Year: 2013

My Answer to a Critic

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

A certain influential person, whose name I will not mention, was invited by a mutual friend to read and review my book, Bell Mountain. He read it, but didn’t review it. This morning, at long last, our mutual friend told me why.

It seems this influential person found Bell Mountain rife with secret Calvinistic messages, and somehow “dangerous” to readers. So he didn’t want to give it any added exposure by reviewing it.

All right–I hope I understand that no writer can hope to please everyone, and only a fool would explain to a reader why he should have liked the book. But as hard as it is to make any headway in the market at all, unfair and stupid criticism really rankles.

Folks, believe me–Bell Mountain is not a sneaky, fiendishly clever trick to turn good Catholics into bad Calvinists. It is not Mein Kampf for kiddies. It’s a fantasy, fer cryin’ out loud! There ain’t any Calvinists or Catholics or Republicans or Democrats or Rotarians or Kiwanis Clubs in the fantasy world which it describes.

I admit the book and its sequels are based–firmly, I hope–on a solid Biblical foundation. I pray that they will be serviceable to My Lord Jesus Christ in the advancement of His Kingdom. But I have tried to do that by writing about another world that has absolutely no connection to our own.

Look, Mr. Big Important Critic–a whole passel of judges for the Global E-Book Awards read Bell Mountain this year and didn’t find any crypto-Calvinism: and they gave it a Bronze Medal, in competition with I dunno how many hundreds of other books. Oh, maybe you’re smarter than they were. Maybe you’re smart enough to see things that aren’t there.

Grow up, will ya?

 

 

A Book I Wrote–But Never Read?

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

They say a little mystery is good for you; it spices up your life. Well, here’s my little mystery–and it’s still unsolved.

At various places on the Internet, I’ve found references to a book called The Lion’s Share, by Julia Kent… and Lee Duigon.

Gee, I don’t remember writing that.

I can’t find out what kind of book it is: only that it seems to have been published in 1988 by Pinnacle Books. I, too, had books published by Pinnacle around that time.

As for my co-author, Julia Kent, I haven’t been able to find out anything about her, either. There’s a Julia Kent who’s a musician, but it can’t be her; she doesn’t look anywhere near old enough to have been writing a book with me in 1988.

Maybe I’m just not using the right search terms. I dunno. It’s really puzzling. Did Pinnacle somehow turn one of my rejected manuscripts into a book, and not tell me about it? Maybe Julia Kent knows.

It would really cheese me off if there was a bad book out there with my name on it. Then again, it might be a really good book to which I’m not entitled.

If you can provide any information that might help solve this mystery… let me know!

 

Global Warming: No Dissent Allowed

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

When you’re losing an argument, you can always let on that you won if only you can gag the other side.

The Los Angeles Times in October decided not to publish any more letters or admit comments from people dissenting from Global Warming dogma. This week, a popular website, Reddit, has done the same (see http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/12/warmist_fundamentalists_ban_dissent.html ).

High Priest Al Gore has applauded the action.

The science guy at Reddit said they did it because all dissent from Global Warmism is heresy, and “anti-scientific.”

Even when bona fide scientists dissent, they’re “anti-scientific.” Even worse, they’re “deniers.” You shouldn’t be allowed to read what they have to say. Shut up and trust the Experts.

Hide the decline, hide the decline, hide the decline…

 

 

Is Self-Promotion a Bad Thing?

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Every time I turn on Rush Limbaugh lately, he’s schlepping his book. His daily radio program has 20 million listeners, he’s already famous,his book’s been on the New York Times bestseller list for several weeks in a row–and still he’s plugging it.How many gazillion copies is he going to sell?

Then we come to my books…

For a long time we were thinking of biting the bullet and hiring a publicist. Then we began to notice that it seems all a publicist will do is send out emails to people who immediately delete them. Gee, I could do that myself. I get several dozen emails a week from assorted publicists, inviting me to review books I never heard of, written by people I never heard of, usually on subjects that either don’t interest me or that don’t fall within any of the areas I write about. With all due respect, the saga of an aspiring Country & Western singer’s struggle to kick this or that disgusting habit just doesn’t float my boat. I don’t have time even to read the emails, let alone the books.

