Research Results

A short time ago I mentioned a bunch of cool projects on which I was working. Most of them have very good updates to report. 

To Stop a Slaughter: The Book of Mormon and Just War- I'm still looking for a publisher. But a by product of all the success below means that I've received a large amount of good feedback that has strengthened the manuscript and will produce buzz. 

Am I My Brothers Keeper:  I wrote this piece about the dangerous rise of isolationism and how that ideology is disguising a lack of compassion. It was for Public Square magazine where I've published before, so I thought this would be the easiest success. I suppose I just had beginners luck with my first piece but not this one. 

Kiskkumen's Dagger: This examined the concept of preemptive war in the Book of Mormon using Helaman 2. They wanted some revisions and it should be published in the spring issue of Square Two. 

LDS National Security Professionals Conference: Technically this was a presentation and not a publication, though in the past the organizers have collected and published the presentations. My paper on the interpretation of section 98 was well received as far as I could tell. Because it was based on a chapter of my book it is improved by another round of edits and more feedback. 

Maxwell Institute Theology Seminar: I wasn't selected as a seminar participant. I believe I'm producing some of the best theology out there in matters of war and ethics. Some day the seminar will ask for a close and creative reading of a scripture that lets me show it. 

Moroni's Letter: After a somewhat strange editorial process where the reviewers mostly hated it, but the editors really liked it and wanted it published anyway, I submitted my edits. Their process always takes a long time (but still quicker than my book!) so this is something you'll probably see early next year at the Interpreter.  

I'm grateful for the publications that let me publish with them, and the feedback I've received in the process. I hope everyone reading them as much as I've enjoyed and worked producing them. 

My daughter is a smarty pants stem student and she is using her graphic design skills to make a book cover using a painting called Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction Jerusalem. The impressive work of art looks good on its own. Topically its about about the destruction that can come from warfare and the need to follow the Lord's word to avoid those disasters, and both ideas summarize the essence of my book very well. 

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New Jobs, New Writing

 

    Hello everyone. Frequent readers probably noticed my posting pattern. I try to do at least one post towards the beginning of every month. Things were different last month for a few reasons. I started several new jobs. I had two free lance positions. One of them was very much an, ug I need this to pay the rent job. The other is with the Epoch Times. The latter sounds like a great free-lance position from a financial standpoint but from a career standpoint as well. Despite the mainstream media trying to claim they are not credible; they are one of the most popular news sites in the world. Please make sure to check it out. (It may be behind a pay wall, but I’m doing my part to make sure it’s worth the price of admission.) 

    The final piece allowed me to quit that first free lance job. I’m working for a tech start up called Banq. I know they spelled bank wrong, but it is a nice and steady historian position. I’m developing new hire training and that means I’m studying all sorts of things like block chain, non-fungible tokens, and today I studied initial coin offerings. It seemed very intimidating but as I study it is new terms, but old concepts. For example, when you were a child at Chuck E Cheese you understood tokens. Non-fungible simply means that instead of interchangeable currency it is unique and not interchangeable. Blockchain sounds mysterious, or like some bling a rapper would wear, but it is the code that makes a digital ledger and tracks changes. Each block is unique, has a digital fingerprint, and every change in the ledger creates a new block in the chain. If you try to change a past block it changes future blocks and thus is easily detectable and makes the block chain an immutable record.

    This has all sorts of applications ranging from concert tickets that can be digital tickets. Digital tickets are nothing new, but it can also be a unique piece of art or (non-fungible) token that includes album art, song playlist, a code that gives you unique access to physical items like merch or concerts, and its code can give artists royalties every time it is sold, or access to an online vault of bonus material. There are secure private keys matched with public keys (the security features to verify your access to currency or NFT in the blockchain) that prevents this from becoming another Napster. The immutable part of block chains will be appealing to real estate deeds among other items. You can even include code that lets investors sell, buy, and trade, their portion of ownership in the deed far more quickly than today’s technology.  I’m dropping tons of terms, but they are simply digital uses of technology we are familiar with like ledgers, tokens, banking records, and online purchases. There is a great deal to discuss, and my job is to organize it into easy training for new employees. It is supposedly the wave of the future, so you heard it here folks. 

    I’ve also done some writing on the Book of Mormon. I received an advanced copy of, Proclaim Peace, from the Maxwell Institute. I thought their timing was good since my research on just warfare in the Book of Mormon makes this book right up my alley. My review ended up being about 6,000 words. There are four sections that outline methodological problems I found. The first was the narrative spin they had to put on scriptures to make it fit a peace narrative. They ignore stronger readings plainly described in the text for far more speculative reading that fits their narrative and politics. I already noticed this problem in discussing Mason’s previous work. The second problem was sadly common to pacifists in that they that obliterate the tension in Christian ethics between pacifism and just war. The scriptures must be carefully reconciled, but pacifists militantly focus on Christ’s mortal ministry, and ignore the rest. Third problem was that they did not address any just war arguments. They had a perfunctory summary, dismissed it as neither broad nor comprehensive, denigrated military service as a resigned acknowledgement of telestial duties and generally ignored a rich body of robust just war literature. Collectively these writers influenced Western ideas regarding humanitarian intervention, human rights, international law, natural rights that influenced the American constitution, peace keeping and international bodies. Needless to say, I was incredibly disappointed with their dismissal of such a rich body of work. The final part consists of some personal notes. I can’t wait for the reaction to my piece because the people who talk about the power of assertive love don’t even seem to like their opponents in relatively low stakes academic discussions. But I’m supposed to believe that their love will transcend ethnic strife, political tension, and centuries of conflict.  

    I think it is a good rebuttal that is representative of the importance of understanding just warfare in general, and how it interacts with the Book of Mormon. I hope to bring you the review and the book on just war in the Book of Mormon soon.

