Sherrie R. Cronin's Blog, page 58

What if?

What if you could do far more than you realize?  What if you could do things that others would consider impossible?

The collection of books called 46. Ascending asks this question as five very different members of a family each discover that they respond to danger by developing skills that appear to defy logic. The next novel in the collection will be released on Amazon in late January.

Meet Alex Zeitman.  An injury ended his hopeful basketball career decades ago and today he coaches, teaches physics, and parents three talented quirky children alongside his rather odd wife Lola. His country school has a long history with organized hate groups and a sad tradition of bigotry, and the recent influx of Latino immigrants has brought out new intolerance. But when the administration itself looks like it wants to turn the clock backwards to an era of white supremacy, Alex can no longer sit idle.

Then an old friend from his own high school days reappears along with an ancient Mayan mystery that Alex can help solve, and suddenly Alex has his hands full. The past and present  intertwine as both sets of issues force Alex to come to terms with the time altering talents that he thought that he left behind years ago on a basketball court.  As he and his family find themselves in danger, Alex struggles to regain his unique relationship with time before legacies from long ago  harm those he loves, and before his own era loses a rare opportunity to bridge the past and the future.

Home for the Holidays

In the climax of x0, as my newly telepathic hero Lola speeds around the world trying to outrun an evil man, there is a part of her that is still also trying to get home in time for Christmas dinner with her family. For all that she has transitioned into becoming a sort of super hero, she is still very much human.

Today, I am lucky to celebrate my own Christmas holiday with those I love the most, and as we start in with the chaos of making a feast, I recognize this time as well worth cherishing. Whatever your traditions or your situation, I wish you your own celebrations in the year ahead, and may they be filled with the warmth of time spent with those that bring the most joy into your life.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and may your days be filled with hope, with joy and with peace.

Enter on Goodreads to win a free paperback copy

Winners anywhere get a paperback book mailed right to their door. Click on the flag of Nigeria below to enter

Nigerian Flag

(The Flag of Nigeria was first officially hoisted on October 1, 1960. The two green bands represent the forests and abundant natural wealth of Nigeria while the white band represents peace.)

Guns for World Peace?

My father was an avid gun collector and a mildly enthusiastic hunter. I got to traipse along on an occasional pheasant hunt myself, and under his careful supervision I shot the hell out of a some hapless aluminum cans as a child. My main character in x0, Lola, shares a similar background with guns and (like me) she owns a small handgun for protection and I support that right. Mine sits in a drawer. She almost had to use hers. However…..

The right to own a hunting rifle or a gun for protection is not infringed upon by reasonable laws forbidding me from owning semi-automatic weapons. There simply is no law-abiding need for that kind of destructive firepower. I do not get to own Ebola cultures.  Small nuclear weapons.  Nerve gas. Land mines. My own tanks. Someone please explain to me why some otherwise rational gun owners explode into fury at the thought that some types of guns just do not belong in the hands of the general public?

Nor are my rights infringed upon by always requiring background checks and waiting periods. (I’m looking at you, gun shows.) In fact, my safety and the safety of all of us is increased by demanding such.

The gun owners in my immediate family have all slowly dropped out of the NRA, one by one becoming disillusioned with that organizations zealous refusal to support legislation that sensible gun owners favor. With every new tragedy, the NRA says this is no time to talk about gun control. For heaven’s sake.  When is there a better time?

The above sculpture, usually referred to as the Knotted Gun, is actually titled ‘Non-violence’, and I first admired it in a visit to New York in 2003. It stands outside the UN building and was presented as a gift from Luxembourg. It points the way toward a world of peace that we all yearn for, my gun toting relatives included. Until such a time as we do have world peace, however, reasonable people may wish to own one. But now would be a very good time to get over the idea that his means that they can own any kind of gun, any number of guns, and that they can get those as fast and as easily as they would like.

Guns are dangerous. People are dangerous. The combination is deadly. That’s what my dad taught me in western Kansas before he ever let me shoot. Isn’t it time we all agreed that society has the right to regulate and monitor that which so clearly can result in so much tragic loss of lives?

Watching the clock for world peace?

Today, I was fascinated by the charm of 12/12/12. Yes, I know full well that it was a day like any other and the the modern western calendar in common usage is arbitrary. But there was still something about it ….  and others apparently fell victim to the same harmless foolishness as they got married in groups of twelve, held parties for twelve-year-olds born on this day and even induced labor to give Junior a special birthday.

