At ConFinement. Just never came back upstairs after breakfast. Spent a while with friends, just talking. Promo might NOT be till Tuesday?

SORRY.

I woke up this morning to anger and worry in the groups I normally check into before setting my mind to work. (Work today being weird, anyway, since I’m at a conference.)

People were very upset because the left was being the left. In this specific case, they were — after doxxing her — bad-review bombing DataRepublican’s husband’s small business.

Most people’s reactions — and her own — was “that’s not fair. He didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

What is missed in this whole thing is that SHE didn’t do anything to deserve it.

Data Republican is not a hacker, breaking into their systems. In fact as they keep saying, all the information she’s discovered has been public for for decades. (What she’s doing is more attaching the index to the volume so we can read it. But she’s not breaking into their systems or causing damage or any of that.)

All she’s doing to bring on their hatred and attempts at destroying her and everyone linked to her is bringing to light the things they’ve done for years — decades? — in secret with our tax money and the government power with which they were entrusted.

If they can’t stand to admit (even to themselves, perhaps) in public what they’ve been doing all this time, they should ask themselves why they’re doing it.

If they can’t look in the face the theft, murder and evil they’re involved in, perhaps they should repent and stop it?

Yes, they’ve committed theft, embezzlement and even murder, by removing money people needed to keep body and soul together, by giving money to people who are kidnapping children and women to bring them across the border for (literally) fates worse than death, by incentivizing very poor people to enslave themselves to the cartels to come in, only to be enslaved once here by extremely low wages and a net of social dependency. They’ve done many, horrible things. Some of them too horrible for normal human beings to contemplate.

But the operative thing here is that they’ve done it. Exposing them is not an attack, but merely revealing what they’ve done. If they’re so horrified by what they did that they attack the one exposing them, it’s their problem, not hers.

If who they are is so horrible they can’t bear for it to be exposed, I have only one question: have they broken every mirror they own?

“I’ve Had it Up to Here” by Cybersmythe

You know what? I’ve had it up to here (points to neck, thinks better of it and points to top of head) with people telling me I’m going to regret Trump’s presidency. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been bombarded on all sides by stories about how Trump voters started regretting their votes on Inauguration Day and there’s an avalanche, or perhaps even a cascade, like one of preferences, that is causing MAGAts, whoever they are, to rue the day, and we’re talking imminent rue-age, because the righteous will righteously rise up and smite the unrighteous usurper. In a righteous manner, right?

The most recent was an description on LinkedIn talking about how since Republicans abandoned Nixon, they’re sure to abandon Trump. I got sent a notice about it because a writer I know commented that Republicans aren’t going to be able to abandon Trump. I was devastated, not because I am anticipating rue-age with dread, but because the writer in question is someone I thought had half a clue. I try to have better friends than that.

One of the things I’ve noted is that the people who believe in the value of the status quo never seem to have question whether or not they’re doing the right thing. Sure, there are questions among the left, but they’re about whether or not they need to push even harder to organize and collectivize and whether or not they’re incredibly awesome or merely amazingly awesome. There’s no reflection, no attempts to determine if the goal is really the nirvana that they expect, and certainly no attempts to look at intermediate results to determine if what they have achieved so far is better or worse.

Not that wishful thinking is absent from our side and…you know what? We first have to deal with the critical issue that our side has. There’s an elephant in the room that needs addressing: We don’t have a good way of describing ourselves and I’m tired of talking about “our side” versus “their side”. Left and right were never very good descriptions even as they were useful labels. When I describe my beliefs, I talk about the desire to reduce the size and scope of government at all levels. I talk about the inherent value people have simply because they’re people and not just yet another member of yet another interest group. I talk about just wanting to be left alone. “I can do what I want” should be the default unless there’s a good reason why it must not be.

I know lifelong Democrats who have expressed to me their desire to reduce the size and scope of government, and who just want to be left alone. Those aren’t partisan issues, those are people issues and it’s as critical to freedom and liberty here and now as the antislavery movements of prior centuries were then and there. You, and I do mean YOU, are not the property of anyone but yourself. I have no wish to control you, just as I have no wish for you to control me. It’s just the right thing to do.

So, when I see Trump’s lieutenant Musk and his battalion of wrecking balls rampaging through USAID I can’t help but cheer them on. Is this a sign that Trump is a fascist? Oh, HELL no! Real fascists hired an army bureaucrats so as to spread their power more effectively. Fascists would not be laying people off so as to conserve more and more of the national resources. They would be hell bent on increasing their force of minions to convert more and more of the treasury to their personal wealth.

“But,” some have said, “Trump fired all those inspectors general. They were supposed to rein in his power, wheren’t they? So firing them must be a bad thing, right?” Well, no. Some people may have gotten the idea that the president works for those in the executive branch, when the opposite is true. The inspectors general are there to make sure that the president gets his way from the various parts of the executive government. They work for him, therefor it is essential that they have his trust. In Trump’s first time, they all betrayed him so they all have to go.

“But Trump pardoned all those insurrectionists. They were trying to overthrow the legitimate government! That’s evil, right?” Well, no. What happened on January 6, 2021 was not an insurrection, it was a protest. Democrat constituents protest like that all the time, including breaking things inside the capital building. Enough information has come out about election irregularities since then to show that the demonstrators were likely correct. Besides which, there was an orderly transfer of power. If it was an insurrection, then you have to explain why they didn’t actually do a violent overthrow of the government instead of just taking an impromptu tour of the capital.

“But Trump is going to gut the FBI.” You mean the same FBI that has committed a significant chunk of resources to tracking down little old ladies because of a trumped-up “insurrection.” We can surely do without those agents because they haven’t done a lick of work in years. I’m afraid I can’t get worked up about it.

“But Trump revoked the security clearances of retired intelligence officials. We need them to fight the War on Terror!” You mean the intelligence officials that created a “dossier” that was a work of fiction from beginning to end? The same intelligence officials that said that the story about Hunter Biden’s laptop had all the hallmarks of foreign disinformation? Those intelligence officials? It may seem like tit-for-tat to revoke their clearances, but just what does a government retiree need with a security clearance? Shouldn’t they be out of government work? That is what “retired” usually means.

“But Trump granted security clearances to people who aren’t elected!” Um, well, yeah. The people he hired to clean up the mess need access to find out whether or not the agencies they’re looking at are doing what they’re supposed to do. Lots of records are incomplete, possibly deliberately so, and so they have to be reconstructed from those that remain.

“But Elon Musk was never elected and he’s a foreigner!” So? The president has the authority to hire people. And, outside of certain roles mandated by law, he doesn’t need anybody’s permission to do it. Elon is doing what Trump promised to do during the election. Those promises are a large part of why Trump won the election. We don’t care where he’s from, we like what he’s doing, and we’d like to continue and grow.

