Slow, but still making progress

Sorry for neglecting the blog this week.  I took a temp job to earn some cash, and that’s been sucking up most of my time lately.  Fortunately, it should be over sometime next week. In the meantime, I found a place to live for the next few months.  I’m in the basement of an old… Continue reading Slow, but still making progress

Ali and Nino by Kurban Said

At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Christianity and Islam, the progressive West and the reactionary East, the peoples of the Caucasus lie poised between three empires and their own dreams of independence.  And at the city of Baku, where the ancient and unchangeable desert meets the oil rigs of the Caspian Sea, young Ali… Continue reading Ali and Nino by Kurban Said

One Confirmed Kill by Peter Johnston

The best description of this book that I think I could give is the disclaimer at the front: The following is not fiction. The characters and events described are closely based on real life, and any resemblance to real persons, organizations and events is purely intentional, and should be construed in the most negative light… Continue reading One Confirmed Kill by Peter Johnston

A Hidden Place by Robert Charles Wilson

Travis Fisher is an outsider in most places, but nowhere more than the small midwestern town of Haute Montagne.  But when his mother dies, leaving him parentless and jobless in the midst of the Great Depression, his stern aunt and uncle are the only ones who will take him in. When Travis falls in love… Continue reading A Hidden Place by Robert Charles Wilson

Story Notebook #5 (part 1)

Alright, time to revisit my old story notebooks and run through some of the ideas there.  This one starts in fall of 2009, my last semester at BYU,  and ends shortly after my hasty exodus from a miserable internship in Washington DC. And now, without further ado, here goes: A super-celibate society that holds that… Continue reading Story Notebook #5 (part 1)

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

On a stormy night off the coast of Marseilles, a local fishing trawler recovers a man with a gunshot wound to the head.  The local doctor patches him up, but when he recovers, he has no knowledge of his past life.  Even his name is a mystery. Fortunately, he has a clue to help him… Continue reading The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

Falling back into the groove

Today I surprised myself and wrote nearly 4k words, some of which might actually be good enough to keep.  Huzzah! The novel is coming along very nicely, and I’m starting to get really excited with where it’s going.  That’s huge, because up to this point, the nagging “this is crap, what are you doing with… Continue reading Falling back into the groove

Mysterium by Robert Charles Wilson

Nobody knows why the government chose the small town of Two Rivers, Michigan, as the site for a top secret military project.  Even most of the people involved in the project don’t know what it’s really about.  That’s alright, because most of the denizens of this backwoods community are used to minding their own business.… Continue reading Mysterium by Robert Charles Wilson

“Why people read”

Dave Farland puts out this great e-newsletter called “Dave’s Daily Kick-in-the-Pants.” For the kick today, he suggested the following exercise: You probably have a good idea about what you want to write—horror, mainstream, fantasy, historical, romance, westerns, religious fiction, and whatnot. Sit down for ten minutes and on the left-hand side of your paper, list… Continue reading “Why people read”

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

What would you do if you knew that the world was going to end in the next thirty years? That one day, before the end of your natural lifespan, the oceans will boil and the forests burst into flames, and life on this planet will come to an end? That you, your children, and even… Continue reading Spin by Robert Charles Wilson