My hero of x0, Lola, wants to encourage face painting for world peace, and in the spirit of her desire I have blogged about paintings for world peace, music for world peace and, well, just world peace. Why?  Lola starts the book out as a natural empath and, before the novel x0 is over, she becomes a strong telepath who discovers that as her connection with humanity grows, her tolerance for violence decreases.

So, I was especially delighted to learn that a group outside of Tokyo took the exact time of 12:12 pm today to hold a get- together to pray for world peace.  REUTERS reported that it was billed as a “light meeting” with twelve seconds after 12:12 pm holding special significance. Great idea?  Of course it was.

And an organization called celebrate 121212 pushed for a world day of interconnectedness. What a fine idea, and not just for fictional telepaths. Please check out their website here. Surely we can’t ever find too many reasons for trying to get along better.

Doing a little publicity for 46. Ascending

Personal Business Cards with Customization by Vistaprint

What do you think? Any suggestions? I’m pretty excited about the the new z2 cover.

It’s a real book!

Click to see

Gulp. This writing thing just got more real for me as today x0 became available in paperback.  Check it out here. It’s 328 actual paper pages. It even comes with free shipping. Just like any other real stuff you order. How cool is that?

Mission control

Most of us have been involved at least once in writing a “mission statement”.  This concise summary of what one is trying to do is usually an exercise in restating what ones boss wants to hear and is thus regarded by cynical employees as the time wasting nonsense that it is. Yet, the real question regarding why you are doing what you are doing remains a valid one. What is the point? What do you want to accomplish? Why not just take a nap?

To that end, today the blog “Face Painting for World Peace” is going to articulate its reason for being. I’ll start with the obvious.  I wish to sell my book x0.  I wish to entertain myself by writing, which I love to do, and in the best case I wish to entertain others with that writing.  I love to do that as well. I’d like to solicit more interaction here and am trying to figure out how because I wish to grow by hearing from others with ideas outside of my usual circle.

All good mission statements cover not only what is to be done, but also how.  At least at a very high level. So, I hope to do the above by writing about the aspects of x0 that most fascinate me. These include the relationship between telepathy and empathy and the way both relate to humans treating each other with compassion and respect. I subtitled my book (and named this blog) “Face Painting for World Peace” because my main character Lola realizes that she lost many of her racial and ethnic prejudices while painting children’s faces every year at the school carnival. She wonders if similar close interaction with the children of ones enemies would foster world peace. So, this blog will look at paintings about peace, art about peace, and music about peace.

I also hope to occasionally post about Nigeria, the fascinating country where half of the book occurs. There will sometimes be posts about the oil business, with an insiders perspective on the hunt for the hydrocarbons we rely on so heavily and yet know we need to rely on less And finally, I hope to feature other books of any genre that touch on any of these topics or on the theme of world peace. I will be more aggressively seeking out other authors and welcome all requests to do a guest post.

Mission accomplished? Hardly. But after about eight months of feeling my way along on this blog, and as I am about to cross the 2000 hit mark very soon, it feels good to say “mission begun”.

Telepathy on the road

Just got back from a great vacation visiting my daughter and my sister in Illinois.  Of course, even when I travel my books stay on my mind.  I was delighted to discover that in Chicago, telepathy is now a tool used by drivers to signal their intentions.  Now that I think of it, it must also be used here in Texas, as that would explain why folks hardly ever use their turn signals here.

Singing for World Peace

At a concert a few nights ago, it struck me that making music is so much more collaborative than writing fiction. Actually, you could argue that almost any human activity is more interactive, except maybe art. So it isn’t surprising that while authors produce novels and plays hoping to encourage world peace, and artists paint and sculpt and sketch to do the same, music rules as a powerful medium for getting across a message of peace (or anything else) because it is something that people make together and appreciate together.

Don’t believe me? Check out this list of hundreds of peace songs at everybody’s friend Wikipedia.

A list of my top five personal favorite peace songs:

“Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan (1963)

“From a Distance”  written by Julie Gold. and performed by Bette Midler (1988)

“Imagine” by John Lennon (1971)

“Russians” by Sting (1985)

“Turn! Turn! Turn!” by Pete Seeger recorded by the Byrds (1965)

I couldn’t help notice that this list dates me a little a bit, and so I plan to check out every song on the Wikipedia list written after 2000 and report back with a top ten list that is at least half from this millennium. Meanwhile, check out another groups list of top ten peace songs here that spans genres and decades. I’m also very happy to “take nominations from the floor” for the best peace song ever. Got a favorite to nominate?