Overcommitted

I've overcommitted myself a bit in Denver. Who knew people would actually be glad to see me and still want to spend time together? It makes me happy. I've not had a chance to make many friends down in Texas--a few good ones, but not many. First, writing is solitary. Secondly, it's a small town. In my personal experience (note the caveat, remember the caveat) small towns the people grew up together, went to school together. It's a closed environment. So even if they like you things were fairly set (think concrete) before you ever got here. There are set "sides" and if you are friendly with one you may not be accepted by another. Sounds silly, but people frequently are silly.

Another issue is that my attitudes do not mesh well with conservative. (Are you shocked. I mean, I write about vampires and werewolves, why would that be a problem in a small town with like 32 churches (a church for every 186.5 people -- we will assume for the sake of statistics that there is one woman who is 4.5 months pregnant per church). When you consider that some people (GASP) actually don't hold with organized religion and go to church you end up with a WHOLE LOTTA churches for not that many people. I live in the buckle of the bible belt. This is not a bad thing. Most of the folks here are great. But some of them just don't cotton to my attitudes and worry about the state of my soul. I believe in church. I have one. I go. I believe in God. Most of our stories really are stories of good v. evil, and while it isn't always easy, the good guys generally win. We write about monsters, but we also write about tolerance and other issues. Of course, a lot of these folks won't ever find that out. The open minded ones will. The others--not so much.

AND THAT IS OKAY.

You heard me right friends and neighbors. They don't have to. We live in a country that (for the moment at least) still embraces free speech. That means they get to say things I don't like and I get to write things that they won't ever read. There isn't always one right answer. So open discussion can get things on track. I get very upset with people who say you can have free speach as long as you don't disagree with me.

Which leads us off topic onto the subject of the Dixie Chicks. I'm going to go see "Shut up and Sing." I think it is an amazing subject. Free speach to me means that you get to get up on stage and say things (even in a foreign country) that other people don't like. I have a very good friend who disagrees vehemently about this. She tells me that it shouldn't have been said in front of a foreign audience when we're involved in a war. I disagree.

[DELETED WHOLE RANT HERE BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE POLITICS. LET'S JUST AGREE THAT WE ALL HAVE OPINIONS AND THAT MY ADMITTEDLY LIBERAL TENDENCIES DON'T NECESSARILY MESH WITH THE CONSERVATIVE TENDENCIES WHERE I CURRENTLY RESIDE AND/OR AGREE WITH THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.)

Well, that went somewhere unexpected. Surprise! I'm generally not political at all. (Drives my son crazy!) I'm a live and let live kinda gal. But I'm a big believer in the Bill of Rights and it scares me when I think my country may be moving away from that.

[DELTED MORE POLITICAL RANT. WOW, I GUESS I HAVE MORE POLITICAL OPINIONS THAN I THOUGHT -- AT LEAST EARLY IN THE MORNING WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING READY FOR A TRIP.]

I think I'd better hush and get moving or I may be here all day, writing opinions with flaming passion, then deleting them. While it would be entertaining, I certainly wouldn't accomplish much. ANYWAY guys, I'd love for everybody to buy and love the books. I know it isn't going to happen, which is why I REALLY APPRECIATE the people who do. THANK YOU ALL.