Robert P. Hansen

Biography

Robert P. Hansen has taught community college courses since 2004 and is currently teaching introductory courses in philosophy and ethics. Prior to that, he was a student for ten years, earning degrees in psychology (AA, BA), philosophy (BA, MA-T), sociology (MA), and English (MA). Writing has been a hobby of his since he graduated high school, going through several phases that were influenced by what he was doing at the time.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he played Dungeons and Dragons, read fantasy novels, and wrote fantasy short stories. He was also influenced by country music, particularly ballads, and wrote a number of short fantasy ballads that were later incorporated into the long poem "A Bard Out of Time."

In the mid-1990s, college and work did not leave him much time for writing, and he mainly wrote poetry. It was during this period that he learned how to write sonnets and became obsessed with them. Since he was focused on developing the craft of poetry, it was a recurring theme in many of the poems from this period ("Of Muse and Pen"); however, as a student of psychology, psychological disorders were also of interest to him, and he wrote several sonnets about them ("Potluck: What's Left Over"). He also began to submit his poems for publication, and several appeared in various small press publications between 1994 and 1997.

Most of the poems appearing in "Love & Annoyance" (both the love poems and the speculative poems) were written while he was a student (1994-2004), and relate to his romantic misadventures and his discovery of philosophy, the proverbial love of his life.

The poems in "A Field of Snow and Other Flights of Fancy" do not fit into a specific period; they are humorous poems reflecting momentary insights or playful jests, which can happen at any time. However, most were written before 1999.

In 1999, his interest shifted to writing science fiction short stories. Most of these stories were a response to a simple question: Why would aliens visit Earth? The majority of these stories appeared in magazines published by Fading Shadows, Inc. He later returned to this question in 2013 to finish his collection, "Worms and Other Alien Encounters."

In 2003, he discovered the poetry of Ai as part of a project for a poetry workshop. Ai is known for her persona poems written from the perspective of serial killers, murderers, abusers, and other nasty characters. Her work inspired him, and he entered a dark period, writing several macabre persona poems similar to Ai's and compiling his thesis, "Morbidity: Prose and Poetry", which focused on death, dying, and killing. ("Last Rites ... And Wrongs" is an expansion of that thesis.)

While a graduate student at the University of Northern Iowa, he twice won the Roberta S. Tamres Sci-Fi Award for his short stories "Exodus" (2003) and "Cliche: A Pulp Adventure Story" (2004).

He did very little writing from 2004 to 2010; he was too busy developing or refining the courses he was teaching. From 2010 to 2013, he focused mainly on organizing, revising, and submitting the work he had already completed, which resulted in several poems and short stories being published. He wrote sporadically until the spring of 2013, when he finished the initial draft of his first full-length novel "The Snodgrass Incident," which expanded upon and integrated three short stories he had written in the fall of 2012.

In the fall of 2013, he prepared several collections (poems and stories) for publication on Amazon and made a final revision of "The Snodgrass Incident." These were posted early in 2014, and he redirected his attention to other projects, including revising a short fantasy novel and a collection of suspense-oriented fantasy/horror/science fiction stories.

Series

Angus the Mage
About the Second Edition: When I began revising the series, my intention was to improve the quality of the writing for "The Tiger’s Eye" and add a little worldbuilding, but my experience with the series greatly impacted what I was doing: I knew where the story was going, and that opened up possibilities for foreshadowing later events; I had grown as a writer and recognized problems with the writing that I hadn’t noticed before; I had a much clearer view of the world and the system of magic; and I had received constructive feedback that gave me insights that I otherwise would not have had. As a result, the project has changed to a complete overhaul of the series. The original version of The Tiger’s Eye has become two books: "The Magic of Skein (2nd Ed.)" and "The Tiger’s Eye (2nd Ed.)". I will upload new versions of the rest of the books in the series after I have revised them. If the title includes (2nd Ed.), it has been updated. I want to thank the reviewers of "The Tiger's Eye;" their comments helped to make this a better story.

