#WEP #NativeAmerican #ShortStory and #BoutOfBooks Day 3

writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com


The following is 😉fictionalized.
This is about a teen reuniting with his biological parents, and discovering the challenges of reproducing. (Tag)
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

If it were real, the reunion would have probably occurred on May 15, 1994.
The Moonlight Sonata is full of ups and downs, as is this piece, which takes place under the moonlight.
999 Words FCA

• A Dakota fire hole has two holes in the ground connected by a tunnel. 🔥 The fire is in one hole, and smoke filters out the other. This contains the blaze and makes it more difficult to see from a distance.
• The paperwork person referenced was a social worker.
• The American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed in August 1978. The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in November 1978. Both of those events are after the first pregnancy in the story.

The Reunion

Though he hasn't seen his parents since he was preschool age, over a decade ago, recognition is instantaneous. The three hug and cry from early to late twilight. Father lights the Dakota fire hole. Mother prepares pine tea. He sits on a large, flat stone on the lush forest floor. It feels familiar, as though he had sat on this spot a thousand times before.

"We come this way each year after the flowers start to bloom. Some years, when summer is too disagreeable, we head to the cabin where you were born," Father says as he checks the fire.

The teen boy has millions of questions. How much time will there be to get answers? He looks from the hidden fire to the moonlight. The Waxing Crescent offers some light in the night sky. He scribbles a question in his notebook. 

"Hmm," Father contemplates after reading the question. "We are not concerned with calendars or clocks. Nature cares little for man's time trackers. The moon was brighter than this the night before you were born, though not entirely full. Summer had turned to her hottest days."

"I confess I prayed you would be born to ease my discomfort. Though I also hoped you would wait. An infant that cannot be cooled is difficult to silence."

His mother's remark makes him chuckle, for dysarthria from severely damaged laryngeal muscles has rendered him mute. Hot summer days meant his real birthday probably was in August. The paperwork person might have picked well when she guessed. He writes another question.

Mother tends to the tea brewing on the heated rocks. "Our grandparents were friends. My grandfather brought your father to our family's farm."

"I had traveled with my father's uncle for some time before that. He was the one you encountered last time you searched for us."

The boy smiles. He had been so glad to find an uncle. The elder passed on vast knowledge in the months they spent together. 

"My parents hoped I would marry a different boy. Your father encouraged me to marry another."

"I loved her and wanted the easier life that a pale husband could provide."

Mother reaches for Father's hand and kisses it. "Love is not about an easy life. We wed, and soon I was with child."

Father squeezes her hand. "I was joyful and terrified. There was no guarantee the community would protect our child. I knew there was a better chance they would be safe if I left. While praying on it in the woods, I encountered another from our tribe. He told me the pales were harming our women in childbirth, taking motherhood from them. They take and raise the baby without love or guidance. Born as a villain, raised like a slave, then abandoned to harshness and early graves."

"Terror for our family gripped my soul," Mother says as she pulls a fur around her shoulder. "What were we to do? How could we stay safe?"

"There was time, though not much, before winter set in and her stomach would plump. So I learned all that I could. A midwife gave me lessons, books showed me what to watch for, and her mother imparted wisdom. We carried little with us and moved away from the world." Father opens a pouch filled with dried meat. He passes it around before eating some. 

"Winter was too cruel. And we did not plan early or well enough. It was around this time, when the flowers first bloom, that our child came too soon and without life."

Mother stares at her jerky. The new leaves rustle with the soft breeze. "It took time, but I still wanted a child. We got better at living in the wilderness."

"I negotiated and traded with certain hunters, fishers, and farmers. I helped one build a cabin in exchange for occasional use."

The boy nodded. He remembered the cabin a bit. 

"It was not long after a pumpkin feast that I realized you were inside me." Mother distributes the pine tea. The boy is glad he brought a cup on his journey. "We stayed in the cabin much longer than usual. I was determined that you would live."

