Wrapped in Cellophane: Twenty Years Later, Mercedes Masterson, and more…
These past few months I have felt swamped and stressed. Plus the whole American political situation which is a day in and day out hot mess. As someone who is bipolar, I have to sometimes limit news intake otherwise I fall into depression. Usually I can tell when an onslaught of bad news is causing my mental state to lower. I often look for ways to combat the negative energy in the world by working to bend it back with positive energy and become proactive in doing things that combat it. This helps mood and helps put back good into the world — a positive double-whammy. I highly recommend it and you can always start by asking yourself what you are doing to put back good things and positive energy into the world to combat the onslaught of awfulness.
In this newsletter, I’m gonna write a couple of short bits related to current events, and then I’m going to focus on my book series for a bit. Next month, May, marks a tremendous milestone for my character Mercedes Masterson — the main character of my book series — as she turns 20 years old. I want to celebrate that and I’m also planning (fingers crossed) to release the next novel in the series very soon. The next novel is called Jonah of Olympic and I’m proud of it, and I hope you will get as much out of it as I have.
But first, a few announcements…
The newsletter has gotten a makeover. The new color scheme is based on the sapphic pride flag which contains pink, light pink, purple, and yellow. I’ll post an image of the flag below, on the off chance you haven’t seen it. The previous color scheme was based on the transgender pride flag (pink, blue, and white). Why sapphic this time? Because my character Mercedes is bisexual and sapphic is an inclusive women who love women term. I thought it would be a nice way to honor the women who love women and my character at the same time on her birthday.
The sapphic pride flag.
Introducing Paywall Vetoes. I’ve added a new perk for paying members. This comes from my deep-seated distain for the modern web paywalling all the things, which I try to avoid on Weaver’s Deep Thoughts. Paywall vetoes are a way for paying members to take down the paywall on Nat’s Letters. Each year, the paying members get 2 vetoes that they can spend on whatever letters they want. They can comment directly on the letter they want to veto and just say so, and I’ll get on it, or use the Deep-Posts channel in the Discord server to spend a veto. The vetoes are permanent, which is better than gift links some other sites use as those expire. If you are a free member, be sure to give thanks in the comments to the folks who veto the paywalls when you can. To help paying members keep track of their vetoes and which letters they vetoed, I’ve set up a public Trello board that will track the vetoes. Click here to access the Trello board. The link is also in the footer of the site now.
I reached 1,000 followers on Bluesky. I recently reached 1,000 followers (and climbing) on the social network Bluesky — if you are unfamiliar with it, just know it’s a lot like old Twitter. I’ve never had 1,000 followers on any platform, so it was kinda weird, and surreal. I decided to take some extra effort in celebrating that milestone and am making a series of short videos (3 minutes or less) in which I introduce something about myself. I’ve been a bit of a renaissance man for years, so it’ll be interesting to address some things I don’t always talk about. My first video is all about my writing and I give a brief overview of how I got into writing and when I started — hint, I was very young. The video is embedded below. Please let me know what you think of the video.
Did you know I’ve included an audio option for all the newsletter posts on the website? (this also includes the short stories and poems) If you’re like me, you may find this text-to-speech option useful for reading. On mobile, there is a little, round button that hovers in the lower-right corner over the posts. On desktop, it’s in the same spot, but it also says “Read Aloud” on the button. Click or tap and it opens an audio player. You can change the voice and adjust the speed.
Two things about the Trump administration concerning autism and child abuse.
#1
If you haven’t already seen a video of RFK, Jr. saying awful things about autistic folks or read his remarks, you may want to watch this video clip. I’m including this C-SPAN clip, so you can hear him for yourself. Trigger warning: RFK, Jr. says some really ugly, hateful, bigoted, crap about folks with autism.
If this video doesn’t play or goes missing, let me know.
My short remarks on this is that either RFK, Jr. has no idea what the hell he’s talking about or he does and he’s pushing a narrative that treats autistic folks as broken, useless people who deserve to be cured or neglected by society. For those who know history, this is nothing new. It’s nationalist style talking points, where RFK, Jr. is wanting to create a master race of sorts and he views autistic people as flawed. He also thinks autism is something we caused — possibly based on his views concerning vaccinations which is not true and debunked.
