America, America, America

Oh, America, what have you done? I'm not talking specifically about the election of Donald Trump. No, that's the disease that infects America going into its terminal stage. I'm talking about what has led us to this moment.  For most of my adulthood I have been advocating the destruction of the two party system in America because every election more and more people have been voting for the lesser of two evils, and we were finally left with Clinton vs. Trump...two of the most hated people in America were suddenly running for president. If we would have destroyed the two party system in the days of Perot or Nader, we wouldn't have been in this position. The democrats would have nominated someone that democrats could actually believe in and the republicans would have nominated someone that republicans could actually believe in, and the third, fourth, and fifth parties (whoever they might have been) could have put up people that they actually believe in.
Instead, we were left with democrats hating themselves for voting for Clinton and republicans hating themselves for voting for Trump, and the truth is, most of the people that voted for either of these candidates actually were not voting for them, but rather voting against their opponents. How can that possibly be a good way to choose a president? With more candidates in all elections, there are more opportunities for real CHOICE.
What's done is done. We have what we have, and I can honestly say that the future terrifies me...somewhat for myself, but more for my kids and friends. Trump has advocated hate against anyone that isn't white and Christian. I may be white, but I'm also an Atheist, and when it comes to religion, the only group that is hated more than Atheists in America is Muslims...so when the radical Christian Right (and I'm not talking about all Christians) deals with the Muslim "problem," where do you think their eyes will turn next?
Even worse, I have two bi-racial daughters. What kind of a world are these two girls going to have to live in simply because one of their parents was black? They didn't ask for that. It's not a choice, and yet they will face even more racism than they already do, and believe me, they do face it, especially living with two white parents.
My biggest fear is for my friends. I have many friends that are black, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American. When the radical white folk that Trump is stirring up go looking for victims, where do you think they're going to look?
Although I do have a lot of friends who are Christians, I also have a lot of friends who are Atheists, or Jewish, or Muslim.  The world got a lot darker for these people.
I also have many friends who are gay, many of whom recently got married, and now they could face having their marriages annulled by the government...talk about Big Brother. And let's remember that the scariness goes beyond Trump. It was Pence that was advocating jail time for gays that wanted to apply for a marriage license. Gay people in this country already face an enormous amount of prejudice, and it's only going to get worse. One of my very best friends is a trans-female. What kind of crap is she going to have to put up with because of what's coming? And again, it's not just Trump. Shortly after his inauguration he will be able to appoint a supreme court justice and with a republican congress, that person will almost certainly be approved, and I'm absolutely terrified that he's going to appoint his best buddy Rudy Giuliani. Can you imagine what the world will be like if he's allowed to rule on laws for the next decade or two? There's a man who's been drinking in the crazy Kool-Aid for far too long.
Something else we're probably facing is the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act. I know there are a lot of problems with it, but some good things have come out of it...such as the fact that insurance companies have to accept patients even with pre-existing conditions. I've never shopped the market for insurance. We get ours through Rebecca's work, and even though as a family of five with a low income, we actually could qualify for Medicaid, we've always chosen to have private insurance because the coverage is better and it allows us to keep our doctors (whom we love). We've made this choice even though it was a financial burden on us, because we felt the care was more important than the money. Note to some Republicans...not all poor people take "handouts."
If the insurance companies are allowed to go back to what they used to do, they could start denying pre-existing conditions. My chronic pain is a pre-existing condition, meaning that they could deny me my medications, and probably even deny me the surgery that I almost certainly need to correct the problem that is getting worse every day. Where will that leave me? No medication and no treatment available...I can't imagine how I'm possibly supposed to survive that. Even with medications, there are days when I wonder if it's worth it to continue on. If I can't get help, what choices will I have left?
America has survived a lot. It will most likely survive Trump, but will all Americans?

Patreon for the Ephemeris RPG

From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
We've just created a Patreon account to support the Ephemeris RPG. As many of you know, the Ephemeris RPG has been around for several years, and we've slowly been expanding it, but this Patreon account will hopefully give us the money to free up the time we need to create more, and to create faster...and to even start work on Ephemeris 2.0.
So, if you'd like to support the ongoing creation of the game, and possibly even influence the direction the game goes, please support our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4369995

