Talking about writing process, I learned the hard way, can be as tedious to uninvested listeners/readers as droning on about the history of a project, interlarded with character names and places without the listener having any idea who they are … Continue reading
On the YA fantasy front, author Rosamund Hodge has been making quite a splash with her moody, dark, intensely atmospheric reworkings of myths and fairy tales. So when I had the chance to review this collection, Desires and Dreams and … Continue reading
I’ve been asked by a handful of people now and then to reprise my riff on Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and the evolution of the Silver Fork novel. Recently I was on the east coast at Readercon, where I fell … Continue reading
When I was a kid, stories were short. We read short stories in class. Novels were short. Series were rare, and those tended to deposit the main characters back to ground zero, exactly as television did. Since there was no … Continue reading
Bright, Burning Stars, by A.K. Small Algonquin Young Readers There are a lot of us who danced while young, and loved doing it. Many continued as adults to dance in some form … Continue reading
Two new space operas have appeared in the last couple of days. I inhaled them both: one a novel by Elizabeth Bear, and the second is a four-author serial, a form that is becoming increasingly popular As I pointed out … Continue reading
Francesca Forrest’s The Inconvenient God is technically a novella (maybe even a novelette by some counts) but has been published as a slim book by Annorlunda Books, which specializes in shorter works. It’s an elegant book featuring a gorgeous cover by … Continue reading
Last summer after yet another wave of bad news, I found myself longing for escapist feel-good wish-fulfilment, and what is more indicative of escapist wish fulfilment than a ballroom filled with grand costumes, beguiling music, intrigue and romance? I … Continue reading
Tired of generic medievaloid historical novels? How about reading one written by someone who has studied the period, and knows the real deets—with a plot you can’t predict? Gillian Polack’s Langue[dot]doc 1305 newly out from Book View Café, is about a … Continue reading
I first began teaching at a small private school that got its furniture and texts from public school discards. The history textbook I was given was a massive, excruciatingly dull text listing kings, Prime Ministers, and battles, interlarded by great … Continue reading
