Monthly Archives: August 2022

August 10, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Thoughts on Fan Fiction

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A woman dressed in chainmail, leather, and wool. She’s holding a funky wooden staff and appears to be dressed as a fantasy character. When I was a teenager, I wrote a little bit of fan fiction for a couple of my favourite worlds (Narnia and the prehistoric world set in Jean M. Auel’s Earth’s Children series that I’ve talked about here so often, if you’re curious). I never finished any of it and it doesn’t exist anymore so far as I know, but I had a wonderful time playing around with characters and settings I knew so well.

I’ve read far more fan fiction than I’ve written. The quality of it varied depending on the skill of the person writing it, of course, but that’s true for any form of storytelling. I’m interested in experiencing fabulous stories no matter where they come from: fan fiction, self-published books, hybrid-published books, traditionally-published books, tv shows, films, music, or spooky stories told around a campfire.

To me, fan fiction is a hobby that may sharpen your writing, communication, and critical thinking skills if you write and/or read high quality material. I’d compare it to cosplay or role playing a character for Dungeons and Dragons in that you get what you put into it and there are so many different ways to enjoy it.

Some people adore it and do it regularly. Other folks are like me and have dabbled in it. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who have zero interest in this stuff, and that’s perfectly okay, too.

Hobbies make life more enjoyable. Of course I encourage everyone to follow their interests no matter how young or old you are. Life is too short to be serious all of the time or to worry what others think about what makes you happy. For some folks, chasing happiness includes doing things like dressing up in fun costumes or making up stories about your favourite characters. I say more power to them!

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Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as Bookish Stuff, Fan Fiction, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

August 9, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Hilarious Book Titles

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Two women laughing while reading books. One has a book on top of her head. This is one of those topics I could talk about forever! Isn’t it wonderful to chuckle when you read the title of a book?

I like to collect hilarious book titles as I search for new books to read.

There are some quite clever ones out there. The more you find, the easier it is to discover even more of them in my experience.

Here are just a few of the ones I’ve discovered. Yes, I’m sure a couple of them are probably repeats from previous TTT topics, but why not giggle at them again?

The only one I’ve read so far is How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming. It was an informative, interesting, and sometimes funny read.

1. How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain

2. Everything I Needed to Know about Women I Learned by Reading Twilight: A Vampire’s Guide to Eternal Love by Jim Lee

3. You Don’t Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps (J. W. Wells & Co., #4) by Tom Holt

4. This book cover and title have nothing to do with this book. by Jarod Kintz

5. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown

6. Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S. Choi

7. Nibbled to Death by Ducks by Robert Wright Campbell

8. My Ass Is Haunted By The Gay Unicorn Colonel by Chuck Tingle

9. How to Defeat Your Own Clone and Other Tips for Surviving the Biotech Revolution by Kyle Kurpinski

10. Surviving Your Stupid Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School by Adam Ruben

84 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as Book Titles, Hilarious Book Titles, Humour, Top Ten Tuesday

August 4, 2022 · 1:00 am

In the Deep Depths of the Ocean: A Review of Aegan and the Sunken City

Title: Aegan and the Sunken City

Author: D.G. Redd

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 26, 2021

Genres: Science Fiction, Futuristic

Length: 17 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

The Cartographers have announced that the Triton will drift over an old city. Aegan finds himself lucky enough to be ready to drop in his deep-dive submersible, the Argo, and scavenge for riches. If he can collect enough salvage, he can buy his way into the upper-decks, to the levels of peace and quiet. For now though, he’ll need to make do with the solitude of his boat as he slowly descends to the sunken city.

Review:

Content Warning: sea monster. I will discuss it in this review.

The ocean is only as trustworthy as who or what is swimming around in it.

Morally ambiguous characters are so interesting to read about, especially when they’re as personable as Aegan was. Would I trust him with my credit card? No, but I would love to sit down to dinner with him and hear some of the stories he could tell about the slippery and sometimes downright illegal things he’s done in order to survive. There is no doubt in my mind that he’d have a few acts of heroism to throw in there as well. He excelled at bending and even breaking the law, but he never struck me as a cruel man. He was simply someone who was trying to game an unfair system in order to make his own life easier.