Books

The Viper's Fangs (2nd Ed.)
Series: Angus the Mage. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 154,090. Language: English. Published: March 3, 2024 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Adventure » Action
The banner gets sidetracked by Giorge's curse. They know little about it, but their learning curve must be steep to survive it—even with help from Voltari. Unfortunately, a part of Angus wants Giorge dead, and it’s growing. Will he be able to contain it? Will the curse kill Giorge? Will Angus let it? And what about Fanzool? Will he find Angus? Find out the answers—and more!—in The Viper’s Fangs.
Weary
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 22,170. Language: English. Published: July 1, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
Dujab’s day begins like most days do: with a hot bath. He expects it to continue with breakfast, clients seeking spells or information, and research. But this isn’t a normal day. His bath is interrupted by a visitor who makes a request that sets in motions events that may lead to both of their deaths. But Dujab is not an average wizard; he has skills and resources most don’t. Will they be enough?
The Lake of Scales
Series: Angus the Mage, Book 3. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 105,480. Language: English. Published: June 2, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Adventure » Action
Where did the fishmen go? The king wants to know and sends the banner to The Lake of Scales, a large body of water south of the kingdom, to see if they're there. Their path is treacherous: Bandits are out in force; winter storms are coming; bears are hungry; Fanzool is on the trail of the gold coins; Taro is following the course laid out by his visions; and Angus is desperate to recover his past.
A Bard Out of Time and Other Poems (2nd Ed.)
Price: Free! Words: 36,730. Language: English. Published: April 16, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » General, Poetry » Themes & motifs » General
"A Bard Out of Time" is a long poem about a bard singing songs in a fantasy world setting. The other poems fall into three categories: fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Wizards, werewolves, vampires, aliens, and other staples of genre fiction make appearances in this collection.
The Tiger's Eye (2nd Ed.)
Series: Angus the Mage, Book 2. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 135,320. Language: English. Published: March 15, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Adventure » Action
Mistakes happen. But some mistakes are worse than others, and Angus has made a doozy. What will it cost him? His life? His freedom? His treasure? His friends? All of them? At least he has one thing in his favor: a map with a strange symbol on it. He doesn’t know what the symbol represents, but Giorge does. And Giorge wants to go there. So does Angus. If he can.
The Magic of Skein (2nd Ed.)
Series: Angus the Mage, Book 1. Price: Free! Words: 152,260. Language: English. Published: February 24, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Adventure » Action
Angus wakes up one day with a very big problem: His memory is gone. Voltari, a highly skilled wizard, claims Angus is his apprentice, but Angus knows nothing about magic. But he is a quick study and learns a great deal in the months that follow. Then, just as he was growing comfortable with not knowing who he is, Voltari casts him out into a world he doesn’t know.
Installments
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 63,190. Language: English. Published: January 11, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Police Procedural
Installments is a complex, multi-tiered literary narrative. The outer level is about Harry, a mystery writer struggling with a new story, and the writers’ group helping him with it. The innermost level is the mystery story he is working on. The interplay between the two levels sheds light on the parts of the writing process readers seldom see in the final drafts of the stories they read.
Please Don't Eat the Penguins
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 71,890. Language: English. Published: August 15, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » General, Fiction » Coming of age
The earth has experienced a catastrophic environmental disaster that has left much of the world uninhabitable, and humanity has begun to colonize the solar system. Offworld postings are at a premium, and this year Moon Base has two openings—and six candidates. The testing of these candidates is usually routine, but not this time. This time, Meg Arnold is involved….
Exploitation and Other Stories
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 99,870. Language: English. Published: March 14, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Short Stories
Exploitation and Other Stories is a collection of science fiction (SF), fantasy, mystery, and flash fiction. Space exploration, alien encounters, a little magic, and a few crimes / investigations all make an appearance in the stories of this collection.
Have You Seen My Cat? And Other Stories
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 98,800. Language: English. Published: December 29, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Short Stories, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
The stories in this collection are primarily mystery, science fiction, soft horror/dark fantasy, and cross-genre pieces. Most of the stories are down-to-earth ones set in today's world (particularly the mysteries), or begin that way and take a speculative turn into the possible. With the exception of one fantasy mystery, the rest of the stories are set in the near future or in space.
Have You Seen My Cat?
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 20,540. Language: English. Published: November 2, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Short Stories, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
(3.67 from 3 reviews)
When Detective Frank Primrose woke up this morning, he didn't expect to investigate the disappearance of cats. Police detectives simply don't do that sort of thing. But when the chief's niece's cat is missing that's missing, what else can he do? Besides, it isn't just her cat; all of the cats in her building have disappeared. So, where have they gone -- and where will his investigation take him?
The Drunken Wizard's Playmates And Other Stories
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 74,300. Language: English. Published: August 1, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » General, Fiction » Humor & comedy » General
The Drunken Wizard's Playmates is a humorous light fantasy novel about two drunken apprentices and the mischief they cause. The humor is a bit crude at times, as you might expect from wayward young men whose judgment is impaired by alcohol and who have the ability to use magic…. As a bonus, I've included four other humorous light fantasy short stories with the novel.
Worms and Other Alien Encounters
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 69,920. Language: English. Published: April 17, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » General
This is a collection of science fiction short stories, most of which relate to encounters with aliens visiting earth; the remaining stories happen in space (only some of which involve aliens).
The Snodgrass Incident
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 76,070. Language: English. Published: April 12, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Adventure, Fiction » Science fiction » Hard sci-fi
The Snodgrass is a space vessel testing a new engine design. It is sent to Enceladus to investigate the formation of a new Tiger Stripe. But in space, anything can happen. A new invention sidetracks the mission even before it begins, and once they're underway, they have to face the hazards of alien environments, company bureaucracy, and political intrigue. Then they have to get back. . . .

Robert P. Hansen's tag cloud

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