Category: Publishers & Presses (Direct Reviews)

+SSP Week+ Book Review of Writers Workshop of Science Fiction and Fantasy (edited by) Michael Knost

Posted Wednesday, 5 February, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

Parajunkee DesignsWriters Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy (edited by) Michael Knost

[Previous Workshop: Writers Workshop of Horror by Woodland Press]

Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy edited by Michael Knost
Artwork Credit: Matthew Perry

Published By: Seventh Star Press, 14 May 2013
Official Editor Websites: Site | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
Converse on Twitter: #WritersWorkshopSFF
Artist Page: Matthew Perry @ Seventh Star Press; Portfolio
Available Formats: Softcover and E-Book
Page Count: 276

Acquired Book By: I am a regular blog book tour hostess for Tomorrow Comes Media, whereupon in conversation with Stephen Zimmer about my curiosity over the contents of this anthology due to the overwhelmingly creative book cover art; I was offered to receive a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review direct from the publisher Seventh Star Press. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Intrigued to Read:

Being I am a writer of science fiction stories set in a modern world akin to our own and based on science fact (I always had leanings towards hard sci-fi rather than soft!), I am always quite the intrepid girl who becomes interested in reading the latest book of writing advice, tips, and sage wisdom from those who have gone before me and cast their stories out into the hands of readers! Science fiction was in my blood long before I ever put thought to pen, as I inherited a passion for Trek & Star Wars which goes back to the original canon of both franchises. I never expected to live in a generation where having to say I support the ‘original canon’ of either one would even come to pass! However, that aside, what drew me into this anthology wasn’t just the context of the subject at hand but the excellent cover art rendering by Matthew Perry! Whose knack for presenting such a cleverly creative jumping gate of a writer’s muse is in good form! I knew whatever was contained inside the anthology was content I was determined to read! The musings of writers always makes me smile, yet its the enduring spirit of putting your heart on the line, owning your own work irregardless of its popularity and being strong in your belief an audience is awaiting to read your story is what invigorates me!

Within the Workshop, you’ll find:

Prominent writers within the craft of science fiction and fantasy story-telling, impart sage wisdom and advice given through anecdotical essays, pertinent interviews; set to a rhythm of appearances which makes Editor Knost appear nearly telepathically inclined as the reader weaves through a symbiotic rumination!

Contents Therein:

  • Michael Knost: Introduction
  • Neil Gaiman: Where do you get your Ideas?
  • Lou Anders: Nebulous Matters or Speculation on Subgenres
  • Lucy A. Synder: Ursula K. Le Guin Talks about a Lifetime in the Craft
  • James Gunn: Beginnings
  • George Zebrowski: Middles
  • Jay Lake: Endings
  • Nayad A. Monroe: Time Powers Talks about Writing Speculative Fiction
  • Orson Scott Card: On Rhetoric and Style
  • Pamela Sargent: Talking Too Much, or Not Enough: Dialogue in Science Fiction & Fantasy
  • G. Cameron Fuller: How Alien the Alien: A Primer
  • Nancy Kress: “The Green-Skinned Zorn Laughed with Grief” Character and Emotion in Science Fiction & Fantasy
  • Harry Turtledove: Alternate History: The How-to of What Might Have Been
  • Jude-Marie Green: Larry Niven Talks about Collaboration
  • Joe Haldeman: Hemingway Talks about Writing
  • Nisi Shawl: Unbending Gender
  • Alan Dean Foster: Reverse Engineering
  • Alethea Kontis: Kevin J. Anderson Talks about Spin-offs, Prequels, & Fan Fiction
  • Elizabeth Bear: Tactics of World-Building
  • Jackie Gamber: Ann VanderMeer Talks about Weird Fiction
  • Michael Knost: Short Fiction: A Roundtable Discussion with Short Story Editors
  • Max Miller: Long Fiction: A Roundtable Discussion with Novel Editors

I will be making selections of my reading to focus on throughout this bookish girl’s review of the ruminative musings which ignited in her mind’s eye as she drank through the pages with an eagerness all writers will understand! Writers reflecting on their craft and opening an honest discussion about the inner workings of writing as art is a moment to celebrate and cherish!

[Where Do You Get Your Ideas? an essay by Neil Gaiman]

The curious nature of readers is always to formulate a question directed towards the writer they unabashedly follow throughout their career as to explain the seemingly bottomless well of ideas the stories oriented from. The honest truths of where the genesis of an idea is first garnished is brilliantly executed by Mr. Gaiman (of whom I am aware of his works but haven’t yet read)! Your ideas percolate at a pace that you’re at times not even expecting to be able to fulfill a request of, because of the nature of the human brain’s processor of information! A writer is willfully able to head into the direction the first spark of inspiration alights in mind, but to follow the originating idea through germination and tether it to a solidified ending is walking through the unknown; proportions of which, none of us truly know of until we’re sitting down to write.

And, it’s within this boiling and brewing of ideas where I gather my energy for the story about to transfer out of my mind’s vortex and unto the written page! To take a thread of an idea, nurture it into being and then, allowing the freedom of the idea to transition and transmorph into its full-bodied existence of what its meant to be is a writer’s realised dream. Nibblements of ruminations sprinkled throughout a lifetime of experience and adventure start to ink out into our imagination. Transcending both time and memory, as pieces of ourselves are wrangled into the lifeblood of our characters! Being a writer is akin to being a nurturer of ideas and of ideals. We take our observations from our living realities, and pour our heart into our works attempting to yield a story that others might find palatable. I say ‘might’ find as I am one writer who writes the stories which flow through her rather than write a story which is hinged to a specific audience or topic. We (writers) all hope that the momentum and passion we have for an idea will garnish itself a foothold in a reader’s queue. Perhaps even, enlighten their outlook or perception, but moreso than naught, to give them a hearty piece of narrative which leaves them pensively grateful for the idea which started the words to fill the page!

[Nebulous Matters or Speculation on Subgenres – an essay by Lou Anders]

I felt especially blessed to find this particular section included in the Workshop, as I am always befuddled to understand which ‘genre’ is the stepping stone of each of the ‘subgenres’ in which I read! I have spent quite literally hours exhausting resources online to sort through the myriad labyrinth of descriptive analysis always walking away feeling a bit more muddled than clarified! There are a few exceptions, as one post floats to mind which I read during (#RRSciFiMonth) Sci-Fi November (my endearing name for “Sci-Fi Month” hosted by Rinn Reads!*) which was Top Ten Sci-Fi Sub-Genres (Part 1: Cyberpunk) by Leanne of Literary Excursion! Whilst I read her engaging post on a slice of science fiction I never felt I could honestly attach myself, I shared this remarkable observation:

I have a keen interest in the subject as I never knew what the differences were and its part of my learning curve this month with SFN! Cheers to you!

You know, I hadn’t even realised Steampunk came OUT of Cyberpunk! Learnt something new there! And, I was researching a LOT myself to educate myself on the origins of Steampunk but I must’ve missed the key references that would have connected these dots for me! Thankfully, you stepped in and saved the day!

Wait! Hold the TARDIS! I like “Dieselpunk”!?! Seriously!? Wow. I didn’t see that coming at all! But, right there in your essay it explains that “The Rocketeer” and “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” (I *knew!* I missed one on my Top List for Films!) are listed! I seriously adore those films!!!

