Author: JRVogt

Got things chugging along on a few fronts these days. For my fiction, my current WIP is moving steadily up the wordcount scale. I’d wager I’m near the 2/3rd mark of my estimated end goal, though I haven’t done a tally lately. It’s been fun to see this story develop,…

I just posted two new book reviews on my Speculative Fiction Examiner column, one for a science fiction entry, the other for a fantasy debut. Both come well-recommended. Here’s a quick glimpse: Cowboy Angels This science fiction novel from Paul McAuley marries spy thriller structure and fast pacing with the…

If you haven’t seen these before, they are well worth the watch. Jonny Geller, an agent with the Curtis Brown Literary Agency, has a series of videos touching on numerous book publishing topics. The one below is a more general “Advice for writers starting to get into the business” coverage.…

Bit of a selfish point to Oxyjen, the blog of fellow writer JJDebenedictis (aka. Goblin). She runs a seni-regular series called “What Works” in which she highlights short stories, novel excerpts, and otherwise that do something right…be it characterization, tension, making the reader believe the impossible, etc. In her latest…

Thanks to several generous gift-givers this Christmas, I finally got enough saved up to nab a Kindle 3. I’ve been antsy to get an e-reader for a bit now, partly because I’m a geek (okay, maybe that’s more than just part of the reason), partly for reading-on-the-go, and partly because…

Warning: Longer-than-average post I’ve had this blog going for several years now, with varying degrees of activity. Sometimes I feel bad about not doing 3-5 posts a week. I feel bad that I don’t have themed daily entries, do a lot of mini-contests, and other things that I enjoy seeing…

I’ve got two new reviews up at my Speculative Fiction Examiner column, and one more to come this week. The two up include: 2020 Visions – an excellent short story collection where authors predict what life might be like just ten years down the road. Great range of styles and…

I’ve been reading a lot of short story collections lately. A number of these have been reviewed on my Speculative Fiction Examiner column, and I’ve got a couple more in the to-read/to-review stack. Zipping through all these mini-escapades and adventures got me thinking about a number of shorts I have…

Perhaps “so it takes another step…” is more accurate, but the other version seems more dramatic. Got word today that my urban fantasy, Enter the Janitor, is now officially making initial rounds among publishers. He sent me the list, and it includes some names that I’ve only dreamed of being…

Besides the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams also produced several books in the Dirk Gently series, revolving around the escapades of, who else, Dirk Gently, who runs a detective agency based on the belief in the “interconnectedness of all things.” BBC is now producing a television series based…