"We did all we could to keep you with us. I taught you survival skills from the moment you took your first steps. You learned so fast," Father claps his hands. "You made us proud every day."

Tears roll down the boy's face. He shakes as he writes an apology for wandering off, being taken, and not finding them sooner. His parents embrace him and assure him that the blame is not his. Mother wraps him in her fur as her tears mingle with his.

"We tried to find you. There was very little help," Father stares at the fire.

~~~

Sunlight breaks through the lowest branches before the boy asks his biggest question. His parents frown.

"No, son, your mother and I cannot go with you. Our home is here, among the trees. This is the safest place. You are welcome to stay with us. We have helped many in situations such as ours. This is our path in the world."

The boy explains his medical needs and asks how he could survive without modern care. He writes that laws have changed, that it's safe now.

"Nothing we have can do what you ask. How well you would live, I cannot say. Never trust pales to keep their word regarding your safety. They think death is our only use. Pox blankets may change form, but continue to exist."

He pleads for them to come back with him. To not leave him with strangers for years to come. Mother gives him an address and a note. 

"This woman of science lives near the farm our family had. She openly shares knowledge and compassion. The note requests she houses and cares for you. We will return to this spot again. Soon after the flowers bloom each year. Meet us, if you can."

---

The boy's actual birthday is probably early August. The paperwork person picked August 21 because that was the day she filled out the form and the boy did not give her a different answer.

Feel free to wish the author, me, 🎈 a happy birthday. 🎂 Legally, it's this weekend. 

If you look at my post from Monday, you'll see the book I used to plot this writing offering. I don't normally plot, but this did help me decide how to tell the story.

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) helps Native American children stay with their tribe.
The Dad in the story is right. There's a new ""pox blanket"" intent on taking away rights of Native Americans.
The ICWA is in danger of being defeated. Registered US voters can help by signing a petition.
https://resist.bot/petitions/PCCPGW
You can also contact your elected officials by other means about the matter.

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Today's Instagram Challenge:
Today's prompt is AUTO-BUY AUTHOR. Who's your "auto" author? Whose book do you auto-buy or auto-request from the library?
#boutofbooks #boutofbooks35 #bobigphoto
Victoria Aveyard ~ https://amzn.to/3pswYuZ
#Fantasy #SpeculativeFiction #FutureFantasy


Day of the challenge: Day 3
What I read today:
Small! by Hannah Moffatt @MissDePlume

Total number of finished books: 1
Titles of finished books:
Write Better Right Now: The Reluctant Writer’s Guide to Confident Communication and Self-Assured Style by Mary-Kate Mackey

My GOALS during Bout of Books 35:

1. Finish reading 3 books
2. Take part in the IG challenges
3. Write 3 book reviews
4. Interact with at least 10 of my fellow BoB participants
5. Take part in at least one Twitter chat ✔

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Happening at OperationAwesome6.blogspot.com
Stacy Stokes answers #13Questions in OA's Debut Author Spotlight #giveaway
Teen & Young Adult Magical Realism Thiller
Your chance to win a signed copy. (USA only)
https://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/2022/08/stacy-stokes-answers-13questions-in-oas.html

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• Did you enjoy the short story?
• Did your parents fear you would be kidnapped by the government at birth?
• If you are a parent, did you fear your baby would be taken away at birth?
• Were you born a villain? Hated for your bloodline?
• Did you consider looking at the ICWA petition to protect Native American families?
• How do you celebrate your birthday, if you acknowledge it?
• Have you read any of Victoria Aveyard's books?
• Ever taken part in a read-a-thon?
• Have you ever heard of storygraph.com? 
• Did you check out the signed-book giveaway?

#BoutOfBooks 35 Day 1 - Writing Reference Book

BboutOfBooks.Blogspot.Com
I'm participating in #BoutOfBooks 35 starting August 15. The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple.

How many times have I participated in Bout of Books? 

1. May 2015
2. Aug 2015
3. Jan 2016
4. May 2016
5. Aug 2016
6. Jan 2017
7. May 2017
8. Aug 2017
9. Jan 2018
10. May 2018
11. Aug 2018
12. Jan 2019
13. May 2019
14. Aug 2019
15. May 2020
16. Aug 2021
17. Aug 2022 

Please visit me on Goodreads to see what I've read during past BoB readathons!

Write Better Right Now: The Reluctant Writer’s Guide to Confident Communication and Self-Assured Style by Mary-Kate Mackey

I picked this book because I haven't been as focused on my writing goals lately as I'd like to be. In addition to reading and reviewing, this book has activities. So, as personal accountability, here's my "work."

Pg 20: Create an ideal reader. Give them a name and identity. 

dcode.fr/anagram-generator Using my top 15 commenters, I created an anagram and antonym name:

ANTOINETTE MADELAINE BLUE-ARIDITY 👩

and her brother

BRAXTON CLEM 👨

(and their cat, Lil 🐈 ).

The Blue-Aridity siblings love reading, blogging, attending stand-up comedy nights, and playing games. Antoinette enjoys hiking and swimming. Braxton likes cooking, learning obscure facts, and caring for his sister and cat. Antoinette has dated a few guys, but none she ever considered to be "mister right." Braxton is pansexual and had a serious relationship with a trans person, but they passed away from a rare disorder. Antoinette has worked some office jobs and is currently employed with a landscaping business where she is sometimes in the office but also helps with flower garden design. Braxton works as a dishwasher at a big restaurant while he attends community college to study culinary arts. Lil likes wet food of the fish varieties and refuses to hunt small animals. She's pretty affectionate, for a cat. 

Antoinette reads books to escape to a world of love and adventure. Braxton enjoys some romance in his books, but especially likes when there's humor included, and absolutely loves when a book teaches him an obscure fact or inspires him to cook something. Both siblings like it when the main characters have a pet (one who lives, preferably) in a novel. 

