I belong to a lively online Historical Novels discussion group in which authors engage in lots of discussions ranging from how one researches historical novels to selecting book titles. Recently someone started a discussion about whether or not we authors should be politically correct when writing historical fiction. The result was …
It’s tough enough to go into battle with a weapon. Imagine doing so without one! But that’s what Desmond Doss did during WW II. He was a conscientious objector and served as a medic during the Battle of Okinawa. His actions one day saved the lives of 75 of his …
Today I am turning my blog over to Elizabeth Vaughn, a fellow contributor to the American Free News Network. She has penned an excellent piece that focuses on the corruption of the American government–specifically the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, and the State Department, all of …
What would happen if the Political Correctness and Cancel Culture Fanatics decided to rewrite a few 19th Century fairy tales to make them more suitable to the pliable minds of children in the politically correct 21st Century? I shudder to think. But someone already has thought about this, and I …
Vladimir Lenin, the man who in 1917 created the now-defunct one-party socialist state called The Soviet Union, understood how critical education is in molding pliant minds. “Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted,” he once said. Lenin knew that …
A long time ago, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Kansas editor named William Allen White wrote an editorial in the Emporia Gazette entitled “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” In it, he railed against obtuse populist politicians and visionless citizens who he was convinced were running Kansas (my home state) into the ground. …
When I learned that Olivia Newton-John had passed away at 73 Monday after a 30-year battle with breast cancer, my mind returned to January 29, 1990, when I had the privilege of meeting the renowned singer and spending a little time with her. Olivia Newton-John was in Tokyo for a …
Anybody who writes, whether amateur or professional, at one time or another, will suffer from the dreaded condition known as WRITER’S BLOCK. It is an unavoidable component of the writing life. Many writers have devised distinctive remedies for this constipation of the brain. They range from running as far away …
This is a post I shared a couple of years ago. It deals with how much different life was in the distant and not-so-distant past–something of which anybody who writes historical fiction constantly needs to be aware. Enjoy! When I taught journalism and writing classes at the University of Illinois, …
I am reposting a piece I received recently from This Day in Aviation. (https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/). It tells of Hollywood Legend Jimmy Stewart’s last combat mission — leading a flight of B-52’s out of Guam and over Vietnam back in 1966. I bet many people have no idea of this man’s incredible …