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One Thing or Another: Are We There Yet?
By Mark McNease
It’s always One Thing or Another… a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
“Who was that masked man?”
– The Lone Ranger
I’ve learned the past year that it’s possible to forget what someone looks like without a mask, as well as to marvel at the face of someone I’ve never seen without one. In the grocery store where I work four days a week, masks have been omnipresent for over a year now, especially among those of use who work there, euphemistically called ‘associates.’
I wear a mask because I’m required to, and because I care about my community, my family, and bringing this all to some kind of end. But I don’t like it. In this case, ‘hate’ is not too strong a work. My glasses fog up. I breathe my own spittle. And I often wonder, as we enter the post-vaccination stage, how long we’ll have to keep wearing them, and how much of it is requirement and how much is conditioning. I imagine we’ll find out as states begin to eliminate mask mandates and companies follow suit. I will add, with emphasis, that not getting the flu last year was a big plus. Masks are uncomfortable and often annoying, but they have helped us minimize our contagious disease transmission to an amazing level.
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Restaurant Review: The Black Bass Hotel, 5 Yums with a River View
By Mark McNease
Restaurant reviews are based on a 5 Yum scale, 5 meaning put it on your must list, 1 meaning avoid at all costs.The Black Bass Hotel
3774 River Road
Lumberville, PA 18933
(215) 297-9260
Website: blackbasshotel.com
Spend Meter: $$$$
Service: Excellent
Now that we and our friends have all been fully vaccinated, it’s time to get out there and enjoy each other’s company again. What better way to do that than with a fine meal in a fine restaurant?
My husband Frank and I have been getting takeout on Sundays for many months. It’s the end of my work week (Thursday through Sunday), and I’ve been determined not to cook, clean, or otherwise tax myself after putting in four days at the job. Once the pandemic started a year ago we followed all the precautions and restrictions, and with a few exceptions for outside dining last fall, we’ve been taking it easy with takeout.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: How to Write a Book
Photo by Sue Hardesty The following is reposted from LGBTSr.com.
By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: How to Write a BookI’m not giving away any secrets here. Not saying it’s simple or that anyone can do it if they send $25.00 to Post Office Box 1,2,3. Nope, it’s a personal journey and every story has a story. Here’s mine, about the writing of my newly released novel, Accidental Desperados.
This goes back to about 2007. I was living on the Oregon Coast, grateful to be renting a cottage on the property of the Pianist and the Handydyke. I was, and am, part of their lesbian family. I thought about that a lot, how gay people grow families of choice whose members nurture one another in minimal to large ways. I thought, wouldn’t it be cool, maybe even important, to write a multi-volume, intergenerational, lesbian family saga.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: How to Write a Book
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: How to Write a BookI’m not giving away any secrets here. Not saying it’s simple or that anyone can do it if they send $25.00 to Post Office Box 1,2,3. Nope, it’s a personal journey and every story has a story. Here’s mine, about the writing of my newly released novel, Accidental Desperados.
This goes back to about 2007. I was living on the Oregon Coast, grateful to be renting a cottage on the property of the Pianist and the Handydyke. I was, and am, part of their lesbian family. I thought about that a lot, how gay people grow families of choice whose members nurture one another in minimal to large ways. I thought, wouldn’t it be cool, maybe even important, to write a multi-volume, intergenerational, lesbian family saga.
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Dave Hughes: The New Normal – Time for a Retirement Reset
This article first appeared at RetireFabulously.com. Reprinted with permission.
Dave Hughes Dave Hughes
RetireFabulously.comThe New Normal: Time for a Retirement Reset
As of April 19, about 40% of the people in the United States have received at least one vaccine shot and many of us in the older age brackets have received both. The pandemic isn’t over by any means, and it will continue to be a factor in our lives for many months to come, but there’s good reason for hope.
Like many people across the nation and around the world, you are probably eagerly anticipating a return to some form of normalcy. But what will this “new normal” look like?
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Book Review: The Son of Mr. Suleman, by Eric Jerome Dickey
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“The Son of Mr. Suleman” by Eric Jerome Dickey
c.2021, Dutton $27.00 / $36.00 Canada 560 pagesThe sins of the father shall be visited upon the son.
That’s what’s said, that a son pay for his father’s misdeeds, but maybe the old man didn’t intend to leave a negative legacy. Maybe he tried his best, but something went wrong. Maybe, as in the new novel “The Son of Mr. Suleman” by Eric Jerome Dickey, Pops meant well.
Adjunct Professor Pi Suleman didn’t want to be at his employer’s event. He had better things to do, better places to be than a room at UAN, but his boss, the white woman who hired him, the wife of a powerful judge, demanded that he be there or else.
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Q Audiobooks: Michael Craft’s Mark Manning Mysteries (1 through 3), Narrated by David Phillips
Longtime fans of gay mysteries know the name Michael Craft very well. His Mark Manning Mysteries are among the most successful and beloved in the genre, and he’s recently begun offering them as an audiobook series. Fasten your headphones and settle in for gripping good listening as narrator David Phillips brings Mark Manning, the characters, and these finely crafted stories to life. Click to enjoy samples and purchase on Audible.
You can hear my interview with the author on the One Thing or Another Podcast HERE.
