Remembering the Nutty Putty Cave

We had a saddening accident in Utah over the Thanksgiving Holiday, a young father and med student John Jones, died in the local cave known as the Nutty Putty, after becoming trapped in tight space tilted feet over head for nearly 28 hours. It sounds likely now that the cave will be closed and there has even been talk of sealing the entrance.

It's been years since I have been to the Nutty Putty but I used to go often and have been planning on using it in one of my novels for some time now. I have not been able to find a cutaway diagram of the cave so I did one myself to show a little better of what it is like going inside. It is odd that right on top of bald scrubby hill a hole opens into the rock not unlike a chimney. You climb down the 7-8 feet of that and get down on your knees-probably bang your head-as you crawl across another similar distance though this one is wide and shaped in My mind like a pancake. At the opposite end it opens up a bit and you can stand and climb down and cross a slight drop off to go to your left and my favorite part of the cave the Maze. Some good friends, Ryan, Jason and Bob-notice our regulation gear-OK we had none.


My friends and I used to go to the Maze and play hide and go seek. I grew so accustomed to the layering's of the Maze and the darkness that I used to quit using my flashlight and run around in the dark and usually be the last one found. We played that when whomever was it found someone they had to both start looking for the rest-letting it snowball. This was all back in the 90's. Used to meet some interesting people in the cave-Hey Cave Girl who are you?


Part of why I liked the cave was I don't get claustrophobic-if you do you would not like the cave which has quite a number of tight passages-including most especially infamous now The Birth Canal. Back then we didn't think about any dangers and just had fun. The cave maintains a year-round temperature making it comfortable in winter or summer. It was the aspects of the maze that made me think about adapting a cave scene for my action-adventure novels. Now this tragedy has me thinking about the real accidents that can happen when people think they are just going out for a good time.

Still I don't think we ought to seal the cave, accidents can and will happen anywhere and while I do not fret over fate-I don't see us protecting ourselves and our children from anything and everything that can happen. To get into the Nutty Putty anymore took getting permits and such (Not back when I used to go-but it does now). Jones had the permits and experience and still accidents happen-it was the first fatality at Nutty Putty. I feel for Jones family but sealing the cave won't bring him back, instead perhaps by remaining open people may remember him and be more cautious. I am all for it being the John Jones cave in memoriam-IF his family so chooses. If I am an insensitive lout please tell me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, Drink deep and feast with gigantic mirth of the bounty's before you this season, be grateful of what you have, more than a lot of others I'm sure- you got the internet don't ya? Lots of people the world over don't have internet so stop you're griping and appreciate what you have ya ingrates! Now enjoy a turkey leg by Crom!

1-Word Author Wisdoms

Whilst tweeting earlier today I pondered the idea of a single great word of wisdom I have received from authors I admire and how to remember it and apply it to my own writing. So here is that list.

From Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire, Tides of War, Virtues of War, The Afhgan Campaign, and the great motivational book War of Art, the single word would be MOMENTUM-the drive to keep working at your art.


From Robert E. Howard, author of Hour of the Dragon, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn-The Last King, Grim Lands, Crimson Shadows and much much more I think the single word that best captures his guide to me in writing is WONDER-Howard never lets up in his pacing or sense of wonder-the mysterious and magical the terror or heroic.

I first read George R.R. Martin a number
of years ago when his Song of Ice and Fire was getting going and was taken aback at his harsh yet realistic low magic world (Thats a good thing). He was the first to present me with the idea of reading and WRITING everyday. I would say the single word for him would be EPIC. There is no hindrance for having a cast of thousands in his series and it still makes sense.

Louis L'Amour
was someone I read a lot of when I was a kid-just the westerns-pulp and full of action with a mysterious stranger who comes to town and takes care of bizness. But as I got older I found he had a lot more to offer-Haunted Mesa, Last of the Breed, Walking Drum, Off the Mangrove Coast. For Louis I would say RANGE. He wrote stories all across the board and I want to as well.

Researching anything of interest led me to pick up Hells Angels by Hunter S. Thompson. He
delighted me with both insanity and humor-Great Shark Hunt, Where the BuffaloRoam, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Titles range far and wide in his reporting of various events and I can't read a piece by him and not chuckle at the least-though he wrote non-fiction he still inspires my fiction and the word would be ABSURDITY.



