Category Archives: reading

reading, Science Fiction

Book Review: No Man’s Land

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This isn’t your momma’s space opera. https://amzn.to/3KRppvN

Sarah Hoyt has generated a living, breathing world where the characters are products of their settings, for good and ill, and she’s done it to a level of detail and accuracy that makes it feel alive.

In some cases, that creates some ugly, in many ways brutal, realities. In others, there is adventure, fancy, and even love.

It is a strange future, a strange universe. There are mysteries and questions, some you feel you’re going to get answered and others you may get lucky to get a vague idea.

This book pulls you in from the opening sequence and sucker-punches you with loss and heartache out the get-go, then wraps you up with story and adventure through the whole thing.

There is a learning curve, though, where you’re trying to find out what relationships mean when every societal marker we have as humans is removed… and in that case, are they really human anymore?

There’s a lot going on in No Man’s Land, a lot to think about, and characters that seem ready to jump off the page.

Sarah’s written a crazy, at times psychadelic, rollercoaster ride of a book. It’s bizarre, interesting, and sometimes bewildering. It’s fun and lighthearted, while still pulling your emotions when you least expect it.

Give it a read, you’ll probably like it.

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Bookmarks Book Festival After Action Review

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Hey everyone, I had a blast at the Bookmarks Book Festival in Winston-Salem, NC last weekend and I wanted to say thanks to all the people who came out despite the rainy weather as well as the staff for running the event.

I had a blast and met a lot of new readers. It was really great to see so many young readers in particular.

I had the pleasure of sharing a tent with Robert Hampson, and we tag-teamed many a reader as they came past. In tactical parlance, we established an L-shaped ambush and most readers didn’t know what to look at first.

Jokes aside, it was really awesome to meet so many new people and to talk books in general. It takes a special sort of someone to venture out into the rain to find new reading materials, and even as we were tearing down we had some great conversations.

They were projecting 20,000 people there, I don’t know about that, but for my one slice of the place, I saw a lot of people come through. The types of readers leaned very heavily towards the romance end of the spectrum, but there was a range from faith-based to hard-scifi and back around to… well, the NSFW side of things.

I did collect a few names for my newsletter, though I forgot to have the sign-up sheet out for most of the day, so for those who got a book / bookmark from me and I forgot to offer and you see this, sign up to my newsletter! It’s free and I give out short stories there periodically.

I’ve also got a substack, where I post some short stories, writing posts, and occasional works in progress.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

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Kal’s September 2025 Update

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Hey everyone, it’s a bit late in the month, but I figured I’d give an update on where i’m at in writing and things going on.

First off, near the end of the month I’ll be at the Bookmarks Festival on 28 September in Winston-Salem, NC. It’ll be a downtown outdoor event, with food trucks and vendors, so if you’re in the area, feel free to come down.

Second, I put the finishing words on one of my works in progress last weekend. It’s a book set in the Star Portal universe, but it may be a bit before it sees the light of day, as I wrote it specifically to submit to a publisher. I *really* enjoyed writing it, but with everything going on, finishing it has taken just over a year (though a lot of that has been due to working on multiple other projects at the same time).

Speaking of multiple other projects, finishing that one has allowed me to go from 11 current works in progress to 10. That may not seem like much of an improvement, but I’m riding the excitement of finishing the one and trying to get another novel done this week. I’ve had several works close to the 80% complete mark for months, but real life events and having all the different projects going have kept me from finishing.

If all goes well, I should have two books done this month, and if that goes well, two more done in October. I’ve got a cover for Spectres of Valor, which I hope to have out in October.

I’ve also been looking at conventions

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

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Charity Anthology: Hairballs, Hiccups, and Hope

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A fellow author and con-goer, Lori Janeski, was injured in a major car accident last year. She’s come through, but there’s been a lot of medical bills. A group of fellow authors and editors decided to do a charity anthology to help pay for those expenses, I wrote a story specifically for the anthology, which is supposed to be filled with stories of hope and humor. You can follow it to Amazon, here: https://amzn.to/4fVmZbd

My story, Upchucked to Mars, is one of the most fun stories I’ve ever written. I really loved writing it and knowing it was going to help someone. I’ve also ordered copies and read all the stories myself, and there’s some really, really good stories in here.

Give it a look, buy a copy, and know that the royalties go to Lori and her family. And I hope reading my story gives you as much enjoyment as writing it did for me.

