I can bring lip balm and toothpaste on the airplane when I fly out for the Rutgers One-On-One in October! The fearmongers have decided small quantities of gels and pastes are acceptable but just so we don’t completely let go of our fears, those items must be placed in a quart-sized zipped plastic bag, and will be screened separately as we go through security.

The mid-term elections are upon us and the obvious manipulation of people’s fears would be funny if it wasn’t so effective; Karl Rove knows exactly what buttons to push. We are a nation paralyzed by fear. And this administration knows that a frightened nation is a pliant nation.

I’m so grateful to Michael Moore’s BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE because he pointed out how the media work so hard to keep us afraid. I sort of knew that before seeing the movie when it came out but was still susceptible to those messages, but now that stuff can’t touch me. My mate watched the news last night and I caught the opening teaser with a woman saying “It was scary. It was very, very scary.” Then the news anchor introduced the opening story about four local government offices receiving white powder in their mail and again we see the woman telling us that it was very, very scary (in case we’d let go of the fear in the intervening seconds). I’m not doubting it was frightening to open that mail but let us form our own emotions, okay?

So I haven’t worked on my WIP since Thursday. I was at my local SCBWI conference this past weekend and felt a bit overwhelmed by it all but think I can jump back into it today. Writing a first draft can be a scary process but I think I can get past the fear…………..