http://briantrent.com Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:15:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A muggy week in CT, but an exciting one… and not just because of the new Bond movie trailer. I received a phone call Monday from an acquisitions fellow at the McGraw-Hill publishing company. They are one of the bigger publishers of textbooks in the world. Back in 2004, The ... http://briantrent.com/hitchcock-and-july-3rd/ This past Saturday I was one of four writers who sat on a Science-Fiction panel at The Yale Bookstore, to discuss how the genre sees the future. More to the point, the event was called "Literary Futures," and one of the main themes was addressing the concerns of Ray Bradbury's ... http://briantrent.com/tomorrows-storms-and-strawberries/ I like to think of a writer’s struggle in military terms… the quest of a lone warrior against a mighty empire. Robert E. Howard would have enjoyed the metaphor. This summer I decided to step up the attack: I have pitted my work against a medley of contests, magazines, publishers, and ... http://briantrent.com/the-writers-fight/ MY name is Brian Trent and welcome to my blog. If you’re really interested you can check out the ABOUT THE AUTHOR page, but suffice to say that I’m a writer for life. I write books and films and poetry and columns; short stories and investigative pieces; historical works, science-fiction ... http://briantrent.com/brians-blog/ The screenplay for "Remembering Hypatia," co-authored with writer/director Marty Lang, has just won Honorable Mention in the 76th Annual Writer's Digest Competition. The screenplay faithfully translates the novel into a form fit for the silver screen. But which actress should play Hypatia? During my book tour, I was assailed by fans ... http://briantrent.com/remembering-hypatia-screenplay-wins-honorable-mention-from-writers-digest/ The following is a true story in two episodes, occurring some two weeks apart, with no formal relation to each other aside from the stunning light it shines on partisan "thinking"... Read Column http://briantrent.com/a-nation-of-political-cults/ Fundamentalists seek the transformation of America into Iran. They have openly stated their thirst for total dominion, that laws should be based on the Bible, which is the most grotesque document of "morality" ever championed in western history... Read Column http://briantrent.com/christians-hindus-and-the-american-challenge/ Make no mistake that those in power are keenly aware of how easy you are to manipulate. They flash the lightning and you cower. They feed you a steady diet of feel-good platitudes because they know the real meal - reading the Constitution - is something you won't bother to ... http://briantrent.com/you-are-destroying-america-yes-you/ A Temple to Zeus is perfectly American. It's not only allowable, but would showcase that powerful liberty which Americans acknowledge: Religious freedom. Within every U.S. city, a citizen is entitled by First Amendment rights to select whatever house of worship he or she pleases... Read Column http://briantrent.com/religious-freedom-versus-fundamentalism/ I still remember the strange little sentence drilled into my head by elementary schoolteachers: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles. That was the third-grade way of remembering the planets... Read Column http://briantrent.com/new-alien-worlds-and-the-naming-of-names/