I came across writing prompts for computers in the Bronze Age, artificial wombs, volcanos as renewable energy, and population control.
Review: Pauline: A Biography of Pauline Johnson
Pauline: A Biography of Pauline Johnson by Betty Keller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This biography was an enjoyable read, even if it felt like a required read to me because of my ethnic heritage. It took a lot of boldness for a woman raised as a Victorian lady to leave home and become a stage performer. even if she isn’t as bold a trailblazer as some modern feminists would prefer. Her half-breed status limited her options for marriage yet freed her to pursue a literary career. Both as her “Mohawk Princess” gimmick and for the fact that she couldn’t be kept at home if there was no one willing to offer her an establishment. Her older sister had to find work outside the home to support herself, and Pauline’s means of support was more glamorous than others. I feel her contributions to Canadian literature get ignored by women’s studies because she was too busy making a living during her lifetime to be a campaigner of women’s rights.
Top Fantasy Story Prompt for June 1, 2017
How do cyclopean and elven writing prompts and suggested body modifications for characters sound to you?
Review: The Complet Kama Sutra
The Complet Kama Sutra by Alain Daniélou
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Alain Danielou’s translation of the Kama Sutra serves as a great historical text about the sexual mores and sexual politics of Ancient India. My own inhibitions maybe be showing, but I wouldn’t blindly follow its advice as sex manual in modern days since some of its techniques shouldn’t be used without your partner’s consent, ie. hitting, biting and scratching. It’s also non-PC at points since the list of partners available to various classes of men in historical times sounds like people they were free to sexually harass instead of recommendations on who it’d be best for them to approach. However, it will certainly help flesh out details for a writer who wants to write historical fiction in that era.
Top Fantasy Story Prompt for May 25, 2017
I found the perfect prompts for a Lovecraftian or regular horror stories, epics and subversive works.
“Birth of Legends” will be In Our Own Voices 2
“Birth of Legends” has been accepted into the In Our Own Aboriginal Voice 2 anthology by Rebel Mountain Press. My choice of a graphic is a hint as to the main character of the story who became a celebrity in the early 20th century. We’ll see if I win any contest prizes, but I will at least get a copy of the anthology. I thought it’d be good to be in an indigenous anthology at this time in my writing career and submitted to it.
Review: Swan Knight’s Son
Swan Knight’s Son by John C. Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a modern day chivalrous romance. Lovers of epic fantasy while like this though its courtly anachronisms won’t to everyone’s taste. It treats elves as capricious at best and malicious at worst, which may surprise Lord of the Ring fans who expect elves to act like the ultimate paladins. It’s not a light read but rewards effort if you have the stamina to apply yourself. I recommend this if you’re in the mood for something meaty yet short since it isn’t as long as most epics.
Aviking on Turtle Island: A Short Reads Set is up for Preorder on Amazon’s Kindle Select
What self–respecting Viking can resist raiding new lands? Jormungandr the Midgard Serpent, son of Loki the Trickster, and the jotun Ymirling, won’t pass up the chance to ravage, Turtle Island, a land unprotected by Thor the Thunderer! (Approximately 4334 words.)
I’ve been wanting to do a “Jormungandr goes Native” themed series. I couldn’t think of how to turn it into a novel, but it’ll be easy to create short story of incidents of his life on Turtle Island, my people’s name for North America. This contains the first part of the series. The length of the series will depend on reader demand, but there’re some highlights of his life I want to cover so there will be a series either way.
Cutting Down to One Blogpost a Week
This is a notice I will cut down to one blogpost a week on Thursdays.
I will rotate the regular features. There will be one blogpost a month each on the scifi and fantasy story prompts each, or, if the source material merits it, they may be combined into one blogpost in a given month.
The other weeks of the month the weekly blogpost featured will be a book or movie reviews, commentary.
When I have a release or a publication credit announcement I will have a separate blogpost for that, and still have a weekly feature blogpost.
I realize I need to do more than driveby spamming, but doing all these features and keeping on top of my other online venues, while plugging away at upcoming releases every week when I already have a full time job was getting fatiguing.
Review: In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography, 1954-1978
In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography, 1954-1978 by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Isaac sounds like he’s bragging but there’s no denying the fact he was a Master of Scifi and it’d be ridiculous to deny his success or his prolific output. It’s hard for a writer not to read this without feeling envious. Yet his life still had ups and downs and sometimes individual works would be more successful than he thought they merited so it gives the rest of us hope. A fan of Isaac Asimov who only reads scifi will find this an interesting insight into the mind of a genius and his working methods.
