Here are the contents of my acknowledgments page, and in addition I want to thank again all those who encouraged me along the way. I’m a writer who values the thoughts and comments of others. In my opinion, a literary work cannot be complete until the eyes of readers have fallen upon it. I gave everybody descriptors that they may or may not like—if they want new ones, they may have to wait for the book to be reprinted.

Acknowledgments

Thank you, Bill Clegg, for feeding and watering and growing this story, and thanks to the whole Clegg Agency for being so clever and kind.

Thank you, Jill Bialosky, for believing in this Christmas carol and editing it onto the page and into the world, and thanks, W. W. Norton, independently owned by its team of hardworking masterminds.

Thank you, Heidi Bell, for your vision and your conviction that every word matters. Thank you for your friendship and support on this writerly life journey.

Thank you to my writer friends who read drafts of The Spirits and nudged me along my way: fictionist and absurdist Andy Mozina, wise adviser (cousin) Mimi Lipson, exquisite literary stylist Jaimy Gordon, polyamorous polyartist Monica Friedman, goddess Shirley Scott, literary camp counselor Dawn Burns, warrior against Christian patriarchy Cait West, lover of mossy woods Tina Casagrande, friend of the planet Sassafras Havilar, and my extraordinarily dear publicist Sheryl Johnston. Thank you, Jaimy Gordon, for peeking at a few pages.

Thank you, Charles Dickens, for showing us cruelty and redemption; thanks to Pastor Chuck Anderson, who annually invited our family donkeys to be part of the living nativity scene in Comstock, thus allowing Susanna to announce, “I hauled my ass to church.”

The Spirits owes much to the holiday meals eaten on checkered tablecloths with Betty and Frank Herlihy at Red House Island, where booze flowed, where truth and fiction commingled to give our lives meaning.

And most of all, thank you, Christopher Magson, for building with me this extravagant, rambling life of trees, gardens, animals, family, neighbors, friends, and mechanical contraptions. Thank you, my darling, for fixing every broken thing and for making sure I have time to write.

W.W. Norton was started a hundred years ago by a married couple, both polymaths. For more information about the history of W.W. Norton, check out this page.

Also, I want to mention that W.W. Norton is re-releasing American Salvage, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. They have published the paperback since 2010, and now they are putting it out with a new cover. Whether it needed a new cover, I am not so sure, because I love Mary Whalen’s photograph so much, but it has been spruced up to look newish, and maybe this will inspire folks to look anew at the collection of stories about troubled Michigan men. I wrote the book as a cautionary tale, to show how these men were afflicted by a troubled relationship with masculinity, but my writing the book did not inspire society to act in time prevent the troubles ahead, the troubles we are facing now. Let me know what you think of this new bright cover. Here is the W.W. Norton page featuring my newly re-released collection.

Finally, I even have my own author page on the W.W. Norton website. My editor, Jill Bialosky chose this photo taken by Mark Bugnaski of Kalamazoo for my author photo. She says it makes me look sly.

Subscribe now

Of course, hearing her shriek and say, “Get that out of my sight!” was part of the fun. Here is a photo of my mom with poinsettias at her place of employment. I apologize for the quality of the picture, but I cannot find the original, and this is one from my ancient website!

If anybody wants to see that website, my brother Marshall has saved it here It has some good things on it, including advice for writers, some of which is probably out of date. I have a hard time letting old work (or anything else) disappear, so thank you, Marshall!

Eventually the greenhouse work, which was very heavy labor, did my mom in physically. Her back suffered, and her one good shoulder (the one not damaged at birth) pretty much got worn out from dragging hoses. But the protagonist in my book is young, and the long hours of hard work give her a chance to brood.

The young woman in my book has reason to brood. And she seriously needs redemption.

She needs redemption as badly as Ebenezer Scrooge needed redemption. And so this is a Christmas Carol of sorts. I played around with Christmas tropes and food and language. The Christmas tree itself turns out to be a critical part of the story. And I do hope you, dear readers, will find it in your heart to forgive my poor Sister.

I liked the challenge of writing a Christmas story, which would demand a happy ending, but making that happy ending as hard-won as it could be. I actually started this story a few years ago, wrote a draft and then put it aside. But it was only a hundred pages, not long enough to be a book.

But somehow, after my life settled down in the wake of The Waters, which was a longish novel, I began to see how the flame of my character’s experience could be expanded into a hearth-fire that involved (and implicated) the whole family. And so it expanded to become a short novel.

A Christmas Carol, a story beloved for 183 years, is really a novella, at only 30,000 words, while mine is 2-1/2 times as long, at 75,000 or about 240 pages. And like Dickens’s story, mine features a ghost and a version of Tiny Tim.

Oh, and a donkey. I guess I am going to find a way to put a donkey into every book I write now. And maybe every blog post… here is one of me shaving Don Quixote to speed up his shedding, taken a few months ago.

The donkey in The Spirits, Chrysanthemum, appears in a living nativity scene, inspired by Lisa Anderson’s father, Chuck Anderson of the Comstock Covenant church, who used to borrow our donkeys for a few days each year to carry Mary to the stable to give birth to the Lord Jesus.

Nobody gives birth in my story, but much renewal becomes possible by the end, and I feel that we are living in times where we all need hope and renewal, when America and the heartland of America needs hope and renewal, as well as the promise that we can all work things out if we just stay at the table together.

If you can see fit to pre-order this book from your local bookseller, I would be forever filled with gratitude! And perhaps it would make a great holiday gift for a friend—I’ll be happy to come and try to sign it to make it extra special! I’ll publish my touring schedule soon.

Meanwhile thank you for being a reader!

I love the cover of my new book! This link goes to Bookbug in Kalamazoo, where my first book release event will be held. You can order the book there or anywhere!

And so I must turn some of my energy toward book promotion. That isn’t to say I won’t be discussing political issues, because it is all of a cloth: at an essential level my writing is my politics. I am more than happy to continue to write about politics in my practical way, if it is helpful, though many do it better than I do; especially Amanda Nelson and Heather Cox Richardson.

I was talking to my husband yesterday, my Darling Christopher who was convinced by me to let himself be featured in a commercial criticizing our maga congressman, Bill Huizenga, who votes with Trump 100% of the time. So I was talking to him, and I said I don’t know how to promote a book, and he said of course I knew how to promote my book—this was my seventh book.

But the truth is, I don’t know how, and especially I don’t know how to promote a book when Democracy is so profoundly at risk in America. When so many folks in power are immoral and cruel, it may be hard to think about literature. And yet literature may be our best hope: when people read, they become more compassionate and smarter. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this (or on anything).

Subscribe now

I gently request that you please pre-order The Spirits from your favorite bookseller. Surely some of you will want to order this Christmas book as a Christmas gift for friends, and now would be a good time to do that. Pre-orders help publishers know there is interest among readers. I promise that if you help me make this book a bestseller, I will only use that designation for good in the world.

So love to you and he-honk from Jack and Don Quixote and Christopher. More soon.

Here is Chris:

Dear Representative/Senator XXXX --- Thank you for serving Michiganders in these challenging times. I am embarrassed by the recent spate of bills before the House of Representatives that are being put forth to honor our president. There is so much trouble and strife and divisiveness and dirty dealings afoot in America that this is not a time to be working on vanity projects. Our President needs to prove he can actually do something productive for America before he gets honored, and most of these honors would be more appropriate after a person dies. I feel as though I am living in North Korea, having a leader’s face plastered all over everything, and now many people want to put him on Mount Rushmore and on a coin and a new $250 dollar bill as well as having his signature on our money. Republicans want to rename airports after him? That is nuts and a waste of Congressional time and energy! Please stop pandering to and trying to please a vain person—instead, please focus on legislation that helps us, that controls the rampant corruption at the highest levels, and that ends this war. Our president wants a special peace prize while he has gotten us into an unnecessary war that he doesn’t have the tools or ability or the will to get us out of (why did he hire a businessman to run the navy?). And it was recently revealed that those military leaders who are truly trying to end the war have to chase the president out of the situation room to get anything done. Our founding fathers tried to prevent this and create a dignified, democratic nation of laws, not men, and I am both angry and embarrassed about how our congress is pandering to him in such an unmanly way. We need true masculinity at this time from men in your position, true leadership that protects and inspires the American people, the kind of masculinity that does not bow down before a bully but stands tall and protects and represent Americans! Please govern for us, Sir, your constituents. –Sincerely ZZZ

Subscribe now

(If you have never sent a letter to a congress men or senator, just google their name to find their government page, and there will be a form for you to fill in. Or if you prefer to call, you might want to use the 5-calls app on your phone—it fills in the numbers for you! )

Here’s Joe, looking handsome. Below you’ll see a picture with me, and at the bottom here he is after his face got destroyed by falling into a culvert and being nearly drowned when doing field work for his fabulous books in the Woods Cop Mysteries, published by Lyon’s Press. If you listen to the podcast I did with him, you can hear about this adventure. Joe’s 26 books are available everywhere.

He shared some advice with us writers, and he offered to share it with you. I’m pasting in what he sent me. First I’ll include the biography as he wrote it. If you listen to the podcast, you’ll hear my version of his bio.

Stuff that follows is off my head and sending to you chucks it outten my outbasket. Excuse typing niceties etc.