~~~~

My writing provides entertainment and often contains bits of romance, obscure facts, and humor. Pets do appear in longer stories. I like to slip in the characters' favorite foods to reveal something about them and appeal to the reader's sense of taste. 

~~~~

Pages 49-51

It's pretty clear that this book is meant for non-fiction. But I've committed to doing the work, so I'll just do my best here.

In my blog post about bout of books, I am saying that I am committed to making this readathon count.

In my book (Writing Book Reviews As An Author: Inspiration To Make It Easier) about writing book reviews, I am saying that there is a checklist to make book reviews quick and easy to write, fun to read, and with minimal risk of hurting an author's feelings.

In my book (Fractions of Existence) about urban fantasy characters who appear human, I am saying that they are trying to save human life on Earth from antagonists who believe Earth is a prison for souls, but the protagonist group has no chance of winning while the group is fractured. 

Page 69, Scar or Tattoo, is an exercise useful to fiction and nonfiction writers. Pick a mark on your body, list facts about it (how and when, etc), and then create an order for the story. Then try the story in a different order.

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Pages 84-85

This part is the Hero's Journey story arc, which is useful in fiction. For this exercise, I'm told to plot a story. As my WEP post is due this week, I'm going to use that. As it requires a drawing, I'll be placing an image here.

As WEP is only 1000 words, I may need to cut the story down to just steps 7, 8, and 9. The rest can maybe be flashbacks.

~~~~

The part about interviews gave me a few new questions to use for the Operation Awesome Debut Author Spotlight next year. 

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Pages 109-110

My WEP as an inverted pyramid, with the information from most important to least.

Parents found a way to keep their baby and protect their family.

It was a time when the law stole babies and sterilized women.

A choice had to be made to risk staying in society or being homeless and off-grid. 

Food and shelter are much more difficult to get when off-grid, especially while evading authorities. 

Pregnancy is scarier and more difficult with no medical care.

