Onyxhawke Agency LJ

Black History Month: Irish Potato Famine Fallout

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:05:24 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 built America were from England their reaction to the Irish either Protestant or Catholic wasn’t always pleasant. The Irish in turn lashed out. Despite getting to vote fresh off the boat, no bars on employment and often language barriers as even the Gaelic speakers were integrated into the police, fire, political and union machinery, they lashed out at blacks to bolster their position.

This link is a pdf that I tripped over the other day that takes a look at things: click here

Black History Month: Simeon’s Story

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:21:02 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 boy Emmett Till, and he tells the story as he lived it.
Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till by Simeon Wright

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My only complaint about this book is that it isn’t long enough.

Simeon Wright plainly, and unbiasedly tells his part and memory of a dark, dark period of American history. Life in the Mississippi Delta in 1955 was precarious even if you’d grown up their and knew all the rules, Simeon Wright’s cousin from Chicago didn’t, and his life ended in the delta floating down the Tallahatchie river wired to a fan for whistling at a white woman.
Well told, good use of pictures and no grandstanding.

View all my reviews

Not so incidentally, the Emmett in Pyramid Power by Dave Freer and Eric Flint is named after Emmett Till.

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful: Nemo & Writing

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 19:06:25 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 haven’t spent much time in the cold and snow. One of the wonderful things about snow is that it doesn’t merely fall from the sky and stay on the ground. It blows.

Trying to make it through the snow, on the ground is only part of it. It reflects light. It changes the shape of things, it can make it impossible to tell how far you are from something.

It can make landmarks you pass every day much harder to make out.

Even without the differences of night and day, the changes can be dramatic.

The boundaries of land, sea and air can get a little blurry.

If you missed it earlier, Irene Radford’s newest book is available. Go get a copy, and wrap thyself around it.

Silent Dragon Is Available!

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 13:04:05 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:35:53 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 a wooden replica of a pocket watch that kept accurate time, and being a technical assistant on the first federal survey of the land that would become our nations capital. He wrote 28 editions of an almanac that was well regarded even in comparison to Ben Franklin’s, and he was almost an entirely self taught mathematician and astronomer.

Black History Month: Dr. T.R.M. Howard

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:41:33 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 is still the man. It starts with some history of the area he was born and raised in, and follows his life closely. Beito and Beito do a job worthy of all the superlatives you can apply in bringing Howard to life.

One particularly interesting part is how the governor of his home state responds to the Knight Riders.

Black Maverick: T. R. M. Howard’s Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power by David T. Beito

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent book on an under-discussed, vibrant man who was critical to the civil rights era. He came before Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, or Bobby Seale. He mentored Rosa Parks and Medgar Evers and was the single best asset to the family of Emmett Till, and the prosecutors who went up against the White Citizens Councils and was an active part of the movement despite having a career as a surgeon and some expensive habits.

Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard was:
A surgeon
a caring father
a big game hunter
a mentor
a mediocre husband
an activist
atop the KKK’s most hated list.
A real American.

View all my reviews

News! Short Sale and Return to A Universe

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:55:57 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 to the universe that gave us Glass Dragon and Loneliest Magician after a long hiatus. She’ll also be a bit busy this August.

Brain Fodder: Web TV, Chromosome Segregation, Cufflinks on Your PJ’s, Color, Baby Blinding and

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:54:31 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

The boffins at Amazon have pulled together six new web series they want folks to rate.

Your cat could make your baby blind.

Chromosome segregation is something we can all embrace, especially since cancer cases have a 90% prevalence when it breaks down.

There may just be a habitable planet orbiting Tau Ceti. If there is, is that are first extra-solar stop?

Is is time to give your blog a facelift? These could work.

And the 25 best places to work are?

Suitjamas – RedFerret

The nice man above is dressed in pajamas. Why someone decided people need a pjs that look like a business suit is anyones guess.

Want a solar powered charger for your next camping trip?

Wanna write letters like a pro? There’s a guide for that.

Color speaks volumes, and everyone has a method for ordering them.

10 Writing Myths, via @ChuckSambuchino

Entrepreneurial lady carves out a place to sit in Afghanistan.

Brain Fodder: Good News Addendum

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 14:47:10 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

For some reason this didn’t show up in the last post. Work safe.

Brain Fodder: Good News, Nightwing, LA Raiders, Security Gone Wrong and more

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:01:42 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

Given the recent nonsense, I’m going to start this collection off with something that should make you smile and is entirely work safe:

And football being the only sport worth watching that’s actually being played right now (Thank Jeremy Jacobs and Gary Bettman!!)

