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HC Chats with Michael Michel about The Price of Power and some other stuff

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On April 4, 2025

In HC Chats, Miscellany, News/Misc.

HC sat down with gritty Fantasy author extraordinaire Michael Michel (https://michaelmichelauthor.com/) to talk about his book The Price of Power (released 4/2/25!) his other books, influences, and things of that nature. HC also works in an error-filled description of Thespis–a mischievous ghost (apologies to Jeremy Goodwin).

Some of the books we mentioned were:
Michael’s books:
The Price of Power
A Graveyard for Heroes
War Song
Way of the Wizard

Other books we mentioned/discussed:
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie (Book 2 of The Age of Madness)
The Steel Remains(Author) by Richard K Morgan (Book 1 of A Land Fit for Heroes)
Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty (I’m pretty sure about this one, my handwriting got hard to read, and if I’m wrong, it looks like something we should’ve talked about)

For the two of you who might be curious, what I should’ve said about Thespis:

Jeremy:…in 534 B.C. that Thespis stepped out onto the stage of the Theater Dionysis during a choral song and dance and became the first man to speak words as an actor in a play.
…
Dana: Thespis?
Jeremy: The first actor. Now a mischievous ghost. He likes to wreak havoc on performances of any kind.

HC Chats with Paul Regnier about Monster Therapist and the Warlock’s Citadel and some other stuff

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On March 26, 2025

In HC Chats, Literary Locals, Miscellany, News/Misc.

HC sat down with literary local Paul Regnier (https://www.pauljregnier.com/) to talk about his books, influences, and things of that nature.

Some of the books we mentioned were:
Paul’s books/writing:
Space Drifters trilogy
Luke and Bandit cozy mysteries
Bard Tidings
Monster Therapist and the Warlock’s Citadel
Almost the Chosen One Substack by Paul Regnier

Other books we mentioned/discussed:
The Sword of Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks
Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold! by Terry Brooks
MythAdventures by Robert Asprin series
Mark of the Fool by J.M. Clarke
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix
The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine by Lindsay A. Franklin
I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle

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HC Chats with M.D. Presley about Laurel K. Hamilton

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On March 18, 2025

In HC Chats, JCM Berne, Miscellany, News/Misc., The Hybrid Helix

Covers of The Inner Circle novels by M.D. PresleyLast year, you’ll have seen the name M.D. Presley here a few times–thanks to the first two books in his Inner Circle UF series. We had a fun chat last week that I bring to you today. Matt introduced me to the work of Laurel K. Hamilton and her influence on the genre.

Of course, better than that, would be checking out her site and work for yourself. But you might as well start with this chat.

M.D. Presley Links:

Website ~ Bluesky ~ Facebook ~ Rites of Passage (Inner Circle book 1) ~ Worldbuilding Nonfiction

Are you a Reader of Things and want to chat with me about an author/series/something other than promoting your own work (which we will do, just not primarily)? I’d love to keep trying this, but I’m not ready to start pestering people about it. So please let me know.

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GUEST POST: How Reading Can Help You Grow a Short Story into a Novel by Reena Bhojwani

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On March 7, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Earlier today, I posted a spotlight about Reena Bhojwani’s novel Fragrant Soup. Now, I’ve got this look behind the scenes as Reena describes part of how she transformed this short story into a novel. I know she has more to say along these lines, and I hope she comes back to share some more. Either way, I’m very glad to present this Guest Post.

How Reading Can Help You Grow a Short Story into a Novel

I grew my short story of 5000 words into a novel with the same name that’s now over 62,000 words long.

So the question is how? And the answer is not linear. Although, one of the things I did very consciously and throughout was: reading.

I jumped in with both feet and scoured the Internet and the local libraries for books. I read some non-fiction  articles, blogs and memoirs, but I also tried to read within the genre I was trying to write, which brought me to various forms of Asian fantasy stories. I tried to keep it to Young Adult and Middle Grade Asian and South East Asian Fantasy stories because they were closest to my target. However, on the side I continued to read romance novels, thriller, horror and a bit of middle grade fiction but not specifically Asian fantasy. I needed to know what was out there so I would know how to answer the annoying question “What books are your books like?” And also “What books are you books not like?”

