The author is a recluse with a paranoid fear of social networking who has written for pleasure all his life but lacked time and patience, or perhaps wherewithal, to publish very much. He is hopeful of finding a niche in self publishing.

He is retired from the metal fabrication industry and lives in the foothills of southern California with a wife and two dogs. When not reading or writing he practices genealogy and collects photographs of some rather amazing wildlife. You can the wildlife photos at the author's website. Look for the bear's eye.

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/swskipperauthorpage/home
Blog: https://sites.google.com/site/swskipperauthorpage/blog

adventrue    american historical fiction    argentina    biography    carolina    carolinas    chile    civil war    colonial america    colonial virginia    crime    cusco    easter island    explicit content    falkland islands    fiction historical    genealogy    george washington skipper    gothic comedy    graveyard humor    historical 1800s    humor    humor adult    humor adventure    indians    indians of north america    klan    lima    manufacturing    murder    nansemond indians    nottoway indians    peru    ribald tales    scandalous    south american travel    story based actual happenings    story based on actual happenings    travel    virginia   

Chris Mason
Latest book: The Last Angel & Other Stories. Published on May 26, 2012.

Guntis Goncarovs
Latest book: Convergence of Valor. Published on February 19, 2012. (5.00 from 1 review)
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JT Kalnay
Latest book: G1 Ginny's First Story. Published on May 20, 2012.
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Steve Cerutti
Latest book: The Centurion's Spear. Published on March 17, 2012. (4.00 from 1 review)
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• Mars is a Bummer, Man on July 05, 2011
  
  More than a great short story, Mars is a Bummer is a potent social commentary. The genre being secondary to the message, this novella will be enjoyed even by readers who never consider reading sci-fi. The writing is first class and technically excellent. I look forward to more offerings from Frank Severino.
  
• Becoming Mortal gods on July 06, 2011
  
  Here we have a clever if improbable plot and well developed drama but I was kept from relaxing and enjoying this book by the author's choice of present tense. In my humble opinion a narration ought to be in the past.
  
• The Wondrous Life of a Long-Ago Man on July 11, 2011
  
  As I was reading the sample of this book I debated whether I would buy it or not. After I bought it I debated whether I would finish it or not. It's certainly well written and satisfying but I was thinking that the events were getting a little silly. I'm very glad I stayed with it, however, because when the truth of the tale is revealed it's cleverness is worth it. On a minor note, I didn't care for the choice of font and found it distracting. I find Times New Roman or similar looking fonts more pleasant to read.
  
• From the Shores of Morar to the Estrella on Aug. 11, 2011
  
  In spite of what was said by a self righteous woman in Scotland whose own work is syrupy with unreadable metaphors, I found "From Morar to Estrella" to be a delightful genealogy of the Mc Donalds who emigrated from the Scottish highlands to Nova Scotia and then to Central California. Bill Norin has invested years in combing period newspapers for anecdotal information that not only brings his ancestors to life but illuminates the times and places while revealing his ancestors as saloon keepers, sheep ranchers, wheat farmers and aiders and abettors of the Dalton gang.
  
• Secrets of the Golden Gate Bridge on Sep. 06, 2011
  
  Fact, fiction, humor, nonsense, curiosity, whimsy and scandal in all the right proportion is what you get from The Secrets of the Golden Gate. Knapp has compiled years of serious research and included the craziness he unearthed along the way. An excellent read—you'll be sorry when construction is finished.
  
• The Figures on Sep. 28, 2011
  (no rating)
  At least it was brief.
  
• The Ultimate Guide to Distinguish a Canadian from an American on Sep. 30, 2011
  
  Great little piece of work! I didn't know about the clothesline to Russia but I've been to Canada many times and swear the rest is true.
  
• Center Fire on March 04, 2012
  
  Astounding! One of the best stories I've read in years. It's in league with Daniel Silva and Nelson DeMille. Chris Mason has scored an extraordinary coup with his first offering. I can't wait to read his next. Center Fire is a highly polished spy thriller of mind boggling complexity, flawlessly delivered and as sophisticated as any I've ever read. If spies are your genre, get Center Fire now.
  
• Jazzberry and Fidget on March 10, 2012
  
  Chris Mason is brilliant. Jazzberry and Fidget is more than a children's story, it's a delightful little allegory about the shortsightedness of man that will appeal to anyone with a brain, a heart and a sense of humor. Mason's first offering was one of the best spy stories I ever read and this is the best fairytale. Please keep them coming.
  
• KVSPARROW: A Shadow Wars Novel on March 17, 2012
  
  A very different slant on a spy thriller. Actually, thriller isn't the right tag. KVSPARROW is a textbook. It's a window into the often tedious life of a convincingly real operative. One believes the author really is—or was—a spook. The realism is phenomenal although admittedly less than exciting at times but he warned us of that from the start. Even the sex scene is reduced to "It's nobody's business but ours."
  
• Castle In the Clouds on March 19, 2012
  
  A well crafted book with good character development especially a villainous sister of the main character. It's rather like an episode of Masterpiece Theatre. Having said that, I didn't finish it. It's simply not my style but those who gravitate to this genre should not be disappointed.
  
• The Keeper on March 26, 2012
  
  The Keeper is a haunting tale of Indian mysticism, impossible love, dark secrets and transcendence on the rock face. Written in a telegraphic style it pulls one across a wide terrain of emotional landscapes. When an author knows the reader well enough to make him squirm he has truly found his voice. John Kalnay tells a very potent story.
  
