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Sunday, August 16, 2020

WRITING in a SEASON OF UNCERTAINTY






 We live in an age of uncertainty.


A fatal amount of Covid-19
could have just
lodged in the membranes
of our eyes.

(Yes, we can catch it that way)




Or we become a victim of
violence
by uttering a
micro-aggression
of which we were unaware.




When did we get so
thin-skinned anyway?

I feel many of our
great grandparents
who survived
the depression


would tell us it was
past time to
grow up.

I got a scathing email recently from a reader who scorned me for 

even suggesting that a white male monarch could speak for and to all humanity.


The ghost of Mark Twain whispered in my ear, and I wrote back

that I would try to "man up" to these changing times.


But back to writing in these uncertain times.

I am not a Titan of Literature, but I have read and listened to many of them.


Take Harlan Ellison whose ghost visited my blog long ago:

 https://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/2019/12/art-isnt-supposed-to-be-easyiwsg.html 

He would say that the very uncertainty, the very danger of our times

provides grist for the mill of our minds.


The above image should spark a dozen story ideas to us.

Yes, we are scared by the rioting, the plague killing our children now, and by the economic ruin hovering over the horizon.


Michelangelo didn't let the ache in his arms, the spasms in his back

keep him from crafting the masterpiece, the Pietà.  


Samuel Pepys lived through the London Fire, the Plague, and restive political unrest that could have resulted in his execution.

But he kept writing the journal that is studied by students to this day. 


We can take the idiocies of conflicting demands being ignored 

and make of them a riveting story or novel born of what we see and feel.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? 

Monday, August 10, 2020

You Don't Need a Parachute to Skydive



You just need one to Skydive 
TWICE!

Everyone knows what LOL means

How about LOA?


Well, my LOA is no LOL

Seems like the government will only pay me for two of the over three weeks I was out with Covid-19.


And the story first put out by the main office that it would cover two more weeks 

since employees more than likely would catch Covid-19 by repeatedly entering hospitals doing their job ...

Just was not so.



Oops!  

So this check was for THREE DAYS.

Hard to pay the rent and utilities on that!


Since I've learned not to trust the government 
nor my company,

I have been putting a little aside
which will be gutted by paying the rent,
 utilities, and car insurance. 


So it will be Ramen noodles for awhile!



 So when my new audio book
finally gets approved 
by Audible,

Would some of you
consider buying it?

'Cause I am one 
Insecure Writer
at the moment.

Yet, there is much
to thankful for.

 

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Write Like Marcus Aurelius_IWSG Post



Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in Koine Greek 

as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. 

And 2000 years later, people are still reading it.



He wrote for himself ... as should we.  

Trends come, go.  

There are others with minds similar to ours.  Perhaps only a few. 

 But they will be loyal readers who will not go off running to the Next Big Thing.



He wrote on the battlefield. 

 Unlike most Roman Emperors, he fought the German barbarians alongside his troops.

It is possible that large portions of the work were written at Sirmium, 

where he planed military campaigns from 170 to 180.

Like Marcus Aurelius, we should write where we are, when we can.


 Despite the rising rates of Covid-19, or the number of riots, or the clash of conflicting news reports, or explosions in Beirut,

we can focus on bringing the best prose we can to life.




 Covid-19, and the riots, and the politicians who curry votes over public health 

can make it seem we have no control over our lives.



But we have control over our minds, our thoughts, and what we choose to put on paper.



We find ourselves in this life with new storms.  

Yet we can decide our striving to be for good and not for evil... even in our writing.


Why this focus on Marcus Aurelius?


Lucas, my latest protagonist, a former O.S.S. operative and a sociopath, 

keeps himself socially functional by adhering as much as he can to the words of Marcus Aurelius.

Should Audible ever get time to review my latest audio book, you can purchase it if you choose.

Only 99 cents for the Kindle format and $5.99 for the paperback.

How affordable is that? 

And since my blood center is only paying me for 3 days on this latest check, 

this insecure writer could use the money!

The rent, utilities, and car insurance are 
all coming due. 

Ouch!

But Marcus Aurelius
would remind me:


or




or

  Wear a mask;
Stay well.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

UPDATE_2



Thanks to Ann, I was able to 
re-take my Covid-19 test.





The results came back ...

Negative!




I start back Wednesday.

I am not in
Marathon shape

But I will get the job done.





Not to do so will
leave me without a job! 




I will mostly be by
myself
this weekend.

 So Wish me luck!

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Update



Alex Cavanaugh emailed me asking how I was. 

Wasn't that thoughtful and caring of him?  It made me feel not quite so alone.



A few days back, my supervisor called to see how I was doing. 

He has brought me fluids and deposited an Audible check for me.

Speaking of Audible, 

my latest audio book is being reviewed by Audible.  

Once it comes out, would some of you consider buying it? 

The money isn't exactly rolling in.


My supervisor reluctantly told me that he could not hold my job indefinitely.


And that extreme weakness, diarrhea, night chills, and gut-deep nausea were not enough to explain any further absence 

although they are symptoms of Covid-19 ... and I tested positive for the virus.

Scary, right?


I told him I was going to 
get re-tested for Covid 
in a few days no matter how I felt.





The next day, he phoned to say to go back to get retested only if I felt better.



I've been walking up and down the stairs to my apartment 

while clinging to the railings to grow stronger. 

Though I am still weak, I am going to get retested this Monday.


Wish me luck, all right?

At times, worry awakens me at night. 

I remind myself that my times are in the Father's Hand and sing Christmas carols in my head ...

along with these songs:


 Wear those masks 
and stay well, hear?


My protagonist in my new audio book is a socially functioning sociopath 

whose mother taught him to live by the teachings of Marcus Aurelius,  

not the Bible, for she feared he would go all Old Testament on the world.

Monday, July 13, 2020

I've Tested Positive for Covid-19



I have never been this weak before, and I had triple hernia surgery.  

Not much coughing so far. 

Diarrhea is not a pleasant companion



The doctors are right.

Covid screws with your sense of taste!

The Ritz peanut butter crackers 
I tried to eat today
tasted like urinal wafers!


Considering what I do,
it was bound to happen to me
sooner or later.

I, of course, was hoping for later!



I took a tumble yesterday
as I went downstairs to start my car.

It let me know I have to be careful until I regain my strength.



I have a couple of projects looming.

When the first DARK HOLLYWOOD audio comes out. 
please consider buying it

The money is not exactly rolling in!