Stuart Aken's Blog, page 30
July 31, 2022
Why That Title? – Convergence.
Titles for novels can cause authors a good deal of soul-searching. Ideally, we give potential readers clues about content, theme, style, and storyline. Not easy with only one to maybe a dozen words to play with. But the best titles are revealed as obvious choices once a book’s been read, so this series is largely …
July 30, 2022
#ScenicSaturday 30/July/22
A living sky drifts over a river flowing peacefully through a forest of many trees. All elements of our amazing world, contributing to our enjoyment of its beauty. Let’s all do everything we can to sustain that precious quality of a world so extraordinary it might just be the only one containing sentient life right …
July 24, 2022
Why That Title? – Partings.
Titles for works of fiction can cause authors a good deal of soul-searching. Ideally, we want to give potential readers clues about content, theme, style, and storyline. Not easy with only one to maybe a dozen words to play with. Of course, the best titles are revealed as obvious choices once a book’s been read, …
July 23, 2022
#ScenicSaturday 23/July/22
Calm is the evening As the sun sets on The Mediterranean And clothes the world In blues and golds. # Daily posts on our beautiful world are hard to sustain if I’m to get on with my normal writing, so I’ve opted for a weekly one, though I also post a simple picture to Twitter …
July 18, 2022
Killing O’Carolan, by Walt Pilcher: #BookReview.
Subtitled ‘A Mark Fairley Mystery’, this humorous novel follows the reluctant emerging PI on his journey to solve the apparently unsolvable, after his unlikely success in ‘The Accidental Spurrt’.As a parody of the genre, this will entertain those who take their crime fiction with a cellar full of salt. The O’Carolan of the title is …
Continue reading Killing O’Carolan, by Walt Pilcher: #BookReview.
July 17, 2022
Why That Title? – Joinings.
Titles for works of fiction often cause authors a good deal of soul-searching. Ideally, we want to give potential readers clues about content, theme, style, and storyline. Not easy in anything from one to maybe a dozen words. Of course, the best titles are revealed as obvious choices once a book’s been read, so this …
July 16, 2022
#ScenicSaturday 16/July/22
Soft chalk, laid down over millennia by the shells of billions and billions of sea creatures, curves out into the North Sea to form Flamborough Head. Time has brought the tides and storms to crash against the land and break the white stone off to form the beach below. On top, the layer of clay …
July 13, 2022
Con, by Mark P Henderson: #BookReview.
Con is a complex psychological thriller and a sequel to the author’s novel ‘Perilaus II’, but you don’t need to have read the first novel, though reading ‘Con’ will almost certainly inspire you to read its predecessor.We enter the dangerous, disturbing world of the prison here and the author takes us to the beast without …
July 10, 2022
Why That Title? – The Methuselah Strain.
Titles for works of fiction often cause authors a good deal of soul-searching. Ideally, we want to give potential readers clues about content, theme, style, and storyline. Not easy in anything from one to maybe a dozen words. Of course, the best titles are revealed as obvious choices once a book’s been read, so this …
July 9, 2022
#ScenicSaturday 09/July/22
Safe behind the ancient barrier of stone, small boats rest on coastal mud in Staithes harbour on the North Yorkshire coast. But, as sea level rises over coming years, will they be forever safe? Will increased water volume break and overwhelm such old defensive walls? Perhaps, if we act right now to reduce our damaging …
