Author Goes Missing

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Making A Difference

Sometimes when you think you're making a positive difference in the world you find out that you're not making any difference at all.

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Providence: the Evermore Trilogy concludes

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Science Fiction for Thinkers Online

This past week I went back to WordPress and put up a site blog for my official website. For me, blogging at WordPress is like wading through a muddy field without boots on and finding more mud on the other side of the field. But at least I'm not in the same spot. Besides, Science Fiction for Thinkers.com needed a site blog and putting up a blog at Webs.com is like wading through quicksand without boots on and finding nothing to grab a hold of while you're sinking.

On the other hand, blogging at Blogger is like a walk in the park. Whenever you have to wade through some mud at Blogger, it's not very deep, and when you get to the other side it's almost always a field of clover worth rolling in. But this Thinker's Corner blog post is really about Science Fiction for Thinkers Online, the brand-new official site blog of Science Fiction for Thinkers.com.

Science Fiction for Thinkers Online
The official site blog of Science Fiction for Thinkers.com

Time and Time Again: the Evermore Trilogy continues

Evermore: the Evermore Trilogy begins

How I Grew My Horns

Hell, I should have known. And I should have known better, too. Of course, that means nothing to most of you, so let me explain how I recently morphed into the creature pictured on your left. My growing horns over the past few years is mostly due to my absolute exasperation with certain people who are contacting me because I'm an author who can do something for them or because they feel nasty and feel like targeting me.

First, a little background. I damned near killed myself to take care of my elderly mother for the past 15 years, helping her through the aging widow process, making sure that she's cared for by family and not strangers. Seeing her through the cane stage, then the walker stage and now the wheelchair stage. And, on top of that, I still found the time to take care of a four-bedroom house and a four-acre lawn, write eight books, ten blogs and an online monthly newsletter, and maintain three websites. No wonder I feel like I'm 80 instead of 59.

But that's nothing compared to the nightmare of having people from my past, in addition to perfect strangers, contacting me because they "accidentally stumbled' upon my website or ran across my website when they were actually looking for something else. And, now that they've found me, they want something from me. But it's not my books.

Do you people really think for one minute that telling me you ran across my website by accident is somehow going to make me feel better about myself? Are you so stupid and so self-centered that you would actually believe that I'm just tickled to death that you've contacted me for your own personal reasons and not because you found my books online or you liked my wesbite or that you actually read one of my books and want to tell me "good job"? Take a good hard look at yourself. Listen to yourself. Take a big step back and take a hard look at what you've just done.

That's right, people are now coming out of the woodwork to contact me and not because I'm a science fiction author but to ask for my help with something else. Not to talk about my writing. Not to express interest in reading what I've written since 2002. What they want from me has nothing to do with their interest in being a reader or part of a following or a fan of any kind. It's all about them.

One guy who heard about me emailed me and then called me up. Did he want to compliment me for being a local author? No. Did he want to buy my books? No. He wanted me to copy my ebooks onto a CD-R for him — for FREE — and send them to him at my expense so he could study my writing style and then write science fiction of his own, based on my writing style. And what did Mike the Fool do? I helped him by directing him to places on the web where he could get set up for writing, networking and publishing. I'd bet a C-note that he's never read a single thing I've written to this day because he was too cheap to buy one of my books. And, Jesus no, I didn't send him any free CD-Rs with my books on them. I told him to never contact me again.

Then there's the woman from my past who emailed me to tell me that she "stumbled upon my website" one day and was surprised as hell to find out that I was a science fiction author. Did she say anthing nice about that, anything interesting about me or my books? No. All she wanted to say was that she guessed she didn't know me as well as she thought she did. And that was that.

There was the couple from France who emailed me just to tell me two things and one of them was that they didn't like science fiction. Hmmm. That's pretty low. They could have just ignored me altogether. But then a lot of us Americans know that most French people want us dead. I'd bet a million bucks that France's reputation with most Americans is not so great, either, and that any straw poll would show that we'd let them be occupied again by just abut anybody instead of saving their asses for the third time, just to be despised. And they think we're the bad guys.

I always wanted to visit France before I died. But not now. I'd rather go to Las Vegas and lose my shirt. And I fucking loathe Vegas. The second thing this French couple wanted to tell me was that they were delighted by the way I made fun of myself in my now-defunct online newsletter, The Pluto Observer. They found it hard to believe that an American would do such a thing. Well, hell, making fun of myself is part of who I am as a humorist but what I couldn't understand is where in the hell have these people been? I guess they never heard our stand-up comics or watched The Three Stooges or Bugs Bunny or read Mark Twain. Well, that sin of omission is on them.