Biographical “highlights.” Grew up in USAF family, lived all over the U.S., plus French Morocco and Italy. 18 schools between first and eight grade, two high schools (Oklahoma, and Michigan). When you grow up like this the world seems small – a 24-hour flight from Italy to the U.S. with two stops. Most Americans in those days did not see the world that way. Then BA in Journo at MSU in 1965, then USAF 1965-1970, serving as navigator on KC-125,168 combat missions in SEA over several four-month deployments. Plus AF time flying in Europe, Greenland, and literally all over the Pacific. Then with Upjohn: I eventually had offices in Brussels and Tokyo and spent much time outside the U.S. The world is small, and people pretty much the same everywhere.

MA English Lit at WMU in mid-70s, completed all courses but oral explication, which I passed on because I had no intention of becoming a teacher. (Ironically was later an adjunct in WMU’s professional writing program around 2000 – just long enough to fold the program…. In MA program I wrote my thesis on Hemingway’s attempt to used Cubist theory and technique in his writing. My opinion: noble try, but he failed.

Writing Career: 28 titles if count two short story collections now with my agent, and ms I am working hard to finish about Shakespeare and the the blitz in London in 1940.

My first novel, TAXI DANCER was written a play in Arnie Johnston’s drama class. He told me it didn’t work as a play but he thought it might make a good novel, so I turned it into one.

Got name of an agent from a pal, sent her the ms, and she called me back that week, said she thought she could sell it, and a week later called and said we had an offer from Berkley for an original paperback and I said, “Do it. “That was 1985. The title was TAXI DANCER, the first, and one of the few Vietnam, fiction works involving the air war in in SEA.

Some Major Points to Palaver aboot My scribbling experience:

1) To be an artist, writer, painter, composer, whatever, you have to be self-motivated and selfish. You must carve out time for yourself and keep it sacrosanct. I need at least four-hour blocks to make full immersion into the work at hand, but can take small bites in smaller time chunks if necessary. I can, literally write anything, anywhere, under almost any conditions. My focus is near-absolute.

2) There is no right or wrong way to write: All that matters is what finally ends up on the page, not the first draft, but the final one. And criticism and editing are about that thing on paper, not the thing who scribbled it. The more you write the better you write. The real maturity of a writer comes in rewriting and editing. I write with my heart and edit/revise with my brain and I am with each book more and more ruthless in revision. As for length, my late editor Joe Fox at Random House always advised, “Write the story the length you think it needs to be told, and let your editor help you pare it and trim it.” Writers, when revising, are often characterized as “putter-inners” or “taker-outers.” I’m both until the final cut at which point I set aside the meat cleaver and reach for my scalpel. If I question the meaning of any sentence, word, or metaphor, it’s gone.

3) I have written more books than I have sold. I right now have 3-4 complete manuscripts in the supply bin, all needing some “adjustment.” Only one has ever been seen by my agent.

4) I like writing female characters and the majority of my readers seem to be females.

5) I have heard many times, form wives, or mothers, or sisters, or girlfriends, how the male in their life did not read until they gave them one of my books and then they read them all and began to read other things. I’m sort of the poet laureate of certain illiterati.

6) The glorious and miserable role of LUCK and timing in publishing (Few writers or teachers of writing ever talk about the role of luck in careers):

* Betsy Nolan-Berkley (Right agent, right ms, right time); Nolan retires, Phyllis Westberg floated in. (Word of mouth in action).

* My late editor Joe Fox at Random House had worked with Truman Capote, Fran Leibowitz, Peter Mathieson, Martin Cruz Smith, John Irving, Philip Roth, Ralph Ellison et al. Anecdote of THE 47^TH DAY, Oklahoma City and how the ball sometimes rolls our way or doesn’t

* Agent Phyllis Westberg (J.D.Salinger’s long-time and only agent). Her brother had read my Woods Cops stuff, told her “You need to read this guy.” She did, called and asked if I needed rep just as my other agent was retiring. Pure luck and word of mouth.

* THE BERKUT in 1987 was on the NYTimes Bestseller List for about 15 minutes. Has been optioned for film and TV etc a dozen times. Everything I’ve published has been optioned at one time or another and nothing yet made. So it goes. Once it goes to film or TV, it is no longer your baby and becomes another kind of animal, neither better nor worse, only different. Some film adaptions are better than the books they are adapted from.

7) Writing junque. For me character voices come first and usually in my daydreams or night dreams and if they persist, I will start listening to them, and if they persist long enough I start writing down what they say and see it if leads anywhere. Often for a book I have either an ending in mind for a sequence of events, or a starting point with no end in mind; The latter is far more difficult to write than one where you know the end before you begin.

8) I use my dreams to map the way of my writing. Go to bed virtually every night with characters and situations in mind and by morning something has stirred or genned. During dreams I can stop action and send the figures in new directions. Have always been able to do this.

9) Some books I write come in clips and snippets, and I tend to write down stuff when I take my nightly leaks and throw it all in a plastic bin until the voice clarifies, then pull it all out and look at what’s there to see if there’s a base to build from and a theme at work. There usually is.

10) Research. All authors all have their own methods – including the lengths they will go to. Mine begins with wide and deep reading on a topic; then fieldwork with Woods Cops being prime example: 22 years, 30 days a year all over the state, including all UP counties and 48 below the bridge -- including downtown Detroit over Memorial Day Weekend. Working with cops is a huge responsibility, and a true gift to a writer. The longer you do it, and the more you show you can hack the hours and the pressure, the more you tend to learn and the more people trust you and open up. Anecdote of Chief Rick Asher calling me to Lansing after first book came out. Life and limb. Wear vests (both body and ballistic). Saying goodbye to one’s choppers: Wilsey Bay Creek, bottom of the Stonington Peninsula, Easter morning, 2003. And talk about DNR Becky Humphries and Natural Resources Commission member Mary
Brown at local church talk.)

(11) All authors learn LESSONS over their careers: Here’re some of mine.

(1) If you’re not a reader, you are not likely to become a writer. Period. Making time for reading is part of your learning curve as a writer. For life, not just when you are starting out.

(2) Lots of folks want to be thought of as writers, but don’t know how to do the work. It doesn’t work that way. The German term sitzfleisch refers to having the ability to sit in your chair on your butt for extended periods. This is an ability few talk about, but most career authors both possess and recognize.

(3) Many people have a story/book in them. Almost none of those stories will ever find the light of ink…is that a weird sort of metaphor or what?

(4) Rejection and criticism are part of the business. You are an artist perhaps, but because you sell your books, you are also an entertainer, and all entertainers are fair game for critics and fans. You’d better have oil in your feathers and the ability to squelch the need for immediate gratification outside finishing the actual ms itself

(5) I do one book at a time and not multiple-book contracts. I currently have millions of words in print and all my books still available in print, which is a pretty amazing reality,

(6) I cannot begin to tell you how many books have been sold over my 41 years as an author (58 years if one counts my ABCs of SNOWMOBILING cartoon books self-published in 1968; mostly I don’t count self-publishing.)

(7) I lack the patience and time to submit and manage short stories one at a time and prefer to give them to my publisher in a pile under a theme. My agent currently has two collections working, LONERS ON THE LIPS OF A LION,” and UNEASY GROUND. I have three collections already in print: HARD GROUND, HARDER GROUND, and UPPER PECULIAR.

(8) I write every book in a series to stand alone. People do not have to read previous entries in order to make sense of the latest.

(9) Not all books take the same amount of time. THE KING’S SECRET, which I am working to finish now has been underway for more than ten years, with the first draft five years ago. I wrote THE BERKUT in one year after spending four full years of research to determine if there were sufficient holes in history to write the story convincingly. THE SNOWFLY I wrote in 45 days with absolutely no plan to write it. it simply and inexplicably flowed through my head like a film and I wrote it down as it flickered past. I had no plan to write mysteries or a series, and had never read a mystery other than Sherlock Holms stuff before I wrote me first one. But when my agent sent my first Woods Cop to Lyons Press they asked if I had more ideas that could be a series and I gave them dozen plots, six of which have made it into the twelve titles (A thirteenth book is now in the draft stage). A series is in some sense like the series on cable TV. People like continuing characters and locales, etc. Dickens knew this too-- an in those days -- novels were published in serials in newspapers and had huge audiences. For one of my mysteries the writing time ranges from 6 months to a year. I rarely write about settings I have not had my boots in.

(10) I always have a new manuscript started before I end the one I’m working on.

(11) I have never had what some writers call “writer’s block.” I keep a book filled with short story ideas and brief plots and that is currently in excess of 1,000 ideas. I also keep what I call a Titles file, thousands of ideas of titles that might fit a novel or a poem, and essay, short story or creative nonfiction work. I can go through the list, and usually know why I put it there and with what sort of use in mind.

(12) I insist on stories having endings, that are not of the “And it began to rain” sort.

(13) My mind focuses on characters, their inner voices and motivations, and dialog, Organizationally I think in scenes, the accumulation of which becomes plot. I never do outlines and prefer to let my characters show me the way unless they lead me into cul-de-sacs, at which times I march their little butts back out and tell them to try another direction. The rascals usually listen to me.

(14) I almost always use a chapter document to track the scenes and progress of a book

(15) As a kid I wanted to be an editorial cartoonist. Had my life gone another direction I would have ended up doing political cartoons for newspapers or been a painter.