Wow. OKay, so I’m still processing,… I am a Cyberpunk who fits inside the Steampunk + Dieselpunk genres!? Wow. I can see I have more research to do after SFN! Thanks for pointing me off in two new directions!

You can clearly see that “Doctor Who” had a direct impact on my life at the time, as I actually said “TARDIS” as an expression rather than as a direct reference of the Doctor’s travelling box! Laughs within a smile. One of the resounding benefits for me in being part of SFN is that it allowed me the advantage of not only interacting with other sci-fi enthused readers, but it allowed me to talk about a branch of literature I’m over the moon passionate about! And, within that perimeter, I gained growth in the knowledge of how the genre is both supported, explored, and constantly being revolutionised by new ideas! I am going to be going back through all the lovely blogs of whom were populated with posts during SFN as I make my exodus backwards and through the rest of my own SFN experience!

Leading back to the book at hand, Mr. Anders brought to light several classic key points which interested me dearly:

  • The word “speculative fiction” has plagued me since Autumn 2013, as I was trying to unearth if it were in fact the broad stroke of description attributed to science fiction, fantasy, & horror OR if it were a new definitive space of works within those keystrokes which pushed past the barriers of straight-up foundational beliefs and entered into the cross-section of the unknown, the unfamiliar, and the remarkable. His answer finally closes the theory of mystery for me!
  • My mind was enraptured by science since I was a very young girl, to the brink that following myself into studies for various sciences was the track I was going to bookend to my creative pursuits. Those who know me well, know which of the ‘sciences’ pulls at my heartstrings the most, and as I blog about my reading escapades I am quite certain it will be revealed for others as well. Here, I only wanted to say that due to my background in science (and the continued studies I am pursuing on my own) the branch of hard science fiction is quite appealing as it goes into the exploration of where the limits of known science and theoretical science are heading right here in the living now of time. It was not a surprise to me to see Ringworld mentioned in relation to this branch, as Niven is one of the authors I have earmarked off to read since I first broached science fiction in the first place!
  • The curation of mundane science fiction fascinates me due to the dexterity of how far the writers can take the stories without the ‘theories’ of the inclusion of hard sci-fi elements. There is always going to be a balance between the personal beliefs of a reader & of a writer, as to how far each is willing to extend their imagination and the stories in which they each choose to define as a whole component of the living context of the genre. I’d be keen to seek out writers of this branch and see how their approach is leading the genre forward.
  • Space Opera was an inherent choice of mine to pursue! One of my favourite ‘personal discoveries’ was Babylon 5, as it eliminated the ‘box’ of how science fiction serials were once defined. For me, it leapt out of the convention a bit moreso than its counterpart of Deep Space Nine, which was still set to work inside an established reality and space. I even appreciated the folly of Galaxy Quest as a comic and cheeky side of being a geeky sci-fi appreciator! (I am not one who would normally gather a mirth of joy for folly, farce, or parody!) The ramifications for living interstellarly is too keen of an idea not to indulge in reading! And, there is of course the tv movie from the 1980s I am still trying to unearth the title of,…where they had to choose whether or not to stay on the moon or return back to earth?! The woman was pregnant and the choice would be between where to live and how the choice would affect their family long-term. Not a lot to go on, but it was brilliantly done at the time and I regret my memory cannot remember more!
  • New Space Opera leaves me curious as I am always seeking to read more British literature, and if the Britons have sorted out a new method of curating stories of this nature, I am definitely going to sort out how to find them! Verse Military Science Fiction taking a limited backdoor of plausible interest. I think for me, the film Starship Troopers wrecked the joy! As I watched it when it first premiered, had I know the level of intensity I would experience I would have omitted the desire. Conversely, I have a deep appreciation for military fiction stories, as I have been a long-term supporter of JAG, NCIS, and NCIS: LA, as much as seeing various incarnations of the military fiction in both tv and film. I never fully close a door, as I might wander back through with a book in hand which changes my perspective and illuminates a character which my heart grows empathy to meet. Two examples of military fiction I have been over jupiter’s moon in favour of are: Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy & Sebastian’s Way: The Pathfinder by George Steger.
  • New Wave Science Fiction is one that I have noticed without the realisation of what I was seeing! And, yet am a bit on the fence if I am a reader who can attach herself to the stories of this category! Time will reveal… Cyberpunk I already revealed was a startling discovery of interest!
  • Steampunk Is a sub-genre I’ve had a deep appreciation for which was knitted out of a love of the Victorian Gothic clothing movement, the sub-culture of indie artists on Etsy, and a firm appreciation for Victorian technology merged into story-lines which elicit a new generation of science fiction with the heart of the old age intact yet re-defined for today! I am only in the very beginnings of reading ‘steampunk’ as my next foray will be The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart! (blogged about my discovery of the book) (posts on Steampunk)
  • Epic &/or High Fantasy Is singularly my absolute favourite to read due to the breadth and depth of the stories which bind together living worlds of imagined joy! I love wandering around a well-fused story, anchored by characters whose lives are visibly flawed but contain within the mirth of their scope an adventure, a journey, or a mission which takes you to the heights of their world and yours. I get all giddy about discovering new authors to seek out, because I know the story I’m about to merge my heart into is going to be one I’ll not quite forget! The author who proved her salt and my adoration for this branch was Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars saga which I began reading at the age of seventeen!
  • Sword & Sorcery as well as Urban Fantasy Are two branches I am always a bit hesitative to indulge in as I am not a grisly, gruesome, or intensely horror-filled sort of reader. Having said that, I have read Urban Fantasy books which might have resonated an issue with my personal preferences but the heart of the stories staid with me much longer than a twitching of an issue over a book turnoff contained within their covers! I always keep an open-mind whilst I read due to the fact you never know which book your going to read that might push you outside your known envelope of acceptance into a story that gives you back something you were not expecting to receive.
  • Dark Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Are two more areas in which I find myself at odds to begin reading; only because I haven’t yet found my proper footing to explore the writers who pen their tales! There are aspects of the paranormal which intrigue me to read (clearly, as I read the Ghost Harrison series by Heather Graham!), but its in finding which author who pens which story of whose characters resonate with me in printed form as much as say “Ghost Whisperer” does in its motion medium.
  • Sci-Fantasy To me sounds like a merger of two of my favourite literary excursions in which I cannot wait to journey inside! To empathises and mix the two genres into a lively genre-bender exploration of story and thought is beyond genius! One of my favourite genre-benders for science fiction (Sci-Mystery?) is The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester, another story I read at seventeen!

Ander’s way of capturing the tick-tocking dance of enticing offshoots of the genre, electrify the eagerness to drink in more of the stories which give us the most joy to read! His enthused approach to make the complexities of genre explainable to the causal reader as well as the experienced is a credit to his skill in understanding the foundations of science fiction. IF lack of space hadn’t been an issue, (as I presume all essays within the Workshop were under a limited word count), I would have rejoiced in reading more on the subject! Eek. Exciting stuff! And, for a girl transitioning back into the genre, it’s quite literally ‘a road map and treasure trove of where to wander off next!’

*As you may or may not be aware of, I am resuming where I left off with my Sci-Fi November postings, to where I want to complete what I originally set out to accomplish! I have numerous notes on the Doctor Who episodes I watched, as much as I want to complete the viewings I scheduled as it was such a fantastic introduction to the tv serial! My gratitude to Rinn for conceiving the idea & for running with it is a deep as the galaxy itself! I do hope it becomes an ‘annual’ event as it was quite literally the light and joy of my November!

