![]() ![]() I pretend that I'm a bird looking for a mother, or a pig trying to impress his girlfriend. "I become the character that I'm working on at that moment. Kasza compares the process of making a book to acting on stage under the lights: "I often go back to his work when I get discouraged or lose confidence." The subtle humor and warmth he created in his books continues to inspire me," she says. Kasza admires many great picture-book creators, such as Leo Lionni and Maurice Sendak, but says that the work of Arnold Lobel has influenced her the most. She says, "Having two small boys and two professions was too much to handle." ![]() Kasza decided in 1988 to devote her time to picture books. Kasza married an American, and the United States has been her home ever since.Īfter publishing five children's books in Japan and working as a graphic designer for fourteen years, Ms. "The only unusual thing I did was go to college in the United States." She graduated with a degree in graphic design from California State University at Northridge. "All the steps I took growing up were very normal," Ms. ![]() Uncles, aunts, and cousins also lived nearby. She grew up in a typical Japanese extended family with her parents, two brothers, and grandparents. ![]() Keiko Kasza was born on a small Japanese island in the Inland Sea of Japan. ![]()
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![]() Deciding not to follow in her family's Oscar-winning footsteps, Jules chooses to take a more behind-the-scenes career in one of the Top 10 Talent Agencies in Chicago. Read onlineĪll families have secrets, and Jules Stone’s is no exception. ![]() ![]() This book was previously known as Between the Notes. I prayed for one more smile, one more kiss, one more laugh, one more touch…Įven though I knew his heart wasn’t destined to love. When our time was up, my heart didn’t know how to walk away.Įach day I prayed for my husband to love me again, yet slowly my prayers began to shift toward the man who wasn’t right for me. He was too closed-off for me, and I was too damaged for him.Įverything was fine, until one night my heart skipped a beat. Jackson didn’t believe in commitment, and I no longer believed in love. We were perfect for one another, because we both knew we wouldn’t last. He was supposed to be a distraction for my mind. I didn’t know how to exist without him by my side.Īll I wanted was for him to come back to me. Each day I prayed for my husband to love me again.Īfter fifteen years together, he walked away from me, and into the arms of another. ![]() ![]() ![]() Say "hi" at our sister subreddits- SpecArt and SF Videos-and join our reader-managed Goodreads group. The key is that it be speculative, not that it fit some arbitrary genre guidelines. History, Postmodern Lit., and more are all welcome here. ![]() Not sure what counts as speculative fiction? Then post it! Science Fiction, Fantasy, Alt. Canticle for Leibowitz Rendezvous with Rama Princess of Mars Altered Carbon Foundation Blindsight Accelerando Old Man's War Armor Cities in Flight A Brave New World Children of Dune Stranger in a Strange Land Dhalgren Enders Game Gateway A Fire Upon the Deep Neuromancer A Clockwork Orange Ringworld Diamond Age Lord of Light Hyperion Startide Rising Terminal World The Forever War Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy The Hunger Games Left Hand of Darkness Man in the High Castle The Martian Chronicles The Player of Games The Shadow of the Torturer Sirens of Titan The Stars my Destination To Your Scattered Bodies GoĪ place to discuss published Speculative Fiction ![]() ![]() In the past few months, I read a super fun YA mystery, Holly Hernandez and The Death Of Disco by Richie Narvaez, and a great PI novel, Midnight Lullaby by James D.F. And I’m REALLY looking forward to attending some in-person mystery conventions, soon! I miss hanging with my peeps! There’s always another short story, too! Of course, I’m still promoting my YA thriller, I Play One On TV, which just came out in July. Even after having published a number of stories and novels, I still don’t feel like I really know what I’m doing.Īnother book. ![]() It took a while to learn what I was doing enough to be able to write something that people might find worth reading. Eventually, though, after reading thousands and thousands of books, I decided to try to write my own. ![]() I hated writing as a kid in fact, I went out of my way to avoid any type of writing assignments in school (I became an engineer!). The stakes are high, and the heroes have to use all their tools (mental and physical) to emerge from their struggles victorious. I’ve always read a lot of crime fiction (along with SF and horror), so I naturally gravitated toward those genres in my own writing. ![]() Why do you write the genre that you write? ![]() ![]() And there are two other residents: Sandra and Alice, specters who also once lived in the house and who have their own voices, both in the narrative and in the ears of certain members of the Walker family. Richard’s ex-wife, daughter, granddaughter, and son take up temporary residency in the rooms of the old house as they sort through his belongings and their own memories. In this case, Richard Walker passes away, leaving his disgruntled, estranged family to deal with his funeral and will, part of which includes his country house in New York, where they all once lived as a family. ![]() We have been here before: Someone dies and leaves behind unfinished business, unanswered questions, unfulfilled relationships, and undiscovered secrets. Lauren Oliver, bestselling author of young-adult novels including Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy, makes her adult-fiction debut with Rooms, and taps into readers’ voracious appetite for tales of the supernatural that imagine where we go from here - and what that means in this life. The rooms in our houses say something about our outer, physical lives, but often they hint at our inner lives, or what we might call souls. Perhaps that endless fascination arises from the place where so many of these ghost stories begin: our homes, where we live out our ordinary lives in the domestic realm, where the messiness of living and dying takes center stage. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ( )Īfter Midnight is not just another great horror novel by Richard Laymon, but it is one of his more original works that stands out among his many books. Very enjoyable, although not his best in my view. Mr Laymon always reminds me of the very best b-movies writ large. It's classic Laymon stuff and very enjoyable in it's own way. This is just the start of her killing spree which is punctuated at regular intervals with lots of clothes being removed/discarded/ripped off etc and, this being a Richard Laymon novel, we're also treated to wonderful descriptions of Alice's breasts, usually while she(and they.) are in motion. She inadvertently kills a guy that dials a wrong number when he turns up at her door to make sure she's ok after she sees an intruder in the pool. In short, Alice, which she goes to great lengths to tell us isn't her real name turns out to be a bit of a maniac. ![]() This one's a little different(but only a little) in that it's told in flashback, so we know from the very beginning that the main protagonist does at least survive. It's impossible not to smile while reading one of his books. I always know what I'm getting with Richard Laymon. ![]() ![]() ![]() The only other of her kind to undergo similar surgery to look like Homo sapiens is her direct superior, Esswis. At the same time, she is spiteful of what she considers her deformed body made so for the job. Isserley has an orderly system for appraising vodsel to potentially capture. She takes her job seriously, and considers herself a valuable professional. Gradually, it is revealed she is an alien, originally somewhat equine in form, who has been surgically altered to look like a human woman, thus suffering constant pains. The novel begins with Isserley picking up hitchhikers on the A9 in Scotland. Humans are referred to as Vodsels by the extraterrestrial beings ( voedsel means "food" in Dutch). She drugs them and delivers them to her compatriots, who mutilate and fatten her victims so that they can be turned into meat, as human meat (called voddissin) is a very expensive delicacy on the aliens' barren homeworld. The protagonist is Isserley, an extraterrestrial sent to Earth by a rich corporation on her planet to kidnap unwary hitchhikers. It was later loosely adapted into a 2013 film of the same name directed by Jonathan Glazer. The novel, which was Faber's debut, was shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread Award. Set on the east coast in northern Scotland, it traces an alien who, manifesting in human form, drives around the countryside picking up male hitchhikers whom she drugs and delivers to her home planet. ![]() ![]() Under the Skin is a 2000 science fiction novel by Michel Faber. ![]() ![]() ![]() On the left is Homo Sapiens Sapiens (that's us humans) and on the right is Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis. On a recent visit to the Boston Museum of Science, I photographed these bones. Over the following twenty-two years, she published three more novels in the series: The Valley of the Horses (1982), The Mammoth Hunters (1985), and The Plains of Passage (1990). ![]() Finally, in 1978, she found a publisher willing to devote the time and resources to publishing the series. She rewrote The Clan of the Cave Bear four times. In the mid-1970s, Auel began revising her mammoth manuscript. As Auel asserts, "the story lead to research, the research fired my imagination, and the wealth of material made me decide to write a novel." The original manuscript was almost one half-million words long and was rejected by several publishers. In fact, The Clan of the Cave Bear started as a short story exploring Auel's interest in Paleolithic humans. It was not until after she had raised five children that she began to write poetry and fiction. She moved to Oregon and attended Portland State University, receiving her M.A. AUTHOR – Jean Auel was born in Chicago on February 18, 1936. ![]() ![]() The whole book/audio moved me but I really felt moved by the pinky finger hold at the end of the book and Holder's definition of the word devastated in the beginning and the end of the book. Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you? Kirby put a lot of emotions into some parts of the book that I don't think I would have put as much emphasis on. I read Hopeless very fast but after listening to Losing Hope I think I will listen to Hopeless. ![]() ![]() I savored the emotional heart tugging of the book by listening to Kirby's easy cadence. What does Kirby Heyborne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book? I really loved that the story starts a year ahead of Hopeless and I totally enjoyed the short epilogue a year later I like to listen to books again with friends and family that they wouldn't normally read.Įven though this was Hopeless from Holder's point of view, I didn't feel like it was redundant story line. Yes! This is a audible that a non reader/listener could get into. Would you listen to Losing Hope again? Why? 10 Reasons to Hope (When All Seems Hopeless) When discouraging and depressing news threatens to flood the nation, the church, and the soul, we need Gods help to lift up our heads, hearts, and hands. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Queen is not interested in understanding that Flora is gay, but it's so briefly talked about! This is clearly a big problem in Flora's life and we never really get to see her unpack it with Millie. While still beautiful, Millie has zero patience for Flora's attitude and isn't afraid to say so, which is awesome! That said, we really only get the surface level of what Flora's life is really like. In the second book, the Scottish royals are back, and this time we're seeing the chaos that Princess Flora can bring to a story.įlora was such an interesting character when we first met her through Daisy's perspective, and I really liked getting to know her through Millie. Rachel Hawkin's Royals was the first in this series and I thought it was a cute, light story with fictional Scottish royals causing chaos for the protagonist. ![]() I'm a sucker for royal romances! It's so bad, but I'm definitely way to invested in the British royal family and all the drama surrounding them (also, obsessed with the names Charlotte and Archie. ![]() |