Clinton D. Harding's Blog, page 16

"Our Monsters" sequel begins

Two nights ago I started the first draft of what will become the sequel to "Our Monsters", my recently debuted novel. Nothing much to report. The prologue is finished, though it's longer than I anticipated–I had a lot of fun revisiting a character from book one that won't appear from that point on in this particular book. [...]

Mere Mention, a whisper in the wind

Today Margaret Millmore mentioned myself and "Our Monsters" on her website and all around the web, in the places she has a presence. Click here to see the mention on her Featured Authors page. It was very generous of her. Sometimes, most of the time, the hardest thing for a new author is for he [...]

Boys and Reading: I relate

As a kid and teen, I hated reading. I am not ashamed of this fact, it's truth. Today I read anything I can get my hands on, mostly fantasy of a sort. However, when I was younger I couldn't find stories that compelled me to read. When I got older (read high school age) I [...]

"Our Monsters" sequel update

Last night I finished the outline for the sequel to my recently launched debut novel, "Our Monsters". What a relief it is to have the ideas on paper. The overall story for the series was plotted over a year ago. However, the specifics of the action in each book, the twists and turns, subplots, all [...]

Review: "Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas…" by Michael Scott

I finished reading Michael Scott's "Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas…" today, started and finished during lunch. It's a short story from Scott's Flamel book series. The last book in the series will be dropping early this year and I'm wanting to finally read the accompanying short fiction, so this is my attempt. [...]

Review: "Death of Joan of Arc" by Michael Scott

I am a fan of Michael Scott's Flamel books. Scott is not reinventing the wheel with these stories. What he does best is meld the different myths of dozens of cultures into a fun adventure. For those who don't know, the Flamel books are speculative contemporary fantasy. Imagine if all the myths and legends in [...]

Ka is a wheel… ever turning

Anyone who knows me knows that my love of reading and writing originated with two novels, Dean Koontz's "Lightning" and Stephen King's "The Gunslinger". The summer before my high school freshman year, my dad gave me those two novels in an attempt to spike my interest in reading. While most writers found the path toward [...]

1954 Review of "The Fellowship of the Ring" by NY Times

In 1954 J.R.R. Tolkien had the first volume in his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy published, "The Fellowship of the Ring". That day, no one knew how the fantasy genre would be changed. Every writer of fantasy today has probably read Tolkien's works, has been inspired by his immortal Middle Earth, and strives to [...]

"Alloy of Law" by Brandon Sanderson (Review

I just finished Brandon Sanderson's "Alloy of Law", the fourth book in the Mistborn series of books… though the book is a stand alone novel. From Amazon.com: Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets [...]

Thoughts on "Pathfinder" by Orson Scott Card

This week I finished reader "Pathfinder" by the great Orson Scott Card. This is the first novel in a new series.   FROM AMAZON: A powerful secret. A dangerous path. Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg's strange talent for seeing the paths of people's pasts. But [...]