Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 33
June 30, 2021
ETs…
I’m not a famous sci-fi author (some would argue I’m not even an author!), but I share at least one thing in common with the three most famous ones, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein. (Many so-called sci-fi addicts haven’t read their stories, though. They’re from my generation or earlier, but no more recent ones are as good…including me!) What do we have in common? They were all scientists, and so was I. Asimov was a biochemist, Clarke was…well, let’s just call him an applied p...
June 28, 2021
Juneteenth…
I might take some flak for this post, but I have three problems with this new holiday.
The first is the obvious one: Why do we need it? The Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863) freed the slaves; Abraham Lincoln got the ball rolling, but that little thing called the Civil War, the deadliest war ever on American soil (unless you count Covid), got in the way. It’s no wonder that it took so long (June 19, 1865) to let everyone know about it—there were massive casualties on both sides, includi...
June 23, 2021
Not recommended for writers…
On my “Join the Conversation” web page, you will find a list of useful websites. I’ve debated with myself recently about including on that page some that I can’t recommended. For the moment, in lieu of doing that, I offer this post. I name only a few names, but only because there are generic organizations writers should avoid. (Consider this post an addendum to my little writing course “Writing Fiction,” which contains a lot of advice about this writing business and is available as a free PDF do...
June 21, 2021
What about Apple?
Tim Cook was in court not long ago defending Apple against Epic Games, the company that made Fortnite. I’m rooting for Epic. Just to be clear, I’m not a gamer; I hate computer games, because the stories they tell, if they exist, are anemic. I hate Apple a lot more, though! (Almost as much as Amazon.) Just recently we discovered that Apple gave in to Trump’s DOJ subpoenas and released phone records of corporations, reporters, and at least two congressmen who Trump considered his enemies. I assume...
June 18, 2021
“Friday Fiction”: Dr. Carlos and the Ambassador…
Dr. Carlos and the Ambassador
Copyright 2021, Steven M. Moore
[Note from Steve: I’ve written several Dr. Carlos stories, most of them collected in a free PDF download—see the list on my “Free Stuff & Contests” web page. Carlos Obregon is the chief medical officer on the explorer starship Brendan, and his stories are a bit before Rogue Planet. This one harks back to his first tour on the starship when he joins its crew. Enjoy.]
“You look a bit lost,” said the towering Tali who was eyeing Carlos ...
June 16, 2021
My favorite covers…
I’m referring to covers of others’ novels as well as my own. Note that no cover considered here is from the Big Five—most of theirs are terrible, looking like some kid did them with PowerPoint. Let me consider others’ first:
Scott Dyson’s Odd Man Out. Scott specializes in horror stories, short fiction so far, and mostly horror. I think he does his own covers. I love this one. (Stephen King might covet this cover…and wish he’d written this tale too.)
Saralyn Richard’s Murder in the One Percent. S...
June 14, 2021
Trumpers…
,,,are malleable, gullible, despicable, and stupid human beings. Those adjectives and more came to mind as I watched a bit of yet another Trump rally on C-Span and yet another mealy-mouthed speech from their fuehrer as he channeled Hitler, Putin, and every other despot from the sad history of this world, autocrats who have preached hate to their misguided populations. How can this scurrilous human horde of Trumpers love such a fascist? Let’s put these bugs infesting our democracy under the micro...
June 11, 2021
“Friday Fiction” Series: A Life Not Lived…
A Life Not Lived
Copyright 2021, Steven M. Moore
[Note from Steve: If you read my short story “The Case of the Carriageless Horse” in World Enough and Crime, or listened to the inimitable Donna Carrick read it in her podcast (see the link on my Home Page, you know that its subject is Detective Castilblanco’s first case. This is another early case, something like a sequel to that first story. Chen is around somewhere, just not yet Castilblanco’s partner.]
I went to greet Rob Jackson when he got ...
June 9, 2021
I’m a failure…
…by the standards the publishing industry has for measuring failure: With all the novels I’ve written, not one has been a “bestseller,” whatever that means. That means I’m also a failure in the eyes of the editors of the NY Times “Book Review” section (most small press and self-published authors are failures using that metric). Guess what? Borrowing Rhett Butler’s phrase, I don’t give a damn!
There are many reasons for my attitude. Here’s one: I’ve had a lot of fun telling my stories since I sta...
June 7, 2021
Gotcha!
Any novel worth the name has a lot of words. Mine are generally between 65 and 85 kwords in length without counting front and back material. There’s always a chance that a few editing errors remain. Annoying reviewers focus on them, some even going so far as to state, “Look, another poorly edited self-published (or small press) book.” I resent such remarks because, in my case, I go through an extensive editing process.
I catch many copy-editing errors myself in reading or reviewing mode, even in...
