Hello! It's been a busy past few weeks. I'm dealing with identity theft and applying for a new position at work. But I always have time for reviews. 2019 is starting off with an excellent to be read pile, and I thought I'd share with you what's on the schedule. I'm halfway through Amberlough right … Continue reading Reviews to Start the Year Off
SFF
Review: The Fall
When reading The Nine by Tracy Townsend, I found myself ruminating on religion in fantasy. Her take – a religion dedicated to god as an experimental scientist taking notes on his creation – piqued this engineer's interest. It ended well with ominous overtones for the future of the god's experiment. In The Fall, the ominous … Continue reading Review: The Fall
Story Prompt: January 2019
I played around with photos from Pixabay, and I created this scene on an alien shore. This guy looks out over a body of water, and I immediately started to wonder about his story. What’s he thinking? This made me think it’s a good story prompt. If you write something, let me know in the … Continue reading Story Prompt: January 2019
What I Learned from Week One
November is National Writing Month. This month is a personal challenge to write 50,000 words between the first and thirtieth of November. That’s an average of 1,666.66 words per day. According to the NaNoWriMo blog, 402,000 people participated in 2017. Well, this year, I decided to participate. This is a daunting challenge. Since I’m a … Continue reading What I Learned from Week One
Publication Day
Putting the Science in Fiction It’s publication day! Putting the Science in Fiction is available now. Scroll down for ordering links. Science and technology have starring roles in a wide range of genres–science fiction, fantasy, thriller, mystery, and more. Unfortunately, many depictions of technical subjects in literature, film, and television are pure fiction. A basic … Continue reading Publication Day
Failure as a Profession
National Novel Writing Month, also known as November, is approaching fast. To celebrate the upcoming publication of Putting the Science in Fiction (On Sale October 16, 2018 from Writer’s Digest), ten of the contributors are providing story prompts based on their field of expertise. (Find other essays here.) For the book, I wrote two essays … Continue reading Failure as a Profession
Fall 2018 Reading
I caught up with all my summer reading, and as we head into fall here in Missouri, I have four intriguing books lined up. Politics and fantasy rule my near-term to be read pile. Do you see anything that you like? Have you read any of these? Leave a comment to let me know what … Continue reading Fall 2018 Reading
Review: Salvation’s Fire
Salvation's Fire by Justina Robson is an enjoyable if confusing return to the world of Guardians and Yorughan.
Review: Temper
Each time I sit down to write about Temper by Nicky Drayden, I can't find a place to start because all I can think about is how much I enjoyed this novel. Where to begin? The themes of balance? Artificial class division? Mythology? World-building? Intriguing characters? Temper hits its mark on every count. TL;DR Temper … Continue reading Review: Temper
What I’m Reading – July 2018
What I’m Reading July 2018 I have three excellent Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) this month: two science fiction novels and a political analysis. Which one of these looks good to you? Let me know in the comments below. Temper by Nicky Drayden I actually just finished Temper and loved it. This book about twins covers … Continue reading What I’m Reading – July 2018