Chris Struble Writes

Last December I finished my first novel, Shield of the Goddess. I'm now in the process of pitching it to literary agents. I'm new to this stage of the publishing process and learning as I go, but I'm enjoying it. This might be my last post here for a while. I've been blogging at my Ko-fi page here on a monthly basis for the past year, and will be blogging there for the foreseeable future. https://ko-fi.com/chrisstrublewrites Thanks for stopping by.

It's been a year since my post about the heart attack I had last December. I am still writing, and still blogging, but not here. I set up a Ko-fi page where I blog monthly:  https://ko-fi.com/chrisstrublewrites . That seems to be about the right cadence given my busy work and home life. I expect I won't be updating this page very often. If you happen to stop by, thanks for visiting.

Last week, on December 2, at 8:10 AM, I had my first heart attack. I was at home, helping to get my nephew Luke get ready to leave for school, when out of nowhere I felt a powerful pain in my chest, like a fireball was burning me from the inside. I told my wife LeAnne I didn’t feel well and sat down. She called 911, and within five minutes of her call, the EMTs from the Renton Fire Department arrived and started talking to me. This was not the first time I felt something that I thought might be a heart attack. Almost a year before I had a numbness in one arm which quickly spread to my other arm and then to my chest. It was much less intense and faded after an hour. LeAnne drove me to the ER that day, and after many tests and scans they were unable to find a root cause. But this attack was very different. By the time the EMTs arrived, the attack had intensified to the worst pain I can remember feeling, and spread to my arms, hands, neck, and head. LeAnne noticed I was sweating and said ...

This morning I watched the launch of Blue Origin's first human space flight. The New Shepard spacecraft landed safely and as I write the post-flight news conference is happening live. I've been a fan of space exploration all of my life. So I follow events like this with interest whenever I can. We have friends who work at Blue Origin's headquarters in Kent, Washington, just a few miles from us. I know that many people have worked hard for years to make this moment possible. I want to congratulate the entire Blue Origin team on this achievement. I am delighted that Wally Funk was given the opportunity to ride in space. This was an opportunity she and the other woman (the now-famous Mercury 13) who trained as astronauts in the 1960s, was denied by multiple administrations including the Lyndon Johnson administration. I am grateful that Jeff Bezos gave Wally that opportunity, and in doing so, corrected a historical injustice. It's unfortunate that it took a random act of ki...

As the country starts to open up, my summer is getting busier. I am attending an two online conferences in the next month. The first is General Assembly, the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association, where I am a delegate for my congregation. My wife and I did a reading for the Summer Solstice Celebration video contributed by the Covenant of UU Pagans . The second conference is Eliot Institute,  a series of UU camps in Seabeck, Washington. I am on staff for the July camp.  I have lots of vacation time that went unused during the pandemic, so I am taking all the days off for both these conferences. I am looking forward to rest, learning, connection, and to hopefully to a much needed spiritual recharging. My novel is going well, at over 70,000 words now, it is about halfway done. I hit a slump back in April, but I've been getting feedback from several beta readers who kindly agreed to read it for me and give me their comments. I've been doing lots of editing the...

Today, May 25, 2021, marks one year since George Floyd was murdered while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. My prayers go out today to Mr. Floyd's family and to all those who were affected by his murder. The conviction of the former officer who killed Mr. Floyd is a step forward. But it is only one of many steps that need to be taken. A year later, I am forced to admit that I can do more to demand justice. I watched the trial of Floyd's killer as much as I was able. But the violence continues. I cannot keep track of all the police killings. I try to remember all the names. But I notice them when they are reported, and I try to stop and take a moment to feel it, and to imagine what that family is going through. I do the same when police officers are killed doing their lawful duty the protect the public from violent citizens. My church had a guest minister this past Sunday, a black man who grew up in a poor Detroit neighborhood. An amazing poet, musician and activist...

Two days ago President Biden gave a speech marking one year since the Coronavirus national emergency was declared. I consider the national vaccination program to be a huge success so far, in that it has just delivered on its promise of administering "100 million doses in 100 days" far ahead of schedule. As of this morning, the CDC COVID data tracker website shows that 101 million doses have been administered. My wife just got her first vaccination shot yesterday, at a pharmacy about 30 minutes away from our home. She is feeling good. I have an appointment to get my first shot next week. I am excited.  Getting those appointments did have its minor frustrations. In Washington State, there is a state web site called Find Your Phase that poses a series of questions to determine if you are eligible for a vaccine. Here is one of them. "Are you over 50 years and living with and caring for someone who is not your child (i.e. a grandchild, niece or nephew)?" The web site o...