StanleyWheeler

   It's pretty good, but I think it's fake. This email praising my work, I mean. This time the praise is for Crisis in Fire and Snow - the most recent novel in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series.  Hello Stanley Wheeler, AMAZING! AMAZING! AMAZING! I recently came across Crisis in Fire and Snow , and I simply couldn't resist reaching out. What immediately captivated me wasn't just the enormous scale of the conflict, but the way you seamlessly blended history and fantasy into one unforgettable adventure. The idea of the American Revolution unfolding alongside dragons, ancient powers, and fierce mythical creatures created a world that felt both familiar and completely original. I especially admired how the story balanced massive battles with deeply personal struggles, from Alex and Lucette's fight for liberty to Akram's determination to rescue his son despite the dangerous pull of the dragon stone. Those emotional stakes made every confrontation feel me...

 Interview with Alice Ivinya Author of The Kingdom of Birds and Beasts Trilogy   Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. My current work in progress is The Widow and The Beast, which I'm hoping to get back from my copy editor next week. The book is bursting with folklore, especially Scottish and Norse. Some of the creatures I've included are seriously freaking me out! Did you know in the north of Scotland, there is still so much fear around the Nuckelavee that they only have started speaking its name out loud in recent years? As a result of these insane creatures, this book is on the darker side, but still focusing on hope and redemption! The story is a retelling of The Water Horse of Barra, with echos of Beauty and the Beast, and is the prequel to four more planned books in the same world in the series, Kingdoms of the Faery Path. Where did you get the idea for this book or series? I heard the fairytale The Water Horse of Barra when I was on...

  I wasn't in Miami when I took that photo; Don Ameche and Betty Grable were no where in sight. I've never seen the movie, but I plan to do so. Spent my first week in Byzantium. Is the incumbent's withdrawal from the race inexplicably tied to my change of residence? It doesn't seem likely as he probably isn't aware of either circumstance. The real adventure here was the quest for cool. I know what you're thinking: Aren't I the High Prince of Cool? (what with Dean Martin being the King of Cool). You're not wrong. Nevertheless, we discovered that the new digs can best be described as an oven stuck on broil. After multiple sweaty and sleepless nights, we determined to bag a window unit. A questing we did go to the land of Octsoc where the AC herds are known to roam. We stalked the aisles in camouflage specially designed to blend in with wandering denizens of the place, yet the quarry eluded us. We at last learned that the big herds that once darkened the ai...

  It's here! Book 6 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series arrives with nearly 350 action-packed pages of adventure. You'll want to make this succulent flintlock fantasy part of your Christmas feast. Click on the cover picture to check it out.  I could go on about this entry in the exciting saga--but I won't. Instead, let me treat you to a few of the comments my advance readers shared as they read the first draft: "Excellent action and dialog."  "The characters from the previous books seem like old friends to me now, and I'm enjoying catching up with their adventures." "Energy and pacing are excellent...The battle portrayed...is engaging and expertly detailed. Lucette's and Alex's hidden efforts and purpose portray the mixed feelings of the two protagonists. General Washington's dialog is stirring." "Wow!! I very much enjoyed these... full of suspense and excitement. I flew through that part chanting 'please let h...

   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 ...

 The tavern after the first meteor strike:  You may recall from this entry that Les Freres Corses had commandeered my tavern set for their game. The photo above is how things looked when we ended after the first meteor strike. I say "first" meteor strike, because when we resumed play the time was again set and a second meteor crashed into the board. The tavern comprises one-quarter of the board. The first meteor struck the quarter by the front door and the associated devastation was thoroughly disclosed in that previous post.  The second meteor crashed to earth next to the north side of the tavern (to the right of the picture). The building took some serious damage with part of the north wall, including the stairway, collapsing. A section of the roof also fell into the tavern. It was havoc amok and a torrent of saving throws. Ultimately, the Darth Vader figure sprang to the back of the large healer bird beneath the chandelier, swung from the chandelier to the balcony, a...

 Some stories, tales, plays, and such are so filled to overflowing, packed down, and heaped high with lines that stimulate the mind and pluck the strings of the soul that they are beyond comprehension--or rather, they exceed the bounds of my ability to recall, my stage of recollection being riddled with portals to oblivion. Therefore, I'm posting some bits from Hooker's translation of Cyrano de Bergerac that I had enjoyed and forgotten.   De Guiche : Let him rewrite a few lines here and there, and he'll approve the rest of it. Cyrano : Impossible. My blood curdles to think of altering one comma. De Guiche : Ah, but when he likes a thing, he pays well. Cyrano : Yes--but not so well as I--When I have made a line that sings itself so that I love the sound of it--I pay myself a hundred times. De Guiche: You are proud, my friend. Cyrano : You have observed that? ___ Cyrano : To sing, to laugh, to dream, To walk in my own way and be alone, Free, with an eye to see things as the...

      I may have to work this into a cover for book 6 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series. It captures some of the excitement in chapter 5. I'm still in chapter 6, but the cataclysm that is chapter 5 reminded me of some important turning points in the series. The tower fight chapter of Threading the Rude Eye changed everything that followed. It led to Lucette's increased importance and set up the sequel to that fight in Clamorous Harbingers . Another critical point that profoundly influenced the rest of the story was a struggle in the snow involving Akira, Alex, and Roberts. The Awesome Train blew its whistle and pounded right through what I had planned, bringing terrible consequences for the central characters. I think Power to Hurt and Truth in Flames were free of violent, story-transforming events in that the events and characters adhered to the main plan--which was already at def=con level Phenomenal. Oh, I almost forgot. The whole Iago thread in Promise of Car...

  Author Interview with  Crystal Cherie  Author of The Divine Houses series  Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. My current WIP is book 2 of my newest, Modern Fantasy series, The Divine Houses. After everything that’s happened in book 1, Robin thought life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're only half human, your best friend is dead, and you can suddenly control the power of life and death? I’m really excited for this particular book, and I like the series a little more with each book that I write. ( I note that since Crystal responded to this interview in October 2021, she has completed book 2 and is working on book 3 ) Where did you get the idea for this book or series? I got the idea for the series based on a character I had dreamed up in my head for a while. I also combined a couple of my favorite fiction worlds: Harry Potter and Sailor Moon. I’d always wanted to write a story involving both magical realism and celestia...