Category: writing

‘The Wood at Midwinter,’ by Susanna Clarke

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

Not only do the Dodgers win the World Series, but a favorite author has released a new book, and it’s illustrated. The author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has once again found the perfect story and just the right tone.

From the Publisher

‘A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They’re the same thing really.’

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scot is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees-and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.

One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst-and the path of her life is changed forever.

Featuring gorgeous illustrations truly worthy of the magic of this story and an afterword by Susanna Clarke explaining how she came to write it, this is a mesmerizing, must-have addition to any fantasy reader’s bookshelf.

From the Factor Magazine Review

Illustrator

“Although set in the 19th century, there is something ancient and deep about this story. It feels like a traditional European fairytale, the kind that existed before they became delivery mechanisms for Western morality. In a brilliant bit of design, this tone is reflected in the physical layout of the story. Sawdon’s illustrations remind me of an illuminated manuscript, except in black and white. (If a publisher ever gets around to doing a full-color version of this story, I will be first in line to buy it.) The art is two-dimensional but vivid and strange. One full page illustration almost functions like a jump scare, mirroring a similar moment in the text. Speaking of the text, the font also has a medieval flair to it, particularly with the way the “c” and “t” are connected. The narration font of the woods is scratchy and fractured, making it look almost like you’re staring up at barren tree branches clustered together. ” – Alex Brown

—Malcolm

In Praise of Scouting

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Scouting, writing

Many of the best experiences of my young life–and the wisdom and values that accompanied them–came from Scouting. I am here to talk about that, not the abuse scandals that rocked the organization years later.

Our local Scout troop, sponsored by the Presbyterian Church, was a major force in our family’s lives. My father was a Cub Scout pack leader, and my mother was a Den Mother. Later, my father served as the leader of the Explorer Post. My two brothers and I were Eagle Scouts and received the God in Country Award.

Neater than usual.

We learned leadership skills, the value of civic duty, and–through the merit badge program–practical skills that would serve us throughout our lives. The primary focus was camping in north Florida’s thousands of acres of national and state forests. We went on an average of one camping trip per month. Long before the “Survivor” TV program, we learned how to make fire, build shelters, and create campsite equipment such as tables and cooking racks. Naturally, we learned fire safety!

The work of setting up and maintaining a campsite–usually one for each patrol–occupied a lot of time. We also went on hikes and visited nearby swimming holes. There was always a lot of great conversation (and ghost stories) going on around the fire after dark. Many ghost stories had to do with strange happenings around campsites or on hikes in the scrub oak and saw palmetto world where we were.

I cannot imagine growing up without these experiences, especially how to survive in the forest many miles from home or help.

Malcolm

My Vietnam War novel “At Sea” is free on Kindle today through October 29.

 

Book Giveaway – ‘At Sea,’ a Vietnam War novel by Malcolm R. Campbell

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books, writing

My Vietnam War novel At Sea will be free on Kindle from October 25 through October 29 in advance of an upcoming price increase.  This giveaway is my thank you to all of you who have supported my work.  The novel is inspired by my service aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CVA-61) off the coast of Vietnam.

Long-time readers of this blog may remember that I was part of a group that campaigned to get the ship donated to a museum that would have been on the Columbia River. Our effort did not succeed; the ship was scrapped and its history (including being the first carrier with an angled deck and services through Operation Desert Storm) was lost.

Synopsis

Even though he wanted to dodge the draft in Canada or Sweden, David Ward joined the Navy during the Vietnam War. He ended up on an aircraft carrier. Unlike the pilots, he couldn’t say he went in harm’s way unless he counted the baggage he carried with him. As it turned out, those back home were more dangerous than enemy fire.

While aboard, he discovers that an aircraft carrier truly is a floating city, though a dangerous one from the flight deck to engineering spaces and especially for the pilots of the A-4, the F-4 Phantom, the A-7 Corsair, and the A-6 Intruder.

–

The cover photo is one of my pictures of the ship.

–Malcolm

How many of you are ‘out there’ anyway?

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn quantum, writing

Wikipedia graphic showing two versions of Schrödinger’s Cat.

Long-time readers of his blog know I subscribe to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which states that when an alternative choice exists, both outcomes occur—one in another universe. If so, then when I decided painfully not to go to Sweden in 1967 with a young woman I was dating in a Dutch work camp, I actually did go home with her, and that existence is ongoing in a universe far away.

I don’t know how to visit that other universe to see how things went.

But I have always wondered. Anna and I might have gotten married in Göteborg (shown in the photo). I would have learned Swedish and looked for a job–with the assistance of the Swedish government as a requirement for being granted asylum. While I thought I might never see the U.S. again, Jimmy Carter granted amnesty in 1977. Would I have come home? Well, probably for a visit. Obviously, I know what happened here that would not have happened if I had chosen Sweden.

Even without the quantum factor, I think most of us wonder what life would have been like if we’d moved to another state, taken a different job, or married a different person. Over time, I’ve made a lot of bad choices–how different life would have been if I hadn’t!

