Ampersand Gazette #66
Welcome to the Ampersand Gazette, a metaphysical take on some of the news of the day. If you know others like us, who want to create a world that includes and works for everyone, please feel free to share this newsletter. The sign-up is here. And now, on with the latest …
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Want to Do Something Patriotic This Year?
Ditch the Fireworks.
“All flourishing is mutual,” writes Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, in her best-selling book, “Braiding Sweetgrass.” This is one of the most oft-repeated lines in contemporary environmental literature, and for good reason. It reminds us that all creation, human and other-than-human, is interconnected. At a time when life on this planet is faltering in every possible way, Dr. Kimmerer gently points out that our own flourishing depends on the flourishing of planetary systems that we are barely beginning to understand.…
As Dr. Kimmerer points out in “The Serviceberry,” her forthcoming book, “We live in a time when every choice matters.”
In that context, surely, we can give up fireworks. Of all the little pleasures that give life meaning and joy, surely fireworks don’t come close to the top of the list, and it costs us nothing to give them up. This is one case in which doing the right thing requires no significant sacrifice, one case in which doing the right thing has an immediate, noticeable, undeniably positive effect on a suffering world.
The conflation of selfishness with patriotism is the thing I have the hardest time accepting about our political era.
The truly American thing would be to join together to make every change we can reasonably make to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, human and other-than-human alike. The truly American thing would be to plant a victory garden large enough to encompass the entire natural world.
from a Guest Essay by Margaret Renkl in The New York Times
“Want to do Something Patriotic This Year? Ditch the Fireworks”
July 1, 2024
I know, I know, the Fourth of July has passed. Still, there is a metaphysical point to be made in Margaret Renkl’s wonderful challenge to give up fireworks.
A lot of us think of fireworks fondly, it’s true. They tend to bring up hazy summer evenings, and the oohs and aahs of childhood magic. Personally, I never was a fan of fireworks, even though they can be beautiful, and truly, they can. See, the thing is, my eyes don’t really focus fast enough to be able to see them clearly … because they’re so here tonight and gone in a flash.
The hardest part of fireworks for me isn’t not really being able to see them; it’s the booming sound. My husband even explained to me this year that fireworks can happen without the ka-booms! Did you know that? I didn’t. Still, here in New York, they’re legal, they come with ka-booms, and they’ll be going off all weekend and probably into next week.
Ms. Renkl is one of my favorite environmental authors. She has a way of writing about nature and our part in it that makes me feel like I am a part of it. Usually, I don’t much connect to nature. I am even famous for saying, “Yes, nature. Nature for me includes as-phalt. As-phalt.” Everyone usually laughs, but really, I’m no nature girl. Gimme a city sidewalk any day.
But none of these are the reason her essay spoke so boldly to me. Robin Kimmerer is a marvelous reminder of our interconnectedness, and in the world we live in right now, it’s a valid and useful reminder, one we’d probably do best with if we were reminded every day.
We. Are. All. Connected.
If for no other reason than that we all share the same planet. As a friend once said to me, There is no Planet B. Good point.
And, even better: All. Flourishing. Is. Mutual.
But again, it’s what I heard within when I saw her headline that made me think. Look at it again. Ditch the fireworks. Ms. Renkl says, “for patriotism.” Dr. Kimmerer says, “for one another.” I say, “for sanity.” And no, I’m not talking about sprays of light in the sky. I’m talking about our collective addiction to emotional fireworks—alternative spelling: d-r-a-m-a—in order to feel alive.
So many times, for so many years, I have heard client after client lament the fireworks in their emotional lives to me, and thought to myself, “Um, yeah, but, dear one, you created those fireworks. No one else.” And before you take a deep breath to defend your own, hold it a sec.
Tell me you haven’t noticed someone or another making fireworks out of something that isn’t worth it to you. We all have seen it, but we don’t often apply it to ourselves, and this is part of why the Renkls and the Kimmerers have to remind us so often that we are all connected.
Because my fireworks affect you. Your fireworks affect me. Our national fireworks affect other nations. Theirs affect ours. On and on and on and on. There is no action without an equal and opposite reaction on Planet A. There isn’t.
And, if I want to flourish (and oh, I do) then I have to want you to flourish too. Otherwise, if I withhold flourishing from you, it is inexorable law that I withhold from myself in equal degree.
