The Trouble with Constant Access – Gen X Memory Lane

This morning I woke up and thought “Wonder what the shit news is today?” And then I picked up my phone and checked. I checked Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. I got the bad news I was looking for, but also some funny dog videos and a lamenting author, as well as some political rants. Meanwhile my less tech addicted husband was feeding the cat and making coffee.

Know what I used to do when I woke up? Lay there for a bit. Look out the window and pet the cat. Look at my sleeping husband, or if he was awake ask him what we should make for breakfast. I’d contemplate whatever book I was reading, or what blog subject I should write on. Maybe I’d get up and write letters and paint something.

This isn’t my first blog. I’ve been blogging since 2002. This is maybe my eleventh or twelfth blog. And blogging used to be kind of fun, before there was more of a chance people who were reading it actually lived near me, or worked with me. Something is different about blogging these days and I’ve dropped off a bit over the years with it. Even though I enjoy it. But there are only so many avenues of energy and I’ve got mine going in every direction.

So what is this blog entry all about? What am I lamenting over? I have the choice to set my phone down and stop doom-scrolling whenever I want, right? This is not about weaning myself off of technology or admitting I should set my phone across the room so I get out of bed before looking at it. This is about things that are now lost and that Millennials might have forgotten and Gen Z will never know.

I’m not talking about what it’s like to anticipate some small event–not big concerts, or huge political rallies, milestone life moments like weddings and babies–but smaller things. Getting your news in a few cycles per day is one I actually really miss sometimes. I also miss what it’s like to let my mind rest more, and daydream. I have to make myself set aside time to daydream. I know that this could be viewed more as a “personal responsibility” sort of thing. I get it. But as I lay there in bed I made the effort not to touch my phone and it lasted about ten minutes before I caved, and despite the “personal responsibility” aspect of this behavior, I know for a fact I am not alone.

When I was little many phones looked like this and eventually I would be thrilled when cordless ones with push-buttons became a reality. It was a while before Caller I.D. was a reality though, so when it ran it was anybody’s guess who it might be!

There are some things that are lost to change, and that’s fine. I’ll adjust. We’ll adjust. Just like vinyl came back, and ebooks didn’t totally replace paper ones. Maybe there will be a club of some people who miss waiting for Wizard of Oz to be broadcast once per year. There used to be an anticipation of holiday specials – I would worry about them being on at the same time as my dad’s football game and him watching it on the one television in the house. Oh the dreaded drama of me missing my special if dad didn’t compromise and let me watch the specials! But we often did have compromise. I still recall that there was a time when the phone would ring and you’d have absolutely no idea who is calling before you pick it up. Sometimes when I am watching a YouTube video on my phone when I’m in bed I am reminded of being about nine years old and wishing for that very thing. And the ever-futuristic “video phone” that was long dreamed of by all sci-fi enthusiasts before the invent of the smart phone – now is just a fact of life. Amazing! Facetime and Zoom technology allows us to talk to loved ones who are deployed and family that’s far away.

I admit, technology has done some amazing things. I was just listening to a true crime podcast (podcasts also are amazing) today about the huge breaks in criminology because of technology. Technology to broadcast, take videos, publish books, these things are all helping to create more diversity in what we read, music we listen to, shows we watch. It doesn’t just leave the choices up to a small group of folks (mostly white men) to decide what is the “best” music and the “best” books and the “best” movies. It allows so many more layers and voices.

Other good things I like is that I talk to my sister more than years ago because we have so many ways to reach each other easily. During this pandemic technology has been a lifeline. Those things are awesome. I wouldn’t change it. I just want to find a way to balance more of it with my real life. How to find ways to

I realize this is all over the place, but I’m not going to go back and smooth it over too much – I’m trying to get my blogging vibe back, so I’m gonna let it ride.

What kinds of things do you remember having to wait for that were exciting? Or things that are now lost that you remember being a big part of growing up?

Peace!

