A Short Excerpt from Chapter One of A Bone to Pick By Jan S. Gephardt “What is that dark thing in Bonita’s quinoa patch?” XK9 Shady Jacob-Belle dialed her vocalizer low, flattened her ears, and growled. Unease slithered in her gut. She drew back from the balcony’s railing. Her mate Rex had been gazing toward the starry nighttime sky-windows with a dreamy look on his furry black face. Now he crouched beside her in the shadows, tense and focused. He…
By Jan S. Gephardt To quote Red Leader Garven Dreis, we’re almost there! In this case, I mean we’re almost to the point where A Bone to Pick is available and ready to read. Almost. We’re close enough that I can at last announce a presale offer on Amazon, in both the US and the UK. I’m also almost to the point where Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) are ready to go out as review copies. I’ll send them to my…
By Jan S. Gephardt Do they celebrate holidays on Rana Station? Of course they do! Personally, I think holidays are not only some of the most fun and interesting things religions or other types of communities do. Despite all the stresses and upheavals we hear so much about, holidays fulfill basic human needs. The reasons for the seasons Even sober, serious, hard-working adults need to play, once in a while. We need to break the routine. To relax with friends…
In last week’s post I promised to talk about politics on Rana Station this week. As I said in that post, I built the Station’s system on ideas garnered from decades of teaching, studying history, and observing our contemporary society. Those experiences inspired the guiding question, What kind of environment would allow ALL of my students to reach their full potential? I’ve spent most of my career teaching both urban and rural students from lower-income areas. I knew our current…