I work as a freelance writer. I you found value in this work please consider donating using the paypal button at the bottom of the screen, or by purchasing one of my books on Amazon. 

Research Round Up

I write so much in so many areas I find it nice to bring it all together on occasion.  This will also go beyond the curtains to reveal some of the strategies that govern my writing and priorities. For example,  the research round up lets me write about writing, which helps me organize key thoughts (which could also be used as a pitch in the future) and meet a deadline in a way that’s easier than coming up with original material. Without further ado, lets dive into it.

Free-lance:

I have several free lance writing gigs. My most frequent one is from Opslens Magazine, though I also write for Strategy and Tactics, and have occasional posts at the Salt Lake Tribune, Lifezette, Real Clear Defense, Fox News (don’t hold that against me), and many others. Again, you have to have a strategy in getting published, so I make sure to use my historical knowledge and specializing in China to offer timely and pertinent articles, though I also write on conservative matters.

Anniversaries are a great way to get otherwise ignored articles published. For example, Friday was the anniversary of the start of the Soviet German War. I write about the myths that resulted from the war.  My June 7^th article shows my strategy really well. Most Americans tend to remember June 6^th because of D-Day. But June 7^th is a huge day in Chinese history and their fight against the Japanese.
I spent time in grad school towards a PhD in Chinese military history so I make sure to use those skills. I talked about piracy in the South China Sea. And I can’t believe they let me keep that joke in the title about counterrrrr measures. I build upon my previous analysis of NATO exercises to discuss a base in Poland.

I’m also a conservative. My strategy is often to find a unique angel to a situation. For example, people have been losing their mind over the migrant crisis on the border. I summarize some of the conservative positions, but more importantly, I look at a hidden conservative argument that Trump critics are making. This is a good time to mention that I’m not Marco Rubio at a CNN gun debate, so I will delete comments on this thread that include moral preening and denunciations.

Books:

The long term strategy is to focus on books. Royalties are a passive income stream that pays me for work done years ago. I wrote my first book, Ancient Warfare in the Book of Mormon, in a fit of confidence back in 2011, and finally got it published a few years later. It would never be on the New York Times Best Selling list, but it’s gratifying to get a check for work I did almost ten years ago.

I published a follow up on the Book of Mormon, From Sinners to Saints, this year. I haven’t talked much about it because I’m waiting for a review from another perma blogger here at Wheat and Tares, plus the other reviews at various sources in Mormon intellectual circles. The basic premise is a revisionist history of the text that reassesses heroes and villains. Many Latter Day Saints treat the book as historical, but then they read the text as though its bad propaganda instead of history so I reassess the behavior of both heroes and villains of the text.

I also didn’t advertise that book heavily because one of my first posts as a perma blogger was about Decisive Battles in Chinese History. I felt it was a bit of overkill to just talk about my books all the time.

I’ve got another one in the works tentatively titled from the Cree to Korea: World History of Battle at 400. This one started because I noticed many battles around the same time period. The Roman defeat at Adrianople in 378 (though after researching I switched to the Battle of Frigidus River), a key battle near Tikal in 378 that became a post here, the battle of Fei River in my Chinese battles book in 384, and researching I found key monuments about a Japanese invasion of Korea in 400. I’ve got a draft of that written, I’m waiting to hear back from publishers, as having that contract signed becomes great motivation to finally do those edits I’ve been planning. But I have a few polished sample chapters that I can send to publishers and edits of drafts are far easier than writing so I'm good.

My free-lance gig above is starting their own press soon. So I thought I should have something in the chamber and ready to go.  I didn’t plan on doing this, but I wrote a primer on Chinese strategy that I both started and finished in a single day. I was greatly aided by about 4 years worth of free lance writing on contemporary Chinese military history informed by my historical study. I have numerous posts on specific Chinese hardware such as the J20, its specific limitations and drawbacks, limitations of Chinese and American training, possible clues from history, analysis of Chinese strategy, and geographical considerations. After reading this book I expect readers to have a basis of knowledge to assess news coming from China and not give into fear mongering.

Fiction

Anybody who has seen my Lego collection knows I have an active imagination. I’ve branched out into writing fiction though these are projects that are far away. I’ve always thought I should focus on having a career as a military analyst before I jump into fiction, but this stuff tends to come a bit easier so I’ve been branching out. I always thought some dramatization of the war chapters was fantasy on a number of levels until this post at W&T came out well. I have a killer dream journal that offers a number of great ideas. Some are just notes but some I’ve fleshed out into incredible short stories that rival any space opera and some are rather sweet and funny. Cedar Fort books just sent me an email offering some kind of self publishing package, so I will check that out when the time comes.

I also wrote a piece for a Mormon steam punk anthology.  I don’t know a ton about steam punk, but I do know about being a scared missionary feeling overwhelmed on the first day. So my missionary from a Dickens like Salt Lake goes on a mission to find Nephite artifacts. He bails out of his exploding airship, marches through the jungle in his suit, dodges hostile anti Mormons with their dart guns, uses a laser gun that doesn’t work, finds an ancient glittering city, and has to write home and convince his mother that he’s okay through his letter and convince himself that he can complete his mission. I called it, “Dearest Mother: My Mission is going well as I survived the fall from my airship.”  I rather enjoyed it, but it didn’t make the cut for the anthology. It will likely be one of the short stories I make from my dream journal, or possibly the first chapter in a steam punk mission.

So that is what I’ve recently completed or I’m working on. As you can see there is a good deal of synergy between my writing gigs as I use knowledge from one area to enhance by ability to write for another and offer unique angles.  What are you working on? What intrigues you the most from the above list?  Is there anything you want to see?