by Michael Kinch on April 11, 2013
The April 2013 issue of VOYA gives a
nice review of Book #3 in the BLENDING TIME trilogy published by FLUX.
“The war against the ’gades is at full throttle in this concluding novel to the gritty dystopian Blending Time series. Picking up where the previous novel ended, seventeen-year-old blenders D’Shay, Jaym, Reya, and the rest of the New Sun members are coordinating their final attacks to take back Wananelu, the capital of Chewena, from GlobeTran’s control. D’Shay, Jaym, and Reya are also given dangerous personal missions to carry out and must overcome their past traumas to do so. Jaym has still not fully recovered from the horrific death of his blender match, Reya must face guards similar to the ones who abused her in captivity, and D’Shay continues to prove his worth to a native girl he loves.
As with the other two books, each chapter begins with an epigraph, a nice touch that gives readers more details about 2070 Africa. One of the strongest aspects of the book is the vivid descriptions of Africa, which is probably attributed to the author having lived and taught there. The series will appeal to teens who like war stories or fast-paced and plot-driven dystopias. With well-written and believable action sequences and a suspenseful build-up leading to a hopeful conclusion, The Rebels of New SUN delivers a satisfying ending for readers.”.—Marissa Wolf.
by Michael Kinch on December 7, 2012
HEMINGWAY’S 7 WRITING SECRETS
I’ve always admired Hemingway’s prose. No “10-words”; sparse yett startling sentences. Here is some of his advice:
1. “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in shock-proof shit-detector.”
2. “The first draft of anything is shit.”
3. The good parts of a book may be only something a writer is lucky enough to overhear or it may be the wreck of his whole damn life and one is as good as the other.
4. My attitude toward punctuation is that it ought to be as conventional as possible. The game of golf would lose a good deal if croquet mallets and billiard cues were allowed on the putting green. You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than anyone else with the regular tools before you have a license to bring in your own improvements.
5. That terrible mood of depression of whether it’s any good or not is what is known as The Artist’s Reward.
6. Scott (Fitzgerald) took literature so solemnly. He never understood that it was just writing as well as you can and finishing what you start.
7. A writer’s problem does not change. He himself changes and the world he lives in changes but his problem remains the same. It is always how to write truly and having found what is true, to project it in such a way that it becomes a part of the experience of the person who reads it.
nice review of Book #3 in the BLENDING TIME trilogy published by FLUX.
