Author: HCNewton Page 207 of 632

The trouble with audiobooks…

On January 25, 2023

In Audiobook, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

Well, my plans for today crashed and burned, so let’s revisit this amusing (to me, anyway) moment from 5 years ago today.

This morning I heard the phrase, “her two perfect teeth,” describing the surgically enhanced and improved trophy wife of an entertainment executive. Which made no sense at all to me and, frankly distracted me from what he went on to read.

Two minutes or so later, it hit me that what the narrator had actually said was actually, “too-perfect teeth” (punctuation is a guess). Which is actually fitting for the context.

Have you run into things like this in your audiobook listening?

WWW Wednesday, January 25, 2023

By HCNewton

On January 25, 2023

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Hey, it’s Wednesday, and I really don’t have anything else to say, so let’s get on with the WWW Wednesday.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Easy enough, right?

What are you currently reading?

I’m reading The Hero Interviews by Andi Ewington and On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel—two books that couldn’t be more different if they tried. I should be wrapping up the audiobook of Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey, Julia Whelan (Narrator) this morning.

Blank Space

What did you recently finish reading?

Most recently, I finished The Perception Of Dolls by Anthony Croix, edited by Russell Day and Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire and Ray Porter, Emily Bauer (Narrators) on audio. I’m trying to figure out how to write about the former, and not feeling incredibly successful.

Blank Space

What do you think you’ll read next?

My next book should be The Silk Empress by Josef Matulich and my next audiobook should be The Wizard’s Butler by Nathan Lowell, Tom Taylorson (Narrator). I’m looking forward to both—but honestly have no recollection at all of what either one is about.

Blank Space

Are you reading anything good?

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022

By HCNewton

On January 24, 2023

In News/Misc., Top X List

The topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesdays is the Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022

If this was a Top 6, this would’ve been super-easy to write. If it had been 15, it would’ve been only slightly more difficult. But 10? Ten was surprisingly tricky. But I think I came up with a list I can live with. I’d been kicking myself for not coming up with a post like this at the end of last year/the beginning of this year. And then, lo and behold, here it is as a topic for the Top Ten Tuesday! So, here we go…

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022

(alphabetically)

