Time to Update, Upscroll, and the Impending Doom…

Well, I have to have some fun at this time and place. There’s things to tell you about, and more to consider as I try to navigate time, space, and unruly weather.

I assume the less-enlightened of the populace have gone utterly mad and rushed out to the stores for the impending SNOWSTORM FROM HELL, or whatever they call it now. I find it stupid that winter storms now have names, don’t you agree?

But yes, this one is pretty bad. When you see half the US covered in more colors and splotches than a Jackson Pollock painting, it’s probably not good. It has been bitterly cold, but where I’m from, this is nothing.

I have looked out to the Midwest, and a pretty good licking is being had, but honestly, I have not seen anything out there that appears catastrophic. Of course, anyone south of the Mason-Dixon Line is threatened with a snowflake hitting the ground…fill in whatever joke you like. I’m mostly thinking of DC, and how it would go batshit insane.

We are seeing the usual network and local news stuff, and we’ll get plenty of it tomorrow. Where I live, the snow will hit after midnight, and we are expected to get 12 to 18 inches as a best guess. It should be light and fluffy stuff, though, due to a lack of moisture. Meanwhile, store shelves are bare, and all the hardware stores are allegedly out of rock salt, shovels, snowblowers, and generators again.

I assume that the heavy items get returned after maybe one use. I am recalling many years of snow events. On the radio side, we would get to where we needed to be and just tell you what was happening, possibly some audio from the state, etc.

Not so TV. In the former news bureau in Harrisburg, where I worked, we generally played Mystery Science Theater 3000 with whatever was on the TV. In the storms, it was even more fun.

Do you remember these? Every TV station laid on extra coverage, with red banners and warnings and stuff. They would dispatch reporters to the stores, to the highways, and everyone would be bundled up, and sticking rulers in the snow?

Same stuff, every damn time. Somehow, we mostly managed to survive these things.

I asked a radio colleague about 10, 15 years ago; he had done local TV and came to us. He admitted there was kind of a “turf” agreement: stations marked out what stores they’d be at, what parts of the highway they would go to, and you didn’t invade their territory. He admitted it was pretty much an old playbook they pulled out every time the snow threatened to hit.

And you wonder why I’m so damn glad I never went to TV?

Times change. I work from home now, so hopefully, my tenuous cable from the house to the pole stays, and the Sacred WiFi/Internet hangs in there. Along with the power. After the disaster a few years ago with my roof, I tend to walk about the house like a ship captain, checking the portholes are properly blacked out, hatches battened down, and no leaks.

I grew up in Vermont. That should tell you everything.

The only precautions I’ve made are fueling up my car and making sure the tires are inflated. I have food, drink, and all things to get me through. And I’m busy writing again.

Now, as long as my health behaves, I should be okay.

Writing…yes, I’m working on a new story, but the first draft is predictably awful. Enough said.

But the new book, “Legend of the Black Swan,” is coming! April appears to be the release month. Megan, my wonderful cover artist, is still working on that. Editing is done as far as I can tell, and the proofing, and the getting of certain documents in the right places needs to be examined. And promoting this, and getting ready.

I’m headed to Cleveland Concoction in March once again, and while I don’t have the book, I have a promo zine to offer the readers, plus my other books. I’m also locked in for Book Fair @ Bel Air in Maryland in August, two great places to go.

Now, we have a new/old podcast coming back. For years, the BookSpeak Network had a cast called “Milford House Mysteries,” hosted by two of our authors, Sherry Knowlton and Joan West. For various reasons, they ended the program and indicated they would not be doing it.

My publisher/boss, Lawrence Knorr, has decided to relaunch it; we will split hosting duties for “Milford House Mysteries and Histories.” Milford House involves mysteries, thrillers, and historical fiction. The good Dr. Knorr will use his PhD in History for further use, and we’ll be bringing in some new authors you may not have heard of.

Just Google BookSpeak Network — you’ll find us.

I have also made another foray into a new social media. My webmistress, Ella, and I had a talk, and we’ll be ramping up “presence” as time goes on, more of me, I suppose.

Upscrolled is a phone-only site that reminds me of MeWe, group-oriented, and supposedly free of algorithms, spam, commercials, and all that shit. We’ll see. So far, it looks familiar, but I think it will have some good use. This could well open the door to another part of the world, and more readers in search of new material they might like.

So yeah, that’s where it is. Trying different things, some new ideas, and seeing what this brave new world that is 2026 offers us.

It doesn’t look great right now, folks, but the backlash to You Know Who and his gang are being felt.

My folks would be appalled at the state of things, but they’d say, “We’ve been through a damn sight worse.”

I tend to agree. They will have to kill all of us; they never will.

Peace, Out.