Thomas W. Devine's Blog, page 3
April 18, 2021
The Sexual Challenge
As an elderly person, I have long lamented modern sexual promiscuity. Promiscuity is not a word that is commonly used these days; perhaps no longer PC.
I was pleased to come across carefully chosen words on the subject by Emma Wood (NZ Catholic April 18-May, 2021) which put matters so much in perspective for me and well expressed what I have been feeling.
She wrote:
“Sex – an act that is so involved and intimate at a bodily level – should be reserved for a relationship that is as involved and intimate at every other level.”
By contrast, she describes sex, as a result of the sexual revolution, as having “no inherent meaning. Sex is for the relieving of a bodily urge; other people are the outlets.”
She contrasts the modern approach to sex as: “Accordingly, it does not matter what kind of relationship sex takes place within or who it is done with.”
She declares that “courtship and romance” should be revived.
If only.
I am so saddened by how modern young people are missing out on this beautiful experience.
I was pleased to come across carefully chosen words on the subject by Emma Wood (NZ Catholic April 18-May, 2021) which put matters so much in perspective for me and well expressed what I have been feeling.
She wrote:
“Sex – an act that is so involved and intimate at a bodily level – should be reserved for a relationship that is as involved and intimate at every other level.”
By contrast, she describes sex, as a result of the sexual revolution, as having “no inherent meaning. Sex is for the relieving of a bodily urge; other people are the outlets.”
She contrasts the modern approach to sex as: “Accordingly, it does not matter what kind of relationship sex takes place within or who it is done with.”
She declares that “courtship and romance” should be revived.
If only.
I am so saddened by how modern young people are missing out on this beautiful experience.
October 25, 2020
Uncalled for Put-Down of Dementia Sufferers
Not much moves me to indignation these days. This did.
New Zealand has recently had a referendum on assisted suicide but only for people with a fatal illness and a few months to live. Result yet to be released.
Columnist Rosemary McLeod (Dominion post 16.10.20) used the subject as an opportunity to make a couple of snide comments about dementia sufferers.
In the middle of the article, she expresses the hope that her elderly aunt (who has dementia) will be cheerful and not drool.
Towards the end, she writes: “I can see sense in people diagnosed with dementia being able to book a quick departure (euthanasia) too.”
Thus the slippery slope of legalizing assisted dying for any reason.
I have a relative who has had vascular dementia for over ten years – a curse I would not wish on anybody.
Though sometimes bravely aware of how her brain is deteriorating she still manages to get some enjoyment out of her curtailed life.
She does not need people like McLeod to start her thinking she is a burden that should be put down like an unwanted animal.
New Zealand has recently had a referendum on assisted suicide but only for people with a fatal illness and a few months to live. Result yet to be released.
Columnist Rosemary McLeod (Dominion post 16.10.20) used the subject as an opportunity to make a couple of snide comments about dementia sufferers.
In the middle of the article, she expresses the hope that her elderly aunt (who has dementia) will be cheerful and not drool.
Towards the end, she writes: “I can see sense in people diagnosed with dementia being able to book a quick departure (euthanasia) too.”
Thus the slippery slope of legalizing assisted dying for any reason.
I have a relative who has had vascular dementia for over ten years – a curse I would not wish on anybody.
Though sometimes bravely aware of how her brain is deteriorating she still manages to get some enjoyment out of her curtailed life.
She does not need people like McLeod to start her thinking she is a burden that should be put down like an unwanted animal.
April 19, 2020
An Author’s Life Change
David Jeremiah, a tv preacher, recently spoke on air about humility. He stressed that it is not about downplaying yourself or regarding yourself as less worthy but about focussing on others rather than being self-centered.
It caused me to reflect on a change I’ve undergone during a year of no longer writing and after having published 12 novels in as many years.
I feel like I’m back wearing a more familiar skin from the days before I became pre-occupied with book promotion and, thereby, self-promotion. Not that I was ever very good at it (in terms of book sales).
I’m now living a quieter, more placid life and letting old age catch up with me.
It caused me to reflect on a change I’ve undergone during a year of no longer writing and after having published 12 novels in as many years.
I feel like I’m back wearing a more familiar skin from the days before I became pre-occupied with book promotion and, thereby, self-promotion. Not that I was ever very good at it (in terms of book sales).
I’m now living a quieter, more placid life and letting old age catch up with me.
August 9, 2019
Why Have Men Become Wimps?
Despite it being an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, abortion is not a contraceptive. Women ought not to rely on it in place of contraception. The current feminist rhetoric about abortion reads as if women don’t give a damn about contraception so long as they have easy access to abortion as a back-up.
