Official Website of A. S. Peterson
The Stephens Hill Horror
Oct - 31 - 2010
When I decided to write a 'ghost story' about my brother's house and its location on Stephens Hill I succumbed to my desire to write in the style of Lovecraft. Anyone who's a fan will recognize the structure, word choices, and even a certain (slightly altered) name. As much as I like the way the story turned out, it's so clearly Lovecraftian that I can't really claim it as my own and prefer to think of it as an homage to a master of the genre.
--The Stephens Hill Horror--
. . . Read the entire post
Perfected in Weakness
Nov - 02 - 2010
It's popular in our culture to think that we are defined by our strengths. If you go to a job interview, what do they ask you? They want to know what your strengths are, right? If someone wants to describe who they are or what they do, what do they say? They rattle off a list of strengths. I graduated from MIT. I work for NASA. I've been married for 12 years and have four kids. I hold the world record at Donkey Kong. We play up the things we're proud of or those things we think make us valuable in the eyes of others.
We don't mention our weaknesses. We downplay them. We hide them. I think we're trained to hide them for most of our lives. And in some measure, it's rightly so. It would be a depressing world if we described one another by our weaknesses, wouldn't it? Hi, my name is Pete Peterson and I'm lazy. I can't do math. I judge people before I know them. I secretly think I'm better than everyone else and my love of sweet tea and sandwiches is probably killing me . . .Read the entire post
Memory of a Midnight Sea
Sep - 13 - 2010
USS Dubuque Seizes Ship Captured by Pirates
You can probably imagine my interest in the report but my association goes deeper than simply being an author who writes about pirates. Almost twenty years ago, you see, I was U.S. Marine Sergeant “Pete” Peterson and I served on the USS Dubuque for a while.
Luckily, the time I spent on the De Puke (as we called it) was almost entirely taken up by sleeping, playing Spades, and reading Michael Crichton novels rather than fighting pirates or saving the free world. I remember a tattered copy of Jurassic Park making the rounds from jarhead to jarhead throughout the berthing area and it ignited all sorts of lively debate about how well Steven Spielberg had (or hadn’t) interpreted it. Crichton was considered high literature to us in those days. If I remember correctly, a copy of Congo was being passed along not far behind it.
This was in the early to mid-90’s and there seemed to be a new war or conflict springing up every other week. Young as we were, we were anxious for pirates to fight, or an embassy to evacuate, or a “peacekeeping mission” to join. Day after day, we’d run through our drills and study our battle plans and then we’d stand outside the hatch at night smoking our cigarettes as the sea rolled past . . . Read the entire post
A Letter Completed
Oct - 04 - 2009
When I got home I tried my best to gain access to the letter in the usual ways, but despite a flurry of paperwork and formal requests, I was denied access to the university’s archives. So I was forced to take matters into my own hands. I got in touch with some contacts from the old days in the Marine Corps and called in a few favors. Thirty-six hours later, dressed in my best burgling outfit, I rappelled out of a stealth helicopter and...Read the entire post
A New Letter
Sep - 14 - 2009
I suspect he didn’t think much of my particular interests. He repeatedly steered me toward his vast collection of fish hooks and lighthouse replicas. I would not be dissuaded, however, and at last he showed me to a tiny closet at the rear of the museum inside which were stacked a treasure of...Read the entire post
A Hidden Letter
Jul - 26 - 2009
Research and appraisal has revealed that the desk dates to mid-19th century Savannah, Georgia. Though this is nearly a hundred years beyond the prime of Fin Button’s documented career, the letter secreted away within the desk is undoubtedly of her authorship. Why it was kept at all, and kept so secretly, we may never know, but there are clues...Read the entire post
A Letter from the Smithsonian
Jul - 20 - 2009
Another Letter Found
Jul - 12 - 2009
The first book that caught my eye was entitled Naval Knots and Them What Tied ‘Em. I’m always on the lookout for a good old fashioned knot book and saw right off that this was a keeper. It was written by Heathcliff G. Sanderson who most of you will recall was the Knottier-in-Chief of the Department of the Navy in the early 19th century and coined the famous phrase, “Knot without a fight!” during the War of 1812. Naturally, I snatched this little treasure up and added it to my library.
