• New

    A Killer Summer Giveaway! 2 Marshall James Thrillers FREE for Five Days

    June 21, 2022 /

    For the first five days of summer you can download two free Marshall James Thrillers for your Kindle reading pleasure. Settle in under your beach umbrella, and start those pages turning! Available from June 21 through 25.

    MURDER AT THE PAISLEY PARROTTime waits for no one, including Marshall James. Now 58 and living in New York City, Marshall has outlived the expiration date he was given with a cancer diagnosis three years ago. He beat the odds but he knows he may not beat the clock. So he’s decided to tell a story or three about some murders he was involved in back in the day.

    The year was 1983. The bar was the Paisley Parrot in Hollywood, a gay, mob-run dive where people came to drink and few of them remembered the night before. Marshall loves his job as a bartender there. But one night, among the regulars, a killer arrives.

    CLICK HERE FOR AMAZON PAGE

    BEAUTIFUL CORPSE

    “It was 1984. Prince ruled the airwaves. The Los Angeles Olympics had come and gone, taking with it a spotlight that had shone harshly on the city’s night crawlers and left them thankful for the shadows. AIDS was spreading its dark, black, wings over us all, and I was a happy guy. At least I thought I was, until things took a sudden turn for the deadly.” – Marshall James

    It’s been over a year since Marshall James first became intimately familiar with murder. He’s six months sober now and happily living with the love of his life, LAPD Detective Mac McElroy. Despite the coming storm of AIDS and its devastating toll on the world Marshall knows, his dark days seem to be behind him. Then one night he says the wrong thing, storms out in anger, and walks straight into a nightmare.

    CLICK HERE FOR AMAZON PAGE

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  • Savvy Senior

    Savvy Senior: How to Get Underutilized COVID Funeral Assistance Funds

    June 16, 2022 /

    By Jim Miller

    Dear Savvy Senior,

    I recently saw a news segment on TV about a government funeral assistance program available to families who lost loved ones during the pandemic. What can you tell me about this? I lost my 78-year-old mother to COVID in 2021 and want to find out if I’m still eligible for any funeral funds, and if so, what I need to do to get them.

    Still Sad

    Dear Sad,

    I’m very sorry about the loss of your mother. The government program you are asking about is the COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or FEMA). This program is part of the American Rescue Plan, a stimulus package passed in 2021 in an effort to help the country financially manage amid the pandemic.

    This program, which has no end date, offers up to $9,000 to cover the cost of a funeral for someone who died of COVID-19 as far back as January 2020.

    Unfortunately, less than half the people believed eligible for funeral assistance have actually applied for it. Here’s what you should know about the program’s requirements and how to apply.

    Read More
  • Kapok

    Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources: Sleep Medication Risks and Alternatives for Seniors

    June 7, 2022 /

    By Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH

    The following excerpt is reprinted with permission from Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources.

    Many people struggle with sleeping, for a wide range of different reasons. These issues often get worse with age and with any chronic health problems.

    In some cases, the solution may be as simple, such as following healthy sleep practices, ensuring that bedtime is roughly the same each night and avoiding bright light in the evening.

    However, many seniors find that sleeping problems persist, even if they had no such issues in their younger years. This pattern often leads to sleeping medication. Such medication can be effective in the short-term. But, only be considered when no other options are available, as there are multiple risks and side effects.

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  • Savvy Senior

    Savvy Senior: Adaptive Clothing Takes the Stress Out of Dressing

    June 7, 2022 /

    By Jim Miller

    Dear Savvy Senior,

    What kinds of clothing options are available to mobility challenged seniors who have a difficult time dressing?

    Looking for Mom

    Dear Looking,

    The chore of dressing and undressing in traditional clothing can be difficult, time-consuming and even painful for millions of people with certain health and mobility problems. Fortunately, there’s a wide variety special clothing, known as “adaptive clothing,” that can help with most dressing challenges. Here’s what you should know.

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  • Dreamshaping

    On Dreamshaping: Enough Is Enough

    June 6, 2022 /

    Mark McNease

     

    It’s not hard to observe the world around us and see how easy it is to live in a state of lack and fear: lack because we think that what we have is not enough, and fear of losing what we already possess! I’ve done it myself for an entire lifetime, starting as a child who needed validation and wanted more of whatever it was I had, on into adulthood where satisfaction and contentment have been fleeting and conditioned on believing, just for a few moments, that I was fulfilled. It’s the kind of completion I’ve felt after writing the last few lines of a novel, or winning some accolade that proved to me I was accepted. Those feelings of wholeness never last long, because they are not about who I truly am and want to be, but about markers of success, reassurances that I am not the failure I suspected I was.

