This short (10,000 words) teaser is an introduction to a new character. However, the story does have a beginning, middle and end, which makes it more satisfying than many such introductory pieces. The future envisaged in this science fiction world is, as the eponymous title suggests; bleak. The character, described as a shape shifter, is …
Continue reading Bleak: The First Mission, by Ian Martyn: #BookReview.
Last week I had a total of 18,835 words; this week’s total is 30,829, an increase of 12,000. Not bad, considering the other things that have been happening in and around my life. Only today, we had an interruption in our power supply as the local company came along to update some of the equipment …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
Subtitled ’53 Dos & Don’ts Nobody is Telling You’, this short book, in common with all the author’s work, is direct and to the point. You’ll find no waffle here, no filling or puffing. It’s all simple advice, gleaned from personal experience and a research ethic that would make most of us tired just to …
Continue reading The Little Blue Book for Authors, by Gisela Hausmann: #BookReview.
https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asin=B01KOSVE3Y&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_VevnAb9AQT40C&tag=stuartaken-21 Sub-titled ‘A Dottie Manderson Mystery’, this is the first in a series, and introduces the eponymous heroin through a fascinating tale set in England in the 1930s. This ‘cosy crime’ novel, with its measure of burgeoning romance, is a good read; something to entertain and satisfy in front of a burning log fire in …
Continue reading Night and Day, by Caron Allan: #BookReview.
https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asin=B0749NW6W8&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_qMbkAbQM8TNAS&tag=stuartaken-21 Last week I reported I had 11,985 words. As a result of the notes I made, I’ve now added another 3 characters to the cast of players (I need to add another 5 for future chapters, but I already know their names and have an idea of their natures and ambitions, so I only …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asin=B076QFZY9S&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_YHalAb3WREYPG&tag=stuartaken-21 Subtitled ‘A Handbook for Writers of Commercial Fiction’, this book is precisely what it says it is. As a reader, I’ve tended to shy away from what I saw as ‘commercial’ fiction, but, in practice, I now realise I’ve actually read a good deal of it. As a writer, my fiction veers toward the …
Continue reading How to be a Fantastic Writer, by Danuta Reah & Penny Grubb: #BookReview.
Dare I say it? Have I scaled the final barrier to creating the first draft? Last week I reported I had 11,985 words. I also noted that certain details were missing from my memory and I needed to read the first two books again to aid my failing powers of recall. I’ve now done that …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?asin=B075R4VPNB&preview=inline&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_0NalAb4XD8Z81&tag=stuartaken-21 Subtitled ‘How to Find Readers’, this is another of Hausmann’s writing books crammed with common sense and down-to-earth advice. First, I must pose a question: ‘If you’re a writer, do you belong to Goodreads?’ And, if you don’t, a supplementary question: ‘Why not?’ Goodreads may boast a membership of ‘only’ 65 million, but …
Continue reading Naked Good Reads, by Gisela Hausmann: #BookReview.
I fear I missed this update last week. Put it down to a mixture of advancing years and a rather busy schedule: I have. So, currently I’m at 11,985 words, which, given I had a target of 10,000 for today is a pleasing result. It’s always a bit slow for a pantster at the start …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
This book, listed as science fiction/fantasy, is an odd mix of parable, analogy, political comment and adventure. The style of writing falls mostly under the ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’ label, which makes for a strangely disconnected read for much of the time. There’s a transition from the beginning, set on terra ferma in Australia, and …
Continue reading Sink: Old Man’s Tale, by Perrin Briar: #BookReview.
So it begins! The first 1100 words are written, at last. The Fates thought they’d stymied me with various barriers placed in the way of creation, but they underestimated my sheer bloody-mindedness. So, medical issues and appointments, computer failures, and unsatisfactory phone lines apart, I’ve actually made a start on the new book. Whilst straining …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
From the start, this science fiction novel, located on a future Earth, sets the scene for the society in which the action takes place. And it isn’t a society many of us would wish to inhabit. Fortunately, the characters are drawn with such a fine pen that the reader can quickly empathise with the main …
Continue reading Labor Day, by Joseph Farley: #BookReview.
Sometimes, life throws up incidents and events that cause a touch of disruption to intentions. The last couple of weeks have been full of such things; some tiny irritations, others a little more challenging. I returned from my holiday overseas, which coincided with my annual absence from all things digital, with a painful and slightly …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making
A truly remarkable piece of work by a truly remarkable young woman. Malala Yousafzai has produced a memoir that’s so much more than mere autobiography. Anyone ignorant of this brave girl has clearly been living in a shelter on Mars, so I won’t insult readers of this review with an overview. There’s great optimism in …
Continue reading I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai: #BookReview.
This thriller, set in a steel city in the UK, treats fire almost as one of its characters. After the opening, in which we meet the main protagonist, a fireman, we are plunged into a world of burning, where the fire officer arrives at his next conflagration only to discover it’s his own home. He …
Continue reading Fires, by Tom Ward: #BookReview.
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 