The battles in our culture wars often mystify me.  The testosterone v. estrogen title Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, besides being non-chivalrous by putting men first, sums up one culture war where battles are often fought. What mystifies me is that I think there’s nothing to fight about.  I’m a unisex kind of guy—I open doors for anyone, although I’m getting to the age where anyone under fifty should open the door for me. That age also means that people should offer me a seat on the train or bus, but I’ll often go the other way just to be nice. Mom called it being a gentleman.

While race has little to do with the feminine and masculine mystique, Rodney King’s question echoes here too: “Why can’t we just get along?” Respect for fellow human beings should be a habit, independent of race or ethnicity, religious preferences (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, most political beliefs (where guns and knives aren’t used to proselytize), and gender. That’s the creed my parents practiced, and I have never considered changing it.

So, let’s talk about some of my other related personal beliefs. I believe women are better grounded in reality for the most part, quick-reacting but less emotional about most issues, not afraid of showing their emotions when it’s appropriate, and often more intelligent and often better at using their smarts than men. I’m also the first to admit that I benefitted from men being in control in my old day-job, but I commiserated with female scientists, programmers, and technicians as they struggled to rise in that testosterone-rich environment, and I have always enjoyed working with women of all ages.

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Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.—Jonathan Swift

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Rogue Planet. Hidden away from near-Earth planets in remote spiral arms of the Galaxy are Human worlds that have lost contact with more progressive worlds and reverted to strange and primitive customs and traditions, their leaders using religion, superstition, and imported technologies to rule in tyranny.  Survey ships explored and catalogued these planets as suitable for future colonization centuries earlier, but groups with a special interest in ensuring a homogeneous and often despotic society didn’t bother applying for permission to colonize.

Following the ITUIP (Interstellar Trade Union of Independent Planets) Protocol, ships are restricted to observe and maintain a hands-off policy for these rogue planets, even when there is great temptation to intervene.  Eden, where a theocracy rules with an iron fist, is such a planet.  A group of rebels struggles to end the oppressive regime to forge a new future.

Available in all ebook formats and print. Read for free by writing an honest review (query through my contact page).

In libris libertas!

To all readers and reviewers, friends and followers, and connections on Goodreads, Facebook, LinkedIn and elsewhere, and to your own friends and family, have a safe, happy New Year and prosperous, secure, and healthy lives for all of 2017.

In libris libertas!

A man with talent has a head start. A man with drive succeeds.—Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

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More than Human: The Mensa Contagion. A trilogy in one book: ETs send a “gift” to humanity, a virus contained in a probe that crashes in South Africa and modifies human genetics. But is it a gift or a prelude to invasion? Colonizing Mars speeds up as a way to have an outpost farther out in the solar system and increase our chances for survival. When humans discover the ET ship in the far reaches of the solar system, one woman fights to have the ETs’ offspring accepted as our partners for the exploration of the galaxy. “I found the characters well developed and the plot fresh.  I was reminded at times of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy.”—Debra Miller, in her Amazon review. (Available in all ebook formats.)

In libris libertas!

That war [Vietnam] only made billionaires out of millionaires. Today’s war is making trillionaires out of billionaires. Now I call that progress.—Kurt Vonnegut

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Family Affairs. This novel is all about family—Castilblanco’s nieces, adopted families, a terrorist’s family, and broken families. You also might think twice about taking an ocean cruise again. #6 in the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” will provide you enough mystery, suspense, and thrills to get you through the end of 2016 and all of 2017.  Given the above, you might need some distraction.

In libris libertas!

What does the “B” in Benoit B Mandelbrot stand for? Answer: Benoit B Mandelbrot.

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The Collector. Most Nazis stole art not out of appreciation but for money—a famous piece can launder many dollars or be used to finance all sorts of things. What they finance here might give you the creeps. Detectives Chen and Castilblanco swim in the dark seas of illegal art in this mystery/suspense/thriller novel. Can they keep from drowning?

In libris libertas!

Our daily news sources, newspapers and TV, are now so craven, so unvigilant on behalf of the American people, so uninformative, that only in books do we learn what’s really going on.—Kurt Vonnegut

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Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder. #3 in the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series,” this mystery/suspense/thriller novel has more twists and turns than a carnival pretzel. Chen is accused of murder, so naturally Castilblanco tries to help her. But there is a lot more to the murder than meets the eye. Readers will have a great time unraveling it all with these NYPD homicide detectives and will be kept guessing right up to the climax. Soon available in all ebook formats.

In libris libertas!

So many of these heartless PPs [psychopathic personalities] now hold big jobs in our federal government, as though they were leaders instead of sick. They have taken charge. They have taken charge of communications and the schools, so we might as well be Poland under occupation.—Kurt Vonnegut

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Aristocrats and Assassins. Detective Castilblanco and his wife go on vacation. They both see a wee bit too much of Europe, including a few royals who are kidnapped. Written before the Paris, Brussels, and Nice attacks, I don’t think anyone would say now that this is impossible. Maybe European security agencies should consider it a warning?

In libris libertas!

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.—Winston Churchill

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Trouble on the border? It’s not Mr. Trump’s construction trucks rolling in but Detectives Chen and Castilblanco trying to stop a few bad guys. Assigned to a national task force, they stand in the way of a diabolical plan that involves a drug cartel, al Qaeda, and a right-wing militia. Angels Need Not Apply is a thriller you don’t want to miss! Available on Amazon and Smashwords and its associated retailers (Apple, B&N, Kobo, etc) and lenders.

In libris libertas!

What made Mexico so evil back in the 1840s, well before our Civil War, is that slavery is illegal there. Remember the Alamo? With that war we were making California our own, and a lot of other people and properties, and doing it as though butchering Mexican soldiers who were only defending their homeland against invaders wasn’t murder.—Kurt Vonnegut

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Action on the southern border! No, it’s not Trump beginning the construction of The Wall. It’s Chen and Castilblanco fighting terrorists, a cartel, and neo-Nazi militias. In Angels Need Not Apply, the deadly duo from the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” go undercover to fight crime as part of a national task force. This novel is available in all ebook formats (Amazon, Smashwords and its retailers).

In libris libertas!