Grasping for the Wind

Sunrise over Raleigh

One of the nice things about leaving for work at 6:00 AM is the nice sunrises I get to see almost every morning. Click the pic for the full size picture. [Picture taken with my new Blackberry Curve.]

Personal Note: Home for Sale in Atlanta Area

My home is now officially for sale. Since my new job requires that I move to Raleigh, we have had to let this wonderful place go. The wife and I have loved living here. Take a look at the pics in the 360 Tour and you will easily see why. We are sad, but hopeful that we will like Raleigh.

Dear readers, if you know of anyone moving to Atlanta, please do send them this post so they can take a look at our place. It is reasonably priced, has a lot of improvements, and a big backyard (very rare in our neighborhood). Contact info for our realtor can be found at the picture tour.

The wife and I will miss this house so much. But, as they say, it is time to move onward.

PS: You can email this post to someone by using the SHARE THIS button below.

UPDATE: Oh yeah - did I mention that you can get a real good look at my bookshelves? These are cleaned up though - I had to stick my TBR piles in boxes. Still, you get an idea of the sheer volume of books in my house.

Personal Note: I Got a Job

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I managed to find work. It is doing the same thing I'm doing now at the same pay, but at a company that will survive the economic crisis. I'll be moving and commuting to Raleigh, NC from Atlanta for a few months, so things may be quite around here beginning in November.

Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers! You guys rock!

Personal Note: I Need a Job

Dear Friends,

Due to the market crisis, my job looks to be close to disappearing. In a preemptive strike against the day I will be given the pink slip (this is dependent on various factors, all of which I have no control over, and which might or might not happen at any moment) I have prepared my resume.

I would like to find a position in publishing or bookselling. I am willing to relocate for a position in these industries, even out of country, assuming the fit is right. If you know of anyone hiring that I should contact please let me know in the comments, or please feel free to send my resume on to them.

Click here to download my resume in pdf form.

I can also be found on LinkedIn.

Thank you all for your help in advance.

Sincerely,

John

I'm Quoted in Rogue Blades Entertainment's Book Trailer

A little while back, I wrote a review of The Return of the Sword, a collection of sword and sorcery tales like Robert E. Howard's Conan and the stuff Black Gate publishes. The publisher has renamed itself Rogue Blades Entertainment and has published promo trailer for itself that I am in. Check out the quote at 1:54.

Return of the Sword is being republished under the new publishing company, and with a new cover, or so editor Jason Waltz told me at Dragon Con this year. So go pick up a copy if you are a fan of adventure or heroic fiction.

Convention Going Advice Needed

To be honest, I am a total convention noob. I've never been to an SF Con and have no idea what to expect.

A week from today, I will be heading to Dragon*Con, the Southeast's biggest convention.

What I need from you all is advice on what I should do to prepare for the convention, what types of events you think are more worthwhile (i.e. Readings vs. Panels, etc.) and general con going advice. I have a schedule, and I have checked some of the author's sites for their scheduled appearances, but other than that, I'm at a loss.

Woops! Got Tagged and Didn't Know It

Sorry Aidan, thanks for the interesting tag btw.

Nightstand/Table: Nothing is allowed on my bedside table, per her highness. But if I did, it would be the same as whatever I am reading at the moment.

Reading at the Moment: Orcs by Stan Nicholls - waiting to be wowed, This Gaming Life by Jim Rossignol - thought provoking though I disagree mostly.

Can't Put Down: I had trouble putting down three books recently, Ascendancy of the Last by Lisa Smedman, Plague Year by Jeff Carlson, and Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams. I blew through these, reviews are coming.

Gathering Dust: King's Shield by Sherwood Smith (unfortunate result of coming in on a latter book), several Forgotten Realms books, Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things, Mark J. Ferrari's The Book of Joby, The Gardens of the Moon by Stephen Erikson and Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. (In my defense, except fo the first one, they are all ones I bought, and so get lesser priority to review copies.)

Secret Indulgence: Kinda hard to have when you blog about everything you read.

Looking Forward To: The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie, A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin, Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns Series, The Riven Kingdom by Karen Miller, All My Holy Mountain by L. B. Graham.

As far as tags go: I set you all free!

But Scifichick, WeariedJuggler, John Markley, and Tia might enjoy this more particularly.

Personal Note: Candid Shot

My good friend April has a truly prodigious talent for taking portrait shots (she ought to make a career of it, imo). Last weekend, 15 of us, plus three young kids, got together to hang out, reminisce, and philosophize. April managed to catch my little family taking a quick catnap in this photo. It's a beautiful shot, and speaks volumes about our favorite pastime.

Mediterranean Cruise 2008: By the Numbers

And my wife just keeps on trucking. Her new post gives you a by the numbers look at our recent cruise of the Western Mediterranean. I promise, I am going to write about the trip, really.

Mediterranean Cruise Highlights

My wonderful wife beat me to the punch. She has already posted several pictures of our wonderful Western Mediterranean Cruise. We had a great time. Enjoy this first look while I get my act together.

On Hiatus and Twitter

I will be on hiatus till Jul 29th while I go on a cruise vacation of the Western Mediterranean. I'm really looking forward to it. The only bad part of the trip is that I get into Barcelona the day after George R. R. Martin is there signing books. Oh well, C'est la vie.

Since connectivity is expensive on ship, I will not be posting at all for the next two weeks as my blog provider does not yet have a scheduling feature. (They offer blogs free and do all work on a volunteer basis, so I don't blame them.)

I will probably do a little twittering since it is quick and easy. You can find me HERE. When I get back I'll have all sorts of photos and stories to share.