Pride and Love

Pride is a good time to talk about who we are “supposed” to love. Who we are “supposed” to have sex with. I love writing fantasy stories because you can talk about all sorts of things that are hard to talk about. Plus, when you start with a classic fairy tale, some of the framework is all set up. So if you’re telling a story about different kinds of magical creatures, it’s a little easier to say a Hunter shouldn’t be with a Lycan because that’s not as anchored in the “real world.” In fantasy and supernatural stories you can talk about things indirectly in a way that removes the real world politics that are already in place.

I do have a gay and a bisexual character in my Red August series and I hope that when readers who might not normally be open to that idea will see the parallels between saying one species of magical otherkin shouldn’t be with another  – or with a human – it begs the question: why does it matter? If you’re rooting for the wolf and the non-wolf to get together, maybe you should be rooting for love instead of being concerned about which gender loves which. How does it hurt you if a wolf falls in love with a shifter? How does it hurt you if a woman loves a woman? How does it hurt you if a person’s biological sex doesn’t fit the gender they choose? It doesn’t hurt you at all. It challenges some of your beliefs, sure. I get that. I didn’t always know or understand all of those things. I sometimes reacted badly to new information. But challenging your beliefs is not the same as it hurting you. Show some grace and let people live their lives. It is hard to take in new information, but once you do try and allow yourself to change your mind.

Once upon a time I got very defensive about my use of yoni (vulva) imagery in my artwork. I upset some people by trying to over-explain why it mattered to me and I didn’t mean anything bad by it. But I couldn’t grasp the deeper issue because I personally had never dealt with it. Through that experience I eventually came to realize the below image would have really helped me. Why didn’t I think of it right away on my own? Because I was being reactive. Feeling attacked. But I stepped into a conversation I really should have not stepped into so defensively to begin with. I should have stepped in with more curiosity and less defensiveness. One thing some people will eventually learn is that the older you get the more things you will have to adapt to if you want to grow as a person. Things change over time. Change can be hard. But if it makes the world a better place, it’s worth it.

This below image is one I found on Facebook. It doesn’t have a credit, so if you know who made it, please let me know! I feel like it’s a really good representation of what I’m talking about and it’s a great image to share. Thank you, whoever did it!

Guest Blog by Natasha Lane

When Natasha and I spoke about her doing a guest blog entry on my blog I was very excited to have her voice speak through this conduit. She’s always been energetic and thoughtful about her approach to writing in the year I have known her. She has a video series on Youtube as well as your usual social media outlets. I suggest you follow her because she is bursting with ideas, and enthusiasm, which can be quite contagious.

_______________

_______________

Why the Literary World Needs Fantasy

By Natasha Lane

It’s no secret that when it comes to writing being considered literature, fantasy gets a swift kick in the head. Often so far stretched from reality, many snobs out there don’t consider any fantasy novel worthy of being called literature. “Lord of the Rings” is one of the most renowned book series in the world, some would even say it set the foundation for epic fantasy adventure, yet there are still those who would never equate it to works like “Pride & Prejudice” and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

Supernatural Summer Reading 2017

Hello mortals! If you’re in Maryland and like vampire and werewolf stories, you will definitely want to come to Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast on July 22nd to enjoy short readings and follow-up discussions with authors H.L. Brooks (that’s me!) and Dea Schofield. We will be reading some short excerpts from our latest books. There will also be some light refreshments and a door prize for one lucky winner. If you are a book blogger, vlogger, or bookstagrammer, send me a note if you can come by and we will hook you up with a swag bag.

TIME:
Saturday, July 22nd, 2017
4pm-5:30pm

PLACE:
Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast in Baltimore, MD
http://www.scarboroughfairbandb.com

The Origin of the Sacred

He climbs onto the bed and lays his head on my lap. He says, “Here I am at the origin of the world. I don’t understand why women are not considered innately sacred in our society.”

 

Celebrating Women

I will be a vendor at the Celebrating Women event in Prince George’s County at Marietta House Museum. I will have my novel and coloring book available. Red August copies are $14.95, the color…

Source: Celebrating Women

THIS SATURDAY!!!

Amazon, you hit like a bitch.

This is a pretty sad state of affairs.

The Never Ending Book Basket

It’s taken me a bit of time to write this post, but I figured it’s about time to share the utter nonsense that’s happened between me and Amazon, and how a company that I once highly respected, has now become one that I have zero respect for.

