• LGBTSR,  The Weekly Readlines

    The Weekly Readlines November 15

    November 15, 2025 /

    From the Editor’s desk: I really like this new Weekly Readlines format. It’s lean and clean, and I’m able to round up the news a lot faster. – Mark

    BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES

    The government is open again, though as broken as it ever was. No jobs numbers, no economic data, what’s not to trust?

    The upside: House Speaker Johnson finally swore in AZ Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who provided the final signature needed (218) to force a vote on the Epstein files. Will they be released? I’ll believe it when I see it.

    And SCOTUS decided to wait for another case to overturn Obergfell (my best guess) and turned down the Kim Davis case. Is she even still alive? Has anyone seen her for years now? I’m not so sure.

    🏳️‍🌈 LGBT+ News

    🩺 Health News

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  • LGBTSR

    Online Workshops in December: Fiction Writing, Self-Publishing, and Autobiographical Journaling

    November 14, 2025 /

    I’m excied to announce three online workshops coming up in December, with more online and in-person workshops planned for the new year. These will be held via Zoom from 2:00 – 4:00 pm eastern to accomodate participants in multiple time zones. (Workshops are limited to 8 participants each.) Just click on the links below to register. And now you can also purchase gift certificates for the writer in your life!

    Gift certificates are good for any workshop or project. 

    Fiction Writing Essentials: 2 Hour Online Workshop
    Join us on December 03 via Zoom – 2:00 – 4:00 PM eastern

    In these writing classes and workshops you’ll explore your own creativity as writers, learning what makes good characters, page-turning plots, and the illusion of conversation we call dialogue.

    Have you wondered where story ideas come from? Or how to take an idea and turn it into fiction? What do you do when you get stuck? How are some of the ways we can keep ourselves going from the whisper of an idea to a full-fledged short story or novel? Learn structure, outlining, narrative, point of view, and more, as you become what you want to be, or what you already are: a writer. Yes, you can!

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  • LGBTSR

    Coming in January! Weekly Autobiographical Journaling Workshop In-Person in Lambertville

    November 14, 2025 /

    Coming up in January: A weekly journaling workshop in Lambertville, NJ

    REGISTER HERE

    I’ll be conducting a weekly autiobigraphical journaling workshop every Monday, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm (eastern) at Bucks on Bridge Coffee Shop/Soupcon art space. It’s a great location for intimate workshops and it’s also a terrific way to support and be part of the community.

    It will be $10 weeklyk ‘at the door’ or $30 for a month (4 or 5 weeks, excluding absences for vacation or travel).

    Autobiographical journaling centers on thematic writing, with participants writing each week on a selected theme. Wokshops include handouts, thought- and conversation-generating ideas and suggestions, ice breakers, flash writing each week, and the pleasures of bonding with the group members while we all travel this path together.

    Every life is a story, and each of us is the storyteller. Participants will join in journaling exercises, various weekly pre-workshop assignments (such as bringing in photos or objects of meaning) and a weekly theme-based writing assignment. Pen and pad are strongly suggested! In -person participants will receive the workshop outline (PowerPoint), complimentary folder, yellow writing pad, and pen.

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  • Savvy Senior

    Savvy Senior: Best Online Will Makers

    November 13, 2025 /

    By Jim Miller

    Dear Savvy Senior,

    Can you recommend some good online resources for writing a simple will? I’m 70 and divorced and want to get my affairs organized, but I hate paying a high-priced attorney fee if I can do it myself.

    Don’t Have Much 

    Dear Don’t,

    Having a last will and testament is an important document to have because it ensures that your money and property will be distributed to the people you want to receive it after your death. Currently, fewer than one-third of American adults have prepared a will.

    If you die without a will, your estate will be settled in accordance with state law. Details vary by state, but assets typically are distributed using a hierarchy of survivors. Assets go first to a spouse, then to children, then your siblings, and so on.

    You also need to be aware that certain accounts take precedence over a will. If you jointly own a home or a bank account, for example, the house, and the funds in the account, will go to the joint holder, even if your will directs otherwise. Similarly, retirement accounts and life insurance policies are distributed to the beneficiaries you designate, so it is important to keep them up to date too.

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  • Book Reviews,  Featured Authors,  Featured Books

    Featured Book: Bruce Conord’s ‘Come and Get Her: A Suspense Thriller’

    November 12, 2025 /

    I had the pleasure of meeting the author at the Mytery Writers of America-New York chapter holiday party last night in Manhattan. As a big fan of thillers myself, I’m always happy to recommend a new one. Check out Bruce Conord’s ‘Come  and Get Her,’ released just in time to make a great holiday gift for yourself or someone you know!

