Leon Stevens's Blog, page 50

Friday April 5: In Conversation With – Suzanne Berget Sci-fi Author

In celebration of #Indieapril, I continue my series of interviews with various science fiction authors. Don’t forget to check out the promo at the end of our conversation!

In Conversation With   Suzanne Berget

Today I have the pleasure of sitting down with author Suzanne Berget Can I offer you anything to drink?

Writer’s Tears, please! Neat.

[time elapses]
Sorry. I had to look that up, but since we are fiction writers, I just happen to had an unopened bottle.
So…Norway. What’s the most northern part you have been to?

I grew up partly on Senja, which is an island (second largest in Norway) in Troms fylke and it’s pretty far north. It’s got Northern lights and midnight sun and everything.

According to your bio, you have written a lot, but Let Slip the Beasts is your first novel. What made that happen?

Spite mostly, haha. I saw former classmates get published and was like ‘Why not me’? The story has been with me for a long time, though, like an embarrassingly long time, and is an amalgamation of movies and comics I liked as a teenager filtered through my particular lens.

I can’t disagree with a good spite story.
This book involves genetic engineering. Did you study or do research about it?

A lot of googling and reading was involved, yes. The interesting part was getting it to sound plausible, even though it’s pretty farfetched (still).

What was the first book you remember reading on your own?

Probably Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini. Once upon a time when I was young – before the war – they used to sell Elfquest comics at the grocery store, and one time I managed to convince my mom to buy me one because the cover just looked so damn cool. It wasn’t even the first volume and I didn’t understand a whole lot, but I was hooked.

What books and/or authors influenced you?

Definitely Archivist Wasp, Latchkey and Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace, Our Wives under the Sea by Julia Armfield and Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, but also Hemingway, Gerard Manley Hopkins and W.B. Yeats to some extent.

Do you have a favorite book?

Oh yes! If I have to pick just one, which is a standalone, and that I recommend all the time at work, it would be The Bees by Laline Paull. I loved it so much that pretty much immediately after I finished it I went and got a tattoo of the main character Flora 717. I posted a picture of the tattoo to Twitter and then Laline Paull sent me a signed copy of her book. It was amazing!

What drew you to science fiction?

Good question!—

Thank you. Sorry, please continue…

I like ridiculously choreographed fight scenes, guns more than swords, tech more than magic and visions of the future more than the past so science fiction felt like a natural choice. Also, my influences are mostly science fiction. But! I do have an idea for a fantasy novel that I’m pretty excited about.

The science fiction genre usually gets lumped in with fantasy. Do you think this is a good or bad thing?

Science fiction and fantasy are two sides of the same coin. You go into the future you get science fiction, you go too far into the future you get fantasy, if you know what I mean? So to me the two genres belong together, and once in a while you get truly spectacular genre-bending science fantasy books like the Broken Earth trilogy or Locked Tomb series.

Do Norwegians blame the Swedes for lutefisk or is it the other way around?

I think we can blame ourselves for that one…not our greatest moment.

I always ask my guests about music. From my heavy metal days in the [coughs] 80s, I know Norway is famous for black/death metal. You into that? 

Of course! If you live in Norway and you don’t like black/death metal you will be exiled. Why do you think there are so many Norwegians in the US?

I always thought they followed the Finns to beat the Swedes to the good logging and mining jobs in Wisconsin…
Do you have any favorite bands?

I’m a mood listener, so I don’t feel like I have a favorite band at any given time, but! The bands I’ve seen live the most are Iron Maiden, Trivium, In Flames, Gojira, Ghost and Tenacious D.

Are you ready for the lightning round?

Let’s go!

Favorite fiord?
They’re all good fjords, Brent! Did you know Slartibartfast won an award for designing them?
What name comes up first when you Google Norwegian bands?
Mayhem, A-ha and Alan Walker
Favorite non-english vowel: æ ø or å?
Probably Æ as it’s just a and e smoshed together
Yeah, it does look funky.
Favorite city?
I love Oslo, because that’s where I live, but also Dublin, Edinburgh and London
One item on your bucket list?
Uuuuuh have my book turned into a movie and see who they cast
Farthest from home you have been?
Tokyo or San Francisco
Scariest animal you have encountered?
In real life? Moose and badger. In a zoo? Shoebill stork!

