We are perplexing beings.
I just finished reading Maus, a graphic book by Art Spiegelman banned in Russia and Tennessee. The author’s words and drawings depict his attempt to capture his father’s memories of living through the Holocaust. The young man is conflicted, unable to stand being around his eccentric, obsessive father and overwhelmed by what he learns his father experienced. It is raw and honest. I recommend it.
What seems unthinkable and impossible to understand is people believing other people are not human beings but vermin to be used and extinguished. That is what the Nazis believed, what slaveholders believed, and what many neo-Nazi white supremacists still believe. I imagine some members of minorities feel similarly. I don’t understand what Christian Nationalists believe other than America should be for them only. I’m unsure what they plan to do about the rest of us.
And that’s the point. We are all human beings.
We think and do these extraordinary thoughts and behaviors because we evolved not as rational beings but as emotional ones. Fight/flight and survival are our primary, cell-level drivers, not rationality.
Rationality is an overlay, a wobbly gift of the last layer of the brain to evolve—the neocortex, which contains the prefrontal cortex, where we analyze, plan, and make decisions based on reason rather than raw emotion. Emotion ran the show before that development. Emotion plays a vital role in behavior. (Danger = run or fight.) But reason developed to increase our ability to survive. If we observe and learn what has happened in the past, rationality allows us to predict the future, and we have a better chance if we can prepare for the future.
But that can go sideways.
For example, people around us can believe wacky things. Those things may not make sense if we examine them closely, but we are driven, for one thing, to please those important to us. We need to be part of a group/clan/family. It’s a hard-wired survival instinct. At some point in our history, we could be kicked out for not complying with the group. “Kicked out” meant the wolves ate you.
And, alas, we are not Vulcans. We easily slide into tribalism and can believe all kinds of stuff, regardless of its basis in reality (whatever that is, but that’s another story). Science has proved that a brain under enough stress will break. Any brain. All brains. (Snapping, America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, 1978, 1995 Conway and Siegelman)
Humans are a fraction of the last second before midnight on the 24-hour clock of our Earth’s existence. And we “just” developed our cerebral cortex. We aren’t sure what to do with it except write books (Yes!) and play with our toys. That play has created some wonderful, amazing things. There appear, however, to be some “whoops” attached to those wonderful things, like the possibility of screwing up the Earth and annihilating ourselves with our toys.
So, (1) we are not primarily rational beings, and (2) we are very young.
Is there hope for change?
Trying to apply rationality to answer that question (instead of my emotional instinct), I would say -YES. If it is true that we are not primarily or originally rational beings, it is also true that we are headed (however slowly) in the evolutionary direction of rationality. The fact that we are a very young species also implies that, with time, we will continue to add functional brain capacity that will nudge us toward traits that increase our survival ability.
The question is, will we survive long enough to get there?
In the current day, it is hard to imagine such change when terrorist organizations indoctrinate their communities with hatred from birth. Despair feels like the rational expectation.
But then there is what happened in Germany after WWII. Although the Nazi doctrine is far from dead (either in that country or others, including the United States)—their ideals are no longer mainstream.
By all rights, Japan should hate Americans after we dropped two atomic bombs on their civilian populations. They do not hate us. We are global partners.
Maybe there is hope for change.
But how do we change now without having to wait for evolution’s slow grind, the coin toss of whether someone pulls the nuclear trigger, we push the climate to a state of disaster, or maybe we all choke on plastic?
Jeddu Krishnamurti, an Indian philosopher, says we must first understand that we are connected to and, in a real sense, are all human beings.
He writes:
“To bring about a different society in the world, you, as a human being who is the rest of humankind, must radically change. That is the real issue, not how to prevent wars. That’s also an issue, how to have peace in the world, [but] that is secondary. . . the fundamental issue is—is it possible for the human mind, which is your mind, your heart, your condition, is that possible to be totally, fundamentally, deeply transformed?
Otherwise, we are going to destroy each other through our national pride, through our linguistic limitations, through our nationalism, which the politicians maintain for their own benefit, and so on and on and on.”