So the next time you’re tempted to go for the personal fireworks, Beloved, consider ditching them … for the sake of your own sanity, for the sake of the sanity on the planet, and for the sake of everyone you spare by welcoming change instead of resisting it just to cause a fuss so you feel more alive. Flourishing is our natural state. Promise.
Happy Fireworks-Free Fourth.
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Book Bans Are on the Rise.
But Fear of Fiction Is Nothing New.
The fear of fiction waxes and wanes, spiking every couple of decades like some kind of hysterical cicada. While the context changes, fear of fiction seems always to boil down to fear of one’s society and the people who live in it. … Which means it’s at least theoretically possible that art could seduce our fellow citizens into wicked beliefs.
Fear of other people, and how they might work together to shift reality, is the reason the contest over written language so often extends to the realm of make-believe—of fiction. Fiction is the story of other people; this is what makes it dangerous.
from an Essay by Lyta Gold in The New York Times
“Book Bans Are on the Rise. But Fear of Fiction Is Nothing New.”
July 2, 2024
Well, we have FOMO, why not Fe Fi? Fear of fiction. There’s even a threatening precedent for those two syllables in fairy tales. Fe Fi are the first two syllables of the threat, followed quickly by Fo Fum, the sounds of a giant approaching. The whole notion made me laugh, but then on this weekend allegedly celebrating freedom itself, I sobered quite quickly.
To me, banning books is an absurdity. I’ve read multiple author interviews with writers whose books have been banned. To a one, they all confirm that the banning of their title or titles was the best thing that ever happened to their sales numbers. Of course it was.
Ever see or read Beauty and the Beast and all its variations? In a phrase, “any door but that one,” right? Well, okay, which door do you want now? That one. Of course.
The forbidden, the hidden, the secret, the unspoken, all of these intrigue us, and so, whether we are willing to admit it or not, whether we politicize it or not, whether we demonize it or not, does The Other, to which Ms. Gold refers in her essay.
Fiction is the story of the other. A great idea. Fiction is also the story of what if it hadn’t been? Also, what if it could be? Fiction and the Fe Fi related to it is the giant that those who wish to control the thoughts, words, and deeds of others want to slay.
Sadly, those fearmongers are like Nasruddin, the Sufi clown, who loses his keys in his house one night, but instead goes outside to look for them. Someone mentions that he lost his keys inside, and he answers, “Yes, but the light is better out here.”
It’s not fiction or its fear they want to obliterate, it’s the spirit of curiosity, of inquiry, of the desire to change things for the better, for everyone.
What’s behind book banning, Beloved, is greed. Not always financial greed either, witness those authors whose royalty statements are benefited thereby. No, it’s greed for power, and in their eyes, the power they want means that they go for the jugular of our freedom.
The next time you hear Fe Fi, Beloved, just answer them Fo Fum, and go back to reading whatever the hell you want.
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Here’s a universal affirmation. It works every time, for everyone, always and forever …
Dr. Susan Corso
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And in publishing news …
A BIG ASK … PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
If you have bought Jezebel Rising, and liked it, I have a PERSONAL REQUEST to make.
There is a special promotion I want to do for the series, but I need to have over ten 4+Star reviews on Amazon Kindle to qualify.
If you loved it, would you please take a few minutes of your valuable time to go HERE, and write Jezebel a review? Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Here’s a recent one that’s amazing—
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2024
wonderful read, totally delightful, a rare 5 stars from me! At first it felt too "polly-annish", what with unlimited wealth & profoundly loving familial relationships, but then the author found her rhythm & i truly enjoyed myself. The metaphysics are solid & the novel is long enough to go in depth on so many levels. Brava!
If you want the paperbacks of The Subversive Lovelies, look carefully. There are Two Volumes for each title.
If you want the Kindle, there’s One File for each title.
The first two of the tetralogy, Jezebel Rising and Jasmine Increscent can be found at these live links for ebooks and paperbacks.
And here’s Gemma Eclipsing …
which is still on THREE AMAZON BESTSELLER LISTS! And has been on four!! Metaphysical Fiction, LGBTQ+ Fiction, Women’s Historical Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction.
SO I’M KEEPING IT FREE FOR AS LONG AS IT REMAINS IN THE TOP 50!!
