the most important op-ed piece you'll ever read Gabby Giffords has a few things to say

Gabrielle Giffords has written an eloquent, angry, heart-breaking op-ed piece excoriating the Senate for yesterday's vote to maintain the status quo on America's gun laws. You can read it here on the New York Times' site.  Giffords now heads up a group called "Americans for Responsible Solutions," and you can join the conversation on gun violence by going there.

I'm outraged. And I vote. And I will remember this.

Best Craig's List Ad ever!

I'd put the link here but it's going to be flagged any minute now. The ad read: Escort needs writer. So, sure, I clicked on it.  (I've edited a HILARIOUS book written by a porn film editor, I figured, this escort had a story to tell.) The ad was one line. "Need writer in return I service you." Yes, the poster was looking for someone who would work for sex.  There's a story there for sure. And you know, I want to know that story. But not enough to reply to the ad.  Because I've learned to trust that little voice that says "Don't go through that door."

TBR--The One You Love by Paul Pilkington

I have some old fart friends who are (still) not convinced that indie-published books can be as good as (or better than) books published by traditional publishers. (Some truly believe that ANY traditionally published book is going to be better than ANY indie-pub title and that just makes me want to start underlining the grammatical errors in the last traaditionally published book I was sent to review. These same friends are also highly skeptical of books that are available free--either as part of a special promotion or as a marketing strategy or simply because...
I like to browse Kindle's best-seller lists, where they put books in two columns, one with prices and one iwth the freebies. And if a freebie sounds interesting, I grab it. This one caught my eye when I saw the book had 1232 reviews, a third of them five-star. Anyone who has published his or her own book knows how hard it is to get more than a few reviews, so any book that had that many people engaged enough to write a review is a book I figure I should read. I'll let you know what I thought.

Brother Sun--Sweetest Harmonies since Simon & Garfunkel

I admit it, at heart I'm still a folkie. I love traditional American and English ballads and have been listening to a lot of them while prepping a new writing project. I was fooling around on YouTube looking for the Peter, Paul, and Mary song "Well Well Well," hen I stumbled across  this completely different song, also called "Well, Well, Well And that's how I found out that singer Greg Greenway is now part of a trio called "Brother Sun" along with fellow singer-songwriters Joe Jencks and Pat Wictor.  I've known Greg since high school and have followed his career from afar for years. In addition to his passion for music, he has a passionate commitment to social justice that informs all his work. He doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. I admire that. For more information about Brother Sun, check out their website.

On the TBR pile Paul cornell's London Falling

This book sounds like it's right up my alley--a mixture of noir and fantasy. Read a review here and see what you think.

Ounctuation silliness

More proof that some people have too much time on their hands...