thatdisasterauthor

[thatdisasterauthor]

New Blog Name!!!

Been planning on changing my blog name for awhile and decided now is finally the time! So, @Katy-L-Wood is now @ThatDisasterAuthor! Holding onto the old blog name, of course, but I won't be using that blog, just this one.

[thatdisasterauthor]

I'll no longer be carrying large prints, so this is your last chance to snag an 11x17 inch version of this one! It is available as part of my mega art sale for only $3 in very limited quantities and once its gone its gone!

Shop Now

[thatdisasterauthor]

5 Days, 5 Prints, then we start the Monthlong Sale!

heyooo it's TIMMMEEEEEEEEE

Like the title says, I'll be releasing one new print design per day til the 7th, at which point I'll do the annual sale I always do, where I knock 25% off of EVERYTHING IN THE SHOP that isn't custom work!

The sale will last a month, so the release-a-day thing is mainly just to keep that countdown on everyone's radar by the time it starts.

As always, all prints are digital prints, with the gold ink done by hand and the shipping is based on postage fees. The sale lasts the month of November because shipping out of Canada during the holiday season is PARTICULARLY heinous so I like to have a month's worth of reminder time

So without further ado, here's the first design on the shop!

Pissing all by yourself, handsome?

[thatdisasterauthor]

New Blog Name!!!

Been planning on changing my blog name for awhile and decided now is finally the time! So, @Katy-L-Wood is now @ThatDisasterAuthor! Holding onto the old blog name, of course, but I won't be using that blog, just this one.

[thatdisasterauthor]

Remember: you cannot fix everything. If you try, you will spread yourself too thin and burn yourself out. Pick one or two things to devote yourself to. Someone else will pick the other things, and together we will carry it all.

[thatdisasterauthor]

@teagantheamazing Hope you don't mind, but I wanted to pull this reply out to talk about a little more in depth, because I think it is important that people understand this as we move forward.

Also, I am speaking as a private citizen here, not as an employee of the Forest Service.

In the United States, wildland fire response is handled at three basic levels: Federal, State, and Local.

Federally, it is further broken down into the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. (Some parks have their own fire crews as well, but that varies from park to park, and they're usually still technically Forest Service.) There's really not a ton of difference between the two aside from whose name is on your paycheck. Pay is the same across each, structure is the same across each, training is the same across each. Federal crews and resources are, generally, the main and biggest responders to wildfires because wildfires tend to happen primarily on federal lands.

At the state and local level things vary a lot from state to state. You can have things like the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control in Colorado and Cal Fire in California, and you can have local structure departments that also have wildland divisions and/or training. Some of the local departments will be volunteer. State and local responders also work closely with federal responders, but how much and for how long varies from fire to fire.

Then, on top of all of that, you have private/contract crews. They are what it says on the tin: private crews of firefighters. Some of these crews are great! Very professional, very skilled. Others are...ah...not.

Now, what I am concerned about specifically as we head into this new administration is what is going to happen at the federal level. As I mentioned in the original post, the Forest Service is already struggling. It has ALWAYS been struggling. Without giving you a whole huge history lesson, the Forest Service was founded in the early 1900s by Teddy Roosevelt to protect public lands and preserve them for future use. People threw a FIT about it, specifically people who wanted to basically strip mine the forests for every single available resource. Taft was elected after Roosevelt and basically started undoing everything his predecessor had done. The budget for the Forest Service was destroyed, protections were rolled back. The only reason the Forest Service survived was because in 1910 there was a MASSIVE fire. It was, at the time, unprecedented and the Forest Service was able to use it to lobby for better funding going forward. But the same cycle has repeated ever since. An administration that doesn't value conservation will come in, shred the budget, there will be deadly consequences that make the next administration pad the budget some, and then it will start again.

It's a lot like people who stop taking their medicine because they think they're cured since they feel better, but they only feel better because they were taking their medicine.

So what happens now? Well, it's already happening and it happened under Biden, and will only get worse under Trump. To keep it simple, there are two kinds of federal employment: seasonal, and year-round. Most of the federal Forest Service jobs are seasonal, because the work is seasonal. This includes firefighters, but it also includes things like park rangers and trail maintenance crews. From late spring to early fall there are tooooons of people working. Then, the rest of the year, its a skeleton crew of year-rounders doing mostly maintenance work, controlled burns, paperwork, stuff like that.

