Book Review: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Beautifully written. Bas-Lag is a well-crafted, steam punk world full of fantasy science and fantastic species. I would not want to live there. Mieville put together a wonderful story that is, in his words, “new weird.” This book won a Hugo Award and it was well deserved. I listened to this as an audio book…Read More
Interview with Michael Hingson – Part 1
A while back, Michael Hingson interviewed me for his Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Michael is the author of Thunder Dog, a book that earned my first perfect 10 on this blog. It was a great conversation and I’ll post a link once it goes live. He records them several months before they air. He’s a busy…Read More
(Mis)Adventures in Publishing
So. I’ve been promising everyone that Book 2 will be out in time for Christmas this year. That may still happen. Here’s the deal: I signed a contract with a publisher that gives them the rights to everything in the SPARK universe for ten years. Earlier this week, they told me that the book will…Read More
Comicpalooza – Houston – See you there!
Please note that the bird will not be attending.
Book Review: Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer
Hominids is a combination hard SciFi/murder mystery/parallel universe tale that makes it to the top of my ratings for the year. Well worth the read, and the audiobook is excellent. Ponter Boddit is a Neanderthal physicist working on quantum computing. Louise is a French Canadian human physicist working at the Neutrino Observatory deep underground when…Read More
Interview with Dr. Jacalyn Kerbeck and Diann Boehm
Dr. Jacalyn had me on her show, The Corner Bookstore, recently. The show airs on USA Global TV and Radio. It was a lot of fun chatting with her and author Diann Boehm. We talk about writing for a particular age group, SPARK, and the world in general. But as I’ve reviewed the show, all…Read More
Book Review: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
This was a fun read. At times, it reminded me of one of my favorite books – The Starless Sea. There’s a similarity to the magical realism that takes place and, well, both are related to books and libraries. I was quickly hooked by the narrative and characters. We meet Nell Young first. She’s Dr….Read More
Extend or Delete: Some Thoughts on Revisions
Today, during an interview, I was asked to read from SPARK. I hadn’t revisited the text for a while other than to fact-check myself. As I read, I found myself distracted by thinking simultaneously about how I’d rephrase a sentence or two if I were writing/revising the text now. That’s the danger of reading your…Read More
10 Questions with Carol Novello
In the future, “Carol Novello” will likely make the transition from mere proper noun to verb. Want something difficult done that requires both head and heart? You’ll have to Carol Novello it. I was privileged to meet Carol when we were both guests on Bonnie D. Graham‘s show a while back. I bought Carol’s book,…Read More
Book Review: Darkest Day by Joseph D. Newcomer
Newcomer promises weird and delivers. Let’s get the painful truth out of the way first. This may be the worst, most hideous, cover I’ve ever seen on a book. I refused to leave it face up on any surface. I show it here only so I can prove that I have it, and so that…Read More