Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

Thoughtful Thursday: Gifts

In Season 4 of Syfy’s space opera Killjoys, Da’vin Jacobis gives his thirteen-year-old son Jak, who was born six days ago (it’s a long story) a picture. He is sending Jak to hide out with his former-evil-overlord mother (again, long story). He doesn’t want Jak to forget him, so he gives him the only photo of himself he has — his old military ID.

It’s a touching moment, and a sweet gift.

Quest stories often include the giving, or exchange, of gifts. Some gifting follows, more or less, the steps of the Hero’s Journey,

September 24th, 2020. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 21 comments |

A Sick Gray Laugh: A disturbing, metafictional, transgressive tour de force

A Sick Gray Laugh by Nicole Cushing

A Sick Gray Laugh, Nicole Cushing’s 2019 horror novel, is disturbing, at times disgusting. It’s surreal, it’s metafictional and it’s often hilarious. And, really, that’s about all I have to say about it. If you like any of those things, or all of them, you should read it.

Oh, what? I should tell you about the plot? Okay. Noelle Cashman, our first-person narrator, is an award-winning horror novelist. Recently, though, she has started medication for her struggles with anxiety and depression and now,

WWWednesday: September 23, 2020

Housekeeping:

Next week’s column will be single-item, probably a review of a series, and there might be a giveaway attached.

Pictures:

I was able to spend a couple of days at the seaside village of Mendocino, California, and the images used in the column are from that trip.

Books and Writing:

This is two years old but still interesting, as Crime Reads interviews Joe R. Lansale about Hap and Leonard.

Publishers Weekly has an article about bookseller unions.

September 23rd, 2020. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The Starless Sea: Visually spectacular

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Given the success of her debut, it would be impossible to write about Erin Morgenstern‘s eagerly awaited follow-up without alluding to The Night Circus (2011). The bestseller accrued a mass following of ‘Rêveurs’ – the self-styled fanbase, named after the followers of the circus in the book. It inspired a formidable amount of tattoos and artwork on Pinterest, as well as being translated into thirty-seven languages, no less. It was always going to be a hard act to follow,

Hunted by the Sky: Engaging characters in a vivid alternate world

Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena

Hunted by the Sky (2020) is the first book in Tanaz Bhathena’s YA fantasy duology THE WRATH OF AMBAR. Bhathena is an award-winning YA author, and Hunted by the Sky is her first foray into YA fantasy. Set in an alternate world based on medieval India, the story held my interest with its magic, suspense, and the conflicts the two main characters face. The descriptions of settings delighted me.

Gul has spent her life in hiding and on the run,

WWWednesday: September 16, 2020

Interesting words for Wednesday: Lapidify means to turn to stone. I also like the noun blatherskite, a person “given to voluble, empty talk.”

Books and Writing:

At Tor.com, Christina Orlando talks about reading books late. Lots of good recommendations here!

Kris Kathryn Rusch has, understandably, a strong indie-pub position, but this article is useful and interesting. It’s about traditional publishing and how it’s faring in the pandemic (spoiler alert: not very well according to her.

File770 doesn’t usually do author guest-posts in the style of “The Big Idea” or “My Favorite Bit,” but they did with Dan Hanks’s new book Captain Moxley and the Embers of Empire.

September 16th, 2020. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 5 comments |

Ballistic Kiss: The series gathers momentum as it heads into the home stretch

Ballistic Kiss by Richard Kadrey

2020’s SANDMAN SLIM novel, Ballistic Kiss, is the second-to-last entry in Richard Kadrey’s long-running demon-fighter punk-wizard series starring James Stark as Sandman Slim. I don’t know what I will do when the series finishes. I’ll miss the big lug.

However, Ballistic Kiss didn’t leave me too much time to fret about the future; Stark has plenty of adjustments to make in his present. Brought back to life by the Sub Rosa magical practitioners after a year dead,

WWWednesday: September 9, 2020

Congratulations to John Scalzi (The Last Emperox), Erin Morgenstern (The Starless Sea) T. Kingfisher (The Twisted Ones), and all the other 2020 Dragon Award winners! It was a great ballot this year, with lots of discussion to come, I’m sure. Oh, look! Here are some now.

Like nearly every other convention, this year’s World Fantasy Convention will be online.

Books and Writing:

The Mary Sue hosted a discussion among four Tor authors about characters who define Chaotic Good.

September 9th, 2020. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

WWWednesday: September 2, 2020

Obituary:

I literally went numb when I read that Chadwick Boseman, who played, among other roles, King T’Challah in Black Panther, passed away from cancer. Boseman’s courage, grace and generosity extended far beyond his screen roles to his day to day life. He will be greatly missed, but he left us a legacy of hope.

Natural Disasters, Where to Donate:

New Orleans city government posted a number of places to donate. By the way, World Kitchen Central does wonderful work. They have been here in California too,

September 2nd, 2020. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 10 comments |

The Hereafter Bytes: A funny book, a fun read

The Hereafter Bytes by Vincent Scott

I believe that humorous science fiction is hard to write. I’m not talking about humorous banter or moments within a book — many writers excel at that — but books that are conceived as comical stories from the start. Humor requires the balance of many elements and crucial timing. Even if those things are present, a sense of humor is hard to quantify, and a technically funny book may fail to entertain for some ephemeral reason.

Vincent Scott, however, is unafraid,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Author: Marion Deeds

Thoughtful Thursday: Gifts

A Sick Gray Laugh: A disturbing, metafictional, transgressive tour de force

WWWednesday: September 23, 2020

The Starless Sea: Visually spectacular

Hunted by the Sky: Engaging characters in a vivid alternate world

WWWednesday: September 16, 2020

Ballistic Kiss: The series gathers momentum as it heads into the home stretch

WWWednesday: September 9, 2020

WWWednesday: September 2, 2020

The Hereafter Bytes: A funny book, a fun read

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