The Perils of Writing Fiction

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Trish and Rob

 

 

Since 1985, when I sold my first novel, In Shadow, to Ballantine Books – I’ve made my living as a writer of both fiction ad non-fiction. I love both types of writing, but I believe that fiction writing comes with certain strange perils. It’s way to easy to create what if situations in your imagination when you don’t have all the facts.

Take any potentially perilous situation that involves someone you love. Today, Megan and two friends, Julie and Alex, were going hiking in the Cascade National Park. They got a late start because they have an electric rental car that needs to be super charged and the closest spot for doing that is a Walmart an hour from their B&B.It takes a couple hours to super charge the car so they lost about 3 hours.

Finally, close to noon, Meg sent a picture of the Maple Pass Loop un the park that they were going to hike. It’s seven miles. We didn’t hear another word from her until past midnight EDT and a little after 9 PM PDT. As the clock’s hands forward later and later, my imagination seized on this.

I imagined that they reached a narrow point in the pass and took a chance and tried to squeeze through – and that Megan lost her footing and tumbled down the mountain. This scenario ended up with a phone call from the National Park Service saying that our daughter’s body had been found.

Or this one. They were so high up that they a UFO landed and they were adducted, taken right into the craft and, well, fill in the details.

Or: Megan fell and broken her leg or her foot and had to be rescued by a medical chopper.

Or Julie and Alex would have to carry her out.

As a fiction writer, I imagine worst case scenarios. But these frightened me. I carried them through to the inevitable conclusion of the details you have to deal with after someone dies. I kept wondering if I would hear by tomorrow and if I hadn’t, I could have to call the park service.

Shortly after midnight EDT, (9 PDT) Megan texted: Just got service.

Apparently three miles into the hike, Alex fell and broke her foot. She couldn’t walk and Julie and Megan had to piggyback her two and a half miles out of the park. They were now in the car, headed back to the airbnb because all clinics were closed and the closest clinic was in Canada. They decided to take her to a clinic in the morning. She wasn’t in pain, but she couldn’t walk.

So, did my terrors as a mother inadvertently glimpse a scene in the future with one essential detail different?

Regardless, it’s definitely one of the perils of being a fiction writer.

 

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The dinosaur of videophones

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Trish and Rob

It was 2008 or 2009 when a friend I knew from yoga invited Trish and I over to her townhouse for an ‘event.’ I knew it was some sort of sales promotion and she told me right away that I didn’t have to buy anything or have any interest in the product. She just wanted bodies there to show she was doing her part in the promotion and there would be food. That was the good part. She’s originally a Parisian and knows a lot about French cuisine. Indeed, the food was the best. The product was another matter.

It was a videophone and one of the problems was that it only worked when calling or receiving a call from someone with another ACN Videophone. The promoters were looking for people to sell them and the promise was that if you got involved on the ground floor, you could make a lot of money. But first you had to invest $495 to become a salesperson and you also had to buy some phones to sell. The idea was you get other people to join in and sell the phones for you. If you didn’t attract your own sales crew, you had to sell a lot of phones yourself to make any money. In other words, just like a pyramid scheme.

To get people excited about this product, a video was shown and guess who was promoting this phone? Donald Trump. I was well aware of who he was at the time but I’d never watched a single episode of The Apprentice so it was the first time I had heard him speaking. I was somewhat appalled that he sounded just like a carney barker. Nothing classy at all about his presentation, just a hard sell. After the video, someone stood up and said, “Wait a minute. You can already make video calls through Skype.”

The promoters who were present didn’t want to talk about that. This wasn’t through your computer. It was a videophone. I don’t think too many were impressed and the product eventually flopped. Over the years, as Trump’s balloon grew larger and larger until it dominated the entire sky, I occasionally thought about that videophone. Trump has been linked to a variety of scam over the years from Trump University to his phony foundation, but I never heard anything more about the videophone scam until just recently when Rachel Maddow put up a clip from that same Trump video promoting the phoney phone.

Maddow went on to say that in 2018, a group of people, who had been scammed and lost money, got together and filed suit. But they didn’t sue the manufacturer, ACN, instead they filed a suit against the phone’s #1 promoter, Donald Trump. Now, this summer it is finally coming to trial…one of many he faces as his bad karma starts catching up to him.

After seeing that news report, I contacted the French woman, who I haven’t talked to in several years, through Messenger and told her what I’d just seen. She said she was behind and just about to begin watching Rachel herself. About an hour later, she wrote back and said:  “I didn’t know there was leprosy in Florida.” I responded: “Yeah, malaria, too.” (Both topics were also on Rachel’s show.) About the videophone, she said she didn’t get involved and didn’t even remember that Trump was the main promoter. Really?

In case anyone is interested, you can still pick up a couple of those video phones for you and your mother – or someone – for $20 each on eBay.