“But Trump is going to dismantle the Department of Education? How can this be a good idea when education is so screwed up?” You might consider the fact that the Department of Education has been core to the education of Americans since the oldest of the current crop of teachers was in elementary school. If the DoE isn’t responsible for the mess that we’re in, who else could it be? Don’t you think doing something different might be a good idea? I even think there was a saying about always doing the same thing and expecting different results. Anybody remember?

That is, in fact, the real crux of the matter. Trump is changing things, and that’s not comfortable for some people. For decades, many Americans have been crying for change, not just changing the nameplate on the door of the Oval Office, but real substantive change, and it is like our pleas have finally been heard. Will the change be all to the good? Maybe not, but doing the same old same old wasn’t going to cut it any more. Maybe some good people will be caught up in these changes and have their lives torn asunder, but while I feel for them these changes certainly seem to be essential for the country has a whole to survive.

So, regret DOGE? Regret Trump? I’m about as likely to regret holding my newborn daughter in my trembling hands. Maybe the change will cause pain for me and mine, but I can’t imagine any such pain to be but a temporary condition. Anything they’re doing can also be un-done and things that should be done should be done with transparency in the full light of day so we can all agree that it’s what’s right.

That is why I do not regret the actions already taken and why I do not anticipate regretting the actions yet to come. I’m delighted by what’s happened, not devastated, and I just wish those people salivating over my regret would go away, or at least stop trying to sell me on the idea.

One thing I’ll say for our side of the political equation. We seem to have become slightly more immune to psy-ops, or perhaps less willing to go along with anything the left tries to prod us into doing.

These days, it looks like when they need a patsy they have to actually recruit and pay them, which they’ve apparently been doing to get people to “talk back” to Republican representatives at townhalls, or use bots. Now the AI bots are getting better, but you can still tell if the person you’re arguing with on FB has an account made yesterday and no followers. (Okay, normally made after the election, but still.)

And despite the dire warnings — really? — that the government would “collapse” in six weeks (awfully precise there chum. Kash, are you monitoring these?) that was suddenly everywhere after Carville flapped his lips, and which seemed to imagine that US governments like British can “fall” before elections. (Was this ops run by a Britisher? Did Carville have a senile moment? Was he fed the wrong line? Or does it indicate something far more sinister? Again Kash, are you monitoring this?) even the most squishy of squish blogs on the right has not run with panic.

And the whole “people are mad at DOGE” also isn’t taking.

The screaming that if the right touches Medicaid it’s done, that this worked before is the left drinking their own ink and/or trying to panic the right. It is important to remember that no, it didn’t work before. What worked in 2018 and 2020 was FRAUD. Massive, industrial quantities of fraud, served from a firehose. I can’t be the only one who remembers polls held open for two weeks after the election in 2018. What, are all of you more ADD than I? How do you remember to dress in the morning?

If we solve the fraud — Mr. President, more needs to be done — then curtailing Medicaid is certainly not going to bring the government “down” (even if that were possible.)

Frankly, this whole “Medicaid can’t be touched, or people will turn” is nonsense. As with social security, medicare, etc, the vast majority of people my age and younger (and I’m sixty two, rapidly approaching the point at which MOST people are younger than I) never counted on any of the social net programs. Since the eighties, we expected there would be nothing for us when we qualified.

AND thinking people are super invested in “government paid health care” ignores how much more cynical we got about health care in general in the last five years. I desperately need to go see a dentist, but have been putting it off, because I remember dentists closing because they couldn’t figure out a way to make us wear masks during procedures. And the other doctors? the last time I got asked to wear a mask was two months ago at my PCP. And the receptionist said the doctor might refuse to see me if I wouldn’t wear it. (I know the doctor. She ALSO wasn’t wearing a mask. Because she’s not crazy.) Then there was the crazy time mid 21 when a doctor tried to convince my husband they could do his physical over the phone as thoroughly as in the office.

Look, it’s not happy making, because it’s one of the things we still need, but the medical profession has lost a ton of confidence and prestige over this insanity. And people are way more hesitant to seek “care.” (Which might prevent iatrogenic issues, but hey. Better or worse than the fact people are putting off needed care? I don’t know.) So, saying “We’ll take away your free medical care” is not as scary as it used to be. On top of which, frankly, we now know how much medicaid was being used to look after illegal immigrants who just came in and got top of the line care. And if that’s cut, there’s probably still enough for every citizen and legal resident.

The fact is that the left is mostly trying to panic our politicians and make them buckle. I urge those cooked-spaghetti kneed idiots to stand firm. Borrow someone else’s spine if you need to. Because you have no idea how bad things will get if you cave now, and therefore Trump can’t clean up the mess y’all have been creating for a century or so. You don’t want to know. Trump is the VERY POLITE REQUEST.

Despite my moments of blind, red-veil rage, I do NOT want the tumbrils to roll. Once you start feeding madame Guillotine, you can’t stop for a long time, and you’ll be fed to it yourself.

As for the right wing bloggers even the squishy, gooey-center ones, who are for now holding firm. I need you to continue holding firm. Remember they’ve got nothing. The only way they controlled us before was by use of an absolutely coordinated propaganda machine that went from the news to actual fiction books, all publishing the same narrative at the same time.

They tried that in 2020 and it failed, even with the panic created by the “pandemic.” It failed to the point they needed to fraud openly and in front of G-d and everyone. (And if you refused to see it or talk about it, shame on you. Also sign up for remedial math. Because it really was obvious.) They tried it again in 2024 with everything at their disposal, trying to create “inevitability” for Kamala. They convinced the Europeans and every “reputable” source in the US. And yet they failed, spectacularly.

Because people have tuned them out. They’ve seen them in action. They’ve seen the masks off for eight years now, and once the mask if off you can’t put it back on.

If you’re scared, if you’re a squishy gooey “right” wing person, if you’re afraid, if you feel like panicking, I want you to stand in front of your mirror every morning and practice saying “I really don’t are, Margaret.” Or come here and I’ll give you the needed righteous kicking. I have a lot of aggression to work off, anyway, thank you for volunteering.

The truth is that Medicaid, aye, and social security too, are going to go away. They are unsustainable. They could have worked if the left hadn’t forgotten they needed every-larger generations to sustain it. Instead they wanted to plunder the young and at the same time reduce population and at the same time sideline legal workers in favor of illegals who don’t contribute (no, really) to any of these social programs, but do take from them.

The left is dying at its own hands, drowning in a pool of incoherence and self hatred. We understand the self hatred. Heck, I even understand the incoherence since they were fed a lot of contradictory bullshit and forbidden to think about any of it.

But I really don’t care [Margaret.]

As when you’re faced with a pet who is going to die in a few days, in pain, your choice is to give it one clean shot, or let it linger and die ugly. And at that, I don’t think the plan is even to kill these “social net” dinosaurs outright, but to put them on palliative care: saving them just enough for those who desperately need it, until they die a gentle death as those few who counted on them pass.

