R.A. McCandless's Blog, page 17
October 31, 2018
Just in Time for Halloween—The Ballad of Black Tom
Nameless terrors, sure, but what a great location!While it’s true that Victor LaValle’s THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM draws from the Cthulhu mythos, readers who are unfamiliar with H.P. Lovecraft’s work will have no trouble diving into this story. From the start, LaValle establishes a world that is at once familiar and yet eerily suspect. The characters, especially Thomas Tester, are wholly believable, understandable, and even relatable and the story is engaging throughout.
LaValle’s sto...
October 23, 2018
Recipe for a Hero
Measure twice, shoot everyone.Most humans are fragile creatures at the best of time. Any deviation from the norm, and our body goes into shock to try to compensate, rendering us almost completely non-functional. In college, while riding my bike, a truck cut me off and I slapped into hood. I don’t really recall landing, but I must have at some point as I’m currently Earth-bound. What I do remember is shaking pretty violently. If anything else had happened, I would have been i...
October 22, 2018
Mind the Game Apps
Did I mention the dirigible?I tend to find a game or two for my Kindle and play them endlessly. For awhile, I was playing “Age of Conquest: Europe” which like Risk without the dice—take that Irkutsk! I tried CandyCrush for a bit, but the sales pitch to move to the next level was making my teeth ache. Samurai vs. Zombie Defense was groovy—especially the part where...
October 15, 2018
Snow Crash - A Review
Hiro Protagonist, a name you won't forget.Neal Stephenson’s SNOW CRASH is one of those seminal books that, if you’ve read any other cyberpunk or watched any of the subsequent movies, hasn’t aged all that well. If you can put the book into context as one of the first of its kind, then you see all the amazing things that Stephenson is doing. Without that, it feels like all the main characters are a Mary Su or Marty Stu, even if that wasn’t the case at the time.
Meet Hiro Protagonist—...
October 9, 2018
Remember, Remember the Sixth of November
Remember! Remember!The Sixth of November,The Russian treason and plot;I know of no reason,Why the Trump campaign treason,Should ever be forgot!The Donald and his companionsDid the scheme contrive,To steal and fleece AmericansAll up alive."Grab 'em by the p***y," Trump hugely peddled,"Forget about how the Russians meddled!"
But, by Mueller's investigation, Papadopoulos they did catch,And Flynn, and Gates, and...
October 8, 2018
Covers and Cover Artists
Where the HELL is she looking?The less said about that, the better.
One of the problems with this was that the artist kept insisting on putting religious icons and tattoos on Del. A cross necklace, for example, didn’t make sense. Del doesn’t have to believe in a higher power...
October 3, 2018
We Have Liftoff!
Take a look at what I've done!News! News! News!
This announcement has been brewing over the last couple of weeks. I’m thrilled, just tickled pink and stick-a-fork-in-me-I’m-done, over-the-moon excited to announce that the Flames of Perdition (Del) series has a new home!
Clayborn Press (thank you JJ!) has picked up the books, and everything is in the works to release them as quickly as possible. The hope is that a newly-branded version of Tears of Heavenwill release...
October 2, 2018
Don't Touch That Dial!
Stay-tuned for an exciting announcement, arriving here tomorrow!
At LEAST this exciting.September 28, 2018
Lookie, Lookie: A New Review for Tears of Heaven
They're right, you know!Hey, I received a new review! Thank you to Jake Pelley of Dystopian Shuffle!
I especially like the last line of his opening [emphasis added]:
This book covers two eras of human history from the modern times to the roman. Both are important to the main story. Most of this book takes place in modern day Salt Lake City, Utah. When in modern time R.A. McCandless does a great job of making it feel like the times we live in. Then when it is in Roman time...
September 27, 2018
Not Just Any Library: My Library
Is it secret? Is it safe!?Years ago, I read an Anthony Monday book by John Bellairs—I think it was The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn (excellent book, by the way). Bellairs had a line about Monday’s uncle who had an honest to goodness library, not just a room where someone put up a bookshelf.
That line may have cursed me.
When I learned that people could have their own library, I wanted one.
In our current house, we have a room designated as “the library”. It is not an Anthony Monday...