I would have liked to see more time spent describing the sea monster and it’s intentions. Yes, Aegan was used to such distractions, but this reader was not! It was hard for me to picture what it looked like or why it was so interested in Aegean’s vessel in the first scene. I was also surprised by how the plot veered away after that moment, so having a more detailed description of why the author went in that direction would have been helpful as well. This is a minor criticism of something I otherwise enjoyed quite a bit.

The world building was nicely handled. While the author didn’t have a great deal of time to go into detail, he shared enough information about how global warming changed the sea levels and human society to keep me interested and eager to find out what else had changed between our present and this nebulous time in the future. This is the sort of thing I’m happy to wait around for so long as I have a basic understanding of how e everything works, and that was definitely provided here.

This is part of a series but works perfectly well as a standalone work.

Aegan and the Sunken City piqued my curiosity for more.

8 Comments

Filed under Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tagged as 2020s, Book Reviews, D.G. Redd, Futuristic, Nautical, Science Fiction, Sea Monster, Self-Published, Short Stories

August 3, 2022 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Weirdest Food You Love

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

About a dozen kohlrabi’s sitting on top of each other. They are whole and unwashed. I’m bending the rules this week and giving two answers to the prompt because I know we’ve had at least one vegetarian participate in the past. I don’t want to make them read about something that might bother them.

My Vegetarian Answer: Kohlrabi. Sometimes it’s also known as a German Turnip. The flesh of this vegetable is white and looks and feels like a lot like a radish. The taste is quite mild and delicious, though. My grandmother grows them in her garden and serves them as a snack on their own or sometimes sliced and then put on a piece of buttered bread just like you would with radish slices.

My Non-Vegetarian Answer: Frog legs. I grew up in a rural part of North America where people ate such things at home as well as in local restaurants! It’s definitely an acquired and gamey taste, but I sure liked it when I was a kid.

I do not think my answers are actually that unusual, but we’ll see what the rest of you have to say in your posts!

22 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

Tagged as Food, Kohlrabi, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

August 2, 2022 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in a Place I’d Love to Visit

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A brown suitcase covered in stamps and stickers from various tourist destinations like Hawaii and Los Angeles. Prince Edward Island and Hawaii are two places I’d love to visit. I discussed the former last month, so this post will be dedicated to the latter.

Why did I pick Hawaii? Well, it’s climate is much warmer and sunnier than the places I’ve lived in my life (at least during the winter).

When Ontario is in the depths of January and the clouds haven’t parted in weeks, I dream of going somewhere that has a bright blue sky and is not covered in ice and snow.

I’d also love to learn more about the cultures of the people who originally inhabited the Hawaiian islands. I know so little about them at the moment. Do speak up if you know if any other good books on this topic.

Moloka'i (Moloka'i, #1) by Alan Brennert book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a Hawaiian woman’s face covered partially by flowers.

1. Moloka’i (Moloka’i, #1) by Alan Brennert

Blu's Hanging by Lois-Ann Yamanaka book cover. Image on cover shows a painting of a black cat sitting underneath laundry drying on a laundry cord outside at dusk.

2. Blu’s Hanging by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

ild Meat and the Bully Burgers by Lois-Ann Yamanaka Book oover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a stylized spotted leopard-like creature surrounded by celestial bodies like the sun.

3. Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a ship releasing black smoke by an Hawaiian island covered in palm trees and ferns.

4. The Aloha Spirit by Linda Ulleseit

nfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell book cover. Image on cover shows painting of Hawaiians sitting underneath tree as white man stands looking down upon them.

5. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

This Is Paradise: Stories by Kristiana Kahakauwila Book cover. Image on cover shows silhoutte of plastic dancing Hawaiian girl on a car’s dashboard as it drives on a glowing red city street at night.

6. This Is Paradise: Stories by Kristiana Kahakauwila

he Legends and Myths of Hawai'i by David Kalākaua Book cover. Image on cover shows a painting of a Hawaiian man in English military gear. He looks high ranking?!

7. The Legends and Myths of Hawai’i by David Kalākaua

No Footprints in the Sand: A Memoir of Kalaupapa by Henry Nalaielua book cover. Image on cover shows photo of young boy in white hospital uniform crossing his arms at a leprosy hospital. Upper photo shows him as a healthy senior citizen.