Category: Book

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

The first rewrite is complete! Whoopee! But that’s by no means the end of the process. Having made the changes to the story elements, I’m now checking for consistency on all 36 named characters over the 54 chapters. So far, I’ve done two of the major players and two minor ones. It’s a check to …

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Dreaming of Steam, An Anthology from Fantastic Books Publishing, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review4 Comments

Subtitled, ‘23 tales of Wolds and rails’, this book of shorts contains a veritable trainload of charming stories. There are histories, romances, memoirs, ghosts, crime, and even some science fiction and fantasy displayed in this box of delights. Although each story has a different author, there’s unity of approach and style that makes the volume …

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love of the monster, by AM Roselli, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Literature, Poetry, Reading, Review, Uncategorized

Poetry can be sublime, complex, evocative, tantalising, inspiring, provoking, sensual, thoughtful, engaging and many other things. AM Roselli’s poems manage to fit all these qualities. I first encountered AM’s remarkable poetry and artwork via her website, anntogether.com, to which I was directed by another friend online. I was engaged at once. This is a woman …

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The Polygamist, by William Irvine, Reviewed.

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

A very human story of one man’s relentless search for a way of life that will suit his view of what a man’s life should be. Culture, religion, philosophy and morality all impact on the story, which has a Muslim protagonist, Omar, living in India, where his beliefs are in the minority. There are lessons …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Halfway through the major re-write, and a good many story elements yet to change. That’s the result of working as a pantster: plot develops as the story is created, and that impacts on parts already written. It’s particularly influential on the denouement on this occasion, since I had a ‘light bulb’ moment during an interrupted …

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

Forces of Nature, by Professor Brian Cox, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Nature, Reading, Review

This surprising book exudes the author’s enduring sense of wonder and delight at the natural world. Such qualities, when demonstrated by a leading academic, who is also a well-loved and respected TV presenter, can motivate and inspire. I hope many non-scientists read this book. Not an ‘easy’ read, it demands attention and concentration. But it …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Editing has started! So far, I’m halfway through chapter 3 with the major re-write. But, prior to that, I’d reduced the ‘story’ element of the editing notes from 20 to 12 items, and dealt with 15 of the other notes I’d made whilst writing/re-reading the first draft. I’ve also made progress on the drawing I’m …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Easter, and my wife, Valerie’s, birthday occurred in the last seven days, so progress has been interrupted. Valerie reached a ‘significant’ age, so I took her away for the day and night and we didn’t return home until this evening, after a smashing short break. Of course, I did absolutely nothing on the book during …

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Homo Deus, by Yuval Noah Harari, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, politics, Reading, Review

What a tremendous book this is. Subtitled, ‘A Brief History of Tomorrow’, this follow-up to ‘Sapiens’ confirms the author’s mastery of deep research combined with an intelligence that permits him to see the world as a whole. I selected this book to read now as I’m at the initial editing stage of a science fiction …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

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

Writers know you never completely let go of a project at the first draft stage, but it’s sensible to take some sort of break from the work. Last week, I did a few odds and ends but nothing substantial. This week, I’ve been domestically quite busy. The garden called for some labour. I attended a …

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Creating Stories, by Hank Quense, Reviewed.

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

This writing manual is about making stories; the creative process and the practical work involved in getting the story from mind to page. As a fairly ancient and experienced writer, I’ve come across quite a few books about writing, so it’s difficult for an author to present something new for me. In this volume, Hank …

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NSA, by Benny Neylon, Reviewed.

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

This is satirical, dystopian science fiction taking a brutal swipe at the media, politicians, conspiracy theorists, security experts and the military. All of it richly deserved. The writing is good, characterisation is thorough, creating archetypes rather than indulging in stereotypes as is so often the case with books of this type. The humour is hard, …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Now that the first draft is finished, I’ve had a rest from it this week. Though, as other writers will appreciate, you never completely let go at this stage. I’ve been tinkering with the character sketches of the new players, adding some new research links, watching a bit of TV related to the subject, and …

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The Writer’s Lexicon, by Kathy Steinemann, Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Review, Word Use

Are you a lover of words? Do you write? Is language use an issue of interest? If so, you’ll find Kathy Steinemann’s ‘The Writer’s Lexicon’ a veritable cornucopia of expressive words. A thesaurus provides alternatives for the idea of a word. A dictionary gives definitions and, sometimes, origins for those construction blocks we use daily …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress, Uncategorized4 Comments

Whoopee! Hurrah! Gadzooks! And, yeah! The first draft of book 2 of the Generation Mars series is finished. It now stands at 112,061 words, 8,740 more than last week’s total. I actually finished this stage on Monday, but thought I’d wait till today to let you know, since Wednesdays have been my usual days for …

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