Creating in the face of fear

I am only just starting to adjust to the reality that Donald Trump is going to be the next President of the United States. It floored me. The night after the election, some friends and I stayed out until 2am and drank far too much, needing to let off steam. I’ve even been avoiding social media (!). My anxiety about the world can’t change it, that much is clear. Maybe I am better off just not knowing that a Trump spokesperson (surrogate is the word they use, I find that creepy) has said that rape should not be a crime?

I’m starting to come around to the view that the people who can foresee the horrors that President Trump will bring need to speak out, especially to propose alternatives and to protect the vulnerable as much as we can. As we’re already starting to see, it’s not just what Trump will do, but what other sleazebag opportunists will do now that they know you can say anything and not suffer any consequences.

I especially fear for the status of women. I treasure my freedoms, and there can be no doubt that the Trump presidency will shut them down. His choice for VP, Pence, passed a law that required women to hold funerals for miscarried fetuses and openly aims to trash Roe v Wade. And he’s the ‘moderate’.

And what’s just as scary as the men who will be in power, is all the other men – and women! – who are rushing to align with him, and appease him, and fawn over him. Who is trying to stop him? No one, that I can see.

I don’t know what to do about any of it, we face terrible times and seeing it coming seems to have no impact on our ability to prevent it. So: enough doom-mongering. All we can do is focus on what we can do, like look after our friends and loved ones, and be kind, and create things…which segues nicely to some good(?) news:

New short stories

It’s been a while between posts, so this is a twofer:

How the War was Won – a little self-indulgence inspired by current events. I can but dream…

Dogs Die in Hot Cars – a story I wrote for the November Sisters in Crime Qld meeting, on the theme “Summer Crime.” I was staying with relatives in the north of England at the time, so took the opportunity to practice a distinct character voice.

As always, I’d love your comments!