“It is never too late to give up your prejudices”
Henry David Thoreau
“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation.”
Mahatma Gandhi
(https://commons.wikimedia.org)
Month: February 2020
Quotations on Perseverance
StandardOne of the most important qualities for writers is that of perseverance. So many other circumstances have impact on success and failure that are outside of the direct control of the writer, but there is one that is in his/her ability to control: perseverance, the ability to keep writing, no matter what is happening. Here are a few quotations about that quality:
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”
H.G. Wells
“If you want to be a writer, then you must write–every day if you can. Remember that you must never give up.”
Charles F. French
A Reminder: My Presentation in the HorrorAddicts.net Online Writers Conference
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I am pleased to announce that I am presenting a session at the HorrorAddicts.net Online Writers Conference, which is being held February 24-29, 2020.
To find the event, which is free, please go to: Horroraddicts.net Online Writers Conference.
To participate, you need only sign up and create a user name and password. Again, this is free!
I am presenting
How To World and Character Build in a Horror Novel Series
by
Charles F. French
In this session I will make suggestions for writers that I hope will be practical and applicable to writing horror novels, or novels in other genres also.
I am also hosting a live Q & A on:
Shout Box Chat 12 noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday February 26
I hope some of you come by for the event!
Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.
Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.
An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.
Please follow the following links to find my novel:
Thank you!
The book trailer:
Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I
My radio interview:
Quotations On Ignorance and Its Danger
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(www.pixabay.com)
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/)
“Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.”
Thomas Paine
“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”
Johann Wolfgang von Geothe
“We must, especially now, be aware of the threat of tyranny and authoritarianism that is riding on the wave of ignorance, bigotry, and fear.”
Charles F. French
Jackson’s Letter, and a Great Book
StandardHere is a wonderful blogpost from the extraordinary teacher, Jennie!
When a child takes the time to write a letter to his former teacher,
that in itself is a wonderful thing.
Dear, Jennie
I read the book the Chocolate Touch.
It was a really fun book even though I
Do Not Like Chocolate!!
Thank you for telling about the book.
From, Jackson Pugh
Thank you, Jackson, for reading the book. Thank you for writing to tell me about it. Do you remember chapter reading in the Aqua Room, and how much you loved Little House on the Prairie? I do. We laughed and cried together.
And now you are so grown up. I’m glad you are reading. I’m glad you wrote
me a letter. Thank you!
The Chocolate Touch is a children’s book by Patrick Skene Catling, first published in the US in 1952. John Midas is delighted when, through a magical gift, everything his lips touch turns…
View original post 22 more words
I Am Presenting A Session At The HorrorAddicts.net Online Writers Conference!
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I am pleased to announce that I am presenting a session at the HorrorAddicts.net Online Writers Conference, which is being held February 24-29, 2020.
To find the event, which is free, please go to: Horroraddicts.net Online Writers Conference.
To participate, you need only sign up and create a user name and password. Again, this is free!
I am presenting
How To World and Character Build in a Horror Novel Series
by
Charles F. French
In this session I will make suggestions for writers that I hope will be practical and applicable to writing horror novels, or novels in other genres also.
I am also hosting a live Q & A on:
Shout Box Chat 12 noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday February 26
I hope some of you come by for the event!
Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.
Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.
An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.
Please follow the following links to find my novel:
Thank you!
The book trailer:
Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I
My radio interview:
Another Member Of The U.L.S. — Robbie Cheadle Writes On The Red Badge of Courage
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I want to welcome Robbie Cheadle to the U. L. S., The Underground Library Society! This group is an unofficial collection of people who deeply value books. It is based on the idea of The Book People from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Robbie is the newest member of this group of book lovers!
Robbie has excellent blogs: Robbie Cheadle books/poems/reviews and Robbie’s inspiration. Both are wonderful; please be sure to visit them.
The Red Badge of Courage
Background
The Red Badge of Courage is a novel about the American Civil War, written by American author, Stephen Crane. Although the author was born after the war and had not ever participated in a battle when he wrote the book, The Red Badge of Courage is cited for its realism and naturalism.
The book depicts several very vivid and intense battle scenes which are graphically depicted from the perspective of the young protagonist, Henry Fleming, a private in the Union Army. The book explores the themes of maturism, heroism and cowardice with regards to Fleming’s regiment which comprises mainly of inexperienced first-time soldiers who have conscripted for various reasons and the indifference of nature to the follies of man.
The red badge of courage referred to in the title of the book is a wound incurred during battle.