(16) I am a lifelong, inveterate “doodler.” [Research on “Doodling” has been shown to have several positive effects on cognitive functions, particularly in enhancing memory and focus. Research has shown that doodling can improve recall ability, especially when engaged in passive listening or studying. Authors are or were doodlers: Pushkin, Samuel Beckett, Sylvia Plath, Vonnegut, Kafka, Nabokov, Ginsberg, Twain, Jorge Luis Borges, David Foster Wallace, and John Keats. And then there was Leonardo DaVinci, and George Washington, and on the negative side-- Adolf Hitler who doodled wolf heads whilst listening to briefings in meetings….

(17) I find painting as satisfying as writing and often easier mentally. Like writing I usually don’t start painting with an endpoint in mind. Both painting and writing get physically more difficult as we age – even if we are in relatively good “shape.”

(18) I love vocabulary and making up my own words. One time on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Copenhagen, we were served small yellow squares with green flecks which I dubbed a vomelet, much to the glee of my Dutch traveling companion.

(19) I wrote a book called LIMPY’S LEXICON, which is a factionary, comprised on many languages and common words used by Yoopers, and those created by Limpy
Allerdyce one of my fictional characters. I had been accumulating Limpyisms for years and one year decided to compile them and did so and sent them to my agent and editor and the editor loved it and asked if I could expand from the 15,000 words I submitted and I said sure and two weeks later he had 35,000 words which what was published. I have great respect for lexicographers and those saints who, (thank the gods) assemble dictionaries. (I regularly use Websters’ Collegiate, the Oxford English Dictionary, and Dr. Johnson’s
Dictionary of the English language. (This last title is approximate; I’m too lazy to walk into the other room to get the precise one.)

(20) Learn from the job you are in: I have been a mule in a university admin office (hired for my strength), playground director, reporter, parachutist, cartoonist, forest fire fighter, USAF navigator, entrepreneur, rent-a-cop, husband, widow, son, grandson, brother, trout-chaser, photographer, artist, hiker, and map-maker, etc. At the Upjohn company, the remains of which now rot somewhere deep in Pfizer’s stomach, I was able to be involved in all sorts of interesting events and subjects, including genetic engineering, supreme court rulings and cases, and so-called “living patents, HIV and AIDS science and social activism, terrorism, employee kidnappings, congressional hearings and miscellaneous lawmaking. Had I not been at Upjohn it is highly unlikely I would ever had reason to get involved in or knowledgeable in many of these topics/events.

(21) Titles can come from anywhere and anytime. Eg. Am just finishing Rick Atkinson’s THE BRITISH ARE COMING. In it, he wrote of a wife writing to relatives about the death of her soldier husband while serving in the rebel forces. She wrote, “He has closed his eyes upon the things of time.” Astonishing sentence! Definitely a possible title for a poem, and essay on time or death, a short story, a novel, a collection of short stories or essays. Could use the whole line or shorten to “Upon the Things of Time.;” As writers we have to stay open to all sorts of things we read and how they might be used.

(22) Same, way we need to learn to eavesdrop and listen to others talk in order to help sharpen dialog. Yesterday Lon and I had late luncha t Berrie’s Famous Pancake House and there were four gorgeous elderly black women next to us and at one point one of them said, “I remembering how long time ago when we was young an goin’ to the clubs, and I went into the ladies and there be a sign there say, ‘Bitch, you might as well sit down cause them crabs can jump ten feet tall.” She laughed. “I didn’t even know what the crabs was back then.”

(23) Life is precious even when it is sour. Live every day like it’s your last, dude.

(24) Und So Weiter. If you need more or want palaver, yell.

There’s also a podcast of me talking to Joe. You can find Bonnie Jo Talks to Everybody on various platforms (and let me know if I should get it somewhere else). Here it is on Spotify

In case you didn’t hear the Russia-related policy development she refers to, the United States just took this opportunity (of the Iran war) to remove sanctions on Russian oil sales. This means that Russia will now resume selling oil to India. This may be a kindness to India, but it is most profoundly a kindness to Russia, allowing Russia to get the cash it needs to continue attacking Ukraine. This, at the same time as the U.S. is asking Ukraine for help deflecting Iranian drones.

Writers are people who sit quietly and think about things and make meaning and connections. Many have been studying the Epstein files and are finding terrible levels of meaning and profoundly disturbing connections, especially in within the Russia-Israeli-America relationship. And it should come as no surprise that you will find expressions of that connection writ large behind all aspects of this Iran war.

Here is one article about the Epstein Israel connection.

Here is an article about the Epstein Russia connection.

And you know about the Epstein Trump connection if you’re paying attention, but here it is conservatively summarized.

Dear Representative XXX. Thank you for your service to America. I am very concerned about our readiness for possible terrorism in the wake of this war in Iran. There are some gaping holes in our security. I was very disappointed that Mr. Trump prevented the release of the security bulletin written jointly by DHS and the FBI to inform local and state law enforcement about possible terrorist threats--I am doubtful about their claim that the letter was "not in-depth enough and not well written" being the reason it was not sent out. It has left our local officers unprepared.

And I am especially alarmed at the inexperience of the person in charge of terrorism prevention for DHS, Thomas Fugate, a 22 year old. He has no experience in this field, and I think all Americans are at great risk because of this appointment. In fact, this appointment feels like a bad joke as well as an insult to other professionals in civilian and military life who have made protecting America their mission. I know that you do not have control over Thomas Fugate's appointment but I feel that you and other members of the House of Representatives should make a public statement about this and demand that someone qualified be placed that role. I just looked up the previous person who held that role, and he had 16 years of experience in anti-terrorism education and professional work. I believe that your speaking up about this matter could make a big difference, and the other responsible house members would certainly agree with you. We deserve the best possible security in these difficult times, and you could be an important part of protecting us by spearheading a move to get a qualified person in that role. Thank you in advance for the work you can do to make Americans safer. Sincerely, Bonnie

During the time leading up to the November 2024 election, I was promoting the paperback of The Waters, a novel about a group of women besieged by the men of a small Michigan town. Mostly women came to my events—women account for 80% of fiction sales—and the conversations we had as a group and one-on-one often became political. Many women expressed how afraid they were to put a sign in their yard for a Democratic party candidate. After the election, I was still touring, and many women expressed fear that their neighbors were going to come and physically hurt them as punishment for their having put such a sign out in their yard. Often the women whispered their concerns and told me they couldn’t sleep.

I’ll be honest in saying the fear of these smart and well-read women worried me more than the damage the extremists in power could do to our nation. Living in fear is a kind of obeying in advance.

“Do not obey in advance” is a crucial phrase from historian Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. “It serves as a warning against preemptively adopting or submitting to authoritarian, unethical, or restrictive behaviors before they are officially enforced.”

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” This is from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, and while it was overly broad and perhaps even not fair to people who were actually starving, it is inspiring.

“Where your fear is, there is your task,” said Carl Jung. He was a very flawed man of his time who never set himself up as a role model, but he has much wisdom, and he was on to something here. Jung wanted us to move toward our fear.

I can’t do much about the cruelty coming from the white house, but I want to do what I can to reduce my own fear and try to reduce the fear of others with whatever fearlessness I could muster.

Women’s voices

As my friends all know, I am very fond of our good men (and even some bad boys), but nowadays I am looking for women’s voices to carry us out of the mess the latest crop of patriarchal men have gotten us into. And I just want to share with you some of the women I am listening to, and you might consider following on social media. These women embody fearlessness in their pursuit of justice in America, and they all inspire me to be more active and braver. And, curiously, the majority of them are Rural Women! Each of these women is facing death threats from MAGA men.

Please note: you may not love the exact messages or backgrounds of all the women I mention, but they are all fighting like hell for democracy; this is not the time or space to criticize fellow democrats—that time will be after the midterms when congress is in the hands of a group of people who will check and balance DT and his crew and begin the rebuilding of America.

The following descriptions include you tube channels and substack urls and a few websites, but most of these women have material on most platforms. Also, this list is by no means exhaustive, and I am happy to add your favorites to it! Write to me!

Heather Cox Richardson

Almost everybody who gives a damn about democracy is reading or listening to the American historian Heather Cox Richardson. She has 2.5 million subscribers on Substack and 3.2 million followers on FB. She is wise, sober, measured, super knowledgeable about American politics and just the person you wish you lived next door to (alas, she lives in rural Maine). She writes books, and her interest in the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age, all of which are very relevant for our time.

Here is her Substack, Letters From an American, which she creates at least five days a week:

You can read for free or become a paying subscriber. Either way, you can receive her letter in your email most days if you subscribe. I listen to her read her Letter as podcast on spotify (for free)

She also has lots of great videos where she interviews folks and lengthy videos in which she answers audience questions—you can listen live and interact. You can find most of it on YouTube. You Tube channel here

If I’m wrong about what appears here, send me a link and let me know!

