I had a number of writers tell me over the weekend that they don’t read reviews. Maybe I’m a little odd or maybe I’ve just been very fortunate that the reviews I’ve received are intelligent and insightful, but I enjoy reading them. That includes this one from Fangs for Fantasy which is a little different.
So I Have A Hole In My Leg
I’ve had circulation problems with my legs for a long time. It’s never stopped me doing stuff, other than wearing shorts (something I’m sure everyone is grateful for!). They tend to burn constantly with a cold heat and are so sensitive to touch, I tend to keep away from dogs and toddlers because the slightest brush against them can make me wince in pain.
Eastercon Schedule
One of the highlights of the SFF calendar in the UK is Eastercon, an annual convention with a literary focus and solid aattendance. I’ve been going for a few years now, and even when the panels haven’t personally interested me, it’s been great to catch up with friends.
This year is a little different in that it’s my first year as a panelist at the event and I’m equal measures of scared and excited.
Interview With Fantasy Book Review
Not sure how I missed blogging about this, especially as I really enjoyed answering the questions and think it’s a great interview, but I did this interview with Fantasy Book Review. A nice mix of personal stuff as well as a few story teasers, I think the interview has bits of interest for everyone.
Check it out!
New Fantasy Faction Article On Tropes
My latest article for Fantasy Faction has gone live today. This month I look at tropes, what they are, what’s bad about them, what’s good about them and the risk of using them. Personally, I’m quite pleased with how this one turned out, so I hope you’ll all agree.
Check it out HERE
Four Realms Gets Book Of The Month
As the author, I’m naturally very proud of The Four Realms. What surprised, and genuinely delighted me, is how well it has been received. So I’m doing the ‘happy Snoopy dance’ to find out that Fantasy Book Review has selected it as one of their books of the month for March. They obviously have impeccable taste so I urge you to check out the others (or buy my novel if you’ve not yet done so!)
In Which I Learn I Need To Ego Surf More
Any author that tells you that they don’t google their own name is probably lying. However, ego surfing can often turn up commentary and reviews of your work that you would otherwise be unaware of. I’ve been doing a bit of it, mainly through twitter searches and google alerts to find out about new reviews of the novel. However, it was only yesterday that I turned up something I can’t believe I missed.
Laura Lam’s Pantomime
Time is just running away from me. It feels like only yesterday I handed in one of my monthly articles and already it’s nearly time to hand in the next. Likewise, I’ve had a note to blog about a friend’s book launch I attended, and I now realise it was a couple of weeks ago. Where has the time gone?
I’ve known Laura Lam for about 18 months. We met at a Fantasycon that feels like years ago. We were both aspiring authors, full of ideas and working hard on books that would eventually become our debuts. “And now,” as she said to me at her launch event at Forbidden Planet, “we’re both published authors.” Yep, mission accomplished.
Continue reading
Fantasy Book Review Gives Four Realms A Fantastic Book Review
I can’t think of a better way to start the week than to get a good review, and I have to be honest and say that this one from Fantasy Book Review has brightened not only my day but the entire week. I’ve been blessed with some really excellent reviews for The Four Realms and I’m grateful to everyone who has taken the time to say what they liked and even what they disliked, but never did I think I would be seeing comments such as these. They make me very happy indeed.
“Imagine an action-packed fantasy book co-written by J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling and H. P. Lovecraft – and then throw in some vampires, angels and demons, plus a healthy dose of science fiction then you should have an idea of what to expect from The Four Realms.”
and
“It is a fast-paced, complex novel that takes the category “cross-genre” to a whole new level.”
and
“It is so ambitious and the biggest praise that I can give is in saying that a story involving so many different sub-genres could easily have resulted in being the veritable dog’s dinner but the author has managed to pull it off, and with seeming ease.”
Check out the full review over at Fantasy Book Review (and look for an interview with me soon. I’m just finishing off the last few interview questions for them this morning).
New Article Live At GPSTracklog
My latest Geocaching article for GPStracklog has gone live, this month looking at how you can use your field notes together with GSAK to write and publish your logs super-fast. This will be of real benefit to Geocachers who’ve been looking to use the geocaching.com access publish logs feature in GSAK but never knew how to go about it.
Be sure to check it out.