Tag: #amwriting

Posted in Non-fiction

Health Insurance, Local Business, and Big Corporations

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0556

Health insurance changes every year. I know that my plan is with one insurer for a few years, then switches over to another insurer for a few years. Different insurers have varying requirements. The same is true if you have a separate prescription plan like I do. My prescription plan works with my insurer but is through another company. It can often be frustrating to figure out the requirements of your insurance plan. A separate prescription plan just adds another layer of confusion.

Until this year, I have been able to use my local pharmacy to fill my prescriptions. My local pharmacy is not one of the big ones. It is not a Walgreen’s or a CVS. It is a small, local pharmacy. The kind that you don’t find much anymore. It’s independently owned by people in the community. It even still has a soda fountain. It is the business you can think of when you hear the slogan, “Support local business.”

I have a special attachment to this pharmacy as most people do to local pharmacies. My parents used this pharmacy. I use this pharmacy. It’s been in our family for a long time. Unfortunately, because of my prescription plan, that will no longer be true.

In their infinite wisdom, my insurance plan,  through my teacher’s retirement pension plan, has determined that we can only get affordable prescriptions if we use their mail order service. I have researched this thoroughly because I don’t want to leave my local pharmacy, but I’m not going to have a choice if I want to stay financially solvent. After extensive conversations with both my health insurance company and the prescription company, it has become obvious that I am stuck with mail order. Let me give you an example.

Drugs are divided up into tiers. I have a prescription for a Tier II drug. My local pharmacy can offer this drug, since I had to change to my new health insurance policy/prescription plan, for $174/month. This is a drug I have to take. Since I am a retiree on a fixed income, that was just a bit beyond my means. So I started talking to the mail order company to find out why this is true. The mail order company told me that I can get the same drug, through them, for a $20 co-pay for three months.

You tell me. Am I being forced by this new health insurance plan to use the mail order company rather than my local pharmacy? Of course I am. If a large mail order company can be subsidized to the point where they can offer this drug in question for a $20 copay, why can’t the local pharmacy be subsidized as well so they would not lose their business? This practice by health insurance companies is not supportive of local business and, instead, forcing local pharmacies out of business. I could even go so far as to say it is creating a monopoly on prescriptions with mail-order pharmacies.

It is similar to the Wal-Mart phenomenon. When Wal-Mart came in to small towns, it drove many small town business out of business.

Large corporations, with government cooperation and their subsidies, are participating in driving small, local business out of business. This is not the America I know.

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 3/4/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

image

Good morning, everyone. Please come in and share coffee and tea with me. I have a new and wonderful Earl Grey Tea for you to try and my regular coffee from Jamaica, both regular and decaf. Help yourself and let’s go to my writing studio to talk!

If we were having coffee,  I would ask you how you have been this week? How is your writing going? I have written some for my blog, but more on my novel than on the blog. I’ve added about 5,000 words to my novel which pleases me! I have put part of one chapter from my novel on this blog in order to get feedback from other writers. If you’re so inclined, please help me out by providing some feedback. It is not a finished chapter. But it is part of the backstory of the protagonist.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that, yes, the muse has been with me this week. I’m really into writing my novel right now. Unfortunately, we are also getting ready for our move to Florida, so the rest of the weekend, after I finish this blog post, will have to be devoted to that. It is a huge job to divide our stuff up to take enough to Florida and pack it. I’ve never been very good at this kind of thing.

It’s not such a hard job to divide up household stuff. I find that dividing up clothes is the hardest part.

If we were having coffee, I don’t think I could help but mention the political situation in the U.S. I don’t think it matters which side you’re on – Republican or Democrat Everyone seems worried about what is going on with the Executive Branch of government, including me. I find myself watching Cable News way too much. It seems like there is a disaster or two daily. We aren’t a very good example of a functioning democracy these days. Unless things get better, I think some changes are going to have to be made. Can the U.S. continue to be “the shining city on the hill?” Have we already fallen from grace?

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that since I got back to Kentucky from Florida, I am not handling the cold very well. There is a 40F degree difference and it has really bothered me. I’ve been sick twice since I’ve been here. At this point in my life, I crave a warm environment. Last I heard, it was 92F and dry where we live in Florida. It is 41F degrees where I live in Kentucky and wet most of the time. I don’t think this climate is good for me. Since my friends also seem to be sick, I could draw the conclusion it isn’t good for anyone!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that since I am writing a psychological thriller, I’ve decided I should be reading some psychological thrillers. Of course, I have in the past but I need to be now. One I chose and am reading now is “The Couple Next Door” by Shari Lapena. It’s a New York Times best seller and it is, indeed, a psychological thriller. I’m enjoying it, but I think it drags a little. A thriller has to be fast-moving.

