0 comments on "butt hurt"

Okay, so back in the day I would read things by authors where they would give advice to “Don’t get your feelings hurt by one bad review. If you’ve got twenty good reviews and one bad review… just shake it off and let it go. There’s always going to be that one person that hates your writing. You can’t let one review drag you down.”

I would read that advice and snort and shake my head. I would be like, “There’s no way I would ever be like that. I’m never going to let one review totally ruin my day. I’m not going to be that kind of writer.”

Evidently I was wrong. I am totally that kind of writer.

Wah! My feelings are all stingy with despair and the foul brine of irony. I just need to stop reading reviews and checking my sales on Amazon to see if anyone likes my stuff.  So, so, SO lame.

Faizel 02 at Amazon
0 comments on "BOOK REVIEW: Heroes & Villains, by Harper Kingsley"

Title: Heroes & Villains
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: science fiction, fantasy, superhero, mm romance
Summary: Vereint wants to be a superhero and use his amazing abilities for good. Instead, he’s relegated to a life of mediocrity spiced with outright mockery on the part of the heroes he’d so long admired. So he faces the truth of himself and the life he lives… and becomes the supervillain Darkstar.

My rating: I personally think it’s super awesome, but I don’t rate my own stuff (yet. I might get desperate, so I’m not going to let go of all available options.)

Review: Starts off with Vereint Georges trying his best to balance life as the wannabe superhero Starburst (a name that leads to much mockery) and an office worker. There are some clashes and he ends up alienating most of his co-workers, which makes his role as a superhero more important. Except Blue Ice, a hero he’s always admired, treats him like crap, which leaves him questioning the life he’s chosen.

With very little prompting, he leaves morals behind and turns to a life of crime as the supervillain Darkstar. With his awesome powers he could have been a figure of great terror, but instead he keeps to the smaller crimes of robbery and hostage taking. Still, his looks and powers lead him to having a reputation as the world’s premier supervillain.

And his arch-enemy? Well, it ends up being Blue Ice, who can’t help feeling a bit fascinated.

A slow building romance works in the background, eventually taking over the story and changing both of their lives forever. But in between… there’s super battles, the terrorist organization called the Darksters that see Darkstar as their role-model, and a man bent on avenging his sister by killing as many superheroes as he can manage.

There’s also like robot squid things and minions and inadvertent bank robberies and stuff. Oh yeah, and romance happens.

In all, this story is basically PG-13 and probably would have held to that rating if I didn’t have such a foul mouth. I don’t know how many times I used the f-word and various other vulgarities, but it was enough that the rating was unfortunately bumped to a soft-R.

Small Gods at Amazon
0 comments on "OTW Membership Drive"

The Organization for Transformative Works is having their membership drive from now until October 16th. Either renew or make new your membership–minimum donation $10 and you get to post a pretty little badge on your website. How bad is that, amirite?

I’m a firm believer in the ideals of the OTW. A lot of big time writers and movie producers turn their noses up at the idea of their fans using their worlds, but it’s not like they’re making any money at it. Believe me.

If someone loves your world(s) and ideas so much that they want to continue the story where you left off, or even go back and rework a scene or two, what’s the big deal? Plus, I think anyone should be flattered that someone loves their writing/TV show/movie so much that they want to play around in the world you create. Why? Because not only is it incredibly ego-stroking, but it’s like free advertising.

Personally, I’ve been scouring the Internet for some fanfic of my work. It’s not like I’m giving up my copyright or anything and as long as the content is original and the fanficcer isn’t making a profit… what’s the dealio? Still, 🙁 Nobody loves me though. No fanfic for me.

Still, here’s their link OTW logo: red circle with an arrow. Text reads: Organization for Transformative Works Membership Drive October 9-16, 2011

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good at Amazon
0 comments on "Merchanter’s Luck, by C.J. Cherryh"

Title: Merchanter’s Luck (Company Wars, #2)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Genre: sci-fi
Summary: The fateful meeting between the owner of a tramp star-freighter that flies the Union planets under false papers and fake names and a proud but junior member of a powerful starship-owning family leads to a record-breaking race to Downbelow Station–and a terrifying showdown at a deadly destination off the cosmic charts.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is a great book. I liked Cyteen, but I didn’t like a lot of the other Alliance-space novels as much. I just wasn’t that into the ideas behind them.

“Merchanter’s Luck” has a different feel from the Alliance-space novels, at least it does to me. It’s about a man alone on his merchant ship that comes to a station and meets a girl. It just so happens that the girl is from a powerful merchant family that numbers in the hundreds. They’re like a nation all their own. And he’s just one man.

After she bails him out of jail, he gets talked into taking the woman and a couple of her cousins on as crew. They basically take over his ship, which has him freaking out. Then they go to deliver a cargo they manage to get and the story starts.

This is a “classic sea tale,” but on board a spaceship. It features a protagonist coping with severe mental trauma who now has to deal with strangers invading his personal space. It’s not some socio-political treatise on the life and times of people in the future. It’s just a straight up story with interesting, likable characters and entertaining scenes of action. And maybe a little bit of romance.