Belisarius II: Storm at Noontide by Eric Flint and David Drake. 859 pages. Baen Books. My daughter Melissa, the English major purist that she is, rolls her eyes when I talk about alternate history stories, as if they were worse that pornography. And I guess it is sort of an eye candy to me, especially … More Review: “Belisarius II: Storm at Noontide” by Eric Flint and David Drake
Two weeks ago, our University Communication Department took its students on their annual Communication Field Trip in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This year, just for a change, we included two historical sites: the Sixth Floor Museum that commemorates the assassination of John F. Kennedy and his tenure as president, and the Holocaust Museum, which talks … More Who Do We Need More: Leaders or Heroes?
Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger. 249 pages. Sentinel. One of the distinct pleasures of teaching at a university is having immediate access to a library that holds a million books. Well, maybe not a million, but a bunch. More than I could ever read. And while waiting for … More Review: “Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates” by Kilmeade and Yaeger
Over the years, I have talked to many writing students and would-be writing students about the joys and challenges of writing. When students ask me what I enjoy most about writing, I tell them that I love creating characters and world that didn’t exist before I created them. The more time you spend on them, … More Falling in Love…Again
Before the launch of Salome’s Charger on Sept. 1, fellow author Céleste and I decided it would be a good idea to introduce the two main characters in our story. Stephanie Sloane is the proprietor of Spero, an antique store in downtown Dallas. Ezra Huddleston is investigative reporter for the Dallas Daily. GR: Maybe I … More Meet Ezra Huddleston and Stevie Sloane
Just in case you haven’t understood the message behind my spluttering for the past few months, I am writing a book! Let me correct myself: WE are writing a book. Famed Christian fiction writer Celeste Perrino-Walker and I are down to the last few days of writing our latest endeavor–a first in co-authoring for me–entitled … More Announcing: 60 Days of Giveaways!
Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S. C. Gwynne. 672 pages. Simon and Schuster. If you were to take a look at my yearly goal of 30 books that I posted on Goodreads, you’d see that the vast majority of books I’ve read so far this year (and I am … More Review: “Rebel Yell” by S. C. Gwynne
I’ve always considered myself somewhat of a coward. I’ve always been a big guy–or a big kid. Knowing this, my mother always instructed me to never fight back, to look for solutions other than physical fighting. When I didn’t fight back in school, some of the guys considered me a coward, and I started believing … More Redemption of a Coward
The Great Adventure 