ken barber

I had high hopes to have a story for this, but lately, life has shown me where the the bottom is, and tried to drop me off into it. I haven't fallen far, mind you, but the climb back is going to be... well, something on the order of difficult. Sadly, I'll have to forgo this trip into Middle Earth. Maybe if we do it again I'll have time to get the story in my head out.
That being said, I am looking forward to seeing what amazing stories our creative and potent writers come up with. Scare us some! Tickle us some! Show us what brightest courage, darkest evil, and desperation in the face of both impossible odds and rude dwarves manhandling your mother's fine china is all about.
"You have to be careful when you step outside your door, Frodo. You never know where the wind will take your heels." - B. Baggins, as attributed by F. Baggins

A Brand New Story from Castle Roland's Newest Resident Author. 
Eric Trager
"It Is What It Is"
Chapter 1

Over the past couple of years Zach Caldwell has served as the Chief Moderator of the Castle Forums. Zach is also an author and has been a confidant to the admin team at the Castle. 
Just over a week ago Roland as the Chief Administrator of The Castle accepted Zach's resignation as Chief Moderator. 
Zach will continue to be an active member of the forum and will continue to contribute to the Castle as an author. We thank him for all of his hard work and dedication.  We would not have gotten this far with out your diligence and oversight. 
For the immediate future Roland and Ken Barber will act as chief moderator until such a time as a replacement can be found. 
D'Artagnon still serves as a moderator and all three of us are available to help any members in need. 
If you need assistance you can also email admin@castleroland.net
Thank you again Zach. 

Over the past couple of years Zach Caldwell has served as the Chief Moderator of the Castle Forums. Zach is also an author and has been a confidant to the admin team at the Castle. 
Just over a week ago Roland as the Chief Administrator of The Castle accepted Zach's resignation as Chief Moderator. 
Zach will continue to be an active member of the forum and will continue to contribute to the Castle as an author. We thank him for all of his hard work and dedication.  We would not have gotten this far with out your diligence and oversight. 
For the immediate future Roland and Ken Barber will act as chief moderator until such a time as a replacement can be found. 
D'Artagnon still serves as a moderator and all three of us are available to help any members in need. 
If you need assistance you can also email admin@castleroland.net
Thank you again Zach. 

Over the past couple of years Zach Caldwell has served as the Chief Moderator of the Castle Forums. Zach is also an author and has been a confidant to the admin team at the Castle. 
Just over a week ago Roland as the Chief Administrator of The Castle accepted Zach's resignation as Chief Moderator. 
Zach will continue to be an active member of the forum and will continue to contribute to the Castle as an author. We thank him for all of his hard work and dedication.  We would not have gotten this far with out your diligence and oversight. 
For the immediate future Roland and Ken Barber will act as chief moderator until such a time as a replacement can be found. 
D'Artagnon still serves as a moderator and all three of us are available to help any members in need. 
If you need assistance you can also email admin@castleroland.net
Thank you again Zach. 

I'm just about to light one up right now. Of course, I am at home and do not plan on going anywhere. I'm going to space out with my recordings of the "Into the Badlands" TV series. If pot were legalized then maybe the price would come down. I wish I could grow my own, because I can never be certain that my stuff has not been treated in some way to make it more potent. I once had some that was laced with PCP. That was terrible, so maybe government oversight of pot production would be a good thing.
The one thing I worry about is the increase of stoned drivers on the road, but I suppose that there are plenty out there right now. Alcohol seems to be the main cause of traffic accidents.

https://www.quora.com/Is-yellow-journalism-the-main-cause-for-why-hemp-is-illegal

I'll come in on Ken's side of the debate here, since I've also used my fair share (though I'm currently sober and will be for awhile). I don't have facts from either side to back me up, and I'm currently too lazy to go look any up, but I do have firsthand experience. I have had bad trips, but they're few and far between compared to the good trips. Usually it's just a relaxing experience which sometimes augments my sensory experiences in ways which help me see the world differently. I appreciate that insight as a writer, and it has helped me see my way through creative blocks at times. However, it has also had negative effects on occasion. If I've used it to escape, I've quickly learned that the first anxious thought I have ends up magnified. If I expect to get a lot of work done while under the influence, that doesn't work for me. It makes me lazy. This is the primary reason why I'm going to be sober for awhile, because I have a lot to do.

