REVIEWS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND RAKSHASAS
Feb. 17th, 2012 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrockwellWriting
A little blog post for the Friday night crowd. First, "Shaala, Made of Stone" has been garnering some nice reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Here's a sampling:
"Shaala" is also a staff recommendation on the Wiccan Haus Blog Stop, along with my BFF Gini Koch's "The Disciple" (writing as Jemma Chase) and "When Josie Comes Home" (writing as A.E. Stanton) and some other really great books. Check it out!
And in other writing-related news, if you're jonesing for more Sabira and you want something to whet your appetite while you wait impatiently for Skein of Shadows (aka The Shard Axe 2) to come out, try this video on for size. Cool, no? Can't wait for July!
Everything Else
WARNING: Political(ish) musings follow. Turn back now if that sort of thing gives you ulcers.
Okay. You know I don't like to talk politics here, but I've been hearing a phrase a lot lately that has always puzzled me: "I don't want the government telling me what I can and can't do with my own body." Leaving aside the fact that those claiming that their (Constitutionally-protected) religious liberties are at stake don't want the government telling them what to do (i.e., whether/how to follow their religious doctrines), either - doesn't the government ALREADY tell us what we can and can't do with our bodies? They tell us what drugs we can and can't put into them. They've begun telling us what food and drink we can and can't put into them. They tell us how, where, and when we can move our bodies - e.g., if you drive a car, you have to wear a seat belt. If you want to fly on a plane, you have to consent to invasive screening measures. If you want to go somewhere outside of the U.S., you have to have a passport, and if for some reason the government decides not to give you one - oh, well. They even tell us who we can and can't have sex with - hooker, bad; everyone else, good (mostly). There are a frighteningly large number of examples of how the government tells us what to do with our bodies every single day, and we go along with most of them with nary a peep, citing (if we stop to think about it at all) "the greater good."
I wonder, shouldn't the fight here really be to keep the government out of almost everything, except those minimal functions ascribed to it in the Constitution? Isn't overreaching government control the real problem here, regardless of which side of the argument you think you're on? I don't know. As I get older and see rights I took for granted as a child slowly being leeched away while no one does anything to stop it, people like Ron Paul start to make more and more sense. And that scares me. Do we really want to live in a world where Ron Paul is the sane one?
(And the above is just me pondering - offering a little food for thought, if you will. I'm not really interested in a political debate, and I may get cranky if you try to start one. Fair warning.)
A little blog post for the Friday night crowd. First, "Shaala, Made of Stone" has been garnering some nice reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Here's a sampling:
"...fabulous action, a beautifully drawn world, a very memorable character..."
"...the writing was perfect, the ending perfect. I long for more."
"Rockwell had me at the blurb and the rest of this short story paid off beautifully."
"Shaala" is also a staff recommendation on the Wiccan Haus Blog Stop, along with my BFF Gini Koch's "The Disciple" (writing as Jemma Chase) and "When Josie Comes Home" (writing as A.E. Stanton) and some other really great books. Check it out!
And in other writing-related news, if you're jonesing for more Sabira and you want something to whet your appetite while you wait impatiently for Skein of Shadows (aka The Shard Axe 2) to come out, try this video on for size. Cool, no? Can't wait for July!
Everything Else
WARNING: Political(ish) musings follow. Turn back now if that sort of thing gives you ulcers.
Okay. You know I don't like to talk politics here, but I've been hearing a phrase a lot lately that has always puzzled me: "I don't want the government telling me what I can and can't do with my own body." Leaving aside the fact that those claiming that their (Constitutionally-protected) religious liberties are at stake don't want the government telling them what to do (i.e., whether/how to follow their religious doctrines), either - doesn't the government ALREADY tell us what we can and can't do with our bodies? They tell us what drugs we can and can't put into them. They've begun telling us what food and drink we can and can't put into them. They tell us how, where, and when we can move our bodies - e.g., if you drive a car, you have to wear a seat belt. If you want to fly on a plane, you have to consent to invasive screening measures. If you want to go somewhere outside of the U.S., you have to have a passport, and if for some reason the government decides not to give you one - oh, well. They even tell us who we can and can't have sex with - hooker, bad; everyone else, good (mostly). There are a frighteningly large number of examples of how the government tells us what to do with our bodies every single day, and we go along with most of them with nary a peep, citing (if we stop to think about it at all) "the greater good."
I wonder, shouldn't the fight here really be to keep the government out of almost everything, except those minimal functions ascribed to it in the Constitution? Isn't overreaching government control the real problem here, regardless of which side of the argument you think you're on? I don't know. As I get older and see rights I took for granted as a child slowly being leeched away while no one does anything to stop it, people like Ron Paul start to make more and more sense. And that scares me. Do we really want to live in a world where Ron Paul is the sane one?
(And the above is just me pondering - offering a little food for thought, if you will. I'm not really interested in a political debate, and I may get cranky if you try to start one. Fair warning.)
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no subject
Date: 2012-02-18 01:48 pm (UTC)... Wait, since when do we have to do a CAPTCHA to post a comment in LJ???
That is spookily relevant to the conversation, actually ...
no subject
Date: 2012-02-18 04:56 pm (UTC)