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Let Them Eat Bugs

Posted in Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on February 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

02/19/24

Let Them Eat Bugs

I started reading the article, “The Biggest Problem With Eating Insects Isn’t the “Ew” Factor.” under the false assumption that the article was going to take the subject seriously. Perhaps I should have known better. Instead it’s once again woke propaganda. This time they are trying to sell us on adding bugs to our daily diet. And why should we do that exactly? Apparently, in some cultures they are already eating bugs, so that apparently automatically makes it “healthy” for all people. The fact that people who routinely consume bugs probably have digestive systems that have adapted to the bugs and the rest of us do not couldn’t possibly be an area of concern. But then there is that study the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded in Africa of course — since people seem to love to experiment on the Africans apparently — to see the health effects of bug consumption on children (Tovey, 2022). So, maybe it being healthy isn’t such an undisputed sure thing? Also, I wonder if people are eating bugs because they want to or because they have to in order to survive.

Another bonus listed in the article is that “a maggot-like organism” tasted like peanuts. Well then, why not just eat peanut butter? What happened to vegetarian diets by the way? Why lab meat? Why bugs? The author writes about what a great protein source bugs are, and we can’t have animal proteins any more as “factory farms are an environmental disaster.” (Matthews, 2021)  Apparently conditions can’t be improved. Because of the methane gas the cows release the cows have to go. Still, it’s hard for me not to think about the Nord Stream pipeline. It released a lot more methane than cows, and the reaction to that disaster was tame compared to the horror over the cow farts. The author does have one concern it seems — one problem that he will allow and alluded to in his article’s title. This was where I was hoping he would take the topic seriously. Instead he’s apparently concerned about the welfare of the bugs. After all, people “are constantly expanding our circle of moral concern” (Matthews, 2021) according to the author. Why, someone in the past killed their pets rather than board them in order to take a trip according to him. Only how does he explain how millions of people have had and/or support abortions on fetuses who are capable of experiencing pain and certainly experience a shortened lifespan as a result? He writes of insects that are being killed in farms at about the rate of a trillion per year, “I don’t know for sure whether those insects feel pain — but if there’s even a small chance they do, the scale of the suffering that would imply is massive.” (Matthews, 2021) Now maybe this guy isn’t pro-abortion and isn’t a hypocrite who waxes concern over the suffering of insects without empathy at all for human beings and their pain and shortened life expectancy.

But that’s really the point. There is no consideration for humans in the lets-eat-bugs article — not really. He calls it healthy and says it’s a good source of protein, but the overriding impression I got from the article is a guilt trip that implies your existence is harming the earth and the least you can do is eat bugs to undo some of the damage your life has done. Who cares if the idea of eating bugs makes most people gag and reduces their morale? Trudeau’s government in Canada may be expanding access to the facilitation of suicides in that country, so perhaps this will help with that. (Bryden, 2021)

Meanwhile, I have concerns beyond the welfare of the bugs. First, what happens to the cats and dogs? I’m assuming the shift to bugs won’t be voluntary — that they plan on shutting down meat production or at least greatly restrict it. So are the cats and dogs expected to eat bugs, too? The article vaguely references farm animals eating bugs as well as it being ground into some pet food but that certainly has not been proven as viable on a large scale. A Wikipedia article states, “A limited, but growing number of products are available on the market, including insect-based cat food, dog food, and pet treats.” (“Insect-based pet food,” 2024) The article on Wikipedia mentions that there are health concerns with the insects commonly ingested by humans. A table based on the results of two studies lists the following potential risks: hormones, cyanogentic substances, heavy metal contamination, allergic, thiaminase, high bacterial count, antinutritional factors (tannin, phytate), Chagas disease, and Myiasis. (“Insect-based pet food,” 2024) The Wikipedia article suggests that the concerns can be mitigated. “Allergic hazards can be labelled (sic) on the packaging to avoid consumption by susceptible consumers. Selective farming can be used to minimize chemical hazards, whereas microbial and parasitical hazards can be controlled by cooking processes.” (“Insect-based pet food,” 2024)  Members of the media have already been hinting around about pets having an undesirable carbon footprint nicknamed carbon pawprint. Kimberly Richardson from CNN actually wrote an article declaiming, “researchers have showed that pets play a significant role in the climate crisis.” (Richardson, 2022) The article goes on to tout insects and lab meat for dogs as well as steering people away from adopting large dogs. It’s ironic, therefore, that Matthews spends so much time in his article making the case how people “are constantly expanding our circle of moral concern” (Matthews, 2021) in part by citing drops in pet euthanasia. I wonder what will happen to these pets when their food supply is eliminated? After all, according to Richardson, “if you’re the proud owner of a feline, you shouldn’t even think about switching their diet. Cats are obligate carnivores — they must eat meat, according to Angela Frimberger, a veterinarian with Vets for Climate Action.” (Richardson, 2022)

