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In the Time of the Flash: 5th novel in The Book of Ruin series is out

In the Time of the Flash: 5th novel in The Book of Ruin series is out

The fifth novel in The Book of Ruin series, IN THE TIME OF THE FLASH, is out in E-book and paperback. The story goes back to the beginning, when a series of powerful coronal mass ejections hit Earth, frying much of the planet’s tech infrastructure. The world doesn’t...

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THE LAST SKINWEAVER — 4th novel in The Book of Ruin series is out

THE LAST SKINWEAVER — 4th novel in The Book of Ruin series is out

The fourth novel in The Book of Ruin series, THE LAST SKINWEAVER, is out in Ebook and paperback. The novel is about Roge Callan, who to escape his father’s despotic claw, changes his name to serve as a sergeant under a banished RangerKnight. They live among former enemies, the Skinweavers, who seek help to find a path out of their barbaric tribal past. But the benevolent Widow Witches and their sentient Yetis have gone missing, and only someone with Widow Witch blood can find and rescue them. Unbeknownst to Roge, he has the blood and is the League of American Castles’ only option.

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“I wish i were a WOMAN THEN I COULD TOO BE THE GREATEST PILOT WHO EVER LIVED IN ALL THE GALAXY”

“I wish i were a WOMAN THEN I COULD TOO BE THE GREATEST PILOT WHO EVER LIVED IN ALL THE GALAXY”

While waiting for my publisher’s proofreader to challenge my editor’s changes to my latest manuscript, I have had time to reflect on a reader’s review of my first novel, The Book of Ruin. The reader wrote, “JAYZUS! I wish i were a WOMAN !!!!! THEN I COULD TOO BE THE GREATEST PILOT WHO EVER LIVED IN ALL THE GALAXY!!!!…This book was SO FCKNG BAD, I stopped reading at Page 12 and returned it (sic).”

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We WEIRD People: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar

We WEIRD People: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar

The rise of Christianity undermined tribal or clan societies by stressing loyalty to the Church over kinship. Getting out from under stifling kinship traditions fostered openness to outsiders, trade, innovation, new institutions and greater economic prosperity. However, humans naturally yearn to be members of a tribe or extended family. In his book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, Sebastian Junger claims native Americans rarely ran away to join white society. Emigration always seemed to go from the civilized to the tribal. He also points out that cohesive and egalitarian tribal societies do better at mitigating the effects of combat trauma than does “modern society.”

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Like Viruses, Languages Are Forever Evolving

Like Viruses, Languages Are Forever Evolving

In the Book of Ruin novels, I portray a post-apocalyptic world that emerges from our modernity. I enjoyed speculating about what would be different and familiar, forgotten and remembered. I am surprised, however, about what depictions upset readers… A reader recently took issue with another aspect of my worldbuilding – that the English that NATO Americans spoke in Germania evolved into a separate language called American.

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Earth’s changing magnetic poles

Earth’s changing magnetic poles

In my BOOK OF RUIN science-fantasy series, superflares from the sun inundate the world, crashing electronics. Endless solar storms prevent electrical machinery from being repaired. Humans are thrown into a “medieval” dark age.

A magnetic field produced by the Earth’s rotation around its liquid iron core usually protects the planet from solar winds and coronal mass ejections. That is why life on Earth thrived and did not on Mars, which has no magnetic field. However, solar storms at times have broken through this magnetic swaddling, allowing its currents to ravage electrical machinery.

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The demise of smokeless gunpowder

The demise of smokeless gunpowder

In my first two novels, society has forgotten how to manufacture smokeless gunpowder. Firearms are mostly black-powder muzzle-loaders, and cartridges are unreliable. Because black powder is dirtier and can cause modern guns to jam if not explode, most would not be practical in the world I created. However, a couple of my readers disagree. They believe the ability to make smokeless gunpowder and use and make modern guns would survive a collapse of civilization. (Yes Don, somebody else thinks like you).

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The Revenge of Geography

The Revenge of Geography

Foreign affairs expert Robert Kaplan wrote in his book, The Revenge of Geography, “…while geography does not necessarily determine the future, it does set contours on what is achievable and what isn’t.” British journalist Tim Marshall stated the same theme in his book, Prisoners of Geography. He wrote, “…ideas and…leaders…must all operate within the confines of geography.”

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Historical Note

Historical Note

In 1859, one of the largest solar storms on record struck earth. Known as the Carrington Event, the storm damaged telegraph systems in Europe and North America. Sparks leaped from telegraph machines, shocking operators and setting papers ablaze. A Pittsburgh telegraph...

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