Excerpt from Crisis in Fire and Snow

  It's been a long weekend. I'm tired. So tired. You needn't suffer. Feast upon this excerpt from Crisis in Fire and Snow:<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 f...

Read More
Sep 08, 2025
Back to the Chateau

  I started off the weekend by traveling across the state. I knew I would get hungry along the way, and refuse to compromise when it comes to nutrition. I walked out of the gas station with the priceless gems pictured below. Actuall...

Read More
Sep 02, 2025
He shambles forth in cosmic guise

Through many roads, by me possessed,He shambles forth in cosmic guise;He is the Jester and the Jest,And he the Text himself applies.--From An American, by Rudyard KiplingDon't forget, September 9 is Constitution Day."[T]he American Constitution is, s...

Read More
Sep 01, 2025
Nick Nethery

 Interview with Nick NetheryAuthor ofRelics of the Fallen <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US...

Read More
Aug 24, 2025
Drown Melancholy

 Drown MelancholyBy STANLEY WHEELERAn old sea shanty, a reminder of a curse, drives a pirate captain to the brink of madness… Can the crew make their final score, or will the curse destroy them all?!It's in Cirsova issue 24 which you can...

Read More
Aug 18, 2025
Genius, like gold and precious stones

Genius, like gold and precious stones,is chiefly prized because of its rarity.Geniuses are people who dash off weird, wild,incomprehensible poems with astonishing facility,and get booming drunk and sleep in the gutter.--from "Genius" by Mark Twain.Sp...

Read More
Aug 16, 2025
Carnival of Fun

 We had a manifold mission for the weekend that took us to Le Chateau au Chat Gris and to the home of olden days. 99 and I loaded the compact white whale and began our voyage. On our arrival au chateau, we immediately commenced the festiviti...

Read More
Aug 11, 2025
Writers Cantina 2025

I think I captured the photo above from Jay Barnson's presentation on writing pulp. I attended another presentation he did on monsters from North American myths. I let him know that I was already using some of them in my Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Ser...

Read More
Aug 04, 2025
a damsel with a dulcimer

A damsel with a dulcimer   In a vision once I saw:   It was an Abyssinian maid   And on her dulcimer she played,--From Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor ColeridgeWeave a circle round me thrice and close your eye...

Read More
Aug 01, 2025
Fred Phillips

 Interview with Fred PhillipsAuthor ofThe Gold and Fire Series and morePlease tell me a little about your current work in progress. I have two projects that I hope to get across the finish line before the end of the year. One is the second...

Read More
Jul 25, 2025
5 Golden Rings

 It's done. Child number 5 has entered the hallowed halls of wedded bliss. There's no guarantee on the earthly duration of the bliss, but if ignorance is also bliss, then turning a blind eye to many little annoyances should help. However, so...

Read More
Jul 21, 2025
Men were deceivers ever; one foot in the sea

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,Men were deceivers ever;One foot in sea, and one on shore,To one thing constant never.Then sigh not so,But let them go,And be you blith and bonny,Converting all your sounds of woeInto Hey nonny, nonny.--ShakespeareT...

Read More
Jul 16, 2025
Viking Cruise to Jerusalem

 Fun Fact:Sigurd I became king of Norway at 13 when an Irish axe ended his father's life. He received the crown jointly with his two half brothers, Eystein and Olaf, the latter being a toddler. At 17, Sigurd agreed to lead an expeditionary f...

Read More
Jul 14, 2025
Independence Day 2025

 It was Independence Day. The Fourth of July. The ogygia of summer. I name it the latter, not because we're trapped there and must choose between Calypso and escape, but because it is the center point about which summer revolves. In Byzantiu...

Read More
Jul 07, 2025
But from the trance she sudden broke

But from the trance she sudden broke- The trance, or death into promoted life;At her feet a shivered yoke,And in her aspect turned to heaven No trace of passion or of strife-A clear calm look.--From "America" by Herman MelvilleAnother antho...

Read More
Jul 02, 2025