Michelle Garren Flye's Blog, page 64

Why this election frightens me

Please read this.

I’m a freaking romance writer, why the hell am I getting involved in politics?

Because the prospect of President Donald Trump terrifies me on a personal level, and I’m going to try to explain that.

And it’s not the so-called “salty language”/”locker room talk”, although for the record that locker room talk described actions that NO ONE should be okay with. I fear a Donald Trump presidency because I don’t think he has the emotional maturity to be president, and he will end up being an authoritarian at best. A dictator, more likely.

Think about it. He’s displayed all the signs. He is vindictive. He has shown himself to possess bullying tendencies. He calls people names and threatens them if they don’t do what he wants. He’s publicly threatened Hillary Clinton at least three times that we know of. He bans media outlets that don’t say what he wants them to say, calling them “unfair”. He threatens lawsuits for almost anything. He’s shown a total disregard for and lack of knowledge of the Constitution and international laws on several occasions.

If Donald Trump is elected president, I won’t agree with him. He doesn’t believe in the equality of races and sexes. He doesn’t believe in climate change, and I am very sure that if we have a president who denies climate change in the face of all scientific proof for four years, we’ll do uncontrollable damage to the environment.

If he is elected president and follows through on the promise to force his Attorney General to appoint ANOTHER special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton and spend billions more of our tax dollars on ANOTHER investigation of our tax dollars, I will have to protest that, because it will put our entire system in jeopardy.

I will write every word I can to protest what he does that I feel is wrong. I will watch every move he makes as president, and I will fight every way I know how to try to make our nation a decent place for my children to live.

And there’s the rub. I will fight using the only real weapon I have. The written word. And we well know that Donald Trump does not believe in Freedom of the Press. In other authoritarian regimes, writers who fight the government end up in jail or dead. Their families are threatened or just disappear. Sometimes they flee their country.

If Donald Trump is elected president, writers are going to have to be as brave as soldiers. Journalists are going to have to make a commitment to fighting, right here on our own home turf. We’ll have to fight for what we believe is right, no matter the consequences. Because our nation will be at stake.

Which is why I beg you, if you believe in truth and freedom and justice, don’t vote for Donald Trump. I’d rather you vote for Gary Johnson. Write in Mike Pence or Paul Ryan. Jeb Bush was my pick for Republican nominee, honestly. Vote for him. I don’t fear any of those politicians. I don’t respect or agree with many of them, either, but I don’t fear them. Because I believe I could disagree with them and still go home at night and feel safe.

#NeverTrump #ImWithHer

In defense of the romance genre

Trump surrogates have been all over the map trying to defend their candidate from his own words on the leaked video. First, it was just “locker room talk”. And was he really saying anything that bad? No…that’s not sexual assault he’s describing. Besides, Hollywood has glorified rape culture for years… Just look at 50 Shades of Grey!

That last one gets me. Really? As a romance writer and reader, I’m no fan of 50 Shades of Grey, but I did read it, and I know that the author made it very clear that the actions were consensual. The female character even signs a contract, for heaven’s sake. You’d think that would be something an American businessman would understand. But besides that, how does this even apply? Are they saying a work of fiction is somehow comparable to running for President of the United States? Are they saying that Donald Trump has been unfairly influenced by the glorification of rape culture in books, movies and television?

Can he not separate reality from fiction?

No. Don’t use 50 Shades of Grey or any other work of romance fiction (and believe me, I only reluctantly include 50 Shades in that category) to excuse bad behavior. Don’t say that we can’t be offended by Donald Trump’s words if we read it. Because romance fiction, erotic or not, is fantasy. It is not meant to be believed or acted out.

Unless you really can’t separate reality from fiction, you cannot brag about sexually assaulting women and then compare it to books, movies or television. And if Donald Trump can’t separate reality from fiction, he sure as hell should not be running for President.

Why I am writing about politics

It’s not a decision I made lightly. Friends and colleagues both warned me not to jump into the political arena this year. “You’ll alienate your reader base,” they said. “You’re a romance author. You’ll sound like you’re trying to be an expert at something you’re not trained in.”

What did I do? I ignored them. And there’s a very simple reason why. This year isn’t about politics at all. Politics are about policies, and there must always be some give and take about policies. This year is different. This year is about defending our country’s values, principles and freedoms. They are in danger, and Donald Trump is the threat.

I started my crusade on Facebook at the beginning of the year, trying to encourage friends and family to truly look at what Donald Trump had said and done since launching his presidential campaign. His off-the-cuff remarks about Mexicans being rapists and drug dealers, his horrible comments about women, his passion for waterboarding and other forms of torture, and the worst of all, to me at least, his advocating for killing the families of terrorists. And let’s not forget his promises to limit both freedom of the press and freedom of religion. Any of the other Republican candidates would have been better for our nation. But they didn’t become the presidential nominee. Trump did. And so I vowed to keep posting until Donald Trump was no longer a threat to my country.