[Jake Lake: Endings]

As it so happens the day I was first preparing this review to go live on my blog, I ended up readily engaged in quite a lively conversation through #LitChat which is a bi-weekly (Monday & Wednesday, 4-5 EST) literature conversation for the bookishly inclined! I stumbled across their feeds late in 2013, only to realise that it feels like I have found a nexus of readers who are as geeky and bookish as I am! The topics change weekly, as do the guests they feature on Wednesdays! As you can see, the topic on Monday was “Cliffhanger Endings” which I felt was appropriate to include here being that I was reading an essay on this very topical issue! How to properly end a story!

The following tweets were inserted using WP’s automated Tweet App: (as such I was trying to only include my words but the top tweet appears as well! They also appear in ‘reverse order’ because I like to be quirky!)

https://twitter.com/JLovesAStory/status/430461253119528960

As you can clearly denote, I have a keen interest in why certain books are set to swirl my head with bone crushing emotion and anguish, only to have no resolution of the core of the climax! These are the stories which nestle into my heart, the characters of whom I have followed through strife and joy, only to emerge out of their adverse circumstances with an unresolved distaste in my mouth! I whole-heartedly understand when stories cannot end well in later chapters if it’s the beginning of a serial, but what about the stand-alone books which oft-times are written by début authors!? What then, pray tell? Do you chance the hope that a sequel will be penned and released within a twelvemonth or do you anguish over the grief of not having a proper Epilogue to guide your heart back through to reality outside of the realm of the book!?

Endings if you ask me, are dicey, and these were my ruminations BEFORE I entered into Lake’s essay! Whoa!

I am quite comfortable if the elucidation of the story’s resolve remains vague if enough of the climaxical angst feels as though nothing more can be said or done to alleviate the character’s anguish. There are as much unresolved endings in fiction as Lake credits to real life; and I completely concur! Except to say, there is a measure of a breadth of leeway for science fiction & fantasy to a certain extent. However, my comments in the LitChat feed was a broad stroke recollection of inter-genre discussion. As such, I never specifically said which genre or branch of literature I was respectively discussing nor which particular author. I’d rather debate the merits of a tool of the craft, in this case, ‘the cliffhanger ending’ rather than to specifically denounce a preference of a writer. Because in the end, the issue with the ending is mine. I’m the reader who picked up the story in the forethought of expectation of an ending I could live with once the book was set down on my shelf. IF my presumption worked against my heart in the end, it is only half on the fault of the writing. It’s difficult to brace ourselves for unresolved endings when in life we are constantly dealing with the peculiar nature of the unknown! Sometimes it is nice to have a purported dimension where more or less resolution is commonplace rather than elusive!

According to Lake’s assessment my key issue is with accepting a story which is writ in normative and non-normative format! I knew there had to be a reasoning behind my discontempt! Yet. There are moments in certain stories I would suspect or even hope that the ending wouldn’t be resolved if the issues contained within the heart of the journey are ones beyond the scope of the book. A story can only yield so much insight into the world in which it thrives in the space in which it inhabits. I think my classic mistake is expecting too much out of certain stories in which present a journey with an open-ended definition of ‘the end’.

I was smiling when I read the bottom paragraphs of page 51! At the footfall of page 52 arching into page 53, Lake touches on the exact sentiment I was attempting to explain myself! If a story is generated to be a complex tome of narrative, the reader not only presumes but requires the ending to resonate with a deft complexity as the rest of the text! Thank you, Mr. Lake! His final sentence of page 55 is precisely what I was hinting at! Precisely!

Ah, ha! My malaise can lift! I suffer from broken endings under the influence of the parachute technique!

[G. Cameron Fuller: How Alien the Alien: A Primer]

The opening sequence of this essay illuminates one of my favourite [fantasy] films of the past decade: Avatar! I quite literally wanted to soak into the world in which the Na’vi lived! To soar into the skies as a warrior would have made my heart thrive on the electric pulse of purpose! Except to say, I believe my gender is against me in this one regard, but oh, I suppose there is a bit of a feminist in all of us who strive towards equality for all genders to pursue what they individually wish to achieve! Including in fictional worlds we drink in with a mirth of a nod in awe!

What fascinated me is that the conjecture of the tone in this section is that the Na’vi were not altogether alien in the traditional sense but rather a humanoid species living on a different planet from our own! Strangely or not, this mirrors my exact thought processes whilst I was in the darkened theater watching it on the silver screen! The aliens for me were the para-military minded soldiers whose taste for blood winked out the last bit of my inner resolve for warfare! No one wins in war, but warmongers are not my favourite characters to meet in fiction nor in motion pictures. The level of the emotionally gutting plane is enough to eclipse a moon!

I could even reflect that whilst I was becoming a Whovian during the 50th Anniversary month of Doctor Who, there were more than one occasion where I felt the ‘alien’ species being highlighted were less alien than the contemporary humans! Did anyone else think the nurses whose faces were cats was not all that unrealistic? Or, what about the fact that the Doctor himself is quite alien but prefers to be human?! Data ring any bells!? (as in: Brent Spiner’s character!)

He delves further into a study of some of my most memorable ‘alien’ characters: from Star Trek, Star Wars & Battlestar Galactica (all originals for me!); to the HAL computer of Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the evolution of fear of technologic advances as explored in the works of Michael Crichton which I read from thirteen to seventeen! I devoured Crichton because I appreciated the balance of science fact and science fiction. Who else jumps into a dedicated passion for quantum mechanics and quantum physics due to the immersive jauntings of chaos theory encapsulated by the character of Malcolm in Jurassic Park? Which previously had been encouraged by Macgyver!

To put it more plainly, my personal preference of an alien race is one whose blendability is as translucently unseen as the subtle CGI special effects of films where unless you were given an outline could not deduce which sequence was digitally enhanced and which was shot in live-action!! Too much CGI makes a film portioned out of position which goes to say, that an alien who acts wantonly alien is going to have a more difficult chance of drawing empathy out of a reader!

[Nancy Kress: “The Green-Skinned Zorn Laughed with Grief” Character and Emotion in Science Fiction & Fantasy]

Compassion for characters through being a receptacle of their emotional cues whilst reading their stories unfold on the printed page is one of the main reasons I read fiction! I want the visceral experience to be all-encompassing without limiting myself of how far I am willing to take my emotional keel! I want to ache and anguish alongside the character who is woefully going through strife and adverse circumstances before embarking on a path towards redemption or enlightenment. I want to emotionally be convinced that my time spent with the character is one where I can feel as moved as though I had lived their life by the time the story concludes.

I do have my limits, naturally, we all do, but what I am referring to here is to be ensconced into a story within my limits and living every inch of the character’s life therein.

The following tweets were inserted using WP’s automated Tweet App: (as such I was trying to only include my words but the top tweet appears as well! They also appear in ‘reverse order’ because I like to be quirky!)

