Ted Clifton's Grain of Salt Commentary

Drawing Conclusions

What is it about power that allows humans to think it is justified to kill other humans? Does power rot away at the brain until the only functioning part is an ugly vicious part. I’ve always been a creative person. I drew, painted, wrote, dreamed, designed, built, thought all sorts of creative things. I never once imagined conquering someone. So, if you’re a leader of a group and you dream about destroying people, are you the same species as me? Is killing creative? Is killing human?

Everyone knows most people only want to live their lives, not destroy others. They only want to raise their children, not kill. So only a few can destroy hundreds or thousands; and they become leaders? WTF? How does that happen?

Maybe it happens because they are willing to destroy, and their anti-human behavior gives them power over the normals. The “normals” being all of us who could never imagine dropping bombs on hospitals.

How can it happen that the bad ones somehow come to power and can destroy the rest of us? If there are only a few “bad ones”, what are the odds they become leaders? That’s when we should start to look around and see that the bad people are everywhere. Sure, it’s the haters, but it also the screamers, the yellers, the functioning crazies; this group is huge. We see it every day. Some madman pulls up beside your car and starts yelling, shaking his fist, gives you the finger; why? Going too slow, going too fast, just being? We live with these destroyers in our society.

I believe there is a connection with creativity that starts to explain these people. Can an open mind that wants to be productive also be destructive? Maybe or maybe not?

This may sound like a silly observation. There was a time when art and music were a major portion of elementary school activities. Due to budget cuts, and other more nefarious reasons, those programs have been reduced or eliminated. I’m sure the argument that we need to concentrate on STEM programs makes sense to the “practical” people who often are the most vocal. And of course, I cannot draw a straight line from no art and no music to an increase in the “bad ones”, but I can assure you I can draw. That ability to draw was enhanced during my years in grade school.

More “bad people” still does not explain how they become leaders. While I don’t have a full explanation for that, what I see is the ability to lie as a common trait. Our history starts with a tale of George Washington not being able to lie and ends with leaders not being able to tell the truth. The Washington tale was no doubt a lie, so even that bit of Americana is not proof that some leaders don’t lie.

Just think about someone who always told the truth and imagine them running for office. That person might say, “I won’t be able to change much, but I’ll try to not make things worse,” or “I really need this job, my law practice has gone into the toilet, and I need the money, please support me,” or “I want to be famous so I can cash in big time later, I haven’t a clue how to run anything much less a country.”

At this point the novelty of someone speaking the truth might not be a bad strategy to win, but who would risk that?

So, we have an increase in the number of “bad people”, who are not creative and can lie at the drop of a hat; and they become our leaders. Might also add bullying as a trait since it is very common in the worst leaders.

What we haven’t addressed is why people chose those flawed folks to lead them. Number one answer must be something about smarts, but also, we are gullible. The biggest liar wins the election suggests that the voters can’t use their own common sense to determine who is lying to them. Or maybe it’s easy to believe the lie and think everything will be wonderful because this buffoon of a person just said it would be.

Like a famous possum named Pogo once said, “We have found the enemy and it is us”.

Good people, honest people, creative people give the power of madness to “bad people”. Bad people use that power to destroy good people.

I have offered my voting advice before; here it is again.

Never vote for someone who:

Yells all the time.
Is followed around by a team of lawyers.
Is followed around by a team of goons.
Says all your problems in life have nothing to do with your decisions but are the fault of _______.
Would appear to have an ego as big as a house.
Doesn’t own a dog.
Likes the military a little too much.
Would prefer not to shake your hand.
Will obviously do or say anything to win.
Really wants to be a TV star.
Admires no one and has no heroes.

You should vote for people who:

Don’t really seem to want the job.
Love dogs.
Listens all the time.
Wants you to have more control over your life, but not infringe on anyone else’s.
Loves history.
Thinks all people have value.
Thinks being wealthy does not make you smart.
Would rather be _____________, as opposed to being at this press conference.
Still talks to mom.

Would also add that the best leaders love to read and take walks (alone or with their dog).

Circling Sharks?

