en-US Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:07:33 -0800 60 144 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo_144.jpg /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/245993-a-burning-light-of-verse Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:07:33 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/245993-a-burning-light-of-verse My Book Review of  Chronicles of a Sage:  Simple Complexities by Deborah Simpson.




Philosophical, spiritual, obscure and beautiful; those are the words that best describe the poetry of Deborah Simpson.  Her book Chronicles of a Sage:  Simple Complexities lends easily to flexible reader interpretation and is, in turn, sombre, wistful and beautiful.

The format of the book is interesting, laid out in five chapters with a discussion of the ideas at the end of each section; you are handed both...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 21 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/236242-haunts-and-history Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:09:50 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/236242-haunts-and-history




Do you believe in ghosts?

This question may come to mind when you pick up this book to read, but by the time you finish the last page it won't matter.  You will have simply enjoyed an engrossing story of a town's history, which is in turn, personal, epic, tragic and yes, ethereal.

This book is one part history lesson, one part ghost story and one part paranormal primer, stirred into a delightfully entertaining read.  The author takes...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 08 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/233377-passing-fancies-of-inspiration Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:14:13 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/233377-passing-fancies-of-inspiration

It seems, according to various articles I've read, people like to know the stories behind a book and how an author gets his/her inspiration. Generally, I don't ponder on my inspirations and it may be a touch dangerous to probe the workings of my mind, but I'm going to spill the secret of what motivated my book of short fiction, Passing Fancies.

The internet.
Yes, the world wide web is responsible for my collection of strange tales.  What, you say?  How did the internet inspire you?  A simp...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 05 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/221465-the-charming-saga-resumes-a-review-of-kirins-the-flight-of-the-ain Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:24:58 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/221465-the-charming-saga-resumes-a-review-of-kirins-the-flight-of-the-ain http://afstewartblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-review-kirins-spell-of-noan.html

Note for the FTC (in compliance with their new "rules"): Since I reviewed his first book in the trilogy, the author kindly asked me if I would care to read the second book; he provided me with a free e-book copy of his book for this review.


My review of Kirins:...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 26 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/211789-what-are-you-afraid-of Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:22:38 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/211789-what-are-you-afraid-of
To go with all the frights and chills today, I am pleased to present guest blogger Pat Bertram. She stops by as part of her ongoing blog tour for her new book Daughter Am I, and she offers a spooky discussion on that primal emotion...


Fear!



Through stories, we learn how to deal with our fears, especially if we are the ones writing the story. If you novelize your fear of being eaten alive by monsters from outer space, then the terrestrial ones eating you alive don't seem so mon...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 17 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/211170-a-halloween-story Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:51:18 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/211170-a-halloween-story
A Monster Therapy Session



"Now don't feel awkward, we're all here to share our problems. Just tell us how you feel." I gave our newest member of group an encouraging, sympathetic look.
"I feel so persecuted, so violated. They won't even let me have my eternal rest!" The Mummy buried his face in his bandaged hands.
"Tell me about it! I got nuts chasing me with guns and silver bullets! How can they afford silver bullets in this recession?" The Wolfman scowled.
Dracula flashed his fangs in re...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 05 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/207547-book-news Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:40:36 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/207547-book-news

- I'm putting the finishing touches on my newest books, Shadows of Poetry and Passing Fancies.

Shadows of Poetry is my second volume of poetry, a book of dark verse. It has been uploaded to Lulu.com and I'm just awaiting the proof copy to check for errors and those sneaky typos. After it has been approved (hopefully that will happened within the next week or so) it officially goes on sale. Also, the download version (available at Lulu.com) ...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 06 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/170711-today-s-guest-sandy-lender Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:02:04 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/170711-today-s-guest-sandy-lender



If You're Gonna Hit, Hit Like You Mean It, by Fantasy Author Sandy Lender http://authorsandylender.com

Weighing in at a whopping 63 grams, Cricket the fancy green-cheeked conure is a diminutive companion parrot. She's the smallest of the pet birds in my flock of four and she has this habit of standing up very tall on her skinny scaly legs...

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 26 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/169033-guest-c-l-talmadge-discusses-writing-a-fiction-series Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:30:02 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/169033-guest-c-l-talmadge-discusses-writing-a-fiction-series Don't forget to comment for your chance to win a copy of her book set.




Writing a fiction series
By C.L. Talmadge

A series is what happens to fiction when the story is just too big to stuff into one book. What is old about fiction is new again.

During the 19th century, many of the novels we know t

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 05 ]]> /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/134756-a-book-of-memorable-poetry Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:36:17 -0800 /author/show/1175681.A_F_Stewart/blog/134756-a-book-of-memorable-poetry


I was quite delighted with stains: early poems; the author Lori A. May has managed to convey in her poetry a striking impression. Her poems range from the harmonious to thought provoking and are always wonderfully intimate.

The book is formatted into seven categories, cleverly titled as different types of smudges: grass, coffee, ink, salt, smoke, blood, sweat. The poetry contained within these categories matches the feel of each word, sugges

posted by A. F. Stewart on December, 07 ]]>