20201231 - "The War of the Worlds"

HaikuPrajna

Advanced invasion,/ the helpless masses. Ended/ with a pathogen.

("The War of the Worlds")

Happy New Year's Eve! What a year 2020 has been; all anyone can do is hope for a better 2021. 

I did Top Nine for Instagram in celebration, and I took a screenshot of my 2020 Goodreads grid. Through everything that has happened this year, books and family have been my grounding. 

We're on the final seven of #MyYearInBooks; going to be honest, don't feel quite right posting haiku today and tomorrow, and maybe even for the rest of these Goodreads books, but I cannot dissuade myself one way or the other, so I'm just going to keep on trucking through and chalk it up to 2020-fatigue. 

Today is on "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells. I always enjoyed the idea of Mars being a grim prediction of the Earth's future, and Wells' story captures this greatly. The Martians had evolved to require their machines due to their increased intelligence, but decreased physicality. The greatest part of the story, something which was retained by the Tom Cruise Hollywood adaptation, was the Martian's susceptibility to pathogens.

Imagine if they had decided to invade during covid-19!

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201230 WIP Update - "Out of the Silent Planet"

 

HaikuPrajna

The other planets/ orbit the stars, while the Earth/ listens for its self. ("Out of the Silent Planet")

Hello goodreaders,

Been updating the page for "SM-SARA" a bit. Touched up the blurb, added a preview of the cover; we are very close to an announcement!

For today's #Goodreads #MyYearInBooks, we have "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis. I have yet to read the rest of the trilogy, but this book deals with Lewis's ideas of Christian cosmology. Living planets, ethereal beings and divergent-humans populate the stars, where Earth has been cast out from the interplanetary order by their creators. A very fun read, especially if you are a fan of Lewis's later fantasy works.

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201229 WIP Update - "Simulacra and Simulation"

HaikuPrajna

The unreal is as/ real as our reality./ Trans-duality. ("Simulacra and Simulation")

Hello good readers!

We have uploaded a mock-up of the cover for "SM-SARA, Poems and Other Stories", our patrons have an express preview here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/45561408

In addition to our WIP updates, we have been reviewing #MyYearInBooks with Goodreads; today's book is "Simulacra and Simulation" by Jean Baudrillard. Baudrillard conveys his idea of a transcended duality with complexity, yet with conciseness. The issues he presents through his philosophy, however, are a natural result of our being in such a cosmos and, despite the connotations given by the English language, are not so much a "bad thing" than it is something we can and should attempt (in good faith) to define. 

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

 

20201228 WIP Update - "1984"

HaikuPrajna

Malleable past,/ control the present, future./ The Big Brotherhood. ("1984")

Happy holidays! 

Working the second draft of "Spear-thrower", so far I have been focused on the wisps.

Today's Goodreads #MyYearInBooks poem is on "1984" by George Orwell. Another annual reread; this time, I had wondered about the methods that the Party and the Brotherhood had employed to recruit members, and if one side was a recruitment process made by their rival. Whether it was Big Brother or Emmanuel who had absorbed the conflict to transform the other into a cog in their machine, or if the Party and the Brotherhood were the results of a global war-machine, I may need another reread to figure out. 

Perhaps, in that world's past, someone at Minitrue had fixed the names from an erroneous "Party of Emmanuel Goldstein" and "Brotherhood of Big Brother" to their now-correct associations? Just a (book) theory.

Screenshot: Spear-thrower Draft Two

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

 

20201227 - "VALIS"

HaikuPrajna

Personal savior,/ unfinished exegesis,/ touch the wound to heal. ("VALIS")

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holidays. We made and ate lots of dinner, and have lots of leftovers for soups and sandwiches for the rest of the year!

Made a bit of progress on "Spear-thrower" this week, as well as my next novel idea. Working on defining the wisps. I think I have them figured out. 

