Though you should build a bark of dead men's bones,

And rear a phantom gibbet for a mast,

Stitch shrouds together for a sail, with groans

To fill it out, blood-stained and aghast;

Although your rudder be a dragon's tail

Long sever'd, yet still hard with agony,

Your cordage large uprootings from the skull

Of bald Medusa, certes you would fail

To find the Melancholy -- whether she

Dreameth in any isle of Lethe dull.

--Original first stanza to "Ode on Melancholy" by Keats

Personally, I like this purported original first stanza better than the actual poem. It has an adventurous spirit and a meter than resonates with me. Now that I've read it, I want to have a ship with a dragon's tail for a rudder.

Interesting shot through my writing room window this week:

I don't write much poetry, but I have a character, Vaughn, who makes some poetry in Justice in Season and Justice Resurgent. Speaking of the latter, I used it for an example, with excerpts from the first chapter, of putting the trauma and tension in motion, in this blog post. On that same note, I shared the first portion of my presentation on Forging Unforgettable Stories - the three elements of literary alchemy - the trauma, the drama, and the dream on my free substack. The rest of the presentation will follow in future posts.

I've just completed a short story and sent it to my Skirmish Team for review before I submit it for consideration for an upcoming anthology. Send me an inquiry if you're interested in joining the review team. I think I've also settled on an idea for the third book in the adventures of Chris and Kenny. Accidental Pirates is the first book in the series. Book Two, Accidental Wizard, is still in the publication pipeline and I haven't received a projected date on it yet. I would be interested in hearing your ideas. The first book of this portal fantasy series took the boys to an alternate history 1700s with pirates and dragons. The second book takes them to a fantasy post-Arthurian time. Where should book three take them?

I'm reading several books and nearing completion on a couple of them. I'm listening to Starship Troopers during drive time and am almost finished with it. Listening to it reminds me why Heinlein has never been one of my favorites: 90% of the book is philosophy, the preaching of the word of Heinlein. He does it well, but I prefer a more hefty helping of action and tension to drive the story. Naturally, your mileage may vary. Starship Troopers was the favorite book of a cousin who passed away a few years ago. He embraced the philosophy and served a term in the U.S. Navy right out of high school, as well as later serving in the Naval Reserve.

Did you know that the number one song of 1981 was "Betty Davis Eyes" - I remember 1981 and that the song was popular, but I had no idea it was the number one song of the year. How that's determined, I don't know--but I'll guess length of time at the number one slot is a factor. In other musical facts, although "Mr. Blue Sky" (1977) is often called the ultimate ELO song, "Don't Bring Me Down" (1979) was the band's highest charting song in the U.S. My music collection has more albums by ELO than any other artist or group. I know what I like. Some consider ELO to be the legitimate successor to the Beatles. What do you think? Do you hate ELO, love the music, or are you completely indifferent? If you don't know Electric Light Orchestra, check out "Confusion" and explore the list as well.

Don't miss this wild fantasy giveaway.