The DC character I think should be next up for a major movie or tv series get’s talked up:

Nightwing

In news that will rock the souls of NHL fans to their very fundament, the players are better prepared than the owners.

They say the only thing worse than no security is bad security. Guess which we have?

Apple Maps headlines a list of turkeys for 2012 over at CNET.

Continuing the list trend, some of the best psychology and philosophy books of 2012.

Not to mention NPR’s top 1o Jazz albums of 2012.

A quick way to add function to your website.

If you want to set a story in Boston, even in part, you need to know something about the T, the lines, the stops, and where they are and were. This is a great place to start.

8 mythological critters, some of which you may not have met before.

Genetics, interbreeding, and the fossil record can and can’t tell us about our own past.

Mental Health

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 01:41:15 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 real life it is the rule not the exception. The problem is the definitions of “good” and “sane” are in just about all cases “behaving as I would behave”. Evil and crazy are any and all things outside that first definition. As we’ve seen with Mike Huckabee you need to be careful who you let define your good.

The problem with the dichotomy is that the spectrum of good/evil is far wider, and weirder. More importantly, the impact of pressure to change on people at different points on the compass will result in different results. Tell someone who’s an absolute omega follower that they need to do what you tell them, and they probably will, say it to a beta that believes they are your equal or better and they might just challenge you for authority on the spot, or they might watch you waiting for you to show some sort of weakness. If you are an alpha type and you give the same order to another alpha, they might do what you asked, you might have a power struggle, they might pass it on to an underling, or they could completely ignore you. All of those behaviors are normal for their type.

The worst problems arise when we try and shape people beyond their functional type. Someone who is easily frightened, highly unathletic, compassionate almost to a fault, and lacks even the assertiveness to defend themselves is not an ideal police officer or soldier. Pushing them into a role like that will result in some form of dysfunction. At the other end of the extreme someone with a reasonable amount of athleticism, a handful more paranoia than average, and a willingness to be violent, is not going to make the best barrista, personal assistant, or janitor. Pushing them into a role like that will result in some form of dysfunction.

Dysfunction for the purposes of this post is “that which directly harms the individual or makes them detrimental to society”, which does not include things others just find distasteful. So playing video games six hours a day is functional; smoking crack, rape, assault, or drinking enough alcohol to interfere with their other activities would be dysfunctional.

So if we take each of the examples above, and from childhood push them in direction that will maximize what those two individuals are as opposed to what sociologists, school teachers, their parents, or whoever thinks they should be both are capable of contributing to a healthy society. A soldier without a little bit of paranoia is probably gonna die in a hurry and get others killed. A personal assistant who can empathize with their boss is more effective, and almost certainly makes their boss better in turn.

Differential function is a fact. Period. Gwen Stefani, Madonna and Diana Ross might have been pushed into being accountants and likely no one would ever have heard their voices. Given all the time each of the three has spent around music and doing other creative acts, how functional would they have been in a job that didn’t allow them that?

That differential functioning shows in all sorts of ways. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you like working with people do you do better with children or adults? Whatever it is, for you, and those you influence, tell yourself and those around you; go towards your talents and your own psychoemotional construction.

The most broken people in the world, including the one who wiped out his family and a class full of children are what they are before they pick up any tool. The ability to be “evil” is one that has existed since the first human walked the earth. Ill acts can be committed with teeth and nails, or 13th century technology.

Goodreads: Diving In

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:49:44 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

So, recently I decided to give into Goodreads. I’ve had an account for a year or two, I just never used it much. The basic daily navigation tools are ok, but for stuff like adding reviews, or finding out you have to rate or review 20 books before you get recommendations you have to dig. This may or may not have been explained when I signed up, but well, I no longer remember. Those following me on twitter @Onyxhawke will note I reviewed a bunch of books in the last 24 hours or so to get to 20.

When I first get their recommendations top it looked like this:

Top of the page (minus the navigation bar)

Scrolling down they put fantasy next:

the fantasy pics

And at the bottom:

last row of rec page

I decided to click on the fantasy category which looks like this:

The top of the Fantasy rec page.
Nine rows total

A quick trip through the 45 recommendations showed me a couple interesting things:

No one I’d reviewed showed up.
16 of the authors were people I’d read something by.
most of actually was fantasy despite the first screen showing a space opera.
No real leaning towards an particular publisher, decade, or subgenre.
Many of the books were a decade or two old, and most seemed to be the start of a series not a middle book.

More to come, I’ll also be taking a look at two other networks in the near future Diaspora and Socl.

Launch! Steam Mole

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:54:04 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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.