Amanda’s Mild Takes

Like HCR, Amanda Nelson is a historian, but she is younger, snarkier, and focuses a bit less on history and more on concrete action. She knows government inside and out, and she is very good at telling you what is possible and what is not during any Senate or House situation. She has good practical information. Especially joyful to listen to is her twice a week summary of all Trump’s latest losses. Amanda’s You Tube channel here (and all other platforms)

She will tell you to stop whining about what is happening, stop being passive or thinking in terms of unfairness, and go sign up to work at the polls. She will encourage you to write to your Congress members and also to focus on local elections as well as national. She is hilarious. You can find her Substack here, and it is mostly links to her videos, which are short and smart, and then her interviews of candidates who are running for office now are really good.

Southern Punk Project

She looks like a kid, has bad teeth, and speaks with wonderful Southern turns of a phrase in a rat-a-tat, an explosive and informative energetic rant. Her work displays a great facility in funneling frustration, and I love listening to her voice. Her trope is the “porch,” a place where people in a community get together, drink tea, and swap stories. Southern Punk You Tube Channel here.

Interestingly, she doesn’t give her name, but we know her as a Juris Doctor (a teacher of law) founder who describes herself as a “truth-teller” focused on simplifying power and amplifying people. Her substack is here:

The Southern Punk Project

JD-educated truth-teller and founder of The Southern Punk Project l Simplifying power, amplifying people l Subscribe and join the porch that TRUTH built l Support The Porch @ buymeacoffee.com/southernpunk

“Use your outdoor Voice” --Mamaw’s Porch and Politics.

Another commentator with a porch theme is Lisa Parker, who hosts Mamaw’s Porch and Politics. Here is 71-year-old woman with a soothing grandmotherly southern accent from Southern Ohio (below the grits line) is very practical as she creates a warm, welcoming community in support of democracy. “I want (people) to know that there’s no bogeyman around the bushes. You step forward, you use your voice and we can turn this around, but staying home and sitting out of the election is not the answer. Your vote does matter.”

Mamaw’s You Tube Channel here.

“As a Gen X woman, I’d rather die than comply” –Christina Tea Talk

Christina, from a small town in Georgia, also has a soothing southern manner, is neighborly and gossipy. When she’s got some information or a good tip, she says she is “pouring tea.” Instantly I found her manner cozy and compelling, but her skin looks super smooth, so I worried she might be AI. Then I found one video where she showed her face and explained why she uses a filter—she has been through cancer treatment and the other ravages of life, and she feels a filter helps her image (though I think she looks fine without it). She mostly makes short videos, and doesn’t hesitate to venture into territory that has not been confirmed by official sources. Expect speculation here, but then don’t be surprised when she suggests later is confirmed.

Christina Tea Talk You Tube Channel here.

Note: Christina has been shut down repeatedly on platforms, but you should be able to find her by some combination of the words “Christina” and “Tea” or “Talk.”

“We are ready. We will not buckle” –Politics Girl

Leigh McGowan, as Politics Girl (You Tube channel here), is fiery and articulate, and also practical. What I like about her is, well, everything. She often expresses the exact feeling I have when I am at my wit’s end, uncomprehending about why so many are trying to unravel all that is good in America and that so many others (who will suffer as a result of it) are going along with it. More info about her here.

“Knot today, Fascism” –Knitting Cult Lady

Daniella Mestyanek Young always has her hands busy knitting as she speaks. She was raised in an abusive religious cult and then spent time in the U.S. Army, which has very much flavored her view of life. She has made cults her area of expertise. Yes, she says, MAGA is a cult! Her second book is called The Culting of America.

She has no fear, no patience for nonsense, and she says you shouldn’t either. She loves bling, and has a lot of costume changes. Knitting Cult Lady You Tube Channel here.

She has a podcast as well, called Cults and the Culting of America. Find out more about her on her, her books, and other media on her website here.

“Fear is your north star… Lean in.” - Monte Mader

Monte Mader is a musician, public speaker, and activist who was raised in a Christian nationalist community; when her father learned his young daughter had an IQ of 145, he decided she would go to law school and overturn Roe v. Wade. Instead, she has questioned everything. She runs a Bible Study course and takes on the evangelical interpretations. She is smart, lively, beautiful, and passionate about democracy and justice. Here's her you tube station.

Case Tracker – Jay Jay Legal

Jay Jay Ghatt is a journalist at the top of her game with two law degrees, and she is keeping track of the law suits against the Trump administration and the law suits they are filing against anyone/everyone else. She follows up on old cases, keeps you abreast of new cases, and lets you know what absurdities, crimes, and mistakes (lots of mistakes!) are showing up in the legal proceedings. (The administration loses 90% of their cases in preliminary stages, she says.) She translates legalese into plain English, to let us know what the heck…. (Jay Jay Legal You Tube channel) She is on substack here: Jay Jay Legal Substack.

“I will not be bullied” –Lawyer Oyer

“I will not be bullied into concealing ongoing corruption & abuse of power at the DOJ,” says Liz Oyer, a former White House pardon attorney, and she is keeping track of who DT is pardoning and what kinds of crimes they have continued to commit. She is thorough, fact-focused, mild mannered and seems honestly surprised to have our ear. Lawyer Oyer You Tube Channel here.

Her written work and posts are here, and you can subscribe for payment or free:

Lawyer Oyer

Former Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. Former Federal Public Defender. Hardwired to stand up to bullies.

By Liz Oyer

“Disobey Illegal Orders” --Elissa Slotkin

There are a few fearless female politicians who are in for the fight, and I advise everybody to watch Elissa Slotkin’s weekly videos, called The Intel Report. Nobody else in the congress is doing anything like this, and I think her moderate political stance and her special area of expertise give her a super power that adds much to our fight for democracy. The weekly Intel Report and lots of video shorts are on her you tube page. Elissa Slotkin You Tube Page here.

“I’m not going to give them my fear.” –AOC

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) does not have a podcast, but do take every chance you can get to listen to her. These are some quotes I found on google.

• “For a long time, I’ve used fear as a guiding light instead of a reason to turn off.”

• “Without fear, there is no courage. Without fear, we don’t have the opportunity to prove ourselves in ways we never thought possible.”

• “We should not be scared of what will happen if we try - we should be scared of what will happen if we don’t!”

• “There is so much fear and hate. We must negate it with active, courageous love.”

“Rest Can’t Come Before Resistance,” Jasmine Crockett

I wish Jasmine Crockett had a podcast, but we just have to keep our ears open to hear who she fearlessly confronts in the U.S. House of Representatives, when the Republicans are giving bad behavior a pass. Here is a FB video from when somebody asked her about the five worst things 47 did in the first 100 days: “5 diabolical, disastrous, deplorable, detrimental dumb decisions by Don:” (Watch it here)

“Fear is real. Hate and bullying are loud...” —Kris & Dave

“Fear is real. Hate and bullying are loud... Creating safe spaces means more than a concert, a parade, or selling merchandise. It means protecting human rights, lifting up marginalized voices,” Kris says. (I include them under Fearless women because Kris does most of the talking in these videos.) On Instagram & FB, be sure to watch Kris & Dave, a suburban couple with military experience, who are fixing up an old house in Detroit. They are warm and welcoming and share their support of good democratic causes and especially the LGBTQ communities. Watch them on Instagram here.

I just turned in my new book, The Spirits, to W.W. Norton. It is Christmas story, a Christmas Carol, about redemption and renewal and joy and family and tragedy. It will be published Fall of 2026.

My new book is also about one woman’s love of trees, especially the native trees of Michigan. The book is about white pines, sycamores, hickories, paw paws, and especially great oaks. This book is about family, and how the family is a crucible in which alchemical reactions occur. Also, this book is … ahem … about the unfathomable crime of patricide.

This year I have been very much involved with trees. Yes, I have planted trees, some swamp oaks and red buds, as well as a lot of shrubs. But mostly around here, trees have been coming down, and mostly Christopher and I have been cutting them down.

Here is a tree we did not yet cut down. Or rather, here is one branch of that great oak tree where it dropped through the donkey barn, crushing the end of it. The donkeys were inside, and they were traumatized. Even now, a month later, after Chris has repaired their barn, they are hesitant to go inside.

We took down other trees more deliberately and (maybe) frivolously. Two dozen 70-80-foot-tall Norway maples, which were preventing anything else from growing beneath or around them. This was not psychologically easy, taking down healthy trees, nor was it physically easy, hooking them to ropes, chains, trucks, tractors, etc. But we couldn’t pay to have them taken down because we were saving our pennies to take out the big tree, whose branch fell on the barn before we had our pennies lined up. It is always easy to put off big expenses

Norway maples turn a forest into a monoculture of Norway maples, and we wanted our native trees to have a chance. Taking down two dozen of them cleared only a small area.

As for the great oak, the tallest one on this property, it is now damaged severely. The branch falling caused a thick layer of bark and cambium to tear away all the way to the ground, making it urgent that we remove it. We engaged someone to fell the tree for us, but that person changed his mind, said the unwieldy tree at 126 ft. tall was too dangerous for his crew to fell in one fell-swoop, and even with careful planning might very well take out the donkey barn completely. So we will pay the big money to have the tree removed piece by piece, starting at the tiptop.

This reconsideration also delayed by several weeks the tree’s demise. Now I don’t sleep well because I am listening for more of that tree to fall on the barn. If I hear any noise, real or in a dream, I bolt upright in bed, put on my bathrobe, jacket and boots and hike out to look in the dark. When I see the strange S-shaped oak towering above everything else, still creaking and rustling, I am reassured and go back to bed.