I can’t fault a woman for not wanting to carry a child to birth if that’s how they feel, but I can fault them for conceiving it.
Motherhood has been revered over the centuries for its nurturing. Now many women are asking for their unborn children to be put to death. What on earth has changed in the feminine psyche? It is a sad, sad state of affairs.
Despite the fact that feminists think men have no rights in the matter, an unborn child belongs as much to the father as the mother. Why have men become such wimps in accepting feminist rhetoric?
I can’t fault a woman for not wanting to carry a child to birth if that’s how they feel, but I can fault them for conceiving it.
Motherhood has been revered over the centuries for its nurturing. Now many women are asking for their unborn children to be put to death. What on earth has changed in the feminine psyche? It is a sad, sad state of affairs.
Despite the fact that feminists think men have no rights in the matter, an unborn child belongs as much to the father as the mother. Why have men become such wimps in accepting feminist rhetoric?
July 21, 2019
The Marriage Bed
Ronald Rolheiser makes some interesting observations about relationships and sex in his column in the NZ Catholic (June 16-29, 2019).
He asserts that “finding a soulmate has more to do with finding the moral comfort and psychological safety of a monogamous marriage bed than it has to do with the stuff of romantic novels.”
That has certainly been my experience – not that I’ve experienced promiscuity as a basis of comparison.
Rolheiser reassures us in his column, however, that “any sex which you have to go home from is … something which is not delivering what you most long for and is, at best, a temporary tonic which leaves you searching still for something further and more real.”
The moral – don’t look for the comforts of the marriage bed except in your own.
He asserts that “finding a soulmate has more to do with finding the moral comfort and psychological safety of a monogamous marriage bed than it has to do with the stuff of romantic novels.”
That has certainly been my experience – not that I’ve experienced promiscuity as a basis of comparison.
Rolheiser reassures us in his column, however, that “any sex which you have to go home from is … something which is not delivering what you most long for and is, at best, a temporary tonic which leaves you searching still for something further and more real.”
The moral – don’t look for the comforts of the marriage bed except in your own.
May 20, 2019
To Use or Not to Use?
I guess that’s a question every author faces when they receive a review of their book. If the review is not favourable then I guess an author won’t use it in promotion. I’ve had that experience once. I thought the review did not reflect the generally favourable opinion of my second to last novel.
My last novel (Death on the Quay) has recently received the following balanced review:
“This paperback book is an easy to read murder mystery “whodunnit”. Suitable for over 18 years of age as some details of violent acts are quite graphic. However, these are necessary for the story and a mature reader will understand this.
“The story begins with a young freelance journalist, Adam Adair, walking to work along Lambton Quay in Wellington, when a woman collides with him and overbalances. Adam eases her fall and in the process of trying to sit her up, a bystander notices that she is bleeding from a knife wound in her back. The woman fixes her eyes on Adam with a desperate, pleading look before losing consciousness. Adam soon learns that she dies in the ambulance before reaching hospital.
“Adam is haunted by the young woman's desperate attempt at communication and decides to investigate, as the Police do not seem to be making any progress, putting him and his closest friend in great danger.
“Meanwhile, fashionable socialite, Cynthia, is being stalked, but hides her fears as she has a great secret that she cannot risk being uncovered. The plot thickens as some unsavoury characters are introduced.
“The author keeps the reader wondering until the end of the story as events start to link in with each other, highlighting the stark differences of behaviour and attitudes between social classes. The author has the ability to make the characters become quickly familiar to the reader which makes for easy reading. The author also has a great knowledge of the City of Wellington and describes the locations of events very well, so even a reader not familiar with the city would get a good picture of Wellington and environs. If I had any criticism at all, it would be that occasionally the author slightly overdoes the details of road and area names.
“Altogether an enjoyable quick read book with a good story line, written in a fairly simplistic manner which makes it the easy read that it is. I would recommend this book as a ‘put your feet up’ holiday read.”
The reviewer (whom I won’t name here) is maybe an older person, for all I know, because she refers to the 37 year-old lead protagonist as “young”. She also thought the book should have an R18 rating, which surprised me. I’d been very careful, in writing the story, to limit detail of violence as I’m not a fan of such descriptions. I think I achieved my intention when compared to many other popular novels I’ve read (including one I’m currently reading). Her opinion was therefore a surprise.
A male beta reader of my novel, pre-publication, had even commented on how I had “played down the violence”. Perhaps the reviewer was more sensitive to literary violence than he or I am.
“Easy read” is a phrase used by many book reviewers (e.g. the New Zealand Herald review of the Fifty Shades novel series). It might sometimes appear dismissive about the author’s style.
