Tag: The Middle East

Thoughts on the recent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

For the last couple of days, I’ve been going back and forth on whether to write this post. It’s not something that’s directly in my wheelhouse, and few things turn me off to other writers and artists more than when they feel a need to publicly post their every knee-jerk reaction to the political issues… Continue reading Thoughts on the recent escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Trope Tuesday: Eagle Squadron

You’ve got your standard mercenaries: hired guns who fight for money.  Then you’ve got your fighting for a homeland types: mercenaries (usually) who used to have a cause to fight for, but now all they’ve got is each other, and maybe the hope that someday they’ll find a new homeland to replace the one they’ve… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Eagle Squadron

U is for Universal Translator

In science fiction, whenever two characters from different planets or different alien races have to interact with each other, they almost always speak the same language or have some sort of universal translator that magically makes them able to communicate with minimal misunderstandings.  This is especially common in Star Trek, though it happens in just… Continue reading U is for Universal Translator

Trope Tuesday: Mexican Standoff

In a typical standoff, such as a hostage situation, two characters face off without immediately shooting at each other.  One or both of them may be using a human shield, or be reluctant to shoot first for fear that the other will take them with him.  A Mexican standoff, however, takes that up to a… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Mexican Standoff

Teaching English and other future plans

I got my flight plans today from the TLG people in Georgia!  I’ll be flying out next week from JFK, connecting in Kiev and arriving at Tbilisi Wednesday afternoon.  On Monday, I’ll take the train down to my aunt and uncle’s place in New York city and spend a couple of days with them before… Continue reading Teaching English and other future plans

The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran

AL MUSTAFA the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth.  And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielol, the month of… Continue reading The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran

Desert Stars sample chapters now available!

I just formatted the prologue and first three chapters of Desert Stars in epub, mobi, pdf, etc.  You can download them for free with the following links: Download EPUB Download MOBI Download PDF Download MS Word Download html Download .prc The samples are taken from the current manuscript, so the editing might be a little… Continue reading Desert Stars sample chapters now available!

Trope Tuesday: Recycled IN SPACE!

Or, as my friends at Leading Edge would say, IN SPAAACE!!! The basic idea behind this trope is that setting a story in space makes it cool and different.  The tvtropes article focuses mainly on how this trope is used in children’s cartoons, but it actually goes much wider.  In fact, most space stories are… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Recycled IN SPACE!