Now, with all of that said, here is where we stand at this specific moment: the decision has already been made that the Forest Service will not be hiring seasonal workers outside of firefighting next year. This means no seasonal park rangers, no seasonal maintenance people, none of that. This means next year parks are going to be a MESS. Bathrooms will not be cleaned regularly, campgrounds will not be maintained, trails will not be maintained, and a ton of other stuff. The year-rounder skeleton crew will be all we've got. And, crucially, there will be less professionals monitoring the woods looking for new fires. Rangers, even ones not working directly on fire stuff, are a crucial level of protection for spotting and reporting fires.

Secondary to that is the pay issue. Even if you're a year-rounder, the pay is abysmal. Your average out the gate, newbie wildland firefighter is going to make around $17/hr base pay if they work for a federal agency. Now, there's a ton of random stuff that can bump that pay up even without the retention bonus we're currently getting. You get a night differential and a Sunday differential for starters, and hazard pay when you are actively working a fire, plus there's ALWAYS overtime, sometimes an insane amount of it. Then there's per diem if you are traveling for a fire, and that can be a nice little bump too. But the point/problem is that the pay is VERY unpredictable. You can have a massively busy season and be swimming in money, or you can have a slow as fuck season and end up scrapping by because the base pay isn't enough. The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act is supposed to fix this by bumping up the base pay, but that can has been kicked back and forth in the government for yeeeears now.

Now, as you mentioned, people CAN transfer their federal qualifications for fire to state and private crews. It generally pays better if you do. But we do not want to privatize fire response. Given the size of this country, given the spread of the population within it, we have to have a federal firefighting force. Leaving it to the states and private companies will not be enough.

That is where we are starting the new administration: abysmal pay, failing departments, and slimmed back hiring. Given Trump's repeated insistence on slimming down the government, on withholding aid in blue states, on getting rid of things like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (which is also crucial for firefighting), and other things in that vein, I think we are staring down the barrel of a very, very dangerous time.

So, some action items if you want to help:

Call your local representatives and insist they pass the Wildland Firefighter Protection Act NOW, before the new administration comes in. The new administration could still screw it up, but we've gotta at least try.

Be patient and understanding with Park Rangers in the coming years. They are doing their best with what they've got.

Take responsibility for your use of public lands. Clean up after yourself, pick up litter when you see it, and donate if there is a way for you to do so.

Educate yourself and your community on wildland fire even if you don't think you are in a wildland fire prone area. Learn about and implement defensible space around your homes and communities. I'll be doing a lot of education around this going forward, so if you have questions or want help please ask me!

[thatdisasterauthor]

What I'm Going to do Going Forward

I think it is important to have clear goals right now, so here's mine:

I'm still going to get top surgery, but I talked to my original surgeon and got my deposit back. While I would love to stay with him, he is far more expensive than other options and I will now also be planning on getting my tubes tied, so I'll need money for that as well.

I am going to be focusing my activism efforts on emergency response and natural disasters. That is my niche, and that is where I feel I can do the most good. I will still lend my voice, signature, and vote to other causes, but my focus will be here.

I came up with an idea for a big project related to individual safety during disasters about a month back, and I'm going to do my best to get it out within a year. Don't want to talk about it too much just yet because it's still somewhat nebulous, but I'm super excited for it.

I'm still going to apply for a PhD in Emergency Management next year. If the program I want isn't getting funded due to the issues we are now facing, I will still be doing my planned dissertation topic as a non-fiction book.

I'm going to be more active in fandoms, and probably write more fanfiction. Need my little dose of happy, and fandom has always been a good way for me to get it.

No more social media before bed. Just reading. And less social media that I can't filter as well (so less TikTok, less Reddit).

I am still going to publish my books (and I've got a handful ready to go!) but that may have to look different if it becomes too expensive to produce special editions out of the country, or produce physical editions in general. We'll just have to wait and see on this one, but one way or another there will be books!

[thatdisasterauthor]

A Pragmatic and surprisingly comforting perspective about the Trump 2nd Presidency from the ACLU

***Apologies if this is how you found out the 2024 election results***

Blacked out part is my name.

I’m not going to let this make me give up. It’s disheartening, and today I will wallow, probably tomorrow too

AND

I will continue to do my part in my community to spread the activism and promote change for the world I want to live in. I want to change the world AND help with the dishes.

And I won’t let an orange pit stain be what stops me from trying to be better.

A link to donate to the ACLU if able and inclined. I know I am

[thatdisasterauthor]

Ok, so with all these posts going around aboht election interference and calling for a recount, i wanted to find evidence that weren't twitter screenshots

Bomb threats at polling places:

This claim is legit, as well as the source being from russian email domains. No actual bombs were placed or set off.

