I didn’t get along with The Complete Guide To Exploring Your New Planet, but I can tell the author had a blast writing it. The trouble is, the author spent more time having fun and enjoying their love of works like Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy than they did considering how to make the… Continue reading SPSFC 3 Review: The Complete Guide To Exploring Your New Planet
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.
November Natterings
Hello, and welcome to that time of the year when weather patterns (in the northern hemisphere) turn colder, society (more or less everywhere) becomes holiday focussed, and I get very tempted to go to places with an actual fire in the vicinity.On a personal level, I am thankfully a little less disrupted than I’ve been,… Continue reading November Natterings
Comparison between the first chapter of Mickey Spillane’s ‘I, the Jury’ and P. C. Hatter’s ‘I, the Tribunal’
Introduction. Section 1 – Opening: Mike Hammer arrives at the murder scene: Section 2 – Mike expresses his bloodlust. Section 3 – Mike and Pat talk motives. Parody, tracing, and what I would have done. Introduction This morning I woke up and ran across something that made me absolutely furiously angry, and for my own… Continue reading Comparison between the first chapter of Mickey Spillane’s ‘I, the Jury’ and P. C. Hatter’s ‘I, the Tribunal’
This is not a review, it’s a recommendation.
Last night I had the absolute pleasure of attending the launch signing for brand new creator-owned comic Petrol Head #1, by Pye Parr (blow-you-away art/nigh-perfect design/fantastic everything) and Rob Williams (smooth as hell dialogue/wild story-wrangling/perfect melding of multiple-timelines-writing), and was privileged enough to spend a little time afterwards toasting Pye in company of some of… Continue reading This is not a review, it’s a recommendation.
First three SPSFC3 reviews
At long last, after getting through the bulk of the required slush reading, I have finished and written some reviews for books entered into SPSFC this year, which I am helping judge as part of Team Red Stars. As I have mentioned previously elsewhere, I am a picky reader. This isn't helped by my tendency… Continue reading First three SPSFC3 reviews
SPSFC 3 Review: The Rave, by J.R. Traas
Clearly built on the bones of a thousand things the author loves geeking out over, The Rave is a book about a rising heroine making her start in a world of rockstar monster-hunting heroes. Drawing inspiration from a thousand sources, from Battle Angel Alita to Fantastic Beasts by way of Avatar: The Last Airbender, it… Continue reading SPSFC 3 Review: The Rave, by J.R. Traas
SPSFC 3 Review: Jake’s Magical Market, by J.R. Mathews
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
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!
Unlock with PatreonYou 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)