Archive for April, 2014

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The Diskos

Posted April 11, 2014 By John C Wright

A reader has a question about AWAKE IN THE NIGHT:

Mr Wright,
I’m having a little trouble visualizing the Diskos. Sometimes I see it as a lance with a cone shaped spinning shaft or blade and sometimes as an ax like weapon. Am I right with either visualization? Ah I have reached the part of the second story that describes a Diskos without the blade.

Happy to help! The diskos looks like a pizza cutter. Or maybe like a unicycle.

I do not have the paragraph in front of me, but I believe that the narrator calls the ‘blade’ of the weapon by the term ‘diskos’ that is, the disk-shaped cutting blade, but he also uses this term for the whole weapon, the same way we might call a sword ‘a blade’.

Maybe a picture will make this clear.
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And More Pictures!

Posted April 11, 2014 By John C Wright

After posting a number of pictures of eye-candy, I should also show you some pictures which excite me even more.

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Would You Like a Slice of Cheesecake?

Posted April 11, 2014 By John C Wright

Allow me to present some pictures of the lovely Donna Reed, to which a reader brought my attention:

donna_reed_over_shoulder_profile

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Read Matt Walsh

Posted April 11, 2014 By John C Wright

Simply a suburb article today by Matt Walsh.

As you might imagine, I was recently reacquainted with the rather sickening idea that I have a duty to show reverence for a political office, when I wrote a post last week where I merely called the president a liar. Indeed, anytime you criticize the president with an intent more serious than playfully teasing him for picking the wrong team in his March Madness bracket – anytime you attack authority, particularly presidential authority, particularly THIS president’s authority — the ‘respect the office’ propagators will come streaming in, fingers-a-wagging and heads-a-shaking.

‘Respect the office,’ they gush. Noticeably, the folks most concerned with respecting Obama’s office weren’t to be heard from during that certain eight year period where Bush was daily cut down as anything from Hitler Incarnate

Read the whole thing here.
http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/04/11/i-dont-respect-the-president-or-his-office-and-neither-should-you/
I disagree with him on one technicality: officers in uniform must properly salute the Commander-in-Chief and proffer other signs of subordination and respect as military discipline requires. Otherwise, I agree wholly. As civilians, we need only proffer signs of respect for the Constitution that the President serves and we obey. Our respect for him is the minimum requires to maintain public order, and is abrogated when he acts against the office and the Constitution.

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Night Land Day APPROACHES!

Posted April 11, 2014 By John C Wright

Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Awake-Night-Land-John-Wright-ebook/dp/B00JM98V60 

Monday, the Feast of Saint Bezeret, is the official day for AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND to go on sale, but for you, my cherished readers, here is preemptive early roll out.

To my fan: use the link! be the first to write a flattering review, before the hate-filled Lefty trolls roll in and smear the page, as they did on my Goodreads page. Amazon never removes any material, no matter how vile, false and rude.

AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND is an epic collection of four of John C. Wright’s brilliant forays into the dark fantasy world of William Hope Hodgson’s 1912 novel, The Night Land. Part novel, part anthology, the book consists of four related novellas, “Awake in the Night”, “The Cry of the Night-Hound”, “Silence of the Night”, and “The Last of All Suns”, which collectively tell the haunting tale of the Last Redoubt of Man and the end of the human race. Widely considered to be the finest tribute to Hodgson ever written, the first novella, “Awake in the Night”, was previously published in 2004 in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection. AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND marks the first time all four novellas have been gathered into a single volume.

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Monday the 14th is NIGHT LAND day — and the Feast of St. Bezenet

Posted April 10, 2014 By John C Wright

I am pleased and humbled to announce that my anthology, AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND published by Castalia House is purchase as of Monday, April 14th.

It is available now for early purchase here: http://www.amazon.com/Awake-Night-Land-John-Wright-ebook/dp/B00JM98V60

This is a collection of my various tales and short novels written in homage to THE NIGHT LAND by William Hope Hodgson.

