Category: Author

Naked Good Reads, by Gisela Hausmann: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Reading, Review2 Comments

  https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asin=B075R4VPNB&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_0NalAb4XD8Z81&tag=stuartaken-21 Subtitled ‘How to Find Readers’, this is another of Hausmann’s writing books crammed with common sense and down-to-earth advice. First, I must pose a question: ‘If you’re a writer, do you belong to Goodreads?’ And, if you don’t, a supplementary question: ‘Why not?’ Goodreads may boast a membership of ‘only’ 65 million, but …

Continue reading Naked Good Reads, by Gisela Hausmann: #BookReview.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

I fear I missed this update last week. Put it down to a mixture of advancing years and a rather busy schedule: I have. So, currently I’m at 11,985 words, which, given I had a target of 10,000 for today is a pleasing result. It’s always a bit slow for a pantster at the start …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Mars, Progress

It hasn’t been the most productive week. But I’ve made some progress. Still having issues with my Mac following the corruption of the OS and installation of Lightroom 6 by Adobe. I have a lot of photographs; the current count is 17,661. Some of these, for Picfair, are close to 30MB each. Lightroom has a …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Sink: Old Man’s Tale, by Perrin Briar: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

This book, listed as science fiction/fantasy, is an odd mix of parable, analogy, political comment and adventure. The style of writing falls mostly under the ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’ label, which makes for a strangely disconnected read for much of the time. There’s a transition from the beginning, set on terra ferma in Australia, and …

Continue reading Sink: Old Man’s Tale, by Perrin Briar: #BookReview.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

So it begins! The first 1100 words are written, at last. The Fates thought they’d stymied me with various barriers placed in the way of creation, but they underestimated my sheer bloody-mindedness. So, medical issues and appointments, computer failures, and unsatisfactory phone lines apart, I’ve actually made a start on the new book. Whilst straining …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Labor Day, by Joseph Farley: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

From the start, this science fiction novel, located on a future Earth, sets the scene for the society in which the action takes place. And it isn’t a society many of us would wish to inhabit. Fortunately, the characters are drawn with such a fine pen that the reader can quickly empathise with the main …

Continue reading Labor Day, by Joseph Farley: #BookReview.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Mars, Progress3 Comments

Sometimes, life throws up incidents and events that cause a touch of disruption to intentions. The last couple of weeks have been full of such things; some tiny irritations, others a little more challenging. I returned from my holiday overseas, which coincided with my annual absence from all things digital, with a painful and slightly …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making

I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Reading, Review9 Comments

A truly remarkable piece of work by a truly remarkable young woman. Malala Yousafzai has produced a memoir that’s so much more than mere autobiography. Anyone ignorant of this brave girl has clearly been living in a shelter on Mars, so I won’t insult readers of this review with an overview. There’s great optimism in …

Continue reading I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai: #BookReview.

Fires, by Tom Ward: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

This thriller, set in a steel city in the UK, treats fire almost as one of its characters. After the opening, in which we meet the main protagonist, a fireman, we are plunged into a world of burning, where the fire officer arrives at his next conflagration only to discover it’s his own home. He …

Continue reading Fires, by Tom Ward: #BookReview.

Inside Moves, by Walter Danley: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

Inside Moves is a thriller with elements that occasionally lift it above the usual formulaic presentation of such books. Starting with a climatic event, the book moves back into the period prior to this to set the scene and explain how the climax came about. The general background to the story, its locations, mood and …

Continue reading Inside Moves, by Walter Danley: #BookReview.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars

Ah, progress! What a fine thing that would be, were it possible. But, fear not, it will eventually be reality. At present, I’m suffering a strange eye defect that makes reading/writing and staring at a screen for any length of time something of a problem. It’s under investigation and will doubtlessly be resolved shortly. Until …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Shadeward: Exoneration, by Drew Wagar: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

Shadeward: Exoneration, by imaginative science fiction writer, Drew Wagar, is a continuation of the story begun in ‘Shadeward: Emanation’. If you haven’t read that book, I advise you to do so first, as it sets the scene and introduces the characters and the location whilst telling an engaging and compelling story. Continuing the saga, set …

Continue reading Shadeward: Exoneration, by Drew Wagar: #BookReview.

Sons of the Crystal Mind, by Andrew Wallace: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

Set on an almost unrecognisable Earth in a distant future, this novel deals with the perils of unregulated capitalism as it is allowed run rampant through a society in which consumers are entirely secondary to profit (ring any bells?). Peopled by charismatic, strong, female characters and complex antagonists, the tale quickly engages the reader. Written …

Continue reading Sons of the Crystal Mind, by Andrew Wallace: #BookReview.

Storm of Attraction, by Lily Black: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review2 Comments

Storm of Attraction is a romantic thriller with an understandable bias in favour of female readers. After all, most romance readers are women. As a mature man, and the author of a romantic thriller, I’m able to enjoy the genre in a way a lot of men can’t imagine. Told very much from the woman’s …

Continue reading Storm of Attraction, by Lily Black: #BookReview.

The Darwin Awards, by Wendy Northcutt: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Reading, Review

Subtitled ‘180 Bizarre True Stories of How Dumb Humans Have Met Their Maker’, The Darwin Awards is not a book to read in one sitting, unless you wish to join award nominees by dying from laughing too loud and too long. There are some wonderful tales here; a few are apocryphal but most have been …

Continue reading The Darwin Awards, by Wendy Northcutt: #BookReview.