R.A. McCandless's Blog, page 54
September 2, 2015
Meanwhile, on Malta — Part II
Looks like a good day to be a Knight!On this week of September 1565, on the tiny island nation of Malta, the massive Turkish army was at their wits end. The goal had been to take the island and create a staging point for invasion of the rest of Europe. With the entire might of the Ottoman Empire behind the machine that was their army, they aimed at the island. It was believed the defenders would fail in a matter of days, if not a few weeks. Some 48,000 Turkish soldiers...
I'll be in My Bunker
You're denying people their legal rights?Tell me again how you're not a bigot!All other arguments aside (most of which don’t matter at all), the biggest reason that people should be upset with Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis is not her hypocrisy, her contradictions or her personal history. It should be that, because of bigotry, she is refusing to do her job.
That's where this starts and ends. Whether or not she has a personal "moral objection" or even a "moral obligation," he...
August 28, 2015
Cosplay, Cupcakes and Kids
Not cupcakes—frosting delivery systems!Recently, I was asked if I wore a costume or did any cosplay. I said I didn’t, and offered that I have kids as the (biggest) reason. Immediately, my logic was challenged:Having kids precluded you from wearing a costume or cosplay?
With a heavy sigh, I offered the following and though you might enjoy it:
Yes, I have kids, which means that the majority of my free money goes to them (after all the necessities are met). You see, I’ve never be...
August 26, 2015
Meanwhile, on Malta
This week, in 1565 on the island of Malta, the massive Turkish army (about 48,000 strong) attempted to take Fort St. Michael. The defenders, who had lost nearly half their original strength of 8,000 total soldiers, were divided as to strategy. The Council of Elders had voted for retreat, but Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, the Knights of Malta, vetoed the vote. The Turks made many minor assaults and sustained bombardment of Fort St. Michael...
August 24, 2015
Swimming in Southern California
Why yes, I was a lifeguard. Why do you ask?It may not shock you, knowing that I hale from not one but two desert states, that I’m not much of a swimmer. I can swim, my mother insisted on that (thanks mom!), but I’ve never really liked swimming.Partially, this is due to the fact that 99.44% of the pools I swam in (and still do) are wholly heated by passive solar energy—if it’s sunny, the water gets slightly warmer than a deep freezer. Partially, getting all wet never really a...
August 22, 2015
Blade of the Destroyer - Guest Blog by Author Andy Peloquin
A faceless, nameless assassin. A forgotten past. The Hunter of Voramis--a killer devoid of morals, or something else altogether?
Blade of the Destroyer by Andy Peloquin, is dark fantasy with a look at the underside of
Not just dark, but grimdark!human nature. We all have that voice in our heads, the one that fills our mind with dark thoughts and tries to drive us to do dark things. What if the only way to silence that voice was to kill? If that was the only way to find p...
Blade of the Destroyer by Andy Peloquin, is dark fantasy with a look at the underside of
Not just dark, but grimdark!human nature. We all have that voice in our heads, the one that fills our mind with dark thoughts and tries to drive us to do dark things. What if the only way to silence that voice was to kill? If that was the only way to find p...
August 21, 2015
Cover Release - Postponed
It happens to everyone, right!?Bumps in the road. Fallen trees. A mudslide.Life throws you little obstacles from time to time, and they’re (mostly) no one’s fault (thanks Obama!).
So here’s mine (and possibly yours)—I’d thought that the cover for Hell Becomes Her would be releasing in less than 24 hours. I was wrong.
It’s not a big delay, but my publisher and my cover artist and I were all working frantically to make certain everything came out correct. Covers are import...
August 20, 2015
Sorcerer to the Crown - Review
Book and dragon!If Jane Austen were alive and writing Napoleonic urban fantasy, it would be “Sorcerer to the Crown” by Zen Cho. Well-crafted characters move throughout a landscape that is at once magical and very English.Cho’s story is the adventure/drama/mystery of Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers who is struggling with both his social and magical positions. While a member of the Empire and its foremost magician, he still finds that he as often judged...
August 17, 2015
Book Review - Blade of the Destroyer by Andy Peloquin
Is this a dagger I see before me?My friend and fellow author Seth Chamberlin wrote the following book review.The Last Bucelarii Book I: Blade of the Destroyer, by Andy Peloquin from J. Ellington Ashton Press, is like no fantasy book I’ve ever read. Being a huge fan of antihero characters, the story of the Hunter appealed to me right away. It also deals with demons and tons of realistic fighting with a dash—or bloody splash—or two of magic tossed in, which is also totally my grizzly cup of tea...
August 11, 2015
A Tale of Two Writers—Or How I Came to Write in the Horror Genre
Who let you out and where is that next book!?This is a story about inspiration and perspiration. It’s a well-known maxim that no author writes in a bubble. Our entire history, up to and including when we are actually writing effects our writing. Everything, including our mood, the weather, the way the leaves rustle lightly in the soft breezes outside our window as we stare into the aether and hope, pray and beg for inspiration can become part of our writing.Two years ago (or...
