I am about to write heresy. It’s occurred to me social media and networking has become little else than white noise. It’s hard for me to write that, because as a publisher at a indie press social networking and media are alleged to be the lifeblood of marketing. Certainly it’s what all the marketing gurus keep yelling. Tweet it. FB it. Boost your SEO ratings. Create Google Ads and FB ads, and Goodreads ads. Create…
The English Patient by Michael OndaatjeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I come late to reading award-winning author, Michael Ondaatje, and decided to discover his story-telling ability through a familiar tale, that of the award-winning film made from his novel, The English Patient. I have been captivated by the film for years. I can now say I have been captivated by Ondaatje’s novel. Unlike the film, the novel examines the lives and relationships of Hana,…
My desk, where it all happens. There is a bit of a lull between books at Five Rivers at the moment, allowing me some time to devote to my own writing. It’s always a challenge to find time to write. I’ve been thrashing around with a new novel for about two years now (blogged about that previously here), and tried returning to it now. To put it bluntly, I foundered. There’s a huge emotional investment…
The Light Fantastic by Terry PratchettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars In this the second book of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, we continue with the adventures of Rincewind, Twoflowers and best of all, the Luggage. (I love the Luggage!) We meet with Cohen the Barbarian (love it!), trolls with diamond teeth, feisty maidens being sacrificed to prevent the red star from crashing into Discworld, and even at the end have an opportunity to share in…
I began this self-publishing journey with the view that if my work wasn’t commercial enough for the large publishers, I’d publish it myself and use that native imagination to market my work. So far I’ve been pleased with my humble success. Sure, I’m not going to retire on my earnings, but then there are a lot of my colleagues who are published conventionaly who are in the same boat. My difficulty, however, is that I…
Maelstrom by Peter WattsMy rating: 2 of 5 stars Maelstrom by Peter Watts is the second book in the Rifters series, continuing the story of Lennie Clark, a deeply psychotic woman, part machine, who is the unwitting victim of psychological manipulation and a plague-carrier. While the first book, Starfish, proved innovative and incisively written, that innovation and incisive writing failed in Maelstrom. There are pages and pages of technical exposition which slows the narrative, angst…
In celebration of Halloween this month, I’ve put up a 50% discount coupon at Smashwords for my dark fantasy novel, From Mountains of Ice. Just click on this link, choose which of 10 digital formats you wish, and enter coupon code DL86K in the checkout menu. If you prefer print, Amazon offers a 22% discount. Always interested in what my fans and readers have to say, so post your comments here, and share with friends through…