I feel almost guilty saying it, but Deb and I have adapted quite well to life in the year 2020. While we mourn the massive Trump-induced deaths, racial injustice, out-of-control cops, and the slow murder of our planet, curling up in a corner and whimpering isn’t our style. We’re doing what we can to bring […]
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Category: News
What if Biden is delaying his VP pick because . . .
Joe Biden won’t be announcing his vice presidential pick next week and instead will announce the week of August 9. I don’t ever remember so much anticipation for a VP pick. I think that’s because many of us are thinking long-term. The Republicans could be stuck sucking shit at the bottom of the outhouse for […]
How life would be different with a single change to history
I love writing the Time Is Irreverent series of novels, because the characters allow me to demonstrate how things would be different with a single change to history. For instance, in the first novel time-traveling protagonists Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon show how life today would be different if Christianity hadn’t taken hold, and in […]
Off to the editor!
Yay! I just sent Time Is Irreverent 3: Gone for Sixteen Seconds off to my editor. After I wrote my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents (published in 2007), it took me nine years to publish Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico. […]
My writing room
Marty’s photo of the day #3055: I recently read a blog about how important it is for writers to have a special writing room. I think I have that covered. During the day, I have a stunning view of the snow-covered mountains, and at night I work by candlelight. Regarding my writing: Time Is Irreverent […]
The Democratic Debate
I watched the Democratic presidential debate last night. I still like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders (though Bernie-or-Busters practically ruin him for me), and Kamala Harris. Even so, there is no reason to make up my mind this early. I will say that on my scorecard Cory Booker made a giant leap up, and I thought […]
GOP and Toady Barr: have you no decency?
This week’s Mueller Investigation events, as interpreted by Marty Essen: 1) Robert Mueller presents his report to Trump’s toady, William Barr. 2) Attorney General Toady takes the extensive Mueller report, ignores what might hurt Crybaby Trump, creates a four-page summary that the Crybaby and his cult can campaign on, and presents it to the House […]
Time is Irreverent 2, the audiobook
Audiobooks are wonderful, but they’re time consuming to produce. I’m currently working with Nate C. Maughan, the great narrator for my new novel, Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again! I know a lot of authors do their own narration, but I don’t do multiple voices, and I think audiobooks should be performances, not […]
#10 and #11 on Amazon
Last night the stars aligned, and Time Is Irreverent and Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again! were #10 and #11 on Amazon in Political Humor. Now, of course, I have the new goal of hitting #1 and #2 at the same time. When the reviews and the magazine articles start coming in for […]
Prudish ad police at Amazon and Facebook
I’m always learning something. What I’ve learned in recent days is just how prudish both Amazon and Facebook are. They’re prudish, of course, because the conservative side of America is vocal about how nasty the human body is and how it needs to be covered up. Unless, of course, it’s Donald Trump walking in on […]
Surprise! Surprise!
Surprise! Surprise! “Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again!” won’t be released until February 2, but preorders have already made it an Amazon #1 Hot New Release in Political Humor. If you’ve already preordered: THANK YOU! Here’s the preorder link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZY6V1R
Be the first to read Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again!
Preorders for the Kindle version of Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again! went live this morning. Order now and the book will be automatically delivered to your Kindle or other device on February 5. If you prefer a different format, the paperback will be available on February 5 (but without a preorder), and […]
Knocking Tucker Carlson down a notch
Today is day #5 of my weeklong final push for “Time Is Irreverent” on Amazon before the February release of the sequel, “Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again!” At this moment my novel is an Amazon #1 Best Seller in both the Political Humor and Parodies categories. For the third time this year […]
At this moment, pretty much everything is better in Canada
Marty’s photo of the day #2758: We are in day two of what could be the biggest internet outage in U.S. history. So once again, I’m using my backup provider. What I’ve been able to glean from news stories is that the problem originates at CenturyLink. I don’t use CenturyLink for internet, but my primary […]
The Catholic religion perplexes me
Marty’s photo of the day #2754: The Catholic religion perplexes me. In high school, one of my girlfriends was Catholic, and her favorite song was “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel (though she wasn’t any more inspired by Joel’s lyrics than Virginia was). Additionally, I’ve had many Catholic friends over the years, and […]
Sequel to Time Is Irreverent set for February!
Yay! Last night—after thousands of hours of writing, entering editing, and proofing, proofing, proofing—I finished the sequel to my Amazon #1 Best Seller, Time Is Irreverent. The aptly named, Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again! is scheduled for publication in February 2019. In Jesus Christ, Not Again! the timeline change Marty Mann and […]
Which is better: nonfiction or fiction?
Most book authors either write nonfiction or fiction. I started out with nonfiction, publishing Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents in 2006 and following up with Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico in 2016. After that I switched to fiction, publishing Time Is Irreverent in 2018 […]
Trump and the GOP got their asses kicked
When you hear Donald Trump and the Republican Cult claim the Blue Wave didn’t happen, keep these figures in mind: Total Republican votes for House: 48,370,608 Total Democratic votes for House: 53,305,729 Total Republican votes for Senate: 34,260,424 Total Democratic votes for Senate: 47,886,605 Total Republican votes for Governor: 41,331,517 Total Democratic votes for Governor: […]
The amazing Democratic rally
Marty’s photo of the day #2707: This my wife, Deb, and me at the Democratic rally yesterday afternoon at the Rocky Mountain Grange in Hamilton, MT. For those who aren’t familiar with Hamilton, it’s a little town (population 4,728) in one of the most conservative counties in Montana. Senator Jon Tester, Governor Steve Bullock, and […]
The woman who will defeat the Body Slammer
This is me with Montana’s Democratic candidate for Congress, Kathleen Williams. For those of you who don’t know, Montana only gets one congress person, so winning the congressional race here is a big deal. You may remember two weeks ago, Donald Trump made international news when he praised Republican congressman Greg Gianforte for criminally body […]