Hank Phillippi Ryan +

The Long Island chapter of Sisters in Crime had a talk given by Hank Phillippi Ryan which I attended yesterday. She's an investigative reporter at Boston's NBC affiliate. She's won 26 Emmys and 10 Edward R. Murrow awards, plus many others. And she gives a great talk. Over the past year I've been in quasi contact with her through The Red Jungle Writers blog, so I was excited to finally meet her. Of course, just like at Michele's book signing, I didn't speak too much because my brain kind of comes to a halt when in a group. But she's warm, personable and funny. Definitely someone you could sit down with over a cup of coffee. Though I might feel a bit awkward at times for she doesn't cuss. As she explained if it isn't part of your regular vocabulary then the chances of slipping while on the air is practically nil. Makes sense, right? I never thought of that. It's a nice little tidbit to know.

Some items she covered in her How to Write a Better Novel were: explore your world - research, interviews, visiting -what are it's boundaries; choosing your sound bites - dialogue; visual - make your story as visual as can be- always push it, and don't panic - realize you have a problem, face it and keep going. It's never as bad as you think. Good advice.

It was nice to get out and be with other people. I got to start doing more of this. : )

Ok now for the +. It's my rant for the week.

New Jersey will be holding it's third black bear hunt starting tomorrow and it will go on for six days. They say there's approximately 3,500 bears of which about 300-700 will be taken depending on who you read or which news report you listen to. Over 5,000 permits have been issued for this hunt. Some hunters have been baiting certain areas for weeks trying to better their odds. Some sportsman!

All of this is happening because bears have increasingly been in contact with humans. They're in backyards, disrupting garbage cans, interacting with pets sometimes seriously, etc. Ok, I can understand the resident's concerns and not all of residents share them BUT we as humans destroy and/or take over habitat with a disregard to the consequences and then complain when something happens. We took over their neighborhood. We pushed them into smaller areas because of our developement. Then we get upset when they try to survive. What did we think was going to happen? We disrupt the balance of nature. This is not just a single incident. We do this to all the animals, all of nature because we think we're better, superior, deserving, entitled. In my own personal opinion - Bull____! The key here is balance and that includes controlling our own population. I could go on but I think you get the idea.