H.S. Stone's Blog, page 26
April 19, 2014
Book review: William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
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Description:
Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas’s epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearst...
April 12, 2014
Heinlein's Third Rule
In his essay "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction", Robert Heinlein listed five "practical, tested" rules that he recommended writers follow. The rules are:
You must write.You must finish what you start.You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.You must put it on the market.You must keep it on the market until sold.
I like those rules. They sound simple enough and easy for me to follow... except for rule #3. Every story I've published has been subject to rewriting. I've even b...
You must write.You must finish what you start.You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.You must put it on the market.You must keep it on the market until sold.
I like those rules. They sound simple enough and easy for me to follow... except for rule #3. Every story I've published has been subject to rewriting. I've even b...
April 5, 2014
Book review: Stardust by Neil Gaiman
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Description:
Hopelessly crossed in love, a boy of half-fairy parentage leaves his mundane Victorian-English village on a quest for a fallen star in the magical realm. The star proves to be an attractive woman with a hot temper, who plunges with our hero into adventures featuring witches, the lion and the unicorn, plotting elf-lords, ships that sail the sky, magical transformations, curses whose effects rebound, binding conditions with hidden loopholes and all the...
March 29, 2014
Something to Take on the Trip
Next week, a new short story of mine, "A Flurry of Footsteps", will appear in the anthology Something to Take on the Trip. This collection of short stories will include other established authors such as Kevin J. Anderson (author of various science fiction novels and co-author of several books in the Dune series), David Gerrold (another sci-fi author perhaps best known for his Star Trek books), and Ron McLarty (author of The Memory of Running and other books). In all, the anthology will includ...
March 22, 2014
Book review: The Never List by Koethi Zan
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Description:
For years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the “Never List”: a list of actions to be avoided, for safety’s sake, at all costs. But one night, against their best instincts, they accept a cab ride with grave, everlasting consequences. For the next three years, they are held captive with two other girls in a dungeon-like cellar by a connoisseur of sadism.
Ten years later, at thirty-one, Sarah is still struggling to resume a normal l...
March 15, 2014
Protect (The Driver Series #2)
If you enjoyed my post-apocalyptic short story, "Drive", you'll be happy to learn that there's now a sequel! "Protect" is available on Amazon and Smashwords for 99 cents. Haven't read "Drive" yet? Pick it up for FREE on Amazon, Smashwords, or Barnes & Noble!
Description of "Drive":
Claire knows only a world where most of humanity lives inside sparsely populated cities protected from the Outside by guarded walls. She is a new Driver whose job is to transport items between these cities. Under...
Description of "Drive":
Claire knows only a world where most of humanity lives inside sparsely populated cities protected from the Outside by guarded walls. She is a new Driver whose job is to transport items between these cities. Under...
March 8, 2014
Book review: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
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Description:
Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their...
March 2, 2014
Read an Ebook Week discounts
This week (March 2 to 8) is Read an Ebook Week. What is Read an Ebook Week, you ask? The Smashwords site describes the event as "an international celebration of ebooks in which thousands of authors, publishers and retailers feature free and discounted ebooks to help promote the joys of e-reading to the world's readers." If you haven't heard of Smashwords, it's one of the largest ebook distributors in the world. It's a great place to go if you want to find an ebook, especially for non-Kindle p...
February 23, 2014
Book review: Duma Key by Stephen King
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Description:
Six months after a crane crushes his pickup truck and his body self-made millionaire Edgar Freemantle launches into a new life. His wife asked for a divorce after he stabbed her with a plastic knife and tried to strangle her one-handed (he lost his arm and for a time his rational brain in the accident). He divides his wealth into four equal parts for his wife, his two daughters, himself and leaves Minnesota for Duma Key, a stunningly beautiful, eeril...
February 16, 2014
Snuggle Up and Read Giveaway
With a brutal winter hitting many parts of North America this season, what better way to escape the weather than with a book? Now you can win one as part of the Snuggle Up and Read Giveaway! Eight YA authors joined together to give away books to keep you warm during the winter season. The contest is open until Saturday, February 22, and there will be FOURTEEN winners in all!
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