Audio Clips
Pipe Major J. McWilliams composed by Donald MacLeod. Piper: Jack Lee
My Gentle Joanie
by Pipe Major James L. McWilliams
News & Events
- A Secret Of The Sphinx... read more
- Pipe Major Jim McWilliams... read more
- What The Critics Say... read more
- A SECRET OF THE SPHINX has been chosen as one of the five finalists by BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARDS for 2017!... read more
My Books
A Secret Of The Sphinx
Spring of 1798: Young Rory MacHugh leaves his Blackfoot World for an Ancient World. There determination, versatility, and several unique friends enable him to survive many new lives -- a British sailor, an Egyptian Mameluke, a convict, a Secret Agent, a French Grenadier, a Highland soldier, and a forbidden lover in an Egyptian court. But the most devastating is his first encounter with the man destined plunge the world into war and to become Rory’s own personal demon, the young General Napoleon Bonaparte
The Assassins
Rory returns to Paris in 1803 as bodyguard for the mysterious Count Méhée de la Touche, There Rory’s affair with the glamorous Duchess of Abrantès lands him in the notorious mountaintop prison, the fortress of Bitche. After a unique escape Rory becomes embroiled in several assassination attempts aimed at his very personal enemy, the Emperor Napoleon.
Welcome
Welcome to the website of James L. (Jim) McWilliams.
So much has happened since December, 2017! The one devastating event was the death of my wonderful, lovely soul-mate, Joan Murray, after a courageous 21-month battle with cancer. What a marvelous woman! What a terrible loss for the world! My feelings are best understood by checking out Audio/Video Clips.
I am now living in a “retirement home”, BEAR CREEK VILLA, in Surrey, B.C. Look up my new address, etc. under Contact & Orders. I am fortunate to have landed in such a friendly and comfortable home and am still enjoying the wonderful support of my two sons, Lachlan and Colin, and their loving families.
I am also finding my way back to writing Rory MacHugh’s Memoirs.
One very positive result has been the recent announcement by the BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARDS organization announcing that A SECRET OF THE SPHINX, second in The MacHugh Memoirs series, was chosen as one of the five finalists in the "faction class" (fiction based on facts).
Another happy event has been the self-publication of it's successor, THE ASSASSINS in which Rory returns to Paris in 1803. There Rory’s affair with the glamorous Duchess of Abrantès lands him in so many adventures!
Oh, to be young and adventurous like Rory MacHugh!
Almost ready for publication are three other MacHugh escapades:
ON SECRET SERVICE
It is 1810, shortly after the British victory over the French invaders of Portugal as recorded in THE FUGITIVES. (First of his memoirs to be put into print) During the winter lull, MacHugh is sent to London to track down a beautiful French spy. Things do not work out as planned and he ends up kidnapped and imprisoned in France. He soon encounters, among others, the notorious Joseph Fouché (head of Napoleon’s Secret Police), the future King George IV, and the Duke of Wellington. MacHugh even finds himself embroiled in American plans to invade Canada.
FIVE TRAILS TO TEXAS takes place a quarter of a century later in 1835 and follows the middle-aged MacHugh, once again the Blackfoot warrior, Black War-Bonnet, as he pursues and is pursued by two enemies sworn to kill him. The final result is his arrival in Texas with the lady destined to be known as “The Yellow Rose of Texas”.
THE LAST-CHANCERS
This is MacHugh’s last adventure. It is 1836 when he finally meets his boyhood nemesis at the famous Siege of The Alamo. There Rory tangles with the Yellow Rose of Texas, Santa Anna, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, and all the other legendary figures of that controversial history-changing event.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of any of The MacHugh Memoirs please contact me
Hopefully someday I will get all of these segments of “The MacHugh Memoirs” out for you to enjoy.
- Jim McWilliams,
5 April, 2018.