I voted

So does that mean I don't have to see any more political ads or have the damn fliers fall out of my mail box anymore? Probably not.
Some people may say that I wasted my vote, and some say that my vote was a vote for the great pumpkin head, but the truth is, I voted according to my conscience.  How many people that voted for Clinton or Trump can say that?  I've heard so many people talking about how disgusted they felt with themselves after voting for one or the other, but I don't feel that way.  I voted for a party that I can actually believe in.  I no longer believe in the Democrats or the Republicans.  They're both owned by the corporations and they no longer care about We the People.  As I've been saying for over a decade now, until we break the two party system that we're a victim of, we will all continue to be prisoners.  Believe me, Clinton or Trump and their cronies are not going to do anything for you.  They're in this for themselves and the companies that line their pockets!!!
Do I expect my candidate to win? Of course not. This may go against everything we're taught as Americans, but winning isn't everything...nor is voting for the lesser of two evils a good choice.  Look where that's gotten us!  What I would like to see is for both Johnson and Stein to pull 5% in this election.  This gives the Greens and the Libertarians federal funding in the next presidential election, which makes it easier for them to try to counter the insane amount of corporate money that goes to the democrats and republicans.  In addition, it gives them automatic ballot access in all fifty states, which means less time has to be taken trying to get on the ballots, and more time can be devoted to destroying the broken system.
And if people really want to complain about those of us that choose to vote third party, maybe you should be more upset with the 50% of registered voters that don't even vote.  And maybe you should also tell your parties to stop being greedy SOBs and actually start caring about the people again.  If that ever happened, maybe I would vote for one of them, but as things are only getting worse (Clinton/Trump), I don't see that happening...

Help NDP get their books back

From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
We absolutely hate doing this, but there doesn't seem to be any choice.  As many of you know the copies of the September issue of The Fifth Di... and The Martian Wave: 2016 were recently destroyed when UPS left them in front of our door just before a rain storm.  Both UPS and the printer have decided that since we didn't insure the package, there won't be a refund.  Normally, there's a little bit of money in the family account that we could divert to Nomadic Delirium Press in this kind of an emergency, but this has been a tough year for us personally, so there is no money available.  This has left us with having to go with a GoFundMe project...which we really hate doing, but we want to get the books to the contributors, so we don't have a choice.
If you're interested in helping, and we would REALLY appreciate it, please go to https://www.gofundme.com/help-get-our-books-back
Thanks,
Nomadic Delirium Press

October recap

The Divided States of America
That's not how publishing works
Lower prices on the NDP backlist

Lower prices on the NDP backlist

From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
This features several of my titles...
We’ve lowered the prices on the e-book versions of a number of our backlist titles:
Seedlings on the Solar Winds: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/seedlings-on-the-solar-winds/
The Poet: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/poet-the/
The Opium of the People: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/opium-of-the-people-the/
Marionettes on the Moon: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/marionettes-on-the-moon-and-other-stories/
Just Because: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/just-because/
Ephemeris: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/ephemeris-a-science-fiction-rpg/
The Battle for Turtle Island: Buffalo Wars: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-battle-for-turtle-island-buffalo-wars/
The Martian Wave: 2013: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/martian-wave-2013-the/
The Martian Wave: 2014: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-martian-wave-2014/

That's not how publishing works

Through Nomadic Delirium Press, I recently kicked off a project called, The Divided States of America, and I've received a couple of messages from authors telling me that the way I have the project set up isn't how publishing works.
The basic premise is that the US has fallen into several nation-states, and I've created basic backgrounds for each of these nation-states for authors to use as guidelines.  This, however, isn't what they have the problem with.  We're not publishing these stories in an anthology (yet)...we're publishing each story as an e-book, and splitting the profits with the author.  This, apparently, is not how publishing works.  As a publisher, these authors are trying to say that we should publish everything as an anthology.  This is how it's always been done.
Well, this is the small press, and I'm a small press publisher, and we don't always stick to the "rules."  In fact, many of us, especially me, like to break the rules.  And it's my feeling that if I want to experiment with a shared universe that publishes individual e-stories, then I'm going to publish that way.  If an author doesn't like this model, they don't have to submit, but the publishing world is changing dramatically, and those of us in the small press want to be at the forefront of that change, and most of us will just continue to do things the way we want...

The Divided States of America

From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
We're now reading for a new project called "The Divided States of America."
You can read the complete guidelines at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/dividedstatesguidelines.htm
No one can say with any reasonable certainty when the United States of America began to fall apart.  Many point to the presidential election of 2016, but most believe the breakup started long before this.  Now, in the year 2110, the former United States is made up of 13 nation-states and The Wastelands.  Some of the nation-states have prospered under self-rule, while others have declined.  Some nation-states are very accepting of outsiders, while others trust no one…sometimes not even their fellow citizens.  There is chaos in some places, and order in others…sometimes too much order.
The first state to break away from the USA was, not unexpectedly, Texas, and from there, things continued to spiral out of control as the national government tried to hold on to control that the state governments wanted back, and eventually, the federal government was no longer able to control the states, and the break-up came about.
Some of the nation-states kept the name “America” in their new names.  Some did this as a tribute to where they had come from, while others did it to remind their citizens of what they were breaking away from.  Others adopted new names, or took on names that were given to them.
Borders in some areas are heavily patrolled, even walled in places, while other borders have no protection at all…mostly it depends on the views of the new government and its citizens, even though sometimes those two groups still don’t agree.  Let’s face it, greed and independence are bred into the human race, and even allying with others that have similar viewpoints does not necessarily mean that they will always get along.

