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November 2025

10/29/2025

Hi, everyone

Best wishes for a great November and a joyous holiday season. Thanksgiving and Christmas are such delightful family days – apparently I am not going to outgrow looking forward to them. Veterans Day is special also. Thanks to all who have worn the uniforms of our country and to all who sustained them when they travelled in harm’s way, welcomed them when they came home, and loved them forever when they did not return.

Not a lot of specific writing news to report this month. As per the note notifying readers that this newsletter had been published, probably the biggest news is the notice that appeared in the Nov/Dec edition of Poets & Writers magazine regarding The YouTube Candidate novel. I am curious to see what impact that might have. The reviews were extraordinary and I am enormously grateful for them.

As also mentioned in the note, the military history Taking Command, America’s Unsung Military Leaders, Innovators, and Difference Makers since World War II, was released in the U.S. on September 2. The publishers (Stackpole Books) were exceptionally gracious to work with, so I especially hope that good things will happen with the book.

In the absence of other news, I’ll use this occasion to respond to requests from readers who have asked for a “cheat sheet” list of published items. A rundown of books is provided below. With one exception, I’ll defer for now on short stories and poems. Some of each of those were published in small magazines that have since gone by the wayside (there were lots of casualties during COVID), or are difficult to track down. Others were published as part of anthologies that are decidedly over-priced (my farm boy opinion). I’ll try to sort through the contenders and if there is enough useful information, I’ll include those in a future newsletter. (For a complete list of all books, articles, short stories, and poems click here to see the “Bookshelf” section of this website.)

The exception I’ll make is with a short story titled Doomsday 3.0 that was published in December 2022 in an iconic e-zine titled “Spank the Carp.” Quite a few readers have asked about it, commenting on their interest/concern/alarm that events in our country may be trending toward the scenario presented in the story. You can get directly to it by clicking here. (The parallels with the present day described in The YouTube Candidate novel have drawn many of the same reactions as those expressed regarding Doomsday 3.0)

BOOKS

A Pilgrim in Unholy Places: Stories of a Mustang Colonel, Heritage Press, 2004

Battlefields of Nebraska, Caxton Press, 2008

Touching All the Bases, Scarecrow Press (Rowman and Littlefield), 2012

Boots and Saddles, Military Leaders of the American West, Caxton Press, 2015

In The Shadows of Victory: America’s Forgotten Military Leaders, 1776-1876, Casemate Publishers, 2016

In the Shadows of Victory II: America’s Forgotten Military Leaders: The Spanish-American War to World War II, Casemate Publishers, 2017

Fire in the North: The Minnesota Uprising and the Sioux War in Dakota Territory, Hellgate Press 2018 (co-author)

The YouTube Candidate, Vanguard Press (Pegasus Publishing, Ltd) 2024

Taking Command: America’s Unsung Military Leaders, Innovators, and Difference Makers since World War II, Stackpole Books, (Globe Pequot Publishing Group) 2025

And now … TRULY AWFUL PUNS

What do you call horse-drawn vehicles owned by the head of the Franciscan Abbey?
Chariots of friar.

I threw my wooden shoes in the toilet.
Now they’re clogged.
** This pun was from one of my favorite daughters. Sad. As I have noted before, we have tried so very hard to raise her properly.

Best wishes, always
Tom

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October 2025

10/2/2025

1 Comment

Hi, everyone

Best wishes for the best ever fall season. For us in the Midwest, it’s most often a neat time of year. The temps here have been cooling a bit and a few trees near us are beginning to change. I’m guessing from the early reddish tinge that they are oaks or maples. (Confession: that’s not dazzling insight on my part – I’m looking at a “cheat sheet” that was in this morning’s newspaper.) Here’s a takeaway for you. The newspaper says “some leaves turn red from anthocyanins, a chemical manufactured from the sugars trapped in the leaf.” I’m pretty sure you were anxious to know that so you could include that information in casual conversations with friends. So … while these newsletters likely tell you almost nothing about writing, now you know practically everything there is to know (or that you care to know) about the effect of sugars trapped in leaves. I know, I know, I can visualize your thanks even as this is being typed.

Actually, starting today, for the first time in a long time, for the next few weeks there will be sort of a break in the action regarding writing activities. Taking Command was released to the world on September 2nd and far as I can tell it is off to a pretty good start. Publicity actions regarding The YouTube Candidate continue as a work in progress. On September 28, I enjoyed being part of an Authors Fair at Crete, Nebraska, (a modest sized town about 25 miles from here). The crowd was not large in size but very interested and there was excellent author representation – children’s books, kid-lit, rom-com, fiction, fantasy, politics, Nebraska sports, and others. I enjoyed the conversations and trading writing and publishing anecdotes back and forth during the course of the day. The fair was held at the Community Center, an attachment to the city library. The library staff, the arrangements, the set-up, and the obvious care and thoughtfulness that went into the preparation were the best that I have experienced. Marvelously done.

And the library itself – WOW! I have been to a few libraries around the world -- this one ranks at the top. The exterior walls on three sides are glass, so there is a marvelous light, airy feel to the building (single story). Multiple conference rooms, and reading areas, all excellently provisioned; an exceptional area for children -- really world class. Crete, Nebraska – who’d have thought? One neat feature that dazzled both Nita and me: a double reading room set against an exterior glass wall. The room is bisected by a floor to ceiling glass fire place; each of the areas has A-List quality sofas and padded chairs. I told Nita that maybe we should consider moving to Crete this winter so we can read by the fireplace and watch as the snow falls outside the glass wall. 😊

The facility adjoins a small circular park ringed with benches conducive –if a patron is so inclined – to reading outside. The building is five years old. The library was just getting launched when COVID hit. The initial worries about possibly having to shut down or lay off staff were resolved in a marvelous way – the staff launched a drive-up service. Readers phoned the library and identified the books or type of books they were interested in. The library staff met them at a convenient door or window and passed the books to them. Instead of having to shut down or lay people off, the place actually thrived during the epidemic. Oh, another neat thing is that they discontinued library cards. If you want a book, just check it out. It seems to be working well.

In the absence of the usual writing news, I really didn’t intend to turn this into an Architectural Digest piece, but it really was a special place – and the people that work there are extraordinary.

Anyway, unless surprises emerge, the next few weeks should be fairly quiet writing-wise. On November 19, my friend, fellow writer, and ofttimes editor, Jeanne Kern, and I are scheduled to handle a class for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Nebraska. It is scheduled as a 90-minute session, with each of us slated for half of that. My plan, though, (which I have not yet confided to Jeanne) is to let her do the whole thing while I sit quietly and smile sagely as she takes all the questions…

So, to wrap things up, the fall season in Nebraska is off to a good start. As I progress further into the sunset years, I have increasingly become a fan of sunrises. This time of year often brings special ones and over the past few days there have indeed been some beauties. The cat and I have enjoyed them immensely. A cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll make them even better. (The cat’s preference changes daily.)

And now, for that controversial and much maligned feature: TRULY AWFUL PUNS

A termite walks into a bar and asks “Is the bar tender here?”

I submitted ten puns to a contest, hoping that one would win the grand prize. No pun in ten did.

Best wishes,
TOM

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November 2025

October 2025

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