About a year ago, I posted an article on this blog content which expressed my disagreement with a claim that not only could a person produce a great book within a week, but that editors were entirely unnecessary. That person makes such declaration on his website: it's public.

This blog, too, is public. Nothing I stated in my blog was untrue. I did not call him a liar, insult his parentage, or otherwise state anything false. I disagreed with his public declaration.

Some people can't handle disagreement.

On Sunday, February 16, 2020, he sent a message to via Facebook instead of through the very same website where the article is posted stating that he took his brand seriously and threatened me with legal action if I did not remove the article immediately. I take my brand seriously, too, and stand by my words. The article stays. He has no legal grounds.

He expressed his opinion. I expressed mine and backed it up with authoritative sources and my own examples.

Anyway, let me put this clearly: You do not have the right not to be offended. You do not have the right to forbid someone to disagree with you.

If you disagree with me, that's perfectly fine. You have that right. I probably won't like it. Your disagreement might offend my delicate sensibilities. That doesn't mean it's illegal.

The situation reminds me of an extremely harsh book review received for Russian Gold. Boy, that review hurt! I responded to the review (wrong move, there) and wrote about it this blog. The reviewer then objected to my description of her review as "brutal." I responded, stating that she had the right to express her opinion about the book and I had the right to express my opinion about her review. She shut up--at least she stopped engaging me directly.

It's public, folks. Anyone can disagree with what you put out there. Anyone can discredit your statements as long they're not lying. They have that right.

Anyone will tell you that I will readily admit my mistakes. Prove I'm wrong and you'll get both an apology and a correction. Otherwise, I'll simply disengage. I haven't the time or energy to waste on someone who tries to bully me.

Last week's rant gives way to the miscellany characterizing the last several days.

On Friday afternoon, I had a podcast interview with Tony Tellado of Sci-Fi Talk. As of writing this blog, it hadn't yet been posted, but you can be sure that I'll announce it (and post the URL) when I know it's gone live. Mr. Tellado and I had a nice conversation about The Eagle at Dawn, the Immortal Shifters series, and writing in general. In short, I don't write the way most authors do: I'm a minority--a pantser, not a plotter.

Speaking of author interviews, I have two more coming up. One will be with AdriAnne Headen of The Writer's Television. This face-to-face interview will take place in my hometown. At her request for a public location, I suggested Un Mundo Cafe, a favorite of mine for lunch and chai tea. The other interview will be with Richard Dugan's radio show and broadcast titled Tell Me Your Story. I'll keep y'all posted.

I'm making decent progress on my next book, which I have tentatively titled F-Stop. Another title I'm considering is Focus. The spark for this story came from my last attempt at reading a BDSM romance and, consequently, becoming--again--disgusted with it. I know the sub-genre is popular, but I just don't see the appeal. One of my issues with the sub-genre is the utter lack of respect the heroes in those stories have for women and the spineless heroines who just just roll over and take it. Can you hear Aretha Franklin singing yet? My story doesn't focus on BDSM and it's not a BDSM romance, but respect is a strong theme running through it. I hope to release it April.

The author registration form for the 2020 Springfield Book Fair will open on March 1 and close May 31. After the poor showing at the summer event in 2019, I decided that holding two events per year was overkill, so I dropped it back to one. The May and September dates have been canceled. The 2020 Springfield Book Fair will be held on Saturday, June 13, from 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM, at Mother Stewart's Brewing Company. I increased the registration fee to $75, so we can afford more advertising and marketing. Personalized Marketing Inc. will handle event promotion and marketing beyond that which we request participating authors to do. All participating authors are requested to share event information to their social media networks.

Speaking of events, I'm headed to Kentucky for the Lexington Legendary Book Bash on Saturday, March 21, at the Doubletree Suites by Hilton Lexington. My bestie, Cindra, has graciously consented to keep me company. Doubtless, she'll do a good bit of the driving, too. Driving in cities makes me nervous. I'll have copies of my latest books, Shot from the Hip (a collection of all my western short stories) and Hogtied (released on Valentine's Day). More events are coming up, so check out the EVENTS page on the Hen House Publishing website.

If you haven't noticed, I'm changing the Book of the Month feature. Each book featured will be available for free download during the last weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) of the month. All other times, the e-book will be available for only $0.99. February's featured book is Triple Burn. March will feature The Falcon of Imenotash. Please be sure to leave a review, whichever book(s) you read.

That's it for now. I'll get back to my regularly scheduled rant next week.

Ursula wiped her sweaty palms down the front of her skirt as she walked into the hiring manager’s office for a third round of  interviewing.  She  hoped  that  having  made  such  progress would result in a job offer. She also hoped her palms hadn’t left smears of dampness on the fabric.

“Now, Ms. Cartwright, we’ll need a blood sample,” Mr. Argosie said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the cluttered surface of his desk.

“A blood sample?” she echoed, questioning the odd request.

“Yes. We need to verify the absence of any illegal substances.”

“Surely, a urine test is sufficient?”

His pudgy fingers steepled under his clean shaven double chin. “Not at this level, Ms. Cartwright. We deal with highly sen-sitive material and a clear and lucid mind is necessary. Besides, a blood test will catch anything remaining in your system for a longer period of time than a urine test.”

Although reluctant, Ursula agreed because she could not refute his assertion with any confidence. With a small smile, Mr. Argosie called in a phlebotomist who entered and drew a vial of blood with brusque efficiency.

“We test for more than the usual half dozen illegal substances, Ms. Cartwright.”