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  • New

    Back to Real Life … An Update

    June 4, 2022 /

    Our 10-night cruise was wonderful. I highly recommend Newport, Rhode Island. Then we sailed to Bermuda – been there, done that – and finally to Charleston on the way home. And now it’s back to the grind of retirement, or semi-retirement, or “I just need to make some money and get out of the house” retirement.

    My husband Frank and I are as active as ever. He has been job-free for a number of years now and stays amazingly busy all the time. Me? Not so much. I write murder mysteries, publish websites, and do podcasts in the mornings, and then I often find myself with empty afternoons. SO … I will be returning to my old job, but only part-time. Three days a week, six hours a day. It will help pay for my COBRA insurance for the next year-and-a-half until I’m on Medicare. And it’s great insurance! It wasn’t as expensive as I’d worried it would be, and it’s very good coverage.

    I enjoy the people I worked with in the Giant deli, and they’re excited to have me coming back. That was always the plan.

    I’ll be back with the weekly LGBTSr.com emails starting next Saturday: The Weekly Readlines, Savvy Senior, columns, reviews, DIY suggestions, and more new things as the year progresses.

    I have also finally (finally!) finished the second book in the Maggie Dahl Mystery series. The first was Black Cat White Paws, and now, coming soon … Open Secrets. A local writer who is mentioned in the first book takes center stage in book #2, as someone decides they don’t want her finishing the follow up to her successful collection of essays. Maggie finds herself involved and unable to stop searching for another killer in Lambertville, New Jersey, that never seemed to have much in the way of murder until she moved to town. Arriving this summer!

    All subscribers will receive a complimentary 6 chapter excerpt!

    See you soon.

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  • LGBTSR

    Back to Real Life … An Update

    June 4, 2022 /

    Our 10-night cruise was wonderful. I highly recommend Newport, Rhode Island. Then we sailed to Bermuda – been there, done that – and finally to Charleston on the way home. And now it’s back to the grind of retirement, or semi-retirement, or “I just need to make some money and get out of the house” retirement.

    My husband Frank and I are as active as ever. He has been job-free for a number of years now and stays amazingly busy all the time. Me? Not so much. I write murder mysteries, publish websites, and do podcasts in the mornings, and then I often find myself with empty afternoons. SO … I will be returning to my old job, but only part-time. Three days a week, six hours a day. It will help pay for my COBRA insurance for the next year-and-a-half until I’m on Medicare. And it’s great insurance! It wasn’t as expensive as I’d worried it would be, and it’s very good coverage.

    I enjoy the people I worked with in the Giant deli, and they’re excited to have me coming back. That was always the plan.

    I’ll be back with the weekly LGBTSr.com emails starting next Saturday: The Weekly Readlines, Savvy Senior, columns, reviews, DIY suggestions, and more new things as the year progresses.

    I have also finally (finally!) finished the second book in the Maggie Dahl Mystery series. The first was Black Cat White Paws, and now, coming soon … Open Secrets. A local writer who is mentioned in the first book takes center stage in book #2, as someone decides they don’t want her finishing the follow up to her successful collection of essays. Maggie finds herself involved and unable to stop searching for another killer in Lambertville, New Jersey, that never seemed to have much in the way of murder until she moved to town. Arriving this summer!

    All subscribers will receive a complimentary 6 chapter excerpt!

    See you soon.

    Read More
  • Savvy Senior

    Savvy Senior: How to Start a Walking Program and Stay Motivated

    May 22, 2022 /

    By Jim Miller

    Dear Savvy Senior,

    My doctor recently suggested I start a walking program to help get my weight and blood pressure under control, but I’ve never exercised much and am 66. Can you recommend some tips?

    Hate to Exercise 

    Dear Hate,

    You should follow your doctor’s orders. Years of research have shown that walking may be the single best exercise you can do to improve your health as you age. It burns calories, which will help you lose weight, builds endurance, enhances muscle tone and it doesn’t pound your joints.

    It also helps improve or prevent many age-related health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, dementia and even depression.

    But walking is not only good for what ails you. It’s also one of the easiest and most convenient exercises you can do and is completely free. All you need is a good pair of walking shoes that fit well and a little desire. Here are some things you should know to help get you started and stay motivated. 

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  • Ask Uncle

    Ask Your Uncle: Are Bats in the House Dangerous?

    May 22, 2022 /

    Welcome to Ask Your Uncle, a regular feature at LGBTSr.com answering questions big and small. Have something to ask your uncle? Email us at Uncle@LGBTSr.com.

    Q: We live in a house and every summer we get at least one bat flying around inside. Are they dangerous? And how can we safely remove a bat?

    A: Uncle lives in a house, too, and ours is in the woods. We have the same issue. It can be especially alarming to see a bat flying around the bedroom ceiling. But let’s examine this a little and find some answers. Harming the bat is never one of them.

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