Contrarian
I’m happy to announce that I’ve just turned in the final version of Contrarian, the third book in “The Grand Illusion,” my newest series. For those who haven’t been following closely, the first book in...
View ArticleContinual Convention Interview
Recently, the “unending” convention — Continual — interviewed me and has now posted the interview on on Youtube. Here’s the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txRHCNBSRa8
View ArticleFailure to Follow Through
The other day I read about a 31year-old National Guard veteran who is dying of stage four colon cancer because of two things: excessive exposure to airborne toxic chemicals created by U.S. Army...
View ArticleNever Enough
Almost never does a day go by when we don’t receive at least one solicitation from a charity, the vast majority from charities to which we have never contributed and to which we most likely never will....
View Article“Necessary” Inflation Adjustments
I don’t think it’s any surprise to most thinking people that the federal government is spending too much money that it doesn’t have. Yes, we need infrastructure improvements, desperately. We also need...
View ArticleAwards
This August will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the initial publication of The Magic of Recluce. It was not nominated for any awards in the field when it was initially published or thereafter. The...
View ArticleFragility?
Earlier this summer, Naomi Osaka, the then number one woman in the world in professional tennis, refused to attend press conferences and then dropped out of the French Open and subsequently decided not...
View ArticleMore Hidden Costs
The other day we received a box delivered by one of the major package delivery services that looked like it had been through a battle zone of some sort. Despite double-walled thick cardboard packaging...
View ArticleUseless?
When I was a teenager, all too many years ago, I knew a few other “guys” [how else can I refer to males of that indeterminate age too old to be teenagers and too immature to be adults] who doted on...
View ArticleUnconscious Hypocrisy
Over the weekend, I read a letter to the editor in the “local” paper (it’s mainly about St. George, but includes regional news and some stories about Cedar City). The writer was deeply concerned about...
View Article“Realistic” Dialogue
Dialogue is a key component of the vast majority of fiction, and certainly of the kind of books that I read and write. While readers and writers can have distinctively different views on dialogue,...
View ArticleThoughts on Climate Change
One universal characteristic of people, even highly educated individuals, is that we tend to prefer simple and uncomplicated answers, even to problems that are anything but simple. That’s one of the...
View ArticleBeliefs, Facts, And Stupidity
We all rely on beliefs to get through life, but there’s a range of beliefs. There are beliefs based on hard verifiable facts; beliefs based only on wanting to believe; and beliefs that have elements of...
View ArticlePersonal Freedom To Do What?
The reason for prohibiting smoking in confined spaces is simple. Study after study has shown that smoking is hazardous to the health of smokers and those nearby who inhale secondhand smoke. The tobacco...
View ArticleStupidity of the Extremes
Civilizations are built on cities, not on small isolated or rural communities. Even the word “civilization” is based on the Roman word for city, not the Greek, possibly because the Greeks never built a...
View ArticleUnexamined Assumptions
Even the best logic in the world can result in terrible outcomes if the basic premises or the assumptions behind those premises are incorrect or not factually accurate. The biggest flaws behind...
View ArticleISOLATE Sneak Peek
Tor has just released a free e-book “sneak peek” of the first few chapters of Isolate, the lead book of my new series, “The Grand Illusion.” It’s available from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
View ArticleLooking in the Wrong Place
Today, in the United States, we have a tremendous amount of anger, most of it because people feel disenfranchised in some way or another, but despite this anger, and the efforts of people on both sides...
View ArticleThe Most Dangerous Addiction?
A certain percentage of human beings have addictive personalities. They may be addicted to substances or behaviors. Thrill-seekers are often addicted to the adrenaline rush that comes with successfully...
View ArticleThe Afghanistan Illusion
Way back right after 9/11, when the Bush Administration decided to go into Afghanistan, my wife the music and opera professor said, “It’s going to end up like Vietnam.” I didn’t disagree. We weren’t...
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