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Clockwork Fagin
Clockwork Fagin by Cory Doctorow is a free steampunk story that provides a preview for the anthology, Steampunk, of which it’s part. What a fabulous marketing concept. You try the story — love it, as I did — and of course you’ll go on to buy the anthology. It’s a marketing strategy that relies on author/editor/publisher…
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Fantastic Fiction
In case, like me, you can become a tad obsessive about reading everything from a favourite author, Fantastic Fiction is a great resource for what an author has written, plus any pseudonyms they’ve written under. I know, this is a short and sweet post for Book Talk Monday. I can only plead busy-ness and wish…
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Dialect
Last week I re-read Sergeant Joe by Mary Jane Staples and its wonderful Cockney dialogue got me thinking about dialect. Mary Jane Staples was actually Reginald Thomas Staples. What comes through in his books is the celebration of Cockney life. His frequent use of dialect never grates on the nerves, and I think it’s because…
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Poetry on the Kindle
Have you read any poetry books on the kindle, or any other ereader? I’ve just realised I haven’t. In fact, I had a bit of an ick moment at the thought of doing so, which made me stop and question my response. Why did I go ick at the thought of digital poetry? I’m happy…
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Canyons of Night
Jayne Ann Krentz is one of my favourite authors. Canyons of Night is her latest book, written as Jayne Castle. I’ve reviewed it over at Goodreads, but what I want to talk about here is a couple of characteristcs that I think make her books such reliably good reads. 1. The heroine has a life…