My son is on the spectrum. For him, it was a result of a micro-deletion in his chromosomes that he’s had since birth (arguably probably since the womb). This micro-deletion has caused him developmental delays, social anxiety, sensory issues, and some other things. But, as most people who know autistic folks already know, it has also led to him being an extremely empathetic and kind person. His asshole radar is the best I’ve ever seen in anyone. He has worked his ass off since he was three years old to play catch up and stay on track. He is amazing and hardworking. He’s overcome so many obstacles and people like RFK, Jr. are hateful and completely misrepresent people like my son. So, join me in giving RFK, Jr. a heartfelt STFU.
#2
The other Trump administration thing I wanted to address was his proclamation from April 3rd that was supposed to be about National Child Abuse Prevention month. Spoiler alert: It was primarily about trans kids and The Woke Agenda™️. The proclamation exists on the White House website and here’s that link. But I’m also including a PDF version here, because I don’t trust them not to change it or delete it. Instead of me summarizing or quoting the piece, do yourself a favor and just read it. It’s short and you can get through it pretty quick.
My response to this proclamation on “child abuse” is that it offends me greatly. Why? As someone who grew up in an abusive home, this proclamation reinforces what I already knew — a lot of adults don’t give a shit about child abuse. They notice it and say or do nothing. They also don’t see it when it’s obvious. And when kids come to them and tell them, and beg for help, they get mad at them for talking shit about their parents (because in many cases those adults are friends with their parents), so then they run to the parents and tattle on them causing them more harm. Ya’ll, these are not the actions of adults who give a shit. Just like Trump who spends the majority of his proclamation about child abuse focused on making crap up about transgender issues and equating it to abuse (it isn’t), while mostly ignoring real child abuse. He mentions violent child abuse once, he refers to other forms but doesn’t name them. Let me help this ignorant asshole out: a child can be abused through violent, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse. A child can also be gaslit to think they are the problem or that they deserve the abuse. There are so many things to talk about in all of that and so many ways we could crack down on abusive parents who do these things, and real policies that could be enacted to prevent and prosecute abusers. But he’d rather crack down on the parents of trans youth.
He also says the greatest way to protect these kids is through having a mom and dad, both ignoring that it’s parents who commit these acts of abuse and implying that he thinks same-sex parents are inadequate to the task of parenting. Join me in a heartfelt OH, COME ON! This abused kid is so tired of adults not getting it when it comes to child abuse and refusing to do the bare minimum to prevent child abuse.
Mercedes Masterson is turning 20.
Now to some exciting stuff. Mercedes Masterson will be turning 20 years old by the end of May. In May of 2025, I wrote a screenplay called Kings: Hit and Run and included a character named Mercedes Masterson. This was when I conceived of the character and first wrote her into existence. A group of us were coming off starring in a stage production of Neil Simon’s classic Barefoot in the Park. The five of us (my wife had helped direct us four actors) had so much fun collaborating that as the play was coming to a close, we decided we wanted to do something after it was over. We opted to do a TV series, I was working for a TV station at the time. After the show concluded at the end of April, I wrote a sitcom pilot, we met and read it, and after we were done everyone felt off about it. The other actors wanted to do something dramatic instead. I pitched a short film I’d been toying with and we all agreed that sounded good. I wrote the screenplay in two weeks, as we had planned to start filming in June. During that writing, I knew I needed a character for Heather Jackson and I created a detective named Mercedes Masterson for her.
The name Mercedes comes from a character in Alexander Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo and Masterson just sounded like a great private eye noir name that worked with Mercedes. Little did I know I would spend the next 20 years developing and writing the character off and on, and that in 2016 I’d start a book series about her.
