Quotations On The Knowledge Of History

4/11/02 Michael Crichton ’64, HMS ’69 speaks on “The Media and Medicine” at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA on Thursday, April 11, 2002. staff photo by Jon Chase/Harvard University News Office

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. ”

Michael Crichton

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

Carl Sagan

(https://en.wikiquote.org)

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

George Santayana

“We should and must judge our leaders by their knowledge of history.”

Charles F. French

August Self-Promotion Party!

green trees under blue and orange sky during sunset

(Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com)

Hello to all the writers out there and reading this blog!

It is well into the month of August, so it is time for a shameless self-promotion party, so please do not be shy about your work.

Writers need to be their own best publicists, and we should also help each other!

Let the world know about your book(s)!

Shout to the world about your writing!

Tell us about your book(s), and leave an image and a link if you can.

In order for as many people to see your work as possible, please Tweet, and reblog this post!

Please remember to be proud of your work!

Here is my shameless self-promotion: my latest book can help writers who have issues with finishing first drafts of their books. If that is you, I offer direct, practical advice on how to Get The Draft Done! Helping Writers Finish Their First Draft by Charles F. French.

GetthedraftdonepossEbookcover!-page-001

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

Books That Are Needed Now

Some books speak to a specific time, and some reach across eras with their messages. Some include a message for a definite audience, while others span a more general readership. And some times call out for certain books to be read.

Books are one form of the Media, which must remain free if freedom itself is to survive. Given the turmoil of our present time, I am suggesting these books as crucial reading for today’s world:

1984

by

George Orwell

1984

(https://commons.wikimedia.org)

Night

by

Elie Wiesel

wiesel-elie

(http://night2011.wikispaces.com)

It Can’t Happen Here

by

Sinclair Lewis

itcanthappenhere

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

I have offered three books I consider to be essential for our times.

What books or books do you think are needed now?

Shakespeare on Wisdom

(Photo by Mike on Pexels.com)

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

As You Like It

“ And seeing ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven”

Henry VI, Part 2

“There is no darkness but ignorance”

Twelfth Night

Trump’s Attack On Democracy

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What happened the other night in Portland, Oregon should have all Americans who believe in the Constitution, Freedom, and Democracy outraged and frightened. Please do not divert the subject by speaking about “riots”. That is an issue that is addressed by local and state authorities, not the Federal Government. The President does not seem to care about the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

The Fourth Amendment says, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Having Federal agents, wearing police insignia without identification of person or office arresting people without warrants and taking them away in unmarked vehicles is a clear violation of both the Fourth Amendment and their oath to uphold the Constitution; it is, by its very nature, an assault on American freedom and democracy. Without a warrant and an authorized jurisdiction of policing, these actions are kidnapping.

Let me be very clear. What happened is what occurs in totalitarian dictatorships, such as Putin’s tactics in the Crimea. Putin is very likely extremely proud of his friend, Donald Trump.

Further, for those who are true conservatives and care about the separation of states and city rights from the Federal government, they should be horrified. This was a clear violation of state and city sovereignty and jurisdiction.

It is also ironic that with the turmoil in our country about the abuse of police power, that these actions, themselves, are abuse of police power.

Let me be clear. I am not speaking as a member of a political party. I am speaking as a proud American who holds our Constitution to be a sacred document. Regardless of political affiliation, no matter if you are Republican, Democratic, or Independent, you should decry these actions. Our land must never become one that is ruled by autocrats and dictators who use force as they wish and ignore the rule of law.

Let us also remember that many fought and died to preserve out democracy. Let us honor their memory by insisting on the government abiding by the Constitution of the United States of America.

1920px-SMA_Dunway_Burial_at_Arlington_National_Cemetery_2008

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

Get The Draft Done! by Charles F. French

GetthedraftdonepossEbookcover!-page-001

Do you have difficulty finishing a first draft of your book? This problem is extremely common and has a variety of reasons, but there are solutions for this issue. I have become somewhat of an expert on finishing first drafts, and I want to offer help to those who experience the frustration of never completing or taking far too long to finish a draft.

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A question that can be asked is why do I know anything about this situation? How am I qualified to offer any kind of assistance? The answer is my experience as a writer. I am a hybrid author—both a traditionally published writer of French On English: A Guide To Writing Better Essays, and a self-published writer of two novels: Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book 1, and Gallows Hill: The Investigative Paranormal Society, Book 2 and a cookbook based on the characters of the I. P. S. – The Investigative Paranormal Society Cookbook. I have become an expert on creating first drafts in the last eight years of writing. That is when I committed to being a writer as well as a professor of English. In those years, in addition to the books I have mentioned, I have also written my dissertation for my Ph.D. in English Literature, 3 academic papers, two short stories, one other finished novel, and three first drafts of other novels. This is not to say that all I do is write; that is completely on the other end of truth. I teach college, I am a husband and grandfather, and I also enjoy life.

From Get The Draft Done! Helping Writers Finish Their First Draft (12).

