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Older Blog Entries Reading Hall's The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
Alexis Hall's 2019 novel The Affair of the Mysterious Letter is a fun riff on Sherlock Holmes, complete with sorceress Shaharazad Hass playing the all-knowing Holmes and Cpatain John Wyndham playing the narrating Watson. The tone in the novel is delightfully fussy, reminding me of Gail Carriger's steampunk works. This is one of the most bizarre novels I've ever read, with multiple worlds, various cultures and even travel through space and time. For example, in the course of their investigation the duo visits an underwater community by utilizing parasites to breathe under water. Furthermore, their landlord, at 221b Martyrs Walk, is a corpse inhabited by wasps. I think they even travel via dream at one point! Definitely pick this one up if you want a unique reading experience. :)
Reading King's The Outsider
Of course, all of you know award-winning Stephen King is a prolific American writer. The Outsider (2018) is another one of his many novels. It reads like a very solid police procedural murder mystery ...or does it? Detective Ralph Anderson and colleagues are trying to solve a very brutal child murder. (Yes, this was over-the-top, but at least it was off-screen.) I kept waiting for some kind of paranormal or supernatural elements and, eventually, I was not disappointed. I don't want to reveal any spoilers, so let's just say, King fans will really enjoy this! This novel raised some interesting issues, particularly, the rational versus the irrational paradigms. The characters in this novel had different reactions. Some could believe; some couldn't. If faced with the seemingly impossible, can your mind bend to accept it? Are you a person who can believe in the supernatural? It's an interesting question...
Reading Maxwell's The Last Magician
Lisa Maxwell's The Last Magician (2017) is getting more and more popular. I actually bought it at a big box store in the YA Book section. To me, it didn't really seem to have a YA vibe--which is fine. All the characters seemed to be fairly mature adults. It is book 1 of the Last Magician Series. It's nice and long, which I enjoyed. With a title like that you might expect a lot of magic, but this was not the focus. Part of the official blurb includes Esta is a talented thief, and she's been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past... As you may discern from this, it reads like a historical-fiction heist story, sort of an Ocean's 8 set around 1900. I do love me a kickass female protatonist and Esta is definitely that. It's fun story. There are some great surprise plot twists at the end. That being said, there are some significant unresolved issues--for the next book, no doubt.
Reading Backman's A Man Called Ove
Swedish author Fredrik Backman wrote A Man Called Ove (2015) and apparently there was even a movie of it. In my opinion, this novel is charming and lovely. The publisher says, Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon...People call him "the bitter neighbor from hell." But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Ove is a widower living in Sweden. Obviously, he only appears to be a curmudgeon... Slowly, through the course of the novel, Backman shows us Ove has had some very tough breaks and despite that has made the world a better place. It's inspiring. What could we all do to make the world a better place? Food for thought. Read it! And if you're thinking at this point that my book selection is a bit random, you'd be right. :)
Reading Grossman's The Magicians
The Magicians (2009) by Lev Grossman is part of his Magicians Trilogy. I'm a little embarrassed to say I didn't discover these books until after I saw some of the SyFy series (the TV series is a post for another day). Grossman is a skilled author with mastery of his craft. I really enjoyed these books; a world where magic exists is very fun. In addition, Grossman's fictional world within a fictional world, Fillory, is utterly charming. Obviously, it brings to mind Narnia in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. Awesome! The beginning of this novel, when the protags are at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, harkens back to Harry Potter at Hogwarts. Awesome! In general, cultural references abound--also, well, awesome! Be warned: the novels are significantly different from the SyFy series. (But both excellent!) Fans of literary contemporary fantasy will love The Magicians!
Reading Taylor's An Argumentation of Historians
A few months ago I discovered Jodi Taylor and The Chronicles of St. Mary's. I love this series (with one caveat). An Argumentation of Historians is the 9th book. Great title, right? The humor was super fun as usual; in particular the protagonist's interactions with her fellow historians are delightful. Taylor does her usual good (too good?) job torturing her characters--by which I mean all the antagonists are doing their bit. Consequently (Spoiler Alert!) the protag spends more time in the past than she'd planned. This is a tone change for the series, but in the context of keeping the books fresh, it works. The ending is emotionally satisfying. It's difficult to discuss this book without revealing spoilers. It's also difficult to discuss the book without taking into account the series as a whole... Since it's time-travel, this is considered science fiction. However, Taylor's only explanation for the mechanism is a reference to the 'Cooper/Hofstadter theory.' (Awesome ref!)
If you enjoy madcap British humor and time-travel, you may love this series, including book 9.