This is the GENTLE option. If we do nothing, if we don’t investigate, if we don’t cut back, it’s going to collapse suddenly and explosively and leave a lot of people in desperate straits.

Same for the government, all of it, honestly. Yes, I know a couple of people who were doing needed functions for the government and who are right now in limbo. But the whole thing was so bloated, convoluted, overfed and over-wasteful it was going to collapse anyway.

It should never have been created, is the problem, and btw, my friends who are in limbo say the same “it sucks, but it’s needed to save the country. And in the long run my job is less important than saving the country.”

Yes, it’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt a lot.

Thing is, people are already hurting. Badly hurting. I don’t know the real numbers, but I know what I see around me. My sons’ generation and younger is drowning, particularly the males. They either have no jobs; have jobs in seriously exploitative situations; are being treated as inherently bad for being born with a penis. Girls aren’t much better off, though academia and make-work have absorbed a bunch of them.

People are starting to see that what they thought was the economy is a painted floor and they’ve been running midair a long time.

There’s a feeling of subdued panic everywhere. None of us are being told the truth, but seriously, do an inventory of the young — 35 and younger — people you know. How many are solidly established as a proportion? Yeah, yeah, they’re young, but by 35 people were firming up, even in my generation, and boy we thought we were late.

As for the older… my generation was hit hard by layoffs every few years, which kept people from any real savings for retirement. And the H1B thing has been brutal to those in tech jobs.

We’re now hitting retirement age, and most of us know we’re going to have to work until we drop in our traces, if only we can continue finding work.

You can’t make it worse by cutting the illusion of security. In a way it’s a relief when the truth is finally told.

Which is why all the left’s demands we panic, and their whispers that “the government will fall” are finding no purchase. Yes, what DOGE is finding is horrifying, but we’ve suspected it so long, we’re just relieved someone is talking about it at last.

Don’t give the left an opening. What they want is impossible. We can’t go back to sleep. We can’t go back to the pre-2020 world, no matter how much nicer it seemed. That world isn’t there anymore, and we too have changed in ways they forced us to.

If we let them propaganda us into destroying the current cutbacks and clean up — chainsaw go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrt — we’ll only be put on the sure path to hell to heads on pikes.

Even if most of those heads would be lefty ones, it won’t be all of them. In the end that kind of collapse always claims more lives than you can imagine, and more indiscriminately than you think: it always ends up door to door and intimately personal.

The only way to spare us that horror is to stay the course. To hunch one shoulder and say “I really don’t care, Margaret.” And forge on.

It’s the right thing to do, but more importantly, it’s the only thing to do.

Because the alternative is unthinkable.

How we got here: Some of you are probably aware of the kerfuffle where Devon Eriksen was kicked out (on spurious grounds) from a contest he never entered because he said things the left does not like on X.

During that I became aware of how little visibility our side of the political divide (aka those to the right of Lenin) get for their Indie efforts. Part of it is that we truly suck at organizing/doing anything in a group.

So all the groups are left-leaning or the vocal people in the groups are left leaning. Combine that with the fact trad pub is left leaning, (except Baen, of course) and what you get is people on our side thinking that they’re alone.

I decided to change that by doing nightly promo posts.

Now, it’s calmed down enough I think I can do just weekly, on Sunday. So if you want to be promoted, send it to bookpimping at outlook dot com. by this Saturday, and I’m put you in.

Obviously I’m not reading all of these books, particularly not this week. So, exert the normal cautions before buying, such as looking at a sample, or downloading a sample, even.

And I get a small commission per book sold. #COMMISSIONEARNED. Which is good, because the last… 8? 9? days of posting were a lot of work, mostly because wordpress delenda est.

FROM JON LAFORCE: Hell’s Belles: Love and War Downrange

Two souls collide in the middle of a deadly war.

Sergeant Sylvie Lyons of Her Majesty’s Royal Engineers wishes she’d listened to her grandda’s advice and stayed away from the military.

USMC Sergeant Hondo Cassidy wants nothing more in life than being a Marine and fighting.

Hondo and Sylvie find themselves thrown together when his artillerymen are assigned to provide security for her engineers deep in the desert of Afghanistan.. Amidst death, destruction, cultural misunderstanding and the inevitable that happens when you mix an all male unit of Marines with an engineer unit that is mostly female, Sylvie and Hondo find in each other a reason to live.

That is, if they can survive.

FROM DAN MELSON: The Invention of Motherhood (The Politics of Empire Book 1)

Pregnancy is dangerous in the Empire!

For thousands of years, Imperial women have used artificial gestation. But Grace was born on barbarian, pre-contact Earth. She can’t call herself a mother without doing it the hard way at least once.

Grace has married into one of the most important families in the Empire – and Imperial politics are deadly at the top.

Despite the risks, she discovers that there are advantages, both to herself and to her unborn baby. The Empire will never be quite the same again.

FROM RICHARD F. WEYAND: Razor Sharp (D Branch Book 1)

Is vengeance out of reach?

Pirates have been harrassing Federation shipping for twenty years. The Federation Navy seems powerless to stop them.

Deke Sharp, of the secretive D Branch, takes on the case. He makes good progress until his ship is found destroyed, a victim of the pirates he’s been chasing.

The only sign of life the Navy finds in the wreckage is a single medical life-support unit. The DNA signature is of Deke Sharp.

Terribly injured, with no memory, can D Branch put Deke Sharp back together enough for him to seek vengeance for his murdered crew?

FROM J. MANFRED WEICHSEL: Ebu Gogo

Terror lies waiting in the jungle island of Flores.

Terror in the form of cryptids called ebu gogo.

Terror for the cryptozoologists who dream to discover them.

The one thing Lewis Dare wants more than anything in the world is to discover the ebu gogo – three-foot-tall cryptids in the genus of Homo rumored to live in Indonesia.

But Lewis Dare’s ex-wife, Linda, wanting to beat the famous cryptozoologist at his own game, has rushed to Indonesia in order to discover the ebu gogo before he does.

On the Indonesian island of Flores, their dream to discover a cryptid becomes a nightmare when the ebu gogo turn out to be primitive, savage, sex fiends.

FROM LARS WALKER: The Year of the Warrior: Books 1 and 2 of the Saga of Erling Skjalgsson; Author’s paperback edition – PLEASE NOTE THE OTHER EDITIONS ARE STILL WITH THE PUBLISHER. AUTHOR GETS MORE IF YOU BUY THIS ONE.

What is better? To impersonate a Christian priest for a Viking chieftain, or remain a slave? Aillil of Ireland doesn’t hesitate. But he’ll soon have reason to question his choice.

