The new book is progressing well. More research done, and another 9,000+ words added to bring it to 27,273 today. I think the book is probably about a third done in first draft at present. Of course, unforeseen changes may occur before the end to make it either longer or shorter, but my current prediction …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
A short progress report. The week has gone well, with some new research done (there’s a lot happening regarding Mars at the moment!). I’ve added 13,345 words to last week’s start, making the total word count 18,145 to date. The story continues to flow and the characters are developing. I wake up at night sometimes …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
You really should have had this update yesterday, as I do them on Wednesdays. But I was actually writing (and, tell the truth, the heavy cold that had me in its clutches throughout Xmas and the New Year celebrations had returned to turn my brain to mush for most of the waking hours). Today, I …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
This fantasy short introduces readers to a new series, The Majat Code, which, on the basis of the writing here, I may very well explore further. For a short piece, this book develops the characters well and presents an imagined world in surprising detail, without boring the reader with unnecessarily lengthy descriptions. The story involves …
Continue reading The Majat Testing, by Anna Kashina Reviewed.
April Taylor has her soprano sleuth, Georgia Pattison embroiled in another murder mystery. A shorter work, this one, it packs in all the emotion, action and mystery of her longer works. Great light detective fiction that concentrates on character as a means of solving the crime. We have a new police detective here to deal …
Continue reading The Midnight Clear, by April Taylor, Reviewed.
This little eBook is worth its modest price for the links alone. It’s a basic journal setting out the process, pitfalls, opportunities and rewards relating to writing for literary journals. With chapters on Why You Should Submit…, How To Know When Your Work is Ready…, Basics of Submitting, and many others, it provides useful information …
Continue reading Submit, Publish, Repeat, by Emily Harstone, Reviewed.
A fun story, this. The writer’s dilemma: freedom of expression and the associated poverty of writing what you want, or fame and the shackles the publisher will attach to your imagination? Required to write a formulaic tale to a strict deadline, the hapless author finds life gets in the way of creativity as family vies …
Continue reading Silent Plight, by Jill Province, Reviewed.
Young adult fantasy, with the emphasis on the ‘young’. This is a sort of fairy tale told at length. Action-packed, fast moving and sometimes mysterious, this story is also convoluted and occasionally poetic. It is also surprisingly engaging. Surprising because there are structural, grammatical and even vocabulary errors that some serious editing would have corrected. …
Continue reading Chronicles of Drenyon: The Golden Sword, by NLJ, Reviewed.
What's this? A children's book reviewed here? Not what you'd expect, I know, but it's the season that's mostly about children, and this book was recommended to me, so I thought, 'Why not?'. As an author, it's good to step outside your usual zone of activity from time to to time and experience a different …
Continue reading Felicity – A Sparrow’s Tale, by Loralee Evans, Reviewed.
Many readers followed my progress on Blood Red Dust, so I've decided to run a similar series of short blogs for the second book in the series. The new book is underway. I have a small core of characters, some of whom readers met in Blood Red Dust, and others new to the series. The …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: SciFi in the Making.
Poetry is more difficult to review than novels or nonfiction. For me it is, anyway. As a writer of prose, often puzzled by the brevity and density of poetry, I feel less qualified to comment on technical aspects. What I can do, however, is describe how the poems made me feel, what I experienced as …
Continue reading Against the Night, by P M F Johnson, Reviewed.
This collection of letters written by an American novelist to her family and friends whilst living in Hull, England, during 1999/2000, is, essentially, a very personal book. Having said that, it’s also a book for everyone interested in the cultures, habits and attitudes of both nations. I came across it via Facebook; one of my …
Continue reading Letters From Hull, by Linda Swift, Reviewed.
Set on the Moon in some unspecified future, this science fiction novel presents the reader with complex characters that live on the page. For me, as both a reader and a writer, character development and presentation are key to the enjoyment of a book. Here, we have a well-constructed story set in a credible world …
Continue reading Dreagan Star, by Nan Klee, Reviewed.
A book launch, where we sold out of the publisher’s stock! A meeting with Royd Tolkien and lots of other authors. A gathering of enthusiastic and generous people at an event celebrating science fiction, fantasy and gaming. Plus: Visits to relatives and friends in various locations. Visits to Family Research Centres to gather facts for …
Continue reading Fantasticon 2016 and Other Treats
What better place to launch a new science fiction novel than a convention devoted to scifi and fantasy? Well, today (19th November) I’m here at Fantasticon 2016, in Hull, signing copies of my latest book, Blood Red Dust. Set on Mars before the end of this century, it follows the lives of a set of …
Continue reading Today’s Definitely The Day!
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 