Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.


Over the past few days, a link to the blog Big Hollywood has been being tossed around by various people I follow on Twitter, generally with some fire in their 140-character bellies. Always curious about the state of the fantasy genre, I followed the link and read “The ( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.

These are all the books I read in 2010 (I think, I may have missed a couple). Links are to online reviews.

1. Vatta’s War: Trading in Danger Part 1 by Elizabeth Moon (audiobook)
2. Wings of Creation by Brenda Cooper
3. The Last Surgeon by Michael Palmer
4. The ( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.

Recently, Nebula-nominated author Michael A. Burstein took my review of Joyce Carol Oates “Fossil-Figures” and used it as a jumping off point to talk about how writers should deal with the “issue” of alienating readers at the Apex Blog. He fairly points out some flaws ( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.

For the Love of Pete, Don’t Mix Your Genres;
Or… The New York Times Book Review Hates YOU, but I Don’t;
Or… Why Where Your Book Gets Shelved Determines Your Intelligence, Work-Ethic and Value to Society

Read Part 1 at SF Signal
Read Part 2 at Debuts and Reviews

Part 3: ( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.

This article is the first in an ongoing irregular series of articles on the joys and trials of book blogging. Future topics include a more in depth look at useful technology, the emotional effects of book blogging, and tips for working with authors and publishers.

• 1. ( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.


SFFMeta is a brand new site that collates and organizes science fiction and fantasy reviews from most of the major sites and blogs.

This web site was founded in 2009 by Eric Bouchard, a Canadian who has been readings books of all kinds for as long as he can remember.

( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.


If you have been reading this blog for the past month or so, you may remember my long essay where I opined on the subject of authors responding to book reviews.

Well, Peter V. Brett author of the The Warded Man, and someone whom I respect a great deal as a writer and ( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.

In one of the most enjoyable and well-answered interviews I have ever done, Jeffrey Overstreet has covered the gamut of topics from his debut novel Auralia’s Colors to Christians in fiction to review writing methods. (Here is my review of his debut novel.) I hope you ( Read more... )

Originally published at Grasping for the Wind. Please leave any comments there.

In book reviewing and literary analysis the term “formula” or “formulaic” has become something of a mild pejorative. To have your novel or short story deemed formulaic is to have your novel be dismissed as not a worthwhile read, you are seen as being commercially ( Read more... )