New Story Alert!

https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/embed?preview=inline&linkCode=kpd&ref_=k4w_oembed_LqyiwyWlJ6bGsD&asin=B09DTC9ZMR&tag=kpembed-20&amazonDeviceType=A2CLFWBIMVSE9N&from=Bookcard&reshareId=5JW37RKTNAVVWDPWZ9P9&reshareChannel=system Looking to escape to another world with a super fast read? Looking for urban fantasy that is a bit different? Or weird stories to make you think? Wanting to discover speculative fiction from writers that could become your new favourite authors? Harvey Duckman presents the eighth in a series of short story anthologies featuring …

Review of Hounds of Autumn

They say that the moor has eyes. It is 1890, and the windswept moors hold dark secrets. Chloe Sullivan is an amateur inventor whose holiday takes a dark turn when her friend and colleague, one of the few female mechanical experts in the British Empire, is murdered. A black mechanical hound roams the moors, but …

Engaging Characters: Their Likability & The Longevity of Their Novels

It’s always interesting coming across studies like these, that combine psychology with the interest in reading. After all, the best characters are the most complicated, the ones we, secretly, love to psychoanalysise.

The Misfortune Of Knowing

What attributes help a writer develop engaging characters?

To explore this question, researchers at McMaster University, York University, and the University of Toronto designed a preliminary study in which subjects (students enrolled in an intro psych course, obviously) wrote brief character sketches based on a head-and-shoulders photograph of a man.* Then, a second set of students rated how interesting, likeable, and complex the characters were.

In the results, published last month in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, the researchers found — unsurprisingly— that character sketches written by people who expressed an inclination to write fiction were more interesting and complex than the sketches written by people who didn’t express an inclination to write. While the characters produced by self-described creative writers were more interesting and complex, they were not more likable, causing the researchers to conclude:

[L]ikability of characters was distinct from other aspects of an engaging…

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Review of These Savage Bones

I’ve followed Kaitlin Hillerich at her writing tips blog Ink and Quills for a while now, so I was delighted to learn that she was releasing her debut novella (and had done as of last October – I’m just so slow when it comes to keeping up with a single book, especially on Kindle. Sorry!) I …

Cover Reveal: SIX PLUS ONE by Yawatta Hosby

Today on the blog, I’m hosting Yawatta Hosby, horror/suspense and woman’s fiction writer, for the cover reveal of her upcoming new novel. I’ve known Yawatta for a few years now, and had the privilege of assisting on her novella TWISTED OBSESSION. Here you see [an old photo of] me with my copy of ONE BY …

Fauxpocalypse Reviewed by Musings From Neville’s Navel

It’s been a while and I don’t really talk about it that much, but do you remember that anthology I was part of a few years ago whose collection of stories centred on an apocalypse that ended up not happening? My friend and fellow writer/student/bookaholic, Engie of the Musings From Neville’s Navel, purchased the collection …

Happy Book Birthday, RULES FOR THIEVES

My critique partner, Alexandra Ott's, debut novel is out today, MG Fantasy RULES FOR THIEVES! Eee, exciting. Look at that glossy cover! (And did I mention I had a hand in choosing the title? 😉 ) Twelve-year-old Alli Rosco is smart, resourceful, and totally incapable of keeping her mouth shut. Some of these traits have …

Review of Image and Likeness

If St. John Paul II ever summarized his Theology of the Body, it may have been when he said, “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” But how does this sincere gift look when lived out by human beings with all their failings? What happens to our humanity when we …

For the Love of Libraries

In which libraries are awesome and gorgeous, and one must always love them, whatever their shape or size.

Aussie Writers

To celebrate V-Day, here at Aussie Owned, we’re dedicating the month to love. And how can we talk about things we love without giving libraries a mention?

Most book worms can track their love of reading (or writing!) back to these houses of art. Growing up, Heather used to BEG to go to the library, so her Mum caught on pretty quick and this became her good-behaviour treat.

Heather’s local library was a standard, small space, with mostly donated books and little government funding. The shelves were a definite safety hazard, the books were falling apart, and the whole place had that funky kind of smell that hangs around a constantly damp place.

And she loved it anyway.

Rebecca grew up with much the same in way of her local library, but she never had to beg to go there. Her mother was quite happy to take her and her two sisters…

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7 Quick Takes: A Recap of the Vanished

I know I’ve been absent from 7 Quick Takes Friday for a while now. Some of it has been out of my control – moving and all that jazz – but some of it, I must admit, has been laziness on my part. So, of all the things, this is a Friday catch-up, I suppose. …