PJ Paulson

After exploring the mountains of the American West, the author has become an expert on life in what she refers to as the “Other Colorado” – the more than one-third of the state lying east of the Rocky Mountains. She finds the semi-arid high-elevation short-grass prairie much less amenable to human and plant life than the lush, green, forested hills of her youth. “Even the air is harsh,” she says. “Driving east, when I reach the middle of Kansas I can breathe again. On the upside, here you don’t have flying insects, mosquito bites, or frizzy hair." There are other things, though, like plague. "Really!" she exclaims. "I had thought bubonic plague disappeared with the Middle Ages. Not true. It’s endemic in areas of the western US. Plague can become pneumonic and transmit across species through droplets in the air; then it's 80 to 100 percent fatal. You almost never find that important detail in news articles about local plague incidents. I learned a lot about Yersinia pestis (the plague-causing bacterium) when dealing with a plague die-off in a prairie dog colony on my own property.” There’s a story about that on www.theothercolorado.life. “When I get interested in something, I research the heck out of it,” she explains. She has even debunked cattle mutilations with photos of two of her own cows. "Nobody wants to read about the debunking," she explains. "There's too much attention garnered and money to be made by promoting the mystique." You'll find she talks about most anything with the same straightforward bare-bones honesty. Her most important work? "In general, my writing is intended to help people. The work that stands out with the potential to promote positive cultural change is Not a Choice. The book and its website explain the complexity of fetal sexual development and the brain involvement. It's not simply genetics. Most people aren't even aware that a person can have more than two sex chromosomes. I explained the science in layman's terms so people can read it in everyday English." Where does she find her inspiration? "I can't explain the inspiration for my fiction - it's just there. The non-fiction comes primarily from experience or direct observation. I get involved in a little advocacy and activism. The initial drive to publish was the sum of events that began with losing my job twenty years ago. I had begun pioneering off-the-grid land to carve out my own small ranch, and one thing after another seemed to fall apart that year. It's written about in Summer of the Phoenix. I created a primitive sanctuary in which to find peace and serenity when the rest of the world seemed to have gone mad. I needed to recover from the loss of my job, heal from a painful medical anomaly, get over the final breakup of my on-again-off-again romance, and deal with drought, among other adversities. I had to turn all that around. Life here can be both harsh and awe-inspiring. Its gift, like the pearl crafted by an oyster to soothe the irritation of a grain of sand, is the inspiration to write. Come along and join me for a glimpse!” https://pjpaulson.com (author website) https://www.theothercolorado.life (articles and information on living in eastern Colorado) https://notachoice.net (The science of LGBTQI in layman's terms.)