science fiction author
I will be attending my first in-person convention over the next few days, the Nebulas, in nearby Pasadena. One of the people on the programming committee is in my writing group, and I know at least two authors whose books I have read will be there (one of whom was nominated for best novel in one category!). I am a little nervous to attend, but you have to start somewhere. I have two “office hours”…
I have only read some of the epic, galaxy spanning space opera novels by Reynolds, so when I was looking for an audio book for a road trip, this author was not what I was expecting. However, coming in at about 4.5 hours, it was perfect for my weekend getaway road trip. This climate fiction work was published in 2019 and is about 175 pages. Reading the description, I knew that it was climate and…
This is a time travel novel for people who don’t like time travel novels, apparently. My wife, who is not a huge SFF fan and also really doesn’t like time travel books* somehow acquired this book from a friend. I read it while she listened to it, and she loved it. The basic premise of this novel is pretty cool and unique to my experience; time machines have been on earth for millions of years,…
I have made my third sale! I found out late in the evening, two nights ago, and now have a signed contract so I am happy to report that my first non-flash fiction piece entitled “Stars End” will appear in Abyss & Apex magazine in Spring of next year. I am beyond excited and am really looking forward to sharing this story with you all. It had been quite a dry spell and I was…
A lot can happen in a year. This is a magical book. It says so right at the beginning, where the now-adult author and narrator of the book talks about the magic of childhood, and how important it is to hang on to that magic–not to let it go. The book chronicles a year in the life of Corey, a 12-year-old boy growing up in a small town in rural Alabama in 1964. The first…
I have been very busy for the last 10 days and haven’t had a chance to blog this book that I finished about a week ago. This was an interesting read. I didn’t know the gender of the main POV character until about half-way through the book. It didn’t matter, and I think that was a choice by the author. I also liked how the tech is described in just enough detail that you know…
I wanted to read outside my normal genre and this is one of my wife’s favorite books. She found her old copy and I brought it on a flight. It has been a LONG time since I read a book in one siting, but I read the book from start to finish between Phoenix and Boston. Even if I hadn’t been trapped on a plane, I would have had a hard time putting this one…
After struggling so much with my last read, I rewarded myself with a book that I knew I was going to like, and wow, did this one deliver for me. Interestingly, one of my complaints about The Two Body Problem was the diverse cast of characters and the complex plot structure. Yet, in Ancillary Justice, there is a sentient starship who divides herself into multiple “ancillaries” to run the ship, a complex plot involving a…
I really struggled reading this book. It was extremely slow paced for the first 60-70% and I had a difficult time differentiating the characters from each other. Unlike other reviewers I read about online, I didn’t have a hard time with the fact that the book jumped around in time. But I wanted to expose myself to something outside my comfort zone. I am a little bit familiar with the big picture of “Eastern Literary…
This was a year of firsts. First sale. First publication. Second sale. Second publication. I had 36 rejections (including one yesterday) which means I probably subbed 36 short/flash stories. I had a novel coach review my finished novel and I have started the process of editing it (I don’t know what I’m doing). I read, according to storygraph (a great app, by the way), 17 books, totaling 6602 pages, and I am about 1/3 of…