This has been a pleasure. Thanks for chatting. Any links you want to share?

My website:

Front Page

Book link:

https://books2read.com/u/breEZM

See more sci-fi authors:

The story behind Free Book Friday:

I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?

Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.

Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.

Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnel

StoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!

Since my newsletter goes out bi-weekly, I offer book promos on those dates, so here are what’s running right now: Discover New Authors

Review Copies (These are free!)

Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction or both): Leon’s Newsletter

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Thursday Thoughts: Writing Science Fiction

Rules you hate but have to follow

Just like in fantasy where magic just is understood to exist, there are certain aspects of science fiction that just have to be assumed or your work of art is going to be a work of convoluted quagmire of explanations of technology that will just get you and your readers bogged down, detracting from the star of the show, the story. 

Isaac Asimov rose to fame partially because of his Three Laws of Robotics, so let see what my rules of science fiction do, shall we?

Rule #1: The Rule of Understanding

Face it. If your alien races have to learn each other’s language every time the meet, it’s not going to be very interesting because we all know that math is the universal language and you are going to start with 1+1=2 and yada yada you will come up with a series of equations which eventually will become a workable language, which, if science fiction books, TV, and movies in the past have told me anything…English.

I admit, I did it. Why, because I thought I could create a rudimentary understanding to get a couple of my characters out of a jam. Did it work? You’ll have to read and find out (yeah, like I’m going to have my characters fail and perish…)

Rule #2: The Rule of Not Having to Figure Everything Out

You come across an alien ship. Look at all those screens and panels. You throw up your hands and…Wait. Let’s just do this, then this, then that, and bingo, we’re flying! Or opening the cryogenic chamber that has some weird writing on it What could go wrong, right?).

Rule #3: The Rule of Getting There

Don’t reinvent the wheel, or in this case, faster than light speed. We all know we can’t get anywhere from here, so just press that green button and go. Why waste pages trying to explain how it works when 90% of the readers will not get it or want to get it.

Like Stephen Hawking said. “It’s not impossible if you can think it.”*

Rule #4: The Rule of One/Two/Two/Yowsa!

Sure, there might be blob people out there, intelligent life under water (or liquid methane if you like that sort of thing), or even bird people, but it sure makes it easier if everyone has a head, two arms, and two legs, so at least we can all share the same clothes.

What’s the Yowsa? Well, if you have to ask…

Oh. You do. Let’s just say some surprises are best left behind closed doors (or in the Jalcric chamber if you are into that sort of thing, you naughty one you.)

Rule #5: The Rule of Occam’s Kiss

No, that’s not related to rule #4. Get your mind out of the Jalcric chamber. Like Mr. Occam always said: Keep It Simple Stupid.

Rule #6: the Rule of Tropes

Face it, it’s all been done, so there’s no point in trying to write something completely new. You can try, but it’s all Romeo and Juliette (Star Wars) or McBeth (Star Wars) or The Tempest (Star Wars) when you think about it.

Finally, Rule #7: The Rule of Fiction

It’s your story. Make it up. Do what you want.

*Admit it, you thought I was going to say “Beep Boop” didn’t you?

FYI: Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Don’t forget to support your next favorite indie author!

These are the books you’re looking for…

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Weird Wednesday April 3: Madness to the Method

Okay, the jokes a little late. March is over and the madness is…wait. Not?

The final four games are on April 6th between #4 Alabama Crimson Tide and #1 Connecticut—yeah, I don’t care either. I had to look that up.

But just for fun, here’s an explanation for what March Madness is:

The names of sixty-eight of the best college basketball teams from best divisions (NCAA Division I, sorry NCAA Division III losers) are thrown into a hat and drawn to see who plays whom, and somehow every year the best plays the worst each time.

