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Video Trailer for ‘A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due’
I have so much fun making these! A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due, is now available widely. You can get it on Amazon HERE.
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My Interview by Dawn Barclay of Mystery Writers of America (NY Chapter), On Staying Motivated
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The Twist Podcast #245: Thanksgiving Thicket, Tuberville’s Tantrum, and An Interview Small Plate with Author Dave Hughes
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we chat up Thanksgiving, ponder the damage done to military families by Senator Tommy Tuberville, and enjoy an excerpt from Mark’s One Thing or Another Podcast interview with author Dave Hughes. News, views, and more Twist listicles.
The Twist Podcast is brought to you by Queer We Are where you’ll find a podcast, newsletter, merch and more in the Queer We Are shop.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2023 MadeMark Publishing
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One Thing or Another: Age Is Not Just a Number
Narration provided by Wondervox.
By Mark McNease
Welcome back to the One Thing or Another column: A lighthearted look at life, aging, and the absurdities of it all.
“Age is just a number!” How many times have we heard this uttered with grating cheer, as if getting older was just a figment of someone else’s imagination. To this way of thinking, I’m not really real, I’m a number-defying sprite whose bones, sinews, and brain aren’t in their mid-60s, but somewhere preferable, perhaps 40. I have the luxury of pretending to be any age but the one I am. I’ve always cringed when I heard this, and I always will.
Age is not just a number. Age is empirical. Age is a measurement—how many times the Earth has traveled around the sun, with me on the bridge watching it all speed by. Age is the number of years my knees have carried my fluctuating weight, and how many mornings my eyes have opened to a new day. Age is the truth, and I’m not someone who wants to hide from it with platitudes, euphemisms, and make-believe.
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The Twist Podcast #244: House Speaker Squeaker, Belize Please, and an Interview with Rob Pero, Founder of Canndigenous
Rob Pero, Founder of Canndigenous
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we strap back into the hotseat after a few weeks off. We chat about the House Speaker Follies, Rick’s upcoming trip to Belize, and enjoy an interview with Rob Pero, Found of Canndigenous, a Native-owned CBD company dedicated to helping the indigenous community it supports.
Rob Pero is a serial entrepreneur, savvy marketer, and proud member of the Bad River Tribe. Like preceding generations of Ojibwe people, his core values are rooted in love for family, support for community, respect for the natural world, and a commitment to doing everything, as the Ojibwe say, ‘in a good way’.
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MadeMark Publishing Now on Shopify – That’s Me!
You have to start somewhere. My eBooks will all be on Shopify soon. And I’ll be using my storefront for much more. Stay tuned!
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Ann Cleeves Hits Another Homerun in the Matthew Venn Series
Narration provided by Wondervox.
Cross-posted from LGBTSr.com.
By Mark McNease
I’ll be talking some more about Ann Cleeves’ Matthew Venn series on the upcoming Mark McNease Mysteries Podcast.
What stands out in this series is the exploration of identity, relationships, and the shades of gray in between. It’s an effective combination of a gripping mystery and a deep, personal journey.
I’m a relatively recent fan of established mystery master Ann Cleeves. With her intricate plots and deep, complex characters, it’s no surprise that this British author is one of the leading figures in contemporary mystery fiction. She creates atmospheric settings that make you feel like you’re right there on scene, whether it’s the wild and windy Shetland Islands or the quaint, secluded villages of Northumberland.
She’s invented some of the most iconic detective characters in contemporary fiction: Jimmy Perez from the ‘Shetland’ series, and Vera Stanhope from the ‘Vera Stanhope’ series. Both protagonists exhibit layers of complexity that make them as unpredictable as the mysteries they’re trying to solve. They become like old friends who you’ve known forever, with all their quirks and idiosyncrasies.
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The Weekly Readlines October 19
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
I worked at Reuters News for 11 years in the Editorial Department. They have a giant book in the lobby that has the photos and stories of journalists killed over the company’s long history while doing their jobs. They will be adding another one: Issam Abdullah was killed in an Israeli Airstrike. Professional journalists do not engage in fake news, no matter what anyone says.
President Biden visited Israel to show his support for the country at war with Hamas. A strike that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital was first blamed on an Israeli airstrike, but later determined to have been fired from within Gaza by its own extremists.
Jim “See No Evil” Jordan continues to fall short of the votes needed to make him the worst Speaker of the House in the nation’s history. Perhaps those aging college wrestlers reminding people that he did and said nothing about their reports of sexual abuse has had an impact?
And Tommy Tuberville, who insists on being called Coach as if he’s the star in a bad sitcom, continues to knee-cap the military with his hold on promotions.
