Posts filed: The Hardest Part

The Hardest Part: Lawrence M. Schoen on Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard

Posted on 2016-01-22 at 18:06 by montsamu

Author Lawrence M. Schoen is a busy man. When he's not holding court as one of the world's foremost experts on Klingon, or adding new Conroyverse stories featuring everyone's favorite oxygen-producing buffalito (think: miniature genetically-engineered buffalo the size of small cats which eat anything and fart oxygen, quite useful in space, eh?), or attending about a dozen conventions per year at which he is a panelist on Star Trek, writing, hypnosis, neuroscience, and more -- oh, did I mention he was a

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged flyleaf books, lawrence m schoen, quail ridge books

The Hardest Part: Dario Ciriello on Black Easter

Posted on 2015-12-09 at 12:00 by montsamu

I've got a fairly decent-sized section of my "favorites" bookshelf dedicated to Dario Ciriello, who since 2009 has edited and published Panverse Publishing. His fantastic 2009 anthology Panverse One was a direct inspiration to starting Bull Spec, and after three outstanding volumes in that all-original-novella series (and another anthology, Eight Against Reality) and his best-selling memoir of a year living in Greece (Aegean Dream) he edited and published novels by Bonnie Randall, Doug Sharp, and T.L

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged dario ciriello

The Hardest Part: William Shunn on The Accidental Terrorist

Posted on 2015-11-23 at 20:27 by montsamu

In early 2009 when I started taking reading and writing seriously again, one of the first authors I "discovered" was William Shunn, whose Proper Manuscript Format for Fiction Writers is practically required reading, and who, along with his fellow Blue Heaven workshop/retreat authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Greg van Eekhout were active -- and welcoming! -- on Twitter, even to those writing umbrella duel fan-fiction inspired by their Electric Velocipede stories. Van Eekhout's Norse Code had yet to be released

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged accidentalterrorist, william shunn

The Hardest Part: Delilah S. Dawson (writing as Lila Bowen) on Wake of Vultures

Posted on 2015-10-28 at 19:09 by montsamu

I recently had the chance to play chauffer for Georgia author Delilah S. Dawson, in town for appearances both at the SFWA Southeast Reading Series and the SIBA trade show. I learned many things. Dawson: knows her D&D editions; is as fascinated as anyone would be by a display of bizarre medical texts and archaic medical apparatus; has an appreciation of American transcendentalism; will totally impulse buy and eat Frankenstein candies of unknown provenance; and she had a really, really, really intriguing book

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged delilah s dawson, lila bowen, wake of vultures

The Hardest Part: Henry Vogel on The Fugitive Heir

Posted on 2015-10-15 at 15:58 by montsamu

The planetary romances of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett fueled Raleigh author Henry Vogel's imagination and directly inspired his Scout series of novels, published by Bruce Bethke at Rampant Loon Press. For his new novel, The Fugitive Heir, Vogel has (with Bethke's blessing and support) submitted his "space opera meets adventure thriller" to the Kindle Scout program. To give his submission the best chance for success, Vogel had artist Aaron Starr, who has also provided the covers for the "Scout

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged aaron starr, bruce bethke, henry vogel

The Hardest Part: Alexandra Duncan on Sound, ahead of her appearance this Sunday at Flyleaf Books

Posted on 2015-10-09 at 13:57 by montsamu

Asheville author Alexandra Duncan's new novel Sound is the stand-alone companion to her award-winning novel Salvage, a debut that internationally bestselling author Stephanie Perkins called “kick-ass, brilliant, feminist science fiction.” But I believe my interest was piqued when it was being described as perfect "for fans of Beth Revis, Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica." In Salvage, the action focused on Ava, "a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated, conservative deep space merchant ship Parastrat

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged alexandra duncan, flyleaf books

The Hardest Part: Karissa Laurel on Midnight Burning

Posted on 2015-09-16 at 20:28 by montsamu

Triangle author Karissa Laurel rides motorcycles and reads slush for Strange Horizons; clearly, she is not risk-averse. However, there's a difference between, on the one hand, putting body and mind on the line either on a quiet road or in the privacy of one's own office, and on the other hand, in her work as a the debut author of Midnight Burning from Garner-based Red Adept Publishing, putting her words forward for all to see, along with the other marketing and publicity that the "public persona" side of

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged Karissa Laurel, midnight burning

The Hardest Part: Alex J. Cavanaugh on Dragon of the Stars

Posted on 2015-07-07 at 18:40 by montsamu

North Carolina author Alex J. Cavanaugh already has three Amazon bestsellers under his belt with his first trilogy, as well as a sizzling review from Library Journal which praised the series as one which "calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels." After the publication of CassaStorm in late 2013, I'd been on the lookout for his next book, but it wasn't until I e-stumbled onto it in late December

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged alex j cavanaugh, dancing lemur press, dragon of the stars

The Hardest Part: David Afsharirad on The Year’s Best Military Science Fiction and Space Opera

Posted on 2015-06-03 at 16:18 by montsamu

I think that I first met David Afsharirad at an NCSU MFA get together a year years ago now, ahead of fall classes getting started one late summer. With his trademark thick-black-rimmed glasses and friendly, casual air, I looked forward to seeing him around at readings and other events, catching up on what he was reading, how his writing and teaching were going. I was beyond thrilled when he joined Baen Books as a consulting editor and copywriter, and still, my eyes opened pretty widely when Baen announced A

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged baen, david afsharirad

The Hardest Part: Ian J. Malone on Red Sky Dawning

Posted on 2015-05-08 at 15:28 by montsamu

Durham author Ian J. Malone's 2013 science fiction debut Mako introduced a team of five "thirty-something" friends who become the first-ever group to beat the (fictional, at least for now!) video game "Mako Assault". Flown to meet the game's mysterious designer, they learn that the game's intent was far more than entertainment: the game was designed to train and identify just such a group of human players, desperately needed in an interstellar war. (If you're thinking of The Last Starfighter you may be on

Posted in The Hardest Part | Tagged ian j malone, mako, red sky dawning