I bet if I say the word badass with a little heat and a whole lot of awe, you know who I’m talking about. KAMALA HARRIS!
I typed her name in all caps, hearing Oprah Winfrey say it in a sustained emphatic cheer at the Democratic National Convention this week. It was Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a total badass herself, who accurately described our next president of the United States.
It’s been such a fun and joyful time, those four days packed with a plethora of pleasing moments—including our badass VP Harris fully prosecuting the former putrid president—that I decided to indulge in a bit of personal thrills received from uncanny connections with my Other Worldly novel series at the DNC.
Especially because badass is one of protagonist Rowan Layne’s favorite words to describe so many of her alien pals, both female and male. Also, lots of folks at the convention seemed to be sporting bright, alien green clothing—before the final day featuring a sea of feminist, suffragette white. Don’t ya just love it? Rowan loves her fellow fierce feminists for sure.
So….going back to the first day of the convention—and another rising star of a badass—wherein Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, fearless and ferocious Democrat from Texas, said:
“The question before us is, will a vindictive, vile, villain violate voters’ vision?” Followed by a cheeky grin with, “I hear alliterations are back in style.”
I’m surprised y’all couldn’t hear me howling and cheering in my living room because Rowan Layne is big on alliteration and wicked, wily word play (see what I did there?). So much so I thought I’d share a few excerpts from my upcoming seventh novel, Aliens Watch:
- And now, to top off this potentially pernicious picadillo of a predicament, a text from my mother.
- An endless loop of dangerous delusion.
- Nothing salacious for [the Clark County sheriff] to salivate over or get in a fascist fraudulent flap about.
This gives you an idea of where I’m headed with this novel, as always, in an attempt to tackle bigotry, misogyny and outright stupidity when it comes to the current MAGA political landscape, which, in my novels is represented by various groups, including HUMANS FIRST!, ARMED EVANGELICALS, and now PATRIOTS GLARE.
Just doing my part because I couldn’t speak at the convention 😊.
But…Rowan Layne did give a speech at a convention for the new Omnipresent Party, introducing an otherworldly vice presidential candidate from Las Vegas in Feeling Alienated, my second OW novel. And, like our definitely out-of-this-world, fabulous and fun vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Rowan had also never before used a teleprompter.
Funny thing, Rowan travels to Minnesota in Aliens Watch. Another funny thing? That election in Feeling Alienated, taking place in a book written and published in 2020, resulted in a Black woman named Harrison becoming president, along with her otherworldly vice president.
One other downright uncanny connection to the DNC is the Omnipresent Party convention in Feeling Alienated also featured a speaker from the Republican Party, a former secretary of defense for the aforementioned former putrid president. Red MacLeod is also part alien and a good sport about Rowan giving him grief for serving in that despicable wanker’s administration. Haven’t we all wished we could do that more than once with more than one wanker?
Another surprising connection this week included my recent choice of an old TV series from more than ten year ago, not previously seen, to binge watch. So far I’m only on the first season of Scandal, but had I not begun watching it, I would have had no clue of the connection between actors Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn, both of whom were bright stars participating in the Democratic National Convention. Kerry Washington is a total badass too, both in the show and real life.
One final fun connection of the week. In the upcoming Aliens Watch, there’s a group of aliens performing at a casino-themed party in the desert, impersonating the Rat Pack. Including Frank Sinatra, about whom Rowan Layne says:
I had known him more as Nancy’s dad when I was a kid, due to her hit song, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” Mom wouldn’t let me have white go-go boots because she thought they were tacky, but I still danced around the living room like I was Nancy Sinatra.
On Twitter, I follow Nancy Sinatra, a fierce feminist supporter of democracy and the Harris/Walz 2024 ticket. At the beginning of this fabulous week, Nancy Sinatra followed me back! She has no idea, of course, that she’s mentioned in my next book, but boy howdy was I ecstatic. I may just have to go out and get me some of those go-go boots after fifty plus years.
After all, it’s pretty badass that we’re about to have our first phenomenal female president of the United States, KAMALA HARRIS!