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Updated Workshop Schedule Includes Summer Sessions
All times are eastern (New Jersey) – 2 Hours in most cases
Register at the links belowIN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN LAMBERTVILLE
NEW HOPE ADULT WRITERS GROUP
CLINTON ADULT WRITERS GROUP
LIBRARY WORKSHOPS IN MAY
SUMMER 2025 SESSIONS VIA ZOOM IN JULY
ADULT WRITERS GROUPS (ONGOING)EVERY 2ND AND 4TH TUESDAY
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: New Hope Free Library
93 W. Ferry Street, New Hope, PA
RSVPLAST WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
65 Halstead St, Clinton, Clinton, NJ
REGISTER AT THE LIBRARY WEBSITEADDITIONAL LIBRARY WORKSHOPS IN MAY
CLINTON, NJ LIBRARY
Self-Publishing with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)
North County Branch Library
Thursday, May 22
6:00 – 8:00 PM
REGISTER AT THE LIBRARY WEBSITE
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Dave Hughes: How to Survive and Thrive as a Single Person in Retirement
Reprinted with permission from RetireFabulously.com
Are you single? If so, you probably have some concerns about your retirement that people with partners are less likely to experience.
If you’re married (or otherwise partnered), don’t click away! Consider that, unless you and your spouse pass away at the same time, one of you will experience being single at some point. Later in this article, I will suggest several things you can consider now that will make life easier for the surviving spouse when that time comes.
One of the greatest fears that most of us harbor is the fear of dying alone or spending your final years lonely, bored, and confined in a retirement home.
With proper planning, it doesn’t have to be this way.
As with adult life in general, most information you read about planning for and living during your retirement is heavily couple-centric. Single retirees have a few unique concerns that often aren’t comprehended or addressed by websites, books, senior living communities, and other information sources.
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The Weekly Readlines March 29
From the Editor’s Desk: The architects of Project 2025 and their human autopen in the White House continue to erase us (and lots of others), with a stated goal of restoring “shared American values.” It’s clear they do not consider anyone who doesn’t hold those values (racism, bigotry, white Christian supremacy) to be American. They’re eliminating all references to LGBTQ people in every branch of the government. Books, universities, corporate support, are all being targeted with tragic success. They are reconstructing the ghettos we lived in and redrawing the margins we stood outside. If all we’ll have left are protests and blogs, count me in. Assimilation was always a tease. Mark/LGBTSr.
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Trump Officials Shared Classified War Plans Over Signal App, Included Journalist
Was it a drunken butt chat? Ewww!Barn Burners with Bernie and AOC Pack In Thousands
34,000 and it’s just the beginning.Florida Wants Kids Filling Migrants Jobs
Just not theirs.Project 2025 Drives Bulldozer Into the Smithsonian
The triumph of mediocrity continues.LGBTQ
Utah Becomes First US State To Ban Pride Flags In Schools, Government Buildings – ABC News
Trump Executive Order Targets Law Firm Challenging Anti-Trans Policies – Advocate.Com
Trump Admin. Cancels 68+ Grants Focused On LGBTQ Health Questions
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New Release! ‘Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller (Book 4)’ Now Available
After much too long, I finally finished Night Flight to Murder Town, the 4th installment of the Marshall James Thrillers. You can get the eBook everywhere (see links below) and the paperback on Amazon.
LINKS TO BUY
BARNES & NOBLE
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-flight-to-murder-town-mark-mcnease/1147180222?ean=2940184602899KOBOPAYHIP (Just $3.99)
https://payhip.com/b/YVf7zAbout Night Flight to Murder Town
Marshall James returns in Night Flight to Murder Town, Book 4. Marshall is thinking of leaving New York City with his husband for a new life away from the hectic pace of the nation’s largest city. But how did he get here in the first place? After three stories detailing his harrowing Hollywood past, where lovers, losers, and a serial killer or two nearly ended his life before he could make something of it, he finally tells us how and why he left LaLa Land for Gotham.
It was 1991 and a Christmas card showed up in the mail. An old flame was inviting him to make the move. L.A. had become a ghost town for Marshall and he was ready to get as far away as he could, as fast as a plane would take him. He caught a night flight to New York, and he soon found himself on a new and deadly path to a future he never saw coming.
Money laundering, drug dealing, murder, and high stakes crimes by high-profile people all welcome him with a lethal embrace. It’s an origin story like no other: How did he end up here? Why did he stay? And is love possible after all that death and destruction? Find out in Night Flight to Murder Town. You’ll need to fasten your seat belts for this one.
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Savvy Senior: Are You at Risk for Kidney Disease?
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
What are the risk factors for kidney disease? My mother died from kidney failure a few years ago at age 75 but didn’t even know she had a problem until it was too late.
Inquiring Daughter
Dear Inquiring,
Anyone who has diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems or has a family history of the disease is at increased risk for chronic kidney disease, a condition in which the kidneys can no longer effectively filter your blood.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, around 37 million U.S adults have chronic kidney disease, and millions more are at risk of developing it, yet most people don’t realize it.
That’s because kidney disease develops very slowly over many years before any symptoms arise. But left untreated, the disease can eventually require people to spend hours hooked up to a dialysis machine or get a kidney transplant. Even mild kidney problems can double a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as cause anemia and bone disease.