Kimberly Richardson from CNN, like many who have called out cats and dogs over climate change, insists that “Bidding farewell to your best friends is not the answer.”
(Richardson, 2022) And yet she considers carbon dioxide which is emitted when mammals breathe as one of the “planet-warming gases.” (Richardson, 2022) The article only lists the feeding of dogs and cats as a problem, which I assume is a calculation of how much carbon dioxide livestock produces. How long will it be before they calculate how much carbon dioxide the pets themselves emit? What about human beings? As an aside, carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring gas essential to life on this planet. Plants require it to survive.

The CNN article also mentions, “you might consider smaller breeds or species if you’re aiming to minimize your impact on the planet. A Chihuahua’s carbon pawprint will be much smaller than a Saint Bernard, for example.” (Richardson, 2022) Kimberly Richardson quotes Gudrun Ravetz with Vet Sustain as saying, “Avoiding animals with known health problems will reduce the need for veterinary intervention, which has a carbon footprint, and most importantly will reduce unnecessary suffering in terms of poor health and welfare.” (Richardson, 2022) So, what happens exactly to those pets not adopted? It’s disingenuous to pretend they won’t be euthanized.

What happens to the dairy? Dairy cows emit methane, too. So, are they all to be slaughtered and dairy eliminated from the diet as well?

The social ramifications … call me crazy, but I don’t see the elites of this world eating bugs. The effect of separating out the middle and lower classes for inferior treatment would seem to be the dehumanization of the lower classes. In other words, it will contribute to our being viewed as lesser beings than the global elite.

Coercion anyone? As I’ve said, this is unlikely to be voluntary if it comes into being. They are unlikely to invest their money in something most people won’t participate in by choice. Instead, I imagine they will cut the supply of meat to the point where it’s unaffordable for most people if it’s not banned outright. Then, the people will be forced toward alternatives such as lab meat and bugs. And how exactly does cutting the food supply mitigate starvation?

Of course, until it’s implemented it’s all theoretical and may not happen. But propaganda articles such as this one are troubling since it appears to be paving the way for bugs as a dietary staple for the lower and middle classes in the future.

Bryden, Joan. “Government agrees mentally ill should have access to assisted dying — in 2 years.” The Canadian Press, 23 February 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/maid-bill-senate-amendments-1.5924163.

Insect-based pet food. (2024, January 9). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect-based_pet_food#cite_note-:5-9

Matthews, Dylan. “The Biggest Problem With Eating Insects Isn’t the “Ew” Factor.” Vox, 19 June 2021, https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-biggest-problem-with-eating-insects-isn-t-the-ew-factor.

Richardson, Kimberly. “Our pets are part of the climate problem. These tips can help you minimize their carbon pawprints.” CNN, 27 September 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/15/us/pets-climate-impact-lbg-wellness/index.html.

Tovey, Mark. “UK urges hunger-stricken African nations to farm insects.” The Guardian, 2 September 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/02/let-them-eat-bugs-uk-urges-hunger-stricken-african-nations-to-farm-insects.

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Writing Update 5

Posted in Biosphere, Labyrinth, Mind Master Chronicles, News, Puppet on a String, Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Writing Update 5

I’ve decided to do a fourth go over on Biosphere. I’ve decided to make this a pattern for all of my future books. I intend to do five Word pages on days I edit my books. Then, I will do four rounds. It just doesn’t feel like I’ve been thorough enough otherwise. Then, I plan to do the formatting and the cover. My new goal is to have the book up for pre-order in April. The release date goal is set for Monday, April 29th. I figure around May is a good time to release a new book. I think this will give me enough time to get everything to my liking and build up some anticipation for my release as well.

