MICHAEL R. FRENCH
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MICHAEL R. FRENCH - AUTHOR BLOG

Cliff Hanger : Jump Before You Get Pushed" - Review and Conversation with Conversation with Oakley Talbott

3/9/2021

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Published in the "New Mexican

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Available on Amazon
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​My next author is Michael R French.  Michael is an energetic thinker and a. Lover of lively discussions, and is passionately involved in the politics around the globe.  He thinks that a good grasp of histor
y  (which Michael definitely has) is vital to understanding what is shaping the world we live in, and how we fit into the vast scheme of things both now and tomorrow.  His creative writing skills and his master’s degree in journalism have helped him hone his talent in writing (and publishing) some 20 titles - young adult fiction, adult fiction, biographies, self help books and screenplays. 
     
 Everything he produces has an entertaining story with a deep and compelling underlying message.  Which shows up, naturally, in his latest book, Cliff Hanger : Jump Before You Get Pushed.  Dearest Readers, perhaps you joined the Jean Cocteau Cinema’s Virtual Author Event last January and you heard Michael discussing  Cliff Hanger.  The gist of the story is thus:  In 2030, viruses, spy drones, terrorism and joblessness have eroded American optimism.  People want something to believe in.  As demonstrated in a Midwest high school election, politics have taken on the inflexibility and dogma of a new religion.  Only true believers will survive and prosper.  Or so they think.
     There, Creampuffs, that should pique your interest.  Michael is not only and author, he is also the father of two adult children, an avid high-altitude mountain trekker, and a collector of first editions of 20th-century fiction.  But he is most famous in Santa Fe for his long business career in real estate, having been a partner with his wife, Pat French, in French & French Fine Properties, the prestigious boutique agency that is defunct but never forgotten.  And now you know … the rest of the story.
    So long, Sweetpeas.  Until next time…

Oakley
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SKEPTICAL  OF LOUD VOICES

2/28/2021

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 Watched Anderson Cooper narrate an hour TV primer on QAnon (“Q”).  Anderson (know as "A Cooper” on the deep web)  was trying to reason with a man who wrote the commentator that he wanted to execute him (exact reasons were unclear). A fallback for Q is promising to execute evil celebrities; that seems to up recruitment numbers. There’s more. Did anyone know there was a tunnel running underground from the Vatican to Jerusalem?  That a cabal of child-molesting liberals (Republicans and Democrats) suck blood from small children to gain special powers?  Every decade, our country has prophets of revolution and conspiracy theorists.   The American Nazi Party in the Thirties. The John Birch Society in the Fifties. The Tea Party  Republican wing starting in 2010.  Today, social media changes the game in so many ways that we should pay close attention. Q flourishes because  too many Americans need to  express their rage over being left out and left behind. The absurd conspiracy claims come from the manipulators  What’s real is the fear and frustration of those craving leadership and believe they have to settle for the loudest voice.
>>       I’m hoping the Pandemic ebbs soon, Congress pays a $15 hourly minimum wage, and America gets busy with infrastructure and climate change.  That’s something we should all be able to get behind. 
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"Cliff Hanger : Jump Before You Get Pushed" - Review by Dale Travous

1/28/2021

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Amazon
Michael R. French's novel Cliffhanger is a story set in the middle of the country in the near future and flows around an endearing young woman and her bid for the position of senior class president. The overall substance of the story is of consequences and the additive choices made to produce them,  of how choices and actions made at this moment can be amplifier through time to create consequences of greater scale in the future. I think that even if ones interests lie outside that of high school political campaigns, it is effortless to be quickly drawn into a very good story so very well told.

​​Mr. French's manner of story telling is unique and his writing masterful and precise. I feel I'm being mesmerized bass I read- if that can be possible - as if I'm watching a painting being made, brush strokes by brush stroke. His style is invisible, he is not standing between the reader and the story. And the story seems to materialize out of itself.
 
 Mr. French's #1 talent as a writer is his way of generating living, breathing characters. I became aware of his flair for this about half way through the book. I had been reflecting upon what I had just read when I realized that I have a high definition image of the main character, Brit, and that I have no recollection of reading lengthy passages that describe her in such fine detail. My dawning was this:  she was assembled by me from lots of little pieces, unrelated quirks, gestures, stray thoughts. Perhaps this is the same mechanism that we use when we come to "know" someone, that we form a composite from the bits and pieces of what we observe. Here we areaquainted with High School seniors in the process of sifting and solidifying the traits that will define their future roles. The readers are on a parallel course with that of the characters, we are aquiring an ever increasing detailed image of them as they gain deeper understanding of themselves. In one memorable scene, we become more familiar with Nathan through the eyes of Brit as she clandestinely surveys the contents of his bedroom through a closed window. His possessions help us to understand the diverse factors influencing his internal make up, subtle hints ,that become obvious with hindsight , of the ingredients that will flavor his unfolding personality disorders.  Here, Mr. French's fluid manner of description is cinematic, successfully emulating that of Hitchcock in the opening scene of Rear Window.
 
 Cliffhanger is a purely fun-to-read novel. We become witness to aspects of average American High School life coalesce into a promise of a greater future, one that they will play a part in designing.
 
