Hank Quense's Blog: Hank Quense's Blog, page 87
January 8, 2011
The Zaftans Are Coming!
On January 31, 2011 to be exact.
Tired of reading scifi and fantasy stories that take themselves too seriously? Zaftan Entrepreneurs is a unique First Contact story; it is part adventure and part corporate and political satire spiced with comic relief.
In it you'll find nasty, snarly aliens, fantasy creatures, humans, romance, magic, and–just like the real world–incompetent politicians and feuding bureaucracies. What more could a fantasy/scifi reader ask for?
So far it has received two five star reviews. You can read them on my website or on Goodreads.
The novel will be available in print and ebook versions
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January 2, 2011
The NEW Faux News Network
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Welcome to the new year and to the NEW Faux News Network. We have a new masthead and motto and we have significantly increased our staff.
Below, you will find the complete staff of FNN. We look forward to reporting on a number of exciting topics in 2011
Remember, you get Faux News Network reports ONLY on this blog.
Publisher and editor in chief: Deleted (by recommendation from Counsel)
Economic reporter: Cash Krugerrand
Sports reporter: Jock Stapper
Political reporter: Stacy Conundrum
Culture Reporter: Marcia Hammerhead:
Zaftan 31B reporter: Chazerei
Gundarland Reporter: Sandra Elfenheimer
Travel Reporter (including time travel): Gina Vagabond
Science Reporter: Sue Entropy
Health/Medical Reporter: Ben Angioplast
Entertainment reporter: Mia Diversion
Religion reporter: Sacre Mon-Dieu
Research supervisor: Ian Inquisitive
Office manager, janitor and Chief Counsel: Jan Obtuse
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December 30, 2010
Book Package Deals
Start the New Year off right with plenty of laughs. Pick up a package of my books at discounted prices. The package deals include the three books shown below. All books are signed and mailed to your home or business. Don't miss out. These offers won't last forever. When my supply of books is exhausted, the deals are over. The deals are listed on my website here.
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Fool's Gold Cover
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December 17, 2010
The Complete McAuslan: a review
Quite by accident while searching for George Frazier McDonald books, I came across The Complete McAuslan. This is a collection of three complete novels packaged in a single book.
I downloaded it and started reading it immediately. I found it amusing, entertaining and punctuated with laugh-out-loud scenes. The title character, Private McAuslan, is the dirtiest soldier in the Scottish Highland regiment and in the entire army. Whenever the regiment has an important inspection by the higher command, McAulsan is given liberty so he won't be around for it. Unfortunately, McAuslan always shows up, out of uniform (i.e.without his kilt), drunk and escorted by several MP's.
Each novel consists of a series of short stories, all told by a young subaltern, MacNeill, who joins the regiment in North Africa at the conclusion of World War II. MacNeill is in charge of McAuslan's platoon. The stories are spread around North Africa and many are set in Scotland after the regiment is returned to its home turf.
I give this one the maximum number of stars allowed. I think it is one of McDonald's best and I've read most of his Flashman books.
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December 15, 2010
Interview with author Walter Rhein
1. Can you tell us a little bit about "The Bone Sword?"
"The Bone Sword" is kind of what I like to call a counter-culture fantasy novel. What I mean by that is that it's not the same old fantasy adventure that you've read a thousand times. The first thing you'll[image error]notice about the book, is that it's short. I believe the final version ended up being only 230 pages or so. The reason it's short is because I didn't want to write one of those books where you have to read 100 before you even know who all the characters are. With "The Bone Sword" my purpose was to get to the action quickly and keep the pedal to the metal until the end!
2. What's your background with writing?
I studied English Literature in college. Secretly I've always wanted to write, but I didn't see the advantage of studying creative writing (and I still don't frankly). Even Literature is kind of a hard sell for people who think that a degree should be something that should actually make you money someday! I never really put my degree to the market test in the US, however, because shortly after graduation I moved to Lima, Peru. In Peru, a degree in English actually IS worth something, since there are a lot of institutes where people want to learn English.
In Peru, I worked as a teacher and translator as well as a freelance writer. During my last few years there I was the editor of Peru's largest English language magazine, and then the largest English language web page.
If you want to hear the FULL history of my writing background though, I suppose that starts in the cradle. I literally have boxes and boxes filled with old notebooks of stories that I used to scribble down. I had my first story published as a High School Sophomore, and it's just been going on from there!
3. Who are your inspirations/influences?
Anybody who writes fantasy has to say Tolkien first and foremost. He's set the standard and nobody else has even come close to doing what he did. Before I read Tolkien, I read Terry Brooks' "Shannara" series (which is essentially just a rehashing of Tolkien).
