Author: Joe Vasicek

Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction books, including the Star Wanderers and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus. He claims Utah as his home.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This book review is going to be a bit unconventional, so please bear with me. Normally, I only review books on my blog if I feel I can recommend them.  They might not be perfect, but overall, the praise outweighs the criticism. However, for me personally, The Hunger Games was a huge disappointment. I’m not… Continue reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Winter Warriors by David Gemmell

Eons ago, in the Days of Fire, demons feasted upon the souls of men the way that men feast on cattle.  Those days ended when the second most powerful demon betrayed his people, damning them to purgatory so that men could inherit the Earth. Four thousand years have passed, and the demons are beginning to… Continue reading Winter Warriors by David Gemmell

Writing update, getting ready for LTUE, & Katniss must DIE

So I’m back at work at WAFH, making slow but steady progress.  At this point, I’m throwing out about half of what’s on the page and redrafting stuff to fill in the gaps, but that’s only going to increase. It’s not particularly hard, but it does take a lot out of me.  I’m finding that… Continue reading Writing update, getting ready for LTUE, & Katniss must DIE

The Obligatory Valentine’s Day Post

I was going to write a long post on why I hated Valentine’s Day, but then I realized it hasn’t been so bad. Of course, that’s mostly because I’ve been in my apartment most of the day, writing.  I did go to Macey’s at one point, and was mildly annoyed by the crowd of people… Continue reading The Obligatory Valentine’s Day Post

Paradigm shifts and finding balance

Yesterday, I was going to write a post about how pathetic this past week was: I only wrote about 1.5k per day (while unemployed), and spent most of my time on the internet reading blogs. However, after reading some more of Dean Wesley Smith’s blog series, Kililng the Sacred Cows of Publishing, I have to… Continue reading Paradigm shifts and finding balance

Thoughts on traditional vs. indie publishing

In case you didn’t know, the publishing industry is in the throes of a major revolution.  With the growing popularity of e-books and the collapse of distribution channels and chain bookstores such as Borders, traditional business models are proving simply untenable. I’ve been perusing several internet sources to make sense of all the craziness, among… Continue reading Thoughts on traditional vs. indie publishing

Deceptively unproductive day

Man, where did the day go?  I don’t feel like I was lazy, yet I only wrote about 1.2k words for the whole day.  And things were going so well the day before… Well, I guess I was busy, just with a whole lot of other things.  Donated plasma (which took all morning), got some… Continue reading Deceptively unproductive day

Deceptively productive day and other updates

Man, I revised through about 4k words today…and wrote a 1.5k outline for Edenfall to boot.  Not bad, considering how much time I spent putzing around reading publishing blogs and job hunting on craigslist. Things are going well with WAFH; after a slight dropoff at the end of last week, I’m rebuilding momentum rather quickly. … Continue reading Deceptively productive day and other updates

Passage at Arms by Glen Cook

Humanity is losing a long, bloody war of attrition against an alien race.  Our only military advantage lies in the climbers–small, guerrilla style gunboats that can cross into a higher dimensional plane.  Under the right conditions, this technology enables the ships to pass through space undetected. As the war reaches a critical juncture, one former… Continue reading Passage at Arms by Glen Cook