"A Wandering Warrior" Will Be Published Soon

My newest novel, A Wandering Warrior, has been uploaded to the printer and should be available soon. After I get a proof copy to approve, the book should become available in May. Please look for it then.

A Wandering Warrior is an action-adventure, historical fiction novel to please all readers. In twelfth-century England, a commoner and itinerant soldier, Thomas Beaumont, travels to avenge the cruel slaughter of his older brother while a captive after a battle lost. Along the way, he encounters a band of Travelers and falls in love with the dark beauty, Emalda, the leader’s daughter. In his future wanderings, he finds many adventures involving battles, the rescue of two young ladies of nobility, the search for his lost love, trials of honor by combat, tragedy, new love, and encounters with knights and royalty. 

A 1930s Christmas to Remember -- My entry to short story contest

Today I entered the short story contest at Lulu Press. (It really is for flash fiction because the maximum number of words allowed is only 600. As I understand flash fiction, the term now defines prose pieces between 300 and 1,000 words, although there is no consensus of the allowable upper maximum. Some people place the maximum at only 600 words. Short stories are longer, running 2,000 to 3,000 words usually.)

My story is entitled "A 1930s Christmas to Remember". It is an appropriate story for the holidays upcoming, and it is a good read, I believe. You can download it for free here: www.lulu.com/product/ebook/a-1930s-christmas-to-remember/18646206

I hope you will read it (Did I mention is free?) and let me know what you think of it.

Cheers!

Harry

Today's Shootout Inside the Crowded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

I just returned home from a visit to Uncle Travis and lunch out in Ruston at Captain D's seafood to find where there was a shooting inside the crowded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in which one security guard was killed before the gunman was shot himself by other officers. Law enforcement officials said James W. von Brunn, a virulently anti-Semitic white supremacist, was under investigation in the shooting. Von Brunn has a racist, anti-Semitic website and wrote a book titled "Kill the Best Gentiles," alleging a Jewish "conspiracy to destroy the white gene pool." von Brunn's website has long been listed as a hate site. von Brunn was 88-years-old. (Source: AP Internet article By NAFEESA SYEED and DAVID ESPO - Associated Press Writers) Isn't it amazing that humans are never too young or too old to hate others so passionately.

I wrote a poem that seems appropriate here:

Why Is It So Easy To Hate?

Throughout history, humans
have found it rather easy
to hate other humans.
Hatred excuses killing,
conquering, torturing, enslaving,
and making war against other humans.
It’s amazing how the mind
can justify grounds for hatred
deep enough to allow any atrocity.

One human may hate another human
simply and instantly because:

He is of a different race,
with the wrong skin color,
hair texture, or eye shape,
speaks another language, or
has strange cultural habits –
any of which makes him
inferior and unworthy of respect.

He has the wrong religion.
Untold millions have died during
crusades or jihads to convert or
render dead the nonbelievers.
How can zealots be so religious,
yet so misguided?
"I kill you in the name of God!"

He lives in a different nation.
Chinese versus Japanese versus Korean,
Irish versus English,
Indian versus Pakistani,
– I rest my case.

He doesn’t think or act
exactly the same way,
even a fellow American:
Republican versus Democrat,
conservative versus liberal,
Protestant versus Catholic,
heterosexual versus homosexual,
pro-life versus pro-choice,
Ohio State fan versus Michigan fan,
the rich co-worker with the Mercedes,
the neighbor who plays loud music…
No reason seemingly is too petty
to engender hatred in some people.

How tragic that humans as a species
do not love as readily as they hate.

© Copyright 2007 Harry Gilleland