Aly Welch's Blog, page 5
November 21, 2022
Concern Trolls
If a fat person exists but nobody is around to tell them it’s a problem, is it still a problem?
Virtue signalling is one of those accusations that gets thrown around loosely. It comes from the the presumption that someone is feigning concern to score points on some imaginary scoreboard. Sometimes they care, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes it’s a little of both. Personally I think pure altruism is something we should strive for, but it’s ultimately unattainable because helping others will...
October 4, 2022
Ignorance Isn’t Bliss
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
― Lyndon B. Johnson
If the past several years have taught me anything, it’s that people who choose to ignore the suffering of others aren’t even any happier for it. If anything, they’re just as sad and angry as the rest of us, if not more so, but for all the wrong reasons. If they aren’t raging...
September 9, 2022
Truth in Fiction: The Sandman
I’m going to do something today I haven’t really done in my blog despite it being a passion of mine, and examine an episode of television. In this case it’s the disturbing “24/7” episode of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. Spoilers and dark subject matter ahead.
John is a sorcerer of a sort who believes lying is wrong and the truth will set us free, a great example of the path to evil being paved with good intentions. His greatest flaw is perceiving himself as the final arbitrator of the truth des...
August 26, 2022
Friends and Lovers
Last time I talked about reader and writer preferences regarding love scenes in adult books. Personally I can take them or leave them, though I do like that I can slip a Terry Pratchett novel in my work bag to read on breaks without fear of it falling into the wrong hands. One thing most of my favorite narratives have in common – be they film, books, or television – is that the characters feel like my friends. So while I root for them, I don’t need all the intimate details of their lives the way...
August 3, 2022
Sexy Pineapples
“Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be…”
Salt ‘n Peppa
Not my favorite Salt ‘n Peppa song (that would be “Push It”) but it felt apt. Honestly, the title is probably the spiciest thing in this post so don’t get too nervous and/or excited. Reading/writing controversies seem to be a running theme lately, but before we get down and dirty (no, not like that) do you know what’s weirdly controversial?
Pizza toppings.
Debates about ethical food sourcing and nutriti...
Sex and Pineapples
“Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be…”
Salt ‘n Peppa
Not my favorite Salt ‘n Peppa song (that would be “Push It”) but it felt apt. Honestly, the title is probably the spiciest thing in this post so don’t get too nervous and/or excited. Reading/writing controversies seem to be a running theme lately, but before we get down and dirty (no, not like that) do you know what’s weirdly controversial?
Pizza toppings.
Debates about ethical food sourcing and nutriti...
July 7, 2022
Man, I Feel Like a Piece of Meat
The last post was fun to write. This one is less fun, but I can’t get back to work on creative endeavors until I untangle these thoughts. It’s part of the process. I planned to delve deeper into another literary controversy, and it’s one of the threads woven into a big sticky web of relentless awful.
Years ago, I was stocking a retail display of all this mysterious merchandise in celestial packaging. Someone had written a book about a wizard, and a movie was coming out. I found out it was a ...
June 15, 2022
Where’s the Beef?
A Better Me came out two weeks ago. At one point, it was in the top 250 for New Adult and College Fantasy. That was cool, but the best part was seeing all the likes and shares from peers and others. The support of the community is so important for indie authors and publishers. I’ve been leaving copies in a few select Libraries in the Woods and local Little Libraries as I did with Silly Little Monsters last year. And in less than two weeks, my husband and I are going to a couple of author events ...
May 27, 2022
People Not Things
“We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
I’m supposed to be ramping up book promotion before launch, but it feels gross. Everything does. I had planned to follow up my last post with a detailed account of my postnatal experience because everything from healthcare to the formula shortage stirred up a bunch of old angst pertinent to discussion that may be helpful to others, and I’m still going to get to that, but...
May 8, 2022
Baby Products
“Sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.”
― Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum
As an unaffiliated voter, I’ve often said you can know partisanship is inherently toxic, and still recognize when one party has reached peak toxicity. I was only wrong in underestimating how much lower people could sink. The Supreme Court is poised to take personal medical decisions regarding reproductive healthcare away from individuals and “return” them to the Stat...