And now another woman from my past, who was using the search engines to find out about gas drilling in this area and who "ran across your website by accident" in the process, emailed me to ask me if I "was involved" in the 11:11 phenomenon. Did she say something complimentary about my being an author or suggest shock or surprise? Nope. She's one of those countless neurotics who are are caught up in the 11:11 phenomenon and all she wanted was for me to make her feel better somehow about being "freaked out" by the 11:11 thing. But I'd never even heard of 11:11 until I read her email.

Did I help her? You bet I did. Sure thing. Because I'm a nice guy who automatically helps people without even thinking about it. Did she thank me? No. Did she express an interest in my science fiction? Absolutely not. Her contacting me, just like all the other people, was all about her. After I basically told her to forget about 11:11 because it was probably nonsense and, if it wasn't, it was bad news that people can avoid by making a choice not to pay any attention to it. It's as simple as that. Then I used one of my fictitious online  characters, Fred Fortune, to poke fun at the 11:11 craze, to make people think and laugh about it. That's what I do best.

So, I got to thinking about what a sap I've been. What a fuckin' chump.

Mr. Nice Guy. You bet I was. Up until and including yesterday. But starting today and from now on, all you people are going to see from me is a bull you won't want to take by the horns if you even DARE to contact me about anything else except my writing. I've had it with you goddamn fucking selfish assholes.

The 11:11 phenomenon is probably just bullshit, just like Y2K was and just like 2012 will probably be. Who can say and who fucking cares? But I secretly hope that it's all very real. I hope alien hordes that look like armies of bugs and lizards come in droves and eat you bastards alive. I only wish I could hear your fucking, selfish, worthless screams when they do.

Now fuck off. Or take the bull by the horns at your own risk. But if you do, Jesus Christ All-Goddamn-Fucking-Mighty you'll wish you hadn't. Now, is this honest and personal enough for you nosy web surfers?

╥

A Sucker for Motown

When I was in Junior High School and then Senior High School a lot of the popular music that appealed to me came out of Detroit. The people who made it were part of Motown Record Corporation, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Motown was founded in 1960, the pop-music brainchild of Berry Gordy, a talented and visionary music producer.

I really liked the idea that Motown, now headquartered in New York City, came from Detroit where most of our automobiles were made back then and not from some distant world like Los Angeles. In my opinion, Motown is as much an American musical treasure as Jazz, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Blues, Country & Western, Folk, Rockabilly and Rock and Roll.

Motown music was a celebration of life and a pleasant, uplifting diversion from the roller coaster ride of being young. In addition to that, Motown fed the romantic spirit of people of all ages. I loved the "big", exciting sound of Motown's brand of Rhythm & Blues and Soul. Listening to Motown was an unfailingly upbeat and positive experience. I'm not a music expert and I'll never claim to be one. I'm a music lover and there's hardly any type of music that I don't like something from.

With Motown, I liked almost all of it. Whenever I felt bad, turning on my transistor AM radio at night and catching some Motown tunes always made me feel better. My favorite radio stations back then were WABC New York, WBZ Boston, WLS Chicago and CKLW Windsor, Ontario. Even though Motown produced records beyond the 1960s, my favorite Motown sound came from the Sixties Decade. These 25 songs are my tribute to the music and the magic of Motown Records and its many talented artists. Thanks, YouTube posters, for keeping this music alive.

1. Money — Barrett Strong (actually released in 1959)

2. Shop Around — The Miracles (1960)

3. Wonderful World — Sam Cooke (1960)

4. Mama Said — The Shirelles (1961)

5. Please Mr. Postman — The Marvelettes (1961)

6. Beechwood4-5789 — The Marvelettes (1962)

7. Do You Love Me — The Contours (1962)

8. The One Who Really Loves you — Mary Wells (1962)

9. Be My Baby — The Ronettes (1963)

10. Heat Wave — Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (1963)

11. Baby I Need Your Loving — The Four Tops (1964)

12. Come See About Me — The Supremes (1964)

13. Dancing in the Street — Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (1964)

14. My Girl — The Temptations (1964)

15. My Guy — Mary Wells (1964)

16. Needle In A Haystack — The Velvelettes (1964)

17. Where Did Our Love Go — The Supremes (1964)

18. I Can't Help Myself — The Four Tops (1965)

19. Nowhere to Run — Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (1965)

20. Shotgun — Jr. Walker And the All Stars (1965)

21. Heaven Must Have Sent You — The Elgins (1966)

22. This Old Heart Of Mine — Isley Brothers (1966)

23. You Can't Hurry Love — The Supremes (1966)

24. Jimmy Mack — Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (1967)

25. I Heard It Through The Grapevine — Gladys Knight & The Pips (1968) — 1967 is the date it was recorded

The Critics Have Spoken