Since this is apparently the only part of this somewhat basic website anyone immediately sees, let me announce here that I have a blog at http://andiriel. blogspot.com containing several funny essays (more to come) and excerpts from my books. Please take a look.
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GOLD AND GLORY is now available. See my blog for ordering information.
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I was born in Maine in 1949, studied at Johns Hopkins (B.A.) and Purdue (Ph.D.; fields: military history, diplomatic history, and modern Germany) and have taught at a prep school in Minnesota (Shattuck-St. Mary’s) since 1978. I began writing the Mercenaries books in 2001.
I hoped for traditional publication and was lucky enough to get a fine agent, but even fine agents are not always successful: after being approved by the first reader at one well-known fantasy publisher, Storm Approaching languished on the chief editor’s desk (figuratively speaking) for almost three years (!) before my agent gave up. In response to my proposal to self-publish, he advised me to go ahead, and to send him a copy.*
Storm Approaching is the first in a series. The next are Gold and Glory, Resolution, and The Free Lands. All have been written; they are and sitting on my shelf; each is longer than Storm Approaching. But they can be published only if a number of people buy the first. So give Storm a try. If you like it, buy several and give them to your friends. If you dislike it, buy even more and give them to your enemies.
I have also self-published And Gladly Teach, a satirical novel about a (fictional) prep school, and Miscellanea a collection of eight humorous essays on divers topics (including the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies, kinesthetic learners, and Napoleonic military history). These are available from Amazon or the publishers (AuthorHouse and Lulu.com respectively).
Why do I write? I could quote J.R.R.T. (“The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite or deeply move them”) or I could quote Samuel Johnson (“No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money”). I think I agree with both these masters.
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* He also said that the current big draws in fantasy literature are “vampires, zombies, and werewolves”. I’m sure he’s right; but, however much I regret that there are no such fascinating creatures in Storm Approaching, and however tempted I might be to turn the Pelicans into a regiment of Undead, I will—by golly—buck the trend and publish it as written. |