Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 16 entries, all of them here in full.
August 26, 2026 · 193 words
Conned Again
I had a good time at Bubonicon, which had a record attendance of over 1000 people. In a few hours I’ll be winging my way to Worldcon in Anaheim, which will be the smallest worldcon probably in fifty years, at under 3000 people. It seems that people from abroad are reluctant to visit the U.S., […]
Read entry →August 21, 2026 · 92 words
Lo! It Is Bubonicon!
This weekend will be the fifty-seventh iteration of Bubonicon, New Mexico’s premiere SF convention, held at the Marriott. I shall attend, and here be my schedule: Friday Aug 21 6:30 PM, Santa Fe Room Reading Saturday Aug 22, 12 Noon Salon G PANEL: THE DAILY POST, WEAPONIZATION OF THE INFORMATION SPHERE. 1 PM PANEL: THE
Read entry →June 6, 2026 · 98 words
Desperation in the Delta
Cat Island, the fifth and final of my Privateers & Gentlemen adventures, has been re-released by Flagship Editions and is available on Amazon. The book is built around the long campaign to seize New Orleans for the British, and allows me to make use of the astounding number of extraordinary characters who were involved
Read entry →June 6, 2026 · 157 words
Creepy Feet
I’ve been walking for exercise the last week or so. Which is not unusual in someone recovering from knee surgery, but I’ve had a foot so swollen that I couldn’t get a shoe on it, so walking was kinda out of the picture. Daily application of compression sox finally reduced my foot to something like […]
Read entry →May 22, 2026 · 118 words
Clear Sky at Night, Fortnight’s Delight
Another fortnight, another Privateers and Gentlemen release from Flagship Editions. These are coming in quick succession! This is The Macedonian, which is the name of a frigate captured by the Americans in 1812, and not a description of anyone in the book. This is the middle book in the Favian Markham trilogy, which op
Read entry →May 8, 2026 · 112 words
Brig to Battle!
Brig of War, the third re-release of my Privateers & Gentlemen series, is now available! Find it on Amazon. Flagship Editions is really cracking on with these. In the last month we’ve seen the release of To Glory Arise and The Tern Schooner, and now a third book is available on the virtual shelves. (If […]
Read entry →May 7, 2026 · 97 words
One Day More
What a difference 24 hours can make. Maybe I should have waited before making my last post. This morning I went to a doctor who specializes in veinology, or whatever the art is called. The first specialist I’ve been able to see. I was scanned again, and the blood clot is gone. Without a trace. […]
Read entry →May 6, 2026 · 444 words
Act of Kindness
A complete stranger bought me lunch the other day. I never met her, and never spoke to her, and she’d left the restaurant before the waiter told me what she’d done. I guess she saw this geezer limping to the table with his cane, then dining by himself, possibly a lonely old pensioner with mobility […]
Read entry →April 11, 2026 · 106 words
Arisen
In what can be best described as a timely arrival, the new Flagship Editions copy of the first Privateers & Gentlemen adventure is now available at Amazon US and Amazon UK. It may be available in Australia and elsewhere in North America, but I haven’t checked. The books will be available on Kindle only, which […
Read entry →April 4, 2026 · 142 words
The Trade Winds Blow Fair
I’m pleased to report that I’ve just sold five books, Not new books, but books decades old. My Privateers & Gentlemen historical from the early Eighties. The sale is to Flagship Editions, a brand-new publisher dedicated to works with nautical themes. Flagship is based in London but the works will be available in North
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