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An Imaginary Noah Film from 1950

Posted April 10, 2014 By John C Wright

Many criticisms can be leveled against Aronofsky’s recent antibilical film, NOAH. One which I thought at first was unfair was those who said God was absent from the film. I thought the criticism absurd. While He is not called ‘God’, He is called ‘the Creator’ throughout the film, which, in any case, takes place in an era before Moses, when no man knew the sacred name.

But on second thought, the critics were not being absurd. The Creator in this film is a god, but not the God. He is absent.

If the reader will indulge me, the gaping absence of God from Aronofsky’s NOAH can be best felt in this film if we imagine what it would be like if He were in it.

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Quote of the Day

Posted April 10, 2014 By John C Wright

“In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread.” — Anatole France

It also forbids rich and poor alike to bribe politicians, commit securities fraud, fix horse races, maintain unsafe workplaces, and engage in human trafficking. — Bob the Ape

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Noah and Anti-Noah

Posted April 9, 2014 By John C Wright

I disagree, respectfully but rather sharply, with Mr. Greydanus’ review of Aronofsky’s NOAH. I wrote a review giving an opposite opinion, and he was kind enough to correct certain errors or oversights I had made. Nonetheless, there remains a point of polite disagreement between us which any reader who has seen the film, or toys with the idea of seeing it, might be edified or amused to hear discussed.

No spoiler warnings will accompany the essay below, because I want to spoil this film, and deter people from seeing it. The surprise ending is that mankind survives, despite Noah’s best efforts.

I submit that this movie was so bad that for Mr Greydanus to recommend it was an inexplicable lapse of judgment. I cannot explain why this film would be the one where his otherwise impeccable judgment was negligent, and I will not speculate.

In a previous essay in this space, I said was that the film was bad on three levels: first, the film was not to my personal taste, being drab and cheerless; second, the film was poorly written ; third, because Aronofsky’s film portrayal of Noah falls somewhere between indifferent to actively hostile to the source material. By ‘indifferent to hostile’ I mean the film was at best a non-Judeochristian interpretation of the Noah story, and at worst an anti-Judeochristian interpretation of the Noah story.

The first is a point not open to debate, because tastes are personal. The second is a point which may or may be not open to debate, because this point involves matters of judgment, and matters of judgment are those where reasonable men can differ. In any case, I do not debate that second point here.

The third is very much open to debate, because one side has one theory of the meaning of the film and the other side has an opposite theory, so only by debate can either side present evidence to lend weight to its theory of the film. Whichever theory explains more of the basics and also the nuances of the film should be the one the jury finds more convincing.

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Wright’s Writing Corner: Spock Versus Elf!

Posted April 9, 2014 By John C Wright

The lovely and talented Mrs Wright has returned to her popular writing tips column. Except:

I have been wanting to write about this for quite some time. Today seems like the day.

It has come to my attention that there are two kinds of readers when it comes to reading about emotions. (There may be more, but I’ve only discovered two of them.)

The first one, I shall call the Spock Reader. The second I shall call the Elf Reader.

Spock Readers disdain shows of emotion. Many men fall into this category, but I know some women who say the same thing. To them, emotion is barbaric, and calmness is a sign of advancement. Characters who show emotion are immediately dismissed as either feminine or weak. Cool-headed, collected characters are to be admired.

The characters admired by the Spock Reader embody the best of humanity—mankind’s ability to rise above the primitive and resist the animal passions, the triumph of the intellect.

Read more:

http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/2014/04/09/wrights-writing-corner-spock-vs-elf-an-authors-dilemma/

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First They Came for Eich; Now They Come for McAleer

Posted April 8, 2014 By John C Wright

I have seen the Veronica Mars film, and it was wonderful. It made me proud to live in an America where private citizens can pool their funds in an entrepreneurial spirit, and get made the films that Hollywood is too shortsighted or foolish to fund. I applauded Kickstarter.