Mastering living away from a society that wants you dead makes the idea of returning nearly impossible.

~~~~

Page 125 Personal  Essay

(The book discusses sensory details. It leaves out scents or smells, as well as sight or visuals. It does separate touch and feel though. And includes time.)

To include:

A teenager finds his birth parents in the forest under a full moon. 

Sounds: Animals settling in, the wind rustling the new leaves, 

Tastes: Dried meat, pine tea

Touch: Familiar large, flat stones to sit on. 

Scents: Clean air, earth, light smoke, 

Sights: The light from the night sky and the Dakota fire hole

Feelings: Wonderment, gratitude, guilt, worry, love

Time: Night to Morning

Open with Certainty: The teen believes his parents could rejoin society with him. 

Confusion/ Chaos: In telling him about his birth, they reveal why they won't rejoin society. 

Shift: He realizes that, as much as he wants his real family, he must choose between them or the modern medicine and lifestyle.

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Page 125 Editing

In my flash "fiction" about this teen and his biological parents, I am saying that it was harder for Native Americans to feel safe reproducing. 

It is being told because enough people don't understand or fully grasp what it means to be so hated by society that even the law once suggested death was the only use for your life. 

“‘The only good Indian is a dead Indian,’ Mr. Scott said.” -- Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie

It connects the reader to the greater world because most readers probably have never specifically thought about it.

The point is that it's a heartbreaking truth.

In a word, this is about: love. 

The best illustration of that is the parents leaving a more comfortable life, sacrificing basic needs (shelter, stable food sources, a stable water supply, community, etc) to protect their offspring and each other.

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Page 152 has a good list of words to search a document for when looking to tighten up verbs to strengthen sentences. 

Page 158 suggests counting the words in each paragraph. Hemingwayapp.com can do that for you for free.

Page 165 Put first and last paragraph sentences down, and see if they communicate well enough. 

Page 194 suggests reading the work from the last sentence to the first. Then read it out loud.

Page 206 requires creating a writing group.

#IWSG Original Story - Plus News about #WriteClubDFW and #AtoZChallenge

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today:

Tara Tyler, Lisa Buie Collard, Loni Townsend, and Lee Lowery!

Aug 3 question -

When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?

Original. 
And I have been rejected by dozens of agents because of it. Which is one reason I self-publish.
I've found a few accomplished writers in the speculative fiction world who have read parts or all of certain stories I have (mostly Fractions of Existence), and agreed that it is unique and unlike most other Speculative Fiction or Urban Fantasy novels out there.



Part of why it's killing me that WriteClub2022 was canceled is that I actually entered this year. 

I have a story of Royce, a 21-year-old Incanter who isn't using his magic because it has been predicted he'd destroy millions of lives. Not using magic makes him an outcast. As he's dying, he considers magic, and it not only brings him back to life but sets him on the path of destruction. The real question becomes, in a male-only country that's mostly eradicated diversity, is destruction evil or heroic? 

He learns that his persecuted father worked for the department that handles artificial insemination. There are women in the world, but they're kept in pods in a permanent vegetative state. His father's true crime was waking a woman, learning magic from her, and creating a child without permission. Royce's magic would wake them all, and absolutely destroy the lives of their captors.

Does that sound interesting?

Have you read something similar? 
Is that story something original or something you, as a reader, would want?

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#WEP is coming later this month. https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/08/wep-august-2022-challenge-moonlight.html
But for the Moonlight Sonata prompt, I have something special planned. An origin story of sorts. The inspiration came due to last month's #IWSG posts. I realized that several people wish they could live in a fictional world where I am a villain. That's an ideal world for some people. A world where killing me would be both legal and encouraged. (Obviously, not everyone picked such worlds. Lots of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fans out there.) Eh, that's just how it goes. A little story about two parents fleeing from the world to birth a baby safely is coming later this month.

