Monthly Archives: April 2016

The Earth is flat. What?!?!?!?

Planet Earth with sun in universe or space, Earth and galaxy in a nebula cloud (Elements of this 3d rendered image furnished by NASA)

In 2016 there are still people out there who claim our planet Earth is flat—not a globe.  Who am I to mock them? After all, I believe in ghosts. Well, at least the possibility of ghosts.

I suspect those who profess to be Flat-Earthers fall into various categories.

  1. Those who don’t actually believe, yet make money by promoting the belief, such as through book sales, seminars, and advertising generated on social media sites.
  2. Those who love a conspiracy. Some people are drawn to conspiracies and have a tendency to believe the current flavor of the decade.
  3. Those who believe based on religion. According to some Flat-Earthers, the proof is in the Bible.
  4. Those who say they believe, because they think it sounds cool.
  5. And those who simply believe Earth is flat, for whatever reason—like NASA is lying to us, or they’ve read all the pro-Flat-Earth websites and find them believable.

Personally, I don’t believe the earth is flat. If flat, then why hasn’t a dedicated Flat-Earther posted a picture on social media showing the earth’s edge? Considering the number of courageous explorers who’ve ventured out over the centuries seeking knowledge, not one has reported back about seeing the earth’s edge.

If these Flat-Earthers are so darn certain the earth is flat, why haven’t they taken to the sea like Greenpeace, to prove their point?

Aren’t there any Flat-Earth pilots willing to attempt a round the globe flight to prove it impossible, and snap some photos while soaring along the earth’s edge?

I’ve not found a single Earth’s edge photo on Instagram. None are trending on Twitter. Not one.

Come on folks. If that doesn’t prove the earth is round, I don’t know what does.

Of course, my Great-grandfather was a Freemason…

Why I can’t help you: I’m a wimp.

writerOccasionally, I’ll receive an email from an aspiring author asking me to read his/her manuscript and give honest feedback. Normally, I respectfully decline. Not because I don’t want to help the other writer—but because I’m a wimp.

If the writer sincerely wants honest feedback—which means the bad with the good—then I’m not the one to ask. Why? Because as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I’m a wimp. I simply don’t have the heart to tell another writer his/her work sucks if I think it sucks.

When reading a book by an author friend, I never tell him/her I’m reading the book. After I finish it, I will let the author know if I loved it. But if I hated it? He/she will never know I read it.

There have been a few times I’ve read an author friend’s work and noticed an issue that might be a problem down the road, and I will privately message them, expressing my opinion. Yet generally, that’s when I feel good about the work overall. Telling them in private gives them the opportunity to ignore me, or consider my suggestions. Typically, I have only done this when the author expressed he/she would welcome suggestions.

These days when I do leave a book review, I normally leave them on books I sincerely enjoyed.

Does this mean I think readers who give harsh truths to an author is wrong? Absolutely not, providing the reviewer is sincere in his/her opinion and is not one of those people who gets a perverse thrill telling a writer his/her work sucks.

(Image: Sneak peek at window in The Ghost and the Mystery Writer, Book 9, book cover.)

In defense of Lily

Redhead women in beret on yellow background.

Yesterday I sent The Ghost from the Sea (Book 8) off to the editor. It will be released the end of this month—and yes, there will be a Book 9. I already have a title, cover, and story brewing for Book 9, but I’ll announce that later. Right now, I want to talk about Lily.

Lily often gets a bad rap. Some readers have found her annoying. They say she talks too much—or overshares. Yeah, that annoys Danielle sometimes too. But like Danielle, I feel we have to take the good with the bad in our friends, because let’s face it—no one is perfect.

When I first introduce Lily in The Ghost of Marlow House, she is an energetic, enthusiastic, single, elementary school teacher. She loves her job and she loves life. She’s not afraid to flirt, and she likes to joke around. She is also a very loyal friend, one who is willing to spend her summer vacation helping her best friend settle into her new home and help get the bed and breakfast off the ground.

You may not have noticed but Lily has good instincts. Some readers felt she was too open with Ian—overshared when they first met, especially regarding the bed and breakfast, but Lily had a gut feeling about Ian. She instinctively knew he was someone she could trust—in spite of a few bumps along the way.

And if you think back to that first book, when she initially met Adam and Bill in the diner, she curbed her enthusiasm and was much more discrete with them than she had been with Ian.

Lily may sometimes be over exuberant, and prone to oversharing—yet she’s a loyal friend who always has Danielle’s back. She’s one of those people who when she loves someone—it isn’t halfway.