What did you blog about today?

[Jo Zebedee]

I thought it was really interesting - I think I might start some sort of twitter hashtag, the writer's journey, or something, because it's all so individual.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I have written a blog with some photos about my day out in Surrey last Saturday. It's about my debut Memory Seed, which was published almost 20 years ago.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

What gorgeous pictures, Stephen!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Been a while, but written one about perseverance:
http://thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/perseverance-is-king.html

Got a couple of interesting blogs lined up for August.

 

[ratsy]

Hey Thad...you just described me...halfway through my first book, and struggling with it. But I will persevere!

 

[thaddeus6th]

It's always difficult around that stage. You've done loads but there's still loads to do. Initial enthusiasm's burnt out and the end's not in sight.

But you've got to keep going. Keep on writing, and soon you'll get the end in sight, then you'll finish the first draft.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

What gorgeous pictures, Stephen!

Thank you. It was a lovely day, but quite odd to have decades-old memories of novels bubbling up in response to views and buildings...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Good blog, Thad.

My latest blog is about Originality, Genre, and Style. It's based on a blog post I did here a while back, condensed some, revised some, with some additions.

 

[millymollymo]

Not that any one could ever hope to follow Jonathan Green... however, that's how the dice rolls....*Ahem* my guest post on Alex Davis Blog.... http://alexblogsabout.com/the-blog/ writing workshops and the importance of writing.

 

[millymollymo]

And in reverse... Alex's post is right here: http://www.millymollymo.com/guest-post-alex-davis/ An extract from The Last War

 

[ratsy]

Teresa, that was a great post. Your blogs have a very eloquent, yet informative style to them that I love.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Two things for ya:

Me on Tony Ballantyne's blog - How Writers Write

The mighty Alex previewing some of his new work on my blog.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

That's a wonderful interview, Stephen. I remember interviewing you myself and you were such a great subject. You give long thoughtful answers.

And that's an intriguing excerpt from Alex's novel.

 

[millymollymo]

Suggestions for convention goers - applies to all conventions but this one is focused on the up coming Geekfest.

A not so pocket guide to Nine Worlds - part two

Because part one needed a friend...

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Musing on my Celtic series (well they were proto-Celts probably) on my Blog here rather than my other blogs.

 

[thaddeus6th]

A little ramble about the contrasting views in mythology and fantasy about whether we're civilising the world or deteriorating over time:
http://thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/the-decline-and-rise-of-mankind.html

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Interesting. @thaddeus6th
But pedantic mode:
tree of knowledge [of good and evil]
Not knowledge per se. Which raises odd questions. They hadn't been forbidden any other tree, including Tree of Life, but exiled apparently because eating of Tree of Life would then be "a bad thing". Note no apples involved. People usually get involved in silly arguments about which fruit was it or "Creation" vs "Evolution" and miss out puzzling this central part of the story of Adam and Eve, which to me seems much more a metaphysical discussion than any attempt a literal history. So why was it forbidden? Exactly what is a "knowledge of good and evil"? Why was the Tree of life not an issue before and was an issue after?

We have more knowledge of the physical, not really more "moral" knowledge in maybe the last 5,000 years (people may have more generally done more bad things and had less enlightened societies, but the written record of Hittites, Sumerians, Ancient Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hebrews etc suggests a very similar concept of morality, even Environment:
Laws of Moses etc:
Care for your Animals before yourself
Fence pits so animals won't fall in
Don't muzzle the ox that treads the grain.
Don't cut down the trees when making war, it's the people in the city you are fighting, not the Trees.
Cities of Refuge
Honour, truth, fidelity etc
Differentiate murder and manslaughter
Justice: No false witness. No hearsy, two reliable witnesses
The Poor: Don't clear to the edge of the fields, care for Widows, Orphans and Foreigner.
Statute of time limitations on Debts and Slavery
Care of "slaves" better than serfs in some societies.

Many also in other cultures as listed above.

In some areas we are getting better. Greed and corruption is as big an issue as ever.
Was there ever a Golden age? Probably not.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Nothing wrong with pedantry

Convergent law might just be the same as convergent evolution on that it's the best fit for a variety of situations. Losing animals would be costly, so caring for them makes sense from a selfish as well as a selfless perspective.

 

[Juliana]

New blog piece up in my 'spotlight' series where I interview @Jo Zebedee and @Hex on writing local flavor. Great chat with two great writers!

http://jspinkmills.com/2015/07/28/s...al-flavor-with-jo-zebedee-and-anna-dickinson/

 

[Jo Zebedee]

New blog piece up in my 'spotlight' series where I interview @Jo Zebedee and @Hex on writing local flavor. Great chat with two great writers!

http://jspinkmills.com/2015/07/28/s...al-flavor-with-jo-zebedee-and-anna-dickinson/

Thanks so much, Ju. I'll do another retweet etc in a day or so and get you a few more hits? that Hex one talks some sense...