Stuart Aken's Blog, page 184

The War of the First Day, by Thomas Fleet, Reviewed.

Fantasy with a difference, this novel, set in a world of witchcraft, is remarkable for its language and surprising use of logic. The story is told through the first person point of view of an aspirant witch caught up in a civil war among her sisters. There is the usual fantasy ingredient, essential to my … Continue reading The War of the First Day, by Thomas Fleet,Reviewed.

Progress on the WIP: SciFi in the Making.

The finished MS stands at 82,982 words, which includes the front and back matter. My publisher’s deadline was the end of August. I made it! Fantastic Books Publishing, run by the inimitable Dan and Gabi Grubb, are going to publish this science fiction novel. Yay! Cover design is already under way and the gang … Continue reading Progress on the WIP: SciFi in theMaking.

Looking for the Best Word? Tip #02

For a short introduction to this series, please click this link. In these posts, I’m looking at some similar, and dissimilar, words in an effort to suggest ways writers might make their work more varied, accessible, interesting, accurate or effective. A good thesaurus provides alternatives for the idea of a word, but not all … Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip#02

Creative #Writing #Contests Table Updated

This is the first monthly reminder to let you know I’ve updated the writing contest table. Make sure you get your entries submitted in plenty of time, there are some really spectacular prizes to be had. And think of the kudos! The table updates each time I save it, which is frequently, so whenever you … Continue reading Creative #Writing #Contests TableUpdated

Progress on the WIP: SciFi in the Making.

Close to the end! I spent a little over two days on the read aloud edit. That’s a demanding task both physically and mentally, but it’s the only way to detect certain mistakes and find those passages that fail to read well. Correcting the errors I found has taken another couple of days. The … Continue reading Progress on the WIP: SciFi in theMaking.

Looking for the Best Word? Tip #01

English is a startling language, as those who use it know. Amongst many claims about language, most of which are difficult to prove, English is recognised as one of the top 3 most widely spoken languages. It’s also a second language in many countries. Whilst ‘Chinese’ is spoken by more people, this gives a … Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip#01

Searching for the Right Words? Tip #40

This is the final post in the series aimed at helping authors express the full meaning and emotional content of their fiction. However, I intend to start a new series, again about word choice. I’ll begin that on Thursday with the next post. Keep an eye out for it. It’ll be titled, ‘Looking for […]

Hot Flashes, by Barbara Raskin, Reviewed.

A literary novel, seeking to reveal the internal lives of a group of friends who grew up just after WWII, Barbara Raskin’s ‘Hot Flashes’ concentrates on menopausal feminist Jewish women in the USA. As such, it lacked some appeal for me. At the time of its initial publication, it was a NYT bestseller. But time […]

Progress on the WIP: SciFi in the Making.

Almost there! The end of another intense week. The MS now stands at 86,671 words, which is a reduction of 5,316 on last week’s total. All that has now been edited. I’m awaiting the verdict from the beta read, which I should have in final form in the next couple of days. Then, after […]

Searching for the Right Words? Tip #39

This is the penultimate post in the series that aims to help authors express the full meaning and emotional content of their fiction. However, I intend to start a new series, again to do with word choice, and will begin that after the last post in this series. Keep an eye out for it. […]