What Have WE Become?

Crude, crash, and most likely heretical. I'm referring to those in the MAGA movement. Even after all this time, I STILL cannot understand the support for this man and his teachings. Thankfully/hopefully, he will get the truth and justice he deserves. I truly hope he gets the fairest trial America has ever seen. Of course, if he is convicted, he will claim it's all political and nothing more than a witch hunt, then scream “Hunter's Laptop!” Or “What about her emails?!” OR “Impeach Biden!” Diversionary tactics, hate, and division keep his spirit alive in this country. I have also come under the spell of hatred, and that makes me angry and ashamed. I hate how his brand of politics has fractured this great country. I hate how it has made racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and so many other forms of hatred OK for so many. I hate the war on treating others with respect and dignity—the so-called Anti-Woke agenda. I hate DeSantis' war on diversity. And all these hatreds fester in me and bubble up when I see a red MAGA hat or a "Take America Back" bumper sticker or one of the many TRUMP or DeSantis signs here in Florida. But the flags are the worst. They may also reveal a truth for so many flying these disgusting banners. That truth being that the flag waivers pledge more loyalty to the name on the flag that the country and principals in which they live. 

For so many years, this country has been a beacon of hope to the world. A promise that things can be better. Of course, we still have a legion of problems that need to be corrected. While individuals have the ability to achieve their American success story, whatever that may be, we still have institutional racism. The indigenous peoples in this country are still, for the most part, living in third-world conditions. Our education system is not the gold standard for the world and should be. Our infrastructure is crumbling. The three branches of our government that should provide checks-and-balances is rife with payola and graft. Our justice system is an ideological and political cesspool. The press, our last defense against all of this hate, selfishness, and political corruption, is itself corrupted by ideological hate and corporate interests. The deregulation of the telecommunications industry has allowed an unhealthy consolidation of media outlets, further putting what we want to believe as truth and facts into silos. Deregulation, in theory, creates competition among suppliers, but technological advances, the internet, and market conditions have created a homogeneous cesspool. We have too many spineless reporters who refuse to challenge those who twist the truth claiming their outright lies as fact. We are living in a world mired in gas lighting and doublespeak where so many reporters are either too lazy or too scared of the consequences . That said, we still have reporters who are doing the mostly thankless hours of digging and unearthing the actual terrible truths. We should, and must, give them the protections guaranteed by the Constitution, and the thanks for helping to hold our public servants and corporations in check. 

We are better than this America. I am better than this. 

Throwing Muses

 I have been posting more light-hearted, silly, and/or things-I-find-interesting things recently on my Facebook page again. It reminds me of what life was like pre-2016 when the Great Division started. And that's as political as this post will get.

A few days ago, I posted this poem, Throwing Children, by Ross Gay. It was the daily Poem-A-Day, The Academy of American Poets. It brought back warm memories of my daughter's youth. Sadly, I don't have as many from before her 4th year as she was already five when my wife and I married, but I do have a few and they are treasures. 

That post touched many of those who read it, in the same way—bringing joyous memories. It also did something else. It inspired a comment by Ramsey Campbell. That made my day. And put me on a feel-good high and, actually, helped me over a rather nasty dry spell writing. So, thank you, Sir! 

For those of you who don't recognize the name, he writes horror. Fantastic Fiction describes him as "the world's most decorated author of horror, terror, suspense, dark fantasy, and supernatural fiction." No small feat, that, but certainly well-deserved. Collider calls him, "the UK’s Stephen King."  in a recent article about why we aren't adapting his books to film & streaming.  That is an excellent question and one Hollywood should be taking to heart. Instead of regurgitating and remaking things like the Harry Potter movies. (Gah! An altogether different rant!) I came to reading Ramsey Campbell as I started my own career writing horror, fantasy, and the weird. Like the aforementioned, Stephen King, he is prolific. I am still slowly working through his canon and I urge all of you to do the same. 