Some other reasons to read widely were:

For sensitivity: This was me reading as a writer to see how sensitive or potentially offensive subject matter was dealt with when I read within my genre. For example, how certain descriptive phrases were written or how certain (possibly) taboo concepts were covered by certain writers. Taking notes either on a separate page or on post-its to then stick into the book as I read started becoming a habit.

For style: Again, this would mean reading as a writer. To be aware of nuances in dialogue, description and pacing. When I read other genres, I noticed things like choice of narrative perspective, chapter lengths and other devices that I would otherwise have allowed to slip through the cracks. Why certain things were done and certain choices were made while others were not. This is where I started noticing there were several books written with snippets of Mandarin, but I didn’t come across any with Cantonese in them.

For inspiration: I ended up getting so many ideas for my story while I was reading other pieces of fiction. However, inspiration doesn’t mean plagiarising.  Sometimes I got an idea because there was a plot twist I was reading about or because a new character was introduced and I thought, “THAT’S IT! I can do that! EUREKA!” That doesn’t mean I took their character and shoved it into my narrative. It just made me realise that adding a character could help me make a certain part of the story work better. And equally, I had moments when I thought, “It makes sense now. This character/part/section has to go. It’s time to kill this darling.” Not because I knew they needed to go but because I realised.

While reading, I came across so many books in a series that I eventually realised I could turn my story into a series… and so I did! (Well, I started. I’ve only finished book 1 and the ‘Sneak Peek!’ Section of book 2!) Inspiration came come from content, style or just general concepts.

For what doesn’t work: The more books you read that you DON’T LIKE or that have been criticised in the field you’re interested in, the more insight you will get about what NOT to do, or what to watch out for or avoid, which is sometimes more helpful than what to do. The key is knowing not to get too caught up in it all. Take what you need and move on.

It’s important to note though that reading should happen all the way through in the ideal world, but there’s aren’t enough hours in a day and many of us can’t quit our day jobs or read through the night and function properly the next day, so some form of a balanced book diet with a frequency of your choice is best.

There are lots of tidbits of advice I have after I chose to grow my short story into a novel, so if you want to know more, you’ll have to comment on write to me and let me know. You can find me at www.inspiredmusehk.com.

You can find more information about Reena Bhojwani and her books at her website, Inspired Muse.

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Thriller – This or That

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On February 28, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Thriller - This or That

Thanks to it being named The Write Reads’ Blog of the Day, I read February Reading Challenge: Dive into the World of Thrillers with “This or That” a few weeks ago, and instantly spent too long thinking about it. I know the post called for social media posts or comments to reply, but I decided to go for this instead. I thought I’d work in some recommendations along with my answers, but I have 143 pages of posts about this genre and that’s just too much to sift through.

Still, the prompts got into my head and I had to get something out.

1. Psychological Thriller or Action-Packed Thriller?

A good psychological thriller will keep me on the edge of my seat and jumping at shadows like everyone else. But I typically prefer the action-packed thriller—as long as there’s some depth to it, some decent psychology to the action and/or characters. Mindless action and destruction can be fun for a little bit, but they’re ultimately dissatisfying. By the same token, a bit of action goes a long way to improving a psychological thriller.

2. Unreliable Narrator or Detective Protagonist?

I won’t turn up my nose at a well-written unreliable narrator (or do I?). But Detective Protagonists are what got me into reading, sustained me when I really didn’t have time or resources to really read fiction, and—as anyone who’s spent 5 minutes looking at this site knows—I still read an unhealthy amount of Detective Novels. No contest.

