The Alibi (A John Chance Mystery) – Chapter 1 (backstory)

Long Ago and Far Away…okay, starting in August 2022, I shared chapters from The Alibi. That lasted to mid-September when life and starting a new business got in the way.

Life and a new business consumed more time than I expected. I still wrote – actually updated, edited, and got ready for publication my first non-fiction in six years, That Th!nk You Do (due out 15 Jan 2023. You should all buy a copy and leave glorious reviews) – but The Alibi took a backseat (and it annoyed me I did so, by the way).

But I’m also sensitive to my own cycles, transits, methodologies, dispositions, … . I knew the story wasn’t going where it was suppose to go, but I didn’t know where it was suppose to go.

So shelve it. Give it time. Ruminate.

Some time late-September 2022, Susan and I talked about it. I mentioned my biggest challenge with the story was not seeing a character who would change through the course of the novel, didn’t know who or what would act as the throughline, both of which are (to me) critically important.
Continue reading “The Alibi (A John Chance Mystery) – Chapter 1 (backstory)”

That Th!nk You Do Chapter X+5 – Want to be Heard? See a Musician

(Another chapter in my forthcoming non-fiction That Th!nk You Do (note the clever change in the title? Gotta love those creatives, don’t you?) The fascinating chapter numbers are due to unfinished editing. I hope to share the bookcover soon)


Do you ever wish someone would just listen to you? That you could find someone who could understand not just the words but the emotions behind them? Well, it turns out that’s very easy to do.
Continue readingThat Th!nk You Do Chapter X+5 – Want to be Heard? See a Musician”

That Th!nk You Do Chapter X+4 – Can’t Be Happy? Blame Your Parents

(Another chapter in my forthcoming non-fiction That Th!nk You Do (note the clever change in the title? Gotta love those creatives, don’t you?) The fascinating chapter numbers are due to unfinished editing. I hope to share the bookcover soon)


Are you happy? Do you have a positive outlook on life? Is the glass usually half full when you drink from it?

If so, there’s a better than even chance you’re from Latin American countries, possibly the US and could have northern Mediterranean ancestry. Not so happy? Chances are your from Asia or the Pacific Rim countries.

What…did you think I was going to suggest you blame your parents for your outlook on life? Maybe in another column, but this time out we’re going to look at how ethnic origins – ancestry – often pre-determines how you’ll deal with life’s situations big and small.

According to a now long-standing study involving five dominant ethnic groups, ethnic origins play a significant role in how people view their world. These results don’t surprise me, and I’m sure they don’t surprise anyone with a cultural anthropology background.

But why is one culture happier than another? Cultures that place higher values on self-worth and self-fulfillment – as opposed to group identity – tend to promote happier, psychologically healthier individuals. But wait, there’s more…

It also seems that cultures that promote open emotionalism have happier, psychologically healthier individuals.

Open emotionalism? Continue readingThat Th!nk You Do Chapter X+4 – Can’t Be Happy? Blame Your Parents”

That Th!nk You Do Chapter X+3 – Rewarding Your Critical

(Another chapter in my forthcoming non-fiction That Th!nk You Do (note the clever change in the title? Gotta love those creatives, don’t you?) The fascinating chapter numbers are due to unfinished editing. I hope to share the bookcover soon)


Do you have a little voice inside your head that warns you about things you’re about to do? Maybe it goes beyond warning you, perhaps it out and out chides you or even yells so loudly it stops you dead in your tracks?

Congratulations, you’ve been in touch with what people studying learning models call your critic (not a surprising name considering what it does, is it?).

Do you have a little voice inside your head that makes suggestions on how to get the most out of whatever you’re about to do? Maybe it goes beyond suggestions, maybe it reminds you of what worked and what didn’t in the past? Maybe it demands this path be followed over that path?

Congratulations again, now you’re talking with your actor.

Want to learn how to confuse them or even shut them up completely? It’s probably obvious (once you think about it) that our mind’s actor and critic come from different parts of the brain. The critic comes from the front part of the brain where reasoning occurs, the actor from the rear of the brain where we process vision and memory (generally speaking).

Both are necessary. They’re part of what’s called instrumental conditioning and constitute the most basic form of adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior and instrumental conditioning are very important to our survival as individuals and as a species. We adapt how we behave in order to maximize rewards and minimize punishments, and that process of adapting is done in (hopefully) small steps by conditioning ourselves to our environment.

The actor reminds us what happened before in similar environments and helps us predict what to do in the present environment. The critic predicts future gains and losses by evaluating present conditions and information out of our direct experience. We need both of them. They work in tandem for most of us and people lacking one or the other tend to take unnecessary risks or avoid new situations altogether.

But what if your critic-actor is too critical or too…umm…actorial?

Both critic and actor cause the brain to send hormonal signals through the body. Most often these signals are survival oriented – great for the jungle and possibly night walks in a city, not quite the same as deciding what you should purchase or whether or not to get on that really big roller coaster.

So here’s how to deal with both and let you – your hopefully rational, thinking, intelligent self – make the decisions.
Continue readingThat Th!nk You Do Chapter X+3 – Rewarding Your Critical”

Those Wings Which Tire, They Have Upheld Me in Penumbric Dec 2k22

“Worthy of Philip K Dick himself. I would buy the whole magazine for this story alone. For fear of ruining the experience, I’ll simply say that a bullied child with a disability and the tech he relies on lead him to make a very unusual friend.”

 

Spring

Cowan was walking in the woods the first time he saw Angel. He was really looking for a haunted house the real estate lady told his parents was back there and he’d walked further into the woods than he’d ever gone before.

 
Enjoy!