"There she is!" Christmas and New Years are visible through the Mutara Nebula. I'm doing my part to help you navigate the holidays without functioning sensors. Don't get caught in two-dimensional thinking.The first three books in...

Houses and rooms are full of perfumes, the shelves are crowded with perfumes,I breathe the fragrance myself and know it and like it,The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.--from: "Song of Myself," by Walt WhitmanI have to a...

 The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath! -- The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene...

 A still from the live footage of black Friday shopping. Did you put away your dreams today,Fold them up and lock them away?Did you put them in a drawer at the close of day,Or consign them to the dustbin of never may? When do the th...

Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice.--Fire and Ic...

 Artwork by Cedar Sanderson from interior of Space Cowboys 6: Fission Chips. It may even go with my story, "Love under a Purple Sky."There's something about the idea of the cowboy that persists in the imagination of humanity. It'...

  I watched this 1952 black and white movie staring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford during my workout sessions on the M5 over a few days or a week. It was directed by Vincent Sherman and features Alexander Scourby as Max Fabian, Howard...

"While the process of becoming lost is usually a lot of fun, the entertainment value diminishes rapidly once the act is accomplished."--Patrick McManus--A Fine and Pleasant MiseryIf you haven't read any of the Patrick McManus books of short stories a...

 It's a tragic tale of youthful exuberance and avarice tainted by overconfidence unburdened with the requisite competence. It was the beginning of the quest for the Mysterious Cauldron within the Cursed Ruins. Our two young heroes were to fi...

 Steve A. Douglas His Omnibus Bill defeated, Henry Clay left Washington, but the "steam engine in britches" Stephen A. Douglas would attempt to collect the pieces of the failed bill. He concluded that combining the various...

I only received a few entries in the Halloween story contest. They're short, so I've put them right into the newsletter for your reading pleasure. Please drop me a note with your vote for your favorite so I can send the lucky winner one of my books....

  Interview with Raphael SohnnAuthor ofThe Captains of Legend<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE...

 Before we get to our adventure in Sauron's old 'hood: Cursed Canyon is here - click on the picture to check it out.This is the second Wyrd Western anthology from Raconteur Press and I'm pleased to say I have stories in both - in addition to...

"Fire in his glance, and wildness in his breast,He feels all his former self possest;He bounds--he flies--until his footsteps reachThe verge where ends the cliff and begins the beach..."--Lord Byron -- "The Corsair"Before I get to my thoughts on "Pow...

 "Few things are certain in this life, however shrewdly a man may plan." -- Raphael Sabatini -- The Black SwanFun Fact:Back to 1850 and the Great American Compromise. The matter of Texas in Clay's Omnibus bill was tentatively resol...