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REV Sue Frederick: Through A Divine Lens

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Trish and Rob

https://soundcloud.com/themysticalunderground/rev-sue-frederick-through-a-divine-lens


Join Trish and Rob for a conversation with…

Reverend Sue Frederick is an ordained Unity Minister, a master numerologist, a lifelong intuitive, and a certified Past Life & Between Lives Soul Regression therapist. She is the author of several books, including Through a Divine Lens, which we’re going to talk to her about. She is also the author of The Sacred Numerology Workbook, Bridges to Heaven & I See Your Dream Job.

https://careerintuitive.org/about-sue-frederick/

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Trump & Karma

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Trish and Rob

 

That word, karma, is defined as: “in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.” The informal definition is: “destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.” Then there’s a sentence that illustrates it: “something highly satisfying when karma strikes.”
So, has Donald Trump finally been confronted by karma?

Well, it certainly looks that way. His third indictment involves J6 and the election of 2020. The four counts add up to 55 years in prison. But ultimately, will this indictment make a difference? Or will trump, the lead Republican candidate for the 2024 election, and his attorneys, manage to get the trial delayed until after the election? And if trump wins, he’ll no doubt pardon himself and all these annoying indictments will vanish.

But let’s say the D.C. judge sets a court date before the election and a jury of trump’s peers finds him guilty on all four counts. Will he actually do time? The maximum years of imprisonment for these crimes adds up to 55 years. Imagine it. Trump is 77. He’d be 132 at the end. But the likelihood of that kind of time for him, even if he’s found guilty on all four counts, is unlikely. But if he does time in prison and wins the presidency (gag), there’s no law currently in place to prevent him from being president from prison unless he’s convicted of seditious conspiracy. And that’s not one of the charges.

So, we’re left with a looming question mark. Will his supporters wake up? Will the Republican Party and its other candidates wake up and finally distance themselves from this loser?

Will karma have its day?

I’m on the lookout for synchronicities that may provide a hint as to how this all shakes out. Specifically, synchros that happen between now and August 28, when the judge will set a court date for the trial.

 

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The Flat Tire, Exploding Bracelet, & Good-bye Dinner

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Trish and Rob

 

During the pandemic from 2020-2022, a group of us gathered at the dog park daily around 2:30. It gave our dogs a chance to play with and hang out with other dogs and most of the time we had this huge park to ourselves.

Even now, we have a particular spot on the far side of the park that has three benches and a lot of shade and there’s usually a breeze. During the summer, shade and the breeze help to mitigate the scorching temperatures. During the equestrian season, the park is usually crowded during the morning and evenings, which was why we started going in the mid-afternoon during Covid.

The regular group consisted of Arlene, Estelle (during the season), Lloyd, Paula, Rob & me. We often talked politics – how much we disliked Trump and what he was doing to the country. But we also shared personal stories and were, of course, all dog lovers. We also got to be good friends. In fact, my book, White Crows, written during the pandemic, is dedicated to them. They helped keep me sane during the final years of the trump presidency. Now one of them, Paula,  is leaving.

Paula and her dog, Nala, are moving to Raleigh with Paula’s guy, Scott, whom she has been seeing for three years. So tonight the group met at Darbster’s, a vegan place that welcomes dogs, for a good-bye dinner. We also invited one of Paula’s oldest friends in town, Meryl, and her sister. We’d decided to meet at Darbster’s at 5:15. Lloyd made the reservation.

For us, the drive there takes from 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic. Around 4, Paula sent a group text that her car had had a flat tire on the way to Scott’s hotel in West Palm Beach and they were waiting for a tow truck. She suggested we change the reservation to 6.

Around the same time, Paula texted Meryl about the flat. Right around the time the text came through, Meryl was putting on a bracelet with lavender crystal beads that Paula had given her several years ago. It suddenly exploded. Then she saw Paula’s text about the flat and offered them a ride to Darbster’s.

The exploding bracelet is certainly an interesting synchro time-wise. But it also personifies how we all feel about Paula’s departure!

In spite of the flat, we met at Darbster’s with 3 dogs, around 5:30 and sat inside. It was the first time the group had met Scott. We all liked him. He and Paula are both Geminis, born the same day, two years apart. As an astrologer, I don’t see that kind of match very often.

So in spite of the flat and the exploding bracelet, it was a great celebration of friendship and camaraderie. When I hugged Scott good-bye, I told him that he was getting a very special person and he replied that he knew that. Lloyd told him to take good care of her and that he and I had awesome psychic powers! In other words, treat her well, Scott, or we’ll zap you with our psychic powers! Not quite true, but the sentiment shines through!

You’d better visit us, Paula! You and Nala will be missed!

