Virtual FantasyCon 2017! That’s right, Virtual FantasyCon 2017 is here! The Reader’s Corner Page is here My personal Facebook “booth” is here–come by for some pictures of exotic animals, like Akhal-Tekes! Now, we could admire pictures of beautiful horses all day and feel perfectly satisfied, but to make things even better, I’m making all four […]
Read more "Virtual FantasyCon 2017 is Here!"We Shall Ne’er Be Younger: Silver Chronicles Book One Mary Ellen Woods Recently widowed Emily is looking for a boyfriend (definitely NOT a husband–been there, done that!). Recently divorced Mike is looking for, ah, some female companionship. When they are introduced at a party, sparks fly. But does their relationship have enough of a slow […]
Read more "“We Shall Ne’er Be Younger” by Mary Ellen Woods"Free books! So many free and 99c books at today’s SIAFBB event! Kicking off a weekend of free and discounted books is today’s SIAFBB Freeday the 13th event, at which you can pick up dozens of free and bargain books, including mine. Get them here. And both parts of The Breathing Sea are free all […]
Read more "Freeday the 13th! Get Your Free and 99c Books Here!"The Shattered Lens Jonathan Alpeyrie Jonathan Alpeyrie wanted to get that one great shot. Instead what he got was captivity. “The Shattered Lens” is the account of Alpeyrie’s capture by Syrian rebels and his almost three-month stint as their hostage. This is followed by his description of what his family went through trying to free […]
Read more "“The Shattered Lens” by Jonathan Alpeyrie"The New Literary War Hero of Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan Image from “Ninth Company,” dir. Fyodor Bondarchuk When I began reading and writing about contemporary Russian war prose, especially connected to the Chechen wars, I thought that the Russian/Chechen experience, and the literature coming out of it, was unique. And of course the Chechen wars […]
Read more "My Chat with Veteran and Author Andy Owen about War, Literature, and PTSD, Part II"The New Literary War Hero in the Age of the Global War on Terror (Image from the film “Captive,” dir. Aleksey Uchitel) While this blog was originally focused mainly on my side hustle job of writing and reviewing fantasy, readers may have noticed a certain focus on matters military in recent posts, as in my […]
Read more "My Chat with Andy Owen About War, Literature, and PTSD, Part I"East of Coker Andy Owen In “East of Coker,” the lives of two different generations intertwine: Arthur, a veteran of WWII, befriends a soldier returned from Iraq who is at the same rehab center. Both men are separated from the women they love, and alienated from society around them, Arthur by his age and the […]
Read more "“East of Coker” by Andy Owen"Crossings Jon Kerstetter “Crossings” is subtitled “A Doctor-Soldier’s Story,” but there’s much more to it than that. It chronicles Jon Kerstetter’s service as a flight surgeon in Iraq, but it also tells the story of his whole life, in which his tours in Iraq are just a small part. The son of a single mother […]
Read more "“Crossings” by Jon Kerstetter"Second Son Ellison Blackburn In “Second Son,” Ellison Blackburn continues the story of Dr. Mallory Jacks, the archaeologist who stumbled upon…what? The skeleton of an angel?–in the first book. The action in “Second Son” overlaps with the action in the preceding book, picking up at the death of Grey, possible angel and Mallory’s lover, whose […]
Read more "“Second Son” by Ellison Blackburn"Redeployment Phil Klay In “Redeployment,” Phil Klay gives us a collection of short stories, all about the recent war in Iraq, mainly but not entirely featuring Marines who are or have been deployed there. Despite being Marine-centered, this polyphonic collection–and Klay masterfully writes with different voices–shows the diversity of experience that Americans deployed in Iraq […]
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E. P. Clark: Author, Book Reviewer, and All-Around Literary Handiwoman 