Tag: literature

Science Fiction and Paranormal Fantasy with a Noir Twist

Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Review (Sort of)

Some critics and some unhappy fans have said that Neil Gaiman’s latest book is too short and too unremarkable, not worthy of rubbing covers with Neverwhere or American Gods; many latch onto the fact that this book started as a short story, and they shout “Aha! Gotcha, Gaiman! You should have kept it short. Clearly…
Read more


August 21, 2013 3

The Appeal of Virtual Worlds

Okay, just to get this out of the way first, let me say that I’m not one of those writers who feels the need to respond to every poor or weak review of his work. People can say they don’t like my stuff, and I don’t feel like I have to defend it publicly. However,…
Read more


July 16, 2013 4

Why I Write Science Fiction

First off, let me say I’m sticking with the general term science fiction even though some of the things I write fall more accurately under the heading speculative fiction. Whatever. SF is generally the better known term, so I’ll stick with that for now. Let me also say that I didn’t always write science fiction.…
Read more


June 18, 2013 3

Word of Mouth–The Elusive Key to Success

Several years ago, I was lurking in the shelves of a used bookstore looking at the science fiction section–all the way at the back of the store. It was one of those stores that functioned largely as a paperback exchange: if you brought in 3 books, they’d give you credit for one of theirs. It…
Read more


April 23, 2013 4

Arturo Bandini: Patron Saint of Struggling Writers

A couple of weeks ago, in the middle of a Free Kindle promotion for Take Back Tomorrow, my book made up into the Top 5 on Amazon’s “Free Science Fiction” list. For about a day, I was hobnobbing with the likes of David Drake and Jules Verne in terms of downloads. And, absurdly, I heard…
Read more


February 19, 2013 1

But What’s My Motivation?

I’ve been a bit quiet for the last couple of weeks: Christmas stuff, a shift in my schedule, and trying to finish the first draft of my follow-up to Dead Man’s Hand are all taking time away from blogging (and other things I should be doing). I ran into a little problem  about halfway through…
Read more


January 2, 2013 3

Take Back Tomorrow Free Kindle Download Today

My science fiction novel, Take Back Tomorrow, is available as a FREE download today at Amazon. Eddie Royce thinks he’s got things all figured out. He’s managed to cheat the system and gotten himself published in the sci fi pulps by “borrowing” plots from Shakespeare. He doesn’t mind being a cheat and a plagiarist as long…
Read more


November 29, 2012 0

Science Fiction: The Cockroach of Literature

While capitalizing on a cute phrase he stumbled upon, Robert McCrum at The Guardian has come up with a list of literary genres. Since this is coming from a UK perspective, it’s not surprising that he would have a very different set of genres than an American critic would have. On this side of the…
Read more


November 21, 2012 0

Prophetic Science Fiction from an Unlikely Source

When you think of E.M. Forster (if you think of him at all), you probably think about British novels that have inspired Oscar buzz-worthy films like Howard’s End, A Room with a View, and A Passage to India. All good, but the kind of thing most science fiction fans don’t jump to as their next…
Read more


November 19, 2012 0

What I’ve Learned from Yukon Cornelius

You know who I’m talking about, right? The mustachioed miner from the Rankin & Bass claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer from the mid-60s. He’s a bit rough around the edges but helps Rudolph, ends up on the Island of Misfit Toys, and finally helps save the day in the end. The thing I keep…
Read more


November 11, 2012 0