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Health Beat: Is Cannabis Right for You?
Narration provided by Wondervox.
By Mark McNease
Once Upon a Gummy
I’ll be honest: I’m a cannabis guy. I haven’t had a drink for 9-plus years, but several years ago I wanted something to help with stress management. A friend gave me a cannabis gummy, and I took half of it. After years of apprehension, I discovered the sky did not fall, I didn’t want to run off to the nearest drug dealer or bar stool, and I quite enjoyed it.
After years with a clear head, I do not like feeling intoxicated by anything. I did that for decades as a young person, even having a reputation as a pothead in high school. That kind of misuse, of the psychotropic components of marijuana and of my own mind and body, holds no allure for me at this age and hasn’t for a long time.
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The Weekly Readlines October 12
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
War in Israel. I have no words.
In a choice between horrible and worse, GOP Reps Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise are competing to be House Speaker. Expect a buffet of shutdown extortion, lies, and base-thrilling vengeance in either case. America, we hardly knew ye. Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene, classy as ever, says she won’t support Scalise because he has cancer.
And the cherry on top of the hate cake goes to Alabama, where a children’s book that has nothing to do with being gay and no gay characters, was flagged in a public library system because the author’s last name is Gay. If you’re not awake yet, queer folk, you better set your alarms!
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The Weekly Readlines October 6
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Quote for the Week: “Vacations mean a change of pace, a gentleness with ourselves, a time of rest and renewal, and a time to stretch ourselves and encounter new people, new lands, new ways, and new options.”—Anne Wilson Schaef
Speaker McCarthy out, Paris bed bugs in! For the first time in American history, the Speaker of the House has been removed, in a charge led by the inimitable Matt Gaetz. Claims that Gaetz is behind the historic Paris bed bug infestation have yet to be confirmed. Mais oui!
California Governor Gavin Newsom named Laphonza Butler, president of pro-choice Emily’s List, to replace the late Diane Feinstein. Butler is both Black and a lesbian, making this a double dose of deliciousness.
The MAGA government shutdown was averted at the very last moment by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s refusal to be extorted. We know the price he paid.
Trump, more accustomed to gagging people than being gagged, was ordered to stop issuing fatwas against law clerks and attorneys general on his bizarre social media platform. The countdown clock to his violation of the order is ticking, with Vegas odds makers favoring jail time.
And my favorite nearby town, Lambertville, NJ, was named among the most charming in the country. I told you so!
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The Twist Podcast #243: Canada Calling, Bed Bug Couture, and an Interview with Podcaster Mark Goldstein
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we chat about Mark’s upcoming Canadian cruise, speculate on the language skills of French bed bugs, and enjoy an interview with Mark Goldstein, founder and podcast host of Where Do Gays Retire?
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2023 MadeMark Publishing
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Cover Reveal for ‘Dreamshaping: On Shaping Reality and Living Our Dreams’
The eBook is up now at Amazon, with the paperback coming out very soon.
I’ve been working on this longer than any book I will ever write. It first came to me about 18 years ago when I was sitting on a beach on Long Island. One of my goals for 2023 was to finally finish it. Almost there …
“It’s understandable that we can react with fear to what we think our bodies are telling us. Who doesn’t assume a grave prognosis when we go to the doctor looking for answers? It’s as natural as gasping for that first breath, terrified there will not be enough air left for another, and another, and another until we take our last. But denying our body’s messages, or pretending they’re not speaking to us at all when in fact they may be shouting, is an invitation to harm and frustration.
Begin to hear your body. Be quiet with it and let yourself learn its language. You are its first and truest friend. You are the one it longs to communicate with. And when it asks you to pay attention, let nothing be more important than understanding what it has told you. When we become the best interpreter of our body’s language, we begin to live in partnership with it, and to trust it will never lead us astray. We may not always like what it has to say, and sometimes what it tells us will be devastating, but we will listen carefully. The answers are there, and in those answers is the opportunity for peace, acceptance and change.”
From When the Body Speaks, Listen (Chapter 15)
Discover this and many other ways we inhabit the dreams we call our lives, how we create them day by day, and how we can begin to experience them as the ultimate lucid dream. No supernatural assistance is required, no surrender to powers outside ourselves.
Dreamshaping is not wishful thinking: it is wishful doing. In this simple guide, this dreamshaper’s manual, you’ll find chapter after chapter of simple insights: how the body speaks to us, how we make choices that determine our experiences, how we act, often unknowingly, as the architect, landscaper, set designer and director of our own existence.
Keep reading, and see what simple reflection and observation can reveal about the lives we live, and the lives we create, in which we’re both the dreamer and the dream.”