Author | Joseph L. Selby

Tag: books

  • Time Out

    I have two thousands words left before I complete JEHOVAH’S HITLIST. I just bought SHADOWHEART, the fourth and final volume of the Shadowmarch Tetralogy written by my favorite author, Tad Williams. This is a time for writing and reading a big ass book. …yet SHADOWHEART sits on my table (damn that thing is heavy to…

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  • No Sympathy for Bookstores

    The general premise is that if you want to be a writer, you should buy books whenever you can, whether they are for yourself or gifts for others (this sentiment most often comes up around Christmas). I don’t have a problem with this, to be honest. Support the business you work in. Makes sense to…

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  • That was EPIC!

    The fastest way to start a literary nerd fight? Say X fantasy book is/is not epic fantasy. Epic fantasy may be the poorest defined genre currently being published1. I think this is a result of the ’80s/’90s where almost all fantasy published was epic fantasy. Epic fantasy was so pervasive within the genre that epic…

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  • The Six Books of Harry Potter

    Nathan Bransford invited readers to post comments about Harry Potter on their own blogs and link back in his, for which this post is created. Depending on how long you’ve been following me, you might have listened to the episode of the PodgeCast or even read the older post on my LiveJournal that covered the…

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  • Minimum Word Counts

    When I lived in St. Louis and began to finally put genuine effort to a career in writing, I began the Third World, an epic setting required of every major fantasy author. To that point, I did not read critically. I read what I enjoyed and read for enjoyment. I did not stop to ponder…

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  • Fried Ocher

    I was talking to Elizabeth Poole yesterday who had been absent for a week because she thought she deserved to vacation in another state rather than hang out and talk to me over IM. Silly girl. Anyway, she asked me for an update on JEHOVAH’S HITLIST. I didn’t have much to report. I had invoked…

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  • Print is Killing Publishing

    Whether you love the smell of paper books or not, digital distribution will be the primary means of accessing text-based media within your lifetime. Three years ago I was in a meeting of department heads and vice presidents and all the people that make decisions on things. We were discussing the company’s ebook strategy. Three…

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  • What if Books Were Like TV

    Following the recommendation of many, many people, I finally got around to renting the first disc of season 1 of “White Collar” (that’s the USA show that stars Chuck’s Bryce Larkin as a conman working for the feds). I have to say, the pilot really hooked me. It wasn’t as flimsy as I thought it…

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  • Frenetic

    I have stopped revising so I can read BLUE FIRE. I haven’t opened my computer since Monday evening. This isn’t too bad because I should finish the book by tomorrow. It’s not a long-term delay or anything. And reading a good book is a great way to recharge one’s batteries. Keep the juices flowing and…

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  • BLUE FIRE, Writing to Age, and the Agency Model for eBooks

     BLUE FIRE by Janice Hardy released today. Some how, I switched the 10 and the 5 and thought it wasn’t coming out until Friday even though new books come out on Tuesdays. I are dumb. So I get an email while riding the train into work saying the download is available. I turn on my…

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