We’ve had little winter, a really cold winter, here in Kentucky. The foliage is starting to bloom and blossom. I so hope everything doesn’t get killed back. It really is such a beautiful state. I just need something different in my life. Does that make sense? Have a wonderful week!

Posted in Challenges

The Project of Writing a Novel – #SoCS 3/4/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0319

I’ve mentioned in these stream of consciousness posts that I’m writing a novel. I suspect it is a little like giving birth. This project is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but one of the most fulfilling.

I changed careers in the middle of my life. I finished a career as a college professor after 27 years. I still felt young and strong and interested in the world around me. I wasn’t ready to quit work and retire to my rocking chair. I have been writing since I was a child. My first story was published in the Highlights for Children publication. Then, during my teaching career, I published many academic writings. Near the end of that career, I started writing for a financial brokerage and was writing for them, when I wasn’t at school, on 9/11. Writing about 9/11 gave me some serious writing chops. I was hired to write for the New York Times division, About.com. I was their Subject Matter Expert on finance and wrote, edited, and became the webmaster for their Business Finance website. I held that gig for five years. That gave way to writing for corporations, usually online learning materials for their executives. I also wrote many non-fiction articles for online and offline magazines.

So here I am. With my own blog where I started out writing well-researched non-fiction and I still write some of that. I took some writing classes through Udemy and read authors like Stephen King and Rayne Hall. I’ve studied writing extensively. I, then, started writing some of the fiction challenges here on WordPress which have helped me enormously and I decided to try my hand at my first novel. I knew the story I wanted to tell. I just had to figure out how to tell it, which is a daily process.

A good novel that you plan to hand to a publisher is about 80,000 words. That is long and hard and requires that you study all elements of writing fiction. I’m closing in on the first of three parts of this novel which is a psychological thriller. The first part, indeed all three parts, will be 26,000 words or thereabouts. It’s exhausting and very satisfying work. If you are interested in writing a novel, I’d recommend you read Stephen King’s book “On Writing” first.

I’d love to hear any comment you want to make or any advice! I’m a novice and still have a lot to learn!

SoCS 3/4/2017

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 2/25/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0373

Good morning! It’s nice to see you. I can offer you coffee and tea this morning. I have some wonderful green tea, if you’re brave, and some Jamaician coffee which can’t be beat. Besides that, I have morning blend coffee and English Breakfast tea. Please help yourself. We’ll be meeting in my writing studio.

I’m so glad you’ve come this morning. I enjoy our #weekendcoffeeshares so very much! Can you believe our weather? Yesterday, we had record heat. Here, at my house, it was 78F degrees in February! Then the storm last night. Right now, it’s 47 degrees here and it’s supposed to freeze tonight! That’s Kentucky, I guess. If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I would love to hear how your writing is going? After taking what amounted to a writing break, I’m trying to get back into the swing of things. I’m writing a little on my novel every day. I have a paid writing gig that I’m working on – a guest blog post for a very interesting website. I’m also trying to keep up here, with my blog. I would like to find a few more challenges here on WordPress. If any of you know of some challenges that involve writing longer pieces than flash fiction, please clue me in.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I’m trying to learn to use Twitter to find writing resources and grow my business. Do any of you make use of Twitter? One thing I’ve found is that there is a vast array of writing resources out there in the ether! So many resources there is no way I can keep up but I’m making use of the ones I find as I can.

If we were having coffee, I would let you know that I’m getting ready to go back to Florida in a month and take possession of the little home I bought there. I have so much to do before I can do that like do my income taxes! It’s that time of year and I’m always late getting started. I’m gathering my material together now. I have to take household items with me to Florida this time for my home there along with clothes that I want to leave there. I’m planning on staying a couple of months and then coming back to Kentucky for the summer. No summers in South Florida!! At least not yet. I’ll go back for the winter in October or November.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my writing goal is to write 10,000 words on my novel while I am in Florida. It is not an unrealistic goal and it will not stress me too much. I feel like traveling enriches writing and even though the story for my novel is in my head, perhaps I can use my travels to enrich my novel. My guest blog post will also be due during the time I’m there. It will be a challenge to get my home in good shape and meet my writing goals at the same time while I’m in Florida.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you about an author, Rayne Hall, who I encountered on Twitter. He has written some very helpful books on writing. They are short, to the point. They are on topics like finding your voice, characterization, and more. I’ve found them helpful. Check him out. I found his books on amazon.

