Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here, I'm looking at ways to trim our writing. Readers will thank us. I'll examine common redundancies and a few flabby expressions. Bald-headed: Baldness is generally related to the head, so, in most cases, ‘headed’ would be redundant. However, there are times when it may be necessary …
Continue reading Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 14.
Sorry for the break: I’ve been otherwise engaged for reasons that may become clear later! Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here, I'm looking at ways to trim our writing. Readers will thank us. I'll examine common redundancies and a few flabby expressions. Temper tantrum: You can only have a tantrum as a …
Continue reading Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 13
A seasonal collection of fairy tales based on the well-known Christmas song, this anthology displays the author’s talent for putting her own twist on a popular theme. The stories vary in length and character and there’s something here for everyone. Characterisation is good and the settings work well throughout. Interestingly, although the tales feature well-known …
Continue reading The 12 Days of Christmas, by Maureen Turner, Reviewed.
This year has been one of change and adaptation. We moved home at the beginning of 2015 and that meant certain changes were inevitable, of course. It also meant many distractions took my mind off my writing. The house and garden needed, and continue to need, attention to make this our home rather than a …
Continue reading There is No Other Way.
As I contributed one of the 26 stories contained within the covers of this collection, I feel I can only make my comments public here, on my blog. As a reviewer who has signed the True Review Pledge, it would be unethical for me to review it elsewhere. However, I feel I have a right …
Continue reading To Hull and Back 2015 Anthology, Edited by Christopher Fielden, Reviewed.
Posted from Grammarly.
Do you write reviews? Do you read them; perhaps use them for some idea of whether a particular book is for you? It's certainly the case that reviews are an essential element for indie writers to get their books noticed. So, as with all matters commercial, an element of fraud and cheating has entered the world …
Continue reading Honest Reviews
This novella, a mix of fantasy and soft science fiction, is a romance set in a dystopian society. Told from the points of view of the male and female leads, it manages to get inside both characters and express the experiences, emotions and thoughts of each. The book is one of a series set in …
Continue reading To Buy a Wife, by KC Klein, Reviewed.
Novelist, playwright, journalist, writer of fact, or simply a 'writer'? I'll bet, whatever your specialism, you’ve at least been tempted to try your hand at that gem of creativity, the short story. I’m not going to go into definitions, since theories suggest the short story is anything from 6 to 20,000 words. For me, a …
Continue reading Short on Success?
A short while ago, I entered a short story into a contest. As usual, I then forgot all about it. A few days ago, I received an email to tell me my story, whilst not a winner, had been shortlisted and was to feature along with 25 others. It’s a collection of humorous stories written …
Continue reading Featured in a New Anthology.
This short book is a mix of fantasy and soft science fiction that works well. It paints a picture of a world both disturbing and intriguing. I suspect that the author will, or maybe has already, feature the world in further fiction. It certainly has potential. The story moves the main character through a learning …
Continue reading The Ships of Aleph, by Jaine Fenn, Reviewed.
Writers enjoy sharing ideas to improve their craft. Here, I'm looking at ways to trim our writing. Readers will thank us. I'll look at common redundancies and a few flabby expressions. Ask the question: Can you do anything else with a question but ‘ask’ it? Of course you can: pose a question, even post a …
Continue reading Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 12.
And what a weekend it was! I first mentioned it in an earlier post, find it here. This was the second fantasy/science fiction convention I've attended. Both events were organised by my amazing publisher, Dan Grubb of Fantastic Books Publishing. The first was in Hull, last year. This year's event took place in the Country …
Continue reading A Weekend at #FantastiCon 2015.
This book, as the subtitle suggests, is the beginning of a story. For me, it is, as with so many 'books' in the current market, not what I understand to be a book. It's a scene setter. It follows a marketing technique that's been used in other industries for years but one I feel is …
Continue reading The Island (Part 1), by Michael Stark, Reviewed.
My publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing has published my science fiction novella, The Methuselah Strain in a limited edition hardback version alongside the digital version. The book, all copies of which will be signed by yours truly, is due for launch tomorrow, 24th October at Fantasticon 2015. See the previous blog post, here, for full details …
Continue reading Launch of The Methuselah Strain in Hardback
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 