Drown Melancholy news

 

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 Wheeler

It is unclear whether this is a case of inspiration being found anywhere, or the result of a dare, but if you challenged someone to write a story purely on the basis of several recently popular sea shanties, it might look something like this. Don’t let that sound like criticism, it came out fantastic, and I confess to greatly enjoying the aforementioned songs. The speaker is a cabin boy on Captain Edwards ship at the height of the transatlantic era of exploration, and heard some things he wasn’t meant to. Like any good pirate tale, superstition and the supernatural abound, bordering cleanly upon madness, and even an accursed treasure is too difficult to resist. The concept that sins committed above the waves are punished beneath them is classic, but the author does a great job of cleverly weaving the shanties in throughout the story in a meaningful way. 

See all Seraph's reviews for Cirsova #24 here. 

 

For the record, that story was sort of the result of a dare: There was a call from an anthology for a story featuring a sea shanty. I wrote "Drown Melancholy" and submitted it (perhaps under a different title) only for the the publisher to delay the selection date by several months. Finally, the new date passed and the publisher failed to post any additional information or respond to requests about whether the anthology had been cancelled. After a year of nothing from that publisher, and it giving every appearance of having abandoned the proposed anthology, I submitted the story to Cirsova Magazine with good results. I had fun with  accents for a character or two as well as making the shanty intertwine with the plot. I started with nothing more than knowing which old shanty I wanted to use, and worked out the story and how the song figured in as I went along. Some would call that making it up as one goes along, but I prefer to think of it as plotting and development from the leading edge position.

Plotting and development from the leading edge was also how the story for Accidental Pirates came into existence. I knew it would feature the boys and pirates; the rest developed as the story grew. Coincidentally, the sequel, which I just completed, followed the same pattern. The sequel features the boys, kings, wizards, knights, and a plethora of fantastic beasts bent on the destruction of our heroes.

I have no idea how the sales are going for Accidental Pirates, but it was still in the double and low triple digits in the three categories in which it ranks best.

The bad grammar in the meme could be intentional, reflecting the frenzied mind of the storyteller pictured.

The sequel came out just a little bit longer than the original, but is filled with even more action and adventure. It's a rip-roaring adrenaline rush mingled with intrigue and magic.
 

 

2025 Year in Review

 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 the final story in the anthology entirely appropriate.

 "Seventh Hussar and Aide to the Mage" came out in Wyrd Warfare, receiving special attention for containing the best line of dialog in an anthology filled with great dialog - but the anthology is loaded with action. I got to dip into my love of Napoleonic history and warfare for this story, and the characters, especially Beaujeu were a hit with some youtube reviewers.

The anthology Dames, Derringers, and Detectives includes my story, "Calypso's Count." Cats, or "moggies," are featured in every tale in this noir collection. My submission continues the adventures of Noah Vail/Duncan Kane from my Smoke novel.

 

Editor Nick Nethery again delighted me by selecting my wyrd western "Moonlight Fandango" for the Rawhide Revenants anthology. This is my third published story about Whip and Truth, or Glen Sharp and Rufus Pizzini as they are also known, and their adventures in the wyrd west as cowboys with a knack for supernatural encounters. The characters are fan favorites.

In the Goblin Souk anthology, I again went to the Napoleonic well to explore the supernatural adventures of three infantry soldiers during Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign with "A Soldier's Bargain." Incidentally, a story involving my three Napoleonic cavalrymen who appear in the above-mentioned "Seventh Hussar..." submission also takes place during the Egyptian Campaign, but that story hasn't been published yet.

 

My first story to feature pirates, although they're a different group than those in Accidental Pirates, was published in Cirsova Magazine, issue 24. "Drown Melancholy" reveals the predicament of a boy who has thrown in his lot with a cursed crew on the Spanish Main.

 

Finally, "The Blacksmith's Work" appeared in the Christmas edition of Irreantum Journal. You'll want to check out the paintings and poetry in the collection as well.

 

Of course, I have been working on novels. The sequel to Accidental Pirates is down to the final 5K words, and will be concluded before the year ends--at least one of my proofing team likes the sequel even better than the first entry in the series. I did a bunch of editing and preparing on a novel I submitted for a contest, and in contrast to last year, I had a few stories that didn't fit the needs of the editors making the publication decisions. Those stories may go into a collection of my own.