I know it definitely doesn't make me violent or "fill me with lust". I'm too lazy for sex when I'm under the influence too.

I'm personally for legalization, but I do believe any form of addiction (which is chemically absent in marijuana although emotional dependency can still occur) should be treated as a public health issue rather than a criminal one. Rehabilitation not imprisonment should be the answer for drug use.

The campaign to prohibit of Marijuana followed right after the influx of Mexican immigrants around the time of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. Mexican immigrants used the substance much like their white neighbors used alcohol. White cops and authorities in southern border states sought ways to control the Mexican immigration and to keep the Mexicans from "disrupting" their culture so reports were made of violent crimes, aroused a ‘lust for blood,’ and gave its users ‘superhuman strength.’ Rumors spread that Mexicans were distributing this ‘killer weed’ to unsuspecting American schoolchildren.
None of which has any actual evidence. 
As a marijuana smoker I can tell you it does not incite violence or a lust for blood (Except maybe if you take my last cookie or potato chip.) And it certainly does not give me superhuman strength. 
I can share that it relaxes me and makes me more creative. I do some of my best writing when stoned. I can also tell you I have curbed my alcohol intake greatly and even though I smoke pretty regularly I am even more productive but  bit scatterbrained sometimes....What was I talking about...Oh right weed. Great Idea pass the joint. 
I spend way less on marijuana then I ever did on Booze. There have been plenty of nights I have gone out with friends to a bar or club and threw away a couple hundred dollars drinking. Now I have one or two drinks and lose my desire to drink. And I would seriously love to see someone try to smoke a couple hundred dollars worth of Mary Jane in one night. You better have a whole lot of Doritos on hand. 

I seem to remember the "Reefer Madness" was partially a claim that it made "negros go crazy with lust and violence." Once again, the specter of American  southern racism rears it's head.  Also, it was long rumored that the cannabis ban was partly due to financial reasons. I believe it was attributed to one of the major newspaper magnates who had purchased vast tracts of forestland to feed his daily print empire's needs. Something about how hemp was cheaper.  I will have to hunt down the resources of this, but it is linked with the Yellow Journalism of the early part of last century.
If anyone has any attribution along these lines, I'd love to know the source.  I mostly remember this from high school, which was so long ago I can't be certain if it is accurate or just propaganda that was circulated by teachers with agendas.  Yet another reason our education system needs a swift kick in the lower spine.

I followed @Emperor Roland example and went looking for why cannabis became illegal. The following is an extract from an article in History Stories:
though there was no evidence to support claims that marijuana had a Jekyll-and-Hyde effect, 29 states outlawed marijuana between 1916 and 1931. The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 essentially banned it nation-wide despite objections from the American Medical Association related to medical usage. This act came just a year after the film Reefer Madness warned parents that drug dealers would invite their teenagers to jazz parties and get them hooked on “reefer.”  
The federal government and states continued to increase punishments related to marijuana until the late 1960s, when the laws began to touch white, upper-middle-class college students who were smoking the drug.
The full article is here.
One link within the article is to a piece in the Washington Post which examines how harmful cannabis is/is not, comparing it to alcohol and other drugs. Perhaps surprisingly it comes out looking good by comparison.
So it would appear that American history is responsible for making cannabis illegal through association with the scurge of Mexican immigrants at the time of the Mexican Revolution.

Refugees from Mexico at a camp on the desert in Fort Bliss, Texas during the Mexican Revolution. (Credit: OTA/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
 

