by M. W. Wollacott | Jun 23, 2024 | Books, Mithelm Novels
Once upon a time, the Shire-Reeve of Molewud Randburyg was summoned to a small village of no import to untangle a mystery. Her job was to understand how a wandering warrior named Horglyth had come to die in the village’s folk meadow. Each person she talks to...
by M. W. Wollacott | Jun 23, 2024 | Books, Japan Novels
Single Frames: A Japanese Short Story Collection Follow a man who comes to loath the sound of drums, follow two old friends with different regrets as they hike into the mountains, follow the tragic tale of a Tokyo mom, follow two lovers as they meet under the cherry...
by M. W. Wollacott | Jun 23, 2024 | Books, Standalones
Kara Cove-Brown is 11 and she makes her own Christmas presents. One year, she asks her great-grandmother, Nanna Pearl, what she wants Kara to make her. In a brief moment of clarity, Nanna Pearl asks for a White Christmas. The only problem is that no snow is predicted...
by M. W. Wollacott | Jun 23, 2024 | Books, Haiku, Poetry
108 Breaths: A foreigner’s experience of Japan through haiku “A haiku is but one breath. It is the Kodak moment of modern poetry and it proves all Picasso needed to write a picture was 17 syllables.” In 2004, Mark Wollacott moved to Japan and discovered this...
by M. W. Wollacott | Jun 21, 2024 | Being, Philosophy, Ponderings
TL:DR: We do not need social media in order to live our lives happily. Social media is more of a want than a need, and in that regard it can lead to distractions, loneliness, stress, and depression. For more rewarding social interactions, try going offline for 30 days...
by M. W. Wollacott | Jun 21, 2024 | Philosophy, Ponderings
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” American Declaration of Independence If there is one aspiration to unite all of humans, then surely it is the pursuit of happiness. It’s even in the American Declaration of Independence. Should it be? Should we all aspire...
by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Conservatism, Philosophy
In some way we are all conservative. To be conservative there is something in our lives that we appreciate and wish to preserve, protect, and keep unchanged. Being conservative is a philosophy of love – of the individual that loves that which works and wishes to...
by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Economics, Philosophy
Adam Smith is erroneously associated with the invention of Capitalism. As is the corpulent theorist, Karl Marx. However, neither of them invented the term nor popularized it. That being said, Marx is the originator of the idea of capitalism. This article will look at...
by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Beasts and Monsters, Fantasy, Tolkien
My childhood was filled with fantastical tales. I did not grow up on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work because by the 1980s, most of the shelves were filled with the derivatives and the knock offs. I grew up on Dragonlance and Raymond E. Feist. Yet, the primary races – the...
by M. W. Wollacott | Nov 19, 2023 | Beasts and Monsters, Fantasy, Tolkien
While arachnophobes might not agree, the Black Riders are one of the scariest things in The Lord of the Rings; particularly as they track Frodo and the Ring through the shire. There are some questions about the Black Riders, otherwise known as the Nazgûl or...
