Short fiction and nonfiction topics by the author of A Twist of Fate and other books.
16 Aug 2022 2 minute read 0 comments MarkJ011
The first thing to realize about child abuse is that there is no “typical child abuser.” Most tend to be ordinary people, with no history of severe mental illness. Most child abusers are also familiar with the children they abuse, being relati...
16 Aug 2022 2 minute read 0 comments MarkJ011
In 1861, early in the American Civil War, the Union built seven ironclad ships to serve on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The USS Cairo, Cincinnati, and Mound City were built at Mound City, Illinois, while the Carondelet, St. Louis, Pitt...
15 Aug 2022 1 minute read 1 comment MarkJ011
A manager is simply one who accomplishes tasks through the efforts of others, generally because of a position of organizational authority. A leader provides vision to others, and does not necessarily have to be a manager. Considering management-...
15 Aug 2022 2 minute read 0 comments MarkJ011
Fan fiction is fiction based on another person’s characters or fictional world, generally posted or published with other material relating to that world. For example, there are numerous web sites that relate to Star Wars, generally created by fan...
13 Aug 2022 2 minute read 1 comment MarkJ011
In 1878, The Book of Days stated that "Valentine's Day is now almost everywhere a much degenerated festival, the only observance of any note consisting merely of the sending of jocular anonymous letters to parties whom one wishes to quiz, and th...
13 Aug 2022 1 minute read 0 comments MarkJ011
Basically, a credit union is a cooperative created to provide financial services to its members. That says it all, but it makes a very short article, so a bit of detail may be in order. A credit union is a cooperative. This means that it is...
11 Aug 2022 2 minute read 0 comments MarkJ011
The story of Bluebeard usually refers to a story written by the French author Charles Perrault in 1697. In the story, the young wife of a blue‑bearded chevalier is forbidden to open a certain room in their castle. Curiosity eventually causes her to e...
11 Aug 2022 1 minute read 1 comment MarkJ011
The authors of The Book of Days could not find the origins of April Fool’s Day, but one of the earliest references they found was from 1713, where Swift entered in his “Journal to Stella” a plotted April Fool’s joke with two friends. Unfortunately,...
9 Aug 2022 2 minute read 0 comments MarkJ011
Cora stood on the edge of the tower, staring off into the pale blue of the day, watching the wisps of clouds twist and turn a dance of joy in the high winds. One small step, and the building suddenly began to flash past. They say you die...
9 Aug 2022 2 minute read 0 comments MarkJ011
The fight began when one of the priest’s supporters took the doll from her. Jack, crouched in the ferns outside the priory, clenched a fist in triumph. Suddenly he could hear the police breaking up the brawl. Martha, his unwi...
