What I Got Right In My Dystopian Novel About 2023

In 2010, I released the dystopian novel—Gods of Ruin—set in the near future and though it may seem easy to do, predicting the future—even within 12 years—is a difficult task. For instance, I didn’t predict a widespread pandemic that would usher in a New World totalitarian state. I was still in the frame of the […]

Refutation of “There are more than two genders” in the style of Apthonius

I held a debate with my 8th grade students in the Refutation and Confirmation Classical Composition class. I thought it would be a good way to practice their refutation and confirmation skills learned thus far. It didn’t go well. Eighth graders may know how to talk and argue but don’t know how to debate. So […]

Critique of ‘Woke Racism’ by John McWhorter

I enjoyed Professor John McWhorter’s lectures on the history of language and was very interested to read what he had to write about the modern social justice burlesque known as anti-racism. He gets some things wrong considering he’s coming from a secular liberal background but the thesis as a whole is right on and it […]

Capitalism is a Good in Itself; A Critique of ‘Woke, Inc.’ by Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy starts off his excellent first book “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam” in a wishy-washy manner, vehement against woke capitalism but unsure about genuine capitalism. He takes issue with corporations using their unprecedented power to gain market share by pretending to care about social justice, but he also sees the problems […]

Limiting Free Speech to Save It: A Critique of ‘Speechless’ by Michael Knowles

Michael Knowles gained some notoriety by publishing a joke for his first book “Reasons to Vote for Democrats“, which consisted of 250 blank pages. Very clever. It also ironically foretold the antagonist in his second book, “Speechless” which took aim at the illiberal left and their war on speech. In his first earnest book, Knowles […]

Are Goodreads Giveaways Worth It?

The last time I did a Goodreads Giveaway, I generated interest from hundreds of people, got several reviews (some actually good) and some lasting interest in the book. Fast forward almost four years and things have changed. I was shocked to find that the now Amazon subsidiary requires a fee of $199 or $599 for […]

Rootless: A Wondrous and Thought-Provoking YA Adventure

Like JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis before him, Taylor Brown mixes fantastical characters in a magical setting with profound underlying Christian themes for a wonderfully vivid experience. But unlike those classic authors, Brown incorporates a much more intriguing plot and the reader is invested in the plight of a talking tree-like creature among others, more […]

Agreement in the Time of Zika

2015 was pretty bad for the concept of agreement. Religious differences spurred despicable terrorist attacks; protests across the US resulted in antagonism between racial minorities and police; and caustic political vitriol seemed to be at an all-time high across the globe. As one commentator wrote, “If you ask 100 different people how we should fix this […]

4 Easy Steps to Self-Publishing Glory

You have a great book or manuscript but can’t seem to get anyone’s attention in the publishing field or you have great skills in writing but can’t market yourself for your life.   You could have had bad experiences with publishers before or just want to hoard all of the profits for your book sales […]