HaikuPrajna has been combing through #MyYearInBooks on #Goodreads, and today's book is "VALIS" by Philip K. Dick. The story is a fiction written to be a pseudo-documentary on Phil's religious experience in 1974, which the man had suffered through with sheer logic and determination. Horselover Fat's quest to find the Second Coming pieces together many religious beliefs and stories in order to synthesize a Hermetic tale of a single, continuously re-birthing savior. The epiphany is, unfortunately, lost on Fat and Phil, but the reader will learn how the savior is within us all.

Some of my favorite science fiction concepts, such as the Black Iron Prison, had originated with Phil, "VALIS" and "Radio Free Albemuth". Easily one of my biggest inspirations, and possibly my favorite author. 

Screenshot: Spear-thrower Draft Two

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

 

20201225 - "A Christmas Carol"

 

HaikuPrajna

May the spirits spread/ joy, and we remember the / Christmas miracles.

#HAIKUPRAJNA - A Christmas Carol

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Every year around this season, I read "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens. His ghost of an Idea has spread its grace, joy and merriment to our hearts every December.

Stay safe, thank you for reading,

Allen and April

20201223 - "Existentialism is a Humanism"

HaikuPrajna

Abandonment of/ deterministic excuse,/ responsible angst. ("Existentialism is a Humanism")

Have begun the second draft of "Spear-thrower"! As seen in the attached screenshot excerpt, the main focus of the changes in this draft is descriptions; few rewrites, and the next draft will focus on grammar and syntax.

HaikuPrajna is reviewing #MyYearInBooks on #Goodreads, with "Existentialism is a Humanism" by Jean-Paul Sartre. Readers get to experience Sartre confronting the criticism of his philosophy of thought, over how our being comes before our defining, on the angst we feel when confronting the responsibility of such a doctrine and the abandonment of deterministic excuses, which is a result of being a free existence. Jean-Paul Sartre was my first foray into the world of philosophy, long before I had read this work, and continues to influence my writing.

Screenshot: Spear-thrower draft

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read my projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201222 - "The Island of Doctor Moreau"

HaikuPrajna

Pushing the limits/ of creative sciences,/ divine creation.

With "SM-SARA" being once again out of our hands, we can move back to "Spear-thrower". Between covid crafts for the festivities I will be putting time into the second draft of "Spear-thrower", and sharing excerpts here. For our Patrons, there will be "SM-SARA" previews to reveal before the New Year.

Going through a HaikuPrajna #MyYearInBooks with #Goodreads, and today's book is "The Island of Doctor Moreau" by H.G. Wells. My lasting impression was that of Moreau's divine intervention with his island, and of Pendrick's paranoid anxiety over being a human-experiment. 

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-myyearinbooks.html

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read my projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201221 - Drunk Crafts Night

HaikuPrajna

Always by my side, / she shares all she makes with me./ Eight wonderful years. (Drunk crafts night)

It's April's and my anniversary! Eight wonderful years together. 

Check back tomorrow for more bite-sized insights from #MyYearInBooks!

Allen W. McLean

20201220 - "Beowulf"

 

HaikuPrajna:

The giant-killing / dragon-slayer, an epic / on loss and reason. ("Beowulf")

Have updated the page for "SM-SARA, Poems and Other Stories". You can now read the book blurb along with past excerpts from the book here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

Today's Goodreads #MyYearInBooks is "Beowulf" by anonymous. The story is an epic poem following the giant-killing, dragon-slaying feats of the titular protagonist. What I had liked about "Beowulf" was how blurred the line was between Beowulf and the enemies he had slain; Heorot had killed Grendel's mother's child, and the Geats had stolen from the dragon. Grendel himself attacked Hrothgar's mead hall because he felt wronged by their joy. In every case, "Beowulf" matches both sides of its conflicts with reason, and that gives this epic its real-world feeling

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201219 - "Through the Looking-glass"

 

HaikuPrajna

T'was gyre mimsy, / the passion of Jubjub birds. / A frabjous chortle. ("Through the Looking-Glass")

Hello goodreaders,

Was noticed by Frank Jude Boccio! Apologizes for the delay on the SM-SARA page update, very soon I promise. 