3. Slow-Burn Suspense or Fast-Paced Plot Twists?

I honestly can’t decide—I’ve argued with myself for a few days over this. I really can’t choose. I probabaly read more Fast-Paced reads with good twists, but a Slow-Burn can be so satisfying that I don’t want to discount them. (as long as the slow-burn is actually burning, and not just meandering). This one’s a coin-toss.

4. Domestic Thriller or Crime Thriller?

I can enjoy and really get into a solid Domestic Thriller, one of my favorites so far this year is one. But Crime Thrillers are really my thing, part of that is their similarity to a good Detective novel. But it’s more than that—whether it’s a jaded criminal, a newbie criminal (who very likely won’t be around long enough to get jaded, a normal person having the worst day of their lives (whether or not they made a bad choice to put themselves there), or something beyond the typical Crime Thrillers—I can read those all day.

Go read the original and weigh-in there.

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Captivating Character of January: Maggie Dunn née McCormick

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On February 18, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Captivating Character of the Month Graphic
Connie at Reading Ladies has started a new monthly feature, Most Captivating Character of the Month. It didn’t take me too long to decide who would be my choice for January, Maggie Dunn from Don’t Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp.

In my original post, I said:

You can tell from the beginning that she’s smart. She’s driven. She’s brave (at least in the face of some things…like dying). She loves her family. She’s gone through a lot. She’s pretty funny. (probably pretty, too, but that’s not that important, especially when you see the world through her eyes). You later learn what a good friend she can be and why she was elected.

Now, like a parfait, or an onion, or an ogre—Maggie has layers. I’m not going to talk about those layers because you need to discover them for yourself. But she has them—and you keep learning about those layers as the book continues. Each layer—for me, anyway, and I predict for most readers—got me to like her more as a person (pretty frequently) and as a character (always). Is there a difference? Sure—one extreme example (that doesn’t apply here, but gets my point across) would be Dr. Lecter. Fantastic character, but not someone you’d want to hang out with.

A Little More About Her:

In High School, she was a high-achieving student and occasional pot smoker. Until her mother died, and then the smoking increased (and maybe she dabbled in some harder drugs). But she stayed high-achieving and went off to college, becoming a prosecuting attorney in her home town (which brought her back into contact with her dealer, among others).

Along the way, she married a doctor and had two children. She’s popular in the town, thanks in part to her family’s very popular restaurant, her public service, and, well…many things. So she’s now in her first term as the mayor.

The more we get to know her (as I suggested above) we get to see many of the layers and layers underneath the glossy and impressive surface. Many of these layers will make you like her, some will make her relatable and keep her from being too good to be true. And other layers, well, it’s captivating character of the month–not admirable character of the month.

What character would you name for last month?

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Week 2 Check-in: I’m Reading Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society

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On February 15, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society

No change since last week…other than the calendar (yes, I’m still reading every day!). So, consider this a reminder that I’m doing this and that I’d appreciate some support!

No one is a fan of cancer. I daresay there’s no one ambivalent toward it.* We’ve all had our lives, the lives of family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and even pets devastated by it in one form or another. Fighting cancer, researching better ways to fight it, preventing it–all are laudatory ends. So, I participated in this fundraiser last year on a lark—I’m pretty much going to read every day anyway–let’s see if I can earn some money for a good cause, right?

Fundraiser Thermometer showing $128 of $500 raisedBut this year, it’s personal. Last year, four people in my family dealt with cancer in some significant ways. Three of us seem to have dealt with it successfully—we’re not unscathed, but aside from follow-up tests, we’re pretty much done with it. One member of the family is undergoing treatment now, and we all have high hopes, although the road is a bit bumpy. So it’s not a lark this time, and I’m going to talk more about it than I did last year. (I probably should’ve taken it more seriously last year, but it’s too late to do something about that now).

So please, friends and readers, Donate. Every little bit helps. So, please, chip in. And watch this space as I fill in this calendar (and hopefully, the thermometer). Week One has brought a couple of more donors, making good progress at the goal. I’ve also chatted with some others who are planning to donate–which warms the cockles of my heart. Thanks for the support!!

