Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 146
August 27, 2015
Is the past safer than the future?
From yesterday’s reviews and previous ones, readers of this blog might have noticed that I’ve binged on a few historical mysteries and thrillers lately. There are also a few on “Steve’s Bookshelf” too (Deaver’s Garden of Beasts, Follett’s Eye of the Needle, Boston Teran’s Gardens of Grief, and Edgardo Holzman’s Malena), a list of books I consider truly exceptional. The later reads could be considered companions of the bio of Churchill I’m slogging through, 1000+ pages describing the PM’s war...
August 26, 2015
Mini-Reviews of Books #11…
[Note from Steve: Here are two British historical mysteries today for you to consider. Because I’m also reading a Churchill bio, I was looking for something related to WWII. These two caught my eye, and I wasn’t disappointed.]
The Man Who Never Was. Hoylton H. Smith, author (Promethean, 2013). This is a great story—or should I say two stories, forty years apart, that come together? In 1985, a cement foundation shifts at an abandoned coke plant in northern England uncovering a skeleton. The Na...
August 25, 2015
Our narcissistic society…
Maureen Dowd, NY Times columnist, recently quoted James Gleick, author, historian, and chronicler of how technology affects our lives. (I remember him for his bio on Feynman.) The quote: “Running for president is the new selfie.” Considering the context in Ms. Dowd’s column, she was using it to refer to that most irascible and narcissistic of GOP candidates, Donald Trump, last seen in a revival-style meeting in the South (he even referred to Billy Graham). But this post isn’t about Trump or e...
August 21, 2015
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #100…
[Note from Steve: To celebrate the hundredth edition of his newsletter, I think I’ll allow myself a double Jameson whiskey tonight—please join me. I’ve been doing this a long time (writing the newsletter–I’m not an alcoholic). I hope all of you enjoy it. Maybe not the chest-thumping items, but I also try to keep readers and writers informed with my comments on the writing and publishing business. I’m admittedly biased toward indie writing, but those traditionally published writers completely...
August 20, 2015
Book reading in America is in trouble: Part Two of Two…
[This series started last week. If you haven’t already done so, you might want to read Part One.]
Have I convinced you book reading America is in trouble? There’s another chapter in this story. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with traditional publishers and their writers trying to kill indies. For the most part, readers can ignore that problem (unless they’re also authors). Moreover, I’ve dealt with that enough in this blog as have many other people (Joe Konrath, in particular).
No, in thi...
August 19, 2015
Steve’s Shorts: The Piano Man…Part Two of Two
[Note from Steve: This is the start of a series of short stories inspired by my favorite songs. Some you might know, like this Billy Joel classic; others are a wee bit obscure (and possibly no longer available). The stories are freebies for readers of this blog…until they appear in a short story collection, that is. Enjoy!]
The Piano Man – Part Two
Copyright 2015, Steven M. Moore
Peterson walked into the interrogation room and nodded to the public defender.
“Hello, Nora,” said Bob Ortega. “Yo...
August 18, 2015
The fight for humane healthcare is far from over…
Although I’ve been in a writing mind all my life, gathering what-ifs, plot and character ideas, possible settings, and so forth, many times on the back of a napkin, I published my first book, Full Medical, in 2006. (It was a pbook—an archaic POD with Xlibris—now in a second ebook edition.) It’s the first ebook in the dystopian sci-fi “Clones and Mutants Trilogy,” all futuristic thrillers. Part of that dystopian vision has to do with what will happen if we don’t do something about improving he...
August 14, 2015
News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #99…
Item. Go Set a Watchman. Harper Lee’s first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird has enjoyed a lot of sales. The publisher’s probably celebrating. I compare this phenomenon to the Fifty Shades one: readers are curious. But some are also irate. Their beloved Atticus turned out to be a racist bigot and that genteel South isn’t so genteel. I’m not surprised some people are turned off. Some people don’t like to see real-life problems (racism in America, especially the South) portrayed in fiction, no ma...
August 13, 2015
Book reading in America is in trouble: Part One of Two…
I made some comments over on Scott Dyson’s blog. (Scott’s post is the genesis for these ideas.) I’d like to amplify on them here and next week. To summarize bluntly: reading in America is in trouble. Maybe in the rest of the world too, but it’s clear that we’re in trouble here. Let’s consider some numbers.
I’ve upped my presence on Goodreads lately. Forget Facebook; Goodreads is where the readers are. Authors too, but they’re second-class citizens for the GR team, and justifiably so. My goal...
August 12, 2015
Steve’s Shorts: The Piano Man…Part One of Two
Steve’s Shorts: The Piano Man…Part One of Two
[Note from Steve: This is the start of a series of short stories inspired by my favorite songs. Some you might know, like this Billy Joel classic; others are a wee bit obscure (and possibly no longer available). The stories are freebies for readers of this blog…until they appear in a short story collection, that is. Enjoy!]
The Piano Man – Part One
Copyright 2015, Steven M. Moore
“Hey buddy, are you OK?”
Through the fog of his hangover Walter Ell...
