Hank Quense's Blog: Hank Quense's Blog, page 102

Burga's Chicken Recipe

Blogger: Burga the Warrior-Cook is back with another recipe for us.

Burga: Every year inna fall after campaigning season is over, all us heroes get together at the Hero's Guild in Dun Hythe and have a big feast.  We drink a lotta ale and swap lies about what we did durin' the warm weather.  I always cook up a pile of chickens for these parties and here's how I do it.

First, get the chickens cut up inna parts

Then I sprinkle a lotta celery salt and onion powder on the chickens and let 'em set...

Lucy in Love Trailer

Lucy in Love is one of the stories in my Tunnel Vision collection.   Check out the trailer for this short story.  The story is even better than the trailer.

Mountains on the Moon: by Jan Clark

Mountains on the Moon was written by my friend Jan Clark and I bought a copy for my eight-year-old granddaughter, Anna Messina.  After she read it, I interviewed her to see how she liked the book.

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Me: Did you like the book?

Anna: Yeah.

Me: is it the best book you ever read?

Anna: No.

Me: Is it better or worse then most books you've read?

Anna: Better.

Me: Why did you like the book?

Anna: because it had a magical cat.

Me: Who was your favorite character?

Anna: Selena

Me: Why?

Anna: Because she was a...

Empty Words

This paragraph is taken from Get it in Gear, my ebook that contains my fiction-writing articles and advice for beginning writers.

These are words such as: very, even, ever, really, still, just.  In many cases, they have no individual meaning and only increase the word count.  In our real-world conversations, these words are used almost as punctuation marks and that usage carries over into our writing.  The test for an empty word is to remove it from the sentence and see if the meaning...

A review: The Sheriff of Yrnameer

by Michael Rubens

This book is a rarity: a funny Sci-Fi book.  I don't think I've read one since Douglas Adams died.  The protagonist in this novel is Cole, a likable rogue who is frequently on the verge of getting murdered in a horrible way.  The character trying hardest is Kenneth, a friendly, very large insectoid.  Cole has welshed on repaying Kenneth a few times and Kenneth plans on getting even by implanting fifty thousand eggs in Cole's brain via one of his eyes.  When they hatch, the...

Tunnel Vision Table of Contents Part 2

[image error]Listed below are the first ten stories in this collection and a short synopsis of each.  The collection is now available in e-book and print editions. If you want to watch trailers for three of the stories and read the reviews first go to my website.

Rogue Wizard:  Brodwin, a wizard,has trouble following the orders of his hated superior.

Tunnel Vision:  The maestro at a small college fights his nemesis, the Dean of Physics, to maintain the Musicology Department's share of the budget.

Ballot...

Jingo by Terry Pratchett

While I've enjoyed every Terry Pratchett book I've read, I think Jingo has to rank near the top, possibly the best one Pratchett wrote.  As with his others, it depicts the foibles of human interactions, this time it's war over a piece of soggy, seaweed-covered speck of land, an island that suddenly rises from the sea half-way between the countries of Ankh-Morpork (home of the good guys) and Klatch (home of the nasty foreigners).  People in both countries get pumped up for war by accusing the ...

Saving the Shore Sampler

This sampler is taken from one of the stories in the Tunnel Vision collection:

Synopsis:  Frido, a descendent of the Ringbearer and mayor of the Shore, needs a magical artifact to protect the Shore from deprivation by a yuk construction crew.  He plans to steal the artifact from an elderly dragon named Wygga with the help of his three companions.  Mamzer is a wizard, Dementia is an elf-maiden bard and Gimlet is a dwarf warrior.

Frido lurked in the shadows of a narrow tunnel and observed...

Life's Decisive Forces

It has been my experience over many years that are two decisive forces at work in our world, and perhaps throughout the galaxy.

One force exerts a negative impact on people while the second exerts either a positive or a negative change depending upon whether a person is sending or receiving the force.  The second force frequently derives from the constant application of the first and this second force more often than not, destroys the first one when the two forces come into contact.

The...

Newbie Writers DIscussion Forum

I'll be featured as a guest on the Newbie Writers discussion forum for four Wednesdays in September: 9/2, 9/9, 9/16 and 9/23.

After posting a brief article on that week's topic, I'll be talking questions on the subject.

The discussion topic for each week is: plotting, motivation, characterization, and story construction. All of the material I use will be taken from Get It In Gear, my collection of fiction writing articles and advice for writers.

Stop by and check it out especially if you're new to