My First Blurb!

I received a copy of my very first book blurb today. It appears in MultiReal, by David Louis Edelman, and is excerpted from my review of Infoquake, the first novel in the Jump 225 trilogy.

Edelman has succeeded in making the world of the corporate boardroom into an adventure filled narrative. What John Grisham has done with the legal thriller, Edelman has done with business...The climax is fulfilling and exciting, yet it is only a speech, and a marketing one at that. Edelman has so well woven the elements of his plot together that Natch's simple speech has a much power and excitement to it as another science fiction story's destruction of a spaceship or a fantasy's evil overlord dying hideously at the hands of a hero. That takes skill to write, and Edelman has it in spades. I highly recommend this novel.

It appears on page 8 in the Praise for Infoquake section at the beginning of the book. Go take a look at it in your local bookstore and marvel. Better yet, buy MultiReal and Infoquake, and give a good author a boost to his ego, and some cash in his wallet.

Thank you to Pyr for blurbing me and for being one of the best publishers of science fiction there is. Young as you are, your books make reviewing a joy!

My wife is quoted in Hired@Home by Sarah Hamaker

My wife participated in a survey about wives and mothers who work at home. As a result of her intelligent answers, her response was quoted extensively in Hired@Home by Sarah Hamaker. Congratulations to her on getting quoted in such a way. I'm very proud. To find out more, read the wife's blog post here, or find the book on Amazon.

Uggggghhhhhh

I'm currently trying to hack up a lung, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Once I get to feeling better, I'll be back, Arnold Schwarzenegger style.

In Otter News

But wait, that's not an otter at all in the picture! True, but first go read this about the hairy-nosed otter. See the name of this lonesome otter? Well, that name is the exact same as the name of the pup in the picture, except for one added "R". That's right, the puppy is my little mini-dachshund Darra, name which in Gaelic means "little great one".

So thanks to my mother-in-law, I find out that one of my favorite animal types not only is doing well in Cambodia, if is a little lonely, but also has the exact same name as my own dog. Small world.

Personal Note: Yea, Wife!

The magazine my wife works for, byFaith, just won the Evangelical Press Association's best denominational publication of 2007. That is impressive, considering that only the editor is full-time, my wife is part time, and the writers are all freelance. Design is done by a third-party, who also does the work for Paste magazine, an independent music magazine.

My wife works hard at this job, but she likes it, and now she can point to this as an achievement she was an essential part of.

Literary Tattoos

For my birthday back in January, my wife gave me the present of allowing me to get a new tattoo (I already have one). Still haven't gotten it yet, because I can't find the right image. But perhaps I ought to get a literary tattoo? I don't mind being middle class chic instead of a rebel, becasue in all honesty, that is what I am.

Personal Note: My Favorite Animal

HT: Cute Overload Yes, I do read it. ;-)

Ugghhh

Up at 3:40 AM this morning after going to bed at 12:01 AM the same morning. Not happy.

Personal Note: Spain

Back in 2006, my wife and I spent 9 days in Madrid and Granada learning all about Spanish history and art, along with several homeschooled students. My wife, the talented designer, has created a scrapbook of the trip you can see here, if you are interested.

Huh...

In the unusual things to happen to me category, for some reason a short essay I wrote for this blog back in January of 2006 has turned up at Urbanministry.org. I don't remember ever submitting the article, (and maybe I didn't) but it is still cool. I think this is one of the better things I have written, actually. Still, I had forgotten all about it and I'm not sure why it has turned up here except that maybe one of the folks I know who work on the site stuck it up there.

The article is about making short term mission trips more holistic, and was the answer to a question in one of my Chalmers Center courses. The Chalmers Center is a correspondence school that is teaching Christians about integrating business and missions.

I know a couple of the folks at Techmission.org, who run the site where the article was posted, but hey, if people find it helpful, more power to them.

Still, its weird to see your name and being called a speaker/author like you actually have some sort of validity and importance to your random thinking.

Featured on Red Room

My interview with Rosemary Jones, author of the Forgotten Realms novel Crypt of the Moaning Diamond has been featured on the homepage of Red Room.com!

Redroom is:

... the online home of the world’s greatest writers. Through original, author-generated content, we offer a trustworthy and creative social network unlike any other. Here, you can connect with your favorite authors, access current industry news, and comment on engaging features. By fostering true community between authors and readers, Red Room showcases esteemed writers and inspires the next generation. We also give back to the community we aim to nurture with our commitment to the Causes We Support.

Thanks to Rosemary for posting a link to our interview at Red Room, and to Red Room for thinking it worthy enough to put on their homepage!

Germany 2008

I'm back from Germany! It was a great trip and everyone had a lot of fun.

Please enjoy these pictures from my trip last week to Germany. We saw lots of sites, including Munich, Rothenburg ob de Tauber, Neuschwanstein, Bacharach, The Rhine Valley Region, Trier, and Burg Eltz.

You will need Flash player to view it. If you can't, you can visit the Flickr page instead.

Blog Temporarily Suspended

I'm headed out of the country tomorrow to take a bunch of teenagers to Germany to learn about art history, so this blog will be on a ten day hiatus. I'll be back in April with lots more stuff. I'll tell you all about the trip when I get back, and will have lots of pictures to share!

A St. Patrick's Day Treat

Well, looks like I know more people with some notoriety than I thought. The husband of a former teacher of mine is giving a Celtic guitar performance on WRFG FM Atlanta at 8:30 tonight! His name is Robert McMillan, and he is quite a gifted guitarist. Tune into the site to listen live at 8:30 EST.

