(Image features Cordelia Vorkosigan, nee Naismith, from the Vorkosigan Saga; an amazing example of a kick-ass heroine!) I was reading an SFR with a “kick-ass” heroine recently. The book is universally lauded. But something happened early on that ensured I wouldn’t go on to finish it, much less read the rest in the series. The heroine was […]
Read More How NOT to Write Kick-Ass HeroinesBy Nancy Jane Moore At a recent meeting of my writers’ group, we discussed fight scenes while critiquing an early draft of my novel in progress. The discussion went something like this: “Women fight differently from men,” one of the guys said in pointing out that the sword fight scenes didn’t vary much. I didn’t […]
Read More Fighting and GenderThe Dark Tower by Stephen King My rating: 5 of 5 stars Read for the 12 Awards in 12 Months Challenge, the Apocalypse Now! Reading Challenge, the High Fantasy Reading Challenge, and the Read the Sequel Reading Challenge. This novel won the Derleth Award in 2005. The conclusion of the Dark Tower series is probably […]
Read More Book Review: The Dark Tower by Stephen KingSong of Susannah by Stephen King My rating: 3 of 5 stars Read for the Second Best Reading Challenge, the Apocalypse Now! Reading Challenge, the High Fantasy Reading Challenge, and the Read the Sequel Reading Challenge. This novel was nominated for the Locus Award. I’d almost forgotten all of this one in my re-read. This […]
Read More Book Review: Song of Suzannah by Stephen KingReleasing my book trailer for the final installment of the Wyrd West Chronicles for the first year! This turned out to be a long one: unedited, it’s 45,000 words! Wyrd West publication will resume in 2019. This year, I’ll still be producing the print collection, and I’ll still be putting out the audiobook (or perhaps […]
Read More Book Trailer: The Widow’s Gambit (Wyrd West Chronicles #6)More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Read for the SF Masterworks Reading Challenge and the Science Fiction Masterworks Book Club. This might be my favourite book from the SF Masterworks yet. For one thing, I’ve read it before. I remembered it when they started talking about a gestalt person; […]
Read More Book Review: More Than Human by Theodore SturgeonBy Rustic Intel The Star Wars storyline divides neatly into two sides: good and evil. The latter possess a qualitative and quantitative edge in terms of military hardware and personnel. The former clings to intangible advantages in pluck, optimism, and desperation. It is desperation that encourages the scrappy underdogs to take chances they otherwise might […]
Read More The Force Awakens to High Risk HUMINTWolves of the Calla by Stephen King My rating: 5 of 5 stars Read for the I Just Have to Read More of That Author Reading Challenge, the Second Best Reading Challenge, the Apocalypse Now! Reading Challenge, the High Fantasy Reading Challenge, and the Read the Sequel Reading Challenge. This book was nominated for the […]
Read More Book Review: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen KingHappy New Year everyone! I figured this was a good time to lay out my writing plans for the year for the benefit of friends & fans. To start with, some bad news: I have decided that for 2018, I will not be producing new installments in the Wyrd West Chronicles. My reasons for this […]
Read More My Writing Plans for 2018This year I fell down on the job in completing my Goodreads reading challenge. I started with an optimistic attempt to read 75 books. I started strong, but a brutal self-imposed writing schedule kept me hopping, and I realized in about August that I was nowhere near where I wanted to be for reading challenges. […]
Read More My Year in Reading 2017
