I love playing handball.

Not the kind you play indoors with four walls, though I’ve played that kind too. I’m talking about the kind you play against a concrete monolith, using a blue rubber ball the size of what we used to call a spaldeen on the streets of New York.

The opponent is almost always a teenager, almost always faster than I am, almost always stronger, and almost always in better shape. But I almost always win, because as physical as handball can get, there’s also strategy involved, and I’m good at the strategy part.

So my opponent walks on the court talking all kinds of trash and making remarks about the gray in what’s left of my hair, and walks off in an entirely different frame of mind. A decidedly beaten frame of mind. And I draw immense satisfaction from the encounter.

Yeah, it’s kind of evil. But then, I don’t have a whole lot of vices.

Handball is a city game, and some courts are in neighborhoods I probably shouldn’t be visiting. The kids I play are too often hanging gang colors. Some of them are sporting prison tats. On the court, it doesn’t matter. Everybody’s a gentleman, everybody’s a sportsman. Continue reading

Here’s what loyal readers of Peter David’s work are saying about his new book, The Camelot Papers, on Amazon…

“The Camelot Papers is an intriguing look at the potential reality behind the legends of Camelot.”

“It’s a lot of fun reading the book and getting those “Ahhhh, that’s where X came from” moments. PAD has some very clever ideas behind the truth of The Sword in the Stone, Excalibur’s origin, Merlin’s “wizardry” and the like.”

“The book has PAD’s trademark humor, solid characterization, fun nods to the traditional Arthur stories, a good mystery, and I stayed up two hours after I should have been in bed to finish the last two chapters.”

“I liked seeing how David handled all of the pieces of the King Arthur legend to create his own story. If this becomes a series, I would certainly pick up more books.”

Over at Good Reads, one reviewer wrote, “I liked seeing how David handled all of the pieces of the King Arthur legend to create his own story. You could see how some of it was factual, according to Viviana, and how some of it would be warped into legend. He created some interesting characters (with the exception of Viviana) and if this becomes a series, I would certainly pick up more books. Personally, I really want to see more from the trouser-wearing Guinevere and the not-really-a-wizard Merlin.” Continue reading