Guns don't belong in schools

Getting on my soapbox today, because sometimes things just need to be said.

I don't know about you, but the headlines these days are grim. Gruesome. "These are the end times!" Yes, I'm filled with indignation over many of these stories about the liars and the cheaters and the killers. It's enough to cause normally happy people to fall into severe depression. I'm not one to stick my head in the sand, but sometimes we have to focus on the positives.

In a world where baby boomers are accusing millennials of being spoiled and pampered, in a world where I read books that actually attempt to define and stereotype entire generations (non-fiction books), I am so proud of the students in Florida who are willing to take a stand for their rights, for their very lives. They are the bright spot in the ugliness. These people (they are no longer children) are our future.

In a world of absolutes, where when a suggestion to moderate becomes a perceived threat, my wish is that people would stop responding emotionally to what they "think" they'll lose and listen to the actual rhetoric involved in the discussion.

When I wrote COOKIE THERAPY, I included the aftermath of a school shooting, thinking this couldn't possibly be a recurring theme, and yet here we are again, looking at another one. Fiction often takes stories "ripped from the headlines" with the goal of finding the solution to the problem, the happily ever after. The reality is that these scenarios leave lasting imprints on the people involved, even after they attempt to resume their "no longer normal" life.

People are entrenching themselves on both sides of this debate, refusing to see the other side. I've always prided myself on looking at both sides of an issue, even when I stand firmly on one side. I have friends who have guns, friends who shoot for recreation (trap shooting) or to hunt. There was a time when someone I knew was threatened with a gun and wanted to buy one for protection. I am NOT a gun advocate, and I pointed out the flaws in that theory. Someone with no experience with guns, no training, is called a target, and waving a gun invites another gun wielder to kill you.

Arming our teachers to protect our students is not the answer. In the Police Academy training I've been to, they point out that even police officers miss their targets the large majority of the time. Part of that comes from hesitation to kill, or from trying to de-escalate a situation rather than assume the worst, or just plain not having time to draw first. Add into that the scrutiny our police have been under recently when they killed someone they perceived as a threat and are now being accused of murder. The training I went to indicated if you see a gun, your life is in danger. They showed us several scenarios where policemen have tried to negotiate, and were shot for their efforts to de-escalate. Arm a teacher? Their shooting percentage is likely to be just as bad or worse than a policeman. Now. When the police storm the classroom, what are they going to see? Someone with a gun. They don't know who the teachers are and who the bad guys are.

My opinion, and it is your right to disagree with me, is that there is no place for assault weapons in society. None. I'm not saying to disarm hunters or recreational shooters. I'm saying disarm terrorists, because why else would ANYONE have an assault weapon? If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear what rationale there is for a gun like that in today's society.

Requiem

Allow me a day for reflection. Back to our regularly scheduled blog posts next week...

Weep Not For Me

By an Unknown Author

Weep not for me though I have gone
Into that gentle night
Grieve if you will, but not for long
Upon my soul’s sweet fight

I am at peace, my soul’s at rest
There is no need for tears
For with your love I was so blessed
For all those many years

There is no pain, I suffer not
The fear is now all gone
Put now these things out of your thoughts
In your memory I live on

Remember not my fight for breath
Remember not the strife
Please do not dwell upon my death
But celebrate my life

As We Look Back

By an Unknown Author

As we look back over time
We find ourselves wondering …..
Did we remember to thank you enough
For all you have done for us?
For all the times you were by our sides
To help and support us …..
To celebrate our successes
To understand our problems
And accept our defeats?
Or for teaching us by your example,
The value of hard work, good judgment,
Courage and integrity?
We wonder if we ever thanked you
For the sacrifices you made.
To let us have the very best?
And for the simple things
Like laughter, smiles and times we shared?
If we have forgotten to show our
Gratitude enough for all the things you did,
We’re thanking you now.
And we are hoping you knew all along,
How much you meant to us.

