• Columns,  Dave Hughes

    Dave Hughes of Retire Fabulously: How to Make the Best of Retirement in the Pandemic

    The following is reprinted with permission from RetireFabulously.com

    By Dave Hughes


    It’s July 21, 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been raging for at least four months now.

    I hope you are doing well and staying safe and sane, to the greatest extent possible.

    Aside from the immediate impacts of the pandemic, many other aspects of your life have been upended and changed in one way or another. Many businesses are suffering, but some are booming. People are eating out less, working from home, driving less, buying more of some things and less of others, and so on. Almost every aspect of “normal” has been disrupted.

    If you are not retired yet, your work situation has probably changed. You may be working from home or even furloughed. Depending on your line of work, you may be working extra hours.

  • Columns,  Savvy Senior

    The Savvy Senior: Can I Stop Social Security if I Go Back to Work?


    By Jim Miller

    Dear Savvy Senior,

    I lost my job last month because of the coronavirus crisis. With little savings, I’ve been thinking about starting my Social Security benefits early to help me get by. But my question is, if I find a new job can I stop my Social Security benefits and restart them at a later date so they can continue to grow?

    Almost 63 

    Dear Almost,

    Yes, there are actually two ways you can stop your Social Security retirement benefits (once you’ve started collecting them) and restart them at a later date, which would boost your benefits. But in order to do this certain rules and conditions must be met. Here are your options.

  • Book Reviews,  Columns

    Book Review: Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, by Mary L. Trump, Ph.D.

    By Terri Schlichenmeyer
    The Bookwork

    “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” by Mary L. Trump, Ph.D.
    c.2020, Simon and Schuster
    $28.00 / $37.00 Canada 227 pages

    You hadn’t seen that container in ages.

    You really can’t remember when you put it on the shelf. Sometime this year, six years ago, when you moved last? What’s in it must be worth something, though, or you wouldn’t’ve saved it. Now, as in the new book “Too Much and Never Enough” by Mary L. Trump, PhD, digging may yield answers.

    No one has to explain to you who Donald Trump is but, for anyone who’s been completely out of the loop, Mary Trump is Donald’s niece (she uses his first name, always, and to avoid confusion, so will we). Trump has a PhD in psychology, worked at Manhattan Psychiatric Center while in school, was once a therapist, and taught graduate psychology. The point is, she’s got chops and it shows, especially when this book – a look at her family and, specifically, her Uncle Donald – reads like something from the True Medicine genre. Indeed, medically-based passages are nearly emotionless in their clinicality.

  • LGBTSR

    LGBTSr Takes a Break!


    Dear loyal LGBTSr readers, I’ll be taking some time off from the website. I’ve got a new Kyle Callahan Mystery to finish up and publish, I’m co-hosting The Twist Podcast again, and I’ll be doing occasional interviews for the One Thing or Another Podcast … and I have a job! No downtime for me, so I’m pausing LGBTSr for the time being. Check me out at my personal website, MarkMcNease.com, for updates and giveaways, and enjoy the summer as you can! – Mark McNease/Editor

  • LGBTSR

    A July eBook Giveaway: ‘A House in the Woods’

    Mark, your editor here. I’ll be doing regular Kindle eBook giveaways throughout the coming months. It’s July, and that means it’s time for another one! This month I’ll be giving away 5 Kindle editions of my supernatural chiller, A House in the Woods. Winners will be randomly drawn on July 31.

    Just visit the announcement at my website and use the RafflePress entry form to enter, and remember to check your spam folder for the required confirmation! No muss, no fuss. Note: you must live in the U.S. to use these codes. Sorry, but for these giveaways I have to stick with the U.S. (Kindle rules). All entrants’ emails are kept confidential and you will NOT be added to my email list! But please consider subscribing HERE for occasional author updates and fabulous freebies.

    About A House in the Woods
    Country Living is Hell

    Laurel and Jeremy Calloway have longed for a new life away from the chaos and confusion of New York City. Driving along a country road in New Jersey with a young real estate agent in the back seat, they almost miss it: a small house in the woods for sale. Laurel immediately thinks this could be the house for them, the house of their dreams, where a simpler life awaits. But who are the mysterious old couple who’d put the house up for sale, having moved out months ago? Is caretaker Eileen more than a friendly neighbor? Who are the strange townspeople they meet, and is it the house of their dreams, or of their nightmares?

