Author: CaptainJaq

I am a father as well as a world traveling, dog loving, scuba diving, book collecting, writer - currently residing somewhere in Eastern Europe. His words have been spoken by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and Robin Hood, been read by David Copperfield, and criticized by his 7th grade English teacher. He'd like to thank the members of the Academy, although he doesn't know why. In his spare time, he's a university professor and a kick-ass uncle.

The Wolf’s Lair or The Further Adventures of Julia and The Brat

At the Wolf's LairYou gotta love it when a friend bails on ya. You have tentative plans, to meet for a coffee after work then she calls and says she can’t make it because she got a better offer. Fair enough. I understand that. No harm no foul. Of course, to make it up to she comes back with… “so, wanna go to Poland on Saturday and check out a place Hitler used to live?”

This is my relationship with Monika. She’s as good a friend as you can get, even if she does get better offers from time to time. She’s also a great traveling companion and our (mostly) day trips together, from Anykščiai to Tallinn to the one time we went to Finland just to ride roller coasters are all amazing fun – so when she says do you want to check out a place which can verifiably host a placard stating “Hitler Slept Here” who am I to say “no”? Continue reading “The Wolf’s Lair or The Further Adventures of Julia and The Brat” →

Review: Chasing the Moon

Chasing the Moon
Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of the great things about the work of A. Lee Martinez, especially in today’s genre literary world, is that the only thing which connects book to book is that they are all by A. Lee Martinez. This is incredibly unique in a landscape filled with countless series and sequels and prequels and interlocking, shared-universe storytelling which also means two other things: 1) every book requires understanding the particular set of rules inherent and 2) it’s going to be a bit more hit and miss. Continue reading “Review: Chasing the Moon” →

Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

avengers-age-of-ultronAvengers: Age of Ultron, as far as I’m concerned, works. Now, to be fair, I’m a fanboy. I’m predisposed to like it and be far more forgiving than others who don’t know Marvel from marvel. This doesn’t mean I can’t find fault with certain elements (I do) but it does mean I’m more willing to give it a bit of lead. I’m also not so tied to the source material that I’m going to freak out becuase something happened on screen differently than the way it happend in issue #183 of the comic. Intention and execution count for a lot with me, as do target audiences and the desire of the writer/director (not to mention the studio) to please as many people as possible. Continue reading “Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron” →

DAVID • Sense: Tears a Land Hath Shed

1743487_956660147701377_4806392929608365039_nDAVID • Sense: Tears a Land Hath Shed.

It’s May 1st… Spring has sprung and in a few weeks, Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer will be here.

I know we’re going to do this when the day actually hits, but let’s start early and take a moment to remember the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend the rights of citizens.

This is a short piece of fiction I wrote to talk about not only those who have left, but also those who were left behind.

If you like it, please share.

Review: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There’s a short story by Arthur C. Clarke called “The Nine Billion Names of God” which postulates that if you use computers to solve the mysteries of religion, things will go poorly for humanity. Kind of. In Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, author Robin Sloane has updated that idea into a full novel. This time, it’s a secret society of puzzle solvers looking for the code to decipher an ancient text which will lead to immortality. But the idea is basically the same, even if the ending is not. Continue reading “Review: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” →

The GOOD Friend

Shroud spring 2015Got a new piece of fiction published today in Shroud Magazine. It’s a tale of rock and roll, the price of fame and what you do for your friends. It’s a bit of an adult read, so keep it until after the kids go to bed.

You should head over to Amazon and download a copy, then leave a review, tell your friends and otherwise encourage some hot, talented writers.

And who knows, I might even write more.

Review: The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight

The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight
The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight by Winston Groom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh the things you thought you knew…

Winston Groom let’s you know in this incredibly well-researched book looking at the lives of three of aviation’s greatest heroes: Eddie Rickenbacker, Charles Lindbergh and Jimmy Doolittle. Continue reading “Review: The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight” →

Review: Ex Machina

Ex machinaWhat makes us human?

This is a question long posed by science fiction literature and films and Ex Machina is the latest to take a stab at answering the unanswerable. The plot itself is simple. Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a programmer working for a Google-like search engine company called BlueBook. He wins a company wide lottery to spend a week at the home of company founder Nathan (Oscar Isaac). While there, he discovers he’s been set-up and the real purpose of his visit is to “test” an android, Ava (Alicia Vikander) to see if she truly possesses artificial intelligence. This is done through a series of interviews, where Caleb and Ava exchange nuance-heavy dialogue.  Continue reading “Review: Ex Machina” →

ARTS: Neil Gaiman on getting hooked on handwriting – Tulsa World: ARTS

ARTS: Neil Gaiman on getting hooked on handwriting – Tulsa World: ARTS.

Over the past few months I’ve gotten two beautiful fountain pens: One for Christmas and one as a “Thank You” for a favor done. I bought myself a nice case for the two of them and they live in my bag, for use when I need to sign things.

I also have a preponderance of journals and notebooks. I wonder if I should try this? It’d be an interesting experiment for sure. That said, my handwriting generally sucks. And when I had to take the GRE test the hardest thing to do was copy something out by hand.

But still… getting back to the old ways, at least for some things, might not be a bad way to go.

Review: Undrastormur

Undrastormur
Undrastormur by Roger Eschbacher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With Undrastormur, Roger Eschbacher again ventures into the YA territory from his Dragonfriend series – well, not the same world but certainly aimed at the same demographic: Pre-teens just discovering their grown up fantasy worlds. Continue reading “Review: Undrastormur” →

Be Yourself, unless….

Thoughts for a Sunday MorningI know they’re jokes, but I recently had a weird, knee jerk reaction to those posts on social media saying “Be Yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman.” You can replace Batman with any number of other things, from pirates, to fairies, to unicorns to any of a multitude of other superheroes. I used to think these were funny.  Continue reading “Be Yourself, unless….” →

Podcasting…?

Old Timey MicSo I’m thinking about podcasts.

These are the democratization of ideas and thoughts, right? Anyone who thinks they have something to say has an open platform in which to say it. This is the digital version of Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. It doesn’t really matter if you’re right or wrong, no one is fact checking outside of their choice to listen or not.

Like a blog, a podcast can have a specific point of view… or not. It can be published (is that even the right verb?) on a regular schedule…or not. It can make money for the people putting it out… or not. Continue reading “Podcasting…?” →