Today's Goodreads' #MyYearInBooks is Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass". The story is nothing but fun to read. It's like an expansion of the first book. Carroll plays with logic and math through the different characters. Her backwards and otherwise experimental experience through the looking-glass world pits readers with the thought experiments Alice is going through. Very enjoyable. 

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201218 - "Batman: Three Jokers"

 

The clown prince of crime, / embodiments of Chaos, / vengeance of the knight. ("Batman: Three Jokers")

Hello good readers,

Today's my birthday! I'll be updating the "SM-SARA" pages today between cake and pie and homemade spinach cheese dip. 

Still going through #MyYearInBooks with Goodreads, today's book is a birthday special: "Batman: Three Jokers" written by Geoff Johns. This three-part comic book limited-series follows the Bat-family years after the events of "The Killing Joke" by Alan Moore and "A Death in the Family" by Jim Starlin. 

I have been on a Batman binge during the pandemic, having read Grant Morrison's (big fan!) Batman saga through "Final Crisis" into "Batman Incorporated", and Scott Snyder's (also a big fan!) New 52 run. This story follows the Jokers' attempts at making a new Joker, and continues some of the key ideas of "Joker" which Moore and Morrison had begun. The idea is that Batman, the symbolic embodiment of Justice, had created his own agent of Chaos by accidentally dropping the original Red Hood criminal-mastermind into a vat at Ace Chemicals (see "Zero Year" by Snyder). Sometime after, a failing comedian is conned into dressing up as the Red Hood, is also spooked by Batman and falls in the vat at Ace (see "The Killing Joke"). Both men went insane and they both became "The Joker." 

But where did the third come from? The story does not exactly say. A classic comic trope to set up a future story, I believe it was left unsaid on purpose. The criminal Joker was the one Batman first remembers fighting, while the comedian was the one he fought in "The Killing Joke" and through Snyder's run. I believe that the third Joker, the more golden-age one, was the first result of the criminal and comedian joining forces to try to methodize their accidents. Successful, the three then went off to make Harley Quinn and the Joker-gas whilst continuing to disrupt Batman and Gotham. 

After reading the yantra/sigil-filled "Batman Inc", this story was, for me, essentially "Joker Inc".

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201217 - "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

 

HaikuPrajna

Down a rabbit-hole / to the land of consumption. / Shrink, grow, and escape. ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland")

Hello good readers,

The script for the second HaikuPrajna Collection is officially out of my hands! Some would say this means that "SM-SARA, Poems and Other Stories" has gone gold (I think I made this joke before). A few more steps until we have a solid release date, aiming for January 2021. Hope to have an official announcement tomorrow, and pre-release material later this week, so please follow this blog to be informed!

Goodreads #MyYearInBooks! Today's book is Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". I have been familiar with this story my whole life, but this was my first time reading the book. The nonsense of plot elements masks a curious depth of excessive meaning. I believe the way the reader interprets the logic and word play is what is important with this story, rather than what Carroll or anyone else thought. Alice's interpretations and experiences are just as subjective as the reader's. That is what I like about "Wonderland", it is almost a stimulus test in the form of a whimsical-yet-cutthroat short story. 

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201216 - "Mindfulness Yoga"

 

HaikuPrajna

Warrior, salute / the sun! and be thankful for / the path's unity. ("Mindfulness Yoga")

Formatting is complete on "SM-SARA, Poems and Other Stories". Virtually everything is finished, so the next step is to upload everything to the aggregating site, then we can start the pre-release hype-train!

