153. Good news and bits from the blogosphere

Sunday, September 04, 2005

First off, yesterday I mentioned that my essay A Slasher's Journey would be appearing in the next issue of Forbidden Fruit Magazine. That issue was made available overnight, and my essay is part of perspectives, a look at gay fiction. I offer the writer's perspective, and you can read my article here. Make sure to check out the rest of the magazine too!

As some of you might recall, during the month of August I joined in the month long Evolunacy challenge over at Evolution. My goal for the month was 10,000 fiction words. A goal successfully completed, and there is my award for doing so. I'm not sure if I can do 10,000 words this month. Writing so much drained me a bit, but the fact is I know I can do it, and in the time to come I know I'll write more and more, and 10,000 fiction word months will be the norm. That combined with my nonfiction total for the month, I wrote over 25,000 words total.

In my blog hopping today, I found a link to an article posted by HelenKay. The article states Anne Rice's opinion about the tragedy in New Orleans, and I had been wondering what she thought. I used to be a huge fan of her books. I haven't read her in awhile, but as a teenager I read everything. My favorite book of hers probably being The Witching Hour, a book set in the city of New Orleans.

Here is a snippet of what she said:

They will rebuild as they have after storms of the past; and they will stay in New Orleans because it is where they have always lived, where their mothers and their fathers lived, where their churches were built by their ancestors, where their family graves carry names that go back 200 years. They will stay in New Orleans where they can enjoy a sweetness of family life that other communities lost long ago.

But to my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs.

The whole editorial is worth a read, but that small portion gives you an idea of her feelings on the subject. I've seen so many speak up in anger over this situation. I've seen opinions thrown around. I don't think the country failed NOLA, but it shouldn't have taken so long for those that needed assistance to receive it. Now help is arriving, and NOLA is now mostly empty. It still took five days for that to happen.

Yes, I do believe they will rebuild this amazing city, and I hope to someday visit. I've always wanted to, but I haven't been fortunate enough to do so. I wish I had been before this catastrophic hit the area, but it did. Thousands are dead, and thousands, possibly even millions, are without homes now. It breaks my heart to see the tragedy, and I'm now forcing myself away from the television and focus on other things.

However, there is good in all of this. People are stepping up. Celebrities and companies are donating heavily to the cause. I just learned from a link on Sylvia Day's blog that Amazon.com has collected nearly eight million dollars. Countries that normally would be receiving aid from the US in times of tragedy around the world are now assisting us with our tragedy. Countries that we don't particularly have the best of relations with, such as Cuba, are putting aside those differences and assisting us now with Hurricane Katrina relief. It makes my heart feel just a bit better seeing this, but there is still so much more needed. This is probably the worst natural disaster to hit our country in our history. It is heart breaking, but the response in some cases is uplifting.

Have a great Sunday everyone.