I'm trying to pump out a lot of writing to catch up with things missed last year when Kathy was very sick, so that's why I'm posting snippets. In the case of Demons of the Past, I am going to take you through the first actually dangerous event of the book... which starts now! Chapter 4. Varan: The red target shimmered and exploded just a split-second before the blue. I was, unfortunately, blue. "And that," Diorre said gleefully, tossing back her red-gold hair, "makes it even, Navy Commander Varan." I tried to look [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: Chapter 3
October 22, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I'll post a couple more of these. Now when we left off, Our Hero had decided to think on a particular personal conundrum a bit... ----- Chapter 3. Varan: "And that makes it three for three," I said with some satisfaction. Diorre burst out laughing. "Okay, Sash, I'm well and truly beaten. Couldn't you have let me win just one?" "I might have, if it hadn't been for the 'wussy Navy boy' bit. The pride of the service required I put a Guard in her place." "Very impressive," a clear [ Continue reading... ]
Teaser Chapter: Demons of the Past, Chapter 2
October 20, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I posted the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Demons of the Past a while ago. As I'm in the middle of a crunch period and don't have much time to write other columns of interest (and one I DO want to write will be very long), I'll continue with a couple more sample chapters. Like The Stuff of Legend, Demons of the Past is with my agent Marisa Corvisiero and, hopefully, will get a bite soon. If you haven't read those prior chapters, go take a look before reading this one! ----- Chapter 2. Jearsen: She looked [ Continue reading... ]
Teaser Chapter: The Stuff of Legend, Chapter 1
October 13, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I posted the prologue for Stuff of Legend some time back. Here's Chapter 1 of that superhero novel (based in a possible future of the world of Paradigms Lost); this book's currently with my agent Marisa Corvisiero! ---- Chapter 1. "I think today's session went well, Mr. Thompson," Jennifer Hsui said in her best professional tone. It was important to conclude each appointment on time, but not to make the patient – or client, as some people preferred – feel pressured or cut [ Continue reading... ]
The Craft of Writing: When I Ignore Science
September 22, 2015 By 1 Comment
Writing science fiction – especially hard science fiction, where you're expected to keep to what modern science believes is possible, rather than inventing force fields, lightswords, faster-than-light-drives, or other accoutrements of space opera – is a demanding task. It's not necessarily harder than writing, say, good epic fantasy; they're both equally difficult, in my view, just with different areas of difficulty. It does, however, have external demands that other types of speculative fiction don't really have to worry about. In my "day [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Superman
September 15, 2015 By 2 Comments
"That man won't quit as long as he can still draw a breath. None of my teammates will. Me? I've got a different problem. I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard, always taking constant care not to break something. To break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control, even for a moment, or someone could die. But you can take it, can't you, big man? What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose, and show you just how powerful I really am!" The Man of Tomorrow. The Last Son of Krypton. The Man of Steel. [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
September 8, 2015 By Leave a Comment
"Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer." Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the biggest media phenomena of its generation, and probably the single largest reason for the explosion in popularity of urban fantasy in the last few decades. While it has many ancestors (including the original movie, which [ Continue reading... ]
Authorial Musings: Ideas Are Not Valuable
July 21, 2015 By Leave a Comment
One of the most pernicious – and ultimately damaging – myths that newbie or would-be authors often buy into (and I do not exclude myself from this!) is that "my ideas are valuable!" Specifically, they think their ideas are so valuable that they must HIDE those ideas to keep other authors or publishers from stealing them. In almost all circumstances, this is utterly untrue. Believing this myth severely constrains a prospective author (or other artist) because they look at other authors and editors as, at best, competitors, and at [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Glinda of Oz
June 25, 2015 By Leave a Comment
The final volume of the fourteen Oz books written by L. Frank Baum sees Ozma and Dorothy on a visit to Glinda, when Dorothy, idly paging through the Great Book of Records, discovers a cryptic notation that the Flatheads and Skeezers – previously unknown inhabitants of Oz – have begun a war. Ozma is determined not to permit war within her borders, and decides to set out directly for these people in the far north of the Gillikin country and convince them to make peace. Glinda tries to convince her, several times, not to get involved, [ Continue reading... ]
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