- Inside Realms is now at full sale status at Amazon.com
- Chronicles of the Undead should be published (at least at Lulu.com) within the next 2-3 weeks. You can check out a teaser trailer at my YouTube Channel
- Both books now have their own Squidoo lens: Inside Realms; Chronicles of the Undead
- I wrote a fictional character interview with one of the individuals in Chronicles of the Undead: An Interview with my Vampire (Character)
- I'm on Twitter
- I've got a Facebook Fan Page
- There's a new contest running at my website to win an ebook copy of Chronicles of the Undead. Check it out at my Contest Page for details and to see the winners of the "Write me a poem" contest.
Join the Shadowy World of Fantasy and Horror Author A. F. Stewart
Monday, 3 November 2008
Update
My Latest Writing News:
Monday, 6 October 2008
My Review of Silenced Cry by Marta Stephens
Review of Silenced Cry
Silenced Cry by Marta Stephens is a solid and engaging bit of fiction, and the author is certainly a convincing new voice in crime fiction. Her book carries on the fine tradition of the police crime novel, and I enjoyed it very much.
Ms. Stephens leads the reader deftly through a sordid, tangled mess of an investigation as a long-forgotten child murder case is unexpectedly exposed. Detective Sam Harper is plunged into the messy circumstances, sorting through the investigation’s flimsy evidence while dealing with a new partner. Swirling around the edges are the long reaching ramifications of his old partner’s death and his own thorny attitude on recent events in his life.
“Day three. One clue and no leads. Finding the person responsible for the baby’s death after more than a decade seemed nearly improbable.”
There are no surprises twists or unexpected shocks in the pages of Silenced Cry; it is a fairly straightforward crime novel, with a genuine plot and just the right amount of gripping tension. However, the story-telling is elevated above the average by superb characterization and a believable narrative atmosphere. It is part police procedural, part noir, touched around the periphery with the realistic ugliness of crime, and the complexity of human interaction.
“Owen looked up. The clouds slowly parted to reveal a scattering of stars against the moonless backdrop of the April night. Behind him stretched a row of dumpsters shoved against the wall of the savings and loan. A sour stench rose from them and mingled with the pungent odor of piss from whoever had christened the alley wall.” Silenced Cry is the first entry in a series; I’m truly looking forward to the next book. I absolutely want to spend more time immersed in the world of Sam Harper.
Marta Stephens holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations from Ball State University, and is a member of Sisters in Crime International, Sisters in Crime Speed City Indiana Chapter, and the Midwest Writer's Workshop. Her website is at http://www.martastephens-author.com/
Silenced Cry by Marta Stephens is a solid and engaging bit of fiction, and the author is certainly a convincing new voice in crime fiction. Her book carries on the fine tradition of the police crime novel, and I enjoyed it very much.
Ms. Stephens leads the reader deftly through a sordid, tangled mess of an investigation as a long-forgotten child murder case is unexpectedly exposed. Detective Sam Harper is plunged into the messy circumstances, sorting through the investigation’s flimsy evidence while dealing with a new partner. Swirling around the edges are the long reaching ramifications of his old partner’s death and his own thorny attitude on recent events in his life.
“Day three. One clue and no leads. Finding the person responsible for the baby’s death after more than a decade seemed nearly improbable.”
There are no surprises twists or unexpected shocks in the pages of Silenced Cry; it is a fairly straightforward crime novel, with a genuine plot and just the right amount of gripping tension. However, the story-telling is elevated above the average by superb characterization and a believable narrative atmosphere. It is part police procedural, part noir, touched around the periphery with the realistic ugliness of crime, and the complexity of human interaction.
“Owen looked up. The clouds slowly parted to reveal a scattering of stars against the moonless backdrop of the April night. Behind him stretched a row of dumpsters shoved against the wall of the savings and loan. A sour stench rose from them and mingled with the pungent odor of piss from whoever had christened the alley wall.” Silenced Cry is the first entry in a series; I’m truly looking forward to the next book. I absolutely want to spend more time immersed in the world of Sam Harper.
Marta Stephens holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations from Ball State University, and is a member of Sisters in Crime International, Sisters in Crime Speed City Indiana Chapter, and the Midwest Writer's Workshop. Her website is at http://www.martastephens-author.com/
The second book in the Harper series, THE DEVIL CAN WAIT, will be released by BeWrite Books (UK) on November 3, 2008. Look for it in both trade paperback and e-book formats. Marta Stephens is currently working on the third book in the Harper series.
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Review of Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess by C. B. Smith
The following review was done at the request of the author:
My Review of Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess:
Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess is a Young Adult novel, and I am definitely not the target audience for this book (I have not been a young adult for quite some time).