	JCM Berne In my initial post about the book, I said I wanted to be Berne’s new friend. I still do. Wistful Ascending ticked just about every box I have—and created a couple of new ones. Space Opera, Superheroes, comedy, drama, a dash of romance, and some characters I could not get enough of would be enough to make me a fan. But more than anything…his voice, I couldn’t get enough of it. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here.
	Eli Cranor I’d been hearing raves for Cranor’s novel for months before I got my hands on it—and it took very little time to realize that raves were justified. As great as the story and the characters were, it was Cranor’s lean prose that hooked me. There’s not a wasted syllable in those pages—the writing is beautiful, visceral, empathetic, and honest. I’m counting the days until his next novel. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here
	Sean Gibson I don’t think one author made me laugh more than Sean Gibson did last year. Some of his humor was subtle—but a lot of it wasn’t. And no matter where they fell on the spectrum, his jokes landed successfully. His comedic take on fantasy adventurers in general and the various adventurers (and those they interacted with) in this novel in particular are just the right mixture of mockery of the genre and tribute to it. All in all, it made for a very satisfying read. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here
	Peter Hartog Oh, man, Hartog’s mix of SF, Urban Fantasy, and Police Procedural hit the spot. I’d like little more than to sit down with him for a couple of hours and have him explain some of his choices in the design of this world/series. That’s not to suggest that the plots and characters of the first two novels in his series aren’t equally (if not more) interesting—but the setting of the novel is just so well done that I want to know more about it. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put him on this list, click here
	Mur Lafferty I could repeat a lot of what I said about Hartog here—but I won’t. I read Lafferty’s most recent book this year, and listened to a fairly recent novella (or something shorter, it’s hard to tell). Both were breaths of fresh air—whether it was a murder mystery on a sentient space station populated primarily by aliens or a novel about a dystopian America, organized dissenters, and a children’s TV mascot—Lafferty combined stories, genres, and tropes in a reliably entertaining fashion that kept the surprises coming. These were funny books—without being comedies—but that was never the focus (but if you can ramp up the tension while giving the reader a laugh, why not do it?). Lafferty’s a name I’ve seen a time or six before, but it wasn’t until last year that I’d done more than glance at the name. That’s over, and I’ll be pouncing on anything I see her name on. In case you’re curious about what I said about the works that put her on this list, click here and here
	Gigi Pandian Pandian’s Under Lock & Skeleton Key might be the most charming book I encountered last year. Sure, there’s a murder mystery, some personal tragedy, and other hardships to deal with. But Pandian infuses the whole work with a warmth—both in her characters, their relationships, and the narrative—that makes the book reassuring and comfortable. The food she describes goes a long way to establishing that, too (warning: can lead to you ordering too much—disable DoorDash, etc. before picking it up). In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on this list, click here
	Kate Racculia It was Racculia’s eccentric characters and the way they interacted with each other that stuck with me more than anything else (but most of the rest was worthy of note). The conversations, the very strange wit, and the unusual outlooks on life were just great, like I said in my initial post, they were “characters I want to spend more time with—I really don’t need a story, maybe just see them sitting around a table talking about what’s going on in their lives.” Anytime someone gives me that, I’m very glad to have discovered them. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on this list, click here
	Peng Shepherd The Cartographers is one of the most atypical thrillers I can think of—and one of the most compelling. Shepherd’s approach to plot, worldbuilding, character, and tone worked so well—and seemed to be swimming against the stream for the kind of book it was. This just means that the result was unconventional and all the more striking. Definitely an author I’m going to return to. In case you’re curious about what I said about the book that put her on this list, click here
	Dennis E. Taylor Taylor writes like a lifelong SF fan who finally figured out a way to let it all loose for fun and (hopefully) profit. He’s not afraid to be funny or to let other emotions flow freely, either. His first series is a semi-ridiculous concept that ends up seeming plausible and makes for a much better series than you’d expect (see also Butcher’s Codex Alera). I’ve already got a stockpile of his works to go through—I just need to catch up on my writing stack so I can let myself listen to them. In case you’re curious about what I said about the books that put him on this list, click here
	Matt Witten My first exposure to Witten came in a short story anthology where he provided something I described as “exactly what I wanted to read today.” His second novel was a murder mystery with a reporter protagonist that broke all of my preconceptions about what those novels would be and ended up saying a lot about the state of journalism, those who can make it in the profession, and the cost for everyone involved (those who make the news, are subjects of the news, read/watch the news, and possibly the idea of Truth). Without being pretentious or preachy. Not bad, not bad at all. In case you’re curious about what I said about his work that put him on this list, click here and here (this is just a line or two)

LITERARY LOCALS: A Q&A About Writing near Idaho with Joyce Reynolds-Ward

By HCNewton

On January 24, 2023

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Literary Locals

Literary Locals logo
After I announced this series, I got a message, “Hey, would you be interested in NE Oregon writers as well? Just on the west side of Hells Canyon in Wallowa County.” So, I expanded my horizons (just a bit) and jumped on it. Here’s the result–Reynolds-Ward is quite the prolific writer and one you should definitely find some time to check out.

Before we get into things, why don’t you give the reader a brief introduction to you and your work.
Joyce Reynolds-Ward has been called “the best writer I’ve never heard of” by one reviewer. Her work includes themes of high-stakes family and political conflict, digital sentience, personal agency and control, realistic strong women, and (whenever possible) horses, frequently in Pacific Northwest settings.

She is the author of The Netwalk Sequence series, the Goddess’s Honor series, The Martiniere Legacy series, The People of the Martiniere Legacy series, and The Martiniere Multiverse series as well as standalones Beating the Apocalypse, Klone’s Stronghold and Alien Savvy.

Samples of her Martiniere short stories/novel in progress and her nonfiction can be found on Substack at either Speculations from the Wide Open Spaces (writing), Speculations on Politics and Political History (politics), or Martiniere Stories (fiction).

Joyce is a Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off Semifinalist, a Writers of the Future SemiFinalist, and an Anthology Builder Finalist. She is the Secretary of the Northwest Independent Writers Association, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, and a member of Soroptimists International.

Find out more about Joyce at her website, http://www.joycereynoldsward.com. Joyce is @JoyceReynoldsW1 on Twitter, jreynoldsward on Tumblr, joycereynoldsward on Counter.Social, and jreynoldsward on Dreamwidth.

Are you a native to the Idaho-ish area? What brought you to the area in the first place? (answer whichever question applies) What is it about the area that keeps you here?
Well, I’m over here in what some call “Greater Idaho,” aka Northeastern Oregon. I split my time between the Wallowa Valley (where I have excellent views of the Seven Devils on the border, clouds and wildfire smoke depending) and Portland, but I spend more time in the Wallowas. I am a fifth-generation Oregonian, but my family was primarily in Southern Oregon. I love the drier climate, the access to mountains, and the wide open spaces. Not always thrilled about the local politics, but that’s a given no matter where I live.

