American politics – A.R. Clayton

I blinked and we’re halfway through 2024. This has been an interesting year for me, one filled with a lot of work and also introspection. There’s a song by John Lennon called “Watching the Wheels“. It’s one of my favorites; the melody and the chorus have been a touchstone over the years. The words tend to pop in my head when the world becomes a bit too much. And it’s a good match for the current season I’m in:

I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

Watching the news, and the current infighting in America, I feel like this. I’m not a politician. I have very little power to make lasting change, at least in the immediate sense. I try to do good in my career, through the children we sponsor and in my prayer life. But sometimes, I feel a bit like John: just watching chaos unfolding that I’d rather have nothing to do with. Beam me up, Peter–have you seen the circus down here?

Writing wise, I’ve started querying my YA Fantasy book. It’s a peach, a gem and I’m quite proud of her. I’m also still trying to find a home for a horror novella and a sci-fi short story I’ve written. I’ve been enjoying writing on this end, along with doing some house projects and taking care of the Godzilla known as my Labrador. If her meals are late, or if you forget her lunchtime walks, heaven help you.

In my little corner of the world, I’m trying to light as many small candles as I can and keep them lit. Spread the kindness, encourage others, while keeping Godzilla from destroying the neighborhood. All in a days work. And of course, I plan to vote, too.

I hope everyone is having a good summer. Peace be with you. Eat lots of vegetables, go on walks. Talk with the guy in dusty sandals. And happy writing.

P.S.–I also saw the movie “Legend” a few weeks ago for the first time. It was…interesting. Surreal. Trippy. Choppy in its editing and storyline. But very magical and filled with pure imagination. It has beautiful scenery, visuals and its innocence was refreshing. I think I really liked it. I am looking forward to watching it again and checking out the other versions. Here’s one of my favorite scenes from it, near the climax. Enjoy.

Ponderings

Author’s Thoughts: Promises, promises (Horror & Gun Control)

November 10, 2018November 10, 2018 Peregrine Arc: An Author's Scratchwork

I’m listening to the audio book of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson currently. It’s a great story and I plan to pick up the novel at the library soon. I got a little lost in the house while the doctor was describing how everything was built during his tour. (He did this so the group could avoid getting lost, ironically, and learn each floor’s layout.) Hill House was built in concentric circles with the inner rooms having no windows or doors. Furthermore, everything was built slightly angled, about 15 degrees off–on purpose. The mansion was intended to catch you off guard, it seems, to perhaps idly trap you inside its interiors. It disoriented your senses, disturbed your balance.

I tilted my head at the windows and then at the stairwell, trying to catch just how everything was tilted. I couldn’t quite grasp it and I thought it was silly and dubious to waste a contractor’s time with such frivolity. A set of doors had closed earlier in the dining room and we were seeing if footsteps on the angled floors caused the doors to shut on their own. I sense these details are themes that will come back around in the closing pages. Ms. Jackson is a sharp writer and she’s leaving her bread crumbs in the pages, beguiling. I scurry along, following the group as we leave doors open behind us, turning our heads to check them before crossing into an adjoining hallway. One particularly heavy door has a stool put before it to make sure it stayed open. We’ll see if they’re closed or open when we return.

Horror is fine, it seems, if we can control it or try to make sense of it. When Halloween comes and goes, the decorations and ghost stories seem comical afterwards, don’t they? Horror movies can be paused; masks taken off and put into storage, easily forgotten about until next year. But what about real horror? What about people getting shot in a bar, running around defenseless in smoke curtains created by a stalking predator? What about Jews worshiping in their synagogue and being slaughtered? What about children and teenagers, coming to class and not leaving alive?

Our country averts its eyes back towards the rotting Jack-O-Lanterns. They stare back, gaping at our stupidity.

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