Steven E. Wedel's Blog, page 18

Symbols (A controversial political post)

I have a Confederate battle flag like this one. It used to hang on my wall, and at one time, shortly after we were married, it actually served as a living room curtain (that was because we were poor and couldn’t afford a curtain and the flag was the right size). I’ve owned this flag for well over 30 years. It’s never inspired me to want to own a human being as a slave.

Now, suddenly, flag makers are ceasing production of this flag while Walmart and other major retailers are hiding merchandise...

Two Book Updates

I’ve made a couple of updates to two of my books that have been available for a while. The first isGod of Discord and Other Weird Tales, which until very recently was only available as a Kindle e-book. It has a slightly revamped cover and is available in print for the first time. Also, the typos that were present in the original Kindle version have been fixed. Some of the stories in this collection have been previously available in my bigger collection, Darkscapes, but several are appearing i...

Review: Gone to Texas

Gone to Texas by Forrest Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The movie The Outlaw Josey Wales is probably my favorite Western film, and one of my favorite all-around movies. I’ve been watching it for years and years without reading the source material, so I was a little nervous about taking on the novel that inspired the film.

No need, though.

The novel was every bit as exciting as the film and is one of the better “fast” Western novels I’ve ever read (fast opposed to the sprawling epics like Lo...

Review: Heir of Sea and Fire

I had to downgrade my old rating of 5 stars on this one. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that. While I still found The Riddle-Master of Hed to be worthy of 5 stars, re-reading the second book in the series some 20 years after my last previous read, I just didn’t enjoy Heir of Sea and Fire as much as I remembered.

In fact, I’d forgotten almost all the details of this second book. And sadly, it was rather boring. I know it’s about Raederle discovering her own powers as she searches for Morgan, but...

Review: On the Beach

“I shouldn’t like to give too enthusiastic a review of this novel,” the reviewer said.

“Oh darling, can’t you at least try?” his conscience pleaded.

“Perhaps,” he answered, smiling. “But only after I’ve had another whiskey.” He paused as his sarcastic side muttered something into his beard. “What’s that, old boy?” the reviewer asked.

“To hell with it,” the sarcastic one answered. “The novel was a bloody bore and you know it. Just be out with it already. Don’t drag on about it the way Nevil di...

Prometheus Syndrome Available Now

Josh Cooper has always had trouble managing his anger. His rockabilly band in Florida went through so many personnel changes that finally Josh’s best friend, Tony “Boozer” Curtis,called it quits and moved to Nashville. But then Josh got a call from Boozer, asking if he’d like to join him in Nashville for a fresh start, but only if Josh can keep his cool and stop firing other musicians. Josh and girlfriend Rana pack up and head north … until Rana convinces him to take a scenic turnoff.

Josh an...

Review: The Violent Bear It Away

What the heck did I just read? It’s been a long, long time since I finished a book with such thoroughly unlikable characters. There was absolutely nobody in this story that was likable. Not even a little. The writing itself is beautiful, and was the only thing that kept me slogging through the train wreck of a story. O’Connor fills the tale with some wonderful imagery and symbolism, so this could be a fun book to teach, but getting kids to read it would be difficult, and the payoff is so sm...

What Grandpa Saw on Route 66

The following is a story I wrote for my AP Literature class’s 4th quarter benchmark test this year. It makes allusions to every novel and play we read in class during the school year (except Fahrenheit 451, which I forgot to work in) and they had to answer questions to identify the source.

How many can you recognize? Put your guesses in the comments.

My grandfather was a truck driver based in Oklahoma City during the Great Depression. He had a favorite story about a run he made from Oklahoma...

My Legacy

For their fourth quarter benchmark I required my Leadership students to write and present an essay about what they hope to leave behind as their legacy. Some asked me about my own. This is what I would have liked to have written/said to them.

For many decades now I have hoped to leave a literary legacy, to be remembered for my written words if not like John Steinbeck or Charles Dickens, perhaps like Bram Stoker or Charles L. Grant. Time will tell whether or not such a thing will be; one thing...

Das ist gut!

After Obsession, the young adult novel I wrote with Carrie Jones (released in the U.S. in Sept. 2011) is now available in German.

I really like this cover!

To mark the German-language release, Darkstars Fantasy News has published a brand new interview with me and Carrie. You can read it here.

Or you can read it here in German.

They’ve also published a review of the novel, which is only available in German.

I don’t know enough German to read the review. I can pick out words here and there bas...