Tag: fiction
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What I’m reading: Orbital
As noted in my last WIR post, I generally avoid Oscar-winning movies and book prizes – Pulitzer, Booker, Pushcart…their choices almost always leave me cold. But the 143-page Orbital by Samantha Harvey joins Everett’s James as a welcome exception. I ordered the ebook on a whim after reading a review somewhere (another thing I don’t…
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What I’m reading: James
I generally avoid hype of any kind. I can count on one hand with fingers left over the number of Oscar-winning movies I’ve seen/actually liked. The same for book prizes – Pulitzer, Booker, Pushcart…their choices usually leave me cold. Occasionally, I’ll pick up a genre winner – Edgar or Agatha in particular. But I have…
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What I’m reading: Red Team Blues
It’s tough to write a novel full of high-tech jargon and digital action so low-tech readers* can follow along, but Cory Doctorow has the knack in elegant, readable bits and bytes. I thoroughly enjoyed his 2021 Attack Surface, so when I heard about Red Team Blues: A Martin Hench Novel, I didn’t hesitate. It didn’t…
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What I’m reading: The Writing Retreat
I’ve been a fan and multiple-time participant in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) since 2005. In fact, all four of my novels had their start during what I’ve always described as a “sadistic” 30-day challenge. Julia Bartz takes that event – and the sadism – and ratchets it up several notches in The Writing Retreat.…
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Ties that bind
As writers, we’re urged to find/create themes to our stories – some deeper meaning threading through the obvious storyline. I never gave it much thought when writing my novels, but now that I’ve completed four and started number five, it’s become obvious (actually hit me somewhere between #3 and #4): my underlying theme is family…
CL Pauwels at Large 