Trope Tuesday: The Beach Episode

I’m at Cape Cod this week, at a condo that doesn’t have internet, so it’s going to be a quick and dirty Trope Tuesday post this week (no, not like that) because I’d rather be on the beach than at the Dennisport Public Library.  Speaking of beaches … One of the commonest beach tropes, at… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: The Beach Episode

Quick update from Massachusetts

Hey guys, this is just going to be a quick update since it’s midnight here on the east coast and I’m  pretty tired from the three-day train ride.  Sleeping on the train is like skipping stones, where all you’re really doing is seeing how far you can go before you crash (and I’m due for… Continue reading Quick update from Massachusetts

Trope Tuesday: Curiosity is a Crapshoot

Is curiosity a bad thing?  Well, it depends how genre savvy you are.  It seemed to work out pretty well for Alice, but not quite so well for Pandora (or the rest of the ancient Greek world, for that matter).  Curious monkeys seem to come out all right, and their constantly curious counterparts also seem… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Curiosity is a Crapshoot

Do you like your chapters named or numbered?

There’s an interesting article linked on The Passive Voice blog about the importance of a table of contents, especially in ebooks.  The article is geared mostly for non-fiction, which is a whole different beast from novels and novellas, but the discussion on TPV got me thinking: for ebooks, is it better to name chapters or… Continue reading Do you like your chapters named or numbered?

Last chance to get my books 50% off on Smashwords!

Hey guys, just a heads up that tomorrow and Wednesday are the last days to get all my books 50% off on Smashwords for the annual summer sale.  Everything is under $2.50 USD, and the $.99 stuff is free!  That might seem like a pretty steep discount, but I actually earn as much from each… Continue reading Last chance to get my books 50% off on Smashwords!

July Smashwords sale–all books 50% off!

Every summer, Smashwords does a sale in which authors can enroll their books.  This year, I’ve enrolled all of mine at 50% off, so all of them are under $2.50.  Check it out! Genesis Earth A boy and a girl on a voyage to an alien star. Price: $4.95 $2.48 Bringing Stella Home He’ll go… Continue reading July Smashwords sale–all books 50% off!

No new books this month, but the next few should be stacked.

I’m working on Star Wanderers: Deliverance (Part VIII) right now, and it’s coming along swimmingly.  Where the other novellas are pretty much character dramas in a space opera setting, this one is more space adventure with the character / relationship stuff under the surface.  It’s all about Mariya and Lucca, how they meet and end… Continue reading No new books this month, but the next few should be stacked.

Trope Tuesday: The Last DJ

In any vast bureaucracy, you’re bound to find obstructive bureaucrats and professional butt-kissers.  But if you look long and hard enough, usually somewhere towards the bottom, you may be lucky enough to find one of the Last DJs. The Last DJ is a man with integrity, who often puts honor before reason and cannot be… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: The Last DJ

Trope Tuesday: Worthy Opponent

Sometimes, it’s not the Big Bad the heroes are fighting against, so much as an almost friendly opponent who is not so different from them after all. That’s what this trope is all about. The Worthy Opponent is no mere redshirt or mook–quite often, in fact, he’s the Dragon of the opposing side–but unlike the… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Worthy Opponent

X is for Xenocide

This post isn’t just about the third book in the Ender’s Game series–it’s about the genocide of an entire alien race, which is actually a fairly important trope in science fiction. Of all the evils of our modern era, perhaps the most heinous is the systematic extermination of an entire race or ethnicity.  These acts… Continue reading X is for Xenocide