In a Norway wracked by religious and political change, his master Erling Skjalgsson is fighting obstinate heathens, old family foes, and new challengers:

A blacksmith struck by lightning, who sees things that shouldn’t be seen…

A slave who longs to be hanged, and wants Aillil to do it for him…

A dead man who walks again…

FROM LEIGH KIMMEL: A Gift of Koi

Ancient and wise, the grandfather Koi knows at first sight that this human bears a hidden wound. But how can a mere fish, even one as old as himself, be of any aid to a human?

Astronaut Tyler Lanham had come to Grissom City, first and oldest lunar settlement, in search of the medical expertise he couldn’t find on the far side of the Moon. When he sees the scar on the ancient koi’s side, he knows he’s found a kindred spirit.

But an enemy is stalking these lovely gardens. A danger that will change both man and fish.

A short story of the Grissom timeline.

FROM ROY M. GRIFFIS: By the Hands of Men, Book One: The Old World: A Sweeping Saga of Courage, Love, and Redemption

A soldier fights for his soul in the trenches of France. A field hospital nurse battles death every day. When duty and honor are not enough of a reason to go on in the hell of a world at war, love gives purpose to their lives.

A mere mile from the blood-drenched front lines, Russian refugee and nurse Charlotte Braninov encounters English Lieutenant Robert Fitzgerald, who helps her save the life of another soldier. Robert’s calm, courtly manner lingers in Charlotte’s mind, a comforting memory amid the deluge of suffering that surrounds her when she returns to the hospital.

Wounded during an unauthorized mission of mercy and then demoted to a Medical Supply Officer, Robert Fitzgerald once more meets the brave young Russian nurse. When Charlotte volunteers to help the Lieutenant learn about his duties in this new life of service, a quiet friendship blooms and love grows in that harshest of soils, even as the war rages on. But human cruelty and endemic disease claw at their lives. Can love survive in a world torn by warfare, greed, and deception?

The Old World is the first volume of the epic globe-spanning By the Hands of Men series. From World War I France, it follows Robert and Charlotte through civil-war torn Russia to pre-revolution Shanghai, across the superstition-haunted swamps of the Congo and the timeless deserts of Central Africa, through Paris and London, and into the dream factory of Hollywood in the late 1930s.

Immersive, exciting, and emotionally compelling, By the Hands of Men is a gripping saga of fate, loss, redemption, and undying love.

FROM TERRY M. RUWA: Space Ranger: Outbreak at Fargone

Originally published with author name Terri M. Rqwe because one should not have a cat walking on the ketboard while doing this.

Eddie Cinquena is a Ranger, not a Doctor. On loan to the Spaceforce Regulars, he serves as Exec on the U.G.S. Patrouche, which is now is space dock for a retrofit. He thinks he will have the leisure to pursue his own research–-wrong!

When the Alliance station, Fargone, which is only half-completed, is hit by a plague, Eddie volunteers to lead a mission of mercy to the station: a team of Doctors and other researchers, to find a cure for this mystery disease. It has killed everyone that has contracted it. Or is it a disease? Eddie and his team work frantically to find out. Will he end up having to destroy the Station and everyone in it, (including the last family members of his Turrillean friend, Mikk Karayan) to protect the rest of the Alliance?

FROM MARY CATELLI: Through A Mirror, Darkly

Powers have filled the world with both heroes and villains.  Helen, despite her own powers, had acquired the name Sanddollar but stayed out of the fights.

When the enigmatic chess masters create a mirrored world reflecting her own home and the world about it, it’s not so easy to escape.  All the more in that the people of that world are a dark reflection of all those she knows.

FROM M. TIMOTHY GRAY: Cryfder and Bahiyah: Tales of Desertania

Cryfder is in love.

He is of the people of the Northern Vales. She is of the people of the Desert. But, he is working patiently to pay the bride price that her father has demanded.

That is, until he finds out that she has been kidnapped by an evil mage and he only has a short time to rescue her from a city that is only legend to his people.

It will take all of his skill, courage and magic to find her and save her before she becomes the wife of Yazid and any chance at happiness for Cryfder is lost forever.

Some of you know that this week — other than the zombie dishwasher (yes, again. habitues of the blog know there was another zombie dishwasher now almost 20 years ago, in another state. I swear I don’t do anything to them. In both cases, they were in houses we bought.) — I’ve been making unkind and untoward comments about Europe and the thought processes or what passes for them over there.

Mostly because I’m amazed the very people who taught me to be distrustful of everything I see on mass media are swallowing wholesale the view of European media about…. well, anything, much less the US, Trump, and their own governments.

Look, I have a strong stomach, and, having been on the net forever, I’m highly inured to human folly, but to hear someone who pegs right of center tell me that Biden was a reasonable and smart human being, not like that crazy man Trump is bad enough. When she then tells that Two Tier Keir is just nice and full of good intentions, I’m going to rampantly violate Heinlein’s golden rule and tell the unvarnished truth.

I’m fairly sure I’m not a sadist, so I must be a fool.

The truth though is that Europe trying to interpret what they see going on over here is roughly akin to a cat trying to interpret what it seems me doing on the computer. No. I don’t mean in terms of intelligence, but in terms of life experience. The cats even if our intelligence were the same, wouldn’t have the life experience to see what I do. At best, they’ll think I push the keys for the feel of them. And — supposing they had human intelligence — from that construct an entire system of theories on why we do things.

Despite being the same species, sharing a language with a portion of Europe natively, and with a large number of Europeans as a second language, and generally having the same outward daily trappings to life, i swear to you when it comes to governance, Europeans trying to interpret what we’re up to, often looks like my cat trying to figure out why I sit here tapping the keys for vast portions of the day.

And then today, at dinner, I was reminded the lack of understanding goes both ways. Okay, I just found the woman at the bar — performing for three men. No, not that way, just, you know, being all sparkly and “smart” — hilarious.

Yeah, we ended up at a bar for well, appetizers in lieu fo dinner, because of the dishwasher disaster. Late, so bar mostly empty except for said blond. Yes, of course she was blond. I mean, I have blond friends, but some people are inevitably blond. Because the Author uses cliches.

Anyway, the Mathematician kept shooting me warning glances, and when he went to the bathroom to wash his hands made me go along with him into the little hallway and wait there, because he kept seeing my eyes light up with “oh, what now?” and was afraid I’d jump in.

Not only were we informed that all food everywhere but the US is wonderful and good for you, but all US food is crap (no, not processed food. The food you cook in your kitchen, too, is somehow bad for you.) But then I found out she was talking about Asian street food in countries where I know it’s trivially easy to catch the never get wells. And some of the dishes, I know how they’re actually made over there, and….. ewwwwwwww. But by the point she informed her companions she spoke a little Asian, the Mathematician…. dragged me into the little hallway. and whispered in my ear, “DO NOT go back there and inform her you speak a little European. Other people’s mating rituals are none of your concern.”

Yes, from what I gathered she was MAGA by way of RFK Jr. (For this and our other sins may the Good Lord forgive us.)

