Issue 030, Archived

Hello,

Welcome to The Newb Files, issue 030, Archived.

News

April already. Yeah, spring!

EXTINCTION SPECIES

Yes, I'm running late. Again. I still hope to query in 2025, subject to agents being "Open."

Scream and Leapt and Space and War

While pausing EXTINCTION SPECIES I started to work on "Scream and Leapt," expanding the story to novella length. It went so well that I have been concentrating on that. I'm working on it in Snowflake Pro, I will develop it as far as possible in that, so it is easier to continue working on. Including the next stage in Plottr.

It's nice to revisit my first story and my first characters. It is nicer still to be making progress. It was an interesting process in that, I had a character on the wrong side of the conflict which resulted in an awkward plot line, to say the least. Everything fell into place as soon as I realized that fact and changed it.

I love writing.

You may remember that I recently worked on "War and Space." True, and I was excited to be doing so. But I have not fully worked out the main plot point so it stalled. I was told early on by a beta reader of this story that not all stories can be written. Also true, I guess. But I have not given up on this one yet. ...

Other News

My Free Short Story "H.a.a.R."

I sent out an extra newsletter (issue 029.5) in mid-March with a link to my free short story "H.a.a.R." for current subscribers.

I promptly had one unsubscribe. Such is life. ...

The free short story is now set up as an automatic offer to NEW subscribers. PDF only!

Adult Rating

I have added a long overdue notice on my author website that it and my writing are Rated 18+ Adult.

The Newb Files Archive

A reminder that my newsletters are archived online.

The Newb Files Archive

Katwalk by Karen Kijewski

The first in the Kat Colorado series. This is an oldie; it was published in 1989. I had read these years ago, and recently, I started again from the beginning when my sister passed the complete collection on to me. I have read the first three, and while they are all good there is no doubt the first one is the stand-out. Even if you have no intention of reading the complete series of nine, it is worthwhile to read "KATWALK." As an author, my only complaint is I kept asking myself "How is she doing this?" A real page-turner as they used to say. Sadly, she only wrote these nine books. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

by John Green

It's a different kind of non-fiction book this time, not about the craft of writing.

If you are a fan of the Green brothers as I am, a lot of this will be familiar.

In case you're not, Hank Green is the guy behind SciShow and other YouTube channels too numerous to mention. He is also an author. John Green is, first, an author and a partner with his brother in the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel and other related pursuits.

Years ago, when his brother (Hank) was a little disillusioned about the success that had come his (their) way, John said to him, "Let's give it all away, like Paul Newman."

Thus inspired, that's what they have done. No, not all of it. ... although they do support more than one charity.

One of the first charities I became aware of is supporting Sierra Leone, in West Africa which faces a high maternal mortality rate. One in 20 women dies because of pregnancy or childbirth. That is lower now due to increased funding for health care and staffing. A precursor to opening the new maternity hospital. They raised 25 million US to have it built. In 2025, the new "The Maternal Center of Excellence" will open and result in magnitudes better health care for women. pihcanada.org

One thing leads to another in a chain that later seems remarkable but is just life.

In 2019 John Green met Henry, a seventeen-year-old tuberculosis patient in Sierra Leone, who is credited with being the inspiration for John Green's starting, and the reason he finished writing this book. In a life-saving first, drugs were brought into the country to save Henry from the drug-resistant version of tuberculosis he had. This was to prove that drug-resistant tuberculosis could be cured in a third-world country. The common assumption of people with the power was that this was not possible. Complete BS of course.

Henry survived and now has his own YouTube channel:

HENRY REIDER YouTube

Although not a work of fiction, I don't want to give it all away. A few more points worth noting. ...

It is a mix of the worst of humanity and, thankfully, often enough, the best.

I will mention a quote from a poem written by Henry when he was first diagnosed. As family and friends turned their back on him, his mother was "The one who moved closer."

Jesus.

Things were slowly improving as multiple groups worldwide worked toward reducing tuberculosis. Until the Orange Führer came into power again. This has disrupted supply chains and deliveries of drugs. Lots of drugs, of course, not just for tuberculosis. This will kill many and leave even more, much sicker than otherwise. Shameful.

But, things will get better again. The supply and distribution of the antibiotics will reach and then exceed previous levels. New drugs and testing methods will be developed.

Yet, we will NOT beat this, as we have other infectious diseases. It is literally everywhere. But what we can do is stop people from dying of it. That is the achievable goal.

To quote John Green "Tuberculosis is weird." It is in 25% of the world's population, waiting for old age, disease, chronic illness, or more likely poverty to allow it to grow and overwhelm the body with the slow-growing bacteria that is "Mycobacterium tuberculosis."

In other words, it is a poor people, a poor nation disease. Last year, as an example: 500 people in the United States and 1000 people in Japan died from tuberculosis. This is not enough to make money from so new treatments are rare, and current treatments are expensive. Thanks to John Green and others, including tuberculosis survivors, that is changing.

In 2000, about 2,300,000 people died.

In 2021, about 1,500,000 people died.

In 2025, it is estimated over 1,250,000 people will die.

Read the book, watch the videos, and donate what you can.

My next newsletter will be on August 14, 2025, and it will be the fifth anniversary of my newsletter "The Newb Files." Back to an all-out boring recounting of my life as an author.

F.A.Q.

Future newsletters may have Frequently Asked Questions. Send your question(s) to Eric.

That's all for now!

Thanks,

Eric C Bailey, April 14, 2025

website: ericcbaileyauthor.com email: eric@ericcbaileyauthor.com
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(Rated 18+ Adult)

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