Somehow I just can’t bring myself to do what Rush does and subject my tiny audience to a perpetual commercial. No, I must be more subtle and polite than that.

So, look, if you’ve read any of my books and liked them, tell your friends about ’em. And if you haven’t, try ’em. Because people do ask me about this fairly often, let me say you can order my books from amazon.com right here on this blog: just click “Books.”

There, I’ve said my piece.

 

5 Films to Flush Your Brain

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

If you find you ever need to flush your brain, sort of like the way you have to flush an outboard motor sometimes, here are five certifiably awful movies that just might do it for you.

1. The Manster (1959) A mad scientist in Japan injects an American journalist with stuff that makes a second head grow out of his shoulder. Unfortunately, it’s a homicidal monster head. And if that pleases you, you may want to sample…

2. The Thing with Two Heads (1972) Nasty, racist scientist Ray Milland is dying, so he needs to transplant his head onto a healthy body. Oops–he winds up on Rosey Grier‘s body, and Rosey’s head is still on it, so… well, you get the general idea.

3. The Hideous Sun Demon (1959) Radiation turns a scientist into a bloodthirsty lizard-monster. How come this sort of thing never happens to a shoe salesman or someone at the post office?

4. The Greatest Speeches of Barack Obama–hold it! That’s not supposed to be in here. Even ridiculous horror movies have some standards.

4. Twitch of the Death Nerve (1972) My friends and I saw this at the local drive-in, and it made no sense at all. A lot of those Italian slasher flicks from the 70s make no sense. The climax is the announcement of the murder of one Filippo Donati, who is not otherwise mentioned.

5. I Eat Your Skin (1964) This mad scientist/zombie movie will hose down whatever neurons are still clogging up your cranium. They save the best line for last: “So ends Dr. So-and-So’s evil plan to conquer the world with an invincible army of zombies.” That’s the first we hear of any plan!

WARNING: Do not give any of these movies as Christmas presents. You can find them all available for viewing on the Internet at no charge.

A Very Fine ‘Christmas Carol’

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

I know–the phrase “made for TV” conjures up visions of shoddiness, banality, and tripe. But here is a remarkable exception to that rule.

A Christmas Carol, with George C. Scott as Scrooge, first appeared on TV in 1984 as one of those Hallmark Hall of Fame productions. Charles Dickens’ story has appeared in countless film versions, but this one, if not the very best (I think that honor must go to the 1950 film starring Alistair Sim), is still wonderfully good.

All right, maybe I’m getting sappy as I get older. Time after time, this film stirs my heart. If you’re not afraid to feel, this one’s for you.

Scott’s Scrooge is probably the meanest and most obnoxious of them all–and so his redemption and regeneration is all the more occasion for rejoicing. There are those who say A Christmas Carol has nothing to do with Christ. Well, if redemption and regeneration are not the essence of Christianity, I don’t know what is.

I must also add that Frank Finlay‘s Marley–Marley’s ghost, that is–is surely the scariest of them all. And the original musical score by the Bicat brothers will stay with you for a long time, and delight you every time a few bars of it happen to dance across your mind: I promise you that.

If you haven’t seen this yet–well, what are you waiting for? It’s on youtube. Watch it today!

How Tyranny Grows by Little-Bitty Steps

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Hey, has anybody noticed a subtle shift, in recent years, in the way laws are written, and in the kinds of things they aim to accomplish?

It has long been that most law told us what we couldn’t do, and as long as we refrained from such actions, we were left alone.

But the new trend in law, throughout the Western world, is to tell us what we must do. And we are not left alone.

You must purchase health insurance, whether you want it or not, or else pay a fine.

You must pay for someone else’s contraceptives, and even pay for abortions, no matter what violence it does to your conscience.

You must actively join in promoting homosexuality–by catering a sodomite parody of marriage, or allowing your child to be taught that sodomy is a virtue, or hiring a freaky “transgender” waitress for your restaurant, etc.–even if you are convinced that it’s an abomination and a sin.