    About ‘Come and Get Her’

    Former Special Forces soldier Jesse Arroyo believes his days of danger are behind him. But a desperate late-night phone call that his teenage daughter is missing drags him back into a world of violence, where he realizes his past may never fully leave him. As he navigates the treacherous Mexican cartel territory to rescue his daughter, he encounters ruthless killers who show little regard for innocent lives, and Arroyo must use all of his skills and instincts to survive and bring his daughter home.

    With help from a widowed journalist seeking her own revenge, he races the clock to track down the woman who lured his daughter to Mexico and the evil cartel boss holding her captive. When he digs deeper into their cruel underworld, the lines between hunter and hunted become blurred. Arroyo discovers that this is much more than a kidnapping—it’s a conspiracy far more deadly than he could have ever imagined. If you enjoy books by Don Winslow, Robert Ludlum, Brad Thor, or Lee Child, then you won’t want to miss “Come and Get Her,” a heart-pounding thriller filled with action, suspense, and a father’s unwavering determination to save his child.

     

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  • One Thing or Another Column

    One Thing Or Another Column: Why November?

    November 11, 2025 /

    By Mark McNease

    Temperatures have plummeted, leaves have fallen, the gray days have taken on a certain despondency, depending on your mood. It must be November. I don’t have anything against it, and I always enjoy Thanksgiving, but there will always be something misplaced about the month, which I describe in further detail in this column from a few years ago. It still rings true.

    NOVEMBER SEEMS LIKE AN ORPHAN month, stuck between the festivities of Halloween and the extravagance of Christmas. It’s that month when we wave goodbye to moderate weather, and say hello to furnaces and fireplaces. We watch leaves fall helplessly, their spectacular colors melting to a dull compost brown. November has a way of confirming our suspicions that nothing lasts forever. We get the tires checked or replaced, knowing they’ll soon be slipping and sliding in winter weather. We twiddle our thumbs, waiting for sleigh bells and gift ideas. November is just there, like a stretch of time spent in a waiting room. Eventually the door will open and we’ll be invited to the party, but in the meantime we’ll be reading a magazine on dental hygiene and hoping for the best.

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  • LGBTSR

    One Thing Or Another Column: The Big Six-Seven

    November 7, 2025 /

    By Mark McNease 

    Previously titled ‘The Big Six-Oh,’ I first wrote this one when I’d just turned sixty. What a difference seven years makes! Two presidential administrations (one of them in two parts), Social Security, Medicare, trading an hourly job for a career conducting writing and journaling workshops. So much is the same, while so much has changed. I’m still enjoying my sixties to the fullest, but I can’t say I’m in a hurry for the next big decade.

    IT’S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH since I turned the corner into another decade. I remember thinking once how old forty seemed, back when I was filled with twenty-something angst. As happens, forty came and went. Then fifty arrived with a cruise and a presidential election while we were somewhere in the Atlantic ocean. Now I’m officially in my sixties, celebrated once again with a cruise, this time for two weeks. They seem to get longer as I get older. Maybe we’ll do a cruise around the world for my seventieth, although that might feel too much like a farewell tour.

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  • LGBTSR,  On the Map

    On the Map: Getting the Royal Treatment on Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas

    November 6, 2025 /

    Sailing the Atlantic in Style

    There’s something magical about waking up to nothing but ocean on the horizon — a vast expanse of blue stretching endlessly in every direction. That’s exactly what I experienced aboard Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas, one of the line’s most innovative and dazzling ships. This wasn’t just any cruise — it was a transatlantic journey, a voyage that invited both adventure and reflection as we crossed from Europe to the Americas.

    A Floating World of Wonder

    From the moment we stepped on board in Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, we knew this would be among our favorite cruises. Odyssey of the Seas is a marvel — sleek, modern, and full of energy, from the ship sailing through the Atlantic waves to the ever–pleasant presnce of the crew. Its open spaces gleam with glass and light, while its art installations and design details remind you that this is as much a journey of the senses as it is a voyage across the sea.

    We quickly discovered that this ship offers everything you could dream of and more: multiple pools (including the adults-only Solarium), high-tech entertainment (my personal favorite was the Nashvill Tenors), and dining options that often rival any fine restaurant. Whether you’re in the mood for fine dining at Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar or a quick bite from El Loco Fresh by the pool, the culinary experiences were plentiful and pleasing.

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