If we were having coffee, I would remind you that I like science so I’ve been really excited by the discovery of the fairly nearby Earth-like planets that scientists just discovered. The planets orbiting the star called TRAPPIST-1, in the Constellation Aquarius. I think the fact that these planets lie in the Aquarius Constellation is pretty cool, considering I’m a former flower child. 🙂 Back to the discovery! The planets are a mere 40 light years away, which is very far. Three of them, scientists say, could be ready for habitation within 10 years. The challenge for scientists is to find out if any of the planets are, indeed, habitable. For example, is there enough oxygen in their atmosphere? That’s only one question they have to answer. I’ll be following this story!

I’ll have to tell you goodbye for today. I must get to work! I’d love to hear about your writing and anything else that’s important to you in the comments! I look forward to reading your #weekendcoffeeshare!

Posted in Fiction

Censorship and the Bookstore on the Corner

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

The little bookstore used to be one of the gathering places in the small village. The front of the bookstore had the current bestsellers and also some books that were worthy but that had not caught the eye of the public. As you walked toward the back of the bookstore, the books got older and more were in paperback. All were carefully vetted by the owner, Pete Turner. All he wanted was high quality literature in his store.

This was before the federal government stepped in and started banning books. There were always sectors of society that banned books. Public schools. Libraries. They usually banned them because they contained sex, violence, profanity. Pete bought books for literary value. That was in the past. Before the federal government, beginning in 2017, sent out squads of soldiers to pull books off the shelf that were on their banned book lists.

It was hypocrisy. The Holy Bible was always on the banned book list. That was the only banned book the soldiers left intact on the shelves.

What the squads of soldiers didn’t know is that Pete kept shelves of banned books hidden in the basement of his bookstore. He had put book jackets on the banned books that were fake. The jackets from other books that were on the government’s approved list.

In 2017, the federal government decided to try to control the American people’s reading material. They were relentless. They went into libraries and schools and stripped the shelves of any book on the list and even some that weren’t. Bookstores were hit especially hard. They even pulled the Harry Potter series off the shelves. It had been on the banned book list off and on and so many children had enjoyed it. Harry Potter was the number one banned book between 2000-2009 according to the information Pete had. After they pulled the books off shelves, they piled them in the street and burned them.

People were afraid to gather in Pete’s bookstore now. His business had dropped by half. He owned his store fair and square. There was no mortgage on it. That was the only way he was staying in business at all. Many bookstores were going out of business.

The people who were in favor of the actions of the federal government with regard to banning books didn’t see the problem. Some thought it was a good thing that these books that talked about issues that made them uneasy and afraid were being burned in  the streets. The others, the ones who thought the federal government was overstepping, brought up the First Amendment and freedom of speech. They said that banning books and burning them in the streets was a violation of the First Amendment. Banning books and burning them in the street was the ultimate in censorship.

Just recently, Pete had learned through his distributors of books, that the federal government had ordered that production be stopped of the books on the banned book list by the book publishers. These publishers were high-profile. Pete had also learned through his contacts that smaller publishers had started producing these banned books under the radar. They were booklegging. Producing banned books illicitly. Otherwise, these wonderful books would be lost forever. Books like “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck; “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain; “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee; “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley; and many, many more. If these small publishers were discovered, there would be terrible consequences compliments of the federal government.

Pete’s bookstore had a supply of many of the banned books camouflaged in his basement. He was essentially running a library out of his basement and loaned them to people who wanted to read them. Pete, himself, would suffer consequences if he was discovered. Even though many people now avoided his bookstore, there was a core group of readers that still came in, had coffee and tea, and browsed. They were defiant of the federal government. Pete was so glad to see them. These people recognized censorship for what it was.

Pete had been able to obtain and keep some history books that detailed what had happened in the Fascist regime in Germany. If the soldiers found these books, they would take them and burn them, but Pete tried to keep them available for all his patrons to read. In 1933, Hitler’s regime burned 25,000 books supposedly to remove the Jewish influence from Nazi Germany. Books from scholars such as Freud and Einstein were among these books and some were irreplaceable. Censorship through book burning was a hallmark of the German Fascist regime. Pete wanted history books available for his patrons so they could read about this movement. He was afraid he would be found out. In Germany, booklegging became popular but was shut down.

Pete spent his days as proprietor of his bookstore trying to keep a low profile while encouraging the people of the village to frequent his bookstore. It was a fine line to walk. The squads of soldiers appeared at his door on a regular basis but they found fewer and fewer books to burn. All his banned books were camouflaged and hidden. Pete is noticing that more people in the village, people who are surprising to him, are coming in to have coffee and talk with him. They carefully ask to see his history books and occasionally, the banned books. This gives Pete hope, for his business and for his country.