And for your viewing enjoyment, check out this awesome custom guitar! (Click the picture to go to the seller's page.)

Tri-doku

And in the I know someone sort of famous category, we have Japheth Light (the first "h" is silent) a guy I went to church with when I was teaching in Palm Bay, Florida and whose wife was the third grade teacher to my fifth/sixth grade.

It turns out that my friend is the inventor of a new, harder version of Sudoku called Tri-doku. A math guy through and through, Japheth thought that standard Sudoku was too easy, so he and a friend invented this new form. His first collection of puzzles has been published by a renowned puzzle publisher.

I'm not a Sudoku fan, (I prefer crosswords) but if you are, and think standard Sudoku is too easy, you might try my friend's newer version. (and if you understand these rules, I bow before your awesome prowess.)

Tridoku uses a triangle rather than a square for its format and the rules are as follows:

No. 1, the large triangle rule: The numbers 1-9 must be placed in each of the nine large triangles in the puzzle.

No. 2, the inner triangle rule: The numbers 1-9 must be placed in each of the three legs of the inner shaded triangle. Notice the numbers in the corners of the inner triangle will each count for two legs of the inner triangle. So the 3 in the left corner counts as the 3 for the top shaded leg and the left shaded leg of the inner triangle.

No. 3, the outer triangle rule: The numbers 1-9 must be placed in each of the three legs of the outer shaded triangle. As in rule 2, the numbers at the corners each lie in two legs of the outer triangle (i.e. the 2 at the top counts as the 2 for the left and right leg of the outer triangle).

No. 4, the hexagon rule: No two neighboring (touching) cells may contain the same numbers. This rule goes for any two cells that touch -- regardless of whether the cells meet along an edge or at a single point.
In other words, no numbers can be repeated within any small hexagon in the entire puzzle.

Try one of the puzzles here.

And see the solution here.

Congratulations to my friend Japheth on his achievement, and his other creation to be released next year, Snowflake Sudoku.

On Selling Myself

Recently, an author acquaintance of mine suggested that I start submitting my reviews and other thoughts to various e-zines and other trade magazines devoted to spec fic. But as I think about it, and do a little research on payment types and methods, I’ve come to the conclusion that it really isn’t for me.

I didn’t start this blog with the intent to find work. I have a very good paying job with benefits that I really like. Not only that, it is a job that, while making me a capitalist pig, also lets me have plenty of free time, during work, to write posts for this little hobby.

Nor is this blog an attempt to promote my own fiction writing. I have no training in creative writing whatsoever (except for a few classes in my undergrad studies, and they were just for fun). I am a trained elementary teacher for goodness sake! The best I can come up with is, “See Spot Run,” and even that is pushing it. I have no agenda here other than the gratification of myself. (I know where you just went. When you stop giggling, read on.)

I like to think. You know, that thing your brain is for? And to be honest, since giving up television (except for movies and boxed TV shows through Netflix) I have time on my hands that can be put to a purpose. Sure, I could volunteer at my local hospital, but I’d be the ugliest candy-striper you ever saw. People would die just to avoid my entrance into their room. Honestly, I know sci-fi and fantasy. It’s what I enjoy. So I blog about it. (Not that I don't still volunteer for charitable organizations, I just don't pour all my time into them, or seek positions of responsibility in them.)

And of course, there is the fact that selling your writing is a full-time job. It’s a lot of work, as any freelancer will tell you, and it lacks any real security, something my oldest child obsessive personality cannot handle. I need security, and I’m not ashamed to say so. I looked at some of the requirements for publishing writing at various e-zines and trade mags, just for my own information, and it’s tough to get them to accept your work. I have to say, I really respect those folks who can do it.

Would I like to write a novel in my lifetime, see my name in print for my non-fiction or short stories? Sure, that would be nice, but am I willing to make the sacrifice necessary to make that happen? No, not really, and I’m mostly okay with that.

I’d rather pour my energy into making this blog better and better, so that you can enjoy what I enjoy, without feeling like I’m selling you something. My opinions on books are as honest as I know how to make them, and though I am rarely disappointed, I will let you know when I am, with no apologies to whoever sent me the book to review.

I just don’t see myself as someone who needs to go through the effort of publishing my material. If someone wants to borrow and republish what I have written with my permission, more power to them. (SF Crowsnest has done this a few times already.) And if I get paid for it, even better. But I am not going to seek these folks out.

I get paid well at my job, I like what I do for a living, and the mediocre amounts of money that could be produced by trying to put my name into print are so pitiful compared to my salary that it just isn’t worth it to me in terms of money.

I’m just a speculative fiction fan with a critical mind who likes to apply it to the thing he loves. I seek neither money, nor glory (although that would be nice, I won’t deny it) just an open forum to express my thoughts and opinions, a good way to meet authors I respect and whose writing I enjoy, and a useful tool for those of you trying to decide what book to read in your spare time.

I hope I’ve met those expectations in the last six months since this blog took off, and I plan to meet or exceed them in the future.

Dragon*Con

I just bought my membership for this year's Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia. Anybody else planning on going?

Two of my articles in the February SF Crowsnest

I get not one, but two articles in this month's SF Crowsnest.

Speculative Fiction and the Value of the Formula

and

Weaving the Colors: An Interview with Jeffrey Overstreet

I am kind of disappointed with the first one. As I reread it, I find a whole lot of flaws and mistakes, and even once sentence that said the opposite of what I meant! Oh, well, it is still a useful tool to get people rethinking their use of the word "formulaic".

My wife's photo included in online map guide

This picture, taken by my wife, was recently chosen to be included in the online map provider Schmap. You can see the page where the photo was included here.

