I have an aversion to cold showers. I expect most of us do. To make sure the water temperature is closer to 98.6° before I expose my skin to the spray, I run the shower or a bathroom fixture for about 45 seconds (yes, I measured it) to bring up hot water from the water … Continue reading Saving Water 1.6 Gallons at a Time
Author: William Vaughn
William Vaughn is an author, mentor, and granddad. He's lived and traveled all over the world, flew helicopters in Vietnam, won a few medals and retrained in the personal computer industry where he worked for about forty years, ultimately publishing about a dozen books.
In 2006, he redirected his career again, this time focusing on fiction writing. He has at least six books published with more to come. Search for his website http://betav.com.
He's passionate about environmental, healthcare and veteran's issues and posts regularly on his Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/William.R.Vaughn
Why Veterans Should Abhor Him
As many of you already know, I was in the Army. I enlisted (to avoid being drafted) in 1969. I served until 1972 not long after I was taken off flight status due to yet-to-be correctly diagnosed issues with my back and legs that prevented me from sitting in a cockpit. My life began again … Continue reading Why Veterans Should Abhor Him
Angel’s Adventure
On Tuesday, my wife Marilyn announced that she wanted to get out of the house. I checked her temperature and pulse--she seemed to be okay, but this was a radical change. She has not gone down the hill for anything but doctor's appointments since early March. She had had enough. "What about driving the North … Continue reading Angel’s Adventure
Self-Publishing—a Memoir
I could (literally) write a book about self-publishing. I was asked a few leading questions by a new author who had wisely decided to focus not on the revenue of publishing his book, but on helping others with its content. I thought this story of how I got started in self-publishing as well as traditional … Continue reading Self-Publishing—a Memoir
On Taxes
The question of the day after last night's debate (October 15, 2019) is "Will we have to pay more in taxes after January 2021?" The answer is Yes. Why? Well, for one thing, for the last four years the Russian-elected government, the Reds, have given billions in tax breaks and removed price regulations--a gift to … Continue reading On Taxes
Being Prepared
On Friday, October 18th Redmond starts a two day disaster drill to test the systems we've readied to support the city of Redmond in case of a disaster. This has prompted me to write a paper on being prepared. Billions of people all over the world live their lives from day-to-day without electrical power to … Continue reading Being Prepared
What’s a Critique Group
Someone in the Writers Helping Writers group on Facebook wanted to know how to get others to review their work and when. Melissa Watkins Alexander (a member of my critique group) suggested that books should be developed from the very beginning with help of a critique group. I agree. I also thought people should understand … Continue reading What’s a Critique Group
The Writer’s Myth
I'm in a number of Facebook groups dedicated to helping writers write well and get their books in front of readers. Over the years, we have seen many cases of wannabe writers pushing their stories into keyboards which (if they could) wince at the grammar and punctuation mistakes. To make matters worse, we have "publishers" … Continue reading The Writer’s Myth
Finding a (Great) Editor—Or Not
My daughter is an English major. She also has specific editor and proofreader training at the University of Washington. (No, she's not for hire, she's a VP at a major PR firm). She was unhappy with my choice of editors so she found one she respected and twisted my arm to use her. I didn't … Continue reading Finding a (Great) Editor—Or Not
On Blackface Politicians
My mother's family is from the Shenandoah Valley. My grandfather was a Judge and my uncle a prominent attorney. Many live there to this day. I understand they or their ancestors owned slaves in the early years, but others participated in the underground railroad. That was the past. We also have to consider that the … Continue reading On Blackface Politicians
Beta V—Creating, Mentoring, Storytelling 
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