Several large branches of the tree are hanging over the barn, and the whole tree is canted slightly toward the barn, though its weight is leaning in two other directions because of the curve of the trunk. (Another person who considered dropping the tree for us wanted to drop it 180 degrees in the opposite direction of the first guy’s plan—this did not inspire confidence.)

And there’s another big oak, maybe 100 foot tall, over our oil tank (containing about 750 gallons of furnace oil to get us through the winter.) Also, it is one of many trees that lean way over the house. If it fell, it would take out not only the oil tank but much of the house. It will be the next to go, at great expense.

I love trees. I plant trees. I kill trees. And I write books, which also results in killing trees, and will keep on killing them until the hemp producers really get cracking on reducing the cost of renewable paper.

I won’t go so far as to cut down all the tree to eliminate all chances of them crushing the house. A man I talked to recently told me a story about a tree falling on his house during a storm, and his wife refused to come back home until every tree that was close enough to hit the house was removed. He paid $40,000 in tree removal expenses. We won’t do that—we will continue living in the woods.

So our life is characterized by contradictions.

And I’m very much caught up in the politics of the day, in particular, in the video made by six legislators that remind everyone (soldiers and civilians) that folks do not have to obey illegal orders given by a commander, that loyalty is to the constitution, not to a leader. Those making the video feel it’s important to remind people at this time when illegal orders might be given, while the detractors say, to the contrary, that this video is unnecessary and seditious, because it encourages military members to disobey orders. (They feel it just caused trouble bringing the issue up at all.)

This is against a backdrop of our president having remarked about how he admired things about Nazi Germany, and in particular, how he (Trump) needed more generals like Hitler’s generals, people who had sworn allegiance to a leader and would follow any order. I guess that’s one of the reasons I skew toward encouraging soldiers to think for themselves when in doubt.

We all can see how the military works most efficiently when nobody questions orders—what chaos would ensue if everybody was questioning every order! Many of us can also admit that a military of our citizen soldiers working most efficiently may not be the ultimate goal. Of course I understand the other point of view as well; but if I were a tree, I know which direction I’d fall. Democracy complicates the way our military works, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

As a writer, my interest is always in the unsolvable problem, the intractable contradiction that we must endure. And here it is again. I love trees, I kill trees. I want the military to work efficiently, and I want each person in that military to abide an individual conscience. My new novel explores how the nuclear family can be stifling and create despair and how the family is also beautiful, how it is the great hope for society. As a writer, I live in the gray area, where nothing is clear-cut or completely safe. As a member of a family and of a democracy, as a creature of the Michigan woods, I wouldn’t want to live any other way

.

It might lead to a story; it may even teach you (or me) how to live more authentically.

This year, I am to be the keynote speaker at the 20th anniversary meeting of the Two-Year College Association in Chattanooga, Tennessee, because I joyfully support community colleges. These two-year colleges educate our communities in profound ways, and the faculty is hardworking and good-hearted, in my experience. I spoke at the TYCA conference in 2013, and when WW Norton, a sponsor of the conference, asked me to donate my time and energy to speak again—and they would pay my expenses—I recollected how lovely the audience had been, and I said, sure, sign me on.

There is a good flight from Kalamazoo-Detroit-Chattanooga-Detroit-Grand Rapids that would have me there and home in just over 24 hours. So why not? And then Trump was elected, and every part of the government (including air traffic control) started looking shaky, and then the government shut down, and air traffic controllers and TSA folks called in sick or quit. Sounds as though the government will open up, but the chaos will continue for at least another week, maybe much longer.

My goal is to be away from home the least amount of time. Maybe the flights would be okay, especially if I skipped the short runs, drove to Detroit and went direct Detroit-Chattanooga. But maybe if I flew, I would get stuck somewhere in airport-land far from home. If I had to go from Chattanooga to Atlanta to find a bus (no bus or train station in Chattanooga), then I would have to get back to the Detroit airport to get my car. So, instead, I am going to drive to Chattanooga, ten hours each way.

Everybody has discouraged me from driving straight through, has implored me to do the drive to Chattanooga in two days, but that means being away from home a fourth day. Also, since I only sleep well when I am home, it would mean driving more days on a poor night’s sleep. And I know that driving is not the safest way to travel.

Immediately after the Saturday lunchtime event and the book signing, I’ll head home, drive halfway, to Louisville, and if all goes as planned, I’ll get home the following day, Sunday.

There is reason for me to be home right now. Autumn is a busy time on our funny little farm, and a massive oak branch fell through our donkey barn, and it is in the middle of repair (bless Darling Christopher) and the whole giant oak (126 ft tall, the tree guy estimated) needs to be taken out entirely before another branch falls, but the tree guy didn’t have the right equipment to do it . He is going to buy a longer rope and get back to us.

The chickens are going into their first winter in the coop and run, and we are still figuring it out—the timer for their light and heated water dish usually works, but yesterday it didn’t, which seems weird and worrisome. An abrupt change in the hens’ light-dark cycle can actually kill laying hens. Several outbuildings have leaky roofs and need new tarps installed—last year’s tarps are fluttering in the wind. I’m planting new native trees and plants where I pulled out the Norway maples. There is no end of wood (oak and maple) to move, remove, cut, and split.

Also, this family house has 88 large windows, and every one of them needs plastic over them. The patio is covered with leaves, snow and furniture that needs to be put away. The roof is covered with leaves that we need to get off before the next snow. And the bushel of pears I collected from the pear tree in the barnyard are sitting in the fridge, waiting for me to process them. (I know, crazy, but the pears kept coming and waste is sinful!)

In my life, I have travelled plenty, but now I am a homebody—that’s what I want to be.

Chris, Sheila, and neighbor Kim will feed and water the chickens and collect eggs, but what if a hen is egg-bound and needs to be soaked? My niece Kellee had a chicken with a prolapsed vent, where her entrails come out along with the egg, a situation which requires immediate care. I can’t ask anybody else to take care of something like that—if I even learn about it—and in three days, an egg-bound or otherwise stricken hen would be long dead.

Maybe the most worrisome part for me being away from home right now is the donkeys. Jack and Don Quixote are 27 and 25 years old. Chris will feed them, but in case of emergency, there are no livestock people here other than me. My sister Sheila has the right personality and attitude, but medical issues prevent her from wrangling donkeys even when she is not at work. Chris will do his best, but he is not a livestock person. In case of emergency, we may need restraining, soaking, or other wound care. And in the worst-case scenario, a tree falls on the pasture fence (it is surrounded by woods), the donkeys get out and nobody can catch them or get them to come home. They could be hit on the road, or else the County Animal Control could capture them and take them far away, and I would be fined heavily. And since neither of the donkeys has ever been in a trailer, I don’t know how that would go.

Also, the electrical power does go out at H House, and extraordinary measures must be taken to maintain the place (generators, propane heaters, etc.) and I would need to provide battery lighting for the chickens.

So, what I’m saying is that I’ve adopted a lifestyle that requires me to be mostly home. And this visit to Chattanooga is challenging me, showing me I’ve got to make decisions about how I want to live. This trip out of town (or the angst created by anticipation of it) has shown me that my life has changed. I still have to embark on this trip this weekend, but I must remember I need make different decisions for the future.

Also, though medical issues are tiresome to hear about, I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet (motor and sensory) that is only going to get worse (the docs tell me), and the physical therapist said that driving long distances may be the very worst thing I can do.

So, here is my future plan.

• Travel less

• Say no more often, even to things I want to do, even when it seems it might not be such a big deal, because the situation can change.

• Find local folks who can help with farm, especially the donkeys.

• Get rich so I can afford to pay people to do more

Now that I have said this, I will try to enjoy my drive as the last foolish adventure of its kind and not lament. I have a lot of snacks, recorded books on Hoopla, some phone calls to make to friends. Wish me luck and a safe return to the life I love, the life that makes it possible to write my stories.

Text of Speech:

Good afternoon beautiful friends of democracy!

As a fiction writer, I spend my time making things up, but you can’t make up the crazy that’s going down. Anti-vaxxers in charge of the vaccines, our military in the streets, the President getting a gold-plated 747 and paving over the rose garden—it sounds like a batman movie where villains take over Washington, and that’s MAGA’s America.

The Democrats, God love us, are a big complicated bunch. No surprise since we are the party of tolerance and inclusivity, so we must embrace those who have different democratic strategies, from progressive to centrist. We have Bernie, and we have Slotkin. We have union members, we have small business owners. We have devout Christians, Jews, Muslims, and we have atheists. We have plenty to fight about.

But right now, what's bigger is all that we have in common! We have our precious kids, who want to feel safe at well-funded public schools. And we have our love of democracy. Despite our common ground, though, some of what I’m hearing from my friends and seeing on social media is us fighting with us.

Democrats come in a lot of shapes and sizes with a lot of different opinions and strategies, but it’s easy to feel that our own vision of democracy is the only one.

Somehow, the bizarre factions of the Trump coalition (including trad moms, MAHAs, and nazis) came together to get the devil elected, but our factions are dividing us. I keep hearing, “I will never vote for a democrat who does whatever…”

Guess who loves our infighting? This white house will keep feeding us the issues that divide us most.

Since I’m a writer, what I’m bringing you today, is a paddle. I mean, a metaphor.