H.P. Lovecraft is a horror writer extraordinaire with an uncanny gift for delicious purple prose-The Call of Cthullu,
Dagon, At the Mountains of Madness. His malevolent genius for monsters (Old Ones)out of space and time reaches into my brain for crawling hulks to inhabit the dark places where Heroes dare to tread. A single word of lesson from him would be DETAIL.







Cormac McCarthy has a brutal simple
style that evokes a bleak world view-but I am not convinced that is entirely the case. Despite the dark worlds his characters inhabit-The Road, No Country for Old Men and especially his best Blood Meridian-I sense something more -THEME.




The author who has held me longer than any other is undoubtedly J.R.R.Tolkien. By blending myth, lan
guage and legend into a cohesive saga spanning millenia-his works have occupied my daydreams since before I could read- I credit him-IMAGINATION.

Seen just around the corner.

Apparently Chuck Norris lives right around the corner from me and has strong opinions.
Good to know he approves of what I'm doing here.

Green Monk

Green Monk, by Brandon Dayton

I love graphic novels/comics and I love Heroic Fantasy and that's what you get with Green Monk. I practically learned to read on comics and I have quite a number in my library. Green Monk is a welcome addition in with the pocket sized variety-which is one of its striking features. It is postcard sized and as such every page is a panel. Dayton's art for the book perfectly gives you the stark resonance of a mythic tale. It is simple black and white and the panel by panel play forces you to take your time with the tale rather than than jumping quickly on the usual 6-8 panel page.

A sword and sorcery tale usually pits a hero against something monstrous and magical-Green Monk has that and like the truly great S&S tales there is always something more underlying too. The Green Monk, Alexey is wandering a mythical Russian countryside after being expelled from his monastery-bound with this is his magical greenblade-which has the power to break all things asunder.

Yes, I've pretty much just given you page one and I hate to tell too much in reviews so back to what I think of the tale. It's excellent, Dayton's yarn-spinning had me captivated. There is always more to the story than it initially looks-Dayton brought some nice twists from both sides of the conflict involved and I eagerly await what he does next with both the Green Monk saga and any other projects.

Here you can order Green Monk for the paltry sum of 5 bucks. A steal in the current comic market. Also check out his other pieces.

The Idiotic Mighty Hunter

I like to ponder the meaning of words. I am not an educated philologist but I am into orgins and the true meaning of names. I wrote up an extensive glossary of names I use in my historical/speculative novel which alas will not be in Heroes of the Fallen-perhaps its sequel Blood of Our Fathers we shall see.

So I was pondering the use of NIMROD in popular culture, anyone outside of Church uses it as Idiot, Moron, Fool etc, I think it all goes back to Bugs Bunny calling Elmer Fudd-Nimrod as a sarcastic dig because the Bible says Nimrod was a mighty hunter-which Fudd is surely not. So as a gag it has grown until it lost the original meaning from a sarcastic comment.

Any other names or words that have lost their original meanings?

Burn Me Deadly

Burn Me Deadly, by Alex Bledsoe

This is the second book detailing the adventures of Eddie LaCrosse. The first was The Sword-Edged Blonde which I enjoyed and I would say Bledsoe has topped that one here, I am looking forward to the third in the chronicles Dark Jenny but that is quite a ways away considering Burn Me Deadly was only released last week.

Eddies story told from his perspective is a blending of heroic fantasy and noir detective. I am a fan of both though not so well read in noir as Bledsoe, but I do love Dashiell Hammetts classics-The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, etc. Set in a relative backwater town in a renaissance world (I found things too well kept to be medieval fantasy) Eddie literally has a deadly mystery thrust upon him by almost running down a girl fleeing through the woods away from some sinister men.


Fast paced and edgy, Bledsoe delivers some great characters that reflect on things many of us know very well. Regardless of station and time people are the same as they ever were-hopes and fears-doubts and faith. Lots of twists and turns like the good old suspense tales this is a prime book to read first person perspective with because we find things out side by side with Eddie-perhaps even before. I don't want to give away too much about the story at all but I think several of my readers would enjoy this. Dragon worshippers come to town and are up to no good but we all know dragons don't exist right? I also got a kick out of the dragon worshippers mention of the legendary beast's of yore-true dragon fans will recognize them.

All in all it was a great read. I was hardly able to put the book down once I started. You can see Alex's blog and book trailer here.