General life update plus new book covers

 As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much.  On the whole, blogs are on their way out and Social Media is the big thing right now.

I've had lots to say over on my YouTube channel about writing and other cool things. Feel free to check it out, drops some likes, maybe a subscribe if my topics catch more than a passing fancy in your heart.

Recently a cousin of mine, who is a Historian by profession, was speaking about the archiving of one's personal history--journals, diaries, that sort of thing. She's been working on a particular project that involves reading diaries from over a hundred years ago. She experiences some vicarious regret that more people did not leave more imprints of their lives. She has a story about how the record of some people's lives were little more than an entry in the local gravedigger's diary.

That's why I popped into here. I came to make an archive of this blog's contents for posterity's sake. Back when I needed to discontinue my LiveJournal for a very good reason, I learned it had an archive feature that permitted me to download my content and save it on my hard drive.

Blogs are good like that. They're about the retention of information--hopefully useful--for the sake of others. YouTube (as I mentioned before), also acts as a repository of information.

Social Media, on the other hand, isn't so much focused on storing information in the long run, but focuses more on interactivity between humans within the moment. "What are you doing today?" is the question.  Then tomorrow comes, and yesterday becomes forgotten.

But what happens to all that information you've put up on social media? Where is it stored, how can you search it, where does it go? In ten years', a hundred years' time, would historians be able to trawl through the repositories (if they exist) of social media and put together a picture of your life? 

We don't have that guarantee.

Sure, the social media sites do store the information. And why not? Information is useful. It's worth money, potentially lots of money, to them, for various reasons. Is it worth money to you? Not really, no. You are the commodity being sold. You are the eyeballs in which they drop adverts.  (Oh, buy my books.)

If you are interested, here's my social media links:

• Website: https://heidikneale.com.au/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Heidi-Kneale-author-682340831889134/
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hwkneale
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hwkneale
• Twitter:  long gone. Ditched that as it became more of a cesspit.
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/hkneale
• Blog: http://romancespinners.blogspot.com/ (Clearly self-referential)
• Authorly Monthly Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/c9vM9L Consider this the replacement for a blog.
• BlueSky: hwkneale.bsky.social
• Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2899577.Heidi_Wessman_Kneale
• Amazon profile: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Heidi-Wessman-Kneale/author/B01890EKFI

So, what's been happening in my life:

Well, I got a new job. Took me several months after my previous blog post, but I did it. It took some time because I had a question I needed answered: was it the Old Job or the Career that I didn't like?

Applying to new places would answer the first half. Applying to non-IT jobs would answer the second.

But when I applied for non-IT jobs (even if they were similar fields), I got no nibbles. It seems the world thought I had to be placed in a niche.  That sucks, because I am a polymath. Not only do I have knowledge in several fields, I'm experienced in those fields. 

Eventually, I gave in and applied for IT jobs. Bah. Within three interviews, I scored myself a position. Am now gainfully employed.

Benefits of the day job:

• It's in an Educational Institution. This suits my personality better. (Not sure if it's because or in spite of the fact that Educational Institutions tend to be run by Chaos Gremlins.)
• It's a step down in level (from 4.4 to 3.1).  If I was building an IT career, this could be considered a detriment, but for me, the responsibility burden was much less, and I like it like that. Another reason I don't mind is...
• It's a step up in pay.  Yeah, you heard me. A 3.1 position (same area, same skill set) at this new place was paying $5K/a more than a 4.4 position at the old job. 
• It comes with incrementation. With my old job, I'd reached my maximum earning potential. But here, I'm at the bottom and only way to go is up. I've had several pay increments already, much to my delight.
• It's a larger organisation. This means more opportunities for career growth (if I wanted to go that way) or lateral movement (if I get bored of IT). I didn't have that at the old job. Now, I am in the process of tapping into some of that lateral movement opportunity, but this will take time.
• It comes with some built-in writing time, should I choose to take this up. This is not part of the job itself, but due to the commute. Yes, I write novels whilst on the train.

