Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 60
September 5, 2019
Freelancing…
The decision I made long ago that I’d better do something else because I couldn’t make money at writing to feed a family was a good one. That might not sit well with aspiring young writers. Admittedly I’m just one datum in a very large statistical pool of writers. And I have to qualify the statement: the writing I’m doing now is not profitable enough to support a family either.
That said, there are other ways besides novel writing that a writer can use to make a living: ghost writing, editing...
September 4, 2019
Mini-Reviews of Books #43…
The Skeletons of Birkbury. Dana J. Febry, author. For a first novel, this is very entertaining…and it’s one of my favorite subgenres, British mysteries. I suppose it’s self-published—the copyright doesn’t even have a date on it. Come to think of it, I won’t put dates on books I review anymore. Unlike many people, I don’t neglect “evergreen books,” and this certainly falls into that class of books that are always current and entertaining. As for the myth about all those self-published books wi...
September 3, 2019
The right word…
When I started my last day-job, occasionally the language in my mind was still Spanish. I would make work presentations where I’d need to adlib a bit, especially in Q&A, and it was frustrating that sometimes the Spanish word was the first one to pop into my mind…and embarrassing when I used it. I’d spent a long time living in Colombia and had reached the point where I even dreamed in Spanish—extreme total immersion, if you will—so I wrote this off as a natural phenomena that would soon go awa...
August 30, 2019
Movie Reviews # 79…
Luce. Julius Onah, dir. A better title for this movie would be Boxes. Its theme is about the artificial boxes built around people (societal expectations) and boxes built around themselves (goals), especially for blacks in America.
A seven-year-old refugee from war-torn Eritrea is adopted by the Edgars and given the name Luce. We’re left to wonder throughout the movie if this adoption occurred for the wrong reasons, including the Edgars feeling good about themselves. Luce is black; the Edgars...
August 29, 2019
Globalized literature…
As I watched PBS’s presentation of the Vienna Summer Concert recently, I started thinking about globalized literature. Yes, the music was great, and I hummed the great, rousing trombone countermelody from Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes” along with the orchestra because I’d once come to the front of the stage with my fellow trombonists to blast that out as part of a rousing finale for a high school band concert decades ago. Of course, the Vienna Philharmonic isn’t a band, but they were playing bot...
August 28, 2019
Steve’s shorts: The Stalker, Part Two…
The Stalker
Part Two
Copyright 2019, Steven M. Moore
“I turn my heat down to sixty at night,” Mary Lou said after Raul arrived, studied the emails, and reiterated his intentions of sleeping on the rug in front of her door. “Let me get you a blanket. I have some sharp knives. Do you want a weapon?”
He laughed. “Mary Lou, don’t worry.” He jerked a thumb towards the door. “With your door lock and two deadbolts, he’s not getting in here easily. But I’ll have my cellphone ready to dial 9-1-1 if he...
August 27, 2019
Amazon…accomplices in a crime?
I allege they are. The country’s largest retailer started as an online bookstore. Maybe now they should be banned from the book business?
I’ve hammered the online retailer for years on this blog, and for many reasons, but the story about illegal copies of my favorite classics like 1984 and Animal Farm in August 20’s NY Times is my tipping point. Orwell’s estate isn’t getting any royalties from these classic dystopian books and others. Someone else is, because they’re often rewritten (some by...
August 22, 2019
Have you read…?
In book events and online, I often get the question, “Have you read X’s book Y?” I don’t know about other authors, but I’m not embarrassed to say, “No, I haven’t.”
I know where readers are coming from when they ask such a question. They either follow X or really liked Y, and that “or” isn’t necessarily exclusive. I could be dishonest or say something like “I’ll have to look out for X’s books.” That would make the person who’s asking feel better and maybe validate her or his reading choices, b...
August 21, 2019
Steve’s shorts: The Stalker, Part One…
The Stalker
Copyright 2019, Steven M. Moore
Mary Lou stopped trying to make sense of the complicated spreadsheet to watch Raul bend over to pick up a sheet of paper that had fluttered off her desk. She sighed.
“Perdoneme por interrumpir,” he said, handing her the paper with a flourish. “La señorita quizá necesite este papelito?”
She only understood señorita, but his gentleman’s gesture was clear. “Gracias, Raul.”
“De nada.” He smiled and continued on his journey down the aisle...
August 20, 2019
Escapism…
I get it. People live vicariously via their fantasy movies—Endgame, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones,…. They also get lost in their computer games, so much so that Fortnite becomes a competition on national TV. I don’t agree with you-know-who that either one drives gun violence. This kind of escapism is a much healthier way to get a high, even compared to gambling, alcohol, or opioids. But the scientist in me makes me think there should probably be an organization with acronym EA, for...
