New Book Trailer for the Steve Dancy Tales

Review of Principled Action

Martin, at What Would the Founders Think reviews Principled Action, Lessons from the Origins of the American Republic.

(Martin appropriately opens his review of my book with the following disclaimer: "The author of Principled Action is a primary author on What Would The Founders Think and also a good friend of this reviewer.")

"The Constitution lays out the framework and defines the limits of government authority.  Best devotes several chapters to the thinking that went into its design as well as the issues of the time in which it was written.  In so doing, he offers clarity and exposes some of the stretched, or downright inaccurate interpretations prevalent today ... Best offers some advice on regaining the government formed by the second revolution.  One such suggestion is that we restore the Founders’ Suspicion of Powerful Government.  Only by reaffirming those Founding Principles can we once more become a people of Principled Action."

You can read the full review at What Would the Founders Think? 

Principled Action—Part of a Plan

I've been asked why I chose to write a non-fiction book about the Founders’ principles. Steve Dancy fans seem especially irked that I didn't write another book in my Western novel series. Before I answer that question, I'd like to assure my readers that I am currently working on the fourth Steve Dancy Tale. I expect the book to be available well before Christmas.

In truth, interrupting the series is not new. I have always written a completely different kind of book after each Steve Dancy Tale. The Shut Mouth Society followed The Shopkeeper, Tempest at Dawn followed Leadville, and now Principled Action has followed Murder at Thumb Butte. This is purposeful. If every other book is outside the Western genre, I'll always be eager to get back to the series and it will keep the Steve Dancy Tales fresh.

That said, I wrote Principled Action, Lessons from the Origins of the American Republic because I had developed the theme while preparing a lecture for the web-based Beck University. The Theme—and resulting book—was a natural follow-on to Tempest at Dawn, a historical novel about the Constitutional Convention. Fiction has certain advantages over non-fiction and vice versa. I meant Principled Action to be a companion book to Tempest at Dawn—Tempest engages the reader by telling an exciting story populated with real people, while Principled Action is explicit in describing the motivations and beliefs of the Founders. In both books I used the Founders’ own words, but in the novel I modernized the language, and sometimes moved it around to fit the plot line.

The premise of Principled Action is that there were basic principles that all of the Founders believed. They disagreed on how to handle many issues, but not these basic principles.

·      Rights Come from God, Not Government

·      All Political Power Emanates from the People

·      A Limited, Representative Republic Protects Liberty

·      Consent of the Governed Requires a Written Constitution

·      Liberty Depends on Private Property Rights

·      Power Must Be Balanced and Checked

These are often called First Principles. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution were not cobbled together like a modern law. These documents were firmly grounded in the teachings of the brightest thinkers from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment. More important, these principles were understood and debated by a large portion of the populous. The United States of America was not founded by fifty-five men who held a long meeting inside a stuffy room in what we now call Independence Hall. Our nation was founded by We The People at Ratification Conventions that were independent of national and state governments.

The Constitution never belonged to politicians. It belongs to us. The Constitution never empowered government. It restrained government. The Constitution does not protect rights. It orders government to not interfere with rights. The Constitution is not a list of laws. It defines a government form consistent with First Principles.

To best convey the enormity of these ideas, I believed it took the emotion of storytelling and exactness of non-fiction. Anyway, that’s why I wrote Principled Action, but now I’m enjoying my work on a new shoot ‘em up.

10 Odd Stories Behind Famous Authors’ Nom de Plumes

Kim Parker writes a piece on author pen names for Flavorwire.

"Pen names speckle literary history and our modern bookshelves. If you own anything by George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, or George Eliot, you own a piece of the epic chronicle of pseudonyms. Authors change their names for many reasons, but historically, one of the strongest reasons to use a pen name was to hide your lady bits. Back in the day, women writers were forced to use male pseudonyms."

Read the complete article at Flavorwire

Alan Caruba Recommends Principled Action at Bookviews

"There is no more important time in our present times to learn the how and why of the founding of our great republic. This highly readable book is a very good place to start." Alan Caruba at Bookviews

Read Bookviews April Recommendations, including Principled Action

Reality TV Shows About Writers?

Flavorwire has published a wishlist of reality-TV shows they'd like to see about famous authors. Since my own life is fairly boring, I initially thought this was a lame idea. After all, how interesting could it be to watch a writer pounding away at a keyboard. Actually, pretty darn interesting for these writers. If this series goes into production, I'm going to have to look into my inner weirdness. (The article may have appealed to me because I'm going to see a play of The Great Gatsby tonight.)


Read the Flavorwire Article

F. Scott and Zelda

Reader's Digest Picks The Best Thrillers of All Time

"What makes a thriller thrilling? Nonstop action, precarious situations, hair-raising suspense, and heroic characters all exemplify the best thrillers on the market." This Reader's Digest post list their editors' choice for best thrillers. I'm providing the link to this list because I was surprised to find that I had read all ten books. (They actually cheated and list more than twenty books.) I'm not sure I would rate them the ten best of all time, but every one of them is pushing hard for the honor.

Take a look. You may find your next book on this list.

 

Heroes and Villains

Part V: Stories of Gut-Wrenching Endurance

Antagonists don’t have to be alive, or even a machine. Many good stories have been written where the protagonist is challenged by a place. In Last of the Breed, Louis L'Amour pits his protagonist against the Siberia wasteland. Although humans made appearances, Daniel Defoe primarily challenged Robinson Caruso with a deserted island. There are many stories of a single person fighting against the elements, but the antagonist as a place does not need to threaten only individuals. The true antagonist in Clive Cussler’s Raise the Titanic is the depths of the frigid Atlantic. Sebastian Junger in The Perfect Storm pits weather against the fishing crew of the Andrea Gail. Although nonfiction, in Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Piers Paul Read tells the story of how a rugby team won a battle against a mountain.

 

Place can also take on a secondary antagonist role. To a great extent, Dorothy is attempting to escape Kansas and Tara is Scarlett O'Hara’s nemesis.

When the antagonist is a place, then the story is often one of gut-wrenching endurance. The narrative almost always starts with a set-up that shows the protagonist as completely unprepared for a test of stamina and courage. These are stressful stories that examine human limits. 

Most of the time, the protagonist wins, but sometimes not, as in The Perfect Storm.