I like a lot of the "classic" fantasy like Robert E. Howard (he's better than anyone gives him credit for), and I like the people he influenced.
Raymond E. Feist is good and so is Lawrence Watt-Evans. I'm also a big fan of Piers Anthony, it all depends on my mood!
Oh, and Charles Bukowski (not fantasy…just a good writer!).
4. Who was responsible for the cover/book design?
That was done by my publisher with my input. I was thinking of doing a little bit more of a "hard" cover showing a close-up of the protagonist with the weapon at his side. But my publisher decided to go with one of the side characters instead. I think it turned out pretty cool!
5. What are you doing in terms of marketing/publicity?
This is a huge question actually! In the last year I've learned SO MUCH about using social networking, etc., to promote your work. I'm finding that writing really is a community. People might have the illusion that writer's just sit in tiny little cubbyholes in some pastoral autumn setting and type away, but that's not the case at all. You really have to get out there and get to know people in order for any buzz about your book to be generated at all.
[image error]I've been writing a lot of articles about what I've been doing for the blog at my publisher's site. Here's one about digg:
http://www.rhemalda.com/info/2010/11/digg/
And here's one about Facebook and Networked Blogs:
http://www.rhemalda.com/info/2010/12/networked-blogs-facebook-book-promotion/
Incidentally, if anyone who reads this is interested in doing some mutual "digging" on digg, then just get in touch with me. The easiest place to find me is on Facebook. Just send me a message with "digg" as the subject!
http://www.facebook.com/wrhein
6. What projects do you have planned for the future?
I've got a couple really good things coming up actually. First is a memoir about my days as a Cross-Country skier which is being published again with Rhemalda. I'm also working on a sequel for "The Bone Sword." In addition to that, you can check out my writing on my blogs:
Swordreaver (fantasy and craft of writing blog):
http://walterrhein.blogspot.com/
Streets of Lima (travel/Peru blog):
http://streetsofperu.blogspot.com/
CyclovaXC (fitness and exercise blog):
http://www.cyclova-xc.blogspot.com/
7. Is there anything else about you we should know?
Just that I really appreciate you taking the time to interview me and post this on your blog! Make sure you check out "The Bone Sword" on Amazon.com in either Paperback:
Or Kindle:
Thanks again!
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December 12, 2010
The Voters Speak
The Democrats, stunned by the loss of so many seats, met and decided to "stay the course," Bush's favorite bromide. They reelected the same incompetent leaders who lost all the seats because of their inability to "lead" or even to put together a coherent message.
As an added insult, the Republicans have announced that they have no intention of addressing the nation's problems; they will concentrate strictly on fighting Democratic initiatives to exclusion of everything else.
So much for listening to the voters.
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December 9, 2010
Holiday Gift Idea
This award-winning book is a collection of stories: six short stories and two novellas. The common theme that links the stories is that they all take place in Gundarland, the largest land mass on the planet Gundar.
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The Gundarian solar system is in a parallel universe only a short wormhole jump away from our own universe.
The collection has been described by reviewers as "hysterical", "…side-splittingly funny" and a "…comical roller coaster." Those comments bring me to the great benefit you get from reading this book: better health. It is a well-known medical fact that laughter is good for your health. It reduces stress levels and lowers blood pressure. What more can you want from a book? What more can you ask from a gift?
This year, give the gift of entertainment and better health.
You can read all the reviews on my website.
Go here to buy the print version and here to buy the ebook version. It comes in a number of formats for all the current e-readers.
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December 7, 2010
Price Reduction: Build a Better Story
The price on my fiction writing book has been reduced 25%, just in time to give it as a holiday gift to a writer you know. Go here to download a copy from my website or here to get a copy from[image error]Smashwords.
The book covers a wealth of topics including Story Construction, Motivation, Character Development, Plotting a Story, Writing a Scene, Point of View and much more.
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The price on my fiction writing book has been reduced 25%...
The price on my fiction writing book has been reduced 25%, just in time to give it as a holiday gift to a writer you know. Go here to download a copy from my website or here to get a copy from[image error]Smashwords.
The book covers a wealth of topics including Story Construction, Motivation, Character Development, Plotting a Story, Writing a Scene, Point of View and much more.
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December 5, 2010
Rutgers Football
Now that the Rutgers University football team has ended its disastrous season by losing six straight and eight overall, will the grossly overpaid head coach give back part of his outrageous salary?
If not, why not?
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Hank Quense's Blog
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