We are in a boat. A life boat. Up shit creek, abandoned at sea. We weren't prepared to have our ship, our nation, blown apart--but now we are in a democracy lifeboat, and each one of us has a paddle. And your paddle is all the political energy you have.

You could focus on fellow democrats you disagree with. You could use your paddle to criticize Gavin Newsom for being goofy or too centrist, or you could criticize Zohran Mamdani for being too progressive.

Or we might be inclined to just paddle toward the issues in which we are most involved, domestic or international. But let’s instead paddle together toward electing Democrats in the midterm 2026 election, so we can stop the Leviathan that is swallowing American democracy.

In the senate 35 seats are up for grabs, in the house 435.

Let’s fight for our best candidates in the primaries, and then in November, get behind the candidates that will combat MAGA’s stranglehold. If we don’t support our democrats, we could sink this lifeboat

People are dying. And suffering and being displaced at home and around the world. And it’s only going to get worse unless we stay together—INDIVISIBLE—to reclaim congress.

Bernie is paddling like crazy, inspiring thousands at his rallies; Elissa Slotkin gets right into the mud with the intelligence and defense communities. James Talerico of Texas paddles as a follower of Christ’s teachings. And every Republican who has turned away from the dark side is welcome to join us in this fight.

Maybe you’re sitting at your computer, thinking of posting a take-down of another Democrat on social media. I ask you to pause and consider… is this the enemy of democracy destroying our nation? Or is this a person fighting for democracy in different way than your way?

As American progressives, we are profoundly moral people. We like to be pure and principled and uncompromising. But as that old paddler Ben Franklin said upon signing the declaration of independence: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

So let’s hope there will be no hanging. Let’s be INDIVISIBLE and paddle together toward rebuilding a congress that can check and balance the monstrosity in 2026, after which time we can get back to the good honest work of fighting with each other.

Fact: Districts are usually redrawn only after the census, but that timeline is not written into the constitution.

Fact: Trump is unpopular. Latest gallup polls put him at 37%

Fact: Trump will be in power until January 2029. He wants to keep the House of Representatives Republican. So far the House has gone along with all of Trump’s requests.

Fact: In Texas, among citizens registered to vote, Democrats are 46.5% Republicans are 38%, independents 15.5%

Fact: Texas currently has 12 Democrats in the House and 25 Republicans. So Democrats, who are 46.5% of the population have 32.4% of the seats in congress. This says they are currently under-represented. There is a similar majority in the Texas State House of representatives, where they are about to vote on new redistricting.

This graphic shows the level of undemocratic gerrymandering of each state. Texas is already not representing the will of its voters. (Note that Michigan is awesome!)

Fact: Trump, who is wildly unpopular, told the Republican governor of Texas to get him five more seats, so the governor, Greg Abbott, decided to draw new lines that will give more power to the Republicans in Texas.

Fact: The proposed redistricting will reduce the seats to 7 democratic seats. That means that 46.5% of the people of Texas will be represented by only 18.9% U.S. House seats.

Fact: Texas has a law that they cannot pass legislation unless there are 100 members (“a quorum”) of the Texas House present.

Fact: Texas Democrats feel the new redistricting is unfair, but they are gerrymandered into a minority, so their only way to stand up to the majority is to prevent a vote, and the only way to prevent a vote is to leave the state, preventing there from being a quorum.

Fact: Trump has ordered the FBI to find the legislators and bring them back to Texas to force a vote, and if this happens, then the result will likely be that Trump, with a 37% approval rating, will continue to control the U.S. House of Representatives. This is called minority rule.

(*I have been looking for an app that will allow us to gerrymander our own maps just to experience the process, but I can’t find out. Let me know if you know of one.)

(Here’s what AI says about the make-up of the House of Representatives: The House of Representatives should be representative of the American people by accurately reflecting their diversity and viewpoints, ensuring fair representation for all citizens. This means that the composition of the House should ideally mirror the nation's demographics and preferences, fostering a more inclusive and responsive legislative body.)

Well, between bouts of changing the chicken water (they poop in it constantly) I attended a town hall zoom meeting with Representative Bill Huizenga, a die-hard and lock-step Trump supporter. Rumor has it that he is planning to run for Michigan’s open Senate Seat next year, and maybe he thinks his plan will help him.

He came across perfectly pleasant during the Town Hall meeting, and he fielded questions for Republicans and Democrats, mostly about the big bill that House Republicans just passed. The Republicans clearly asked very particular questions, such as, “Why did he and the others pass a big new bill increase the deficit?” Huizenga’s response was basically, I understand your concern, but it was the best we could do.

Another man asked, “Would you fight for a National concealed carry statute,” from a guy who apparently feels oppressed having to lock his gun away as he crosses Illinois and Massachusetts. Yes, Huizenga said, that seems reasonable. This shows how the focus of our lives varies greatly.

When others, opposed to the bill, expressed concern , I noticed they didn’t speak as clearly. They were good about the overall message: “These cuts are hurting people,” but when it came to being specific, the callers mumbled, became angry, and expressed frustration. One man cursed (said the f-word) and Huizenga ended the call.

I do not know how these calls were screened or who chose which callers would have their questions addressed. But it reminded me that one thing that we can do is make sure we are prepared to express our concerns and complaints clearly, especially to people on the other side, or to non-voters (who say it doesn’t matter) or even folks who voted for Trump, whenever we have a rare opportunity to be heard by them.

For me that requires that I get it right in writing first before trying to say it aloud.

If some of you are trying to articulate how bad the big bill is, in order to contact your senators before it passes, here are some sources and info that might help you get your ducks, or your frustrations, in a row

In truth, this bill is profoundly awful in many ways, which means that in order to be convincing, you may need to choose an angle.

The Cost of Health Care

Here’s Elissa Slotkin on video explaining why your health care costs will rise for everyone as a result of this bill. In short, they will drive people off Medicaid and Obamacare and this will mean less health insurance for Americans. Then, these uninsured people will use the ER as their only health care and this will cause hospitals (who cannot turn away patients) to have to raise prices for those with private insurance since they’re got to pay the bills.

Elissa Slotkin has another video you can see on You Tube where she says these are the three biggest concerns she has about the bill:

1. President Trump’s tax plan that cuts health care and skews benefits to the wealthy

2. Cuts to research funding that cede ground to China

3. A provision, buried deep in the bill, that makes it easier to ignore federal court orders

Conservation and the Environment

If you’re concerned about conservation issues, check out the League of Conservation Voters page. I’ve summarized their main points here, but there are more details on the site:

In short, they call it, “the most anti-environmental legislation ever passed in a chamber of Congress.” Their top five reasons for stopping it are:

1. Higher energy costs for our families and communities.

2. Harms public health, by eliminating pollution reduction programs.

3. Selling off our public lands and waters to billionaire polluters.

4. Putting billionaire polluters above the law, by allowing oil and gas companies to avoid responsibility for the impacts of pollution they create and sidestep environmental review, community input, and judicial scrutiny simply by paying a fee.

5. Threats to the economy and national security, costing jobs and resulting in clean energy manufacturing moving to China.

Tax and business implications

Some of you might be concerned about the tax implications. Here is what the “Tax Foundation,” a center-right nonprofit complained about in the bill:

“The bill further complicates the tax code in several ways, sending taxpayers through a maze of new rules and compliance costs that in many cases probably outweigh any potential tax benefits. No tax on tips, overtime, and car loans comes with various conditions and guard rails that, if enacted, will likely require hundreds of pages of IRS guidance to interpret. The changes to the IRA credits, while commendable in many ways, keep in place some of the most complicated rules, e.g., bonus credits for meeting prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements, and add new “foreign entity of concern” restrictions that may make many of the credits cost prohibitive.”

(The Tax Foundation is the world's leading nonpartisan tax policy 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For over 85 years, our mission has remained the same: to improve lives through tax policies that lead to greater economic growth and opportunity. Our vision is a world where the tax code doesn’t stand in the way of success. Every day, our team of trusted experts strives towards that vision by remaining principled, insightful, and engaged and by advancing the principles of sound tax policy: simplicity, neutrality, transparency, and stability.)

A Comprehensive Review

The most comprehensive critique of the bill I found (weirdly) was on Reddit. This person has read the 1000-page bill and is trying to make sense of it. These are the concerns so far, and you might go through them and decide to focus on a few of them. Each can be researched.

This reddit post concludes: “This bill isn’t just ‘big.’ It’s a roadmap for dismantling oversight, hollowing out federal protections, and handing Trump sweeping, unchecked control… It quietly guts federal protections and reshapes entire agencies.”