I’ve heard there are some glitches, and it seems like a particular social network is being invasive while trying to pay. If you want to help and don’t want to deal with that, send me a message and we’ll work something out!

Here’s a quick glance at my month’s reading to date.

Week 2 February Calendar

* As soon as I typed that, I could imagine someone objecting to that characterization. But I’m going to pretend to have faith in humanity and keep the sentence.

Week 1 Check-in: I’m Reading Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society

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On February 8, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society
No one is a fan of cancer. I daresay there’s no one ambivalent toward it.* We’ve all had our lives, the lives of family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and even pets devastated by it in one form or another. Fighting cancer, researching better ways to fight it, preventing it–all are laudatory ends. So, I participated in this fundraiser last year on a lark—I’m pretty much going to read every day anyway–let’s see if I can earn some money for a good cause, right?

Fundraiser Thermometer showing $128 of $500 raisedBut this year, it’s personal. Last year, four people in my family dealt with cancer in some significant ways. Three of us seem to have dealt with it successfully—we’re not unscathed, but aside from follow-up tests, we’re pretty much done with it. One member of the family is undergoing treatment now, and we all have high hopes, although the road is a bit bumpy. So it’s not a lark this time, and I’m going to talk more about it than I did last year. (I probably should’ve taken it more seriously last year, but it’s too late to do something about that now).

So please, friends and readers, Donate. Every little bit helps. So, please, chip in. And watch this space as I fill in this calendar (and hopefully, the thermometer). Week One has brought a couple of more donors, making good progress at the goal. I’ve also chatted with some others who are planning to donate–which warms the cockles of my heart. Thanks for the support!!

I’ve heard there are some glitches, and it seems like a particular social network is being invasive while trying to pay. If you want to help and don’t want to deal with that, send me a message and we’ll work something out!

Here’s a quick glance at my month’s reading to date.

Week 1 February Calendar

* As soon as I typed that, I could imagine someone objecting to that characterization. But I’m going to pretend to have faith in humanity and keep the sentence.

I’m Reading Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society—My Official Launch Post

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On February 1, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Read Every Day in February for the American Cancer Society
No one is a fan of cancer. I daresay there’s no one ambivalent toward it.* We’ve all had our lives, the lives of family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and even pets devastated by it in one form or another. Fighting cancer, researching better ways to fight it, preventing it–all are laudatory ends. So, I participated in this fundraiser last year on a lark—I’m pretty much going to read every day anyway–let’s see if I can earn some money for a good cause, right?

Fundraiser ThermometerBut this year, it’s personal. Last year, four people in my family dealt with cancer in some significant ways. Three of us seem to have dealt with it successfully—we’re not unscathed, but aside from follow-up tests, we’re pretty much done with it. One member of the family is undergoing treatment now, and we all have high hopes. So it’s not a lark this time, and I’m going to talk more about it than I did last year. (I probably should’ve taken it more seriously last year, but it’s too late to do something about that now).

So please, friends and readers, Donate. Every little bit helps. So, please, chip in. And watch this space as I fill in this calendar (and hopefully, the thermometer).

I’ve heard there are some glitches, and it seems like a particular social network is being invasive while trying to pay. If you want to help and don’t want to deal with that, send me a message and we’ll work something out!

Day 1 February Calendar

* As soon as I typed that, I could imagine someone objecting to that characterization. But I’m going to pretend to have faith in humanity and keep the sentence.

GUEST POST: Upon Further Review . . . by Robert Germaux

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On January 30, 2025

In Books, Miscellany, News/Misc.

Last week when I posted about Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property by Mike Lupica, I quipped “Robert Germaux to demur in the comment section (or in a Guest Post if he has a lot to get off of his chest).” The novelist/essayist took me up on that with this post—he made a couple of points I intended to and brought up some things I hadn’t considered. Incidentally, I’m even more eager to read his next novel now (especially if something comes from his rethinking).