• Havana's Secret on April 07, 2012
  
  Mr. Goncarovs has a first class piece of work on his hands. Havana’s Secret weaves seemingly unrelated events into a convincing explanation of a century old mystery. The veracity of the narrative is uncanny. The reader becomes convinced that he is reading an eyewitness account of the outbreak of the Spanish American War. If historical fiction is your genre Havana’s Secret is for you.
  
• Once More, From the Beginning on April 14, 2012
  
  The Old Testament defined from a feminist viewpoint. I loved every irreverent minute of it. Ms. Bertsch has plenty of wit and a pointed explanation for all those odd passages that you previously had to take on faith.
  
• Convergence of Valor on April 18, 2012
  
  A stunning piece of work. Mr. Goncarovs displays three great gifts: a talent for meticulous research, a fluid, original style and the ability to recreate a period and place. The H.L. Hunley was the first submarine successfully used in war time. It has only recently been recovered from the bottom Charleston Bay, and as one who has seen the wreckage, I can say that I learned more about that bold Confederate experiment from Convergence of Valor than I did from examining the original artifact. As a writer of historical fiction Guntis Goncarovs is first class.
  
• The Centurion's Spear on April 22, 2012
  
  Slick, polished, highly engaging; much in the spirit of Dan Brown but more satisfying and much less implausible. Centurion's Spear has a complex plot that melds modern crises with ancient mysticism. The characters are believable, the text is technically excellent and the book is a bargain. I highly recommend it.
  
• Caumsett on April 22, 2012
  
  J.T. Kalnay has the eerie ability to put names and faces on the demons wailing in our souls. Then he dredges them from the murky past and installs them on Long Island. This paranormal tale pits an very ordinary man against a ghost driven by hundred year old remorse over lost love and betrayal, demonic possession, accelerated aging and his wife. The cards are certainly stacked against Bill Jones. This is an astonishing story that keeps you guessing until the end.
  
• Mrs. Bambi Knows on April 30, 2012
  
  I've said it before—Chris Mason is brilliant. Mrs. Bambi Knows is an easy going story of an anonymous local hero with a dark side. Mrs. Bambi is the advice columnist from Hell who is also a mysterious philanthropic single parent with a bevy of friends who happen to all be lesbians. Confused? Of course you are. That's why you must drop everything and read this book now.
  
• Wild Sands on April 30, 2012
  
  Chris Mason seems to be able to write anything. Wild Sands is his fourth offering none which bear the least resemblance to one another. This is a relationship story wherein we are forced to deal with a single workaholic male who inexplicably refuses to sleep with a gorgeous woman who throws herself at him. Even his father pronounced him crazy. The problem is that he is creeping along the precipice with two women who run a bed and breakfast inn—one beautiful and outlandish, the other introspective and demure. The double bind is delicious. Poor Jason is just not equipped to deal with it.
  
• Scoundrel! on May 10, 2012
  
  “Scoundrel” is the American Revolution through the eyes of the most amoral, self serving, duplicitous, lying, cheating, thieving, ass licking miscreant in American History. General James Wilkinson narrates the war from an insider’s candid perspective. He reveals every wart, defect and wild hair residing on the lily white hides of our Revolutionary heroes, including his own. The story is clever, irreverent, humorous and convincing as it follows the career of a relatively obscure player in the revolutionary drama. You will find “Scoundrel” in the vein of Rousseau’s “Confessions” and Casanova’s autobiography but infinitely more readable. I might go so far as to call it the “Catch 22” of the revolutionary period. It’s a great piece of historical fiction that, were Stanley Kubrick still alive, would look great on the screen. I got a surprise at the end when I read Keith Thompson's bio and realized that he probably based his Wilkinson character on himself.
  
• The Pattern on May 18, 2012
  
  Can a video game hijack an airplane? Slightly juvenile programming genius, Craig Walsh knows it can and he knows he's responsible. What he doesn't know is how he's going to purge the virus from the autopilot software on every plane in the world. The Pattern is a brilliant piece of techno-sleuth drama with a perfectly balanced love angle. Mr. Kalnay has excelled with his character development in this 1990's period piece that is an ominous omen of the 9/11 attack. Once I took the hook I couldn't put it down.
  
• Dodging Shells on May 25, 2012
  
  There will probably never be a better war story than All Quiet on the Western Front, but Dodging Shells deserves to be on the same shelf. Ms. Bertsch has produced an extraordinary piece of work with this WWII tale told as a series of letters from a Canadian soldier to his twin sister. It’s a poignant, funny, honest and brilliant way to tell the story of the author’s father’s experiences as he and his Canadian comrades in arms fought their way from Sicily to northern Italy. Sometimes Corporal, sometimes Private Tommy Smith had a checkered military career fraught with chronic hunger, discomfort, disasters and constant danger which he candidly shares with sis. This isn’t just a war story, it’s a human story, and a world class piece of literature.
  
• The Lost Chronicles of Young Ernest Hemingway: The Indian Girl He Could Not Forget on June 02, 2012
  
  This is the only book I ever bought for the cover. I was browsing for something to read and saw the same Indian maiden that I used on the cover of Family Traits. Figuring that we had something in common, I downloaded the sample, liked it and returned to buy the whole book. Imagine my consternation to see that the cover had been changed. Nevertheless, it’s an intriguing story, ostensibly the first person account of a summer spent with his family on the Michigan Upper Peninsula. I do think that Mr. Wyant has captured the voice of adolescent Hemingway. The Lost Chronicles has the same feel as the short stories he wrote that were set in the same area. Young Ernest has several rites of passage: first drink of whiskey, first shave, first Indian girl. I came away wishing for more of Prudence, the Indian girl, but that may just be my prurient nature. This quirky little tale will appeal to all Hemingway fans as well as fans of juvenile trysts with Indian maidens.