Krishnamurti suggests that the path to transformational change involves deep listening—to others, ourselves, and nature.
What is deep listening? I am not sure. I think I do it when I’m writing and allowing a character to truly be themselves. I think I do it when I pause to breathe in the scent of earth and bird song. When I allow the decision of compassion to guide me. I know a whole list of things it is not.
“Truth is a pathless land. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique.”
So, how do we find the truth that will free us from ourselves?
Let’s begin by turning our attention and focus to deep listening. We may not know exactly how to do it because it is a pathless land. And we will need to try repeatedly because we are all flawed human beings. But maybe we really can change. The first step is believing we can, believing that humanity can survive to become wiser, use our tools, toys, and our resolve to improve the world, and learn to cherish it, ourselves, and each other.
Maybe.
I hope we can. I hope we try.
T.K. Thorne writes about what moves her, following a flight path of curiosity, reflection, and imagination. Check out her (fiction and nonfiction) books at TKThorne.com
Writer, humanist,
dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
Lover of solitude
and the company of good friends,
new places, new ideas
and old wisdom.
Can a Book Effect Change?
/in Donnell Ann Bell, Inspiration, Linda Rodriguez, Publishing, Racism, T.K. Thorne, The Stiletto Gang, Writing and the Arts/by Donnell Ann BellI respect Linda Rodriguez and TK Thorne immensely. If you haven’t read their two recent blogs, I urge you to do so:
https://www.thestilettogang.com/2024/07/05/how-can-writers-help-creat-a-safer-society-for-all/
https://www.thestilettogang.com/2024/06/27/we-are-perplexing-by-t-k-thorne/
In these blogs, T.K. addresses our relatively young existence in the grand scheme of existence, then writes about humankind’s struggle to fight tribalism and inhumanity. Linda addresses violent massacres against innocents brought on by hatred and racism.
Linda closes out her blog with:
“As writers and readers, we have the power to change this terrible racist rot at the heart of our society. We simply have to muster the courage to insist on truthful, varied portrayals of real human beings, the courage to reach outside of segregated suburbs to learn about people who are not just like us, the courage to call out false, bigoted remarks and portrayals when we encounter them. Let us be part of the solution and no longer part of the problem, actively or passively. Let us bring our society closer to the ideals we claim for it.
Writers shape the way our nation sees the world. Let us shape that perspective with truth and empathy.”
The blog unfortunately didn’t allow for comments, and I had a few. I also was reading a novel at that time that if Linda’s blog had been an assignment to discover such a panacea, I would recommend David Baldacci’s A Calamity of Souls.
Before I give my thoughts on A Calamity of Souls, I’ll point to what I consider a significant problem(s) in Linda’s thoughtful prose.
Occasionally, an author pens a book that does just what Linda is encouraging us to do. Moreover, that same author has name recognition and a following that may in effect, educate and allow people who may not even consider themselves racist to take the proverbial good look in the mirror.
I believe David Baldacci’s A Calamity of Souls is such a book. I believe this novel may be fated to become a classic in its own right and his most successful of his already thriving career.
Though brilliant A Calamity of Souls is not a fun read. It’s also incredibly hard to put down.
Here’s the back cover blurb:
Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.
Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in the Commonwealth. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.
Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.
Over a decade in the writing, A Calamity of Souls breathes richly imagined and detailed life into a bygone era, taking the reader through a world that will seem both foreign and familiar.
(I pulled the following quotes off Amazon.)
~~~
I could leave my own review, but I guess I just did. A #1 Bestseller with already 16,671 ratings on Amazon, I recommend A Calamity of Souls to everyone to understand what ignorance is and what hate can become.
Thank you, Linda. Your words impacted me at a time I was already being deeply impacted. I can only pray your vision and dreams come true.
Can a book effect change? In a word, Yes.
How Can Writers Help Create a Safer Society for All?