Reading Vreeland's Clara and Mr. Tiffany
Anyone who's seen any of Louis Comfort Tiffany's art in person can't help but be enchanted. Thus, I was intrigued by Susan Vreeland's Clara and Mr. Tiffany -- the fictionalized story of Clara Wolcott Driscoll. Vreeland claims "...two collections of letters reveal that an unrecognized woman, Clara Driscoll, designed the floral shades as well as many of the bronze bases." Wow! The novel interprets her creative and personal life, her loves, losses, triumphs, and her startling decisions. Vreeland does a very nice job creating this historic world and empathetic cha racters. I think the story takes on new significance in the Me-Too era as it sho ws a woman fighting for her rights, including the right to creative opportunities, and supporting her fellow women. People who enjoy art, strong women, and/or historical fiction should enjoy this one!
Reading Cahalan's Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness (2012) by Susannah Cahalan is an autobiography--which I rarely read. This particular autobiography is extremely compelling, however. It's a first-person account of Cahalan's battle with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. It begins as she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the events of the previous month when she had violent episodes and delusions. Cahalan tells a dramatic and mysterious story.
In addition, Cahalan has done a great job increasing awareness of this and other related diseases. In so doing, she's helped a lot of people. Definitely worth a read if you're interested in unusual diseases and how people deal with them!
Reading White's Private Practices
I read a lot. Not all of it is speculative fiction. Recently, I read Private Practices (1992) by Stephen White because it was set in my town. This is a solid thriller featuring psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory and Detective Sam Purdy, part of White's series. White did get a lot of details correct about the unique (weird?) town, which made it a fun read. Part of the official blurb includes: From the first pages of the novel, when Gregory's office is invaded by a homicidal husband seeking revenge on his wife for her decision to divorce him, until Private Practices powerful climax, Purdy and Gregory strive to make sense of the pieces of an increasingly complex puzzle. It has solid plotting and nice characterizations. This book is a little older, which I also enjoyed. It's fun going back to a simpler time, before the internet and smart phones, etc. If you like mysteries and thrillers, consider this series!
Reading Willis's Blackout/All Clear
It's no secret that Connie Willis is one of my all-time favorite authors. I was happy to snatch up her Blackout/All Clear (2010). These two volumes add up to almost 1200 pages and constitute one novel. Wow! This work is part of Willis's time-travel universe and won several awards. Readers should definitely settle in and enjoy the journey because it's a lengthy one. Willis is in true form with excellent characterization, making readers care about this large cast. She does a great job maintaining suspense and tension by ending chapters with cliffhangers and then following with a different-pov-character chapter. Willis shows off her extensive love for and knowledge of, England, London, St. Paul's Cathedral, and WWII here. The ending evokes a lot of reader emotion. Unfortunately, this reader got confused in trying to keep track of characters. Most of them had multiple names, their 'real' name and the various names they took on on their time-travel expeditions.
Definitely pick this up if you're a fan of Willis!
Reading Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (2012) by Robin Sloan was a delightful surprise. I picked this up purely by accident and it was wonderful. The author says It's a tale of books and technology, cryptography and conspiracy, friendship and love. It begins in a mysterious San Francisco bookstore, but quickly reaches out into the wider world and the shadowed past. In a nutshell, a laid-off Silicon Valley worker wanders by a mysterious bookstore, goes inside, gets a job, and mysteries and adventures ensue. The tone and voice remind me of Hank Green's 2018 An Absolutely Remarkable Thing with its enthusiasm and fresh young protag. In Remarkable, the two main story elements are YouTube/Twitter and aliens. In Bookstore, the two main story elements are Google and physical paper books. This work is highly recommended. And, oh yeah, the cover is glow-in-the-dark! I'm excited to read more of Sloan's work!
Reading Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2011) by Ransom Riggs is a surprise. I did see the movie and it was good, but the novel is utterly charming. Sixteen-year-old Jacob goes on a quest after a tragedy and Riggs does a particularly excellent job taking the reader along on the adventure; I was captivated. The real-life antique photos add an extra dimension to the story. This reader loved imagining that time-loops and mysterious mansions filled with special people could really exist. I'm excited to read more of Riggs work!
Reading Walton's The Genius Plague
The Genius Plague (2017) by David Walton is an award-winnter. The official book page says in part, In this science fiction thriller, brothers are pitted against each other as a pandemic threatens to destabilize world governments by exerting a subtle mind control over survivors. The pandemic is (spoiler alert!) a fungus that seems to be about to take over the world. Wow! The plotting is dramatic and very appropriate for a thriller. This is a real page-turner. The genius angle is intriguing and poignant since the protag's father is suffering from Alzheimer's and the fungus might cure him. I was strongly reminded of the classic SF story "Flowers for Algernon" (1959) by Daniel Keyes. And Walton even references it. Nice! I know every work of fiction requires a suspension of disbelief, but this scientist/reader had a tough time believing the fungus could do all the author said it could. Your results may vary. :) Definitely pick this up if you're looking for a fast-paced SF thriller.
