So fantastic! I had these very same thoughts. It’s amazing when people claim First Amendment rights and then want to divorce themselves from moral and social responsibility from the EFFECTS of their “free speech”.

Tim Shriver's avatarThe World of Special Olympics

The following is a guest post in the form of an open letter from Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens to Ann Coulter after this tweet during last night’s Presidential debate.

Dear Ann Coulter,

Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow.  So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult?

I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow.  I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you.  In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night.

I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child…

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The Red Pen of Doom impales FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

The Red Pen of Doom impales FIFTY SHADES OF GREY.

chance encounter

chance encounter.

Gemma’s Review of First, I Love You.

So you remember when I was kvetching about Cross-blogination? Here’s another one. Gemma’s blog is on Blogger mine is of course on WordPress, so I am sharing the link to her review of my book manually.

If you have a Google+ account give her some sugars!

http://bookbloggergem.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/first-i-love-you-by-genevieve-dewey.html

My favorite part of the review is this: “The book doesn’t quite follow the rules of any specific genre – while the main theme is organised crime intertwined is a story of hatred, love and regret, which pleased me greatly. Some may say that you cannot have a story about warring Mafia families, crime and murder with stories of love thrown in, but I think in this instance it really worked.”

Aw, Hell, who am I kidding? I loved the whole thing! I’m so happy right now I could kiss the next seven people who walked up to me!

❤ ❤ ❤

A great collection of well written books from fellow ASMSG authors.

Genevieve Dewey's avatarGenevieve Dewey

No seriously, I am very, extremely, completely, (insert adverb here), fond of the Happily Ever After. Just love it! Won’t even read or watch a movie that won’t guarantee me a HEA. Well … except for Gangster flicks. Every rule has to have an exception.

This may lead you to wonder… if Gen loves the Happily Ever After, but also loves writing about gangsters, how on earth can she reconcile the two? Well, given the theme of the Downey Trilogy is about a very moral cop who loves his gangster father, I think you should probably brace yourself for my even greater love of figuring out how two opposing ideas can live in harmony.

The truth is, it’s not about the HEA, it’s that I love a JUSTIFIED ending. And the HEA is justified in most plot lines when it’s been earned, just as the nonHEA is justified in certain endings, which in a way, if you…

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A nice little poem from my friend Penny. Her blog is 18+ so follow the link only if, like me, you are an openminded person.

Penelope Jones's avatarPenelope Jones

I know I frighten you
I know you care
I know you want to know me
But you don’t dare
I want you to talk to me
I want you to share
I know I can’t ask you
It wouldn’t be fair
Maybe One Day you’ll dare
Maybe One Day you’ll share
Maybe One Day it’ll be fair

Maybe One Day…

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A sad but very beautiful poem…

sparklyknickers's avatarIris Woodbury

As some of you may know, a little of my heart died last Thursday with the passing of my Mother, Joyce Molyneux.  She was a formidable woman, born in Plumstead at the start of the war.  Later, fate took her into London’s East End, where she raised eight children, including me.

It’s impossible to fully honor a woman who touched the hearts of so many. I am not a poet, but I wrote something this morning which represents a small tribute to an exceptional woman.  Heathcliff called Kathy his heart’s darling.  At last, I know exactly what that means. God bless you, Mum.

YOU WERE PERFECT

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You were perfect.  You were you.

Others saw imperfections, I saw uniqueness.

The gifts you were given you used to the full,

Your capacity for love, poured out into your children,

And passed in time from them to theirs.

You were fruitful. You…

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Third Time’s The Charm

So I wrote the first words for the third book in The Downey Trilogy today called Third Time’s The Charm.

YES, I know I should be editing, revising, and proofreading Second of All, and I swear I am, but this morning on my walk it was like I could hear Mickey’s gravelly baritone laugh in my head and I just had to put it down on paper. Or the digital equivalent as it were.

I also thought the title might be a wee bit of comfort to my poor long-suffering beta readers to remind them and you faithful fans and friends of my deep and abiding love of the happy ending, and *spoiler?* the importance of the bittersweet chaotic Act II.

How can you properly appreciate the sunshine without having experienced the darkness first?

As always…just my rambling opinion. 😉 But as I was reminded by my fellow author (and I rather think, friend) Penelope when we write we put out a portion of our hearts, minds, and souls and simply have to hope that you understand what it was we were trying to “say”.

Wishing you all a fantastic and blessed day!

❤ 🙂 ❤

Holiday Short Story

I uploaded your free short Turkey Day story at Smashwords. I also put it up at Amazon, but per their pedantic rules we have to wait for them to “price match” the FREE of everywhere else. Otherwise I would have to go exclusive with them, which I thought about doing, but I know some of you prefer to get your books through the iBookstore on your iPad.

SO, if you *don’t* want to wait for Amazon to price it free and for Apple and B&N to upload it, you can download it in whatever format you choose from Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/244815