Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 123
August 3, 2016
Steve’s shorts: A Meaningful Encounter…
[Every once and a while I clean out my writing lair to get rid of notes for novels no longer needed (they’ve been published), ARCs I’ve reviewed (traditionally published mostly, because the traditional publishers still push paper books over ebooks—Gaia mourns for her trees), or just make room for paper copies of my own books (yeah, hypocritical, considering my trees comment, but they’re only for book fairs and such). When I do this, I find stuff. “Escape from Earth,” a recent freebie novella...
August 2, 2016
Should Wasserman Schultz be fired or in jail?
Most dust from the fallout of the hacked DNC emails has settled by now (Hillary and friends seem to have problems with that antiquated communications medium–maybe she should have used Twitter, but what’s the hashtag for TOP SECRET). I’m still writing this post, though, because I’m still pissed. Not surprised, mind you—I never was—but still pissed. (OK, maybe I was surprised that we saw a wee bit of the tip of that iceberg made from the toxic waters of dirty politics.) I can now refine last Tu...
August 1, 2016
Monday words of wisdom…
Protecting our environment is not a radical idea; it is a moral responsibility.—Bernie Sanders
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On sale: The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan. This sci-fi thriller will be on sale at Smashwords for $0.99, reduced from $2.99 (67% discount), from now until September 1. Use the coupon code FU54W. First question: what will the U.S. in the future do with retirees who possess Top Secret information? Second question: how do you prevent the assassination of a presidential candidate? Third question:...
July 29, 2016
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #128…
Ebook prices. Maybe it’s time to increase mine? Up to now I’ve followed most people’s cost-of-living increases in salaries, Social Security, and pensions—in other words, my prices haven’t gone up because they don’t, in general! All ebooks save one (soon to change, I hope) are $3.99 or less, a tremendous bargain. Why? OK, you might want it for free or $0.99, but consider this: I just noticed the newsstand price for the Sunday NY Times is $5. Granted that they have all the news that’s unfit to...
July 28, 2016
Reasonable people thinking unreasonably…
If you think the world is going mad, it is. That’s another way of saying people are crazy. The recent Pokemon Go craze is just the tip of the iceberg. Like that minions game on the iPhone, I thought Pokemon Go was harmless until people started walking in front of trucks, getting robbed by thieves or molested by perverts, and in general looking like actors auditioning for The Walking Dead. Not so harmless are some of the other things occurring as reasonable people think unreasonably or believe...
July 27, 2016
Alpha and omega…
The beginning and end, two very important parts of a novel. I work and rework them. Every author should. Readers expect good ones and are disappointed when they don’t get them. An author wants his readers to continue with her or his novel; s/he wants the reader to say, “I want more,” when the book is finished. Readers want to feel that way too.
The beginning is often called the hook. That’s a bit insulting to the reader—s/he’s not a fish, after all. But the author shouldn’t wait too long to g...
July 26, 2016
Ballyhoo at the national convention…
The national conventions of the two traditional parties have become ballyhoo events. They’re groupie gatherings with narcissists on the stage speaking to all the narcissists in the audience, people addicted to politics because they have nothing really productive to do besides admire themselves. No shy, introverted people need apply. These are bombastic know-it-alls who must show off. The worst thing, of course, is that they think they know what’s best for the country, although time and again...
July 25, 2016
Monday words of wisdom…
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.—Robert Heinlein
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Last week! The “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries” are on sale. Mary Jo is inviting you to celebrate with her for leaving Amazon exclusivity and appearing on Smashwords too. She’s an ex-USN Master-at-Arms who manages to get into a lot of trouble as a civilian; she also manages to beat the odds and survive, though. Muddlin’ Through (Smashwords coupon code KY27A) is an international thril...
July 22, 2016
Those snakes in the grass…
No, this isn’t about either political candidate—the whole election thing is getting to be a drag anyway. (I’ll be voting Green this year, foregoing the usual “vote for the lesser of two evils” that has made my entire electoral life miserable—so that’s settled.) This post is about editing. Yeah, I know. If you’re a reader, you just expect what you read to be well edited. “Skip the details and just do it,” you say. If you’re a writer, it’s one of those things that must be done as part of your j...
July 21, 2016
Whittling on Bernie’s proposals…
It’s all a bit disappointing. Bernie proposes NO on TPP; Hillary ignores it. Bernie proposes free state college tuition; Hillary knocks it down to families with less than $125,000 per year. Bernie proposes no Social Security cap; Hillary ignores it. Bernie proposes Medicare for all; Hillary says 55+. Bernie wants to control Wall Street and big corporations’ excesses; Hillary ignores it. And so forth. I can’t see why Bernie is touting his influence on the Dem platform. Hillary gets his endorse...
