StanleyWheeler

 Before I get to some of the stirring quotes from Daniel Webster, let me share some stirring news of my own. I doubt it will be quoted like Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, but it's almost as meaningful for me. I signed a contract yesterday for the publication of another one of my short stories. I finished and submitted it last month. It will come out in an anthology early next month, and I''ll be sure to post a cover picture and link. In addition, I'm about to finish another short story and submit it for consideration. I'm down to the final thousand words. I had a wrestle before the computer screen about how to construct a satisfying ending from the materials I brought to the project through the telling of the story to the two-thirds point. From that point the story must reach an exciting confrontation, which was already in progress, and resolve the tension the unanswered questions and conflict created. It's always the latter that is tougher to handle. It's easy...

 Sometimes things don't go as planned:   The bugmageddon novel isn't complete, but I did get it nearly finished on Saturday as my fingers danced over the keys while episodes of Magnum P.I. (the good old one) played in the background.  Excerpt from Bugs in the System: Doot triggered the carbine. A bullet pierced the chitinous belly and exploded from the back of the rising centipede. The gun spoke no more. The last magazine was empty. The pede shot forward. Doot swung the gun like a bat, knocking back the crawler. The monster’s many legs held its lower body in place and it thrust again, head and upper body darting toward its prey. Doot took the pitch to the inside and smashed it wide. The novel is deep in the gobsmacking wonderclash. The hammerschlag falls and the streams are crossing. A couple evenings or another Saturday writing session will have it complete for my Skirmish Team's review. Speaking of wonderclashes, hammerschlags, and crossing streams, that reminds me...

  Who can foresee the future or weave it from the past? Who knows what a man will speak or when he'll breath his last? The future lies hidden in impenetrable cloud, while the past, with each expiring second, passes beneath a shroud. The present rests precariously--yet perpetually--on the horns of fugacious dilemma. Where can today's video screen connect with tomorrow's antenna? Show me the pavilion wherein lies futurity's looking glass. Who'll march victorious from the field, and who'll remain cold upon the grass? Murky night obscures the way, so we seldom see beyond today. Tomorrow neither reveals itself nor deigns its secrets to betray.  I may be a mess, but I do shower--that's where the first lines of that mess above came to me. Wouldn't decisions be easier if we could see how they're going to work out? That reminds me, Iago, Atu, and Alex have a discussion about that very idea and the problem of unintended consequences in Truth in Flames , Book ...

  Interview with Kimberly Wilkerson Author of Kingdom of Grace Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. I sporadically post to my blog between juggling a busy lifestyle. The second book/follow up to Kingdom of Grace is coming out by the end of 2022, where you will learn how the 2 nd Kingdom is doing and follow up on Grace’s new prospects. Where did you get the idea for this book or series? It happened while I was rediscovering my spiritual nature Do you write in more than one genre? Yes, however I have only published one book under Children’s/YA Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention. I’m not afraid to present things to children or young adults that they see anyway, so we can have open and age appropriate conversations about them. Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing? I write on what I have experienced, seen, and/or avoided based ...

  Truth in Flames is up for pre-order. It will be available for download in a week. I recommend ordering your copy now . Here's a little excerpt from the book -- used with the author's permission, of course. The formatting got messed up when I pasted it in here. It's a conversation between Rip and Antonio:  Rip said, “We’re after gunpowder. Unless the British are going to welcome us in and hand it over, I don’t expect you’ll have time to make inquiries for a se ñ orita, who may not even be on the island.” “I expect she’s been pining away for me these few years. Probably wasted away to a mere shadow of herself with grieving and waiting for my return.” “So you think she has forgotten the pearl necklace you stole from her?” “Captain, you wound me. She gave it to me. Or she would have if she had been there when I went to her room to find her.” “Her only item of any monetary value.” “I couldn’t have her leaving it. I knew she would want to bring it. I took it so she wouldn’t h...