Love is in the Air - December 20, 2023

My first published romance, Star/Struck," is now available in the anthology A Winter Promise.

When astrophysicist Cassie Moon encounters self-described astrologer Steele Grayson, the game is on. Will Cassie's opinion of astrology overcome her attraction to the maddening man or will the romance of the once-in-800-years Christmas Star win out?

I hope it's as much fun for you to read as it was to write! Happy holidays!

Available only through this link that will take you to amazon:

http://books2read.com/AWP

THE DEATH OF FICTION - December 1, 2023

In moments of déjà vu recently, I recalled the Mao Tse-tung era of authoritarianism which required citizens to gather in a meeting and engage in self-criticism, admitting to being guilty of various offenses to the Leader. However, it was as true then as it is now that a mea culpa that is extracted by force and public shaming is not a genuine act of repentance and serves only to repress those who might otherwise also dare to fail to tow the party line.

The moments that have triggered those memories have been coming with increasing frequency as writers and publishers continue to fall on their swords, turning themselves inside out in apologizing for their past, present and prospective sins. Their alleged transgressions center around the temerity of a writer to create a work of fiction that doesn’t reflect their own direct experience. Some books have been pulled before even being published. The chilling effect is causing an escalation in self-censorship that is the opposite of what literature is meant to provide. Freedom of written speech is being removed from what is left of our democracy.

This is not to say that discrimination hasn’t dominated the publishing world or that white men haven’t run the show for a very long time. The pendulum is long overdue for a swing. However, that swing has gone too far. What would the world of literature look like if all the books written by men with female protagonists throughout history were banned? Any publication with minority characters but without a member of that minority as the writer are now in danger of being pulled, removed or not published at all. Should we ban Isaac Asimov’s sci fi books because a robot is the only one who would have the right to create them?

Fiction is a product of the imagination. Writers have a responsibility to do their research and get it right. Readers are entitled to point out any errors, or just not read the book at all. Publishers would still have the right to reject a work, not because the writer doesn’t fit the demographic of the characters, but only because they got it wrong.

If we continue down this path, the only fiction that will survive will be that created by AI, an AI that isn’t programmed for self-flagellation.

A LOT IN COMMON - November 1, 2023

There are two “hobbies” that occupy a goodly portion of my retirement time. I used quotation marks around the word “hobbies” because I’m not certain where the line is drawn between pastimes and passions. The dictionary defines hobby as a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one’s leisure time. A passion, on the other hand, is a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement either for something or about doing something. The difference appears to be a matter of degree.

By that measure, I probably would say that weaving is my hobby but writing is my passion. I’ve been writing since I was a child, a very long time. Weaving came to me later when my best friend persuaded me to let her teach me how to weave. Weaving was her passion and became my pleasure, my hobby.

I think subconsciously I felt they had a lot in common. First, and most obvious, they both require tools. I could easily have typed “toys” instead of tools. Any hobby worth its salt has physical means to the ultimate ends. It helps that they bring tactile pleasure. A handmade wooden shuttle that weaves yarn through a warp on a loom brings a pleasure that is similar to a fountain pen leaving a trail of inked words on a dazzling white page.

Weaving is expressive in its materials, its colors, its designs, its textures. Writing, too, conveys emotion in its nouns and verbs and all those adjectives. They are both forms of art meant to communicate with the user. I feel lucky to have both weaving and writing in my life.