The Cerebral  Writer
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Links

Life and Death and Everything in Between

12/30/2017

0 Comments

 
I’ve had a lot to reflect over the past several months. I've suffered a devastating illness, which  has caused me to lose an alarming amount of weight. I watched my marriage fall apart, taking my life in an unexpected direction. I lost a good friend to cancer. I’ll be spending New Year’s Eve alone.

I’ve learned that what we see is often not what we get
. Life has an endless supply of curve balls, some of them faster and more disorienting than others. My head is still spinning over other recent events in my own life, and I find myself struggling to make sense of it all. The last several months have felt like a series of dizzying events rushing over in waves like dominoes, jarring slices of life that should only have been allowed to exist in the Twilight Zone.
 
But nearly everyone I know seems to be suffering from some kind of darkness, many just as bizarre and unexpected as mine. Injustice, betrayal, and death seem to have permeated the world. The news has become the journal of an Orwellian dystopia. Although the writer in me sees the seeds for stories everywhere in our current political climate, I’ve found myself largely unable to write about it—it’s all too depressing, too surreal, too disturbing.
Picture
Last year, I told 2016 where it could shove itself, confident that 2017 was going to be infinitely better. I’m not going to tempt the Fates with another such prediction. I will say my heart is with everyone else who found 2017 particularly difficult. As far as my life goes, I’ve chosen to view all I’ve endured as an opportunity for personal growth, as hard as it’s been. I’ve forgiven those who’ve wronged me, and I’m doing my best to keep the past in the past. I don’t always succeed. I could be a bitter person right now—I’ve been given ample cause—but I’m doing my best not to let recent misfortunes and heartaches harden my heart.
 
Instead, I extend it to everyone out there who’s suffered a recent loss, been betrayed, fallen into poverty, endured injustice, had to start over, or tumbled into some other, similar hell. I extend it to everyone who will be spending New Year’s Eve alone this year. Moreover, I extend it to all those who will spend the end of this year feeling alone.
Picture
I’ve spent so many years so fervent in my beliefs about social justice, thinking I might make a difference by writing my books or speaking out every once in a while on social media. With so much energy put in one direction, it’s difficult not to burn out completely. I haven’t given up, but I am tired. I want to rekindle that passion, and maybe that should be my resolution: to find the fire that once drove me and discover a way to recapture it.
 
I’ll be watching SyFy’s Twilight Zone marathon this New Year’s Day; seems fitting. I invite you to join me in spirit, ringing in 2018 with reflection, gratitude, and the satisfaction of some cosmic justice, even if it is just on the TV screen. May you leave 2017 wiser, stronger, and ready to begin anew. May you find happiness, even if it also comes with moments of despair. May you veer back to your path if you’ve strayed. Most importantly, may you find whatever it is you truly seek, and claim it.

0 Comments

A Dystopian World

12/14/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
After Corporate falls, what becomes of the Corporates, those rich fat-cats who lived like kings on the backs of everyone else?

As we look toward another year, one that will undoubtedly include some changes many of us find unsettling, we must once again ask ourselves: How much power do we, the people, actually have? How is it that, despite our objections, more and more continues to slip away from the people and into Corporate's hands?

The collective "Corporate" might seem still to belong only to the fictitious World-Mart, but I must dare to say it is already alive and well in the real world. Corporate already owns everything.

In Aftermath: Beyond World-Mart, the world takes some scary, but also a few very satisfying, turns. What remains of Corporate is, in my opinion, fitting. So, I have a contest that's befitting our growing World-Mart world.

For a chance at a $20 Amazon gift card, name the author, title, and people who inspired the Corporates in Aftermath.*


*Contest not open to friends and family of the author.

0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Privacy Policy:

    No names or e-mail addresses listed in blog post replies will result in mailing list additions or sharing/sales to other sites via the Cerebral Writer.

    All email addresses, unless added intentionally to the body text of a post or response, will remain hidden from public view.

    Check out the Wiki.Evid's Top 10 Paranormal Mysteries.

    Archives

    November 2018
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008


    Categories

    All
    Aftermath
    Animals
    Anthologies
    Awards
    Bestseller List
    Bizarro
    Blogging
    Classics
    Contests
    Critical Analysis
    Dystopia
    Edgar Allan Poe
    Editors
    Excerpts
    Film
    Finding Poe
    Flash Fiction
    God
    Grammar
    Guest Blogs
    Horror
    Humanitarians
    Interviews
    Jane The Hippie Vampire
    Language
    Leigh M. Lane
    Literary Fiction
    Lupus
    Marketing
    Movies
    Muses
    Musicians
    My Books
    Myths Of Gods
    My Writing
    My Writing
    Nook
    Novellas
    On Writing
    On Writing
    Opinion
    Other Great Authors
    Paying It Forward
    Pirates
    Poetry
    Racism
    Redrafting
    Revelations
    Reviews
    Rod Serling
    Screenplays
    Self Publishing
    Short Stories
    Speculative Fiction
    Television
    The Hidden Valley
    The Private Sector
    The Twilight Zone
    This Site
    Trailers
    Urban Fantasy
    Vampires
    Weird Western
    Words
    World Mart
    Zombies

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.