Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 56
November 27, 2019
Reviews for the “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries”…
[Note from Steve: In an attempt to declutter my web page “Books & Short Stories,” I’m going to start collecting some significant reviews for each book or series in the blog category “My Reviews.” When all is said and done, readers can search for a book title and see the reviews. This might be doubly important, because good reviews I’ve received are often NOT on Amazon. I exclude all reviews by trolls, of course, most of which have zero content and contain only vitriol—Lord knows why. You’ll...
November 26, 2019
Prescient writing or unheeded warnings?
Many times sci-fi writers get it right. Arthur C. Clarke’s comsats are now ubiquitous, Theodore Sturgeon’s spread-spectrum communications is tech in hand every time you pick up your cellphone, and Isaac Asimov’s robots have morphed into assembly-line miracles and precision surgical tools.
Bioengineering is the name of the game in the 21st century. Cloning and specially designed plants and animals generate lots of debate, but they will occur, for better or worse. In my “Clones and Mutants...
November 21, 2019
Steve’s shorts: Deathday…
Deathday
Copyright 2019, Steven M. Moore
Ralph Middleton, born January 7, 1997. Died January 7, 2067. He tossed the rest of the prefab death certificate on the table, sipped his synthetic coffee, and frowned. He’d simply filled in his name where appropriate in the state-recommended obituary. There was no one left to care who he was or what he had done during his lifetime anyway. The only person who could possibly care now is me, and I don’t give a shit.
He’d seen a lot in seventy years. He’d...
November 20, 2019
Reviews for The Last Humans…
[Note from Steve: In an attempt to declutter my web page “Books & Short Stories,” I’m going to start collecting some significant reviews for each book in the blog category “My Reviews.” When all is said and done, readers can search for a book title or its series and see the reviews. This might be doubly important, because good reviews I’ve received are often NOT on Amazon. I exclude all reviews by trolls, of course, most of which have zero content and contain only vitriol—Lord knows why. You’...
November 19, 2019
Settings, real and imagined…
Today it’s difficult to determine whether authors have visited any of the settings used in their novels. While I obviously haven’t been to Luna, Mars, or any planet in the 82 Eridani star system (all settings in my sci-fi stories), I’ve traveled a bit on our home planet and observed a lot in situ. But authors can also personalize other settings they’ve never been to by using Google Maps and Google Earth for generalities and then embellishing with their imaginations. There’s nothing wrong with that...
November 14, 2019
Tech giants are too big…
Do you often feel like you’re David vs. Goliath when confronting the tech giants? You should! You don’t even have a slingshot to use in any individual confrontation. And you’re not alone. The courts are way out of their league too. In fact, the tech giants are multinationals with more power than most governments. Only the EU, a combination of many governments, seems to be able to stand up to them. The US is largely successful, largely because money interests dominate both political parties an...
November 13, 2019
Reviews for Son of Thunder…
[Note from Steve: In an attempt to declutter my web page “Books & Short Stories,” I’m going to start collecting some significant reviews for each book in the blog category “My Reviews.” When all is said and done, readers can search for a book title and see the reviews. This might be doubly important, because good reviews I’ve received are often NOT on Amazon. I exclude all reviews by trolls, of course, most of which have zero content and contain only vitriol—Lord knows why. You’ll find most o...
November 12, 2019
Fiction, non-fiction, and fact finding…
I read a lot of non-fiction in addition to genre fiction, and I consider myself a lifelong student of history as well as being well-versed in current events. Non-fiction books should always be fact-checked. What about fiction books? And who’s responsible for the fact-checking?
Ultimately publishers and authors are both responsible for fact-checking. Both share the royalties for their books. Publishers often say it’s the responsibility of the authors, that they don’t have the staff to do it. The authors do?
I...
November 11, 2019
Veterans Day…
You might not be a veteran or have a veteran in your life, but I assure you veterans have touched your life. The many freedoms you and I enjoy exist because many women and men felt the call to duty to protect our way of life, especially after 9/11 when terrorism created a new battlefront against forces of evil who would enslave human beings worldwide…and continue to do so. Freedom is a precious thing, and it is worth fighting for. Join with me today to celebrate our veterans, many of them wou...
November 7, 2019
“You must read…”
People often know I’m an author after they know I’m an avid reader—for one thing, I present myself that way. In polite conversation, somewhat rare in this politically charged environment, we often turn to culture, usually a safe topic. After chatting about movies and musicals—often not blockbusters, by the way, because I rarely see them—we often move on to books. Then comes the pat on the arm and the statement, “You must read….”
Here’s why I hate that expression: it reflects the business model of th...
