Bard Constantine's Blog, page 3

Bard Reviews: Songs of Insurrection

Songs of Insurrection attracted my attention by it’s beautiful cover, and the fact that I’ve been looking for fantasy story devoid of Western medieval tropes for a change. SOI is a pretty good book. I enjoyed the main characters and the mix of action and intrigue. The main character is an emperor’s daughter named Kaiya, who is an unattractive teen girl. That in itself is something of a novelty. You just don’t come across that too often in novels, especially in main characters. She has a remar...

Guest Blog: Christian Martin

This post is a bit different, as I’m featuring someone other than myself. Christian Martin is is the creator of Static Breaker, a cyberpunk webfiction serial available to read for free at www.staticbreaker.com.

Some info on his series:

– The setting is a fictional Chinese city in the near future.
– It covers the subjects of hacking, mass surveillance, corporate greed, and artificial intelligence.
– It is updated one chapter at a time every other Wednesday.
– It’s a long-running serial that is...

Audiobook Debut: The Aberration

This is a little different.

I’ve been considering delving into audio territory for a while. Audiobooks become more popular every year as people take their love of books with them to places where they don’t actually read books: the gym, the car, the lobby/purgatory where you wait to renew your driver’s license.

Starting with the Aberration was a no-brainer. It’s a quick read, it’s in the ever-popular genre of horror, and it was the novel I published to begin my writing career. Fitting that it...

2017: Uncharted Waters

If you’re reading this, congratulations: you made it out of 2016. Time to put your behind in your past, and your past behind you. For many it’s a time for resolutions. You know: lose weight, quit smoking, save money…the usual.

I don’t think much of resolutions. To methey’re like diets: either it’s a lifestyle, or it’s a fad. If you want to lose weight and/or get in shape, you have to make the right changes, adapt the right habits, and work hard at making it a part of your daily/weekly routine...

The Obligatory Year End Review

2016. Ugh.

Kinda glad it’s nearly over.

Funny thing: had a rare chance to actually watch some TV yesterday. Checked out HBO and watched The Martian. (Great movie, BTW. Don’t know why it took this long to check it out.) Then noticed The Revenant was playing next. And around the same time, Castaway was on.

Seemed like someone was making a point.

Hope no one with abandonment issues was watching, because they were about to experience apretty bad movie day. But I wasn’t thinking about abandonment...

TNT Horror Contest: You Bring the Story to Life

Hello readers!

It’s been a while since my last newsletter, mainly because of scheduling conflicts and constraints on the spare time I devote to writing. But the writing never stops, no matter how little time there is to spare.

The TNT contest is an example. I’ve been working on the sequel to the Aberration, and didn’t think I could bang out a short story in just a few weeks’ time. But fortunately I was able to squeak one in at the last minute and lo and behold: it made the first cut. One hund...

Return to Earth Anthology Now in Print — The Alvarium Experiment

What if our first extraterrestrial encounter was with humans returning to Earth? Experience first contact…with us. The Alvarium Experiment is proud to present award-winning and accomplished authors in Return to Earth, now in print as a single anthology available on Amazon. Explore all ten unique short stories that blend science fiction with fantasy, suspense, mystery, romance, and history.[…]

via Return to Earth Anthology Now in Print — The Alvarium Experiment

Bard Reviews: Luke Cage

Why make something great when you can settle for pretty good?

That’s the impression I had upon finishing Luke Cage, Marvel/Netflix’s latest superhero offering following Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Each character has been different in tone and story: DD takes a hard look at vigilantism and corruption, JJ tackles the act and aftereffects of mental abuse and sexual assault, and LC addresses black culture and some of the problems and issues of the minority community.

I say some because as timely...

The Journey: The Indie Route

I published my first work in December of 2011 and haven’t taken more than the occasional glimpse in the rearview mirror since then. Seventeen additional works havefollowed, including anthologies and special editions. That’s not a bad amount of work in five years, especially in the light of my rather sporadic work ethic when it comes to writing.

The future? Many more works. I truly believe I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. The amount of potential stories in my head are practically infi...

Bard Reviews: The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Do westerns need remakes?

While I admit to enjoying this action-packed, swagger-filled, testosterone-fueled romp through the Old West, the tiny voice in the back of my head wondered why it was necessary.

Oh yeah, to get my butt in a theater seat. Once again, I took the bait.

Most people know this is a remake of an older film which was itself a reinterpretation of  film called The Seven Samurai. Both films hold a special place in the hearts of critics and fans.

So, was it good? Yep. Was it gre...