Amid personal distractions, big events, work, and other happenings, I didn’t get to read as much in 2014 as I would have liked. But I did read some really good books that I connected with in ways that either surprised me or continue to affect me. Please note, I read some really good stuff this year, and these are just the books that struck a personal nerve.
Without further ado, here are my favorite novels that I read in 2014.
When I picked up Autumn Moon by Slade Grayson, I was excited because I couldn’t remember the last time I had read a werewolf novel that I enjoyed. Autumn Moon is enjoyable, satisfying, and so much more. It contains a world full of almost-magical intrigue and allure and a narrative that keeps moving logically and naturally to a fulfilling conclusion.
I think the thing I appreciated most about Autumn Moon is it seems self-aware. I’ve come to this novel with the knowledge that it will contain werewolves, and Slade never is coy with that idea. It might seem disingenuous to treat the revelation of the shapeshifters as some great mystery, and while there is a moderate surprise, it isn’t overdone. Mainly, it seems to be for the characters’ benefit, not for ours, a case of dramatic irony that is handled expertly.
(more…)I’m a guy who lives on the little things. I have a brief conversation with someone, and it sparks an idea. From there, it marinates in my brain until it becomes a thought. Most times, when someone gives me even a minute of their time to have a discussion, it’s an interaction that divides and multiplies until it’s something much bigger than it actually was, for better or for worse.
By this, I mean to say, if you’ve played even a small part in my life, you mean more to me than you know. (Unless you were a jerk.)
Over at paulsemel.com, Media Journalist Paul Semel interviewed me about Carrier and some other stuff. Paul asked some really good questions, and some of them were pretty tough. This whole interview thing is new to me, but it’s interesting how curious people asking questions gets me to think about things I never thought about (at least consciously) or even thought about needing to answer. Anyway, check it out if you haven’t already.
I would be remiss if I failed to post here on the day that I evolved from normal human into radiating beacon of literary authority and genius, but seeing as how all that happened today was my first novel hit Amazon, I wasn’t sure if anything needed to be said.
The spirit of jest and humility aside, I’m very excited a piece of my work that I legitimately poured my love into is finally out there and ready for you to read. Be gentle. Don’t stare. Don’t say things like, “I just want to talk,” when it’s clear you want more. Be honest with her, and she will take control. It’s what she does. Just open your mind and let her slip inside. The sharp pains are her hooks. She’s going to be in there a while. (more…)
When I finished Deep Black Sea, I found myself dwelling on its strengths. Of course, not many works are without faults, but there are some really powerful elements here that I found creative, interesting, and entertaining.
One of Deep Black Sea’s greatest strengths is its foundation of plausibility. In a nutshell, the United States elects a new president who effectively guts NASA’s funding for a mission to Mars in favor of pursuing deep-water research. While such a broad and far-reaching decree in a democratic society is unlikely, it isn’t an unfamiliar point of consternation in the scientific community: the idea that we should understand our own planet before we explore others, and we still know so little about life at the bottom of the ocean.
(more…)Whenever you work on something for years and the moment when it will come to fruition approaches, it’s hard to tame your excitement. It’s hard to contain the explosion of emotions. It’s hard to keep your organs inside your torso. That’s where I am right now.
Over at Kerry Alan Denney’s website, he’s got a nice little Q&A with me about … stuff. It was a good time, and Kerry asked some interesting questions from details on Carrier to hypothetical situations intended to dive deep into my psyche. I hope those questions didn’t dive head first because they could hurt themselves in this shallow water.
Head on over to Kerry’s website, and check out the interview. While you’re at it, click around and check out Kerry’s work. That’s Kerry on the right. I had to include it here because it’s obligatory and awesome.
No, that isn’t photoshop. Yes, he can do that in real life. Would I lie to you? It isn’t like I make stuff up all the time or anything.
We weren’t sure that we were going to be able to make it available for preorder, but here it is, and I am absolutely terrified. For sure, the prospect of you and everyone else getting Carrier in your hands and its words funneling into your eyeports excites me, but with each moment it takes further from my grasp, I can’t help but feel more apprehensive.
I’m not a parent, but I imagine this must be something akin to what parents feel as they hug their children and send them off to school for the first time. I have loved this thing and put everything that I could into it, and now it has to go out and face the scrutiny of the world.
(more…)
A number of months ago (my consciousness doesn’t have time for time), Michael Wilson, president of Permuted Press, invited any authors in his stable to come down to Nashville for Wizard World Comic Con in September. He would later confess he expected only a handful of us. He got about twenty-five.
Despite a substantial work conflict and some crazy guy in Aurora, Illinois, setting blaze to a regional air traffic control facility, I was determined to get there. So, when I got the robocall informing me that my Southwest Airlines flight had been canceled and good luck with that, I shrugged and decided to drive it. From Chicago, which is where I had to be due to the work conflict, Nashville is about a seven and a half hour drive.
Nine and a half hours later (thanks, Indiana DOT, for all the lane closures), it’s 3 a.m., and I arrive at the hotel. I feel a bit like Tom Hanks in Castaway when he returns to civilization and can’t talk to people.
