Viewless essence, thin and bare,Well nigh melted into air,Still with fondness hovering nearThe earthly form thou once didst wear,--From "Death Chant" by Sir Walter ScottWhat is more thin, bare, and well nigh melted into air than time? Although time m...

Thus began the game of Combat Infantry Western Front by Columbia Games. This was the second playing of the first scenario. The first time through, the Americans smote the Germans with a great smiting. The first reason for that was that the dice favor...

I finished reading Fred Saberhagen's Ardneh's Sword a few days ago. As with the earlier work in the series, Empire of the East, I stopped about 75 percent of the way through to read another book. I needed the palate cleansed before I could go on, bec...

When icicles hang by the wall, And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk comes frozen home in pail, When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul,Then nightly sings the staring owl, To-whit! To-who!—...

 Speaking of Accidental Pirates, I was on The Spaceman and the Hafling podcast/show Saturday. We recorded yesterday; the show should go up on youtube in a couple weeks. Naturally, I will post a link when I get it.I finished reading Sharpe's...

 Again, one of my stories in Cirsova Magazine made the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List - for 2025 this time: Reviewed by Seraph“Drown Melancholy” by Stanley WheelerIt is unclear whether this is a case of inspiration being f...

I had withdrawn in forest, and my song Was swallowed up in leaves that blew away; And to the forest edge you came one day (This was my dream) and looked and pondered long, But did not enter, though the wish was strong: You shook your pensive head as...

 Accidental Pirates is actually the only novel that I had published this year. However, I did get a number of short stories selected for publication."A Stardust Memory" was published in Sultry Murder Jazz. I found its placement as...

   General Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle led the Infernal Brigade (the 5th and 7th Hussars) in the 1806 campaign against Prussia. The brigade moved rapidly through enemy territory in search of information and supplies. L...

The bells of waiting Advent ring,The Tortoise stove is lit againAnd lamp-oil light across the nightHas caught the streaks of winter rainIn many a stained-glass window sheenFrom Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.-- from "Christmas" by Robert FrostMy Chris...

 Check it out. Accidental Pirates is number 1 in Teen and Young Adult Pirate Action & Adventure Now that I've got that out of my system, I could ramble about the sequel, which is nearing completion with Chis struggling as a...

 Empire of the East, by Fred Saberhagen, contains the first three books in the four-book series - which explains why the book is so long. It really did feel like reading three books. In fact, I read two other books, or at least one and a hal...

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,--from Crossing the Bar, by Tennyson.I've always liked that poem and used it in a talk many years ago. It's the only thing I r...

  I picked up Fred Saberhagen's Merlin's Bones to read another take on the Arthur legend. This story was certainly unlike any other. I first encountered King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as kid. My parents had a series...

 In case you thought reading was a safe activity: Here's the interview with me about Accidental Pirates -- paperback available Nov 26 - Get your boys reading for Christmas.The sequel is half finished with 15 of 30 chapters...