Are you tied into some sort of local author/bookish group/culture? If so, tell us about it and how it helps you as an author. If you’re not, is there a reason for it?
Pre-Covid, I was involved with Fishtrap, which is Wallowa County’s literary organization. I have attended their winter Fishtrap Fireside readers and their Summer Fishtrap Conference at Wallowa Lake. While Fishtrap is more literary-oriented rather than genre-oriented (I write science fiction and fantasy), I’ve found it to be useful in some respects. I’m not currently involved because my doctor has asked me to avoid indoor gatherings, continue to social distance, and mask. I am, however, very involved with a regional writer’s organization, the Northwest Independent Writers Association. I have sent my books to events hosted by NIWA and host their monthly Zoom chats, as well as being a Board member. NIWA has done great things for helping regional indie writers and I’m glad to be part of the process.

(Fishtrap is such a great name)
It is. Their logo is based on the design of a fishtrap used in the local rivers. Of course, I also think of the submerged fishtrap that I saw in Crane Prairie Reservoir (near Bend) where my parents used to fish as a kid. There was a very good fishing hole near the fishtrap, so we were always looking for it.

What kind of events in the area do you attend—either to sell/promote your books or to network with authors? Are there any outside of this area that you hit regularly and wish we had something like it here?
At the time, due to doctor request, I am not attending in-person events. Because of the paucity of virtual events locally, most of my event attendance tends to be located out of the area. I have participated virtually in the World Science Fiction Convention as a panelist and volunteer, the World Fantasy Convention as a panelist and attendee Weeknight Writers as a panelist and attendee, Quarancon as a panelist and attendee, SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association) write-ins and virtual gatherings, Substack Fictionistas Zoom calls, PNW Meetup (20Booksto50K local group) Zooms, as well as hosting the NIWA Zoom chats. I also plan to participate virtually in SFWA’s Nebula Conference this year.

I participate in a Northeast Oregon Writers Facebook group, but alas, I seem to be one of the more active participants. I’d like to see more regional virtual events if possible. I would LOVE to do virtual bookstore appearances and readings in Idaho, especially for my Martiniere books, which are heavily based in the inland Northwest. As an older writer, it is becoming more difficult for me to travel and reach out to potential readers. I’d love to have more virtual options.

So many of those virtual options are disappearing now, and I really thought we’d all discovered something great that would stick around along with in-person events once they returned. Which is a crying shame. For example, I attended an event hosted by (and attended primarily by the customers of) a North Carolina bookstore with an author in Liverpool—there’s no way any of us would have connected in-person. Is there a way for authors (or readers) to help get more of those going?
Contribute financially to the existing virtual options. For example, Weeknight Writers and Flights of Foundry are still continuing with virtual opportunities but they need financial support. SFWA also does a lot of virtual activities, in part due to the growing international membership. The Nebula Award Conference sponsored by SFWA will have a virtual component. Jane Friedman is continuing to offer excellent, reasonably-priced online classes along with her in-person options. NIWA is getting more participants in our online Zoom chats, in part because we are trying to create learning programs of interest to our membership.

I am also participating (along with several other people) in hosting a First Sunday Brunch podcast that is run by B-Cubed Books. B-Cubed has regular Sunday morning podcasts, and we’re filling one regular slot.

Another thing I am considering is doing a regular Zoom chat with readers. Considering the possibilities, anyway.

What’s the breakdown of your audience—do you have a strong local base, or are your readers from other parts of the world?
I’d like to have a stronger local base, for sure! But I do have worldwide readers and fans. Pre-Covid, I was a regular at a science fiction convention in Missoula, MisCon, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting inland Northwest fans and readers.

Did many of those NW fans find you because of your locale, or did you get some readers who discovered after they were reading you that you’re from the same-ish area? I assume that most that discovered you via MisCon were the former, but what about the rest?
MisCon discovery was through my participation on panels and in readings—in many cases, I did the readings and panels first, and readers discovered me through seeing me. Or just hanging out in the lobby or bar and chatting with people. Similar for other conventions I attended—OryCon, in Portland, and RadCon, in the Tri-Cities. When I was handselling books at bazaars locally, if I included “local settings” in my pitch, I’d get a little bit of interest. It’s harder to sell science fiction and fantasy to a general attendance population simply because there’s a lot of reactive “oh I don’t read that stuff.” Even if it’s set locally.

