This is billed as a book of “mildly interesting tales,” but it plays more like series of evenings on the back porch with a sack of suds, shooting the breeze with the old geezer from down the street. The plotlines of the stories are best summed up in his own coined word, “unnoteworthy.” He doesn’t…
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“Outsiders” by W. C. Collier
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This is a hard book to review, because while I enjoyed the story and the characters, there are serious flaws in the writing which reduced my pleasure considerably. Basically, this writer is a marvellous storyteller with little idea of how to write a book. Let’s start out with the strong points. I really liked the…
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“The Return of the Osprey” by DJ Albrecht
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This book divides itself neatly into two sections, each encompassing a different genre. Sci-Fi This is a standard soft-science Space Opera. No ink is wasted on the physics of space travel such as speed, time or distance, which is fine. Star Trek didn’t do any different. Characters are likeable, sympathetic and more individualistic than the…
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In the Realm of the Rich and Famous
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Well, not quite. Linda and I are on a cruise from Athens to Venice on a 4-masted clipper ship that only holds 177 passengers. The weather has been beautiful, and we have managed to actually sail for about half of the distance. However, despite the inanity of using cruise ship WIFI, I take time…
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At Indies Unlimited: Story Structure – All a Novelist Needs to Know
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This article was originally posted at Indies Unlimited May 11, 2016 The structure of every story follows the pattern of the average human emotional experience. That pattern is the same, whether it’s a first kiss, eating a chocolate bar, having sex, or reading a full-length novel. Hollywood scriptwriters have found this pattern, follow it, and often make…
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Capture the Cover Contest Winners
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The Capture the Cover Contest for “Storm over Savournon” we ran a few months ago is over, and the winners have been announced. They are the mother-and-daughter team of Olena Chemeris and Julia Badayeva. Their analysis: This story took place in the late eighteenth century, in a town in the southeast corner of France…
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The Chronicles of Ara: Perdition, by Joel Eisenberg and Stephen Hillard
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I have noted that there are certain pursuits, like skiing, piloting small aircraft, sailboat racing, and living in rainy places like the Pacific Northwest (or the Lower Mainland, as we in B.C. call it) where the weather makes the usual experience so ghastly that when you finally hit a beautiful day, you enjoy it inordinately.…
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Latest Indies Unlimited Post: “Tips for Realism in Writing.”
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Tips for Realism in Writing
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Storm over Savournon Free for 3 Days
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The Kindle version of my latest novel is on special free from Dec 27 – 29. Storm over Savournon: A Novel of the French Revolution The summer of 1778 in the small village of Savournon, deep in the Southern Alps. Alain Jouvent, a lawyer’s son, falls in love with Angelique de Bardell, daughter of the…
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12 Blogs of Christmas #10 Jordan Buchanan
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These blogs, like an Advent calendar, count down the days to Christmas with a variety of works from prominent bloggers in the Independent Writers community. Blog excerpt Happy holidays to all and a huge thank you to Martin Crosbie for inviting me to be part of the 12 Blogs of Christmas. It’s quite an honor…