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One Thing or Another Column: Midlife Waist Land
Narration provided by Wondervox
By Mark McNease
One Thing or Another is a column about life, aging, and the absurdities of it all.
Midlife Waist Land
Since this column was first written we’ve seen a revolution in weight loss with the introduction and rapid spread of GLP-1 drugs. I’ve been using one myself for awhile now and I’ve lost 30 pounds. Will they change America’s obesity epidemic, or be another disappointment when we finally stop using them—if we ever do? Only time and affordability will tell. Stay tuned for the long-term side effects.
Whether or not you think your 60s still count as midlife (who doesn’t anticipate celebrating their 120th birthday wheezing out a single candle on a grocery store cake, flanked by an anxious home health aide and an impatient funeral director), the fact remains that age and width are proportionate for most of us. Not all of us, of course. There are those among us who insist they’re only as old as they feel, despite sharp disagreement from titanium hips and birth certificates. You know who you are: you swear by kale smoothies, you’ve never met an elliptical you didn’t want to mount, and you start each day by posting life-affirming platitudes on social media.
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A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due – Chapter 2 (Audio)
CHAPTER 2
Welcome to the episodic audio edition of A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due. Fasten your headphones and enjoy one new chapter each week. You can find all the episodes here.
A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due picks up where A House in the Woods left off. Laurel Calloway is still in the mysterious town of Strickland, New Jersey, where nothing is as it appears to be. Two years have gone by, and they’ve been good to the Calloways. Laurel and her husband Jeremy have a new house, and a new family with baby Isabel about to celebrate her first birthday. Everything seems perfect, until Laurel begins to have dreams. Bad dreams. Something tells her these dreams could really be memories. But of what? Of whom, and of when?
Did she really run over a woman in the road at night? Had they once had a dog? Why are these things trying so hard to surface, swimming slowly up from her subconscious? The more she begins to tell the people around her about these dreams, the more convinced she is that they’re part of it, and that these nightmares aren’t really dreams at all. Page after page, the pace escalates as Laurel begins to learn the truth and plot her escape. But will she succeed? The Devil is in the details.
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Tech Time: To AI or Not to AI—Some Pros and Cons
Narration provided by Wondervox
By Mark McNease
It feels increasingly like something we can’t get away from even if we want to.
As someone who embraces technology I think it’s important to consider the ongoing controversies surrounding AI (artificial intelligence). Forms of it have been around for a long time. Rudimentary applications have been used in everything from self-checkout kiosks in grocery stores, to voice activation and automatic teller machines (ATMs). And now it’s being introduced—imposed?—in ways we often don’t want, from typing Word documents with annoying AI ‘assistants’ popping up on the page,’ to emails and texts that insist on writing themselves. It feels increasingly like something we can’t get away from even if we want to.
As a one-man production studio, I consider AI a tool that helps me accomplish my goals and maintain an output. I would never ‘write’ a novel with AI, but I use it to generate images and to do the sorts of research I used to perform online with key words and a Wikipedia page. It’s my responsibility to make sure that information is correct, but the hunting and gathering is made tremendously easier with AI. I also find the technology exciting in many ways. I don’t think we will ever be replaced by AI, or even if that would be such a bad thing for the planet, but there is a lot of fear around it.
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‘A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due’ Now An Episodic Audio Edition
Welcome to the episodic audio edition of A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due. Fasten your headphones and enjoy one new chapter each week. This is not an audiobook in the conventional sense, and no audiobook narrators living or dead were harmed in its production. This is a way for me to share some of my writing in an audio format. So settle back and enjoy the screams. You can find all the episodes here.
A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due picks up where A House in the Woods left off. Laurel Calloway is still in the mysterious town of Strickland, New Jersey, where nothing is as it appears to be. Two years have gone by, and they’ve been good to the Calloways. Laurel and her husband Jeremy have a new house, and a new family with baby Isabel about to celebrate her first birthday. Everything seems perfect, until Laurel begins to have dreams. Bad dreams. Something tells her these dreams could really be memories. But of what? Of whom, and of when?
Did she really run over a woman in the road at night? Had they once had a dog? Why are these things trying so hard to surface, swimming slowly up from her subconscious? The more she begins to tell the people around her about these dreams, the more convinced she is that they’re part of it, and that these nightmares aren’t really dreams at all. Page after page, the pace escalates as Laurel begins to learn the truth and plot her escape. But will she succeed? The Devil is in the details.
PROLOGUE AND CHAPTER 1
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Wishful Doing: An Inside Job
By Mark McNease
“The challenge is not to be perfect—it is to be whole.”
—Jane Fonda
It’s not the thing the emotion attaches to, it’s the emotion.
It’s not the person or event the anger attaches to, it’s the anger.
It’s not the thoughts around which the confusion swirls, it’s the confusion itself.When I’m consumed by an emotion, even something as simple as anger aimed at another driver on the road, it’s the emotion that generates my state of mind, not the other driver. So many people have a need to be angry, or even enraged, without ever comprehending that the object of their rage is not the issue: it is the rage, and the need for it, that lies at the heart of the experience.
