Coronavirus Pandemic Day 173 - Insanity

Just when I think things can't get worse in 2020, it does.

So far we've had

- COVID-19
- travel bans
- economic chaos
- record unemployment
- murder hornets
- cops gleefully killing black people on camera
- cocaine boars
- protest marches
- a president who is trying to establish a fascist regime
- meth gators
- parents attempting to homeschool/parents refusing to homeschool
- record heat
- record number of hurricanes

Then came the week of August 23-29

- Both Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Marco hit the U.S. coast
- Jacob Blake was shot seven times and paralyzed by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin
- Protests in Kenosha resulted in an alt-right teenage sympathizer killing two people and wounding a third
- Wildfires rage out of control in California
- The number of dead from COVID-19 surged over 180K in the U.S.
- The number of confirmed infections crossed 6M
- BLM supporters and white supremacists clashed in Portland, resulting in one death
- Unmasked white supremacists, many of whom were armed, stormed the Idaho House of Representatives
- The Milwaukee Bucks walked of the court in a wildcat strike over the Jacob Blake shooting
- Other NBA, WNBA, and MLB teams followed
- Sportcaster Kenny Smith walked off the set in solidarity with the NBA players

And last, but hardly least, I got an e-mail late Friday night from my buddy Jo, saying actor Chadwick Boseman died.

That news was a punch in the gut. Mr. Boseman had a heck of career, and I expected to see more from him. He brought a singular gravitas to the role of T'Challa.  When DH and I went to see Black Panther, Mr. Boseman had the entire audience, black and white, standing and cheering at the end.

There are no words, and I'm a middle-aged, middle-class, white woman. I can't imagine how all the little kids who saw themselves in Mr. Boseman on the big screen feel right now.

The chaos seems to be growing exponentially. I've got to find the strength to write Hero In Camera because I want it to reflect an America where everyone has a fair chance, and they don't have to worry about being shot.

I Love the 90's!

The Latin explosion! Even in utero, GK danced to this one!

Vivian Stephens - The Founder of RWA

In the wake of the RWA racist implosion, Texas Monthly has published an in-depth article about Vivian Stephens, the black founder who was forced out by Nice White Ladies.

This article came out in the September 2020 issue of Texas Monthly Magazine. It's an eye-opening look at racism in America.

RWA's Slow, Self-Inflicted Death and the Phoenix

When I left Romance Writers of America, it had problems. Lots of problems.

There was an anti-erotica (really it was anti-sex) bent. An anti-ebook bent. An anti-Black bent. Guess what my first romance series had? Yep. All three.

It made me sad. I did learn a lot from the authors in the chapters I belonged to in Houston. But as time passed, I felt more and more uncomfortable. Finally, I slipped out so quietly most people didn't even realize I wasn't there.

Courtney Milan wasn't that lucky. She was tossed out on her ass in a ham-fisted attempt to silence her. Because she was a woman of color, and she was loud, and the Nice White Ladies who really controlled RWA and its purse strings couldn't handle someone like Courtney, other than to make shit up and totally bypass the organization's Ethics Committee.

So, what's happened since last winter?

RWA has lost roughly half its membership. COVID-19 forced their annual conference to go online, but I haven't heard of anyone who's going. I honestly don't know how it will work. They plan on using ZOOM, but all the schools across the country using ZOOM managed to crash the system last week. RWA has lost its biggest money-makers, the RITA and the Golden Heart contests, because so many entrants and judges withdrew.

But what about Courtney Milan?

She's finally put out a new book, the proverbial book of her heart, The Duke Who Didn't, which will be released on September 22. Personally, I'm looking forward to this story.

In the meantime, Courtney talks about her experience with RWA and how her maternal grandmother was the inspiration for her newest novel in a article on Entertainment Weekly.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 166 - Back to Writing

I'm under quarantine for another ten days since getting back from Texas. Over the weekend, I spent most of my time editing or catching up on household and business management tasks. But today, I need to hunker down and get some writing done.

The final version of Murder Most Fowl is already uploaded and ready to drop on September 15th. However, I'm also trying to reboot Alter Ego's career.

Frankly, it was hard to think about romance and sex while facing breast cancer over the last couple of years. Now that I'm finally starting to feel like myself again, I've jumped back into the romance pool. I put up a boxed set of a series last month that included a brand-new novella. Right now, I'm working on a prequel novel of a spin-off series. Plus, I was dared to write a dirty Jane Austen Fan Fiction book by a couple of friends, so I'm looking forward to doing something new and fun.

But don't worry folks! I did work on Hero In Camera while on the road last week. I'll do my damnedest not to fuck up that release!

My work keeps me from looking at the pandemic stats too much. Honestly, quarantining makes me feel better about not being out and around other people right now. Our county cases are closing in on 500, and nationwide, we're closing in on  6 million cases and 179,000 deaths.

It was a gratifying to see most people take this damn disease seriously while we were on the road last week.

Now, back to writing some fun shit...

I Love the 90's

His name will always be Prince.

Home at Last!

Mission accomplished! GK has his Charger, and we've returned home intact.