My review of this book
The Red Badge of Courage was a fascinating insight into the psychology of warfare for young recruits who have never experienced battle before. I read the author’s biography and was astonished that he had never experienced war before he wrote this startling descriptive and vivid account of the fictional 304th New York Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.
The main character is 18-year old man from a farming background called Henry Fleming. Henry is tired of the monotony of his life helping his mother on the farm and enlists because he has romanticized battle as a result of reading several accounts of war. He is attracted by his perceived glamour of battle and enlists against the advice of his mother. When she attempts to give him some practical advice before he leaves to join his new regiment, he resents her words which belie and detract from his romantic notions.
Henry’s main ambition is to prove that he is man enough to be a soldier, and he suffers endless anxiety about how he will react when his regiment eventually sees some action on the front. He becomes friendly with a number of his compatriots, including a young man named Jim Conklin, who confesses that he would run from battle if all his peers did so.
Henry’s regiment finally faces the enemy and is successful during their first session of combat. After a short reprieve, the regiment faces the enemy again and this time Henry is convinced that his regiment will lose and he runs away from the battle. He retreats into a nearby wood and comes across a dead body. In his fear and fright at coming across this grim sight, he joins up with a group of injured soldiers, one of whom is is friend, Jim Conklin. Henry is deeply ashamed of his cowardly behavior and does his best to hide the fact that he is not injured but has fled the battle. He manages to get away with it, but his disgust at his own behavior and fear of discovery results in later behaviour that is almost reckless and lacking in reasonable self-care in his attempt to redeem himself in his own mind.
I loved the characterisation of Henry as a thinker and a person who is sensitive to his own potential failings and fears. I am sure that many young men must feel like this when faced with the real possibility of their own imminent death. The effect of peer pressure and the comradery or brotherhood of soldiers when in a group is also intriguing and believable.
Once again, thank you to Robbie Cheadle, and welcome to the U. L. S., The Underground Library Society!
Reading–The Food For Writers!
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(pixabay.com)
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Stephen King
(pixabay.com)
“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”
William Faulkner
(pixabay.com)
“We live for books.” Umberto Eco
“Reading is the one essential food needed for writers. Without reading, our writing imaginations will starve.”
Charles F. French
Who Is Your Favorite Fictional Mother?
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(Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com)
In continuing this series about favorite characters, I wanted to turn to fictional mothers. Obviously mothers are one of the most crucial parts of most families, and that is not different in literature, television, and film.
When thinking about this question, I considered many possible choices, but I decided that my favorite fictional mother is also from a book series that I love — Lily Potter from the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.
()https://en.wikipedia.org)
While we often see or read about Lily Potter in terms of what she did instead of directly, her actions to save the infant Harry Potter from Voldemort’s attacks reaches the level of heroism. She sacrifices her life in order to save her child. This action sets in motion much of the rest of the books in the series.
She is, indeed, a loving, powerful, and heroic mother. Without her actions, Harry Potter would not have lived to become a student at Hogwart’s School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry.
So, I ask all of you: who is your favorite fictional mother?
An Invitation To Join The U.L.S. — The Underground Library Society
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I am again asking for those who would like to join the U.L.S.,the Underground Library Society, to join and write a guest post. I put this request out several times over the course of a year, because I hope to have more people join in the cause.
In an earlier First Year Class at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, The U.L.S. — The Underground Library Society — was created. It is in the spirit of the Book People from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. In that novel, all books have been banned, and a few people “become” books by memorizing them, in the hope that, one day, books will be permitted to exist again.
I am again teaching the subject of banned books and censorship, and my students will take part in this organization, and I hope that many of you do also. My students will create posters about the book they choose, put them up at various places on campus, do a blog post on the project, memorize one paragraph form their chosen books, and then give a short presentation about the work at the end of the semester.
In that spirit, I am putting out the call once more for like-minded people to join The U.L.S. All that is needed is to choose a book you would memorize if the need ever arose. The type or genre of the chosen piece does not matter. There is no restriction on what you would become. You do not, however, actually have to memorize the book now. You do not need to create a poster, although if you do, I ask only that you use the logo of the U.L.S. on this page. If you wish to join, simply write a guest post in which you say what book you would “become” and why.
I hope many of you choose to join.
In the past, I have mentioned that I would become one of the following books: The Lord Of The Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, or Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
If you do wish to do a post, please email me at frenchc1955@yahoo.com and write a guest post as a Word doc. Thank you.
Charles F. French
I am looking forward to hearing from new members!
