Jack of Harts

Featured Post
by on January 19, 2024 at 12:02 am
Posted In: Diaries

We found hyperspace in 2105 and the Great Space Race began. Alliances, nations, corporations, and religions reached out for the stars and humanity spread beyond the Solar System. We learned the answer to one of the oldest questions of all time in 2205. Are we alone? They brought medicines with them that nearly wiped out diseases, and extended the human lifespan into the centuries. They helped us study advanced technologies, and we expanded our colonies hundreds of lightyears from Earth. It was a golden age that many thought would never end.

Jack grew up in a world at peace, his only interests, partying and girls. But then an alien sneak attack killed millions of Americans, and wiped out almost everything and everybody Jack knew. He volunteered to serve and kick the alien scum back to the other side of the galaxy. But the Marines wanted more than people looking for revenge, and cybernetic partners demanded a far higher commitment. If Jack wanted to earn his commission as a Marine Corps fighter pilot, he had to grow up. He had to let himself be forged into something stronger than he’d ever wanted to be. He had to live up to the name of his squadron.

The Republic of Texas Marine Corps Fighter Attack Squadron 112. The Cowboys.

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Writing Progress

by on June 1, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I submitted two stories this weekend, started work on a third, and have gone over edits to an earlier story that is approaching publication.

House of Sand is the story I went over edits on. I’m particularly fond of this story, as it takes place in a place I’ve never written in before. The desert. Which of course means completely new enemies to face. And taking place in 1917, it will be only the second Captain William Carter story placed in the 20th century that will be published. And that means he’s carrying modern firearms. 😉

The two stories I submitted are “One Night in No Man’s Land” from the 1870s and “The Battle of Cypress Swamp” from 1815. “One Night in No Man’s Land” is the first Wyrd West story I ever wrote, and has been through a number of drafts over the years. I’m hoping this draft will be good enough to get picked by a publisher. We all love our first born, and I do hope others do as well. “The Battle of Cypress Swamp” was born of a song. Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans.” There’s a line in there talking about taking an alligator and going another round. That ridiculously whimsical line has lived rent-free in my brain for decades, and when Raconteur asked for odd little wars in their Wyrd War 3 open call, I realized I wanted to tell that story. Or at least a story that could have been twisted into that song decades later. It was a lot of fun to write and tickled both my serious and my funny bones in a good way.

And the story I’m working on right now is a Jack of Harts story. I’m taking an old story I wrote for Raconteur long ago and just rewriting it. Taking the original placement scene that I love and going in an entirely different direction. This is one is going to be a pure dogfight story, with Captain Jack doing his thing with starfighters and bringing the bad guys down in a hail of gravitics… oh… wait… most of the battle will be taking place inside a planetary atmosphere, and using gravitics inside a planetary ecosystem is a Bad Idea. So… no gravitics. That will be fine… right? 😉

I hope you will get to see all of these stories soon.

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Spiderman Noir

by on May 31, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I just watched Spiderman Noir after sleeping after my procedure. And after submitting two new stories. I needed to sit down and relax, so I sat down and relaxed. It ended up being a way better series than I expected.

Like much of today’s series, it is more like a weekly network primetime movie mini-series. The old events we used to have on the major networks where there would be a two-hour movie Monday through Thursday telling one story. That’s what these cut down TV series we get now are like. I like them. Good for telling long form stories or book conversions. Not a good replacement for actual TV series, but that is a different discussion.

Spiderman Noir is a good example of the better examples of TV miniseries.

I watched it in color. Yes. I know. But I have to say that they did amazing with the color. It was very technicolor in style. Very Dick Tracy style, where all the colors are brighter and bolder and they really made the colors fit the characters. So if you don’t mind watching Noir style series in color, you will get a great deal of enjoyment out of the color version.

It is very much a 1930s story, and the actors and outfits they wore were perfect for that era. And they played the heart out of the characters. There wasn’t a single character or actor I didn’t love to see on the screen. They were magnificently good, bad, or otherwise, and I loved watching them in action.

Finally, I have got to give a shout out to Nic Cage. He did an AMAZING job playing a spider playing a human. He pulled me in all the way on that, and I loved it.

In the end, I loved the series, I loved the actors, and I loved how it proceeded all the way down to the end. The loves. The hates. The betrayals. From beginning to end, it was a joy. And if they choose to make a sequel, I’ll be all over watching that as well. I may even binge it again.

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Mayo Clinic

by on May 30, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I went to the Mayo Clinic yesterday for a procedure to see why I am having trouble swallowing of late.

It involved me being put to sleep and having a camera sent down my throat to see what is going on.

And since I didn’t wake up from induced sleep the last time, I told them that I sleep during the day because I work at night and that I may not wake up quick.

So the guy putting me to sleep took that into account and gave me a very good dose of caffeine along with the painkillers and I woke up feeling good. Real good.

No pain. Wide awake. Dizzy. Definitely a bit loopy. But wide awake and bushy tailed. Man did I sleep good when that wore off though. And it was good, restful sleep as well.

Turns out they did find something that could affect my ability to swallow right. Nothing super bad. Very early stages in fact. But I expect my doctors will have some plans for me soon.

And I woke up to meet them. That is good.

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Going To Sleep

by on May 29, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I’m going to sleep soon. It’s a procedure at the local hospital and they have to knock me out for it. The last time they did that, I woke up 8 or 9 hours later to some very worried doctors. I didn’t wake up when they expected me to. I work overnights, so I sleep during the day, so my body was totally fine with that sleep. If that is any indication, I don’t know when I will wake up. See you all on the flip side.

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My Friend is Dead

by on May 28, 2026 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

My friend is dead. He had health problems, so he has been dying for a long time. But today he died all the way.

He’s the oldest friend of my life. We met in music department. We wrote music together. There is so much of me that is me because of him.

And the last time I spoke to him, a few weeks ago, he was pointing me to his YouTube channel where he was publishing his music. And I was pointing him to my YouTube channel where my music is. It’s funny how life comes full circle.

My friend is dead, but I will never forget the music.

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