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(Trigger Warning) Expanding the View of Intimate Partner Violence: A Trans and LGBTQ+ Lens

Understanding abuse means more than challenging assumptions — it means confronting misinformation. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a form of domestic violence that often gets framed as a form of abuse where a man perpetrates violence against a white woman (Marrow et al., 2024). The reality of IPV is intersectional, involving people of all sorts of identities and genders. One group that is…

#lgbtqia #domestic violence #IPV #trangender #trans

Strategies for How to Cope with Time Blindness

Time blindness is a condition where the individual does not have an internal clock or is unaware of the passage of time. This can lead to individuals being late as they don’t realize how much time has passed. A client of mine who had autism and ADHD suffered from severe time blindness. My role was to help this client I will call Jay (using a pseudonym to protect their identity) stop being late to…

#adhd #autism #disability #time blindness

The Ethics of Mandated Reporting

Navigating client confidentiality is a balance between respecting privacy and maintaining safety. I always thought that I wouldn’t deal with reporting someone as a threat until much later in my career. I’m a social work student and a social work intern so I thought I wouldn’t come across an instance of threat to harm until I graduated. In the course of my work as an employment specialist I came…

#mandatedreporter

Is My Spirit Guide a Sign of Psychosis?

When considering mental illness diagnosis practitioners are cautioned to consider that some symptoms are a reflection of cultural spiritual practices. I embraced this perspective in my teenage years until now. I’m a pagan and believe in spiritual occurrences but it’s hard to tell what’s spiritual versus psychosis. So I found myself questioning what to tell my psychiatrist about. The reality hit…

#psychosis

Victim Blaming Versus Strengths Based Care

A critical component of social work theory is the strengths-based perspective. Identifying client strengths and communicating those strengths to clients can be helpful. First of all, some clients come into therapy or group settings with cognitive distortions like “I’m a failure” and those thoughts can weigh them down. Second, sometimes clients can’t even see their good qualities. Knowing your…

#strengthsbasedcare #victimblaming

Vampire in Space Chapter 1: Alone

My eyes opened, the sound of the drone bringing me my morning paste an itch in my ears. “Hello,” I said to the mindless drone. The starlight was distant but illuminated my cell well enough that I could see the cache where the paste was deposited. The door opened and I grabbed the paste. This would happen twice more. As it had every day. I floated over the tiny door and opened the paste. I ate it…

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Vampire in Space Part 4: The Trial

I laid on the cushions in my room and wondered what happened to the vampire and the Blue Robin. The Gorgots left me to my own devices so I called Tas using my wrist com. “This user is not available to speak. Please leave a message after the tone.” Beep. “Hi Tas, it’s Adriel. Are you doing alright? Is the ship okay? Call me back when you get a chance.” I flicked off my wrist com and sat up. It…

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Part 3: Survivor

When my eyes finally opened the room spun in my vision. I tried to get up and felt sick so I laid back down. Alive, I took a deep breath. Now it was a matter of surviving. Eventually the vampire had to get tired or full at least. My hand went to my neck which was still wet with blood. I applied pressure to staunch the flow of blood. Another breath and I tried to get up again. Slowly I sat up. I…

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Vampire in Space Part 2: Fear and Hate

The Starburst was still headed in the direction of the Outer Rim. I hailed the ship to see if the vampire had been captured. There was no response. The escape pod I was in was barely just over the size of a sleeper pod. It was cramped to say the least. Outside I saw the other escape pods flying automatically to Crete. A hail came through as I passed the mining ships. I answered the hail, “Hello,…

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#amwriting #vampire

Vampire in Space Part 1: Intruder

Starburst had a minimal crew to ship the food from the world Crete to the Outer Rim. I was not looking forward to this month’s trip as it pulled me away from my wife and kids. Still, the credits would help with finances at home. I sat in the mess hall eating some tubers and bug meat when Adriel walked in. “Morning Wendel, how are you doing?” “Eh, much the same as any launch date. You?” “I’m…

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#amwriting #freeflashfiction #lgbtqia

Check out my free story Vampire in Space

#vampire #science fiction #LGBTQIA

I've finished my rough draft!

I’ve finished my rough draft!

Recently I’ve been writing more of Vampire in Space and Dreams of a World Unknown. The switch between science fiction and fantasy genres is a fun hop. I wrote the conclusion of Dreams of a World Unknown. I haven’t finished a book since high school so it’s a big accomplishment. Now I have to focus on editing the rough draft. I’m hoping that with each new book I write I’ll be better at putting…

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#amwriting #fantasy #freeflashfiction #goals #indieauthor #science fiction #story #writer #writing

New Chapter Released for Free

This week was tough, we had severe flooding in my corner of the world. Thankfully my house still has power and I got a day off work. That down time was time that I utilized to relax and write. Today I posted chapter 1 of Vampire in Space on my Patreon. The previous parts were the prologue. In chapter 1 we encounter Ela in the prison she was assigned to. If you want to read the chapter for free…

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#fantasy #science fiction #space #vampire

When Steamy Scenes Fall Flat

During the course of reading Gena Showalter’s Atlantis Series Bundle I came across a sex scene that left me irritated. The reason why was that it was generic and highly cheesy. Instead of quoting to you the scene I’ll simply state that the woman was a virgin and the guy with her was happy to be her first. That’s cute, but what wasn’t cute was the dialogue surrounding her untouched state.…

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#erotica #sex scenes

Soul Mates Falling Out of Love

I’m currently reading When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn. That book follows Francesca as she searches for a new husband and the Earl Kilmartin as he attempts to hide his romantic feelings for Francesca. I know how the book will end but it’s still an interesting journey watching them fall in love. In the book I’m writing the main character is falling out of love with her soulmate. The dissolution…

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#soul mates

What I'm Watching and Working on

What I’m Watching and Working on

Recently I’ve been watching the show Transparent on Prime video. The show follows a trans woman, Maura, throughout her transition. I have to say the show does a good job of addressing Maura’s experience. The viewer follows Maura through rejection from family members to acceptance from friends and family. I find myself glued to the show because I want to see the trans experience and the LGBT+…

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#lgbtqia #bisexual #diversity #transparent

Diversity in Books and TV

Last weekend I celebrated my mom’s birthday. She visited me and we had a good time relaxing in each other’s company. In honor of her birthday I am posting the next part of Vampire in Space for free on my Patreon. Recently I have been reading The Bridgerton Series. I saw The Bridgertons on Netflix first and when I found out the show was based on a book I had to go read the books too. There was a…

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