Anyway, the thing was she had obviously traveled. But it’s hard to know what you’re seeing. It’s harder for most Europeans to know what they’re seeing here because they are only “seeing” us through their media, which assumes a priori that our media is biased for the “right” and therefore they skew any news to the left, to be — they think — accurate. Also because if they don’t skew left they don’t get invited to cocktail parties, don’t get the good jobs, their landlords evict them and the opinion police arrest them, but you know, like that.

This is akin to watching something through the wrong end of the telescope.

All the same, the biggest problem is the divide int he stuff inside the head. I mean, I was raised on that side of the Atlantic and lived there till 22 (with intervals.) So I should “get them” instinctively.

But I don’t. I kept stumbling on things on their news programs, which made no sense to me. Like, some secretary or minister or whatever talking about how many day cares they’d authorize for building in the next 20 years. I think that was in Spain. (Might have been Holland. I had a fever and things were fuzzy.) Or talking about the necessity of the government building houses. Or–

Look, Europe was fairly alarmed at the American revolution. Because long before they were socialist, they believed the person (preferably the one, at the center) who ruled the country had every right to make every decision for everyone by divine right. When they stopped believing in G-d, they started believing that person was simply better and smarter. They can’t not believe that. (Reminds us of our blind little throwbacks “You have to belong to something, so we think we should belong to the government.” Can we send them back?)

Anyway, their minds on this are so completely different, that they knew a government of the people for the people had to be either a great big lie, or it would fail in weeks. They’ve been gleefully expecting us to fail.

The FDR deviation reassured them — we still weren’t like them. Still too individualistic for trusting — but they thought we might be okay. The sensible people were finally in charge, and we’d become a normal country by the by.

And of course, we protected their butts, as was right, since Europe is the center of the universe and we owe it to them to keep them safe.

I think what’s going on is that even through their occluded vision of us is a mess, they have gleaned enough through the glimmers, to have a strong suspicion we’re doing the American revolution thing again. (You know they might be right.) And returning to our origins.

And that’s unpossible! How can we do that to them!

They’re locked into a scream of “Trump is ruining everything.” And “Doesn’t he know we’ll fall, and therefore civilization will fall if he doesn’t send Kansas boys to die for our interests.”

Meh. Weirdly I DO understand their fears. After all, we’ve saved them, technically twice, but really three times already.

But understanding is not the same as sympathizing. All right. Maybe a little bit of sympathy. I will refrain from posting pictures of European cars captioned “European or Donald Duck’s?” At least this week.

Seriously, we’re scaring the living daylights out of them over there. And us over here can’t help but feeling it’s a little bit funny.

It probably isn’t. Panicked people do very weird things.

Hang on tight, we’re on the track that leads to the interesting ride. It has to be done. It’s already too late for telling the Europeans to pick up their own rooms and mind their own defense. But it’s going to get more and more interesting as we go!

And telling them the unvarnished truth is unlikely to help.

Promo tomorrow evening, promise.

*Before we get on with the guest post let me explain how it came to be. I’ve known Richard for ten? twelve years? And though we’ve never met in person face to face and I’m an artistic philistine who thinks art can always be made better with more purple, more agonized expressions and a bit more gold, and going for barroque, we became friends. I started admiring Richard, his thoughts as expressed at The Remodern Review, and yes, his art, which has a direct truth to it combined with artistic fantasy that makes it irresistible.

I’m sure I read Remodern America when he published it in 2018. But I was very ill by then, and have absolutely no memory of the contents. So when I found it in a box in unpacking my library, I opened it and started reading.

Which is when I decided to ask Richard to let me run this as a guest post.

Not only is the post almost prescient, but it echoes what I feels like should be said now! And so, he gave me permission to post the prologue as a guest post and very kindly sent me a word document of it. So now I’ll get out of Richard’s way. He’s an artist and an amazingly articulate art philosopher, so listen to him. Also, you should definitely read Remodern America (It’s on my bedside and I’m re-reading it now I’m not in terrible shape.) and you should take a look at his art on his website. – SAH*

The Spirit of the Age,
by Richard Bledsoe

What is the spirit of this age?

History will recognize this as the era the general population of the United States realized the governing class and its connections, far from acting as responsible public servants, had mutated into an elitist ruling class.

 These elitists decided amongst themselves, due to their superior intellects, credentials, and social status, they deserved to control how everybody else lived their lives. This mission of conquest was camouflaged with egalitarian rhetoric.

 In exchange for the burden of managing their inferiors, this New Class exempted themselves from the expectations they imposed on others. Those underlings who supported the ascendancy of these would-be rulers received some special considerations as well, a semi-privileged status—but their greatest reward was to bask in the reflected glory of their masters.

 The elitists had a plan, and it almost worked. Over decades, the institutions that sustained American culture have been infiltrated, their missions transformed.

Government, media, education, the arts—the occupying elitists within dedicated all resources towards undermining sustaining Western values, all to better serve the consolidation of unaccountable power. They used their influence over the various means of cultural communication and expression to exert pressure at all levels of society to embrace collectivist goals, distorting the concept of equality.

As part of these maneuvers, art was pushed into a crisis of relevance. Elitist malfeasance has marginalized the visual arts in popular culture. In doing so, the New Aristocracy of the Well-Connected block access to powerful resources. They deny our society the inspiration to live up to ideals, the encouragement to think and feel deeply, the yearning to harmonize with truth and beauty. As a result, the mass audience has turned away.

People instinctually reject the superficial and nihilistic contemporary art championed by an imperious would-be ruling class. We currently call this covert corrosion inflicted on the foundations of Western civilization the Postmodern era. A small sect usurped disproportionate power over the course of the entire nation. Now the terrible results of the corrupted establishment’s agenda are clear. Under their reign we are less prosperous, less safe, less free.

The elitists ran out of credibility and resources before their work was complete. Now, we, the people, must make sure they run out of time as well. The dominion of these deceitful despots must be demolished throughout the culture, on all fronts. Around the globe challenges are rising against the longstanding world order. The story of the 21st century will be the dismantling of centralized power.

As always, this course of history was prophesied by artists—those who are intuitively aware of the path unfolding ahead. Their works become maps so that others may find the way. The new directives emerging in our culture must be acknowledged. Enduring changes start in the arts.

The entrenched interests are desperate to deny this uprising, but denial won’t stop us. The parasitic Postmodern era is finished, but it won’t go quietly. The vast project of reconstruction will commence as we dislodge the failed status quo.

What is the spirit of this age?

This is an era of joyous insurgency and new beginnings.

Welcome to Remodern America.

*Never in my wildest dreams did I think there were enough indie writers within the reach of this blog who didn’t mind being associated with my notorious pro-liberty blog. I thought I’d do maybe two or three extra night posts.

I guess this is what a preference cascade looks like, or as we find ourselves saying these days “Nature is healing.”

