To Enter the Path, by Stephanie Flores: #BookReview.

On 15/03/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

Within this book is a great story trying to get out. The main protagonist, a young woman overtaken by a demonic magic spirit, is very well imagined and drawn. Her companions are equally well created. The problem is that the story is somewhat swamped by the repetitive nature of the challenges and solutions. The book …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 14/03/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

It’s been an interesting week, but then most weeks this year have borne an element of surprise, frustration, despair, joy or paranoia. The important aspect, considering this post, is that I’ve put 8 chapters through the first content edit, reaching a total of 16,555 words in the current document. There’ll be a second content edit …

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What is the Future of Sci-Fi Books?

On 10/03/201809/03/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction20 Comments

These days science can be stranger and even more advanced than science fiction. While it is true that many ideas and dreams from classic sci-fi have been fulfilled, or even surpassed, sci-fi has rarely been about the prediction of an exact future; it’s always been about the dreams and anxieties of the present. H.G. Well’s …

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Children of the Furnace, by Brin Murray: #BookReview

On 27/02/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review4 Comments

Science Fiction/Fantasy/YA 257 pages This novel tackles some pretty fundamental themes. Told through the experiences and voices of two young people, Will, an innocent boy from a rural settlement, and Leah, a rather more worldly and sophisticated girl from a city, the story is woven through their separate adventures in their different worlds until the …

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Yet Another iMac Fail!

On 23/02/201821/07/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress10 Comments

Regular readers will know I've been having serious problems with my Mac recently. I hoped it had been fixed (at great expense!). But another update was needed this morning and it has failed and set the machine on a downward spiral to utter uselessness, again! There is clearly something wrong with the update system, either …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 22/02/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress8 Comments

What a week! First, an apology for the delay in posting. If you have the time and energy to read this post in full, you’ll understand why it’s late. Last week’s episode of this series suggested I was on track for the edit. Raring to go, in fact. I hadn’t bargained on the continuing power …

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Catling’s Bane, by D. Wallace Peach: #BookReview.

On 20/02/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review7 Comments

310 pages. Science Fiction and Fantasy. What an engaging tale this is. It says a lot for the quality of the writing and the compelling nature of the story that I continued to read this despite some pretty difficult issues in my online/working life at the time! I’m a reader who loves books where characters …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 14/02/201814/02/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

The rewrite is now under way and progressing pretty well considering… ‘Considering what?’ I hear you cry. In answer, I’ll simply direct you to a previous post here. Added to what’s in that post, my Mac continues to play silly buggers for reasons I’m at a loss to determine. I’ve looked at the ‘help’ and …

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I Used to Be, by Mary Brown: #BookReview.

On 11/02/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review2 Comments

This wonderfully written novel explores the relationship between two very different women. One is a divorced mother struggling to cope with the loss of a child, and the other a very young single woman coping with a major change in her chaotic life. The main characters are drawn with a vivid clarity that ensures the …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 07/02/201807/02/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

The first draft has been read, notes made, hair pulled out, swear words shouted, mutterings and curses mumbled. And, occasionally, whoops of joy that I’ve actually created a story have been heard. Now the work begins, however. Some chapters are out of synch. My ruminations on this element had me wondering whether to move the …

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My Route to a Publisher

On 28/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Progress

Below you'll find a link to a short post from the blog run by the writing group I belong to. It shows, in very few words, how I came to be published instead of only self-published. And it offers the chance of a similar route to other writers. http://www.hornseawriters.com/2018/01/local-publisher-takes-shine-to-hornsea.html

The Rift, by Tess Burnside: #BookReview.

On 25/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

A touching story of love, betrayal, loss and redemption. Tess Burnside’s tale is told in simple form, perhaps a little too simple in terms of language. I found the repetitive use of ‘she’ to start multiple sentences a little wearing and would have preferred more variety of sentence structure to avoid this. But the characters …

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Mo, by S Pearce: #BookReview.

On 23/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

An unusual novel, this. The protagonist is a young Muslim boy facing a future he finds unattractive for many reasons. At first, I wondered if this book was meant for children, but that opinion was quickly squashed by the complex language and general tone of the story. The book is aimed, I imagine, at parents, …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 10/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

Last week I’d was up to 40481 words in the new book. Today, I’ve reached 51,050, so an increase of 10,569 over the week. Along the way, I’ve invented some new names for locations, introduced a few new characters to take part in the action, and hit on a very slightly different ending, which I …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 03/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Last week I’d reached a total of 35694 words. Today, I’m up to 40481, which is just a tad over my target of 40000 for a busy week, with a couple of days out for festivities. I’m a lover of the New Year: see it as a ‘fresh start’ and prefer it to Christmas, so …

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