Hap the Crystalwright: Chapter One

A fantasy novel-in-progress, inspired by the Greek and Persian wars of ancient history. In this chapter, a spy is discovered in the Kreeg city of Meteron.

Psychic Powers: Diary 1/4 – 1/13/22

Work cures depression; novel ideas and questions; W.W. Atkinson; reading Neuroscience; Patricia Highsmith's diaries; movie reviews incl. the best Jane Austen movie; looking at 2021; John Cleese; so much more!

Emma, etc.: Diary, 11/19 to 12/1/21

Jerry Brown quote; neurotransmitters; The Philosophy Club novel; Hap the Crystalwright novel; many movies, some TV; versions of Jane Austen's Emma compared a bit.

In My Skin: Diary, 11/14 to 11/18/21

Novel writing; Pickwick Papers quotes; lie/lay? Movies; drug companies; Lincoln; Durant book and others; phthisis.

Novel Idea: Diary, 6/16 to 6/18/21

Movie reviews, Durant book, Thriftbooks complaint, sudoku books, my new schedule, Twitter popularity, Anatol Lieven interview, novel plotting.

Novelizing: Diary 6/13 to 6/14/21

Writing prompts; Cioran quote and words as blunt instruments; Sophie's World; failing memory again; two bad movies.

Hemlock Novel: Diary, 6/11 to 6/12/21

Sybil movie; two novels die and another is born; horror movie mistake; Hemlock Club meeting; possible philosophy discussion.

Breakthrough: Diary 6/8 to 6/10/21

How books saved my writing soul; plus whining about WordPress; and Eve Arden, Camus's Stranger, In the Fade, so, lots of potatoes ending with a burst of excitement.

Save the Cat! Diary, 6/3 to 6/4/21

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel; a hard issue in writing; WordPress not great; bad movies; Austen's Persuasion.

God of the Forest: Diary, 5/31 to 6/2/21

Working on a novel; Anna Faris & Scary Movies; Helen Vendler & Alexander Pope; Prison Diary dictation; Alan Watts & self-mastery; Bugsy Malone.

Heart Attack? Diary, 4/15 to 4/19/21

Reviews of Frozen, Catwoman, and other movies; heart attack scare; book-buying splurge; my whims; publishing plan; and the usual blather.

Disgust: Diary 4/1 to 4/10/21

Hatcheting WW84 and Andromeda; Tolstoy's Confession; abandoning The Lolita Curse and possible plans for my future as a novelist. Etc.

Writing a Novel: Diary 3/26 to 3/30/21

I should not think of my effort as “writing a novel,” because I don’t know how to do that, and the thought makes me anxious. Rather, my old idea was to “accumulate scenes.” I can write scenes. It’s been five years since I wrote fiction...

Novel Plans: Diary 3/19 to 3/25/21

A title occurs to me: The Curse of Lolita, or perhaps Lolita’s Curse, though the latter seems misleading. Or how about The Blessing of Lolita? I am not taken with it. Later thought: The Lolita Curse; this is the best version. I’ll live with it for a while and see. I’m thinking satire, which is not what I had in mind.

Fynn Novel: Diary, 3/9 to 3/18/21

Highlander: I’ll be as honest as I can given that I’ve only ever read your tweets. You seem to me to be a liberal philosopher, slightly damaged, but feisty, a bit cantankerous, but we all get that way with age, and Impassioned about not only your beliefs but with ideas. You like to share.

Writer’s Block? Diary, 3/4 to 3/8/21

He appears unexpectedly, escorting the drunken Branwell Brontë to the Parsonage late in the evening. He is assumed by one of the sisters to be another drunk. When he arrives at the Parsonage the next day, the event has unusual interest...

High Hopes: Diary, 2/28 to 3/4/21

So, a new direction, if I decide to stick with it: less philosophy reading, beginning work on a novel "to entertain myself." I've never tried this before, so I have unrealistic high hopes.

My New Diary, 12/8 to 12/11/2018

The weight increase looks like a wakeup call. Maybe I need to pay more attention to how I’m living my life. Yesterday I ate half of a chocolate cream pie instead of dinner, and I concluded my day with “another day shot to hell,” suggesting that I felt that I had wasted my day.

My New Diary, 11/30 to 12/4/2018

Nearing the end of Goldberg’s book. It’s very interesting, and I’ve had the thought that “the best books about writing aren’t about writing, but about writing and something.” What Goldberg offers to the aspiring writer mostly isn’t practical advice about methods or anything, but heart. And perhaps sincerity and courage.