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Book and Speaker Event a Success in Lambertville
Along with a constant downpour, Saturday brought a successful book reading and speaker event in Lambertville, NJ, at my home-away-from home: Soupcon at Bucks on Bridge Coffee Shop.
I helped Tara Benedetti’s mother, Lynda Young, publish her daughter’s book of poetry and arranged for a reading and speaker on schizophrenia. Shea Dibley, VP of NAMI Hunterdon, spoke to us after the readings about his own experience living with schizophrenia. It was a true success, and an opportunity be of service.
Some photos
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The Twist Podcast #296: Cuckoo for Cosplay, Posse Comitater Tots, and Rick’s Interview with Dr. Elijah Nicholas
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we rate Kristi Noem’s costume changes, ponder the military intervention in L.A., and enjoy Rick’s interview with Dr. Elijah Nicholas.
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Another Satisfied Book Client: On Life’s Terms: A Story of Recovery, by Phillip Guirand
I met Phillip Guirand recently at one of my workshops and he asked me to help him get his book out. It was a pleasure! And it looks great.
“In this stirring and deeply personal narrative, Phillip Guirand charts the harrowing descent and spiritual awakening of a man wrestling with the consequences of his choices. Set against the backdrop of addiction, fractured relationships, and a world quick to condemn, this powerful story follows one man’s fight to reclaim his soul. With raw honesty and emotional intensity, Guirand delves into the pain of brokenness and the long, uphill battle toward forgiveness—not only from others, but from within.
Phillip Guirand brings unmatched authenticity to this redemptive tale. Drawing from real experiences and universal struggles, he offers readers more than a story—he offers a mirror. Through heartbreak and healing, Guirand delivers a message of hope: no matter how far one falls, redemption is always within reach.”
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Updated Workshop Schedule Through September
All times are eastern (New Jersey) – 2 Hours in most cases
Register at the links belowIN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN LAMBERTVILLE
NEW HOPE ADULT WRITERS GROUP
NEW HOPE LIBRARY JOURNALING GROUP
CLINTON ADULT WRITERS GROUP
JULY WORKSHOPS VIA ZOOM
IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN SEPTEMBER
ADULT WRITERS GROUPS (ONGOING)EVERY 2ND AND 4TH TUESDAY
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: New Hope Free Library
93 W. Ferry Street, New Hope, PA
RSVPLAST WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
65 Halstead St, Clinton, Clinton, NJ
REGISTER AT THE LIBRARY WEBSITEMONTHLY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL JOURNALING
NEW HOPE LIBRARY
EVERY FIRST WEDENSDAY (STARING JULY 2)
REGISTER HERE
SUMMER SESSIONS IN JULY!
Fiction Writing Essentials (2 hours via Zoom – limit 8)
Monday, July 7 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM eastern ($40)
Explore the ins, outs, and mechanics of writing fiction.
DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HERE
Character Creation: They’re Alive!
Monday, July 14 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM eastern ($30)Creating characters with lives of their own
DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HERE
Self-Publishing with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) (2 hours via Zoom – limit 6)
Monday, July 28 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM eastern ($40)
For anyone interested in the how-to of self-publishing.
DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HEREJUST ADDED! IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN SEPTEMBER.
READ ALL ABOUT THEM AND REGISTER HEREQuestions? Comments? Email me at YourWritePath @ Outlook . com
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What’s a Quozy? Check Out Queer Cozy Mysteries at Cozy.com (Including Mine!)
Thanks to the folks at CozyMystery. com for adding me to their “Quozy” page (queer cozy authors) – and I like that portmanteau! Think about it.
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The Twist Podcast #295: Proud and Loud, Snoozing the News, and Rick Talks Eurovision with Charlie Porter
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we anticipate America’s last legal Pride month, shun the hideous headlines, and listen to Rick talk Eurovision with Charlie Porter.
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Savvy Senior: How Much Advil (Ibuprofen) Is Too Much?
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
I take Advil pretty regularly for arthritis pain and headaches, but how can I tell if I’m taking more than is safe?
Achy Alan
Dear Alan,
Ibuprofen – better known by one of its brand names, Advil – is one of the most popular medications on the market today for treating all different types of pain, headaches, fevers and cramps.
Given the drug’s broad pain-reducing effects, safety record and availability over the counter (OTC), it’s no surprise that some people pop the little brownish-red tablets whenever they feel the slightest twinge of discomfort.
But ibuprofen, which is also sold under brand names like Motrin and Nuprin, can pose certain health risks, especially for those with kidney or stomach issues. Here’s what you should know.
What’s Safe?
For most adults and children ages 12 years and older, the recommended OTC dose of ibuprofen is one (or two, if needed) 200-milligram tablets, caplets or gel caplets every four to six hours while symptoms persist. You shouldn’t take more than 1,200 mg (or six pills) in a 24-hour period.
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This Week’s Survey: What’s Your Favorite Kind of Murder Mystery?
