[--- Karen Myers ---] Call me parochial, but I have never been able to get into the modern fascination with manga and martial arts themed fantasies. It's not that I don't like me a good chop-em-up samurai flick or Mizoguchi warm bath and the Chinese equivalents, but I'm not the generation that is fascinated by... Continue Reading →
Why are the curtains blue?
Recently, I was trying to figure out who the original author was that was referenced in "the curtains are blue" story. I couldn't find it, but what I did find, to my surprise, were a number of angry ranting posts pushing back about how the readers don't understand that this is complete tripe and every... Continue Reading →
Never look back
Becoming a pillar of salt may be a pleasant fate. Seriously, one of the problems that many good authors suffer from is that of looking back -- because they want to know how they're doing. This is a little like stopping running to see if the leopard is closer or not. Of course, for the... Continue Reading →
Goodreads may be perilous territory for authors
Ever since I began publishing independently in 2013, friends and fellow authors have warned me, "Don't get involved with Goodreads. It's poison for authors. There are people there who take pleasure in destroying writers - and the platform does nothing to stop them." I wondered about that, but life, the universe and everything has kept... Continue Reading →
Book Review: The Dead of Autumn
This morning, I want to put a word in your ear (a pixel in your eye?) about The Dead of Autumn by Jean Rabe. This is the the fifth entry in her Piper Blackwell Mystery series and a book I strongly recommend for anyone who loves police procedurals or cozy mysteries or just a darned... Continue Reading →
Wanted: Readers
Only, not necessarily for the reason that popped into your mind. I have an idea, but it's not something I can do. It's something an author, any of us, cannot do. So? I'm looking for a few good readers... There's a crying need for book reviews. Yes, Amazon, but also no. Not Amazon. We need... Continue Reading →
Love Story, with Great Fight Scenes
Shang Chi A love story, with great fight scenes. I went into this movie with fairly low expectations. To be fair, that’s how I approach any movie these days. The last one we’d seen in theater was Black Widow. We’d seen that because tradition for my son’s birthday was seeing a movie together, and we’d... Continue Reading →