Declan Finn's Blog, page 2

Book Review: "Just Stab Me Now" by Jill Bearup

 This review will be a little different today. Because we’re going to show you the whole book … because the author started by making this a comedy routine on YouTube.Jill Bearup is a YouTuber whose hobbies include the art of staged combat. Many of her videos center around fights in media, as well as armor and weaponry. A few years ago, she made a series of shorts that lampooned fantasy

Book Review: The Icarus Needle, by Timothy Zhan

 With the Icarus novels, Timothy Zahn apparently decided that Leverage and Mission: Impossible were just playing on easy mode… and Le Carre was only medium difficulty.In The Icarus Needle, Zahn has gone to full Kobayashi Maru.Buy The Icarus NeedleThe StoryGregory Rourke and his partner, the Kadolian named Seline, have been working for the Icarus group for a few years, looking for the Icarus

"And then it spiraled."

 In my novels, it is not unknown for me to use an idea at the tail end of a novel, and decide that “You know, I could build an entire novel around this idea.”For example, at the end of Infernal Affairs, the ultimate villain was a warlock, and he used living shadows for a weapon.It occurred to me that I could build an entire book where living shadows are a threat. What if they were slowly

Honeymoon From Hell, a refresher

 As book three of Honeymoon from Hell comes out tomorrow, (2/5/25) I feel like I need to have a refresher course… for me, not necessarily for you, dear reader. Keep in mind, these are relatively recent for you. I’ve been juggling these books through my father’s death, my move to Texas, so it’s been busy.What is Honeymoon from Hell? Well, do you remember my Love at First Bite series? It

The Joys of Cultural Appropriation

 I hate the term “Cultural Appropriation” so much.Why?Because it’s stupid. If you’ve not heard the term, it’s the idea that you can’t use something from someone else’s culture unless you’re of that culture. You can’t wear kimonos unless you’re Japanese, you can’t write a black character unless you’re black.Yes, it’s stupid.For example, when Iron Fist was in pre-production, the usual idiots

A Quick Guide to Alfred Hitchcock

 I grew up with classic movies. Sure, Die Hard is a Christmas movie, but that’s right next to The Bishop’s Wife and The Man Who Came to Dinner and Christmas in Connecticut.So when a friend of mine asked me for the best of Alfred Hitchcock, I was confused. He had only seen Psycho and The Birds. Really? Those are not necessarily his best work. I’m not a fan of either film. And the Daphne Du

All of writing in an hour

 It’s been a minute since I last posted. I’ve been strangely busy, and bored out of my mind. My editing group has been going through the last five books that I’ve written—not published yet. If you want a look, you need to glance at my Patreon for that. Or be a paid subscriber here.While that was going on, I had to work on this speech.Last week, I gave a little speech to a writing class.

I, of Newton

 I, of Newton is truly a classic piece of Science Fiction / Fantasy. I’ve shared it every so often on my social media feeds…It only just occurred to me that I could have just shared it on substack.Premise: Through an equation, a math professor accidentally summons a demon. Now, he must outwit the Devil, or face damnation.Originally based off of a short story by Joe Haldeman, this is a sliver

Pinup Noir 3

 If you’re wondering why I’m so late with a post, I was waiting for this to drop.Now, Raconteur Press is run by Ian McMurtrie, also known as Lawdog. Raconteur has a successful line of anthologies. After a while, I took a hint and decided to check out their shorts. One of the ones I considered submitting to was “Pinup Noir 2.” The description was pretty simpleGritty streets, hard-boiled

BS Fatigue

If you know me— or tripped over me in that Bounding Into Comics piece— you know that I don’t believe in “Superhero fatigue.”But I do believe audiences are suffering from BS fatigue.BS fatigue comes in many different forms: crappy writing, girl bosses (but I repeat myself), and various other nonsense.For example? Critical Drinker insists that five years ago, Blue Beetle could have made a good