Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 161
October 23, 2014
Obama isn’t a lame duck; he’s a scapegoat…
It’s become a tradition in the presidential second term: the President’s popularity slides for whatever reasons, and everyone piles on, like in a mudwrestling competition—an appropriate metaphor, because the dialectic basically reduces to mudslinging. Bush suffered from this tradition; now it’s Obama’s turn. It’s almost laughable that he’s blamed for the Secret Services’ debacles, stock market plunges, the Ebola crisis, ISIS, the D68 enterovirus, global warming, and bad weather besotting the...
October 22, 2014
Interviewing romance author Callie Norse…
[Note from Steve: We have a real treat today. Readers are probably tired of my pushing thriller, mystery, and sci-fi novels, so Callie Norse, romance writer from the great Midwest, has kindly subjected herself to my interview questions. She’s the author of the 4-book Carrington series, a series of romance/mystery/paranormal novels; the corresponding titles are For the Love of Lisa, A Love Too Soon, The Anniversary…not to be forgotten, and Flashes from the Past, available in both paperback and...
October 21, 2014
What happened to fractals?
I still have a copy of Benoit B. Mandelbrot’s The Fractal Geometry of Nature sitting on my shelf. That 1982 hardcover edition is $31.90 on Amazon now. Surprisingly, there is a 2010 Kindle edition, priced at $45.06, technically an eTextbook. I say surprisingly because the original had many graphics pages. I guess you’d better have a Kindle Fire or some other color tablet; you won’t see much on the Kindle paper white. The coffee-table size of the original must have made the Kindle edition diffi...
October 17, 2014
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #73…
Item: Let’s bury the Hachette. Yeah, I know, Hachette is French and probably not pronounced like hatchet, but I couldn’t resist. What I’m arguing for is to forget about the Amazon v. Hachette saber rattling. These behemoths can rattle their corporate steel as much as they want, and the NY Times can write as many biased articles about the controversy as they want. I’m tired of it. Moreover, everything’s been said already; I’m not seeing any new thoughts (in spite of Lee Child). Trad-pubbing v....
October 16, 2014
American vistas…
The settings for many of my stories cover a variety of venues, from the NYC area where I now live, to other places in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and South America, to Earth’s solar system and beyond. My characters have traipsed through five of the seven continents (guess which ones I’ve not considered). My having lived abroad for many years gives me a broader perspective than some authors, I suppose, but any detailed knowledge could probably be obtained via Google nowadays (some of the scenes fr...
October 15, 2014
Review of Lee Mims’ Trusting Viktor…
(Lee Mims, Trusting Viktor, Midnight Ink, 2014, B00HNEPEZC)
[Note from Steve: The author has agreed to do an interview. Readers can learn more about her and her writing life. Coming soon!]
This novel is the kind I love to read and write—here you have a pulsating thriller. But the book is also a two-fer, with mystery and suspense dominating the thriller elements. Whatever you call the genre, it is an interesting and exciting read.
The background for this story can be found in real-life exploratio...
October 14, 2014
Why some dinosaurs just have to die, part two…
Last Thursday’s post was more about politics; this one is more about business. Of course, they’re related, and the difference between retrograde conservative and cautious conservative carries over, as well as the difference between progressive and extreme progressive aka revolutionary. The internet has become the tool of all these groups. Like most tools, it’s subject to misuse and abuse by the people who use it. In the long run, it could be more dangerous than nuclear proliferation if we let...
October 9, 2014
Why some dinosaurs just have to die…
Conservative elements in our society once were useful. “Watch out because progress for progress’ sake might have unintended or unexpected negative consequences.” This dire from-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire warning can be described by one word: caution. Progressives, in their haste to move forward, can throw caution to the wind. Unintended or unexpected negative consequences can bite us on our butts. Unscrupulous personalities can take advantage of well-meaning ones. Progressives are more emot...
October 8, 2014
Gardens…
Many people love their gardens, whether they’re filled with flowers, shrubs, and trees, or vegetables. More generally, many people love expansive places where they can jog, feed the ducks, or just sit on a bench enjoying the sun or shade while maybe talking to a friend. What would New York City be without its High Line or Central Park? What would DC be without its Mall or National Zoo? What would Boston be without the Commons and Gardens? What would San Francisco be without Golden Gate Park?
I...
October 7, 2014
Seasons…
In the spirit of last Tuesday’s post on global warming and greenhouse gases and the current changing of the seasons (something affecting both hemispheres, mind you), I thought I’d write about a few things we human beings take for granted about Gaia. One thing is the tilt of the planet’s axis. Gaia’s is optimal. It’s the Goldilocks Principle all over again: too little tilt and the equatorial zones could become too hot, with maybe sweltering jungles or dry deserts; too much tilt and the winters...
