Tag Archive for reading

Not So Random Musings

Paper Birds

I’m overdue for an update. Usually, I have ideas and themes all worked out (and ebook giveaways all set), but this time it’s different. I still have books to give out, but the main theme of this “sharing” eludes me. So I’m going to write about a few issues that I found interesting in my last month of reading, editing, and watching the news. Reading Last year, I finally bit the bullet and started reading Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” series. I’m on book 11 now… Robert Jordan (this is a pen name of James Oliver Rigney Jr.) began writing the first book in these series, “The Eye of The World” in 1984 and only published it 1990. Considering just how popular and influential these series were/are, it gives hope for writers like me… I love the world created in these books. It’s very complex and deep (and wide). But I kept finding similarities to other fantasy series I’ve read. Of course, there’s the homage to Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series. But I expected that — those were really the founding high fantasy series that gave birth to all the rest. But there was also more than a…

New Book: Lizard Girl and Ghost

Lizard Girl & Ghost

This is probably the strangest story I’ve ever written. The idea for the book came from reading endless articles on “singularity” — what would it really mean to pour one’s soul into the machine? What are some implications? What would it feel like? So this story is a cyberpunk adventure into life beyond death as we know it. I hope you’ll give it a try. Here are the first few chapters.

Memory and Storytelling

nerve cell

Our only truth is narrative truth, the stories we tell each other and ourselves—the stories we continually recategorize and refine. — Oliver Sacks, The River of Consciousness, page 121 Our memories are not static. Each time we reach for one, we refresh and form new neuron connections, in fact changing the memory itself via our contemplation of it. Like Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle — we can observe a particle’s momentum or its position but not both simultaneously — each time we recall a particular event, we change it due to that recollection. After the mental touch, the memory is no longer the same. And this is true not just in some metaphorical sense, but in a real, tangible, physical way — the act of recall alters the neuron structures forever! And yet we eagerly recollect our favorite memories, and we just as eagerly try to forget the painful ones (and the very act of thinking of those painful memories makes them that much stronger, that much more connected and integrated into our neural memory networks). Social groups have always been aware of this property of memory. Cultures are molded out of stories, songs, epics, ballads, and now memes that bind us…

Surviving Dystopia

Surviving Dystopia

The summer is officially over — school has started up again. If you feel trapped in a dystopian world, you are not alone! Misery and survival are best accompanied by a fine story of even more suffering and endurance. Authors of such fine tales know this and we’ve come together to gift our readers a few of our dark stories. Click the link and claim your book(s). And as always, if you love a story, please let the writer know and tell the world by leaving a review. Thank you very much and happy reading!

The Indie Academy eBook Kindle Unlimited Giveaway

THE INDIE ACADEMY’S AUGUST KINDLE UNLIMITED PROMOTION

There are many people in this world that are helping independent writers (writers without a publisher) to promote their work. Some charge money for such promotions, but a few run such promotions free to the author. I’m very grateful to be included in The Indie Academy’s August Kindle Unlimited Promotion! Check out this amazing group of authors and books. From August 21st to the 28th, these books will be available for free on Kindle Unlimited. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up for a free trial here. Not only is The Indie Academy running this amazing promotion, it has also sweetened the deal: Enter here to win a $5 Amazon gift card! So thank you very much for looking and for reading! And as always, if you like a story, please leave a review!