 

Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle

  

 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. Lasalle and his 500 hussars arrived at the fortified city of Stettin following the Battle of Jena. A garrison of 5,000 and over 150 cannon guarded the fortress. Lasalle pretended the entire French army was with him and demanded the surrender of the city or 50,000 troops would assault the town. His bluff succeeded, and the city surrendered without resistance. Napoleon wrote that if the light cavalry continued to capture fortified towns, he would have to melt down his artillery and discharge his engineers.

Tactical creativity and audacity marked the hussars, and the daring Lasalle was the perfect commander for this flamboyant cavalry. The general was known for his wit, charm, and personal exploits, including affairs and duels; he remarked that any hussar who wasn't dead by the age of thirty was contemptible. Serving in the army of Italy, he was captured and eventually released. Bonaparte elevated him to the rank of major, rather than court martialing him, after he gathered important intelligence by leading a contingent of hussars inside enemy territory to his lover's house. On the way back, his men were surrounded by 100 Austrian hussars. He escaped by leaping his horse over the bridge wall. He led his men through the enemy, became isolated but escaped, wounding four of the Austrians, losing his horse, and swimming the river to rejoin the rest of his men. At Rivoli, his squadron captured an entire Austrian battalion. 

He went to Egypt with Bonaparte and distinguished himself at the Battle of the Pyramids, thereafter advancing to the rank of colonel. At the Battle of Remedieh, he rescued General Davout as he was about to be cut down by Mamluks, cutting off the hands of one attacker and breaking his sword over the head of the Mamluk leader. He restored order and drove the enemy back. 

At Marengo, he served as on of Napoleon's aides-de-camp. 

On an occasion when Lasalle had gambled away a huge sum of money the emperor had awarded him, instead of punishing the general, Napoleon ordered he be given the amount again to pay for his wedding. Napoleon indicated that a prefect could be created with the stroke of a pen, but that twenty years were required to create a Lasalle.

 During the Battle of Heilsburg in 1807, in command of a cavalry division, Lasalle saw Murat in trouble, surrounded by Russian dragoons. He led a charge to rescue Murat, who returned the favor later during the same battle.

After serving in Spain under Bessieres, now 33 years old, he returned for the 1809 campaign on the Danube. At the Battle of Wagram, he sensed that his death was imminent. He sent a petition to Napoleon asking him to take care of his children after Lasalle's death. He wrote a letter to his wife, telling her that his heart was hers, but his blood belonged to the emperor, and his life to honor. On the night of the second day, he received permission to pursue the enemy. Lasalle became separated from his own division, but led a charge of cuirassiers against Austrian infantry. Although he was shot in the chest, the general continued to charge and the enemy broke and fled. However, as the charge carried on, a second shot hit Lasalle between the eyes, killing him instantly.

________________

On the writing front, I remain unwounded in spite of my numerous charges against the blank pages of the battlefield. I have completed 25 chapters of the sequel to Accidental Pirates - just 5 more chapters to completion. Adventure, battle, and a final twist await.

 

 

Carthage Conspiracy

 

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 mage-in-training without a trainer, and Kenny, as a youthful knight with the help of some additional enchantment, on a quest that will determine the fate of two kingdoms - and they still have to get back home. These boys know how to press the adventure pedal to the metal.

This is going in the newsletter, but I can't resist adding it here because it goes so well with Accidental Pirates. It's the pirate hymn. You'll have to see the newsletter for the complete story. Here's the pirate version of a hymn that's popular in some congregations with which I've attended:

 I'll never be able to hear the hymn without thinking of pirates now.

 

 

I recently finished reading Carthage Conspiracy by Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill. A few years ago, my son, my dad, and I went to Carthage to view the scene and hear the tale of the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith at the hands of an armed mob bent on murder. The murders only took a few minutes - it makes it easier when the foxes guarding the chicken coop stand aside to let their comrades in to do the deeds.

