As promised, I continue on my thoughts that ended Tuesday with the question: is a Them what makes an Us? I mean this on many levels, both from the question of the possibility at all of a single over-arching government to the very creation of social cliques. I am sure somewhere in here I’ll address [...]

So, I recently have had a small idolization affair with General Sherman.  Not that I am by any means actually endorsing the actions the man took or the political theory he exhorted of Hard War, no.  But, there is something almost romantic about him.  He is legend, if a dark one.  Almost a hundred and [...]

Even a mediocre fictional world has some traditions and concepts in it.  They may be ways of saying hello, ways to mourn the dead, or ways to celebrate the seasons.  They could be religious rites or secular party customs.  And, for an author, one of the greatest moments is when those traditions jump off the [...]

So, one thing I always think about when I’m coming up with a world to write in, and the story I want to write in it, is what kind of civilization is there?  I’m not much a fan of the video-game disparity much of fantasy and SFF genre has.  It’s like, they had so much [...]

As my own family is in town today, I feel compelled to talk about the literary complications that can come in including family in a story that “doesn’t need them.” (isn’t that a short and sweet introduction?)