Quickie Movie Reviews (2009): Volume Five

Here we are with another edition of my quickie movie reviews. Since it has been a while since I’ve done these, and there are new readers seeing this, I want to reiterate what they are about. Any time I watch something that has either been out on DVD for an extended period of time or […]

Punking Everything in SF/F (Part Three): The (Closer) Past (Cyberpunk A)

To define cyberpunk is to literally take up the foundations of science fiction and say, “this is it, and there are no other options.” Anyone who attempts a definitive definition to science fiction will know how ridiculous this is to accomplish, particularly because no two individuals will agree. Cyberpunk is to punk what science fiction […]

World Building: Thoughts and Practices

World building is one of those things you have to do, even if you don’t want to. Whether you write fantasy, science fiction, or something else entirely, you’ll always find yourself attempting to build your world, whether at the micro or macro levels. Creating characters is a form of world building, and if all you […]

First Time Novels: Small Press or the Big Boys?

An interesting thought occurred to me only moments ago: when it comes to considering publishing your first novel, how do you decide on what kind of publisher to select? It would seem, at least to me, that many automatically send their work to the big boys, get rejected, and then sit around bitter, or self-publish, […]

Fantasy Essentials: What Should I Have Read?

Somewhere along the line I began getting criticized for not being all that great at writing fantasy because I had not read enough in the genre. Maybe this is true, and if so, I would like to rectify that, to the best of my ability. So, to all those reading this, I’m calling on you […]