Well, he’s still out there. And I’m still writing my articles for whatever they’re worth. And that’s part of why this blog has been so neglected. I’ve only let my politics sneak on here once or twice before. But with the election less than a month away, I’ve made a decision. I hope it’s not a dumb one.

I hope it doesn’t make you hate me or decide not to read my books. If it does, that’s my loss.

In an attempt to reach more voters, I’ll be posting on here now. You’ll see what I believe in right up front. There’s nothing romantic about politics, but there is passion. Passion for preserving our country’s founding principles. There is love. Love for our country and our fellow man. There is desire. Desire to make our country a better place for everyone.

And that’s why, for the next month, I’m dedicating this blog to anyone who believes that we must defeat Donald J. Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election. I’ll post my #StopTrump articles here and then to Facebook. If any of my other talented, like-minded fellow writers wishes to join me, I will welcome them.

Happy Friday! Out of Time Giveaway

Happy Friday! Let’s celebrate…Out of Time style. I’m giving away 20 Kindle copies to lucky random winners on Amazon. Check it out here: Out of Time Amazon Giveaway

And just in case you need more convincing, here’s one of my personal favorite excerpts from the book to whet your appetite for romance and adventure:

Oh! And the awesome book trailer by Farah Evers Designs:

What are you waiting for? Go enter! Out of Time Amazon Giveaway

Colorblinded for Two Voices

A few months ago, inspired by current events, I wrote the poem “Colorblinded” and published it here because I’m not enough of a poet to think I should bug publishers with my stuff. However, I love poetry—writing, reading and teaching it—and I’m currently researching poems for multiple voices. And I wanted something to demonstrate two points of view, so I decided to rewrite “Colorblinded” so it reflected the other POV as well as mine. I’m not sure how good it is, but with National Poetry Day coming up in October, I thought I might share this one here. Since I am hopeless about formatting blogs, it’s in jpg format, but if you’d like to blow it up a bit for easier reading, click on this link: colorblinded-for-two-voices

 

In defense of Ms. Shriver: Cultural appropriation in writing

Lionel Shriver, author of 13 novels, was criticized this weekend for speaking out in defense of cultural appropriation. “Otherwise all I could write about would be smart-alecky, 59-year-old, 5-foot-2 inch white women from North Carolina.”

Shriver is right, of course. It’s our job as writers to imagine life from all different points of view. Because we were given the ability to do that. Currently, I—a five-foot-tall white woman from North Carolina—am trying to write from the point of view of a six-foot-six tall Elf from another dimension who finds himself in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the company of a young Cherokee woman. Not really comparable to Shriver’s cultural appropriations of the homeless, African Americans, the elderly and others, but different from my own life, nonetheless.

Imagine if all writers wrote exclusively about their own culture—would the temptation not be for those stories to be consumed by those of the same race and economic class? And would that not contribute to narrow-mindedness and, eventually, prejudice that your way is the only way?

As a librarian, I strive to incorporate stories from all cultures in our independent, globally focused school library. As a writer, I try to keep in mind that the world is a very big place with lots of ideas in it (some would say that my biggest stretch would be to take the POV of a Trump supporter…), and try to channel those ideas through my writing. This is important for me as a writer, as well as you as a reader. Don’t condemn cultural appropriation in the books you read. Celebrate the fact that the author has made an attempt to broaden horizons (their own as well as their readers).

And if we get it wrong…be gentle.

In honor of National Book Lovers’ Day

It’s National Book Lovers’ Day, and I’m obviously a book lover. Whether I’m writing them, reading them, editing them or cataloguing them, nothing, in my opinion, is better than a book. I love giving books to people, I love finding books for people and I love, love, love when someone gives me a book. There is no better gift.

When I wrote Out of Time, I wanted to express some of the gratitude I feel for those who helped foster my love of reading and books in my acknowledgements. On this day of all days, it feels appropriate to share that here. I hope some of the people who I mention might see them and know how much they meant to me. I hope others who read these acknowledgements will think of those who’ve helped put books in their hands at one point or another. And mostly, I hope we’ll all think about how we might get more books into more hands in the future. Because if you create a book lover, you’ve done the world a huge favor.

From Acknowledgements, Out of Time:

I always want to say something splendid in the acknowledgements of my books. It’s kind of like writing a note in a birthday card, though. If you’re not careful, you’ll write yourself into a corner, but you just have to keep going…

As usual, I want to thank the friends and family who support me and believe in me. My parents and in-laws and brothers and, especially, my husband, Chris and children, Josh, Ben and Jessi (to whom this book is dedicated). And the members of The (most) Flye Street Team. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Strangely, however, with this book, I feel I need to add a thank you to some other people who don’t know me, some of whom are dead now. Maybe it’s because this book, which is so different from others I have written, comes closer to what I feel I was always intended to write. A fantasy that sort of reflects my belief that there’s way more poetry in our prosaic world than at first meets the eye. So a special note of appreciation to the following seems in order.

