Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 107
April 6, 2017
Colons, commas, and all that…
In these days of acronymic texting and tweets, good praxis for spelling and grammar seems nonexistent. If my old teachers could see what’s going on, though, they’d be aghast or bewildered and think it was all some kind of code. They knew the rules, and even those who weren’t directly involved in teaching their students how to write and speak English would knock off points on a term paper if you didn’t obey them.
Many authors rebelled against this straitjacket of arcane rules, bending them for...
April 4, 2017
Free and responsible journalism…
I’ve always admired journalists. The good ones far outnumber those paparazzi and in-your-face reporters. They are maligned and persecuted even in democracies, and we all know what can befall them in regions of the world where despots and fanatics know the power of a free press and try to stop it at all costs. Many journalists, real or fiction, were childhood heroes of mine, and in my books the reader will find journalists of all kinds as principal characters (in my first book, Full Medical, e...
April 3, 2017
Monday words of wisdom…
Protecting our environment is not a radical idea; it is a moral responsibility.—Bernie Sanders
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Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder. Detective Chen is framed for the murder of a U.S. senator. As her partner Castilblanco moves to prove her innocenc, they uncover a complex plot involving the underbelly of NYC as well as the overbelly corresponding to the rich and powerful. #3 in the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series,” this book is now on sale at Smashwords and is available in all eb...
March 30, 2017
Pseudo-science and science in science fiction…
I loved those original Star Trek episodes because the best were based on sci-fi stories written by seasoned sci-fi writers, ones like Theodore Sturgeon and Harlan Ellison. They were often morality plays too, that is, good stories with some important themes mixed in. (Who could forget the message that racial prejudice is just plain stupid in the classic episode about the two black-and-white guys fighting on and on, one black on the left and white on the right, the other just the opposite?) The...
March 28, 2017
Three or more ways to stymie Trump…
Resisting Mr. Trump and his policies on a case by case basis—proving the connection with Russia, fighting the immigration executive order (the new one now), defeating the SCOTUS nominee, preventing the end of ACA, and so forth— makes Trump happy. Why? Because he’s spreading the progressive opposition so thin that we can’t really get organized. Along the way, he’s pandering to all the bigots, haters, and one-percenters in the country, a large crowd of anti-progressive people who return the fav...
March 27, 2017
Monday words of wisdom…
Shrapnel was invented by an Englishman of the same name. Don’t you wish you could have something named after you?—Kurt Vonnegut
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Action on the southern border! No, it’s not Trump beginning the construction of The Wall. It’s Chen and Castilblanco fighting terrorists, a cartel, and neo-Nazi militias. In Angels Need Not Apply, this deadly duo from the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” goes undercover to fight crime as part of a national task force. On sale now at Smashwords until Marc...
March 23, 2017
Does fiction have to seem real?
One of the quotes on my website is from Tom Clancy. He’d answer the title question in the affirmative. He’s probably referring to thrillers in that quote, but most good fiction has to seem real. A few genres—horror and fantasy, for example—are exceptions, but even hard sci-fi and historical romance novels should seem real enough—the more believable, the better. I often see events from the latest tweet from our president to NYC crime scenes (they’ve become eerily similar in some ways) and say,...
March 21, 2017
Waging war against Gaia…
I’m expecting a bloodbath in the EPA, NASA, NOAA and possibly other agencies as Mr. Trump wages war on the environment. Many employees there are civil service, but that might not stop Il Duce AKA Narcissus le Grand—he’ll just close down the agencies if he wants to get rid of them. The EPA, NASA, and NOAA are where many of those “bad scientists” can be found who disagree with the GOP claim that climate control and taking care of the environment have low priority. Narcissus le Grand even believ...
March 20, 2017
Monday words of wisdom…
A perv, a con artist, and a fascist walk into a bar. Bartender says, “What’ll it be, Mr. President?”—seen on a church sign.
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Action on the southern border! No, it’s not Trump beginning the construction of The Wall. It’s Chen and Castilblanco fighting terrorists, a cartel, and neo-Nazi militias. In Angels Need Not Apply, this deadly duo from the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series” goes undercover to fight crime as part of a national task force. On sale now at Smashwords until March 31...
March 17, 2017
Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
Party a lot, drink responsibly, and drive carefully. May the luck of the Irish be with you all!
