Steven E. Wedel's Blog, page 25
November 18, 2013
Review: Joe
Joe by Larry Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Wade Jones is one of the most disgusting characters ever created. In fact, nobody in this book was particularly likable.
This book is basically about a bunch of broken people and the amount of booze they can drink. I’d bet not a page was turned that didn’t have somebody drinking. When that’s your life, bad things are sure to happen. Larry Brown doesn’t let the reader down in that expectation.
The ending was rather predictable, but despite guessing wha...
October 20, 2013
Halloween in a Box
Have you been to one of the Halloween superstores yet? Believe me, I have. They’re a great place to go, though I tend to only get a few pieces there each year. I prefer to put my costumes together myself to ensure I don’t encounter anyone else who is dressed just like me.
That’s harder to do these days, but back when I was a kid — back when kids got to wear costumes to school and parade through other classrooms to show them off — it was very easy to find yourself in a room where others were we...
October 12, 2013
Fast zombies for slow minds
Me and the wife watchedWorld War Z last weekend. I love a good zombie movie. So naturally most of the details of this one have already slipped my mind. No, it wasn’t good. Worse, it made me think about the state of our culture, as reflected in zombie movies, of course.
In the old days, when George A. Romero was zombie king and only Lucio Fulci could play in his yard, zombies were slow and the horror was personal. Yes, the world was in a state of apocalyptic nightmare, but the focus was on indi...
October 6, 2013
Review: Beowulf
Beowulf by Burton Raffel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love Beowulf. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve read it over the years I’ve taught senior English. I like it so much, though, that I almost always read it myself rather than letting the kids butcher it.
It gets four instead of five stars mostly for the interfering monk who tried to make it a Christian story, and for the sudden rambling side stories about heroes and kings from before Beowulf’s time.
October 5, 2013
A Difference
I went to a wedding today. It was my third wedding this year, the second that did not involve blood relation. It was also the second to involve my former students. Sitting there watching the bride as she zipped fingers across her eyebrows to push her hair aside just like she used to do in class got me to thinking.
Not about love. Or romance. Or the institution of marriage. Of course not!
It made me think about teaching. I joke that I left public relations and became a teacher because I wanted t...
September 29, 2013
A day at the range
Last weekend I went to H&H Shooting Sports and bought myself a new pistol. I did some research beforehand, then looked over the top options at the store and went with my first choice, a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm.
Today I went back and spent some time on the range shooting the gun. I put 150 rounds through it and am convinced I made the right choice. I haven’t shot pistols all
that much; the only ones I have besides this one is a .22 revolver and a .380 that I hardly ever shoot because it’s a Lorci...
September 15, 2013
Out of the Loop
I have never been to a World Horror Convention. I’ve never been to WorldCon or Comic Con. Despite being an officer for three years and electronic newsletter editor for several more years than that, I never attended a Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award ceremony. I’ve never been to NECon. Or DragonCon. The list could go on and on.
Between 2003 and 2007 I did go to Horrorfind Weekend every year. I miss that. It was a chance to physically visit with other people working in the genre … wr...
September 2, 2013
Review: The Son
The Son by Philipp Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Given time I may have to upgrade this one to a 5-star review. It was an amazing read and the only reason I’m going with four stars right now is because, in my mind, two of the narrators got more attention than they deserved. Pete and to a lesser degree JA provided useful information, but I was most interested in Eli and would have been happy if the entire book had been told from his perspective.
Still, it is a very powerful narrative and I admi...
September 1, 2013
Catching Up
It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. Not much has happened that is newsworthy, really. The biggest thing is thatAmara’s Prayer has finally been released. I got my contributor copies a few days ago. It looks amazing. I’m pretty nervous about the reception it’ll receive, it being my first full-length novel without werewolves. You can get your copy from Bad Moon Books.
I’d started a new Web site specifically for Amara, and for about five weeks on Sunday’s I posted under the persona...
August 3, 2013
Free Ebook Short Story Collections
This weekend only MoonHowler Press is offering my Kindle short story story collections for free through Amazon.com. This is in an effort to drum up some reviews and sort of launch the books. You don’t have to review to get the freebies. Nor do you have to have a Kindle; there’s an app for that for your phone or computer. Here are the direct links:
The God of Discord and Other Tales
The Zombie Whisperer and Other Tales
Unholy Womb and Other Halloween Tales
Nadia’s Curse (only one story here; origi...
