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About J Washburn
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Blog postWhen I was a kid, I adored Star Wars.
I knew all the characters' names, including Ponda Baba. What kind of a geek knows that? Me. By age 7. I even had his action figure. He's the punk who loses his arm in the cantina.
I was in deep.
And for good reason. Star Wars transformed a generations. It deserves its legendary status. Its archetypes come from a story that belongs to all of us. I love the heart of it--the mythical aspects, the heroism, and the epi -
Blog postIn 2016 I wrote a bunch of book reviews for dozens of books.
Writing them was fun, and a few of you readers seemed to really like them. But they took a lot of time to create, which is something I don’t have a lot of. This year I’ve decided to transform my book report strategy. Instead of reviewing every book I read this year, I’ll only give you brief pitches for the top 10%.
But if you want to know about every book I read, follow me on Twitter: @jtraviswashburn.
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Blog postI’m currently working on a space fantasy called STARCHILD. It will be a trilogy of novellas.
So why did I start a new series rather than finish an existing one?
It’s a business decision: The goal is to earn enough money to switch to being a full-time author. Which will mean I can publish books for you faster.
The first consideration is the limitations of a sequel. A sequel can only sell a percentage of what its predecessor sold. So if I write LOCKE: AZ -
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Blog postBetter-than-the-movie: THE REVENANT by Michael Punke
(But I also enjoyed the movie.)
Best mythology: THE RING by Richard Wagner
(Love how it inspired Tolkien!)
Best manly read: SHOGUN by James Clavell
("I yield to karma in all its beauty!")
Best nonfiction adventure: LOST CITY OF Z by David Grann
(Basically an Indiana Jones adventure in real life.)
Most challenging to my beliefs: ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
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Blog postI watched a documentary about Edward Snowden called CITIZENFOUR. It includes tons of raw footage of Snowden in his hotel room after his escape from the U.S. but before he made his intentions known. The pacing is actually a little slow, and yet it’s pretty exciting to see a real-life fugitive in that vulnerable moment—just before the point of no return.
As I watched that movie, I caught a glimpse of a novel on Snowden’s nightstand called HOMELAND. I Googled it and found out that it’s -
Blog postA close friend recommended Their Eyes Were Watching God. It’s one of his favorites.
This is a character drama. It’s not about lost cities, black holes, or spaceships (which is mostly what I’ve been reading lately). It’s about people. Specifically black people in Florida a century ago. A woman named Janie is the protagonist. I appreciate characterization in a novel more than concept, plot, or setting. So I liked this one.
I love that the author shows you characters so vi -
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Blog postMan, this book was over my head.
And yet, it drove me to Wikipedia. So let me share a few of the things I learned.
Einstein developed his theory of Special Relativity first. It’s mostly about space and time. And it says that any two events which are separated by a spacetime interval (a 4D distance) will have variance based on the viewer’s inertial point of view.
What! Yeah, it’s dense. Here’s a down-to-earth example.
Say you have two perfectly -
Blog postI went skydiving a few weeks ago.
I’m an author, so naturally I wrote about it.
The narrative is visceral, like you’re experiencing it all along with me. In fact, one of my readers thought it was so vivid, he said, “I feel like I’ve actually been skydiving now.”
If you want, you can now buy it on Amazon for $2.99.
Thanks for being a reader!
-- J
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and sign up for my newsletter: -
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Blog postDark matter is a type of matter.
It’s not dark in color. And it’s not evil.
It’s actually more like transparent matter, meaning it doesn’t interact with light or anything else on the electromagnetic spectrum. At least not in a way that is strong enough for us to detect. At least not yet. So dark matter kind of goes on its merry way, ignoring us. In fact, odds are that you’ve had a few particles of this transparent matter pass right through you sometime in the last hour. -
Blog postThis was a fun, quick read.
The beginning is told from the perspective of Princess Leia—the opening scene on the rebel ship and the droids taking a secret message in search of Ben Kenobi. Then the viewpoint switches to Han Solo, and you see his surprise when a strange old man chops off somebody’s arm in a bar. This perspective continues through the whole Death Star tractor-beam and rescue of the princess part, Act II, so you get to see lots of Han’s attitude and get a better underst -
Blog postTim Ferriss recommended Cryptonomicon.
I was expecting a thriller. Something like Dan Brown with more tech.
Turns out it was quite different.
Mainly it surprised me by its tone. I expected a business-like narrative, gray suits and red ties. Instead, it’s hilarious, filled with wryness (“dry, mocking humor”), much of which is from the narrator, but a lot is from the characters as well. It actually reminded me of Mark Twain, sort of an “I’m cleverer than all -
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Blog postSeven different people recommended The Name of the Wind to me.
That never happens.
Which inevitably led me to high expectations.
I haven’t read a ton of fantasy. I love Lord of the Rings. I’ve also read Game of Thrones and tons of Brandon Sanderson. Aside from that, I’m a little unfamiliar with the genre. Oh, I wrote one too.
Anyways. My reading history and all the raving reviews made me expect a sweeping epic about the battle between good and -
Blog postMy buddy Tom bought me this book for my birthday. The Crucible of Doubt gathers philosophy, poetry, and reason together into a treatise for those who doubt their faith in God. It is written by the Mormon couple Fiona and Terryl Givens. They cite classic literature throughout to support their perspective; in lieu of that, I’ll share with you four of those:“My hosanna has come through the great crucible of doubt.” —Fyodor Dostoevsky “When I am grateful, I tend toward a higher mental (and spir
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Blog postMatthieu Ricard, a Frenchman, earned a Ph.D. in molecular genetics—so his origins are based firmly in science and intellect. When he began searching for a missing piece, he found answers in Buddhism.
