Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 77
November 1, 2018
Steve’s shorts: Retiree Number 114 at Pine Hills Manor…
Retiree Number 114 at Pine Hills Manor
Virginia, 2030
Copyright 2008, 2013, Steven M. Moore
Brenda moved along the dim corridor and stopped at room 114. After checking off the visit on her list, she peeked into the room at her patient.
Rafael, the old retiree, sat in his rocker, muttering to himself. As usual, he was smiling and staring out the window between thick, wrought iron bars at the bleak Virginia countryside.
She thought he might like winter because he used to ski, but she couldn’t...
October 31, 2018
Interviewing author Yvonne Rediger…
Steve: It’s my privilege today to interview author Yvonne Rediger. Many readers know that urban fantasy is a hot new subgenre of fantasy, and Yvonne has started a fantastic series called the “VIC Shapeshifter” series, starting with The Shape of Us and continuing with Hell Cat (to be published this fall) and Trusting the Wolf (for 2019). But, like yours truly and many other authors, Yvonne writes in several genres. This prolific author has written two mystery novels in the “Musgrave Landing My...
October 30, 2018
Book formats…
Some authors are traditionally published and have their book formats determined by their publishers. Others must decide. (Being a mongrel author, I know both sides well.) A minority must decide on the print formats for their books. Each format has particular followers, but there’s a lot of overlap among those groups.
The “classic formats” are now hardbounds, trade paperbacks, and small paperbacks, among the print versions, various ebook formats (mostly .mobi and .epub), and audiobooks. The me...
October 25, 2018
ABC shorts: Return Visit…
[Note from Steve: A. B. Carolan doesn’t always write for young adults. I suspect this pithy little tale he sent me from Donegal is motivated by how the rest of the world now sees the U.S., but you can ask him.]
Return Visit
Copyright 2018, A. B. Carolan
Nalek turned the stun field on and walked into the cave. The furry male with the deep set eyes must have heard him coming because he was frozen into position but staring at the cave’s entrance. The female—his mate?—was frozen in her sitting po...
October 24, 2018
Interviewing author June Trop…
Steve: Today I have the pleasure of interviewing author June Trop, who has written an outstanding historical mystery series set in first-century CE Roman Alexandria, an interesting combination of the historical fiction and mystery genres. Without further ado, why don’t you tell the readers of this blog a bit about yourself.
June: I’ll discuss the series first. It contains the following novels: The Deadliest Lie (Bell Bridge, 2013), praised by the Historical Novel Society; The Deadliest Hate (...
October 23, 2018
Readers and writers helping authors…
I don’t know about other readers, but I have a vested interest in increasing the number of good books written by good authors. In my article “Internet PR and Marketing” (9/25/2018), I lamented that self-published authors and authors published by small presses have a tough time getting their work known. In spite of Big Five claims to the contrary, ALL authors have a tough time nowadays unless they’re among the ones pampered by those big publishing houses. And a reader who likes a good book sho...
October 19, 2018
Mini-Reviews of Books #36…
Twisted Traffick. Geza Tetrallyay, author (Black Opal Books, 2017). Author/professor Greg Martens and his wife, ex-Interpol agent Anne Rossiter, are called back to Vienna to help find Julia Saparova, physicist and IAEA monitor, who is responsible for monitoring several sites in Russia. Trying to find her leads to an international gang of cutthroats that specialize in human trafficking and arms smuggling, including obtaining enriched uranium for terrorists.
The good: This book is well-plotted...
October 18, 2018
Steve’s shorts: Militia Hostage…
Militia Hostage
Copyright 2018, Steven M. Moore
Sullie saw the Jeep Cherokee winding its way along the dirt road, often hidden by pine trees and leaving a dust cloud behind it when visible. He looked at his dog lying on his old throw rug; Fang wagged his tail.
“Looks like we have visitors, old boy.” He reached for his shoulder holster containing his Glock and slipped it on while still sitting in the wicker rocker.
The dog then sensed the approaching vehicle, sprang to a sitting position, and...
October 17, 2018
Interviewing author Howard Levine…
Steve: Today I’m interviewing author Howard Levine. Because he’s written a new thriller, Last Gasp, we have a lot in common. I bought the new book the moment I saw it. Without further ado, let’s hear from Howard.
Howard on Reading and Writing:
Steve: Why, how, and when did you start writing?
Howard: I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I started writing in earnest because I wanted to express some ideas regarding life as a whole in a fictional context. I did that with my first published novel, Le...
October 16, 2018
Real people, real things…
You’ve probably read something like this after the copyright in every fiction book you’ve read: “This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.” Something to that effect, at least. The publisher or author might add something about settings and products, if real, are only used in a fictional context.
Such statements are made by authors and publishers to protect them against lawsuits for libel and/or slander for the most part. Most characters...