Well, I’m traveling on Thursday next week, and I can’t afford to be doing this every night for another week. Fascinating though this new hobby is, I have things I need to do for the health of my business and the well being of my family and this is taking about 2 hours a night. THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT. I ASKED FOR THIS AND VOLUNTEERED.

However, in the interests of being done by Wednesday night, I’m doing a longer post today, and then hoping from then on I can get done with fifteen or so on the weekend. This is not meant to discourage writers from sending me their book to promote. You send it, I’ll try to accommodate you. And if you’re a writer on the side of liberty, read the rules for the regular book promo, and remember you can send me a link (provided it’s not the SAME book) every week, and if you only have one book you can send me that link every three months.

OH, AN IMPORTANT NOTE: DON’T SEND ME MORE THAN ONE LINK PER WEEK. If I have much more than ten books pimped, and certainly above fifteen, people’s eyes glaze. So if you send me two books a week — if I indulge you because I like you, say — you’re taking away attention from someone else, who just sent a book, or taking away their chance to shine. Don’t do that. Wait for the next week. Which can be a problem, as I don’t read messages above the number I’m promoting that week, and if someone has a special sale they might lose their chance. (ON THAT AND GOING FORWARD, IF YOUR BOOK IS ON SALE PUT THAT IN YOUR MESSAGE SUBJECT. ALL CAPS “BOOK ON SALE”. If I can — no promises — I’ll scan for those and try to give them priority. Sometimes, it’s not possible due to time and number of books, but I’ll TRY.)

If you’re wondering what this ultra-special promo is all about, go here: Where I explain at the top.

And now on with motley, for book promo and vignettes! What a time to be alive! – SAH*

Book Promo (the normal weekly patter.)

If you wish to send us books for next week’s promo, please email to bookpimping at outlook dot com. If you feel a need to re-promo the same book do so no more than once every six months (unless you’re me or my relative. Deal.) One book per author per week. Amazon links only. Oh, yeah, by clicking through and buying (anything, actually) through one of the links below, you will at no cost to you be giving a portion of your purchase to support ATH through our associates number. A COMMISSION IS EARNED FROM EACH PURCHASE.*Note that I haven’t read most of these books (my reading is eclectic and “craving led”,) and apply the usual cautions to buying. I reserve the right not to run any submission, if cover, blurb or anything else made me decide not to, at my sole discretion.– SAH

FROM EDWARD THOMAS: Angels Incorporated (The Troubles of George McIntyre Book 2)

George McIntyre thought his troubles were over, and he’d live happily ever after with Ginny, Charlotte and Brunhilde. Unfortunately the world doesn’t work that way, and new challenges have arrived to test him and the robots of Angels Incorporated. Mr. Bill is still out there making zombies, and new indications are found that there could be more than one alien Toaster on Earth. Possibly one that is older than the Pyramids.

Join George and the Angels to uncover the truth, and defeat the zombie threat once and for all!

FROM LIANE ZANE: The Harlequin & The Drangùe (The Elioud Legacy Book 1)

In a dangerous hidden world of supernatural warriors, she may be the key to winning everything.

Olivia Markham lives a complicated life. By day, she is a star CIA officer working a cover as a graduate student in Vienna. By night, she is a self-appointed, kick-ass superhero wearing a harlequin’s hood and wielding a wicked bō.

Life is about to get more complicated.

The sexual predator that Olivia tracks one July evening to Vienna’s Stadtpark calls himself Asmodeus, a demon’s name. Olivia doesn’t care what he calls himself. She’s just there to save an innocent young woman. What Olivia doesn’t know is that Asmodeus has followers he calls bogomili after an ancient sect of believers. She suddenly finds herself fighting to save her own life against these vicious, soulless creatures whose mission is to release souls from the bonds of a corrupt world.

Across the Stadtpark another hears Olivia’s battle with the bogomili. He is a drangùe, a powerful warrior with supernatural abilities who is duty bound to save innocents from Asmodeus. This drangùe will stop at nothing to defeat his age-old enemy—even if it means risking everything to bring Olivia into his world. A world in which the drangùe has his own cover identity. He has good reason to distrust this beautiful young woman who hides secrets that could get him killed or worse…. But the drangùe must keep Olivia close in order to stay one step ahead of Asmodeus. The only problem is that the closer he keeps her, the more the drangùe wants to keep Olivia in his life. And that is not part of his long-term battle plans.

FROM TIM GILLILAND: Lawyer to the Stars: Book One: Icepick

What makes a Human?What makes a Human?

A frozen world on the edge of civilized space has a deadly secret. The indigenous people, known as the Ixtyl are human-looking to be sure, but they have characteristics so unique there was doubt they are naturally acquired. Human? Or genetically modified creatures? Humans, including Indigenous peoples, are heavily protected by law. Genetically modified creatures are not. GeeMo’s are like lab rats who have no rights, no hope, and no future. The tribe lives on a planet rich with an invaluable ore: One men are willing to kill for. When Certified Genomist Damien Durne is called to investigate the Ixtyl’s genome, and certify whether they are human or not, he is flung into an intrigue of lies and murder, with an ultimate goal of genocide.

FROM WILLIAM M. LEHMAN: HARVEST OF EVIL: Book one of the John Fisher Chronicles

For John Fisher, it’s just another day at the office. But his “office” is a black Dodge Durango, rolling through the wild heart of the nation’s federal lands. Legends aren’t myths here; they’re reality. Creatures of shadow and blood, granted their place in the world after the Civil Rights Movement.

The law’s clear: magic is legal… until it’s used against the land, the people, or the rules of the natural order. Then, it’s his job to bring them in.

John’s not just any cop. He’s got the skills of a SEAL, the instincts of a predator, and a network deep inside the supernatural world. Werewolf, vampire, sorcerer – it doesn’t matter. No matter what you are, when you break the rules, he’s coming for you.

FROM ROBERT MULLIN: Bid the Gods Arise (The Wells of the Worlds)

Kidnapped from his home and sold into slavery on an alien world, Maurin joins an unlikely band of misfits attempting to overthrow the sadistic head of the slave ring. Enraptured by the mysterious mute Talauna, Maurin struggles to let go of his past and open his heart to a new life. But vampiric alien gods have set their sights on Maurin’s cousin, whose visions may be the key to unlocking the apocalypse. Bid the Gods Arise is the first novel in The Wells of the Worlds, a dark sci fi fantasy series for adults and new adults.

FROM JANICE SEBRING: Fearful Breakers (Chart and Compass Book 1)

Will José be drawn into the dangerous life of a smuggler? Or settle down to a quiet life in his father’s shop in Havana?

In 1760 Cuba, José Albañez, a free boy of color, resents his charming but unprincipled uncle Domingo’s pressure to join him to sea on one of his smuggling ventures. He would rather continue his studies at the Jesuit school and then follow his father into the joiner’s trade.