Happiness is a scientific look at obtaining the supreme emotion, which he defines as follows:“By happiness I mean here a deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind. This is not a mere pleasurable feeling, a fleeting emotion, or a mood, but an optimal state -
Blog postThis is a true story.
When I was a kid, our neighbor’s cat died.
My little brother and I found it freshly expired. (I promise we didn’t kill it.)
I was about 10 years old, which means my brother must’ve been 6. That made him the perfect sidekick. I told him to call me Tom, and I called him Huck. When Mitch was around, we called him Joe Thatcher, but Joe wasn’t around for this one.
We didn’t want to touch the dead cat, so we got a plastic bread- -
Blog postI made a goal to not eat any food for seven days.
I’m serious. No food for a whole week.
Why would anybody do that? Well, I answer that question in an essay I wrote about it.
People have been surprised when they read the essay. They say things like this:“I loved reading this! It was an intense page turner which doesn’t happen in non-fiction for me very often. It is also full of really useful health concepts in an easy-to-understand format that still has me -
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Blog postImagine there’s this ant. Tiny little ant.
No, an ant isn’t small enough. Imagine something smaller. An egyptian mite. Super tiny. Have you seen those things? They’re right at the edge of my visual range. Like pixels but in real life.
Imagine this teenie-tiny little mite weighs so much that his bulk makes him sink right into the earth. And then all the earth’s matter starts to collapse inward on top of him into the hole he’s creating.
And imagine this mite -
Blog postTL;DR: The Anatomy of Peace is about getting your mindset right toward yourself and other people. It's about a problem that we all have, a central problem, which is actually very hard to recognize and resolve. But I consider it the Holy Grail, the greatest quest we can chase as mortals.
I read The Anatomy of Peace every summer to celebrate my birthday. I've done this for the last 7 years or so. And I always invite my friends to join me. It's kind of a rare thing, but occasionally I ha -
Blog postTL;DR: I read this because I’m hooked on the musical. An excellent biography about the ten-dollar founding father and the building of America. Made me realize our nation is a miracle.
If you love the Hamilton musical, read this:I couldn’t help but underline words that I heard in the play. It was like playing HAMILTON BINGO. (There are a lot more than these, but I won’t bore you here.)
“Hamilton carried a heavy dread of [OH!] anarchy and disorder that -
Blog postADDITIONS
There was just so much I loved about Les Miserables. That first book report was the essentials.
Below are some side characters and tangents I wanted to comment on. Also, I’ve condensed and then quoted some really long passages that I just thought were amazing. So give these a read if you don’t have time to read the whole novel. And give these a re-read if you’ve already read the book. (That’s sort of why I’m posting them here, so I can refresh my own memory down the -
Blog postLong time no see! It’s because this book took me so long to read.
TL;DR: Man, this is such a story! Sometimes I think it must not have come from a mortal but some higher place.
INTRO
You’ll find Les Miserables on lists of the longest novels ever. In fact, it’s the longest book I’ve ever read, at 655,478 words. That’s five SONG OF LOCKEs! Five! Insane! I’ve had readers complain that Locke was too long! If you combine all the books and essays I’ve published, -
Blog postI have an announcement to make: My latest book is out!
It's called I'M JERRY SEINFELD: AN ESSAY ON COMEDY. Here's the synopsis: Don’t read this book if you’re fat. Or if you hate reading. Or if you hate Jerry Seinfeld. Or me. Or fat people. Or nudity. And definitely don’t read it if you liked my other books. Or if you’ve had enough funny business. Or if you’d rather have a 99-cent hamburger. Did I mention fat? Come on, George, you’re such a cheapskate.
It's not really like anyth -
Blog postTD;DR: It’s an episodic adventure, like Howard Pyle’s Robin Hood, with a playful hero and his merry band engaged in a daring game.
THOUGHTSThe book is written by the Baronness Orczy, and she makes Lady Blakeney a protagonist, which I’d never noticed in the movie. We get to see her thoughts, worries, and awe (though not tons of choosing or acting). Interestingly, she tests her Percy to see if he will love her in exchange for his honor, and he doesn’t do it.
The book ends -
Blog postTL;DR: The Neverending Story is an incredible tribute to storytelling and to mythos—a fanciful, heroic tale full of sehnsucht.
ImpressionsRight from the start, The Neverending Story is quick moving, which I appreciate. Yet even though its pacing is quick, the first scene gives a distinct notion of what Bastion and the old man are like as characters. That impressed me. The book continues in this style, and the rest of the story is told from a very high level, alwa -
Blog postI listen to dozens of soundtracks as I’m writing.
I’m not a huge gamer, but many of these are from videogame soundtracks. I often like them more than movie soundtracks because they’re not written for specific scenes—they’re more stand-alone. That makes them feel smoother to me—fewer jagged edges.
I’ve hand-picked these tracks for the SONG OF LOCKE Soundtrack. And if you imagine yourself back in Elfland while you listen, you’re really going to feel the music. I pro
Books By J Washburn
STARCHILD: Exile
May 4, 2019
by
J Washburn
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DEAR JEFF: An Older Brother's Straightforward Advice on Preparing to Enter the Mormon Temple
Dec 17, 2013
by
J Washburn
$4.99
$14.99
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$11.01
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by
J Washburn
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ECKSDOT
Dec 18, 2013
by
J Washburn
$4.99
$14.99
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INKLINGS: A Headlong Plunge into an Author's Mind
Dec 19, 2013
by
J Washburn
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