Excellence in “Borrowed” or “Original” Novels?
No author writes anything, even the most “original” fantasy or far-future ultra-high novel, without borrowing from somewhere. To begin with, language, the very medium in which novels are written,...
View ArticleHere we go again…
As I write this, sixteen Democrat representatives have signed and sent a letter stating that they want new leadership leading them in the U.S. House of Representatives. In short, they’re opposed to...
View ArticleWhy Is It …
That telemarketer after telemarketer can get my cellphone number, but I can’t get the cellphone numbers of acquaintances and friends who’ve dropped their landlines without physically meeting them or...
View ArticleArticle 1
Although it’s been a while since I posted on my reading, it’s not because I haven’t been reading, but because I’ve read a greater percentage of books, in my opinion, not worth mentioning. Among the...
View ArticleThis Labeled World
When I first read what is now termed speculative fiction, it was known as science fiction. Then sometime in the late 1960s, with the popularity of The Lord of the Rings, fantasy emerged as a separate...
View ArticleWho Got You There?
The other day, I was reading an author’s afterword to a book, the kind where the author thanks editors and readers, and family, acquaintances, all of whom made the book possible in the author’s eyes,...
View ArticleThe Delegation Myth
There’s a general myth about delegation to the effect that successful people can delegate and those less successful can’t. Like all myths, it has a small grain of truth behind it, but I’ve discovered...
View ArticleThe Big Kill/Big Hit Misconception
I know an investor who’s always looking for that one stock that will make him at least a millionaire. It’s never happened, at least not so far as I’ve been able to tell, and he’s lost plenty seeking...
View ArticleWorldshapers Podcast Interview
I recently was interviewed by Canadian author Edward Willett on his podcast, where he interviews various authors. The link is https://theworldshapers.com/2018/12/14/episode-13-lee-modesitt-jr/ And, if...
View ArticleEconomic Growth, Global Warming, and Immigration
These days, it seems like the Trump-Republican “party-line” answers to everything are: (1) economic growth will solve all our problems; (2) global warming either really doesn’t exist or, if it does,...
View ArticleHippocrates Had It Right
According to various accounts, one of the basic principles of the legendary Greek physician Hippocrates was, first, to do no harm. From what I’ve seen in my life, that prescription is valid as a...
View ArticleThe Problem With “No”
The Republicans have had full control of all three branches of the federal government for the past two years and so far as I can determine, they managed only five things: (1) To keep the government...
View ArticleLying and Untrustworthy
As usual, most of the media and most Americans have missed, overlooked, or minimized the most important aspect of the current partial government shutdown, a shutdown ostensibly over the amount of...
View ArticleProfessional Politicians, Idealists, Polarization, and Immigration
The problem with true idealists in politics is that few true idealists are able to compromise, and no government, particularly a democratically-based government, works without compromise. The problem...
View ArticleAction as Distraction
The other day, I ran across a reader review of one of my books, where the reader downgraded it because it had the “least action” of any book in the series, as if his prime criterion for excellence was...
View ArticleTemper Tantrums
When Trump learned that the House of Representatives and the Democratic minority in the Senate were willing to give him more border security funding, but no wall or solid steel fence, he walked out of...
View ArticleTriumph of the Evil Genius?
We don’t have a national emergency. We soon will, because that’s exactly what Trump has planned. It’s all part of a grand scheme that just might work. Consider the developments to date. First, Trump...
View ArticleDemocrats: It’s Your Turn on Immigration
Regardless of how the shut-down turns out, the Democratic Party risks losing its majority status in the next election for one simple reason. A majority of the country believes that there is an...
View ArticleThe “Wall” Image Problem
If people were logical, there wouldn’t even be an issue over the wall. But people are emotional, and their emotions are tied into images. For Trump and his supporters, the wall is an image of strength...
View Article“Baroque” Writing
The other day I was reading a fantasy novel that had been recommended to me by someone whose judgment I trust. I had to force myself to finish it. It wasn’t that the technical aspect of the writing...
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