If you are an indie writer, you have been targeted. There was a time, not that long ago, when authors could be numbered in the thousands because the process of publishing a book was controlled by the “high and mighty” publisher. Publishers for their own benefit were not inclined to open the doors to any Tom, Dick or Harry who wanted to write a book. They kept the doors shut for most “normal” authors.

Then the uncontrolled world of Amazon happened, publishers have never been the same. Suddenly indie authors had an avenue that had an “open for business” sign up in bright lights. In short order there are hundreds of thousands of “authors”. This may be good or bad, we’ll discuss that in a later post. What it did was create a huge pool of want-to-be-successful authors, who did not know what to do to achieve that dream. Let’s call it a pool of suckers.

Novice authors had a dream, and often a small pool of money stashed away to invest in that dream. Of course, a large group of suckers who can be identified will eventually attract the sharks (we only provide a valuable service). The more desperate the suckers are for a magic way to achieve their dream the more the sharks start to circle.

Today, some years after the first explosion in indie books, I get an email or more a day trying to sell me a path to my well-deserved goal of fame and fortune.

My educated guess would be that there are hundreds (at the very least more than 50) of successful authors making a tidy sum every year selling indie books, and that there are hundreds of thousands who have not made a dime. Most of those people had very bad books that not even a mother could love, but many had decent books but no reasonable way to break though the clutter of millions of books to reach an audience. So, what to do?

Yep, the answer is giving the sharks the money and pray. Some of that decision is based on the illogic of what else can you do? Some of it is based on the sharks saying it is easy, just let us tell you the secrets. Yes, we all believe there are secrets about everything and if we just knew the hidden truth, it would be easy to be a best-selling author living the high life in a Miami million-dollar penthouse.

But before the penthouse, it’s $100 here, it’s a few thousand dollars over there, how about $600 for that almost guaranteed ad opportunity, or even just a couple of hundred for that “tell all” seminar with Ms. Jane who writes best-selling (to whom?) books about cats. Yes, all the experts on how to make money have figured out “how to make money”, sell something to desperate want-to-be authors. It’s a lot easier than writing a book—that takes a lot of effort—and selling a few hundred of those masterpieces is almost impossible.

I talk to a few authors off and on, sort of depending on my mood. What I hear a lot is one of my fellow writers saying, “yeh, I knew it was probably a scam but thought I would give it a shot anyway, just threw away $50 bucks again”. Or $500, or more.

Truth is, I don’t feel sorry for them, or me when I did it. I think it is part to the growth cycle as an author. You eventually figure out what is required and as you would guess, there are no secrets—it’s just hard work, ugh! You find trusted people who charge reasonable prices for their skills, and it is part of the cost of being an indie author. You recognize your chances of making a lot of money (or any) are slim. Sure, there are exceptions, but most might make a poor hourly wage from writing but not much more.

Here’s the secret. You don’t care. If you love writing and selling a few books, then it is worth the cost. If you make a few bucks that is an unbelievable bonus. Stop listening to the “crowd” saying if only you did this or that you would be a huge success. It isn’t going to happen. Or if it did, it would be mostly based on your writing or a big dose of luck.

Since I stopped paying any attention to the sharks, my life has been a lot more pleasant. No doubt, I’ve missed the big opportunity to live in the penthouse because I did not open that “last chance” email, but I’m not really very comfortable with heights anyway.

Now available in paperback.

Stopping the Hate

Growing up in Oklahoma in the 1960s meant a lot of discussion about war, political assassination, religion, race, crime, and college football. Most people in Oklahoma at that time were registered Democrats who voted Republican. While that may sound confusing, it led to a more fluid idea of politics.

Almost all those topics of discussion could become heated but generally the conversations were logical and well-meaning, even if biased and shallow. However, some actions during this time were horrible and life changing.

The assassination of the Kennedys hit me hard. I identified my world with John and Robert Kennedy. It was the world I wanted to live in. Their deaths seemed like a horrible movie that should have never been made. Till this day it has never made sense to me, why people would choose such drastic means to solve something—something, I didn’t even see. Why were they assassinated? That question has never been answered for me. Politics, CIA madness, gangsters, insanity, Cubans? Why?