The highlights:

• Closure of the U.S. Department of Education

• 25% expansion of logging in national forests, bypassing environmental reviews and fast-tracking timber production

• Rollbacks on clean energy incentives, cutting tax credits for EVs and renewables, gutting key climate provisions

• More public lands opened up for drilling, mining, and logging, with royalty breaks for fossil fuel companies

• Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, ending U.S. participation in global climate efforts

• Executive Order 14215, forcing independent federal agencies to follow White House legal interpretations and centralizing authority under the presidency

• Pension changes for federal workers hired before 2014, cutting take-home pay by raising required contributions, reducing future payouts, and eliminating early retirement supplements

• REINS Act-style regulation repeal, where major federal rules expire unless Congress re-approves them every 5 years allowing Trump to quietly erase protections without rewriting laws

• Expanded executive control over agency budgets, allowing the White House to move federal funds internally without explicit congressional approval

• Restoration of impoundment powers, giving Trump the ability to block or delay spending already passed by Congress reviving powers stripped after Watergate

• Creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), placing White House–aligned teams inside every federal agency with access to internal systems and influence over hiring and daily operations

• Sharp cuts in regulatory enforcement, with agencies like the EPA, CFPB, and Labor and Transportation Departments halting enforcement of key safety, environmental, and anti-discrimination rules

• Trump’s personal control over economic policy, strengthening his power to direct tariffs, pressure private companies, and dictate pricing with little resistance treating the U.S. economy like his own business

So whatever aspect of the bill alarms you most, think about it, write about it, and become articulate enough to argue your case. There’s so much more than is listed here—for example, none of them mention cuts to public broadcasting! Protesting is very important, but being able to articulate in a letter to your senator is critical. And even more critical is being able to discuss these issues with our neighbors and family. Some, about 41% of Americans, have drunk the kool-aid and probably will not listen to you—I’m pretty sure this includes my Representative Bill H., but others might just listen as America is poised to become a more brutal, less beautiful nation.

Subscribe now

I’m on a local pro-democracy Facebook page in which folks are planning and executing protests against the Trump administration policies, and I’m proud to be a part of these protests and projects. The site skews progressive Democratic, and loyalty is strong toward Bernie Sanders & Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This is great—those two are getting the energy out, and folks are turning out in record numbers to their rallies, to listen to their messages.

But on these sites and elsewhere I’ve also seen a huge amount of anger and bitterness directed at the more moderate members of the Democratic party. For example, Chuck Schumer and Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin, politicians who compromise, politicians who continue trying to work across the aisle. Some of you might have seen Slotkin’s rebuttal to Trump’s March 5 talk.

Slotkin is a former CIA analyst and National Security expert, and so she seems to have an important skill set for a Democrat. Here is a Vanity Fair article about Slotkin that is worth reading.

For starters, her father was a staunch Republican, and her mother (became) a liberal lesbian. Elissa’s political awakening (and separation from her father’s party) came as she witnessed her mom caring for friends during the AIDs crisis. And she’s lived her life seeing both sides. She says she is a Democrat because they are the inclusive party, demanding rights and opportunities for all Americans.

Slotkin talks a lot about middle-class and blue-collar families, and she is very much in touch with how these folks in the middle feel and why they might feel uneasy about the Democratic party. And she sees that when they feel left out of the conversation in one party, they will switch allegiances. Slotkin doesn’t want them to move to the right. And indeed, she won her seat only because many who voted for Trump, also voted for her.

There is no denying that somehow, weirdly, the Trump movement has garnered the support of blue-collar folks, even as he promotes policies that hurt them as a group. All we can say for sure is that they feel better about Trump. Content aside, I want the Democratic party to make them feel better than Trump makes them feel. And if we want moderates to join the party (and stay in the party) we have to practice tolerance. We can start by embracing the existing moderate members of our party.

I love seeing both AOC and Elissa Slotkin as respected members of any party I belong to—their differences highlight the breadth of this vast party. There is plenty of common ground between them. All of them/us want healthcare for all, strengthened worker’s rights and consumers rights, but Elissa sees us moving more slowly toward these goals, negotiating with conservatives. And the hope is that she is bringing more folks along with her. Maybe having a Republican father assures her that the American conservatives are not going to go away. Not ever.

Their styles are very different too. For example, in the confirmation votes for Trump’s profoundly unqualified cabinet picks: AOC voted against all of them, on principle, though her vote made no difference in a House dominated by the weirdly slavish Republicans; Slotkin voted for nine of the twenty-two picks, again, in votes that made no difference. Slotkin did not vote for them because she liked them but because she knew there was no way to beat them and there might be something to gain for Michigan in her not opposing them. To repeat, neither AOC’s votes nor Slotkin’s votes made any concrete difference to the appointments.

Others on my local FB page tell me that all our Democratic energy comes from the left, from the progressives, that rejecting the moderates and focusing on the progressives will bring out more votes. They tell me that some progressive policies are appealing to everyone in the country; Hallelujah, I say, let’s focus on those, let’s go right to those and not look back!

However, I do actually worry about moving too far to the left in any given election.

I think we’ll win all the upcoming elections if they are fair (a big if). I think the folks in the middle are already tired of the drama of the new administration. But I’m actually a little worried about what happens to America if progressives win.

Here’s what I worry about. With progressives elected to the presidency and congress in 2028, we would pong to the left and pass lots of left-leaning policies to help people (as Biden did in many ways); with the right-wing media’s spin and influence, these policies will alienate a whole lot of folks in the center who don’t see the policies as good, and then in the next election, folks on the right will have the ear of the people who feel alienated and we’ll ping far right again.

Given the make-up of the country, I favor a torturously slow government, in which every single policy will have to be debated endlessly and pulled apart and inspected and voted on, and the people of America will know how their representatives voted. Change will be necessarily slow, as the founders of our nation intended.

And if we have one policy that we try hardest not to compromise on, it should be education because that is the only hope for the future, and we see how this administration is breaking the higher education system as we speak, and I’m sure there’s no end of trouble coming for K-12. Critical thinking skills are what we sorely need in our grownups at this time!

And here’s something we writers can do now, at least those of us who see the Democratic party as meaningfully different from what we have now. However angry we are, however much we want radical change, we have to stop attacking members of our own party. The Republicans would like nothing better than for us to engage in infighting and division ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, but if we want to save democracy in America, this time it’s almost certainly going to be through the political party of the Democrats, so let’s use language that strengthens and broadens our party, to make it easy for those currently on the outside to see how this can be their party too, in these troubled times.

Subscribe now

Meanwhile, we had to put a new floor in our living/dining area; for four years, since my Darling Christopher took up the old asbestos tiles (circa 1948), we have lived with a floor covered with the black glue that used to affix the tiles to the concrete. Yes, that glue is also filled with asbestos, but surely the $15 sheets of indoor outdoor carpeting we put over the glue have protected from that for the last four years.

And also in the meanwhile, American political trauma! The President’s approval ratings are down, so he wants to put pollsters in jail. That is it in a nutshell! But what can a writer do?

There is an organization called The Frame Lab that is worth investigating and following. They are looking at how the folks in power are using propaganda to manipulate voters and the national conversation and calling out the most egregious examples. And they have suggestions about how to use our own language to the best effect.

For example, in a recent post, they remind us what Orwellian language is: you give something a name that means the opposite of what it is. From Orwell’s 1984, we get, “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.” For President Bush, we had “Clean Skies Act,” which allowed lots of exceptions to the Clean Air act, hence dirtying the air.

They say that DOGE is also an Orwellian term, claiming to be about efficiency, but in fact doing the opposite. In fact, government spending during this time of supposedly increasing efficiency is actually way up. They suggest that we avoid using the propaganda language and create our own names for programs. They suggest that DOGE is actually: Destruction Of Government by Elon

The podcast is unfortunately not very much a thing at this time. There is one recent 4-minute post, but the others are old. Their website, howeever, has some great articles, is very much up to date, and you may want to subscribe for free. You can also pay to support them. Maybe if we all support them, they can up their podcast game.

Here is what they are officially about, in their words:

FrameLab is a newsletter about politics, language and your brain. It was founded by Dr. George Lakoff and Gil Duran in 2017 (as the FrameLab podcast). Our goal with FrameLab is to help our readers understand how political language works, and to illuminate the key frames in our political discourse – ideological structures that are often hiding in plain sight. We also analyze and deconstruct propaganda tactics which, unfortunately, are accelerating in the digital age.

I think substack just inserted into this page a way to sign up for Frame Lab, but I’m not sure it signs you up for the one on their main page.

FrameLab

Moral Politics, Meta Narrative, Language and Your Brain

Here is an example of an article that shows how the language that newspapers and magazines are using is making the situation worse. Such as the following NYT headline: “Trump Asserts a Muscular Vision of Presidential Power As He Takes Over.”

How Political metaphors shape democracy

They write, “Unfortunately, American journalism is full of bad headlines that unwittingly serve the purposes of authoritarianism. For example, when Trump tells a big lie, most headlines make a point of repeating the lie. It’s not necessarily because journalists want to help Trump lie. On the contrary: Most journalists have no idea how propaganda works and, therefore, do not understand the key role they play in helping propagandists spread lies.”

I look forward reading and hearing more from these folks about how our language can further (or hurt) the cause of democracy.

And let’s be cautious about how we frame the situation. We don’t want to create our own propaganda, but we want to always honestly inform. Our strength lies in reality and openness, and in honest, clear language.

And the floor is looking good. We still have to put trim on since the old trim mostly got destroyed when we took it off. I am tempted to say that, after all this time, Christopher has worked a miracle, but that would be propaganda; in fact, Christopher worked very hard and smart, with a little help from me, his wife, to brilliant effect!

(The color “honey maple” is actually between what it appears to be the two posted photos—we had a blue light on the first photo and this one was taken in low light.)