Brain Fodder: Drawing the Sky, Wonder Kid, Imprinting, Solar System Age And More

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:09:46 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

2012-11-24So you need to chart the heavenly vista for your opus magnus? Not a new concern. Try this.

A little remind that not all things are improved with quantity.

Political Parties http://www.reagencydesign.com/products/241597-political-party-monsters-preorder-s-xl

What do you mean you need to know where the stars are before you can draw them? Blasphemous thought!

If you haven’t heard of Kelvin Doe, shame shame! He’s one of those kids who does some damn impressive stuff.

Everyone has pretty distinct handwriting, do any of your characters write in one of these fonts? Do you ever pick a font for your characters?

This planet is so big its star is clearly overcompensating.

The solar system has clearly been lying about its age. This is unconscionable, and it needs to be punished.

In birds we think of imprinting as an all or nothing occurrence, that doesn’t appear to be the case in wallabys.

Know someone for whom time is a relative concept? Maybe, they are a living example of what the BaBar team has been studying?

When we age, we don’t just see differently, we read differently.

Your Normal Isn’t

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:23 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 all not so different from you. Hell, you might be one of those, or something else amazing,

Differing abilities aren’t the only way we adapt. The level and type of risk we face, and how we do it is another type of adaptation. When a danger is so common you can’t ignore it, you either adapt to it, escape it, or die. Californians have earthquakes. In warzones, like Israel the adaptations, are something else:

So, what do the characters, villages,cities, mercenary companies, princes and shoe polishers, backers, barons, and brewers have to adapt to?

Twitter For The Not So Chatty

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:52:52 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

A couple days ago Chris posted about social media. Specifically, he asked about how to generate conversations, and well, stick to something that doesn’t come naturally to him. Any form of social interaction that doesn’t come naturally to you is uncomfortable.

A couple things to remember:

No matter what ridiculous or insane thing you say, someone will top you, sooner rather than later.
Social media is incredibly fluid, getting to saturation of whatever outlet you choose, is pretty hard, just get aim for the people following you enjoying it.
Unless you’re on 24/7 not everyone is going to see anything or everything you tweet.

So how do you get in the habit of Tweeting, and keep it?

Make it interesting for yourself: Follow people and companies you find interesting.
Be candid about your opinions: If you see a movie and think it has a spectacular talent for applying oral suction to male primate organs, say so.
Check the “Trending Topics”. This is a great feature, you can look at worldwide trends, you can look at national trends city trends or even trends based on what you tweet.
Take part in memes. Some of them are absolutely hilarious to watch and take part in. #ReplaceMovieTitleWithBacon or something similar can in fact convince people to follow you.
Pick a time to Tweet and read your timeline at least twice a day. It doesn’t have to be longer than five minutes either time. You can also do it during breaks while writing or editing. Write for an hour, Tweet for 10 minutes while you take a walk.
Unfollow people who annoy you and block the noxious.
And to paraphrase Janet Jackson: Relax, its just Twitter.
Find a good app for your smartphone, tablet or computer that fits your needs.
Talk about stuff other than your work.
Unfollow people who annoy you and block the noxious.
Put your twitter handle out where people can find it, people who like you will follow you, sometimes they will even respond or say something to you.
You can post your tweets to Facebook, with some apps automatically, some have a toggle so not all will end up on your timeline.
When you go places you don’t mind sharing about, share, I’ve done contests over twitter while traveling.
Don’t give up, traction takes time.

Silent Dragon Cover

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 20:54:14 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 fans who have loved Jaylor and his friends since Glass Dragon, they’re still around but have taken a backseat to their children.

+++

I was asked to insert a link to a survey on civil rights leaders by a friend who’s a student. It’s entirely anonymous, but if you’ve taken it already please skip it. It’s only five question. And it will help out a great deal.

Brain Fodder: Two Uteruses, Jupiter Get’s Spottier, Fold up boat and more

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:59:10 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

A woman with two uteri, gave birth not long ago to two babies, one developed in each uterus. Yes, this is rare.

A space saving, water craft you can put in your closet and still have room for shoes. It’s not quite George Jetson’s foldup car, but a kayak that compacts neatly is still pretty cool.

By Irene Radford

Your three kids are beastly? You poor dear, I bet they don’t quite have the growl of the rare sumatran tiger.

Sure, some people might think a gator in the server cooling pond is a manifestation of the law of unintended consequences, but personally I think it was all part of a Google marketing plan.

Marriage is a subject that has so many views it is almost a meaningless word. Yet, the “m” word is a topic that will get people to open up and express themselves in a way few things can. Impact Lab is talking about the changing face of marriage. Specifically asking if men look at it different these days.