I couldn’t find the exact tweets I was seeking, which made me realise that perhaps the conversation was half contained in LitChat and half contained elsewhere! My memory is not drawing forward the exact ‘moment’ the topic was examined but the tweets I did discover to include bank around to the topic of why empathy for written characters is crucial to the reader’s experience of the story! If we cannot attach ourselves to the lead or supporting cast of characters on an emotional level, be that intensive or fanciful, we are not going to feel as though we read a transformative piece of story. We transform ourselves through the characters we read, as our minds process the experiences of their lives as experiences that become a part of our own threads of living. We process and analyse everything we drink in, which is one reason we all have to be cautious of what our internal limits are for subject, topic, and genre explorations! Its one thing to read to expand our horizons, it’s quite another to focus on literature which has a negative effect on our overall well-being. Which for me includes how far I am willing to absolve myself in gutting emotions if the off-set of the anguish is not released by a resolved ending!*

*The Time Traveller’s Wife (motion picture); Remember Sunday (tv movie); Follow the Stars Home (tv movie); The Notebook (motion picture); Backdraft (motion picture); Saving Private Ryan (motion picture); Life is Beautiful (motion picture); Alice I Have Been (book); The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (book);  are key examples of stories I watched or read but should have exited without seeing the conclusions. The emotionally gutting angst and anguish which followed each of them was wrecked physically by the nightmaric flashbacks and migraine! Sometimes writing can feel so hauntingly real to me, that I have to watch that I do not traverse through a section of narrative that will render me worse than when I first became engaged! Woe to all sensitive hearts like me!

Whereas despite the heavy emotional keel I experienced whilst watching Road to Perdition it was the sociological perspective of understanding the character Tom Hanks portrayed that leveled out the angst of watching his life unfold. I gladly rallied through Girl in a Blue Dress (book), The House Girl (book), and even The Spirit Keeper (book) to emerge out of where I had started. I cherish the stories which push the envelope only ‘nay far’ to where I can enter and exit without side effects of my visit.

Her conclusion is my reason for reading itself: to walk away feeling physically moved and changed by the story I’ve read to the brink where the characters, setting, and place are able to stay with me for many years yet to come! I crave seeking out the stories which leave pieces of their imprint on my heart!

[Elizabeth Bear: Tactics of WorldBuilding]

Her essay was keenly lit in my eyes as I had already blogged about my Top Ten Book Turn-Offs late in 2013. Wherein I would disclose that one of the hardest issues I have in reading is when I am ‘taking out of place’ within the confines of the story. I completely concur with her lamentations about the purity of research and the extensive amount of said research it takes to create the true atmosphere of a world built on a sturdy foundation. I personally thrive on research because I happen to have a curious mind of which is rarely quenched! I adore snaking through corridors of the past to spotlight a key notation that could lead to a recognition in a story I am creating. I love wandering and absorbing everything that whets my general interest in the subject at hand as well as the focus in which I am pursuing for a specific reason. I try not to limit my research in scope but rather in a methodology that allows me the genesis of spontaneity of creating dialogue and narrative at the brink of discovery!

There are two key elements for me when it comes to world building in narratives, which may or may not be as prominently important for others. Is the author a wordsmith? And, did the author conduct the research to stitch in clues of the ‘place’, ‘time’, and ‘setting’ in which the story is erected!? These are key for me, because I am not one who always appreciates the redundancy of words in fiction. There are certain genres which sometimes flutter an ire inside me, because they relay on the usage of ‘trigger’ words which repeat, reflect, and insinuate themselves to have their own harmonious hum in the story. I still read those stories if the character and context interest me, but my ire is aflame a bit to wonder, why not pick up a thesaurus? I should have mentioned this in my Book Turn Offs, but I didn’t originally believe I had enough to fill the list! The research falterations can become readily apparent to me in most instances and less so in others. It depends if I am reading for mere pleasure or if I want a heartier read where I quite literally want to feel, touch, and sense the world in which I am reading. The difference is subtle but the elements can reflect whether or not its a causal author you read OR if it’s an author you want to pursue long-term.

Her exposition on writers using other writers to give them the foundation of their stories is something I picked up on myself whilst reading certain genres which are saturated. You can start to notice the telling truth of writers who write stories solely based on the books they read themselves. Mostly because their own creations are limited to the world in which they read by another writer’s vision. Her intuition of a readers who send up ‘red flags’ whilst reading is reflective of my own reading life! If I reach more than three flags, I am considering why I am bothering at all! If it feels like a tornado siren is going off in my head, I simply discontinue right where I am!

Being a think writer myself, I understood where she is pointing her guiding hand; she wants writers to become aware of their worlds to where you could quite literally walk blind through them knowing every inch of its space. You have to be conscience of the dynamics your world is creating for you to build the story. If your confidence grows out of the knowledge of your world, your readers will automatically endear themselves to the novel long before the middle is reached! Whilst reading her essay I found a like-minded soul who reads with the same apprehensive excitement as I do! Apprehensive here refers to whether or not she or I will find what we are hoping to read inside the cover!

I am not one to generally gravitate towards a manual of ‘writing tips OR how to’ yield the most out of our craft [writing]. Except to say, I can honestly credit Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy alongside Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg as being my favourite discoveries thus far! The key elements of the craft are interlayed into both books, and I daresay, no matter what you elect to create, these are the two books of ‘writer’s craft’ guides you need in your personal library!

I have unearthed three distinctly different Twitter Chat interfaces this week, which I happily suggest you find time one week to engage in directly!

#SciFiChat = Fridays 2-4p
#SteampunkChat = Fridays 9p
#sffwrtcht = SciFi Writers Chat Weds. 9p*

*(runs concurrent with The Star Chamber Show, unfortunately! In which you may not see me until its concluded!)

Do you know of any other chat feeds and the days in which they chatter about a literary topic? Kindly share your experiences in the comment threads!

This Seventh Star Press focus week was brought together with the help of Tomorrow Comes Media, of which I am a blog tour hostess and book reviewer. To keep up to speed with which authors and books I will be featuring on Jorie Loves A Story in the near future via Tomorrow Comes Media, please check out my Bookish Events!

This marks my fourth post in contribution of:

2014 SciFi Experience
(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)

You can follow along on the official Sci-Fi Experience site!

Cross-listed on: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fridays via On Starships & Dragonwings

I open up the discussion to continue through you, dear hearts! Which of the sections I have highlighted through my own musings attached themselves to your own curious heart? Which inclinations of writing resonate to you the most? Which of the three branches of speculative fiction do you write? Which do you draw a breath of curious excitement to read? Are any of the writers contained in the anthology ones you read regularly? I’d love to hear your thoughts and takeaways from your visit! And, as this is a focus week on an Indie Press, which Indie Press do you gravitate towards for science fiction, fantasy, and horror? OR have you hesitated to read an Indie Press title or author? Which specific sub-genre do you gravitate towards the most?

{SOURCES: The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience was granted permission to use the artwork by Stephen Martiniere in their official badge for all participants to show their solidarity during the event! Michael Knost photograph & biography, cover art for Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy were provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. Blog News badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Tweets pulled from Twitter were able to be embedded by the codes provided through WP’s Tweet App in the Media section. Likewise, tweets can also be directly added by individual tweets on Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Writers Workshop of Horror: Interview with Editor Michael Knost  – (tor.com)

The Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy Kickstarter Project – (kickstarter.com)

A Basic Science Fiction Library – (sfcenter.ku.edu)

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  • The Sci-Fi Experience
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Posted Wednesday, 5 February, 2014 by jorielov in Anthology Collection of Stories, Babylon 5, Book Review (non-blog tour), Bookish Discussions, Doctor Who, Fantasy Fiction, Galaxy Quest, Indie Art, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Literary Workshoppes, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fridays, Science Fiction, Seventh Star Press, Seventh Star Press Week, Speculative Fiction, Star Trek (Deep Space Nine), The Rocketeer, The Sci-Fi Experience, The Writers Life, Tomorrow Comes Media, TV Serials & Motion Pictures, Writing Advice & Tips, Writing Style & Voice

+SSP Week+ Author Interview: a Q&A session with Michael Knost on editing anthologies!

