Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 24
February 23, 2022
A special plea to all people of good faith in the world…
Let’s support the Ukrainian freedom fighters!
There’s a real possibility that Putin’s stormtroopers will overrun Ukraine. Whether that occurs or not, all people of good faith, especially Americans who pretend to be for freedom, despite Trump and his minions’ efforts, to be defenders of the free world, should make a solemn vow to support Ukraine’s freedom fighters. We know Ukrainians can fight. They ousted a Putin puppet, and they’re better prepared now than when Putin took Crimea.
Yes, Ukraine i...
My experiences with traditional publishing…
Where am I in my publishing career? By now, I’ve tried just about everything that there is to try, so I will state my conclusion at this point: I’ll never feel comfortable again recommending that an author try a traditional publisher and all that entails! While a small press (also called an indie publisher, not to be confused with an indie writer aka self-published author) can give an author some TLC that’s rarely found with one of the Big Five publishing conglomerate’s cadre of publishers, ther...
February 18, 2022
Additions to my list of free PDFs…
Some of you might watch my list of free PDF downloads (see the “Free Stuff & Contests” web page at this website) for additions and revisions. I don’t know how many of you take advantage of the material listed there, but there are no gimmicks, no obligations, just free gifts for my readers.
In fact, let me emphasize “free”: You pay nothing for each PDF except the few seconds it takes you to make a few clicks. However, if you want to treat these files as open-source software (that’s what they are ...
February 16, 2022
The Irish rover…
I’ve been lucky enough in my life to see a bit of the world. Some settings from those travels find their way into my stories, of course. For example, our last major trip was a riverboat cruise down the Danube. My novel Death on the Danube, the third book in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series (see the ad below), was based on that trip (sans murders!). The novella “Fascist Tango,” found in the third volume of Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape, a free PDF download, features places visit...
February 11, 2022
What about those copyrights?
I laugh when I see PR and marketing gurus and other pundits’ blather and twaddle about the need for copyrights and registering them. I suppose one could argue that copyrights are the good face to the bad one of book piracy. Some authors register; I don’t The moment I slap a copyright statement on something I write, it’s supposed to be protected. Bollocks! There’s nothing like an unenforceable law to cause me mirth!
For example, on all my free PDF downloads, there’s a copyright statement. The mos...
February 9, 2022
Three for the price of one?
No, I’m not talking about my sci-fi bundle The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection this time, although that bundle is definitely a bargain for all sci-fi readers.
Instead I’m describing Intolerance, Book Seven in the “Esther Brookstone Art Detective” series. Like Book Six, Defanging the Red Dragon, it’s another novel that’s a fee PDF download (see the list of free fiction on my “Free Stuff & Contests” web page at this website). Why? Here’s the summary:
Esther Brookstone, ex-MI6 spy and ex-Scotla...
February 4, 2022
The “new” Death on the Nile movie…
A quick Google search told me how many have been made for the big silver screen: the ones starring Peter Ustinov (1978) and now Kenneth Branagh (2022) are the only ones. Murder on the Orient Express has fared better. Like all Hollywood remakes, one might ask: Why is another version needed?
At least one can say that Dame Agatha’s Egyptian tale has staying power. I read the original under the covers with a flashlight as a kid, my SOP for reading many books I shouldn’t have been reading at my age. ...
February 2, 2022
Book Review of Schiff’s Midnight in Washington…
Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could. Adam Schiff, author. (Random House, 2021). This important book (and a few others like it) does a great service. Here we learn the details about how some people—not just Mr. Schiff and his colleagues who ran the first impeachment trial prosecuting a psychotic sociopath who still poses a great danger to American democracy (he’ll forever be impeached—the only US president to have the stain of being impeached twice!)—but also ...
January 28, 2022
“Friday Fiction” Series: What’s in a Game? Chapter Two…
[Note from Steve: A bit shorter than the other novellas, but still a British-style mystery. Enjoy.]
What’s in a Game?
Copyright, Steven M. Moore
Chapter Two
Ellie pulled photos of Peterson, the three victims, and ones of about a dozen bodyguards out of her large purse. Dotty pointed at the first.
“That’s Joel, of course.” She then pointed at another, one of the victims. “Saw that one once. He was with these two.” She’s pointed to two of the known bodyguards. “I don’t recognize anyone else. Sorry...
January 26, 2022
How to land your dream job…
You hear and see that phrase a lot now because there a lot of jobs available in this pandemic economy. Employers are desperate for employees; and employees are taking advantage, moving up and looking for their dream job. I landed mine long before Covid, though. I always wanted to be a storyteller, and that’s what I started doing even before I left a completely different day-job. True, I couldn’t have fed a family with the royalties I’ve earned, but it is my dream job.
What few readers I have—I h...
