Sp(r)outing nonsense? The how-to of reviewing
On YouTube, the ultimate destination for everyone who has an opinion they want to share, there are many rants andContinue Reading
Category: Literary analysis
Award-winning novel Creative Process Discussion of writing style Literary analysis New Non-Fiction Readers and reading Review of historical fiction Review of literary fiction
A man on the roof of a 70-storey building – Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall is 672 pages long. It is 672 pages in which every single line and every single word haveContinue Reading
Real World Meets Realism – Is It Fact or Fiction? (Part 2 of 3)
In this post I continue looking into the subject of factual accuracy in Fiction, and specifically Realistic Fiction and theContinue Reading
How writers and reviewers connect, and how to avoid a war of words
A recent comment from an author on one of my book reviews got me thinking. I was pleased at theContinue Reading
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your website grow? Part 2 – Quite well, actually!
The statistics for 2018 for the Seven Circumstances book blog illustrate some basics about the world of book writing, publishingContinue Reading
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your website grow? Growth factors in a book blog (part 1)
The statistics for 2018 for the Seven Circumstances book blog, released just before New Year, illustrate some basics about theContinue Reading
Backstories Discussion of writing style Literary analysis Review of literary fiction Review of new book
A codex of an Icelandic writer and his roots – CoDex 1962, by Sjón (Part 3 – The clay child)
Back to part 2 of the review of Codex 1962, by Sjón The parts of the Trilogy The three partsContinue Reading
Backstories Discussion of writing style Literary analysis Review of literary fiction Review of new book
A codex of an Icelandic writer and his roots – CoDex 1962, by Sjón (Part 2 – Turning people into zebras)
Part 2 of the review of CoDex 1962, by Sjón (Back to part 1) Antagonist/Protagonist Sjón comes close to directlyContinue Reading
Backstories Best of 2018 Discussion of writing style Literary analysis Review of literary fiction Review of new book
A codex of an Icelandic author and his roots – CoDex 1962 by Sjón (Part 1 – Roll-call of the dead)
CoDex 1962 is Icelandic author Sjón’s first new novel since Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was, published in translation inContinue Reading
The Creative Process & Publishing III – Meet the “Four Brothers Buksalesnikov”
In previous posts on this subject, I focused on finding a publisher, finding an agent and finding your voice asContinue Reading
Discussion of writing style Literary analysis Review of historical fiction Review of literary fiction Review of new book
Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was, by Sjón
Sjón: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Reader of Sjón. Her current mission: to explore strange new worlds,Continue Reading
Ten reasons why people don’t finish reading novels
Readers who are unable to finish reading a novel know that bothersome feeling – when you imagine that an inanimateContinue Reading
5 The Creative Process – Conclusions
In the previous four posts on this subject, I looked into the link between addiction and mental problems of writersContinue Reading
4 The Creative Process – Performance enhancement for writers
In the previous article, I discussed the link between psychopathology and creativity. So here is a shortlist of authors whose bodyContinue Reading
3 The Creative Process – The redemptive power of fiction
In the previous article, part 2 of the Long Read about the creative process, I looked at the link betweenContinue Reading
2 The Creative Process – Unreliable authors and narrators
Does an unreliable narrator mean the author is also unreliable? In the previous article, about “mad, bad and dangerous toContinue Reading
The funny, thoughtful poems of Brian Bilston, the Twitter poet
Brian Bilston’s saucy, witty and insightful poems on Twitter (@brian_bilston) have made him famous. In this podcast (recorded in 2016,Continue Reading
1 The Creative Process – Mad, bad and dangerous to know
In Charles Bukowski’s famous novel, Hollywood, one of his many famous cult classics, his alter-ego “Henry Chinaski” describes actors asContinue Reading
Backstories Detective fiction detective novel Discussion of film/TV series Discussion of writing style Literary analysis Mysteries and Thrillers
In the footsteps of fictional detectives – The rise of literary tourism
Popular TV shows that are based on series of books are often favourite sources for “literary tourism”, but when fansContinue Reading
Backstories Discussion of writing style Literary analysis Review of literary fiction Review of memoir
It’s no use getting mad – The pact between reader and writer
On principle, I never respond when authors write to me to either complain about or say thank you for myContinue Reading
Six rules for writing about AI set out at Worldcon 75
AI, Artificial Intelligence, is the one element that many SF writers like to work into their stories, particularly robot-human interactions.Continue Reading
Backstories Current events Discussion of author’s portfolio Literary analysis Review of science fiction
Readers set the critics right at Worldcon 75
On day 2 of Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, I finally got to have a word with one of the “insider”Continue Reading
How Chinese SF writers deal with “the invisible” – Worldcon 75
Day 2 of Worldcon 75 delivered an Academic Track session that was on par, at least in terms of content,Continue Reading
Poor presentations detract from the messages at Worldcon 75
The first Academic Track session on the first day of Worldcon 75 (the 75th World Science Fiction Conference), on theContinue Reading
Why we think that fictional characters are real
The reboot of the TV series Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks: The Return premiered on the 21st of May, to a hugeContinue Reading
SEVEN CIRCUMSTANCES 