Paige Hawthorne: Blog

Boy, there are a lot of guns out there! Along with some proud, and often thoughtful, gun owners.

This sampling of responses to my blog inquiry isn't comprehensive, but it may be representative. I say 'may be' because I don't really have a feel for firearms. Hope I got the spelling and terminology right:

> Glock 9mm

> Hammerless revolver / 11 round LR / Dirty Harry special

> Colt 1911a1 45

> Kimber Micro 9 / Kimber Custom Compact in .45ACP

> 9mm

> Springfield XD9801

> 9mm Luger / 32 special carbine / 10 gauge shotgun / .22 semiautomatic

> Knives

> Glock 36 / .45ACP

> 1911's & 2011's. / Springfield XD & XDm pistols.

Many of you who carry on a regular basis say you hope never to need your weapon. Amen to that!

Paige

No, I'm not asking how hung you are. Louts. Boys just fib about that anyway.

"Winter's Secret" has opened the floodgates on gun control and politics. Healthy discussions in emails and Comments. Mostly.

A surprising number of you write to tell me you carry a firearm. Some of you have concealed carry permits. Fine. What gives me a slight frisson of angst is the sense that more than one of you are looking to be that 'good guy with a gun'. Yikes!

Oh well, carry on!

Paige

PS For those of you who assume you know my politics … well, you probably don't. But there are several ways to express your displeasure:

> Low-score me in the voting arena.

> Send me nasty emails.

> Write disparaging Comments.

> Vote for everyone else in the Clitorides rodeo.

I pay no attention to reader scores, writing awards, etc. However I do stand for truth, justice, and the Armenian way.

There is, reportedly, an escalating campaign to remove the Winter stories from the Clitorides competition.

Now, if this is a legitimate grassroots passion, then I shan't oppose it. What decent patriot would? However hordes of Winter fans - well, two readers - suspect a nefarious plot.

Therefore, with reluctance, I have notified the Federal Bureau of Unscrupulousness of this odious development.

Paige

Pro, con, confused (like I am) … there's a lively firearms discussion in the Comments section at the end of the last chapter of "Winter's Secret". Help yourself!

Paige

PS Thanks to all you serious boys for writing me to explain that the 'third rail' applies to the subway. Duh! My tongue-in-cheek reference to testicular trauma on the top rail of a corral was ... well, tongue-in-cheek.

You know the proverbial third rail - the top horizontal bar of the corral. Upon which hapless cowpokes suffer testicular trauma when trying to vault into the ring.

America is a polarized country; maybe it always has been and it's just more obvious these days. So why am I introducing current events - such as gunshot deaths in America - into my little Winter stories?

In a word, context.

I'm trying to become a better writer and one way may be to set the characters in a realistic setting. In, more or less, real time. Plus I believe it makes the story a little more textured. Less one-dimensional.

I don't have an axe to grind; I'm not trying to take a stand - left, right, or central. And I'm certainly not trying to change anyone's mind about anything political. Most people are pretty dug in.

The sad fact is, I don't have solutions to many of our challenges. Doesn't stop my characters from pontificating though.

Paige