The title tells it, and the sources support it. The murders were premeditated and had been no brief time in the arranging. The book goes into the trial, including excerpts from opening statements, trial testimony, and closing arguments. It's a solid read from the perspective of a lawyer and judge. The prosecution suffered many handicaps, and even if the case had been flawlessly presented, a hung jury was the most likely outcome - or would've been had the jury been a true cross-section of the community. There was an incredible amount of animosity by many against the Smiths. A newspaper editor amassed the fuel and pointed the way to create the conflagration. Militia leaders and members became the willing torches for the funeral pyre. If I remember correctly, one of the attorneys for the five defendants even argued that the perpetrators hadn't done anything much of the community hadn't wanted done, so that it would be unjust to find them guilty of a crime.

It's good read. I recommend it, giving it 5 out of 5 smashed pocket watches. If you know, you know.

 

 

 

 

Empire of the East

 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 half books, before I finally finished this one. A post-apocalyptic feudal society is the setting where the West struggles against the demon forces of the East. In Book One, The Broken Lands, Rolf loses his family and, while looking for his sister, finds a tank, among other things. Other players include Chup who sets up Rolf to slay another rebel in the arena--who happens to be the boyfriend of the rebel girl he wants to be sweet on; and Charmian, who is a a beauty with a frightening ability to manipulate men. She's Chup's wife, and the daughter of the local headman for the East. Rolf and his allies, with the help of the tank, liberate the fortress. The battle costs Chup the use of his legs and Charmian flees. Against the sorcerers and demons of the East, the forces of the West also have wizards who control demons. More importantly, they have Ardneh. 

I can't quite remember where Books Two and Three, The Black Mountains and Ardneh's World, begin and end. These tell the further adventures of Rolf, Chup, and Charmian. Chup recovers from his injuries through demoniacal magic and is re-recruited to the East, where he finds Charmian and is about to feed her to a demon, but further complications arise, and Chup escapes to the West, while Charmian escapes to manipulate another Eastern leader to serve her own purposes. The story pours out more information about the demons and many are destroyed along the way. There's a massive healing pool in the mountains and a monstrously huge figure, Draffut who was once a dog. Draffut runs the healing pool and fixes up the warriors of the East to continue in battle against the West until Rolf converts him to the cause of the West and he helps defeat the big bad demon du jour for the East. That must be the end of The Black Mountains.

 In Ardneh's World, the story continues on as East and West strive for supremacy. Catherine enters the story in this book. She was one of Charmian's attendants, and the vile beauty has placed a curse on her. She and Rolf race against the armies and flying lizards of the East to get to Ardneh's stronghold. Chup manages to get captured by the East again and his torture and death is the mechanism by which the most powerful of Eastern sorcerers means to release Orcus, the most baddest, dire, and vengeful of all the demons to work the final defeat of the West. All does not go according to plan. The demon escapes; Chup and Charmian survive; the sorcerer does not. Ultimately, the army of the East surrounds Ardneh's stronghold. Rolf and Catherine are commanded to flee with the remains of the army of the West, and Ardneh succumbs to the forces of the East, taking them out with him.

I can't judge the entire series, because I haven't yet read the final book, Ardneh's Sword. Others have praised Saberhagen's seamless meshing of science-fiction and fantasy in this series. I guess I'm not a fan of that particular blend. I think I would've preferred one or the other. I enjoyed the first book more than the other two. It seems that although Ardneh's demise changed the world, magic will remain and technology will also become available. I don't know. I'm speculating, or maybe I read that in a blurb or it was at the end of the third book. Charmian, Rolf, and Chup were the only characters that were at all memorable. The flying reptiles and the intelligent birds provided good allies for the opposing sides. Frankly, I was put off by the entire demon thing; not an itch I ever need scratched. The showdown at the end of book three might be seen as the ultimate confrontation of magic and technology in which they both lose - but also both win? I don't know. We'll see what happens in the final book.

_________________________

 Here's a review of Accidental Pirates - the first I've seen.

Writing on the sequel to Accidental Pirates continues. I've started chapter 22 and mapped out in my head the events of the remaining chapters. Naturally, there are some details that won't become clear until the ink meets the page - but that's usually where the awesome tends to happen.

