Tag: literature

Science Fiction and Paranormal Fantasy with a Noir Twist

Dead Man’s Hand Free Sample

Over the summer, I released my urban fantasy novella, Dead Man’s Hand, as an e-book on Amazon. Maybe it was a timing thing, but it really seemed to fly under the radar, so I thought I’d post a sample. What follows is a short excerpt from the third chapter. If you’d like to see more,…
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November 5, 2012 0

Book Envy

I had the opportunity to participate in Fullerton College’s Faculty Reading Event last month–a good experience and a nice chance to read some of my work for an enthused and appreciative audience. Before reading from her novel in progress, one of my colleagues made a joke about “book envy,” in reference to the copies of…
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October 5, 2012 0

Review: Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (audiobook)

I’ve just finished listening to the audiobook version of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, the preferred text read by the author. It’s been said that writers are often the worst readers of their own work, which may be true in some cases, but not this one.  Gaiman’s rendering of the different characters’ voices is brilliant, vivid, and…
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September 20, 2012 0

The Jack London Method

Anyone who’s given writing a shot knows it isn’t easy. The key to doing it, though, is just to do it. You have to have to write. You have a story that has to come out–a compulsion, an obsession. It’s in your blood, or it’s bleeding out of you as the old line about sitting…
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August 26, 2012 5

World Building 101

When I wrote my first science fiction novel, Take Back Tomorrow, I didn’t have to worry too much about “world building” since it’s a time travel novel set in 1940. Even though it’s technically an alternate history, the world of the novel is essentially the same as the Los Angeles of 1940 familiar to just…
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August 20, 2012 4