Posted Sunday, 2 February, 2014 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Parajunkee Designs

a Q&A session about “editing anthologies”,…

Michael KnostToday on Jorie Loves A Story, I am asking one of the Seventh Star Press Anthology Editors to take a brief moment out of his schedule to give my readers a bit of a glimpse of what it is like not only to edit anthologies but a bit about the man behind the Editor’s pen! I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Knost on The Star Chamber Show #8 where I learnt quite a heap about him overall. I felt it might be nice to host a Q&A with him to coincide with my bookish review of his anthology Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy! Ahead of yielding to the conversation which emerged out of my questions, I wanted to share a few tweets from the Chamber to give you a glimpse into his personality:

Appreciates the interaction w/ #readers whilst bonding over the stories inside #novels @MichaelKnost @starchambershow http://t.co/sTqjKNEcd7

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) January 16, 2014

I toast my goblet of wine to @MichaelKnost for expressing his appreciation of writers who boldly carve out their own path! @starchambershow

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) January 16, 2014

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

I understand you’re an author, editor, and columnist – which tugs at your heart the most? And, why?

Knost responds: Author. I love the creative process, and it is most personal when I am producing the words. I love eliciting emotions and working as a co-writer with the reader—I love the collaboration process with the reader, utilizing the theater of the mind.

I love how you keyed into the co-interaction with the reader who picks up your stories and completes the circle of the creative synergy which began when you first spilt words onto the page! Not a lot of writers look at this as a circle of fused reality between the creator of the story and the reader of the finished work. I oft thought that if a writer didn’t have the audience, the story would only be half complete! It’s a bit like how actors in motion pictures & live theatre need the audience to generate the apex of their mediums! For me, nothing excites me more than the unlimited frontier of our imagination! Writing is an exploration of the mind, the heart, and the will to create a palette of words out of the genesis of inspiration!

When did you first pick up the pen? And, in which direction did it guide you?

Knost responds: Maybe twelve years ago. I managed radio stations for years and started writing self-help books and trade articles. It didn’t take long before the bug was deeply under my skin and I was interested in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

I love how your entrance into the craft of writing was a bit of a cheeky one, as you left broadcast and went straight into the trade at hand! I’ve always been deeply invested in science fiction & fantasy, but the elements of horror are a bit notwithstanding as compared to other Seventh Star Press readers & family thereof! I have my moments when ‘horror’ alights in my life (ie: classic psychological suspense films, the Dead Zone series, the Mummy trilogy of films, etc), but for the most part it’s the uncharted territories of hard & soft sci-fi and high fantasy that whet my curiosity the most!

Which writers inspired you to write and share your own stories?

Knost responds: Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Stephen King, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Arthur C. Clarke.

Bradbury, Asimov, Heinlein, Tolkien, and Clarke have been on my ‘grandfathers’ of the genre reading list for absolute eons now! I have always had this determined spirit to read each of the grandfathers (& grandmothers!) works, as I wanted to step back into the folds of time watching how the stories developed originally in order to come full circle and see the merits of their legacies in modern stories. I love the history of the genre as much as I appreciate the interconnectedness of the field. Writers and readers have a wonderful way of coming together and its something I celebrate rather often!

What was your favourite past-time as a child? Did it inspire your future creative pursuits?

Knost responds: I was a voracious reader, and I was a musician. So, yes, I am sure being a reader was the creative planting/watering season for my writing, and being a musician played a crucial role in learning critique and practice.

Voracious describes me as a child as well, once I sorted out how to read that is! A bumpy start led to a devourment of books, genres, authors, and series as I danced my way straight through all childhood reading levels to broach college levels ahead of schedule! Laughs. I think when you have this intense curiosity inside you about life in general, you get an itch to learn as much as you can! Having said that, I also have felt that cross-related creative endeavours feed the creative spirit inside us all.  Music and writing are extensions of each other rather than polar opposites, so I see where music gave you discipline!

What is your favourite aspect of being involved with the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genre? What endears you most?

Knost responds: It rekindles the same sense of wonder and amazement I experienced as a youngster reading my favorites. It gives me the feeling I’m part of an ever-evolving community imagination—I’m passing on to the next generation the foundation they can use for their stories and futures.

Curiosity. Wonder. And a pure sense of being in the company of great thinkers is what drew me into SFF! I loved the accessibility of ideas and the nurturing of knowledge. The exploits of sorting out the changing technologic advances as much as broader the human condition to eclipse when the envelope of what man ought to be monkeying with was pushed to the extreme. I loved your response to this question! Rock on!

Is editing an anthology more difficult than writing a book? If so, why? And, how did you coordinate the sections of Writers Workshop on Science Fiction and Fantasy in such a way that the previous writer melded into the next’s topic?

Knost responds: Each has its own difficulty, and each has its own strengths. As an editor, I am tasked as a conductor, seeking to keep the whole in a harmonic state, which sometimes can be nearly impossible. Where the writer is concerned about his or her solo, the editor is concerned about the entire piece. Just as each song is different, so is each anthology or collection, and because of that, each is structured by going with one’s heart. As for WWOSFF, I assigned the particular element of the craft of which I wanted each writer to focus. And I planned the layout while in the assignment stages, which evolved somewhat.

I would imagine the greatest joy of being an editor of an anthology is the simple resonance of knowing your on the verge of discovering the new talent of ‘today’ of whom could become the ‘classic’ writer of tomorrow! We’re always hinged between worlds when we write and when we publish. We dare to embark on a journey to unearth our own stories and those stories of others who dare us to think further outside the box of our own nestled spheres of probability. My hat’s off to you with the Writers Workshop of SFF, as each time I delved into a new section of the book, I felt as though the concurrent writer was telepathically connected to the previous! This showed a deft hand as an editor who guided each writer not only to pick up where the last left off but to guide the entire project into one seamless volume of advice!

Are your Appalachian roots where your fascination with urban legends began? What first drew your eye?

Knost responds: Absolutely. I grew up with verbal storytellers who told the stories that were passed down from generation to generation. The funny thing about Appalachian ghosts and legends is the fact that they originated from the homelands and ancestry of the tellers. It reminds my of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, where we brought our gods with us when we came here—we did the same with our ghosts and legends. I grew up with living histories but none of those stories involved urban legends, which is why I wanted to hear how your passion for this kind of story-telling was first inspired to be penned. I agree that the origins of where we come from; as well as the foundations of our living truths inside our families, have an impact of what we choose to do in life as much as our motivations to seek out our passions. My family was happily full of story-tellers but it had more to do with everyday living and the escapades of discovering who you are as you live rather than the legends that grow into the framework of a particular setting or place.

Why did you decide to approach the Mothman myth? And, to make him distinctly different from the norm?

Knost responds: The Mothman is a very popular creature in my home state of West Virginia. I had a unique idea about the creature and had to get it out of my system or I would explode.

What tools and materials do you use to write? And, where do you write the most? Time of Day?

Knost responds: For Return of the Mothman, I wrote Return of the Mothman 100% on my iPad using the Pages app, which synchronizes with Microsoft Word. I write mostly at my home office, which is detached from my home—usually between 5:00 PM and 2:00 AM. However, I do occasionally write at coffee shops and restaurants when I am on the road, or need a breath of fresh air.

