Jane Friedman has a list of national writing contests with not entry fee.
Man-Kzin Wars XI, by Hal Colebatch, Matthew Joseph Harrington, and Larry Niven
I reviewed Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War a while back. This is the sequel. My friend Hal Colebatch, who wrote all the stories of the previous volume, contributes the bulk of Man-Kzin Wars XI
The background (these books are set in Larry Niven’s Ringworld
You Can't Say 'Nazi,' But Us?
Political signs with Nazi words, symbols, or overtones showed up a rally during that past week, and the media yawned. Maybe they were tired from all of their outrage a few weeks ago. Larry O’Connor reports, “What is truly scandalous about the traditional media’s apparent obliviousness is the fact that unlike the Tea Parties — which are often spontaneous, unorganized events with no direct affiliation to a politician or a political party — this protest has been directly liked to Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, and her campaign has been caught in a series of misleading statements regarding that involvement.”
Is it worse that such signs appear at an organized rally or at an unorganized one? Is it exhausting to hear outrage about one and not the other, a news cycles about one and nothing about the other?
Of course, the illustration here is not from one of the posters, but it is a curious bit of Nazi propaganda, is it not? Having they been called christians of a sort in your hearing? This isn’t a Christian poster.
Fun and Books with Jasper Fforde
In this interview from a few years ago, author Jasper Fforde, who has a new novel coming next year
Of course, one always thinks ‘wouldn’t it be great to be published?’ But I was always thinking ‘oh, it’d be great to be published but it’s not likely, but I’m having fun, so I’m going to write what I want to write.’ So when I did actually speak to people about my project, they thought it was a pile of rubbish.
Freedom–You Don't Want It
D.G. Myers criticizes the new Jonathan Franzen novel, Freedom. Apparently, the author’s idea behind the title is closer to tyranny than liberty. Myers notes how thoroughly liberal, as in the American political left, this novel is. “Franzen’s references to his title leave small doubt that he holds the Leftist view that freedom is the problem, not a political solution to much of anything,” he writes and goes on to describes scenes in which the word freedom appears. The last of these scenes refers to the freedom a pet loses when collared by its owner. (via Frank Wilson)
Buy Freedom: A Novel
By way of taking all the fun of this, look at what Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary has on freedom: “A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. Freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious. [See Liberty.]” That’s the summary. Much more is under liberty, explaining specifics of natural, civil, religious, political, and other types of liberty.
My first ukelele-inspired post, I think
Over at Grim’s Hall (we seem to be doing a lot of profitable cross-pollination between our two blogs these days) Grim posted this amusing clip of the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain doing a number you’ll… probably recognize.
This is a lot of fun, and I’m glad there are people doing silly things like this in the world.
And yet, as I mentioned in the comments, it’s not a great thing in itself. It’s great in being unique in its sub-genre, excelling in a field in which there’s little competition. I remember an old Peter Sellers movie, “The Bobo,” in which he played “The World’s Only Singing Matador.” Not the best matador, not even a very good matador, just the only one who sang.
I once saw a poster on the University of Minnesota campus, back in my college days. It advertised a movie about the struggles of Labor. It proudly proclaimed that this was the first film ever produced purely on Collectivist principles. Every detail of scripting, production, casting, and filming was decided by a vote of all the workers involved.
Needless to say, I did not go to see this masterpiece. I’m fairly sure I’d rather have the insides of my eyelids tattooed by a prison inmate than see that film.
Because any work of art that says, “See me for some reason other than that I’m a good piece of work” can pretty much be counted on to be very bad.
And that applies to Christian art, too.
Even mine.
(Which does not in any way mean the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain isn’t really, really cool.)
Plot Twist Fun
Ever thought about how a well-known story might end differently? A post on this topic could be a magnet of unwanted spoilers, but I’ll send it anyway. Throwing reality or plausibility aside, what popular story changes would you suggest?
Return of the Jedi–Yoda: Now the truth know you must. Vader, your father he is not. Solo your father, and Leia . . . gasp, cough, cough.
Luke: What about Leia? She couldn’t be . . .
Yoda: Mother.
Luke: Ewww.
Star Trek 4–Kahn isn’t dead after all, and the really old geezer will finally get revenge.
Star Trek 5–They Saved Kahn’s Brain
The Wizard of Oz–The Wizard: But this is Kansas, Dorothy. It’s been Kansas all along. You just have to know it in your heart.
Sherlock Holmes: Unsolved Mysteries–Watson: Holmes hasn’t been able to solve a single crime since the encounter with the woman. For instance, one I had to solve for him came to us on a Monday morning. . . .
Everyone's Doing It Now
Tim Challies writes about the money problems the porn industry has. In short, few people want to pay for what they can get for free or get in the context of a good story, like what’s in several HBO series. It reminds me of a comment from a reporter, which I think I blogged about at the time, expressing doubt that anyone paid for pornography anymore.
Tim says, “[P]ornography has succeeded so well that it has forced itself into decline.” And yet, this is not good news. (via Steve B on Facebook)
Tim Challies has an e-book on this topic called Sexual Detox, available on his site.
Thick Skin
The Novel Doctor has a few words to say about taking criticism.
But, as the theory goes, if you have a “thick skin,” the review won’t bother you at all. As you read how your protagonist “wouldn’t even be believable playing a stiff on a soap opera” and that your plot “drags more than J. Edgar Hoover” you’ll simply smile while the scent of lavender fills your nostrils and images of puppies and kittens frolicking in a field of poppies fill your mind.
Of course, there are a few problems with this theory, as the doctor explains. I have often thought I take criticism well, but I’m starting to doubt it. At least, I worry that I don’t take it as well as I thought I did. What I need is to put my work out there more aggressively so that more good and bad criticism comes, and I’ll have more practice handling it.
Njal's Saga
I just finished reading Njal’s Saga again today (actually Magnusson’s and Pálsson’s translation, not the new one pictured above). It would be pointless to review such a classic, but I thought I’d jot down a few reader’s impressions, fancying myself (as I do) a fairly knowledgeable reader.
Njal’s Saga is often named as the greatest of all the Icelandic sagas. It’s not my favorite; I prefer the more action-oriented sagas like Egil’s and Grettir’s. That’s not to say Njal’s Saga lacks action. There’s plenty. The body count piles up like kills in a Stallone movie. But Njal’s is perhaps the most reflective saga, the saga that worries most about its soul.
The central character, of course, is the title character, Njal Thorgeirsson. He’s not the hero; there are actually two heroes, Gunnar and Kari, both mighty warriors of whom Schwarzenegger is not worthy. Njal, by contrast, is a man of peace. He’s famed for his wisdom and shrewdness, not for his martial skills. He can’t even grow a beard, a fact that makes him the target of some contempt. In spite of his efforts, his family gets caught in a cycle of killing and revenge that leads to his death (and his family’s) by burning, in his own house. Continue reading Njal's Saga