The wild winds weep

  And the night is a-cold;

Come hither, Sleep,

  And my griefs infold:

But lo! the morning peeps

  Over the eastern steeps,

And the rustling birds of dawn

The earth do scorn.

--From "Mad Song" by William Blake

The wild winds tipped over semi-trucks and toppled trees in my neck of the woods this preceding week. Xanadu didn't shake or shudder, but the trees bent and everything not nailed down knocked and whipped in the wind. The caves of ice remained intact.

The sequel to Accidental Pirates is approved for publication! I'm sure we're still months from the actual release, but the word is given. Additionally, although no guarantee of acceptance, the publisher was sufficiently intrigued by the first chapter of "Bugs in the System" to request the full manuscript for consideration. It is a clash of carapace and .50 caliber. As they say, "It's simply irresistible." I call it a love letter to literature and America.

My Napoleonic short story is making slow progress as I weigh the blend of relevant facts, fantasy, and thundering action for the right balance to meet the story call. I am enjoying the process. Of course, it would be much faster to ditch the historical facts and run on pure fantasy. However, history is the muse who invited me to the party, and the magical elements are the surprise guests who'll make the event more memorable.

Prefer humorous noir detective stories instead of history or fantasy? Try Smoke, my 1940's tale of an unlikely detective.

Podcasts this week have been from Frontier Partisans featuring exploits of the Texas Rangers.

Interested in frontier warfare and/or the Revolutionary War with a fantasy twist, check out my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series.

My wife has been out of town, so I'm free to watch whatever I want. The highlight this week was Grant, a three episode documentary about General/President Ulysses S. Grant. Although I might quibble with some of the choices for actors, I quite enjoyed the documentary, which captured Grant's humble beginnings and unassuming nature. The best part of the series focused on his campaigns in the Civil War, emphasizing his coolness under pressure and vision that the destruction of Lee's army was the key to victory. He seemed to be the only one of the leading Union generals who could grapple with Lee's army and continue the struggle even in the face of terrible losses. I recommend it.

If the Old West has a special place in your heart, dive into Justice in Season, a tale of gold and greed in the Idaho Territory during the American Civil War with a mix of rustlers, highwaymen, vigilantes, and vengeance. Many people like the sequel, Justice Resurgent, even better.

Visit my website to see all my books and the anthologies of my published short stories.

Is there any interest in another short story contest?