I am always wondering how each of us approaches the craft whilst we are huddled away from the world as we allow our imaginations to fully root into the page and paper! I’m a bit of a paradoxical writer in that although I’d love to have a Mac in the future to write my stories on (a desktop, not macbook!),… there is a part of me who wants to shirk the modern tech in favour for the old-fashioned tech of yesteryear! If I could have my druthers I’d get a fully restored typewriter from the 1940s! I once carted a notebook round to coffeehouses & cafes, whereupon I learnt for my own sanity pen and notebook (lined college ruled paper equivalency!) would do me just fine! The one thing we do share in common is that we’re both night owls! Hoot! Hoot!

What is your greatest everyday joy?

Knost responds: My wife and daughter. My wife has been my best friend for over 21 years, and my daughter (five-year-old) is the light of my life.

There is singularly no greater joy in life than the companionship and love of hearth, home, and family!

Thank you, Mr. Knost for being generous with your responses and for giving us an illuminating look into the life of an editor ‘behind’ the scenes as it were! I appreciated your broadcast on The Star Chamber Show as much as having you alight on my blog today! I look forward to getting to know you a bit better as time moves forward! I have quite a heap to share in regards of your lovely anthology and so, I do hope time will allow you to return to see my ruminations!

Be sure to follow Mr. Knost online: Site | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

This Seventh Star Press focus week was brought together with the help of Tomorrow Comes Media, of which I am a blog tour hostess and book reviewer. To keep up to speed with which authors and books I will be featuring on Jorie Loves A Story in the near future via Tomorrow Comes Media, please check out my Bookish Events! Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.

This marks my third post in contribution of:

2014 SciFi Experience
(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)

You can follow along on the official Sci-Fi Experience site!

Cross-listed on: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fridays via On Starships & Dragonwings

{SOURCES: The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience was granted permission to use the artwork by Stephen Martiniere in their official badge for all participants to show their solidarity during the event! Michael Knost photograph provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. I requested an Author Q&A with Michael Knost through Stephen Zimmer, of whom sent me the answers. Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Tweets by Jorie were provided by embed codes on Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Sunday, 2 February, 2014 by jorielov in An Editor Point of View, BlogTalkRadio, Fantasy Fiction, Reader Submitted Q&A, Science Fiction, Seventh Star Press, Seventh Star Press Week, The Sci-Fi Experience, The Star Chamber Show, The Writers Life, Tomorrow Comes Media, Writing Advice & Tips

+SSP Week+ Author Guest Post “On writing about Dwarves” by D.A. Adams

Posted Sunday, 26 January, 2014 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Guest Post by Parajunkee

Proposed Topic for D.A. Adams: What was the foundation of his inspiration to tackle a series strictly focused on Dwarves? And, if this was inspired by Lord of the Rings &/or another author/series, or if he had the story come to him and followed his heart with the characters?!

The Brotherhood of the Dwarves by D.A. Adams
Artwork Credit: Bonnie Wasson

I welcome author D.A. Adams today to Jorie Loves A Story, where he took the heart of my proposed question and gave back his heart in his response! I was very appreciative of his generous approach to explain the wholeness of his choice in writing about dwarves. Adams has written four installments of The Brotherhood of the Dwarves series, published through Seventh Star Press. (Prior to SSP, the series was originally released by Third Axe Media for the first two books.) I believe there is a fifth installment slated to be released in 2015. I will be reading and reviewing the first book: The Brotherhood of the Dwarves lateron this week! Let us allow his voice to soak into us as he explains the impetus of his creation.

Shabby Blogs

When asked the question, “Why dwarves?” my initial reaction is often, “Why not dwarves? Dwarves kick butt.” However, there are much more interesting and more sophisticated answers to this question.

For starters, in the fantasy cannon, dwarves tend to be the blue-collar class. They are laborers – miners, blacksmiths, and structural engineers – typically depicted as hard-working, hard-drinking, and ready to fight at the tug of a beard. Elves are the elites, the refined and sophisticated wine sippers and art connoisseurs, as elegant and graceful as they are intelligent and beautiful. I grew up and still reside in rural Appalachia. My roots are in hard, dirty work, the kind that leaves you with a ripe smell at the end of the day, so in my youth, my affinity always leaned towards the dwarves, for they reminded me of the hard-working men I grew up around.

Then, there is the Dungeons and Dragons aspect to consider. During pre-pubescence, I was shy, awkward, and highly introverted. D&D offered me an outlet for my creativity and allowed me to grow out of my shell. I often ended up as the Dungeon Master because my friends loved the elaborate adventures I would create for them. Even when playing a module, I typically deviated from the script and developed my own story within the module’s setting. My character, a young, rowdy dwarf with a sharp temper, became a regular NPC on these adventures. My friends loved and hated him, for while he usually helped them achieve their task, he was just as likely to pick a fight with one of the party. When I began pre-writing for this series, I dusted off Roskin and rethought him. Though his background and nuances are much different today as when I was thirteen, the nucleus of Roskin is deeply-rooted in that D&D character of my youth.

Finally and most importantly, dwarves are the central figures in this series as an homage to C.S. Lewis. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe changed my life, being my gateway to fantasy literature. Near the end of The Last Battle, book seven in the chronicles, there is a scene where the characters have been trapped and surrounded in a barn. Aslan arrives and reveals to them the splendor of his land, all except the dwarves. They can only see the barn and the hay, for they are mired in the physical world. When I began this series, I wanted to create a realistic world and story devoid of any supernatural and/or religious elements. It’s true the elves have a hyper-developed sense of intuition, but I don’t see that as supernatural but more of a highly refined sixth sense attached to the physical world (And I based this trait on my grandmother, who was part Cherokee and had an amazing intuitive ability. She could spook you with the things she knew and saw). Outside of the intuition, everything in the series is grounded in the physical world, so I chose dwarves as the central figures as a tribute to Lewis and that scene in The Last Battle.

Those are the primary reasons why I chose dwarves and part of the genesis for the series. I wrote this adventure because I believe the world now more than ever needs a story rich with a diverse cast bonding together, flawed heroes overcoming their own limitations to achieve great things, and ordinary people standing up to tyranny. It offers strong female characters, realistic antagonists, and likeable heroes. At its heart, this series is about the triumph of humanity over materialism because I believe that issue to be the single most important one we as a society face today. And I made dwarves the central figures because I believe in the abilities of everyday working class people to change the world for the better. That and dwarves do kick butt, so why not?

You can follow D.A. Adams adventurous dwarves and stories at: The Brotherhood of the Dwarves site.

Shabby Blogs

You wrote a very compelling piece about Dwarves and I learnt quite a heap about you as a writer and as person as well! I think my readers will enjoy reading the background of how you first came to appreciate dwarves and what led you forward to giving them such a hearty piece of reality to exist in! I truly believe in intuition as my own maternal past has had its share of inclinations like your grandmother! Sometimes the greatest distances people place in faith is the inability to understand and accept the unknown. I’ve never had a problem with taking a leap of faith and in trusting what I feel, sense, and know internally.

My own teenage years were spent in D&D scenarios except to say that I sort of wrecked part of the joy for the Dragon Master because instead of sorting out the passages of his story ‘in gameplay’, I knew within one or two ‘plays’ where we were headed and the full layers of what he had built inside the world! I find that sometimes if the world building of the writer is solid enough at the jump-start I can draw the conclusions of where the writer is attempting to take their audience. This isn’t always the case, but as D&D was a role playing game, I believe it led way to my perception of what was ahead.

