NASCAR -- The Un-American Sport?

I just spent almost two months with my youngest daughter and her husband. They are huge NASCAR fans. I am not. I find it boring to watch people drive around in circles. Yes, they drive as fast as they can, given the road conditions and the tolerances built into their specially-made cars. And people who do enjoy the sport are passionate. However, I think that right now it is a ridiculous pastime and even, perhaps, un-American.

Now most NASCAR fans would wave their flags in my face and call me a “pinko-commie” as my son-in-law’s father called two girls dressed as hippies in a movie we all watched that took place in the sixties. Frankly, it was amazing to me that the Speed channel wasn’t on instead, as it had been the entire weekend which I mostly spent in my grandson’s room, reading a book. My daughter and son-in-law live in Terre Haute, Indiana—about 70 miles from Indianapolis which is almost shouting distance. There was a big race at Indy this weekend. Racers drove their cars in circles for a total of 400 miles on Sunday, with preliminaries and qualifying trials on both Friday and Saturday.

My S-I-L’s parents came up from Texas on Thursday. They flew into Indianapolis and rented a car for the drive to Terre Haute. On Friday, they watched the race preliminaries on the Speed Channel. On Saturday, they took my two oldest grandkids to the qualifying trials and on Sunday, just the four adults went to the race. That’s three round-trips between Terre Haute and Indy for a total of 560 miles driven over the weekend by one family. It would have been four round trips if the Texas contingent hadn’t rented the car for transportation to and from the Indianapolis airport.

That is a lot of gas to use up in one weekend. Especially from the point of view of a person who is not sure she can afford gas to get to a doctor’s appointment at the VA in Danville on Wednesday. Just driving home from Terre Haute I’ve already logged over 100 miles on my own car so far this month. I can usually only afford one tank of gas a month.

So, why do I think NASCAR in un-American? Well, I’ll answer that question with a few questions aimed at NASCAR. How many thousand gallons of gas do racers use in a typical weekend of testing, qualifying and racing? How many thousand gallons of gas do fans use getting to and from the racetracks? And at a time when people are being urged to cut back their gasoline usage, to convert to more fuel-efficient cars—particularly hybrids of various sorts—and there are many people in this country who have to choose between buying groceries, medications or gas each month, how can NASCAR justify the colossal waste of such a precious commodity? How can people waste so much gasoline and yet wave the flag as vehemently as they do?

I think that NASCAR should suspend their racing until race-cars can be converted to use alternative fuels such as ethanol, which can be easily renewed. Are our soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq so people can watch cars go around in circles as fast as they can wasting the very commodity for which our service men and women are dying? We should be outraged. I know I am.

As Ive Been Saying

I have maintained for the past few years that the person sitting in the Oval Office should not only be impeached, but should be tried for crimes against humanity. In an article today on the AlterNet website, a Nuremberg prosecutor stated that George W. Bush, as the leader of the United States, has broken the highest law of the United Nations—the law against unprovoked aggression toward a sovereign nation—and that he should be tried for this most heinous crime at the International Court at the Hague. I feel vindicated. I’ve stated on several occasions that I believe this so-called Administration is the worst thing that has happened to this country since the Cuban Missile Crisis. When young people ask me (as a Navy veteran) whether they should join the military, I advise them against it—at least until these so-called “leaders” leave office.

I joined the military in 1971, during the Viet Nam conflict because I felt that whether the war, itself was right or wrong, the troops deserved our support. At that time, that was not a popular position and people questioned my decision to enlist in the military. I still feel that our troops deserve our support, but I do not recommend that anyone who is not already in the military enlist—not even in the National Guard. I fear that the greedy, power-hungry people who have managed to maneuver themselves into positions of leadership will send them off to Iraq or to yet another nation that has neither attacked nor provoked us in over a decade.

Meanwhile, back home, our rights are being removed right left and sideways. A VA nurse in New Mexico was arrested for sedition for expressing thoughts similar to these on the Internet. And a man was arrested at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago for wearing a tee shirt to his doctor’s appointment that said “Veterans for Peace.” In my book, Rock Bound, people are arrested for defending the Bill of Rights. As a friend said on my Yahoo Group, “The Freezeland era approaches.” I was frightened when I read about the nurse in New Mexico, but this most recent travesty strikes close enough to home to leave me absolutely terrified. I was treated at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center for over a decade. I would proudly wear such a tee shirt to an appointment there. In fact, if I were not babysitting my grandkids right now, I would be up in Chicago protesting that arrest. But my daughter needs me here so I am not free to risk arrest.