So, what do we think is causing Jupiter’s spots? Planetary chickenpox? Sympathy pollution blight?

One of the big mysteries of the world is how with so much genetic similarity there is across the animal kingdom at large, and within primates in particular, how humans ended up so different from their closes kin. The differences appear to start with gene expression.

And the father of flying fish appears to have been found, Jerry Spring is apparently willing to have him meet his children on his show…

Hours Saved

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:06:33 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 friends computer back to the mine.

Fortunately, SugarSync* saved my bacon, and hours, and hours of work. In one of my synced folders I clicked on the name of the file, and then “versions”. It saved the past five. When I clicked on that I got this pic:

Each version you select and download has a time stamp appended to the end so you keep track of them while you recover your data. If I didn’t love Sugarsync already, this would be more than enough reason to.

*A referral link, yes I get free space, no they don’t pay me. Enjoy.

Veterans Day

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:25:49 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:42:16 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 charisma of a leader or perceived leader of the party is surrounded by enough positive buzz that no possible successor within the party can keep the momentum. This is where the ebb begins, both in party influence, and both parties creeping (or sometimesleaping) back to the middle.

Parties that don’t get back close to center simply die. Lincoln was a loyal Whig until the party imploded, Also historically, one issue parties do horribly. The Green Party for example has existed for decades and gone just about nowhere, the Libertarian Party has done very slightly better, but is viewed in a similar one trick pony light. Given how slowly the American center shifts, and the lifespan of successful politicians, it isn’t all that surprising that some fail to adapt.

The mythical mandate that has crept into the lexicon of presidential elections in the last 20 years is utterly laughable. Truman who had a 4.48% win, after being projected to lose, is as large as the 2012 win for Obama and the 2004 win for George W. Bush combined. The utterly forgettable Herbert Hoover had a popular vote margin of over 17%, and Warren G. Harding had a 26% popular vote margin in 1920, a margin we are unlikely to see again for a very long time.

If both of the parties we know today are to survive(unlikely), some historian 100+ years will probably look at the next decade as the time when one or both chopped off its offending wing. For the Republicans, the Westboro Right are so divorced from the increasingly secular nation that it is almost impossible for keep candidates like Huckabee integrated and remain viable on the national stage. For the Democrats the Leningrad Left who see communist structures as the true desire of Americans everywhere, those folks need to go. Both unions, once a huge part of American political equation, and religious organizations have lost members and might in the last half century.

Some of this is changing demographics and economy. Family sizes are shrinking. When a candidate pushed the “family” button 100 times a month in 1910 or 1860, family sizes were much larger and having six or seven children to make the term resonate in a large number of voters was pretty common. Likewise, with the decline of manufacturing in America Unions are no longer the juggernauts they were, and even when they were there was a lot of disapproval from non-union workers that polarized issues common to members and non members.

From watching the trends of the US over the last 200+ years, the next decade and a half is the most likely time I’ve seen since the early Cold War for a new major, powerful national party to emerge. It could be a split in one of the two parties. It could be a few men and women from the two parties leaving to begin a new one, but if there are five members of congress in 2024 from a party that doesn’t exist today, I for one will not be surprised.

***

it should go without saying that if you can’t be civilized on my blog you might as well not post.

NANO & National Adoption Month

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:51:20 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

Somehow I failed to notice that it it was National Adoption month. Fortunately the nice folks at Adopt Us Kids tweeted a reminder:

It's National #Adoption Month! Visit the #NAM12 web site: http://t.co/h6mXvgGh Resources for families & professionals.#childwelfare

about 18 hours ago via HootSuite ReplyRetweetFavorite

@AdoptUSKids

AdoptUSKids

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 from shorts to novels in my life and am flat out stumped to finger even one adoption that worked out for everyone. In one of his latest, David Weber, who has adopted children of his own manages to jump up and down on the adoption = disaster plot button. Raymond Feist’s epic Magician has Pug get adopted into the Con Dion family (sorta), only to later have it cause issues within the family. Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files features at least two adoptions, neither all that positive. The list goes on, and on, and on…

So who out there is going to spit in the eye of tradition and feature an adoption that works?

Those seeking information on adoption or foster care for themselves can do so via Adopt Us Kids, or by searching for their nearest state office. Many states have no fee adoption programs run by the state that may work better than the much more publicized private adoption agencies which often do great work, but can have high costs.

It is NANO and Movember Time!

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:33:54 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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.

Good luck to everyone involved in both, if you aren’t doing either, pick one, if you are doing one try the other.