I entered that period with great hope. Optimism was not a strong enough word to describe what I expected. I came out of those dark days, pessimistic and angry. Nothing was ever the same again.

Remembering those times, I recall how I felt lost. The country felt lost. I worried about everything. But, somehow, we survived. I don’t believe we got better, but we did move along, and many good things did happen. Even with healing, I felt like a great harm had been done to me, to my country and to the world, for no good reason.

Today we are still discussing war, religion, race, crime, and college football. What we are not discussing, thank goodness, is political assassination. Nevertheless, the arena of politics has become aggressively ugly. Still, aggressively ugly is not assassination.

In some ways we’re better today than we were then, in others we’re worse. The hatred level in this country has risen to a new high. Republicans hate Democrats, liberals hate conservatives, one group hates another group, rural communities hate big cities; we are divided haters. The violence is just below the surface. It will surely show its ugly head soon, unless we start to hate less.

How do we hate less? Not sure we can agree on the major differences, nor can we compromise and split the issues down the middle. So how do we hate less? We just do it!

Stop the hate by stopping the hate. I don’t agree with you, but I do not hate you. This is especially important when it is groups. Hating groups is stupid. Hating some asshole cousin who has always made your blood boil makes sense. Hating people you do not know, because they are different or because they hate you, is just dumb, and it should stop.

Not easy. We must relearn to appreciate that we are all humans, we all have flaws but also value. Now you can disagree with that, but only do it on an individual basis. Break the hate habit.

Some say we should love more, but I believe it would be just as beneficial if we just hated less. Think about some group you hate, maybe it’s Democrats, or the left, or the right—just spend a little time thinking and decide—well, they sure are wrong but I don’t hate them. Keep saying it until you start to really believe it. If you can’t, maybe it is time to think about yourself and who you have become.

If your solution to all the hatred is war or even assassination, then you have slipped over to the dark side of life. If you want to live there, you will need to recognize the ugliness of the world you have chosen. And it gets damn ugly quick.

If your neighbor is part of the “other”, your group will want the neighbor gone or even dead. You might say, no way, I will stop them, but when you are part of the mob you will have no control over what they do, and if you defend the neighbor, the mob will turn on you. Good people will become bad people with a mission to destroy. All driven by hate, not political goals. The hate says you must defeat your enemy. The ultimate defeat is death.

The assassination of the Kennedys was not a political statement, it was a statement of hate. This country and the world are once again playing with fire.

New e-book Success Paths Business Series book just released. How to Start and Run a Successful Small Business (someone misled me into beliving a long title had merit). Paperback should be available next week. This knowledge is from my other life as a small business owner and accounting maven.

Leading a Mob is not Leadership

“Definition of fascism,

a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.”

Never thought much about fascism as it related to the U.S., until the last few years. Wasn’t that some craziness tied to Mussolini? Yeah, sometime in the 1930s or something. Has nothing to do with us, right? Well read that definition again—what does that remind you of?

The real question is why would anyone support such a thing? A dictator can’t be one unless there is an army in support for such a person, or the people elect that person. Why would anyone vote for a dictator? The easy answer is the wrong answer—they’re stupid. I just don’t buy the stupid answer. Sure, there are plenty of dumb as a post people who would vote for the loudest person running promising a great world, but that is a very small minority. I think what motivates people to close their eyes and elect a tyrant, is hate.

Hate clouds the mind. There is no logic that can penetrate the barrier of hatred. Groups of people become mobs because of hate. Honest, caring people become mindless animals because of hate. If the hate is strong enough all it takes for destruction is an amoral leader who points the mob at a target. There is the reason your life is not as good as it should be—those people. Attack and destroy, and everything will be wonderful.

Hate needs an enemy to become action. The autocratic leader recognizes the hate and directs it at the “other”, then sits back and watches as good people turn into a mob. A very frightening aspect to that is you might find yourself in the “other” group.