And you have to win to move to the next round. Since there are six rounds, you have to win six games in a row to with the tournament and the aptly named, “The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Trophy”. Here’s what the bracket looks like:

Every year people bet 15 billion on the games, with the longest odds being picking every winner, which are:

1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (if you just guess or flip a coin)1 in 120.2 billion (if you know a little something about basketball)

You have better odds of being struck by lightning…twice.

But, to quote the 20th Century philosopher Lloyd Christmas:

My newsletter goes out every Wednesday: Lines by Leon Super Newsletter Extravaganza

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Music Monday 1991: Get Primed for Dummies and Jam

There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.

Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it.

Maybe you will find a new favorite.

CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music

A double shot of posts for today starting with another true story:

The Origins of April Fools’

Now, onto the music. What was I listening to in 1991?

I couldn’t help but hear this one. I think it was called the song of the summer. It is pretty catchy, though…

I would have picked this to be the song of the summer, though.

Can you wear out a CD? I tried with this debut album from Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Crash Test Dummies. It featured some great lyrics and a voice that’s unique and recognizable.

Bonnie Raitt hit the popular charts. Such a good guitar player.

I could say this my favorite non-Joshua Tree U2 song.

I forgot about this one:

Another CD at risk of being worn out:

I forgot all about Primus. I wasn’t a huge fan but Les Claypool’s bass playing is something else.

Music is wonderful, ain’t it?

Leon

Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture, SuperdekesVinylReviews

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

The Origins of April Fools’

The Origin of April Fools‘

The first recorded prank was discovered deep in a cave in the Pyrenees, where a cave painting shows a club being notched and weakened, then lower on the wall a saber tooth tiger is seen eating the arm of a Neanderthal, with a severed lower limb nearby.

Professor Dingall remarked, “Well, Henson. I guess that prank cost him and arm and a leg!”

Farther in, past the famous handprints were several connected half circles, the precursor to sitting on the Xerox machine.

In Greek mythology, Icarus loosened the top of the saltshaker which caused his father to ruin his breakfast. Enraged, he stormed out of the kitchen muttering under his breath, “I’m gonna get that little SOB.” A year later, Icarus’s father convinced him that flying to the sun was achievable. Touche. 

The next recorded prank took place in Egypt where a worker, Apphool, was asked to retrieve an adz in the newly constructed anti-chamber upon which the booby trap was triggered and the room was permanently sealed.

When discovered in 1911, hieroglyphics on the wall showed the first record of giving someone the bird, and what for many years was assumed to be a bouquet of flowers. Later experts determined it was in actual fact meant to indicate a bunch of assholes.

In 1367, teenagers snuck into the construction site at Pisa and removed several of the foundation stones, replacing them with replicas made of papier mâché.  

Galileo has been credited for the “shoe polish on the telescope eyepiece” prank, which was why he was imprisoned, not for the whole “the Earth goes around the sun” malarkey.

One of the first prank fails occurred when Gustave Eiffel was told there was a contest to see who could build the tallest tower out of a Meccano set, the winner receiving a free pass to the next World Exposition.

And finally, the best prank award goes to the archeologist who tricked a Nazi general into peeking into a golden chest, cementing into history the now classic line:

“Made ya look.”

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Weekend Wrap-up March 30

Free Book Friday March 29: Welcome to #IndieApril !In Conversation With – Zena Wilde

Don’t forget to check out the interviews I did with some of the Indie April authors! https://linesbyleon.com/indie-april-sci-fi/

On my blog this week:Weekend Wrap-up March 30Thursday is Bookday (Reviews that is): Lessons in ChemistryWeird Wednesday March 27: When the heck is Easter?Tuesday Top 10: BooksMusic Monday Part II:Juno what you need? Here’s the replay of the 2024 awards

Hope you enjoyed the recap! Feel free to share it with others.

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Thursday is Bookday (Reviews that is): Lessons in Chemistry

Disclaimer: Not my preferred genre
[Spoiler Alert] Not a very good book.
[Not a Spoiler Alert] This book has many conflicting reviews.

