Hosing down "Wild Fire"....

"There is no great genius without some touch of madness."

Seneca (Roman philosopher and statesman)

This week, braving the snow storm, our book club got together to discuss this month's selection... "Wild Fire" by Nelson DeMille. Most enjoyed it, although it wasn't as much of a thriller or cliff hanger as some of his other works. It was more of a mental torture chamber. I disliked it... really, really disliked it. Ok, I hated it. And I read it cover to cover.

"Wild Fire" describes what could happen if a handful of wealthy, powerful Americans managed to get their hands on a few Russian suitcase nuclear weapons of mass destruction and brainstormed a plot to use them.

It's based on several key facts:

* Nuclear bombs are missing and unaccounted for. No one knows where they are.

* Certain secret government plans already exist, should a nuclear attack occur on American soil or anywhere in the world.

* Certain anti-terrorist extremist organizations already exist, which are ready, willing and able to take matters into their own hands. They are not going to trust our own government to act in our best interests. They are cunning and wealthy beyond our wildest imaginations. They are well connected with foreign nuclear scientists (paid handsomely under the table) and high-powered Washington officials who have access to top secret information. They are angry, they are insane and they are not unlike Osama Bin Laden in their objectives, but instead of Islam, their religion is power.

Nelson DeMille says in his introduction: "Indeed, this is a scary book for scary times; but it's also a cautionary tale for a post 9/11 world."

What troubles me about this book is that it exists. I could see a twisted mind somewhere latching onto DeMille's brilliantly detailed plan, tweaking it, funding it and destroying all of us. There are those who have speculated that two Tom Clancy novels "Executive Orders" and "Debt of Honor" might have inspired some of the terrorist plans that were executed on 9/11.

So perhaps my fears are justified.

And so what terrifies me most about "Wild Fire" is the potential it holds for inspiring a "copy cat" crime of horrific proportions. Nelson DeMille became a top-selling author for his ability to thrill his readers. Is it reckless and irresponsible to mastermind these horribly evil, incredibly researched, massively destructive story lines and put them out there for all the world to see?

I don't know. But maybe I'm completely wrong... consider THIS view.

"Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility." Robin Morgan

It makes sense. I guess that if the right people in "Homeland Security" are reading novels like DeMille's, it could assist them in matters of prevention and defense.

As for me, no more novels like this for me... never again.

Christmas party, cussing, and a plan....

Last Tuesday night our monthly book club met, for a wonderful Christmas celebration in Christine's home. Of all the holiday celebrations and activities scheduled this month, the promise of this one excited me most. We are seven women who came together to share an interest in reading, and found much, much more. We call each other "bookworms", "wormies" or "worms".... terms of endearment of course. We've become a sisterhood, a mingling of estrogen and brain pumping ions, as salty as a bunch of tattoo-covered sailors one moment and as ruthless as Murphy Brown in a room of cheer leaders the next. A quilting circle we are not. But perhaps we are more like quilters than you'd think... just a different kind of needling!

We "needle" with surgical precision, dissecting plot lines, analyzing characters, nothing is spared our scrutiny. And when we disagree (which is often) we only love each other more! We truly respect each other, and feel completely safe in saying anything at all when we are together.

I'm not quite as "wordly" as most in our group, never was one to speak out without being sensitive to the feelings of others. Each of us holds the spark of divine love inside us, and I consider that when asserting my own thoughts. But I'm learning that kindness, generousity and love have many faces. You'll not find a finer bunch than these women in my bookclub.

Among us are:

Christine, a divorced mother of grown children, an interior designer working at a mart showroom... she's bright, upbeat, spiritual and confident.

Kellie (above), a married mother of two little ones, working at Children's Memorial Hospital as a pediatric surgical nurse.... she's funny, smart, practical and blunt, a bit quiet, free thinker... a good mother.


Karen, former corporate woman, now a business owner of a bead store... she is intense, enthusiastic, passionate and bright.



Beth (left), divorced artist/rehabber/retail manager at a local home improvement store... she's free spirited, insightful, thoughtful, trusting, optimistic, quick to laugh.

Lauren (right), a specialist in new home sales in a new town house development... she's hard working, focused, obsessive, neat, direct, funny, impatient, intelligent and independent. ~~~~>



Kelly, a divorced mother to Kellie, and interior designer at a retail store... she's witty, brutally direct at times, particular, opinionated, politically minded, non-religious, shrewd, loyal, honest, hardnosed and endearing, a devoted grandmother and terrifed of spiders.


And this is me, enjoying the "worms" as we chatted around the table last night!

One thing it's taken me awhile to get used to ....is the fact that these are women who are very comfortable cussing... eff this, eff that... and it isn't at all unpleasant for me to be around! As a matter of fact, it seems refreshingly open and appropriate given the easy candor and ability to say anything and everything in each other's presence.

Here is something I just read... from next month's novel, "Saving Fish from Drowning".... I think it describes another viewpoint...

"Can we discuss this more rationally?" Vera said. My dear friend despised hearing people use sexual expletives for emphasis. Invoke religion instead, she'd say to those in her organization - use the "damn" and "God almighty" that show strength of conviction. Use the f-word for what it was intended, the deep down gutteral of sex. Don't bring it into arguments where hearts and heads should prevail."

The "f-word" has fans and foes. It's not a word I use. Perhaps one day it will be... who knows. I don't hate the f-word. I do think of it as a word with a literal sexual meaning, and as such, find it odd used in moments of road rage or a stubbed toe. It amuses me to hear it fly back and forth at my book club. It amuses me when someone flips me the bird as they mouth "f-you" and zoom past me on the highway. (I was only doing 80 after all.) Most swearing amuses me, rather than riles me.

(How I do ramble...)

And last but not least, our book club has a plan! In 2008 we will go on a cruise together! We will start saving now and make it a trip to remember. We have two years to plan it. It will be glorious!

I add it to my wish list, of dreams that WILL come to be....

*Dinosaur digging in Montana is on the list.

*Mooning Amtrak in California is on the list.

*And now.... a cruise with my book club is high on the list.

Life is sweet!