Jeffrey K. Walker's Blog, page 16

Why I Love Shakespeare

I’ve used a favorite Shakespeare quote in business correspondence several times over the years. It’s from the first act of Julius Caesar: There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. Admit […]

Santa’s Got Nothin’ on Befana

[This marks my 100th post since starting this author’s blog in February 2016. Since that first post, I’ve written over 130,000 words here, in addition to two novels, most of a third, and a fourth underway. To those of you who have against your better judgment become Faithful Readers, many thanks for your support. I hope […]

My German Kid

As I was just out of the shower yesterday, my wife, Kay-Kay, said, “Hand me a roll of toilet paper from the closet, please.” My immediate response was, of course, “You need TP for your bunghole??? Heh. Heh, heh.” Which is hilarious if you were ever, like me, a devoted fan of “Beavis and Butthead.” […]

Off the Grid

Whether due to climate change or supremely bad luck—like those people that live in “100-Year Floodplains” and find their houses underwater every three years—we’ve had our second multi-day power outage in the last two months here on The Peninsula. This being the Commonwealth of Virginia—and don’t you dare say “State”—we rightfully assume everyone everywhere knows […]

But Did He Really Mean It?

It is widely held in legal lore that it was common practice right up until the 19th century for lawyers, when drafting pleadings or other legal documents like wills, to be paid by the word. This perverse incentive led, surprising no one, to Very Long Documents Indeed. Why use one word when ten will do, […]

Zen and the Art of Water Watching

(Another Grand Writerly Week at chez moi! We found out Wednesday that my first novel, None of Us the Same, is one of ten semifinalists for the Goethe Award for Historical Fiction, given out by Chanticleer International Book Awards. And since the award is dedicated to an Important German Writer whose name no English-speaker can […]

Candy Is Dandy

With Thanksgiving behind us—and having survived the Hunger Games of Black Friday—it is officially The Christmas Season. Really. Although you may be forgiven for imagining that the season began after Halloween, what with all the Big Boxes clearing out their “Seasonal” shelves and the appearance of those Double White Chocolate Peppermint Stick Venti Lattes. But […]

Flyover Country?

[So this happened last week. My second novel, Truly Are the Free, was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2018 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. This is kind of a big deal because the Writer’s Digest awards are Very Top Shelf. My novel was selected for this honor out of 2,300+ books judged–last year they awarded a mere […]

Voices from the First World War: Ned Tobin

Today, 100 years have passed since the guns fell silent in France, marking the end of the First World War. The Great War. The War to End All Wars. Since I’ve been writing historical fiction set in that era, I’ve commemorated this tragic and momentous period by dedicating my blog each week to the voices […]

Voices from the First World War: Johnny Barlow

On the 11th of November, 100 years will have passed since the guns fell silent in France, marking the end of the First World War. The Great War. The War to End All Wars. Since I’ve been writing historical fiction set in that era, I wanted to commemorate this tragic and momentous period by dedicating […]