While i am certainly not a user of cannabis, (mainly because profession is one that gets drug tested, and it doesn't matter if a state legalizes it, the feds have not), I do live in Colorado, the first state to legalize it, and I have seen the effects first hand.  I have also just taken the last few moments to do some research on it, since i do not want to let my personal feelings cloud my response.  As is always the case, amusingly, i read two different articles, and can't really believe i am reading about the same topic.  the first one, posted in the USA Today Opinion page, talked about all the harm that legalization has done to Colorado.  The second one from news.lift.co, by a legalization advocate, paints a very different view.  as with all things in the news, we have to read both the good and the bad, since the truth is likely somewhere between them.  It's sort of like politics.  If you get your news from the right, President Trump is a man that walks on water, and can do no wrong.  If you get your info from the left, he is a demon that was probably responsible for your puppy dieing.  the truth is somewhere between the extremes.  Anyways, I digress, as i often do.
The one thing that both articles do agree on though, which makes me think that it can be called fact, is that the number of impaired drivers, and traffic related injuries where impaired drivers are involved has gone up.
Another thing that i think is worth mentioning, Ken brought up how the increase in tax revenue would be good, and it would.  except for the fact that, where the money was promised to go, hospitals, schools, anti-drug programs, have not seen much if any of the money.  so as usual, our representatives are screwing us over.  but we should be used to that by now, and always ask for at least a courtesy reach around so we can get some pleasure as we are being ?.  lol
Okay, I think i have rambled enough for now.  lets see what other trouble i can get into.  OH ALLEN!!!!!!

Of the forgotten things, try rope, canvas and clothing.
Back in the early part of the 20th century, it was found that the strongest hemp fibers came from those cultivars that had the highest cannabinol (THC) content. Hemp had a long association with not only making very strong rope and canvas, but that it was also highly mildew resistant. That was a great benefit to anything that was habitually cruising on the oceans. Still used by many nations today. But not the U.S. - it's prohibited unless treated to remove all the active psychoactive components. That tends to weaken the fibers (and remove its resistance to molds) to where cotton is just as strong.

As for actual clothing, the softness of its fibers (from the weakest cultivars), surpasses that of cotton. Does this threaten the cotton industry? It could, but let it be said that the softer stuff isn't as durable as cotton. Hemp fiber is less receptive to dyes than cotton.

Prohibition, as history shows, doesn't work. While I'm not a user of marijuana, the health benefits of medicines extracted from it alone should be reason to take it off the schedule one proscribed drug list. The pain relief and cancer uses of extracts from this plant are well documented.  Many doctors and patients, a large number of them honorably discharged veterans who have legitimate illnesses, such as glaucoma, have found that use of cannabis related medication and simply direct use are the only things that offer any alleviation of their condition.
Ken brings up a fantastic point with the tax revenue. Tax it at tobacco rates and we can see states making up budget shortfalls. Stick that money into fixing our roads, bridges, WATER SYSTEMS (looking at you, Michigan) and other infrastructure necessities.  Use that income to support our schools and teachers, police and fire personnel, emergency workers.  You know, those we depend on to educate the young, protect our lives, and be ready to help when disasters strike.  At what point does the sense of this not start showing dollar signs in politician's eyes?
For those worried about the effects of marijuana becoming publicly acceptable, that it would unleash chaos, tobacco and alcohol have been not only legal for generations, but form the economic back bone of several communities. Ask the state assemblies in the Carolinas to outlaw tobacco, which has been PROVEN for over FORTY YEARS to be extremely dangerous to human life in general.  I'm betting they would argue against it, similar to how the automotive industry once argued against pollution controls.  And honestly, I've met many people who use marijuana recreationally.  If violence enters their mind at all while they're using, it's likely something they're watching on TV.  Alcohol's mood altering, inhibition cancelling and rational thought suppressing properties are well documented. I'll take a weed head behind the wheel of a car over a drunk any day.
Decriminalization, taxation, experimentation (for medical purposes), and permitting the use of marijuana openly is where these things are heading.  We can either resist such, make it some kind of political point and just get slowly dragged into the future kicking and screaming like fools, or get ahead of the curve for a change, figure out legislation, taxation and implementation of policy, and free up our police to deal with more serious problems than a legal adult smoking a joint in his own home.
Besides, isn't it about time we let go of the stupid, unscientific and antiquated thinking that keeps getting us in trouble, financially, politically and morally.  How many people are in jail for years for a very minor drug conviction.  Meth dealers get out on less hard time than marijuana sellers.  Seems like a waste of jail space, tax payer's money, judicial time, and is the kind of thing that breaks up families.
Just some thoughts. If anyone has facts to refute or support this, please feel free to post links or information in here. No advertisements please.

