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Personal Archive
Happy Armistice Day
Posted November 11, 2021 By John C WrightThe One Murder Policy
Posted March 26, 2021 By John C WrightA reader with the royal but hibernian name of Kingmcdee comments:
Even this very day I saw a Malthusian Prophet in a Youtube comments section proclaiming that resources are being exhausted at terrifying pace and that every country in the world needed to implement a One-Child Policy for several generations in the name of humanitarianism. He countered every accusation of draconian tyranny by wailing about how the alternative was so much worse.
This is one of the few issues where I put my Vulcan training aside, and turn into a passion-driven beast, restrained by weakest scruples from bloody murder.
My fatherly instincts are provoked.
Fall on Me
Posted July 10, 2020 By John C WrightA father-son duet, I thought it nice to share with my readers.
Filed in Personal
Litany of Humility
Posted January 28, 2020 By John C WrightThis is the prayer I said daily for a week, when I was taking the scapular. Perhaps I should make it a daily habit.
A preliminary remark: It is the “desire of being consulted” that really appeals to my particular worldly pride. It is hard indeed to pray to be delivered of this sweet, sweet temptation.
Pity poor Saint Augustine trying to pray for continence when he had a hot Mediterranean babe as a concubine! A philosopher’s craving to be seen as wise is just as potent and degrading. That is what makes we intellectuals so insufferable.
If you think it is hard for a rich man to get in the heaven, how much harder for those rich in book-learning and word-cunning.
And, oh, it is hard for a writer to crave that other get his fame, but then again, the world will do that to good and honest writers whether we ask it or not — the Sad Puppies affair with the 2016 Hugo Awards proved that — so we might as well ask it:
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
Filed in Apologetics, Personal
An Open Letter to Gnos Tic
Posted January 27, 2020 By John C WrightAfter prayer and reflection, I feel I owe you and my other readers an apology. You and I have exchanged insults, which, until now, I thought was the normal roughhousing and horseplay two men of equal status, wit, and maturity (or lack thereof) could exchange with no harm done and no hard feelings.
But, at the promptings of the Holy Spirit, I now realize that this was far from the case, even the opposite of the truth. A man of my age, wit, and status should not mock someone of yours. The contest is uneven.
I should have found a way to tell you the horrible truth about your life, not to mention the peril to your mortal soul, without overstepping the bounds of courtesy and Christian charity.
I should have all this time been treating you as a beloved child of heaven, made in the holy image and likeness of Almighty God.
Because, like it or not, that is the truth about you. It is a truth too good to be true, and a truth too hard for you to accept.
I do not ask you for forgiveness, since I know you well enough to know how such a petition would be heard, but I make this public confession to assure my other readers that I seek to mend my ways and will attempt avoid the further temptation.
Any prayers from the faithful to high heaven to aid my endless struggle against my own overweening pride would be appreciated.
Sarcasm and contempt are my daily speech, and this is the talk from hell. Heavenly words are more beautiful and more biting, because less shallow.
May heaven grant me the strength of mind and wideness of heart to leave my shallow nature behind. Only the weak minded are ruled by emotions and passions. I am shamed to count myself this day among their number.
Ember Days
Posted December 18, 2019 By John C WrightA reminder to my Catholic brethren:
Today, Friday, and Saturday are all Ember days. This means on Wednesday and Saturday, we observe partial fast and abstinence – two small meatless meals, and one full meal that can include meat.
On Friday, we may take two small meals and one full meal, but observe total abstinence even at the main meal. This is identical to the currently observed fasts of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Also worth noting: Christmas Eve is traditionally a day of fast and total abstinence as well.
The ever informative Fisheaters website has more to say:
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The Elf King Thanketh
Posted August 29, 2019 By John C WrightAnd now for a note from my son, Elfking Wright, to give thanks for the generous help of patrons who donated to the cause.
The words following are his:
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Gene Wolfe, Requiescat In Pace
Posted April 15, 2019 By John C WrightGene Wolfe passed at his Peoria home from cardiovascular disease on April 14, 2019 at the age of 87.
This man is one of two authors who I was able to read with undiminished pleasure as a child, youth, man and master.
I met him only briefly at science fiction conventions, and was truly impressed by his courtesy and kindness. We shared a love of GK Chesterton. I never told him how I cherished his work, and how important his writings were to me.
One of the best bits of writing advice I know comes from the quill of Horn of Lizard Island of a whorl called Blue beneath a strange, short sun shaped like a bright ball. He is one of Gene Wolfe’s creations, unless, of course, he was someone else entirely:
“The chief thing is to begin, after all—after which the chief thing is to finish …. It is all in the pen case. You have to take out the ink and string it together into the right shapes. That is all.”