For today's Goodreads' #MyYearInBooks, I present "Mindfulness Yoga: Awakened Union of Breath, Body, and Mind" by Frank Jude Boccio. This book combines the physical practice of asana yoga with the spiritual side of Buddhism, and has transformed my meditation practices with the inclusion of a daily yoga routine. "Mindfulness Yoga" combs over the Buddha's teachings, then details any asana you could think of with helpful breakdowns on how to perform the poses and how they relate to the dharma. While I still enjoy cultivating sit-down meditation, this habit has been absorbed into a larger yoga practice. 

If you are a yoga-mom or a secular practitioner, this book paves the middle way for unifying these two systems of mindfulness, insight and serenity. Well worth the read even if you only have a small interest in either mindfulness or wellness.

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna Collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201215 - "The Martian Chronicles"

 

Hello good readers,
    The manuscript for "SM-SARA, Poems and Other Stories" is compiled! Today will be spent on the last rounds of formatting, then it will be time to start building up some hype. So, please please please subscribe to this blog or follow on social media to stay tuned and updated on these bite-sized insights!
    Today's Goodreads #MyYearInBooks HaikuPrajna is on Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles". The book contains a number of Bradbury's short-stories that were fixed together, and follows humanity's attempts at colonizing the red planet. From Martian ghosts to American colonization, the short-stories capture many science-fiction tropes with typical Bradbury philosophy. 

HaikuPrajna

The American / rockets exterminate the / Martians, at Earth's end. ("The Martian Chronicles")

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201214 - "Frankenstein" Book Review (Updated 220830)

He searches for His / Creation, the monster, who / only looks at God.

#HaikuPrajna - ("Frankenstein")

https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2020/12/20201214-frankenstein.html

The script for "SM-SARA, Poems and Other Stories" is being compiled. Once that's finished, it and the cover need to be formatted.

Going through Goodreads' annual #MyYearInBooks with HaikuPrajna; today's book is Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein". 

This story has been adapted so many times that the original story as a result has almost become lost in translation; from the uninitiated's confusion between Frankenstein and his monster, to the Hollywood quote, "It's alive!", this creation has strayed from its creator's original design, too. 

For me, the most interesting part of the story is the exploration of Milton and the Abrahamic fall of man. Did the fall only consist of our primordial sin, or are we continuously falling, horrifying and failing to please a resolute higher-power? With whom does the blame rest, humanity for their sinful ways or our Creators for abandoning and leaving us to sin? 

To me, it seems like the Creator is looking to correct their mistakes, but has found that the Creation now has agency of their own.

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Previews of the upcoming "SM-SARA" HaikuPrajna collection can be found here:  https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

... Updated 220830

Need more Bite-sized Insights to relieve your stress and suffering?

Also available to read on;

Medium (affiliate): https://haikuprajna.medium.com/20201214-frankenstein-book-review-updated-220830-d5affec58bf2

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71271389?pr=true

Substack: https://haikuprajna.substack.com/p/20201214-frankenstein-book-review?sd=pf

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20201214-frankenstein-book-review-updated-220830-allen-w-mclean/

These poems will be collected in future editions of the HaikuPrajna Collection. Stay tuned to HaikuPrajna and Electric Armchair, via our emailing list and social media, for mindful meditation haiku / scifaiku poetry based on book reviews and on previews of metaphysical stories, such as the superhero inspired sci-fi "Escape Perennial City" (available on Kindle Unlimited): https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/follow-on-social-media.html 

Add me as a friend on Goodreads to share what we read with each other: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19557396.Allen_W_McLean

You can collect an ebook every week on Free Fridays! All one needs is an Amazon account! Kindle ebooks can be read on any device through one's web browser at https://read.amazon.com - Selection rotates every few weeks; collect them all! https://www.amazon.com/Allen-W-McLean/e/B0867C5D24

If anyone reading this needs followers to stay in the Medium Partner Program, I am asking you to please follow me (and sign up for emails!) and I'll follow you back! Thanks to you guys, I have passed 100 followers! “Hector Blake” is free to read online alongside book reviews and articles: https://haikuprajna.medium.com/subscribe

April's latest psychedelic music, videos, art and poetry available on all streaming platforms.