At some point the people who elected the tyrant will realize their mistake, but it will be too late. There will no longer be elections, the dictator decided it was in your best interest for the dictator to be leader for life. You will not be allowed to participate in most decisions, because your leader knows what’s best, plus the leader knows you don’t really want to be bothered. You now live in 1930s Italy, without the excellent food.

There maybe no way to stop this drift towards a dictator because the hate is so strong, but I thought a voting guide might be useful.

Never vote for someone who:

Yells all the time.
Is followed around by a team of lawyers.
Is followed around by a team of goons.
Says all your problems in life have nothing to do with your decisions but are the fault of _______.
Would appear to have an ego as big as a house.
Doesn’t own a dog.
Likes the military a little too much.
Would prefer not to shake your hand.
Will obviously do or say anything to win.
Really wants to be a TV star.
Admires no one and has no heroes.

You should vote for people who:

Don’t really seem to want the job.
Love dogs.
Listens all the time.
Wants you to have more control over your life, but not infringe on anyone else’s.
Loves history.
Thinks all people have value.
Thinks being wealthy does not make you smart.
Would rather be _____________, as opposed to being at this press conference.
Still talks to mom.

Would also add that the best leaders love to read and take walks (alone).

With Open Eyes

When I graduated from high school there were three future paths for me, go to college, get a low-level job, or join the military. This was the Vietnam era, so most men were subject to the draft. Why not avoid the wait and just join? I selected college, mostly because the other two offered no appeal. The real choice was no choice at all, I’ll just bide my time.

My choice was a cheap commuter college. My parents might have offered to pay for a more prestigious school, but I was not interested. I wasn’t sure I wanted any of it, the school was just a place to be while I waited on something else to happen. Most likely drafted. If you were going to school, it qualified you for a deferment, but most thought, as they needed more people, they would drop that. Maybe more so than today, many people going to college were from families of means. The deferments were for them, lesser people just filled in the cracks. I wasn’t a pacifist, but I thought the war was stupid and based on some political bullshit that might have some meaning to the ruling class but no meaning to anyone else.

At this early age I had three beefs against society. Nationalism, religion, and racism. During the 1960s, all three were booming. I lived in a mostly segregated suburb of Oklahoma City. My direct exposure to racism was limited, but I could read. And I read a lot that I found horrifying. Human beings owned other humans for the benefit of cheap labor. How can that be anything other than evil?

My small community was 100% religious, or at least it seemed that way. I asked a few friends what they thought about slavery. I was shocked. People I thought were kind, considerate, even noble people seemed to think it was okay because the slaves were black. I couldn’t believe it. The other incredible thing was that many said all the bad stuff was just made up, the slaves were better off being slaves. Being owned was better because you ate better? It was absolute nonsense, and much of it was based on the teachings of their church. Now, of course, there were many exceptions to my narrow observations. The list of religious people who fought for equal and civil rights is long. It’s just that my limited experience showed my acquaintances to be mostly uninterested in the wrongs of the past.

That was a long time ago. Now a segment of our population fears their kids being taught about the bad things that were done by their ancestors, mostly involving slavery. We should also toss in the horrible treatment of native Americans, but that is another subject. The aim seems to be not to have their kids feel any shame for past deeds. And maybe at some level they shouldn’t feel any personal responsibility, but they should know what was done, especially by the leaders of their country, that was good and bad. There was plenty of both.

This latest nonsense over something as ill defined as critical race theory is the best example of people wanting to attack something even if it does not exist. The truth seems to be that there hasn’t been that much change from my small-minded experiences over sixty years ago. Many people would prefer to believe in lies and myths, even if the truth is readily available.

The United States benefited greatly from slavery, both the southern slave owners and the northern manufacturers. Every one of them knew it was wrong but decided to rationalize that evil because of money and power. Pretty easy to understand. Does that make their descendants evil, no. Should their descendants recognize the wrong and state it clearly, yes.

That’s the odd part. We have people hundreds of years later trying to rationalize evil, because it was done by their distant relatives. That sin does not attach to the next generation unless you allow it to. In our denial we are affirming our guilt.

