John C. Wright's Blog, page 36
January 22, 2015
Only You Can Halt Puppy Sadness — PART THREE!! Revenge of the Son of the Puppy of Dune versus
Science has proven the the leading cause of sadness in puppies is the Leftwingization of the Hugo Awards, so that awards are being given on the basis not of their merits, but on the basis of their political correctness.
And since political correctness requires that storytelling be smothered and smug yet whiny preaching arrant nonsense be exulted, politically correct stories suck like an industrial strength shop-vac.
In other words, the award for the best novels and short stories has been highjacked to serve the social justice warriors, screaming meemies, cultural Marxists, and nyctalope cannibal troglodyte Morlocks, and their stories are poorly conceived and poorly executed trash. Novels are getting awards not because they are good, but only because they are Leftist.
Here is the announcement:
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
January 20, 2015
The Nature of the Andromeda Realm is Abstract and Fluid
I was looking for the correct demonym for Andromeda. (Is it Andromedan or Andromedean or Andromedian? Andromedahin? Andromedaneese? Andromedine? Andromedaoi? Andromedishman?)
So I typed in the word Andromedan, and I found this:
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
You’ve Come a Long Way Down, Baby: The Dignity of Degradation
Part of an ongoing conversation:
Joe Cools writes and says he has a second-wave feminist friend who is open to the ideas of chastity. But he could not show her words like mine “The sacred view of sex is sane, for sanctity is sanity, which is to say, it reflects reality: any deviation from that is insane,” because to call her insane will halt the argument. He says I speak too forcefully (and rudely) to be persuasive.
He makes a good point. Let me mention a point on the other hand.
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
Sf Signal post: A Blind Man’s Journey Through Hell
My beautiful and talented wife was asked to contribute a guest essay at SF SIGNAL:
Some choice quotes to whet your curiosity:
[GUEST POST] Special Needs in Strange Worlds: L. Jagi Lamplighter on Meditations on a Blind Man’s Journey Through HellWhen I was preparing to write this article, I discussed the idea with a few folks who are sight-impaired. The comment that most stuck with me came from Day Al-Mohamed, co-author of the charming Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn. She made quite a few insightful observations, but the one that struck me was: “I am not your metaphor.”
[…]
As a writer and a reader, I am not against the use of blindness, or anything, as metaphor if it fits the story. Nor am I against blindness going hand and hand with inner vision. And yet, I felt Day had a point. At least occasionally, it would be nice to have a blind character who simply happened to be blind, the way other folk happen to be lame, or deaf, or have a bad heart or unusually short, or even red-haired, or freckled.
Metaphors and spiritual gifts are not the only difficulties blind characters face. Kody Keplinger is a YA author who also happens to be blind. Participating in a blog called Disabilities in KidLit, she wrote on the subject of blind characters in stories for children:
“The characters are either completely ruled by their disability – physically and emotionally – constantly breaking down about the struggles they face, fearing the outside world, struggling to adapt, etc. Or, they don’t seem fazed at all. In fact, you might never know they were blind because they are independent and fearless and nothing – NOTHING – holds them back. … Presenting disabled characters as weak or fragile is problematic and unrealistic when the vast majority of us live full, happy lives. But the second option, the disabled person who isn’t even fazed, that’s not honest either.”
Her observations made sense to me. On one hand, any character fails to be a real character if they only have one quality—such as a disability. On the other hand, if a character is not affected at all by a particular characteristic, then it might as well not be there. Why bring it up?
[…]
As I worked on the Prospero’s Daughter series, a question arose: Was it realistic to take a blind man to Hell? Would it push the reader’s credulity too far? What if the reader responded: Oh come on, a blind person couldn’t really do all that, right?
After some contemplation, I thought: Well, is it realistic to take anyone to Hell?
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
January 16, 2015
Personal Appearance: John C Wright and L Jagi Lamplighter at Marscon
Myself, my ugly belly, and my lovely wife, will all be appearing at Marscon this weekend.
My belly which, is the size of the Jovial moon Europa, will arrive Friday evening, but I myself will only arrive on Saturday.
Here is my schedule:
Saturday, January 17
10:00am Myths and Realities of Fantasy Combat panel
12:00pm Guardians of the Galaxy Roundtable
2:00pm The Drive to Succeed: Drive Systems and Gravity in Science Fiction
6:00pm The Moment that Changes Everything: Divergence Points in Alternate History
Sunday, January 18
11:00am Redcoats and Browncoats, Tricorns and Unicorns: Colonial History and Fantasy Panel (Moderator)
12:00pm Best Books for Kids (Moderator)
Here is my lovely and talented wife’s schedule:
Saturday, January 17
11:00am Wonder Years: How YA Writers Address Teen Concerns in Fantastic Literature
1:00pm Reel World Challenges: Adapting Films from Fiction
3:00pm Pets in SF/Fantasy (Moderator)
4:00pm It Behooves Us to Speak of Them: Horses in Fantasy
6:00pm Dystopian Roundtable
Sunday, January 18
12:00pm Best Books for Kids
1:00pm 25 Great YA Characters
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
Cravenness, Idiocy, Folly, or Devilry?
