I’m generally pessimistic and compensate for that personal flaw in my writing. I’d generally be depressed now if it weren’t for reading and writing. Politics depress me—every day there’s another abuse of power, usually orchestrated by Trump or one of his minions, and that tells me the slide into fascism continues. People depress me—I’ve lost faith in human beings, especially those fools who don’t recognize that Trump and the #GoodOlePiranhas are destroying everything good in America. Religion depresses me—maybe I’m just naïve, but right-wing Jews, Protestants, and Catholics might as well be the Devil’s servants, they’re so immoral and ready to take away other people’s rights.

Of course, COVID-19 is what depresses me most. Absent this pandemic, the haters, bigots, racists, and faux-spiritual leaders would crawl back under their slimy rocks, taking their leaders with them, to let the good in humanity shine brightly once again. The pandemic is akin to Pandora’s box, unleashing evils upon the world.

As I stated, reading and writing save me. Network TV, excepting PBS, has been reduced to reality and game shows, news reduced to sound bites, the first reminding me of how Trump treats governing and the second about human stupidity. We don’t have streaming video at home (everything there seems horribly in bad taste) nor a video game box (talk about mind-numbing plot lines!). But there are many books to read. There are whole series of Brit-style mysteries, for example (I’m now learning a bit of Cumbrian dialect reading one), and, during the last few months, I’ve been able to read a book per day at times (picking up a lot of other British slang in the process).

Writing? I only published two new books this year (they’re 50% off right now for my email newsletter subscribers), so you might think I’m slowing down. The key word here is “published.” I cut ties with my two small-press publishers for reasons I prefer not to dwell on here (it takes someone like Trump and his manic followers to make me burn bridges!), so I’ve been spinning around a bit on the publishing end. One MS left over from Penmore Press, Death on the Danube (#3 in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series), has been released by Carrick Publishing (thanks Donna!), and they also published the sci-fi rom-com, A Time Traveler’s Guide through the Multiverse. I have another orphan left over from Black Opal Books, the sequel to The Last Humans, and a pile of new MSs more or less ready to go. So I’m not slowing down in the writing! I just haven’t published that much.

Yes, reading and writing have been two excellent psychs who have kept my depression at bay! What do you do to get through these COVID days? Cheer up. This hellish year 2020 will soon be over!

***

Comments are always welcome!

Death on the Danube. At the end of Son of Thunder, #2 in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series, ex-MI6 agent and ex-Scotland Yard inspector Esther Brookstone and Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden finally say their I-do’s. At the beginning of this new novel, #3 in the series, they embark on their honeymoon cruise down the romantic Danube. When a strange passenger who is traveling alone is murdered, Bastiann takes over the investigation because the river was declared international waters in the Treaty of Paris. Who really is this gaunt victim? And who on the list of passengers and crewmembers is the assassin? Mystery, thrills, suspense, and romance await readers who join them in their journey. You can’t take this trip now because of COVID, but you can join them in spirit. Available in ebook and print format at Amazon, and in all ebook formats at Smashwords and its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo and Walmart, etc.) and affiliated library and lending services (Scribd, Overdrive, Baker & Taylor, Gardner, etc.). Click to see the book trailer.

Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!

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