The economy is so bleak that I am helping my kids pay their bills as well as babysitting for free. I just paid $3.05.99 for gas a few days ago here in Terre Haute. I hate to think what my kids and sister in Chicago are paying for gas. Yet, I have no doubt that Bush and his oil-tycoon buddies are getting extremely rich because of the so-called crises that have occurred during this Administration. They have created an atmosphere of fear and hate in this country, which rivals that of the aura of distrust that was aimed at Germans during World War I and at the Japanese during World War II. Meanwhile, we ignore the UN and the Geneva Conventions while Osama Bin Laden, the man who actually orchestrated the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and whose family has propped up every business venture at which “W” has failed, remains at large. And Iraq is now a war-torn country, destroyed at the hands of the US. And nurses and veterans are being arrested for expressing their views. Just like in Russia during Stalin’s Administration. Or in Germany under Hitler. Or the US under Freezeland. I’m glad we’re not ready to start mining the Moon yet. At least, I hope not.

Sad News at Inara Press

I have sad news for my blogs today. My publisher, Inara Press is closing its doors, as of June 30, 2006. All of the remaining episodes of the Inara serials will be released at that time, and can be downloaded to customers’ computers. After that, the rights revert to me. Dawn Seewer, who was both the publisher and cover artist, will also sign over the rights to the cover art, provided she receives proper credit for it. I can’t even begin to express my feelings on this turn of events.

The good news is that I am considering other opportunities in both the editorial realm and in terms of re-working Rock Bound and shopping it around to other publishers. In fact, I’ve been contacted by a publisher directly, and I am definitely considering this offer. I’ve reached the conclusion that it is more hard-core sci-fi than romance and that I might do better to offer it to a sci-fi publisher. Nonetheless, I think it needs more polishing before it goes out again.

I attended another science fiction convention. I went to DucKon in Chicago (Naperville, actually) and spoke on two panels. One was on getting published and the other was called “Where Does Your Romance Belong?” There seems to be a lot of crossover among genres these days—especially in the romance world. This was the second such panel I’ve seen. MARCon had a similar one and I caught the end of it.

I’ve reached the conclusion that in order to be sold successfully as a romance, even if it is a sci-fi, fantasy, or paranormal romance—a book has to follow a certain formula. It may not have to be quite as rigid is the Harlequin formula, but certain elements must be there. Boy meets girl and they fall in love, but something stands in their way until the very end when they finally fall into each other’s arms and live happily ever after. In Rock Bound, the couple doesn’t even speak until halfway through the book. So I don’t think romance reviewers quite knew what to do with it. Every review said that science fiction fans would love it, but none said it was a good romance.

So, I don’t plan to sell Rock Bound as a romance any longer. Which means I need to change a few blurbs and such. I felt that I rushed to finish it while I was trying to edit and proof other Inara Manuscripts. I will be able to do that more easily than I originally thought. The VA took another set of x-rays of my wrist and it is not broken. The pain is gone and I can type again. Woo Hoo!

So, watch my blog and join my Yahoo group at riw_author@yahoogroups.com for updates on Rock Bound when it reaches its new home and is re-released.

Well, that’s it for this week.

News & Another Review!

Haven’t updated this in awhile, so I thought I’d do so. There is no set subject—just news. First, more reviews are in and we received a rave from Coffee Time Romance. I’m really thrilled about this one. It made me cry when I read it. You can read the whole review at http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/rockbound.html

Jake Johnsrud is an account manager at a family-owned marketing firm in Chicago, his clients range from manufacturers of food and other items used in the home. His life is about to change.

Annie Peterson is an administrative assistant with a major accounting company, married to Paul who works as a construction foreman. Paul no longer serves in the Army but feels obliged to protect and uphold the Constitution rights. Annie and Paul leave for the protest rally in Washington taking their son with them.

Rock Bound allows all of Annie’s emotions… pain and loss come to life through the pages. When she begins to hold feelings for Jake while still harboring moments concerning Paul, the scene is riveting. Ms. Weber instills a serial that leaves the reader breathless with on-the-edge-of-your-seat entertainment with an endless list of characters. I can hardly wait to read more about these very interesting characters in this great tale. This is a very tightly written story.

I probably won/t be blogging a lot this summer, as I have a broken wrist. I fell and threw my arm out to “break” my fall and broke my wrist instead. Typing is somewhat laborious with a cast on.

However, I’m just back from my second sci-fi con as a panelist and I’ve been invited back. In fact, next year I may be assistant program chair for the writer’s track! My next convention will be ConClave in Detroit in October. Meanwhile, you can meet all of the Inara Press authors at a Romance At Heart tomorrow evening. Visit www.romanceatheart.com and click on the Chat Suite link for more info!

That

The Reviews are In!

Joelle Charbonneau-Blanco of Wanz Upon a Time writes: "Weber's strong descriptive abilities are put to good use in this volume. The moon and the unique needs of a space colony come across in vivid detail and the characters each have their own histories and abilities, which help the colony survive. Any science fiction reader will appreciate the world Weber has created."

You can read the entire review at Wantz Upon a Time.