A reader with the leonine yet nautical name of HMSLion opines:
There is a nasty part of me that thinks the fastest way to counter this would be to burn a few Leftists at the stake. Get their attention.
My shoulder devil often tells me the same thing, but I do not ascribe the motive of the Leftists to cowardice.
They are not afraid of us, they merely talk that way to justify their hatred and their aggressive stance toward us in the name of self defense.
Their motive is hatred of Christ, is pride, is selfishness, is rebellion against the rule and authority of Heaven.
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
January 15, 2015
Vox Day on Troll Hunting
My publisher has a clear and succinct list on how to hunt down online trolls.
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-hunt-trolls.html
The list is organized under 17 headings of short, pithy advice:
Stay calm.
Be patient.
Directly inform the troll that he is banned: It is vital to put him on notice.
Don’t delete the troll’s comments.
Don’t permit the readers to engage with the troll.
Look for the troll’s other identities.
Identify his literary tics.
Join forces with the troll’s other targets.
Research the cyberstalking laws in the Troll’s legal jurisdiction.
Don’t bother with threats and warnings.
Don’t pay undue attention to the troll’s assertions.
Don’t bother contacting his friends, employer, and family except to gather more information.
Expect the troll to try to spin the situation as you harassing him as the net tightens. This is actually a very good sign of progress.
Don’t contact the police until you have prepared a succinct summary of the troll’s activity on your site.
Before you call the relevant police department, check the police website and see if they have an officer or a department specializing in online crimes.
Be prepared to press charges, but be open to the possibility of other desirable outcomes.
Above all, don’t be afraid.
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
January 14, 2015
Reviewer Praise for AWAKE IN THE NIGHT
Best title of a book review ever:
Book Review: Awake in the Night Land, and Why I Was Late for Work This Morning
Mr Moore over at Yard Sale of the Mind is the exactly the type of reader most authors wish in vain to please: a man who ‘gets’ what your story is about on a fundamental level. God is gracious. Mr Moore’s review is so interesting, even moving, that it makes me want to get a copy of the book myself.
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
Sanctuary by Bill Whittle
Being from a military family and raised on post, as well as being an amateur student of history, I am unfortunately subject to the blind spot of assuming my readers know those things which, at one time, were common knowledge known to any literate schoolboy in America, such as the purpose of the rules and usages of war.
I assumed that the phrase would be recognized and the things to which the phrase referred were known.
At one time, everyone, or nearly so, served in the armed forces or knew someone who did. The jokes in GOMER PYLE U.S.M.C. or SERGEANT BILKO were all in-jokes; everyone in the audience had known someone like that in their unit. Likewise, everyone, or nearly so, understood the point of the Geneva Conventions.
Alas, this is not the case any longer. Rather than explain the point myself, I would like to link to Bill Whittle’s essay, perhaps one of his most famous, explaining the point.
Unfortunately, I cannot find this essay except in a version with stray marks and spelling errors anywhere on the Internet.
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000125.html
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000126.html
At the risk of offending Internet notions of courtesy, I here reproduce the whole thing, corrected of typographic flaws, and also to preserve this bit of conservative history. This essay is a masterpiece.
All the words below are Mr Whittle’s, not mine.
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
Sanctuary by Bill Whittle
Being from a military family and raised on post, as well as being an amateur student of history, I am unfortunately subject to the blind spot of assuming my readers know those things which, at one time, were common knowledge known to any literate schoolboy in America, such as the purpose of the rules and usages of war.
I assumed that the phrase would be recognized and the thing to which the phrase referred were known.
At one time, everyone, or nearly so, served in the armed forces or knew someone who did. The jokes in GOMER PYLE U.S.M.C. or SERGEANT BILKO were all in-jokes; everyone in the audience had known someone like that in their unit. Likewise, everyone, or nearly so, understood the point of the Geneva Conventions.
Alas, this is not the case any longer. Rather than explain the point myself, I would like to link to Bill Whittle’s essay, perhaps one of his most famous, explaining the point.
Unfortunately, I cannot find this essay except in a version with stray marks and spelling errors anywhere on the Internet.
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000125.html
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000126.html
At the risk of offending Internet notions of courtesy, I here reproduce the whole thing, corrected of typographic flaws, and also to preserve this bit of conservative history. This essay is a masterpiece.
All the words below are Mr Whittle’s, not mine.
Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.
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