Meanwhile, I’ve decided to set my baseline price for most of my eBooks to $2.99 instead of $3.99. I know it’s hard to find money in the budget for books these days. Labyrinth will still be set to free for most retailers. Biosphere will be $2.99. Of course, I also intend to participate in the Smashwords Store sales when they come up. As far as I know, they’re still having one in July.

I’ve also changed the category of my book series The Mind Master Chronicles from juvenile fiction to regular fiction. I did this because the first two books … Labyrinth and Puppet on a String … could probably fit either category, but the third book, that’s in the editing process, and the fourth and fifth book, which are being written, lean more toward adult fiction. In other words, they are on the edge of adult and really edgy and dark juvenile fiction. But since people tend to view juvenile as a subcategory of children’s books, and I don’t see these as children’s books I decided to move them to adult fiction. Still, since there aren’t any sex scenes in the book, right now I’m not inclined toward the 18 warning / recommendation for the Mind Master Chronicles. I just don’t want people to blindly give books three through five to a five-year-old because they’re listed in the children’s section. And it really didn’t make sense to me to have books in the same series in different categories. Hopefully, this change won’t be too confusing for people.

I want to thank the people who have read my books. It’s probably easier to get books for free at the library. But I think it’s still hard to break into the library system if you’re an independent writer rather than a traditionally published one. So, I appreciate the effort people have made to read my books, even though I don’t have as much access to readers as I could have.

I realized recently how important readers are. They are rare gems to be treasured. It’s really gratifying for a writer when someone actually identifies with your work. Ideally, it truly is a symbiotic relationship where everyone benefits and is made happier as a result.

So, I will continue to make my books as affordable and accessible as possible. And you readers keep up the good work. I am convinced your efforts are appreciated by the authors whose books you read!

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Inflation Rate Blues

Posted in Thoughts of the Day, tagged , on December 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The latest inflation figures provided by Consumer Affairs/Datasembly show a 5.3% increase in grocery prices for 2023. Last year the price increase was 25.5%. So the inflation increase rate has slowed. The article by Justin Klawans entitled: “2023: the year of sticker shock” suggests that this is a good thing and that regular people should see it as the improvement that it is. But alas, apparently we’re too unsophisticated and ignorant to appreciate economics. We’re too hung up on the prices we’re paying — which are incidentally eroding our discretionary income — to grasp the beauty of the rate of inflation increase slowing down — not stopping mind you just slowing down. And we actually have the nerve to compare the prices to the pre-COVID numbers as well. How stupid is that! Everyone knows that that world no longer exists! What I didn’t realize is one of the symptoms of COVID was inflation. Silly me.

One of the things I found interesting in the article is the implication that our expectations are too high. What we’ve been wanting is deflation — where the prices actually go back down. Silly us. Of course, we should instead be satisfied that the prices, though still rising, are rising slower than before. Call me crazy, but I never thought the prices would continue to rise at the absurd rate they had been rising.

But the fact of the matter is we are paying a cumulative rate of inflation. Yes, they would prefer we just compare the prices to last year instead of pre-COVID. But really, what sense does that make? It’s like a sinking ship that’s already taken on a lot of water. They would have you focus on the rate of the ongoing leak rather than measure the standing water in the hold. And once again, the leak is still ongoing; the ship is merely not taking on water as quickly as it had before. What is troubling though is the captain and the crew appear to believe this is good enough. While the boat is continuing to take on water, they not only have not stopped the leak, they have no plans to bail out the boat from prior inflationary damage.

There is impracticality in their take on the economic forecast. They want people to focus on the abstract rather than the concrete. But in real life you deal with prices. When you get a bill more than likely you are obligated to pay the full amount. You can’t tell a utility company, I’ll pay 3/4 of the bill but increase my payment rate by 5% month over month and expect to get away with it.

Of course, the author also seems to think that grocery prices are decreasing. How does he figure that? They have increased by 5.3% compared to last year’s baseline according to the figures the author provided.

In the end, it would seem reading between the lines that these high prices are expected to be here to stay. The open question is whether people can actually afford to pay them.

