Ever lose a day to something you totally shouldn’t have done and not regret it at all? Yeah, I thought so. In this case it’s NOT MY FAULT. I totally blame Alexi and Melinda. Just so you know, Alexi is a crazy Spaniard (Andalusian, actually) from Queens. If you attend many Comic-Cons you’ve probably seen … More She’s Killing Me
Again, not Artemis, but by my favorite cover-artist. Despite rumors to the contrary, work on Bite Me continues apace–I’m hoping for a September release at this point. However, I’m taking my time and getting it right (at least as right as I can with my newby skills). I have to; there are a surprising number … More Vampires and Werewolves and Witches, Oh My!
It takes longer to write a novel than I thought. And you’d think I’d know better, having been through it once with Wearing the Cape. However, Hope fans will be happy to know that tonight both Villains Inc., Episode Four: Endgame and Wearing the Cape: Villains Inc. have been posted to Amazon.com. Approval and publishing … More Villainy Victorious?
I am a reader with Catholic tastes; I enjoy good space-operas, modern fantasies, supernatural thrillers, military sci-fi and alternate-reality sci-fi, and YA action/adventures, but occasionally I fall into a quiet mood where I’m ready to settle down and enjoy a good comedy of manners–the kind of story that moves along at a leisurely pace, filled … More A Fantastical Feast
Almost a couple of months ago now, I promised to talk more about world-building and superheroes–how I arrived at the Post-Event setting Wearing the Cape takes place in. So let’s talk about comic-book history and choices. Where do superpowers come from? In the golden age of superhero comics, the answer was easy: anywhere. You could … More Cosmic Questions
Alternative-history novels are fairly common now, stories where history diverged because of a single changed event. What is less common is alt-history fantasy. Historical alt-history fantasy is least common of all. Back in 1988, Melissa Scott, better known for her science fiction works, pulled this rarest of stories off beautifully. Continuing my reviews of “lost … More A Midsummer Night’s Alt-History.
I have noticed that some of the best fantasy stories rely on an interesting device; they start out rather mundanely, in a mundane setting with a rather mundane though interesting protagonist. Then they move the protagonist–and the reader–into the fantastic realm where most of the adventure takes place. Sometimes the move is sudden, a matter … More The Wardrobe Door
Silverlock is not so much a lost book as one that is constantly being rediscovered. John Meyers Meyers wrote it back in 1949, so this is a fantasy untouched by JRR Tolkien’s genre-redefining work. But it’s been touched by everything else. Like Robinson Crusoe, Silverlock opens with a shipwreck. The wrecked ship is the Naglafar–named … More Adventures in the Commonwealth.
I hate Arthurian fantasy. Why? Because I love Camelot. Go read Le Morte de Arthur. Read Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. Read T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. And you’re done; everything since has been a King-Arthur-with-a-twist or a flat-out deconstruction. Don’t get me started on the movies. So imagine my surprise … More The Celydonn Chronicles
My next Forgotten Book review is Bridge of Birds. It hasn’t been forgotten (it and its sequels have been re-released in a three-book volume) so much as criminally under-marketed. I first came across a reference to Master Li and Number Ten Ox in a book by Spider Robinson, The Free Lunch. Spider Robinson, a writer … More Bridge of Birds
Marion G. Harmon, A Writer in Vegas. 