Wonderful. Multi-layered painting by Berthold Woltze
Der lästige Kavalier, or, The Irritating Gentleman, done in 1874 by the German artist Berthold Woltze (1829-1896).
I experience this feeling almost every time someone tries to talk to me on the Metro. My earbuds are in and my eyes are closed, Sir. I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request (for conversation). Means no.
Couldn’t agree more.
Recently, I was forced to take some time off from writing due to having to work away for a couple of weeks. I mean, I could probably dragged my laptop with me through the wilderness, but it was just too much hassle, so I decided to consider it a well deserved break. Instead, I loaded my phone full of awesome books I’ve had on my writing list for ages and planned to just read, read, read.
It, was, amazing! First of all, the fact that I didn’t have a choice, made it real easy to not feel guilty about not writing. And having time to just read every evening, uninterrupted for hours, getting through books I’ve had my eye on for a while… I don’t even know how to explain it. I wished someone could pay me just to read.
Anyway, I noticed a few things happening. Reading several books…
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I follow Carol Beth Anderson, so this will be added to my list. Lovely review from Trey Stone.
I don’t quite remember how this book even got on my TBR list (which tends to happen more often than not), but I’d jotted it down and had it ready on my kindle for my trip last week. Which means, I didn’t quite know what I was getting into. And I’m kind of very glad that I didn’t.
This is by far the most unique and original fantasy I’ve read in ages. It was absolutely terrific. It’s a story about Tavi, a sun-blessed girl (meaning she has magical powers) who is very special among her kind. It’s not uncommon for people to be sun-blessed and have access to magic in Anderson’s world, but Tavi is something of her own. We follow her as she grows up, grows into her abilities along with her friends, learn to handle them and accept them, and the dangers and wonders that follow. It’s, for…
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Airplane Mode by Elliott Downing
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I remember the first time a familiar ad popped up in front of me on a social network site. I’d just bought something online that day, and there was an ad depicting the same item. At first, I thought it was an amusing coincidence. But then it happened again and again. A little worm of paranoia began to burrow it’s way into my brain.
Elliott Downing’s beautifully laid-out narrative suggests – in a more immediate than Orwellian way – that feelings of paranoia are not only justified, but warranted.
Without wasting words, Elliott vividly reveals a present-day world peopled with a handful of sensitively-drawn digital natives whose daily lives are driven by modern computer technology. Then he shows us, via our own human frailty and mimetic, head-in-the-sand nature, the frightening consequences of such a dependence.
Since I finished reading Elliot Downing’s excellent book, my mobile phone has been in airplane mode.
For all you guys who love Warcraft, read Trey Stone’s review on Michael Stackpole’s book “Vol’Jin”
This is another book in the Warcraft universe, books which I’ve read quite a few of, and which I always love to review. If you want to check it out, my favorite is right here, and boy is it good.
I’m not going to get into too much detail about Warcraft, so if you don’t know what that is Google is your friend, but it’s based on some video games from the 90s, and the online game World of Warcraft has been one of the world’s most popular for a few years now. The gist of is that there’s two factions, The Alliance and The Horde, both composed of different races like humans, dwarves, orcs, and elves, and they fight each other.
This book is centered on the troll character Vol’Jin, as the title probably gives away, and his stay in Pandaria after being mortally wounded and left for dead…
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Hope for us all.
My schedule has changed a lot recently. I’m trying to read more regularly, I play more guitar and accidentally joined a band, so I have to practice for that, and I’ve changed up my gym program. All of these thing, in combination with the normal, boring stuff like sleeping, eating, and going to a job that pays actual money, means that I don’t have as much time to write anymore.
I had to fix that.
I used to try and put aside a specific amount of time for writing. Not necessarily every day, but regularly. I’d say: “On these days, between these and these times, you’ll write.” It would look something like this:
They might change a little bit from week to week, but…
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A great update from a writer friend who’s in the Arctic.
Hey guys. Just a little update: the arctic is amazing. It’s cold (but surprisingly warm), it’s beautiful, it’s quiet, and it’s just overall fantastic. (I’m not overly fond of the midnight sun, but ah well.)
Of course, I miss my wife. A lot. She misses me too, but overall we’re doing pretty good. It’s different this time (we’ve lived apart before), and we’re handling it awesomely. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not a bit rough some days.
When I’m not talking to her, I’m working, working out, or writing. I plan to spend a lot of time outdoors, both through work and on my free time, but right now it’s mud season, and I haven’t had my rifle training yet. (Yes, that’s a thing, there’s polar bears here – you’re not allowed to leave town without at least one rifle in your party.)
So while I’m waiting for the…
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