I wasn’t able to follow Narnia in book form – I had to follow it through motion pictures! As despite all my attempts I found the writing a bit droll for me to process. I actually compared it to Robinson Crusoe to my parents because that was the first book I never finished and gave up on principle! Now. Narnia in film? I can soak into that world very easily and its much easier for me to follow, process, and understand the depth of everything set in the world itself.

I sometimes find there is a disconnect with how I internalise stories and the full arc of the story-teller’s vision. I’ve always been a keen visual learner and there are moments where if I find a written story to be a bit of a leap for me to grasp, I take a chance on its motion picture variation. Odds are in favour the ebbings of live-action portrayals will help ease my imagination into the world it originally felt disconnected from.

I originally thought your inspirations for dwarves was from Lord of the Rings – as although I haven’t fully read the books, I gathered all! of them, including the Histories. I rallied behind Gimli the entire time! I always felt Dwarves were deeply misunderstood! No matter how we each came around to feeling about dwarves I tend to defend them myself!

I haven’t looked into the meanings behind the stories or the underpinnings of where each writer was attempting to take their audience, but I do agree with you on the working class. I think you always want to champion the class in which you were bourne and lived, bringing real stories of honest people trying not only to carve out a living for themselves but to shine a light on the hard work and the dedication of enjoying their lives as well. I always felt dwarves in particular are the epitome of ‘live hard, play hard’!!

Shabby Blogs

This Seventh Star Press focus week was brought together with the help of Tomorrow Comes Media, of which I am a blog tour hostess and book reviewer. To keep up to speed with which authors and books I will be featuring on Jorie Loves A Story in the near future via Tomorrow Comes Media, please check out my Bookish Events! Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.

This marks my second post in contribution of:

(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)
(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)

You can follow along on the official Sci-Fi Experience site!

Cross-listed on: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fridays via On Starships & Dragonwings

{SOURCES: The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience was granted permission to use the artwork by Stephen Martiniere in their official badge for all participants to show their solidarity during the event! The Brotherhood of the Dwarves cover art provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. I requested an Author Guest Post on the topic of writing about dwarves through Stephen Zimmer and received the essay direct from the author D.A. Adams. Post dividers were provided by Shabby Blogs, who give bloggers free resources to add personality to their blogs. Blog News badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Sunday, 26 January, 2014 by jorielov in Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Heroic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Seventh Star Press, Seventh Star Press Week, The Sci-Fi Experience, The Writers Life, Tomorrow Comes Media, YA Fantasy

A week of Seventh Star Press, here on Jorie Loves A Story!

Posted Sunday, 26 January, 2014 by jorielov , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

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All month-long I have been exploring science fiction and fantasy through the conjoined bookish blogosphere event Sci-Fi Experience! I haven’t had the pleasure of knitting together my posts until this last week of January, but I have been wholly enthused with the subject nonetheless! Including seeking out new authors to explore, writing up a ‘classic science fiction’ section for my tCC master reading list, and seeing which books I can tackle extending into February as much as through the months leading forward! Science fiction has always been a centerpiece in my life since that fateful moment at the age of seventeen when I discovered how much my heart was captivated by the genre itself! Nibblings of acknowledging this fact were quite evident as young as seven, but I suppose it took ten years to see the obvious!? Laughs. Sometimes we overlook things that are right in front of our nose!

All week-long, I will be celebrating by bringing forward book reviews for the following Seventh Star Press titles:

Seventh Star Press

Writers Workshop on Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Michael Knost

The Brotherhood of the Dwarves by D.A. Adams

Crown of Vengeance (Book One of Fires of Eden series) by Stephen Zimmer

At the very same time I have a few special extra surprises in store for my readers and visitors alike! I am kicking off the celebration of this wicked sweet Indie Press by spotlighting a Guest Post by author D.A. Adams. He delves into his inspiration and motivations in writing stories centered around dwarves! The answer might surprise you! It warmed my heart when I read his explanation! As I thought I might be one of the few who appreciate the hearty dwarves! I’ll explain a bit more in what I am referring too when the post goes live, following this announcement!

Seventh Star Press Week Schedule is as follows:

(SSP was initially delayed due to health reasons)

+ Six Days with Seventh Star Press! +

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

 DAY 1: 26 January – Author Guest Post on Dwarves by D.A. Adams

Day 2: 2 February – A Q&A with Michael Knost,
editor of The Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy

Day  3: 4 February – Review of The Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy
edited by Michael Knost

Day 4: 10 February – Author Guest Post on Ave by Stephen Zimmer

Day 5: 11 February – Review of The Brotherhood of the Dwarves by D.A. Adams

Day 6: 13 February – Review of Crown of Vengeance by Stephen Zimmer – TBA

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

This Seventh Star Press focus week was brought together with the help of Tomorrow Comes Media, of which I am a blog tour hostess and book reviewer. To keep up to speed with which authors and books I will be featuring on Jorie Loves A Story in the near future via Tomorrow Comes Media, please check out my Bookish Events!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Previous Seventh Star Press Features on Jorie Loves A Story:

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

 

This marks my first post in contribution of:

(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)
(“Strength and Honor” by Stephan Martiniere, used with the artist’s permission)

You can follow along on the official Sci-Fi Experience site!

{SOURCES: The 2014 Sci-Fi Experience was granted permission to use the artwork by Stephen Martiniere in their official badge for all participants to show their solidarity during the event! Seventh Star Press logo badge provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. Blog News badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers & My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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Posted Sunday, 26 January, 2014 by jorielov in Book Review (non-blog tour), Classical Literature, Debut Novel, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore, Folklore and Mythology, Genre-bender, Good vs. Evil, High Fantasy, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Methodology of Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Reader Submitted Guest Post (Topic) for Author, Reader Submitted Q&A, Science Fiction, Seventh Star Press, Seventh Star Press Week, Speculative Fiction, The Sci-Fi Experience, Tomorrow Comes Media, YA Fantasy

+Book Review+ Close to the Wind by Zana Bell #ChocLitSaturdays

Posted Saturday, 25 January, 2014 by jorielov , , , 1 Comment

Parajunkee DesignsCTTW_packshot-newClose to the Wind by Zana Bell

Author Connections:

Personal Site | Facebook | Twitter 

Converse via: #CloseToTheWind

Illustrated By: Berni Stevens

@circleoflebanon | Writer | Illustrator

Genre(s): Fiction | Romance | Historical 

Victorian | Adventure | High Seas Epic

Published by: ChocLitUK, 7 October 2013

Available Formats: Paperback, E-Book, Audiobook, & Large Print Page Count: 352

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Acquired Book By: 

I am a ChocLit reviewer who receives books of my choice in exchange for honest reviews! I received “Close to the Wind” from ChocLit via IPM (International Publisher’s Marketing) in exchange for an honest review! The book released on 7th October 2013. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

I recently re-read “The House Girl” which touches on the true meaning behind ‘freedom’ and how to free ourselves not only from our given set of circumstances but by how listening to our inner hearts we can find the path we’re meant to be on. I found it interesting in this premise that the question of ‘freedom’ is broached again in a new vein, in regards of how to know the choices your making are leading you in the right direction. As much as when you eclipse to the point of securing your freedom what is the cost of the freedom your now living? I like books that make you think! And, definitely appreciate protagonists who are conflicted, searching, and determined!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Book Synopsis:

What would you give to be free?

