Proofed (Archived)

Proofed: Episode 2The Grand Conflagration
George Santayana was a philosopher, essayist, and poet who died in the year 1952. He was known for his aphorisms and quotations, and it’s one of those that springs to mind- the phrase- ‘those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.” Human beings have a notoriously short memory, and it is for that chief reason I believe, that the historical nonfiction novel was born. There is a desperate need for the events of the past to be made accessible to current generations, because almost all of the issues that we currently face can be traced back to their temporal ancestors who made their mark centuries before.  If we do not analyze the past, then we cannot understand the present, nor can we craft our future. And the ability to craft the future of our species is a key aspect of what makes us human.
But- what makes a good historical novel? Why is it that so many members of the current generation shy away from the grand litany of past events? I’m your host Alexander Cole, and on today’s episode of Proofed, we’ll be analyzing a historical novel whose origins date back to the second world war and whose pages are stained with blood, edged with fire.
Proofed is a show which seeks to examine books, literature, writing, and the impact of each on the modern world.  A massive shout out, to the people who make this show possible- the Rogue Intel Network- make sure to look them up- they’re the very epitome of cool.
And now, episode 2 which is entitled; The Grand Conflagration
The audio you’re about to hear is an excerpt from the frontline  episode- The bombing of Al-Basra- The interviewer is Olly Lambert, and the event took place on October 28th, 2012. For the sensitive listeners, this does contain some graphic descriptions. Copyright infringement is not intended.
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That was from a bombing in Syria in 2012. As westerners, and citizens of the modern age,

I’ve always viewed the art of Fanfiction as the red-headed stepchild or black sheep of the literary community, at once spit upon, maligned and disregarded as little more than the concerted actions of an infinite number of chimpanzees typing away in the hopes of producing something approaching coherent speech, all the while ignoring the fact that underneath the veneer of public perception lies a community of writers, editors, and content creators, who have gone on to make their marks on the world and hone their literary craft in what is most definitely a different way.
My initial experience with fan fiction started after reading the middle book in the Silverwing trilogy by Kenneth Oppel, and itching to recapture the magic of those first hours where the author blew the doors off my mental mansion and I ended up being bitten with the writing bug. I spent many months reading stories that were found in that section on FF.net, and as I started digging deeper into the cavernous pit of literature that focuses on anthropomorphic animals, I transitioned to Star Fox- where I met Kit, and Redwall, and the Guardians of Gahoole series, each of which had their quirks and idiosyncrasies. I spent time reading the works displayed there, and quickly learned how to weed out the chaff, and select the best stories, because it was from exhaustive study of those stories that I learned some of the tricks I use in prosial crafting today.
Kit Karamack was one of the first to look at one of my earliest stories- The Edge of a Razor- and run it, and a subsequent piece through the gauntlet- and the criticism I received from him was exactly what I needed, as it forced me to take a long hard look at what I’d been producing, and attempt to make