Interview with Cassie GreutmanAuthor of the Penchant for Trouble Series <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US...

"Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." - General George S. PattonSpeaking of challenges - don't forget to submit your entry in the short story contest. Not to exceed 350 words and must include a Halloween story feat...

  The season whispered that it would be wise to trade my Buttercup Rocinante, the steel steed, for the Rattlin' Battle Wagon, so I made the trip to begin the exchange. The morning of my departure carried a warning of colder weather...

 "My opinions, even if I were the president of the United States, are neither important nor necessary." - Zachary TaylorFun Fact:Henry Clay's 1850 Omnibus Bill for the admission of California as a free state; establishing territori...

 There are many trails in life. Some we choose of our own volition while others we discover by fortunate circumstance or its opposite. I selected two trails this week that I had not tried before from the All Trails app. First, although no on...

Winston Churchill is credited with saying, "Success consists in going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."I've had a recent success with one short story and have finished the draft of another. My story, "Freedom on Wheels" will appear...

 Before I get to some of the stirring quotes from Daniel Webster, let me share some stirring news of my own. I doubt it will be quoted like Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, but it's almost as meaningful for me. I signed a contract yesterday for t...

  Interview with Elizabeth LavenderAuthor of The Sunspear Series<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US...

"Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused....

 It seems to me that I've heard it said that attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal. There may be some truth to that, but I think there's more to it than that. Go ahead. Ask me what makes me think that.I'm glad you ask...

  We traveled back to the homestead on the other side of the state. Les Freres Corses were expecting me. They had dice. They had plans. After the writing (I finished the motorcycle travel story and got it to my team), mowing, weedin...

"It is the property of every sorrow which overtakes us to reawaken past griefs which we believed dead, but which were only sleeping. The soul has its scars as well as the body, and they are seldom so well healed but a new wound can reopen them."--The...

 Did you ever notice that there are no major federal holidays in August in the United States? I'm talking about the kind of holidays recognized by employers, courts, banks, and the post office. There are probably scads of days during the mon...

A fool there was and he made his prayer (Even as you or I!) To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair, (We called her the woman who did not care), But the fool he called her his lady fair— (Even as you or I!)From Kipling's "Vampire"I've completed editin...

 Fun Fact:Najm al-Din Ilghazi Ibn Artuq was a daring general, competent emir, and co-ruler of Jerusalem under the Seljuk Empire of Sultan Malik-Shah, of the Sunni Muslim persuasion. His weakness for wine or fermented mare's milk was matched...