Steven Howell Wilson's Blog, page 37

Peace Lord is now on Audible!

Peace Lord of the Red Planet, my 2010 novel of mythology, pacifism and cultural mores is now available on Audible.com. If you’re not an Audible member, they offer your first book free. AND, if that first book isPeace Lord, I get a $50 royalty bonus for bringing in a new member. You just have to stay a member for at least six days. And, if you can afford to, I’d recommend staying a member. You get one new audiobook every month with your membership.

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Even at His Worst He’s Still the Best – Robert A. Heinlein’s I Will Fear No Evil

I Will Fear No Evil was Robert A. Heinlein ‘s 26th novel, published in 1970. At this point, the Grandmaster was 62 years old that year, and had four Hugo Awards for best novel to his credit. IWFNE is widely regarded by science fiction fans (and there are no higher authorities on everything) as the worst thing he ever published.

I love this book. I’ve read it a half dozen times since high school (as I’ve read all of RAH’s later novels repeatedly) and will probably read it a half dozen more if...

Do Star Trek Fans Just Not Understand Copyright?

Intellectual Property–copyright–is the topic at hand right now in Star Trek circles. The high profile Axanar team has been hit with a lawsuit for violating CBS’s copyright in making an independent Star Trek film. Meanwhile, on one of the Trek-related bulletin boards, some fans have noticed similarities between a fan film and my 2006 novel Taken Liberty. I blogged about those similarities last year, saying I saw several points of plot overlap between the film and my book. Several of those comm...

What Drives Kylo Ren? The Psychology of a Poor Little Fascist Boy

“You,” she heard herself saying clearly, “you’re afraid. That you’ll never be as strong as–Darth Vader!” –from Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster

Spoilers. See the movie first. Blah, blah, blah.

Think about it—a kid raised to privilege. He’s the son of a princess who’s also a senator and a general. She may be on the run from enemies sometimes, but this is a lady who has access to entire planets to spread out and live on, and who commands a large, imposing fleet of space fighters...

Ultraman Manga Action Figure – Guest Review on The Figure in Question

Photo by The Figure in Question – thefigureinquestion.wordpress.com

So I was happy to get an Ultraman Manga figure for Christmas. As a companion piece to my review of the trade, I wrote a guest-review of the figure on my son’s action figure blog, The Figure in Question.

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Lessons Learned: Self Publishing – Part Two

Originally Published March 12th, 2012

Last week, I discussed my experiences with production and distribution as a self publisher / small press. Obviously (or maybe it isn’t obvious!) the job isn’t done when the book is created and made available for sale. There’s a lot that has to happen to let potential readers and listeners know that your book exists. Also, since I focused so heavily on distribution last time, I neglected to mention some things about the pre-distribution steps involved in...

Lessons Learned: Self Publishing – Part One

Originally Published March 5th, 2012

Taking a break from reviewing, I thought maybe I could (or should?) share some information that’s in my head. It may be of benefit to some. It may be stone useless. As always, the reader decides what’s useful. (I hope eternally, at any rate. Please don’t let anyone tell you what information is useful to you! If they try to do so, at the very least be skeptical.)

See, I’ve been doing a lot of panels lately, at Farpoint and Mysticon. Some of them were just e...

Review – Ultraman (the Manga)

I don’t read a lot of Manga. I’ve read a half-dozen of them in my life. I have nothing against the genre, it just doesn’t often grab me. Even when a sort of hybrid Manga is produced, which stars characters I know from other media, the product usually doesn’t reach out and grab me.

According to Wikipedia, by the way, “Manga” simply refers to comics created in Japan; so the word “Manga” then wouldn’t necessarily refer to a body of work whose members all share the same characteristics, any more...

The Pretender – Epilogue

EPILOGUE

The former radiation-proof bunker under what Tanya had dubbed “Moonbase Beta” had space enough for each of the seven human occupants to have separate quarters. Jackie would live with Sue, of course; but soon enough, he would grow and want his own room.

If they lived that long.

It wasn’t a bitter reflection from Victor Bergman, only a matter-of-fact one. The odds were against them. They had no Eagles, and couldn’t leave the confines of what was once a humble monitoring station. They...

The Pretender – Act Four

After the previous act, a few readers wondered if there would even be another. Hey, I said “Four acts,” right? I did. Go back and check. And, after this, there’s a brief epilogue.

Thanks again to my beta readers and proofreader, as well as to those of you who’ve shared and commented. Please Note re: Facebook: While I am still pushing blog links to FB, I am not monitoring my wall there. Needed to take a break for at least a couple of days, perhaps a permanent one. So, if you comment on FB, I...