Noel C. Cilker

When President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13769 on January 21, 2017, suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, decreasing the number of refugees to be admitted to 50,000 in 2017, and suspending immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, among other provisions, he was standing on the shoulders of other state and national leaders throughout history who also exercised their powers to exclude groups of people from entering the country. President Donald Trump signs Executive Order 13769. Courtesy Radio Free Europe. Using the government to refuse entry or to expel a group of people is not new. Famous examples include President Franklin Roosevelt and the SS St. Louis  in 1939, the Chinese Exclusion Act  in 1882 and the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. The fears that led to those actions are the same we hear now, that we're either 1) afraid that foreigners will compromise the security of our country, or 2) that they will leech the coun...

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the San Francisco Writers Convention. It was an entertaining sight - hundreds of slightly-hunched, pale-faced, sloppily-dressed, crooked-fingered writers lurching from session to session on how to write dialog, how to find an agent and how to leave your room and interact with the outside world in general. Questions ranged from "How do I submit a manuscript?" to "I'm writing about mushrooms. Who should my protagonist be?" It was a unique circus. The first day, the conference organizer worked the registration line and asked everyone what they were writing. When he came to me, I said, "A historical narrative about the Gold Rush," to which he replied, "There's a lot to be mined there!" to which I replied back, "Very nice." (My sales pitch got better as the conference went on. Eventually I was able to say: "When Ah Toy's husband whisks her from China to strike gold i...

My, this blog looks dusty. If you are someone who's been following the progress of the book I'm writing and judged my success by the frequency of my blog posts, you've long since given up hope that I would ever finish Ah Toy's story. I don't blame you; I have  gone into Google Blogger hibernation. But unlike a hibernating bear, I've been quite busy while seeming to be comatose. Here are some of the highlights over the past five months since I've last come up for air. In October 2016, at about 75,000 words, I hit a lovely patch of writer's block. Forcing myself to keep going wasn't going to work, so I took a couple days off, grabbed my camera headed to China Beach State Park. It was refreshing to spend a few hours outdoors in great weather, smell the trees and take some photos in an effort to keep the artistic side of my brain activated. Here are a few shots from that seven-mile hike: A grove of trees that played with the light. A path t...