I’m not much of a gambler. In the past when I’ve gone to Las Vegas, I’ve never spent more than $20.00 on the slot machines. Total, not per day. Sure, I’d go with my mother to Bingo every time I would visit, but that was more about spending time with her, doing something she loved. My mother loved to gamble and she would play bingo and the slots. She was good at it, too…often winning. She had a drawer full of money that was her gambling winnings.

In two days, I turn 62 and will be eligible to take early social security. My mother did and it paid off. Unfortunately, it paid off because she died just shy of her 73rd birthday. As I approach this milestone, I’ve already decided I’m going to wait until full retirement age to start receiving my social security benefits. Mostly I’ve decided this based on advice from our financial planners, but I’m not stupid, I know it’s a gamble with the government. I’ve done the calculations. I envision the government as “the house” in an evil casino scenario, and “the house” never loses. At least, it has never lost with me. I’m not lucky like my mother. It’s easy to do the calculations. If I live to 79, I will have beat “the house” by waiting until full retirement age. If I wait until age 70 to receive social security, I will beat “the house” if I live past 82. Now that might seem like good odds because my dad is 87, and a lot of people are living into their 80’s and 90’s, but on my mother’s side of the family, there is evidence of short lives. So, unlike my wife, I don’t plan to gamble against “the house.” I’m taking social security at 66 and 10 months. These are morbid thoughts to have two days before my birthday, but in some ways, I am a very practical woman. In blackjack terms, I’m not sure if I’m taking another card because I have a 16 in my hand, or holding because I have seventeen. Regardless, I am going to gamble with “the house” and presume that I will live to at least the age of 79.

Sometimes I think that taking a chance on a new author, or on a genre that I wouldn’t typically read is a gamble, but I do it because in this case, my gambling has paid off. I understand that convincing others to purchase my dystopian novel might be a gamble, or at the very least, stepping outside their comfort zone. Yet, I really encourage readers to try something new because the feedback I’ve been given when a reader steps outside of their normal genre and takes a chance with one of my less conventional books, is almost always excellent. If you would like to take a gamble on The Others, you know the drill, just click one of the links below. I’m pretty sure you’ll beat “the house”. Don’t forget about the books on sale in MyLesfic from the wonderful authors, Erin O’Reilly and JM Dragon, my bosses and mentors: Addicted to You and Against All Odds!

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