Burning ballot boxes:

3 incidents of burning ballot boxes have been confirmed for this election in Portland, Oregon and one in Vancouver, Washington, both of which are suspected to be from the same individual. Republican and Democrat officials have spoken out against this, ballot boxes were guarded after the incidents started, and fire suppression systems inside the ballot boxes saved the majority of the ballots, except for one box where 488 ballots were damaged due to a malfunction of the fire suppression system.

Fires were also confirmed in Arizona by a man who apparently just wanted to be arrested and had no political motivations.

No fires were confirmed in Georgia, despite repeated claims that most of the fires were in Georgia. Georgia changed their election laws in 2021 in regards to absentee votes. Ballot boxes have been notably targetted for election conspiracy and mistrust. Take this into account when you see outcry about ballot boxes in any way.

Votes not being counted:

The screenshots im seeing particularly note California, which is the state with the largest amount of registered voters. California is also dealing with massive wildfires rn. Its gonna take a couple days, and the election isnt officially over yet. Calm down

20 million unaccounted votes:

Yall . . .

This shit takes time. Theyre not "throwing your ballots out" or "deliberately not counting votes". Be so for real

Some of this shit is valid, and should probably be known. Some of this shit is making yall sound like trumpers in 2020. Be smart. Have critical thinking.

If youre gonna reblog or comment with claims i better see credible evidence to back your claims up or youre getting blocked

[thatdisasterauthor]

yesterday I told a friend "drown your sorrows tonight but save one bottle to make a molotov tomorrow" and I'm actually very proud of that. might embroider it on a pillow

[thatdisasterauthor]

I love nautical and seaside town horror stories. Tell me more about the fog and water that eats people

[thatdisasterauthor]

I'll no longer be carrying large prints, so this is your last chance to snag an 11x17 inch version of this one! It is available as part of my mega art sale for only $3 in very limited quantities and once its gone its gone!

Shop Now

[thatdisasterauthor]

Reiterating that I am looking for STANDALONES. If it has a sequel or is part of a trilogy or something I'm not interested in it right now.

Looking for Book Recs!

There's a certain type of books I really love, but it's more of a vibe than any sort of genre type thing, which makes it harder to track them down. At it's core, it's standalone books focused on queer characters where romance isn't the main plot, with little or no focus homophobia/racism/sexism, and with a happy ending (or, not so much happy as not doom and gloom). Even better if there's tons of queer characters rather than just the main one or two. Some examples of ones I love:

So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens

Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens

Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

All that Consumes Us by Erica Waters

Before we Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson

By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter

So yeah! If you know of any books that you feel like would fit in with this bunch, please let me know! Self-pub and indie-pub more than welcome, and please feel free to rec your own books.

[thatdisasterauthor]

Exactly.

Please, if you are a self-publishing author an indie author, learn the basics of book formatting.

Please.

The standards are in place for a reason. Margins are the size they are so that your thumb can rest comfortably on the sides of the book without blocking any text, and so you can read the text along the middle without tilting the book back and forth to see around the bend. Bleeds are so your margins don't get cut down too much when the text block is trimmed, you need them even if you don't have images in your book. Spaces between paragraphs are an internet convention and do not belong in books unless you are indicating a scene break.

Please. These rules aren't there to be mean. They are there for FUNCTIONALITY.

[thatdisasterauthor]

I hate recipes that only call for one egg. I do not purchase eggs on any sort of regular basis, so then I've gotta go out and purchase half a dozen and figure out something to do with the other five. And no one in my neighborhood has chickens, so I can't just go get an egg that way, and I don't actually know any of my neighbors anyway.

[thatdisasterauthor]

Here's a thing I did during the worst of my depression that I'm going to start doing again under the circumstances:

I got one of those paper pads that has undated days of the week on it and every day I would write down the things I got done. My depression was VERY good at stealing away my feeling of accomplishment, so this gave me a concrete way to see that I did do things. And I would put EVERYTHING on there. Took a shower? On there. Brushed my teeth? On there. Watched a movie? On there.

Now, I'm also going to add writing down one thing that made me happy every day.

[thatdisasterauthor]

Looking for Book Recs!

There's a certain type of books I really love, but it's more of a vibe than any sort of genre type thing, which makes it harder to track them down. At it's core, it's standalone books focused on queer characters where romance isn't the main plot, with little or no focus homophobia/racism/sexism, and with a happy ending (or, not so much happy as not doom and gloom). Even better if there's tons of queer characters rather than just the main one or two. Some examples of ones I love:

So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens

Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens

Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

All that Consumes Us by Erica Waters

Before we Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson

By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter

So yeah! If you know of any books that you feel like would fit in with this bunch, please let me know! Self-pub and indie-pub more than welcome, and please feel free to rec your own books.