Category Archives: Sample Essays

Some examples of essays written for APA zines. Yes, I’m that old.

Our Neighbor Committed Mass Murder The Other Day

Recently Neil Gaiman spoke of hiving a swarm of bees. He wrote with justifiable pride and a sweet gentleness. Not too many days ago my youngest son and I witnessed a swarm. It formed a cylinder perhaps sixty feet high. … Continue reading

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Art’s Value

Our uncultured society places a low value on culture and art. We pay CEOs millions to remove jobs from America and strip us of everything worth a penny but we grouse at having to pay for a story, a song, … Continue reading

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Speak Carefully, It May Be Forever

Carl Sagan wrote, “What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind … Continue reading

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Ebook Bashing, Bashed

Gatekeepers mean nothing but control of extruded fiction product. Are you shocked that most self-published stuff is crap? Why do you ignore the fact that most publisher crap is crap, too. Sturgeon’s Law, which merely rephrases the Bell Curve. Publishers … Continue reading

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Plotting Courses, Charting Novels

“Plotting Courses, Charting Novels” They call it a plot by analogy to nautical charts. The navigators plotted a course. They knew where they set out and where they wanted to go. They planned a reasonable route. Along the way, however, … Continue reading

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Watch It, It’s TV

On TV the most reality one can find is LAW AND ORDER and a few other police procedurals. They deal with corruption. They deal with crime. PERSON OF INTEREST is another, dealing with universal, pervasive surveillance. News-like shows are farcical … Continue reading

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A Brief Yap About Civility In Public Discourse

Civility is based upon respect. We can disagree but, if I respect you, I can very likely respect your opinion, too, and our differences become a basis for discussion and mutual learning and compromise. That is how politics was supposed … Continue reading

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A Brief Word About Words

The English language is shrinking due to spellcheckers. Often, these expert systems lists cull related words that might work better but are not as popular. Often, these artificial intelligence robots offer limited choices based on commonality of usage. Often, spellcheckers … Continue reading

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Why Science Is Afraid Of Ghosts

Accounts of hauntings are accounts of people’s inner lives manifesting. Some panic or fall apart, some ignore hauntings, and some play or communicate with the spookiness, learning to live with it. All hauntings test people’s reactions, responses, and coping abilities. … Continue reading

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Turning Fear’s Key

Religionist cons always offer eternal peace and love because they target the insecure even as they ramp up fear, hate, and anxiety. This combination of unrelenting pressure and an offer of refuge is irresistible to abused slaves. Hence Nietzsche’s dictum … Continue reading

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