Peter Crispin Author

Skagway Unless you have taken an Alaskan cruise, I’m going to guess Skagway is one of the most interesting places in the United States that you’ve never heard of. Skagway, AK, has a permanent population of about 800 people, which doubles in the summer with all the seasonal workers it requires to function. Skagway is not an easy place to get to. You can either take a ferry, which takes about an hour from Haines, and about six hours from Juneau. You can drive from Whitehorse, which takes about two hours, and is almost all uphill, until you get to the border. Or, you take an Alaskan cruise. Every single Alaskan cruise stops in Skagway, as has been the case as long as there have been Alaskan cruises, since the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. Oh, I almost forgot, you can also take a  62-hour ferry from Bellingham, Washington. During the Gold Rush, the easiest way to get to Dawson City was to sail to Skagway, carry 1 year’s worth of food plus your supplies up the Chilkoot Trail, which gene...

 If you have never met someone like this, consider yourself lucky. I was a bartender for 8 years, and not that kind of lucky Due diligence Raphael eyed his two tables- the quiet man in the back in the wide-brimmed hat, and Larry, sitting alone with his six empty bottles. Tearing the bill from the printer, Raphael approached Larry’s table. ‘You’ve had enough Larry, it’s time to go.’ Larry scratched his balding, liver-spotted  head, sending flakes of dandruff fluttering through the air like snowflakes. ‘But I’ve only had one or two,’ he said, eyeing his six empties in what he thought was a discrete manner. ‘Plus I’m a great driver!’ Raphael arched an eyebrow, glancing outside. ‘Which one is yours?’ ‘Red…’ Larry mumbled. ‘F100.’ ‘You mean the one with the broken headlight and the flat tire?’ Larry’s wide flushed face, blushed even redder. ‘It ain’t completely flat. She ain’t as bad as she looks, trust me!’ ‘Well, it looks like I’ll be having your keys, please. You don’t want the ...

The Mormons After I decided to move to Whitehorse, I moved in with my first landlord, Io. It was September 2010, my first winter in the Yukon after two very fun summers with a pretty drunken haze. I was paying $600 for the vacant room. As I was unpacking my book collection, Io happened to be walking by. ‘You certainly have some weird books,’ she said. ‘You should meet this James guy, he likes weird books too.  ‘Cool,’ I muttered, and didn’t really give it another thought.  Io bought a house but didn’t hire movers, she said we could move everything ourselves, including the washer and dryer in the basement. She told me we would meet at the old place at ten. When ten rolled around I had no companion but an imaginary tumbleweed dancing in the wind.  Then two tall young guys in suits walked up. ‘Hi,’ the taller one said, ‘we’re looking for Io.’ I shrugged. ‘I am too, we’re supposed to be moving today.’ ‘We’re from the Mormon Help Line. Io’s friend is a mormon, she asked if we ...

Here is the first half of my memoir about Egypt When I decided to write about Egypt, I was struggling to collect memories from fifteen years ago, so it was challenging. Fortunately, I found my travel journal from that trip, and Crista remembers much different things than I do, so she was a big help filling in things I was vague about in my journal. Once I started writing all the memories started flooding back. This is the first half of the trip, I haven’t written the second half yet. Land of Magic and Mystery Part 1 April, 2008   Hey Sean, I typed, I’ve got big news, we need to talk. Hey , he replied, I’ve got big news too.  Ring Ring. ‘Guess what…’ I gushed, ‘I’m going to EGYPT!’ There was a few moments of shocked silence. ‘…I’M going to Egypt!’ Sean beamed.  Woah. He paid $10000, and said it was worth every penny. He got luxury hotels, air-conditioned busses, and ancient secret rituals in the sacred chamber beneath the Sphinx. His travelling companions included artists ...

tillism.com has published an excerpt from my memoir about my adventure in Egypt in 2009. The first half of the story will follow shortly, I'm currently editing the second half https://tillism.com/2022/05/06/land-of-magic-and-mystery-excerpt/

 I wrote what I thought was a rough draft for a novel, and upon completion realised it was more of a rough outline. So, I started at the beginning and tried to stick to the most interesting moments. Originally this intro was about twice this length. The Bloody Dawn 965 words ‘Apologies, my lord.’ ‘Watch yourself, wench!’ Cyrine froze in the empty dirt road through the Trader’s Quarter, turning to face the commotion. A bearded man in a light blue silk tunic towered over a slight girl curled fearfully around herself. ‘This shirt cost more than you make in a year,’ he sneered.’ ‘If my lord had looked before rising…’ ‘Enough excuses!’ He shouted as Cyrine approached. He stunk of wine, and not just from the purple stain near the hem of the fine blue fabric. She raised a mailed hand before him, her warhammer held loosely in the other. Glaring with her steel blue eyes, his gaze nervously avoided hers. ‘She ruined my tunic,’ he snarled, drawing his rapier.’ ‘You ...