    Prefer to get your listen on? Enjoy the audiobook edition of A House in the Woods at Audible, Amazon and iTunes, narrated by Daniela Acitelli.

  • Book Reviews,  Books

    Book Review: 55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life, by Elizabeth White

    By Terri Schlichenmeyer
    The Bookworm


    55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life, by Elizabeth White
    c.2020 in paperback, Simon & Schuster
    $17.00 / $23.00 Canada 272 pages

    Your last regular paycheck has come and gone.

    That was awhile ago, back before you were downsized / laid off / reassigned right out of a job and you’re not sure what to do. Your savings are nearly gone, your retirement funds are next, and you’re too young to get Social Security. In 55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal” by Elizabeth White, you’ll see how to make this new life work.

  • LGBTSR,  What's Cooking

    What’s Cooking: Zucchini Bread from the Garden

    What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting easy, delicious recipes. Have a recipe to share? Email us at: recipes @ lgbtsr.com


    Among my proudest achievements is our vegetable garden, built from scratch with raised beds, and fencing to keep out the deer and rabbits. We grow tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, herbs, and zucchini. So much zucchini! What do you do with it all? Well, one thing you can do is make zucchini bread and muffins. Here’s a recipe I’ve used from Allrecipes. It’s easy and delicious, and it looks like you worked a lot harder than you really did.

  • Savvy Senior

    The Savvy Senior: Simple Gadgets That Can Help Older Drivers

    By Jim Miller

    Dear Savvy Senior,

    Are there any specific auto gadgets you can recommend that can help senior drivers? Both of my parents are in there eighties and still pretty good drivers, but due to arthritis and age they’re very stiff, which causes them some driving problems.

    Researching Daughter

    Dear Researching,

    To help keep senior drivers safe and prolong their driving years, there’s a plethora of inexpensive, aftermarket vehicle adaptions you can purchase that can easily be added to your parent’s vehicles to help with many different needs. Here are some good options.

  • The Twist Podcast

    The Twist Podcast Pride Edition: Tumble in Tulsa, Branding Brouhahas, and Not My Heritage!


    Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we take a look a the continuing importance of Pride, the brouhaha over brand names, Republican chicanery, NASCAR, Tulsa’s coronapalooza, and saying good riddance to a heritage that isn’t ours (so there).

    Enjoy The Twist on LibsyniTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and TheTwistPodcast.com

    Copyright 2020 MadeMark Publishing

  • Columns,  Savvy Senior

    The Savvy Senior: What to Know About Advance Care Planning in the Age of Coronavirus

    By Jim Miller

    Dear Savvy Senior,

    All this horrible coronavirus carnage got me thinking about my own end-of-life decisions if I were to get sick. Can you recommend some good resources that can help me create a living will or advance directive, or other pertinent documents? I’ve put it off long enough.

    Almost 70 

    Dear Almost,

    Creating a living will (also known as an advance directive) is one of those things most people plan to do, but rarely get around to actually doing. Only about one-third of Americans currently have one. But the cold hard reality of the novel coronavirus may be changing that. Here’s what you should know along with some resources to help you create an advance directive.

  • LGBTSR

    Steve Hayes: Tired Old Queen a the Movies – Tea and Sympathy

    From Steve Hayes – Tired Old Queen at the Movies

    Watch TEA AND SYMPATHY now! https://amzn.to/3hJg4Dp  Deborah Kerr and John Kerr reprise their original Broadway roles as a boy struggling with his identity and the kindly wife of a teacher who helps him cope in Vincente Minnelli’s tender and beautiful screen adaptation of TEA AND SYMPATHY (’56). With a screenplay by the playwright, Robert Anderson, Leif Erickson, Darryl Hickman, Norma Crane and Edward Andrews round out the supporting cast of this tender and for its time, controversial drama. A classic of gay cinema.