Here's one of my favorite reviews of Blackthorne so far:

"I don't think I've ever seen a fictional book address some of these issues (erasure/assimilation, particularly) so well in the text. I love that these issues are presented as conflicts between well-meaning "good guys" - rather than a villain and a paragon of enlightenment and virtue - and that no one is right all the time, and that they respond to criticism by seeking to be better to their allies." (5 stars)

I'm so happy right now. :)

The prospect of another weekend of terrible storms freaks me out a bit---only a little because we're not in the path this time. Still, I'm having some anxiety. A lot of it has to do with the fact that my early years were spent in Kansas City, MO, and one of my earliest memories is of hiding in a basement from a tornado. And not too long after that we moved to Houston which is susceptible to hurricanes. I remember hurricane Alicia rattling the windows of my parents' house so hard I was sure they'd break. (We didn't actually have a room without windows in that house. If they had broken we'd have been cut up badly.) In the end, we weathered it just fine, but the memories stick. Storms of various types (and T-Rex attacks) have heavily featured in my nightmares my whole life for reasons I won't go into. Which is why it's so silly for me to take so long to figure out why I couldn't get work done last weekend due to obsessively checking Harvey's progress through Texas. Storms scare the shit out of me.

And here we are, facing not just one but three storms making landfall (in Irma's case AGAIN) this weekend. It terrifies me that we've had two "storms of the century" this year already. It worries me that Climate Change is still being bandied about as if it were a fiction. (If you've doubts check this: climate.nasa.gov/evidence/) The longer we ignore situation, the worse this is going to get, bats and ghouls. And yet, I know certain sectors of the American population won't change their minds until they're directly impacted and that impact needs to be financially when it comes to business-minded folks.

My thoughts are with those enduring these terrible storms, fires, and earthquakes. My hope is that the impact is minimal upon you and yours. However, I can't help but hope that once Irma lands that it is enough proof via financial cost to foment change. (I understand that Trump has several properties being affected.) All in all, we can't afford to debate any longer. We must act.

We're not even finished cleaning up behind Harvey, and we're facing another historically huge storm: Irma. The thing that frustrates me most about all this is the continued Climate Change denial. I'm aware that the consequences have to hit businesses hard before attitudes are changed on a Federal/State level. I'll bet that if Trump's hotels in Florida are slammed he'll change his tune regarding the legitimacy of Climate Change. That's obvious. Sadly, most of that (stagnant) end of the political pool is self-motivated and will only budge in limited amounts when they understand their self-interest is at stake. (I say "when they understand" because, unfortunately, they can't see beyond the immediate connections. Longer term/enlightened self-interest doesn't seem to be a thing. Right up there with awareness of unconscious white supremacy.) Or, more importantly, when the leaders they look up to change their tunes. (Conservatives are group-followers and group-thinkers. They don't tend to stray from whatever the authority claims is 'right.') I'm not looking forward to the mess that Trump is making of America. At the moment, it's a testament to how great a president Obama was--the fact that we've been running on auto-pilot so well so far. (Anyone who has had a bad manager after a great manager has left the company will know exactly what I'm talking about.) Trump has spent more time golfing than running the country, and will only be able to do that for so long before it all starts catching up with him.

My hope is that he'll be impeached or arrested before it's too late. (Again, we've at least ten months before cynicism kicks in for me. America has seen this shit before--and I'm not even necessarily talking about Nixon. So, don't even go there.) 

Hello, everyone. For non-Americans, happy Monday. For Americans, happy long-ass weekend. In either case, I hope your day is a good one. :) Let's start with today's video, something I'll call "Why I was uncomfortable with Big Bang Theory and Stopped Watching Pretty Quickly." AKA "Misogyny is not fucking Adorkable, you assholes."​ 

I used to buy that whole "Male Geeks are more emotionally mature and smarter than Male Jocks" routine. Years of writing SF while female combined with Gamergate sure as hell cured me of that illusion. And now for those links.

Bernie is the author of the memoir Tea in Tripoli (available at Amazon) that was featured on Monday. She's a professional storyteller, writer, and actress who lives and works in Austin. She's already working on the next installment Dinner in Dubai. More about her and her work can be found at: bernadettenason.com. And here's today's story. :)

HAPPY FAMILIES
by Bernadette Nason
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