Detriments of the Day Job:

• It is not geographically convenient. It takes me approximately an hour, sometimes longer, depending on which campus I'm at. While this does afford me an enforced downtime in which I can read/write a novel, edit a short video, or even just zone out should I choose, it does take a significant chunk out of my day in which I can't re-devote to something else.  I can't just pop out for an hour for a doctor or dentist appointment, that sort of thing.  
• It is run by Chaos Demons. This is not unique to this one organisation. But sometimes it does have a negative impact.  Fr'ex, I had an opportunity to move up into a Level 4 position permanently. While it would have made me a lot more money, and it is, in previous practice, work I can do, the structure of this one particular role was so chaotic and undefined that it made it almost impossible for me to carry out this work. (Yeah, I did cover for someone for a month during leave, so I had first-hand experience. It was nuts.)
• I'm getting too old for this type of work, at a full-time schedule. My body has hit Mid-Life. It's starting to fall apart. Some of the physical demands needed from me for this job are taking a toll on my poor limbs. Now, while there is something medical going on that my doctor and I haven't been able to figure out yet, until we do, I'm working my body a little harder than it can handle, and I'm paying the price. If my doctor and I can't diagnose and treat whatever it is that makes my legs go Ow!, I'll be needing to find a work alternative in another couple of years anyway.  It's a good thing I've got a couple of plans already set in motion.

And that's my update. 

Books

I wrote these two books on the train:

A Feminist Rant

It's TASE day, but I'm not gonna talk. I'm gonna rant.  I'm gonna rant because I adhere to the principle that should a feminist see injustice, she must speak up.

I'm a feminist.  That should not be a surprise.

I tend to follow the First Wave Feminist tradition of the 19th Century, the same tradition that spawned Bluestockings and Suffragettes.  This is because my great-great grandmothers were feminists, and many of the men they associated with supported their feminist sensibilities.

My feminist tradition believes thus:

• The liberation of everyone, female and male from unjust and outdated expectations. (Frex, they support a man's freedom of choice to be a stay-at-home dad, if he should so choose.)
• A woman's right to education.
• A woman's right to a job suitable to her education, skills and life choices, and to be paid as much as a man would be.
• A woman's right to independence.
• A woman's right to develop herself in every way so she can be a strong, supportive partner in an interdependence relationship.

...And the list goes on.  My brand of feminism is not the man-hating flavour so often found in Second Wave Feminism (they scare me a bit).  This is important for me to note here, because not everyone realises there are different flavours of feminism.  Yes, many of us like men, and wish them the best.
__________________________
Last week I had an encounter with an anti-feminist man.  This man has a hatred towards his grandson's chosen wife.  We're talking a bitter, red-raged, nasty, pull-out-his-hair solid going-to-hell hatred.

Why?  Because she isn't a weak and submissive girl who should give up all her own traditions and beliefs and adhere strictly to his (the grandfather's).  

Essentially, his anger is a long-standing temper tantrum because he's not getting his own way.   (In his defence, he has had a hard couple of years with some really bad Life Events throwing a spanner in his works.  That sort of thing can make the nobler choices harder.)  But honestly, I think he needs to get over his anger and forgive.

The grandson's wife is a strong, smart, centered, spiritual woman I am proud to call a friend.  Ever since the grandson and she met about four years ago, she has been nothing but good for him.  She's encouraged and supported him in making the best choices--choices the grandfather generally supports on the whole (in theory).

But will he look at that and forgive the traits that make her who she is?  No.  Instead, he chooses to dwell on the negative.  He even complained about how the napkins were done at the wedding.  I kid you not. He could not be happy about a single thing that day, despite the fact that the Most Important Part was done perfectly. (The napkins?  Honestly!)

I called him on it later, and ended up listening to a diatribe of him using my beloved religion as a thinly-veiled twisted justification on male superiority and female inferiority.  (Just for the record, my religion is chock full of feminism from its inception several hundred years ago. Some time I shall have to tell you beautiful stories of strong, confident women who have changed the world.)

The scariest bit?  HE HONESTLY BELIEVES THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE.