Instead, he finds himself struggling to master seamanship, lodging with a Jewish trading family on Jamaica in the aftermath of a slave revolt, and confronting kidnappers on Saint-Domingue. The arrival of a British fleet off of Cuba in 1762 forces him to decide where his future lies.

FROM JASON HUNT: The Hero at the End of His Rope

Richard Thorpe just wants to be left alone. Wanted for destroying a planet, his life is spent keeping under the radar and staying out of trouble. But when his past finally catches up with him, he must finally put an end to his life of hiding and set things right – before another planet gets destroyed!

FROM SHAUL BEHR: Ari Barak: The Free-Will Paradox: A YA Time-Travel Sci-fi Adventure (Ari Barak – Torah in the Multiverse Book 1)

Two Teens, One Extraordinary School, Infinite Possibilities

Ari Barak, a mischievous teenager with a talent for chaos, and Howard Segal, an reserved brainiac, meet at Nekudas Habechira—a school like no other. From the moment they arrive, it’s clear this place defies every expectation: lessons that go beyond the cosmos, staff who are anything but ordinary, and technology that seems ripped from a future yet to come.

But in a place brimming with wonder, mistakes can have far-reaching consequences. A careless accident sets off a chain of events that leaves Ari and Howard grappling with a seemingly unsolvable dilemma—one that challenges their understanding of free will, responsibility, and the delicate balance of existence.

With wit, adventure, and mind-bending discoveries at every turn, this is a story that will keep you laughing, thinking, and wondering until the very last page.

Whether you’re a teen looking for an unforgettable journey or an adult who loves thought-provoking tales, this book promises to entertain, inspire, and leave you with plenty to ponder.

FROM JOHN C. WRIGHT: Starquest: Space Pirates Of Andromeda

Space Opera must be Great! Gallant! Gigantic! Grandiose!
This tale told by a Grandmaster vows to return the glory that was lost!
Remember the days gone by, when science fiction was fun?
Now new hope is here!
If you are weary of weak, wan, woke and wasted works, your wait is ended!
Here is an epic, as grand as any tale of old — here you will hear wonders told!

Of course there is a Space Princess, and Space Pirates galore, and an Evil Galactic Empire.

Of course there is a super-weapon known only as the Great Eye of Darkness!
Here meet Athos Lone, Ace of Star Patrol, in his one-man mission of vengeance!
The Ancient Mariner, like an iron ghost, when slain, seems to rise again!
The mysterious spymaster called Nightshadow walks in dark worlds but serves the light!
An Imperial Deathtrooper must reverse his loyalties, and fight his own clone-brothers!

Fate has set these unlikely heroes against the Four Dark Overlords
An utmost evil the unwary galaxy thinks long dead!
Can Darkness fail and Light prevail?
Read On! For All True Tales are but Part of a Greater!

AND JOHN C. WRIGHT IS HAVING A KICKSTARTER WITH TWO WEEKS TO GO!

Catch the Lightning! — The Art and Craft of Writing Romance. Bringing The Art and Craft of Writing Romance classes to video life!

FROM HARDING MCFADDEN: The Judas Hymn

“As you read these stories, get to the know the characters, and lose yourself in imagination for a while.”-Chester Haas, from his Introduction. Here, collected for the first time, is the short fiction of Harding McFadden, co-writer of The Children’s War. Among the quick excursions are visits to Lovecraft and Doyle country, as well as winks of the eye to origional regions of the post-human world. Take a lunch in a garden with a little girl who can shape reality to her will. Go on a trek to possible salvation with a another young girl and her robotic monkey protector. Travel the twisting tunnels that fill the hollow earth, and see the horrid things that inhabit them. All this and more awaits you in more than twenty tales.

FROM RORY SURTAIN: PSYKANA: A Dystopian Science Fantasy Novel (The Sequel to PSYKER) (The Psyker Saga Book 2)

PSYKANA: A murder, a mystery, and a proving ground.

They call it dark energy or chaos or the Warp. It leaks into our universe at an unpredictable rate.
Those sensitive to it can wield its immense power in unimaginable ways. In the Imperium of Mankind, anyone born with such a gift is labeled a psyker and an outlaw, with only one path back to being sanctioned: Schola Psykana.

Paric Silver lands on Terra as an unsanctioned psyker, hoping to regain his standing in the Imperium. Plagued by his past and the murder of a classmate, he sees threats around every dark corner. Something dark is hunting Schola Psykana, and it’s up to Paric to face it.

With the walls of Schola Psykana closing in, can he solve the mystery of a wayward ghost? Or will he join it in the Sea of Souls?

FROM L. JAGI LAMPLIGHTER: The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 1)

“Supernatural meets Narnia at Hogwarts.”

Rachel Griffin has one goal. She wants to know everything.

When someone tries to kill a fellow student, Rachel investigates. She soon discovers that, in the same way her World of the Wise hides from mundane folk, there is another more secret world hiding from the Wise.

Meanwhile, she’s busy learning magic, making friends and, most importantly, finding romance!

Rushing forward where others fear to tread, Rachel bravely faces wraiths, embarrassing magical pranks, mysterious older boys, a Raven that brings the doom of worlds, and at least one fire-breathing teacher.

The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin is a tale of wonder and danger, romance and heartbreak, and, most of all, of magic and of a girl who refuses to be daunted.

Curiosity may kill a cat, but nothing stops Rachel Griffin!

FROM ROB HOWELL: A Lake Most Deep: The Edwardsaga (Firehall Sagas Book 1)

“Rob mixes intrigue, murder, and magic into his own cool blend.” – Larry Correia

Edward sought a future of honor and hope, but only got murder and mayhem.

He came to the Empire of Makhaira to join the Imperial Guard, who admit only the best. Instead, he pledges his sword—and his life—to an innkeeper rather than the emperor.

In a land known for intricate plots and ancestral enmities, the empire’s corruption seeks to end his life with knives in the night and hidden treachery. And he must face these blades while memories of a father slain, a king defied, and oaths broken threaten his soul.

Can he find the one bringing schism, death, and hate before that steel tastes his blood? Or will be just another who came to the empire to lose everything?

FROM HOLLY CHISM: Highway to Tartarus (Modern Gods Book 2)

Insanity seems to run rampant in the immortal population, and Hades seems to be the one the Fates tap to contain them all; however, this time, Hades, and Kyra, the former goddess of War from Atlantis, have to find and catch the one who’s gone dangerously insane: Deshayna, Kyra’s identical twin, and the former goddess of Death.

Along for the ride are a pregnant Persephone, Hel from the Norse pantheon (and Hades’ and Persephone’s lover), Tyr and Thor, and Kyra’s adopted daughter Rowan.