The picture itself is of a tomb located along the Ancient Appian Way in Rome, Italy. My wife and I have traveled there several times and loved it. I hope you enjoy the picture.

Dachshund Snow Dollop

Well, We have had snow twice this week in North Georgia. This is an unusual and unprecedented (to my knowledge) thing.

We also found out that Darra really likes the snow. Both times she has played in it, by choice, by going through her doggies door. She will stay out there for a few minutes and then come racing back into the house to play. All the while she is dripping wet.

This is my favorite photo of her playing in the snow. See the dollop of snow on her nose? So very cute.

It's Me Birthday Tomorrow!

Since I usually don't post on the weekends, I thought I met let all and sundry know that tomorrow is my birthday. I'll be turning 28. (but I'm still younger than my wife. I often like to say that while she robbed the cradle, I robbed the grave. ;-)

Anyway, my present to me will be: A nap with a dash of reading on the side.

(That's our little red dachshund Darra by the way, she just loves to nap with us.)

I hope you have a restful Saturday, I know I will.

Another interview of mine posted at SF Crowsnest

My interview with John Joseph Adams, slush editor at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has been re-published in this month's SF Crowsnest.

Personal Note: First Date

For those of you who read this blog, you know that I don't personalize very much of what I write ( although I hope you get some of my reactions to books in the reviews) and I almost never post anything personal. I'm just not so good at talking about myself, which is weird considering how arrogant I am.

It is also Because the wife has a blog that covers the personal stuff I avoid talking about, so I don't really feel the need.

So she has been slowly putting up some reactions from her journal around about the time we first met. This second installment of O-History is about our first date. I did not know it was a date, so perhaps that is why it went so well in the end. If I had thought otherwise I would have been shaking in my boots! I know for sure I would have been sweating unduly. I just wanted to use a gift card I got for Christmas that easily paid for two meals. (and yea, I thought this chick was hot. So sue me.)

So enjoy a little story about me and my gorgeous wife, if you like.

Feel Free to Applaud

Stephen Hunt of SF Crowsnest contacted me a month or so ago after I posted my interview with Brian Ruckley. They wanted to repost it over there. It was flattering, I must say. I said yes, and so it is up in the December 2007 issue.

After all, the November 2007 issue circulation was: 702,831 readers, who read 2.31 million articles, generating 39.7 million hits. That is a lot of traffic!

SF Crowsnest is one of the best and most well known online magazines of the speculative fiction genre. It's monthly content is always great and interesting. And guess what? I've joined those other great article writers. He even put me up there as third on the list, just after Scifichick and Aidan, both bloggers who have been at this much longer than me and whose content far exceeds mine in quality. Very cool. I'm grateful to Stephen Hunt for giving me the opportunity.

Feel free to congratulate me in the comments. ;-)

Notes: A Lecture by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

These are my notes from a lecture given by Pulitzer prize winning author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich on September 19, 2007. This feisty gray haired lady presented a fascinating case for continued work in understanding the history of women, and in breaking down stereotypes. Phrases in quotes are direct quotes from the lecture.

“Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History”
A Lecture by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (Pulitzer prize winning author of A Midwife's Tale)
Margaret Mitchell House and Museum Literature Center

See the webcast at www.atlantaforumnetwork.org

Books, Activism, Memory

- Read first few pages of Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History in order to define the phrase succinctly.
- Phrase comes from her first article in history in 1976 on Puritan Funeral Sermons
- Kay Mills found it, accidentally changed “seldom” to “rarely” hence two different quotes
- In 1996 Jill Portugal of one angry girl designs asked permission to print it on a t-shirt.
- Kacey Jones sang a song incorporating the term on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion – the song can be found in the book.
- Sania Mirza, Indian Muslim tennis player has taken it as a slogan for herself

So what does “Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History” mean?

- Ulrich enjoys ambiguous titles for books
- Good Wives is about normal women dealing with prescriptions for good behavior vs. actual behavior
- Age of Homespun is about frontier violence and the intersection of Native Americans and the English
- Well behaved women are often characterized as Emily Dickinson types.
- Well behaved women are those who do what is appropriate for her culture and preserve the status quo
- “Well-behaved” is not referring to good or bad behavior (i.e. Rosa Parks was chosen as the example case against segregation precisely because she was well-behaved, yet she made history.)
- Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History is about “celebrating the impact of the women’s movement of the 60’s and 70’s on knowledge.”
- “Because women tried to make history they discovered the past.”
- Those who want to make history seek to know history.
- “Caring about history we make history”

Book Structure

- Book is set up with three women in three libraries in different time periods and countries.
- Christine di Pizan – 15th century “The City of Ladies”
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton – 19th century leader of women’s rights movement
- Virginia Woolf – reference to famous British Museum doodle leading to the writing of fictional account Shakespeare’s sister Judith where in frustration at lack of success, raped and abandoned she kills herself.
- Woolf was wrong – Elizabeth Carey was forced to marry like Judith but was popular writer (more popular than Shakespeare) in the same time; Artemisia Judelefsky – raped, seduced like Judith, became famous artist
- Tells stories and shows parallels between the three women and retells their stories through the lens of the scholarship of the last 30 years.

