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Author Archives: Jim Stewart
THE Christmas Ornament
This is one of my all-time favorite ornaments, given to me by my lovely daughter Jessica, who said, when I opened the little package on Christmas morning a few years back: “Dad, it is so YOU!” My blank look cracked … Continue reading
Posted in family, memory, Uncategorized
Tagged Alaska, Christmas decorations, Christmas morning, humor, moose, nature, scat
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Ironwood Continues from Yesterday
(Note: This follows yesterday’s opening chapter. I may be absent for a bit. I have writing to do.–jrs) Homicide detective Tom Hannarty stood in my office with his chin in his hand as the coroner’s people took the body down … Continue reading
Posted in American history, Detective novel, Excerpt, Novel Excerpt
Tagged friendship, guns, humor, intrigue, weather
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Opening for Ironwood #2–Dead Me
(Note: this is one of three openings I’ve written for the “next” Ironwood novel.–jrs) Bucket’s nose in my ear woke me up. I cracked open an eye. It was still dark. I reached out, ruffled his soft ears, and tapped … Continue reading
Posted in Detective novel, Excerpt, Novel Excerpt, Oregon
Tagged animals, death, dogs, guns, humor, intrigue, rain, weather
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Excerpt from “Death is Easy”
(Note: This is an excerpt from a Mike Ironwood novel I’ve “finished” and am now rewriting. For the sake of context, Daniel is Mike’s half-brother who is also half Nez Perce. ~jrs) When we got out of bed Bucket came … Continue reading
Posted in Detective novel, Novel Excerpt, Sex, Slice of Death, Slice of Life, story excerpt
Tagged adventure, detective story, hard-boiled, humor, love, love story, sex
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Excerpt: The Talons of Quantam (opening of Book II)
A giant hairless man, dressed in exquisitely tanned buckskin, woven through with cunning designs, led him to a vestibule at the north side of the great hall. “I shall be just outside. When you are cleared, I shall take you … Continue reading
Posted in Excerpt, Speculative Fantasy, story excerpt
Tagged adventure, fantasy, fiction, writing
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Winter Kill
Across the street and old man ferociously attacks the winter kill on his low-slung juniper. He steps back to clear the sweat and smacks his lips in satisfaction. “Won’t let the new stuff grow,” he says. His cat bobs her … Continue reading
Boomer
Curtains of rain drawn against warmth and sun keep the study, brooding books framed in orange firelight, at the grey edge of darkness. I sit overstuffed in a grandfather’s chair, feet in their wool kicked up on the hearth steaming … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, American history, Oregon, Poem, Reprint, walking
Tagged American excess, Baby Boomers, coast life, fire, outdoors, war, weather
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A Cheyenne Woman Speaks to a Corpse from the Seventh Cavalry, During the Evening of June 25th, 1876
The Greasy Grass licks your blood from my hands. I cannot see where my own blood ends. I am breathing now the sharp air of your death. Your hair is the color of the grass, but is dead and strange. … Continue reading
Posted in American history, American Indian, Cheyenne, Lakota, Reprint
Tagged afterlife, American History, Cheyenne, death, George Armstrong Custer, grief, history, Hunkpapa, Lakota, Little Big Horn
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Fallen Angels
Rhinestones on the bushes, gossamer in the trees, when you hear her call your name it drives you to your knees. The sky will build cathedrals that rise beyond your sight, the leaves will show their colors and lift you … Continue reading
Posted in Dream, Lyrics, Music, Poem, Reprint, Sex, Speculative Fantasy
Tagged angels, imagination, poem, sex
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When That Gregorian Calendar Rolls Over
This time of year the anesthetic wears off and the nerves around your heart fray into syncopated buzzing lights that remind you of how the way you want to be differs from the way you are. The Accountant opens the … Continue reading
Posted in Poem, Slice of Life
Tagged home, life, magic, New Year, personal philosophy, poetry, reflection
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Narble Furt Lives 