Student Blogs on Gothic and Horror

During this semester, Fall 2021, my students in English 011 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA will be creating blogs about Gothic and Horror in our culture.

I will repost some of the blogs as they are created. Please feel free to drop by and say hello to them.

Books by Charles F. French:

Get The Draft Done! is available here: Amazon.com

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:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Thoughts from Chaucer and Shakespeare

Today I will offer a few quotations from writers from earlier eras about creativity, learning, and teaching.

(illustration from Cassell’s History Of England – Century Edition – published circa 1902)

“And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche”

“And gladly would he learn, and gladly teach.”

These are the Middle English and the Modern English versions of this quotation from “The General Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. This idea is of enormous importance to me, because I am both a teacher and a life-long student.  All people should try to continue to learn throughout their lives and to teach someone else the wisdom they have amassed.

(Portrait of William Shakespeare, attributed to John Taylor
NPG London)

“Suit the action to the word, the

word to the action, with this special observance, that you

o’erstep not the modesty of of nature. For anything so over-

done is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at

the first and now, was and is, to hold, as ’twere, the mirror

up to nature, to show virtue her own feature, scorn her

own image, and the very age and body of the time his

form and pressure.”

William Shakespeare (Hamlet Act 3. Scene2. lines 16-23)

Shakespeare speaks to the importance of representing life and humanity as it is and to examine the world in its complexities; it can also be an injunction for all creative efforts. I do not mean we should eliminate abstraction, metaphor, or altered forms, but that, at our core, we are creating art about humanity and our world.

Keep learning and keep sharing what you know.

Quotations On Prejudice

(www.pixabay.com)

“What a sad era when it is easier to smash an atom than a prejudice.”

                                                                              Albert Einstein

 

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”

Maya Angelou

“Bigotry must never be accepted, must always be confronted, and must never become the way of our country. We must always recognize its past and the consequences of its present existence, and we should always strive to eliminate bigotry, in all forms, from the future.”

Charles F. French

Neil Gaiman on Reading Books You Love

(https://commons.wikimedia.org)

Unfortunately, in the world of books as well as the larger world, human beings often create artificial divisions. Sometimes, even in the academic world of which I am a part and which I love, there are those who would try to dictate what the best books are and what you should read. Sometimes books that come from genres are considered less than so-called literary books, and I completely disagree with that assessment.

In his “Newberry Medal Acceptance Speech,” following the text of his wonderful novel The Graveyard Book, Mr. Gaiman speaks to the question of what books to read.

He says, “It was as if some people believed there was a divide between the books that you were permitted to enjoy and the books that were good for you, and I was expected to choose sides. We were all expected to choose sides. And I didn’t believe it, and I still don’t.

I was, and still am, on the side of books you love.” (Gaiman 320)

I agree with this brilliant writer completely: read and cherish the books you love. Don’t let others tell you what you can and cannot read.

(www.pixabay.com)

Mockers~

Please enjoy these stunning photographs from Cindy Knoke!

I’ve respected mockingbirds since I was a kid when I watched one pick up a snake that was threatening it’s nest and repeatedly drop it on the pavement from high in the sky.

My childhood friend rescued a baby mockingbird and it became her pet. It flew freely about the house and held it’s own with her family’s five cats.

They are feisty and assertive birds and they are talented musicians.

They don’t just mimic the sounds they hear, they also compose, morphing the timber,

and tune, to make their songs more melodic.

Mockingbirds are night singers in the spring and summertime at The Holler.

Juvenile and adult males without mates sing at night to attract females.

I love falling to sleep at night listening to their vocal repertoires.

Cheers to you from The Holler musicians~

View original post

Thank You To Writers!

(https://pixabay.com)

To all the writers out there who are working hard, who are drafting and revising, submitting and self-publishing, thank you! You are the conscience of society, the teller of tales, and the creators of myth.

So, from one writer to other writers: thanks!

(https://pixabay.com)

Another Call To Join the U.L.S., The Underground Library Society

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.

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. If you wish to join, simply write a guest post in which you say what book you would “become” and why.

I have had several other bloggers join the U. L. S. Join the movement!

I hope many of you choose to join.

If you are a member and wish to add another book that you might become, you are welcome to do another post!

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!

Please, come and join in the fun!

What Book Would You Read On A Summer Day

(https://pixabay.com)

One of my best memories from summers when I was a child was of those days when I didn’t have to do anything. Work had not yet reared its head, chores were finished, and the weather was just right. It wasn’t too hot, and the humidity was low. The sky was filled with imagination-inducing legions of clouds.  On such days, I remember sitting under a tree, leaning back against it and reading a book—all day, with the exception of going in for lunch and supper. They were perfect days.

(https://pixabay.com)

Now, imagine something like that. For one day, you have no responsibilities, the weather is nice—75 degrees, almost no humidity, and a sky of bright blue and cumulus clouds like scattered cotton candy—and you have the time to indulge in reading a book. At your side is a container of coffee, iced tea, or whatever you like. You also have snacks with you.  Remember, for this day, you are free to relax and read, as if you were a child again.

If I were to do this right now, I think I would begin to reread The Lord of the Rings.

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

My question is—what book would you read?

Writers–Believe in Yourself!

 

To all the writers who might see this blog, please remember to believe in yourself, in your writing, and what you are doing.

Never listen to naysayers, including that voice in your head. Stay positive, and enjoy the journey.

Above all, keep writing!

 

Quotations on Curiosity

 

 

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.”

                                                                     Albert Einstein

 

 

“Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” 

                                                                    Eleanor Roosevelt 

 

 

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

                                                                    Socrates

 

 

“Life without curiosity is mere existence. Adults should remember the curiosity they had as children and rekindle that desire to question and to learn–always.”

Charles F. French