The #Write #Word? Post 18

On 11/05/201806/05/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice7 Comments

Sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I do. Maybe, in trying to improve my own work, I can help other writers. This scheduled post will appear whilst I’m in hospital undergoing minor surgery. It’ll be a few days before I’m back at my desk, and a few weeks before I’m back …

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Dogwatch, by Karen Wolfe: #BookReview.

On 08/05/2018 By stuartakenIn Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

Love dogs? Love crime? Love humour, even if a little dark sometimes? Then this is for you. Georgie Crane is at it again; getting in deeper than she should, that is. There’s a degree of ‘woman in jeopardy’ about this comi-crime novel that lifts it above the general level of the genre. The dogs, and …

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The #Write #Word? Post 17

On 04/05/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice7 Comments

Sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I do. Maybe, in trying to improve my own work, I can help other writers. Today’s words: Jaded/Refreshed, Joined at the hip, Jealously, Judicial/Judicious, Jouska, Jackal. Antonyms: words that express the opposite of other words can be hard to find, because thesauruses usually give no …

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Dreams of Winter, by Christian Warren Freed: #BookReview.

On 29/04/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review1 Comment

342 pages Science Fiction/Space Opera/Military Whilst a devotee of Science Fiction, I admit to being less than impressed by most Space Opera, so I come to this book with baggage. This is one in a series of books with the collective title ‘A Forgotten Gods Tale’ and I have no knowledge of the rest of …

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The #Write #Word? Post 14

On 13/04/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice1 Comment

Struggling to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? Me, too. Maybe, in trying to improve my own work, I can help other writers. Today’s words: Gadget, Gleefully, Gourmet/Gourmand, Get her back up, Liberosis, Garbage. Synonyms are alternative words that might say exactly what you’re trying to convey. Gadget: some synonyms are object, contrivance, instrument, …

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Illinois Native Americans, by In60Learning: #BookReview.

On 07/04/201807/04/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Reading, Review

Subtitled ‘A 9,000 Year Civilisation’, this little book is part of a project aimed at providing readers with concise histories that can be enjoyed as text or is an audiobook version. The idea is sensible and welcome. I know absolutely nothing about American Native Indians, other than the terribly distorted view that TV’s cowboy programmes …

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The #Write #Word? Post 13

On 06/04/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice1 Comment

Sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I do. Maybe, in trying to improve my own work, I can help other writers. Today’s words: Earn, In order that, Especially, Echo back, Lachesism, Politician. Synonyms are alternative words that might say exactly what you’re trying to convey. Earn: synonyms in Roget’s include: busy …

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The Hermit of Blue Ridge, by Cary Grossman: #BookReview.

On 02/04/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review, Romance

300 pages Fantasy/Paranormal. Intriguing, engaging, inspiring, fascinating and enthralling, this book is a great read. Character driven romance is relatively rare, but this book, essentially a complex and deep love story, is seen entirely through the eyes of lovers. The people on these pages are both exceptional and real. We’re treated to their aspirations, frailties, …

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70 Solutions to Common #Writing Mistakes, by Bob Mayer: #BookReview.

On 19/03/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Reading, Review

If you’re a writer just starting out or, better still, someone thinking of starting to write, this is a useful book. It also contains reminders of good, and bad, habits to keep established writers on track. So much has been written about the craft of writing that a lot of the advice in this little …

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The #Write #Word? Post 10

On 16/03/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice10 Comments

Do you sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I do. Perhaps, in improving myself, I can help other writers. Today’s words: Disinterested/Uninterested, Cacophony of sound, Kilig. Words often misused: English, because of its inheritance of words stolen from many languages, often uses words that superficially appear to mean more or less …

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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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Joys and Woes of #Windows-to-#Mac-to-Windows.

On 05/03/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Progress14 Comments

Advice here, including some warnings, on changing operating systems from Windows to Apple, or vice-versa. The following post is based on personal experience and I put it out here to help others make a better-informed decision on whether they want iMac or Windows on their desks. I’ve used both systems. Each has its deficiencies and …

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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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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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