StanleyWheeler

 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...

   Saturday lifted its savage muzzle to chase peaceful night from the sky. I confronted the day without fear. Fate drove me. On this day I hearkened to the call--the plea for aid against the hundreds of thousands of green beasts engaged in sieges of the family manors.  The day brought heat--that sharpest of darts--and hurled it in increasingly intense volleys as the it extended the battle from morning into late afternoon. I eventually prevailed because my heart was pure and I had the strength of ten. Also, I wore a hat for most of the day until the last half hour when I switched to a miracle cooling cloth that I soaked in cold water and tied around my head. _______________ The play is done. After a month or three of rehearsals and seven performances over two weeks, I have a hunk of my life back. As always, it was a ton of fun. The entire cast was able to repeat one of my lines: "Yeah, that's a great idea! Isn't that a great idea? Can I see a show of hands of everyone who ...

  Interview with J.V. Hilliard Author of The Warminster Series   Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. Vorodin’s Lair is the second book in the Warminster series, an epic fantasy tale that combines sword and sorcery, a new fantasy realm and epic battles to sweep readers from the treacherous cliffs of the Dragon’s Breath Mountains to the shores of scholar city of Abacus. It is a continuation of the story of Daemus Alaric, a low Keeper from the Cathedral of the Watchful Eye, as he and his allies set out to face the menace that threatens their very existence. Where did you get the idea for this book or series? Shared experiences from my various Dungeons & Dragons campaigns have always been at the heart of my work. If you are a TTRPGer, I’m sure you get this. Playing D&D with friends and family scattered through several decades really generated a lot of ideas that I could mesh into  The Last Keeper , but also allowed me to go off sc...