Summer Stuff

Here it is, August in Northern California. Whew...we seem to have survived an extended heat wave without too much suffering. It's hot, make no mistake...but the swamp coolers are doing their job fairly well this year.

One of the victims of our hot spring and summer were our wild blackberry vines. There's a big patch in the middle of my dog yard, and another by the creek that borders our property. This year, they didn't do so well. The berries that grew were puny and dry and extra difficult to harvest. Last year we had milder weather and the harvest was amazing! It had been quite awhile since they were so lovely.

While I was coming home from a dog show a few weeks ago, I stopped by Pedrick's Produce Stand (Just to the west of Davis, CA) and to my delight, they had some locally farmed berries. They were huge, luscious and perfectly ripe. I bought a half-flat and rushed them hope, tossing them in the freezer till I have time to make jam. Of course, we enjoyed a few handfuls, marveling at how perfectly sweet they were.

Of course, I'm never one to leave good enough alone, so I decided I'd put on my jeans and boots and check out what the creek vines were doing. After wading through knee-high stickers and overgrown berry brambles (bad me for letting it get out of control!) I discovered that there were a few really nice berries, but the effort to pick them was just not worth it.

Well, it wasn't until I popped one in my mouth.
Wow.

The lovely farmed berries just don't hold a candle to the wild berries that struggle though barren soil, blazing heat and limited water. They were tart but sweet, and the flavor was intense. I gathered all I could, little more than a cup or two, but I had to make the effort. Because who needs tame when there's wild?

When I finally finish my current project, I'll bring all the berries out of the freezer and I'll make my berry jam for the year. Yes, the farmed berries are a little dignified and mellow, but you know, a handful of wild will shake up their flavor just enough.

All winter, we'll use the jam I make and once again, I'll remember that doing it the easy way just doesn't pay the same rewards in the end. I might get hot and sweaty, scratched up and full of stickers, but that little bit of wild will remind me that a bit of extra effort makes a whole lot of difference. :)

Same as in writing. Same as in life. 

Alien 101: Lefi The Somian

(Note: the article was first published at Rosanna Leo's blog)

I knew  someday it would happen.

What, you ask? Well, the green alien. I knew I’d write one someday, but it took me by surprise when it actually happened.

Lefi Dhrahn is the title character of “The Bacchi” and he owes his existence to the lovely green dancing girl from Star Trek. I used to watch her and she always made me laugh with her heavy makeup and sexy costume. Of course, she was nothing more than a sexual being…a hottie for Captain Kirk to go all manly over.

Well, Lefi is that woman. He’s a Somian, which is a species from my Coalition universe. They are a twin species, always born in pairs. They are colorful, sensual and sunny natured. Some think they aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer, but in truth, they are brilliant. And they’re happy. When I started developing Lefi, I ran through all the colors I could paint him with, but he kept coming up green…long, emerald green hair, a flush of green over his cheeks and lips. Even his nipples are green! His eyes are purple as amethysts. He’s painfully lovely and revels in his career as a Bacchi: a high class prostitute.

When I went about picking his perfect lover, I knew that man or woman must be the sort who would set him off to advantage. Someone as beautiful as he, but completely the opposite. When I first put Afton’s name to paper, I knew he’d be one of the Valoran, a species that are cerebral, humorless and direct. They are also hermaphrodites. Imagine what the Bacchi thinks of that… ;)

 Afton thinks that Lefi is amoral and frivolous, but is secretly fascinated by the Somian. And Lefi… he can’t wait to strip Afton naked and find out just what’s under that stiff black uniform. It’s not going to be easy seducing a man like Afton, but Lefi has some special goodies up his sleeve. 

 

BLURB:

The Bacchi Lefi Dhrahn lives a life of luxury and decadence, but is tortured by memories of a lost love. He survives the pain by surrounding himself with sex, beauty and all forms of self-indulgence. When he meets the alluring Inspector Afton Teris, Lefi believes the detective will make a very nice addition to his string of conquests.

He doesn’t count on falling in love.

Afton Teris is a Valoran hermaphrodite and like all members of his species, is stern, cerebral and disapproves of the frivolous prostitute. Afton orients as a male, but the beautiful Lefi Dhrahn stirs him sexually, making him question everything he knows about himself. To further confuse his emotions, Afton finds himself tempted by the forbidden pleasures surrounding the Bacchi.

When a kidnapping ring strikes close to home, the two go undercover on a brothel barge to investigate a slavery operation. There, Lefi is confronted by painful memories from his past, while Afton is faced with a horror that threatens his future, and perhaps his very life. 

Their survival lies with one another, but only if Lefi can set aside his pain and listen to his heart.

