Friday, August 19, 2011

A new blog launched: THE VIGILANTE AUTHOR

I'd like to invite you to my new blog, focused entirely on fiction -- especially my own -- and self-publishing: THE VIGILANTE AUTHOR.

For quite some time, I've been uncomfortable with this multiple-purpose blog. It has tried to address two largely distinct audiences: people interested in my discussions of politics, culture, and philosophy, and people interested in fiction and self-publishing. Many readers eager to read about the former won't want to be harangued about the latter -- and vice-versa.

For that reason, I've decided to launch THE VIGILANTE AUTHOR as a site dedicated to the fiction/self-publishing topic areas, while this blog will sharpen its focus entirely to comments and observations about socio-political topics.

I'll eliminate a number of links on the right margin of this site that pertain to fiction/self-publishing matters. If that's what interests you most, head on over to THE VIGILANTE AUTHOR.

If hard-hitting commentary about the passing scene is what interests you most, though, stay put, kick off your shoes, and feel free to chime in here.

4 comments:

RJ Miller said...

Found out about you and your book via the Mises Institute today.

I will be honest and up front:

I have never read any Ayn Rand novel nor do I quite consider myself an adherent to Objectivist philosophy.

But after skimming through your blog for twenty minutes or so I see a ton of parallels between what you and I are trying to accomplish both as authors and as intellectuals.

When I get the chance, Hunter is going in my Amazon cart. I am very eager to read something with some Libertarian inspiration that has both depth, and accessibility.

If I find myself in agreement with some of the reviews on Amazon, then I think you have yourself a new fan.

-RJ

Robert Bidinotto said...

R.J., thanks so much! I saw the comment that you left on the Mises site concerning that article, and it was literate and persuasive.

I don't comment on book reviews. However, by his own admission, the author of that piece wasn't doing a book review (he admitted that my book had him riveted to "the edge of my seat" for two days); he was using the occasion of the appearance of my novel to attack me for my (alleged) psychology -- and then use MY personal "sense of life" as an avatar for that of the entire "Objectivist subculture." As if a novel written by one individual is representative of anything except that individual.

You remind me of a talk I gave a few years back, "Is There an 'Objectivist Sense of Life'?" I concluded that, no, there isn't. A philosophy and a psychology are two separate things. A person has direct control over their philosophical premises; they have far less control over their subconscious. So, even if it were true that Bidinotto has a lousy sense of life, that would say exactly nothing about the psychologies of other Objectivists, let alone say anything about the "Objectivist subculture."

And, to make matters worse for that writer's case, I am no longer a part of any Objectivist organization; so I'm not part of the "subculture" he claims that I represent.

In writing my novel, HUNTER, I never realized what great burden of responsibility I was assuming, as a representative of Ayn Rand, her philosophy, and "the Objectivist subculture." Gee, maybe I shouldn't write anything unless I clear it all first with everyone else whom I am supposedly representing!

Enjoy the novel, R.J.

Anonymous said...

Robert keep up the good work.

FB

Robert Bidinotto said...

"FB" (and I can think of two friends with those initials) -- thank you very much!