Like a volcano in grade school science fair, this book starts quickly, but ends up as a mess.

If I can finish a book, it can’t be that bad, right? This book started out as a three star, but quickly became a two after the introduction of Six-Thirty* and then the genius 4-year old and then the unrealistic cooking show.

The author should have watched any of the Julia Child shows, documentaries, or series to see how a cooking show in the 60s works. What bothered me the most was that they did the first show live with now rehearsals. Now that’s a recipe for disaster (pun intended).

I didn’t care for any of the characters, or some of the unnecessary back stories. It wasn’t “Laugh out loud funny” as one of the editorial reviews stated. Speaking of editorial reviews, did you know that 62 of them are quoted on the Amazon book page? That’s a little excessive in my opinion.

I didn’t like it, but you might.

*Six-Thirty is the philosophizing pet dog who has many moments of inner thought and acts as her lab assistant, goggles and all. Good Grief.
Oh, he also picks up the kid from school.

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Weird Wednesday March 27: When the heck is Easter?

As a kid, It took me many years to realize that Easter was never on the same day each year.

As a kid whose religious knowledge came from having to say the Lord’s prayer in school, participating in the Christmas pageants, and Charlie Brown’s Christmas, I couldn’t understand how Jesus could be born on the same day, but decided to hand out chocolate eggs on seemingly random dates.

Of course, now I know that Jesus and the Easter bunny teamed up with the chocolatiers to make a quick buck to pay rent on the studio apartment they shared.

Mr. Bunny was a bit peeved, because he had downsized from the 2-bedroom when Jesus disappeared, but somehow his name still appeared on the lease. So, when he showed up three days later, slightly dehydrated and ravenously hungry, Mr B. (that’s what the J-man called him) took pity and let him stay on the condition he throw away the sheet he had with him because it stunk.

Over drinks (wine, of course), they argued over what date Easter should fall on, finally devising the most simple method they called the J-Bun Algorithm:

And there it is. Plain and simple…

Of course, you could always just look at a calander or Google it.

My newsletter goes out every Wednesday: Lines by Leon Super Newsletter Extravaganza

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Tuesday Top 10: Books

Is there any question that many indies price their books to entice new readers to give them a shot? Many indie books are priced at $0.99 for that reason. You could spend $4 on a coffee which will keep you awake at your desk for a few hours, but you’ll also expel most of the liquid within 1/2 and hour of consumption. For a few cents, you could make your coffee at home [insert gasp here] and buy 3 indie books and make 3 indie authors $0.35 richer (or one, a whopping $1.05)

So you’re saying, if an indie sells twelve books, they can—

Run to Starbucks for a coffee?

Funny.

My entire trilogy, which is a novel if you are going by word count, is priced at $6.96, well below the average price of the top ten books on Amazon.

That can’t be right. Can it?

Well, here are the books in the top 20 most sold chart (Kindle):

Kristen Hannah – The Women: $14.99
Frank Herbert – Dune: $9.99
Freida McFadden – The Teacher: $3.99
Sarah J. Maas’ – A Court of Thorns and Roses: $8.21
Ashley Elston – First Lie Wins: $14.99
Rebecca Yarros – Iron Flame: $14.99
Rebecca Yarros – Fourth Wing: $14.99
Sarah J. Maas – A Court of Mist and Fury: $8.21
Freida McFadden – The Housemaid: $3.99
Nora Roberts – Identity: $14.99

Okay, okay. You’ve made your point.

Have I? What’s that in your hand?

Just a Starbucks coffee…

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Music Monday Part II:Juno what you need? Here’s the replay of the 2024 awards

Canada’s Biggest Night in Music

Every country produces quality musicians, many never becoming popular beyond their borders. Canada is no exception.

Yesterday I posted about some of the artists nominated for awards and Talk, Charlotte Cardin, and The Beaches were all winners as well as putting on great performances.

Juno what award ceremony is tonight?

So here is the complete ceremony for you to enjoy.

-Leon

Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day, PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture, SuperdekesVinylReviews

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!