Battlefields, Introverts vs Extroverts, Anti-Snoring Devices, Writing and Research and more

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:17:49 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

Battlefield maps aren’t really difficult to come by, but getting one map with absolute brain breaking loads of the them from a source known for quality? Just about unheard of. Click here and drool.

One of the fascinating differences between introverts, like say Charles Darwin or Albert Einstein on one hand and extroverts such as Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela on the other is how they respond to stimulation. The short version is that introverts are drained of energy by time with people, and loud sounds or bright light, extroverts find this same stuff stimulating, and it ramps them up. The conversation in the comments here might lead you to believe extroverts are the minority, not true. E’s outnumber I’s about 3 to 1.

Snoring, the bane of many relationships has a cure! Well, maybe not a cure, but some well thought out devices to help stop it.

We all drop stuff on the ground now and then, not all of us manage to do it while in the air, nor on another planet.

One of the uglier bits of Americana get’s challenged, and some of the mythmakers explain their part.

One of those many, many differences between males, and females even early on is staked to the ground in a single line here. Boys need to know why. From my experience with kids, girls want to know who with and boys want to know what use. They aren’t the same thing, and can’t rarely be answered the same way.

Nothing of worth comes without effort and preparation. This means writing too. Dave Freer fields the question of research for his books.

Endangered Species: Dark Hero

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:53:31 GMT

Originally published at Agent Incite. You can comment here or there.

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 without the other in good health, and a decline in one will foretell a depreciation of the other.

Back in the time of legends, it was possible to meet a hero, or even a hero’s sidekick or temporary companion who was not a nice guy. A good guy, sure, but the type of man who inspired Churchill to utter; “We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”, and everyone in the allied nations to not only know what he meant, but to hold those men in high esteem. The Lone Ranger wasn’t the type to talk a bad guy into putting down his gun because violence never solved anything, he shot the bastard and got on with life. Being willing to do violence to those who needed a foot broken off in their ass and not paralyzing oneself with doubt afterwards (or before) is historically (and today) a highly adaptive trait.

Of all the civil rights era men who did good things, it seems only Martin and Malcolm are really remembered. Malcolm X is seen as some sort of boogieman, a mostly tame boogieman, much like a domestic version of Fidel Castro, but while being acknowledged as scary, he’s otherwise just sorta there. Martin Luther King Jr, who’s honorifics have been eroded is somehow just about the sole martyr of the struggle. While both of them did good things, it is probably a third man who had the most lasting impact on peoples lives. In the era of bus boycotts and lunch counter sit-ins, he helped push food banks, literacy programs, and voter registration. While Martin pushed an almost servile passivity, and Malcolm’s sabre rattling set the teeth of even his allies, Bobby Seale managed to invigorate and activate the forgotten middle. In his own words:

They came down on us because we had a grass-roots, real people’s revolution, complete with the programs, complete with the unity, complete with the working coalitions, where we crossed racial lines.

Yet, most people born after the civil rights era don’t know who he is, or that they should be wishing him a happy birthday today. How is that possible?

It’s possible, because the value of a man as protector, as avenger, as the half of the fabled learning duo that isn’t orange and topped by string leafs has been consigned to the realm of villainy. And yet, on the other hand men have been excluded by social pressure from elementary education, day care, and after school programs. Organizations like 4H are nearly overburdened with testosterone if they have one in twenty male leaders, and not shockingly they retain only a slightly higher percentage of male membership. So men aren’t allowed to inspire people to behave better out of fear, nor are they allowed to be involved in nurturing. Decades ago when the dark hero, the Bobby Seale, the Conan, the gruff uncle or grandfather was a common sight, men were allowed a variety of roles. These human wolfhounds didn’t (and don’t) just exist to set limits on what the wolf can do, but to steer the flock as well.

Just judging by the point the change from traditional scope of roles become fodder for Hollywood humor, Mr Mom (1983), Michael Keaton’s exploration of full-time stay at home daddyness as compared to something the current Hollywood might produce? The “good guys” in much of today’s fiction are indistinguishable from most of the women except by pronoun, and occasionally which restroom they use. This isn’t nearly as much because of a change in how women are portrayed, as it is in how men are. Gruff men, dark heroes, strong males are never shown as present, or at least not present for long.

As fiction is a symbiote of society, this portends things that are not good for anyone. From the business point of view, it doesn’t inspire men to read, or appreciate women who do. Why would any man want to contend with hundreds of reinforcements of a stereotype that if he’s strong he’ll either leave soon or be evil (and probably evil)? This blog post has an interesting spin on the role of men.