I’m from Oklahoma. I know a lot about the mistreatment of native Americans. What is strange about that past is that I’m related to both sides. My ancestors were both abused and abusers. I feel the anger and the guilt. But to deny something happened would be the worst of all outcomes. We should crave history and details about how things went wrong or celebrate how things went right. Never, ever, should we decide, we shouldn’t know something because we don’t like it. It offends our sensibilities of who we think we are, so we will ignore it. Or even worse, we will make things up and call it the truth. It is hard to see anything clearly with your eyes closed.

Send in the Clowns

Like me you probably have not spent a lot of time thinking deeply about the two-party system in the US. It has always been that way, so why give it much thought. You should give it some thought, a lot of thought; because when you look at this without party blinders, it starts to look like one big mess.

Somewhere in our history there was no doubt a reason for this structure. Communication was slow and parties facilitated the distribution of information about far off decisions being made about the future of the country. Political parties provided a structure that could build a “team” to support common goals. Political parties provided the political will to move the country in a better direction. It somehow prevented extreme groups from holding power. The parties were led by seasoned; thoughtful, wise leaders who kept the country centered. Those wise leaders worked to keep the country unified.

All those reasons probably made sense in 1989, or 1942, or even in 1986; but do they make sense in 2022?

Today political parties look more like gangs. Gangs whose main objective is to defeat the opposing gang. There is little oratory about the great future of the country. Mostly we hear rally cries for something or another to be destroyed, or someone to be locked-up, or stopped, or run out of town, or deported or shot. Of course, I think my gang is less vile than your gang, but that is part of being a member of a gang—the other gang is always wrong.

Why don’t we just get rid of the gangs?

The biggest problem is structure. Our country has been structured around political parties. They control most of the election structure, they are critical for the operational needs of the legislative branches. Could we adjust those issues and not have political parties? Absolutely. Will we?

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth”. Words said by Abraham Lincoln, no doubt paraphrasing a preacher, Theodore Parker, who said, “A democracy, – that is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; of course, a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; for shortness’ sake I will call it the idea of Freedom”.

Many people think the “by the people” words were in the constitution—they are not.

It would be foolish to think that this country is ran (and controlled) by citizens acting as the “people.” This country is and has been controlled by politicians. Usually men. Usually, wealthy. Usually, white. Always in control. Political parties gave those men control. Most gangs have a hierarchical structure, even street gangs adopt this top-down philosophy on how to control the troops. The political bosses loved the political party structure of the country. They created it and fed it and gave it financial resources to thrive.

To get rid of this outdated structure would take the action of the gang leaders, who are in power. Lots of luck in getting the power-crazy leaders to forfeit power to somebody else. Would they do it for the betterment of the country, Hell No! Power-crazy is very descriptive and accurate.

How about the people, you know, in “by all the people?” Hell No! The people have always wanted to be led and they still want to be led. Sure, you can get them to riot but run the government, not going to happen. The people have other stuff to do. Movies, football, drinking –you know important stuff.

So, the leaders lead the gang, and the gang members complain but nothing really changes. The political parties have the power to be able to ignore the people. The parties are telling the people what to think, what they should be mad about, who the people are they should vote for and, most importantly, if you don’t like it, too bad. Shut up and sit down!

Of course, some of the people will get mad at the leaders. But the leaders will just send in the clowns and distract the crowds while they go about their business of protecting their power and wealth.

Without political parties, there would be fewer power-crazy leaders, there would be less power concentrated at the top of the hierarchy, there really might be government of the people, by the people, for the people. No more Rs, no more Ds, just Americans.

But where are the clowns, send in the clowns

Well maybe next year

Hard Work and Being Crazy

My next book will most likely be A Tumbleweed Mystery: Book Alert or How to Start and Run a Successful Small Business. It all depends on which one is ready first. One is a kid’s mystery book targeting ages 8-12 that I co-authored with my wife, the other is a non-fiction business book. Shortly after that Doctor Hightower—The Beginning will be ready. As you may know I go into periods where writing is hard, a slump. There does seem to be a pattern for these slumps to come and go. Looks like the latest one is over. Yippee!