/in Uncategorized/by DebraHow Can Writers Help Create a Safer Society for All? by Linda Rodriguez In 2015, Dylann Roof murdered nine innocent people at a church prayer meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, and was later sentenced to death. This brought back the horror of so many racist mass murders before and since. It tied into a concurrent […]
Guest Interview with Author Joel W. Barrows
/in Author Life, Interview, Mystery, Suspense/by Mary Lee AshfordBy Sparkle Abbey
Please welcome our friend and fellow author, Joel W. Barrows to the blog today. Joel is a member of our local Sisters in Crime – Iowa chapter and we’ve mostly conversed via Zoom but recently had the opportunity to meet in person at a fun writers’ retreat – Only Books in the Building – and share some great conversation around a toasty fire with some of the other featured authors.
JB: I am the author of the Deep Cover thrillers published by Down & Out Books. I was born and raised in small town Iowa, though have lived in several larger cities over the years: Des Moines, St. Louis, Washington D.C. … Now, I’m back in Iowa, living in the Quad Cities, where I work as a district court judge. Besides writing, I enjoy boating and playing the guitar.
SA: Thanks! And now on to our first question. What started you on your writing journey?
JB: My wife always wanted to be a writer. Her father was a newspaper editor. She knew I was a bit of a storyteller, like my father. When she read a reference letter I had written for a friend, she suggested I try my hand at writing. One day, after I went on a rant about Big Pharma and what they might be capable of, she said, “that sounds like a good idea for a book.” I went upstairs to the computer. Two days later I had a 15-page outline for my first book, The Drug Lords, a romantic suspense thriller.
SA: And that leads us to another question. What do you write? And why did you choose that genre?
JB: I write about domestic terrorism organizations and the undercover operatives who combat them. I think this is the issue of our time. Many of the books also deal with racism and political issues. They say write what you know. My career has been in law enforcement as a state and federal prosecutor and as a judge. This is an area I know.
SA: It certainly is and your experience undoubtedly accounts for the realistic details in your books! What about the writing process? What’s your favorite part of writing?
JB: Inventing characters and writing good dialogue. I have always been a student of the way people communicate, verbally and nonverbally. Other than that, creating the tension.
SA: Characters and dialogue rank up there as favorite parts of the creative process for us as well. So, what’s your least favorite part?
JB: Really, I enjoy the whole process, though I suppose the research is my least favorite part. But even then, there are aspects of it that enjoy. Outlining can also be a challenge, and it is definitely not my strong suit!
SA: Partly because we work as co-authors, we have to do quite a bit of planning when we start a project. How about you? How much do you plan before you start a book?
JB: I develop a basic story idea and spend a month or two fleshing it out and doing research. I might then outline the very basic structure of the book. After that, I kind of just let the characters lead me.
SA: Where do your best ideas come from?
JB: My own experiences, the many law enforcement officers, agents and prosecutors I’ve worked with, and the news.
SA: It seems like some parts of the process come easy for us and others are more of a struggle. What part of writing is the most difficult for you to write? Characters? Conflict? Emotion? Or something else…?
JB: I probably don’t spend enough time on setting, which is something I’m working on.
SA: What’s next? Are you currently working on a new book?
JB: The working title for the next book is “Deep Orange Cover: The Allegiance.” Let’s just say it involves a very gritty and frightening look at outlaw motorcycle clubs and some of their many illegal undertakings. I promise, it will grab and keep your attention!
SA: Having read your other books, we’re sure that it will! Thanks for talking with us today. We appreciate your time and we will watch for that next book!
Thanks again, Joel. Please check out the links below for more info about Joel and his books!
Website
Facebook
Amazon Author Page
Publisher
Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)
They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest, some of their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website
Clicking Our Heels: Author Cravings
/in Author Life, Gluttony, Uncategorized/by DebraWe often hear about food cravings in reference to pregnant women and children, but what authors would die for isn’t usually mentioned. Today, Clicking Our Heels tells you what each of us considers our favorite snack or drink.
Bethany Maines – Matcha lattes and chocolate covered almonds.