So, I came across him again last week, as I inevitably do, being good friends with the newest generation of this family. He was backbiting his grandson's chosen wife, saying how he wanted to destroy her, because he's dead set that she's going to "completely ruin" his grandson.

Nothing is further than the truth.  All you have to do is look into the grandson's eyes to realise he's a full-grown man who is very content with his choice of bride.  She's brought out the best in him, I opine.

Anyhow, like any good feminist, I spoke up at this rather unfair treatment of a woman who was not currently there to defend herself.

And boy, did I get an earful, not only of her crimes, but of MINE.  He's fully convinced that I'm in league with the Anti-Christ, how my beliefs go against the Church, that I'm out to destroy every man I come across and a whole lot of other blatant untruths.

Will I ever be able to convince him to change his views?  No, no matter how much I wish I could.

But will I stop speaking up?   Never.
__________________

Any time I have an experience that makes me consciously think about my feminist values, it makes me reflect on many things, including my portrayal of women and men in my fiction.

I write fantasy, and I write historical.  In my fantasy novels I tend to stay away from gender inequality (and racial inequality, now that I think about it).  When people are at odds, it is because of who the individuals are, and not any particular stereotypes (that I am aware of.  I'm not a hundred percent sure of this, because prejudice is often unconscious).

I write a lot of Regency Romance.  Was there gender inequality during the Regency?  Boy, was there! It was so bad, First Wave Feminism couldn't help but be born.

A lot of that inequality creates some good Conflict in a story (such as the title and inheritance of a man goes to another male heir, and not to his daughters, should he have no son--Pride and Prejudice, anyone?).   Yet when it comes to the individual character development and interrelationship between Our Hero and Our Heroine, I find I must steer well clear of the accepted gender roles of the day.

I still must keep some elements (such as a father opening his daughter's mail) for realistic world-building.  But otherwise, my characters interact as if they were from the Twenty-First Century.

And nasty, angry, prideful characters who do their best to destroy the happiness of Our Hero or Our Heroine, always get their comeuppance.

__________________
Her Grace feels better after having got that off her chest.  She tries her best not to harbour negative feelings, as they are destructive.  Meanwhile, here is a picture of one of her favouritest feminists:

Yes, this is Patrick Stewart.

Oh, the Scandal!

Puck had his number, all right.
Could have been worse.
He could also have been twerking.

On 8 September 1890, several members of the Marlborough House set, including HRH the Prince of Wales (eventually King Edward VII) partied hard at Tranby Croft.

Whilst there, Sir William Gordon-Cumming cheated at cards... And Got Caught.  (Should I mention that gambling at baccarat was illegal at this time?)

A few of the guests thought this was not cricket.  On 10 Sept they approached HRH with their concerns.

In the end, everyone made Sir William sign an agreement, duly witnessed by all present, including HRH Essentially, he would never play cards again in exchange for everyone's silence.  A gentleman's agreement, in other words.

Shame it was a Lady who broke it.  Daisy, Lady Brooke, Countess of Warwick and current mistress to HRH  (yes, THAT Daisy), had to go and gossip about the whole thing.  Babbling Brooke could never keep her trap shut about anything.

Within forty-eight hours, the whole on-dit was all over the ton.

Sir William, terribly embarrassed, sued every signatory on that agreement for slander.  Eventually, HRH got dragged up as a witness and severely chastised.  After all, he knew something illegal was going on, and according to Queen's Army Regulations, he should have dobbed in a fellow officer.  (Not the first time HRH had been dragged to court as a witness in a scandal.)

Poor Sir William was found guilty, and that was pretty much the end of him in Society.  He retreated to Scotland to cry in his whiskey for the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, the Queen was Not Amused at the shameful behaviour of her son. There was quite a to-do about that.  HRH never did recover from this one.

Lessons learned:
1. Don't play illegal gambling games.
2.  Don't cheat at cards.
3. Don't get caught.
4. Don't sign anything that can come back to bite you.
5. Don't sleep with other men's gossiping wives.
6. Don't gossip.
7. Don't piss off the Queen.
8. Don't go up in court against a member of the royal family. Everyone will take his side.