Mark Webb's Blog, page 18
January 29, 2014
Reading stats for 2013
Inspired as always by Sean Wright, where he shows his reading stats for the world to see, I’ve decided to do the same again this year. I, I made a lot of rash claims about what I would do in 2013 reading wise. I met very few of those claims. And I quote:
Claim 1: “Iam really looking forward toPerfectionsby Kirstyn McDermott,Blood and Dustby Jason Nahrung andQuiverby Jason Fischer. They are all loaded up on the Kindle ready to read and get my year off to an Australian start. “
Well OK, yes...
January 27, 2014
Tea – the Australian way
I was reading Chuck Wendig’s blog last night, where he appealed to his reader-base to help him learn how to make a good cup of tea. I don’t often dive in and leave a comment, but I’ve been thinking a bit about this topic recently and felt compelled to put down my thoughts.
A reproduction of my comment on Chuck’s blog follows. The three main purposes of this post are:
a. I liked my response and wanted to preserve it;
2. I thought of a couple of edits about 1.5 nano-seconds after I clicked submit...
January 18, 2014
Bloody Waters by Jason Franks – review
Bloody Watersis the first novel of Australian author Jason Franks (better known for his work with comics and graphic novels). It was nominated for the Aurealis Award for best horror novel in 2012.
The blurb according to Franks’ website.
When guitar virtuoso Clarice Marnier finds herself blacklisted she makes a deal with the devil for a second chance. Soon Clarice and her band, Bloody Waters, are on their way to stardom… but cracking the Top 10 is one thing; gunfights with the Vatican Mafia and...
January 12, 2014
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson – review
2312 was one of the big science fiction releases of 2012, but given my horrendous backlog of reading I didn’t quite get around to reading it. As 2013 came to a close, and still hearing it talked about, I thought I better include it in my catch up reading binge.
Humanity has spread through the solar system, but not to the stars. The plot follows several different characters in what first appears to be a bit of a murder mystery, but quickly extends into a solar system spanning conspiracy.
I’ve re...
January 8, 2014
Writing – a 2013 recap and 2014 plan
My 2013 writing year was a hit and miss affair. I had two flash fiction pieces published at Antipodean SF (and). Nuke at Antipodean SF has been a great supporter, and I was very pleased to get a couple of pieces done for him.
This year I decided to put my novel writing on hold and focus on a few shorter pieces, to try and get more “end to end” experience of writing something. The result was four pieces in addition to the published two above:
11,000 word fant...
January 5, 2014
2014 Australian Women Writers’ Reading Challenge
If you’re looking at my blog more generally, you can probably tell that I’m in catch up mode for for the Australian Women Writers’ reading challenge. Given I’m focused on the challenge today, I thought I’d also announce my intention to give it a whirl again in 2014.
Once again I’ll be trying the Franklin level – read at least 10 books, review at least 6. And this year I’ve given particular consideration to trying to extend my reading beyond speculative fiction. My...
January 4, 2014
2013 Australian Women Writers’ challenge – wrap up
Well, another year another Australian Women Writers’ challenge.
The 2013 Australian Women Writers’ Challenge was another great experience. Challenging the lack of critical attention for Australian women authors is a worthy cause and once again I had the chance to expand my exposure to interesting authors.
In 2013 I undertook the Franklin challenge (read 10 books, review at least 6) and all those books were in the speculative fiction field.
2013 was not a great reading year for me – I did not get...
Wizard Undercover by K. E. Mills – review
This review forms part of my contribution to theAustralian Women Writers 2013 Reading Challenge. All my 2013 AWWC reviews can be found.
Wizard Undercoveris the fourth book in the Rogue Agent series by K. E. Mills. You can read my review of the first book in the series,The Accidental Sorcerer,, my review of the second book,Witches Incorporated,. and my review of the third book, Wizard Squared, .Those reviews cover a lot of my general thoughts on the world building and general ba...
Wizard Squared by K. E. Mills – review
This review forms part of my contribution to theAustralian Women Writers 2013 Reading Challenge. All my 2013 AWWC reviews can be found.
Wizard Squaredis the third book in the Rogue Agent series by K. E. Mills. You can read my review of the first book in the series,The Accidental Sorcerer,and my review of the second book,Witches Incorporated,. Those reviews cover a lot of my general thoughts on the world building and general background, so I’ll keep this review shorter and focused o...
Witches Incorporated by K. E. Mills – review
This review forms part of my contribution to theAustralian Women Writers 2013 Reading Challenge. All my 2013 AWWC reviews can be found.
Witches Incorporatedis the second book in the Rogue Agent series by K. E. Mills. You can read my review of the first book in the series, The Accidental Sorcerer, .
K. E. Mills is a pen name of writer Karen Miller. After I’d readThe Accidental Sorcerer, I attended a writing workshop with Miller at the Australian National SF Con. At the end of the worksho...