Check out these Great Stories with new chapters added on May 14, 2018
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Hey Hammy!
I'm so glad that you poked your head in, long enough to say "Hi"!... Then again, it took me long enough to reply!
Ain't we a pair to draw too?

I know, I come and go, but still linger around here and there lol....
I do apologize.  Life happens =\
 
Hows everyone?
 
-Hammy

Thank you Everyone for your feedback on the story. I know its been a while since posting and I appreciate your loyalty and Patience., Minus a few emails that made me hide in the closet, and trust me getting me to go back into the closet is a special kind of feat. 
I am glad everyone is enjoying the story and can only hope I am able to provide many many more chapters to entertain you. 
 

Thank you so much for this latest chapter ! I look forward to the next one ,
.   Cheers,
.            John C 

An outstanding chapter as always. Some changing of events we did not fore see. An emotional dinner unlike most navy dinners. A clue solved with a question to why. To see what happens next we shall return.

Thank you I love this. This book is on my reading list but after reading this its being moved to the top. Eric is one of my favorite authors and I am sure I am going to have some very long nights ahead of me reading this. 
To the Critics: Jay and Will, thank you for taking the time to read and review this. You input is invaluable when I am making a decision on what I should read next.
To the Author: Eric, everything of yours I have read I have enjoyed thoroughly. I am sure this will be no different. Thank you for taking the time to answer the Critic's questions and give us some insight on you as an author. I have had the privilege of working with Eric over the past 2 or 3 years now in the Revolutions Universe. He is an extremely thoughtful and detailed writing. The research and time he puts into his stories is fascinating. If you have not read any of Eric's books do yourself a favor and start with this one. You will be hooked.

Thank you I love this. This book is on my reading list but after reading this its being moved to the top. Eric is one of my favorite authors and I am sure I am going to have some very long nights ahead of me reading this. 
To the Critics: Jay and Will, thank you for taking the time to read and review this. You input is invaluable when I am making a decision on what I should read next.
To the Author: Eric, everything of yours I have read I have enjoyed thoroughly. I am sure this will be no different. Thank you for taking the time to answer the Critic's questions and give us some insight on you as an author. I have had the privilege of working with Eric over the past 2 or 3 years now in the Revolutions Universe. He is an extremely thoughtful and detailed writing. The research and time he puts into his stories is fascinating. If you have not read any of Eric's books do yourself a favor and start with this one. You will be hooked.

Spotlight on Invisible by Eric Aune
the book reviews and author interview

 
the book
 
Invisible by Eric Aune.
Chase and Ethan were friends in elementary school, but as they moved into Middle School their interests began to split. Ethan became athletic and popular, while Chase found Photography as art and began to really connect with the camera. By the time they started High School, they had different sets of friends and Chase becomes invisible to Ethan, even though as boys they were nearly inseparable. Ethan involved in cross country and Chase in the arts with his photography. Their paths cross at a Cross Country event during their sophomore year. Ethan is competing and Chase is there to photograph the event for the school newspaper. Because he knows he's invisible, he keeps his distance until something happens to Ethan, then Chase must become visible once again. But does he go back to being invisible or will he finally be seen in a new light?
 
Read the book - Invisible by Eric Aune
 
an extract

Chase was sleeping comfortably holding onto the arm that was wrapped around his chest. He opened his eyes and smiled at the arm that held him. He snuggled up to it and moved back until he could feel the warm body behind him. The arm tightened a little when it felt his movement. A short time later he felt a light touch of breath and then lips on the back of his neck and he giggled because it tickled a little bit. The lips kissed all around the back of his neck and his giggles increased. He opened his eyes and turned around until he was looking into Ethan’s smiling face...
 
reader comment
“Thank you for sharing this love story with us ! It's a true winner.”  Johnny C from San Francisco.
 