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Michael R. French-  Virtual Author Event- Sponsored by George R.R. Martin's  Jean Cocteau Cinema

1/6/2021

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Date: 01/10 Time: 4pm
Link - https://beastlybooks.com/project/virtual-author-event-michael-french/

Michael R. French Book Reading
Go Here to Sign Up for the Presentation
Michael R. French discusses his latest book.
"Cliff HangerJump Before You Get 
Pushed"

n 2030, viruses, spy drones, terrorism, and joblessness have eroded American optimism.  People want something to believe in.  As demonstrated in a Midwest high school election, politics have taken on the inflexibility and dogma of a new religion.  Only true believers will survive and prosper.  Or so they think.
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THE REAL WINNER OF THE 2020 ELECTION.

11/23/2020

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Cliff HangerGreat Book
Available Now
Pass the envelope.  And the winner is…the voter.  
        Specifically, millions  of new voters, many of whom were in their teens and twenties, stormed the barricades.  The #neveragain and other movements of the last four years were great motivators.  In my generation, most of us didn’t vote  until our thirties, if  then, finally figuring out that politics matter.  So what was different this time?    Metaphorically speaking, a lot of us of all ages and races felt that democracy had come down with COVID,  and unless we voted, no one could be sure it would survive.   The  65% voter turnout was, I believe, a record for an American presidential election.  May the tree of democracy continue to grow.   America used to be known principally for its military and economic might.   Now, there is additional power to harvest for the world to see. One voice, one vote, to start the list. 
   
In my modest new novel Cliffhanger, it’s 2030 and America is going through tough times again. An 18 year old young woman, running for political office,  makes her voice singular, irresistible, and unsinkable in a sea of anger apathy.  In history, so often it’s one person who makes the difference. 
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Share a Meal, Begin to Bind Our Wounds

11/16/2020

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I have a modest proposal in our age of ever-deepening polarization.   My proposal is based on the idea of breaking bread with strangers, like the Pilgrims did with the Wampanoag tribe at Plymouth Colony. In the spirt of the First Thanksgiving, dwell on this for a minute. When Covid finally goes away, two coalitions (maybe  three hundred folks each), are formed, each composed of volunteers who think of  themselves as open-minded.  One coalition is made up  entirely of Progressives, while the second is entirely Conservatives. The two sides agree on a three monthlong period to get to know each other as human beings, not stereotypes—and in a very specific way.  Basic   organizational skills are required, as are cooking skills.  The Progressives invite small groups of Conservatives into their homes for dinner and the Conservatives invite Progressives into their homes for a hot meal. One glass of wine only. Politics cannot be discussed, if at all, until dessert in served.


 Over the years,i have seen more conflicts and disputes dissipate or even go away over delicious food and the accompanying hospitality.  Simple, yes.  Corny, not really.  Difficult to pull off?  Only if no one is serious about healing political wounds that are bleeding our democracy dry.    
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Burning Questions

6/6/2020

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One of the burning questions about saving our democracy is how to jump start voter turnout, no matter whether in state, municipal or federal elections.

Again, I like  talking politics to near-strangers I meet.  Here  are some of their answers to the question above.  Nothing might seem terribly new, but that’s because we’ve yet to find  the political will to even experiment with change.

1.  Pay individuals, starting at age 18, to register to vote.  Pay them something every time they vote.  In a capitalist democracy, nothing motivates like money.  The federal government has just given three trillion dollars to its citizens to get the economy off life support.  Good use of taxpayer dollars, I think.  So is paying citizens something to insure our democracy. The payment might be in cash, or perhaps a tax deduction or credit on your income tax. 

2. Impose a tax “penalty” for failing to vote—use the stick as well as the carrot.  We are not  “a free country.”  We are a country of incredible freedoms, and they cost a lot to maintain.

3. Raise House term limits from two years (which is mostly spent on frantic fund raising instead of making laws) to four years.  Keep the Senate term at six.

4.  Eliminate the electoral college.  This puts a nail in the coffin of gerrymandering. The popular vote should determine winners.

5.  Have federal guidelines (such as time off from work to vote)  to expand voting opportunities and minimize voter suppression.

6.  Instead of going to a polling station, encourage mail-in ballots, allotting a full month for voters to comply, and have strong oversight of the counting process.  Consider making mail-in voting mandatory.   

7.  Drastically limit the amount of political donations that individuals, corporations, and PAC's can make.  

8.  Maintain and expand media coverage of every election cycle.  Shine a bright light in dark corners without being intimidated or censored.

9.  Make civics class mandatory in high school.


Any of the above requires a major shake up in the status quo, arousing the ire of, well, the status quo, which has the most to lose.  It takes courage to fight another civil war, especially  using  brains and good-will instead of ideologies.  Does medicine, science, the arts, or fashion ever remain the same, let alone for 250 years?  The Constitution’s best chance of survival and effectiveness is not to stay the same, either.
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I Can't Breathe

6/2/2020

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​One white knee on a black neck may prove to be one knee too many. 

​The police-caused death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week may be the galvanizing point for real change this November.  I hope so.  Racism is on the ballot.   Like COVID-19, racism too is a virus, an invisible pathogen passed down from generation to generation.  It can hibernate from time to time, but in four centuries, it has never been dormant for long.  Please help kill this virus by voting.  Please study the history of the candidates. Please turn out the noise and listen to your mind and heart.  My novel, Once Upon a Lie, publlshed a few years ago,  was my small contribution to insights into  American  racism of the Eighties and Nineties.  I learned so much in writing it:   The kernel of the virus is always the same.  If you don’t have discussions with those who don’t agree with you what that kernel is—don’t give up. Keep talking, keep protesting without  violence. Having the courage to substitute dialog for polarization may save our democracy."
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    Michael R. French

    Michael French is a graduate of Stanford University and Northwestern University. He is a businessman and author who divides his time between Santa Barbara, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.



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