Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
How many books have I written? (Quickly checks Amazon:) 59. There is some repetition, and a Bible I should never made has a ludicrous paperback price of $1006.90. And speaking of Bibles, my main collection has a unique page count that comes to over twice the length of the Bible. (Quality is a different question, and the answer to that question is obvious.)
A bit about myself? I’m an Orthodox author. I spent the first portion of my life as a mathematician, then a second portion as a bona fide Renaissance man, and seek to live the remaining years as a monastic.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recently modified collection is “The Luddite’s Guide to Technology.”
When I started as a high school Unix system administrator, very early on my quite technical boss gave me a lecture about dangers of electronic communication, including that it’s much easier to flame someone you cannot see, and that a large portion of our communication is nonverbal and it’s very easy to miss things that would get across in person.
That was early on in a trajectory of both working with technologies, and being wary of their social effects. When I posted the beginning of what is now “The Luddite’s Guide to Technology”, my position was a minority position. There were books which I read, including Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in an Age of Show Business” and Jerry Mander’s slightly more off the road “Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.” A more recent title, and from an Orthodox author too, was Jean-Claude Larchet’s “The New Media Epidemic: The Undermining of Society, Family, and Our Own Soul.”
The chapter which opens the book has possibly a single contribution I haven’t seen in the literature. As far as ethics go, the Golden Rule, “Treat others the way you would like them to treat you,” is a rarity: a simple principle that is applicable to many situations. I proposed “the Silicon Rule”, namely: “What do Silicon Valley technology executives choose for their children?” For one example, Steve Jobs’s house was no nerd’s Paradise with giant Pez dispensers dispensing top-of-the-line iPhones: it was wooden tables and shelves of books, and active and involved conversation between members of the family.
A lot of people working in Silicon Valley are remarkably Luddite when they make choices for their children. And once one knows what kinds of choices are made by Silicon Valley tech giants, it brings considerable clarity into how we should be using things.
Note that I am not exactly calling for dropping all technologies, but we need to “trample them under foot,” as discussed in the opening chapter of “The Luddite’s Guide to Technologies,” a book title chosen for deliberate irony.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I remember when one respected community member suggested I adopt a formula with a moral like a popular TV show; the truth of the matter is that I cannot write whatever I choose.
I can try and pursue a work, but sometimes the work I catch is different.
Madeleine l’Engle talks about the artist (male or female) as a birth-giver to creations.
She emphasized listening and serving; I would speak of a wrestling that is simultaneously a wrestling with my work, and wrestling with myself to get myself out of the work’s way so it can express itself.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Bible in seven languages, the Philokalia and St. Isaac the Syrian; medieval versions of Arthurian legends (I’ve spent time on better things.) I’ve had an eclectic reading with a slice of anthropology and linguistics.
C.S. Lewis formed me as a writer, and if you like C.S. Lewis you might read “The Angelic Letters” at https://cjshayward.com/letters/
What are you working on now?
Right now I am serving no great creation; I am not always free to serve one. I recently posted “Paradise” at https://cjshayward.com/paradise/ and I am looking forward to what I may serve next.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
On my website, if a title is included in a collection, there’s a link at the top left to one collection it is included in. Beyond that, I’ve found the Midwest Book Review to be worth its weight in gold.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Someone said, in reference to Unix wizardhood, that you shouldn’t think of wearing the wizard’s mantel. Just walk along the path without such worries, and someday you will look over your shoulder and find that you have worn the mantle since you know not when.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Treat others the way you’d want them to treat you.
What are you reading now?
I just finished “Minutes of the Lead Pencil Club,” I am reading the Bible and St. Isaac, and probably the best book I’ve read recently is “The New Media Epidemic.”
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m pursuing monasticism and that orients everything. It may be a little while before I write something new.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible, the Philokalia, and a huge notebook with a box of pens.
Author Websites and Profiles
CJS Hayward Website
CJS Hayward Amazon Profile
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