There comes a point in time when enough is enough, and I have just reached that point on the issue of sexual harassment. The tipping point was a blog post by an author I respect who chose to single white men out as the ones who’ve had their heads buried in the sand all these years. No, sorry. That’s just more propagandic malarky which, deliberately or otherwise, obfuscates the crux of the problem. Sure, white men have been just as…
I’m on my way home from a spontaneous road trip, embarked upon last week due to an itchy restlessness I couldn’t shake. I haven’t been on one of these in a while. The last one took me to the very same place I ended up in this time, along a very similar route, almost exactly one year ago.I tell people I’m a free spirit, but maybe traveling this journey twice in two years is the beginning of a routine, or…
Note: This post was originally published on my author blog on 15 January 2016. I recently stumbled across an article on Gateway Pundit titled, “Tavis Smiley: On Every Leading Economic Issue Black Americans Have Lost Ground Under Obama.” In it, the author, citing sources without linking to them, states that, for various recent time periods: Minority household income has fallen by nine to ten percent. Non-white families’ net worth has fallen by around 20% while white families’ net worth has…
Note: This post was originally published on my author blog on 16 December 2015. I was having a little trouble coming up with a topic for today’s post. I kept thinking, what in my life is going on that people could possibly be interested in? All I got was a big fat empty in my brain, which is saying something, as it’s usually chock full of ideas. During a break from writing (The Vampire’s Favorite), I dropped by Facebook and…
Note: This post was originally published on my author blog on 11 December 2015. In light of recent shootings, many are calling for tighter gun control laws, ignoring the basic fact that laws already in place did nothing to stop those shootings in the first place. It is therefore irrational to think that more legislation will solve the problem. As Jacob Sullum wrote in a recent post for Reason, “Autonomous Terrorism Calls for Autonomous Defense,” “The perpetrators of last week’s…
Note: This post was originally published on my author blog on 26 November 2015. Today is one of the most revered or reviled days in shopping history, depending on one’s point of view. Bargain hunters awake early on this Friday after Thanksgiving to crowd stores, searching for holiday gifts at special prices, while the not-so-savvy sleep in and do their holiday shopping online. It’s easy to let Black Friday’s overt consumerism reflect negatively on Western society, capitalism, and the free…
Note: This post was originally published on my author blog on 20 November 2015. This photo, captured at a MARTA station in Atlanta by Redd Desmond Thomas, recently went viral. The photographer overheard the woman in the red coat ask her husband to help this earnestly dressed young man with his tie. The husband, likely used to his wife telling him what to do, patiently bent and showed the young man how to tie a tie. This random act of…
Note: This post was first published on my Lucy Varna blog. The Romance Writers of America recently announced the finalists for its 2015 RITA and Golden Heart Awards. I had two reactions to this. The first was, oh, great, look at all that stellar competition. I’m hoping to enter one of the books I publish this year in the 2016 RITAs, so when I look at the finalists lists and see which authors I’ll potentially be up against, my heart sinks just a little…
Note: This post was originally published on my Lucy Varna blog.The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. –L.P. Hartley, The Go-BetweenI read a number of blogs each week covering everything from politics to science and history to crafts. Many of those blogs are geared toward writers and readers, specifically in those genres I enjoy reading, like Science Fiction Romance.**As with many genres, this one has been infiltrated by well-meaning people who take a cock-eyed view of…