are passing to them is the problem.

These are smart, STRONG kids; they will make fine men and women; but they will NOT suffer the bullshite we are drowned in.

Millenieals are not our enemy; they are our salvation. They will actually act on what we’ve taught; they will actually LIVE *American* values, where we have not.

Change *is* coming – it is coming through our children.

Perhaps – just perhaps, I see part of the problem. Many Americans see immigrants as ‘taking their place’. So, to sidestep the argument of ‘they are taking our jobs’, or ‘they are doing jobs we won’t do’, I offer this tidbit;

An American can’t run a middle eastern Deli as well as someone who was born and raised in that culture can. Nor can ‘natural born’ americans open a ‘Czech’ deli.

We revel in the things other cultures offer us, but we reject accepting them as part of us. That is a HUGE 180 to what our forefathers (or even our GRANDMOTHERS) did.

The world has so much to offer us; but now, we shy away from it, despite what we were brought up to believe was the American Way.

Oh, there is so much more I could say – but for now, I will only ask you to think on this.
Do you enjoy hummus? K ocher foods? Tacos? Lasagna? ANY Chinese takeout?!?!?

If you do, then you are already reaping the benefits of a global cultural exchange. America pioneered that idea;
Don’t kill it now.

My friend Jamie Yerby works for a local home that cares for special needs people. They do work that is beautiful, and needed. But they need any help they can get. So if there is anything on this list you can offer – please consider helping where you can.

https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/QC9ZB18F2EOB/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_ws_t2_PANKyb2D7JWJH

when we were little, you taught us about the world. You taught us the ‘Golden Rule’, you taught us that all people were created equal, you taught us to love one another. to be kind and compassionate.

With young eyes, we watched the world stage, and learned about walls that split not only cities, but entire countries – and we were taught that these things were BAD. As we aged, we learned our history (not just NATIONAL history – HUMAN history) and we learned that as we acted in hate and fear, the worst – not the best – of humanity showed itself.

We saw pictures of the dead; in Germany, Poland, Viet Nam, The Balkans…. we’ve watched the world around us, run by puppeteers playing the population, act in ways that they taught us were un-American.

We saw what AMERICAN men and women fought and died to protect – to fight against. We learned the lessons that are being ignored now.

And NOW, they turn around, and label what we are doing as ‘Nationalistic’. We call these actions in ‘America’s’ best interest.
If you look back, look at the world we younger ones were raised in, look at the lessons *you* taught us, both in Church, and Civics, and you dare wonder why we rage against what you are doing now?

You either lied to us, which is unforgivable, or you are hypocrites – which at this level is also unforgivable.

I’ll forgive you anyway. But – *please* – remember the times when you TAUGHT and PREACHED better to us.

We are not liberals or conservatives. We are your children; and in one way or another, *YOU* made us this way; back when you still believed the world could be a better place. We took your lessons to heart. It is YOU who have lost faith – not us. Not the ones who still believe we can actually BE a better America, that deserves the admiration of the world.

How DARE you try to take that dream, that possibility, away from us.

You should be ASHAMED.

As a fiction writer, we are told to ‘grab their attention in the first two sentences, or you’ve lost the reader’. Now personally, I think that if the reader can’t devote at least the first paragraph to me, they are not going to be able to follow what I’m saying.

But – is journalism the same as fiction writing, at a very basic level?

True – we use many of the same methods, but I’m sure you’d agree that not ALL of the methods that fiction writers use are acceptable in journalism, are they? When you look for news of the day, how much ‘creative liberty’ do *you* think is appropriate?

Personally, I say – none; but that’s my opinion. However, I will say this:

*Journalist have much more power than ‘normal’ writers. We can create worlds where the rules are our own, and only our characters suffer for it. but JOURNALIST – when *they* create worlds, WE suffer for it.
*We ALL suffer when it becomes difficult to know what is fact, and what is opinion
*We  ALL suffer when FACTS are mis-reported
*We become completely disenfranchised as voters, and cannot truly participate in our democratic processes, when we are fed falsehoods and opinions shaded as facts.

This country has a sickness; and it is two fold:

It lies in opinions portrayed as news,
and People who can’t (or won’t) tell the difference, for whatever reason.

Now, you can read this as you will, but this is NOT an indictment on CNN, or any particular organization. For all their failings, most do still have some journalistic integrity, and they DO still try to give both sides (to a degree) to a story.
They don’t always succeed – but lets face it – -WE did this. WE turned the news into a business, a business that needs ad revenue – a business that needs to make money.

WE gave them this mandate. We gave it to them all. So WE are to blame.

OK –  how do we fix it?

By changing course. Any intelligent person can see an error, and correct for it. Now is the time to correct.

We need FACT checkers – independent institutions – not guided by profit or ideology – to challenge Bullshite when it’s given as news.
***AND, we need the NEWS organizations to challenge each other for **PROOF** of contentious stories.

We also need to personally have MULTIPLE sources for news. Find an opposing viewpoint and LISTEN to LEARN (not to respond) and see what you may question.

Questions are the beginning of knowledge – and knowledge is POWER.

Empower yourself. We *are* broken, but not in the ways you’ve been sold on; and it starts in your home, right now, and carries on through every moment forward.

Be bold – live well; stop believing only what you WANT to believe, or what you are TOLD to BELIEVE, and EMPOWER YOURSELF.

Well, it is that time once again, where we spend weeks on end getting used to writing a different number on documents, letters and checks, physically scratching out the mistake we’ve made regarding the date. Kind of poetic, actually, when you think about it. Now, I’m not much for ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ myself, but there is something to be said for having a large starting point in one’s memory. No one makes ‘Mid-spring resolutions’; they just change what they are doing, and go forward. And when pressed for info, many people look in their minds for some sort of memory marker – to help remember ‘when’ they made a change, and to use that to gauge their success or failure. So, maybe the New Calendar Year is a decent time to start a new challenge.

Here’s hoping that your challenges are met with success!