Phil Giunta's Blog, page 24
March 5, 2020
Celebrate “Reavers Day” on the Infinite Bard!
The Infinite Bard bring us another FREE short story! This week, joins us for “Reavers Day” by Michael Kingswood.
Click here image below to read.
February 23, 2020
Book Review: The Ends of Time edited by Robert Silverberg
The end is nigh as chronicled in The Ends of Time by seven masters of science fiction including Poul Anderson, John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Fritz Leiber, Robert Silverberg (editor), Cordwainer Smith, and Jack Vance.
Most, but not all, of my favorites from this anthology also happen to be the longest tales in the book, including:
“Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” by Cordwainer Smith – Paul and Virginia, members of a reborn human race on a post-apocalyptic Earth, were created only recently, with scant memories of a human society long extinct. To ensure that they are actually in love and not simply programmed to be, Paul and Virginia traverse the treacherous Alpha Ralpha Boulevard in order to put the question to the omniscient machine known as the Abba-dingo.
“Guyal of Sfere” by Jack Vance – To satisfy his voracious hunger, Guyal leaves the safety of his homeland and ventures north, braving several surreal dangers, to find the legendary Museum of Man where all of his questions will be answered by the Curator. Of course, they’ll first need to defeat the hideous demon infesting the museum.
“Epilogue” by Poul Anderson – In the far future, humans return to a long-abandoned Earth only to find that machines have evolved into sentient and fearful robots who have radically transformed the landscape—and are not fond of intruders.
“When the Last Gods Die” by Fritz Leiber – On Earth’s final day, members of the last generation to leave the planet return from space to dissuade the inconsolable Roman gods from terminating their own existence.
Other excellent tales include “The Awakening” by Arthur C. Clarke, “Twilight” by John W. Campbell, “At the End of Days” by Robert Silverberg, and, appropriately, “Last” by Fritz Leiber.
February 17, 2020
Firebringer Books on Sale at Amazon!
His Death was only the Beginning… Shepherd Autrey is a Quaker, a physician, and a man deeply disturbed by the madness around him as the War Between the States bears down on his America in 1863. Dared by a friend to take an active role, Shep volunteers to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of Sherman’s scorched earth campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. There, he runs foul of a Confederate recruiting drive and finds himself hanged by the neck from a tree. Awakening in a strange land which can’t possibly be earth, Shep is plunged into battle and saves the life of an alien warrior prince. Hailed by bloodthirsty killers as the bravest man alive, Shep combats his conscience, his flagging faith, and an ever-growing number of people who want him dead.
The paperback and Kindle versions of writer pal Steven H. Wilson‘s SF/Fantasy novel Peace Lord of the Red Planet are now on sale for $3.18 on Amazon!
While haunted by visions of her brother’s suicide, psychic-medium Miranda Lorensen is called to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to investigate a series of bizarre deaths–some of which are also suicides. Miranda and her team of paranormal investigators quickly find themselves confronted by a vengeful spirit awakened thirty-three years after a bloody family tragedy. Miranda realizes that only she can stop the entity before it claims its final victims, but will her obsession for saving lives redeem her for the brother she failed?
The paperback version of Phil Giunta’s paranormal mystery novel, By Your Side, is now under $8! We honestly have no idea how long these sales will last as prices are adjusted by Amazon’s capricious algorithms without notice.
Thanks again for supporting small press writers!
February 11, 2020
The People Haters Club
This blog post by Jon Pavlovitz came to my attention today on Facebook. I read it immediately because I, too, am tired of hatred.
Before today, I knew little about Pavlovitz, but in his post, he speaks almost precisely to what I—and I’m sure many of you—are experiencing and why I need to occasionally step away from social media, or social disease media, or antisocial media. Call it what you will. It’s a wonderful communication tool, but like any tool, give it to humans and they’ll find the quickest way to weaponize it.
This article speaks to several major contributors to depression, stress, and anxiety. Not merely my own, but in general. Online hatred, bullying, hypocrisy, ignorance, and fear mongering have skyrocketed in the age of Trump and bringing out the worst in people, bolstering their bigotry and chauvinisms, encouraging repulsive behavior. Society seems to have reached a new low in the past few years.
This is partly why I’m becoming increasingly reclusive and protective of what modicum of inner peace I have left.
Yes, I keep moving forward, but I’m tired. Motivated but cautious. Hopeful but presently discouraged. I learned the hard way a long time ago to keep my expectations of people low and I’ll never be disappointed.
We can do better. We must do better.
February 8, 2020
About This Writing Stuff…
This week, Lawrence Block reminds us that while real life often does not make sense, our fiction must. Ruth Harris provides a handy checklist on effective dialogue while Jami Gold and Janice Hardy expound ways to ensure that our characters are not puppets to plot.
Calling all Scrivener users, Gwen Hernandez and Joslyn Chase offer tips on using some of the app’s features to organize our work.
Jennifer L. Harris shows us how to determine whether or not our story ideas will support a full-length novel. Over at the Write Practice, David Stafford reviews methods for applying the principle’s of the Hero’s Journey, and Jane Friedman delivers a comprehensive guide to writing query letters.
