As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner: #BookReview.

400 pages Literary Classics When a book is as well-known as this classic, it’s difficult to know whether anything new can be said about it. But a review is a personal opinion and may help other readers yet to try the work, so here goes. The edition I bought (as part of a package bought …

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Why Did I Write Generation Mars This Way?

Earlier today I received an email from a visitor to this site, explaining he couldn’t review my Generation Mars series of books because he found the first one, Blood Red Dust, too distressing. His comments prompted a response from me to explain why I’d written the books in the way I did. It occurred to …

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13 After Midnight, by Jaime Martinez Tolentino: #BookReview.

274 pages Fantasy? This book is promoted as a collection of stories in the fantasy mode. That collection is preceded by a wordy, lengthy, introduction dealing with the nature of fantasy in literature. That’s a tortuous read in itself and, after the first few dry pages, I skipped the rest, since I’d bought the book …

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Independence: Two Democracies: Revolution, by Alasdair Shaw: #BookReview.

Science Fiction 6,000 words This free short story is a taster for what is currently a four-book series. In that role, it works well, drawing the reader into a world that begs to be explored further. The writing style is tight, with little or no waste of words. The central theme, which appears to be …

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#Free #Ebooks from 3rd to 9th March

I'm taking part in the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week by discounting all my books on the site to make them free! The deal lasts from 3rd to 9th March, so you'll need to visit and download quickly to take advantage. Much better to get them here, legitimately, rather than from some seedy pirate site, …

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Halfway to the Stars, by Marcy Sheiner: #BookReview.

Fiction/Transgressional Fiction 97,610 words It appears I downloaded this book, through Smashwords, in 2014 and then completely forgot about it. I discovered it whilst tidying files in my ‘Digital Editions’ folder a few weeks ago. As this is a book about female eroticism, I’ve no idea how I came to it, except that the title …

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The #Write #Word? Post 59

Word cloud created through wordart.com In your writing, do you sometimes have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do. In trying to improve my own work, maybe I can help you. This is the penultimate post in this series. A final one will follow next week as a conclusion, indexing all the previous words I’ve …

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The #Write #Word? Post 58

Word cloud via wordart.com In your writing, do you sometimes have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do. In trying to improve my own work, maybe I can help you. There will be one more normal post in this series, next week, and then a final one the following week as a conclusion. What will …

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One Summer in Italy, by Sue Moorcroft: #BookReview.

368 pages Genre Fiction/Holidays Intending to visit Italy, I bought a copy of Lonely Planet’s ‘Italy’. Along with other recommendations resulting from that purchase, Sue Moorcroft’s ‘One Summer in Italy’ came up. I thought it might be fun to read this as I lay sunbathing by the pool at the latter end of our visit. …

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Yum,Yum, Grub in My Tum! #Poetry

Here’s a daft poem I wrote as light satire about the pretentiousness of certain eateries. You know, those places that seem to believe that food is more important than so many other aspects of life; the food porn-brokers, the food snobs, the food worshippers. I’ve presented this in the form of a menu card, just …

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The #Write #Word? Post 56

When writing, do you have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do, sometimes. In trying to improve my own work, perhaps I can help others. Today’s words: Wit, Warn in advance, Words fail me, Word. Synonyms are alternative words that have the power to convey exactly what you’re trying to say. Wit: Roget lists these subheadings; …

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#Readers, #BookReviews, #Bookbloggers.

Do you read? Love books? I love readers; you’re my raison d’etre as a writer, the reason I write stories. So, I want more. One of the best ways of helping other readers is through reviews. So, here’s the deal: I’ll send you a copy of any of my books in exchange for an honest …

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The Verona Exchange, by Lauren B. Grossman and Bernard Jaroslow: #BookReview.

242 Pages Thriller/Mystery I picked up a copy of this book, as I’d enjoyed Lauren B. Grossman’s first in the series, The Golden Peacock. That dealt with a mystery surrounding the holocaust. This book deals with a kidnapping by the Italian Red Brigade. Although this is essentially a thriller, great attention has been given to …

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The #Write #Word? Post 55

Word cloud via wordart.com When writing, do you have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do, sometimes. In trying to improve my own work, perhaps I can help others. Today’s words: Vague, Very, Vemödalen, Vacuum. Synonyms are alternative words that have the power to convey exactly what you’re trying to say. Vague: Roget lists the …

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A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin: #BookReview.

304 pages Children’s/Science Fiction and Fantasy It may seem like an odd time of life to be reading children’s literature. In my defence, I bought this book ‘blind’ as one of a number I ordered after being gifted a book token for my 70th birthday. I’d heard of Ursula Le Guin, had her books recommended, …

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