I’ll give it this much: The premise is unique. Many years ago, The Duchess Belcraven became pregnant with a child who could not possibly have been her husband’s. That was bad enough, but to make matters worse, the Duke’s two older sons both die in a tragic accident, meaning his heir is not of his […]
Author Archive: Christine
Why do I read?
This question was posed the other day on Book Blogs, and I wanted to expand upon the most common, and most true answer: To escape. There are lots of ways to escape, including TV and movies, but more often than not, I choose books. The reason is, that when I watch a TV show, though […]
Writing Tips: Info Hunt
I’m sure you’re familiar with the dreaded info dump: that ocean of background and setup which causes even the most talented swimmers to drown beneath waves of irrelevance and get swept away by tides of boredom. If you’ll just throw me a life preserver — a tidbit of conflict that makes the information more meaningful, […]
Book Review: Nebula’s Music
Nebula is a cyborg, a machine manufactured from a donated human body. She should have been reborn with a clean slate, knowing only that which happened from the moment of creation, but when she plays certain songs on the piano, she has flickering memories of a time before. Radian is not initially a part of […]
Website Upgrades
Over the weekend, my husband and I updated the website in order to allow us to use the most recent version of wordpress. This means, among other things, that you can follow my blog with the click of a button. (On the righthand side.) It also means I have a new theme, after all these […]
Book Review: Shadowfever
As Shadowfever is the final installment in a five-part urban fantasy series, this is really more of a series review. It’s hard to say too much about the last book, in particular, without throwing spoilers at those who have not yet had a chance to pick up the first book. And you really should pick […]
Twisted Endings
Sure, I like a good twist as much as anyone. It’s thrilling when you make a discovery that is both unexpected and, in retrospect, makes absolutely perfect sense. Sometimes, it feels like, “Aha!” and sometimes, more like, “Ohhhh….” Either way, it’s fun. BUT (you knew there had to be a but), not every story needs […]
On a Scale of 1 to 5…
When you’re asked to rate your feelings about something, are you the type of person to gravitate toward the middle, or do you tend to the extremes? We each tend to approach these types of questions differently, and yet when a large enough group is sampled, we get fairly meaningful averages. I’ve been rating books […]
Four-Leaf Clovers: Uncovering the Magic
Last summer, researchers from the University of Georgia discovered the gene that can turn a three-leaf clover into the luckier four-leaf variety. Science Daily A reminder that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
First Person: Present Tense
My fingers dance across the keyboard as I search for the next word to type. First person present tense annoys me, I think, because one cannot usually record events as they are happening. At the moment, my butt is in a chair, my eyes fixed on the screen before me, my fingers tap, tap, tapping […]