Scribbles & Munch

      When I woke up this morning, I kept waiting for Scorpius Malfoy to burst in and confess he'd been messing with an illegal Time Turner.*  Only there's no desperate remnants of the Order of the Phoenix living in hiding, willing to sacrifice themselves to make it all right.  A tragically significant portion of my country's population is driven by fear, hate, and ignorance.  This is the reality I live in.
      Trump declared himself a "unifier."  Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn, but in a way he was right: nothing brings people together like a common enemy.  There are a lot of people who feel that anyone who doesn't share the same skin color, or language, or religion, or way of loving is an enemy.  That's a pretty terrifying thought.

Not to mix my fantasy fiction references, but apparently Cersei was on Trump's advisory committee.

      I had decided to keep politics out of this blog.  I didn't want to estrange potential readers, agents, editors or publishers.  But what I write is inherently political, because it reflects my values.  Sometimes that may be subtle, but other times it takes front and center.  And the last thing I want to do is let my selfishness or fear steal my right to free speech.  So while this is STILL not a political blog, I am not going to shy away from sticking up for what's right.  This U.S. presidential election was a horrible blow to a lot of people around the world.  The only thing to do is pick ourselves up, find one another's hand to hold, and figure out how to fight harder.  That's what separates the Great - Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai - from the victims.
      By the way, I'm declaring Donald Trump's birthday as Voldemort Day.  I plan to mark it every year with a "What Would the Order of the Phoenix Do?" gathering to encourage activism.  You're invited.  Bring your ideas.


*If you don't get the reference, get off your duff and read "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" - J.K. Rowling did her own Fan Fiction, and it's pretty darn good!