A Renaissance in Women’s History

- Christine di Pizan loved the Amazons (800 year kingdom).
- Ulrich retold the story of the Amazons in light of recent scholarship including funny story about Amazon.com being sued by a women’s bookstore called Amazon for copyright infringement. Amazon tried to say they were named after the river rather than Amazon’s of myth. Ironically the river was named by a Spanish explorer who thought he had found the ancient kingdom found in the myths.
- Quilt documentation projects came to light.
- Ordinary people asked new questions
- “academic historians do not own history.”
- Well-behaved women don’t think their lives matter so they don’t preserve their own history by keeping diaries, etc.
- So being misbehaved means preserving ones role in history, no matter how small

Questions

Where are we in terms of male response to women?
- “I’m a historian” not a sociologist
- Ulrich is depressed when she goes into bookstores and only sees books on war
- The book marketing world thinks history is for men and fiction for women – a holdover of the 18th century
- “Our knowledge of history is not very deep, let alone women’s history.”

Was there someone in this new book that touched her like Martha Ballard of A Midwife’s Tale?
- not in new book, no one ever will
- new book is about many women rather than being a microcosm like A Midwife’s Tale.
- Ulrich was touched by the new book’s multiplicity
- Ulrich had to rely on other people’s scholarship
- Writing out of her comfort zone
- Moved by how much scholars and good citizens have done in research.
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton/Jarrett Smith and abolitionist helps Stanton meet a slave named Harriett Powell. Ulrich does research on the underground Railroad and ends up connecting two disparate organizations in New York and Canada who have information on this person.

If Ulrich were to be a history advisor to Hillary Clinton’s campaign what characterizations should Clinton avoid or identify with?
- Hillary has an interesting dilemma, she is both new and old, but is likely the first female presidential candidate who can make it.
- Should not identify with Woodhull – first woman to run for President in 1870’s
- Nearly 20% of the women who have served in Congress have succeeded husbands who died in office.
- Hillary Clinton is in peculiar position of being a pseudo-widow because she is potentially following a husband into office that is not dead. She will be both helped and hurt by his legacy, unlike the ones who follow dead husbands.
- The more interesting question is why it has taken so long to get to this point in the US when other developed nations have already elected women.

How has technology changed getting published?
- it is harder to get published
- her first book was her Doctoral Dissertation, and now he own publisher won’t even look at doctoral dissertations.
- “The Internet is fabulous and terrifying” but is helpful in making connections.
- She would like funding of digitization of primary sources not just go to the 19th century notion of history.

Would we be better off if women had been ruling the world for a while?
- “NO!” Emphatically
- She is a social historian, great things happen when lots of people make small changes, not rulers.
- Women are not always better peacemakers, that is a stereotype.
- See her chapter on the Amazons.
- Women have been warriors for as long as men have and have been just as violent.
- Gender is an important variable but it doesn’t explain everything.

Why are we reluctant to elect women?
- women themselves have a lot do with Nixon’s veto of childcare act.
- Can make the argument that 19th century women had more effect on moral culture and society than men did (child-rearing)
- Women have had economic and political power in the past, but it was directed toward the home rather than those spheres as we understand them.
- Women had a new politics, a moral imperative (more important than the others even)
- Conservative women destroyed the early feminist movements, not just men.
- Activist women disagree.

What was Ulrich’s impetus for becoming not well-behaved?
- committed to study
- marrying young and having a lot of kids
- history changed her life
- Grew up in Mormon Rocky Mtn. West, Idaho.
- Heard about noble pioneers from childhood and felt diminished by their story leading to questions and research.
- Some of those pioneer grandmother’s were not so well-behaved.
- Mormon’s were just as radical in the 19th century as the Elizabeth Cady Stantons, even though they were polygamists as well as feminists and suffragettes.
- Ulrich’s stereotypes were blown away.
- Being a pioneer was creatively dealing with the circumstances, as women who make history should be today.

My Name in mental_floss Magazine

Back in August, mental_floss magazine asked a question on their blog. They were beginning a series on issues affecting the 2008 election, and were planning to begin the series with an article on immigration policy.

Well, I sent in a question.

Surprise, surprise, they used my question (see below or number 24 in the blog post) to create a sidebar in the current issue ("The Golden Lobe Awards" and Einstein's picture grace the cover), detailing immigration policy from 1882 to the present day. I was flabbergasted, and happily surprised!

#24 John Says: August 23rd, 2007 at 6:53 am

What quota’s still exist for whom we allow to enter legally? I know that in the great wave, only certain numbers of people from certain countries were allowed in. (i.e.) for every 3 Irish, one Russian.) Do ethnic or national quota’s still exist and what are they? Are there other quota’s used now?

This was so cool! And as a special reward, my name appeared on page 8 of volume 6, issue 6 of mental_floss: Where Knowledge Junkies get their fix. The picture below is a scan of the mention.

I may not be an author, but I can ask good questions! It was kind of a neat little thing, I wanted to share this little piece of personal joy with all of you, my faithful readers! And I thank mental_floss for being so kind in printing my name at the top of the list.

Such fun!

10-20-30 Virus

My friend over at Provocative Church tagged me with the 10-20-30 virus. The idea is that you write about what you were doing 10, 20, and 30 years ago, then tag five other folks to do the same. It's a nice little way to learn about people whose blogs you might read for info, but not because you know them personally and provides a little extra linkage as well. So here goes:

10 years ago: I was living in Atlanta, working at a Chick-fil-A roughly twelve hours a day, six days a week. I was going part-time to college using the nearly invented distance learning by mail at the University of Georgia. I had graduated early through homeschooling and was saving up to go to Covenant College after I turned 18. What free time was left, I spent reading fantasy fiction. I was particularly into Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan then.

20 years ago: I was seven, and devouring books voraciously. I had few if any friends, and reading was my one great passion. At the time, I loved detective fiction, and was reading Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle over and over again.

30 years ago: I didn't exist. My parents had not yet even met at U of D, and I (being a surprise first child) was not something either of my parents, after they were married in '78, were wanting yet. I suppose God knew who I was, but nobody else did, that's for sure.