Electric Armchair - Where Giants Grow : https://open.spotify.com/track/3EsjL7Fsu8YYBnzxFgYPwB

"Fishing for Caribou" eBook, paperback and hardcover are available through Amazon Kindle apps and devices, and with Kindle Unlimited; previews and more: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/spear-thrower.html

Together in Forever Part III is available to read as a digital ebook on Amazon Kindle! https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/07/20220726-loves-eclipse-together-in.html

Read on any device at https://read.amazon.com or on your Kindle device/app!

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Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

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Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201213 - "Siddhartha"

“SM-SARA” has over forty poems collected for it, so far. Attached will be a screenshot of the script. In addition to compiling “SM-SARA” and editing “Spear-thrower”, I have been working on a separate novel idea that I am excited to share, as well, in the near future. 

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For today’s Goodreads’ #MyYearInBooks HaikuPrajna, we are reviewing one of my favorite books: Hermann Hesse’s “Siddhartha”. This is a beautiful story about a man’s search for spiritual liberation, for Nibbana. I believe that the titular protagonist’s journey is one that many modern-day readers can empathize with. Siddhartha abandons his family in search of teachings which his religious father cannot fulfill and, by taking on the numerous life-styles and systems of the world around him, he also transcends the lessons of the Buddha, of the market, and of love and parenthood; he transcends all of the suffering that we all have to take on, in order to achieve an inner-peace that is non-dependent on anything outside of himself. A fantastic book, and an easy read. 

HaikuPrajna

Transcendence of all / the suffering we take on / to grow through our lives. (“Siddhartha”)

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

"Spear-thrower" and stories from the upcoming "SM-SARA" Collection can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

Will make a separate page for Spear-thrower soon!

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201212 - "Lord of the Flies"

 

Hello, good readers!

Hope the following news does not cause too much grief; after much contemplation, the 2020 NaNoWriMo Challenge story “Spear-thrower” will NOT be released with the upcoming second HaikuPrajna Collection, “SM-SARA”. “Spear-thrower” deserves a bit more love than it is currently being given, while the rest of the “SM-SARA” collection is ready to be launched. 

Therefore, “Spear-thrower” will be the headlining story of the third HaikuPrajna Collection!

This means the “SM-SARA” Collection will be released very soon! Once I have the manuscript and cover ready to be submitted, you will receive a pre-release announcement post with all the info surrounding the book. Releasing products like this is always very exciting for April and I.

Now, while the HaikuPrajna-Collection-train is moving steadily along its tracks, we are celebrating the #MyYearInBooks with Goodreads.com for the rest of the month. Today’s haiku is based on William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”. This is a book I first read in school, as I am sure most people were forced into doing. April has a copy from English class and I believe I still have my aunt’s from her high-school. 

The story speaks of “the end of innocence”. I always thought that the “darkness of man’s heart” was something that nature (as symbolized through boys like Ralph) had to fight against. Now, I like to think that “Lord of the Flies” was showing how the opposite is true, that the darkness of man is what is fighting against the innocence of nature, that the innocence is innate in all things and that one creates darkness, not the other way around. This is shown symbolically at the very end, where Jack’s tribe literally burns away all of their resources to get Ralph, like they had Piggy--only to break down in tears with Ralph upon being saved by the adult.

HaikuPrajna

Darkness burns away / the island. Innocence lost, / found when the flames die. (“Lord of the Flies”)

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

"Spear-thrower" and stories from the upcoming "SM-SARA" Collection can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

Will make a separate page for Spear-thrower soon!

While I pitch my first novel, "Perennial City", the full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here:

https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

20201211 - "The Time Machine"

 

Hello good readers!

