A Review of Hugh Howey’s Wool.
The Wool Omnibus is one of the best and most original science fiction books I have read. It is full of tension and intrigue from page one, and that tension is maintained through to the very last page. Anyone who enjoys stories set in strange post-apocalyptic worlds that have themes more complex than just […]
Kickstarting your Writing.
I am a member of a few science fiction communities on Google+, where an increasing number of authors want me to give money to their Kickstarter projects. I had ignored these requests, considered them to be a new form of begging. I had also thought why would a writer need the money? With the new […]
Top 100 ebook and ibook prices.
Now I know you have been impatiently waiting for me to do another survey of the prices of the top 100 bestselling ebooks. So here it is. If you’re a wannabe author, like me, you have probably been doing a Kirk/Picard, as you contemplate the price of ebooks. If the price of ebooks dropped, the […]
Review of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller.
When I first pulled Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars from the shelves of a bookstore, I remember muttering a sarcastic “yeah right,” after I read a comment on its cover claiming it was “A novel about the end of the world which makes you glad to be alive.” That’s not the role of apocalyptic fiction, I […]
Bits From My Past Week Or So.
On a Facebook Crohn’s and Colitis page, I learnt of a research report where nearly 50% of pot-smoking Crohn’s sufferers went into remission. I then decided to write and ask the editor of DiVine if I could write an article on the use of medical cannabis by people with disabilities. Surprisingly, they agreed. Subsequently, I […]
Okay or not OK?
I was happily reading the Age the other day, thinking everything was okay with life when I spotted an article titled “You don’t need to spell it out, OK is okay in anyone’s language”. WTF? Had someone gone and changed the language rules without telling me? The article itself is more about the origins of […]
The Past Future of Publishing.
When most writers think about the future of publishing they think about a world where the ease of e-publishing leads to the market being flooded by millions of wannabe authors. How is a new author going to get noticed in amongst all those books? But what if the 2050 bestseller list looks something like this: […]
A review of the Russian novel – Roadside Picnic.
Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, has one of the most interesting and original premises I have read. Aliens land at several locations on Earth. They have no interest whatsoever in humanity and use alien barriers to ensure they are not bothered by humans. The aliens only stay for a short time and after […]
Speculative fiction I have been watching.
If much of the time you are too tired to read or write science fiction, like me, the next best thing is watching it, or some good speculative fiction. Fortunately I have Foxtel and an ipad, because if I had to rely on commercial television for my science fiction fix I would be one unhappy […]
A Dishonest Life?
I was listening to Radio National yesterday, and they mentioned the memoir A Fortunate Life by AB Facey. Those who watch First Tuesday Book Club would have seen A Fortunate Life come in at number three on their Ten Aussie Books to Read Before You Die list. If I remember correctly, they said it wasn’t […]