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National LGBTQ+ Museum Mobilizes New, Nationwide ACT-UP Movement to Fight U.S. Government’s Life-Threatening, Unconstitutional Attacks
Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library Makes a Critical Call to Action: “The History of ACT UP is Etched on the Faces of Those Who Fought Back”
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, (March 17, 2025) By Robert Kesten, President, Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library:
In the late 1970s and 1980s young men were dying of a mysterious illness. Largely the world remained silent. As it became clear what this illness was, the government of the United States and the President of the United States remained silent, while hundreds of thousands of Americans died.
Today we face a different threat, but one that is far greater than any virus, it is the government’s outright attack on our Constitutional rights and freedoms, ignoring the rule of law, rewriting history, and violating the covenant between American citizens and our government.
To address this crisis, we need to be as bold as our adversaries who do not believe we have it in us to challenge their lawlessness. So, today, as ACT-UP did a generation ago, we call for the establishment of a new National ACT-UP Movement that goes beyond its original mandate and challenges us to take on today’s life-threatening actions by our government. All are welcome to join if you believe in a government of, by, and for the people and if you believe in the US Constitution.
ACT-UP was organized to save lives and force a recalcitrant government into action. It made it impossible for Americans to avoid or ignore the AIDS Crisis, and it energized and activated communities across the nation to march, protest, and fight for what was right.
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The Twist Podcast #289: American Gulag, Stuffed Pretzel Logic, and The Twist Goes Bi (Weekly) Through Summer
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we model the latest in detention chic, rave about stuffed pretzels, and come out as biweekly through the summer.
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While You Wait: A Video Trailer for ‘Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller (Book 4)’
Video Player00:0000:00After a long wait, ‘Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller (Book 4)‘ is about to hit the runway. I’m just waiting for edits and a final polish, and then … liftoff!
It’s 1992 and Marshall has siezed an opportunity to get out of Los Angeles. After ten years in Hollywood and too many close calls with killers and cops, including the love of his life, LAPD Homicide Detective Mac McElroy, he boards a night flight to New York City. He expects a new life away from the ghost town that L.A. had become after AIDS laid waste to it. He lands in NYC only to discover, in his words, that “Death beat me to town on the red-eye.”
Money landering, high-profile criminals, drugs, the Chinese mafia, and a murder or two bring it all back in this fourth book in the series. But will it be his final curtain call? Stay tuned … releasing in April, 2025.
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The Weekly Readlines February 23
From the Editor’s Desk:
“And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall.” – Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death
And just like that, America has a king. Don’t take my word for it. Donald Trump coronated himself, to the delight of millions who can now admit openly that democracy is on life support and they’re yanking out the plug. The upside: we can stop pretending they’re not all fascists to the core, making the deaths of everyone who fought and died for this country meaningless.
And since you won’t read about it pretty much anywhere …an 11-year-old took her own life after classmates threatened to call ICE on her family. She deserves to be remembered long after Trump has returned to the bowels of hell.
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S STOP STORIES
Top Social Security Official Steps Down After Disagreement With DOGE Over Sensitive Data
Trump Delivers For Putin On Ukraine
Don’t Say Gay Comes To Kennedy Center With Multiple Cancelations
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The Twist Podcast #287: Mad King Donald, Death Becomes the Tonys, and Another Rick Rose Interview
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we say goodbye to democracy, sing the praises of Broadway’s ‘Death Becomes Her,’ and listen to a great Rick Rose interview with Brett Malone. -
Savvy Senior: How Much Do You Have to Make to File Taxes in 2025?
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
What can you tell me about the IRS income tax filing requirements for retirees this tax season? My earned income stopped when I retired last March, so I’m wondering if I need to file a tax return this year.
Retired in 2024
Dear Retired,
Whether or not you are required to file a federal income tax return this year will depend on how much you earned last year, as well as the source of the income, your age and filing status.
Here’s a rundown of this tax season’s IRS tax filing requirement thresholds.
For most people, this is pretty straightforward. If your 2024 gross income – which includes all taxable income, not counting your Social Security benefits unless you are married and filing separately – was below the threshold for your filing status and age, you probably won’t have to file. But if it’s over, you will.
- Single: $14,600 ($16,550 if you’re 65 or older by Jan. 1, 2024).
- Married filing jointly: $29,200 ($30,750 if you or your spouse is 65 or older; or $32,300 if you’re both over 65).
- Married filing separately: $5 at any age.
- Head of household: $21,900 ($23,850 if 65 or older).
- Qualifying surviving spouse: $29,200 ($30,750 if 65 or older).
To get a detailed breakdown on federal filing requirements, along with information on taxable and nontaxable income, call the IRS at 800-829-3676 and ask them to mail you a free copy of the “1040 and 1040-SR Instructions for Tax Year 2024,” or you can see it online at IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf.
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Speaking of Testimonials: A Few More ‘What They’re Saying’ From the Latest Workshop
From the most recent 2 hour autobiographical writing workshop:
“I had a blast! Mr. McNease’s workshop was a revelation. His ability to quickly break through writer’s inhibition and get you to simply write is refreshing. He quickly set my mind at ease! Highly recommend him.” – Al
“I thoroughly enjoyed your workshop for Guided Autobiography. The exercises were fun, and I enjoyed sharing with others in the group. I came away feeling less daunted about this sort of writing. It does not have to be a huge work. It can be fun and entertaining, a way to tell stories about life, that in the telling may unearth new thoughts and perspectives.” – Val