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,…
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Given the choice between a neat bookstore with all the shelves perfectly arranged and a disordered bookstore where the books are stacked 2 deep on the shelves, I’ll take the messy store any day. Of course, I’m talking about used bookstores here. Any new bookstore that’s a complete mess wouldn’t be worth my time. But…
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It’s a Get Smart reference–by which I’m dating myself. That’s okay. There are worse things. For those not in the know, super agent Maxwell Smart would drop the catch phrase, “Missed it by that much,” after failing at some almost awesome move in the old spy satire TV series. He was blissfully unaware of what…
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Whenever it’s time to start talking about the art of revision with my college writing students, I usually begin by saying if they want to revise effectively they first need to put some distance between themselves and what they’ve drafted. Being too close to one’s material often causes a writer to see it for what…
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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.…
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Looking for a good read? I’ve reduced the price of my dystopian science fiction novel, Strictly Analog, from $4.99 to just 99 cents for Monday and Tuesday June 10th and 11th. If you’re a fan of William Gibson, Jonathan Letham, or Richard K. Morgan, or if you like a bit of hard-boiled mystery blended in…
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Every so often, I get this kind of comment from people: “I’m really enjoying your work. It’s better than I would have expected from an indie writer. Have you ever tried getting an agent?” It’s quite flattering to hear, and I’m very happy to be getting this kind of feedback from readers. But on the…
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This is an analysis of one of my favorite SF novels. I originally presented this at a Popular Culture conference a few years back. A friend suggested I publish at the time, but the hoops associated with academic publishing were not the ones I wanted to jump through back then. Now I make my own…
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For new, indie, and self-published writers, the question of whether or not to take advantage of Amazon’s free days as part of your enrollment in KDP is one to take seriously. I’ve posted about this before after being doubtful regarding the benefits of giving my books away, but I’m definitely a convert. The rules of…
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In case you missed it, I’ve been running a giveaway of my science fiction novel, Take Back Tomorrow and it’s still available for one more day as a FREE download from Amazon.com. “Raymond Chandler meets Robert Heinlein in this fun and inventive crossover SF novel from Richard Levesque.”—J. Orr, Amazon Reviews What if all you…
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