I have to admit driving a silver Dodge Charger on the freeway is a blast. Many law enforcement agencies in the U.S. use them. It was hysterically funny watching people about to pass us panic and slam on the brakes.

If it weren't for the damn pandemic, I would have wanted to spend a lot more time in Memphis. Or even stopped at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which we normally do if only to pick up t-shirts to add to our collection. But the full parking lot dissuaded us from stopping.

So we arrived at home. Other than dropping off the rental car, picking up Bella from the kennel, and grabbing a few groceries from the store, we plan to hunker down for the next two weeks.

Or I do. DH is going to the first high school soccer game of the season tonight. He's already been on the phone with the district's athletic director. It'll be just DH and the announcer in the booth with masks and sitting six feet apart.

While he's gone, I'll see about getting writing done.  And give lots of attention to the furball who's been stuck to my legs for the last twenty-four hours.

On the Road Again

I'm writing this blog from a hotel in Memphis. I'd like to explore it more thoroughly. It's rich in culture and history. Every other time I've been here, I'm passing through to somewhere else I need to be by a specific date and time.

Today, I have the time, but I'm trapped in my hotel room by a disease.

It's been an experience traveling across the Midwest and South. The dichotomy between those who take COVID-19 seriously and those who still believe its a hoax. There was a McDonald's in San Angelo,Texas, where everyone wore gloves and masks. They even offered us a antiseptic wipes at the drive-thru window.

Then there was the Pilot Travel Center in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Eleven women were crowded in the tiny bathroom together. The manager and a customer were both complaining about the mask rules, and I watched the manager rip his off his face. Fewer than a third of the customers wore masks despite signs on the doors that they were required. I turned around and walked out. At the car, I told DH I would hold it until we found another spot.

Up until that Pilot this evening, I felt relatively safe. Most people were taking appropriate safety measures. But the crap I saw explains why over 170,000 people are dead.

All I can do is shake my head and bath in hand sanitizer.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 159 - There's No Escaping

We took Genius Kid's car to him over the weekend. He's about to change duty stations.

Originally, he was supposed to have leave in between assignments. He planned to fly home and take his car with him to his next assignment. But with the pandemic, no one's allowed off base.

So we drove his car down to Texas with the plan to meet him at the base's visitor center. Guests are not allowed on base right now either. And to top everything off, the night we got to our hotel, we found out GK's sergeant had been exposed to COVID-19, and he may have inadvertently exposed the entire platoon. They were awaiting word on the sergeant's test results.

Then, there was our very careful 1300-mile trip. I had a reusable Halloween grocery bag full of paper towels, tissues, antiseptic wipes, disposable latex gloves, cloth masks, disposable masks, a giant bottle of hand sanitizer, and Ziploc bags for safe disposal of all of the above. And we used everything.

We took meat, cheese and drinks in a cooler for the first day along with granola bars, bananas, nuts, and buns in a Wonder Woman reusable bag. Our couple of stops for gas and a bathroom break were at Pilot Truck Stops along the way. I swear they had the cleanest bathrooms I'd ever seen.

Everyone at our hotels in Memphis and San Angelo took safety precautions seriously, including providing masks and hand sanitizer for guests.

We saw GK for about three minutes, only because his sergeant's test had come back negative that morning, and GK's doesn't face a two-week quarantine. The heart-breaking part is we couldn't do more than first-bump. This may be the last we see him for a couple of years.

This fucking virus sucks, but we all did what we had to in order to prevent exposure. But to play it safe, DH and I are quarantining ourselves for the next two weeks and keeping our fingers crossed. I can't bitch too much. I have books to finish.

I Love the 90's!

Sometimes, just sometimes, you hit the lottery!

Qapla'!

A Twist of Love is officially live!

Here's the new link on Amazon!

I'll be spending the rest of the day updating links in various places. So take care, stay safe, and enjoy!

A Twist of Love and Suzan's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

By now, most of you are aware of the cancellation of A Twist of Love. Except it's not really cancelled, just the original Amazon pre-order was cancelled.

A little bit of background first. Amazon requires us to have the final book file uploaded four days before the release date. Then the record is locked until release day. That usually isn't a problem, except...

I freely admit I had difficulty writing the finale for this novel. But I pushed through and finished it. I uploaded the file with fifteen minutes to spare, pressed "PUBLISH" and breathed a sigh of relief.

And that's where things went wonky. I don't know if it was a software problem, my ISP, my own computer acting up, or the thunderstorms that had just crossed the Indiana border causing a power surge. But the screen started flashing like it was caught in a programming loop.

That's when my panic attack started. By the time I got it cleared, it was past the deadline, and the record was locked.

However, the status said "PUBLISHING" so I crossed my fingers.

Tuesday morning, I opened my e-mail. At the very top was the notice from Amazon that the pre-order for A Twist of Love was cancelled for lack of a file.

I didn't want to say anything to you all while I dealt with Amazon and devised a definite plan for going forward. On the plus side, I wasn't punished with the removal of all my other pre-orders (which is usually what happens). On the minus side, the record for A Twist of Love is considered dead and they cannot restore it.