Thank you to the owners of Highland Books and The Book Nook, where I spent many hours reading science fiction and fantasy books I couldn’t afford to buy when I was a kid. I know you saw me in the corner of your store, but you never once asked me, “Are you going to buy that book?”

Thank you to the ladies of the Transylvania County Library where I “worked” on Saturdays during my teenage years. I know you know I spent a good amount of my shelving time browsing the books, but you never complained.

Thank you to the innumerable science fiction and fantasy authors who have provided me with hours of enjoyable reading. You don’t know me, but I have lived in your worlds, whether it be Pern or Narnia or Middle-Earth…

And thank you to you, my readers. Whether you’re hiding in a corner of a book store or browsing the shelves of a library, or reading on your e-reader, I hope my book can take you somewhere beyond the reality of normality.

There’s something rotten in the marketplace of ideas

By Downtowngal (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I was trained as a journalist. I didn’t practice long (about a year and a half), but I remember some of what I learned in the journalism school I attended.

One of those things was the theory called “the marketplace of ideas”. It’s the cornerstone of freedom of information. It’s the idea that out of a vast mix of many ideas, the truth will emerge. In other words, truth is the idea that gains the most traction when all ideas are allowed to be expressed.

This is a great concept, and I thoroughly support it for the most part. But every now and then, in this huge marketplace, the smell of rotten fruit is overwhelming. I smell it most strongly on social media, where far left and far right media are quoted as facts.

I worry that the marketplace of ideas was not intended to be placed next to today’s information superhighway where people are too busy to pay attention to the fruit they pick up. Is that fruit actually something they want to consume? Or was its sweet smell concealing something much more rotten?

In today’s age of too much information presented too quickly, you need to be careful what you believe and what you pass along. Ask yourself: Is the information you pass along based on real fact? Where does it come from? What other ideas has that source put forward? Are you passing it along because it sounds like truth or because it sounds like the truth you want?

Treat the marketplace of ideas like you treat any roadside stand you may stop at to pick up fruit for your family. Look at each piece of fruit carefully. Examine it for rotten areas. Think about where it comes from. Because wormy ideas are causing a great deal of sickness in this world.

What now?: The in-between

I just finished the full first draft of Time Being, Book Two of the Synchronicity series. As usual, I’m feeling at loose ends. I know it wouldn’t be a good idea to start editing Time Being immediately, and I’m not quite ready to start on the last book in the series (although I’m very excited about where it’s going). And so, I wait.

It’s hard, this waiting thing. This in-between books thing. I know it’s my breathing moment, but I never feel quite right if I’m not writing something, but writing is such an all-consuming thing, I often let other projects go while I’m involved in it. I do have other interests…

So I’ll work on those now. If you need me, I’ll be processing a backlog of books for my kids’ libraries, going to Zumba class (I just started and really like it), following the Presidential election (closely and with great trepidation), maybe take up line-dancing (I saw a flier…). And when it’s time to sit back down and start writing and editing again, I’ll know.

And I’ll keep you up-to-date. In the meantime, if you haven’t read Out of Time yet, there’s still time to get it for 50% off on Smashwords. Click on the link below and use the code SSW50 until July 31.

Colorblinded in troubled times

My last post was a political one. This post is not. At least it is not intended to be, though race relations have been politicized to the point where it is difficult to separate the two. Over the past few days I have seen so many tragedies in the news, however, useless killing on the streets of my country. These killings deeply wounded the black community and the blue community. My heart goes out to both, along with my fear and worry for the future of our world and our country if we can’t find a way to mend attitudes and live together. When I tried to put my feelings into words, this is what came out. I don’t write poetry very often but this feels like poetry to me.

 

Colorblinded

By Michelle Garren Flye

I am not colorblind.

I see you. I see your differences. When I pass you on the street, I see you aren’t the same as me. Your skin, your attitude, your music, your life. You are different. I see you, and I don’t know you.

You are a mystery.

I am colorblinded.

Do you see me? Do you see the mother, the artist, the poet, the person who is me? Can you see past my skin, or does it blind you? Do you see only a white, privileged, raised-in-the-South woman who doesn’t understand?

I don’t think you see me.

I think you are colorblinded, too.

Tell me what would happen if I reached out to you. Tell me what would happen if white skin touched black…and black touched back. If hand held hand in a long, long line of red and yellow, black and white…

Could we be colorblind together?