I have written four novels and some short stories about a magical land that I call Retslu. The map above shows some of the main points of interest if you should desire to visit it sometime. Here are some important persons living in that land or at least in the same world.
Dorian is an unlikely hero. He's the son of the widowed proprietress of the Sawyer Village inn where he works as waiter, cook and handyman. Although young, he's loyal and resourceful and knows carpentry and how to run an inn. He's also an excellent chess player, somewhat of a dreamer and a hard worker. The first adventure, White Queen, Black Knight, begins when he has a strange dream about Gnorduc, the gnome like proprietor of a curiosity shop.
Gnorduc is small of stature and so twisted with age that he resembles a grotesque gnome. His shoulder-length hair mingles with a straggly unkempt beard. Rumpled, patched garments from a bygone era hang on him like rags. His lined pinched face is the same dusty ash as the long untouched items of his curiosity shop.
The main villain is Mordrake. An air of mystery and menace surrounds the goateed sorcerer with his dark clothing and red-lined cape. He's a powerful sorcerer whose plan is to win the tournament that Dorian also enters and the princess's hand through necromancy. Mordrake's ambition is to become emperor of the entire Nosduh Valley.
Count Gorblud is a tall cadaverous vampire who has penetrating eyes and wears an enormous ruby ring, but is not really evil. He regards Dorian as his servant .
Tiger Lily is a werecat who has the head of a tiger and the body of a young woman. She has the ability to turn herself into a small white cat called Whisper. As Whisper, she accompanies Dorian on his adventures and saves his life several times. She had a pretty feline face and a body of a shapely young woman.
Knight Black is a knight in the Black King's army in the Looking Glass world. He dresses in black armor with a horses head helmet. He keeps the visor of his horse's head helmet shut, which gives him an air of mystery. He's somewhat of a ladies man.
Wortisha the witch is a voluptuous woman with dark mascared eyes and a revealing bodice. Her special magical talent is enchanting men. She is wicked and likes to throw citizens of Retslu down her well to be eaten by her spider lady sister, Latro.
Eric the Strong is a bear of a man whose forearms are like thighs. He is a fierce warrior. But he is a bit weak in the brains department. For a while, he becomes Dorian's sidekick.
Lord Noise of Clamoris a boisterous, talkative noble, impetuous and scatterbrained. He always wears armor.
The Duke of Wisdom is a brilliant scholar and inventor, who wears thick spectacles. He's intelligent in an ivory tower manner. .
Princess Jennifer is the haughty daughter of King Woden. Although she's very beautiful, she's snobbish, spoiled and shrewish. She has thick blonde curls and a high bosom. When men see her, their pulse races and their breaths become labored.
King Woden is the somewhat scatterbrained monarch of Retslu.
Bishop Faith is the long winded, Grand Pontiff of Retslu.
Sly is a wily thief who partners with Mordrake.
Baron Philander is a noble infamous for his escapades with highborn women. He becomes a vampire when bitten by Count Gorblud.
Screege is a wealthy miser, whose main traits are greed and a talent for making money.
These are only a few of the quirky and strange characters in my Retslu series. To find out more about their adventures, go to my Books of Retslu page.
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Introduction to Papa Joe
I call myself Papa Joe. I've loved science fiction and fantasy from the time I learned to read. My hobbies, besides writing, are traveling, adventure game playing and do-it-yourself projects. Before I retired, I was a technical writer working for a major computer manufacturer. Several short stories of mine have been published in E-zines. Two series of paranormal fantasy novels of mine, called The Morgaine Chronicles and Raven Lenore, Psychic Investigator, have been published by Renaissance E Books. These novels may be purchased from Renaissance's Page Turner Editions site, at Fictionwise E-Books , at Amazon.com (Kindle editions) and other online ebook sellers.
Renaissance has also published collections of my short stories, The Sands of Time, Mordrake's Apprentice, and Love Among the Stars, nine SF novels, The Isaac Project, For Love of Kumiko, Pawns of Tomorrow, Star Tower, Out of Time, Takeover, The Artifact , Pawns of Tomorrow, Knights of Tomorrow and The Bagod, dark paranormal fantasies The Laws of Magic, Castle Darkest Night and Dinner with Dracula, and my humorous fantasy series The Books of Retslu.
I was born and raised in a working class neighborhood in Chicago. I believe my love of reading stems from my parents and grandparents, who were all avid readers. As a child, one of my favorite things was hanging out at the library or browsing in flea markets for books I could afford. One day my parents took me to see a most wondrous movie, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It made me a believer. From that time on, I read every Oz book I could get my hands on. I also loved comic books, especially the ones in the SF genre, Planet Comics, Superman, Captain Marvel, etc. I also liked mathematics and science, especially astronomy.
When I was twelve or so, I discovered the pulp magazines. They had garish covers and were printed on blotting paper, but the insides were marvelous. Even the letter columns were interesting. In these magazines, and the slicks and paperbacks that followed a few years later, I learned to love such writers as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Robert Silverberg and so many others. About that time I decided I wanted to write in the genre, but never got started until many years later.
I was drafted into the army near the end of the Korean War and was sent to Germany, where I worked as a microwave repairman. Also, I married a girl who went to the same high school as I did, who I met at a party after I graduated . We've been married over fifty years now. We have four wonderful girls, ten grandchildren (who are now adults ) and one spunky nine-year-old great-granddaughter.
For most of my working life, I was a technical writer for a major computer firm. I learned many things there about computers, about writing and about people and corporations. I lived the Dilbert cartoon. Because of my work, my wife and I moved to a small town in upstate New York where the manufacturing plant was located. We still live there, although the company has since closed the plant.
In 1993, I retired. That's when my fiction writing career really started. First I sold a few short stories to E-zines. (I use "sold" loosely. I seldom received a paycheck .) Then I sold a novel to a POD publisher and another to an E-book publisher. The pay is meager, but I enjoy writing so much that I'd probably do it even if they paid nothing (which is the standard with most E-zines ). Don't tell my publisher this.
Well, that's the encapsulated version of my autobiography.