Dusk Before the Dawn

Most histories of World War II focus on North Africa, then the Sicily
and Italy invasions by the Allies. But after the fall of Rome a few days before D-Day, they focus on the Normandy invasions and the push through France to Germany. There was a lot of Italy left, and the Allies forces there held down several German armies, keeping them away from the Russian and D-Day fronts.

James Holland’s 539 page history of the war in Italy from 1944-1945, Italy’s Sorrow: A Year of War 1944-1945, documents not only the Allies and German armies and their battles, but the struggles of the Italian citizens, partisans, remaining fascist government and reforming Italian armies.

Italy at the time faced civil war, two Armies (first the retreating Germans, then the advancing Allies) consuming all the food and resources leaving little for the citizens, a fragmented leadership with mixed messages, and the pure devastation of war (where it sometimes seems only Rome and Florence were spared). It is truly amazing the country has survived.

This in-depth history is presented in four sections: (more…)

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In the summer of 2005, I was about to venture into my third
small start-up company, wrapping up the last items with my previous employer. As luck would have it, my previous employer had offices in Europe, in Milan, Munich and London. We were lucky enough to wrap in a non-business trip to Greece, including the island of Paxos around my visiting the European customers and offices.

I was hiking around that island one day, being pursued by thoughts of start-up company financing, when I came across a large villa, facing out across the Adriatic Sea towards Italy. Wouldn’t it be great, I mused, if there were a nice angel investor in that villa who would like to invest in this next venture?

What if he were an Italian drug smuggler?

That was the genesis for my new novel, Software by the Kilo.

But it wasn’t until last November, several years after that first trip, that the novel was finished, with a World War II back story that tied the original start-up plus Italian drug smuggler story line together.

It is no coincidence that the book is released on December 2, the anniversary of “Little Pearl Harbor”, the bombing of Bari, Italy in 1943, which ends up as a pivotal setting in the novel.

Of course I had to add in that one of the Italian henchmen loves Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, and that led to the body count game…

I never thought it would be more than three years between novels; obviously Stephen King I’m not, in more ways than just output. But I’ve enjoyed thoroughly the writing process, getting the pieces of the story to fall into place, bouncing ideas off of friends and fellow writers. The voices in my head never shut up, so my therapy to keep what little sanity I have left is to keep putting them down on paper.

The book is available at your local independent book stores like The Twig in San Antonio (now in the Pearl Brewery!), Books Inc. in California, BookPeople in Austin, Murder by the Book in Houston, Katy Budget Books in Katy Texas (if they don’t have it, stomp your feet and ask them to order it, please), at Amazon (.com and overseas), Barnes and Noble, and other outlets.

If you have any questions or feedback before, during or after, please let me know. More info on the novel is here.

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Thanks to Paul Levinson and Robert Flynn for the excellent quotes, and Kenny Manchester for a great cover. The novel should be available in December.

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I’ve been doing research for my next novel, Software by the Kilo and have always had a strong interest in World War II. Part of the novel takes place in Italy in World War II, one scene in particular during the bombing of Bari, Italy. Few people are aware of this bombing, which at the time was referred to as “Little Pearl Harbor”. As with Pearl Harbor, the Allies were caught completely unawares, this time because they were certain their airforce owned the skies over Italy. There wasn’t a single German bomber shot down, and the pickings were easy because the Allies had lights on in the harbor to speed the unloading by working at night.

There was mustard gas on one of the US Merchant Marine ships, the John Harvey which was destroyed in the bombing. The gas was being transported to Europe to be kept if needed for retaliation in the event Hitler used chemical weapons. This fact was covered up by both the US and British governments for a while, and it contributed to the deaths of many civilians and servicemen.

The table below compares Pearl Harbor with the bombing at Bari. (more…)

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With many people in our democracy cheering the Iranians and their marching in the streets to ensure that their last election was indeed fair and democratic, I cannot help but wonder how much influence the fact that Iraq is  holding apparently fair and successful elections right next door has had on the Iranians and their thoughts about their own rights. I certainly do not claim to be an expert in the region or its politics, but Iraq and Iran, long nemesises, have seen a recent thawing out in their relationship and one would assume the Iranians (both the government and its people) are watching the democracy next door with interest.

Not much has been said about this probably because the U.S. and the media (and frankly most of us voters) are in a “Bush hating mentality” at the moment, and don’t want to acknowledge that a change that he and his administration inflicted is having an impact upon the world that many support.  No matter the methods (and a couple of decades ago, few people would have batted an eye if the CIA had taken out a dictator), Iraq now has democracy, certainly supported by the U.S. but still one of the few democracies in the region and the only one who has had recent bloodshed with Iran. (more…)

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While waiting for Riordan’s next Percy Jackson novel The Last Olympian, readers can get their Percy fix with this collection of short stories and interviews. While short (133 pages excluding pictures, puzzles and a Last Olympian preview), the collection (called ‘auxiliary book’ on Mr. Riordan’s blog) features three short stories and five ‘interviews’ with some of Camp Half-Blood’s most famous campers.