Still, I read it with an open mind and it reasonably managed to keep my attention. It has an irreverent, off-kilter style and showed a charming, witty attitude. The novel does read much like a teenage diary: full of disjointed musings, personal observations, philosophical opinions, and a pervading preoccupation with sexual thoughts and deeds. Regrettably though, the tone is often uneven and wanders off into unrelated tangents, even introducing characters that appear and disappear without reason.
The book begins with a slightly whacked-out review on the origins of the universe, before introducing the reader to Jaynie, the seventeen year old main character. From there we are swirled in the maelstrom of her personality:
“But what was a poor girl to do? When she wasn’t trammeling through town on her skateboard; shocking pedestrians, frightening to near heart attack, flying into intersections at brake screeching speeds, things could get…well…BORING!”
Readers are then plunged into the escapades of this unique girl, beginning as Jaynie goes questing for new shoes (sadly hampered by her large toes):
“Her puffed-as-a-passionate-puffer-fish pose began deflating. Right there in front of her eyes the beautiful red and yellow balloon of excitement she had erected went limp and flaccid like a wet noodle. She had meant to buy some shoes. Had money and was not afraid to use it. But somewhere along the road to this moment at the Bigguns Shoe Emporium her big toe had got so big she not could get a shoe to fit her.”
Jaynie’s shoe quest leads her on to an even larger pursuit: to find her long-missing mother. She discovers a previously unknown Faerie heritage and strange allies as the reader descends (literally) into the land of Faerie:
“A quick push from behind and Jaynie stepped through the door and fell through into a black space that pulled her in like a mega power vacuum. And suddenly she was racing full speed down a slide, or chute, or something that took her breath away, terrifying and reducing her to a droning scream, “AAAIIEEE….”
If there were any doubt as to her ability to scream with ear blasting power for long duration, all doubt ended with this performance. There were only two other times in her life where a scream approaching but not equaling this magnitude had been emitted from her tender throat.”
There, she explores her new world and embarks on a series of escapades that lead to a clash between her allies and the darker forces of the faerie world. It is during this conflict she finds an end to her search:
“Arriving finally at the imprisonment quarters was in the end a bit anticlimactic. Where Jaynie had expected a full-scale high tech lockdown of the Star Wars variety, what she found was a grim, foul smelling enclosure, more in keeping with medieval dungeons than modern penitentiary schemes.”
Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess does have its problems, mostly in the beginning chapters, but it also has merit in its twisty hodgepodge of well-written madness. The author C. B. Smith has created a book of droll, intricate chaos that bounces off a sugar rush.
I am not sure the book’s quirky style will captivate everyone, but it will, I suspect, greatly appeal to its target audience.
Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess is available now through Createspace and should be available on Amazon.com shortly.
My Review of Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess:
Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess is a Young Adult novel, and I am definitely not the target audience for this book (I have not been a young adult for quite some time).
Still, I read it with an open mind and it reasonably managed to keep my attention. It has an irreverent, off-kilter style and showed a charming, witty attitude. The novel does read much like a teenage diary: full of disjointed musings, personal observations, philosophical opinions, and a pervading preoccupation with sexual thoughts and deeds. Regrettably though, the tone is often uneven and wanders off into unrelated tangents, even introducing characters that appear and disappear without reason.
The book begins with a slightly whacked-out review on the origins of the universe, before introducing the reader to Jaynie, the seventeen year old main character. From there we are swirled in the maelstrom of her personality:
“But what was a poor girl to do? When she wasn’t trammeling through town on her skateboard; shocking pedestrians, frightening to near heart attack, flying into intersections at brake screeching speeds, things could get…well…BORING!”
Readers are then plunged into the escapades of this unique girl, beginning as Jaynie goes questing for new shoes (sadly hampered by her large toes):
“Her puffed-as-a-passionate-puffer-fish pose began deflating. Right there in front of her eyes the beautiful red and yellow balloon of excitement she had erected went limp and flaccid like a wet noodle. She had meant to buy some shoes. Had money and was not afraid to use it. But somewhere along the road to this moment at the Bigguns Shoe Emporium her big toe had got so big she not could get a shoe to fit her.”
Jaynie’s shoe quest leads her on to an even larger pursuit: to find her long-missing mother. She discovers a previously unknown Faerie heritage and strange allies as the reader descends (literally) into the land of Faerie:
“A quick push from behind and Jaynie stepped through the door and fell through into a black space that pulled her in like a mega power vacuum. And suddenly she was racing full speed down a slide, or chute, or something that took her breath away, terrifying and reducing her to a droning scream, “AAAIIEEE….”
If there were any doubt as to her ability to scream with ear blasting power for long duration, all doubt ended with this performance. There were only two other times in her life where a scream approaching but not equaling this magnitude had been emitted from her tender throat.”
There, she explores her new world and embarks on a series of escapades that lead to a clash between her allies and the darker forces of the faerie world. It is during this conflict she finds an end to her search:
“Arriving finally at the imprisonment quarters was in the end a bit anticlimactic. Where Jaynie had expected a full-scale high tech lockdown of the Star Wars variety, what she found was a grim, foul smelling enclosure, more in keeping with medieval dungeons than modern penitentiary schemes.”
Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess does have its problems, mostly in the beginning chapters, but it also has merit in its twisty hodgepodge of well-written madness. The author C. B. Smith has created a book of droll, intricate chaos that bounces off a sugar rush.
I am not sure the book’s quirky style will captivate everyone, but it will, I suspect, greatly appeal to its target audience.
Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess is available now through Createspace and should be available on Amazon.com shortly.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
My Review of America's Hidden History
Book Review of America's Hidden History: Untold tales of the first pilgrims, fighting women, and forgotten founders who shaped a nation, by Kenneth C. Davis.
You know a book on American History is going to be interesting when the Introduction starts with a reference to Flip Wilson. And I was not disappointed reading America’s Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis.
America’s Hidden History is a book of six stylish, sometimes wry, vignettes that detail the more obscure tales of American history. The tales spin out in a well-written, forthright style, as a master storyteller discloses secrets of the past. It is just the kind of book on history I love, highlighting not facts and figures, but people and their real stories. There are little known stories of Conquistadors, Pilgrims, Puritans, Founding Fathers, and Revolutionaries, opening an illuminating window on the early saga of what became the United States of America.
I found the first two stories, that deal with the first explorers and settlers, an appealing, entertaining read, and mildly enlightening. Mr. Davis drops the veil on this history, to give the reader a true glimpse at the lives that wove that fabric.
He writes:
“In this inconceivable moment of terror, shock, and grief, the two women were spared. Taken captive along with at least ten other prisoners from Haverhill, they began a wilderness trek.”
It was in the remainder of the book, where the author starts telling tales of the American Revolution and its participants, that the book elevates from great to riveting. Conventional history gets turned on its ear, to reveal some very intriguing facts. I certainly learned a few things I thought I already knew.
Mr Davis pens:
“While Arnold prepared for this wilderness march to Quebec, his rival Ethan Allen was already assaulting Montreal. With only a handful of men, Allen had foolishly attacked the city late in September 1775. The attack was a fiasco, and the hero of Ticonderoga was captured by the British. His Revolutionary military career was over.”
America’s Hidden History dips past the standard book on history, removing the rose-coloured glasses we often use to view the past. Yet, within its pages are far more fascinating stories that should be read. Oh, and if you ever set out to colonize a new world make sure you bring the pigs.
Kenneth C. Davis is the bestselling author of Don’t Know Much About History, part of the popular Don’t Know Much About series.
America’s Hidden History is available online at Amazon and other retailers.
You know a book on American History is going to be interesting when the Introduction starts with a reference to Flip Wilson. And I was not disappointed reading America’s Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis.
America’s Hidden History is a book of six stylish, sometimes wry, vignettes that detail the more obscure tales of American history. The tales spin out in a well-written, forthright style, as a master storyteller discloses secrets of the past. It is just the kind of book on history I love, highlighting not facts and figures, but people and their real stories. There are little known stories of Conquistadors, Pilgrims, Puritans, Founding Fathers, and Revolutionaries, opening an illuminating window on the early saga of what became the United States of America.
I found the first two stories, that deal with the first explorers and settlers, an appealing, entertaining read, and mildly enlightening. Mr. Davis drops the veil on this history, to give the reader a true glimpse at the lives that wove that fabric.
He writes:
“In this inconceivable moment of terror, shock, and grief, the two women were spared. Taken captive along with at least ten other prisoners from Haverhill, they began a wilderness trek.”
It was in the remainder of the book, where the author starts telling tales of the American Revolution and its participants, that the book elevates from great to riveting. Conventional history gets turned on its ear, to reveal some very intriguing facts. I certainly learned a few things I thought I already knew.
Mr Davis pens:
“While Arnold prepared for this wilderness march to Quebec, his rival Ethan Allen was already assaulting Montreal. With only a handful of men, Allen had foolishly attacked the city late in September 1775. The attack was a fiasco, and the hero of Ticonderoga was captured by the British. His Revolutionary military career was over.”
America’s Hidden History dips past the standard book on history, removing the rose-coloured glasses we often use to view the past. Yet, within its pages are far more fascinating stories that should be read. Oh, and if you ever set out to colonize a new world make sure you bring the pigs.
Kenneth C. Davis is the bestselling author of Don’t Know Much About History, part of the popular Don’t Know Much About series.
America’s Hidden History is available online at Amazon and other retailers.
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Update on my book Inside Realms- Its approved!
I got my final proof copy of Inside Realms, everything was fine, and it is now officially approved for online distribution!
Now I just have to wait 6-8 weeks for it to magically appear at the online retail stores like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
I shall count the days.
Now I just have to wait 6-8 weeks for it to magically appear at the online retail stores like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
I shall count the days.
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