Please also visit: The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club on Goodreads.

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Woo! Celebrating myself.

📜

Tune in later this year to find out if I'm still legally married.
"Respect for Marriage Act will enshrine and protect marriage equality and make sure legal, same-sex and interracial marriages are recognized."
My spouse isn't a Native American. 

🤔 Err... my person to which I share my life and devote my highest love isn't a Native American.        

https://twitter.com/DL_H/status/1554084086830039040 "Due to a profound lack of interest...there will be no WRiTE CLUB contest this year. #WRiTECLUBDFW" https://www.dlhammons.com/2022/08/write-club-pulling-plug.html
I was really hoping to get in this year. I wanted the raw feedback on my latest project. It's hard to imagine, with the success of so many winners, that not enough people entered this year.

boutofbooks.blogspot.com I'm participating in #BoutOfBooks 35 starting August 15. The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple.

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https://t.co/vAYHKbmDOL
A second challenge is coming!

What do you think of the possible new graphics? Tell us on the blog comments, please!#atozchallenge -- PLEASE RT / Share pic.twitter.com/jd8cbqQ70G

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) July 28, 2022

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The A to Z team is hoping for feedback about our possible new graphics. Things are happening at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com, so please take a moment to check out the latest posts.

Check out Operation Awesome on Thursday, please. We have a question for writers! operationawesome6.blogspot.com/

Values, Priorities, and Choices

We have time for what we value the most. 

Sometimes we don't realize what we value the most until we evaluate how we've elected to spend our time.

"But if I don't go to my job, I don't have money to live."

Okay. So you value security. You value the certainty of a roof over your head and knowing your next meal is waiting in the refrigerator. 

"What's wrong with that?"

Nothing. Plenty of people hold that value. Many don't even realize that value is engrained in them. In fact, whole societies base their identity around that value. Entire economic systems are in place based on the assurance that people will continue to value the security of having a home and food. 

But there are people who make the choice to live without that certainty. (There are also people who don't make that choice, but find themselves in such a situation for other reasons.) Nomads still exist. It's a hard life. But there are still people who make the choice to not value security. It means being an outcast. And because it conflicts with society, any time an actual social service is needed, it's much harder to obtain. Plus, nomads are more likely to be abducted by government people for various nefarious purposes because "no one will miss them." 

There's a fantastic book, Plunge, that shows how it's possible to have the money to travel. It means picking travel instead of paying a mortgage or renting an apartment. 

"That's not realistic! I can't do that."

Okay. But some people do that. There are nomadic families. 

There are writers who quit their day job and then publish and hope it'll be enough.

"That's a bad idea."

Yeah, probably. It's certainly against the odds. And it puts a lot more pressure on the writing. But if the person doesn't value security first, they value having the time to write first, then they're living their dream no matter the outcome.

There's nothing wrong with paying bills. Valuing the freedom of not going to jail because of debt. Valuing having a good credit score. Not everyone cares about those things though. I know a guy with terminal cancer who has stopped working and paying his bills. He's figured out what he values and is living his remaining days doing only what he finds important. (This blog would have to be NC-17 XXX for me to detail that value. So he's valuing, umm, satisfaction. Yeah, go with that.)

Some people value having time for their family above everything else.
Some people say they value time with their family above all else, and then make choices that keep them too busy to spend any real time with their family. 

"But the family needs a house, a car, nice clothing, college funds, medical care, etc etc etc..."

Those are mostly things that are part of the security value. (College should be valuing education, but sometimes people don't go just to learn but to try to feel the security that they can bet a better job.) Medical care is maybe valuing life, and will certainly keep Americans fighting to get paid so they can afford to stay alive so they can maybe one day have time to enjoy being alive.