Reading Kroese's The Big Sheep
The title of The Big Sheep (2016) by Robert Kroese evokes both Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. The post-apocalyptic LA of Kroese shares some similarities with both Dick's LA and Chandler's LA. Kroese is also strongly influcenced by Douglas Adams' holistic detective. In a nutshell, PI's (of course!) Blake Fowler and Erasmus Keane search for a missing ...sheep. Further complications and adventures ensue. That nutshell doesn't do the story justice, however. Kroese does an excellent job with voice, plot, and humor. Set in the future, the story takes many unusual SF turns, and is very fun and original. If I had one nit-pick, the genetic experiments, while treated humorously here, would be horrifying in real life. I sincerely hope scientists never go down that road. :( I recommend The Big Sheep as a remarkably fun read.
Reading Green's An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (2018) by Hank Green is a very fun entertaining read. The official blurb includes ... it's about a group of friends who accidentally become the most important people in the world. Or, at least, they would like you to think it was an accident. The voice in this book is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Green does an absolutely awesome job putting us in the pov of April May, a 23-year-old art-school grad working in NYC who finds a 10-foot-tall statue on the sidewalk. Adventures ensue... Green does a great job utilizing YouTube and Twitter and our whole current celebrity-obssessed culture. I couldn't help thinking the book could have been totally meta if the author had actually posted some tweets and vidoes, etc. from April's pov. There are some fun easter eggs however... If I had one minor nit-pick it would be the ending was not totally satisfying. (But I hear a sequel is in the works.) I recommend An Absolutely Remarkable Thing as a remarkably fun read.
Reading Abraham's Magicians Impossible
Magicians Impossible (2017) by Brad Abraham is a fun entertaining read filled with fighting magicians (duh!). The official blurb includes Twenty-something bartender Jason Bishop's world is shattered when his estranged father commits suicide, but the greater shock comes when he learns his father was ... in an ancient society of spies wielding magic in a centuries-spanning war. Great, right? :) As a writer, I enjoyed Abraham's mastery of the three act structure and urban fantasy tropes. Everything you want is right here including the inciting incident of the father's death, the act 1 climax when Jason choses to act, etc. I must admit in preparation for this post, I did look at some reviews on GoodReads. I now have a new appreciation for how unfair reviewers can be. There were some reviewers complaining that the book didn't meet their random expectations or desires. The reviews are disappointing. I recommend Magicians Impossible as a very fun read.
Reading Stephenson/Galland's The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
A writer friend recommended The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (2017) by Neal Stepehnson and Nicole Galland when we were talking about good time-travel books. I mean, you gotta love time-travel, right? Beware of Spoiler Alerts below... The premise of this book is magic used to exist and witches performed this magic by selecting amongst the various quantum possibilities and instantiating the reality they wanted. Readers of my Quantum Cop series will recognize this is exactly how q-lapsing works! Wow! The quantum fiction zeitgeist is alive and well! The goal of the novel, then, is to bring magic back to the modern world since science (according to them) basically killed it. There's a great uroboros element/trope in that they can time-travel because one of the protagonists did time-travel to save a witch. The format is very artistic, namely, it's epistolary. The story is told via a series of diary entries, notes, memos, and even a powerpoint slide deck! While this is creative, all the telling does act to distance the reader from the story. The authors clearly meant the work to be humorous, e.g. D.O.D.O., the Department of Diachronic Operations is represented by a dodo, the extinct bird. Wordplay, farce, acronym fun and slapstick abound; there's even an epic Viking poem about an invasion of a Walmart. Since humor is so subjective, this reader found the humor to be of varying success. If all this sounds like fun to you, go for it!
Reading Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog
The 1997 SF novel To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis is one of my favorite novels of all time. Willis is the most award-winning SF author of all time for good reason. Her voice is incandescent. Dog takes place in the same time-travel historian-filled world as her Fire Watch, Doomsday Book, and Blackout/All Clear. Yes, she loves this world. I've read this book multiple times and it's a hilarious blast...with the exception of the Bishop's bird stump, a missing historical artifact. (I just skip over this part now.) Basically, British people can time-travel; adventures ensue. The title is inspired by a book referenced in Robert A. Heinlein's Have Space Suit--Will Travel, specifically the 1889 Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome. And, yes, I've read both of these, as well. Willis is a cultural treasure. If you haven't read her: get thee to a library!