Barbara J. Eikmeier – Hot green tea in the morning then I switch to water.
Saralyn Richard – Icy cold water in the summer and boiling hot water in winter. Sometimes popcorn, but only if the writing is slow.
Debra H. Goldstein – Pizza.
Dru Ann Love – My favorite snack is Twizzlers and drink is water.
T.K. Thorne – Anything that will distract me from putting words down, but I usually start with a cup of coffee or tea.
Lois Winston – Coffee, coffee, and more coffee!
Gay Yellen – I don’t snack as I write, but after a solid hour or two of desk-sitting, almost anything handy works for me—chips and hummus, or a cookie and another cup of coffee.
Donnell Ann Bell – My favorite writing snack depends on my mood. Am I trying to eat heathy or am I having a carb attack. I keep cooked broccoli spears in my fridge when I’m on a health kick. When I crave carbs, all bets are off. Chips and salsa, or a bowl of cereal are not safe from my clutches!
Debra Sennefelder – Coffee.
Anita Carter – I like to drink a hot chai latte when I sit down to start writing. When I’m super focused and the words are flowing, I’m usually chewing gum – Orbit White Spearmint. For some reason, chewing gum helps me stay focused.
Mary Lee Ashford – My favorite writing drink is tea. Hot or cold depending on the season (or the day) and sometimes with a bit of honey. Snacks are hard when you’re writing because you don’t want to gunk up the keyboard. So, my go to is usually nuts and/or dark chocolate.
WHAT DO YOU WRITE?
/in characters, Detective, History, Ideas, Mystery, Mystery Series, New Release, Novels, Series, Susan P. Baker, The Stiletto Gang, Uncategorized/by Susan P. BakerMy new novel, The Underground Murders, was released yesterday, July 1, 2024. Do you write (or read) political novels? Or novels that contain even a bit of a political message? Or novels that address societal concerns? Or novels that are pure entertainment? I chose the subject of my latest novel with the intent of speaking out against the direction in which our country headed and knowing there would be backlash. I’ve already received a tongue lashing from one of my advance readers. I’m hoping she, at least, gave some thought to the issue, that her mind, which probably wouldn’t be opened, would get a small crack. Since the book only arrived on the scene yesterday, I’m waiting to see who else protests.
In some of my novels in the past, I’ve included (in addition to murder) gambling addiction, false allegations of child abuse, child trafficking, greed, adultery, characters with a sense of entitlement, judicial corruption, mental illness, theft—well, basically, my characters breaking all Ten Commandments!
History is replete with nursery rhymes that have been interpreted as political commentary or as a rendering of historical events. At https://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/ many authors give their interpretations of historical pieces. I particularly liked Author Lucinda Brant’s Part Two about nursery rhymes including “Georgy Porgy” and “Jack and Jill.”
Fairy tales were another way authors expressed themselves. A nice piece that discusses how fairy tales can be used as teaching tools today can be found at https://www.kidsbookhaven.com/article/exploring-relevance-of-fairy-tales-in-todays-world. There is also discussion about how they form the basis for so many current books and movies.
At https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/03061973241241877, there is a book review of Buried Treasures: The Political Power of Fairy Tales by Jack Zipes. Zipes discusses social ills, to put it mildly, and who the authors often were.
I’m a fan of John Sandford and his “Prey” novels. I was pleased to find he addressed environmental problems in his latest novel Toxic Prey, where the protagonists hunt down a mad scientist who believes the violent actions he intends to take will save the planet
It’s 2024 in the U.S. So far we still have the right to free speech. For the most part, we have the right to write what we want, unlike authors in some countries and those in history. I believe it’s my duty to address modern society’s ills. Though there is no guarantee what I write will be read, I fully intend to continue to write as my conscience dictates. If only a few readers will have their eyes opened, I will have accomplished my goal.
Susan P. Baker is a retired family court judge from Texas and the author of 15 published books. You may read more about her at https://www.susanpbaker.com.