I have been working on the next HaikuPrajna Collection, with the final draft of "Spear-thrower". I have a list of changes, will be editing the story, and will update with progress, but April had brought Goodreads' annual hashtag to my attention so we are going to go through a HaikuPrajna Goodreads 2020 Year In Review!

The first book is HG Wells' "The Time Machine". Being a favorite of hers, April had introduced me to the movie. As it usually goes, I read and had enjoyed the book more. "The Time Machine" is the time-travel story and has sedimented many of the tropes we still see today. My favorite scene has to be from the crabs at the end of the world, to the Traveler's return to their dinner party. 

HaikuPrajna

Escaped through time, from / the machine-workers, to see / the end of the world. ("The Time Traveler")

"Spear-thrower" and other stories from the upcoming "SM-SARA" Collection can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

My Goodreads' 2020 #MyYearInBooks can be seen here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/83965332

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

My first novel's, "Perennial City", full first chapter along with rough-chapter previews can be found here:

https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

20201210 WIP Update - "Planned Trajectories"

Editing on “Spear-thrower” is underway! Feeling pretty confident with the story, after giving the manuscript another read, so please read the rough draft. It would mean the world to me. Got a list of changes and additions, most center around improving character and environment descriptions, so do not be afraid to send in your comments or critiques. 

The original goal was to submit this HaikuPrajna Collection by tomorrow, but we will have to wait and see. Maybe a January 2021 release. Also would have liked to have had “Perennial City” published by now, but I had decided to pitch the script to local agencies. April and I have planned something for the 2020 Goodreads #MyYearInBooks, so please stay tuned for all this good stuff.

HaikuPrajna

The story of a / spear thrown; the life, times and death / of information. (Planned Trajectories)

"Spear-thrower" and other stories from the upcoming "SM-SARA" Collection can be found here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

My first novel's, "Perennial City", full first chapter alongwith rough-chapter previews can be found here:

https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

20201209 WIP Update - "Compiling"

Yesterday, “Hector Blake” was posted! It needs one last proofread before it is ready for the next book in the HaikuPrajna Collection. 

You can check the progress on “SM-SARA, and Other Stories” here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

Shifting gears to proofread and edit “Spear-thrower”. While all this is happening, I have been working on a fresh novel idea. Had to compile notes from two journals, so today’s haiku is on that. 

HaikuPrajna

Dissociation / from the Big-Ideas that be. / See the objective. (The Edwin Tripp Institution for Psychics)

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

My first novel's, "Perennial City", full first chapter alongwith rough-chapter previews can be found here:

https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html

20201208 - "Hector Blake" Final Draft

    Below, I have linked to the final draft of the action/science fiction short story, “Hector Blake”, of which the past posts have been updating.

    The plot revolves around the concepts of sloth and applied-thought. Hector slays monsters in a dark room that he has no memory of being brought to, where he realizes he is fighting the room rather than the enemies which respawn as a new form. Hector symbolizes applied-thought, at the start, but becomes mired by sloth until the room strikes him down. 

    This is a story that has been waiting to be edited and released for over a year now, so I hope you enjoy “Hector Blake”!

"Hector Blake": https://www.patreon.com/posts/44815532 (Subs Only!)

HaikuPrajna

Memories of fog, / applied to lethargic thoughts. / The clouds have struck back. (Vi-Takka)

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

Please follow this blog via email by clicking the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page (or like us on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) to see more of these bite-sized insights, AND so that you can read these projects as they are being produced!

Linktr.ee/HaikuPrajna

Linktr.ee/ElectricArmchair

Books, art, music, poetry, prompts and a whole lot more from me and April (@electricarmchair)!

“Hector Blake” is part of the upcoming HaikuPrajna Collection, "SM-SARA, and Other Stories". More details, including all of my "Spear-thrower" NaNoWriMo 2020 updates, can be read through this link:

https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/sm-sara.html

"Perennial City's" full first chapter, along with rough-chapter previews, can be found here:

https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/perennial-city.html