And to be honest, the language involved in the flooring we installed skews Orwellian: Luxury Vinyl Planks (LVP). They are not luxurious, as real wood or tile would be far more luxurious; also they are not planks, but wide strips of plastic. Perhaps they are Lots of Vinyl Pieces. In the spirit of 1984, Chris suggests we call them Liberty Victory Plastic. Ah, well, they are a vast improvement on what came before.

Subscribe now

It feels as though reading and writing soulful books is the most democratic thing we can do, but we might have to do more than that. Here’s an organization that is trying to figure out how creative writers can use their talents. From their page:

Writers for Democratic Action is investigating what writers can do, and their page offers suggestions for writing articles and scripts for calling legislative members, provides advocacy for boycotts and announcements about virtual town hall meetings with such luminaries as U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, scholar Nancy Rosenblum, co-author of Ungoverning, Harold Myerson, editor of The American Prospect, and others.

Here is their home page:

Here is their mission statement:

Writers For Democratic Action stands for democracy and freedom for all. With the return of DT to the White House, American democracy is endangered. The domestic threats are obvious. The peril, especially to those most vulnerable, is everywhere. Our military, created intentionally by our founders to be apolitical, is in danger of being used by DT to fulfill his agenda and punish his enemies. The role of America in the world as a force for good is being challenged in the most autocratic of ways. Now more than ever, writers resist.

At this link, they invite you, dear reader, to Write a sentence for Democracy for their page, a sentence of no more than 40 words.

I listened to a video interview with journalist and commentator E.J. Dionne, who talked mostly about the ways that op-eds and well-written and well-researched books can make a difference. Dionne suggests that we still need to better understand why folks are moving away from the traditional Democratic message and toward the alternative. We write books that illuminate our situation Dionne recommends “Rust Belt in Blues”

I love hearing Dionne talk, but I don’t know if op-eds or books can save us now that the big newspapers and magazines, as well as full-length books, are not being read by both sides. In other words, in reading brilliant op-eds I am looking for insights mostly by reading opinion pieces that I already know I will agree with. Folks who disagree with my views are doing the same.

Their current event is very poignant and exciting, though I’m a little late in announcing it. They suggest that on April 19, we stage a reading of a new short play, “Paul Revere Resists.”

Many of us have forgotten how powerful theater can be. The staging will take less than 15 minutes, and you can download the script on the site.

The more we can do, the better. It would be great to make this happen in a public place, and the site suggests how to do that, but I’m going to try to stage a reading of this in closer quarters on Easter, a time of profound transformation. Let’s see if I can wrassle up four other willing participants.

Subscribe now

So I drove out and parked beyond the woods in the neighbor’s driveway, and from there I could see the flames dancing thirty feet in the air. So I called the fire department and spouted gibberish. And then I trekked through the dark woods, across another neighbor’s property, unable to follow the path I knew was there. And I saw it was a great bonfire, bigger than our old tack barn. Our neighbor must’ve loved creating that monstrous blaze, and he was sitting beside it in a lawn chair, unworried, though there was no way he had a water source out there.

Meanwhile the fire department arrived with a pumper truck and no fewer than a dozen other vehicles, and I ran back to meet them. Sheepishly, I admitted I’d called them about my neighbor’s bonfire. I led three of them through the woods to his place, and they talked to him, while I stayed back. the upshot was that they were satisfied nobody was at risk because there was no wind. “What if the wind was stronger?” I asked. “We’d have to put the fire out,” he said.

Of the three fire fighters I led through the woods, only one seemed annoyed with me and told me it was none of my business whether my neighbor had a burn permit. A nicer guy assured me, “He says he won’t put any more wood on it tonight.” I asked, “What if he’s burning another time and the wind is picking up.” He said, “Call us again, I guess.”

This casual attitude seems contrary to the tone of the fire chief who is very keen on smoke detectors, who last fall had encouraged me, in the name of preventing fires, to unplug every single appliance every time I went out. (Turning off power strips was not enough.) He insisted that at night I had to close all the doors to rooms in the house to prevent a potential fire spreading.

Well, as a writer, fire is my business, and all night the possibility of the bonfire spreading haunted me. Too easily I could imagine myself burning in this old cedar family home, my donkeys burning while trapped inside their fence or barn, all these trees burning. The cat, who would hide, burning. If writers could shake things off, they probably wouldn’t write. The writer’s business is to take things to heart, to explore all possibilities.

Calling the authorities is not the way to be a good neighbor, I know. And my neighbor is a nice guy, who once helped me catch my donkeys when they got loose. Neighbors need to be tolerant of one another; we even need to love one another.

This morning, I trek through the woods to the fire, which is still burning. It’s starting to rain, so I’ve no worries about it spreading. Meanwhile, off and on all morning, I’ve heard bullhorn-loud raspy calls from the swamp, so before sitting at my writing desk, I stand in the rain on the overlook, where two cranes are negotiating intensely. As I watch, they come to a conclusion and then pick their way upstream on long legs, impossibly elegant, looking for a nesting site. I hope these new neighbors will stay; I am sure we will get along.

Subscribe now

So I stuffed the living room woodstove (thank you for splitting the wood, my darling Christopher) and kept it blazing. If you know the shape of this house, however (think “H” writ large in the landscape), a central fire doesn’t help in the far corners, so I filled my 20-lb propane tanks and used my Mr. Heater Big Buddy and carried it from room to room. And I kept writing. A lot of writers talk about the importance of place in their fiction. Well, not only do my stories have to unfold in a very particular place, but I have to write them in a particular place, and to be uprooted in the middle of a draft would be detrimental the new novel. I’d rather just bundle up.

Well, the ice did melt in mid-March, and when the mud dried up a bit, I called the oil company with the best price. They came out in a truck and, though they made it most of the way down the driveway, said no, they wouldn’t take a chance on driving to where the oil tank was, and they backed out. And then it began to rain again, making everything a muddy mess. We called the second company, and once the mud dried up, they were willing to take the chance, and he-honk! we struck oil, 350 gallons, enough to get us through what might be a cool spring!

Now there’s only the issue of paying for oil!

Subscribe now

And while I eagerly await my reader’s responses to my novel, I will clean the donkey barn, and maybe I’ll think about cleaning the house. But I don’t want to get carried away with too much tidiness—that would spoil my reputation. In truth, I enjoy cleaning and making my environment neat and sensible, but I know it’s not good for creating the chaos I need for my fiction. So I’ve got a few poems to work on and letters to write to my U.S. senators and representatives, who I fear may not be in touch with the life that most of us are leading, whether as struggling writers or humble and tolerant American homeowners in beloved, problematic houses.

And what is Christopher up to? Well, apart from splitting wood, there are the tractors that always need something. Here is Chris in his natural habitat.

In the meanwhile, have you heard about the Ides of March postcard campaign?

Someone got the idea of everybody sending postcards from home (who can afford a vacation?) to the White House to let them know what they think. Finally, something for us writers to do—we can write an important message! If you are like me, you love post cards, both receiving them and sending them. I enjoy saying something pithy, just filling a small amount of space,

Maybe these are pink slips (“You’re fired!”), maybe these are poems, maybe a place to vent frustration, or maybe you have some helpful advice for the president.

Here’s the group Indivisible’s description of the event:

Join us virtually writing postcards telling Donald J Trump his probationary period is over. HE'S FIRED! Don't take anything with you other than your personal effects. Name calling is what he likes to do so we are going to return the favor. Sending him postcards to be mailed on March 15th. Use your postcards (maybe PINK?) and postcard stamps. Send a little or a lot.

We will overwhelm the White House and Donald Trump with messages of his unpopularity and failure, while showing the media and the politicians what standing with him — and against us — means. Write one card or many. We will have sample messages to inspire you. Then mail your postcards with vast numbers of others on the same day, March 15th, the Ides of March to: President Donald J. Trump, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500

link to Indivisible page about project

Back to me

I went to the original site to which there are links: https://theidesoftrump.com/ and it currently appears to be a dating app, so I think there’s been some hanky panky hacking going on in internet land.

So here is an outlet for writers, to put your feelings on a card and drop it in the mail. I’ve been told that all mail arriving at the White House will be checked by the secret service and then it is passed on to a low-level staffer who will only pass really important mail up the chain of command. The president almost certainly won’t see the post card, but maybe it’s still worth it to make it look attractive and fun! And I would suggest you keep a copy of it yourself—maybe somebody can do some collage art with the images from the cards. There’s no telling if the great swell of postcards will have any effect, so we can hope that making them will be satisfying.

Many of you know that “Beware the Ides of March” comes from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, but there should be no threats in these cards, merely our critiques and/or a reminder of what we expect from our president. Anything like a threat will be taken seriously, of course, so don’t threaten the president, for crying out loud, even if you’re angry.

And while this campaign is for March 15, any day is a good day to send a postcard. Just ask Michael Martone!

Subscribe now

Join

Meanwhile, Indivisible has been a very active organization in protecting democracy, so if you want to join an organization, that is a good one. If there is not one in your area, you can create one. To check them out, click here: https://indivisible.org/

Current Dis-Approval Ratings

If you want to see the president’s approval ratings as of today, here is an article in the IndyStar that looks at all the recent polls. In summary, his approval is at about 45%.

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/13/what-2025-donald-trump-approval-ratings-news-today-trump

-administraion-approval-us-states-indiana-in/82360764007/