Christmas in July: Bringing Holiday Cheer to Your Summer Reading
/in Uncategorized/by Debra SennefelderWelcome to the enchanting world of Christmas in July, a delightful time to infuse your summer with a sprinkle of holiday magic. For reader, this is the perfect season to blend the warmth of Christmas with the sun-drenched days of summer. This year I’m all in on Christmas in July and I think it has to do with the fact that I’ve just turned in the next Food Blogger mystery and it’s set during Christmas and I’m beginning the planning of the book’s release so my thoughts are definitely very merry. I thought today I’d share with you some tips to help you bring a little holiday festivity into your summer reading. Ready?
Create a Cozy Reading Nook:
Transform a corner of your home into a festive retreat. Drape twinkling fairy lights, add some holiday-themed pillows, and keep a cozy blanket nearby. Surround yourself with the scents of Christmas by lighting a pine-scented candle or simmering a pot of cinnamon and cloves.
Choose Festive Reads:
Dive into holiday-themed cozy mysteries and romantic suspense novels. Titles like “A Christmas Cozy Mystery” or “Snowy Nights of Romance” can transport you to a winter wonderland. The mix of mystery and romance will keep you turning pages, no matter the temperature outside.
Holiday Treats and Drinks:
Enjoy your reading with a side of festive treats. Bake some gingerbread cookies, make hot cocoa (or iced cocoa if it’s too warm), and indulge in peppermint-flavored snacks. The familiar tastes and smells will heighten your holiday experience.
Host a Christmas in July Book Club:
Gather your friends for a virtual book club. Pick a Christmas-themed mystery or romance, and discuss it over a video call. Add some holiday trivia games or a secret Santa book exchange to enhance the festive spirit.
Festive Soundtrack:
Create a playlist of your favorite Christmas carols and background music. Listening to holiday tunes while you read can make the experience even more immersive.
There you have it, five tips on how to bring a little Christmas charm into July into your summer reading. If you’d like some more Christmas in July inspiration, check out my website’s blog where I’ll be sharing a weekly guide to the Hallmark movies and some cozy mystery recommendations to pair with those movies. Let me know what you’re reading this month in the comments below. I hope you have wonderful July and be sure to stay cool!
Debra Sennefelder is the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series.
She lives and writes in Connecticut. When she’s not writing, she enjoys baking, exercising and taking long walks with her Shih-Tzu, Connie.
You can keep in touch with Debra through her website, on Facebook and Instagram.
Don’t Count On It!
/in Artificial Intelligence, Brooke Terpening/by Brooke TerpeningEnough about Artificial Intelligence already. I promised myself I wouldn’t write about AI again. Then a friend shared a recent experience. She planned to drive her granddaughter from Denver, Colorado to Buffalo, New York and wanted to take in some of the sights along the way. After learning about ChatGPT at the local library, she asked for a route and roadside attractions along I-80. ChatGPT obliged with stops to “provide a mix of natural beauty, historical sites, and cultural experiences, making your journey along I-80 from Denver to Buffalo diverse and enjoyable.” Sounds wonderful, right?
Don’t get me wrong. I think the Bonneville Salt Flats, Salt Lake City’s Temple Square, Wyoming Territorial Prison, and the California Trail Interpretive Center in Elko, Nevada are fascinating and educational. The only problem: all these sights would require a 1,000 mile detour! My favorite attraction was the world’s largest Cheeto in Algona, Iowa, which was a mere four hour excursion off I-80. Other attractions didn’t exist, such as the world’s largest fork in Iowa. On the bright side, ChatGPT didn’t route my friend through Outer Mongolia.
AI developers acknowledge that the software will hallucinate—produce incorrect or fabricated information. So why do these hallucinations matter to us as writers? “Real facts” are important when writing our book. While it seems obvious that non-fiction must be as accurate as possible, fiction readers crave more than only entertainment. They want to come away from our books learning about an era, a career, a technology, or a culture they weren’t familiar with. Fans of police procedural or historical novels are quick to point out that a certain type of pistol only has six, not nine, rounds or buttonholes weren’t widely used prior to the Renaissance.
