Month: February 2014
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What’s in a Villain?
Star Wars’ Darth Vader and Conan’s Thulsa Doom have one thing in common. Well, two, but this blog post isn’t about James Earl Jones. The commonality is that they have strong, powerful villains who strike the audience with fear and hatred. Building a character beyond the antagonist role, into a true villain is something that brings…
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SFWA, the Great SF/F Censoring, and WAFFLES
For those of you who aren’t really interested in the great hubub in the writing world, you can just skip this post. For the rest of you, I’m sure it’s been highly entertaining and also somewhat like watching an avalanche or train wreck. We’ve had the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good comes…
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Robocop Movie Review
I am not, as a general rule, a huge fan of movie remakes. Now and again, however, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. When I went to see it, I expected it to be a simple action flick. Lots of shooting, some explosions, and robots and bad guys getting mowed down left and right. What I didn’t…
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The Romantic Pessimist’s Argument for Space
I consider myself a romantic pessimist. I hope for the best… and plan for the worst. That said, I’m also a dreamer and most of my hopes and ambitions are tied to space. Not surprising, then, that I write science fiction, eh? I’m writing this post as something of a dialogue, a hope that we…
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What’s your deal, anyway?
I was setting there, reflecting a bit, on the books that have influenced me. I realized that there are a lot of books that have affected my reading interests. There are only a handful of books, however, that I can point out as truly affecting me, as a person. Sometimes I can’t even point out a book,…
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Independent Author’s Toolbag: Professionalism
Earlier today I made a mistake. In one of the emails I sent, I attached the wrong file, and off it went. No biggie, right? Just a simple mistake? No. And I’ll tell you why. Writing is a profession. As with most professions, your reputation is essential. Skill, yes, is vital, but professionalism is the…
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The Fallen Race is live!
My Science Fiction / Space Opera novel, The Fallen Race, is now live. Pick it up at Amazon or Smashwords. It is available as both ebook and paperback. Amazon Kindle Edition, Amazon Paperback Edition Smashwords
Kal Spriggs 