My applause stopped when I heard Kickstarted booted the proposed Gosnell movie off their site. The film is proposed by Irish journalist Phelim McAleer and his wife and fellow journalist Ann McElhinney.

The duo has produced the pro-industry movie FRACKNATION, the anti-envirohysteria movie, NOT EVIL JUST WRONG and the pro-mining anti-envirohysteira movie MINE YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

Here is the story:

http://nypost.com/2014/04/07/gosnell-abortion-film-too-much-for-kickstarters-diverse-censors/

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David Marcoe Announces TriCon

Posted April 8, 2014 By John C Wright

ADDENDUM: Mr. Marcoe will be on a pilgrimage in Poland and out of electronic contact with the world until the 17th, but in the meanwhile has started a blog at triconference.wordpress.com which basically contains the announcement below.

David Marcoe is organizing an interdenominational Christian conference for novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, comic book writers, game designers, and the like for late in this summer. Here is his announcement:

Studying here in Rome, I live in the the midst of ancient beauty. In fact, I’m just down the street from St. Peter’s square, which I walk through on the way to my job or architecture class. The church around the corner, where I attend several classes, is home to a lively local parish (the priest is a real character) not much different than my old congregation, except that the is Baroque building that could serve as a picturesque movie set. Indeed, we’re saturated in beauty, as we study the words of Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare. I’ve laid eyes on wonders, on the works of Caravaggio, Bernini, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, and others. And you can see them quite by accident, walking off the street and into practically any church in the city.

And as I experience all this–that vast tradition of Christendom’s art and literature–I think of the business of “culture making” today; at least ninety-five percent of the major commercial works dealing with mythic, moral, or religious subject matters are being made by non-Christians, with Christians coming along to produce second and third rate “me too!” knock-offs. I think it needs to stop.

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Terrorists Hunting Christian Children Open Wrong Door, Meet Armed Americans, Die

Posted April 8, 2014 By John C Wright

Read the whole thing here:

“KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban assailants apparently thought they were attacking an unprotected Christian-run day care center. But they mistakenly burst into the compound next door, where an American government contractor’s employees were heavily armed and ready, according to accounts that the contractor and the Afghan police gave on Friday of a wild four-hour shootout here.

The contractor, Roots of Peace, which runs agricultural projects financed by the United States Agency for International Development, had taken the precaution of blocking its front gate with an armored Land Cruiser, which guards used to take cover behind and shoot at the attackers…

…Afghan officials said all five Taliban attackers were killed, including one who committed suicide. …

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A Glimpse of Somewhither

Posted April 7, 2014 By John C Wright

Dear readers, the claustrophobia of time has not allowed me the leisure to write a All Saint’s Day Eve story as is my wont, so instead I proffer for your reading entertainment the opening chapter of SOMEWHITHER, which should have enough elements of the eerie to serve for this day. The novel is unsold, unpublished, part of a trilogy that is unfinished, so this is the only venue where there is any chance to see this work. Here is the first glimpse. Speculations as to what is really going on and who is really insane are welcomed. Enjoy.

 

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Wright’s Writing Corner: Payloads and Gnomes

Posted April 7, 2014 By John C Wright

Here are the links for the last two of the beautiful and talented Mrs. Wright’s Wright’s Writing Corner, on the Payload Moment, part one and two.

Excerpt:

Payload: Every scene/fight/sex scene should have some moment that moves the plot along or heightens awareness, drawing the reader into something greater. Villains should reveal something important during a fight, and romantic partners should learn more about each other or reveal secrets.

Also, every character should have at least one paragraph/scene where they reveal their inner motivation.

Payload: Probably the most important concept in these Writing Tips. If I had to rank them from most important to least important, this one would be number one.

Payload Part One:
http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/2014/03/26/wrights-writing-corner-payload-moment-reboot-part-one/

Payload Part Two:

http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/2014/04/02/wrights-writing-corner-the-most-important-techique/

Added bonus: article on Oreads and Gnomes at Mythical Mondays today
http://networkedblogs.com/VGvoU

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