So I'd like to tag a few other bloggers out there: Tia, Imani, Remy, Chris, and SQT, tell us all a little about yourself.

7 Reasons I Write Book Reviews

Criticism, that fine flower of personal expression in the garden of letters. ~ Joseph Conrad

I felt that with the growing (an appreciated) success of this blog. That it was about time I did a little explaining about why I do what I do. (Doo-doo. See? I can be funny.) There’s a lot to cover so either bear with me, or stop reading now and save yourself the time. (I mean, you could be playing squash right now, and wouldn’t that be better?)

For those of you who have decided to stay, thank you. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

Reason #1: I am opinionated.

Really opinionated. And if there is one topic you can get me talking about for hours, it is fantasy fiction. I’ve been reading it since I was very young, and have read a wide range of its authors and subgenres. So what better place to express those opnions than a blog that all the world can see. (This goes hand in hand with my vanity, which is profound. I mean, its pretty vain to think anyone actually cares about your opinion, right?) So hence the blog and the title, Grasping for the Wind keeps me humble every time I see it displayed at the top of every page in this blog.

Reason #2: I got bored.

In my workplace, there can be times of great busyness, and times that are really slow (like the Friday afternoon when I wrote this). There are only so many websites you can visit before you get bored of surfing, so I thought I might contribute to the web instead of being a passive observer. And fantasy fiction is what I like and what I care about, so I began to write book reviews.

Reason #3: Francis Schaeffer made me feel bad.

“Americans don't read enough (that's true) and Americans read too much (that's true too). What I mean is that many don't read enough material to really be informed, and yet they read too much because what they do read they often do not stop to assimilate and think through. They whiz through it and get what I call a first-order experience, a sort of mystical feeling, not a genuine understanding. I urge you, with all my soul, in such a day as ours to really, truly learn to read." ~ Francis Schaeffer

Okay, so if reading means thinking through and assimilating material, then writing a book review, something more than a summary, something that really digs in to the writing would be a good thing, right? Of course, I don’t think Mr. Schaeffer meant fantasy fiction when he wrote those words (I suspect he wanted me to read more classics, actually) but to each his own. This is my world, and I am going to think about it critically.

Reason #4: Free Books

Mercenary as it may seem, I like getting free books from publishers and authors. Without them, many of the books I have recently enjoyed, I never would have read. I’m not a rich man, so free books is a great way to stay up on what is going on in fantasy, and getting introduced to some really great authors.

Reason #5: Because it helps readers.

Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well; the chiefest part of which is to observe those excellencies which delight a reasonable reader. ~ John Dryden

I get a lot of hits everyday from people who land on my book reviews. Most of the time they don’t leave comments, but I know they went away thinking that maybe next time they go to the bookstore, they just might pick up the book they saw here.

Reason #6: Because it helps authors.

Well, I'm not a critic, I'm just a worker. So, I'm always grateful for anything the critics say - good or bad. ~ Mandy Patinkin

Nothing is more apt to deceive us than our own judgment of our work. We derive more benefit from having our faults pointed out by our enemies than from hearing the opinions of friends. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Reviewing new works, old works out of print, debut authors is a helpful thing to do. Why? Even with the growing popularity of fantasy fiction, it is still not considered an acceptable genre for writers of any real talent. Yet there are so many great authors being discovered everyday. This genre spawns so many innovators and creative minds in it that to dismiss fantasy as “escapism” or simply “trash” shows the small minds of many critics. So my reviews, interviews, etc., if they can help showcase these talents and their hard work, make the effort worthwhile.

Reason #7: It’s just plain fun.

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong. ~ Terry Pratchett

That seems self-evident. Reading speculative fiction is something I enjoy. I’m unlikely to stop doing it anytime soon (my hope is that I will be re-reading a favorite on my deathbed), so why not share the fun?

I Am No Longer a Man-Child

In a private discussion with some of my fellow fantasy reviewers, we were talking about how a tastes change over time. For instance, as a young man, I enjoyed Star Wars a great deal. I collected newspaper clippings and announcements, bought the customizable card game, the toys, the novels, the Legos, and the movies in many variations. And yet all that remains to me is the Legos and the movies in one version. Everything else was sold off to other fans. I lost interest as I grew older. My tastes changed, and I found fulfillment in other hobbies and other worlds.

The changing tastes and interests of people was really brought home to me last night. My wife and I went out to dinner for her birthday, and we stopped in at Michael's Hobby Store afterward to let her use her gift card she had received from my parents. There is a Gamestop nearby, so while the wife was spending time shopping at the craft store I thought I would pop in there to see what they had in the way of cheap video games. (I have a gift card with a few bucks from trade-ins I thought I might spend.) I hadn't bought one in at least a year.

I spent an hour in there. Yet I found nothing I wished to purchase. It was strange, because in my young adulthood, when I was playing Nintendo from the first US version on up, and the Playstation, Gameboy, and Sega Genesis; I would have bought any number of games.

Yet not one in the thousands of titles in the store was of interest to me. I only own a Playstation 2 and computer for playing video games anymore. But only one title looked even remotely interesting to me, and that was Neverwinter Nights 2, only because I don't own it yet and love Forgotten Realms. But it was too expensive for me at the moment. And it wasn't cause the games weren't good either. The looked awesome actually, I just kept thinking about the hours I would spend playing it. I thought about how my wife feels neglected when I spend too much time playing video games (this has happened once before, when Neverwinter Nights was selling downloadable expansions about a year ago), and I just couldn't generate enough interest in sacrificing her happiness for my own, no matter how fun the games looked.