September recap

2016 has been one catastrophe, fiasco, and disaster after another, and September was no different.  As a result, I haven't been able to get as much done as I've needed, and this has included blogging...which has really been suffering this year.  October isn't looking very good so far, but I will try to blog more.
For now, here's what I was talking about in September...
The Martian Wave 2016 is here
Labor Day weekend sale
Glitch fixed
Today is the last day of my Labor Day sale
A review of the June 2016 issue of The Fifth Di...
The Fifth Di... subscription drive

The Fifth Di... subscription drive

Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
Since we added the print format of the magazine, we've seen our submissions triple, which means that we're having to turn down some good stories...stories that deserve to be printed, and not just printed, but printed in our magazine.  Also, in order to add the print format, we had to stop printing poetry.  We're not happy about either of these.  We'd like to publish more stories, and we'd also like to start publishing poetry again, but to do this, we need money, so we're starting a subscription drive.  Help us out by subscribing to the print or e-book version of the zine.
Here are our goals, and the rewards you the readers (and the writers) will receive:
20 subs: We will begin publishing poetry again in 2017
35 subs: We will begin publishing poetry again and we will add an extra story to each issue, starting in 2017
50 subs: All of the above, plus we will double our pay rates in 2017
100 subs: We will do all of the above, plus we will begin publishing every other month
To subscribe to the e-book version: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/fifth-di-the-one-year-sub/
If you're in the US and you want to subscribe to the print version: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-fifth-di-one-year-print-sub-us-orders-only/
If you're outside of the US and you want to subscribe to the print version: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-fifth-di-one-year-print-sub-international-orders-only/
This subscription drive lasts until Halloween, so order soon!

A review of the June 2016 issue of The Fifth Di...

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
A review of the June 2016 issue of The Fifth Di... has been posted at http://sfcrowsnest.org.uk/the-fifth-dimension-june-2016-edited-by-j-allen-irwin-e-mag-review/
There's a misspelling of the editor's name, but we've heard that that will be fixed.  Reviews for the small press can be hard to get, and this one is appreciated...especially since the author liked the zine!!!

Today is the last day of my Labor Day Sale

Today is your last chance to take advantage of my Labor Day sale.  You can get 50% off of any of my e-books (the ones I've written and the ones I've edited) through my website.  It doesn't matter how many titles you order, they're all 50% off.  Simply go to http://www.jalanerwine.com/blog/shop and use the coupon code "labor" at checkout...but hurry, your time's almost up.

Glitch fixed

Apparently there's been a glitch on my website that has been preventing people (especially people on cellphones) from buying products from my store.  I've fixed the glitch now, so you can order any of my e-books by going to http://www.jalanerwine.com/blog/shop.  And remember, if you're ordering before Monday night, use the coupon code "labor" at checkout and get 50% off your entire order.

Labor Day weekend sale

Labor Day weekend, get 50% off any of the e-book titles available through my website. It doesn't matter whether you order one, a dozen, or all of them...no matter how many you get, they're all 50% off.

Simply go to http://www.jalanerwine.com/blog/shop" target="_blank">http://www.jalanerwine.com/blog/shop and use the coupon code labor at checkout.

Hurry! The sale ends Monday night!

The Martian Wave 2016 is here

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
The 2016 issue of The Martian Wave is now here as both an e-book and a print magazine.  Order your copy today by going to http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/tmw.htm
The Martian Wave: 2016 brings you stories and poems that look at humanity’s exploration and colonization of space, with a special emphasis on our solar system.
You’ll find fiction from E. M. Eastick, Samuel Van Pelt, Lars H. Hoffmann, Francis W. Alexander, Robert N. Stephenson, Guy Stewart, GC Rosenquist, and Benjamin Cooper. You’ll also find poetry from David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Christina Sng, Shelly Bryant, Lisa Timpf, and M. C. Childs.
Some of what you read will leave you optimistic about our futures, while other stories and poems may leave you doubting our future, but no matter what, The Martian Wave: 2016 will leave you convinced that our future lies beyond the Earth.