Reading Goonan's This Shared Dream
Rarely is a sequel better than the first book. In my opinion, This Shared Dream the 2011 SF
novel by Kathleen Ann Goonan is even better than In War Times--and that's saying a lot!
This Shared Dream is set later in this world with the three Dance children all grown up and dealing with the consequences of the multiverse.
The writing is beautiful and evocative. Goonan does an especially good job envisioning a world like our own, but better, on the path to utopia. Somehow, she makes it seem possible to heal our real world, too, if we all worked together. This Shared Dream is one of my favorite books of all time. It's extremely thought-provoking. Check out all of Goonan's wonderful work!
Electric Spec Fun
As you may know, I love science fiction. I also love macabre horror and all kinds of fantasy. About fifteen years ago my Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's critique group came up with the idea to start our own ezine. On-line publishing was a new-fangled thing and we thought it would be fun. We also wanted to support up-and-coming authors with a new paying (albeit not a lot) market. As speculative fiction lovers we thought other speculative fiction lovers would enjoy reading some free fiction. Fast forward fifteen years...and Electric Spec is still going strong. We'll have a new issue this week, and among five other awesome stories and some beautiful art, I have a SF tale Flying Saucers - Myth - Truth - History. If you're a reader, check it out! I'm grateful to have the chance to work with so many awesome editors and authors over the years. Thank you, all!
The Space Operetta Series
I love science fiction, quantum physics and laughing. My Space Operetta Series is my attempt to put these loves together. Kirkus Reviews said, "Skulduggery, sex, and Shakespeare abound in a sci-fi tale full of sound and fury, signifying fun." It all starts when intra-galactic singer Jack Jones must solve his own murder. Fun, right? As his adventures progress in and out of the bedroom, he discovers he may have a special shall-we-say power.
I recently published a new story in The Space Operetta Series: Jack Be Nimble
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Woo hoo! The 2019 theme is Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth.
If you are, or know, a woman or a girl, encourage her to learn more about science. Encourage her to become a scientist. Encourage and support her curiosity! Encourage and support her learning! When women and girls succeed, we all succeed. Read more at the U.N. Women Site: In Focus: International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
The Conservation of Luck World
What if quantum probabilities could somehow affect real-life probabilities? What if luck was conserved? These are the ideas behind my Conservation of Luck series, in which for every good fortune, there's an equal and opposite misfortune. Kirkus Reviews said, "[For] real-life physicist Smith ... her novels and series that riff on quantum mechanics and Erwin Schrodinger strangeness are fun little mind tricks and thought experiments, part George Gamow at his more fanciful crossed with chick lit." In a nutshell, brilliant young computer scientist Ella Hote experiences bizarre accidents, insane coincidences, and weird encounters with improbably handsome strangers. Check out more here: ConservationOfLuck.com. I recently published a new story in the Conservation of Luck World: The Luck of the Draw
Reading Carriger's Competence
Gail Carriger is considered by many to be the queen of steampunk. I actually got to interview her for Electric Spec in 2015. I love her 1850s YA series The Finishing School. I love her 1870s series The Parasol Protectorate. Now there's a new series in her shared world. In The Custard Protocol the protagonist and her crew of miscreants charge about in their high-tech dirigible trying to help the British Empire and its supernaturals -- mainly with tea. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in this series. With book 3, Competence, Carriger changes things up a bit. She has multiple pov characters, and the main plotline is a romance. Part of the official blurb is All alone in Singapore, proper Miss Primrose Tunstell must steal helium to save her airship, in a scheme involving a lovesick werecat and a fake fish tail. Fun, right? Carriger clearly loves romance and treats LBGTQ characters with empathy. If this sounds like your cup of tea (Ha!), don't miss it! Reading Willett's The Rewind Files
It's amazing but true. I found another wonderful, new (to me) author. Claire Willett's YA time-travel novel The Rewind Files is very good. Here's part of the official blurb:
[When] Regina Bellows ...agent at the Time Travel Bureau ... accidentally uncovers a massive "chronomaly" in 1972, she realizes she's stumbled upon a far-reaching conspiracy ...
She's undertrained, inexperienced, all alone, and World War III is hanging in the balance. What could possibly go wrong? Great, right?
I'm definitely going to keep my eyes open for her future novels! Reading Taylor's Just One Damned Thing After Another
In my opinion, the best thing in the universe is finding a wonderful new author. I'm embarrassed to say, Jodi Taylor was not on my radar. Until now. She describes herself as "a writer who asks nothing more than to be able to get to grips with the 20th century. Sorry -- I meant 21st century..." Her 2013 novel Just One Damned Thing After Another might be my new favorite novel of all time.
