Routine

    There's probably an unhealthy aspect to this but I quite like routine. Routine is the framework that you can hang your life on. Work, do dishes, do laundry, see a movie; done with eyes open a routine can let your imagination relax. So long as you deliberately plan in change, fun and novelty it can be a low stress way of looking at life, leaving mental energy free to do things like in my case writing books. 

    My longest books have all been written when I have had dependable aspects to my life. Its as if my inner writer looks at my life situation and says, "Not sure what's going on these days. Better make this next one a novella."

    The simple fact is things that have cropped up to surprise me have had a tendency to be negative. I wont go into details because most of the situations no longer matter. The result of that lifelong series of lovely "surprises" is an allergy to surprise. I'm one of those people that like knowing how a mystery/adventure works out ahead of time so I can relax and enjoy the process of getting there. 

    One of the dependable aspects to my books is a near universal attraction to the happy ending. My hero's can tend to finish the story a bit battered but the ending always involves a bad surprise for the bad guys. 

    A departure from my usual Urban Fantasy catalogue is IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHER. I intended firmly to have a supernatural aspect to the plot. The plot told me to, "bugger off it didn't need no stinking magic." 

    Published by a small press in the US it's my answer to The Handmaidens tale. Mind you it was written before the Republican Party started using The Handmaidens tale as a party platform. 

    I wont go into the plot to deeply but it involves a stone age cult that has survived to the modern day which holds women as superior and keeps men in "their place"

    This one is also the book that stopped me from trying to get in with an agent. The response from the New York agent that read the manuscript was simple and telling.

    "I love your stuff. I just don't know now to sell you."

    You and me both dude. You and me both. 

    You can find a link to my amazon page below. This book and all the others are there. 

#Abuse is abuse

 Recently I read the beginning of a post on my Facebook feed about how we all have to support Amber Heard in her case against Johnny Dep because if she is proved wrong then all women will be accused of faking abuse and we'll be shoved back into the dark ages. 

This is an issue that crops up every time some women admits to having lied about this abuse or that rape. (A rare event but it happens and men have spent years in jail because of it). I wanted to comment then stopped. She used several examples from her own experiences and I did not want to show that confidence any disrespect.  

That being said there is a big problem with this absolutist all or nothing attitude. Reality is not all or nothing and just because one thing is true doesn't mean everything that looks like that one thing is a lie. Evidence increasingly shows that AH has been faking a lot of things for a long time. This does not mean the woman across the street who wears oddly thick makeup and long sleeves in the summer is not getting beat on a regular basis and needs help.  

The practice of believe and help first is still valid. Women out there getting abused physically or verbally should be believed. Get that person to safety please but put away the pitchforks. Mob justice is no replacement for the real thing. #MeToo was intended to open a window on this sort of thing not stop anyone's truth from getting out.

Another thing needs to be addressed.  Its fairly rare because of the traditional power structure of relationships but men get abused too. (I have a nonexistent social life and have known two. ) They do get abused and while women's shelters are few and far between men have nothing. This fact needs to be pulled out into the light. I'm just a story teller not a social scientist I have no idea how you would deal with this problem but I really think it should be studied.  

So that's my thoughts about the issue of the day. Lets turn the tables and talk books or in this case a novella.

This story begins in ancient times. A warrior willingly becomes a monster to defend his valley home. That small civilization dies but he lives on in stone and eventually comes to the modern city of Toronto. He is eventually defeated by the soul you'd least expect to have the strength to best a monster. 

You can find it on my amazon page but I think you need to go to the second or third page its not at the front. Link to my page is below this article. 

I would love to help you reach your potential.

    Got a direct message this morning from a guy that works in public relations. He took a look at my amazon page and the books listed there and contacted me. The root of his message was; he loved the look of my stuff and would love to be a key part in attaining success. I gave him my standard response. Which is nothing but the truth.

    "I live on minimum wage. I can't afford you."

    I've yet to run into anyone who has taken the next step and said; "I hear you. I think we can work something out. You start making money I'll start taking a cut."

    I would meet with someone like that. I have no problems paying for services if I have the money. I just have no money to pay for services.

    This guy is in the same city too. Just because I thought he would think it fun I recommended one of my books that is set very visibly in Toronto.  

    A selection of people come to realize that they are not fully human. They are human alien hybrids. They have been created to help the aliens take over earth. Along with the alien DNA these people have developed many of their alien half's powers and abilities. These powers are mixed with the unique human ability to picture things that are not strictly speaking real and magnified to an epic degree. 

    In the end they are faced with a choice. Are they aliens with human blood or humans with alien blood? In that choice sits the future of the world. 

You can find the link to my amazon page below. 

You might want to check out my You Tube page as well.