It’s getting so the only ones who are safe from the law are criminals.

A Prayer for Christmas

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

I know there are some of you out there who think it’s wrong and non-Christian to celebrate Christmas. I understand your point of view and respect it, but I haven’t come here today to debate it. I am here merely to offer the following prayer, and to invite anyone who pleases to pray it with me.

Father in heaven, I beseech you to endow with power and glory this year’s Christmas season, more than past Christmases: because we need it more today.

Let this day, chosen to proclaim the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ as a solid fact of history, have power to revive our hearts with love for You and for Your Son, and to renew our minds.

Above all, give it power to move our hearts to repentance, that our poor, fallen, sinful country might be saved. Turn us, O Lord, turn us back to You, and cause Thy face to shine: and then we shall be saved. Amen

There. That didn’t hurt so much, did it?

 

What a Dream I Had!

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

I’m worn out today because I had a strenuous night. That is, I had a very strenuous dream.

I dreamed I was with John Carter on Mars. For those who don’t know, John Carter is the hero of Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ immortal “Barsoom” (Mars) novels. If you haven’t read them, and you like wild imagination and high adventure, you can’t do better than these.

Last night, John Carter’s adopted city, Helium, was overwhelmed by an enemy horde. They thronged the city streets and were breaking into Carter’s own palace. It was a surprise attack, and the defenses were failing.

With the enemy breaking into room after room, John Carter had to save his princess, Dejah Thoris, the mother of his children. At first she refused to part from him; but he convinced her by saying, “If I live, the people will fight. If you live, they will hope.” (Not a bad line for the ol’ sleeping brain to come up with, eh?)

So he sent her to Earth, along with a few loyal warriors to protect her. (If you’ve read the books, you’ll know how he does this; I don’t have space to explain it here.) Then he went off with his sword to see if he could save his city.

At this point I woke up. But when I went back to sleep–voila!–I was back on Earth with Dejah Thoris, and we were trying to find a place to hide. Eventually John Carter arrived, alone. Helium had fallen, but he had a plan to return and try again. But meanwhile, the enemy had sent a group of assassins to Earth to find and kill John Carter and Dejah Thoris. They were disguised as members of a nasty cult, and avoiding them was going to be difficult.

And then my own wife suddenly went missing…

The rest is too jumbled to tell coherently, and I woke in the morning before it could all be sorted out. So I wonder what tonight has in store for me!

I can hardly describe how vivid this dream was. I really was in Helium, with swords clashing everywhere, Red and Green Martians fighting on both sides, with Carter’s Black and Yellow allies desperately dashing for Helium in their airships, knowing they were already too late. I wish I could tell you what it was like in Carter’s palace.

I am really pooped!

 

Do You Worship Science?

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

You can learn a lot by chatting on the Internet. Here is one thing I’ve learned.

Most people, including most Christians, consider “Science” (whatever they might mean by the term) to be the highest authority for truth–higher than God’s word.

Alone among human enterprises, Science is held to be virtually immune to corruption, wishful thinking, prejudice, or folly.

People are genuinely shocked if you suggest that science is not immune to those frailties of human nature. They are shocked if you suggest that a scientist is no more likely to be truthful, moral, or trustworthy than a politician, a used car salesman, or a televangelist.

People will trust Science and scientists blindly. They will defend Science with a zeal and an emotional heat which, if exercised in the defense of a religious belief, would make them quite uneasy if they saw it.

For most people, Science is synonymous with truth. But do they even know what Science is?

I was taught to believe that Science is the application of the Scientific Method–observe, make a hypothesis, experiment, analyze, etc. The Scientific Method is only a procedure, not a definitive statement on the nature of reality; and it has served us well.

But at least for members of today’s scientific community, Science is a thorough-going, overarching world-view which is purely materialistic: that is, for these scientists, nothing exists that cannot be measured by our senses or our instruments.

That rules out God, and practically everything else that really matters.

I don’t believe most people realize that Science makes that claim. They just put their trust in it.

Do you?