Self-publishing Lies and Myths: Short Fiction and Poetry
Every couple of months I open a search list on my Tweetdeck for “self-publishing” and let it run for a few weeks before cutting it off again. I do this because it’s difficult to stomach the lies, misinformation, and overly optimistic nonsense that tends to flood that channel. I’m in another one of my phases […]
Fiction Narratives: The Forgotten Strand?
There are, I would argue, two kinds of bad narratives: 1) Thin or predictable, and 2) illogical. Both are bad for very obvious reasons. Thin or predictable narratives fail primarily because there’s nothing within the plot itself to keep an attentive reader or viewer going. The only reason such narratives succeed is because they are […]
eBooks and the Future of Books: A Question From WhoHub
Someone on WhoHub recently asked me the following and I thought I would respond here: What is your experience with ebook readers? Are they comfortable for your eyes? Will the paper book fade away? One thing that an old-school book lover like me has had to admit is that eReaders have gone from being clunky, […]
International SF/F: Does it get an out from the “cliche” argument?
I’ve been meaning to talk about this subject for a while, and it is result of an experience I had a few weeks ago when the fine folks over at Tor sent me Alexey Pehov’s Shadow Prowler. I am, by all accounts, somewhat more critical of fantasy for its lack of originality than I am […]
Why SF/F Awards Are Meaningless To Me
I used to care about the awards. Seeing “Hugo Award Winner” or “Winner of the Nebula Award” on a book used to excite me and make me want to pick something up and buy it. But not anymore. Things have changed. In the last year or so, I’ve sort of lost interest in the awards […]
Science Fiction and Fantasy in Airports
As promised, I do have something interesting to point out about the presence of science fiction and fantasy in airports, and something that might be a good indicator of the power of books among travelers. First things first, I can honestly say that I’ve seen a significant increase in the number of book-specific shops in […]