Georgiana da Silva is catapulted out of the Victorian drawing rooms and into a world of danger when she escapes her fiendish fiancé to engage in a mad dash across the world to save her brother before an unknown assassin can find him.

Meanwhile, Captain Harry Trent is setting sail for New Zealand. With a mission to complete and the law on his heels, he’s got enough trouble of his own without further complications.

Thrown together, unable to trust anyone, Georgiana and Harry are intent on fulfilling their missions despite the distractions of the other. But liberty comes at a price and the closer they get, the more they must question the true cost of being free.

Zana-Bell-author-RD-e1381951315337Author Biography:

Zana Bell lives in New Zealand. She describes herself as a big fan of Georgette Heyer and combines the elements of light-hearted romance with travel and adventure. Zana’s first book was a young adult time travel, published in New Zealand and Australia. Her second novel was an historical, based on the life and times of Charlotte Badger, convict, pirate and New Zealand’s first English woman immigrant. It was voted Single Titles 10 Best Books in 2008. She is also the author of two contemporary romances from Harlequin’s Super romance line. The first won a Cataromance Reviewer’s Choice award 2010. This is her début novel for Choc Lit and the return to her love of writing historical novels.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Setting a course for New Zealand:

There is always a moment when a reader realises that they have jumped the moon and become fully absorbed into the story they are holding in their hands! The very moment the pages etch out of view, and your mind enchants you by placing you singularly into the world in which the characters are living. For me, it was the scene in which Georgiana realises the actions of what she set forth into motion have now landed her in the berth of a ship headed in the direction of New Zealand! The last time I was swept away into a high seas epic adventure was whilst in a darkened theater watching Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which coincidentally I had only a murmuring of a knowledge of the books by O’ Brian prior to seeing the motion picture! I went with my Da because I knew he might appreciate it a bit more than my Mum! I was so enraptured by the breadth of the story, I only dared to scant my eyes away during the scenes of surgery above decks! What I love about the world of high seas epics, is that the whole of the story is taking place within a certain diameter of space! Tight quarters, tight ship, but an expanse of a stage set against the wills of man!

I have unearthed quite a heap of stories writ in this vein of thought, but I haven’t yet squared away the proper hours to address reading them! In this way, I was pleasantly surprised to find Close to the Wind offered in the ChocLit catalogue! The appeal factor for me is the thirst for adventure and for travelling into the charted and uncharted worlds where maps do not always foretell of being. To slip away from the life on land, giving your heart to the sea and seeing where the winds take you next — there is a happy allure in this, as it’s a pure sense of freedom as you change your own stars as you journey.

My Review of Close to the Wind:

Georgiana is not only fearless in her pursuit to reach New Zealand, but she is daring in her approach of how to sail. Taken with the confidence of her years of circus training in her youth, she devises a disguise she perfected in local theatre; of a boy rather than girl! Dressed in her brother’s clothes, with her hair chopped off into a lad’s level of trim, and her chest bound with cloth, she dares herself to believe the transformation in order to save her skin whilst sailing aboard the Sally! Her guile exterior belies her a bit as she attempts to forge a distance between her female tendencies and the brave face she must constantly place forward to blend in with the crew!

As she grows her confidence to man the decks as a swab, she finds it harder to squash the affection brewing inside her heart for Captain Trent. In turn, Trent is a man of precision skill in knowing his adversities as well as knowing of whom he can trust. He sees in George (Georgiana’s ingenious name to hide the obvious!) a story of unknown depths, as he could assert from their first meeting that there was something not quite true in George’s façade. The power struggle between is cleverly writ, as Georgiana is attempting to find the stance of strength whilst surrounded by the burliness of the crew, in an ill-attempt to reach her destination. Whereas Trent is trying to maintain the clarity of his role of Captain, without having a scamp of a pup needle his yawl.

By the time they pulled into the first port, after a raging storm changed the tides for both Georgiana & Trent, we were given the chance to see each of them in a new light. The addition of the mysteriously enchanting Consuela was a happy one indeed! She softened Georgiana’s temperament towards her own self-loathing as she harboured a distasteful self-image of herself. Consuela is like a moonstone of reason for both lead characters to either take heed of and seek advice, or to run reckless of in their own directions.

Georgiana and the Captain’s path divert away from each other, hers leading to a role of Governess, whilst his leads to a new reason to grieve for her fears about where their lives are leading. The solicitous of her desire to walk against her own nature and at the very same time embrace her gender is fodder to folly. I appreciate seeing how she is distressed one minute and on the brink of fanciful thoughts the next! The story is as much of a coming-of age tale as it is a suspenseful mystery. I love seeing characters’ futures become so intrinsically entwined with each other that they start to wonder when the other wasn’t in their life. The manner in which Bell re-asserted them into their journey towards New Zealand is beyond clever!

There is a sudden depth of knowledge ebbing out of Trent’s past life which provides a kaleidoscope of emotions; as you presumed he lived his life more of a pirate than a gent. A glimpse into his rough-hewn past reveals a vulnerable vein of humanity. It’s the choices that each have to make in successive chapters which will give way to where their fates are directing them. I personally was enthralled from the first chapter until the last — not wanting the action, the danger, or the intrigue to let up even an inch! This is definitely an enjoyable read for those who like a bit of a daring risk towards seeking freedom of its most innocent ideal! As much as it is an exposition on self-identity and the assurances we all seek to understand where we belong.

Intrigue and Adventure are Bell’s mischievous graces:

I lay claim that they are mischievous graces because Bell has a way with crafting a story to where the reader is as perplexed about the outcome as the central lead characters! She gives you insightful intrigue against the passionate escapades of the adventurous crew of Sally. She has you properly endeared to the ramshackle cast long before doubt can cloud your judgement of the truer hintings of what a few characters might be attempting to keep out of sight. I like writers whose research into their topic fades gently into the back-story of their novels, to where you are feeling the story evoked through you as you read rather than feeling bogged down in a thesis of its origins. I have a cursory knowledge of tall ships and the life therein, but as Bell helps nudge us forward in the narrative, you feel as though you have stepped aboard many a ship rather than a mere few!

Her grace of giving us a responsive Captain Trent, despite his flawed nature and his qualms over his past (mere presumed, he is not giving of his internal thoughts), he responds to his crew and to his charges alike. I like how strong he is represented and how you want to support him even though there could be an element of danger if you do. In Georgiana, I could relate to the strong will of a girl trying to forge her own way in the world, as she is writ with such a hearty girth of backbone despite her tendencies to swallow in her own fears. Her natural perseverance given to her by her upbringings in the circus lend well in her role on the ship as much as her interactions with each of the secondary characters who cross her path. She’s not the atypical Victorian lass and I thank Bell for writing her in this new light of boldness! Afterall, the society balls are only one way towards happiness, and if your feet are leading your path into new areas to tread, its best to follow where they plant you!

{NOTE: I marked this as ‘debut novel’ as this is Zana Bell’s first ChocLitUK novel; but not her first novel overall.}

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Posted Saturday, 25 January, 2014 by jorielov in 19th Century, Action & Adventure Fiction, Blog Tour Host, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Debut Novel, High Seas Epic, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Modern British Literature, New Zealand, Pirates and Swashbucklers, Romance Fiction, the Victorian era, Victorian Era