Gettysburg 150th Anniversay!

Do you enjoy the smell of black powder in the morning? How about over 10,000 reenactors facing off for a three day battle bent on historical accuracy? Did I mention that there’ll be cannons? Lots and lots of cannons.

This July 1^st marks the 150^th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg! During this landmark occasion I’m flying back east to Gettysburg itself in order to take part in a large-scale reenactment commemorating the most pivotal battle in American History. Men and women from all over the country, and the world, will be travelling there to take part in what is sure to be a historic event in its own right. Many more will attend as spectators.

Reenactors portray Union and Confederate soldiers, as well as civilians. I myself fight for the North. How about you? If you could partake in this historical reenactment, which side would you choose? Yankee? Reb? Or a civilian caught in the middle?

Wish me luck…it promises to be a chaotic, loud, intense, exhausting, memorable, and fun weekend!

The Summer Solstice!

Ready for the first day of summer? Prepping for BBQs, outdoor activities, or maybe fireworks? Or perhaps you’re more into the spiritual side of the solstice as observed in cultures around the globe.

Today is officially the first day of summer and the longest day of the year! In places like Stonehenge and New Grange the sun rises and casts light through these structures in mystic ways intended by the ancients. I myself will probably be relaxing in my backyard garden and hanging out with friends. I’ve been a bit lax with my blogging lately due to a new job and hanging out with my six-month-old son, but I’m hoping to get back into the groove of posting regularly again now that summer has begun.

What are you doing with your longest day of the year? Or if you’re in the Southern hemisphere, what do you do with your shortest day of the year? Any summer activities on your to-do list?

Immaterial Evidence Release

Today, I'd like to announce the release of my fellow blogger and talented author's newest story in print, Milo Fowler's Immaterial Evidence. Check it out!

A detective with a price on his head. An invisible criminal with nothing to lose...

The vault door never opened. The bank went into lockdown in less than a minute. Yet the security footage was unmistakable: a hundred silver bars had simply vanished.

Ever since the city’s most dangerous crime boss put a price on his head, private investigator Charlie Madison has lived as an exile in Little Tokyo. But now an old friend and police sergeant has lured Madison back into the city to hunt down an invisible criminal—if he can.

As Madison makes his clandestine return, high-profile people start disappearing. And when federal agents swoop onto the scene to take matters into their own hands, they offer Madison a deal he can't refuse—as long as he agrees to work with them. With Japanese freedom fighters and refurbished killing machines threatening to take the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust, the United World government needs all the help it can get.

Embroiled in an unimaginable mystery, one private eye must rely on his wits to solve a case where the evidence is immaterial, and the odds are stacked high against him at every turn.

Beach Bum on Central Coast

Sorry that I’ve been absent for the last week-plus from the blog-o-sphere. My family and I took a much needed vacation down to the Central Coast and spent a week at Pismo Beach. It was our first big road trip with the baby and needless to say we had a great time.

If you’ve never been to Pismo Beach or the San Luis Obispo region of the Central Coast, I strongly urge you to take some time off and head down there. The weather is great, living expenses are cheap, and the people are some of the friendliest I’ve ever met. The “SLO” life as it’s called is a great way to chill, relax, and forget about the stresses of everyday life.

So where do you like to vacation when you need to decompress? Any favorite haunts where you go to reinvigorate yourself? How do you prefer to get away from it all?

Civil War Weekend

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Ever been surrounded by a few hundred rifles and a dozen cannons all going off at once? Have you wanted to go back in time and relive an era of history?

This weekend I took part in the annual Gibson Ranch Civil War reenactment in the Sacramento area. Needless to say, wearing wool in ninety degree heat and lugging around a hot musket are a great way to get some exercise on a warm spring day. It was also great getting a chance to take some shots at some Rebs (I fight for the North), and to see old friends I hadn’t seen in a while. This is but one of the many ways I not only relive history, but do research for my historical writing. This weekend alone I learned how to disassemble/reassemble an 1860s rifle and some other things I could never have learned in a book. I had to do it for myself.

So what are some ways you research for your writing? What are some places you like to go or things you like to do that enhances the authenticity of your work? 

May Day

Do you celebrate May Day? Odds are that you or someone you know does. It’s all about enjoying springtime and the coming summer days ahead.

The first of May means many things to different people. In Celtic culture it’s Beltane, which kicks off the warmer time of year and the fertility rites (think Mists of Avalon). In England people dance around the maypole, and in Russia crowds celebrate with a parade. Other parts of the world use May Day as a time to protest any grievances they may have, and today in places throughout the third world they’re doing just that.  

So how do you plan to celebrate the first of May today? Hang out with friends or maybe read some Arthurian May Day-oriented literature? Perhaps you’ll start your own May Day tradition?  

Alpha Cities

Do you live in or near an Alpha city? Perhaps you worked in one once? How much of the economy, politics, and cultural aspects of your local community are affected by one of the world’s top alpha cities?

Less than 50 cities worldwide are known as “Alpha” cities in that amongst these few dozen metro areas the majority of all human commerce, cultural influences, politics, and even relative human populations reside. I’m always interested in how people interact with each other on a global scale, and living/working in a major Alpha city (San Francisco), I’m continually curious about how these major metropolises effect the ever converging mix of human cultures. Some of the most important Alpha cities you probably already know, cities such as New York and London, but everything from Beijing to Sydney are up there as well. See where your nearest urban city fits in on the list here.

So what are the unique cultural aspects of the place you live? How does its economy, politics, and unique way of thinking effect the way you live your life and write about it? If you could live in or near any Alpha city, which would it be?