on Reading and Writing and All the Speculation In Between
Author Jim Murdoch contacted me to review the omnibus edition of his two paperbacks, Living with the Truth and Stranger Than Fiction, which he’s released as an eBook, available only via Smashwords. In specific, he was looking for a critique of the story arc across the two books. From that perspective, this is an easy…
Since I’ve been keeping an eye open for these things on Twitter, I’ve found another indie author interview opportunity (don’t think “victim” here, I’ll hear you!): @SDeiLune. She’s not only releasing her first novel, but has also been asked to write the novel version of an upcoming major motion picture. (Color me star-struck, here!) 1….
As part of my ongoing series of interviews with indie authors, I’ve been paying more attention on Twitter to authors who are working on upcoming releases. A few weeks back Catherine Mintz (@CatherineMintz) mentioned about getting ready to release a new book, so I offered her the opportunity for a pre-publication interview. I now present…
Author Joseph Rinaldo contacted me to review this and sent me a PDF to be able to read it on my iPad. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, given the wide range of seemingly divergent tags on the book’s Amazon page (ranging from bereavement, to embezzlement, to mental retardation, to fishing, to espionage) and…
Stumar Press contacted me to review this anthology by the Derby Scribes plus, which includes short stories from Simon Clark, Conrad Williams and Neal James, plus short stories from Derby Scribes members Stuart Hughes, Richard Farren Barber, Christopher Barker, Victoria Charvill, Jennifer Brown, David Ball, Peter Borg, and Alison J. Hill. In general, I shy…
I’ve read several Philippa Gregory novels, and typically really enjoy the work she’s put into researching and characterizing the historical and fictional personages that populate her novels. I like that that she focuses on women of ambiguous character with complex motivations and explores them within the context of the time in which the stories are…
This was another review request that languished on my to-read pile for a while. Author Rachel Forde contacted me via this blog with a short and sweet introduction and request. According to Amazon, the book was released in early July, and has already earned an accolade: the ePublishing Consortium‘s Writing Award. That last seems a…
Ever since I first read Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters and then Five Hundred Kingdoms series, I’ve been fascinated by fractured fairy tales. Only recently, with Kait Nolan’s Red did I even discover another author noodling on that theme. So when Nigel Osner requested that I review his fantasy novel, I had no idea this was…
After a series of read-for-myself days, today I felt honor-bound to pick up the next in my pile of review requests, and opened up Toonopolis: Gemini, by Jeremy Rodden. It’s labeled as young adult/fantasy, so theoretically aligns with a lot of what I’ve been reading. I wasn’t too sure about it from the author’s blurb, since…
This final edition of the Percy Jackson adventures in the New Olympian series wouldn’t be complete without the requisite quest. This time the stakes are as high as possible: to save the world as it is. In order to manage this, Percy and his demi-god and half-blood friends have been planning for a year on…