Book Review: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
I came close to not reading this series. “Murderbot” made me think that it was going to be a horror/sci-fi lash up, heavy on the horror. Movies are often like this. They get billed as sci-fi, but the only sciency aspect is that the creature/bug/mutant/virus originated in a lab or on a space station. From…Read More
Not Worth Criticizing
One of the podcasts I listen to is The Hidden Brain. Recently Elliot Aronson (ground breaking work as a psychologist studying cognitive dissonance, social psychology, and the Jigsaw Classroom), was the guest. Aronson studied under Maslow as an undergrad. Yes, that Maslow. He told a story of being Leon Festinger’s grad student. Festinger was the…Read More
Stop at the First Mistake
Near an airport where I sometimes work, the local law enforcement folks set up one of those Speed Limit/Your Speed signs. The first few days, it surprised me how routinely I exceeded the posted limit, and I amended my behavior. Signs like that are often posted as a warning – “Hey, actual enforcement is going…Read More
10 Questions with Liz Bullard
Liz is the author of the Prophecy trilogy. I was honored to be on her excellent eReads podcast and wanted to turn the table around because it was such a pleasure to chat with her. Here are my 10 Questions: 1. I want to hear about Preston, your Corgi. What’s his story? Any pics? Were…Read More
Savages
The Oxford American College Dictionary that sits on my shelf defines savage thus: Noun: something or someone uncivilized or uncultivated, characterized by wild, uncultivated, boorish, or rude behavior, a barbarian. Recently, my youngest daughter remarked that I had eaten something “like a savage.” Neither of us remember the item, but both remember that it was more…Read More
“We don’t see sick patients.”
I left ComicPalooza with a case of COVID. I didn’t meet anyone obviously sick when I was there. No one was coughing or sneezing, I have been vaxxed and triple boosted, yet… The event ended on Sunday. I felt fine. As Monday wore on, I started to feel puny – headache, body aches. Tuesday was…Read More
Book Review: Prophecy Trilogy: Portal by Liz Bullard
I read Bullard’s Prophecy Trilogy: Portal recently and am better off for having done so. It was the first novel I’ve read on Kindle Vella – more about that later. Let’s talk Tabatha. Almost as soon as you read her name, you learn that she’s the Chosen One. Eli was sent to find her and…Read More
ComicPalooza – Done!
ComicPalooza 2023 is over and I’ve recovered enough to post again. Highlights: Two cosplaying princesses came and hung out at the booth. Thank you @shannonflaherty and @christyfitzgerald. You made a lot of fans very happy! Book sales were okay and CP had everything set up and move in/out was seamless. The celebrities mostly showed up….Read More
There in Spirit?
Recently I had a bad cough. I suffered long enough to be told that I needed to find somewhere else to sleep. The neighbors declined, so I moved upstairs and called the doc. I got scheduled for an appointment the next day. A teledoc visit. Really? How do they know if I have bronchitis? Pneumonia?…Read More
Stop and Watch the Sun Rise
We rescued a dog on Mother’s Day. It was raining and he was being an idiot: racing around in four lanes of traffic, chasing cars, not using the crosswalk. Ardith and I looked at each other and sighed. I pulled over and we slogged through the rain and got him into the car. He had…Read More