I lost someone close to me a few months ago. She was a hard worker. Held two jobs at several points in her life just to make ends meet. Kept working 20, 40, 60, 90, or 110 hours a week. She talked about the ways she wanted to spend time with people "one day." Was making payments on her retirement dream. Though the numbers said she'd be paying toward that dream until she was about 85, assuming no other bills got in the way. Died at age 62 of a heart attack. Didn't get to spend time doing the things she said she valued, other than the 5 days she took off a year. 

She valued our relationship. A bookmark was found in the middle of Fractions of Existence. She had been reading my book in her precious spare moments. I'll never know if she liked it. We'll never discuss it. 💔

The point is that we all have 24 hours in a day. We might value staying alive, having financial security (along with food and shelter), time with our family, and creative pursuits... 

If we look at how we spend our time, we can see what we are currently valuing.

Then we can decide if that's what we want to value, if we're spending our time on what really matters to us, and make choices to keep going this way or to risk everything to live the life we actually want.

#IWSG J's 3 Book World Choices and Other Insights

"One benefit of summer was that each day we had more light to read by."- Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today:
J Lenni Dorner (me! ✨), Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton!

July 6 question - If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?

Short Answer:

You set the price!FREE, .99 cents, $1.99, whatever...

Lumber Of The Kuweakunks 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015003

By J Lenni Dorner

I pick this book and world because of the trees. 🌳

It's a short read with a mystery told in modern times and the early 1600s era.   

Long Answer:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by J Lenni Dorner (@jlennidorner)

For my longer answer, I arranged a few books in the shape of my name - J.
(Hopefully, no one will confuse my name with co-host Jenni Enzor's. J isn't an abbreviation, I didn't know about the superfluous "ay" that people add, or that sometimes J is short for Jayson or other names. Lenni- Lenape means "original people". My tribe is also known as the Grandfathers. Naming customs are different in various cultures.)

BSC. I appreciate that the books are being redone with Graphix while still staying pretty true to the original books. Stoneybrook is a fictional small suburban-like town in the state of Connecticut. Most of the problems were solved in one book. 

The Baby-Sitters Club books remind me of my youth. It was just such a better world than my own, a parallel universe of sorts where I wished I could be. Not that I had any interest in baby-sitting. A rare happy period in my school-age time when, for a brief while, I had friends. The Logan character helped to cement the idea that it was okay for the girls I knew to have a guy friend (me). Their parents disagreed. My foster caretakers didn't know or care. Things eventually went bad because of other males at the school. Resulting in my being hospitalized more dead than alive. At which point I was passed to a different foster home. (This is all before I ran away and found my people and birth parents again.)

So anyone out there saying the new laws in parts of America are fine because the foster and adoption system exists can kiss my 🍑ss. Plenty of people are talking about that. 

I'll pause to talk about just how "pro-life" the American government has been for about two centuries. I don't often get political on social media, unless it relates to Native American issues, and this does. 

https://time.com/5737080/native-american-sterilization-history/

Think putting abortion services in Federal places will help? 🎲 That's rolling the dice because those places sometimes sterilize people without their knowledge or consent. Especially Native American women.

https://www.niwrc.org/restoration-magazine/november-2020/past-and-current-united-states-policies-forced-sterilization

"On October 2, 2020, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent."

House resolutions are not binding laws. 

In case anyone thinks this happened long ago. 2020. Hasn't even been two years since the House did something. Though, what they did wasn't much.

It was after finding out some medical personnel at the ICE cages were sterilizing people who they deemed to be non-Americans.

 

For ten seconds, imagine a popular, well-liked American celebrity is shooting a film in another country. And, while in that other country, is captured and sterilized. And the other country says, "well, it wasn't one of our citizens, so it's okay." Try to imagine how well that would go over. American citizens getting forcibly sterilized in other countries.

Now imagine it's someone that is barely known at all. Doesn't matter where they're from. Is it okay now?

https://19thnews.org/2022/02/forced-sterilization-guardianship-reproductive-justice/

