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Dreamshaping: Seeds of Doubt
Enjoy an audio small plate. Her name is Bella, and she’ll be your server today.
It’s never too early to doubt yourself. While that’s unlikely to be spoken by the most advanced two-year-old, it seems to be one of the earliest concepts we learn. We teeter on our tiny feet, attempting to walk for the first time. The giants in our lives encourage us, cheering us on to put one foot in front of the other, and then … we tumble. Our faces scrunch up. We probably cry. We wait awhile, looking for signs of approval, and we try again.
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It Never Gets Old: ‘Final Audition: A Marshall James Thriller’ Hits the Amazon Best Seller List – Twice!
In case you wonder why I do book giveaways … Final Audition: A Marshall James Thriller, hit #2 in Gay Fiction free, and #15 in Crime Thrillers free. Kaboom!
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Banned in Tennessee? Peter and the Starcatcher Shocks the Senseless
We saw a production of the delightful Peter and the Starcatcher at Music Mountain Theatre yesterday. Several children were in attendance and appeared to be having as good a time as the rest of us.Then … to my shock … the actors who played pirates were in two scenes dressed as mermaids. Also, there was another pirate who, donning an apron, played the part of a cook/maid. It was a ship filled with men, but somebody had to do it! Or did they?It occurred to several of us that this play, as child-friendly and comical as it is, could not be performed in Tennessee, or soon to be Florida (add to the list as the days go by). There are many, many plays and musicals in the theatrical canon going back hundreds of years, including the original Shakespearean actors who played women’s parts because women weren’t allowed on stage (are we there yet?).If the overlords of censorship and suffocation want to drag us (pun intended) back to a godawful 1940s (and even the people back then had Vaudeville, where crossdressing was common on stage), they CANNOT make exceptions for entertainment they approve of for their children. No “prosthetics breasts” means what it says. Period. Having decided what the rest of us can see, and what we can take our children to see, they cannot be given an out. I’m also of the opinion that book bans must include the Bible, as bloodthirsty and incestuous as it is, and most books in general where heterosexuality is portrayed in any way. Sexuality is sexuality. Cut the crap or stop passing these laws to try and smother our spirits. You will fail.In the meantime, please enjoy this hysterical show. The young boys with their parents in the row in front of us had a great time. -
WondervoxAI Offers Voices to Choose From (Including Your Own!)
WondervoxAI offers an array of voice options to choose from. You can listen to some of them below (there are more, just ask). Or, let us clone your voice! Sound strange? Once you’ve heard an AI clone of your voice, you’ll be amazed at the technology. And you won’t be concerned. Your voice is your voice. WondervoxAI will never use it for anything you haven’t approved, and it will never be shared outside the work we do for you. So check out these voices, and imagine them speaking for your blogs, podcast inserts, articles, columns, or any other narration needs you have. We also do audio mixing! Sound effects, music under the narration, splicing … you ask for it, we provide in most cases.
Anthony
Josh
Rachel
Bella
Mark (that’s me!)
And here’s the text they’re narrating …
Life as we experience it is the ultimate lucid dream—those dreams in which we become aware that we’re dreaming. We look around us in the dream we’re having, and we understand within the dream that we have the power to create it, frame by frame.
What is the shape of your dream, its landscape? What are the things you want in your dream, and, just as importantly, what are the things you want out of it? The toxins, habits and obstacles that limit what you imagine for yourself? The objective is not to reach the end of it—for all dreams end—but to experience it while we’re dreaming, and to know we are not powerless. We’re the set designer! The casting director. The author, the publisher, the camera operator, the conductor. All of it.
All things are of the substance of dreams. Feel the substance in your hands. Shape it to your liking.
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The Twist #218: Combat Queens, Monks in Heels, and the Latest in Resistance Wear
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose we catch fire stoking the resistance, chat about regional foods, salute the combat queens, and scan the heinous headlines.
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Back in Wide Distribution – Save Even More and Buy Direct!
After doing very well as a Kindle Unlimited exclusive publisher the last several months, I’ve released several of my books ‘wide,’ as we say. You can find me at Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and my own Payhip storefront where you’ll save even more!
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Book Review: Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER, by Farzon A. Nahvi, M.D
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm SexCode Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER, by Farzon A. Nahvi, M.D.
c.2023, Simon & Schuster $27.99 256 pagesYou know exactly who’s in charge here.
It’s the person in the white coat, a physician with a stethoscope around their neck and a packed pocketful of paper notes and pens. The white coat instantly gets your attention. It’s meant to quickly convey authority, and it does – so much so that you trust your very life to the person wearing it. In “Code Gray” by Farzon A. Nahvi, M.D., that white coat won’t leave you in the dark.
It was only supposed to be a friends-catching-up kind of text thread but for Farzon Nahvi and his colleagues around the country, the flurry of messages they exchanged during the pandemic became a lifeline. For each, it was good to know that their hospital’s reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t the only one lacking.