Thanks for reading!

https://amzn.to/4fVmZbd
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Kal’s July 2025 Update

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June seems to have flown past.

If you hadn’t seen it, Three Ravens Publishing released my superhero novel, Get Wreckt, last month. It was a fantastically fun novel to write and the reader feedback has been great, so check it out.

Current projects on deck… well, I’ve got nine works in progress, several of them at 80,000 words or more which is nearing completion. My hope this month is to complete 2-3 of those projects and get them out to my beta readers.

I have a new cover for Shadows of Valor, one that I think fits the overall series much better. If you haven’t read Shadows of Valor and you *are* reading the Children of Valor series, you might want to pick it up as the next book I have planned for release in the series is Spectres of Valor, the sequel to Shadows of Valor, and then shortly after that the tenth Valor’s Child book, Valor’s Liberation. Minor hint, they’ll have some crossover, so you might want to read up to find out what’s been going on on Century while Jiden and others have been offworld. Shadows of Valor picks up after the events of Valor’s Stand, the 5th book of the Children of Valor series.

Both books should be coming this fall, as long as everything lines up.

One of the projects nearing completion is the next Eoriel Saga book, which I hope to have out soon as well.

Additionally, this weekend 11-13 July 2025 I’ll be at Congregate in Winston-Salem, NC. I’ll have a vendor table there for my books, though I’m not currently scheduled for any panels but I may fill in if they have any openings. Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole are both guests there, along with Jacob and HP Holo, and others. So it looks to be a fun convention. If you’re in NC, I recommend attending!

Additionally, as many of you probably know, I’ve moved my professional writing advice over to my substack. If you want to read either, you should take a look.

I’ve also been a bit more active on my YouTube channel, primarily with gaming posts, so if you’re into painting miniatures/tabletop gaming, feel free to check that out.

For everyone, thank you for your patience as well as I haven’t been as productive as I’d like while my wife goes through her cancer treatments. My focus has been on her health, which has to mean everything else has taken a back seat for the time being, though as you can see, I’m still working on multiple projects as much as I can.

That’s all for now, thank you for reading!

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Get Wreckt now available for Preorder

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https://amzn.to/4k8Z8W5

Everyone’s gonna get Wreckt…

Eddie Connor was a washed-up child star. Arnold Wreckt, a second-string bodybuilder with dreams of Hollywood glory. Neither of their BENT powers ever amounted to much—until they stumble into a cloud of strange red dust and come out supercharged.

Suddenly, Eddie’s got a plan: reboot Arnold’s action career, land a blockbuster deal, and ride the fame train out of obscurity—with Eddie playing fast-talking agent to his newly buffed-up best friend.

But in the world of cheap stunts and shady deals, nothing’s ever that easy.

Their producer owes the mob. Their screenwriter’s on the run. Their leading lady looks like she is eligible for Social Security. And a black-budget government agency wants to dissect them both to find out what makes their powers tick.

Now Eddie and Arnold are dodging bullets in the streets of Chicago, running from flamethrower-wielding femmes fatales, crooked cops, gangbangers, and politicians with itchy trigger fingers. Forget the cameras—this time, the action’s real.

To survive, they’ll have to fight dirty, think fast, and Get Wreckt!

Get Wreckt comes out 20 June 2025 and is available no for preorder on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4k8Z8W5

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Book Review: Rise from Ruin

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Melissa Olthoff’s Rise from Ruin is a book very reminiscent of Anne McCaffery’s Dragon Riders of Pern and Mercedes Lackey’s The Black Gryphon, in all the best ways.

It’s a fast-paced book, with elements of romance, coming-of-age, military, fantasy, and even bits of scifi. It’s got a little bit of everything and enough relatable in all its elements to pull a reader in.

There are dragons and dragon riders, doing battle against powerful foes. The griffins and their riders steal the show (sometimes literally) with personality and drive, and a fair bit of mischief. There’s a backdrop of a war, adding complications to every decision the characters make, often forcing them into situations where they have difficult choices.

Overall it’s a fun read and I recommend it. I’m hoping there’s a sequel, too, because there’s a lot more of the setting, characters, and story that I’d like to see explored.

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/3TdM3iQ

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Get Wreckt, Coming soon!

