Gary Green's Blog, page 5
April 22, 2017
The Rebecca Pendragon Trilogy #1
OK, so I just had to brag about it. The Rebecca Pendragon Trilogy, which is free on Kindle today, has hit #1 in the children’s Arthurian category. You should check it out while it is still free. Get The Rebecca Pendragon Trilogy Now
In other news: The cleanup of my burned out house continues. Today I looked in the dumpster where they have been throwing unsalvageable furniture–not a good idea. It really hit home to see the accumulated stuff of 30 years all piled in a heap in a dumpster. But life goes on. Tomorrow we sign a lease on the house we will live in until we can rebuild. I am almost finished on the shed I need to put the tools in I will need to farm this year. I fully expect to get back to farming in the next week or so. I continue to be impressed with the kindness we see from others. I guess that just proves that most present moments are OK–even good.
April 16, 2017
My House
For those of you who don’t know, my house burned down on Monday afternoon. It has been a very hectic week, and living in a motel isn’t as much fun as one could hope for.
Having said that, I will also say that I was very lucky. My wife and I were not home when the fire started. We got home to find our house on fire and fire trucks already there. We were worried about our dogs. We have a Westie and a Beagle; and we left them in the house when we went to town. About halfway through the afternoon one of the fire fighters came carrying the Beagle, who was unharmed and very glad to see us. However, by the time the fire fighters were packing up to leave around 7:00 PM we still had not found the Westie. This in spite of the fact that several times I saw a group of fire fighters go into the house with flashlights looking for him.
At that point I left to eat supper. While I was eating supper I decided I had to know one way or another for sure about our Westie, so I resolved to go into the house to find him. When I pulled up to the house our beloved Westie cam running around the corner of the house. Our family was once again complete.
There are many other aspects of this terrible event that I will be blogging about in the days to come. I just want to express my gratitude to all the kind people who have stepped forward to help and to the universe in general for all the good things that seem to be coming out of this disaster.
March 17, 2017
Giveaways
I am pleased to announce that my Goodreads giveaway of my new book “The Rebecca Pendragon Trilogy” started today. Enter to win one of 5 signed copies. Last weekend the Kindle version reached #2 in it’s category in the Kindle Free Store.
For those of you who are fans of the Percy Jackson series I am giving away a box-set of the whole series. The winner will be determined by a drawing of all entrants on March 20, so there are still a few days left. To enter, click the link below and enter your email when prompted. I promise to not share it with anyone or spam you or any other nasty business. I will occasionally send you notices about other giveaways and news about my books.
March 11, 2017
I’m #2 Yay!!!
I just learned that “The Rebecca Pendragon Trilogy” has moved to Number 2 in it’s category in the Kindle free store. It is free tonight and tomorrow so be sure to check it out!
Get The Rebecca Pendragon Trilogy Now
Also, I’m giving away a box-set of all 5 Percy Jackson books! I will have a drawing on March 20. Click here to enter
March 5, 2017
Changes
This post is kind of a housekeeping thing. First, since the 2 genres I write in have vastly different audiences I have created a web site for the Rebecca stories called RebeccaPendragon.com. Here is the link: https://rebeccapendragon.com/
Second, this blog will henceforth feature articles about mental health, mindfulness, and even though I promised myself I wouldn’t–politics. I have some real concerns in that area and they mostly revolve around one person. I’ll give you a hint: It starts with T and that rymes with P and that stands for president.
That’s about all I want to say for now–except this: If anything I say going forward offends anyone please just consider the facts (actual facts, not alternative facts) before you say bad things about me.
January 27, 2017
5 Tips for Dealing With Depression
I was recently corresponding with someone who is struggling with depression and I was going to offer some suggestions that I learned from my recovery. Then it occurred to me that others might benefit so I decided to post my suggestions here.
In my struggles with depression, I came to view my depression as something separate and apart from me. I came to think of it as a monster that wanted to kill me. This helped me in a number of ways, but most importantly it helped me to see myself as a person of worth who was fighting for my life against an unseen foe. Not “What’s wrong with me?”, but “What am I fighting?”
