Every now and then I stumble across an author who makes me feel like the world’s biggest hack.
My spouse reads about three books a week. That’s how I “found” Sue Monk Kidd.
Kidd writes historical fiction. The first book I read of hers was “The Book of Longings.” It is the fictional autobiography of Jesus’ wife published in 2020.
We often have blogs about depression or suicidal thoughts.
Several years ago, I was having suicidal thoughts. I’m a person who believes everyone is responsible for their attitudes. I couldn’t believe I was actually giving suicide consideration.
I’ve been through some very bleak days in my life. Yet – suicide hadn’t entered into my thoughts as a way to fix my situations. It didn’t seem right that I was suddenly going there.
Jesus said, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me.” He also said, “Whoever is not against Us, is for Us.” This was echoed in the sixties as “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” I bought into this creed then -- and apply it now.
Over the last several months, I have cut ties with several long-term friends.
It started out as a discussion of anti-trans laws and quickly took a sharp turn into the ease of convincing doctors to start hormone therapy and actual SRS.
Scientists have suggested that herd immunity might not be a feasible goal for the United States. They state the main factor stopping herd immunity is vaccine reluctance.
I have "death reluctance."
What doesn't the government hold a $100,000,000 lottery for all those who have been fully vaccinated as of July 1?
Given a shot at $100M might prompt the damn fools to roll up their sleeves.
Why should those of us who have done the right thing suffer under the distinct peril of this virus mutating, when we have the chance to eradicate it.
Not long ago it was suggested that people should quit blogging about political matters. The suggestion went on to opine that if a person wanted to make a political point that should be done through fiction. . .which is the mission of this site.
I’ve always enjoyed a good dystopian story such as Nineteen Eighty-Four, Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World, Animal Farm, Hunger Games, Welcome to the Monkey House, or Atlas Shrugged.
“There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
I live in the Twin Cities. My attention to the George Floyd trial might exceed that of the average BC visitor. My anger at what occurred has gone up with each new bit of prosecutorial evidence.
It seems George Floyd died because the police officer who killed him had marginalized him.
I've always voted a split ticket -- voting for the candidate who I believe represents my values -- rather than voting for an R or a D. My business partners have included staunch Rs and Ds. One was an R governor, one was a D attorney general.
There’s been a lot of discussion in a different thread about the decision to pull several Dr. Seuss books from publication.
Much of the chatter seems to regard a book as “art” or “history of a certain time.”
I certainly agree. Books like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “Huck Finn” are examples of books that are offensive by today’s standards -- that should never be lost to readers.
What that other discussion seemingly misses – and a point that should never be missed on this site – is that books are chattel.
A few years ago, I asked Erin if she would be interested in publishing Peaches through Doppler Press. I agreed to donate all proceeds to the maintenance of BC.
I wasn’t sure what to think and frankly sort of washed my hands of it and didn't think much about how many books were being sold. Last summer, Erin told me about the amount of money the sales of my books have generated. I was amazed and gratified.
Youth sports have a purpose. They can be wonderful environments to teach valuable life lessons. Or, they can be culture cauldrons to develop bias and hate.
I love youth sports. I also love the effort to win. Excelling is a basic human nature and vital to the perpetuation of mankind.
Winning and compassionate youth sports are NOT incompatible.
I once ran a youth basketball program with about a thousand participants. The players were boys and girls ages ten through fourteen. Our program fed into three high school programs.
The talking heads can't wait to put 2020 in their rearview mirrors.
Hold on!
In many ways it was the Titanic of years. But to me it represented wish fulfillment.
I'm a frustrated transwoman who for many reasons has never found the door to my closet. 2020 - the year of isolation and the delivery man - allowed me the opportunity to live fully feminine 24/7.
Without the fear of unannounced visitors, I happily expressed my true self day after day. Once it became socially acceptable to cover the camera for Zoom meetings I rarely had a need for male clothing.
Why do I have such a fixation on the Kudos and Total Views numbers?
That is a very good question when you consider that I’ve been saying for eons that there is absolutely no correlation between the quality of writing and these two numbers, for any given story.
The over-riding answer is this – I’ve seen too many new or impressionable writers turned off when their stories don’t receive high scores.
Supposedly, upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe -- Lincoln said about Uncle Tom's Cabin -- "So you're the woman who wrote that little book that started this great war."
A few months ago I read Uncle Tom's Cabin as part of my research to write a book about a transperson during the Civil War. I was shocked by the emotions elicited. It was frightening to think how the reader would have reacted in the 1800s.
In a few days I will post the final chapter for my mini-serial "The Womb of the Unknown Cheerleader."
A few days after that, I will unpublish the story. It is scheduled to form part of a Doppler Press book called "How You Play the Game." Rasufelle is putting the finishing touches on another enticing cover.
It will join over a dozen other books I've donated to BC. I take no part of the revenues generated.
Supposedly, readers get a great deal of enjoyment out of guessing what happens next. How will Emily react when Jacob tells her that she is trans? If the author has made that answer plausible in the story the reader will feel good about continuing. If the answer has been guessed correctly the reader pats herself on the back and reads on -- looking for more self-affirmation.
There has been much discussion about whether are not writing a synopsis is preferable to writing a complete story.
An unwritten contract does exist between the reader and the author.
A comment yesterday on one of my stories brought this home to me one more time.
A few years ago, I tried to write a story that would create a pile of revenue for Erin through Doppler Press. That effort failed. I have no interest in reading age regression/baby stories and shouldn’t have tried to write one. I donate my books to Erin and she receives 100% of the revenue. Unlike the other twelve of my books published by Doppler -- this one doesn’t sell much and received poor reviews.
Nearly thirty years ago, I accomplished something good that had me on the front page of statewide newspapers, repeatedly. Many, many good things happened for hundreds of thousands of people as a direct result of my efforts.
Then some bad people asked me to do some unlawful things, which I refused to do.
At the same time, other people wanted to make money they weren’t entitled to.
Thirty months into the project, I found myself accused by a state-wide elected official of malfeasance.
I just noticed that I have had no interaction with anyone listed under the column on the left called Who's Online.
In stark contrast, many of those listed on the right hand side under In Memoriam were people I had had a great deal of interaction with in comments or messages. I had edited stories for a number of them.
Nora Ephron said “Writers are cannibals. They really are. They are predators, and if you are friends with them, and if you say anything funny at dinner, or if anything good happens to you, you are in big trouble.”
In a sense, we do devour everything we see and regurgitate it, as needed.
I’m more curious about a different kind of cannibalizing. In marketing, be use that term when introducing a new product or service.
Will the new product help us gain market share. . .or will it simply cut into our current sales?
One of my favorite movies is the 1950s classic Friendly Persuasion – starring Gary Cooper. The entire movie is based on people trying to motivate the Quakers to take part in war. The movie dissects the ethical considerations for various members of one large family. (It also has a great theme song - Thee My Love by Pat Boone.)
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
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Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