"31 states and the District of Columbia have laws allowing permanent forced sterilizations."

Some states will outlaw abortion, but have laws to force sterilizations.

https://givingcompass.org/article/forced-sterilization-is-still-legal-in-the-u-s

Surly the “"pro-life"” crowd has put a stop to forced sterilizations. Right? Nope.

There are some laws to prevent certain groups, like inmates, from being sterilized without consent. But there is NO LAW to prevent forced non-consensual sterilizations for all Americans.

So yes, in certain states, very soon, a person can be imprisoned for performing an abortion, and the person who had the abortion could be forcibly sterilized. 

Ending one pregnancy will be outlawed. But preventing a person from ever becoming pregnant by sterilizing that person is still legal. (Again, depending on the state.)

The loss of the right to consent to carry a pregnancy will be new to many people alive today.

The loss of the right to consent to ever reproduce was taken from many long ago and is still being fought to get back. 

In theory, medical malpractice and assault and battery might protect a patient from sterilization without consent. Unless the patient is incapacitated. And even then, consider that forced sterilization just happened in America. And that there are still laws that ALLOW it. But there do not seem to be laws that specifically OUTLAW it. 

In case you wonder, some places also prohibit people from making the choice to be sterilized via "tube tying" (tubal ligation) or hysterectomy (womb removal). One in six US hospitals, it is estimated, refuse to perform such procedures as electives. Vasectomies, however, are easier to obtain. https://www.insider.com/a-woman-needed-husbands-consent-to-get-her-tubes-tied-2020-2 

I feel everyone should have the right to decide when and if they wish to create offspring, and that no one should be able to take away someone's consent for the use of their own body. (Not a parent, spouse, officer, court, president -- NO ONE.) No additions or removals should be performed without informed, comprehended consent. I'm also strongly opposed to permitting child marriages or forcing victims of pedophiles to endure pregnancy. I have seen a child, not yet a teen, who died in labor. And no, that fetus didn't make it either. There is a sick, dark underworld of sex-trafficking and pedophiles who rely on places with relaxed laws that make it easier for them to carry on. I have seen the horrors of the dark world they run. I oppose their existence and any law or ruling that makes anything easier for them.

The following is from a scene in Stargate SG-1:

(LYA)
After careful consideration, I believe that both Klorel and Skaara have the right to live. But living as a host with no will of one's own is not life, therefore only one may remain in the body. To that end, I award priority to the original owner of the body.

Lya is of the Nox people. The Nox are an advanced, non-violent, wise people who use technology in harmony with nature and have existed since ancient times in the Stargate Universe. 

As there are Stargate books, my third choice for a book world would be to live with the Nox. They feel like an evolution of my own Lenni-Lenape tribe, had history been different for Native Americans.


Thanks for reading! See you next time.

Please also visit: The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club on Goodreads.

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WriteClub 2022 is here. pic.twitter.com/QdGdbcEpyv

— J Lenni Dorner (@JLenniDorner) July 2, 2022

Please 🤍💗 and Retweet!

Happening at OperationAwesome6.blogspot.com

Have your query letter and first 250 words ready
This week is the #PassorPages #QueryContest
July 4-8: Entry window 🤔 #win agent feedback
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👨‍👦‍👦👩‍👩‍👧‍👧💑👬 Family Dynamics/Family Saga fiction - all age audienceshttps://t.co/F9IU7kcAC4
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— Operation Awesome (@OpAwesome6) July 4, 2022

It would mean a great deal to me if you'd be kind enough to share that tweet, or go to the Operation Awesome site and share a post of your own somewhere. Please 🤍💗 too!

J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author
Please, call me J.

Luring You In To Please Read the Flash Fiction #WEPFF #WEP

writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com

"Caught you," I hope to say

if only you'll not hide, not stay away

Big One, babe, you'll taste so fine

Please take the bait

I'm jiggling my lure

Call me crazy for needing more

but this one's too small

even a fool knows to throw it back

I keep checking my line

Please want my bait

I'm bottom bouncing for you

I don't want a cichlid

Please find my flies

Please like my plugs

I've got a box full of jigs

How about a spinner with a skirted hook?

Please understand, I've tried live too

There's nothing with me that isn't for you