The pen of Gene Wolfe is now at rest. No more words on Earth will be strung together by him into shapes of breathtaking rightness, droll humor, deep wisdom. Only in the next life will we discover what other wonders such a towering imagination holds.
Filed in Announcement, Personal
In Memory of Aretha Franklin
Posted November 17, 2018 By John C WrightThe Queen of Soul has passed away.
May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
This clip is from THE BLUES BROTHERS. She is here seen opposite Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy, great guitarist who died in june, 2018. On sax is “Blue Lou” Marini.
Other titans in the field also cameo’d in this film, including James Brown, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway and John Lee Hooker, but for me, this scene stole the show.
The song is ‘Think’ from her 1968 album Aretha Now.
Filed in Personal
Prayer for the Workingman
Posted May 21, 2018 By John C WrightAs I am looking for a new job, I say the following prayer to Saint Joseph:
Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being able to work side by side with Jesus in the carpenter shop of Nazareth. As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to respect the dignity of labor and ever to be content with the position in life, however lowly, in which it may please Divine Providence to place me. Teach me to work for God and with God in the spirit of humility and prayer, as you did, so that I may offer my toil in union with the sacrifice of Jesus in the Mass as a reparation for my sins, and gain rich merit for heaven.
The wife and I are seriously debating whether I should just throw off my dayjob, and work as a writer fulltime. I vow I could write a book every month, or every other month, and finish off the projects my dear fans are waiting to see, Moth and Cobweb, or Somewhither, or my new Star Wars inspired “Wright Way to Write it” project called Starquest.
The wife and I are puzzling out how to do a freestarter or kickstarter campaign to pay for things like cover art. You may have seen her notice in this space previously.
In any case, prayers would be helpful to me should any fans who are Christian be willing to remember me to heaven. My pagan fans, I am not sure if you call up spirits from the vasty deep, whether they will be on my side or not, so use caution.
Filed in Personal
Progress Report
Posted January 13, 2018 By John C WrightWell, congratulate me, friends. I made my writing quota this week: 10,000 words. This brings NOWHITHER up to 50,000. Another fortnight or so of writing, and I should have the first draft ready to send to the publisher.
Ilya has just found out that his father was blamed for the invasion of Earth and for California sinking into the sea (due to an extra-dimensional Eskimo warlock’s battle-curse); Penelope is likewise missing, thought to be under arrest by her mermaid sisters, since allegedly the Mad Scientist, Achitophel Dreadful, was a Soul-Extraction Lama from the dead aeon of Pha, and a traitor to the Wisecraft. Meanwhile, Foster Hidden and Abby the tween girl ninja-gypsy is missing.
I now see how full-time writers can put out a novel a month. Four weeks of twenty thousand words a day of copy will get you a first draft of a short novel in twenty or twenty-five days. And that is without working on the Sabbath.
I will be returning to posting regular columns of ‘The Last Crusade’ and my long-languishing Conan reviews to Castalia House in the near future.
I have to write a number of episodes of LOST ON THE LAST CONTINENT post-haste to be able to post them each Wednesday. Colonel Lost is about to meet the Eien, Last Immortal of the Fourth Men, a race called the Rephaim, by the vulgar called the Phantoms.
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Nerea Christmas!
Posted December 12, 2017 By John C WrightI received perhaps the most pleasing Christmas card of my life.
A fan who is also a friend drew this illustration of Nerea from the book SWAN KNIGHT’S SON:
Why do I say what seems a simple greeting so pleasing? The wonder and thankfulness I feel that anyone takes time to read my books, much less takes time to draw a character, make a card, and send it to me, you must imagine. Seeing your own imagination come alive in someone else’s imagination is always a treat.
Nerea appears in The Green Knight’s Squire trilogy and Gilberec Moth, her land-based BF, makes a guest star appearance in the Dark Avenger’s Sidekick trilogy.
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A Courteous Note about Courtesy in Names
Posted October 10, 2017 By John C WrightA reader wrote an anxious note to apologize for addressing me by my first name. I fear he was more taken aback by the matter than was I.
Here was my reply, which I care to share with other readers, lest the same undue anxiety light upon any. Read the remainder of this entry »
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Fun with Guns
Posted June 21, 2017 By John C WrightThe wife and daughter visited the gunrange. I post this to share the happiness with all fans of armed womenfolk. Read the remainder of this entry »
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In Small and in Large
Posted June 13, 2017 By John C WrightIt is my habit to avoid discussion of personal matters in public, but I will make an exception when the event ties in to a broader matter.
This Sunday the scoutmaster of my sons’ Boy Scout Troop arrived unexpectedly and uninvited on the doorstep of my house, while I was at Mass.
He announced that, due to an anonymous complaint that my youngest son had allegedly made an “anti-Muslim remark” in a private conversation, therefore he and his brother were forthwith expelled from the troop.