I have written about these dark times when it seemed nothing was working. If I was writing, which often I was not, it was very difficult and slow. What used to be pleasurable was tedious. I could think of stories, but it was almost impossible to write. Every sentence was difficult, there was no flow, nothing was moving smoothly. Why?

I have yet to answer that. Now, suddenly, it is all working again. Why? Yes, that is the more interesting question. You’re in a slump and suddenly, without drugs, whisky, or therapy, you’re not. What caused that?

I’ve written before about creativity and how it is a skill. A skill that needs to be exercised. Practice does not make perfect, but it is required to move forward to something better. To get out of a writing slump you must write, but, of course, if you are in the slump you can’t write. So, what do you do?

I wrote easy stuff. Don’t tell anyone, but the kid’s book was fun, and the business book was all stuff locked in my head that needed to get out. Both were different than my normal multiple character, complicated murder plot books. Most of my mystery books will have twenty or thirty characters involved in twisting and confusing plot lines. These are almost impossible for me to write, put on hold, and come back to –without retracing all the previous ground.

Durango Two Step is the perfect example. I have written a great story but no ending. I had in mind several endings as I was writing. When I went into a slump, I lost all of that. Yes, it might be a memory problem — I should write it down. Write! Yes, write it down. Sounds easy, just take notes. That is not how I write. I’m like an engine, when I get going, I write at a very brisk pace. No time for notes, it’s all in my head and moving fast. And then it stops. All those mental notes start to fade. Going back to Durango Two Step after two months of non-activity takes weeks of re-reading, re-thinking, just to get back to where I was. This can create a slump.

The other path for me is writing this blog and my newsletter. This forces me to write, and to think. It is great practice. Keeps the engine running, even if it is at a lower speed.

When I first started writing I did it on a lark. This will be fun. It wasn’t. Okay, this isn’t fun, but I will make some money. I didn’t. So why continue? For me, it is about feeling productive. I’ve always worked, this did not include my early childhood, thankfully my dad did not believe in child labor.

Working, my job, my co-workers, the daily challenges all gave my life meaning. My self-worth got tied up in the hard-working image of myself. Never take a day off, work long hours, always challenge yourself every day; today I realize that was probably on a path toward some sort of mental illness, but of course it was me. Even knowing it is not healthy doesn’t mean you can stop. After work slowed and then stopped, I had a huge gap to fill, thus writing is my new job. Poor pay and long hours, but that was like a lot of my jobs, welcome home.

I know people who talked about retirement as one long vacation. When I worked, I never took vacations, more mental problems. My work ethic came from my depression era parents, who valued work over everything else. In their developing years having a job was life. They knew many people who did not have enough to eat or a place to sleep. Enjoying life was for the very rich.

Today I think the attitude about life and work balance is a lot healthier. But my concept of self-worth and hard work was locked in a long time ago, and probably will not change.

Enough of this lollygagging and wasting time, I need to get back to work—the sun’s almost up.

Fear and Typos

Typos, something I have not thought about most of my life. So, there is a mistake in today’s edition of the local Gazette, who cares? I still know what the author was saying, and it makes the writer more human. To err is human, to forgive, divine. Alexander Pope (not a newspaper writer). Okay, I’m going for divine?

As a writer, mistakes (typos) become a bane of your existence. I read and re-read, my wife reviews and re-reads; and after something has been published or posted, staring you in the face is, yep, ATYPo! Sorry, A typo! It sticks out like a neon sign, or a flashing yellow stop light at 3 a.m. Why? How did that happen? Shit!

I know most readers are like me and just read over it, self-correcting without much notice. The ones who aren’t, write reviews saying I need an editor or psychotherapy. For a small fraction of readers, a mistake is something approaching a sin, what variety of sin I’m not sure, but it is bad. I was just re-reading, maybe for the hundredth time, Tommy Jacks article in the latest newsletter and there is a place with the word know which should have been known. It is obvious and jumps out at me like a vicious hyena. How could I have overlooked that?

Some readers may think I don’t proof my stuff very well. No way. I’m serious, I must’ve read that article twenty times and did not catch know verses known. And of course, in this case Word does not help, it’s nonsensical and obvious it should be known, but Word does not have the brain muscle to know that, or is that known that?