I chose not to buy any games because my gift card only had a couple of bucks and most of the titles cost $10 and up, I saw nothing that interested me, and I thought about the fact that I never play video games anymore. Once, I would have spent 100 hours playing Final Fantasy, but now I think that time could be spent in other ways. Not necessarily more productive, but more fulfilling at least. These three factors combined caused me to leave the store empty-handed, something I never would have done in my teen years, even in my early twenties.

I remarked to my wife later, "Does this mean that I am no longer a man-child? Have I become a man?" Since in my society, video games are generally a young man's pursuit.

My tastes had changed, and those tastes and personal likes had moved due to responsibility, lack of time, and the finding of more fulfilling pursuits. I used to try and keep up with the Joneses in the video game world. Now I find the pursuit of reading a more fulfilling and profitable enterprise. Its strange how th change came so subtly, I didn't really even notice it.

Tastes change, personal likes and dislikes grow and develop. What we enjoy doing twenty years from now may be vastly different from what we enjoy now. Yet that does not mean that what we enjoy now is wasted. It is a step in the growth of me, of who I am as a person.

Last night's event left me feeling I have truly left boyhood and adolescence behind me. I was always a sober child, but now I look forward to the great adventure that is manhood. (Even if it took 27 years to get there. :-)

Happy Birthday to My Wife

Darra says "Woof". (She is a dog, after all. What did you expect her to say?)

But I say, "Happy 31st birthday!, I love you, and I hope you have a special day!"

Notes: A Sermon by Honorable Governor Mike Huckabee

I went to a sermon delivered by Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor seeking the Republication nomination for U.S. President in 2008. He was pleasant, a good speaker, and had some excellent points. My posting of these notes in no way means that I support Huckabee. I still need to think on it. I just thought others might find this useful. Phrases in quotes are direct or as close as I could hear.

A Sermon by Honorable Governor Mike Huckabee
September 22, 2007
First Redeemer Church, Cumming, GA

View the webcast or purchase a video/CD at http://www.thereshope.org/

- Huckabee received four standing ovations at the National Education Association
- Born and raised in Hope, Arkansas
- Was a pastor for twelve years
- Was once asked if he was one of those “narrow minded Baptists” who only believed Baptists were going to heaven. He replied, no ma’am I’m even more narrow minded than that, I don’t even think all the Baptists are going to heaven!”
- Went to Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas
- Is an ordained Southern Baptist Convention minister

Theme Verse: Proverbs 22:28 - “Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.”
- Why? Because when we move it we get lost.
- America is lost and dislocated because “We have moved the landmarks of our liberty”.
- Quote from Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Sound familiar?

1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.
4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within: the decadence of the people.
5. The decay of religion—faith fading into mere form—losing touch with life and becoming impotent to guide the people.

The Basic Nature of Man
- we are all sinners
- for secularists, the definition of sin is self-centeredness
- “we are a nation filled with sin”
- Huckabee’s father was a patriot, “he laid on the stripes and I saw stars.”
- Our society was better off when we respected authority and didn’t act like victims
- Story of his son’s attempt to bake a cake but didn’t understand the meaning of dash so the son put in a cup of salt instead of the dash, creating an awful tasting cake.
- It was the lack of knowing the definition of dash that led to the problem. We must be sure and call a thing a thing.
- Some people say that if we are sincere God will honor it, no matter what it is we do.
- “Being sincere is a good thing, but being right is even better.”
- If people make up their own definitions of right and wrong we will not get a kumbaya campfire, but something else.
- “When people redefine right and wrong to match their behavior, rather than match their behavior to right and wrong”, there will be more sin in culture, not less.
- “A political party is nothing more than a vehicle, it is not a destination.”

Huckabee got into politics because he is pro-life.
- All people have individual value.
- “The real discussion is not values, it is the value of a person.” Which is why he can’t compromise on being pro-life.
- Parents are sacrificing their own children for their comfort, rather than, as in the past, sacrificing their own comfort for their child.
- Carl Zimmerman book (?not sure spelling or title)

Christians in Politics
- Some Christians say they don’t want to be involved.
- Not being involved is like owning a bass fishing boat that is perfect but that never gets put in the water. (The sermon is worth watching just for the build-up as he tells this allegory.)
- “I’m not to be of the world, but I am to be in the world.”
- “Have you moved the landmarks?” “ Are you in the water” – making waves
Thanks

Why I Write Book Reviews

This is part of the reason why I write book reviews (other than that it is fun of course). While I can't provide a reading course, I can provide solid thinking about reading from my own perspective.

"Perhaps if people today were to take good reading course, they would be better off. Americans don't read enough (that's true) and Americans read too much (that's true too). What I mean is that many don't read enough material to really be informed, and yet they read too much because what they do read they often do not stop to assimilate and think through. They whiz through it and get what I call a first-order experience, a sort of mystical feeling, not a genuine understanding. I urge you, with all my soul, in such a day as ours to really, truly learn to read"

Francis Schaeffer Back to Freedom and Dignity ( InterVarsity Press, 1972), p. 18.

HT: Provocative Church

For all its flaws, I do love Covenant College

A Little Bit of Validation

Mindy and Brandon Withrow have quoted me (I'm at the bottom) on their new website for the History Lives series.

"Monks and Mystics is an excellent text to use as a basis for an upper elementary or middle school Sunday school class on church history. It would also be useful in Christian schools. As a supplemental text it is perfect. Although an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. So much so, that I ordered the first book the next day and plan to order any successive books as they become available. The stories were interesting and well-written…the Withrows do not shy away from using technical terms. Often the characters explain the terms in words that could be understood by a 9 year old in their speech to each other. (In truth I understood some of the terms better than I ever have before!)”