Author Michael Craft Michael Craft is the author of 15 published novels, including the highly acclaimed Mark Manning mystery series, three installments of which were honored as finalists for Lambda Literary Awards. His latest title, “FlabberGassed: A Mister Puss Mystery,” marks his return to the gay-mystery genre — with a decidedly quirky twist. Craft grew up in Illinois and spent his middle years in Wisconsin, which inspired the fictitious small-town setting of his new book. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles, and now resides in Rancho Mirage, California. In 2017, Michael Craft’s professional archives were acquired by the Special Collections Department of the Rivera Library at the University of California, Riverside. Visit the author’s website at www.michaelcraft.com.
About the Mark Manning Series (from Book 1)
A masterpiece of mystery and suspense, this is the moving story of a man struggling to come to terms with his sexuality
Investigative journalist Mark Manning is on the trail of a story that could make his career. Airline heiress Helena Carter, who vanished seven years ago, is about to be declared legally dead. Her fortune, valued at over one hundred million dollars, will go to the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and the Federated Cat Clubs of America. Manning is the only one who believes that the missing Chicago socialite is still alive. And he’s just been given an ultimatum by his publisher: Prove it, or he’s history. Determined to keep his job—and hoping to secure the five-hundred-thousand-dollar reward from Carter’s estate, as well as the coveted Partridge Prize for investigative journalism—Manning enters a world of religious fanatics who could turn back the clock on gay rights. At the same time, Manning grapples with his own sexuality as he falls in love for the first time—with the man of his dreams. Flight Dreams is the first book in Michael Craft’s Mark Manning series, which continues with Eye Contact and Body Language.
Q Audiobooks features audiobooks for the LGBTQ listener. Hearing is believing …
Copyright Mark McNease / MadeMark Publishing. Join my email list for monthly updates.
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Four Audiobook Titles Now Discounted at Authors Direct!
In my ongoing push to free myself from exclusivity (KDP, ACX), I’ve added a storefront at Authors Direct with the four audiobooks I’ve been able to distribute widely. Hearing is believing! Fasten your headphones and enjoy the savings, too!
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The Twist Podcast #158: America’s Mental Health Crisis, Matt Gaetz Gone Wild, Twisted Listicles, and the Week in Headlines
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we consider the state of mental healthcare in America, Matt Gaetz’s shameless sexcapades, this week’s listicles, and a look at the headlines.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2021 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter!
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Supernatural Chiller ‘A House in the Woods’ Joins April Thriller Promo!
For the month of April my supernatural chiller, ‘A House in the Woods,’ is part of a Book Funnel discount promo. You can get lots of good mysteries, thriller and chillers for bargain prices, including books by Stephen Bentley, M.G. Cole, Lynn Emery, and many more. JUST CLICK HERE and start downloading!
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NEW! My Storefront at Authors Direct (Findaway Voices)
I’m taking control this year of my writing/publishing/audiobook career. I was able to go non-exclusive with four audiobooks previously distributed through ACX (it’s a long story, but I can only do this with audiobooks I’d paid the narrator a per hour fee for, the other six books are royalty shares and can’t be changed).
I’ve longed for an alternative to ACX/Amazon/Audible for years, and Findaway Voices has provided the freedom I’m looking for. One of these is to sell my audiobooks directly through a storefront on their platform, and here it is. Look for the other three audiobooks soon, and a new one to be produced later this year.
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The Twist Podcast #157: Georgia On Our Minds, Vax and Relax, Trans Inequality, and the Week In Headlines
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we take a look at Georgia’s suppression aggression, Biden’s vaccination sensation, the continued attack on transgender kids, and the week in headlines.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2021 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter!
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Q Audiobooks: A Body in a Bathhouse (A Mitch O’Reilly Mystery Book 1), by Brad Shreve, Narrated by Theo Sinclair
Author and podcaster Brad Shreve has quickly established himself as a presence in the LGBTQ mystery genre, both with his Mitch O’Reilly Mystery series, and his Queer Writers of Crime podcast, a favorite of authors and readers alike. He’s currently working on bringing Book #2 in the series, A Body on the Hill, to audiobook fans everywhere. While you wait, fasten your headphones and enjoy his first audio outing with A Body in a Bathhouse, narrated by Theo Sinclair.
A Body in a Bathhouse A Mitch O’Reilly Mystery, Book 1
By: Brad Shreve
Narrated by: Theo Sinclair
Series: A Mitch O’Reilly Mystery, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 12-05-20
Language: English
Publisher: Beeson PressOn the verge of bankruptcy, private investigator Mitch O’Reilly takes any gig that comes his way while running his Eye Spy supply shop in a forgotten Los Angeles strip mall. After two tours in Afghanistan, Mitch’s life amounts to running his store, coping with his fun-loving sister Josie, and scoring with anonymous men he meets online.
That changes when he gets a break. A beloved comedy scriptwriter is murdered at a bathhouse, and Mitch is hired to prove the innocence of the club custodian. Adapting from a two-bit gumshoe to a high-profile sleuth proves more challenging than he expected.
As if Mitch didn’t have enough to deal with, playful bathhouse operator Trent Nakos enters his life. After a heartbreaking past, the manager is the definition of a man the brooding PI actively avoids.