Do you think there are particular challenges or advantages to being a writer in this neck of the woods? (possibly both)
In my case, I’m speaking to the whole region, not just the Treasure Valley. I think there is much more genre potential (SFF) here than many people realize, especially given that I’m trying to write agritech-based science fiction of late. It’s just getting the word out to readers. The other piece is getting past particular regional biases on the part of more influential gatekeepers in the publishing industry.

For you—what’s been the most effective way to get the word out to readers? Anything you’ve tried that hasn’t worked? Or anything you haven’t yet tried, but have thought about?
Oh, this changes every few months. I use social media a lot and have played around lightly with running ads. The problem is that what will work for a couple of months doesn’t always continue to work. The industry changes, big time. Right now, I’m considering running Pinterest ads, but setting up a new campaign or something like that requires a lot of preparation. Creating visuals. Creating promotional text. I had plans to get very aggressive with promotion last year, but then developed a cataract which really set me back for most of 2022. I’m regrouping and taking another run at trying to promote myself in 2023. I may try Kickstarter or Patreon, this year, and possibly selling things through my website. The problem with selling hard copy books through my website, however, is which vendor to use and which printer. Right now, some people are saying Lulu. However, I’ve been underwhelmed by what I have seen of Lulu’s production work. But I don’t know for certain, because those books have frequently been local histories and memoirs. They may turn out a perfectly nice book.

Do you bring Eastern Oregon (or some sort of Eastern Oregon-sensibility, assuming one exists) to your work? Whether or not anyone else sees it, can you look at some aspect of your writing and think “That’s Wallowa” or “I would do ____ differently if I was a Kentuckian or from Illinois?”
I’d like to think that people can pick up my work and recognize the inland Northwest! It doesn’t matter if I’m writing science fiction or fantasy, I like using settings from eastern Oregon/Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana.

One final question, is there a book (or two…or 18, if you get really carried away), that embodies Idaho/the Idaho spirit to you to recommend to my readers?
Idaho-specific, I would say Big Jim Turner, by James Stephens. Otherwise, I tend to think of other inland Northwest writers such as Ivan Doig, Norman Maclean, and even Craig Johnson.

Good picks all around—especially with Johnson (a big favorite on this patch of cyberspace)
Craig Johnson is amazing. I try to reread the series once a year, simply because he does such an excellent job not only of evoking the region but in dealing with the supernatural. I’m really surprised he doesn’t have a greater following in speculative fiction because he writes stuff verging on horror very, very well. Stephen Graham Jones is another excellent writer who evokes that feel of the inland Northwest/Rocky Mountain region.

Thanks for your time and participation! Hope you enjoyed it!

Literary Locals logo

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir by Matthew Perry: A Memoir of Self-Destruction

By HCNewton

On January 23, 2023

In (Auto)Biography, Audiobook, Non-Fiction

Friends, Lovers, and the
Big Terrible Thing:
A Memoir

by Matthew Perry

DETAILS:
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: October 31, 2022
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs., 49 min.
Read Date: December 6-7, 2023

My mind is out to kill me, and I know it. I am constantly filled with a lurking loneliness, a yearning, clinging to the notion that something outside of me will fix me. But I had had all that the outside had to offer!

What’s Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing About?

This isn’t full of—but does contain—some good, behind-the-scenes stuff about Friends, Fools Rush In, The Whole Nine Yards, Mr. Sunshine, The Odd Couple, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and other projects. But those don’t make up the bulk of the material. And those are interesting, amusing, and support the overall thesis of the book—he’s an addict who has been blessed with more good things than he knows how to handle.

There’s some juicy (largely nameless, but you can read between the lines) bits about his love life—as the title suggests. But again, there’s not much of that overall—and those, too, serve to support the overall thesis—even more than the professional matters do.

Then there’s the Big Terrible Thing—his addictions themselves, how he got started, how he maintained them, and his several attempts to get sober (of varying successes and lengths of success). He also goes into graphic (perhaps too graphic) detail about the physical toll they’ve taken on him—and the financial, emotional, and mental toll they’ve taken on those close to him.

