Warrior Wisewoman 3 edited by Roby James

Warrior Wisewoman 3 edited by Roby James is an anthology of science fiction stories focused around strong female characters. These characters may not be the lead, and the definition of strength is a broad one, opening the potential for a wide variety of interesting tales.

As with most anthologies, some stories resonated with me more than others, but none of the included tales jarred me, which is not always the case. A few of the stories that stood out for me (in order of appearance) are listed below, along with a note as to why with every effort to keep from spoilers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 12-07-2011

This week has been a good one for discoveries, and so I bring you a broad range of areas, including a beautiful short story. I hope you enjoy them.

Anthropology

A glimpse into the death practices of an ancient city:

http://heritage-key.com/blogs/owenjarus/ancient-city-petra-tombs-reveal-61-burials-and-islamic-gold-medallion

Read the rest of this entry »

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is the book I have reread the most. It’s my comfort read, the one I turn to every five to ten years. While normally I talk about more recent books in the hopes of encouraging you to try out some new authors, or of getting suggestions of similar authors for me to try, something interesting happened while I was rereading Pride and Prejudice that I would like to explore.

First of all, I read this as an ebook. It came already installed in my Sony eReader, and I began it a while back but didn’t start seriously reading it until last month. While format can make a difference, I read a lot of books on my eReader and even on my Palm, so this isn’t a new format for me.

Okay, at this point I suspect you’re thinking I’m going to say, despite my history, that now I hate the book, but I’m done being mysterious. I enjoyed the interactions between the characters as much as I always do. I like the stilted but witty crisscross, the arrogance that gives way to self-examination, and the culture of the times. None of that changed for me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for New Year’s Eve (12-31-2010)

Happy New Year’s Eve. Hope you all have wonderful plans and will have fun. Me, I’m hanging out and relaxing after enjoying a holiday trip. Everything’s pretty slow and mellow here, the reason these links are up in the late afternoon, but for those looking for something interesting to read, please enjoy.

Just for Fun

A visual delight of time-lapsed photography set to music:

http://vimeo.com/16369165
Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 12-17-2010

Just for Fun

When I was a kid, my grandmother would take me in to New York City to look at the window displays, but they had nothing like this back then. Enjoy a YouTube video of Saks Fifth Avenue’s Snowflake and Bubble 3D holiday light show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_9AYqhaw64

Read the rest of this entry »

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

Several people recommended J.R. Ward so I figured I’d give her a try, but when I first started Dark Lover: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood I thought I’d already read it. The beginning feels a little generic and I almost stopped, something I would have regretted. Rather quickly, the tough guy beginning changes into a fascinating story.

Ward puts together a complicated tale with an alternate look at vampirism that has significant unique elements. What drew me in was not so much the vampire romance, but the culture because honestly, despite my recent reading list, it’s the authors, not the subgenre that I enjoy. J.R. Ward is now on that list.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 12-10-2010

Editing

Weronika Janczuk offers some suggestions for how to turn familiar text into unique text so the errors stand out. I am boggled by the idea of posting something on the wall (of course I can’t reach any of my walls because of furniture), but most of her techniques are similar to what I already do except for the conversion to PDF, something I’m going to adopt.

http://www.weronikajanczuk.com/2010/12/tips-for-quick-self-editing.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann

If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you’ve probably got the impression that I like Suzanne Brockmann’s writing. The funny thing is that when she was recommended to me, I gave the books to my husband first since from the description they seemed more his type of book. Now we take turns buying more (and we came in late on a HUGE backlist) for each other…okay, more like try to jump the gun because it’s nice to have a present you know will be welcome and you can both enjoy. (He just got me Tall, Dark and Dangerous for example.)

My husband was the one to get me Infamous, a novel so far removed from the Seal adventure type books we discovered her with that I wasn’t sure what to make of it. That said, I’m a long-term, if infrequent, Western reader, and it was Brockmann. She hasn’t disappointed me yet.

I get to the first page of the story…which is a prologue…in first person…by a dead guy…with a serious case of attitude.

Umm, the back blurb says romantic suspense, not paranormal. Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 12-03-2010

Sigh. Kids having a party and my computer decided to lock up, while I’m in a scramble to finish my NaNo so I can put together the synopsis for the Harlequin challenge. However, I might not have many, nor have them posted on Friday (though missing by only 8 minutes), but I think you’ll enjoy the links I’ve gathered this week.

Just Because

I didn’t mean to look at these, but they were just too fascinating. Got to the end and realized I had to share these bizarre sea animals:

http://blog.rocketboom.com/post/102948092/the-top-15-most-bizarre-sea-animals

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 11-26-2010

Posting these a little late ’cause I’m moving slow after a fun Thanksgiving celebration. I hope each of you, whether in the US so with Turkey Day or not, had a grand Thursday.

Research

Before there was the Swiss Army Knife, there was the Roman Gourmet Utensil:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247230/The-Roman-Army-Knife-Or-ingenuity-Swiss-beaten-1-800-years.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 11-19-2010 and 11-12-2010

Sorry for the missing week. The flu has caught me in its grip, but now you get two weeks for one.

