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The Book Blogger Files #5 – On Starships and Dragonwings

There are so many book bloggers on the internet that if you laid them all end to end they’d reach to Alpha Centauri and back – but how do you know whether the reviews on any one site will match your own tastes?  One way might be to find out a little more about the people behind them.  And so I present The Book Blogger Files – a series of interviews with the literary enthusiasts behind the keyboards.  Today I’m speaking to Anya, who reviews SF and Fantasy on her blog On Starships and Dragonwings.

me_and_ozWho are you, where are you in the world, and what inspired you to get started with book blogging?

I’m a graduate student in Computer Science in Michigan, though I lived my life in Minnesota up until grad school. I started book blogging because I wanted to try out this crazy blogging thing and could only think of one hobby that I was unlikely to ever get tired of: reading!

Where did the name ‘On Starships and Dragonwings’ come from?

My blog was originally called ‘About The Story,’ but when I switched to self-hosted, I wanted a name that fit me better – I realized I no longer only cared about the story!  My genres of choice are sci-fi and fantasy, so I wanted a name that incorporated both of them. I basically decided that I most enjoy escaping ‘on starships and dragonwings’, so that became the name!

What is it about SF/Fantasy that appeals to you over other genres?

Continue reading “The Book Blogger Files #5 – On Starships and Dragonwings” →

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The Incurious Timothy Clavichord

Old House in Raleigh, NC
© vadikunc

I was recently introduced to a wondrous thing called the Benedict Cumberbatch Name Generator.  It’s fairly self-explanatory – at the touch of a button you get a name almost as unwieldy as that of the man himself.*   I like this because unusual character names tend to be a good story starting point for me, and in fact I’ve written some shorts based around names thrown up by the generator. If you’re feeling uninspired, why not have a go?  Meanwhile, in lieu of having anything more helpful to blog about, I thought I would post some of them here.  This is the first one.

Continue reading “The Incurious Timothy Clavichord” →

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Taking Stock

IMG_0779
Peanut butter and chocolate cake. Oh yes.

I recently had a birthday, which was pleasant.  I saw my family and some friends, added to my ‘to read’ pile and my gin collection, and I made a cake that induces a sense of euphoria and remorse that I like to call euphorse.

The only trouble is that as I get older, birthdays are beginning to feel a little bit like markers for everything I haven’t done yet – not least because mine falls at the end of the month, where the deadlines live.

Continue reading “Taking Stock” →

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Weekly Photo Challenge – Fresh

Due to the nice weather we’ve been having, a lot of people have been posting pictures of icy drinks for this week’s photo prompt.  I considered adding a gin and tonic to the list, but opted to go with something a bit more representative of life at the moment (more’s the pity..).  Y’see reader, the first thing I am faced with of a morning is this: a fresh page in my notebook, waiting to be filled with more of the rewrite of book 7 I’ve been ploughing through.

IMG_0750This is the sort of rewrite that has changed almost everything – focus, plot, gender of the main protagonist… you name it, I’ve changed it.  In a lot of ways it’s been like starting from scratch – afresh, if you want to labour the point a little more.  Still, I’m optimistic the story will come out of the process fitter, happier and more productive.  And if not, guess I’ll crack into the gin.

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Weekly Photo Challenge – The Golden Hour

According to the folks over at The Daily Post, Golden Hour is the first hour of sunlight of the day and the last one before sunset.  I checked when these occur in Edinburgh at the moment, and it was a choice between being up at 5am or going out around 9pm.  No prizes for guessing which one I chose…

low light

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Think Before You Write

IMG_0691I recently made a vow to start drafting things longhand.

Continue reading “Think Before You Write” →

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