My friend isn’t alone in getting bad advice from ChatGPT. Ask the lawyers who were sanctioned for submitting AI generated briefs citing nonexistent cases. Or the scientific journal that issued a retraction for an article filled with nonsense illustrations.
My advice: if you use AI, don’t count on the results without independent verification. That’s the safer route my friend took.
We are Perplexing—by T.K. Thorne
/in T.K. Thorne, Thorne/by TK ThorneWe are perplexing beings.
I just finished reading Maus, a graphic book by Art Spiegelman banned in Russia and Tennessee. The author’s words and drawings depict his attempt to capture his father’s memories of living through the Holocaust. The young man is conflicted, unable to stand being around his eccentric, obsessive father and overwhelmed by what he learns his father experienced. It is raw and honest. I recommend it.
What seems unthinkable and impossible to understand is people believing other people are not human beings but vermin to be used and extinguished. That is what the Nazis believed, what slaveholders believed, and what many neo-Nazi white supremacists still believe. I imagine some members of minorities feel similarly. I don’t understand what Christian Nationalists believe other than America should be for them only. I’m unsure what they plan to do about the rest of us.
And that’s the point. We are all human beings.
We think and do these extraordinary thoughts and behaviors because we evolved not as rational beings but as emotional ones. Fight/flight and survival are our primary, cell-level drivers, not rationality.
Rationality is an overlay, a wobbly gift of the last layer of the brain to evolve—the neocortex, which contains the prefrontal cortex, where we analyze, plan, and make decisions based on reason rather than raw emotion. Emotion ran the show before that development. Emotion plays a vital role in behavior. (Danger = run or fight.) But reason developed to increase our ability to survive. If we observe and learn what has happened in the past, rationality allows us to predict the future, and we have a better chance if we can prepare for the future.
But that can go sideways.
For example, people around us can believe wacky things. Those things may not make sense if we examine them closely, but we are driven, for one thing, to please those important to us. We need to be part of a group/clan/family. It’s a hard-wired survival instinct. At some point in our history, we could be kicked out for not complying with the group. “Kicked out” meant the wolves ate you.
And, alas, we are not Vulcans. We easily slide into tribalism and can believe all kinds of stuff, regardless of its basis in reality (whatever that is, but that’s another story). Science has proved that a brain under enough stress will break. Any brain. All brains. (Snapping, America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, 1978, 1995 Conway and Siegelman)
Humans are a fraction of the last second before midnight on the 24-hour clock of our Earth’s existence. And we “just” developed our cerebral cortex. We aren’t sure what to do with it except write books (Yes!) and play with our toys. That play has created some wonderful, amazing things. There appear, however, to be some “whoops” attached to those wonderful things, like the possibility of screwing up the Earth and annihilating ourselves with our toys.
So, (1) we are not primarily rational beings, and (2) we are very young.
Is there hope for change?
Trying to apply rationality to answer that question (instead of my emotional instinct), I would say -YES. If it is true that we are not primarily or originally rational beings, it is also true that we are headed (however slowly) in the evolutionary direction of rationality. The fact that we are a very young species also implies that, with time, we will continue to add functional brain capacity that will nudge us toward traits that increase our survival ability.
The question is, will we survive long enough to get there?
In the current day, it is hard to imagine such change when terrorist organizations indoctrinate their communities with hatred from birth. Despair feels like the rational expectation.
But then there is what happened in Germany after WWII. Although the Nazi doctrine is far from dead (either in that country or others, including the United States)—their ideals are no longer mainstream.
By all rights, Japan should hate Americans after we dropped two atomic bombs on their civilian populations. They do not hate us. We are global partners.
Maybe there is hope for change.
But how do we change now without having to wait for evolution’s slow grind, the coin toss of whether someone pulls the nuclear trigger, we push the climate to a state of disaster, or maybe we all choke on plastic?