I’ve thought about writing this post for weeks, what I would say and how I would capture everything that’s happened, and I’ll be honest with the fact that this post has taken on many forms, but finally I decided that it would just be easiest to state the facts.

So here it goes…

This is the first email I got from Amazon. As some of you know, on February 24^th I was sent an email from Amazon letting me know that I could no longer post reviews on their website, and that all of my previous reviews had been suppressed or removed…

View original post 2,034 more words

Micro Fairy Tales

I have been writing micro-stories that are based on images I find in my feed. So far Faerie Magazine has been the source, but I see many things on a daily basis that get me inspired. Here are a couple of micro-fairy tales. Perhaps they are just a nip of something much bigger. You never know. I post them on my Facebook page, so if you wish to catch them, that’s the best place to do it. I can’t promise they will always end up here. PLUS, at the FB page you can click all those little links and learn about the models and the photographers and stuff. Which you TOTES wanna do!  🙂

Reading in Baltimore – 3 and 4 of 4

These are excerpts from the book Red August, by H.L. Brooks – read by actors Erica Smith and Will Hardy. It is available at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Nobel and iBooks, among other places. Links can be found at http://www.hlbrooks.com

In this scene Red/August has been meeting her handsome neighbor near the stream that runs down their properties. They read books and discuss them.

******

This reading took place at Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast in Baltimore, Maryland.

http://www.scarboroughfairbandb.com/

*This is an abridged version meant to be read out loud.

Book Synopsis

What if you found out that you were descended from a long line of clandestine fighters, and that your family was still at war? Or that the love of your life was something other than human? August Archer thinks she’s a normal teenage girl—even though she has been having disturbing and erotic dreams about wolves lately. Still grieving over the loss of her bookish, charming father, and wondering over his final gift of a red hooded cloak, August is uprooted from her New York City apartment to a tiny town in Maryland, and the rambling Victorian house where he grew up. There she meets a wise woman with a gift for herbal medicine, the gentle old man who keeps the house in repair and the grounds thriving, and her new neighbor: an enigmatic, irresistibly fascinating man who refuses to talk to her, yet who seems to know her better than she knows herself, and fuels her most intense romantic fantasies. But it’s when August begins to coax her feisty Scottish grandmother out of her self-imposed catatonia that a strange tale of werewolves and hunters emerges—one in which the man of her dreams may be her family’s oldest enemy—in this modern-day telling of the Red Riding Hood story.

 

Reading in Baltimore – 2

This is the second of four videos of Erica Smith and Will Hardy reading excerpts from Red August.

In this chapter, titled Talking to Strangers, August/Red is working at an apothecary in town, of which “Wolf” is a customer.  He enters the shop and August hides when she sees him.  This is their second encounter, the first being on Halloween night the year before.  That night August immediately felt attracted to her new neighbor, but he wouldn’t give her his name.  He didn’t even shake her hand when she tried to introduce herself, telling her they couldn’t be friends in such a small town.

You can watch the first video in my previous post, or go to YouTube HERE.

This reading was done at the lovely Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast in Baltimore.

Book Synopsis

What if you found out that you were descended from a long line of clandestine fighters, and that your family was still at war? Or that the love of your life was something other than human? August Archer thinks she’s a normal teenage girl—even though she has been having disturbing and erotic dreams about wolves lately. Still grieving over the loss of her bookish, charming father, and wondering over his final gift of a red hooded cloak, August is uprooted from her New York City apartment to a tiny town in Maryland, and the rambling Victorian house where he grew up. There she meets a wise woman with a gift for herbal medicine, the gentle old man who keeps the house in repair and the grounds thriving, and her new neighbor: an enigmatic, irresistibly fascinating man who refuses to talk to her, yet who seems to know her better than she knows herself, and fuels her most intense romantic fantasies. But it’s when August begins to coax her feisty Scottish grandmother out of her self-imposed catatonia that a strange tale of werewolves and hunters emerges—one in which the man of her dreams may be her family’s oldest enemy—in this modern-day telling of the Red Riding Hood story.