The Existential Cowboy

Stuff from author, poet, artist, musician Stephen Brooke.

[existentialcowboy]

this from Column A some of that from Column B a balanced diet

and a balanced life is found on both sides of the menu

Stephen Brooke ©2026

a tanka of sorts

[existentialcowboy]

today’s best-seller is tomorrow’s remainder buy at a discount?

Stephen Brooke ©2026

[ukdamo]

The Shark

Lord Alfred Douglas (Oscar Wilde's 'Bosie')

A treacherous monster is the Shark He never makes the least remark.

And when he sees you on the sand, He doesn’t seem to want to land.

He watches you take off your clothes, And not the least excitement shows.

His eyes do not grow bright or roll, He has astonishing self-control.

He waits till you are quite undressed, And seems to take no interest.

And when towards the sea you leap, He looks as if he were asleep.

But when you once get in his range, His whole demeanour seems to change.

He throws his body right about, And his true character comes out.

It’s no use crying or appealing, He seems to lose all decent feeling.

After this warning you will wish To keep clear of this treacherous fish.

His back is black, his stomach white, He has a very dangerous bite.

[existentialcowboy]

I've never included a ghost in any of my novels, in part because they don't fit the 'magic' system shared by most of the fantasies. Also because I don't personally believe in them and I'd have to bend that belief too far to remain plausible (at least in my own mind, and that's what counts). Indeed, spirits of any sort are very much absent from my fiction--not even the gods, who are quite material.

As I've said before (I'm fairly sure of it!), the concepts in my fantasy are firmly rooted in a sort of science ('rubber science' if you will) and it could be legitimately labeled science fiction. But, of course, that would be bad marketing.

[existentialcowboy]

[humanoidhistory]

Radio Shack TRS-80 computer, launched in 1977.

[existentialcowboy]

We had to learn a bit of BASIC to get the most out of it.

[existentialcowboy]

Qala the Pirate Queen appears in four of my (Stephen Brooke’s) Izan Cycle fantasy novels. She was introduced as a secondary character in ‘The Eyes of the Wind,’ in which she is still the leader of the pirates. ‘The Crocodile’s Son’ and ‘The Crocodile God’ chronicle her adventures in retirement as a member of the landed gentry (and the mother of a demigod). We turn to her childhood as a refugee in the decaying city of Tesra in ‘The City and the Sword,’ when she was known as Lellie. Later she took the name of the city as her own, becoming Tes the pirate captain before rising to the position of queen.

It is as Tes she appears in the novella ‘Storm Stone,’ to be released in about a month (June 28). This is a tale of her days as a young pirate on her way to the top. All the books are available in print or as free ebooks at arachispress.com

[existentialcowboy]

Mission Delayed

It was to be a simple shakedown cruise for Jack McFee's new interstellar yacht, a leisurely outing with a few friends. Then came a distress

The new Jack Mack science fiction novella MISSION DELAYED (written as Oliver Davis Pike) is officially released today. Available at the link in print, or go to Arachis press for both print and free ebooks.

[existentialcowboy]

'Major cities' may be obsolete anyway

[myjetpack]

My latest @guardian book cartoon

[existentialcowboy]

I get excited when my books arrived too. And apprehensive I'll find printing mistakes at that late stage.

[aqueerkettleofish]

For those who have missed it, a tourist in Hawaii decided it would be fun to chuck a rock (a BIG rock) at a monk seal. He missed, but he was captured on video, and when told it was illegal to interfere with them, said "I'm rich, I can pay the fine."

Is the best part that he got doxxed? No.

Is the best part that he got tracked down by a local and beaten? No.

Arrested on state at federal charges, looking at up to 5 years and 50K? Nope.

The best part is the local city council's reaction.

And the best part of that is the look on the attorney's face.

[existentialcowboy]

Raft

A raft of words remains, the wreckage of our voyage, bearing me across unknown horizons, empty seas that yearn to grasp the stars.

Shall I, too, yearn? I, too, have depths untouched by light. What swims those depths? What cold and patient monsters hunger, silent and insatiable?

They lurk as motionless as I, anticipating nothing more than that the errant currents bring. They bring the unnamed stars I swallow.

Those can never fill me now. For you I gathered handfuls once; their light is lost. They have no substance, float away, drift as do I.

The corners of the sky grow silent; across expanses of forgotten song and sea, night scatters dream, to echo, echo, and to fade.

Stephen Brooke ©2026

[existentialcowboy]

Infinity

Give me half of infinity; you can take the rest. We’ll compare the two and see which one has the best.

Mine’s a really big amount, big enough, at least, that when I began to count the counting never ceased.

Half’s enough for anyone, everyone assures, but I hope when all is done, mine is bigger than yours.

Stephen Brooke ©2026

[existentialcowboy]

I did what it said on the sign and went to the end of the line; I haven’t a clue why I’m standing in queue but it must be for something quite fine!

Stephen Brooke ©2026

[existentialcowboy]

Hill Farm

A collection of pictures I found here and there online of the place in the Hocking Hills of Ohio we named the Hill Farm when I was a

Some pictures of, and a few words about, the spot in the Hocking Hills that inspired my mystery novel These Remembered Hills.

[existentialcowboy]

My next book released will be a science fiction novella (written under my OD Pike pen name), Mission Delayed. This is one of my Jack Mack stories, set about four years after the last published novel (Blind Jump). Release date set for May 18, in print or as free ebook at Arachis Press (arachispress.com). I'll be following it up with a fantasy novella in June; more on that at the proper time.

[existentialcowboy]

A song I came on in my files from forty (yes, forty) years ago. Overly-poetic folk-punk stuff, but I'm okay with that.