Jeddu Krishnamurti, an Indian philosopher, says we must first understand that we are connected to and, in a real sense, are all human beings.
He writes:
“To bring about a different society in the world, you, as a human being who is the rest of humankind, must radically change. That is the real issue, not how to prevent wars. That’s also an issue, how to have peace in the world, [but] that is secondary. . . the fundamental issue is—is it possible for the human mind, which is your mind, your heart, your condition, is that possible to be totally, fundamentally, deeply transformed?
Otherwise, we are going to destroy each other through our national pride, through our linguistic limitations, through our nationalism, which the politicians maintain for their own benefit, and so on and on and on.”
Krishnamurti suggests that the path to transformational change involves deep listening—to others, ourselves, and nature.
What is deep listening? I am not sure. I think I do it when I’m writing and allowing a character to truly be themselves. I think I do it when I pause to breathe in the scent of earth and bird song. When I allow the decision of compassion to guide me. I know a whole list of things it is not.
“Truth is a pathless land. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique.”
So, how do we find the truth that will free us from ourselves?
Let’s begin by turning our attention and focus to deep listening. We may not know exactly how to do it because it is a pathless land. And we will need to try repeatedly because we are all flawed human beings. But maybe we really can change. The first step is believing we can, believing that humanity can survive to become wiser, use our tools, toys, and our resolve to improve the world, and learn to cherish it, ourselves, and each other.
Maybe.
I hope we can. I hope we try.
T.K. Thorne writes about what moves her, following a flight path of curiosity, reflection, and imagination. Check out her (fiction and nonfiction) books at TKThorne.com
Writer, humanist,
dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
Lover of solitude
and the company of good friends,
new places, new ideas
and old wisdom.
With a Little Help from my Friends
/in amateur sleuth mysteries, Author Life, characters, Cozy Mysteries, crafting cozies, How to Write, Ideas, indie publishing, Inspiration, Lois Winston, Publishing, women sleuths/by Lois Winstonartwork from Pixabay and Depositphotos
By Lois Winston
As authors, we spend much of our days in our writer caves. Sometimes, we rarely leave the house for days as we peck away at the keyboard, increasing our word count. Living life in a vacuum is hard, though. Sometimes we need to bounce ideas off someone, and let’s face it, kids and spouses are rarely helpful when it comes to figuring out the perfect murder or choosing whodunit from several possibly suspects. That’s why critique partners, as well as writing communities, are so important. Often, they’re the only people who truly “get” us.
My latest book, Sorry, Knot Sorry, the thirteenth in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, released earlier this month. In-between a month-long virtual book tour, I’ve been mulling over possible plots for the next book in the series.
I’ve always had a weird fascination with unusual personalities and often put them in my books. Anastasia’s communist mother-in-law is a perfect example. She’s based on my own communist mother-in-law, minus the French bulldog.
Years ago, we had some very strange neighbors living across the street from us. They’ve been parked in a recess of my brain for two-and-a-half decades, waiting to spring forth as characters in a book. I wondered, though, were they too over-the-top?
I decided this was a question, not for my critique partner nor my fellow writers. I needed to hear from my readers. So, in my May newsletter, I introduced them to the couple I had dubbed The Stoop Sitters. After relating the story, I asked if they thought The Stoop Sitters should become characters in my next book.
Everyone who responded loved the idea. I don’t know yet who these characters will be, but based on the overwhelmingly favorable responses I received, they will show up in some way in the next book.
I had already set up the possibility of The Stoop Sitters back in A Stitch to Die For, the fifth book in the series. Circumstances which occurred in that book resulted in the house across the street from Anastasia being torn down and replaced with a McMansion. Since Anastasia has yet to meet her new neighbors, they could be The Stoop Sitters.
Have I piqued your curiosity? Are you dying to know more about The Stoop Sitters?
When my husband and I purchased a home in an upscale New Jersey suburb, the house across the street stood out for all the wrong reasons. It was a dilapidated mess in need of major repairs. We suspected the resident or residents were elderly with a limited income. Much to our surprise, we discovered the owners were a couple in their late thirties or early forties. They had two school-aged kids.
