Running down Memory Lane to Russia, Plus Hot Reads and Cool Freebies

Hi Everyone! I hope you are enjoying your 4th of July if you’re in the US, and staying cool if you’re anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. If you’re Down Under, I hope the winter is being reasonably mild and pleasant. Speaking of cooler climes, Facebook is reminding me that ten years ago I traveled by […]

My Chat with Andy Owen About War, Literature, and PTSD, Part I

The New Literary War Hero in the Age of the Global War on Terror (Image from the film “Captive,” dir. Aleksey Uchitel) While this blog was originally focused mainly on my side hustle job of writing and reviewing fantasy, readers may have noticed a certain focus on matters military in recent posts, as in my […]

“Zinky Boys” by Svetlana Alexievich

In “Zinky Boys,” Alexievich weaves together interviews with those who have been affected by the Soviet war in Afghanistan–soldiers, yes, but also doctors and nurses, civilian contractors, and, most tragically of all, the mothers and widows left behind–to create a document that is heartbreaking, harrowing, and utterly damning. Those who ended up in Afghanistan did […]