Klawans, Justin. “2023: the year of sticker shock.” THE WEEK US, 14 December 2023,

https://theweek.com/sticker-shock-inflation-2023

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Writing Update #4

Posted in News, Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Writing Update #4

I just got through my second editing run of Biosphere. I did five Word pages a day on days I worked. I admit, some days it was rough. I had to get used to the process again. It got easier toward the end. I’m going to read it through again. I’m not sure what pace I can set for the next round, but I think I’ve made good progress so far.

Meanwhile, my first three books are enrolled in the Smashwords End of Year Sale between December 15 & January 1:

Free E-book! Labyrinth (Mind Master Chronicles — Book 1) Jennifer Alice Chandler

Twelve-year-old Aronade plays a lot of games, but they aren’t games of her own design. These games have been crafted by a man who goes by the name, “The Instructor.” He creates these mind games called scenarios in order to teach Aronade “lessons” about how the world truly operates. But when Aronade discovers a nearly drowned teenage boy from the outside world at the complex, she soon discovers that the Instructor’s games may not be so harmless after all. In fact, they may be deadly.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1353449

Puppet on a String (Mind Master Chronicles — Book 2) Jennifer Alice Chandler Sale price $0.99 Sixteen-year-old Aronade’s life has changed dramatically. She was taken from the compound and placed in a private school for the elite, a group of people genetically altered to increase their longevity. She is still reeling from the knowledge she is a carrier of a disease that could kill the elite. Her benefactor, a man who goes by the moniker of the Instructor, is using her as leverage to stop the elite from wiping out the rest of humanity. Only it has become clear that the Instructor cares little for anything but the game he’s playing. And if Aronade has to be sacrificed in order to win that game, so be it.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1386746

Break the Leg to Bend the Knee Jennifer Alice Chandler Sale price $0.99

After the world that she knew falls apart, a woman named Genevieve seeks refuge at a local hospital. It is in the course of her duties as a doctor’s assistant that Genevieve first encounters the Guild, a militant organization of formidable men. Her encounter is in the form of an enigmatic man named Roan Phillips. If Roan were typical of the Guild, the only thing Genevieve would have to worry about is losing her heart. But unfortunately, it turns out another man, the sadistic Gregory, is far more typical of the Guild. And because of him, Genevieve is at high risk of losing her life.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1415973

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Normalizing Sin

Posted in Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

To those who believe that God compromises with sin, you should really read through the Old Testament. The Old Testament, particularly the books written by the prophets, is filled with examples of human beings deciding God’s standards are too high. He then gives them the opportunity to repent and be saved from all kinds of misfortune. And though He is God and they are not, they refuse. They then end up being destroyed over and over again “by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.” (Jeremiah 14: 12)

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear My words.”

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?” saith the LORD. “Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel.

“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

“If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

“And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

“If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

“Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus saith the LORD; “Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” ’

“And they said, ‘There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.’ ” (Jeremiah 18: 1-12)

Many times the wicked, unrepentant leaders are removed from power as in the Babylonian captivity written about in Jeremiah. In Numbers 14, most of the people in a rebellious generation are not permitted to enter the Promised Land, but instead end up dying in the wilderness after forty years of wandering.

It becomes pretty obvious after a while that God is not a God of moral compromise. And yet, people continue to act as though He is. They continue to play the lesser of two evils game. As though someone else behaving worse than you do makes your behavior acceptable to God.

Saving souls is of chief importance to God, and you don’t save souls by allowing people to slide down into hell by a progressive series of moral compromises. And the biggest problem a society faces is in the normalizing of sin. Sin is always with us unfortunately. It’s in our fallen nature and has to be constantly battled against. Jesus provided us with the means to fight it, but it remains a struggle. But when a society normalizes sin — denies it exists, tries to hide the consequences of it — then there is no room for the necessary repentance. In the Old Testament, corrupted generations were replaced by ones who would listen to God. Now, in a society which normalizes sin, children are being taught there is no sin to repent of. Sin is taught to be good — that it’s who you are. The message is that to love sin is to love people. Yet, the sin actually becomes more important than the individual. They are even implying, when they aren’t bashing God for being mean, that God loves sin, which is far from the truth. As Jesus says in Matthew 5, “Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled.
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5: 17-20)

At the end of the day, if you have a problem with your sin and the consequences of it, repent and gain forgiveness from God through His Messiah Jesus Christ. Don’t try to turn everyone else into the proverbial drunk just so you can continue to drink and feel good about yourself while doing it.