In 1967, I thought leaving Anna and Sweden was a bad decision. I don’t ponder it often now because that would be a discount of all the good things that occurred in my life as it has been.  I have no idea how Anna’s life unfolded because we decided it would be too painful to stay in contact. In later years, I looked for her unsuccessfully. That’s probably a good thing since in 2024, I can’t imagine not meeting and marrying my super wife or being without my cool grandchildren.

So, I believe we can always “have our cake and eat it too” even though I don’t know how to savor that experience.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of magical realism and fantasy novels and stories; that shouldn’t surprise you after reading this post.

My Publisher’s New Website.

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

Malcolm R. Campbell is an author of magical realism and fantasy. In addition to novels, his work has appeared in The Lascaux Prize 2014 Anthology; Spirits of St. Louis: Missouri Ghost Stories Anthology; Quail Bell Magazine; A View inside Glacier National Park: 100 years, 100 Stories; Future Earth Magazine; The Smoking Poet Magazine; Nonprofit World Magazine; Nostalgia Magazine; and Living Jackson Magazine. ​​Malcolm’s work is sold in all major bookstores, including the following:​​

Source: Malcolm R. Campbell | Thomas Jacob Publish

My Florida publisher’s website did not crash due to Helene, but because the hosting company updated its software without considering the impact on existing sites. What a mess.

So, my publisher Melinda Clayton had to re-do the site and learn the software of a new web host. Quite we few hours of work in the middle of an already busy schedule.  And, the whole new shebang came out well! But then this is the kind of dedication my colleagues and I have gotten used to since Thomas-Jacob began in 2013. I created author’s sites with several web hosts and I know how long it takes to get things up and running.

Check out the popular free book that features a selection of our authors’ work as well as news about a new poetry collection coming soon from Scott Zeidel. Hmm, I think I still have the shirt I wore when my author’s photo was taken, er, a few years ago.

–Malcolm

 

 

 

Congressional Resolution Highlights Unprecedented Censorship in Schools, Calls on Local Governments to Protect the Right to Learn and Read

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

September 25, release

PEN America

WASHINGTON) –  Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8) and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) today introduced a resolution  in Congress to mark Banned Books Week as PEN America documented unprecedented censorship in public schools, rising to an alarming 10,000 book bans in the last school year, a tripling over the previous school year.

The resolution calls on local governments and school districts to protect the rights of students to learn and the ability of teachers and librarians to teach “by providing students with a wide array of books reflecting the full breadth and diversity of viewpoints and perspectives.”

On Monday, PEN America issued its latest nationwide findings on book bans, recording a staggering 10,000+ instances of book bans –more than triple those from the prior 2022-2023 year. About 8,000 banning instances were documented in Florida and Iowa, due in large part to new state laws targeting the substance of available materials.

Following trends from previous years in which books were targeted for including diverse perspectives, book bans from the 2023-2024 school year overwhelmingly featured stories with people or characters of color and/or LGBTQ+ people. We also observed how cases of book bans increasingly target stories by and about women and girls and/or that include depictions of rape or sexual abuse.

“We thank Representative Raskin and Senator Schatz and all the cosponsors for their continued commitment to academic freedom and the First Amendment. The movement to ban books is an affront to public education and students’ ability to understand the world,” said PEN America’s Congressional Affairs Lead, Laura Schroeder. “The targeted bans intentionally seek to silence the experiences of authors of color, LGBTQI+ authors and stories that explore the themes of racism, trauma, religion, gender identity and sexual identity. Students are being deprived of stories that can help them deal with real lived experiences such as trauma and violence or even to see positive representations of themselves in their local school or library. This must end.”

PEN America said the resolution highlighting the importance of literary freedom and the integral benefits of reading unique stories brings more awareness to book bans. Legislation such as the Fight Book Bans Act, sponsored by Congressman Frost, Congressman Raskin, and championed by PEN America, also seeks to protect academic freedom and literary expression.

Dozens of states have passed laws that censor classroom topics and ban books, which undermines the freedom to read, free expression, open inquiry and academic freedom.

Since 2021, PEN America has been at the forefront of documenting and defending against the rise of school book bans nationwide and the spread of educational censorship that censor subjects in public school classrooms and on college campuses. The writers and free expression group has mobilized citizens to resist the censorship and the intolerance and exclusion that exists beneath the surface.

Where you came from

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

We are each a chance constellation of elements forged in long-dead stars assembled by gravity, which may be the other word for God — the weakest of the four fundamental forces, yet the great cosmic compactor that made the first atoms cohere into a common center to form the first star: an immense ball of gas, at the core of which was a hydrogen sphere that eventually reached pressures of millions of atmospheres and heated up to millions of degrees.

Source: The 12 kinds of time, the science of what made you you (with a dazzling poem read by David Byrne), an illustrated ode to love’s secret knowledge – 

I just had to share this wonderful essay by Maria Popova in “The Marginalian.”

This is the kind of thinking and writing that shakes out the cobwebs and leaves the reader stunned, somehow different, and primed for transcendent experiences.

–Malcolm

‘The Greatest Westerns Ever Made and the People Who Made Them’ by Henry C. Parke 

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books, writing

I’ve been a member of the Montana Historical Society for fifty years and appreciate the scholarship of the books released by the society’s press. Nice to see this book out in paperback.

