ALOHA! - December 1, 2024

As the cold, gray, rainy winter began its return into our lives, a 10-day trip to The Big Island/Kona became irresistible. I selected Election Day for our Alaska Airways departure. Dealing with crowded airports, TSA, the chaos of travel…all of it seemed preferable to waiting for the returns.

Our trip began at 5:30 a.m. when our daughter-in-law picked us up. She works in Portland, near the airport, and didn’t mind starting her day early. Getting through TSA both in Portland and in Kona was made surprisingly easy with their new equipment. No longer did we have to remove our liquids of under three ounces each or our multiple electronic devices from our suitcases. The screening equipment has been upgraded to see through the baggage. Because we were over 75, we also didn’t have to remove our shoes. It was nice to see our tax dollars working for us.

I’m happy to report that the trip out and the one returning were uneventful. Here are some of the highlights of our vacation. I promise to keep it short.

1.    We spent a lot of time on our lanai, with its view of the water and amazing sunsets. We read, relaxed, and enjoyed the myriad birds who stopped in to see if we had any food for them.

2.    Magic Sands Beach, with crashing surf on giant lava rocks.

3.    Harbor House Restaurant, an outdoor eatery at a marina. Delicious calamari!

4.    National Park Beach with beautiful white sand and tide pools, the scene of my favorite moments of all. While wading in the water as it lapped the sand, I was accompanied by a bale of large turtles (I had to look that up), swimming happily among the pesky visitors and their bare feet.

5.    The Kona Canoe Club, which is a restaurant and not a club. It’s another open air restaurant, on the water where dolphins play just off shore.

6.    A ride along the coast that eventually brought us from the west side of the island to the east side where we stopped at the National Volcano Park. We spent time on an overlook, in awe of a huge blackened volcano that had been active and destructive in the 1950s. Fortunately, it behaved while we were there.

7.    A small shopping center near where we stayed had a grocery where they made the best poke bowls I’ve ever had.

We felt so fortunate to have this chance for a temporary respite from the real world’s horror show. I'm happy to report that the hummingbirds were delighted to see me again with sugar water in my hand as I headed to the feeders.

FACEBOOK IS NOT MY FRIEND - November 1, 2024

Facebook and I have always had a dysfunctional relationship. Ten years after retiring as a plaintiff’s lawyer in Boston, I took the Florida bar exam and was offered a job as an assistant state attorney. Soon, I was heading the juvenile division and handling the gun and sex cases myself. I had mostly managed to avoid social media up until then, but I quickly discovered the gold mine that awaited me on Facebook. Teenage delinquents loved boasting about their various crimes without a thought to how law enforcement had access to their inadvertent confessions. The photos of them posing with a variety of firearms was especially helpful when they denied ever owning or using a gun.

However, the downside of Facebook threatened to outweigh the benefits when I saw it used to bully and seduce vulnerable children and put them in harm’s way. I began to see Facebook more as a dangerous weapon than a tool. When I finally retired permanently, one of the first things I did was vow never to access Facebook again. And I didn’t miss it a bit.

Time passed, and I began writing short mystery stories, many of which found their way to publication in anthologies and online magazines. In online discussions, there were increasing numbers of conversations about the importance of having a Facebook presence to aid in marketing the anthologies where my stories appeared. I resisted as long as could, feeling I was betraying the promise I had made to myself to have nothing to do with an outlet that was so poor at policing its content and responsible for so much damage.

Then, editors began requiring a social media presence in order to be accepted into their anthologies. I created a website with a blog included, but the demand for a Facebook account continued. I reluctantly caved in and set up a Facebook author’s page. I had no idea what I was doing and ended up with a bare bones page that consisted primarily of announcements related to my mystery stories and my blog entries. I was shocked and then annoyed when my account was repeatedly cluttered with posts from a bewildering variety of other accounts. My own posts were lost in the noise, so I spent hours trying to remove the intruders. The temptation to end my Facebook presence became increasingly irresistible. I have continued to resist cutting the cord, however, because I don’t want story rejection decisions to be based on the lack of a Facebook page.

That being said, I look forward to the day I am free to delete my Facebook account. I’m sure I can find a neighborhood 10-year-old to help me figure out how!

Sex & Violins (I thought that might get your attention) - September 25, 2024

As promised, my story, "Last Ride of the Valkyries," is available in the erotic mystery anthology, Sex & Violins.

A reminder: This volume would warrant an X rating if one were being given. Who knew that symphony instruments could be so deadly...or so sexy!

If you'd like to preorder, the publisher is offering a special deal. There will be no shipping charge for the paperback,which will be shipped on October 31. If you order the ebook, you will be able to download it on October 15. This link will take you to the preorder page on the publisher's website: whitecitypress.com/product/violins/MM/3

which includes an entertaining description of the book. 

Happy reading!