I’ve finally had time amid my writing schedule to do a little reading, and the battle of the Labyrinth finally takes place. All this and more on this 18th installment of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth, which eschews the obvious book title callback in favor of a chapter title of…
Archives for 2016
Writing Update: A Dragon at the Gate – March 2016
This post is coming to you from one of those crowded, caffeine-fueled generators of books known as a café. (Yes, I often write in cafés. I’m a human cliché.) I’m closing in on the point where I can finally put the words “The End” on A Dragon at the Gate, the third and final book in the New Aeneid Cycle. Of course, this particular writing session is going about as well as a rowboat made of sugar, so I’m shifting my focus to the blog so as to best procrastinate and hide from my problems.
So here’s the skinny. (The “skinny”? Who talks like that?) I’m currently on day 3 of a 6-day forced writing march. (The fact that it’s also taking place IN March–and that I’m writing this on March 6th, come to think of it–is pure coincidence. But it is kinda neat, isn’t it?) I’ve taken off of my day job. I’ve (mostly) avoided my social media. I’ve shunned my friends. My goal in this is to finally finish the book by March 9th. There will still need to be rewrites, polishing, and a smattering of unwritten scenes, of course. Those I’ll be finishing up by the end of March, at which time I’ll be handing it over to my editor and entering the final stages of getting the book into published form, which will come in paperback and ebook forms.
Except for this afternoon’s troubles, it’s going pretty well. I’m pushing myself, but it’s paying off. I have a clear path to the end of the book, and I’m confident that I’m going to make it. As a certain psychopathic, delusional man-boy recently said, “I know the words. I have the best words.” 😉 A Dragon at the Gate is going to be a wild ride, and I want to make it the best of the series.
As for when you’ll finally be able to read it, things still need to be worked out on that front, but assuming I can stay on schedule, we’re looking at very late spring or early summer. And then you’ll get to know just what happens, who survives, and just what the heck is going on up there on the Moon, because even if you’ve read A Shadow in the Flames and A Memory in the Black, there’s a very key element missing.
And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
For now.
Book Review: Wizzy Wig by Tiffany Pitts
I’ve read both books in Tiffany Pitts’s Thanatos Rising series, and I can honestly say that Pitts writes with a uniquely delightful literary voice. Her particular brand of contemporary sci-fi adventure somehow manages to present life-and-death situations alongside blithe imagination in a way that often seems to look askance at reality as if to say, “Really, reality? Really?”
I’m not sure if I’m making sense here, so to sum up my opinion more concisely: The second book in the series in the series, Wizzy Wig is a fun sci-fi read that’s certainly worth your time. Especially if you like cats. And strong characters of any gender. And reality-bending pizza.
Yeah, you read that right: reality-bending pizza. I won’t spoil the details, but this book is a tale of multiple realities and how a tiny hole between them wreaks havoc upon a small group of Seattle citizens, a nanotechnologically-augmented house cat, a sugar glider, and quite possibly one of the few point-of-view spider characters in fiction.
Pitts tells the story from multiple points of view, which is something of a necessity when dealing with characters able to force themselves into the bodies of their alternate-universe counterparts–or when entertaining us with the internal thought processes of a cat or a deadly (and puckish) Brazilian wandering spider. While the reality-warps in Wizzy Wig were a tad confusing for me to keep up with, the characters themselves were in the same boat, so my confusion was theirs, but I grasped it all in the end.
Wizzy Wig is a ridiculous book, and I say that in every complimentary sense of the word. Whether or not you’ve read the first book in the series, if you like light science fiction with a sense of humor, you’ll find something to enjoy here.
Also, pizza. 🙂
Geek Notes bonus: Check out my interview with the aforementioned nanotechnologically-augmented house cat in a post last November!
Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth – Ch 17
The adventuring party is reunited, a quest is completed, and everything is not okay. Must be time for the seventeenth chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth…
The Lost God Speaks
My Lightsaber Arrives!
As I mentioned previously, I recently made one of those Big Life Purchases: I bought a lightsaber. I promised to bring you more details and show it off when it arrived, and finally, I am bringing!
The saber, a modified “Dark Menace” model from Ultrasabers, arrived in a long, slim box, ensconced in bubble wrap, with the blade already attached. I’m happy to report that UltraSabers had charged the batteries as well, so I was able to light that sucker up right out of the box without having to be patient any further. They also included the battery charger and little hilt display stand I’d asked for. The special silver pommel I’d ordered to swap out the stock Dark Menace pommel had already arrived, so I swiftly attached that.
Excerpt: The Highly Capable by Jayme Beddinfield
Today on Geek Notes, I’m happy to host an excerpt from the first chapter of a new YA novel by my fellow author Jayme Beddinfield, titled The Highly Capable. Read on for more about this new book, and check out the end for a Rafflecopter giveaway! -Michael
The Highly Capable
Jayme Beddingfield
What would you do if you could control objects with your mind?
Would you be able to choose between right and wrong?
Eighteen-year-old Ruby Dawson was born with the powers to move things with her mind. She thought she was the only one of her kind until she met Tristan-a self-destructive drug addict and a crew of super-powered thieves. Working in the shadows, the crew follows their fire conjuring leader, Madison, as they descend further and further into the world of organized crime.
Ruby finds herself in a whirlwind of wrong decisions, lies, murder, and realizations she isn’t ready to face. As Ruby watches Tristan disappear further into his drug addiction and her team fight for more money and territory, she struggles with who she has become. Can Ruby walk away from the closest thing she has to a family and be the hero she is actually meant to be? [Read more…]
Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth – Ch 16
Rachel nabs a limo, Annabeth gets left behind again, and Percy’s smart enough to run away after he fulfills the title of this sixteenth chapter of Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth, which is…
I Open a Coffin
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