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About The Marquis de Leech
- Birthday 12/15/1982
Profile Information
- Blood-sucking Aristocrat
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Gender
Male
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Location
Dunedin, New Zealand
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The Marquis de Leech's Achievements
Council Member (8/8)
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Derfel Cadarn reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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New story out. The Library of the Ratio, as part of the new issue of New Maps: https://www.new-maps.com/news/2024/03/spring-2024-announcement/
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The Marquis de Leech reacted to a post in a topic: Daenerys Targaryen is a better leader than Jon Snow.
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The Grey Wolf Strikes Back reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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Derfel Cadarn reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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The Marquis de Leech reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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I believe Inspired Quill has it pencilled for 1st December 2024.
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The Grey Wolf Strikes Back reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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williamjm reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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SpaceChampion reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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Zorral reacted to a post in a topic: US Politics: Sitting in Judgement
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Kyoshi reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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Derfel Cadarn reacted to a post in a topic: Boarders writing a novel
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Daughters of Derbyshire, my plague story, has been accepted for publication. The publisher in question? The Lesbian Historical Motif Podcast. Now, to clarify, given my other recent work: Daughters of Derbyshire does not contain sex at all. Or even romance. It's actually 'clean' historical fiction, this one involving a pair of young Puritan women in 1665-1666. Aforementioned young women obviously delight in each other, but this is a relationship shaped very much by time and place. This is also my first 'professional rate' story sale (8 US cents a word), making it far and away my best ever writing payday.
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US Politics: Sitting in Judgement
The Marquis de Leech replied to A Horse Named Stranger's topic in General Chatter
Plato was an aristocrat. Ergo, he'd consider himself one of the people who weren't naturally slaves. It wasn't as if any writers in the Ancient World - apart from those Stoic weirdos - really disputed Aristotle's basic point. -
SeanF reacted to a post in a topic: US Politics: Sitting in Judgement
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US Politics: Sitting in Judgement
The Marquis de Leech replied to A Horse Named Stranger's topic in General Chatter
Aristotle's argument is more along the lines of "some people are naturally slaves. Slavery is natural." Though oddly, he does distinguish between that and enslaved people who are not naturally slaves - the latter being enslaved by force and not by nature. -
Monotheism vs. Polytheism
The Marquis de Leech replied to Mr. Chatywin et al.'s topic in General Chatter
The issue there is that the oldest form of astrology was not the natal variety, which focuses on the individual and their birth. Instead, the court astrologers of the ancient world were interested in the fate of entire societies - whether a given day was an auspicious occasion for a royal marriage, or a war, or something. -
Monotheism vs. Polytheism
The Marquis de Leech replied to Mr. Chatywin et al.'s topic in General Chatter
Several points on Astrology: The modern newspaper variety has nothing to do with the way it was traditionally practiced. Astrology and Astronomy were considered the same thing for most of human history. Countless ancient writers, from Aristotle to Augustine, condemn astrologers. This notion of superstitious ancients versus sceptical moderns ignores that humans have been having this conversation for thousands of years. -
The Marquis de Leech reacted to a post in a topic: Monotheism vs. Polytheism
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Monotheism vs. Polytheism
The Marquis de Leech replied to Mr. Chatywin et al.'s topic in General Chatter
You might have noticed that Immanuel Kant pretty much established limits to science... using philosophy. -
Monotheism vs. Polytheism
The Marquis de Leech replied to Mr. Chatywin et al.'s topic in General Chatter
Wrong century. The last burning was well before Newton. Newton was an eccentric Protestant in the post-Civil War era. In other words, no burning. In fact, he'd have been substantially more safe, given that the post-1688 fear was of Catholics, and Newton safely wasn't that. All those requirements for religious conformity? Done to weed out Catholics, not the likes of him. -
Monotheism vs. Polytheism
The Marquis de Leech replied to Mr. Chatywin et al.'s topic in General Chatter
England's last burning for heresy was thirty years before Newton was born. Newton's eccentric religious leanings would have cost him his job, but he would not have suffered beyond that. Newton himself would not have differentiated between his alchemy work and his scientific work. In fact, it has been suggested that his inspiration for gravity was esoteric in origin. -
Monotheism vs. Polytheism
The Marquis de Leech replied to Mr. Chatywin et al.'s topic in General Chatter
On the Monotheism/Polytheism front: Platonism gives you a combination of the two. The One as the originator (not strictly a god in Platonic view, because that would be to limit it. The One does not exist because it is Beyond Existence), and the Demiurge as the Craftsman of the world. On Religion and Science. Science is merely a method of learning via testing hypotheses. It is not the only path to knowledge, of course (mathematics does not test hypotheses). Meanwhile, religion does not make scientifically verifiable claims, so the two fields remain non-contradictory. On Galileo. The model Galileo was using involved circular orbits, and thus made predictions no better than the old Ptolematic model. When asked to present his work as a hypothesis, Galileo refused, and wrote a text that goes so far as to thinly call the Pope an idiot. The Church reacted badly. Meanwhile, the elliptical orbit issue came with Kepler, and an actual underlying theory of motion to explain matters came with Newton. At the time of Galileo, the matter was far more complex than folk-history would suggest. -
The Marquis de Leech reacted to a post in a topic: The books coming out in 2023/2024
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Official Blatant but Honest Self Promotion Thread
The Marquis de Leech replied to EruditeFool's topic in Literature
Podcast of my fantasy erotica piece, Blackberry Picking, now out: https://nobilis.libsyn.com/ep-491-blackberry-picking-by-daniel-stride -
The podcast audio of Blackberry Picking (fantasy erotica) is now out: https://nobilis.libsyn.com/ep-491-blackberry-picking-by-daniel-stride
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I have an old short story (it's never been accepted, so remains unpublished) where I gender-flip Bluebeard and move the story to the Prohibition-Era USA.
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The Marquis de Leech reacted to a post in a topic: Official Blatant but Honest Self Promotion Thread
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The Marquis de Leech reacted to a post in a topic: Official Blatant but Honest Self Promotion Thread
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The Marquis de Leech reacted to a post in a topic: Official Blatant but Honest Self Promotion Thread
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Five chapters done on novella project, one to go (currently manuscript sits around 27,000 words). Also a new short story out: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2023/lost-in-the-desert/