A year ago I bid in the Brenda Novak charity auction on what I thought was a really interesting prize to raise money for Diabetes research. Jason Hough (pronounced Huff not Hugh) made available the opportunity to name a character or company/vehicle/whatnot. Fending off a last-minute challenger, I made sure the Selby Systems LTD (previously…
I know it’s been a while since I posted. I’ve been meaning to for a while, but some “things” happened. I hate things. Rarely does one converse about things and speak of good news. Good news is “events” or even “news”. “Things” mean shit’s gone down. For me that’s my labrum. What’s a labrum you…
I’m reading Tad Williams’ DIRTY STREETS OF HEAVEN. Not only is this the latest novel from one of my favorite authors, it is officially the first novel I’ve ever paid more than $9.99 for, without some kind of asterisk attached1. Williams does a wonderful job building out a recognizable Judeo-Christian angelic hierarchy without necessarily committing…
If you know anything about me, you know that my favorite author is Lois McMaster Bujold. And guess what? She has a new book out! There are four categories of Bujold books: Vorkosigan saga, Challion tetralogy, the Sharing Knife, and the Spirit Ring. The Spirit Ring is the first fantasy book she ever wrote. It…
Once upon a time I was a podcaster. In addition to the weekly audio recordings, it also afforded me a place to act like a more professional blogger. I could review books (and in fact, reviewed a Tad Williams book that I had been keen to receive). I no longer podcast (or I should say,…
I’m not one for “How To” books. I can never stick with them. It feels like reading a reference book. The closest I come is to reading Don Maass on Twitter who gives good advice on improving your characters. So I’m linking to this post by Peter V. Brett not because of the book he’s…
I don’t only read fantasy and science fiction. I think that’s a good thing, to read outside of one’s preferred genre. Keeps things fresh. Keeps things interesting. You get a view of how things are done elsewhere (setting doesn’t matter as much in some genres as it does in sff where many call it another…