the book reviews
REVIEW by Jay. 
Have you ever felt inviable, ignored or just not appreciated? I know I have. I guess everyone has at one time or another. Now add in the emotions of teenagers. What a mess it can turn out to be. The drama that three teens can make never ceases to amaze me.
The author brings to life three leading characters. Chase, a shy young man, unimposing and lacking self confidence. Ethan another teenager, athletic, popular, but he lacks self-awareness. Kristi, a self absorbed, needful, and conspiring young lady. This triangle of friends is on course for confrontation and a realization that may surprise you.
The author takes you on an rollercoaster ride of emotions. Anger that makes the blood boil. Happiness that brings a smile to your face. Sadness that will bring a tear to your eyes. Love that will warm the coldest of hearts.
Even though there is a bit of weakness in grammar and structure, it does not distract from the story. I could see that a bit more expansion on the intimacy between the characters would have added to the story for me. 
The drama is intense. You cannot help but cheer Chase on. Thinking a little bit more about Chase, I always find myself rooting for the underdog, but that’s just me, I’d like to see him prevail.
Pour yourself a drink, or go and grab a snack, then sit down to read. The first couple of chapters set up the story, a little more time spent here than I like, but it still worked. Once you have started reading you won’t want to put it down. It left me wanting a bit more, wondering what happened next!
 
REVIEW by William King.
This novella reads similar to a fable, like Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with a moral to teach us. The premise that you might not remember your best friend from three years ago maybe a stretch of the imagination but it's quickly forgotten in the emotional whirlwind of events and a necessary vehicle for the story.
As I started reading it seemed to be a nice story told in a gentle fashion, but wow was I in for a surprise with the drama hitting right at the end of the first chapter, was this some kind of divine retribution? I had no idea, but had to read on. 
You can't help but get drawn into the book. Perhaps the story is best summed up in this scene where Chase is alone with his friend,  “He glanced at the door once again and then leaned down close to Ethan. He paused for a moment as he looked at him and then lightly kissed him on the lips. He then spoke low enough so that no one who was not nearby could hear him, “I’ve always loved you Ethan...” There begin the trials and tribulations of a lost friendship which for at least one of the two boys might be something more.
It is easy to sympathise with Chase our protagonist, but I did wonder at times about the way the author described him, not that he was small for his age, nor that he was reserved, but when he “giggled” it seemed he was younger than his fifteen years. 
This is an uplifting story that taps the emotions. It is also somewhat idealistic, set in a real world situation that might be straight out of a children's television show, it has exactly that feel, it’s real, but is it realistic? Whatever you decide I have no doubt you will enjoy reading it, because despite any criticism I might make, it is a great heart rending story.

 
the interview
The first thing that hit me when I opened Chapter One was, what a great picture. Did you have that picture before you wrote the story, just happen across it, or went searching the Internet?
A couple of years ago, I was talking with some of the other writers and admins for the site over Skype.  This is a common occurrence with us.  We talk to each other a lot about story lines, especially since we are all writing in the RU [*Revolutions Universe – see commentary].  The admins had this thought that we should attach pictures to the stories on CR [Castle Roland] and they were asking the writers if they had any ideas of what pictures they wanted for their stories.  I thought that wasn’t a bad idea, so I started looking around the net as did a couple of the admins.  I think I was the one that found this picture and I thought it fit the story well.  So, the picture came after the story was written and posted.  I originally wrote the story about 5 or 6 years ago and it was posted on Sable Peak Ranch website, which is where several of us posted stories until Castle Roland was re-started.

What inspired you to write this story about a relationship lost and rediscovered? 
I saw a movie on Netflix, To Save a Life.  It was about two friends, one black and one white who were good friends in grade school up to 6th. When they were 12, the black kid saves his friend by pushing him out of the way of a car and becomes injured so that he has a permanent limp.  By high school, the white kid is popular, a jock and all that, the black kid isn’t, probably a consequence of the permanent injury.  The black kid is sort of invisible to his former friend since they run in different circles.  Eventually the invisible one does something that makes his former friend re-evaluate his life and the way he had treated the boy who had been his friend when they were younger.  I took the premise of that movie and wrote this story.  Only I wanted them to reconnect in a positive way.

