This book is simultaneously wildly appealing and viciously disappointing. Jake’s Magical Market has reached a large and appreciative audience, deservedly, but its huge length, strong pacing, and moment-by-moment character studies all serve to conceal a multitude of weaknesses and missteps. This book is the equivalent of tasty popcorn covered in sticky syrup – delicious in… Continue reading SPSFC 3 Review: Jake’s Magical Market, by J.R. Mathews
Author: foozzzball
Malcolm Cross, otherwise known as 'foozzzball', lives in London and enjoys the personal space and privacy that the city is known for. When not misdirecting tourists to nonexistant landmarks and lurking at bus stops, Malcolm enjoys writing science fiction and fantasy with a furry twist.
SPSFC 3 Review: Fog of War, by Forest Wells
This book, Fog of War by Forest Wells, hit me right in the sweet spot between ‘too compelling for me to give up on’ and ‘so frustrating I want to put it down and forget about it’. As you can likely guess, this is not going to be an easy book for me to structure… Continue reading SPSFC 3 Review: Fog of War, by Forest Wells
October Visitations
I hope the Halloween season has been healthfully spooky to you all. Mine has been particularly terrifying, coinciding with needing to talk to my GP office (medical paperwork stuff over my medical history, only emotionally scary), needing to deal with tons of admin for my flat (the building I’m in has issues large enough that… Continue reading October Visitations
September of slumping timber
Getting the engine started on Quicker than Blood is taking way longer than expected. Back in March I thought I was creeping up on getting into the meat of the prose, and, well...I am in the midst of doing the last thing before I actually get into the drafting process – writing out a scene… Continue reading September of slumping timber
Slow-Fast August
I feel like I’m making real progress on Quicker than Blood, and it’s all down to what I was talking about last month – complexifying the story without really changing too much about it.Suddenly events have more momentum and mass behind them – an abandoned hotel room and the litter in it are, far more… Continue reading Slow-Fast August
Brief Bluesky note. Edit – Have an invite again!
You speak the truth, or July?
Apparently, approximately once a year, as the weather improves, I am legally obligated to injure myself. You may recall last September I took a tumble while trying to organize a writing desk and managed to take some bruises. Very nearly a year later – right at the start of August, thus this delay – I… Continue reading You speak the truth, or July?
July’s when… Oh gosh, I really need to lie down.
Things will be a LITTLE bit slowed down for a minute, over here.Life has gotten 'may you live in interesting times' style interesting, and that, on top of what I thought was a fairly minor DIY project going somewhat awry, means that I absolutely need to take some extra time to get things - and… Continue reading July’s when… Oh gosh, I really need to lie down.
June’s when the year turns over
It’s been a long month for me. Nightmares, literal and figurative, have played a role in it. The most anecdote-worthy nightmare is when my toilet broke and I had to get very, very DIY with trying to repair it due to having a family-member over as house-guest.That resolved satisfactorily, although for a night it meant… Continue reading June’s when the year turns over
There May be progress.
I think that inertia is a force in all of our lives, and for writers – or at least for this writer – it can be especially impactful.It can take forever to build up speed, getting some project or task started. Once it’s going, it takes much less energy to keep going. Sometimes it can… Continue reading There May be progress.
Febrile April
Well, the cough is now long behind me, but I managed to catch a random fever on Sunday night – resolved by Tuesday morning, but left sleepless, not recovered or caught up with anything until now – Thursday.Despite being out of end at the tail end of April, and needing to spend a little more… Continue reading Febrile April
Slow March
At last, I am free from my cough! No more do random coughing fits destroy my concentration... but, just in time to keep me on my toes, some neighbours are getting some work done and there are occasional rare and mysterious banging sounds.However, I have kept my concentration up enough to finally nail down (what… Continue reading Slow March
Of February and Frogs in the Throat
I have a cough! I am 95% sure it’s not covid, but, hooboy. That was not a nice headcold – I was theoretically only down for a half-week or so, but the cough lingers. It turns out that a cough can hang on for weeks and weeks and WEEKS, even while the rest of the… Continue reading Of February and Frogs in the Throat
SPSFC Sale! (And like 20 micro-reviews of the first page)
As you may recall, last year, Dog Country placed 12th in the inaugural Self-Published Science-Fiction Competition, or SPSFC. (Consensus seems to be it is either pronounced 'Space-fic' or 'Space-face'.)This year, Mouse Cage is a semi-finalist. And a bunch of the semi-finalists have put together a sale on Amazon Kindle this week, in Amazon US (and… Continue reading SPSFC Sale! (And like 20 micro-reviews of the first page)
Jinxing January
I... think this year’s going to be good?I know that in the years of our suffering 202x we do not say such things lest we bring down the wrath of Roko’s Basilisk, but despite anxieties around life and the world and well-being and all, I’m still looking forward to the year ahead.My new writing season… Continue reading Jinxing January
December Deliberations
You know what I always wanted to do as a kid, but never did?Get good at drawing. Like, really good.I never did – my coordination wasn’t that good, and I had all these other things demanding my time. (Like... incredibly poor mental health; life struggles which make for some sometimes tragic, sometimes absurdly funny anecdotes;… Continue reading December Deliberations
Enduring November
Sometimes, the most reliable way to make progress is to be unambitious.I started the month ambitiously – working on the Bobbyfox thing – but then a succession of events (including searching out a plumber, randomly exploding tempered drinking glasses, and more!) led to things being quite disrupted. Hanging onto ambition, under these circumstances, would have… Continue reading Enduring November
New thing – World of Juno anthology!
Just a quick heads up - I have, in previous bloggy things, mentioned being invited to contribute to an anthology? Well, the anthology is out today, featuring a totally radical shared-universe secondary world, with its history, cultures, art, maps, and a few short stories too. (One of which is by yours truly.)Please do check it… Continue reading New thing – World of Juno anthology!
Curated Snippets – October 2022
October Spectre-cles.
I have new glasses. Almost the same as the old glasses, just... ever so slightly better. The main thing is they aren’t scratched – the old glasses? The old glasses were old.So, what new things have I seen? Ghosts, goblins, all that, sure, but also a plan, which we will get to.The thing about making… Continue reading October Spectre-cles.