Writing is a thought exercise; typing is something else. Many mistakes occur because the mechanics of typing fail to follow the thinking part of the brain. My thinking part said known, my fingers typed know. Saving that n for later use. That explains how it happens, what can’t be explained is the number of times my wife (who will not appreciate me mentioning her in context of errors) and I overlooked the obvious error. One answer is it’s obvious. I think this is where the brain takes charge without asking permission and just corrects the mistake to sound like it is what it should be. So, you’re reading and bump into a know that your brain knows is a known and tells you it’s a known, move on.

A person, who purported to be an expert on books, once told me that a published book should be error free. None, nada, zilch errors (typos). Another self-proclaimed expert told me five was okay. I asked where he came up with five, he said someone told him that—maybe it was the nada guy before he decided none was best. My goal was always zero, and I spent money for other people to proof to try and achieve that goal. I never made it. As I grew more experienced on book making, my goal stayed at zero, but I was tolerant up to five or so—one expert is as good as another. Have had readers say I must be an amateur because they found a typo, no mention of the book content. I discounted their opinion.

My writing goal for 2022 will remain the same, to provide the best content I can, while being relevant, humorous, thoughtful, insightful, entertaining and have as few typos as I can possibly have– or at least less than five.

Another bad year gone. These bad years are starting to pile up. Do you think it is something we’re doing wrong? Religious people might blame our bad luck on some sin committed by hordes of celebrities, famous for doing nothing, especially anything non-sinful. Not sure about the god punishment angle, but maybe the celebrities should be a little less in your face for 2022.

My guess is the cause of the latest bad trend is a loss of community. Much of this is the absurd replacement of human interaction with non-human connections– Facebook, TV, Instagram, on-line shopping, and smart phones. Of course, a bunch of that stuff is because of fear. Fear to go shopping, fear to be in public spaces, fear of being shot, fear of being yelled at, fear of being sick, fear of dying, fear of weather, fear of fires, fear of politicians, fear of school, fear of the police, fear of being afraid. Fear of everything.

When we’re afraid we isolated ourselves in protective cocoons and start building a gun collection. Also, when we are afraid, we talk about freedom. The problem with focusing on freedoms is that it often infringes on someone else’s freedom. People who are afraid want to destroy what they fear, when they don’t know what it is that causes their fears, they destroy everything.

I hope 2022 is a better year, but I’m fearful it will not be.

To err is human. To blame someone else is politics. Hubert H. Humphrey

Author’s Update–Number (who knows?)

Just finished my latest book, it’s a kid’s chapter book about the mystery of books missing from the grade school library. The protagonist is a young boy who solves the mystery with the aid of an older woman named Tumbleweed and her dog Ratty.

Should be available for all of you young readers, or even you old readers, in a few months.

Why write a kid’s book and not work on one of my ongoing series of mysteries? Part of the reason is the author’s mental state. I’ve written eleven books in six or so years. During that time, I have had several episodes of writer’s block. What does that mean? It mostly means the writer has lost focus or maybe it’s hope that has been lost. Something is not clicking. You can try and push your way through and often that works. Just keep writing, even if you have lost the joy of writing, don’t stop. Easier said than done. If that voice in your head is not talking, there is nothing to write.

My solution on several occasions has been to go in a different direction. Write about something else, not the same stories, but a whole new tangent. Thus, a kid’s book targeting six-to-nine-year aged kids. Assisting me with this project as co-author is my wife, Marilyn. She’s a retired grade-school teacher with a vast understanding of what that age group finds interesting and entertaining. Also, she has made sure no adult words slip into the kid’s vocabulary. Kids, today, probably use the same words Vincent Malone tosses around, but it would be bad marketing to put those into a kid’s book.

Writing is something I took up later in life. After these few years it has become a part of me, so when this block sets in, it causes anxiety. What if I can’t ever write again? I know it sounds stupid, just write, and shut up about it. That sounds like it should work, but usually it doesn’t.