How Perry Comes Across

When this book first came out (or just before it) there were more than a few headlines about some (I’m going to be charitable and call them) questionable jokes he made about Keanu Reeves and some people casting doubt about some of the particulars of some of his stories. Given how impaired he was during most of those disputed events (and just about every other event he recounts), I’m not surprised he doesn’t remember them correctly, and I don’t think it should be held against him. The Reeves jokes, on the other hand, might have seemed like a good idea at the time—but his editors really should’ve stopped them. I jotted down a note after the second one that “someone at Macmillan must have it out for him to let this make it to print.”

But both of those things pale in comparison to everything that Perry admits to in this book. He doesn’t come across as a good guy at all—and I don’t think he’s trying to. Sure, the fact that he’s (seemingly) coming clean about everything and (seemingly) taking responsibility for the lies, destructive behaviors, and despicable actions might make some people want to think better of him—but I don’t think he really wants that.

He comes across—and I realize this could be entirely calculated—as someone who is being honest about his shortcomings, seeking to explain the devastation his addictions have wrought on himself and many, many of those around him—how he’s somehow managed to have some success in the midst of that. He gives credit to some of those who’ve helped him get to this point in recovery—or kept him alive long enough to get there. In the end, however, Perry’s not a good guy and doesn’t pretend to be one. He’s a mess who will very likely kill himself if he relapses a time or two more.

So, what did I think about Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing?

I’ve been a big fan of Perry’s since Friends (I can point to the joke that made me one)—I’ve seen almost everything he’s done (sometimes not because of him, but I appreciated his involvement). But I put this book under the category of “will get around to eventually, maybe.” Until I saw people reacting to how much of the focus of the book is on the Big Terrible Thing. And that piqued my interest.

That sounds ghoulish, I realize, but hearing a well-documented addict talking about their struggles is something that I appreciate. It helps me empathize with those I know fighting that fight, and I hope, helps me understand and appreciate their struggles.

Perry’s clear that he’s been given every opportunity, tool, and help to get sober and to maintain that sobriety. And he’s squandered almost every one of them. And it has yet to work. The amounts he takes on a regular basis when he uses is…it’s a shocking amount—and only someone as wealthy as he is could pull it off.

At the same time, there’s a glimmer of hope. A faint glimmer, sure. But there is one—and if someone whose rock bottom is as low as Perry’s was can maybe make it—there’s hope for others, too. And that’s the big thing I took away—there’s hope. Hope for other addicts, hope for Perry.

I thought this was a riveting and disturbing read—made tolerable by Perry’s off-kilter and somewhat humorous telling of the stories. It’s not like most celebrity memoirs I’ve read (but I don’t think it’s that ground-breaking)—but definitely worth the time.

4 Stars
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

I Have a Confession: The What and Why of The Westminster Confession of Faith by Nathan Eshelman: You Get More than Your Money’s Worth in this Small Book

By HCNewton

On January 22, 2023

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

I Have a Confession:]
The What and Why of the
Westminster Confession of Faith

by Nathan Eshelman

DETAILS:
Series: The Bedrock Series 
Publisher: Grassmarket Press
Publication Date: December 12, 2022
Format: Paperback
Length: 136 pg. 
Read Date: January 15, 2023

What’s I Have a Confession About?

This is an introduction to the Protestant practice of confessions—specifically The Westminster of Confession of Faith.

Eshelman starts out by describing the need for confessions, and what the ecclesiological landscape in the US is like without them. Chapter two lays out “the pillar of confessionalism”—the Scriptures themselves. It’s those Scriptures that give the warrant (chapter 3) for the development and use of confessions. This is what I expected from the book, and when that ended just a little past the halfway point, I was more than a little surprised.

What comes next is truly impressive—Eshelman gives a quick, yet thorough, review of the English Reformation from Henry VIII to the 1640s and the composition of the Westminster Confession of Faith. Then he gives a very brief overview of the contents of the Confession—chapter by chapter.

So, what did I think about I Have a Confession?

Let me start with a minor and really unimportant point—I really like the look and feel of this book. It’s like a field notebook in size, weight, and feel. It works really well for the series.

I’d intended on kicking off this year by rereading R. Scott Clark’s Recovering the Reformed Confession, but a couple of things derailed that (hopefully by the year’s end), but if I couldn’t get into that work, this is a good replacement.

The design of the series is to provide “clear, concise” works on faith and life from a Reformed perspective. Eshelman gives the reader precisely that—clear and concise. Concise, easy to read, and surprisingly thorough for a book of its size.

