C.E. Murphy's Blog, page 28

Picoreview: Aquaman

Aquaman Picoreview: Someone said it was your average Marvel Phase One introductory superhero movie. I don’t think it was as good as any of the Phase One films, which were all tight in terms of storyline, but it was better than I expected. Granted, my expectations were very low, but still: better than I expected.

The special effects were good, Amber Heard’s wig was absolute rubbish (why. why. why. do you spend $160 million on a film and use a wig that looks you got it at a Halloween fright sho...

asthma?!

SO APPARENTLY I HAVE ASTHMA which seems to be mostly weight-induced and probably explains being unable to breathe well for the past 18 months.

I’ve had these kinds of asthmatic problems in the past when I weighed this much, but never really actually thought I was asthmatic. But my night time breathing has been so bad I finally went in to the pharmacist next door and she said (to paraphrase) “jesus i can hear you wheezing now, get yourself to a doctor before that asthma turns into a chest infe...

Midterms, 2018

So I woke up to winning the House, losing the Senate, taking several gubenatorial seats, record-high turnout, 1.4m people with their right to vote restored in Florida, and a WHOLE lot more women in political power than there were yesterday.

Guys, this is a good day.

It’s not a perfect day. The Senate seat losses are crushing and the disenfranchisment that allowed them (and have Stacey Abrams on tenterhooks instead of solidly winning, and and and) is enraging.

But today I have hope again. I’m...

Kitsnacks: Maple & Brown Sugar Apple Butter

I revamped my maple apple butter recipe entirely this year and it is Good. A big part of the difference is I was using eating apples, because that’s what I had this time instead of super sour cooking apples, and it takes much less maple and sugar to overcome the sourness with sweet apples. I did use about five tart apples in this, too, and would recommend that, my own self. So:

Miz Kit’s Maple & Brown Sugar Apple Butter

15-20 prepared (peeled, cored, sliced) apples
1.5 c apple juice
8 oz mapl...

STONEMASTER Stretch Goals!

The STONEMASTER Kickstarter has reached goal! Now it’s time to start laying out the stretch goals!

Now, here’s the thing. Obviously the, er, obvious, stretch goal is book 3, SKYMASTER, which is already written, too. HOWEVAH:

Another book is exponentially more costly on my end, mostly due to postage matters: it’s not possible to get SKYMASTER ready at the same time as STONEMASTER, which means I’d be shipping it separately, later, and as most people know, shipping costs are pretty appalling. So...

Very Exciting Developments!

One might imagine, from six weeks of radio silence, that I have been busy.

One would be correct.

But there have been some Very Exciting Developments in that time!

First off, I’ve gotten a studio to work in! It’s part of an artist’s collective, extremely convenient to my son’s school, and, as my husband said, “Bohemian enough to suit your sensibilities.” (I pointed out that I’m really not very bohemian, and he said, “No, but you want to be,” which is perfectly true. :)

The collective has a...

Launch Day: REDEEMER

At long, LONG last, REDEEMER has been released into the wild!

I’ll start out with the links, just in case that’s all you’re here for. REDEEMER is currently available in e-book, and will be available in print within the next few days!

KOBO || iTUNES || AMAZON || BARNES & NOBLE

July, 1945.
Soldiers are coming home from the war…and monsters come with them.

THE REDEEMER
Rosie wants to keep her job as a riveter, even with her boyfriend returning from World War II. But there’s defying convention,...

Ten Second Trailer Reviews: Aquaman + More

Ten Second Trailer Reviews:

Aquaman: I mean the stuff with Little Arthur looks kind of amazing but Mera’s wig is SO VERY BAD and I don’t like the underwater people effects (the city is beautiful), so eh, IDK, withholding judgment.

Shazam I would have cast neither that kid nor that man as Billy, but aside from that: naaaaaaaht baaad. Naaaaaaaaht baaaaaaaad at aaallll. Tho I tell you, the bit on the subway where he first hears the wizard’s voice? I went hard to

and stayed there, because wow....

when to read that book

There’s this debate/ongoing question that keeps cropping up over on Twitter, about when one should buy and read a new book. There are lots of readers who don’t want to read a series until it’s done (fear of it never being finished is a big reason why, there), and often people say they’ll wait for a whole series to come out before buying and reading them.

The problem with that approach is publishing is a business, and if a reader waits to buy the first (second, third, etc) book in a series unt...

a reversion of rights

I got some of the best news of my writing career last week and I’m still OVER THE MOON about it.

Lo These Many Years Ago, I wrote a trilogy for Harlequin’s quick-to-fail Bombshell line, which were meant to be action-adventure romances, James Bond type stories where the heroine was the Bond character.

The line flopped badly for a lot of reasons, and the books I wrote never made any money, but I had a WONDERFUL time writing them and always wanted to do more. In fact, despite the books not doing...