Blog #78; A New Family Saga from Chris McClelland on Vella

The story of an American family, and its founder and patriarch, James R. We follow James and his fellow Irish immigrants from the blight torn hills of the Emerald Isle to the land of promise, the United States of America. There, James and his compatriots find the land of milk and honey often sour and bitter as well as sweet. Still, James pours blood, sweat and viscera into the building of his new nation, constructing the Erie Canal, and later fighting on the killing fields of Gettysburg.

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Blog #77; Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "Yellow Wall-Paper" and Adam Hazlett's "Notes for My Biographer": A Comparison of Bipolar Themed Short Fiction

 I have just been looking back at Adam Hazlett's first collection of short stories, and in particular the first piece, "Notes for My Biographer", and I was struck by how accurate the depiction was to the experience of bipolar, the rapid, pressured mania, the cycles, the family history and drama.  And we can compare this to Gilman's story, and how both are such excellent depictions of the altered mental states of those who suffer with mental illness as well as how mental illness was treated over 100 years ago in women and how the contemporary elderly are treated.  I would be curious if any of you out there have found other fiction that seems to tackle these issues?

Blog #76; Latest Vella installment, King's Blood, Free digital book for your reading pleasure

We have some exciting reading for you today.  First my Kindle Vella story, King's Blood, finally has a new chapter.  Also, for those who haven't read it, I have a new compact short story collection,  FOR FREE, through Sunday the 25th of September 2022. Happy Autumn!!!!

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Blog #75; Latest update on Swimswam website; continued progress on A Contrite Spirit novel manuscript

 I have been reporting on my quest to train and enter swim meets as I recover from cardiac issues.  These issues are being detailed in Swimswam, the website dedicated for competitive swimming.  https://swimswam.com/getting-back-to-the-pool-with-a-full-metal-jacket/    I am also hard at work on a series of short stories based on Hyrum's descendants, and how they cope with more contemporary issues, to be worked into the structure of the novel.

Enjoy the waning days of summer!

Blog #74; Thoughts on John Stuart Mill and his essay, “On Liberty” and how it relates to our current affairs

 John Stuart Mill was a Victorian writer, philosopher and political thinker, and gave much time and attention to the importance of individual liberties.  He particularly mourned the state of Far Eastern and what we today call “third world” countries, not only for their dearth of wealth and low standards of living, but also because, East of the Levant, most people scarcely saw themselves as individuals at all.  He cites China as an example, not only as a nation where individuals have little free will to be exercised, but also he foretells of a time when China will rise in power by harnessing the energy of the collective strength of the people, and balance it with free will.  This so-called balance of individualism and collectivism is still a ways off for the Chinese people, but they have already risen in international power to the point of being the industrial West’s main threat to the global stability it now shakily maintains. I think it’s important, on this Independence Day weekend (in the US) to reflect on those people in the world without much individual liberties, and to thank God for those that we still have.

Blog #73; Happy Memorial Day, FREE COPIES of Under Old Glory available from Sunday to Tuesday of this week

In honor of fallen veterans, and service men and women, we will be making copies of UNDER OLD GLORY available in digital form for free this Sunday, May 29, 2022-Tuesday, May 31, 2022. 

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Blog #72; The Modernists and the Development of Imagery and Character

 I think particularly of Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald when I think of who I've been most influenced by as a writer.  From Hemingway, especially his masterpiece, The Old Man and the Sea, I learned the fine art of drawing the reader into an experience, using detail to make the story real.  From Fitzgerald I learned how to be focused and precise with the language, and to capture that "ineffable magic" that Michael Curtis talks about in his assessment of the best fiction.  Expressing the inexpressible.  

Hemingway also taught me that to write well, really well, about an activity you must be expert in it and immersed in the subject.  Fishing, Big game hunting.  Warfare.  These are the areas that Hemingway is practiced in and writes about with a sure authority.  It is amazing what you can learn about the past from writers, about the language they used, the society they lived in, their music and other media.