I was very impressed with this little book—it was everything I expected and more. I’d quibble with a point or two (a couple of his illustrations made me wonder), but only minor things. This is something I’d pass out to people without a second look—and would encourage anyone looking into the idea of Protestant confessions to give it a read.

4 Stars

Saturday Miscellany—1/21/23

By HCNewton

On January 21, 2023

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Let’s start with a question that I’ve been meaning to ask for a bit–can any of you readers suggest US-based book bloggers who focus on (to some degree or another) on Crime Fiction? I was recently asked for some suggestions but both attrition and time have whittled down those that I follow to be almost entirely UK-based bloggers. (nothing wrong with that, but it skews things)

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet American book reading statistics for 2022 and 2023 (complete USA survey data)—I was pretty surprised by some of these stats (and wonder about the truthfulness of some of the self-reporting, but I usually do). Big thanks to David Leonhardt for dropping by to share this with me.
bullet I wish Amazon had been honest about why it’s sunsetting AmazonSmile—it’s not technically about reading, but…it’s close enough. I’m with this writer, when I got this email, I smelled something.
bullet Mystery Writers of America Announces 2023 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations—I haven’t read nearly enough of these
bullet Does Historical Accuracy Matter in Historical Fiction?: With fiction, the answers are never quite so simple.
bullet TBRCon2023—the all-virtual sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention, streams live from Jan. 22-29, 2023. There’s some really appetizing programming coming up (and the early panel that went up Wednesday is one I definitely have to check out)
bullet 2023 Blogging Goals: The Year of Playing Catch Up—this is probably the smartest list of blogging/reading goals I’ve read for this year. I need to remember to steal this next year.
bullet Speaking of smart things I need to steal, Peat Long continues to think and write well about genre. The most examples are this week’s On Sci-Fantasy and Approaching Genre and Horizontal and Vertical Genres: A Concept
bullet Book Reviews vs. Beta Reading
bullet Let’s Talk Bookish: Collecting Books
bullet Five Year Blogging Anniversary – Top 10 Books—5 Years is a good milestone, but I’m more impressed by the fact that Stephen Writes was able to come up with a Top 10 over that timeframe.
bullet I really appreciate this thread from John Palladino about liking things from “bad” people. I’ve tried to write something like this before, but ended up messing it up.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Killer Story by Matt Witten—Theoretically, a story about a journalist launching a podcast to solve the murder of an estranged friend (and save her journalistic career). But it ends up being more than that—including becoming one of the best Crime Fiction novels I read last year. Here’s my take on the book.
bullet Lie to Her by Melinda Leigh—Sherriff Bree Taggart has to deal with more murder and shenanigans. This time involving an internet dating site.
bullet Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart by Jen Sookfong Lee—a “memoir-in-pieces that uses one woman’s life-long love affair with pop culture as a revelatory lens to explore family, identity, belonging, grief, and the power of female rage.”

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 13: Realizations by R. T. Slaywood: Right Back Where We Started From

By HCNewton

On January 20, 2023

In Urban Fantasy

The Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 13: Realizations

by R.T. Slaywood

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #12
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: December 2, 2022

While previously, just seconds before, I had resented her for disappearing, I now resented the fact that I feared whatever she had become.

Just say vampire.

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

Before then, he gets himself drunk and we get some of his tragic backstory. As he ponders this, he decides to use some of his ill-gotten-gains to buy more booze and walks into a liquor store robbery. He foils it in some sort of magical fashion, gets some more to drink, and heads off to the park to drink until he’s arrested (probably for the failed robbery). At least that’s his plan, but it gets interrupted by being hit by a car. He wakes up on some sort of short, metal bed and is unsure what’s going on. It turns out that some group is subjecting him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

What’s Realizations About?

Bonaduke rushes out, trying to catch up with his sister-in-law to get some more answers, but can’t find her. Then he realizes that he forgot to get dressed post-shower. When he gets back to the apartment, he’s alone. He gets dressed and decides to get out while he can—who needs answers when you can get away from the weirdness? He eventually finds himself back at the liquor store we started this story.

So, what did I think about Realizations ?

Eh…I’m of two minds. First—this makes total sense. You’ve got yourself a guy bent on self-destruction—and has been for years. Sure, there’s all this stuff going on around him that he’d like to understand. But more importantly, he’s got a chance to get away from it all and find a new bottle to disappear into. Obviously, what’s behind Door Number 2 sounds better.