The parents didn’t seem to have jobs. They’d camp out on the top step of their small concrete landing for hours at a time, either together or individually. Just sitting and smoking and often drinking beer, but never conversing with each other. Often the husband would remove his shirt and lie back on the landing, his massive stomach pointing heavenward. He’d remain that way for hours, apparently napping.
When Mr. Stoop Sitter wasn’t sprawled bare-chested on the landing, he’d spend hours mowing his lawn, an extremely small barren patch of packed dirt and weeds. For hours, he’d walk behind his mower, trimming the nonexistent grass, until the mower ran out of gas. The next day, after refilling the mower, the scene would repeat. It continued each day throughout the year, except during rain and snowstorms.
I need to stop here to mention that I’m not a voyeur. My home office was situated at the front of the house with my desk positioned under the front window. It was impossible not to notice The Stoop Sitters.
One day, my concentration was broken by a cat fight between two women. I glanced up from my computer screen to find Mrs. Stoop Sitter standing on the sidewalk, accusing another woman of trying to steal her husband. The scene was right out of Real Housewives of New Jersey, minus the camera crew. Eventually, Mrs. Stoop Sitter hurled one last warning, stormed up the steps, and entered her house, slamming the door behind her. The other woman turned and walked down the street. I never saw her again.
Now, Mr. Stoop Sitter was no one’s idea of a catch, but the scene I’d witnessed proved otherwise. Obviously, there’s someone for everyone. At least in Mrs. Stoop Sitter’s mind.
Eventually, the Stoop Sitters sold their house to a developer who tore it down and built a McMansion. There’s a story to be told about the people who moved into the McMansion, but I’ll save that for another time.
So what do you think? If my readers can suspend their disbelief enough to accept a communist mother-in-law and a Shakespeare-quoting parrot (not to mention a reluctant amateur sleuth who stumbles across more dead bodies than the average big city homicide cop in an entire career,) will they buy into the Stoop Sitters?
Would you? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook download of any of the currently available Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.
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USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website where can also sign up for her newsletter and find links to her other social media: www.loiswinston.com
Let’s Talk Titles
/in Historical Mystery, Mystery/by donalee MoultonI’d like to start by telling you a bit about myself – and my experience with titles. I am a freelance journalist and have written hundreds, actually thousands, of articles for print and online publications across North America and beyond.
One of the things you soon learn as a freelance reporter is that editors write the titles of articles. This is not always the case, but it is usually the case. There are a number of reasons for this, and we’ll discuss those. In a minute.
One, you can come up with a title that you think reflects the article, is clever or straightforward or funny – whatever attribute you think will appeal to readers. If the editor likes it, they may use it. If they don’t, they will write their own. More often than not, they will write their own.
Years ago, I did an article on a trademark dispute involving use of the Bluenose, Nova Scotia’s famous schooner. My title went something like this: Ship disturbing trademark battle erupts in Nova Scotia. I thought that was very clever. My editor did not. Well, she may have, but the title she used ultimately went something like this: Nova Scotia businesses barred from using Bluenose name. On the other hand, I wrote an article on champagne and called it “Liquid Bling.” My editor wrote to say she loved the title, and she used it.
And no one usually knows the story as well as the writer. But good titles take time to craft, and on many occasions the articles I submitted did not have a title. They had a descriptor: Profile of Donald Duck, Article on the pros and cons of ducks vaping, Conference report from Ducks Unlimited. I was leaving the work to the editor.
1. Something that grabs the reader’s attention.
2. Something that describes what the article is about.
3. Something that is not longer that the first paragraph of the article itself.
4. Something that makes them want to read the article or shows them why they should.
Probably not. But that is what is behind the words that introduce an article. Often those words are more dramatic or more urgent or more intense or more gripping than the article itself. Indeed, most of the time someone objected to an article I wrote it was the title that set them off.
And I didn’t write it.