StanleyWheeler

Fun Fact: (From Chapter 16 of Dan Jone's Crusaders )  In 1147 Manuel Komnenos of Constantinople was wary of sleepover the leaders of the 2nd Crusade, King Conrad and King Louis, had planned at his kingdom.  Conrad and his 50,000 arrived first. Manganeios Prodomos, a Byzantine poet, described the Germans as Gadarene swine. After a serious mishap in which Conrad's army camped on a plain between two rivers, both of which flooded during the night, washing away men and supplies, Manuel assisted them across the Bosphoros.  Conrad split his force, sending half along the coast under the command of his brother Bishop Otto, while he took the rest on the road to Antioch--one of the lesser known Hope and Crosby films. The route took him through the Turkish kingdom of Mas'ud. The Turks deployed light mounted archers to attack and retreat in flying raids to exhaust the heavy cavalry and then descend upon them with the sword. In a short time, survival became a serious issue for the Germ...

 I'm posting off schedule because I received this Raconteur Press email and liked it so much, I decided to post it on this blog. It's fabulous! Book 2 of Stan Wheeler’s Accidental Adventures boys adventure series released this month! Let’s take a look at that action! Two brothers. One dead wizard. And a spell nobody warned them about. Twins Chris and Kenny only meant to walk through the giant fallen log at the end of Grandpa’s trail. Instead, the world explodes into fire and thunder, and they crash-land in a medieval kingdom on the losing side of a war. A dying blood mage summoned them on purpose, and now Chris is expected to take his place. There’s just one catch. In this world, magic is paid for in blood. Every spell Chris casts — fingers of fire, a flick that stuns, a stone that breaks locks — opens a fresh wound. They call it the mulct, and the bigger the magic, the bigger the price. Meanwhile Kenny is handed an enchanted sword and mail shirt and told he’s a knight now. Rea...

  Fun Fact: More 2nd Crusade:  (From Chapter 15 of Crusaders by Dan Jones) Although not part of the 2nd Crusade's proclaimed goals, at about the same time, turmoil in Sicily allowed its fall. Roger II to establish himself there, blending the Muslim influence with the other existing cultures. Likewise, Bernard of Clairvaux authorized the Danes and Saxons to crusade against the Wends near their own lands rather than traveling to join the fight in the Holy Land. Additionally, Lisbon was an important port with links inland via the Tagus; it also had important shipping connections with West Africa. Pope Eugene favored fighting the infidel at every opportunity and approved a plan by Alphonse VII of Castille and Leon to attack on the western peninsula. With the Almoravid Muslims occupied by a Berber rebellion, Alphonso saw an opportunity. Lisbon was also a natural stopping place for crusaders coming from England and Northern Europe by sea--looting along the way would help fund the c...

    Accidental Wizard released this week. From the back jacket: Chris and Kenny wanted an adventure. They should have been more specific. One step through an old fallen log and the twins are hurled into a kingdom at war--where a dying wizard has just spent his life summoning them. Now Chris is a blood mage, and every spell he casts tears his own skin. Kenny gets a sword that never loses and a shirt that turns blades aside. They'll need both. A dragon-sorceress is coming. Her army is already crossing the desert, and the only thing that can stop her is a staff hidden since Merlin's time--guarded by blood wolves, trolls, and a traitor who wants the boys dead. Two brothers. One impossible quest. No way home until it's finished. It gives away a little more of the story than I would've, but it should arouse interest in the story. You can get it here:  ACCIDENTAL WIZARD is on sale this month . (Note this is an affiliate link whereby I or Rac Press or someone may receive some ...

 A ghost from the past formed in the smoke as the candles went out. A scene from Accidental Wizard - preorder now. Available September 11. Twin brothers walk through a fallen log and land in a kingdom under siege. The wizard who pulled them across dies doing it, and Chris — the one with blood on his cheek — is handed the dead man's job. His first lesson is a knife across the palm and a chandelier he has never been taught to light. For parents and teachers: roughly 48,000 words across 31 short chapters, first person, alternating between the two brothers. Book 2 of the Accidental Adventures series, and it opens with enough context to be read on its own. No romance, no crude language. Worth knowing going in: the magic system runs on the caster's own blood, and Chris carries wounds through most of the book. ACCIDENTAL WIZARD is on sale this month . (Note this is an affiliate link whereby I or Rac Press may receive some commission on qualifying purchases). The unpacking continu...

    Those of you who have read Threading the Rude Eye may recognize this scene in which Antonio dares the British to do their worst. He, of course, has great confidence in his enchanted ward against British ball--as well as his personal charm with women. Earlier today, I spent a short time Les Freres Corses , and we did one of our talking adventures. (These adventures don't use dice or abilities etc; each participant makes a suggestion of what happens next in the adventure--like being spotted by dinosaurs, making it the ruins, suffering a fall, or what happens when the single lit button in the ancient UFO is pushed--and then everyone votes by playing one of three cards dealt to them to start the game. The suggestion that receives the high card is what happens; and the players each draw another card). Anyway, I'll spare you the turn by turn, but in less than an hour, the heroes escaped dinosaurs, discovered a secret passage into the ruins, activated an ancient starship an...