In the review of my book, above, the reviewer links “easy read” with the book being written in a “fairly simplistic manner”. That is somewhat pejorative.
What measure has she used?
Bror Tranbacke of the Easy-to-Read Foundation suggests “easy read” means "easy to understand" because difficult words are avoided”, but also “because the presentation as such is made specific and easy to follow.”
He gives useful “examples of criteria or guidelines that can be used to make a test easy to read and easy to understand”:
• “Write concretely. Avoid abstractions and transferred concepts.
• “Be logical. The action should follow a common thread with logical continuity.
• “Action should be direct and simple, without long introductions and without too many characters involved.
• “Avoid symbolical language (metaphors) that may be misunderstood by the reader.
• “Be concise. Do not place several actions in a single sentence. Place the words of the same phrase on the same line.
• “Avoid difficult words, but attempt to use a language that is adult and dignified. If unusual words have to be used, they should be explained by context clues.
• “Even rather complicated relationships can often be described and explained if this is done in a concrete and logical manner, where events take place in a natural chronological framework.”
I’m quite happy for my writing to reach that standard.
My last novel (Death on the Quay) has recently received the following balanced review:
“This paperback book is an easy to read murder mystery “whodunnit”. Suitable for over 18 years of age as some details of violent acts are quite graphic. However, these are necessary for the story and a mature reader will understand this.
“The story begins with a young freelance journalist, Adam Adair, walking to work along Lambton Quay in Wellington, when a woman collides with him and overbalances. Adam eases her fall and in the process of trying to sit her up, a bystander notices that she is bleeding from a knife wound in her back. The woman fixes her eyes on Adam with a desperate, pleading look before losing consciousness. Adam soon learns that she dies in the ambulance before reaching hospital.
“Adam is haunted by the young woman's desperate attempt at communication and decides to investigate, as the Police do not seem to be making any progress, putting him and his closest friend in great danger.
“Meanwhile, fashionable socialite, Cynthia, is being stalked, but hides her fears as she has a great secret that she cannot risk being uncovered. The plot thickens as some unsavoury characters are introduced.
“The author keeps the reader wondering until the end of the story as events start to link in with each other, highlighting the stark differences of behaviour and attitudes between social classes. The author has the ability to make the characters become quickly familiar to the reader which makes for easy reading. The author also has a great knowledge of the City of Wellington and describes the locations of events very well, so even a reader not familiar with the city would get a good picture of Wellington and environs. If I had any criticism at all, it would be that occasionally the author slightly overdoes the details of road and area names.
“Altogether an enjoyable quick read book with a good story line, written in a fairly simplistic manner which makes it the easy read that it is. I would recommend this book as a ‘put your feet up’ holiday read.”
The reviewer (whom I won’t name here) is maybe an older person, for all I know, because she refers to the 37 year-old lead protagonist as “young”. She also thought the book should have an R18 rating, which surprised me. I’d been very careful, in writing the story, to limit detail of violence as I’m not a fan of such descriptions. I think I achieved my intention when compared to many other popular novels I’ve read (including one I’m currently reading). Her opinion was therefore a surprise.
A male beta reader of my novel, pre-publication, had even commented on how I had “played down the violence”. Perhaps the reviewer was more sensitive to literary violence than he or I am.
“Easy read” is a phrase used by many book reviewers (e.g. the New Zealand Herald review of the Fifty Shades novel series). It might sometimes appear dismissive about the author’s style.
In the review of my book, above, the reviewer links “easy read” with the book being written in a “fairly simplistic manner”. That is somewhat pejorative.
What measure has she used?
Bror Tranbacke of the Easy-to-Read Foundation suggests “easy read” means "easy to understand" because difficult words are avoided”, but also “because the presentation as such is made specific and easy to follow.”
He gives useful “examples of criteria or guidelines that can be used to make a test easy to read and easy to understand”:
• “Write concretely. Avoid abstractions and transferred concepts.
• “Be logical. The action should follow a common thread with logical continuity.
• “Action should be direct and simple, without long introductions and without too many characters involved.
• “Avoid symbolical language (metaphors) that may be misunderstood by the reader.
• “Be concise. Do not place several actions in a single sentence. Place the words of the same phrase on the same line.
• “Avoid difficult words, but attempt to use a language that is adult and dignified. If unusual words have to be used, they should be explained by context clues.
• “Even rather complicated relationships can often be described and explained if this is done in a concrete and logical manner, where events take place in a natural chronological framework.”
I’m quite happy for my writing to reach that standard.
