One of the things that you learn as you study history is that at some point someone has tried to explain everything from positions that don’t hold water. As a young nation, which America still was in the early 1800s it was wildly xenophobic. Worse as a large part of the movers and shakers who [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Black History Month: Irish Potato Famine Fallout
Posted: February 15, 2013 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: Black History Month, history
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Black History Month: Simeon’s Story
Posted: February 13, 2013 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: Black History Month, dave freer, Emmett Till, history, human behavior, pyramid power
One of the “lost” events of the civil rights struggle was the kidnapping, mutilation and murder of a 14 year old boy in the Mississippi delta for failing to follow the rules he, a visitor, was wholly ignorant of. Worse was the travesty of a trial afterwards. Simeon Wright is the cousin of that lost [...]
Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful: Nemo & Writing
Posted: February 9, 2013 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: irene radford, storm, the art and science of writing, weather, writing
One of the things a lot writers have to do is jump outside the known, into the stark cold reality of “making shit up” and not just making it, making it up and making it sound good. If you’ve never left the southern tip of Miami, or live on a beach in Panama, you probably [...]
Silent Dragon Is Available!
Posted: February 9, 2013 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: client, interview, irene radford, silent dragon
For those of you who somehow forgot to preorder, and missed Irene Radford’s blog post, and didn’t get to a book store, Silent Dragon came out this week. This video is a lovely interview DAW put together with the author. The book is available in paperback, and multiple ebook formats.
Black History Month: Benjamin Benneker He Was No Space Marine But Pretty Damn Neat
Posted: February 6, 2013 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: Black History Month, history
Benjamin Benneker was not a space marine but that’s probably only because he never got a chance to work with NASA. One of the black men held up to show various small minded bigots like Jefferson that blacks were intellectual equals to the white slave owning, power holders. Among his other accomplishments was hand carving [...]
Black History Month: Dr. T.R.M. Howard
Posted: February 1, 2013 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: Black History Month, books, Dr TRM Howard, history
This is one of the best books I’ve read in the last two or three years. If you’re looking for a larger than life figure to base a character on, Dr. Howard is the man. If you want to read about civil rights figures beyond Malcolm X, or Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Dr. Howard [...]
News! Short Sale and Return to A Universe
Posted: January 14, 2013 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: clients, news, silent dragon
The amazing Marshall Ryan Maresca will be part of a stellar cast in the upcoming Rayguns Over Texas which you’ll be able to put your hands on at LoneStarCon 3 aka Worldcon 2013. A little bit sooner than that, in February in fact, is the release of the fabulous Irene Radford’s Silent Dragon her return [...]
Mental Health
Posted: December 14, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: people are strange, psychology, science
One of the, if not the biggest problems with our society (Western society as a whole) is that it has become unnaturally dichotomous. There is good. There is evil. There is no other category. There is sane. There is crazy. Good = Sane. Evil = Crazy. While I certainly despise gray goo in literature, in [...]
Launch! Steam Mole
Posted: December 2, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: cuttlefish, dave freer, steam mole, Steampunk
So like many others, you’ve read Cuttlefish by now. The long awaited sequel launches NOW. NOW!! NOW!!! Steam Mole takes our intreped adventurers a little further on their journey. Share the love with the readers you love this holiday season.
Your Normal Isn’t
Posted: November 26, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: human behavior, people are strange, questions asked, random musing, reality
One of the most fascinating things about Homo sapiens is our adaptability. Think of the athlete who trains year round, the neurosurgeon who makes cuts using a robot and a laser that are minute, the statistician who carries a hundred 20 character or more formulas n their head, and person who speaks twelve languages are [...]
Silent Dragon Cover
Posted: November 17, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: books, dragon, irene radford, silent dragon
The amazing Irene Radford has a new book due out February fifth. I’m sure most of you have already preordered it from your purveyor of treeware already. If not, feast thy eyes, and wander on to your favorite bookstore: For new fans, this is a great place to start exploring this universe. For [...]
I attempt to improve my brain on a regular basis. Often the most interesting lessons I learn, are of the “Oh [Censored] now how do i fix it variety.” In today’s case a file I’d made quite a few changes too apparently lost those changes, or I forgot to save it when moving from a [...]
To all who serve today, and everyone who has served in the past: Thank you for being the rough men and women standing ready, day and night, in conditions frigid, squalid, sweltering, and more so that others may sleep peacefully.
American Elections: History and Future History
Posted: November 7, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: history, off topic, people are strange, Politics, world building, writing
There are several truths about American politics that make for interesting fiction fodder. The construction of the two parties of the day are one of them. Currently, both parties are in ebbs of extremism. Historically, this doesn’t continue for too long before the party that is more palatable in their extremity, usually thanks to the [...]
NANO & National Adoption Month
Posted: November 5, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: human behavior, random musing, the art and science of writing
Somehow I failed to notice that it it was National Adoption month. Fortunately the nice folks at Adopt Us Kids tweeted a reminder: Which prompted me to think: Why aren’t their any notable, positive adoption stories in science fiction and fantasy? I’ve read close to a five digit figure of science fiction and fantasy stories [...]
It is NANO and Movember Time!
Posted: November 1, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: Cancer, NANO
Most of my readers will know about NANO, National Novel Writing Month, a nearly world wide phenomenon. Some of you who are like me hockey fans, have probably heard about Movember. For those who haven’t it is program to raise funds, and awareness for prostate cancer. You can take a look at the organization here. [...]
Endangered Species: Dark Hero
Posted: October 22, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: dave freer, questions asked, the art and science of writing, writing
Once upon a time, in a book far away the hero was not the cuddliest man for miles. It sounds like fiction, and in a way it is. Fiction reflects its germinative society. In fact it not only reflects that society, it is by necessity and evolution a symbiote of that society. Neither can endure healthily [...]
Creator Convienient Content
Posted: October 15, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: the art and science of writing, wtf
There are lots of forms of this, in writing there’s the ancestral sword that happens to be sharper and stronger than normal metal. My absolute least favorite is the plot convenient personality traits. The character who has an issue with authority so big they pick fights with anyone who tries to direct them. Most of [...]
Bobby Seale Speeches
Posted: October 5, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: human behavior, random musing, reality
Bobby Seale had a different,style of speech than other black civil rights leaders. He was more accessible, less metaphorical, more realistic and less idealistic than Martin or Malcolm. A 1998 speech His birthday is coming up, if you appreciate his speech,he’s got a couple books out including a cookbook. His website is: http://www.bobbyseale.com/
Shocking Revalation
Posted: September 25, 2012 by onyxhawke in UncategorizedTags: human behavior, people are strange, reading, the art and science of writing, writing
People think differently. Because of this they behave differently. Every so often I’m reminded how differently people behave. They behave differently because theythink differently. The behavior follows the thinking and is as closely linked as light source and shadow length. Some people don’t get this. For some the entire concept is invalid. For others they [...]