Wow, a long time between posts!

Hey everyone-
I've been busy with BPD the last week or so. There's a great interview up on BPD with John Jos. Miller, S.L. Farrell and Kevin Andrew Murphy about Wild Cards--they're writing in character as John Fortune, Drummer Boy and Swash (who doesn't appear in INSIDE STRAIGHT but does show up in BUSTED FLUSH)-- and it rocks. Go read it! I'll still be here when you get back.

Other news: Kat and I are off to Philly this weekend for her cousin's birthday party. I'm gonna need a disco nap beforehand-- at 43, I'm just not the late-night party animal I never was before.

Gotta schedule a week's vacation sometime soon. Kat and I are thinking of an England trip but are dismayed at the exchange rate. Honest, could the dollar fall much further? But I'm thinking of taking a week by myself to write the book I've been tinkering on for much too long. Ya never know.

Got some reviews to wrap up too-- LOST ONES by Chris Golden, KISS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE by Tom Sniegoski, and a few others. SFRevu will be rich with my writing this month coming up.

That's about all from here. Hope you had a great Easter!

What I've Been Reading: A Recap

Hey folks!
Just to catch up, I've been reading advanced reading copies (ARCs) like a fiend lately. A couple of posts back, I gave an idea of what I'm reading-- so...

Finished THE EDGE OF REASON last week and have written up a draft of the review. Very positive overall, but maybe not a book for the religious-minded...

Am now reading A KISS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE by Tom Sniegoski (a real nice guy and one heck of a writer), after having wrapped up THE LOST ONES by Tom's frequent co-writer Chris Golden on Saturday. Also have to finish rewrites on my draft review of VICIOUS CIRCLE by Mike Carey; if you haven't read THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, go find it and read it now. If you like HELLBLAZER, you'll love Felix Castor.

Aside from that, there's a few things here and there I want to wrap up for SFRevu's April issue. We'll see how much I get done, but I'm on the hook for about eight or nine reviews-- not to mention all the new stuff I *want* to read! Sheesh-- seems like my hobby has become my life.

Not Much Blogging Going On

Hey folks,
Last week was a bit odd. I've been pulling together an awful lot of things that had been on the backburner for awhile, but now they're coming due. Mostly a bunch of interviews but some review work as well.
Well, let's get caught up on what's new.
I've been doing a lot of reading the past week. What's on deck right now is:
THE EDGE OF REASON by Melinda Snodgrass,
THE LOST ONES by Christopher Golden,
DAEMONS ARE FOREVER by Simon R. Green,
A KISS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE by Thomas E. Sniegoski,
and a handful of others.
Lucky for me, I get to choose what I review. That means I can pick the books I like, the stuff I enjoy, and review it. If I'm not wild about something, I can let it go and say nothing. (Nasty reviews are really easy to write and can be an emotional purge valve, but why go to the trouble of wading through something you hate?)
Granted, there can be a time to express your disappointment with a writer's work--I've done it myself more than once--but my time is increasingly limited and I'd rather be upbeat than not.
One thing I'm also doing less of: reviewing books that I've bought myself.
There's very little upside in doing so. Sure, I've done the publisher a favor by hyping a book I didn't get for free... and I've gotten yet another byline... but the tangible rewards for doing this are basically nonexistent, and I have plenty of other stuff I can review that I DID get for free.
It's a fine line, that separation between reading for pleasure and reading for review.

***************

So why do we reviewers review? Well, in general, it's a great way to read (even before the book is in release) stuff that we want to read. If we do our jobs well, then we:
1- build a better relationship with the authors and publicists; and
2- get a good reputation (which helps when you're trying to get interviews).
Both of those are good things. I've met a bunch of writers whose stuff I've reviewed and they've almost uniformly been courteous or even glad to meet me; one writer even sent me a Christmas card thanking me for supporting his work (which was surprising and welcome).
Being a reviewer is great. There are rewards for doing this sort of thing and I recommend trying it to whomever out there wants to get into the world of media-related journalism (heck, I would never have worked in comics if I hadn't been writing for COMICS SCENE first). But bear in mind, being a reviewer isn't the same as being an author.
Which reminds me, I need to get back to work on my own fiction. Maybe if I'm lucky and persistent, somebody out there will one day blog about reviewing my stuff.