The monster wanted me to sit and do nothing but ruminate. That made the monster stronger. This was especially bad if I went off by myself and let negative thoughts chase themselves around and around my head. So, I vowed to do the opposite of what the monster wanted–to do something. What I did was less important than the doing of it.
The monster lied to me all the time. It told me what a worthless person I was–unlovable, in fact. When I believed that lie I was afraid to reach out to others, so my social needs were not met. So, I discovered I had to act in spite of how I felt and let people know who I really was.
In fact, acting in spite of how I felt became a theme. Feeling like doing nothing? So something. Feeling like isolating? Reach out.
I learned about mindfulness and started doing a deep relaxation mindfulness meditation practice. The deep relaxation helped the anxiety that went hand in hand in hand with the depression. Learning to be in the present moment with acceptance helped with everything.
Of course, recovery from depression is hard, scary work. However, these 5 tips helped me and I hope they can help others. It is all about learning, really–learning new skills and practicing them, learning new attitudes and learning acceptance.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) are both effective in dealing with depression. They are all about learning new skills.
You may wonder “What about medication?” Well, medication can be very effective in alleviating symptoms while you do the hard work of recovery. If you make the changes you need you will keep that monster at bay.
January 21, 2017
Rebecca's Initiation climbs the ranks
The only thing that makes sense to me is that people are starting to talk about it. Perhaps I have finally found my audience. Check it out: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W2UZ0V0
If you liked the first in the series, you'll probably like the second one: Rebecca's Destiny https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017AJ4SYW
January 20, 2017
Not sure why
December 17, 2016
Free Today
Greetings all. It is a week ’til Christmas so as a gift to you all I have set my kids trilogy to be free today.
“Rebecca’s Initiation” is always free. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W2UZ0V0 Rebecca is a 12 year-old girl who has to go live with her grandmother after the death of her mother in a car accident. She soon finds out that Grandma is a very unusual woman and learns that magic is real. She also learns that her mother’s death was not an accident and that an ancient god wants her dead. . . . . Oh, I almost forgot–there’s a dragon.
In “Rebecca’s Destiny”, Rebecca and her magical new friends travel to see the Oracle to learn why the Great God Pan wants her dead. Upon their return they discover that their secret is out as an army of trolls try to wipe them out. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017AJ4SYW
“Rebecca’s Coronation” brings it all together in a stunning final confrontation with Pan. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BO97TCC
I’ll leave you with one of the 5-star reviews from Amazon: If ever a series of children’s books would make a great film it is this one. I was hooked from the first book. The stories are full of all the creatures of mythology we love so much, and one thing even more important, what humanity is supposed to be and so often isn’t. I think a lot of us wonder about that. I still read children’s books. They help me remember the lessons good books teach us when we were small; lessons far too many forget when they “grow up” but I never want to forget. I can’t recommend these books enough, they really do deserve that film , so many people can feel the goodness they radiate, not forgetting why we have to fight the destroyers and more hopefully save some from themselves
December 11, 2016
How Do You Like Them Apples?
OK, so a little over a month ago voters went to the polls and elected Donald Trump president of the United States. I was among them. Like the majority of Americans, I did not vote for him. while I had reservations about Mrs. Clinton, I knew I did not want Trump.
Many people when faced with this choice opted out. They decided the morally superior way to go was to not vote. This reminds me of a true story that happened probably 50 years ago.
My Father and I were at the home of one of our neighbors. He and the neighbor were having a conversation about politics. My neighbor, it seems, was one of those people who never voted.
To explain his non-voting he pointed to an apple tree in his front yard and said, “It doesn’t matter who is in power, Democrat, Republican, Communist or whatever. That tree gets the same number of apples on it either way.”
“Yes,” my father replied. “But it DOES make a difference how many of those apples you get to keep–if any.”
So, consider this: As we go forward, whether or not you voted or who you voted for, PAY ATTENTION!!!!! As you see changes happen in the coming months and years and those changes favor the “1%”; as you see science ignored and environmental safeguards stripped away; As you see rights stripped away in the name of security; you will have your moral superiority to comfort you.
It has always been true that if you leave government to the hands of a very few, they will eventually make rules that favor themselves. They will eventually end up with all the rights, privileges and wealth.
So, vigilance and involvement are the price of democracy– that everyone must pay. This means you. How do you like them apples?