So, here's what's going to happen:

1) I will take Wednesday and Thursday to double-check the file.

2) I will upload A Twist of Love Thursday night under a new ASIN.

3) Amazon can take anywhere from two hours to three days to actually have the book ready to buy. So if you see the landing page, it doesn't mean the books available yet.

4) I'll post here to let y'all know I've gotten the official notice from Amazon the book is live.

To everyone who pre-ordered A Twist of Love, I sincerely apologize for the brouhaha.

For those of you who've pre-ordered Murder Most Fowl? The final file was uploaded when I uploaded Snowfall, so you folks are good to go!

And I will do my Twelve-blessed best not to wait until the last minute ever again!

It's Been a Long, Long Day

I powered through to finish A Twist of Love over the last three days. A friend sent me this meme to cheer me up.

I love the 90's!

This one still gets me dancing in the house.

Bad Contracts

Yesterday, the writer liaison at our local public sent out a call for submissions from a brand new publisher. So what do I do as a recovering attorney? That's right. I check out their contract.

Holy shit, is it bad! Total rights grab for a whopping $10.

*facepalm*

So, for the last twenty-four hours I've been debating what to do. I ran the situation by a fellow writer/recovering attorney. They had the same reaction I did.

Do I tell the publisher to contact a lawyer before they get themselves into deep shit? Do I contact the library liaison and warn her? Do I send it to Writer Beware? Hell, my friend Angie who does a monthly post on her blog of anthologies taking submissions wouldn't touch this one with a 100-ft pole.

Or do I do nothing? I've learned through a lot of bitter experience most writers are attempting to live a dream that doesn't exist. I've lost a lot of friends by opening my big mouth.

*sigh* What a way to end the week.

An Odd Afternoon

I stayed up until four a.m. working on A Twist of Love. I'm at the difficult state where it's done in my mind, but not on paper. At this point, I feel like it's old so I have to force myself to get the words down.

Therefore, I didn't wake up until after two this afternoon. And one of the first things I saw was that Susan Ellison had passed away. It unnerved me because she's only a couple of years older than me. But considering she passed a couple of years after Harlan's death, part of me is not surprised.

And ironically, I was thinking about Harlan Ellison last night when I saw this article from Bleeding Cool.

I love the pulp sword and sorcery stories. It was that feeling I tried to capture when I wrote "Justice" seven years ago. Flashing Swords #6 should have been an awesome revival.

But people read fantasy to escape from the real world and their real world problems just for a little while. Hell, I can see that just in the little uptick in my fantasy sales over the last couple of months.

The preaching hateful screed that was presented as the introduction would have been wrong no matter which side of the political divide it came from. And as a writer, you put your trust in your editor not to do something stupid when joining an anthology, just like the editor trusts you to deliver a story that fits their image for the collection.

What you don't want as a writer is an introduction that will alienate over half of your potential readership whether it clicks with your own sensibilities or not.

In my experience with Elisabeth Waters, I was sent the entire galley of the Sword and Sorceress volumes my stories appeared in. So I saw and read Lisa's introduction even though I was only require to proof my own story. And she always delivered a lovely ode to the genre.

From the chatter of those who withdrew their stories from Flashing Swords #6, none of them saw Price's introduction until the Look Inside feature went live on Amazon. The publisher has since withdrawn the book, but if you want to read the full introduction, it's out there on the interwebs.

So hopefully, both the writers and the publisher chalk this up to a learning experience on who to trust as an editor.

So what does this have to do with Harlan Ellison? He was a person who didn't tolerate stupidity from anyone: publishers, editors, fans or other writers. In the back of my head, I could hear him cussing up a storm over this kind of stupidity. It's one thing to make a stand on your own words. It's another thing to use other people's words as a launching pad for your beliefs.

This situation will make me be even more careful about which anthologies I submit to.

No, there's more to it than me submitting. It makes me want to start my own anthology because there's lots of awesome stories I want to read out there in the world, and I would guard and treasure those stories the way I would my own.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 145 - Death

"You get what anybody gets. You get a lifetime." - Death, Neil Gaiman

Over 157,000 dead in the U.S. alone. The number staggers the mind. And we're back up to over 1,000 dying per day.

Our county followed the Ohio governor's guidelines and shut down on March 16th. We stayed at a stable 39 cases and 1 death for six weeks.

But the re-opening on May 1 triggered more cases. With the 4th of July parties, cases exploded. Hancock County is at 320 cases and 2 deaths.

What's even more terrible is at a time when Americans really need to be working together to stop the spread of this horrible disease, we are actively working to infect each other. At a time when we need solid national leadership, we have federal officials at each others throats.

Believe me, I get how much staying at home sucks. With my health issues, I've been trapped at home far longer than a lot of you. And I regularly talk with friends, who are as trapped at home as I am. Yes, it's awful. Yes, it's boring. But if my 88-year-old father-in-law can handle not leaving his apartment for five freaking months, then so can I.

And you can, too.

But if you do have to go out, wash your hands and use your masks. Your family's and friends' lives may depend on it.

I Love the 90's!

Whitney at the height of her career!