One of the perennial topics in these parts goes something like this: “I’ve signed up for a talent show. What should I do?” Let me make a suggestion, under the rubric “everything old is new again.” In Jean Hugard’s Silken Sorcery (1937), the last chapter describes the Stillwell Silk Act. Here’s what Hugard says: CHAPTER XII THEContinue reading “A Complete Silk Act”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
In the Mageworlds
So there we were in the Republic of Panama, living in downtown Panama City rather than on base. We were big science fiction fans, and there was only one importer of English language books in the country (Servicio Lewis) and they only got new books once a month, and their SF list was …Continue reading “In the Mageworlds”
Circle of Magic
Speaking of which, a bit on the origin of Circle of Magic. Those middle-grade novels started off as paragraphs and pages that Debra and I wrote to each other before we were married while I was in the Navy; she in Philadelphia, me off in the Med on USS Savannah (AOR-4), she in grad school. Continue reading “Circle of Magic”
Pirate Books
After Debra’s death, as you might expect, Google Alerts started going nuts. I had alerts up for her name and various of our book titles and the hits kept coming. One such led me to Locus Online: School of Wizardry (1990) launched the Circle of Magic series and had sequels Tournament and Tower (1990), City by the Sea (1990), The Prince’sContinue reading “Pirate Books”
Debra Doyle, PhD [30 November 1952-31 October 2020]
It is with great sorrow that I report that Debra Doyle, my beloved bride of 42 years, died this evening at 1841 hours. She died of an apparent cardiac event, at home, in my arms. Update, 01NOV20: GoFundMe for funeral expenses (organized by Pippin)
JAMES D. MACDONALD 