I’m more than grateful for this interaction. Bob’s been reading Spenser longer than I have been reading, and you can see Parker’s influence in his work—he’s definitely worth listening to on this front. (and he’s invited to respond like this to any of my Parker-related posts, like Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets by Christopher Farnsworth that should’ve been up last week)

Upon Further Review . . .

My immediate reaction after reading Hot Property was that I enjoyed Mike Lupica’s second attempt at a Spenser novel a bit more than I did Broken Trust, his initial entry into the series. That being said, I did have a few nits to pick. I thought the love scenes between Spenser and Susan were somewhat truncated. (I’m a retired English teacher. I’m allowed to use words like truncated.) It felt as though Lupica didn’t quite have the same grasp of that relationship as, for instance, Ace Atkins did in his ten Spensers. I also thought that some of the interactions between Spenser and Hawk bordered on the redundant, the same sort of generic back-and-forth we’ve seen before. And I would have liked a couple more (and a little longer) scenes at Henry Cimoli’s gym. Henry is somewhat of a surrogate father figure for both Spenser and Hawk, and the affection they both feel for him (coupled with good-natured insults) is always fun to observe.

Cover of Robert B. Parker's Hot Property by Mike Lupica

As I said, all of the above falls into the nits category, certainly nothing that would keep me from reading the book or recommending it to others. However, I had a bit more of a problem with two other parts of the book, one from a strictly objective point of view, the other admittedly entirely personal. HC stole my thunder on the former in his review when he mentioned being puzzled by the apparently close (and hitherto unknown?) relationship that Rita had with both Quirk (“. . . reached over with one of his big hands to take hold of Rita’s.”) and Belson (“Rita asked me not to tell you this . . .”). When I read those passages, I immediately wondered, when did this happen? I’ve been reading Spenser novels for fifty years now, and while it’s quite possible there have been times when Rita and Quirk, or Rita and Belson, bonded a bit, if so, it escaped my notice. On a lesser note, I thought the same thing about Vinnie when he asked Spenser, “How is she?” I don’t mean he shouldn’t care about Rita, but I think “How’s Rita?” would work better there, because I don’t recall any scenes in previous Spensers between Rita and Vinnie. Okay, maybe I dived a bit too deep into nits territory there, but I could see Vinnie asking “How is she?” about Susan much more than with Rita. In Crimson Joy (one of my least favorite Spensers), Vinnie is part of the gang that Spenser assembles to provide 24/7 protection for Susan while he tracks down a serial killer, so we know there was at least somewhat of a history there.

The personal thing? Well, I’m a writer. To date, I’ve written five mysteries about a Pittsburgh PI named Jeremy Barnes and two about a Pittsburgh police detective named Daniel Hayes. Since both JB and Daniel work in Pittsburgh (not one of your bigger cities), it figures that these two guys might connect at some point, and in fact, I’ve had each one make a quick reference to the other at least once. But I’ve never even considered the possibility of some sort of “crossover chapter” involving them, mainly because I write each character from the first-person perspective. So imagine my surprise upon seeing that Lupica has at least two occasions when Spenser and Jesse Stone have fairly long conversations. And yet . . . after rereading those chapters with, I hope, a much more objective eye, I had to admit that Lupica pulled it off. It made me rethink the possibility of a JB-Daniel meeting in the Jeremy Barnes novel I’m working on at the moment. We’ll see.

Overall, there is so much to like about Hot Property. I thought the conversations between Spenser and Susan where they discussed his relationship with Rita were very good. I especially enjoyed the scene that touched on Spenser’s thoughts on mortality. Getting some backstory on Rita was also interesting, and I wasn’t expecting Cecile (one of Hawk’s former lovers) to be back in his life. Could Lupica have something in mind there for a future book?

I still think Lupica did a better job with the Sunny Randall books than he has (so far) with Spenser, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to snatch up that next Spenser as soon as it’s available. I am, and I hope there are more to follow.

You can find more information about Bob and his books at his Amazon Author Page.

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