The best thing for the relentless pain of RA has been distraction. Once, my distraction had been done managing a  sourdough starter. Then it was hydroponics. Tomatoes and oregano grow very well. Lately, my distraction  has been writing fiction. I love my characters. Even the bad guys aren’t so bad with the exception of Cyrus Pettibone. The development of the characters for my series Matilda and Her Alien and the sequel The BlueStone Colony has kept me occupied. Bertrand and Billy Boy come to mind when I think favorites. Bertrand is an amazing man. He is about 800 years old, but he looks about 35. He was born on Solana with a mutant BlueStone gene. He grew to be a lover of country and adventure. He spent time on the other planets in Solana’s galaxy. But his favorite was to visit Earth. He loved Starbucks French Roast Coffee and the American mid-west. He loved the trees and lakes of what would become Wisconsin and Minnesota. He bought sizable properties in those states as well as …