Gold for New 49ers!

I got out my crusty miner costume for San Lorenzo Park’s 2024 49er Days, meeting with six groups of 4^th graders. I told them about life beneath canvas while searching for gold and also shared my mostly true bear story about Bill, Terry and Michael. Suffice it to say that Terry always survives the bear’s panicked retreat and did so again — six times! I thank able organizers Julia and Fiona for including me in the event!

P.S. I might have mentioned “Joaquin’s Gold”. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QFRCT4N/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MUHK5KC819MC&keywords=Joaquin%27s+Gold+and+other+tales+of+Old+California&qid=1642121544&sprefix=joaquin%27s+gold+and+other+tales+of+old+california%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-1

FREEDOM! C.S.S. Planter’s Last Voyage

C.S.S. Planter’s Last Voyage is now published! I came across Robert Smalls’s story a few years ago and was amazed I’d never heard of him. I determined to do my best to see that other Americans become aware of what he did. I thank Rick Taubold, editor of Fabula Argentea, for including this story in the April 2024 issue and helping to fulfill my quest. I’ve invented some dialog but stuck to the historical facts as best I could determine them — with one major deviation. Fort Sumter never fired on the Planter. I just couldn’t resist shooting off those big cannons in my story, however. I hope you’ll enjoy it. It’s a story of which we all may be proud. https://fabulaargentea.com/index.php/article/c-s-s-planters-last-voyage-by-robert-walton/

Robert Smalls

Berserker Bear is here!

I thank editor Karl Rademacher for including “Berserker Bear” in the Winter 2024 issue of Silver Blade Magazine! Bogerd, my favorite aging Viking, makes another spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to stay out of trouble. When a berserk bear is on the loose, one can hardly blame him for failing. 

Here’s the link: https://www.silverblade.net/2024/03/berserker-bear/

Tall Tale TV produced a Bogerd podcast!

I thank editor Chris Herron for producing this oral rendition of “Bogerd’s Bad Day”. It was published in a print anthology years ago and I appreciate him giving Bogerd another ride!

I’ve long admired San Francisco’s Fritz Leiber, master of sword and sorcery fantasy. His Fafhrd & Mouser were reluctant heroes — rascally, sybaritic and not a little lazy. He often dropped them in over their heads and let them flounder most realistically before stumbling through to victory. I’ve sought to emulate Fritz’s humor with my Bogerd character. Here is the Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_F7GG9HfXk

Here’s the Tall Tale TV website with the print version as well as the recording: https://talltaletv.com/bogerds-bad-day/

Banana Surprise!

Those Steel Magnolias had nothing on my mom. The proof is in the Banana Surprise!   https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2024/01/14/banana-surprise-by-robert-walton-spices-seasonings-series/

Christmas Lights on Your Daily Poem

I have a Christmas poem to share. I thank Editor Jayne Jaudon Ferrer for including it on Your Daily Poem! https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=4670

Quarry Deeper!

Friend and colleague Richard Preston just offered a fine review of my new novella!

Walton’s tale, Quarry, is a look into a future that may well already be playing out. 

The setting is Los Angeles…where gangs of poor youth scramble to find resources for survival in an economy that has abandoned them. However, in this topsy-turvy world, the affluent hunt these forgotten kids for sport. Walton through his twists of plot, that his characters manipulate, attempt to seek accountability for the wrongs imposed on them by the affluent hunters.

Teo, Bob’s protagonist, has not lost his innate sense of “goodness,” acts to turn the tables on the idle and crass wealthy of L.A.  Teo’s “quarry” becomes the target for a clever revenge in his land of promise… Anaheim’s Disneyland. In a sense, Teo (God’s gift) leads his gangs to a victory over dark forces of capitalistic greed and cynicism. The road to victory down Figueroa and La Cienega Blvds is the path of redemption for the gangs and a new life for Teo and his acquired family. In the end, the “hunted” turn the tables… and the hunters become the Quarry.  

Richard Preston      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJ48HJ1J?fbclid=IwAR0zBHviYTYZEODE09C7W6Q8YQAj20JSrH_qpl_0zqJpwjlgBPACpVEra0o