The seven of them follow rumors, leads, and death-god connections around the world in an RV that’s bigger on the inside than on the outside, while trying to maintain a bare semblance of normalcy despite the chaos of never knowing when or where their Fates-assigned mission will end…or if it will end them.

FROM TOM VEAL: I Went to the Fantasy Fair

In Angland, matter obeys mind. Upon demand, raindrops swerve to avoid drenching pedestrians, walls change from opaque to transparent and back, coaches push themselves forward, quill pens take dictation, and sky-ships sail among the clouds. All that is quite ordinary and dull. Imaginative souls conceive of wondrous mechanical devices: steam locomotives, flying machines, jet engines, radios and a hundred more.

Aethelstan Tiefring has no particular interest in “technofantasy”. He has made his career as a renowned art-wright by directing pigments to recreate the images that he sees in his mind’s eye. Then his beloved wife succumbs to a mysterious sickness, her body vanishes from its casket, and he is stricken with overpowering melancholy.

His recovery begins when a glorious sunrise inspires him to resume painting and, on the same day, he receives an invitation to cross the Sea of Atlas to deliver a series of lectures to Atlantis’s foremost art institute.

He sets out for the New World, traveling in a sky-ship guided by golden swans and accompanied by his beautiful, flirtatious daughter. Lyonessa Tiefring has just turned down a shameful offer from the nephew of a powerful nobleman. She does not know that the disappointed suitor’s vengeance pursues her.

The journey will take father and daughter farther than they can imagine: to Atlantis, to the gathering of technofantasy enthusiasts at the Fantasy Fair, and then through death to a universe governed by entirely different natural laws.

FROM DANIEL ZEIDLER: The Standard-Bearer’s Oath (Sarbotel Rising Book 1)

Avenge the fallen. Restore honor to her people. Someone else can be inspired to liberate the kingdom.

Fourteen years after Sarbotel fell to the armies of a mad alien mage, Ilse is the last surviving member of her resistance cell. When she’s offered a chance to return to her homeland, she chooses vengeance instead. Allying with an immortal Guardian who has reasons of his own to want the mage slain, she’s out to put an end the Tyrant’s despotic rule.

The stakes are higher than she knows, for if Ilse fails to defeat the Tyrant, the entire planet may be destroyed…

FROM DEX QUIRE: Crocodile Words

Crocodile tears are fake tears, can crocodile words be fake words?
Joffrey Simpson O’Day moves from the dry badlands of Eastern Washington State to the lush greenscapes of Western Washington to a Seattle-like city called Sunbreak City. Hayseed, Joffrey attempts to turn himself into a big-city sophisticate but he commits the ultimate faux pas—he insults a book held sacred by millions. He draws upon his head the wrath of everybody. Crocodile words come at him from all quarters. Will he survive?

FROM GERALD L. HALL: Unwanted Gifts

Unwanted Gifts is a near-term science fiction novel set in the current day Mid-West. It is about a seemingly ordinary person with a very powerful gift. When he creates numerous tools for America’s defense while healing his crippled wife, he gains the unwelcome notice of very powerful interests including the US President. The unintended consequences of the main character’s gifts lead to very dramatic events in America and several other nations.

FROM S. T. GAFFNEY: Prayers & Meditations of a Lost Soul: Forty Days of Lent

I first wrote this in 1992 as a Lenten discipline. Having suffered
severely for a number of years with fibromyalgia, I no longer gave
something up for Lent. Instead, I did something that I could do that
I thought would help me spiritually. One year I simply wrote down 10 things I was grateful for every day. It did nothing for the pain I was dealing with, but it did a great deal for me emotionally and psychologically. It changed my perspective, I guess. Several months previously to undertaking this particular Lenten discipline, I had written my first prayer. I’ve been writing poetry since I was in high school. A prayer, to me, is simply a poem written with God in mind; sometimes it is a conversation or request, sometimes it’s just an attempt to see how God sees His creation or how we try to understand Him. To be quite honest, I didn’t think I would be able to write a prayer every day for 40 days(for those not familiar with Lent, it starts on Ash Wednesday, excludes Sundays, and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter), but I would not be left in peace on this. For those of you that have experienced the still small voice of God you will understand. For those of you that haven’t or don’t believe in it, then you can relegate this all to my subconscious that perhaps knows what I can and need to do better than my waking self does. I was, in spite of my back going out, actually able to accomplish this Lenten discipline.

I thought that would be the end of it. But no, whatever the source of that voice in my head, the following year I was driven to show it to the woman priest at the church we were attending. For me, poetry has been more private than not. It is where I honed my skills at telling the emotional truth. One writer once said that fiction is a lie. I stand on the other side and believe that the best fiction is the truth, just the names and faces have been changed to protect the innocent. So, I was absolutely horrified that I was being nagged to show this to somebody. But I did. The decision was made to publish it for cost only, with the help of a woman who owned a small press. Then a very interesting thing began to occur. I started getting written notes from the older parishioners thanking me for writing it. I had put into words what they could not. Even a woman more than twice my age and one of the founding members of the church(I believe she was already in her 90’s at the time), came up, apologizing that she hadn’t written me a thank you note yet. I told her not to worry about it. She then went on to say how she kept it by her bed and would randomly open it, and read from it every night. I was stunned. And I informed her that she had just given me the best compliment that a writer could ever receive. To have someone read your work and enjoy it is one thing. To have them continue to re-read it, is quite another. What had started out as a simple Lenten discipline, turned into something very powerful and affected the way I looked at myself as a writer. I will forever be grateful to that still small voice.

And once again, I find that I must make this available to a larger audience. A familiarity with the New Testament and the Easter story is useful for many of the poems/prayers. But there are also many that do not require such a background for those who are simply curious, as I have been, about other spiritualities. One of the quotes I came across when I was 12 was from Ghandi, “All men seek God in their own way.” I think it is too easy to forget that and to build walls between ourselves when the only important spiritual lesson is to learn to love one another. At least, that is what I have gleaned from the New Testament and its stories. It is what I have gleaned from my spiritual journey. And it is what I believe about God, that He loves us more than any of us can possibly imagine, even on our good days. So, I will continue to say yes to that still small voice, and see where the path goes.

Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

So what’s a vignette? You might know them as flash fiction, or even just sketches. We will provide a prompt each Sunday that you can use directly (including it in your work) or just as an inspiration. You, in turn, will write about 50 words (yes, we are going for short shorts! Not even a Drabble 100 words, just half that!). Then post it! For an additional challenge, you can aim to make it exactly 50 words, if you like.

We recommend that if you have an original vignette, you post that as a new reply. If you are commenting on someone’s vignette, then post that as a reply to the vignette. Comments — this is writing practice, so comments should be aimed at helping someone be a better writer, not at crushing them. And since these are likely to be drafts, don’t jump up and down too hard on typos and grammar.

If you have questions, feel free to ask.

Your writing prompt this week is: DESIRE