Ron Thompson
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thompsron.bsky.social
Ron Thompson
@thompsron.bsky.social
Writer, geographer, economist, concerned citizen. Believer in science and civility.

Author of the award-winning novel, The Wind From All Directions

https://www.amzn.com/dp/1990644902/
Pinned
Very pleased that the Canadian Nautical Research Society has bestowed its Keith Matthews Award on my novel, The Wind From All Directions. It is the first time that CNRS has recognized a novel for the award.
ronaldthompson.wordpress.com/2025/06/02/a...
A Win for The Wind From All Directions
The Canadian Nautical Research Society (CNRS) has announced its selection of The Wind From all Directions for its 2024 Keith Matthews Award, with Honourable Mention for a “Book Deserving Special Re…
ronaldthompson.wordpress.com
How they vote in France
November 16, 2025 at 4:19 PM
We ALL have our little rituals for playoffs and game days. A #100words story about that.

#amwriting #drabble
Game Day Rituals
In pursuit of sporting greatness, I could not rely on talent, of which, the evidence demonstrated, I had little. Luck, then. To attract it, ...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:34 PM
A story The Bard never wrote — what if the Montague gang (sans Romeo, of course) grew old? The tale in #drabble form:
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2025/10/life...

#shakespeare
Lifelong Pals
A band of rogues, were they, everything a ribald brag or pun-ish diss. Fact or fiction, it mattered not. Lewd mockery and exaggeration were ...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:33 PM
The moral of the #drabble: less talk, more work.
Such Potential
Roger often thought about the band, and what they could have been, if creative differences hadn’t derailed them. They always argued over  ev...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
September 22, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Ron Thompson
Welker to Lavrov: "Here are the facts. Close to 50,000 civilians have either been killed or injured in this war. Russia has hit maternity wards, churches, schools, hospitals, a kindergarten just this week. So either the Russian military has terrible aim or you are targeting civilians. Which is it?"
August 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Sometimes international summitry is like a poker game. Those who bluff in a spot like that don't know what they're doing.
#drabble #100words
Story at drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...
The Art of the Bluff
He took another peek. A 7-2 offsuit, a really raw deal. He’d have to bluff on it. He glanced around the table. Emannuel looked smug, but he ...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
August 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
The first rule of Bike Club is you don't talk about Bike Club... What goes on on the fence stays on the fence. True story, in a hundred words.
#drabble #100words #truestory
The Gate in the Middle of Nowhere
Off-road, we encountered locked gates, and we had to hand our bikes across to another rider, then climb over ourselves. On one two-metre gia...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
August 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Two helpful rules for leading your life: Dance like nobody's watching. Drabble like nobody's reading. Well, here goes:
#amwriting #100words #drabble
Blurry Memories
In my prairie hometown, on a Saturday night, there was often not much going on, and we teenagers sometimes crashed wedding parties. These ...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
July 16, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reflections on the toll of an active life. My latest drabble with the Exquisite Corpse writing crew.
#amwriting #100words #drabble

drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2025/06/to-b...
To the Bitter End
Some years ago, I watched one of those human-interest stories with which (after doling on the day’s many disasters) they close newscasts. It...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
June 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM
The final installment of my 3-part crash course in Economics. Crash being the operative word. (I'm looking at you, tariffs.)
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2025/06/when...

#amwriting #100words #drabble #Economics
When Winning is Everything (Econ 100 Concluded)
Assume one country is better at producing a particular “good” than others because of its “factor endowments,” or its use of technology. In s...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Very pleased that the Canadian Nautical Research Society has bestowed its Keith Matthews Award on my novel, The Wind From All Directions. It is the first time that CNRS has recognized a novel for the award.
ronaldthompson.wordpress.com/2025/06/02/a...
A Win for The Wind From All Directions
The Canadian Nautical Research Society (CNRS) has announced its selection of The Wind From all Directions for its 2024 Keith Matthews Award, with Honourable Mention for a “Book Deserving Special Re…
ronaldthompson.wordpress.com
June 3, 2025 at 1:14 PM
ron.thompson.3139
My latest #drabble is Part 2 of my 3-part crash course in economics. You too can earn a university degree from the comfort of your couch.
#amwriting #100words on #Economics

drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2025/05/econ...
Economics 100: Inequality
Today’s hundred-word seminar is about how to create income inequality. First, cut taxes, and make sure the rich get 90% of the benefit. Seas...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
May 11, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The world is waiting for Donald Trump's tariff announcement today. All eyes will be on him. And, narcissist that he is, he would have it no other way. Perhaps that says it all about the real purpose of this policy.

#tariffs
April 2, 2025 at 5:43 PM
In art there is hope. A hundred words about the soothing of the savage breast.
#art #drabble #100words
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-...
The Happy Place
I’m not sure why, because it wasn’t part of my upbringing, but art makes me happy. It doesn’t happen at first sight. For my first half...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Ron Thompson
Been reflecting on these. uhm, disruptive times; and how to respond. Could it be worse? I put to verse. In case you wondered, the word count is hundred.
#amwriting #drabble #100words:
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2025/01/spea...
Speak Truth, Stand Tall
With callous and sadistic pleasure The tiny-handed king will savour The chaos, the hating The dog-whistle baiting The cruelty ...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
January 26, 2025 at 4:04 PM
It's NOT a one-hit wonder; and its revival will be especially sweet. I hope people everywhere show up for it.

Democracy: The Musical
#amwriting #drabble #vss #100words #DemocracyMatters
Democracy: The Musical
I hear their tinny, amplified voices across Kraków’s Main Square, and wander over to see what’s happening. They are young Ukrainians, singin...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
January 7, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Pleased to start 2025 with a new review of my novel, The Wind From All Directions, in The British Columbia Review:
"A captivating historical novel” says the reviewer, saying the book offers readers “something special”

#HistoricalFiction #RoyalNavy #seastories #BCbooks
thebcreview.ca/2024/12/31/2...
Ron Verzuh reviews The Wind from All Directions, by Ron Thompson
Ron Verzuh reviews The Wind from All Directions, by Ron Thompson (Toronto: Double Dagger Books, 2024) $22.99 / 9781990644900
thebcreview.ca
January 1, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Toronto - I know you're in there...

#toronto #to #december
December 22, 2024 at 12:44 AM
Tis the season for consumption. We are WAY too hooked on instant gratification. Mea culpa. Here's a true story about how my shipment came straight from the factory in China. Much ado for empty calories.
#amwriting #drabble #100words #TrueStory

drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com/2024/12/glob...
Global Logistics for Carefree Consumption
It was produced in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, and on April 26 it began its journey towards its end-user, travelling 215 kilometres to CNE Ex...
drinkthenewwine.blogspot.com
December 21, 2024 at 3:43 PM
My publisher's timely plug on Instagram, based on reader feedback.
Other reviewers' takes:
"Naval history meets Indigenous voices... groundbreaking... engagingly told..."
“Vividly portrayed... highly recommended..."
"a fast-moving adventure..."
#historicalfiction #seastories #royalnavy #doubledagger
December 16, 2024 at 4:33 PM
This is an excellent piece on press gangs by @heart-of-oak.bsky.social.

In 1789 a confrontation between the Spanish navy and British traders led to the #RoyalNavy's mobilization. Much "ungentle recruitment" ensued to ready the fleet for sea.

#navalhistory
heart-of-oak.org/2024/12/06/r...
Refining the Impressment
As press gangs terrorized British harbors, some sought alternatives for recruiting seamen.
heart-of-oak.org
December 10, 2024 at 5:31 PM