Interesting Links for 11-19-2010

History
Renaissance Rome comes to life in the video game Assassin’s Creed through the assistance of historical scholars. Intriguing enough to make me consider whether I want to try the game.

http://www.livescience.com/culture/assassins-creed-virtual-rome-renaissance-scholar-101112.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 11-12-2010

This week has been a little crazy what with our first snow, throwing my back out, and becoming a walking, talking advertisement for Nyquil, not to mention the ups and downs of this year’s NaNo, but like the Post Office, the interesting links must go out . I found a nice range of things for you this week. Enjoy.

Anthropology
While not all Eastern or Western cultures fall into these categories, this visual representation of how the same concept can be completely different between cultures is wonderful:

http://mountainrunner.us/2008/01/differences_between_eastern_an.html

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting links for 11-05-2010

Promoting

Some solid tips on the difference between traditional and social marketing so that your efforts to promote aren’t received the wrong way:

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/two-ways-to-transform-your-book-marketing/

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 10-29-2010

Life

It’s always nice to see signs that what I love has earned a place in popular culture, but this is one step further:

http://www.sfwa.org/2010/10/star-trek-cited-by-texas-supreme-court/

Read the rest of this entry »

Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars

You never know what to expect when reading a book by Elizabeth Bear, and All the Windwracked Stars is no exception. This is a post-apocalyptic novel centered around figures of Norse mythology who are trying their best to stave off the next round of apocalyptic disasters. The main character is an immortal who has managed to keep her naiveté mainly because she believes in black and white and doesn’t understand everything that has been happening around her.

Muire wants to help, but she doesn’t have much left. Her god has abandoned her, her comrades all died thousands of years ago in a pointless battle, and she carries the guilt of her survival as a weight on her shoulders. Or at least all that is what she believes to be true.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 10-15-2010

This week is a bit of a mishmash. I’m still up to my gills in the Muse Online Writers Conference, but poked my head up enough to catch a few things I wanted to share.

Environment

A wonderfully simple presentation on the impact of oil dependency with hope for the future:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrrVpf45w5E&feature=player_embedded

Fun

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 10-08-2010

I’m neck deep in the final preparations for the 2010 Muse Online Writers Conference, where there are writing workshops, networking opportunities, and even pitch appointments all from the comfort of your home, as well as bleeding red ink all over my latest edit, so the pickings are a little slim, but for all that I think you’ll find them fun and worth your while.

FYI, if you’re interested in coming to next year’s Muse Online Writers Conference, you can register here: http://themuseonlinewritersconference.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=369

Note: You will need to create an account on the Muse forum to register, but that is also the account you’ll use for the conference when it rolls around next year.

Just for Fun

Holly Lisle names one of her set of student workgroups with animal collective nouns, and it set me searching. I found this for your amusement:

http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Pointless/AnimalGroups.html

Read the rest of this entry »

dream called time by S.L. Viehl

This novel got caught up in my blog reorganization and so didn’t even get the quick comments that I’ve previously done on top of my interesting links but that in no way reflects my reaction to the story. dream called time is a bit of a torment for me because I’ve been reading Stardoc since the beginning (though I started a year or two late) and it seems like Cherijo and Reever have been part of my life forever.

My comment as I was reading was this:

I’m zooming my way through dream called time wishing somehow Viehl’s prose was a little less smooth so it would take me longer. This novel is both a culmination and a sorrow since it’s the end of the Stardoc series, one I’ve been enjoying since book one. Without giving anything away since you’ll know in the first paragraph, the old Cherijo is back and Jarn (at least so far) is gone with a few lingering residuals. There are parts that sadden me, but I understand exactly why it has to be this way, which doesn’t make it any easier to take-a clear sign that Viehl has once again sucked me in.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 10-01-2010

Is it just me, or is the year flying by? This week is mainly focused on the writing side. Maybe it’s a sign, or more likely that I had very little time to search things out, and coincidentally, I’m knee deep in a massive edit.

Editing

Here is a nice list of four common problems manuscripts have, along with examples and resources to explore them in more depth:
http://joanyedwards.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/look-for-four-writing-errors-when-you-revise/
Read the rest of this entry »

Truthseeker by C.E. Murphy

C.E. Murphy has delighted me for years, and the Truthseeker world shows all the signs of doing the same. Certain elements are familiar enough from the Walker Papers series to make this right in Murphy’s sweet spot while in other ways, Truthseeker takes a huge leap into the unknown. Like Joanne, Lara Jansen is unaware of the true extent of her abilities. Unlike Walker Papers, though, acceptance is not an issue, and the development of those abilities is quick and strong. Lara enters the story going through her life with the knowledge that she cannot stomach lies, a knack that leads her to a cautious, isolated existence because it’s the rare friend who can understand, and enjoy, that ability.



Everything turns upside down though when she meets a man she’s attracted to but the first words out of his mouth–his introduction–are half-truths. Things go crazy from that moment on as Dafydd reveals that she’s the person he’s been searching for over the last one hundred years.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 9-17-2010

Here is the first installment of my newly focused blog posts. Below, you’ll find links, links, and more links, each with a little explanation and/or commentary as it suits my mood. I hope you’ll see something interesting, and would love to hear back from you if you’re so inclined. Heck, you could even offer up a favorite link of your own, but be warned that I might prod you for a website review at Vision: A Resource for Writers (http://visionforwriters.com/) if it looks like it has potential.

Publishing

The steps necessary before a book gets accepted by a publishing house:

http://www.stevelaube.com/book-contract-or-rejection-who-decides/

Read the rest of this entry »