Initially, Taylor's world reminded me quite a bit of Connie Willis' time traveling world (e.g. Doomsday Book, etc.). It's set in England in the future and the institute is associated with a university. Neither author attempts to explain the physics behind their time travel. (Probably for the best.) However, while Willis uses multiple third-person povs, Taylor uses one first-person protagonist which makes the story more immediate and emotional. Taylor's characters are flawed and experience a lot of dramatic events, which makes them easy to empathize with. In addition, she creates powerful human antagonists that the heroes must fight.
I'm grateful our world has such things as awesome authors and novels...
The Quantum Cop World
My Quantum Cop Series is my favorite. I created the books I wanted to read. Traditional publishers and agents gave me a lot of push-back with The Quantum Cop. They said I needed to cut out all the science to appeal to female readers, or, cut out the romance and humor to appeal to science fiction fans. I said: no. After publication, I've gotten some nice reviews. My favorite is "Imagine if Janet Evanovich had given Stephanie Plum a science-teaching degree..."--Kirkus Reviews. The Quantum Cop is a kick-ass female heroine, Madison Martin. Using her brains and her knowledge she learns how to manipulate reality using quantum physics. She's a physicist, but she's funny and has romances and many other types of adventures. She's flawed, but she does learn and grow and change in each book. I have to confess that I love (quantum) physics, as Madison does. I wanted to write a book with some physics in it--because I think it's fun and interesting. I have worked as a physics professor and often hear Physics is too hard for me--usually from women. I always say: No, it's not! Try it out! This series is actually a sort of stealth attack, teaching a little bit of physics to readers.
Madison has had some 'between the novels' adventures as well, including Quantum Christmas, Quantum Cinco de Mayo, Quantum Tricks and Treats, Quantum Solstice. Yes, I enjoy writing holiday-themed stories. I also really enjoy getting reader feedback. Based on reader feedback, Madison's romance with professor Andro (spoiler alert!) has some significant challenges in Book 3, Quantum Mayhem. Also based on reader feedback, Madison's relationship with hot cop Ben (spoiler alert!) takes a new fun turn.
In the beginning of 2019, for a limited time, you can get The Quantum Cop e-book free over at Kobo. Get it while you can! Check out the official Quantum Cop Webpage. Reading Novik's Spinning Silver
In all honesty, I received Naomi Novik's July 2018 novel Spinning Silver as an advance reader copy and it sat on my (large!) to-read pile for a while... I believe it's categorized as YA. I'm very glad I finally read it. Novik's story is an amazingly fresh version of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. The initial premise is teenaged Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders... but her father isn't a very good one. Novik weaves in elf-like creatures called the Staryk, a fire demon, turning silver into gold and Jewish mythology to create a battle between fire/summer and ice/winter. (Is anyone else reminded of A Song of Ice and Fire?) Indubitably, Spinning Silver is very unique. If I had any constructive criticism it would be that the six (?) first-person povs were occasionally a little confusing. Bottom line: I heartily recommend this novel. And I'll definitely be reading more Novik in the future! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
New Quantum Cop Novel December 25, 2018!
Reading Knudsen's Revenge of the Evil Librarian
I couldn't resist picking up Michelle Knudsen's Revenge of the Evil Librarian based on the title alone. Yes, I was in the library at the time. And, yes, I did work at a library for a few years. This book is actually a sequel to her Evil Librarian. Knudsen does not disappoint. This book is exactly as hilarious and teen-angsty as you would hope. Knudsen does a great job creating fun, emotion-filled teenaged characters. The plot is totally over-the-top (in a good way) as the protagonist has to deal with various demons and demon-hangers-on, as well as teenaged romance--which may be the scariest plot element of all! For me, this book was a perfect antidote to the stress of the holiday season, and life in general.
Spec The Halls!
These were all a blast to write. I'm getting inspired to write a new story... Give Thanks
You may have noticed I often write grateful characters... Did you know gratitude can have a positive effect on your life? Dozens of scientific studies of gratitude have been done. Gratitude makes us happier, healthier, more optimistic, friendlier and better liked--among many benefits.
 New Short Story Collection Out!
Spec The Halls! Twelve fun holiday stories! Reading Dunn's Remember Yesterday
This past summer I had the opportunity to see author Pintip Dunn give a speech at the annual Romance Writers of America conference in Denver. Dunn is a very good public speaker and I enjoyed her remarks encouraging all kinds of writers, no matter what their backgrounds. I was inspired to read some of her work. To be honest, I was quite surprised when Remember Yesterday ended up being a YA science fiction story! Like many of you, I really enjoy YA and science fiction so--Yay! This is book 2 in Dunn's Forget Tomorrow Series. Imagine a world where your destiny has already been decided...by your future self.. Wow! What a great blurb.
