So there’s this book, and we’ve been tinkering with it, trying to get it all just so. Is it perfect? Of course not. Not by a long, arcing shot. There are typographical errors in the text. There are flaws in the formatting. The only thing that keeps either me or Pretty Publisher from spiking the … [more]
Carol (out of season)
6-March-2011 by 3 Comments
“Spirit! Do not leave me!” —Ebenezer Scrooge (Chas. Dickens), “A Christmas Carol” What happened on Christmas Eve was odd enough that its strangeness persists still in reminding me of the unpredictable salvageability of human nature, and the omnipresence of . . . something. Whatever spirit it was, it moved them. It moved us. … [more]
Rain Dog
5-March-2011 by 6 Comments
Someone told me I should go take a walk. It was as good a suggestion as any, and the dog always appreciates it. The ides of March competed with my oversized puppy for Pissing All Over the Alley honors. Hunching along, mumbling at the grey rain, I wished I’d had the forethought to bring along … [more]
Bangstick
21-February-2011 by 2 Comments
I like my rifle. It’s a fine piece of gear. When I was a private long ago, the army issued me a tattered old M16A1, late Vietnam era issue, stamped with the maker’s mark of General Motors Hydramatic Division. It was so loose and wabbly in its action that it wouldn’t cycle more than three … [more]
Mortar Sunsets
6-December-2010 by Leave a Comment
E-mailed SEP 04, FOB Freedom, Mosul Mortar sunsets are like harvest moons: gold, orange and red competing in radiant firepower. On any day, there is dust. Mortars just add that last touch of kaleidoscopic finery. A few minutes ago, someone—”Ali Baba,” or bad guy—dropped a mortar round square onto FOB Freedom’s washing facility. Wounded In … [more]
Been there, done that… no t-shirt
28-November-2010 by 3 Comments
I blame Kathleen. She and Charlie throw the best Halloween<slash>birthday parties, so naturally we’re obligated to attend for the momentary elevation above our lowly (literary and otherwise) station that’s in it. Go ahead, parse that sentence. I dare you! Now you know my dirty secret: I took just enough high school German to confuse myself … [more]
Re joys
20-November-2010 by Leave a Comment
This is the day that the LORD hath made We will be glad and rejoice in it, and rock the house! Hand in hand will I walk, with the partner of my choosing Whom G-d also hath made, like as like in His image The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: How … [more]
Stoplight Epilogue
5-November-2010 by Leave a Comment
26OCT 05, United States of America We were almost home when a round number fell out of the radio. I put my hand up to my mouth, remembered that I don’t smoke anymore, and put it back on the steering wheel. The traffic light ahead flashed to red, and we all stopped together. Looking straight … [more]
"Jack Lewis takes the overall literary crown with his new book...there’s a lot more to Lewis’s work than what it feels like to ride motorcycles.” — Ultimate Motorcycling
"Insightful and from the heart ... a driven and much recommended look into the mind and conflict of the next generation of war veterans. " — Midwest Book Review (Reviewer's Choice)