-
Subscribe to My Newsletter
Archives
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- March 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- June 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- November 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- November 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- October 2016
Categories
-
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Confederate Rocket
One of the more intriguing rocketry legends involves reports of a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket fired at Washington in the twilight of the Civil War. According to the story, a Confederate agent enlisted overseas help from Lord Kelvin to deliver liquid … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
THE BEST LITTLE ROCKET BATTALION IN TEXAS
Rockets were an unsuccessful part of Civil War weaponry. Fledgling rocket technology lagged behind established ordnance (such as the staple 12-pounder Napoleon, a brass smooth-bore cannon). Some of the men put in charge of rocketry projects brought dubious credentials and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
A Dream of Spaceflight
“The Earth is the cradle of mankind, but mankind can’t stay in the cradle forever.” — K. E. Tsiolkovsky In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers designed a hot air balloon. Unmanned test flights were relatively successful. On the 19th of September, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
The Day Lincoln (Almost) Died
One of the pivotal scenes in my Civil War novel, Dread Tribunal of Last Resort, was based on real events. In 1862, a purported rocket expert named Joshua Burrows Hyde gained an audience with President Lincoln and Secretary Seward. As … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
GENERAL BEAUREGARD’S ROCKET BATTERIES
At the start of the Civil War, General Pierre Beauregard resigned from the United States Army to join the Confederacy. He commanded the defenses of Charleston during the assault on Fort Sumter, and commanded the Southern army in the first … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Major Lion’s Rockets
For the most part, rocketry failed to impact the Civil War in any meaningful way. Much of that failure can be traced to funding and supply issues. Other failures can be tied directly to lack of expertise. But one high-profile … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
3 Comments
My Obsession with Rockets
My father, Harold Kaufman, is in the NASA Hall of Fame for his work on ion rocket engines. Ion propulsion uses vaporized, ionized mercury fired through charged grids. The actual mass of ionized particles is small, so the engine can’t … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Book Trailer for “Dread Tribunal of Last Resort”
My Civil War novel, Dread Tribunal of Last Resort, will be released on January 20, 2021. The idea for the novel came two decades ago. The challenges of researching historical fiction kept the project on the back burner for years. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Book Trailer for “Sins in Blue”
Fantasy author Morgan Wright also creates book trailer animations. She recently took a crack at a short, sweet book trailer for Sins in Blue. Here’s the result: I have mixed feelings about book trailers. I’m not convinced they help sell … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
Paul Simon and Cultural Appropriation
Sins in Blue is my novel about an old, Depression-era bluesman. The story explores themes involving the problem of cultural appropriation—the inappropriate adoption of customs or ideas of one people by members of a more dominant people. The 1987 Grammy … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment