Literary ups and downs...

My review of Anathem is up over at the "all new" Mostly Fiction. The editor's given the site a new look with a blog format. One of the advantages is that you can now enter comments after the reviews (hint, hint).

I just finished The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton. Excellent. I only have one complaint. There's one thing missing... an ending!!!! I know that this is the first book in a series, but I truly wish that more of the plot points could have been resolved. I hate that. Okay, I feel better now.

So, this book has telekinesis, the best part of which is his term "the third hand". There's power struggles, politics, hard science, religion, fantastical creatures and an amazing, living crystal city left by aliens on a world that is beyond the reach of the rest of the galaxy. Because it resides in the impenetrable void which outsiders can only (literally!) dream of.

I recommend it, but only if you have his new one, The Temporal Void handy. I'll be reviewing that in full at Mostly Fiction right after Wake by Robert J. Sawyer. The Wake review has been delayed by the trusty USPS. The review copy was sent on the 6th of April and never arrived. Nor did a few other items from other places. I'm wondering if some of my mail is ending up in the Void or perhaps an alternate universe.

I also have several more authors on the hook for interviews, so stay tuned for those.

I can include this here because of Star Gate SG1. Dom DeLuise passed away yesterday. He shall be missed.

My short memoir, "The Rosary," had been picked up by a second anthology last year. I just got word today that the new volume will be available on December 1, 2009. It's called The Mystery of Fate: Common Coincidence or Divine Intervention? What a great Christmas gift those will make! ;)

This last bit is both up and down. I received another rejection of my latest story. That's the down side. But on the upside, it came back in record time. I'm choosing to discern that as a sign that I have a killer cover letter and a great title, thereby moving my story to the top of the slush pile. I'll be sending it back out tomorrow, remembering that the first editor said it was "powerful and well done". It just has to find the perfect place to fit in.