Pete’s little bookstore in the village remains. The story has no ending yet. Pete and at least some of the people in the village have hope that the First Amendment of their Constitution will be respected in the future and censorship and the issue of banned books will become a thing of the past.

amwriting with The Writing Reader

Posted in Flash Fiction

Snowball Fight

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0551

“Daniel, this the first snow in five years. It’s beautiful, but I wonder what it means?”

“Yes, Kate. Since that very warm winter we had in 2017, the weather during the last five years has been unheard of across the U.S. as well as right here in Kentucky.”

“Daniel, when were growing up, and even as young adults, we had big snows and brutal cold here. Now that type of weather is only in northern Canada.”

“Kate, let’s just go take a walk in the snow and enjoy it. We still have coats, don’t we?”

“Snowball fight!”

Posted in Non-fiction

Forgiveness

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Forgiveness is divine.

Most of what I’ve written recently has been fiction. I may write a story or a scene from a story about this topic – forgiveness – as well. This post is more like a journal entry, a nonfiction post, about forgiveness.

Have you ever felt that someone has wronged you? Really wronged you in a hurtful way? Being wronged in an intimate relationship may be one of the worst ways to be wronged, but it is certainly not the only bad way. Parents wrong children. Children wrong parents. The list goes on. This post veers more toward two people hurting each other in a love relationship and how to achieve foregiveness. I do not profess to be an expert but a neophyte. I’m only jotting down my thoughts.

Some of us may find ourselves in a relationship that perhaps we shouldn’t be in. To make it more complex, maybe we should be in it but it isn’t ours to be in at that moment in time. We may love someone, but circumstances make the relationship complex, complicated, difficult, even impossible. No matter how much we want that relationship to work. Other people may be involved and in the line of fire to be hurt or damaged in some way because of this relationship. Relationships, as we all know, can be complex, convoluted, and involve more than just the two people involved.

Because of the stress on relationships that are difficult and complex, those relationships will splinter and shatter at some point. Both people may agree to go their separate ways. One person in the relationship may decide, on their own, that they must end the relationship. The optimal thing to do, of course, is for the two people to sit down, talk, and bring an end to the relationship together. I am not saying that would be easy, but it’s the best way.

But, people are complex creatures with highly charged emotions, particularly in love relationship. They have their own individual problems and idiosyncracies, complications in their lives, and individual ways of handling things. Not everyone is going to handle breakups of love relationships in the same way. Some people are non-confrontational by nature. Because of all these factors and others, someone is bound to get hurt when a love relationship ends. Maybe even both people, even though one is doing the ending.

So what happens next? Usually anger, hurt, grief, sadness, even the desire for revenge in some cases, though not necessarily in that order. How do you make your way toward forgiveness? Can that even happen?

As I said earlier in this treatise, I am a neophyte in this area, but I think it can. It depends on the people involved, of course. One thing I do know is that it takes time and thought. If you are the person who has been told that the love relationship is over, then you have to get past your anger in order to see things clearly. You have to try to put your hurt and sadness aside long enough to think logically about what happened and why it may have happened. You have to be honest with yourself. It may take some time.

Remember back to the time when your relationship was good. If you trusted your partner then, you need to trust that former partner now. Quite probably, there was a good reason that they ended the relationship that may have little to do with you. It may have more to do with the circumstances of the relationship and their life. Your former partner may not have done a perfect job of ending the relationship. In fact, that is almost certainly true. But, they did what they had to do and hoped you would trust them and understand.

If you can see this, you are at the beginning of forgiveness. Only the beginning, but you have taken the first step. If you can draw on the trust you had for your partner when you were together, it will help you take this first step. It doesn’t mean your hurt or sadness or grief will just go away. Of course, they won’t. The bad feelings you have about the relationships may start to lessen, however. You may start to see things from your former partner’s point of view.

If you are a vengeful person, you need to let go of any feelings of revenge. I, personally, am not a person who seeks revenge so I have a hard time relating to it. I tend to beat myself up instead. Revenge will hurt you far more than the person upon who you are seeking revenge.

If you need to remove the person who hurt you from your thoughts, forgiveness will help you do this. As for me, I want to forgive but keep the person in my thoughts. I’ve taken the first step. We had thousands of wonderful times together during our lives. I want to remember all those times without scarring them with the hurt of the end of the relationship. Yes, this part is a challenge.

I’ll be writing more on this topic. It’s cathartic for me and I hope a help to some of you.

