catstark

Enter the Maze: Contents

Hello!

Below are the titles of the works included in Enter the Maze. If there is an asterisk before the name, that means it has been published on my WordPress page. If you haven’t read the works yet, check it out! If you have, then you know what to expect.

I thought about adding the links to the titles below, but realized that I like the idea of people searching out the stories and finding all the work that is already posted on my WordPress page, instead of leading you to the exact story only.

Without further ado, the contents of “Enter the Maze; Shorts, poems and thoughts”

* Beautiful World
Riding the Maze
* Magic Bookstore
* The Virus
* Theraphose: an Origin
* Secret Fog
* Liquid Warm
The Usual
Lost & Found
* Plant Life
Abstract Thoughts
Hungry
* Seven
* Petocalypse
Pixie
* Follow the Lights
* Old Cross Bridge
Dragon Bike
* Naked Chocolate Torte
A Snowflake for Mia

Enter the Maze

Hello! My new book, Enter the Maze, Shorts, Poems and Thoughts, is in its final edit. I ordered a proof and the book is beautiful! In the next few days, I will be posting the titles to the works included here, in the order they will appear in the book. Some of the included works can be found here on my wordpress page, and some are brand new. I hope you enjoy the book and if you’re curious about what my writing is all about, I do have a book already for sale on Amazon called The Elven Prince. You can find the paperback here and the Kindle version here.

I wish I could say the book will be available for sale before the holidays, but it’s not going to work out that way. It will be available soon, though and I am very excited to share it with you.

Stay tuned for more information, and have a happy holidays!

“No” should be enough

A coworker of mine has a tattoo (one of many) on her arm, indicating she is part of “Straight Edge Culture”.

If you’re interested Wikipedia says: “Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and other recreational drugs, in a reaction to the excesses of punk subculture.” Check out more here.

She took a pledge to never do drugs or alcohol. I applaud her decision, but it bothered me. Why take a pledge? Why not just live your life as you want, without the actual pledge? I didn’t ask her, as it really isn’t any of my business, but also because I didn’t want her to take it wrong. I’m all for people leading the life they want, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. But it didn’t seem necessary to take a pledge.

Then I remembered something that happened to me a while back. My late husband and some friends were filming in downtown Rockford, IL. It was a bright sunny day and I joined them after they finished. Jason warned me that one of the women was a bit of a drinker and that she would probably ask me to have a drink.

I didn’t have a problem with this. I don’t drink much, and know how to say no and stick with no. Peer pressure is never an issue. If I seem to change my mind, it’s because I was on the fence to begin with. I wasn’t concerned about someone trying to pressure me into drinking.

So I went to hang out and as soon as the particular girl could, she started to drink straight from the bottle. She shared with everyone, and when it came to me she asked if I wanted a drink. I said ‘no’. To me, that was the end of it. For her, it wasn’t. She kept asking and asking, even though I gave a firm ‘no’ each time. Finally, Jason told her I didn’t drink and she stopped.

Though I appreciate that he stopped her, I didn’t think an explanation was necessary. And it shouldn’t have been. “No” should be enough. Neither I, nor anyone else, should have to explain why we don’t want to drink or do drugs. “No” means no, but in today’s society, we have learned that if we push, then we may get a different answer.

It goes from the benign, “Gum?” “No, thanks.” “Oh come on, you want gum! Everyone likes gum!”

To the malignant, “Sex?” “No. Thanks.” “Oh come one! You want sex! Everyone likes sex!”

We live in a culture that denies the answer ‘no’ or at the very least demands an explanation. If someone says ‘no’ we should learn to say ‘ok!’ and move on. There is no reason to push someone to do something they don’t want to do, even if it is as benign as asking someone if they want some gum. No means no. Stop it.

My conclusion on the pledge: society demands an answer other than ‘no’.

We want an explanation. The pledge is the explanation. I believe an explanation shouldn’t be necessary.

“No” should be enough.

Cover Art for Enter the Maze

Hello!

Soon, I will be offering a short story collection on Amazon. The cover art was done by a friend of mine, Jenny Mathews. You can find her art here. She is awesome! Here’s the beautiful cover.

Visit her page. Check out her art, and keep watching here for more details on Enter the Maze!

Enter the Maze

I am going to publish a book of shorts soon. The stories and poems are picked, the cover art is done (and beautiful!), I have the back of the book written up (usually difficult for me) but the editing is not done.

I didn’t know what I wanted as a cover, but asked a friend if she would be willing to take a stab at it. She read the book and came up with a good idea. It sparked the back of the book information and title, and for that I’m grateful. I have never been good with what should go on the back of the book. But it’s done. The stories are done and the art is done. I’m pretty dang happy!

In a few days, I will post the cover art and the back of the book information. The book, which is entitled Enter the Maze will be available through Amazon (print date to be determined), as is my first book, The Elven Prince. Find that here.

Happy reading!

