If you’re the ‘water’ in an acquaintance that simply isn’t working out, get the hell away from the ‘oil’ as fast as your feet will carry you.

If you’re the oil, don’t worry about it. You’ll just rise to the top.

These words (my own) popped into the windmills of my mildly wheeling brain the other night for reasons upon which I shall not elaborate, due to the fact that said reasons are not really worthy of elaboration, and the remark above explains everything in a nutshell … or in a bottle of salad dressing, if you prefer.

Yet, I have no doubt that we can all relate to this truth, no matter which corner of the globe we happen to occupy at any given time, living life as best we can while the whole extravaganza spins onward through space, hurtling like an over-enthusiastic vaudeville act desperate to make an impression amid hosts of competing performers on the vast, star-glittered Stage of the Cosmos.

In short: don’t waste time with people who don’t appreciate you. Life is over in a blink.

Be the oil in the equation. A bit of self-preservational slipperiness and “density privilege” can come in handy, every now and then.

In other news, much more important and–at long last–rock solid information about the upcoming novel is forthcoming. There have been a few snags along the route as decisions took unexpectedly different twists and turns at various junctures in the past eight months, but all is well in hand and exciting developments are set to be revealed with aplomb and a slew of firm specifics in the coming weeks.

Much thanks for all patience during the interim, and do stay tuned. It will be rather worth it if I do say so myself.

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Jonathan Kieran’s epic new book, WISTWOOD, is slated for release in Spring 2020. Kieran is also the author of the Rowan Blaize series of classically appointed contemporary fantasy books (Brightbourne 2012), as well as the critically acclaimed (Midwestern Book Review, Manhattan Book Review) Confessions From The Comments Section: The Secret Lives of Internet Commenters and Other Pop-Culture Zombies. In addition, Jonathan creates and draws the irreverent Zanzibar Circus cartoon and comic strip. His work has been featured on The Daily Dot.com and in a plethora of other ‘zines, papers, and alt-weeklies. Click on the book covers above and to the right if you want to learn more about Jonathan’s current and upcoming titles or purchase them at Amazon.com.