Prompt #953

Posted in Flash Fiction

Fear of Flying

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0550

Violet had never been afraid of flying. She was flying to her new home in South Florida late this afternoon. She was terrified. She had scheduled an appointment with her sleep doctor for something to take the edge off so she could even board the damn plane. He would also have the results of her sleep tests.

She was shell-shocked when she walked out of his office. He had given her a prescription for her fear of flying along with her diagnosis. PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He wanted to know what had happened since he saw her last.

She knew now what was wrong. The last time she had been at an airport. The airport in St. Louis. A traumatic experience. The man she loved had flown away – forever.

Violet put the prescription in the trash. That was not going to destroy her life.

Posted in #SoCS

#SoCS – 2/18/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0319

Is it Winter?, Basketball, Reading, Writing

After being in South Florida for a month, I am confused about the seasons. When I was in Florida, I forgot it was winter. Now, I’m home in Kentucky and the temperatures are very warm for this time of year – in the 60s and even 70s. From what my friends here tell me, Kentucky really hasn’t had much of a winter this year. My psyche is confused about the seasons. I guess it will be from now on since we will be living six months in Florida (winter) and six months in Kentucky (summer) so we will sort of be in perpetual summer. Suits me just fine.

Yes, we are home from Florida and the amount of just “stuff” I have to put away, launder, and arrange is mind blowing. What I would rather be doing is writing. I didn’t get to write nearly as much as I wanted while in “The Sunshine State.” I will rectify that while in Kentucky. Now that we actually have a place to live in Florida, I will now be able to write there as well. No longer will be living like gypsies while in Florida!

I love college basketball! I’m watching a game between my beloved University of Kentucky Wildcats and the Georgia Bulldogs. I don’t like professional sports, however.  We’ll be able to pick up the basketball games while in Florida as we will use a satellite dish.

Have you read anything good lately? The novel I’m writing is a psychological thriller so I’m trying to read other psychological thrillers to get a sense of their style. I’m currently reading “The Couple Next Door” by Shari Lapena. I think the author could have done a better job in building up suspense. Besides that, it is a very good book and I would recommend it. Do you have any suggestions?

I always like to exchange writing tips. My tip for today is to try to write something, anything every day to keep your hand in. Any tips? Put them in the comments section.

That’s it for now!

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare, weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 02/18/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

img_0373

Florida, Climate Change, and Extreme Life

Good morning! Welcome to #weekendcoffeeshare! I want to invite everyone in for coffee, tea, hot chocolate or the beverage of your choice. I am liking the Indian Spice Chai Tea because I don’t drink coffee. We have many different types of coffee and tea here for your drinking pleasure!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my #weekendcoffeeshares have been odd the past few weeks because I’ve been traveling but I am back home and back to normal now. Traveling has really done a number on my writing. I’ve gotten a bit of writing done but have done absolutely nothing on my novel. I have to get back to work on it as soon as possible. Traveling does, I think, enrich your writing.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope all of you are doing well and that your writing muse is with you. I hope you’ll share your writing experiences with me in the comments and I look forward to reading your #weekendcoffeeshares.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that it is indeed interesting to now anticipate  living in the tropics six months each year. We are going to be living far enough south in Florida that it is certainly in a tropical zone. That is quite different from the temperate zone in which I live now. I do so love it there, however. But, I’m concerned. I don’t know about each of you, but I do believe in climate change and that the actions we take effect our climate. It seems that one of the key cabinet positions in the Trump Administration is now being run by an individual who does not believe in climate change and that does not bode well for keeping the regulations we have concerning the climate in place.

Florida is one of the states in the U.S. that will be first affected by rising sea levels. My new little home there is only one mile from the coast so I am concerned. Tides are getting higher. Real estate values, tourism, and Florida’s fresh water supply are already being affected. Florida is also getting hotter. When I was there this winter, it was above 80 almost every day in the Ft. Myers area. In late January and early February. I believe climate change is real and, living in Florida, you experience it first hand.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I have a lot of different interests. One of them is science and I read something this week I want to tell you about. Scientists have discovered a Mexican cave system that is incredibly beautiful but so hot that they call it both Fairyland and Hell. In that cave system are microbes that they think are at least 50,000 years old and have survived by living on minerals such as manganese and iron. They are called “extreme life” but they are not the oldest extreme life. To illustrate how extreme they are, they are very far from their nearest relative — as far as humans are from mushrooms. Just a science tidbit I thought you’d find interesting!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope to have some new writing to tell you next week, such as the fact that I’m making progress on my novel!

I have to go now and finish our unpacking from a month-long RV trip. A huge job. I’ve enjoyed being back with you!