From the Publisher

“The Greatest Westerns Ever Made and the People Who Made Them provides an eclectic review of the Western film and television genre, from John Ford’s classic, black and white films, to Deadwood and indie darlings. Screenwriter Henry C. Parke presents a nuanced look at Hollywood’s dramatization of historic events, the common themes and archetypes of Western movies, and the characters we love (and sometimes love to hate). This book also features essays and interviews with influential Western filmmakers, character actors, the women of Western films (in front of and behind the cameras), and the Native American perspective on Western films and Hollywood’s portrayal of Native American people.”

“Film and TV critic for True West, Parke presents a collection of his essays that will be a treat for western film fans… There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes detail and also sharp examination of the cultural impact of western films and of the social changes that affected their content… Parke’s enthusiasm is infectious.” ― Booklist

About the Author

Brooklyn-born, L.A.-based screenwriter and wanna-be cowboy Henry C. Parke graduated from New York University’s School of Film and Television. He has been Film & TV Editor for True West since 2015, has written Henry’s Western Round-up, the on-line report on Western film production, since 2010, and writes twice-monthly articles for the INSP Channel’s blog. His screenwriting credits include Speedtrap (1977) and Double Cross (1994). He’s the first writer welcomed into The Western Writers of America for his work in electronic media.

Henry has done audio commentary on about twenty Western Blu-rays and was interviewed in the Turner Classic Movies documentary short TCM Movie Fanatics: Westerns.

True West Magazine has been bringing the history of the American frontier to readers since 1953. For over 65 years True West has been telling the stories of the American West. Whether it’s Wyatt Earp and the cowboys behind the OK Corral or Wild Bill Hickok’s final “dead-man’s” hand, True West brings the unvarnished truth of the American West to readers around the world.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of “Conjure Woman’s Cat”

Banned Books Week – Take the Pledge

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn banned books week, writing

One way you can support Banned Books Week this year is by taking the pledge which you will find here. It reads as follows: 

We Condemn Threats to the Freedom to Read.

We are readers — individuals, groups, parents, community advocates — who believe that all young people deserve to see themselves reflected in the pages of books, and that individuals should be trusted to make their own decisions about what they, and their families, read. Access to diverse books is essential to a strong education, a free mind, and a functioning democracy. 

We are in the midst of a book banning crisis. Well-funded pressure groups continue to push state governments to impose educational gag orders on teachers and staff and mandate the removal of books from library and school shelves. These laws silence discussions about race and gender in America, isolate and discriminate against LGBTQ+ students and students of color, and cast a long and shameful shadow of censorship across our schools and libraries.

Yet we have the constitution and public opinion on our side. In state after state, federal courts have rightly blocked these discriminatory laws for violating our First and Fourteenth Amendments. Polling repeatedly shows that communities across our country agree that families should decide for themselves what they can and cannot read. Not another parent. Not a politician. These laws are anti-family, anti-freedom, and anti-American at their core. 

Enough is enough. 

We Pledge to Vote. 

We must use our voices and our votes to make informed decisions demanding our legislators protect students, public servants, and the right to read. That means supporting policymakers who believe our public institutions must serve diverse communities and remain a hallmark of a free people.

Together we stand for freedom, democracy, equality, and the right to read; we stand for the majority. We stand against book bans, and we will lead with our values.

Please join me by taking the pledge.

–Malcolm

Clive Cussler ‘Ghost Soldier’ (The Oregon Files)

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn writing

I’ve had fun reading Cusler’s Oregon Files books. Here’s a new one released September 3rd for people who like action on the high seas with a special boat with advanced speed and weapons.

From the Publisher

A deadly war game. An adversary as hard to find as he is to kill. Weapons so sophisticated, none have seen the like before. Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon have finally met their match in this pulse-pounding new adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

When African jihadis attack a Nigerian regiment using American weapons, Cabrillo and the Oregon crew are on the case, investigating from Afghanistan to Kuala Lumpur to track a mysterious arms dealer—a genius, or perhaps a devil—known only as the Vendor.

Cabrillo goes undercover to find the Vendor’s base, but his adversary isn’t just an arms smuggler. He’s an arms maker, and Cabrillo just walked into a lethal military game alongside the most dangerous mercenaries in the world, designed to test the Vendor’s cutting-edge AI arsenal.

And yet, surviving an arena full of flame-throwing robots isn’t even his biggest problem. The Vendor has an army of high-speed drones headed for a pivotal military site, and if the Oregon crew can’t stop them from releasing a deadly neurotoxin, the entire globe will erupt in conflict.

From Publishers Weekly

“The U.S. government taps Cabrillo to figure out who’s behind the transactions. Eventually, he leads his team—with the addition of beautiful and brainy engineer Callie Cosima, who designs state-of-the-art submersibles—to the Vendor’s remote, booby-trapped island in the Bismarck Sea, where they fight flame-breathing robots and other obstacles. Maden effortlessly weaves subplots about the American POW and the Vendor’s scheme to unleash biotoxins into the main action, which is vivid, bloody, and occasionally jaw-dropping. This fires on all cylinders.”

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of “Conjure Woman’s Cat.”