Religious “Values” in Politics
Last week, just a week before the election, two candidates for an open Utah congressional seat got into a “contest” of sorts in which each claimed to hold the most “Mormon/LDS” views, although the...
View ArticleAudiobooks
Tantor Media has agreed to publish all of the books of the Corean Chronicles in audiobook format. I don’t have a publication timetable yet, but in the past Tantor has moved fairly quickly.
View ArticleLife is Not Multiple Choice
… and the test results are in. Utah high school students just received the results of a new test that measures achievement in language, mathematics, and science… and on average, less than half the...
View Article“Discovering” SF
Last week the New York Times book section led off with a review of a book whose title I’m not about to name, for reasons that will become obvious. The book in question was a “science fiction” novel by...
View ArticleThe Non-Integrated Society
No… I’m not talking about discrimination, at least not racial or gender discrimination, but about the growing inability of younger Americans, say a huge percentage of those under fifty, to integrate...
View ArticleState of Emergency
Apparently, Missouri governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and alerted the National Guard in preparation for possible violence in Ferguson, Missouri, because the grand jury is close to a...
View ArticleThe Cruelty of Absolute Certainty… the Arrogance of the True Believer.
So many of the news headlines today reflect both — another aid worker beheaded; hundreds of villagers of a different faith beheaded; kidnapped schoolgirls forced into marriage because women shouldn’t...
View ArticleThe Real “Message” of Ferguson
… has almost nothing to do with Michael Brown. Nor does it have all that much to do with “police brutality.” Those who focus on either are missing the underlying point and will only make the situation...
View ArticleMore Lawmaking Idiocy
Last week several Utah state legislators proposed giving “incentive funding” to those state universities who most increase the percentage and numbers of students completing their undergraduate studies...
View ArticleWriting… and the Reading Comfort Zone
One of many things I’ve learned in over forty years as a published science fiction and fantasy writer is that while readers span a great range of interests, backgrounds, and enthusiasm for the printed...
View ArticleProtests?
I understand the concerns over excessive use of force by police. I understand the fact that statistics and a wealth of data show that minorities are harassed more by police than are non-minorities....
View ArticleArticle 0
Because of a great deal of personal chaos in my life — such as remodeling our kitchen and dining room — and the substantial additional effort it took to research, calculate, write and deliver Solar...
View ArticleThe “It’s My Right” Society
A while back I mentioned that I’d almost hit a skateboarder with my car when he, wearing earbuds in both ears, turned off a sidewalk right into oncoming traffic… and had the nerve to look outraged when...
View ArticleNo One’s an Extremist… to Themselves
Several years ago, Southern Utah University named a small room in a campus building after Senator Harry Reid, who had graduated from S.U.U. years before. Earlier this year, a city councilman and the...
View ArticleAssorted Thoughts on Writing
Last month, Tor re-released The Soprano Sorceress in a trade paperback edition, but the Amazon Soprano Sorceress webpage that linked to me and my other books never showed the trade paperback edition. I...
View ArticleSF – Its Often Overlooked Role
In his book, The Meaning of Human Existence, the noted biologist Edmund Wilson calls for what amounts to a return to “the Enlightenment” with the unification of the sciences and the humanities in the...
View ArticleJumping to Conclusions
The other day I read a reader review of Heritage of Cyador which stated that “Modesitt’s Utah heritage and belief system comes through in his writing.” That’s about half right. My books do reflect to a...
View ArticleThoughts on Shoveling Snow
While Cedar City does have winter, often bitingly cold, if not nearly so cold as Canadian winters, it does reach below zero [Fahrenheit] temperatures a handful of times most winters, and most winter...
View ArticleOn the Matter of Lives Mattering
Recently, following the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, signs have sprouted in numerous places and at a number of rallies and protests concerned with “police brutality” and the way in which...
View ArticleThe Spellsong Cycle in Audiobooks
Tantor Media has also decided to present the entire Spellsong Cycle in audio books, beginning with The Soprano Sorceress, which has a release date of February 17th and is being narrated by Amy Landon....
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