"Maybe Broccoli Doesn't Like You Either"

There's a factory near where I live that posts the funniest things on their road sign. It's been there for years and years and years, and when I passed it the other day, it made me laugh. "Maybe broccoli doesn't like you either." I wouldn't say I don't like broccoli, but in spite of my mother always making us eat our veggies as kids, I've never enjoyed them.

This year, I'm making a concerted effort to eat better. If you've ever read my bio, you know that I am a card-carrying cookieholic. My goal is to be a recovering cookieholic.

There comes a time in everyone's life where we stop and take a good, long, hard look in the mirror. I've done it before, but then I get caught up in the "but I'm in good health, overall." That might be more accurately described as "not in bad health" or "non-sick."

I look at my dad, who is 90+, who has been obese most of my adult life, proving everyone wrong who says obesity will kill you at a young age, but he depends on pharma to stay alive, and right now, he's losing that battle. That's not what I want for my life.

My dad has always said he wants to die living, not live dying. For him, that meant having his cocktails or eating the things he enjoys. He may have lived to be 90+, but he isn't the example of health I want for my life should I live to that age.

My eating habits have not been healthy, and so I've decided its time for me to make that change, before I move from "non-sick" into poor health. I'm not in favor of putting my life in the hands of big pharma.

I've been looking into some new and healthier choice recipes, and I recently made one that was really pretty tasty, in spite of being healthy for me. So I thought I'd share. (And guess what? It has broccoli in it.)

Chicken and Broccoli

1 lb raw, boneless, skinless chicken breast 

6 cups fresh broccoli, trimmed and chopped

¼ cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

Remove visible fat from chicken breast. Cut chicken into thin strips. In a bowl, coat chicken with soy sauce; set aside. (For increased flavor, marinate for 30 minutes.) Sauté broccoli, garlic, and 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat until lightly browned. Remove from skillet and cover to keep warm. Add 1 tsp olive oil to skillet. Stir-fry chicken 4-7 minutes or until cooked through. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then stir in mustard until blended. Return sautéed broccoli to skillet. Mix until heated through, stirring occasionally. 

Practice makes perfect

Whenever people ask for writing tips, or when I go looking for writing tips, there are a million different views on how things should be done. In the end, each process for each author is different, with some unifying themes. For me, the single best tip I can offer or that I've learned is to keep at it. Write something every day.

Yes, that's me....

Much like a pianist needs to practice every day to play well, or a golfer needs to practice that short shot onto the green 65 times to get it right, or you take 100 forehand shots to learn placement, writing is no different. We learn by repetition. We get better by training every day. One of my friends has a 1,000 words a day goal. If she does more, that's a bonus, but it gives her a focus to sit down and get the story written. It also keeps her writing crisp and sharp.

"But Karla, I work a full-time job. I don't always have time to write every day." Guess what? I have a full-time job, and there are times during the year where that job overtakes my home life (heading into that time-frame now). For three months of the year, finding the time to write is extremely challenging. I don't give myself a minimum word count because I tend to be a binge writer. When I sit down, the words spew out. Or not. There are days I struggle to get even a couple of hundred words out, but I try very hard  to write "something" every day. Sometimes that something is my blog post. Sometimes that something is a critique for a fellow author. All of these things help to keep my skills sharp because....

When I don't write, old, bad habits creep back in. Poor sentence structure. Difficulty "finding the right word." Crutch words. As a Midwesterner, I have a tendency to end sentences with a preposition (because that's the way we speak, doncha know). And yes, there are periods of time where I just can't write due to "life" getting in the way. This has been a very challenging January for me, where life has stepped in to rob me of that time I dedicate to my pursuits. Life happens. And I'm going into busy season at the day job. Nevertheless, writing is an important component, and while I haven't had as many writing days as I'm accustomed to, I am still plugging ahead on my next novel.

As with anything else that we want to do well, the longer we go between practice sessions, the more ground we have to make up to get back to even. Yes, it can be done, but when I know I have the skill and ability to do something well, it's always frustrating to me to have to relearn what I've forgotten or lost.

So number one rule of writing - practice makes perfect. Only by repetition do we learn to correct our mistakes and apply the lessons that make our writing better, and it's good practice to write every day.

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Pick up your copy today.

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