What does my book offer to you? I address that question in the “Introduction”:

According to The New York Times, about 81% of Americans dream of writing a book and becoming a published author. Very few writers, less than 3% finish their books, and even fewer receive publishing deals. Many writers find themselves somewhere in this group. While these seem to be daunting odds, it is important to understand though it is not that they are somehow stacked against you to keep you from achieving success; rather, it is that you probably do not have a plan in place to write a first draft and then to do the necessary revisions and compete in the publishing world with an understanding of its difficulties. In order to do those things and have a chance for success, you need to develop the writer’s mindset.

Instead of thinking about doing the first draft with anxiety or fear attached, this book is going to teach you a way that will redefine what it means to get the draft done.

The first draft does not have to be perfect, and it will not be.

The first draft does not need to be a certain length (not for the first draft!)

And it does not need to be thought of as an entire book – it will certainly need major additions and subtractions.

I am going to give you the strategies and tactics I use, every day, to write approximately 150,000 words a year. That is the equivalent of two first drafts! Once you have these techniques in your writer’s toolbox, you will be more prolific, less likely to succumb to writer’s block, and you will have a finished first draft. This completed draft will be the initial and largest step towards becoming a published author.

This book does not cover the act of revision (that is my next book). It also does not deal with getting an agent, a publisher, self-publishing, marketing, or what subjects you should write about.

This book is intended to help you get from the first word to the last word of an initial draft.

This book will help you to get the draft done!

So, let’s get started!

Epstein, Joseph. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/28/opinion/think-you-have-a-book-in-

you-think-again.html

This book is available amazon.com for $9.99 for the paperback.

GetthedraftdonepossEbookcover!-page-001

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

Welcome To A New Member of the U. L. S., The Underground Library Society!

I want to welcome a new member of the U. L. S., the Underground Library Society, Michelle Saul, an excellent writer, a former student of mine, and someone I am proud to call friend. This is her choice of book to become and to save, if we lived in a world as in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 in which books are forbidden.

Michelle’s post:

I have always though that the preservation of the written word is one of the most important things in the world. As a lover of books for as long as I can remember, some of my earliest and fondest memories are of my mother, my Aunt Mary, and my nana reading books to me. Blue Bug and Word Bird were just the start of a life long love of books. As I’ve gotten older and have discovered more books and authors, my love for books has only grown stronger with each passing year. So the thought of a world without books and reading is a horrifies me!

I’ve given a lot of thought as to what book I would memorize should the need ever arise and I’m sure for anyone who knows me, they would be surprised to find that my choice isn’t Harry Potter. Though I have loved Harry Potter for over half of my life and have learned many lessons from it over my lifetime, the book I’m choosing I feel embodies the true spirit of memorizing stories and telling them.

That book would be Ireland by Frank Delaney.

The first time I read Ireland was in my Irish Literature class during my undergraduate degree and it was literary love at first read. This is a book that comes off the page and immerses you in the world Frank Delaney created. For those who have never read this novel, it’s about a storyteller who visits the home of the main character Ronan when he is nine-years-old. The three nights that the storyteller is there changes Ronan’s life forever. From there, we see Ronan grow and have only one true goal- To find the

storyteller that changed his life forever.

It is a beautifully written story with a rich history of Ireland. This novel shows how one good story can change a person’s life and set them on the path of who they’re meant to become. It shows how important the written and spoken are. So this novel, with its theme of storytelling and the life-changing magic that comes with them, makes it feel like an appropriate and very fitting choice for The Underground Library Society.

Please visit Michelle at mythoughtsonwritingandreading

My Recommended Reading List!

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In my college classes at both Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, I sometimes do something I call — Chuck’s recommended readings. I ask the students to write the title and author I suggest and then tell the students that what they do with that information is entirely up to them. I have put together a partial list of some of the books I have suggested. Some of them I consider among the best and most important books ever written, and some I simply found to be wonderful and entertaining.

Now, the list of Doc Chuck’s Recommended Readings:

Agee, James and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.

Allende, Isabel. The House of the Spirits.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451.

Brown, Larry. Fay.

Cervantes, Miguel De. Don Quixote.

Delaney, Frank. Ireland.

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities.

Doyle, Roddy. A Star Called Henry.

Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose.

Gaiman, Neil. American Gods.

Grass, Günter. The Tin Drum.

Helprin, Mark. A Soldier of the Great War.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . The Pacific and Other Stories.

Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Homer. The Iliad.

. . . . . . . The Odyssey.

King, Stephen. Hearts In Atlantis.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . The Stand.

Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Complete Works.

Rice, Anne. Interview With the Vampire.

Rowling, J. K. The entire Harry Potter series.

Shakespeare, William. The Collected Works.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula.

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Zafon, Carlos Ruiz. The Shadow of the Wind.

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief.

I am certain there are many books I have forgotten to mention. This is neither intended to be all-inclusive, nor is it meant to be authoritarian. I hope that someone may find a book or books from this list, read them, and enjoy them.

Happy reading!

Celebrate the Solstice and Litha!

(https://pixabay.com)

June 20-June 21st is one of the most important times in the pre-Christian Celtic calendar. It is the solstice and the day with the longest daylight of the year, and it is a celebration of the coming summer.

Please understand, that there is nothing evil or Satanic in this holiday or its celebration. It is simply an expression of seasonal joy.

Happy Solstice!

Happy Litha!