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Writing Update #3

Posted in Biosphere, Mind Master Chronicles, News, Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The editing of Biosphere has been taking longer than I had hoped. Really, in retrospect, I had no idea how long it would take. Each book is different. For this book, I jumped around a lot between scenes, which unfortunately left a lot of scenes not linked together well. So, I’ve had to write the linking scenes to make smooth transitions between sections. I’ve finished my first run-through. I will probably have to go through it two more times to make sure it flows smoothly and is logically sound. This is going to take longer than expected to do well. So, probably the end of January would be the soonest it might be released. I wish I could know in advance how long things will take, but like I said there’s really no guide in place to writing books.

Meanwhile, I have finished the first drafts of the third book in the series with Biosphere in it, and the third book of the Mind Master Chronicles series. Currently, I’ve been writing Book 4 of the Mind Master Chronicles, Book 2 of the book in the series with Biosphere in it and my other standalone book.

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The Unwinnable Game

Posted in Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , on October 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The Unwinnable Game

It seems that some people can’t fathom the possibility of a game you cannot win. We’ve been raised to believe that those in authority wouldn’t design a game where losing is inevitable. But why not? If you can convince people they can win, no matter how remote the possibility, they will continue to play. Even if you change the rules in the middle of the game, people will persist. So deep is the denial — the lack of desire to accept the reality of an inevitable loss — that they will hold on to any false hope that they can cling to in order to avoid coming to that conclusion.

I also find it interesting that it seems natural to people that an outmanned and/or outgunned force can defeat a much more powerful enemy. It’s a common theme in movies, and people don’t question whether or not it’s realistic. People also apply it to real-life scenarios as well. It seems this belief hasn’t been conditioned out of us as so many other ones have. And yet, where does it come from? On its face, it seems implausible; the ones with the bigger weapons and larger numbers should seemingly always win. And yet they don’t always win. So, why is that? Unfortunately, people are often too eager to credit themselves for saving the day when if fact the One who deserves the credit is God.

The fact is there are games human beings cannot win — odds that human beings cannot beat. But there is no game God cannot win — no odds God cannot defeat. I like to say that God is the only One who can win at chess with just pawns (and a king).

It’s not surprising, therefore, that people who have aspirations for world domination would first begin by undermining society’s belief in God. The only way they can be defeated is God. The only way we can win is through repentance and reconciliation with God. And the way of reconciliation is through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

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God Controls the Outcome

Posted in Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , on October 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

God controls the outcome. Any person who claims to have control over the outcome of anything is either engaging in self-delusion or is a bald-faced liar. A lot of would-be tyrants try their best to convince people that it’s only the ends that matter, and that they alone have control over the outcome. And they use displays of ruthless power to demoralize people into believing that the tyrant’s desired ends are inevitable. But the means do matter. They aren’t justified by the ends. The means matter if for no other reason than they matter to God. And in the end, the outcome is God’s domain. He’s the One — the only One who can control the outcome.

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Writing Update # 2

Posted in Biosphere, Break the Leg to Bend the Knee, Labyrinth, Mind Master Chronicles, News, Puppet on a String, Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I am delving into editing now. Biosphere has been typed; now I have to continue with my commitment to get it done. I can edit, but I don’t enjoy editing. And really it’s hard to shift gears — to go from creative flow, which is enjoyable, to perfectionistic nitpicking, which is not. Plus, there seems to be an impossibility of anything being perfect in the English language. You’d think that would be a relief — that that would mean a reduction of expectations. But in reality, it seems to be the opposite. The lack of consensus on a lot of things means that routinely people will think that you’re wrong, and you just have to live with that. Still, I like writing in English. Not only is it familiar, but it also has more flexibility than any language I’m aware of, so the capacity of self-expression is pretty high.

In order to try to get Biosphere ready by Cyber Monday, my self-imposed goal, I’m reducing work in other areas. I’m only consistently writing in two books rather than four at the moment — unless I feel inspired to write something. I’m finishing up the third book in the Mind Master Chronicles series and the second book in the series with Biosphere in it. Right now Mind Master Chronicles Book 3 is being typed, but only at most two pages a day until Biosphere is published. I made a schedule for myself for the editing, formatting, and cover. Now I have to stick to it.

