Benjamin X. Wretlind's Blog, page 18
December 25, 2021
Short Story: The Royal
I used to own a 1936 Royal typewriter, the “original laptop.” It was a heavy beast, too. This story was written in 2003, back when the typewriter was on the desk beside me. I lost it in a flood about fifteen years ago, but I still have that itch to find another. I just hope…
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December 22, 2021
What the Devil is Anthropological Science Fiction?
Anthropological Science Fiction sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Maybe when we break down it down, it is indeed. In simplest terms, anthropology is “the study of human societies and cultures and their development” (thank you Oxford). When we think of anthropology, we consider the past (i.e., how did we get here?). Science Fiction on…
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December 21, 2021
Review: Paper Castles by B. Fox
Description (from Amazon.com) Foreclosures are hitting record highs; unemployment is skyrocketing, and the economy is in shambles. Equally broke and futureless, 28–year–old James Brooke, a graduate architect, coffee-addict, and self–described average nobody has returned to his small hometown in West Ohio. Torn between his fanciful dreams and the need to pay off bills, he struggles…
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December 20, 2021
Review: Music Shall Untune the Sky by Lou Kemp
Description (from Amazon.com) When the battles begin, can anyone survive when magic meets magic? It is 1865 and three close friends; the immortal magician Celwyn, the automat Professor Xiau Kang, and Bartholomew, a scientist and widower from Sudan, set out on another adventure as they travel to Singapore to fetch the professor’s wife. Their private,…
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December 16, 2021
Review: The Violins Played before Junstan by Lou Kemp
Description (from Amazon.com) PrequelSan Francisco, 1865. At first, the immortal peyote-eating magician Celwyn is hired to deliver an automat, Professor Kang, to a priest called Talos. Everything Talos told Celwyn was a lie, and by the time their ship, the Zelda, encounters a terrific storm in the Arctic Circle, Celwyn finds he must reconsider his allegiance. He…
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Review: Stalin’s Door by John St. Clair
Description (from Amazon.com) In the dangerous time of Russia’s Great Terror, a knock on the door late at night could mean only one thing! Moscow, 1937. As mortal fear engulfs the capital city, a singular man cements his lethal grip of absolute power over an entire nation. Accusations, mass arrests, executions, and deportations become de…
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Review: Call Numbers by Syntell Smith
Description (from Amazon.com) Life is a book… and every person is a chapter. Everything’s looking up for Robin Walker. It’s 1994 in New York City, and he’s been transferred downtown to the 58th Street Branch Library. Ready to move up the ladder, Robin is excited about the opportunities that await him. But success, personal or…
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December 14, 2021
What’s not to love about a literary smörgåsbord?
Today marks the release of a true literary smörgåsbord of short stories, novellas and bad poetry. I’m talking about my collection Regarding Dead Things on the Side of the Road. For those who have been with me on this writer’s journey for a long time, you may be wondering why this is news. Last year,…
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December 7, 2021
What Just Happened? An Incomplete Journey of a NaNoWriMo Newbie – Part 2
What Just Happened? I am a NaNoWriMo Newbie and I have been on a NaNoWriMo journey for the past month. I decided to try this annual festival that urges writers to whip out 50,000 words in just 30 days. The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting creative writing. Its main…
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Surprise! It’s a New Novella!
While working on all the things related to launching my next novel Out of Due Season: The First Transit (and the whole Transit series), I’ve been taking some time to write other things. One of those things is available now! Sunset on Maior Pales is a fun novella, about 120 pages long and available at…
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