StanleyWheeler

 Before I get to the discussion of great villains, let me shout out that I've completed Book 6 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series. By "completed" I mean that I finished the first draft--it only took me six months longer than it should have. I still have editing and proofing to do. I've sent the last five chapters out to my Skirmish Team for their comments, corrections, and suggestions. That reminds me that a gentleman caught me today to report that he is reading Book 4, Promise of Carnage and Flame , and enjoying the unexpected twists and turns of the story. One thing that reminded me of great villains was the fact that PinUp Noir 2, which features my short story "Monica on My Mind," is available in ebook and paperback. The stories feature knockout blonde bombshells in a variety of settings. Many of those dames in the stories are bad--very bad. You know who else was a blonde bombshell villain? Milady de Winter from Dumas' The Three Musketeers (o...

 First, if you want some Memorial Day thoughts, you might enjoy this post about my visit to the American Memorial in Normandy .    I recently did a re-watch of the 4 hour opus that is Branagh's interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet . Kenneth Branagh stars as the titular character. I believe there was some discussion about his wanting to be or not to be the lead but he finally elected to suffer the slings and arrows of the outrageous role. Brian Blessed plays Hamlet's dad. Julie Christie plays his mum, and Derek Jacobi is the murdering uncle/stepfather. Kate Winslet plays my least favorite character: Ophelia. Richard Briers takes the role of Polonius. Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Judi Dench, Gerard Depardieu, Jack Lemon, and the magnificent Charlton Heston also appear.  You would think that a film with such a fantastic cast would be absolutely fabulous. You would be right. It is. I would rather watch even an hour of this masterpiece than any other adaptation I've s...

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing. Those words are Shakespeare's coming from the mouth of MacBeth. I purloined a few of those words to create something upon the same sad subject but slathered with hope rather than steeped in MacBeth's bitter despair. The occasion in my case was the passing of a close cousin. Here's my version: We watched in pain as all his tomorrows slowly faded into yesterdays. The petty pace of day to day pressed him ever down the wandering path from the womb toward the clay. His candle now burns elsewhere for his hour has played out upon this stage. His syllables of sound ...

The trickling began this week. Words. Those malleable bricks composed of variations of 26 unique elements representing sounds manifested in the English language which itself is spoken with such extraordinary differences around the globe that it's not one language but several. But I digress. And I will do it again, if I please. I do. The digression continues. We place various combinations of letters into words--and then we don't even pronounce some of the letters; or we pronounce them differently even though they are arranged in precisely the same way. What a language! What a rich history! Back to my point, if I had one. I did. I shall begin again taking up after the trickling thought. Words. Those malleable bricks composed of variations of 26 unique elements representing sounds in the English language began a procession into my newest book this week. Like camels, horses, pilgrims, slaves, and taskmasters with tents and rugs and provisions all bound in colorful rugs and clo...

In preparation for a future viewing of The Forbidden Planet , I decided to re-read Shakespeare's play upon which the film was loosely based. "Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground..." "Good wombs have born bad sons." The two quotes above come from  The Tempest ; they illustrate a part of my view of the play. They also underscore one of the problems with magic in literature. The Tempest , according to Wikipedia and others, was the bard's final play that he wrote on his own. The play relies heavily on magic and fantastical elements. Prospero has been exiled to a small island by his brother Antonio who has usurped his station as Duke of Milan. During his twelve years on the island, Prospero has mastered the art of sorcery which allows him to control Ariel and other spirits. By magical means he conjures a storm which casts his brother; Alonso, the King of Naples; and Alonso's son Ferdinand, along with some others...

"The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or perchance a palace or temple on the earth, and at length the middle-aged man concludes to build a wood-shed with them." --Thoreau I'm still dreaming of passageways to the moon and neglecting the wood-shed--and other things. I blame my parents, or my wife, or my kids; someone or something somewhere has had a bad influence on me. I would hate to think that I'm responsible for my own lack of success. Most people rant about wanting what they deserve. That's the last thing I want; I'd rather have something good. *** Fishing this week--not with the musketeer, but with a couple of the musketeers. The fishing wasn't great--I only caught one good-sized bass--but it beat a day at the office. *** On the other hand (as if that fishing thing only took one hand), the fishing and other matters, including but not limited to the weekly tour of duty on the Craftsman warmachine, a day sp...

