Tales from the Raven

Certain places sing to the soul, just as is true of books, music and art.  You could say these places are God’s artistic gifts, made just for me.  Or, you.  Which places do the singing depend on who is listening. One of my places is the North Carolina outerbanks, and–I know this is gonna sound crazy–but I like [...]

I’ve decided to forgo posting my goals for this year, since so many of them are really just a continuation of past year’s goals with the added caveat: No Excuses. Instead, I’m sending out a happy birthday note to a man who has been my friend these many long years, J. R. R. Tolkien.  Many of [...]

And any other people on your list who fit that most impossible of all personality types–writer.  Of course, maybe you’re way ahead of the game and have all your holiday shopping bagged, boxed, and under the tree.  But if your situation is a little more like mine and this tree could be your tree– Then here, as [...]

Happy Monday!  Hope you had a great weekend.  I’m supposed to be looking into an insurance matter, so you can bet instead I’m playing with a list of Have Read and To Be Read books!  lol  I stole this list from Janet Sumner Johnson’s blog, and posted it here cause I’ve been meaning to see [...]

Tuesday was an interesting day.  First there was the news that my story had bombed out on the wotf front.  That took several large gulps to get down, but has since been digested and accepted. In searching for a submission backdoor I chatted with James Maxey and found that he and authors David Drake, Mark [...]

I read the book over our WorldCon trip, and enjoyed it more than I’d really anticipated.  My writing friend, Becca, has had her book compared to Twilight, so I was curious.  I found it a fairly light read, but thought it did well what it aimed to do, which was share a sweet and fresh love [...]

Our library was giving a bunch of books away free, so of course I grabbed a big bag and dug in.  While I’m always on the lookout for new reading material for myself or the kids, I also had an alternative motive–get books that might get me credit on paperback swap! But amongst my gleanings was a [...]

My loving family knows just what I like–books and more books.  Some highlights were the book about China which is stuffed full of photographs and the collection of Traditional Chinese Stories.  The giant book of world maps from throughout history will be a long-time favorite.  Then there were a couple of fantasy novels, a historical book [...]

I’ve been interested in reading Bitterwood for a while now.  I enjoy James Maxey’s blog, and we have mutual friends who’ve recommended Bitterwood. But I stopped talking about reading it and finally read it because I don’t want to sound like a dweeb if I run into James Maxey at Trinoc this weekend. So what did [...]

My overall take on Jim Baen’s Universe was quite positive.  I think I can safely say that every story had its strong points to think on, and every story engaged me as a reader.  Most the stories went well beyond that feeble praise, however.  I’ll not belabor this point, since I have already reviewed each [...]