Dunn has some great SF ideas but where she really excels is in creating and showing the strong teenaged emotions of her protagonists. This is evident when one considers two books in this series have won RITA awards (Best First Book, Best Young Adult Romance). The very prestigious RITA is the Romance Writers of America award for outstanding published romance novels. Bottom line: YA fans cannot go wrong by reading Dunn. Happy National STEM Day!
Today is National STEM Day in the U.S.! Read a science book or magazine! Do an experiment! For more ideas, check out 5 Ways To Celebrate! from the Learning Counsel. Also check out the Physics Is Fun website!
Short Fiction Fun
I enjoy writing short stories. There's something magical about making art within fairly strict constraints. I write about creating short stories a lot over on the Electric Spec blog. I write quite a few short stories. This fall I published "Girl Power" in the Rocketpack Adventures Anthology, and "Second-Hand Suitcase" in The Wordsmith Journal Magazine, and "Effect and Cause" all stand-alone stories. I often publish short stories in my novel universes. I recently published "Future Dreams" from my Temporal Dreams universe. I also published "The Phantom Amenaza" from my Kat Cubed universe.
Coming up, I'm publishing a short collection of speculative holiday stories...
I'll keep you posted! Reading Ryan's Wrong Love
I enjoy all genres of fiction, including romance. I recently read The Wrong Kind of Love by Lexi Ryan. This is volume one of the New York Times Bestselling Author's new series The Boys of Jackson Harbor. The back cover copy of this says: "You never forget your wedding day. Or the moment your twin sister pukes on your bouquet and confesses she's pregnant ...with your fiance's baby." Wow! Even with all that buildup, this novel does not disappoint. This was one of the best romance novels I've ever read. I couldn't put it down. Ryan has a great voice and does a great job evoking emoti ons in the reader. The author hits all the desired plot points including hook, inciting indicent, pinch points, crisis, climax and resolution. There's something amazing about successfully creating art within the bounds of a strict structure. Think of a haiku. Or a symphony. In these tumuluous times I find myself appreciating more prosaic and/or nostalgic entertainments more than I used to. I don't think I'm alone. TV show reboots, anyone? Romance fiction has (Spoiler Alert!) happy endings--which I need. Yay, romance novels! Temporal Dreams World
I love time travel. I bet you do, too. I always wanted to write a time travel novel. But I wanted to write one that wasn't exactly like what people had done before. So, I had to do research. That research entailed reading every non-fiction book on time and every time travel novel I could find. Poor me! This research went on for years... I finally made the decision to utilize the Australian Aboriginal idea of Dreamtime or The Dreaming because it was particularly fascinating. (And, yes, I know some famous authors have utilized this idea.) This is the concept of every-time or time-outside-of-time, when the world was inhabited by ancestral people with heroic supernatural abilities. It's so interesting, I highly recommend you investigate this topic yourself. How does the time-travel work in this fictional world? People with the ability have a lucid dream which is similar to astral projection, but instead of the soul traveling through space, it travels through time. When the dreamer views the time s/he desires, s/he wakes up and s/he is physically transported then. Thus, Temporal Dreams has two point-of-view characters. One is Kyle Barada, an Australian Aborigine, whose family owns a company called Time Advantages Inc. which uses time travel to assist other businesses. Cool!
Kairi and Kyle have even had some short story adventures since their original escapades. See TemporalDreams.com for more info.
Reading Butcher's Brief Cases
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files started with Storm Front (2000) and includes 15 novels through the 2014 Skin Game. This is an urban fantasy series starring Harry Dresden the wizard detective that lives in present day Chicago. Butcher has done a masterful job creating the Dresden character and this series. The next novel in the series will be Peace Talks. Unfortunately, the release date for Peace Talks hasn't been set yet. What's a poor reader to do? Read Brief Cases (June 2018) the second short story collection in the Dresden Files world. I don't think I can talk about this without revealing some spoilers. So, readers, stop reading now if you haven't read all the novels!
The real treats, however, are the stories that fill in some of the blanks of the world. "Bombshells," written in Molly's pov, shows us what happened to her after she thinks Harry died. "Cold Case," also in Molly's pov, shows us what happened to her after she started working for Mab. "Day One," written in Waldo's pov, shows us his first mission as a Knight of the Cross. And, finally, we get "Zoo Day" which shows us Harry as a dad, and amazingly includes a section from Maggie's pov, and a section from Mouse's pov. It's awesome seeing Harry as a dad, and, of course, things don't go smoothly from his pov. The Maggie and Mouse povs were suprisingly stressful as they both have to deal with their own serious problems.