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FROGS

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Trish and Rob

For many years now, frogs have been the creatures who act as my signal, providing me with a glimpse of the near future. I think of them as symbolic of transformation.
During the warm summer months, Cuban tree frogs hop onto our windows, drawn by the insects that are attracted  to the lights in our offices. They are the largest tree frog in North America and  are fascinating to watch. The top photo is of a frog  paying homage to a pasted frog on the inside glass of Rob’s office window.

Considering the number of frogs in our yard, these guys rarely get inside the house. But when  they do, it’s usually significant in some way, even if that significance isn’t immediately apparent.   It often means that an event is on its way into our lives. If the frog is healthy and vital, then the event is likely to be transformative in a positive way. If the frog is ailing or dead, then the event is likely to impact us negatively.

Some years ago, Rob, Megan and I got home from somewhere and found a dead frog in the middle of our family room. Megan glanced at both of us. “Uh-oh,” she said. “Dead frog in family room. “

And I thought: Yeah, someone in the family is going to die.

Some hours later Rob’s mother called to tell him his dad was in hospice. Rob flew to Minneapolis. His dad passed away three days after we’d found the dead frog.

On another note, in February of 2003, I found a live frog in my office, caught and released it. I knew good news was headed my way. Two days later, I received a call from a fellow writer, Glenn Meganck, who told me my novel, Out of Sight, had been nominated for an Edgar Alan Poe Award for best paperback original, by the Mystery Writers of America. I spent the next 3 months visualizing myself winning the award.

In early May, I was in New York at the awards dinner and I won. I already knew my acceptance speech by heart.

It’s been like this for decades. The frog, alive or dead or somewhere in between. In the house or outside. The state of the frog and where it’s found are intrinsic to what’s coming up. So on February 5 or 6, 2023, I was moving some stuff around in the family room, trying to make room for Rob so he could keep his leg elevated. He’d had knee replacement surgery. I pick up a plate with the frog on it and it cracked. It split in half.

For moments, I just stared at it, all sort of terrible things dancing around inside me. Bad luck, bad luck, plate with frog on it broke in half. BUT. It wasn’t a real frog, just an image, surely it didn’t mean anything, right? A couple days later I bought some super glue and fitted it back together. The next day, I had to take Nika to the emergency vet and ultimately she was euthanized.

On June 6, my sister, Mary, died suddenly. of a strep infection. I wrote about it here. But no frogs made a prior appearance. There was no warning symbol at all. Why not? What has changed? The fact that there was no warning was part of the total shock of her death.

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Mieke And Paul Benton: My Life Is A Mystery

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Trish and Rob

https://soundcloud.com/themysticalunderground/mieke-and-paul-benton-my-life-is-a-mystery


Join Trish and Rob for a conversation with…

Mieke And Paul Benton…Have you ever experienced any unusual things? Maybe you call them miracles or unexplained mysteries, or things people do not talk about. My life has been a series of mysteries. Some of them were so unusual that I didn’t have any reference points to compare them. I kept those experiences in the back of my consciousness like a book I put back on the shelf to later pick up again.

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The Mysterious Plant

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Trish and Rob

In South Florida, a lot of plants grow wild and we can’t always identify them. This evening, while doing yard work, Rob saw this one and didn’t know what it is. I’ve seen it too and figured it was just one more interesting weed. So when we find an unidentified plant, we used a Google trick,

On the Google home page, in the search bar on the right, you’ll se a microphone and what looks like a camera. Click the camera icon and bring the mysterious plant into focus. Google immediately starts search . It comes up with an identical image of the plant an identifies it.

Turns out this plant is coffee!

No one planted it.  It has tiny seed pods on it that presumably will produce coffee beans. Once we’ve got beans, we’ll pick them and grind them and try it out. Stay tuned!

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Wordle & Whales

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Trish and Rob

 

On Saturday, July 23,  our daughter Megan is in the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington state- town of Friday -where she’s going to kayak with whales. We’ve been texting a lot, with her sending photos and her impressions of the place, which looks  gorgeous!

Last night, she stayed in  a hostel and the only other women in her room were two women in their 60s. This morning she reported that one woman’s name is Meg and she signed up to take the kayaking tour with Megan. Good synchro! But it doesn’t end there.

 

A little while after she told me about the woman named Meg, she wrote: “Do today’s wordle! It’s a sign!”

So I did wordle, and thanks to what she wrote, got it in one.

For her, I think this synchro portends a fantastic day and an experience she isn’t like to ever forget! Just think about the odds!

Interesting, too, is that their guide is a big Indiana Jones fan and has read Rob’s books!

 

 

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TMU – 0165 – Trish MacGregor – Star Power For August 2023

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Trish and Rob

https://soundcloud.com/themysticalunderground/tmu-0165-trish-macgregor-star-power-for-august-2023


Join Trish for the August 2023 astrological forecast!

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