As far as the writing goes, the second book in the series with Biosphere in it has turned out to be unpredictable. I’ve been letting it go its own way rather than having a set direction for it. That seems to work for it.

As far as Mind Master Chronicles Book 3 goes, it is darker and more violent than I anticipated — much like the world itself. So, I don’t know if I should set it as an adult book like I did Break the Leg to Bend the Knee. Mind Master Chronicles Book 3 lacks sexual content, and it’s really not more violent than say The Hunger Games, but I’m finding it to be kind of psychologically disturbing to get into the head of a sadistic psychopath. Of course, I’m not sure how realistic Kurt is as a sadistic psychopath, but it feels realistic. I don’t know. I may err on the side of caution and just set it to adult. The first two books are really complete in and of themselves, so you don’t have to read Book 3 to have a complete story it you find it disturbing. But I do think it’s a worthwhile book since I find most things in the world disturbing now, and yet so many people don’t seem to see how truly disturbing the world is.

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Writing update

Posted in Break the Leg to Bend the Knee, Labyrinth, Mind Master Chronicles, News, Puppet on a String, Thoughts of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

8/26/23

https://jenniferalicechandler.substack.com

I’ve started a newsletter publication on Substack. It’s entitled Land of Dystopia. I try to analyze some of the current events and figure out the motivations of people making decisions. I also try to analyze the current worldview through the lens of my worldview — which is based on Judeo-Christianity. It’s hard sometimes when you’re inundated with one worldview that’s often in direct conflict with your own. So, it’s therapeutic for me to dissect things like globalism and wokeism and try to figure out what they’re really saying beneath the platitudes and the rhetoric. I figure writing from a different perspective may also help people who have a similar worldview as mine sort through their feelings. As of right now an anti-God worldview is not only predominating the media, its adherents are actually taking over the world’s governments. Sometimes the only thing you can do besides pray is try to keep in touch with yourself and your own truth and not let them mess with your mind too much.

I’ve been pretty pleased with book sales. I got some readers from the Smashwords sale in July. I’m surprised that my paperbacks are selling so well. You don’t hear much about paperback sales anymore. I’m glad to see there’s still a market there, and I’m happy with Draft2Digital’s efforts to get my books out there!

Right now I’m working on several books. Four are in the writing process. I write mostly by hand in cursive. I write better by hand; it matches the way my brain works. I am actually using a lot of notebooks and going through a lot of pens! Then, the books have to be typed.

The typing is almost complete on a fifth book, which is the first book in a new series. This book is entitled Biosphere. The lead character is called Kenya Winters. The plot involves a scientific experiment that goes terribly wrong — leading to a population who feed off the energy of other people. It is projected to enter the editing process at the beginning of September. I usually go through the books at least twice. The first go through I call a hard edit since it involves content as well as grammar. Then, I go through it at least one more time for grammar and tweaking. Then, comes the formatting and the cover.

I’m hoping to have Biosphere ready to go for Cyber Monday in November, but my priority is for the book to be the best it can be rather then have the fastest turnover time possible.

As far as the other four I am currently writing — even though I only average about two pages a day, six days a week — I’ve gotten pretty far in most of them.

As soon as the typing is complete on Biosphere, the typing of the third installment in the Mind Master Chronicle series is slotted to begin. I am not quite finished writing it, but I’m close. It focuses in part on Kurt years later as well as two new characters. I actually write in part from Kurt’s perspective, which is quite the experience. Actually, at times it is rather disturbing. Anyway, two of the other books in progress are part of the same series as Biosphere. Book 2 is actually not as far along as book 3! The fourth book is a standalone new adult romance with some dystopian elements. The typing has already begun on that one — but at a slower pace. I’m combining source material from more than one book I wrote to form a new version. So, I needed to refresh my memory to what I had written before. It should make for an interesting edit.

I hope to have the third book of the Mind Master Chronicles done by the spring of 2024. The second book from the same series as Biosphere I’m hoping to have set to go for fall of 2024. God willing.

Thanks for reading this! And thanks especially to those who have been reading my books!

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