The three short stories:

• Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot - Percy helps Clarisse, when her half brothers, the demigods Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror) take Ares chariot, which he had entrusted to Clarisse.
• Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon - Beckendorf, from the Hephaestus house, and Percy are on the same side in a Camp Half-Blood capture-the-flag game. Beckendorf sees giant ants hauling off a bronze dragon head, made by Hephaestus house long ago to protect the Camp, and charges. Percy gets captured by Annabeth and Silena, who are on the other side of the game, allowing Beckendorf to get dragged into the giant ant hill. Annabeth, Percy and Silena (who has a thing for Beckendorf) decide to put the bronze dragon back together so they can resue Beckendorf. More Percy and Annabeth clumsy courtship in this story.
• Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades - this is the longest of the three short stories, and it appears that it will be released on its own in the UK. Percy is reunited with Thalia and Nico, and the offspring of Poseidon, Zeus and Hades go on a quest to recover Hades stolen sword. The sword has one of Hades’ keys in the handle, which would allow the bearer to resurrect the dead from the Underworld…even Titans from Tarturus.

For the kids, there are puzzles at the end, and short interviews with the characters, plus pictures of the gods and half-bloods. An intro chapter from The Last Olympian is included, showing the Percy is going to get into trouble not only with Titans but with girls (Rachael and Annabeth).

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When people are recommending SciFi/Fantasy books to non-SciFi/Fantasy readers, books such as Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card or movie tie-in books are listed. Because of how seamlessly the science fiction is interwoven into the multiple story points, and the inclusion of Shakespeare, Proust and other literary authors and their creations, Dan Simmon’s Ilium and Olympos should also be on that list. My only caution for the new reader is that Simmon’s books are long (the hardcover Olympos is 690 pages), contain complex plots, and do not always answer all of the questions that the prose poses.

The Ilium/Olympos duology examines a world where mankind has given into to the temptation to play Gods, where humans have evolvedphysially into ‘post-humans’ technologically capable of terraforming Mars and transporting the Greek/Troy war and warriors from the past onto that terraformed battlefield.

After reading the extraordinary Ilium, which ended after several hundred pages with more questions left, I was concerned that the sequel Olympos would not live up to the high bar Mr. Simmons set. I found the writing in the second tome just as good, the story lines equally well laid out….my only slight concern is the ending. I’ll try to present my thoughts on that later without spoiling the ending.

Spoilers after the break for the ending of Ilium. (more…)

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When our newly seated President has to be the adult in the room and tell the American public to be more self-reliant and responsible (excerpts at the end of this post), it certainly makes one worry about how far the American public has fallen away from our core values. At the very least he appears to be walking the talk, taking responsibility for some poor cabinet nominations (or at the very least, some horrible background checks by his staff).

Recent events, especially hurricanes in my near vicinity, have brought to the forefront that Americans (or at least Texans!), when we have to, are quite self-reliant, and very good at helping thy neighbor. The image burned in many minds of Hurricane Katrina is the picture of people sitting on their suitcases outside the SuperDome awaiting Government rescue…quite the opposite of self-reliance. It may be a media perception of national media coverage versus local media, but those type of pictures were not evident in the Hurricane Ike disaster…though there were many of people helping each other.

The fact remains that many in our country took the President’s admonishment that we need to take care of ourselves as something new and revolutionary when in truth it is, as he says, part of the core principals our country was founded on. (more…)

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Of the three main young adult series I have read (Twilight and Potter being the other two), Riordan’s is faster paced, funnier and brings out more history/mythology than the other two. Very enjoyable and highly recommended to adults and kids alike. As with the other two series, the Percy Jackson series should be read in order. (Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, Titan’s Curse)

With Thalia (daughter of Zeus) joining Artemis and the Hunters at the end of book #3,  Percy (son of Poseidon) has a new concern with the discovery at the end of book #3 that Nico is the son of Hades. Though he was apparently born before the agreement between the ‘big three’ (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades) to have no more offspring, he and his now dead sister Bianca’s past is vague and unknown to them.

The campers/heroes of Camp Half-Blood know that Kronos’ army (led by Luke, son of Hermes and ex-camper) will attack, probably through the Labyrinth, created thousands of years ago by Daedalus. During a camp game of capture the flag, Percy and Annabeth stumble upon an unknown entrance to the Labyrinth that is inside the Camp’s protective barrier. Since Annabeth, as a daughter of Athena, has studied the architecture and the architect, she is chosen by the Oracle to lead the quest to find Daedalus and enlist his aid against the impending invasion. (more…)

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In this third book in the series, Thalia, daughter of Zeus, brought back to health by the Golden Fleece (her essence was put into a tree after she saved Luke and Annabeth, two other half-bloods, battling monsters getting to Camp Half-Blood), is the latest complication in Percy’s life. A prophecy says that a son or daughter of one of the big three (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades) could bring down Olympus on their 16th birthday. With Thalia back on the scene, either she or Percy (son of Poseidon) could fulfill that destiny.

With the battle with the Titans looming, the search for allies and more heroes expands. Grover (the satyr) finds two half-bloods, Nico and Bianca di Angelo, at a school, being stalked by a monster. Percy, Annabeth and Thalia launch a rescue, and are then themselves rescued by the goddess Artemis and her Hunters. During this final battle, Annabeth is apparently killed by the monster they were fighting, and the goddess Artemis goes hunting one of the monsters (as she is the goddess of the hunt) and is also lost. (more…)

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