The second find of the day was...Read the entire post
New Letter Transcription
Jun - 22 - 2009
The letter, dated December 19th, 1775, has been precisely transcribed and is presented on the Letters to Peter page.
A New Letter Transcribed
Jun - 15 - 2009
I have meticulously transcribed the letter, dated December 14th, 1775, and placed its tale on the Letters to Peter page.
What's a Salzburger?
Jun - 17 - 2009
But just because the author knows the history of a person or a place doesn’t mean it belongs in the story. A lot of that kind of information gets cut during editing. That doesn’t mean the research was in vain, though. The individual stories and histories behind the persons and places of The Fiddler’s Gun serve to inform the tale in much more subtle ways long after the raw exposition has been excised.
It does make me sad sometimes, though, and one such example is that of the Salzburgers...Read the entire post
Origin of the Story
Jun - 10 - 2009
The real story, if you choose to believe it, is that some years ago I decided to try something different for Christmas. Simply buying gifts and handing them out wrapped in plaid paper had grown too ordinary. That’s when I thought, “Ah hah! I shall build treasure chests and fill them with gifts and bury them!”...Read the entire post
Short Fiction
Jun - 09 - 2009
Some may have noticed a new webpage link in the sidebar entitled “Short Fiction”. While the pieces I plan to post there will not be direct examples of the style of the novel, I do hope they’ll offer a broader portrait of my writing and will help to earn your trust in the quality of the story yet to come.
The first short presented is one I wrote for The Rabbit Room entitled “The Taming of the Toad.” It is very loosely inspired by my experience as a staff member at the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch and is not, as I’ve often been asked, autobiographical. I hope you enjoy it.
A New Letter Found
Jun - 08 - 2009
He told me of a collection of aged documents that he’d found some years ago hidden between the pages of an old Gutenburg Bible. The Bible, he assured me, now rests safely in the hands of the local museum but he held onto the documents having no clear idea of what they might be worth or to whom they might be of interest. He related his elation at the discovery of this website and how, with all haste, he sought me out and then bid me come to inspect his documentary treasure.
I did so at once.
Most of the documents in his care were of little note being either unreadable or unremarkable. Most, not all. One among them, although undated and unsigned, seized my interest at once and I have transcribed it and entered it upon the Letters to Peter page of the site.
Come Join the Conversation
Jun - 03 - 2009
I wanted to write a review of it for The Rabbit Room but was a little too overwhelmed by the experience to do it any justice. I did put down a few thoughts though and invited readers to do the same. Head over to the Rabbit Room and add to the conversation. And if you haven’t seen the movie yet, cancel whatever else you’ve got going on this weekend and get thee to a theater.
A Captain's Log
Jun - 01 - 2009
I hid in a broom closet until they closed and then, under cover of darkness, I snuck into the museum proper to find what I had come for. Having watched Treasure of the Four Crowns last week, I was able to easily avoid the laser alarm system and a rather ingenious nest of booby traps that guarded the logbook. I danced through the laser field like the pasty middle-aged ninja that I am and used a bag of sand to fool the weight-sensitive plate upon which the logbook lay. Then I cut the page in question from the two-hundred-year-old book and left a polite note that I would return it in the near future along with a copy of my library card.
The transcription of this newly acquired log entry can be found on the Letters to Peter page. I hear sirens outside my door.
New Letter Transcription
May - 24 - 2009
I am at liberty, however, to reveal the content of said letter, dated November 23rd, 1775, and have transcribed it for you and placed it for public viewing on the Letters to Peter page of this website.
Back to Basics
May - 27 - 2009
In Search of Pierce Pettis
May - 28 - 2009
Stop Pillaging My Childhood
May - 26 - 2009
Read the post here.
New Letter Transcribed
May - 18 - 2009
The letter does, however, shed new light on the matter of Fin’s snuffled boot. It seems a mystery is afoot.
Letters to Peter
May - 13 - 2009
In the narrative of The Fiddler’s Gun, Fin Button has multiple occasions to write letters home to her good friend, Peter LaMee. So in the time leading up to the release of the book, I thought it would be fun to discoverRead the entire post