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Bella DuBalle Fights Back Against Drag Bans (YouTube)
Bella DuBalle, a drag entertainer and the show host at Atomic Rose in Memphis, TN, explains how the new drag show ban law signed by Governor Bill Lee is affecting performers in the state, and what they are doing to fight back.
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The Weekly Readlines March 10
Now with a side of audio, brought to you by WondervoxAI
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every Friday.
Say it ain’t so: Tennessee House passes bill eviscerating marriage equality, sealed with a kiss to SCOTUS.
Quote for the Week: “Drag queens are the Marines of the queer movement …And by the way, a social media post has never been as powerful as a registered vote.” – RuPaul
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
First the good news: Boston still rocks! Don’t believe me? Check out the Verb Hotel (my review here). It’s a great place to stay, filled with rock ‘n roll memorabilia without a trace of must or dust. And the golden tiger-patterned bathrobes are good enough to buy – which Frank did!
The fascist takeover by Republican legislatures continues across the country, with one vicious bill after another gleefully torturing all who beg to differ. Trans kids and their families are living with particular terror, as Florida gets set to take the children from their parents, even if the kids have been moved to another state for their own protection. Annie got her gun, that’s all I’ll say.
LGBTQ+ HEADLINES
988 Suicide Prevention Line Ramps Up LGBTQI+ Chat, Text Services
Bloomberg Law NewsThe Anti-Drag Bill Passed In Tennessee Is Straight From History’s Playbooks
NPRIowans Stage Massive Rally Against Anti-LGBTQ Bills
JoeMyGod -
The Twist Podcast #217: Back from Boston, Madonna Flashbacks, Grocery Therapy, and a New Guest Listicle!
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose we catch up after Mark’s whirlwind trip to Boston, hear Rick’s headlines and headaches, and enjoy a new guest listicle from the University of Iowa’s Lauren Swanson.
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‘Rough and Tumble: A Dystopian Love Tragedy’ Now Available as an Audiobook from WondervoxAI / MadeMark Publishing
So much to say, so little time to say it right now: My newest venture is WondervoxAI, creating AI-narrated audio for myself and potential clients. Blog posts? Fiction? Non-fiction? Anything you want narrated and turned into an audio file, I’m your source. Affordable, precise, and determined. I can even clone your own voice!
This is in the very (very) early stages, so stay tuned. For now, I’ve got my extended short story, Rough and Tumble: A Dystopian Love Tragedy, available as an audiobook at my Payhip storefront. It’s just $3.99. Purchase it and immediately get your own MP3 file to enjoy at your leisure. Expect much more from this brave new frontier. You can listen to a sample HERE. The technology is amazing and exciting.
“Rough and Tumble were not their names by birth.” Boy meets boy at the end of civilization in this extended short story. The year is distant, the reality of those living appears dark and harsh. Among them, surviving by wit and easy violence, are Rough and Tumble, two young men whose lives became entwined so long ago neither of them remembers exactly when, only that it was love at first sight. Now, as Rough imagines an escape from the Slopes, the area they live and expect to die in, he yearns to take Tumble with him. But is it possible? Does Tumble want to go across the murky water, too, or are dreams for the foolish and the dying? Join them as they go on a last nightly prowl, looking for loot and any way out.
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Q Audiobooks: I’m So (Not) Over You, by Kosoko Jackson, Narrated by Timothy Bell Reese
I’m So (Not) Over You
By: Kosoko Jackson
Narrated by: Timothy Bell Reese
Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
4.5 out of 5 stars (50 ratings)“Shine[s] with a beautiful, blooming sense of wonder.”—New York Times Book Review
A chance to rewrite their ending is worth the risk in this swoony romantic comedy from Kosoko Jackson.
It’s been months since aspiring journalist Kian Andrews has heard from his ex-boyfriend, Hudson Rivers, but an urgent text has them meeting at a café. Maybe Hudson wants to profusely apologize for the breakup. Or confess his undying love. . . But no, Hudson has a favor to ask—he wants Kian to pretend to be his boyfriend while his parents are in town, and Kian reluctantly agrees.
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Savvy Senior: How to Protect Seniors from Scam Calls
Dear Savvy Senior,
What tools can you recommend to help protect trusting seniors from scam calls? My 74-year-old mother gets tons of unwanted telemarketing and robocalls on her cell and home phone and has been duped out of hundreds of dollars.
Frustrated Daughter
Dear Frustrated,
It’s a great question! Scammers are always looking for new ways to dupe people out of money, and in the U.S., phone calls remain the primary way swindlers hook older victims.
The Federal Trade Commission recently found that 24 percent of adults over age 60 who reported losing money to a scam in 2021 said it started with a phone call – the largest percentage of any method, including email, text and mail.
To help protect your mom from the onslaught of robocall scams, telemarketing and spam calls, here are some tips and tools you can help her employ.