Happy Day of Girls!
Tomorrow, October 11, 2018, is International Day of Girls--as declared by the United Nations.
So, on International Day of the Girl Child let's join women around the world and stand with girls everywhere as they inspire, innovate and take charge of their own futures.
Go, Girls! You rock! Happy Day of Girls! Reading Carriger's Manners & Mutiny
I recently finished reading Gail Carriger's Manners & Mutiny, the final book of her The Finishing School Series. (Yes, I was a little behind.) This is a YA steampunk series set in the 1850s in England. In Carriger's world dirigbles, steam-powered mechanical servants and pets, werewolves, vampires, fancy-dress balls, evil boy geniuses, and girl intelligencers are common. About the series, Carriger says: Sophronia is recruited to a finishing school for spies located in a dirigible. There young ladies of quality are taught to finish everything -- and everyone -- as needed. Set in Gail's Parasolverse these four YA books are full of steampunk etiquette, well-dressed espionage, and flying food.
Carriger is considered by many to be the queen of Steampunk. As you probably know, steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates 19th-century-inspired steam-powered machinery. Back in 2015 I had the opportunity to interview her for Electric Spec, in which she said "For me, steampunk is a way of exploring the industrial revolution with all it's newborn fears and wonders; a time in our history when we reinterpreted both doom and salvation."
I'm afraid my only critique of the delightful Finishing School series is: it's too short. Reading Evanovich's Twenty-Four
I've made no secret of the fact Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite authors. I think I have all her books--and she's prolific, so that's saying something! In a nutshell, this a continuation of her hilarious series about a not-terribly-effective female bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. In Hardcore Twenty-Four Evanovich appears to do something she hasn't done in this series before: write a speculative fiction book. It starts fairly typically:
Simon Diggery and Ethel, his pet boa constrictor, were up a tree about fifty feet from Simon's rust bucket doublewide. We've got great Evanovich voice and Stephanie's in some good peril, what with the giant snake, and all. :)
However, an additional speculative fiction element is the first significant appearance of Diesel in the 'By The Numbers' books. Diesel is gorgeous and very mysterious with seeming magical abilities. We met him in the four holiday 'Between The Numbers' novellas and his own 'Wicked' series. I'm going to come right out and say it: Diesel is supernatural. This reader thinks Evanovich strongly implies he's an angel. Therefore, I'm forced to conclude the 'By The Numbers' series is not a cozy mystery series, but rather, a paranormal mystery series. Wow! Who knew? Whatever the genre, it's still enjoyable. Autumnal Equinox
I really enjoy astronomy. This week we are poised for an astronomical event that occurs twice a year: the equinox. At equinox, the sun is exactly over the equator and day and night are exactly the same length. Incidentally, in latin equi means equal, and nox means night--hence the name. This year the sun will cross the celestial equator on Saturday September 22 on its way south. In the northern hemisphere we call this the autumnal equinox because autumn is coming. (Why am I thinking of Game of Thrones now?) Fun fact: the equinoxes don't occur on the same day each year because the time it takes planet Earth to go around the Sun (365.25 days) doesn't match up exactly with our 365-day calendar. Why do we have equinoxes and solstices? Because our lovely planet is tilted at 23.44 degrees. Why is Earth tilted? Ah... This goes back to the formation of the solar system. About 4.6 billion years ago our solar system matter was attracted together because of gravity. This cloud of matter coalesced into a disk because of conservation of angular momentum. This enabled the matter to more easily coalesce to form proto-planets. Scientists hypothesize that proto-earth collided with another large mass to knock it 23.44 degrees from the vertical. So, Earth is tilted because of an accidental collision. More fun facts: Earth's axis has a slight irregular motion, called nutation, with a period of ~18.6 years--due to gravitational effects of the Moon's orbit irregularities. Earth's axis also precesses or wobbles, tracing out a circle in the sky, over the course of a 25,800 year cycle. Precession is thought to be due to gravitational effects of the Sun and Moon acting on the oblateness (non-spherical-ness) of Earth. So, there you have it: probably more than you wanted to know about the equinox. :)
The Great American Read
I love reading and I bet you do too. There are many scientific reasons why reading is good including mental stimulation, improved focus and concentration, knowledge, stress reduction, and tranquility. There are also many less quantifiable reasons why reading is wonderful. Reading fiction, in particular, transports us to other lands and eras. It lets us have experiences we wouldn't otherwise have. It expands our imaginations.
