Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Sorceress: Chapter 10 Excerpt

“Good day, lovely piesmith,” said I, bowing at the waist.
“Good day, Sir.”
“Might I inquire whether that pie is bound for an inn or perhaps the market?”
“Indeed it is neither, Sir.”
“Then might I purchase it?” I asked.
“Might I ask first your name, Sir? You seem to be a man of heroic bearing and noble manner.”
“You are very perceptive, my pretty piesmith, for indeed I am Eaglethorpe Buxton, famous storyteller and adventurer. Really of late I have been more of an adventurer than a story-teller, for though my tales of the great heroes and their adventures have been repeated far and wide across the land, I find myself having even more wondrous adventures than any of the characters in my stories. Still, the appellation, which is to say the name of Buxton and of Eaglethorpe, is best known for stories so I still introduce myself as first a storyteller and then an adventurer.”
“It is so very nice to…”
“Now that I think about it, I should introduce myself as Eaglethorpe Buxton, playwright, adventurer, and storyteller, as my play ‘The Ideal Magic’ is such a success that I am sure I will be doing much more of that.”
“I’m very pleased to…”
“On the other hand, it might seem strange to say playwright, adventurer, and storyteller, seeing as how storytelling and play writing are so closely related. Perhaps one ought not to separate them from one another by placing them on either side of adventuring. And it is worth noting that I have been doing quite a bit of adventuring since writing the play.”
“Do you want pie or not?” she asked, one hand on her hip and the other holding up the delectable object in question.
“Oh yes. Pie please.”
“Come inside,” she said, leading me into a simple but clean little cottage, where I sat down at the only chair at the old but serviceable table.
She very fetchingly began to cut a generous piece of the pie. Though it smelled wonderful, I couldn’t quite place the combination of spices.
“What kind of pie is it?” I wondered.

Mini-Review: 1901 by Robert Conroy

1901 by Robert Conroy
Alternate History is one of my favorite genres to read. Take an event that might have been in history and tell us what would have happened if… Robert Conroy has several books out that take this idea and make good use of it. In 1901 Teddy Roosevelt prevented European nations from interfering in the western hemisphere and established the Roosevelt Corollary. German for one was not too happy with this development and actually created plans for a possible invasion of the USA. This book is the story of what would have happened. It is more than a decent read and is probably pretty close to what actually would have happened, though we’ll never know for sure. The only down side to this book from my view is that the main characters were too much like those in Mr. Conroy’s other book– 1862. Still, this was a good story with a great premise, a fine time period for a setting and TR vs. Germans! If you want to try out alternate history for the first time, you could do worse than this book. If you are like me and will read any AH with TR, go for it.

Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Sorceress: Chapter 9 Excerpt

As Hysteria and Ellwood’s horse drank from the troughs, he and I talked over our options.

“I know you don’t want to leave for any length of time,” said Ellwood, “but you should at least leave for a few days.”

“I don’t see how leaving for a few days will help pie.”

“What?”

“Pie. I smell pie.”

“Oh no,” said he.

“Oh yes,” I replied.

I scanned the little square until I could see that which I could smell, which is to say a pie. A chubby little red-head with a checkered apron and a brown bonnet stood in an open doorway holding a pie.

“Eaglethorpe.”

“Hmm?”

“Eaglethorpe!”

“What?”

“As I have no desire to interfere with the love of your life…”

“I’ve never even seen her before,” said I.

“I meant the pie,” Ellwood continued. “As I have no desire to interfere, I’ll be leaving you now.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have business in Auksavl, but I’ll be back to Antriador in five days.”

“That will be the twelfth night.”

“Twelfth night of what?”

“It will be the twelfth night of this business with the sorceress.”

“Is that significant?”

“Not really.”

“You are so odd, Eaglethorpe.”

Taking Chance

There is a movie out now that you can find in your Red Box or on Netflix. It’s called Taking Chance and everyone in America should see it. It will give you a new perspective on our servicemen and women and the sacrifices they make for their country. If it were up to me, all high school students would watch this film before gradating.