All that a little more. Enjoy!
Stop Making Sense: Explaining Some Fiction Rules of Logic by Lawrence Block
He Said. She Said. Fifteen Keys to Writing Great Dialogue by Ruth Harris
How Can We Make Our Protagonist More Proactive? by Jami Gold
Things to Consider When Adding a POV Character by Janice Hardy
What is Causing the Uptick in Independent Bookstores? by Mike Shatzkin
Using Bookmarks in Scrivener 3 for Quick Access to Supporting Materials by Gwen Hernandez
How to Use Scrivener to Write Scenes That Work by Joslyn Chase
5 Essential Hero’s Journey Themes and Symbolic Archetypes That Will Thrill Your Readers by David Stafford
The Complete Guide to Query Letters by Jane Friedman
13 Tips for Writers Who Just Want to Finish Something For Once by Meg Dowell
How to Test Your Story Idea: Is Your Idea Strong Enough to Support a Novel? by Jennifer L. Harris
Why I Don’t Write Every Day by Phoebe Quinn
February 2, 2020
My Schedule for Farpoint 2020
I look forward to returning as a writer guest to Farpoint SF Convention in Hunt Valley, MD in three weeks (Feb. 21-23). If you’ll be there, you can catch me loitering at these events and discussion panels throughout the weekend.
Cocktail Party and Opening Ceremonies – Friday 7PM – Valley Ballroom
Book Fair – Friday 10:00 PM – Hunt Valley Foyer
Firebringer Press Presents – Saturday 11:00 AM – Salon C
Author Autographs (Kozeniewski/Giunta) – Saturday NOON – Author Autograph 1
Crowdfunding Your Work – Saturday 4:00 PM – Salon C
Writer Hobbies – Sunday 11:00 AM – Salon C
Did We Win? The Mainstreaming Of Geek Culture – Sunday 2:00 PM – Chase
January 31, 2020
Book Review: The Wizard of Linn by A.E. Van Vogt
In the distant future, Earth is ruled by the Linnan Empire, led by Lord Adviser Jerrin—until he is poisoned by his scheming wife, Lilidel, in the chaos of an attack by a powerful alien race known as the Riss.
Rather than take his brother’s place and find himself in Lilidel’s crosshairs, the scientist and high priest Clane turns his attention to defeating the Riss with assistance from Czinczar, general of a barbarian army defeated and assimilated by the Linnan years before. Meanwhile, Jerrin’s oldest son, Calaj, is installed as Lord Adviser of Linn, but is wholly unprepared for the responsibility and is quickly corrupted by power and the influence of his mother.
After capturing a Riss vessel during the battle, Clane, Czinczar, and a crew comprised of Linn and barbarian soldiers set off in search of help in their battle against the Riss. After traversing the cosmos for months, they encounter twin planets known as Outland and Inland on which reside agrarian societies of enigmatic humans with remarkable abilities of telepathy and spontaneous teleportation—not to mention an alliance with the Riss!
Clane attempts to forge a friendship with the reluctant Outlanders in order to learn the source of their powers and find a way to use them against the Riss invaders on Earth.
The Wizard of Linn is a sequel to Empire of the Atom, a patchwork novel comprised of short stories focusing on Clane of Linn, who is reviled by the population as much for his physical deformity as for his pursuit of matters beyond their comprehension.
The Wizard of Linn is a stronger and more cohesive story that sees a mature Clane at the height of his scientific prowess. Still, he is not perfect and makes the occasional mistake. The Outlanders find him amusingly incompetent and even upon returning to Earth with the knowledge and technology to potentially rescue the planet from the Riss, Clane is beset by the forces of his nephew Calaj.
January 22, 2020
About This Writing Stuff…
This week, Kristine Kathryn Rusch summarizes exciting opportunities brewing in the audio book space while Anne R. Allen instructs us on writing the almighty query letter.
We’re often inundated with lessons on time management to help us balance our workloads and achieve our writing goals, but Paula Munier reminds us that it’s equally important to set boundaries and learn to say NO.
On a related note, Jami Gold shares the frustrations of juggling contradictions in the writing and publishing world based on a glorious article from Kali Wallace (included below) about the pressures and stresses placed on writers today.
Matt Knight discusses cover art copyright and Kathryn Craft offers methods for handling leaps of time in our narrative. Meanwhile, trolls and sockpuppets continue to erode the value of Goodreads.
All that and a little more. Enjoy!
Business Musings: The Future of Audio by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
How to Write a Professional, Not-Embarrassing Query to an Agent, Reviewer, Editor, or Blogger by Anne R. Allen
The Key to a Writer’s Productivity: Just Say No by Paula Munier
Your Heart is a Moving Target by Kali Wallace
Writing and Publishing are Full of Contradictions by Jami Gold
12 Tips for New Public Speakers by Debbie Burke
Can a Work of Fiction about the Holocaust be Inaccurate? by Patrick Freyne
Looking Deeper into the Goodreads Troll Problem by Camestros Felapton
Book Covers and Copyrights by Matt Knight
The Compelling, Emotional Complex Sentence by Jeanne Cavelos
Bridging Temporal Story Gaps by Kathryn Craft
January 20, 2020
Now You Listen to Me!
