I had no plans to write a post tonight. It's late, I've had a long day, and I am tired. Plus, this isn't a political blog. My power to influence anyone's opinion is null. But I can't sleep, and these are the words rattling around in my skull. Ever since Trump got elected four years... Continue Reading →
Charles Frazier's beautifully told Civil War drama deals with tragedy, hardship, and enduring love. It takes an unflinching look at the worst events in human history and people's worst inclinations in desperate times. More than a simple war story, Cold Mountain owes credit to The Odyssey, as Inman, the protagonist, spends years trying to get... Continue Reading →
Greetings, Aenya fans!!! I am back with another super-exciting update . . . OK, let's be honest, I am not getting a ton of followers here, and it's not hard to see why. I can't compete with the billion-dollar algorithms put out by Facebook, Instagram, TickTok, etc., or whatever new thing will be turning kids... Continue Reading →
Words are magic! They are the spell components authors use to build their worlds. Do you know these 81 words? Any good writer should! I made this handy dictionary of arcane nouns and verbs, with a few adjectives thrown in, to help give my writing that extra polish. If you’re an English geek like I am, feel free to steal it!
Words can be highly volatile, explosive even, and yet we rarely stop to consider their power. Use them incorrectly, and you can get yourself killed, in a bar, for instance; or in the face of a religious fanatic. Words also have the capacity to heal. Consider the consoling effect of a eulogy, the world shaping sermon of Jesus or the philosophy of Socrates. Mathematicians like to argue that their discipline trumps all other sciences. Psychology is rooted in biology, biology in physics, and physics in math. But without language to give meaning to all those numbers, math might as well be scratchings on a cat post.
In the hand of a brilliant writer, a pen becomes a wand, the words incantations, and the sentences spells. How else do you explain the transportive power of fiction? Its potential to bring tears to the eyes? But for a language apprentice, words can also backfire. This is particularly true of words that are not part of everyday parlance. If you’re always digging through your…
View original post 1,695 more words
What more do I need to say? I love Harry Potter and Dungeons & Dragons. A campaign through the Wizarding World was a no-brainer. Please watch, share, and subscribe!!! https://youtu.be/jVSjRc5-Mkg
If you're a naturist who has been following me, I regret to inform you that all of my naturist articles have been made private. This means you will no longer be able to access them or read them on THIS blog. All those articles have been moved to my new, naturist based blog at https://being-and-nakedness.com/... Continue Reading →
I have lost two friends over Trump. My cycling buddy was the first, whom I hardly had much in common with, other than hitting the trail. The other friend I've known for two-decades. Back in the 90s, long before Facebook, fans of niche pop culture met through e-mail lists, where we shared our passion for... Continue Reading →
On October 7th 2015, I traveled five years into the future to interview my future self, and that day is TODAY! It's kind of mind-breaking if you think about it, because back then I thought of my current self as future Nick, but now future Nick is me, and the person who had been current... Continue Reading →
As a fantasy author, I am legally required to love The Lord of the Rings, and I have to admit that I really do. Despite some very slow plotting, the prose is beautiful in a way that is rarely found in books these days, and the world-building and characters remains the benchmark against which all... Continue Reading →