New Story

I decided to set aside Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 2: The Dark and Forbidding Land for a while, despite the fact that I am well into chapter 12. It seems silly to work on a story that at the very earliest won’t be published until a year and a half from now. But rather than start again on any of my half completed tales, I’ve started a new one. I’m already almost done with chapter 2 (it will be 20 chapters long as plotted). It is a steam-punk story and it is based on ideas I got while playing many hours of Rock Band 2. More on this later.

Second Look: Gods Behaving Badly

I did a mini-review about a year ago of “Gods Behaving Badly” by Marie Phillips. I remarked at the time how much I loved this book. It was funny, sad, surprising, sad again, and then funny again. After a second reading, it is still just as good.

Imagine the Greek Olympians were still around today, power diminished, living in London. Though they still do their jobs– Apollo still sees that the sun comes up and goes down, Ares still manages war, and Hermes still delivers the dead to Charon the boatman as well as over-seeing the world’s money– they have little extra power and have to work for their money. Aphrodite has a job as a phone sex operator, Artemis walks dogs, and Apollo has an idea for a television show in which he plays a psychic.

The book is well-researched and the gods are perfectly portrayed. The two main human characters in the story are very real and their relationship is very touching. Most of all, the book is extremely well-written. It is very witty, well-plotted, and the language use is wonderful.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. If you have a love of mythology or fantasy you will really appreciate it.

Mini-Review: Royal Harlot


Royal Harlot by Susan Holloway Scott is not the type of book I usually read. To my recollection, it is one of maybe two historical romance novels that I have read. That being said, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. It seemed well-researched and the characters were realistic enough for the History teacher in me. There was plenty of sex (always a plus) and the story moved quickly along. I wasn’t expecting an intense plot and there wasn’t one, since there rarely is an intense plot to real life people, but the lives of Charles II and his consorts were interesting enough. If you enjoy your History mixed with plenty of heaving, bodice-bursting breasts then this is the book for you.

Senta and the Steel Dragon – Characters


My new series, Senta and the Steel Dragon tells the story of the creation of a colony. Because of this there are many characters in the story– somewhat over two hundred named characters. I can put them into three main categories: main characters, major supporting characters, and minor supporting characters. In each of the three books, I follow four main characters, though not necessarily the same four as in the previous book. These are the characters into whose thoughts and emotions we see.

Senta Bly: Senta is a major character in all books. She is a young orphan girl who becomes the apprentice to a powerful sorceress. (She is the title character for book 3 and the series)

Iolanthe Dechantagne: The head of a powerful and wealthy noble family who leads the expedition to found a new colony in a mysterious land, she is a main character in books 1 and 5.

Terrence Dechantagne: A main character in book 1, Terrence is Iolanthe’s older brother, who everyone looks to as a heroic leader, but who harbors deep doubts about himself and lives with a dangerous addiction.

Zeah Korlann: Originally the Dechantagne butler, Zeah is a major character in books 1 and 5. He realizes his potential along the way to be more than a servant.

Yuah Korlann: Zeah’s daughter is a main character in book 2, 3, and 4, but is a major supporting character in the other books. Hopelessly in love with Terrence, she struggles with her place in the world, and deals with ethnic prejudice.

Radley Staff: Radley is a main character in book 3 and in one chapter of book 5. He is a naval officer on the battleship which transports the colonists. Later, after he retires, he returns to the colony.

Saba Colbshallow: Saba is a minor supporting character in book 1, a young man who works as a gopher for the Dechantagnes. By book 2, he has grown up. He is a main character in books 2 and 3.

You Might be a Bibliophile if…

You might be a bibliophile if…

1. You have more than one bookcase in each room.

2. You spend more time shopping for books than clothes.

3. Sometimes you open a book just to sniff the binding.

4. Your stack of books “to be read” weighs more than you do.

5. Amazon is your home page.

6. You know who Audrey Niffenegger is but have no idea who Simon Cowell is.

7. You named your two sons Barnes and Noble.

8. You think Steven King isn’t so bad looking afer all.

9. You have a book in your hand right now.

10. You hope your favorite book is NOT made into a movie.

The End of Education in Nevada

The lunatic is running the asylum.

State of the State.