Heather out of character — as herself:
Heather Jackson has continued to discuss and collaborate on the character of Mercedes ever since 2005. I’d be lying if I said Mercedes wasn’t a little of Heather and myself. We’ve both put a lot into her. And I’m fortunate that Heather has come back to reprise her role for the book covers. Heather is an amazing person, y’all should know her. She’s strong, spirited, warm, and compassionate. She can also be funny as hell. In 2023, my wife and I celebrated 20 years of marriage, and we celebrated with a tiny ceremony in our home where Heather “officiated.” Per our request she wore a suit and tie.
So to honor the 20 year anniversary of this character, I’ve decided May 26th will be her birthday and we will be celebrating. In the library I’ve got some Mercedes freebies. A Sweet Sixteen Killer digital bundle which includes the first two stories — Sweet Sixteen Killer and Her Last Halloween. I’m also including the movie that introduced Mercedes in the library as a free download, it’s called Kings. Be sure to download the bundle and movie after reading this newsletter. You can use the buttons below to add them to your cart:
I plan to try and do more cool things throughout the month of May to celebrate this momentous occasion. So please celebrate with me, even if it is just by reading the stories and leaving a review or comment somewhere.
Update on Jonah of Olympic.
I’m happy to report the next novel in the Mercedes Masterson series is coming along. I have the edits back from my editor, Grace, and I’ve started working through the metaphorical red ink. I have next week off from school and my plan is to get through all of the editing by the end of the week.
For those who read the first two stories already, I think you’re really gonna love Jonah of Olympic. Everything is sort of ramped up, more fleshed out, more complex. I always knew Sweet Sixteen Killer was on the shorter end for a book in the series and Jonah is about three times as long as it and more accurate to the goal. I always intend for the books to be on the short side and easily digestible. I’ve always wanted these books to be quick enough that they could be read through in one or two evenings, depending on your speed as a reader. I’ll probably never publish a book in this series that is longer than 300 pages. If I do, come after me with a broomstick.
I also believe, and I’m not the only one saying this, that my writing has matured significantly since the first story. You can kind of see it in Her Last Halloween, I think, even though it’s a short story. I’m very proud of Jonah of Olympic and that things are finally starting to build up more and, I think, become more engrossing. Especially from a characterization point of view.
I’m also working on the book cover and here is a sneak peek at the vibe I’m working with at the moment. When I have a finished product, I’ll do a cover reveal.
When does Jonah of Olympic release? I’m glad you asked.
The plan is to publish by the end of May — in time for Mercedes’s birthday or as a belated birthday present. I’ll try to keep everyone updated on how it’s going, especially as those last few weeks of May approach. Hopefully, I won’t have to delay the release.
I think I’ll send out a short newsletter in a week with a story breakdown for what to expect with Jonah of Olympic. Hopefully, that sounds fun. I have been working on a synopsis but haven’t fine-tuned it yet. It’s literally the hardest part of writing.
I cannot wait to continue the adventures of Mercedes Masterson and for you all to read this next story.
What’s next?
After I release Jonah of Olympic, the next story in the series will be a shorter story called The Book of Jude. However, my game plan is to take a slight detour before I write and release that one. I have a gothic horror story about a female vampire living during the Victorian era that I’ve been sitting on for over a decade and Grace and I both agree that it would be fun to do next.
You may not know or recall, but after I did Sweet Sixteen Killer, I did a similar thing where I sidestepped and co-wrote Night Aggressions with Trent Becker which is a sci-fi horror story with zombies set in the 1990s. But I digress…
The gothic horror story is called The Affairs of Lady Blackwater and I love it a lot. I’m already dabbling with notes and building it up some, though I won’t dive in full throttle until after Jonah is released. Last October I released The Gentleman Killer and it also was set during the Victorian era. I look forward to returning to that time to write this next story.
“Cellophane” by Amanda Ghost.
This month’s ditty is by Amanda Ghost. This song was the song of choice for Heather Jackson when she was working on Mercedes for the first time. She shared it with me when we were working on the second film that was never finished. It’s a really good song and haunting in its way. I hope you enjoy it and think about Mercedes while you listen — especially if you’ve read some of the stories or have seen the movie.