OKLAHOMA! HEX IS STILL ON THE METAPHYSICAL FICTION BESTSELLER LIST AND HAS BEEN SINCE APRIL 18TH!!!
I finished the first draft of Jacqueline Retrograde on July 5th, the look-back at the eldest Bailey sibling’s story. It ended up being quite the romp to write it, and now I’ve got to reread, change, and send it upstairs to my editor. Jaq’s story will definitely come out in two separate launches—#3.5 Jacqueline Retrograde, and #4 Jaq Direct.
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I don’t usually write about The Mex Mysteries in The Gazette, but some recent work I’ve been doing has prompted me to make an exception, especially since it’s summer reading season, and there are ten in the series, so far.
I have a brag shelf in my office on which are displayed the books I’ve written that have paperback versions. Mex does not because I don’t own the lyric reprint rights for print books—yet. But Tony suggested we print one copy of each as a paperback for my brag shelf so we can visualize the print versions! I’d never even thought of it.
Well, a couple of things. First, it made me miss Mex like the dickens. I already have the next few books planned, too, so I let myself have the longing to return to mystery and my beloved high femme intuitive investigator, Mex Stone, and her magical cast of characters.
But also … Ta-DA! Hollywood has come to call and asked if we could make a treatment for the first one in view of a whole series of movies, so … if you love Broadway musicals, as Mex does, here’s a perfect series read for the rest of your summer and beyond.
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I thought Tony’s idea to make placeholders of my mysteries was genius. It’s been a lot of fun preparing to have paperback covers made. The thing is, though, I could have done this any time in the last almost thirty years I’ve been writing them, and it never even dawned on me.
That’s what it is to have someone holding your writing career with you. A writing coach, especially since writing can feel like such a solitary endeavor, is invaluable. That way I’m not stuck with only my own ideas. And, he makes connections both in my writing and in my career that I never see. It’s really quite miraculous. Now, I have to admit mine is a live-in guy for me, but that’s because I finally got smart enough to marry the man.
Anyway, do you have need of someone to partner with to make sure you get with and stick with your own book ideas? Seriously. I know a guy. He’s edited my books for twenty years, and counting.
Tony Amato is a singularly outstanding book coach and editor. May I encourage you to reach out if you need book-husbanding, which includes coaching along the way? Like I said, if you need anything in your writing life, Tony Amato is the person. Without him, my books—both fiction and nonfiction—would be nowhere near as good as they are. Find him here.
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As part of my research for the top-secret fiction series, I’m delving into paranormal fiction, particularly those series designed to be all about saving the world through supernatural means.
So I’ve just finished a remarkable series by Bridget Baker called Birthright Series. There are seven of them. The first one, which is permafree, is called Displaced. I highly recommend it. The series is thoughtful, deep, well worth your reading time, includes great writing, and some wild, interesting characterizations. Her plot is intriguing, and I love her ideas about saving the world.
Before you start to worry that I’m slipping into action hero ideas, guess again. No, I’m so over the hero’s journey. Lone agent must give up love to save the world from utter devastation. Uh, no thanks. That’s been done.
Instead I’m a HUGE FAN of Gail Carriger’s book The Heroine’s Journey, which, believe it or not, made me cry when I first read it. I’d been writing the heroine’s journey forever—in The Mex Mysteries, and in The Boots & Boas Romances, and now in The Subversive Lovelies. What I didn’t know was what to call it.
It starts with a woman who’s capable—as they say in the publishing and film industries: strong female lead—who knows her own limitations, and in need of saving the world on a timeline, forms a team, or, a team forms around her. They work together to get the job done, and there’s always, always, always love in the center of their service. Also, way fewer chase scenes. Way.
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Are you waiting for a sign?
How about this one?
I don’t know about you,
but I’ve heard an awful lot of people lately
saying that the world is in a big mess,
especially the United States.
But what if it isn’t?
What if the world is right on time,
going along doing exactly as it should,
and all that’s required of us
is to
shower it with love,
and hold it in our hearts while we do it?
Try it, Beloved, and see if you don’t
start to feel a whole lot better about our planet
and its future.
I am, without doubt, certain that And is the secret to all we desire.
Let’s commit to practicing And ever more diligently, shall we?
Until next time,
Be Ampersand.
S.