No Room For Prejudice

Low-Key Fun

Is everyone having a super 4th? I hope so because the Cranmer's are kicking it albeit a bit low-key... the way we like it. We went to two different parks for the little one and had a blast at the swimming pool too. I brought along a book—Thomas Paine: A Political Life—and manage to squeeze out a backgammon win against Little d. Very satisfying because she puts up a mighty fight. And now for some fireworks!

*You on Twitter? Today is a perfect day to follow The Quotable Paine that I contribute to almost daily. Radical Paine's Common Sense (1775-1776) is the pamphlet that convinced the rebels to start this whole American experiment.

The June That Was

I'm hoping you all had a great month of June, I did. Our daughter graduated from kindergarten which, as you can imagine, was the highlight. She loves school and told us today she can't wait until summer vacation is over to go back—fingers crossed that attitude stays through 12th grade, right?

Beyond that I released Nik Morton's Continuity Girl through BEAT to a PULP books and published a final short story from the late William E. Wallace. Also, I continued to work on a Thomas Paine project (I help run The Quotable Paine on Twitter) and am nearing completion on Glenn Gray's Transgemination. That novella is "a must read for fans of retro sci-fi/horror B movies, woven with real science, as only Glenn Gray can do." 

I expanded my reach as a freelance writer with an article appearing at LitReactor. As I've mentioned before this is a big deal for me because I've respected the top tier quality that appears there, especially the work of Keith Rawson.

Okay, on to July ...

Public Money Ought...

Paine Says...

Follow The Quotable Paine on Twitter that I contribute to. 

Past Voices

I'm reading a Harvard Classics featuring Descartes, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Hobbes. Most days on Twitter I follow accounts dedicated to Samuel Pepys, Richard Burton, and actively contribute to a Thomas Paine page. Waiting to be read are memoirs by Anais Nin and Charles Darwin. Put bluntly, I enjoy reading dead people ruminating about the minutiae of their daily lives, cultural events of their day, and whatever else passed their radars. Question: I'm looking to expand beyond the mostly white guys and looking for women essayists before the 20th century and writers from countries outside the US. Any suggestions?

My Favorite Founding Father Reminds Us That...

*I'm contributing to @QuotablePaine on Twitter.

Here's Paine For You

I've been working on a project devoted to the work of Tom Paine and decided to start a Twitter account where I tweet his quotes and offer facts on the man's life—it just went live today. If you are on Twitter, I'd love to generate some followers.

On The Nightstand: January 11-31 2016

The Thin Red Line by James Jones

I’ve been asked, as a veteran, to come up with a few words on a novel that resonates personally. It didn’t take long to say yes and that I would like to take another look at the 1962 milestone by James Jones. He’s more known for From Here to Eternity but it’s The Thin Red Line that went deep into the hell that is war.

Basic Math and Pre-Algebra by Denise Szecsei
I DESPISED math as a kid. My parents hired a tutor because I had fallen so far behind in school, but I still refused to learn it (poor Mrs. Mudge! I apologize for being such a snot, dear lady). My recent interest in CERN and various physicists has sparked a fire to learn higher math. Just bought Basic Math and Pre-Algebra as a refresher ... it's amazing how those basics can fade from memory. So, start at the beginning, right?

Six Guns at Sundown by Eric Beetner

Along with Little d (the real force behind BEAT to a PULP since its inception), I’ve been editing Eric’s first of two Lawyer novellas that pick up the narrative first laid down by Wayne D. Dundee in Stay of Execution. Both gentleman have done an outstanding job and for some foolhardy reason I have said that I will write the fifth installment. 

Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty by Lisa Randall

I’m almost obsessive with learning more about CERN’s latest accomplishments. Ms. Randall’s book is easy for simpleton’s like me to grasp.

Graveyard Love by Scott Adlerberg

My full review was published at Macmillan's Criminal Element blog. A sample: Adlerberg’s storytelling is reminiscent of Julio Cortázar conjuring up the befuddled photographer, in “Blow Up” (1959) or Vladimir Nabokov’s unhinged chocolate factory worker from Despair (1934) who erroneously believe he’s found his doppelganger. Both represent unreliable narration from a first-person psychotic point of view—doing their best to convince us they are 100% sane. Kurt is no different, telling us how he’s poles apart from other such obsessive stalkers but the more he makes a case for clear rationality the more it’s obvious he’s just plain nuts.

“Where is Planet 9” blog post by Mike Brown.

I’ve been an amateur astronomy buff since I was a kid. And as I now tell my daughter… we live in exciting times. I follow astronomer Mike Brown (he takes full glee in downsizing Pluto to dwarf status) on Twitter and noticed he tweeted that his daughter had suggested the name Lilah for the new 9th planet. So I replied, resulting in this exchange:

My four-year-old daughter, Ava, was opting for Sally. Her daddy has no idea why but thought I should pass it on.
Mikes' reply: it's now on the list.
You just made her day! Thanks, Mike.

And it did. She's aware the chance is slim of her suggestion being realized but having the scientist who's leading the search consider her proposal is a big, and exciting, deal.

 "The Singular Mind of Terry Tao" article.
I get annoyed when I hear the word genius batted around carelessly. Terry Tao, however, was one at nine years of age. Fascinating piece on a child prodigy and what he's up to today.

A Universe from Nothing: Why there is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss
A theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Krauss has written a book that even my dense understanding can comprehend, uh, most of the time. Not just a book of facts and figures but also human interest stories. Example: how Edwin Hubble (a name we all know quite well) owes quite a bit to the unsung Henrietta Swan Leavitt who was employed as a "computer" at the Harvard Observatory.

The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology by Thomas Paine
Perhaps it’s because political posturing is going into that tedious full pitch with Republicans and Democrats running to their corners, sharpening their daggers that I, once again, turn to Tom Paine. A revolutionary that had the cojones to take on George Washington. Not that The Age of Reason has anything to do with legislation of government—Paine’s Rights of Man and Common Sense handle those questions—but I like his logical voice and the topic of religion has been on my mind extra burdensome of late. Also pulled off my shelf this week is Jack Fruchtman’s Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom. And below is an audio clip of the late Christopher Hitchens on NPR discussing the man who coined the phrase, “these are the times that try men’s souls.”