What’s in my February Mailbox?

Here’s what I’m reading!

When I was in my teens, there was a book of Heinlein’s that made me snap and never read another one of this again. I can’t remember which it is (though I think it might have been Starship Troopers).

My good friend Marie Dees said this was probably not this book, so I’m going to give it a try. Wish me luck!

What I read last month:

Now, don’t judge. :p

First, David Mack is a stellar, under-appreciated author and everyone needs to go out and buy everything he’s ever written. Second, Star Trek books are actually well-written and really interesting for those of us who enjoy the franchise. These are about the origins of the Borg and kept me reading well into the wee hours. You can read blurbs and reviews on Goodreads.

Recommended Reading List – 2011

One of my New Years resolutions is to let people know what I’ve been reading and enjoying. Here is a list of the books, short stories, and novellas I’ve enjoyed in 2011. I’m hoping to make this a monthly post in 2012!

Novels

Two of my most loved novels this year has been Pock’s World, by Dave Duncan. It’s a wonderful science fiction novel where the hourglass ticks against time. Even the chapters countdown to the Event. Strange and wonderful, and awe-inspiring. On the other extreme end is J.W. Schnarr’s Alice and Dorothy, a gritty horror that haunted my thoughts for weeks. Yet, I could not put the book down.

The latest Harry Dresden book, Ghost Story, came out this summer. I took a vacation day so that I could buy the ebook at midnight and stayed up all night reading it. It wasn’t my favourite of the Dresden series, but it was a necessary book that changed the series. It was about the consequences of one’s actions. I’m a huge fan of the Dresden series so I can’t wait for the next one.

Short Fiction

Douglas Smith’s Chimerascope remains my favourite short fiction collection of the year. It was a collection of speculative fiction shorts, most having been nominated for awards and some having even won some. In reading the collection, it was clear why. They were outstanding. I’d also recommend the collection for authors looking to write science fiction and fantasy short fiction. This is a great group of stories to study.

Brent Knowles’ Digital Rights remains a favourite for the year. There are books that make a reader think, “I could have written that.” Then, there are books like these that make a reader sigh and say, “I wish I’d written that.” This is the latter. Very smart and intelligent, but accessible for those of us who sometimes struggle with hard science fiction.

Beyond Reach by Rebecca Senese brings some darkness to the space opera, which is a nice change of pace.  No surprise, since Rebecca is known for her horror. I’m looking forward to more science fiction from her, though

Stuff my friends wrote

I don’t often review my friends’ books because I’ve often beta reader the stories back when it lacked a plot or before it completely rewritten. It’s hard for me to look at the current versions and forget the previous ones. However, here are a couple suggestions that I think you might like:

Princess for Hire by Jamie Grey. Seriously, this is the best title ever. It’s a shorter story, and great for when you’re sick to death of the doom and gloom.

Chrystalla Thoma moved into science fiction this year with Rex Rising, the first of a series.

Happy reading!

RETRIBUTION by Steve Stanton

> In a post-cyberpunk future, Mia and Zakariah Davis risk their lives to secure an activated sample of the life-prolonging “eternal virus” for their son Rix. Afterwards, Mia is murdered in retribution and the family is overcome by grief. Zakariah goes on a quest to contact her spirit in the afterlife while Rix wants revenge, no matter the cost. Niko, the teenage clone of Zakariah’s dead sister, has received the eternal virus and has been captured by vampires who drain her blood nightly for its rejuvenating effects. After Rix helps Niko escape, they team up in a quest to track down Mia’s murderer. An engaging and compelling story, this work of science fiction delves into questions of religion, God, family, and the source of life in our universe.

SF novel, 263 pages

Cyberpunk is alive and well, thanks to Steve Stanton’s new series, THE BLOODLIGHT CHRONICLES.

The second book, Retribution, is a testament to the fact that cyberpunk as a genre is not dead, nor is it unattainable for the average reader. The characters acted like people, and acted their age. Adults were adults, teenagers were teenagers. Too often, adults act like spoiled brats and there is none of that in Stanton’s novel. It’s brisk, mature, and masterfully put together.

I loved the character Niko, from her motorbike in the first chapter, to her encounter with the “vampires,” to her relationship with Rix. Poor Rix. God, he made me cringe at the thought of how my sixteen-year-old self treated those computer geeks who flirted with me.

Even though this is second in a series, I had no trouble following the story line. By chapter 4, I went out and purchased the first book, Reconciliation. It isn’t often that I back-pedal in a series, but I needed, not wanted, to know what brought all of these characters to where they were.

If you can understand your sixteen your old talking about the internet and follow a Star Trek episode, I think most people can follow the science of this book. Even if you can’t do either, I recommend reading the first chapter all the same and seeing…the story is so good, you might just opt to accept you won’t understand it all and just keep on going. For me, that’s the beauty of this novel.

Book review: Pock’s World

Some of you might know that I review books over at Sleepless eReader. However, the caveat there is that it has to be epublished. Dave Duncan’s “Pock’s World” isn’t available in ebook, but I really wanted to review it…so here we are.

The back-of-the-book blurb:

Frankly, this book exceeded my expectations. I found myself engrossed and unable to put it down. I thought about it at night and got back up to finish up the chapter. The science was fantastic,  the ethics an excellent shade of grey, and everyone just a bit selfish and self-absorbed.

Some questions remained unanswered, which is a near requirement for any Canadian-published book. After all, we have a literary reputation to uphold. But, in all seriousness, I love this book. Simply outstanding. Thrilled me for hours.

Reviews of Blogs and People I Follow (Part 3)

For Part 3 of marketing resources for authors, I’m reviewing the people I follow.

The Savvy Book Marketer (Dana Lynn Smith) I follow Dana’s newsletter and her twitter account. There is a fair bit of overlap between the twitter, the emails, and the newsletter. However, the information is usually informative, so I don’t mind the overlap.

Marketing for Writers – Book Reviews Part 2

More book reviews! See yesterday’s post for the previous list.

12 Strategies for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by Jeff Finkelstein

FREE!

On Twitter, folks were chatting about how important this is for authors. Apparently, we all needed to stop what we were doing, download this book from Smashwords and read it.

So I did. And I gotta tell you, I’m even more confused. I feel like an idiot admitting this, but I seriously don’t get it. Perhaps this really is important. Lots of folks keep saying it is. Yet, I still don’t understand what I’m supposed to be doing beyond blog more and use tags. Perhaps I’m trying to make this a lot more complicated than it needs to be? Perhaps this guide is making it more complicated? Who knows?

Apparently, if you understand what SEO and agree that it’s the most important thing you should be doing as an author, this is the guide. For me, I’ll stick with using marketing tools that I understand.

20 No-Cost Marketing Ideas By Keith Monaghan

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