Reading is basically a telepathic connection between author and reader. :) In summer/fall 2018 (through October) there's an awesome PBS program going on in the U.S. called The Great American Read. Over the summer people have nominated their favorite books of all time and 100 finalists have been selected. Now we all get a chance to read recommended books and/or vote for our favorites. The books are very diverse from classics such as Charlotte's Web and The Great Gatsby to modern stories like The Harry Potter Series and The Alex Cross Series. There are a surprising number of speculative fiction books including The Foundation Series, Dune, Frankenstein, 1984, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, A Handmaid's Tale, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Game of Thrones Series, Ready Player One, The Hunger Games, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Lord of the Rings, The Martian. Wow! Check it out www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read and vote for your favorite! The Multiverse of Kat Cubed
Have you ever wondered if your life would have turned out differently if you'd made different choices? Dated a different guy? Gone to a different school? Taken a different job? Lived in a different society? Whoa. Wait. What was that last one? Different society? Can we apply similar questions to the human race as a whole? Could our world have turned out differently if humanity had made different choices? And can it have different futures based on what we do now? The Kat Cubed multiverse raises these questions. It's set in the future, but at its heart it explores the nature versus nurture conundrum. The first Kat we meet, Kat Garcia, has experienced a civilization destroyed by climate change. It's too dangerous to go outside during the day. She's had to fight for her life and for food and water. But through it all she's still managed to share her life with people she cares about. The second Kat we meet, Kaitlin Garcia, has experienced a civilization on the brink of destruction due to climate change. This world still has things like boyfriends and colleges and stores; unfortunately, it also has deadly storms and epidemics. The third Kat we meet, Katherine Garcia, has experienced a civilization with virtually no freedom, liberty or justice. Governmental control has enabled this world to avoid climate change calamities--but at a severe price. Katherine doesn't get to choose her clothes, her job, or even her boyfriend. When the three Kats are thrust together ...adventure ensues. :) This novel was inspired by several different scientific concepts. One is the multiverse, or Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. The idea is: there are an infinite number of possible worlds, so basically, anything that can happen, does happen. Another concept is climate change scenarios as developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC hypothesizes differing amounts of greenhouse gases and predicts what the consequences will be in the future. So, there you have it. Kat Cubed melds together science and the human condition to create ...science fiction. See KatCubed.com for more info. Quantum Fiction
Quantum mechanics (QM) is the branch of physics focused on very small things.
Interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM) fall within the realm of the philosophy of physics. They are a conceptual way to relate QM mathematics and concepts with QM observations and the physical meanings of these observations. There are three main types of interpretations: collapse theories, Many Worlds theories, and hidden variables. I find the ideas and implications of QM to be fascinating. I often include them in my fiction. The comb
ination of QM with fun, romance, humor and adventure in fiction is what I call quantum fiction.
Or so I thought. Academic Susan Strehle discusses "Fiction in the Quantum Universe." She makes a lot of
interesting points in her book, including, Actualistic fiction and contemporary physics join...in seeing the external world and the human relation to it as: discontinuous, statistical, energetic, relative, subjective, uncertain...
Reading Willis' Traveller
Award winning author Connie Willis has a new novella out: I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land. It's quintessential Willis full of her charming unique voice, book references and many of her favorite topics, such as St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Traveller is first and foremost, however, a love letter to books. It is ostensibly the story of blogger Jim in New York City shopping a book. In between his various appointments and interviews he stumbles across a special used book store, and let's just say, adventures ensue. Poetry fans will recognize the title as being from Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias" which begins I met a traveller from an antique land who said --
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert... and includes the dramatic My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; look on my works, ye mighty
and despair!
And, yes, this all seems very meta: A blog post about a book featuring a blogger shopping a book... Science Fiction With Heart
I love science. There are many definitions of science including, Science is a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method. I think what I love most about it is it's rational and it advances human knowledge. I also love science fiction (SF). There are many definitions of SF including, Science fiction is the literature of the human species encountering change. (Isn't that a great definition!) SF is rational and, at the same time, it advances human imagination. We can really delve into the world of imagination within the confines of SF if we keep in mind Arthur C. Clarke's quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." I must admit sometimes my SF gets pretty 'advanced.' :) And, finally, I also love love. I always include some kind of love in my work. This could be romantic love, love for a child, parent, sibling, and/or love for a friend. It could also be love for humanity, basic human kindness and respect for each and every person.
I do try to be a force for good in my fiction and in real life. I try to treat every single person with cheerful respect and kindness every single day. I try to appreciate the small good things that happen in the moment. I know many of you do as well. We don't always succeed, but that's okay. We'll never succeed if we don't at least try. So, when I was tasked with identifying my 'author brand' I put all these ideas together and came up with Science Fiction With Heart.
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© Lesley L. Smith 2021
