StanleyWheeler

  Time traveling with Rachel McAdams was the theme for the week--at least as far as movies go. Two movies blipped onto my radar recently: The Time Traveler's Wife and About Time .  In both films, Rachel McAdams plays the object of the time traveler's affections. In The Time Traveler's Wife, the time traveler has no control over when and where he is taken. He is taken to significant times in his or his wife's life. He actually meets her when she is a child. Although that's the first time she meets him, it is not the first time he meets her--because her life progresses in linear fashion, while his jumps about in time. In addition to the complete lack of control over when, and when, his leaps about time also pull him without purse, scrip, or clothing. It's a very touching film. The lack of control and the spotty knowledge of the future add to the emotional impact. Eric Bana plays the time traveler.  I give it 5 out of 5 time warps. In About Time , which I watched ...

  I'm a winner! It's official. On an unrelated note, I just learned I won a drawing for five signed books in one of Dave Butler's give-away deals with Mike Kupari, Patrick Chiles, and J.L. Curtis -- I believe that only makes 4, so perhaps I've missed someone. Anyway, I'm stoked to get my autographed copies. For those of you with bilingual abilities, let me say, Color moi completement steauked. Yesterday's mission was to water the yard. Long story. I won't go into it. I did get a couple more chapters written on my dystopian thriller which I've tentatively titled The Shrinking Zone , but it has nothing to do with laundry. In that story, I'm about to loose the next group of complications. The first set of troubles haven't been solved, but it is often the case in life that new troubles arise while old issues continue to fester--plus (#writing tip!) it makes for a better read when the problems come faster than the solutions. If you haven't got a l...

  Author Interview with Thomas K. Davis  Author of The Versatile Layer Series Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. I’m currently editing the final novel in my Versatile Layer series. It’s been a long road to get here but it was worth it. Where did you get the idea for this book or series? I was just daydreaming at work most days and the story started to play out in my head. Character conversations. A space colony with an Art-deco aesthetic. The conflicts started to take shape. Before I knew it, I had to start jotting down notes. Eventually I had the first chapter of the Versatile Layer saga. I just had to figure out how to write a book. Do you write in more than one genre? I’ve only worked on my 9-book series thus far. Which is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy story. I have an idea for a comedic action book about vampires that I’m ironing out at the moment. Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention. My dia...

  The battle of Leipzig continues.  The French lost a squadron of light cavalry when the horsemen charged a band of disorganized cossacks only to be intercepted by some fresh Russian cavalry. The Russians eliminated the French and carried through into more French horse, but were turned away. Although the French artillery generally bested that of the Allies, cossacks did take out that forward battery which had stymied them on the previous turn. The rest of the cossack division launched a series of charges against the French infantry which had been behind the artillery unit--and were all turned away--although Napoleon had to use one of his special re-rolls to keep the brigade from going down beneath the cossack lances. French artillery eliminated one of those cossack units before it could get out of range during its retreat. The Russian soldiers drove the French from Wachau after fierce fighting. The French troops in Liebertwolkwitz took damage from Allied artillery but still tu...

  The battle of Leipzig continues with four turns completed. The Allies lost two more artillery units. One to a daring charge by Polish cavalry, another to counter-battery fire. On the Allied left, they drove the Poles out of Markleberg but could not press an attack on the right against Liebertwolkwitz with anything other than artillery fire as the Allied infantry was too disorganized to advance. The cossacks made a series of charges against a forward French battery in the center, but could not carry the position.

 Interview with Madilynn Dale Author of The Fae Shifters Series Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. I am currently working on a new series that will feature a strong female main character. She has a spunky personality and discovers that she isn’t a normal wolf shifter, but a hell hound shifter. Where did you get the idea for this book or series? The idea for this book series came from a dream I had one night, and I have mixed in a bit of flare to enrich the story. Do you write in more than one genre? Yes, my books could fit into three or four different genres including fantasy, romance, paranormal, and adventure. Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention. My books feature strong female characters or women who use their voice. I feel like they empower others who are scared to step up and share their thoughts or stand up for themselves. I also include strong ties to family and friends who are as cl...

  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right to the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." It's fitting--imperative even--that we remember these words from the Declaration of Independence on this 4th of July, this Independence Day, as we celebrate and commemorate the great Declaration--as John Adams foresaw. John Ferling, in his book Independence; The Stuggle to Set American Free , recounts that the great triumvirat...