Another trick for me, is my bi-weekly newsletter. In the newsletter I write articles using the voice of characters in my books. Ray Pacheco, from The Bootlegger’s Legacy and the Pacheco and Chino series has written several articles. Tyee Chino has participated, along with Tommy Jacks. Of course, the man himself, Vincent Malone, has had a few things to say. You can sign up for that newsletter on my web site at www.tedclifton.com. This has been a new way to stay productive and to keep practicing writing.

The most important thing a writer can do is practice their craft. That might not make much sense to you if you’re not a writer. Isn’t it just about sitting down and writing? No. It takes practice and trial and error to reach a state where you are comfortable putting those voices in your head on paper. It’s akin to sports without the jumping and head busting. It’s practice that makes everything better.

So, the new book, The Tumbleweed Mysteries: Book Alert, is practice. It keeps those writing muscles limber and ready to jump in once the voice says it’s okay.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone.

Ted Clifton

Pipe Smoking and Thinking

For a future Grain of Salt newsletter, the quote feature will be by J.R.R. Tolkien with a photo showing him smoking a pipe obviously in deep contemplation. Pipe smoking, as are all such smoking habits, is no longer a good thing; but what about contemplation, has it been outlawed along with smoke rings?

My good friend from long ago was a pipe smoker, let’s call him Rod. Rod would fuss and fuss with his pipe to the point of distraction. Conversations would be interrupted in the duty of pipe maintenance. It was a ritual that was both comforting and annoying (to me, not him).

I took up the pipe because it seemed to provide my friend with such great pleasure. The amount of time spent on the contraption from cleaning, to scraping, to bowl filling and re-filling was amazing. Plus, it would not stay lit. I finally gave up, realizing I had none of my friends well developed patience with pipe fiddling.

Then it dawned on me maybe the point of pipe smoking was the activity. It was comforting and seemed to bring on deep thought. One of the most famous pipe smokers was Sherlock Holmes, a deep-thinking person if there ever was one. Of course, Sherlock was suspected of filling his pipe with more than tobacco.

Other famous pipe smokers, such as C.S. Lewis, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner all happen to be authors. To be a writer, at one point in time, may have required that you smoke a pipe. Or maybe, the self-isolation required to write, naturally led to pipe smoking and in many cases heavy drinking. Still the pipe smoking image clings to the deep thinkers like tobacco odor. It just goes hand in hand, pipe smoking equals thought.

It also indicates patience. Being patient might not fit all those deep-thinking pipe smokers, but it is a necessary quality in pipe fiddling. Patience is maybe the trait that points to thinking more than any other. It takes patience to be reflective. It takes patience to be thoughtful. It takes patience to develop new thoughts or ideas. It takes patience to smoke a damn pipe.

After some period of fascination and frustration, I gave up pipe smoking. I would still fiddle with the empty pipe and always felt a strong connection with my friend, who was the best pipe smoker I had ever seen.

Today any outward appearance of thought, such as a pipe smoker cleaning the bowl, does not seem to exist. I can’t believe we have given up thought or heaven-forbid, contemplation, so there must be a sign that would tell us someone is in a period of inner reflection. Could it be the blank stare at the phone screen? Nah, we’re familiar with that stare. It indicates something different and less appealing. The person sitting on a train or a park bench reading a hardcover book; that is a good image of thought, but probably not that deep thought associated with the far away look of a pipe smoker.

One of the requirements for deep thinking that may be out of vogue, is idleness. Laying on your back staring at clouds is a great position to contemplate almost anything, but not a common activity. Our society has decided that the measure of a person is now based on being busy. Our scale of importance ranks busy as much more valuable verses something so lame as thinking. People who do nothing are scorned or reported to authorities.

Even when were not busy, we “kill time” by watching TV, phone or computer screens. Staring for hours at moving pictures of other people being busy. This seems more designed to stop thought rather than promote it.

I’m not sure if my good friend Rod still smokes a pipe, but if he doesn’t, I’m sure that at some time during his day he allows himself those reflective moments of thought while pretending to refill a pipe bowl and thinking about the meaning of life.

In case you were wondering the J.R.R. Tolkien quote is, ““There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.” — The Two Towers