WHAT'S UNAMERICAN THESE DAYS ANYHOW? Ghost of Mark Twain

 

What is unAmerican these days, anyhow?

Waiting for Roland to get back from a blood run,

I read where this singer gal

said we needed a new flag.

This present one was as bad

 as the Confederate Flag!

Well, thousands of soldiers died under that "unsuitable"

one to free a lot of folks from slavery.

But what do I know?

I'm just a humorist and 

actually lived during those times.

Then, there this here athlete who found something

better to do while they played the National Anthem.

Said she was set up and all.

Well, I didn't see anybody 

twisting her body around.

Does she know the story 

behind the song?

Would she care if she did?

Let's talk about the 4th of July:

 We have a double Fourth of July, a daylight Fourth 

and a midnight Fourth.

 

 During the day in America, as the President has indicated, 

we keep the Fourth of July properly in a reverent spirit.

 

We devote it to teaching our children patriotic things, 

and reverence for the Declaration of Independence.

 

We honor the day all through the daylight hours, 

and when night comes we dishonor it.

 

Two hours from now on the Atlantic coast when night shuts down, 

that pandemonium will begin 

and there will be noise, 

and noise, and noise, all night long,

 

And there will be more than noise --

 

There will be people crippled,

 there will be people killed, 

there will be people who will lose their eyes, 

and all through that permission which we give 

to irresponsible boys to play with firearms 

and firecrackers and all sorts of dangerous things.

 

We turn that Fourth of July over to rowdies to drink 

and get drunk and make the night hideous,

 and we cripple and kill more people 

than you would imagine.

 STAY SAFE THIS FOURTH, PILGRIMS!

ONLY YOU, ROLAND

 

THE WATERS AT SOUTHPARK - ALLIGATOR IN POND

From:	Lacey Pate (Assistant Manager)
Date:	July 1, 2021, 4:40 pm
Subject:	Alligator in Pond

---

Good afternoon,

We have been made aware that there is an alligator in the back pond. Someone is on his way to us now to try and remove it. The back pond is connected to the pond in the middle of buildings 4,5,6,7,8 and 9 so please be cautious with small children and babies.
I will update you here when he/she has been safely removed.

Thank you.

I got the above email just before I was to leave work and trudge wearily to my apartment.

Boy, had it been HOT! 

But reading that email certainly gave me the chills.

When I got to my door, just feet away from said pond, I saw an older woman walking right next to the water's edge with her dog in one of those vest leaches.

I hurried to her and asked if she got the email. Her words?

She was looking to see if she could see its footprints.

I started backing up to my door and kept talking to her. She looked like she wanted to stay by the pond's edge.

You can't save people from themselves. I felt sorry for the dog.

THIS JUST IN

THE WATERS AT SOUTHPARK - ALLIGATOR CAUGHT

From:	Lacey Pate (Assistant Manager)
Date:	July 2, 2021, 8:48 am
Subject:	Alligator Caught

---

Our alligator was caught and rehomed yesterday evening.

Thank you for your patience. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

TO END THE MONTH WITH BEAUTY AND HOPE

 

Last week Amazon Vella, after having approved my revised two chapters, 

decided to block my whole story.

All 22 chapters and 50,000 words of it. Ouch!

I decided to pick myself up, dust myself off, 

and get back into the fight..

I've only managed to write 7 chapters

and 3 of them will be offered for free.

Amazon Vella will become LIVE

mid-July.

I hope to have a least 10 chapters ready by then.

What is the story?

Lake Pleasant: a city as toxic as the lake for which it is named. 

It is a city where anything can happen so long as it is terrible, and innocence has a short life span. 

The powerful rule, and the weak scurry for the dubious safety of the shadows.

Sometimes they scurry to the impoverished detective, Adam Black. 

“Black Magic” he is called on the streets. 

He refuses to explain his name. Any explanation would be ignored,

 but his silence unsettles those who prowl the shadows.

The crime boss, Anthony Vincent, has a job for Black: find his missing daughter. 

The fee for success: Black gets to live.

Vincent is dying. 

All the would-be successors circle Black in his search 

for some secret to topple the dying King. 

Adam Black is aware they are playing a game against opponents 

for whom they are no match.

It is a dark secret that would be his death if it were known he possessed it: 

reality has been invaded by beings thrust against their will onto this earthly plane … 

and want nothing more than to return,

though the door has revolved again to other stranger shores.

WISH ME LUCK!

HEATHER McCORKLE'S LATEST

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KGTWG75?ref_=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tkin&binding=kindle_edition

Most of you know how much I love Patricia Briggs' Werewolf sagas. 

If you do too, I have a treat for you.

Best news:

If you like the first book,

there will be no long wait for the next.

THREE BOOKS are out already!

With a FOURTH SOON TO BE AVAILABLE!

How Cool is that?

https://heathermccorkle.wixsite.com/heathermccorkle/home

 Don't miss this exciting, riveting read!

LAUNCHING TO READERS SOON!

By mid to late July,

readers will be able to buy

chapters in Amazon Vella!

I have 19 chapters up so far.

Working on my 20th.

The 1st 3 will be free.

Keep an eye out for Heather and 

my own work!

I know Midnight is.

TO WASH OUT MY MIND

 I have been writing a new chapter of NIGHT SEASONS, 

detailing Nazi atrocities and their Holocaust Trains.

Brave railing against impossible odds, 

resulting in some lives saved but so many more lost.

So here is my Go-To Song 

when the World becomes too much.

MIDNIGHT'S HOUSE RULZ

 

I had a terrible reaction to my Covid-19 vaccination shot Wednesday and Thursday. 

Midnight curled up beside me on the bed all both days and nights.

He purred, "I'll be with until the end, Roland ... 

and then I'll eat you. 

Hey, kittens have got to eat!"

IWSG post: A DISAPPOINTMENT IS ONLY AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR RESPONSE TO IT

 

Though hardly a stranger to rejection slips, 

I received a new one today.

I wanted to use a character from

one of my short stories,

so completely rewrote it

to introduce him in my

NIGHT SEASONS

Vella Submission.

Amazon has cancelled my entire

Novella for sale,

saying they did not want

customers paying twice for what

they could get elsewhere.

I completely rewrote that story

(in a 99 cent collection)

explaining in all

new details

with

theoretical particle physics,

cosmology,

and gravitation

how Angels might fly

and how they might differently

perceive the streams of reality.

John Wayne's THE ALAMO and

Billy Bob Thornton's version

told of the same battle differently

as I did with my rewritten story.

The good news is that Amazon Vella

has me writing NIGHT SEASONS

when Covid, 2 Hurricanes,

an ice storm & a flood

had stopped me completely.

It is more than me just whining -

I wanted to warn you about using

characters you have used previously

if you plan to submit to Vella.

My YCU

(Yeomans Connected Universe)

seems to confuse Amazon.

Just wanted to caution you about

Amazon Vella.

Amazon is much bigger 

that we are.

Are you planning to write for

Amazon Vella?