Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 184

News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #49…

#268: Free ebook! Over the U.S. Memorial Day weekend (May 24-28, 2013), I am offering my new release Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder FOR FREE on Amazon. Don’t miss this chance for some great summer reading. It’s also a way to introduce yourself to my writing. You only need a Kindle or the free Kindle app for your electronic device. Download now before you forget. The book will return to its released price of $4.99 come May 29. Don’t miss out!

#269: Guest posts. The second part of my “Tar...

Thoughts for Memorial Day: the plight of veterans…

Technically, Memorial Day is the day we remember Americans who died in the nation’s many wars. Before the Gulf War, there were plenty of casualties, and it’s only right that we do remember them. But there’s a new wrinkle to boots-on-the-ground wars—the walking wounded. Since the Gulf War, advances in battlefield medicine, mostly along the lines of ER surgical procedures also used effectively to attend to the Boston Marathon victims, have saved many GIs’ lives. They’re treated, come home, and...

North Korean brutality…

Dennis Rodman made an ass of himself as an NBA player. Now he’s playing diplomat—rather, Kim Jong Il’s favorite pal—and continuing to make an ass of himself. There have been articles in our enlightened media on how this “basketball diplomacy” just might work. BS! That theoretical flatulence has been quieted a bit after Rodman’s trip because the boy wonder of North Korea postures and threatens the West, testing missiles as a way to threaten South Korea and the U.S. in general and in their join...

News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #48…

#264: Welcome! I know there are some new readers visiting this blog. If you’re one of them, welcome! This post (it appears on most Fridays) is for writers and readers of books, but many come here more for the op-ed. To the old-timers (I’ve probably never said it, but better late than never), welcome to you too! There are many blogs on the internet, so I feel privileged that you have added mine to your reading list. (If you have access to an RSS feed, you can RSS this blog. I was surprised—it...

The insidious fee attacks…

We’ve all seen those promos for vampire, werewolf, or zombie flicks (I never get beyond the promos), but I’d rather face them than the insidious fee attacks that seem to occur almost every day. New government fees, airline fees, bank fees—you’ve been pummeled as much as I have, I bet. Consider this post a protest song against fees, something like Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.”

First, government. I used to believe that Massachusetts’ taxes were heavy (you know, Taxachusetts), but when I moved...

Summertime is reading time…

We’re heading into summer and we’re all looking for good books to read during those lazy R&R days of vacation and beach visits. If you’re like me, you scan those free book promos on Amazon. You also look for those bargain ebooks—not exactly free, but comparable in price to that special iced coffee you like to slurp while you read. The majority of those bargain ebooks are released by indie authors and are exceptionally good entertainment for the price, if you choose wisely.

I’m an indie author....

Kill the bastards!

I bet that got your attention. This post is about counterterrorism. It won’t be popular with my hand-wringing liberal friends. Here’s my take: Jodi Arias shouldn’t be put to death. I don’t buy her little reverse-psychological spiel on Fox News(!) because no one can believe a word that comes out of her mouth. I’m just generally against the death penalty…in most cases. Terrorism is NOT one of those cases. Mad dogs that even attempt to maim or kill innocent human beings in massive, mindless atta...

News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #47…

#258: New book release! You’ve already seen the excerpt (last Monday). Watch for the release—real soon now. With Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder, I continue the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.” The sleuths of The Midas Bomb and Angels Need Not Apply will embroil you in action and suspense yet again. As a mystery novel (my first), it is a dark probing into the nexus the crime underworld sometimes enjoys with the rich and powerful.

Chen is arrested for the murder of a senator in...

Is TV an art form?

On Tuesday, I did a review of my limited experiences at the Montclair Film Festival. One thing that I noticed, especially in Michael Moore’s discussion, was that film makers tend to consider TV negatively. “Small wonder!” you might say. But books certainly are transformed to TV as much or more than they are to the big screen. If literature is an art form, are things derived from it also art forms? Most people associated with the film industry would say films are an art form. So, is TV an art...

Review of D. M. Annechino’s I Do Solemnly Swear…

(D. M. Annechino, I Do Solemnly Swear, ISBNB007NN52IM, Thomas and Mercer, 2012)

This is my second review of a book penned by Mr. Annechino (can we say that nowadays? do authors still use pens?). I also reviewed They Never Die Quietly. They are very different books, which shows the versatility of the author. I enjoyed this mystery/thriller more. Let me state up front that it was fast-paced, suspenseful, and entertaining. A real page-turner, as they say (again, can I use this cliché when reading...