Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 171
April 10, 2014
How British sci-fi influenced my writing…
[Note from Steve: I wrote this a while ago as a guest post for Shah Wharton’s WordsInSync website. It seemed appropriate to dust it off and repost it here with a few edits that make it more contemporary.]
Many writers are avid readers, at least in their own genre. In fact, I can’t understand how anyone can be a writer without being an avid reader. I suppose there are exceptions. I am also a reviewer, but I read many more books than I review. Some of my reading is information-oriented; most is...
April 9, 2014
Writing the thriller…a discussion…part two…
[Tom Pope is a writing teacher—see the interview with him in a post from a few days ago—and yours truly writes thrillers. We put our emails together to produce this Socratic discussion about several elements associated with writing thrillers. This is part two of that discussion. Enjoy.]
Steve: What you call third person internal is just a temporary lapse into first person. Putting the thoughts into italics allows the writer to make it present tense: What’s my partner doing? Instead of, What wa...
Singing Ghosts…
[Note from Steve: I usually don’t write about the paranormal. But those of you who’ve read “The Town Hall Gang” and “The Bridge,” short stories in Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape, my anthology of tales of speculative fiction, know I CAN write them. You also might be familiar with hard-boiled Detective Rolando Castilblanco, of the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series,” though, so here’s one of his most unusual cases, a cross-genre short story, if you will. Enjoy. And, don’t miss the in...
April 8, 2014
Another step towards corporate fascism…
The five-member conservative majority of the judges in our Supreme Court must admire the Chinese model or yearn for 1930’s Germany, because Citizens United and striking down now the overall political donation cap last week certainly leads me to believe that. This is another blow to democracy as these justices try to solidify their version of the modern fascist-capitalistic state, one where the law of the land is government of the elites, for the elites, and by the elites. Don’t ever believe u...
April 3, 2014
Irish Stew #28…
Item: Russia IS only a regional power. The Russians weren’t happy with Obama’s statement. Tough! If Putin had a brain aneurysm somewhere in that KGB mind, he would have blown it (that would probably be a good thing for the future of the human race). He talks tough to the West; we should talk tough back. The Russian newscaster stated that Russia can turn the U.S. into nuclear slag. That works both ways. But let’s tone that down a bit, boys. The Russian mafia—Putin is its godfather—can’t oppres...
April 2, 2014
Review of Sandra Parshall’s Poisoned Ground…
(Sandra Parshall, Poisoned Ground, Poisoned Pen Press, 2014, ISBN 9781464202247)
Although Sandra Parshall is an Agatha-award winning author, she exemplifies how much mystery writing has evolved since Ms. Christie penned her characters Miss Marple and Hercules Poirot. The lines between mystery, thriller, and suspense have blurred, not only in more hard-core police procedurals but also in books that focus on the quiet, rural violence so prevalent in Ms. Christie’s books.
Dr. Rachel Goddard, veter...
Writing the thriller…a discussion…part one…
[Tom Pope is a writing teacher—see the interview with him in a post from a few days ago—and yours truly writes thrillers. We put our emails together to produce this Socratic discussion about several elements associated with writing thrillers. This is the first part of that discussion. Enjoy.]
Tom: What are your impressions on the role of the clock with the threat? I think that a threat should be a major one and the protagonist should face some time limit before all havoc breaks out. Example: T...
April 1, 2014
The internet’s influence…
I’ve been privileged. I’ve seen computers progress over four decades (that’s better than counting years); seen computer companies come and go (from TI, Radio Shack, and Digital’s why would anyone want a computer on his desktop? to the emergence of Apple and Google to this new world of smart phones, ereaders, and tablets); and users morphing from bearded, bushy-haired geeks (they’re still around—gee, I need a haircut!) to people who don’t give a damn what’s inside the box as long as they can d...
March 27, 2014
Windows 8.1…
Believe it or not, this is a book review (see later), but first a bit of history. I’m not into fancy GUIs and sliding icons. The work in my old day job required mostly UNIX workstations. There was a GUI, but it was primitive compared to today’s Apple and smart phone GUIs. No sliding icons or touch screens, but there was enough firepower to handle terabytes of data. That’s science, or, at least, the dirty kind where you’re given lots of data and you’re supposed to make sense of it.
I hate to ad...
March 26, 2014
Where have all the readers gone?
[Note from Steve: This is the third post in preparation for Tom Pope’s and my Socratic dialogue on writing thrillers. It’s more about reading, though, not writing. The title is a bow to Pete Seeger.]
I read and review in many genres, including non-fiction. Every author should be an avid reviewer. And, if you want to give something back to the community of readers and writers, honest reviews help those readers who are looking for new and interesting books to read. Of course, they help writers t...