When my first two novels were published, I narrated the audio versions myself using a Blue snowball mic and GarageBand (an audio app included with MacOS). I took great pains to ensure professional sound quality and as a result, the comments and reviews of the audio books are as overwhelmingly effusive as those for the ebook and paperbacks.
Back then, the audio versions were available for free on what used to be Podiobooks.com. Podiobooks later merged into Scribl.com and all legacy audiobooks are still available there for free. In fact, you can listen to Testing the Prisoner and By Your Side on Scribl by clicking here. If you do not have an account on Scribl, you will need to create one.
However, I was disappointed to observe that listener reviews did not port over from Podiobooks to Scribl. Later, I discovered my audiobooks on Librivox and not only do they include most of the listener comments from Podiobooks, but new reviews as well. You can listen to my audiobooks on Librivox by clicking here.
At the end of 2018, I released a novella in the same series as my novels. Like Mother, Like Daughters continues the adventures of psychic-medium Miranda Lorensen and this time, she brought along her daughter, Andrea, who is just discovering her own latent abilities to communicate beyond the veil. While Andrea attempts to solve the murder of her lover (with some help from her lover’s ghost), Miranda experiences a past-life vision that nearly kills her.
Like Mother, Like Daughters was released as part of a double-book (remember the classic ACE Doubles?) along with Steven H. Wilson’s vampire tale, Freedom’s Blood. Steven is not only the owner of Firebringer Press publishing, but was also the founder of Prometheus Radio Theatre, a podcast site where listeners could tune into Steve’s Mark Time and Parsec award-winning SF adventure series, The Arbiter Chronicles. Prometheus was also where my audio books first aired prior to Podiobooks.
Thus, it was Steve who encouraged me to record my own audio books ten years ago. Although I was hesitant at first, it wasn’t long before I began to enjoy the experience of voicing characters and finding my own rhythm of reading aloud that carried over into live readings at library events, conventions, and other book events.
So why haven’t I recorded Like Mother, Like Daughters on audio yet? My life and schedule have changed dramatically in the five years between By Your Side and Like Mother, Like Daughters. I’ve been writing and publishing an increasing number of short stories, expanding my reach to one or two new small and medium presses each year. I have a science fiction novel in progress, I’ve changed full time jobs twice and work different (and longer) hours, and I participate in occasional volunteer work in my community. More recently, I’ve been exploring options for going back to school to earn a master’s degree.
In other words, I need three of me to accomplish everything.
Even taking all of the above into consideration, I can’t help but to feel a modicum of guilt for dropping the ball here. Personally, I miss the experience of narrating audio books, but more importantly, the audio book market is immense and I would love to make the time to record Like Mother, Like Daughters and make it available on Audible ACX.
Of course, the other option is to pay a narrator, which could run upwards of $1000. While that’s unaffordable at the moment, it’s certainly not out of the question in the future.
So stay tuned. If the guilt finally overwhelms me, I might just break down and finally record it or shell out the cash to another narrator. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll take the time to listen to my first two novels on audio. There’s no better price than free. Enjoy!
January 18, 2020
Book Review: SLAN by A.E. Van Vogt
John Thomas “Jommy” Cross is a member of the telepathic race of mutant humans called “slans,” eponymously named for Samuel Lann, believed to be their creator. The only physical distinction between the two races are the slan’s set of golden tendrils protruding from their scalps that serve as antennae for their telepathy.
On Earth, slans were overthrown by humans during an ancient war and are still considered the enemy. The police and military are ordered to destroy all slans on sight. Jommy’s father, a renown physicist, was killed when Jommy was a toddler, but not before concealing the secrets of his research in an underground cavern and bequeathing its location to his son.
At the age of nine, after his mother is murdered by the police in broad daylight, Jommy escapes and sets off on his own, but is soon captured by a penurious yet cunning old termagant who threatens to report him unless he uses his telepathic abilities for her selfish gain. While repulsed by the situation, Jommy realizes that he can use the woman’s hovel to hide from the police until he reaches adulthood, at which time, he will locate his father’s research and find a way to bring peace between slans and humans.
There is only one problem. During a shoplifting escapade at the behest of “Granny,” Jommy ventures across town to the space port and encounters a race of tendrilless slans! After reading their minds, Jommy discovers that this unfamiliar branch of the slan race has complete control of the spaceport and is building a fleet off world. At an appointed time, they will attack Earth and obliterate humans and “true” slans alike!
It’s up to Jommy to avoid capture, locate his father’s research, and find a way to stop this invasion before more atrocities are committed, but how can one man stop an armada led by a ruthless offshoot of his own race?
All told, a beautifully crafted, suspensful, and fast-paced tale. It is no wonder that SLAN is considered among the best works from one of science fiction’s earliest grand masters. It’s definitely among my top five all-time favorite SF novels.