Widowhood is confusing

Hi. My name is Cat Stark and I’m a widow. But if you know me, or have read my blog, you know this already. What you may not know is that I love another man now, and it hurts to say that. It hurts because it feels like a betrayal. I know it isn’t. Jason is gone and though I loved him so very much, loving Paul does not make me love Jason any less. It does not invalidate what I feel for Jason, but it does confuse things very much in my heart and in my head.

There are times I think I shouldn’t be with anyone, but that would be foolish. As I have written (at least to myself) before, I have too much love to give and I am not going to live out the rest of my life alone just because I loved another who has passed on.

It is ok to love someone else. It is ok to love two people. It hurts and it is confusing, but god damn it, isn’t most of life that way?

If you are a widow or widower, please don’t be afraid to love another. It does happen. We are not meant to share our lives with only one person. If that were true, we wouldn’t have friends or family, we would live in a vacuum. Reach out. Love and be loved. It may hurt like hell, and your emotions my make you think you are going through hell, but if you have found another after your loved one dies, that is not hell, that is living, and that is love.

I love two men. Jason ssg, my late husband, who I was with for 19 years 2 months. And Paul, who I have been dating almost a year. And that is ok.

June 26, 2015 United States is on the Right Side of History

I’m sure there will be a ton of blogs out there today, both for and against the Supreme Court’s ruling stating that homosexuals are allowed to marry. I am one of the many people that believe – nay – that KNOW this is the right ruling. Marriage is not a privilege for the few; it is a right of all. There have been tears in my eyes all morning because of this ruling. I am joyful for my friends who can now legally share their lives with the person they love. I am so proud that the United Sates of America has now ruled that everyone has the right to be married.

One of the reasons I am happy is due to a sad situation that happened on May 19, 2013. That’s the day my husband of 19 years died.

When Jason died, because I was his wife, even though we didn’t have the same last name, the morticians that came to retrieve this body didn’t bother asking me for identification. I didn’t have to prove I was his wife, or that I had a right to make decisions on the care of his remains. I didn’t have any hassle in how to help him along his last journey and no one looked at me oddly for calling him my husband.

There are fewer things worse than losing a spouse. I would have to imagine that loosing a person you consider your spouse, but who is not seen as a legal spouse in the eyes of the law, would be a much harder battle.

Imagine loosing your spouse and having: no rights in hospitals, especially if the family hates you or does not accept you, or does not know about you. No rights in how their remains are taken care of. No rights in being at the funeral (again if the family doesn’t acknowledge you). No rights to how their belongings are taken care of. No rights (possibly) in the lives of the children. (I’ve read stories.) Those are not gone now, they still exist if a couple is not legally married or common law married, but they are sure as heck getting closer to being gone. If homosexuals can be married, their lives will not be easier, because there are still awful people out there, but in the eyes of the law, they now have a lot more rights. And that is an amazing thing.

New things…

I’m putting a book of short stories and poems together. Hoping for a 2015 release, but not entirely sure yet. A lot of the stories and poems were released here first (on my wordpress page), but not all. And the longest story, Riding the Maze, is unreleased.
Working title: Riding the Maze and other shorts.
Will keep you updated as time goes on!

Selective Service and Equality

It’s hard for me to write this because I never really like stirring the pot on public sites. You’re never sure what people are going to say, but maybe this will help people think a bit more about equality. Also, this has been stewing in my brain for the past 22 years. It’s time to release it.

When I was 18, one of my teachers has us register to vote. For the boys turning 18, she reminded them to fill out the Selective Service information. Before signing my voter card, I paused and wondered why I didn’t have to sign up for selective service like the guys did. It bothered me, but I was less confident and less of a rebel at the time. I let the thought pass, and signed my voter registration card.

If I was turning 18 now, with my confidence and my rebellious nature turned up pretty high, I would demand to sign up for selective service and hope to get someone who argued with me, and end up making a huge freaking deal out of it.

Why?

Only men have to sign up for selective service.

Why?

Because women are still not seen as equals.

I believe that one of the ways to show that women are equal to men is to also require that we sign up for the draft when we turn 18. It may be an empty victory, as the United States hasn’t used the draft in a very long time and probably will not in the near future, but still. If we are to be seen as equals, make it mandatory for women to sign up for selective service when we turn 18. Or remove the draft all together. Either way, make it the same for both.

Addendum (5-2-15): And I do realize that women are able to join, if they wish. That’s not the point. If the USA were to break out into grand scale warfare, and we needed the draft again, women would have the freedom to join; men would be forced to join and would be jailed if they refused. That is not equality. That is gender inequality. Make it equal, one way or the other.

Missing you.

Dear Jason,

This week is tough for me, well all weeks are in their own way. This one’s one of the harder ones.
April 23rd would have been 21 years engaged; April 24th would have been 11 years married…
Sometimes the hardest part of you being gone is that I’m with someone now. Someone you know, and someone you counted as a friend. He’s very kind, very patience and cares about me deeply. He loved you very much too, and misses you bunches, too.

I love you, Jason. I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing you, but I’m grateful for the person I’m with. Just wish you knew how happy I am, and how hard it is to be sad and happy at the same time.

Love always,

Cat