This is still America, right?

This has been gnawing on my mind for a few days now. I’ve been textually sparring with the brainwashed trumpites for a while now, and the other day someone said something that truly proved to me exactly how deeply programmed they are.

I made a remark along the lines of Trump was building his wall to appease the bigots who voted for him, as it would do little to actually stop undocumented immigration and the corporations who hire them on the cheap don’t actually want to stop them. This, and his Muslim ban are just a dog and pony show to appease all the bigots he riled up during the campaign.

The person referred to Muslims (collectively) as “people who hate America.” And i’m thinking. Wow. By that logic, every Christian is a member of the KKK. That an otherwise reasonably intelligent seeming person can automatically equate Muslim to “people who hate America” shows how the new fascist regime has been successfully programming their people to provide them with a convenient target enemy to “come together against.”

Are some Muslims dangerous terrorists who need to be stopped? of course.

Are some Christians cross-burning fucktards who need to to be stopped? Of course.

But by making it possible for someone to glibly think that Muslim automatically equates to America hating savage, they have won the first step toward a totalitarian regime where freedom of religion means you have the freedom to follow the state-sponsored religion, and freedom of thought means you have the freedom to think only what the supreme leader wants you to think.

This is not a case of who gets the White House – republicans or democrats. This is a case where the American people must stand up to their chosen elected representatives and demand that they hold true to American values and reject totalitarianism, bigotry, and the cultivation of malignant ignorance – where people are kept in the dark, uneducated and damn proud of being there. That is not how this country moves into the next century, and it is not what all the military forces who lost their lives during WWII fought for.

Okay, the republicans are in power – but that does NOT mean they get to act like this is not America. Their vast hypocrisy is on clear display for all – they’re not even hiding it anymore because they believe that their supporters are mindless automatons who hate the left so much they’ll allow them to get away with anything.

Hold your people accountable to what this country stands for – not what maximizes corporate profits.

Cover Reveal | CQ Darkscapes Anthology

darkscapes

Greetings everyone!

I’m thrilled to finally be able to show off Eugene Teplitsky’s cover artwork for the upcoming Curiosity Quills anthology: Darkscapes!

Check out the antho page here for the full list of authors and stories: https://curiosityquills.com/books/curiosity-quills-darkscapes/


OOS_Graphic

In my story, Out of Sight, Sima Nuvari, an unwanted sixteen-year-old runaway wakes up in an escape pod after years in stasis. Soon after she starts exploring, she finds some younger kids, also shipped off Earth against their will. Sima’s AI bracelet is their only chance to make sense of a wild uncharted planet, and avoid the deadly Night Scratch.


It is an honor to have my writing in an anthology with so many other wonderful authors, including Piers Anthony, J.R. Rain, Richard Roberts, Robert J Defendi, Randy Attwood, Katie Young, Ann M. Noser, Nathan Croft, Tegan Wren, James Wymore, Andrew Buckley, Darin Kennedy, J.E. Anckorn, B.C. Johnson, S.E. Bennet and Mark Woodring.

New Release and giveaway

silk_thieves_cover

Greetings everyone!

The second book in the Tales of Widowswood series, Emma and the Silk Thieves, is now available on Amazon Kindle. (The paperback versions are on the way, but I don’t have an exact date of when they’ll be available.)

The Ebook is available here.


Release Party

Due to a schedule issue, the Facebook release party for Emma and the Silk Thieves is not the same day as the ebook launch, and is being held on Jan 9th from 5-7pm EST. This is an online only event via Facebook posting/commenting. All are welcome to join in to chat, hang out, and play games for prizes.

https://www.facebook.com/events/175115519630383

This is a first for my release parties, in that it’s scheduled a full week after the ebook went live on Amazon. As such, some people will have likely read the book (I hope) by the time of the party. This gave me an idea. I’m posting a trivia game here (and in the release party), based on Emma and the Silk Thieves.

The winner will receive a $20 Amazon gift card (US only as I have no way to gift to other Amazons).

The first person to answer all 20 questions correctly will win – or if no one gets them all correct by the time the party ends (Jan 9th at 7pm EST), the responder with the most correct questions answered will win.


Please do not post answers in the comments – email them to me at mcox2112 @gmail.com


—-( Questions )—-


1) What deity is the Harvest Festival held in honor of?
2) Why can’t Julianna participate in the hunt?
3) How many firefruit does Tam find?
4) Who sneaks up on Emma during the Harvest Festival?
5) What does Emma’s father do with his food that she thinks is awful?
6) When Emma tells Kimber “That’s not a storm.” What is it?
7) What flavor treat does Kimber pick?
8) Why does the lantern make Emma sad?
9) Name the young wolf who’s almost as big as Greyfang.
10) What almost happened to Guard Kavan when the thieves attacked?

11) What does Emma’s father want to do with their house?
12) Why did Emma’s father remain apparently oblivious to the family’s magic?
13) What is Kimber obsessed with finding/seeing?
14) Name the young village woman who is expecting a baby.
15) Which nature spirit protects Emma from stepping on thorns/rocks?
16) The family wakes up one morning to find a surprise in the house. What is it?
17) Who is afraid of Faeberry, and why?
18) What about the visiting skalds captures the kids’ curiosity?
19) Why does Kimber start babbling nonsense in the root cellar?
20) What is Tam obssessed with?