You can read my full review of Monks and Mystics here. Turns out, the newest volume Hearts and Hands: Chronicles of the Awakening Church is scheduled to release January 1 in the U.S and November 1 in the U.K. I have the first three, have enjoyed them all, and highly recommend them to all teachers and parents.

Notes from a Lecture by Terry Brooks

The following is my notes from a lecture given by Terry Brooks on September 1, 2007 at the Decatur Book Festival. He was hilarious, and a very friendly guy. He was kind and patient with everyone, and offered to stay as long as needed to sign books. I thought that was very gracious. Words or Phrases in quotation marks in these notes are direct quotes taken word for word from the lecture. The lecture itself was divided into four sections with a follow-up question and answer session.

Terry Brooks: A Retrospective Lecture
Decatur Book Festival 2007

- all writers talk about themselves
- 30 years in publishing, 27 books
- 1st book published in 1977
- A writer changes dramatically from decade to decade

How has Terry Brooks changed as a writer? In 4 ways:

1. How has Terry Brooks' work habits changed?
- in his early career, he had another job but he tried to write everyday (usually at night), now he more often works mornings, since his body wakes him up early and by 3PM he can’t think straight.
- He used to be very focused on outlining and then sticking to the outline, in the last five years this has changed into changing outlining but taking the outline apart midway through writing the book, and then re-outlining. This is because he is comfortable with the outlining process and so can monkey with it more.
- He finds it fun to write himself into a corner and try to get out of it.
- He is no longer dogmatic about writing, because he has less need to write for money, now only needs to write for pleasure and joy

2. What is Terry Brooks interested in writing about now?
- Learned from Lester Del Rey that his obligation is to tell a good story
- All of the important fantasy that has been written has an undertone of looking at the human condition. (i.e. Shea Ohmsford doing something he didn’t want to do; Will explores coming of age; Genesis of Shannara deals with family issues, the environment, and the collapse of civilization.)
- Terry Brooks has moved outward from personal issues in the initial novels to global issues in the later novels.

3. Where does Terry Brooks get the Inspiration for his stories?
- reading other people’s books (particularly non-fiction and non-genre books, though not often general fiction)
- current events
o Voyage of the Jerle Shannara – explores issues of redemption and transgression - triggered by a person in the news who found religion immediately after getting caught committing a crime or immorality but who had no time between getting caught and finding religion for true introspection.
o Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold! Series – explores the idea that the grass is greener on the other side – written when deciding whether to give up legal career and pursue full-time writing.
o Armageddon’s Children – explores idea of civilization in decline, what will the street kids take with them and how will they rebuild after the collapse? – triggered by one too many people cutting him off in traffic – the idea that the loss of manners is the beginning of the collapse of civilization.

4. Why is Terry Brooks still writing?
- He doesn’t have to.
- New authors start out trying to write and get published, old authors should have no reason to write?
- Brooks can’t quit, because then what would he do?
- “Writing is an addiction you are born with.”
- “If I’m not writing, I’m not a complete person.”
- Even if Brooks were forced to quit, he would still write.
- Operates under the theory that “I’ve got one more book, I haven’t written my best book yet.”
- Right now is his best book, but this will change when he finishes this one and goes on to the next.
- “You keep thinking you can find your way to something better.”
- Made joke about devil and God, with meaning that finding a lawyer is difficult, and so is finding that perfect book.

5. Questions
- Does Brooks have a passion for mentoring young writers?
o Not doing much anymore due to lack of energy (is in his 70’s)
o Sees a focus on family and writing as his first obligation, but does participate in some formal mentoring.
- Why choose to write fantasy, and what would Terry Brooks say to critics of fantasy?
o “What you write chooses you.”
o Everything he wants to write lends itself to the fantasy genre.
o Critics just don’t get it, many critics haven’t read it, and those that have read one book and then write it off entirely.
o Critics need to read authors in the field, beyond those who are dead.
- Which current writers do you read?
o Most important in fantasy genre is Philip Pullman.
o Brooks tends to read in other fields, nonfiction, ancient civilizations, adventure, some contemporary fiction on the recommendation of Mrs. Brooks (who was in attendance).
- What is the process for getting Terry Brooks’ books into audio? (i.e. why are series incomplete and haphazardly made?)
o Audio is fairly new technology in the market, and of course the last area reached is fantasy, as a result publications are very hit or miss.
o Slow process
- What is happening with the movie adaptations?
o Magic Kingdom was optioned two years ago, but little has been done with it.
o Shannara was optioned by Warner Brothers, they are working on getting a certain director to sign on, if they do it will be fast tracked for production.
- Why does Terry Brooks have to go out on the road?
o Joke – “Basically, because my family sends me away.”
o “I do it because I like it.”
o It is energizing to have people tell you they liked your book.
- Is Genesis of Shannara going to have more books?
o Yes, Brooks needs to cover the space between the 80 years of the Word and Void books and the 1000 years in the future of the Shannara books.
o It will come in a series of ones and two’s maybe a set of three.
o The spotlight will be on important periods of time, not the full time between Word and Void and Shannara.
o Next book will be a Magic Kingdom book.
- Thoughts on Character Development?
o If he can’t relate to a character, it’s time to let go.
o Characters he connects with the most are those with personal issues.
- Who are Terry Brooks top picks in fantasy publishing?
o Del Rey
o TOR
o HarperCollins
o Ace
o Some of the new little imprints
o “The number one skill in publishing is luck.”
o There are many opportun