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I’m excited to announce a new book coming soon with Three Ravens Publishing: Get Wreckt. Coming 20 June 2025.

Do you like 80’s Action Movies, superheroes, and redemption stories? Get Wreckt has it all, over-the-top action, cheesy one liners, and two lost souls trying to make it in a chaotic world.

Eddie Connor is a failed child actor, trapped at the biological age of sixteen after his BENT powers activated.  His only friend is Arnold Wreckt, a semi-successful bodybuilder and failed action star with a minor BENT for major muscles.  The two are fighting the slow collapse to poverty and obscurity, when they stumble through a cloud of red dust that supercharges their formerly minor BENT powers.

The empowerment gives Eddie an idea: reboot Wreckt’s action star career, sign him on with a major movie, and get their lives back on track, with Eddie acting as his friend’s agent.  Things go wrong at every turn, though.  Their producer is in trouble with the mob.  Their script-writer has warrants.  Their leading lady looks like she’s an octogenarian.  There’s a secret government organization that wants to cut them both up and see what makes them work.

That’s only the start.  Eddie and Arnold are going to have to navigate the scummy world of movie-making, the dirty streets of Chicago, and a femme fatale with a passion for flamethrowers, if they’re going to make their movie.  They’re going to have to fend off gangbangers, crooked cops, and dirty politicians, all under orders to Get Wreckt. Eddie and Arnold have stumbled into the life of real action heroes, instead of just playing ones on the big screen.  

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Memorial Day

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Memorial Day is a time of remembrance, and as some have said, to be grateful for those who lived and gave the ultimate sacrifice that we might see a better day.

I was fortunate on both my time in Afghanistan and in Iraq that the units I was with came back with everyone. Other units around us were often not so fortunate. Whether Soldiers or Marines or Sailors that lost their lives, whether it was bullet or explosion or accident, there were far too many that didn’t come home.

Stretching back to the revolutionary war, there are many who have given their everything for a brighter, better future. Remember them, today. Be grateful that such people lived, and pray that there are those willing to make such sacrifices in the future.

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Andor Season 2 Review (non-Spoiler)

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TLDR: Rushed, but still good.

I quite enjoyed Andor season 1, in part because we didn’t have the caricatures and cardboard cutouts of characters. There were complicated figures and, frankly, some of those side characters stole the show.

Season 2 comes in under a looming threat, and here I’m not talking about the Empire.

I’m talking about the studio telling the director that he got season 2 to wrap up 5 years of story and not the seasons 2-5 he planned and scripted.

That leads to some rather severe compromises. Season 2 has 4 segments of 3 episodes, all telling the broader story that Gilroy wanted to tell over multiple seasons. These three episode segments are each about an hour and thirty minutes of story, telling one portion of how everyone gets to the start of Rogue One.

The question is… does it work?

Well, sort of. There are pieces that work brilliantly and there are some that feel like filler. The first three episodes sort of flailed a bit, there wasn’t the connection or bite that Season 1 had and, with far less time to build the characters, the losses didn’t have the bite that they could have.

There were easter eggs and cameos galore, but some of these felt like needless insertions, while others were just sort of put there and ignored afterward. There was no meaning or value to the works of the

The second and third segments worked better. In my opinion, the 3rd set of 3 episodes is straight out the best, though, again, it all felt very rushed.

The last 3 episodes were what it all built towards and elements of it are incredible… but there’s also not really a climax, a pay-off… you have to go watch Rogue One for that. In my opinion, with more time, more episodes, more story, that could have worked better.

There were also character and plot choices where they were “this close to greatness” and they flinched back at the last moment from making the hard decisions, or in some cases, the logical decisions. Whether that was studio execs weighing in (as with a deleted scene between Mothma and her husband Perrin) or simply made because they didn’t have the time to do what would have made more sense, I can’t say, but there are certainly marks here and there that frustrate for the fact that the rest of it was pretty good.

And that’s what I came away thinking… overall, highly entertaining and worth watching. There are a couple of insertions at parts that I found… well, irritating and annoying enough to fast forward through. Have your remote ready for the interactions with Cyril and his mother, because the irritation and emotional distress she causes her grown man-child is nails on the chalkboard irritating.

The rest, though? Perfectly good storytelling, high tension stakes, and even though we know how it all ends, it had me wanting to see what came next the whole time.

I recommend it. Though don’t watch it expecting white knights to come save the day.