The stars are with the voyager

Wherever he may sail;

The moon is constant to her time;

The sun will never fail;

But follow, follow round the world,

The green earth and the sea,

So love is with the lover's heart,

Wherever he may be.

Wherever he may be, the stars

Must daily lose their light;

The moon will veil her in the shade;

The sun will set at night.

The sun may set, but constant love

Will shine when he's away;

So that dull night is never night,

And day is brighter day.

--"The Stars Are With The Voyager" - Thomas Hood

I'm six chapters into the third book of my boys' adventure series and the world is about to get wild for Chris and Kenny and their new acquaintances in the strange new world in which they find themselves. They've just met a character they may not like, but I'm sure he'll be a fan favorite--I know I enjoy writing him. Actually, I enjoy writing all the characters in this new sword and planet adventure.

This week I submitted a super short piece to a contest of special interest. I know the story works because it affected me when I wrote it, and the first beta reader I sent it to was also touched by it. Like I say in my write up about The Trauma, The Drama, and The Dream, a good story leaves a mark. It's a great story.

I recently finished reading Killing Napoleon by Jonathan North. My review is here. I've started reading Napoleon in Egypt, as well as Tim Powers' Declare. I'm enjoying both. I've still got a couple other books I need to finish, but keep getting distracted by new ones.

I took the 80s hits cd out of the car player and put in Styx Greatest Hits (or something like that). As much as I love the music of the Stygian band, I have no favor for "Mr. Roboto." To me, it's an aberration; perhaps an abomination. Naturally, YMMV. I do enjoy the rest of the selections, but wish "Castle Walls" had been included. I've also got two bags and a box of cassette tapes, but now that I've sold the Rattling Battle Wagon, which had both a cd player and a cassette player (being from the last century and all), I'm not sure if I can even play my cassettes anymore. Technology is a convenience that brings inconvenience as well.

I'm making this into a poster to hang on my wall. Anyone interested in autographed copies? If so, I'll check with Rac Press about doing it.

I'm excited to have a new internet provider. Hopefully, I can do uninterrupted interviews from my writing room now. Previously, this had the worst internet reception in the house, frequently dropping the connection. Strength and speed is good now.

If you haven't checked out my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series - Take a look at the first book: Threading the Rude Eye.

I've started an enjoyable series on prime. I believe it's called The Plantagenets. It's a documentary and I like it. Unfortunately, I think only the first episode is available for free to me and I probably won't cough up any coin to rent or subscribe to the channel that has the rest of the series. One bit of trivia I recall is that Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, had the planta genista, a yellow-flowering shrub, as his symbol and was nicknamed the Plante Genest -- so the story goes. Got to be careful with how you handle information; there's always the risk of learning and remembering something.

If you like name's with apostrophes and academy settings, you'll want to check out Until The End: Victory of the Dracomancer - Book I - by Luna Fox

My Meth (Inter Her House) is a dark psychological thriller by Elara KL Voss. I don't know why Elara apparently has two middle initials. I'm just featuring the book. Take a look at the book and see if you can figure it out.

Once you've examined those books, you're ready to woo, woo, woo, yourself over to the Woo-niverse Giveaways of supernatural, fantasy, paranormal, and sci-fi. Hey, I don't name 'em; I just share 'em.

"The secret to getting ahead is getting started." -- attributed to Mark Twain.