April 13, 2019
Missing Them…
Yesterday I bit the bullet and gave around half my library collection of paperback books (as well as a large bookcase) to a charity. My house is getting too cluttered.
Today it feels like I had a bunch of children who grew up and left home.
Will they go to a good home? Will they be appreciated as much as I appreciated them?
I don’t know about you, but I hate parting with books I’ve bought read and cherished.
Today it feels like I had a bunch of children who grew up and left home.
Will they go to a good home? Will they be appreciated as much as I appreciated them?
I don’t know about you, but I hate parting with books I’ve bought read and cherished.
March 16, 2019
Insane Acts of Terrorism
After the Friday massacres in Christchurch we woke in New Zealand on Saturday to a different country from before. Our peaceful niche in the world had been blown away by the insane acts of terrorism perpetrated by a solo gunman.
We still suffered from the shock of it, on Saturday, but the new truth had sunken in. Even in New Zealand, this kind of abominable thing could happen.
In my 2016 novel, “The Assyrian Girl”, I included a sub-plot in which a solo Muslim extremist attempts an act of terrorism in Wellington, New Zealand. It was fiction but seemed just feasible. Never in my wildest imagination, then, would I have thought it feasible that a white extremist would massacre Muslims in our community. Perhaps that showed a form of racist prejudice on my part.
As a writer, I’m like a chef. I mix ingredients in a bowl and come up with an appetising product for my customers. In the case of the sub-plot in “The Assyrian Girl” I could not, in terms of fictional forecasting, have got the recipe more wrong .
My Christian prayers go out for the Christchurch victims.
We still suffered from the shock of it, on Saturday, but the new truth had sunken in. Even in New Zealand, this kind of abominable thing could happen.
In my 2016 novel, “The Assyrian Girl”, I included a sub-plot in which a solo Muslim extremist attempts an act of terrorism in Wellington, New Zealand. It was fiction but seemed just feasible. Never in my wildest imagination, then, would I have thought it feasible that a white extremist would massacre Muslims in our community. Perhaps that showed a form of racist prejudice on my part.
As a writer, I’m like a chef. I mix ingredients in a bowl and come up with an appetising product for my customers. In the case of the sub-plot in “The Assyrian Girl” I could not, in terms of fictional forecasting, have got the recipe more wrong .
My Christian prayers go out for the Christchurch victims.
February 10, 2019
New Book Listed By Society of Authors
Best I can manage for a blog post this week. Still plagued by illness.
"New Zealand Society of Authors
Extract from New Books Bulletin - February 2019
We are delighted to bring you the latest edition of our monthly New Books Bulletin, showcasing NZSA members published writing in the month of their release. This Bulletin is sent out to NZSA members, book industry stakeholders, library suppliers and Booksellers NZ (who send on to all book shops and outlets on their database).
Death on the Quay
Thomas W Devine
Nurse Lora Spencer is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant during the morning rush hour on Wellington’s Lambton Quay. A freelance journalist, Adam Adair, finds himself holding the dying woman in his arms. Haunted by the experience, Adair decides to investigate.
Available: Amazon ISBN 978 172 913 2289 RRP $25
Author Bio: After a long public service career, which included working for the New Zealand Department of Conservation, he retired early to write fiction full-time. thomaswdevine "
"New Zealand Society of Authors
Extract from New Books Bulletin - February 2019
We are delighted to bring you the latest edition of our monthly New Books Bulletin, showcasing NZSA members published writing in the month of their release. This Bulletin is sent out to NZSA members, book industry stakeholders, library suppliers and Booksellers NZ (who send on to all book shops and outlets on their database).
Death on the Quay
Thomas W Devine
Nurse Lora Spencer is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant during the morning rush hour on Wellington’s Lambton Quay. A freelance journalist, Adam Adair, finds himself holding the dying woman in his arms. Haunted by the experience, Adair decides to investigate.
Available: Amazon ISBN 978 172 913 2289 RRP $25
Author Bio: After a long public service career, which included working for the New Zealand Department of Conservation, he retired early to write fiction full-time. thomaswdevine "
December 30, 2018
Christmas & All That
Hugs and kisses, gifts exchanged, family picnics and family visits. What more could one ask from the season of celebration, and peace to all of good will? We even escaped any family dramas.
I feel happy for those who shared something similar and sad for those who didn’t or couldn’t. I am truly blessed and I wish everyone could have been.
Thanks to those who worked to provide essential services over the Christmas period.
I feel happy for those who shared something similar and sad for those who didn’t or couldn’t. I am truly blessed and I wish everyone could have been.
Thanks to those who worked to provide essential services over the Christmas period.