Campbell reveals, 

"My fellow clansman Paul Campbell will remember the birth of this tale. At the Dead Dog party after the 2010 World Horror Convention in Brighton, someone was throwing a delighted toddler into the air. I was ambushed by an idea and had to apologise to Paul for rushing away to my room to scribble notes." 

The result is his short story, WITH THE ANGELS. It's less than $1 at Amazon, or for a dollar more at Barnes & Noble, you can get Mammoth Books presents A Ghostly Gathering: Four Stories. It includes stories from three other writers in the field—Thana Niveau, Mark Morris, Angela Slatter. 

Possessed

This story appealed to me on many levels. It is a nuanced and horrific tale mixing Mexican folklore, possessions on various levels, and the exploration the generational trauma of Alejandra’s family history. At first glance, Alejandra is not a likable character. Tortured by her life choices and pondering suicide, and worse, she is also considering taking her children with her. She is hurting and filled with self-loathing, so it was a little hard to stick by her side early on, but Castro has told many great stories, so I stuck with it. Once Alejandra started with Melanie, her therapist and curandera, the story became much more interesting. On another note, as an adoptee and adopter, I found this aspect of her journey highly relatable. My main complaint is that toward the end of the story, some of the ancestor stories acted like cardboard cutouts making the end feel a little rushed. A 3.5-star rating for one of V. Castro’s stories is a 4 for most other authors. 

The Haunting of Alejandra

by V. Castro

Published by Del Rey

March 18, 2023 | 272 Pages | ISBN-13: 9780593499696

I would like to thank the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this novel.

So Little Time…

I grew up during the height of the Cold War. The USSR was the big boogie man. Communism wanted to destroy our way of life. Then the Wall came down and the Soviet Empire fell. The insidious fear of the ever-present threat was gone. We had PEACE and the promise of a new world. But that didn’t last. The world found itself being forced to deal with threats from the past. Putin claimed Russia for himself and the World finds itself confronted with the brutal invasion of Crimea and Ukraine, Russian oligarchs, and Russian crime. So as an escape where did I turn? Television? Slow Horses on Apple+ and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. Reading? RED LONDON by Alma Katsu. Russia is once again. EVERYWHERE. The stories are engaging. The menace is real. And Putin’s Russia makes for a great villain. 

Lyndsey Duncan is back, and what she is involved in is complicated and a little confusing. Katsu teases us with the story of a Russian war criminal, but we end up getting the story of a Russian oligarch. While I did not find RED LONDON as engaging as Katsu’s first book in the series, RED WIDOW, at times I did lose myself in the story. You won’t lose your breath trying to keep up with a Jason Bourne or a Jack Ryan, but the real-world stakes are just as high. The psychology of manipulation was intriguing, as was the Anglo-American intelligence cooperation but I couldn’t find much to like about Emily, the British wife of the oligarch and Lyndsey’s target. By the end, I did feel a bit sorry for her. This story is rife with secret identities, private contractors, ex-lovers, clandestine meetings, and so much more. Who can Lyndsey trust? This is a different type of spy game. 

This book is fiction, but Katsu pulls from her 30-plus career in national security. And while she did her best to portray world events, she, like so many others, couldn't have predicted that the war on Ukraine would still be taking its murderous toll on the country and the people there. It seems with Putin, there is no level to his depravity and with the rest of Russia, they seem too scared to do what is right and put an end to this madness. 

I really tried to get this book read before launch day. It didn’t have anything to do with the book itself, it was how busy I had made my life. I often find that I stretch myself a little thin. I have my own writing and a few illustration projects that would be enough to keep me busy on their own, but I also have a house to paint, then there’s yard work, the pool, and family life. On top of all that, I try to get in at least an hour of reading every day. I reserve the night for TV with my wife. It’s not quite how I had envisioned retirement. 

Red London

by Alma Katsu

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons

March 14, 2023 | 352 Pages | ISBN-13: 978-0593421956

I would like to thank the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this novel.