The Bacchi releases July 31^st at Loose Id: http://www.loose-id.com/the-bacchi/

A Declaration of Belindapendence. (And no, you don't have to agree with me.)

One of my first memories is the killing of John F. Kennedy. Not long after, his brother Robert was killed. Not long after that, a friend of my parents accidently shot her husband when he came home from work late.

I've been aware of gun violence for a very long time. I grew up with guns. We killed our own pigs and cattle.

When I was little, I used to go target shooting and hunting with my dad and brother. When I was 12 years old I stopped because my brother went hiking and accidently shot himself in the stomach with his .22 handgun. He did not die, but his life was effectively destroyed. I will never forget seeing him sliced open from groin to chest, his incisions remaining open for days so they could continue to catch bleeds. I'll never forget the smell of his colostomy bag, or the horror of hearing his screams of pain from the bedroom next to mine. And I'll never get past being afraid of my brother when he ransacked my bedroom, looking for drugs to ease his pain. All that from a tiny .22 caliber bullet.

That was the year I realized just how dangerous guns are.

My father's father was an alcoholic. He never really liked me, I was the sole white-skinned, red-haired kid in the pack of dark grandchildren. Days after I gave birth to my red-headed daughter, he was stopped by the Sheriff for driving erratically. Grandpa was on his way to my house to shoot me. Yup, he had the loaded rifle in the front seat. It was an antique. The cop took it and let him go without charging him. Grandpa came over and crashed his car into my front yard. Then my grandmother called to warn me.
Gee, thanks, Grandma. The good thing was that we survived the car landing in the rosebushes. We wouldn't have survived being shot by an old Pearl Harbor vet.

Ronald Reagan. James Brady.

John Lennon. Oh my God. 

Tupac

Columbine.

Ft. Hood.

Lana Clarkson

Mike. Self inflicted.
Michael. Suicide.
Jesse. Killed while trespassing. He killed the property owner right back.
The Dancing Man. A young, handsome mentally ill youth who was gunned down by the local police. His crime? He was dancing in the middle of the street and the officer felt "threatened."  
Varian. Went to prison as an accessory to murder when his friend gunned down another man. He was a world class musician and singer. He cried when he was sentenced, not out of self-pity, but out of guilt. He never touched the gun.

Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder. Hate crime. A well-loved couple in my community. Gunned down in their bed by the Williams Brothers...fundamentalist Christians who tipped into white supremacy. 

Gabby Giffords  

Judge John Roll Christina Taylor Green Gabe Zimmerman Phyllis Schneck

 Dorwin Stoddard Dorothy Morris

Here are some sobering statistics: There have been 54,830 people shot in the US this year. In the past 3 hours, 20 people have been shot. Wait...its now 24. No...it's 25.
Since 1995, there have been an average of 20 mass shootings in the US per year.



There are an average of 9,484 gun deaths in the US annually.

To compare, the country with the second highest annual rate of gun deaths is Canada, with 200.

As I can personally attest, not all of these deaths were the result of gun violence. Many are suicides and horrific accidents. Most I know personally were killed by their own weapon.




I'm not suggesting that we ban guns. I'm saying that for the preservation of our country, we need to use a common sense approach to gun ownership. My dad and brother hunted a lot. I don't recall that they needed an assault weapon to bag their deer. In fact, my brother preferred bow hunting.

I tend to be a bit compulsive. When I want something, I want it NOW. But is it necessary for me to walk into Wal Mart and walk out with a gun? No, I'm a grownup. I'm more than capable of waiting awhile. And I really don't need to shop for ammo on the internet. Heck, Sudafed has more controls than firearms. When I buy lye to make soap, I have to sign a registry. I don't mind at all. If I want to ride a scooter to work, I have to take a class before I can test for a license.

 In my county, its cheaper and easier to get a gun than a dog license. Our local politicans brag on that little fact.

I don't have the answers. But this is what I want. I want gun owners to come up with the answers. Real answers. I want to see a national conversation on the subject of gun violence. I want my congressman to stop ignoring the mayhem and grow a pair.

I want people to stop perceiving guns as sacred objects.  They aren't sacred. They are tools with one specific purpose: to kill things. Deer and snakes, elephants, lions and humans.

I want people to stop excusing and justifying the craziness.
 "If there'd been even one person with a concealed carry permit..."  To borrow someone else's phrase...that's a cowboy fantasy.


 "As long as we live in a free country, we have to accept that this will happen." So Australia isn't free? Canada? Great Britain?

"If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." Yeah, that's so original. I had that bumper sticker on my binder back in 1973. Along with "Custer had it coming."

By the way, since I started writing this post, 22 more people have been shot. The ticker now shows 42.

 

http://bradycampaign.org/