Before I get to  Solo: A Star Wars Story Speaking of enterprises of great pith and moment (and that's not meant to be a Star Trek reference), I've hit the 60K word mark on the novel in progress. I still haven't decided upon a title that I like for it. Please feel free to send suggestions for the title of a best selling flintlock fantasy novel to be published this year. I could tell you something about it but that would inhibit your imaginative title suggestions. I've found that writing dialogue is how I discover my characters. The characters ask questions that I had not previously considered. Answering those questions helps develop depth and motivation. Action scenes are fun to write, but conversation is the fertile soil in which the seed of character is best sown. *** Aside from the writing, which went extremely well, the week included a game with these figures from Bronze Age Miniatures and the musketeer figures that I've posted earlier. It was Barsoom mee...

I am enjoying viewing via Vidangel The Last Kingdom series. I finished the last episode of season one this week. There were many annoying points in getting to this season finale, including, but not limited to, Uhtred losing his head and doing stupid things in anger so that Alfred can react by imposing a ridiculous punishment--such as having the only two competent commanders in his army fight to the death. Fortunately, an attack by the Danes upon Winchester prevented the completion of the punishment and both Uhtred and Leofric survived to become key players in Alfred''s defeat of the armies of Skorpa and Guthrum. I read Bernard Cornwell's book of the same title upon which the series is based several years ago. It's a whole series of books but I only remember reading the first book. I was reading it at the public library during my lunch break. We moved away, and I can't remember if I got to finish it or not. I would like to read the series, albeit more cheaply tha...

Before the irregularly scheduled episode of Combat! , a few words from a book I'm reading. Just because I may not agree with the statement, doesn't mean that I don't find it humorous. L'âge, incapable d'embellir, efface du moins les différences excessives qui séparent la beauté de la laideur. À cinquante ans, ce qui reste d'une femme laide est bien près de ressembler à ce qui reste d'une jolie femme . – Le Loup Blanc . Paul Feval. Combat! Season 1 Episode 10: ”I Swear by Apollo” The wind is blowing fiercely. The squad is headed into some trees. They come (like children through a wardrobe) past the shaggy limbs of a coniferous tree. They escort a Frenchman who is carrying a roll of papers. He’s obviously NPC number one. Saunders tells them that they’ll go in single file, staying in his footsteps, as the area may be mined. They spot some cloister nuns from a nearby convent working in a cemetery. Is it an omen? Saunders says their job is to get ...

There is a story to tell about the Craftsman war machine. The vast expanse of herbage remains unmowed; the story, therefore, remains untold. Instead, I might discuss the discussion that I led today after the regular instructor called to ask if I would take his class. The text message came while I was laboring with the latest mechanical manifestation of the war machine's taciturnity. I agreed. I enjoyed preparing for the discussion. It concerned a great story, a story of love and loyalty, jealousy and pride, friendship and fidelity, treachery and terrible carnage--I styled it as what we would've got if William Shakespeare had written Star Wars; it was just that good--meaning the story, not my discussion of it. I did have a terrific time leading the discussion; I can only hope the participants found it worth their valuable time.  That's not what I'm going to write about. I promised a review of Pride of the Samurai   by Kenneth Jorgensen. Let me do it now. I see that I ...

Lost in Space (2018 episode 1) No Spoilers (But with completely unnecessary quotes from Shakespeare's Richard II -- in italics) After viewing the first episode, I have mixed thoughts about the show, but " To be a make-peace shall become my age ." I was thrilled to see Toby Stephens in the role of John Robinson . I remember him from one of the James Bond movies, and from Vexed in which he played the charming and hilariously politically incorrect male chauvinist DI Armstrong. Naturally, I was disappointed to see, in this first episode at least, that he was relegated to fulfilling the role of the ineffective father who is only allowed to think and act for himself when his wife (some kind of scientist/engineer/astrophysicist/geologist/etc is unconscious); even then, it's the whining son who proves more useful than the father. It's as though John Robinson is forced to say, " I am disgraced, impeach'd and baffled here, Pierced to the soul with slander...