Dragonwall

Eric nudged me before the tasting even started, already grinning.“I’m sending this to Spaulding,” he said, holding up his phone like proof we’d somehow made it here. Scott just laughed, leaning back like he’d been waiting for this moment all week. And that’s the thing about this trip — somewhere along the way, it stopped being about where we were going and started being about who we were there…

Date: Tuesday, August 19, 2025Location: At Sea → Endicott Arm, Alaska fter several days of open ocean and busy ports, today brought one of the most unforgettable sights of the entire cruise. The ship turned quietly into Endicott Arm — a narrow fjord of ice, cliffs, and waterfalls — leading us toward Dawes Glacier. It felt like sailing into another world of ice and silence. 🌅 Morning: Ice &…

Date: Monday, August 18, 2025Location: Skagway → At Sea I expected Skagway to feel like something out of Northern Exposure — a quiet frontier town where a moose might wander past while you’re getting coffee. What I found instead was something far more impressive: staggering views, a roaring waterfall, and a hydroelectric system that quietly powers a town at the edge of the world. 🌅 Morning:…

The wind on Deck 15 hit like a jet engine.It nearly blew HP off her feet and almost sent my glasses straight into the North Pacific. That was my introduction to our first full sea day. I thought sea days were going to be quiet and maybe a little isolating, mostly gambling and wandering the ship. It turns out sea days have a personality all their own. Equal parts excitement, exhaustion, and…

I didn’t expect the first story of this trip to happen before we ever saw the ocean. Day 0 turned out to be its own little adventure — early alarms, unexpected moments, and the kind of surprises that remind you why travel stories start where they do. This is how our Alaska trip really began. ✈️ Welcome to Our 7-Day Adventure Welcome aboard! Our journey begins with Day 0 travel to Seattle,…

by Dennis D. Montoya Travel has a way of quietly undoing assumptions.You think you know what you’re signing up for — scenery, routine, a few good stories — until something unexpected leans on the bar beside you. This is one of those stories. You don’t expect to spot a rock star on a regular Alaska sailing. We weren’t on “Rock Legends at Sea”—just a classic Royal Caribbean run on Anthem of the…

By Dennis D. Montoya I caught my reflection mid-thought the other day — jaw tight, eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowed like I was interrogating my own mirror. Classic resting-bitch face.The truth? I was just trying to remember the word metaphor. I’ve been told I look angry when I think. Not passionate or focused — angry. I blame the eyebrows. They’re thick, serious things. If left untrimmed, they…

Hitting the Trail E-bikes are everywhere — sleek, silent, and oddly mesmerizing. But are they redefining cycling or just giving us an easier way to skip leg day?Dennis takes a lighthearted look at the e-bike craze — and his own surprising ride through Victoria, Canada. My drive to work takes about fifteen minutes. I start the car, let it warm for five, and cruise across town at thirty-five…

By Dennis D. Montoya I was walking through Costco when I saw someone from my past — not a close friend, just a familiar face from another chapter. Three or five years ago, maybe, since we’d last crossed paths. I did the classic move: looked the other way, pretended the rotisserie chickens held the answers to life’s greatest mysteries. But the universe has a sense of humor, and I bumped into them…

A campaign of coffee, chaos, and camaraderie. Prelude to the CampaignEvery friendship has its rituals. Ours started as a few morning group texts — part banter, part morale check — and somehow evolved into a week-long fantasy epic. Coffee became our potion of courage, and Wordle our daily skirmish. What follows is a record of that accidental legend: one workweek, six friends, and far too much…

I’ve always believed the real work of writing happens quietly — in the revisions no one sees, in the long stretches between inspiration and completion. Lately, my days have been full of that kind of work. I’m deep into the next phase of The Witch’s Mandate, carefully moving through my editor’s notes and finding new layers in every chapter. The process reminds me how much a story changes once you…

This is a generic one-shot adventure for a Pathfinder campaign tailored for 4 to 6 level 2 characters, set in the small town of Port Haven with a focus on intrigue and Gothic overtones. (Work in progress) Adventure Summary: The players find themselves in Port Haven, a town sited on the edge of a dark, sprawling forest, notorious for its legends of strange occurrences throughout history. The…

Together my wife Masha and I were ready to have a child. We read the best books and watched the best documentaries.  According to the great book, life begins at conception, we thought a great conception and a great name, our child would have a great life to do great things. Masha and I started planning out the best conception start of life ever.  It took us two months of planning eight weeks of…

The Death Of A Cosplayer

Photo by A Koolshooter on Pexels.com Impression of Drucilla Dylan had heard the stories of creatures lurking the night, searching for bodies. Some had said ghouls or zombies, but Dylan liked the idea of vampires. No matter which story, no one believed they were real including Dylan.  The comic convention had been a total bust, only a dozen people bothered to dressed up.  No one at the…