On the other hand, in addition to fingers, you’ve got my perennial frustration at the lack of answers. At this point, it almost feels like Slaywood is just stringing us along. I’m pretty sure that if I read this as one story/novella/whatever rather than in installments, I wouldn’t feel this way and it’d all flow nicely. But as an episodic read, I’m unconvinced.

Still, I want answers, so I’ll be back.

3 Stars

The Friday 56 for 1/20/23: The Hero Interviews by Andi Ewington

By HCNewton

On January 20, 2023

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it.

from Page 56 of:
The Hero Interviews

The Hero Interviews by Andi Ewington

Gwenyn: …These bastards are a heroic pain in the arse. My turnip crop is ruined! How am I supposed to recover from this?”

Me: “I—I don’t know…”

Gwenyn: “That’s not even the worst part of it. The worst part is knowing that while I’m here picking up the pieces of our life, the ‘heroes’ responsible are probably patting each other on the back as they head off to celebrate their success by getting blind drunk in the nearest tavern!”

Me: “I’m sorry—”

Gwenyn: “Why are you apologising? It’s not your fault; you’re not one of those hero types, are you? It’s not your mess that was left here to rot. What am I supposed to do with a giant Dragon corpse? You think I’ve got it bad now, just wait another week—the stench from that thing will be almost unbearable. We’ll be forced to move away until the next summer at the earliest—that’s a large portion of our coin for the season lost to these so-called heroes.”

REPOSTING JUST CUZ: The King of the Crows by Russell Day: Prescient. Gripping. Haunting. Unpredictable. What stories should be.

By HCNewton

On January 19, 2023

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Russell Day

Things have gotten away from me today, so I don’t have anything new to share. But I’ve been thinking a lot about this book this week (I think about this book frequently, to be honest, but several times a day this week), so I figured I’d try to get others thinking about it, too. If you haven’t read this yet, you should strongly consider doing so, as I argue below. Incidentally, re-reading this now serves as a really good argument for me to adopt the current format of my posts using section headers and whatnot (I’d been rethinking them last week, but after this post? They’re sticking around)

King of the Crows

by Russell Day

Kindle Edition, 456 pg.
Fahrenheit Press, 2020

Read: April 28-May 9, 2020

… for me at least, the first week of the Lockdown was the worst.

Knowing it had happened to me. I hadn’t escaped, I wasn’t one of the lucky ones. Lucky to be safe or lucky to be dead. Take your pick. I was neither.

That right there gives you a pretty good idea what kind of light and fluffy read this is going to be.

There are two timelines in this story—the primary focuses on a post-pandemic London, while the other shows what happened to a couple of the characters mid-pandemic (with plenty of material describing what the pandemic was like for others). In the primary timeline, Europe is a disaster—a “wasteland”—and eight years after the Outbreak, it’s beginning to put itself back together. But it’s going to take a long, long time to recover from this. Don’t let the fact that “eight years after” this fictional outbreak is 2028 bother you at all.*

* Good luck with that. I’ll get back to this in a bit.

I’m not going to try to list all the various ways that Day uses to tell this story: I’m certainly going to forget several. So here’s a partial list: here’s a third-person 2028 narrator describing a police investigation, a first-person perspective on the same investigation; a first-person account of that same detective’s life during the Outbreak; selections from a screenplay made about a group of Londoners during the Outbreak; selections from the Outbreak-memoir of one of those Londoners; and third-person narration of the same (N.B.: these three will vary in telling ways); redacted 2028 prison correspondence about the Outbreak; excerpts from scholarly works on aspects of the Outbreak (including a very illuminating work on the slang of the time); graffiti from 2021; internet message boards. Day weaves these together to tell his story, build the world, and help you to understand it. Frequently, I read something from the 2028 timeline, and understood it—only to find a new depth to it several pages later after getting another piece of the puzzle from 2020/2021. It’s hard to juggle that many narrative forms/voices/perspectives/calendars as a reader or a writer—Day pulled it off better than I did (any problems I had following things I attribute to myself, and it was pretty easy to clear out my misunderstanding with a minimum of backtracking*). It definitely helps paint the picture of the scope and variety of effects the sickness had on the world more efficiently than a consistent first- or third-person narrative would be able to.

* This would be easier in hardcopy than on an e-reader in my opinion. But that’s just a guess.