 

 

 

 

 

Merlin's Bones

 

 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 of flip over books--two books in one with each upside down to the other, with two covers--I'm not sure, but I believe the King Arthur book was opposite Howard Pyle's Robin Hood. I loved both of those books. In King Arthur, the knights were always fighting and at some point one of them would smash through the other's helmet to bury his sword in the brain pan of the other. In Robin Hood, the hero was always sending a clothyard shaft to its mark. Later, my high school librarian got me a copy of Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur. She found it at a yard sale and thought of me--which, of course, was fabulous. I still have that one and read it again only a few years ago. Other retellings of the tale I've read include Bernard Cornwell's version (books 1 and 3 only because I never found book 2 on sale) which I've discussed here previously. I can't remember the others I've read, but I'm sure there have been others. 

As for Saberhagen's tale, it captured my interest from the start. We have the young Amby and a troupe of performers taking refuge in a mysterious and unfinished castle near a network of caves in which Merlin's bones are hidden. Meanwhile, a woman at some high tech company in the 20th century is left alone at the establishment. A guy named Fisher finds her, and other characters from the legend get involved. She eventually drives an ambulance to Camelot. Amby and the other performers take on roles from the legend while the actual mythical characters get involved as well. 

Although the story grabbed my attention, the longer it went on, the less fascinating it became. Perhaps I should've expected it from the start, but ultimately it became much ado about which I grew weary. I recommend the first three-quarters of the book. Of course, one won't be able to stop at that point and one will then continue to the point that disappoints. Don't say you weren't warned. 

I love Saberhagen's work, at least the portion I've read. My first Saberhagen experience came through a book my mom got me for Christmas: Brother Assassin. Later I read at least the first book of Empire of the East (in fact, I'm re-reading that now and I have acquired the second book as well). I've also read most, but not all of the Swords books. As far as I can remember, I haven't read any of his vampire books. So, I like his style and his stories. This particular one just didn't live up to the high expectations the early part of the story created for me. I give it 3.5 femurs out of 5, calculated as 5 for the promise but subtracting 1.5 for failure to deliver in a satisfying manner.

_____________

Why was I reading Merlin's Bones, even pausing 80% of the way through Empire of the East to digest the bones? Therein lies a tale, or two tales. First, you must be aware that my adventure book for boys, Accidental Pirates, has now become available in paperback as well as ebook--that's the first tale. (While I'm mentioning that, here's an Excerpt from Accidental Pirates). I've been working on the sequel to that exciting tale. In the sequel, the boys go to a land, inspired by the Arthur myth in some respects, with kings and knights and wizards--that's the second tale. I read for inspiration, and got some. I knew reading that would cause me to think of things I did or didn't want to do for my adventure book, which was already half complete, but a twist was coming. I was wrestling with some ideas and reading MB helped me make some decisions. In reading the early part, I favored one angle, but upon completion of MB, I revised my opinion in favor of the original idea I had before reading the book. If that doesn't make much sense, don't worry. It doesn't have to. It's the sausage itself and not the process that is the product.

 

 

Dangers of reading Accidental Pirates

 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 already filled with slam bang action and adventure.  

I think I've been remiss in sharing some fun facts lately, so here's a helping of history:

FUN FACT: 

In 1111, Al-Mustazhir bi-Allah served as Caliph of the Abbasid Empire and spiritual leader of the Sunni branch of Islam. He married Ismah Khatun. In March, she headed for Isfahan to take her place in the Caliph's palace. In February, a delegation of Sufi's, disgruntled merchants, and lawyers from Aleppo had arrived in Baghdad to complain that they had lost that lovin' feeling of support from the Caliph, and they were tired of fighting the infidels who continued to storm, besiege, kidnap, and kill. With the recent loss of Sidon to King Baldwin, they feared Tyre, Damascus or Aleppo could be next dominoes to fall. 

With a total abandonment of gruntle, the delegation went to the sultan's mosque and disrupted the service, driving the speaker from the pulpit and breaking it to pieces. They proceeded to do the same at the Caliph's mosque. The arrival of Ismah Khatsun provided them with another opportunity to totally lose their cool. The Caliph wanted them arrested, but Sultan Muhammad, brother of Ismah Khatun, declared jihad on the infidels.

Meanwhile, the crusader states had their own problems. They were dependent on Europe for their supplies and manpower, and knew that if their enemies ever united against them, they could not hope to hold. 

(The above is summarized from parts of chapter 11 of Dan Jones Crusaders)