Did you have the whole story mapped out when you sat down to write, the beginning, middle, and ending?
No.  I knew the beginning and the idea of the story.  I don’t think I was even sure of the end.  I toyed with the idea of having something closer to the movie as the ending, but scrapped that because I wanted a better ending and decided that I wanted them to be together at the end. For the rest, I let the characters tell me the rest of the story as I went along.  The idea that Cross Country would be what first started the reconnection process is because when I was a Freshman, I ran Cross Country and a number of the Scouts in my troop, over the years have been part of the Cross Country team at the High School and I’ve attended a few of their meets. 
There were probably other influences on which way the story went, stories or books that I read, movies I’d seen.  At least some of the influence is from other stories where the smaller kid is treated as invisible for many reasons.  Some are self-imposed invisibility.  They don’t want to be noticed so that people don’t learn their big secret is one that I’ve seen as a theme in many stories. Unfortunately, there are a lot of kids like that out there.  Others are because of something about them, that they are deemed invisible.  But the middle part of the story came as I wrote it and the end fleshed itself out as I neared it.  I always knew it would be a novella. The idea I felt was too long for a short story and too short for a novel length story.    

You are still writing today, and this novella is something you wrote a few years ago, do you think that the way you write has progressed in terms of your technique and style?
Yes, I think it has at least a little bit.  Some parts of my style hasn’t changed much, but I know for certain some of it has changed, especially when I look back at some of my first, but I think even from this story to now, there has been some changes.

Looking at one of your more recent stories – You Can't Go Back – whilst a different genre, it’s interesting that there is a protagonist who has a little brother, like Chase in this book. Is this theme common in your writing, just a coincidence, or drawn from your own life?
Well I am the oldest of 4 brothers (I had a Brother, Step Brother and Half Brother.  We had sort of a Yours, Mine and Ours, family.  Like the old Lucille Ball movie from the 60s).  Thinking on it, I have had several pairings like that in my stories.  I don’t think it is necessarily because of what I had or did not have growing up. 
My brother was the closest in age to me, 1 year and 5 months younger.  My Step Brother was 4 years younger and my Half Brother was 8 years younger.  My brother and I shared a room as we grew up and had a lot of the same likes.  Whereas my Step Brother was a brat as a kid, and a dick as an adult.  Needless to say, we were never close. My Half Brother and I were close as my Brother and I when we became adults. 
I think it is more that I liked the dynamic of two brothers who cared for each other and who are good friends all their lives.
 
How much of yourself, or real situations that you have lived through, do we find in your stories?
There is the adage, ‘You write what you know’.  I use a lot of my knowledge of the places I’ve been and things I’ve done in the stories, but I don’t think I use much in the way of actual situations I have lived through.  So I guess the short answer is maybe sometimes and maybe not other times
 
For instance, a lot of my stories begin and/or take place in the Southern California area, because that is where I grew up and live.  So I know the area.  A few have had experience as Scouts, because I’ve been a Scout Leader for many years, so I know how they work.  Some have a military background or are current military, because I am a veteran and so on. 
 
Since I have worked in the medical field for many years, I bring that knowledge when needed as well.  In fact the doctor that treats Ethan in the Emergency room, Dr. Corners, is the name of a doc that I worked with several years ago.  I got to know him outside of work a little bit and became friends with his oldest son.
 
So all of that helps when I wish to set a scene or situation and I think that is probably the most that I take from my life.  I don’t think any of the characters that I’ve written are much of a reflection of me, but maybe of some of my experiences, usually colored to match the character’s experience.
Thanks to Eric Aune for taking time out to share some insights into the book and his writing.
 
the commentary
The Revolutions Universe is a series of books written by a group of Castle Roland authors which tells the story of what happens when the sitting United States President refuses to step down after someone else is elected? Who will stop him, and what lengths will he go to keep his power?
 
the discussion
Book discussion thread:
If you would like to continue the discussion with the author about the book. Click this link.
 
the book 
Read the book - Invisible by Eric Aune
 
 

So As I understand it and William King will correct me if I am wrong. You can submit trail reviews right up until 12/31 for consideration. The First review and featured story will posted at the beginning of February. If your interested in joining the team its not hard and isn't a huge commitment just one story and review per month. The more critics there are the less of a commitment, meaning if you wanted to skip a month or two that would be fine as long as we have at least 2 reviews per story.

I am super excited about this as well. It will be interesting to see how we can learn from these reviews.