That's Life

Another fascinating story from a friend on After Hours.  A self-proclaimed "dungeon master", John Puett leads a very active adventurous life while sitting down.  "Dungeons and Dragons" is his game of choice and he not only plays D&D, but also designs, hosts, and teaches it.  Join  his Discord server or view his YouTube channel to learn more about the game.

John does a lot more than play, though.   He has a company that does "cyber security".  Not sure what that means?  Lois wasn't either, so listen to this episode to find out what it is -- and isn't.  We touch on many other things and, again, we had more than an hour's worth of conversation.   John is a photographer and is also very active in the Office Hours / After Hours community.

A good talk today!

Local author Bill Pieper is today's guest.  He has published many works -- mostly short stories.

His most recent book -- Borders and Boundaries -- is a series of ten short stories which reads like a novel.  While each story could stand on its own, the thread of characters and locations ties the book together into a greater whole. 

Listen to him reading from Borders and Boundaries  along then hear Bill and Lois talking about ... well, just about everything.  Bikes? Yup.  Drumming? Yup.  Publishing in the midst of a pandemic? Yup.  Sci-fi porn? Yup. Reading books onstage? Yup.  The effect of places on people and culture? That, too.

Bill lived in Nevada City for many years, and his stories often are set in a western locale.  Now he lives in Sacramento and comes to Davis weekly to be part of the Blue Moon  -- a writers' group hosted by Scott Evans*.  

Bill Pieper is working on writing a new book (no date  set yet); and he is hoping to resume the promotion of Borders and Boundaries  once restrictions ease and a new tour can be arranged.

You can see a list of his books at:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/708305.Bill_Pieper

That includes his popular Belonging - A Tale of Downieville and California's Modern Gold Country  and Forgive Me, Father: Twelve Stories.

But if you want to walk on a wilder side, read his most-popular-story-ever, at: https://www.redfez.net/fiction/sci-fi-alien-dreams-616

PS: This episode also aired on Thanksgiving, 11-25-2021  and on 2025-04-09.

Wo-Ma-Mu !!!   That's short for "Women Making Music".  As their website says, it "is a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing music and other creative arts into women's lives through education, participation, and personal empowerment".  They do that with retreats in the hills of California where (ta-dah!) women get together to make music! -- also to be creative, get immersed in nature, enjoy each other, and recharge. 

The current Artistic Director is Marianne Barlow -- who joins Lois on today's show.  (Judy Fjell was the group's first Artistic Director and has now retired.)

To get info on upcoming retreats, go to  https://womamu.org/  

It's time for the holidays!

Here is the third of my xmas music shows for this year.  

Today's songs are off 3 CDs:  #1 - #12 from "Christmas Card Disc";  #19 - #22 from  "A Christmas Celebration - Volume 2"; and  #12 from "'Tis the Season".

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!