I check again but you're not found

Please come for my spoon

Please, there's flexible rubber too

Please, oh please, my fly needs you

Just one more try for today

Remember where I cast 

You've kept your spot a secret

cherishing your place in the deep

Please see my net and promise me one day

One day you'll be in it

Am I crazy to pursue you?

I could just buy what I'm looking for

The sport is catching you

Holding you

Cleaning you

Heating you up

And eating you until there's nothing left

but bone and head and tail

Mmm mmm mmm

I'll even have your eyes

Mmm mmm mmm

Please take my bait

Please find my lure

Come home to me

Big One, please be mine

Luring You In
by J Lenni Dorner
232 words FCA

Gottcha! 😆🎣

I was going to write short fiction with my Existence characters. Actually, I did. But the scene makes no sense out of context and is just littered with spoilers. So, I decided to go for a walk and think about it.

That's when I ran into Ger. We have almost nothing in common other than a tendency to gravitate to the same areas to hunt and fish. He's a pretty good hunter, considering the hundreds or thousands of dollars he must spend to have that much equipment with him. But his very pricy bow tends to keep up with the one I handcrafted, so there you go. Fishing, however... oh Ger...

"Maybe if you kept yer mouth shut once in a dang while, I'd catch a decent fish!"
(This is funny because I'm mute. We kid around with each other. ) 

Above is a picture he took of the bend in the river, and another of his "biggest catch" this week. Any fish that's smaller than your hand has to go back in the water. 😂

My entry is a letter or song or poem, whatever you'd like to call it, by me from Ger to his elusive fish. As Ger is a father, I'll dedicate this to him and wish him a Happy Father's day. 
And a Happy Father's day to any other dads out there reading this.
(Neither my dad nor Ger have ever seen my blog, so they won't see this post.)

Tagline: Written for the uncaught one. (It's NOT erotica.)

#IWSG Writing to The End

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray!

June 1 question - When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end?

Feeling demotivated makes this question difficult to answer. I love writing. I truly believe it is the purpose of my soul, my life force, the energy that makes me me. Motivation and passion normally burn in me like that fire in Centralia. (Yes, I'm from this region. Yes, I've been to this place.) 

Strong advice is to create a routine. Often, when depression or mind-numbing sorrow from too much mourning destroys the ability to function, the body can take on a sort of robotic routine. The coffee gets made, the bread becomes toast, teeth and hair get brushed... it's just going through the motions. Every single word I wrote while 🤖 existing that way is crap. It's dictionary vomit. The sentences qualify as such only because I picked out the correct parts of speech needed for words to form a sentence. The PURPOSE is to be able to say "at least I wrote today." Because not writing feels like failure, and the shame spiral continues and then there's nothing but failure and darkness. Guess where those words went...

I haven't honestly worked on my main project in a long time. My broken mind has thrown up roadblocks and other activities. I have dozens of reasons not to work on it. Give me a minute, and I'll come up with a dozen more. Do you know what'd be better? If I wrote a dozen sentences in the project instead. Or even edited some. Then again, while you can't edit a blank page, I have edited the crap out of some full pages. 🤦🏽‍♂️

There's always trying a new style of planning and plotting. I followed a different-to-me outline structure in April to get my A to Z story written. It was refreshing to finish a story. And this month, I'll be working on a short story for WEP's June challenge. ("This month's prompt is based on Please Read the Letter by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - a break up song and a moving plea for understanding at the termination of a relationship." - https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/05/wep-june-challenge-is-on-with-more.html ) A song I've never heard before by people I've never heard of... but the title makes me think of a line from This Ruined Puzzle by Dashboard Confessional. 🎵"I've written a note It's pressed between pages..." 

None of this works toward my main project. 

Unless I at least use my Existence characters. 

🤔
That's an idea... 

Forgiving myself and trying again the next day is the only way I'll ever reach "the end." 



Please also visit: The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club on Goodreads.

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Happening at OperationAwesome6.blogspot.com:

Sara de Waard answers #13Questions in OA's Debut Author Spotlight Plus a Book #signedcopy #giveaway

Low enteries! Chance to win an autographed YA book. Closes soon.