Posted on by Dave Dentel

Like Hemingway and Heinlein, My Cats Inspire Me to Write. All 22 of Them.

“Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”

Mark Twain
By Dave Dentel

Ernest Hemingway had his six-toed cats. Robert Heinlein famously wrote about a cat who tried all the doors in the house until he found the one that led to summer.

T.S. Eliot left off lamenting the decline of modern society long enough to pen ditties about fantastic felines—which later inspired a Broadway hit.

The many cats in my life help animate my literary efforts, too, though not necessarily by modeling whimsical characters or enacting zany plot points.

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Coming Soon! New Anthology Pays Tribute to Golden Age Sci-Fi Writers

The proof copies are here! Here’s hoping Rod “Mr. Twilight Zone” Serling would have approved!
By Dave Dentel

Encounter a new volume of original stories inspired by masters who wrote during a golden age of anthology fiction: writers like Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Rod Serling. This Do in Remembrance honors their tradition by returning readers to an amazing dimension of remarkable characters, engaging plots, and crafted prose.

Science fiction? Fantasy? You’ll find both here, as well as humor mixed with a hint of the supernatural. But most of all, you’ll discover that fiction can still be both fun and relevant.

Much like the classic Twilight Zone television series, This Do in Remembrance explores the fantastic in order to comment on issues that remain central to the human experience: love, war, ambition, identity.

Featuring seven stories by three experienced writers, This Do in Remembrance offers variety while remaining true to its overarching goal—to serve up great fiction that leaves the reader anxious for more.

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Posted on by Dave Dentel

Stuck at Home? Travel Book Helps You Explore Europe in America.


Old World charm? Nicht! It’s New Glarus, Wis., the Swiss Capital of America.

Has COVID-19 canceled your dream trip to Europe?

Great news! There are pockets of Europe dotted across the United States. Small towns for the most part, inhabited by descendants of the immigrants who founded them. They celebrate the usual American holidays, but also celebrate their heritage in a big way.

Their buildings mimic European architecture, their restaurants feature ethnic dishes, and most of them hold festivals honoring their heritage.


BUY IT ON AMAZON >>

Take a trip through an America you may not have noticed before, guided by Ruth Dentel—world traveler.

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Half A League Onward Press Now on Facebook

The gold leaf is virtual, the black ink only as crisp as your pixelated screen can render it. But the twenty-first century has called, and we have left the scriptorium.

Half A League Onward Press, an independent publisher of unusual (and amazing!) books, is now on social media.

Follow us here for updates.

And be sure to catch upcoming announcements about a pair of new titles—a travel book and a volume of suspense stories.

Meanwhile, keep your nib sharp and your parchment smooth.

Posted on by Dave Dentel

Say It Isn’t So, Jeeves! Author Shows Wodehouse was No Nazi Collaborator.

 by Dave Dentel

Anyone who has read P.G. Wodehouse, or watched any of the copious film and television adaptions of his works, knows that the British wit is not just hilarious—he’s delightfully frivolous.

Though his stories and novels do represent some of the best humor writing of a certain era, it’s a stretch to say that they aspire to literary aims such as critiquing society or forwarding any sort of political agenda. For the most part, Wodehouse wrote with one overarching goal in mind—to give his readers a good laugh.

You can imagine how much it dismayed me, then, to learn that for a time Wodehouse’s reputation was tainted by a very serious allegation. This master of upper-class English mirth was actually accused of turning traitor by collaborating with the Nazis during World War II.

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Posted on by Dave Dentel

Thriller Examines the Nature of Evil on the Eve of World War II

By Bradley Weber—Night Paris Street

By Dave Dentel

When I picked up A Coffin for Dimitrios, I was expecting a light alternative to the nonfiction I had been plodding through.

Having seen the 1940s movie version, and being a fan of between-the-wars detective thrillers, I was all set for author Eric Ambler to sate my palate with an easily consumed tale of trench-coated protagonists tracking down international rogues and bringing them to justice.

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Book Chronicles How Early Navy Embodied Constitution’s Defense of Common Rights

By Dave Dentel

In the campaign to ratify the U.S. Constitution, one argument advanced by proponents of the document is that it would create a stronger federal government better equipped to defend the nascent republic from foreign belligerents.

The prescience of this thesis is borne out in Ian W. Toll’s book, Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Foundation of the U.S. Navy.

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Posted on by Dave Dentel

The Birth of Kitty Bomb-Pop and other Revelations from National Novel Writing Month

This scrappy feline (image shamelessly stolen from a t-shirt I bought at Wal-Mart) will be featured in a series of adventures I plan to write, perhaps, during next year’s National Novel Writing Month.
By Dave Dentel

About twelve days into my maiden attempt at National Novel Writing Month and its insane goal of pounding out fifty thousand words in thirty days, I was struck by an amazing insight.

I am failing at this, and it’s all my friend’s fault.

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