There are times (several of them) when I felt that the characters were getting lost amongst the plot and worldbuilding and sickness. But when I stopped and thought about it—and eventually got to the point where I didn’t have to—I realized I had a pretty solid idea about who these people were and was more invested in them than I expected. I thought there was so much going on that the people were getting hidden, but really, Day’s work was subtle—working in the characters into my subconscious like you give a dog its medicine. Normally, this isn’t something I require (or would like)—and it’s not Day’s usual M. O. (quite the opposite), but I think this approach really fit the novel and the story/world.

“They weren’t zombies,” he says, softly. “Don’t call them zombies.”

No one who was involved in the Outbreak for real uses the zee word.

So exactly what was the sickness?

I remember reading a couple of years ago about these ants that would succumb to a fungus which would short-circuit their brain and make them do certain things before killing them—or something like that, vague memories here. Then there were stories about parasites controlling the host’s actions—both of these stories had their 15 seconds of fame on social media around the same time (I may be messing the details up a little bit, but I’m not writing history here).

In Day’s world, one of these kinds of parasites will reside—asymptomatically, I should stress—in cats, who would pass it on to humans. Skipping the details, the humans would get very sick and then, survivors would maybe succumb to a psychosis that would make them violent. This sickness, HV-Tg (Human Variant-Toxo gondii), in a little more than a year would kill more than 20 million in Europe (at least 33% of France’s population) Et voilà!—an easy to believe pandemic that results in Zombie-like people wandering around.

Now, if one of those who’d “switched” and become violent infected you during an assault, well, you were likely to succumb. There were enough of these (“psychos” or “Gonzos”), and the sickness was so widespread, that the police and military couldn’t keep up, that civilians were forced to take action and defend themselves, their family and neighbors. People quickly forming into gang-like associations for mutual protection. It was a literal kill-or-be-infected (and likely killed) situation.

One such association became known as The Crows or The Kings of the Crows. They developed a legendary status mid-and post-Outbreak—and are the subjects of the memoir and film mentioned above. One of their number who happened to survive (and gain notoriety enough to get a publishing deal for a memoir) is the subject of the 2028 investigation. They survived the worst of the worst in one of the hardest-hit cities. They did so via means and methods that many (including their own) would find deplorable, but under circumstances that not only permitted, but required, those actions.

We also see what happens to an American in Paris for work when the Outbreak reaches the point that International travel is canceled (particularly to the U.S.). Her allies will never be considered the Kings of anything, and the contrast between how she survives to what the Crows do is pretty striking.

In 2028…eh…you know what? You should read that for yourself. I’m going to say something I’ll regret.

The biggest killer in those days wasn’t the disease or the psychos, it was stupidity.

However, it has been pointed out by many historians, logic was one of the first casualties of the Outbreak.

Some of the best moments of this book have nothing to do with advancing the plot, they’re little bits showing what the world of the Gondii-pandemic looks like. The man telling the story about taking his girlfriend to the ER because of a burn—how they were treated, and how she became infected. The soldiers coming back from a Middle East deployment being completely unprepared for what had happened to their home country. The mother and son who traveled with the Crows for awhile.

Ultimately, it’s not the story you think you’re getting…or is it? The marketing tag line is, “Ocean’s Eleven meets 28 Days Later.” It is, all things considered, a good, catchy line. I’m not sure it’s all that accurate a description of the novel (but it’s not inaccurate). What it is, really slides up on you—and when you see it it feels like it was obvious all along (even if you wouldn’t have said that 20 pages earlier). There’s a straightforward crime story at the heart of this novel—it’s just surrounded by so many layers, that you can miss it—there’s the sickness, there’s the horrible social and political context (both mid- and post-Outbreak), there’s what the characters are going through otherwise—and the whole thing is drenched in social commentary about 2020 society, e.g., sexism, economics, medical care.

And that’s not even touching the context we’re reading it in now. I truly wonder what I’d think of this book if I’d read it last Fall. I’d still like it, I’d still be impressed by it—but I don’t know if it would resonate with me the same way. There’s almost nothing about Gondii that’s comparable to COVID-19. But the way that people and governments respond—well, that’s pretty different, too. but if you can’t see what’s going on around us reflected in this novel? You’re not paying attention. That Day appears so prescient says something about his skill and observation (and a lot about Western culture, too).

I can see why people cling to the idea that the Gonzos were trying to tell us something. Something’s out there trying to get a message through: there’s a plan. Compared to the idea that it was all just chance, it’s a comfort of a type. Chance doesn’t care and can’t be appeased and can’t be reasoned with. Chance means it could all happen again.

5 Stars