August Recap

The Martian Wave: 2016 pre-sale has begun
I'm still around
Get the September issue of The Fifth Di... early
Would you like to read the new issue of The Martian Wave early?
Damn insurance companies
New zines available on my site
The September 2016 issue of The Fifth Di... is here

The September 2016 issue of The Fifth Di... is here

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
The September 2016 issue of The Fifth Di.. is now available at http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/fifth.htm.  It is also available anywhere else that print and e-books are sold.
What's in this issue?
The September 2016 issue of The Fifth Di… features fiction from Robert N. Stephenson, G. O. Clark, Rik Hunik, and Rick Novy.
A woman trapped on a conquered planet spends her days harvesting human blood for her alien conquerors, plotting her escape and eventual revenge. An astronaut goes back in time, and hopes to leave his mark on the future. An acid induced parlor trick leads to the creation of living origami goats that eat paper and become a menace…but not as big of a menace as the predator that’s created to take care of the goats. And finally, a man becomes a butler for an eccentric rich man, but he has no idea just how eccentric the man really is, and then he must figure out how to stop him.
You can also read samples from this issue at http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/tfdsample.htm

New zines available on my site

You can order the e-book versions of the new issues of The Martian Wave and The Fifth Di... directly from my website at http://www.jalanerwine.com/blog/shop.
The Martian Wave: 2016 brings you stories and poems that look at humanity’s exploration and colonization of space, with a special emphasis on our solar system.
You’ll find fiction from E. M. Eastick, Samuel Van Pelt, Lars H. Hoffmann, Francis W. Alexander, Robert N. Stephenson, Guy Stewart, GC Rosenquist, and Benjamin Cooper. You’ll also find poetry from David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Christina Sng, Shelly Bryant, Lisa Timpf, and M. C. Childs.
Some of what you read will leave you optimistic about our futures, while other stories and poems may leave you doubting our future, but no matter what, The Martian Wave: 2016 will leave you convinced that our future lies beyond the Earth.
The September 2016 issue of The Fifth Di… features fiction from Robert N. Stephenson, G. O. Clark, Rik Hunik, and Rick Novy.
A woman trapped on a conquered planet spends her days harvesting human blood for her alien conquerors, plotting her escape and eventual revenge. An astronaut goes back in time, and hopes to leave his mark on the future. An acid induced parlor trick leads to the creation of living origami goats that eat paper and become a menace…but not as big of a menace as the predator that’s created to take care of the goats. And finally, a man becomes a butler for an eccentric rich man, but he has no idea just how eccentric the man really is, and then he must figure out how to stop him. 

Damn insurance companies

Those of you that have been reading this blog for a while know that I have a hate/hate relationship with health insurance companies. Well, now they've gone and pissed me off again. Rebecca spent days doing research to try and find a surgeon that might be able to help me with my chronic pain. She finally found one. We got the referral from our doctor. I talked to the surgeon's office, and he decided to send me in for a new CT scan, mostly to see if there had been any change since my last one (which could indicate something very serious.) All was well and good, since they'd already acknowledged that they take our insurance, but when his office called to try to get the CT scan approved, the insurance company informed them that there are two different types of insurance that this company has...the most common one, which the surgeon is in-network for, and the less common one, for which he is out-of-network. I'm sure you can guess which insurance we have...
So, the only way I can get into see this guy is to prove that there's no one in-network who would be capable of doing the surgery...which of course is interesting, since we hadn't even talked about an actual surgery yet. We just wanted to see what kinds of options I might have. So, now it's back to the drawing board as we try to find a surgeon who performs this operation (whatever that operation might be), who accepts our particular insurance, and who works with adults, since the majority of cardio-thoracic surgeons that deal with these kinds of issues work with kids. This will be interesting.
Now, thanks to another screw over by the insurance companies, I have to be in continuing pain, which is getting worse, especially as I'm having to work harder and harder each day at the "real" job. For example, I didn't get much sleep last night because I was so nauseous that I thought I was going to throw up, and it's not because I'm sick, it's just because I'm in so much pain.
So, I would again say that government needs to do something useful (like that ever happens) and reign in the insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical companies, instead of letting these companies set policy for the government.

Would you like to read the new issue of The Martian Wave early?

If you'd like to read the new issue of The Martian Wave early, now's your chance. Although the official release date is September 1st, we're making the e-book version available today through our website.  And instead of paying the normal $3.99 for your issue, you can get it for just $2.99...but this sale is only good until the release date, so you need to order soon. Go to http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-martian-wave-2016/ and order your copy now.