C. Alex Smith's Blog

Better than the First Book!                                                                                       The earth under England has dissolved and England is a free floating “raft” of an island. England’s elite blow up the mooring to the mainland and British citizens become isolated from the rest of the world’s climate catastrophe. Too busy with their own issues of famine, disease, and dividing precious resources and power, those closest to the shore are easily deceived by those advantaged enough to live near the center.  But every lie has a price. Dr. Savanah Selbourne’s price for signing off on the lies the Centre tells the Periphery is to keep here son, Ethan, born to her partner, Grace. But six years of misleading the people of the Periphery has its own price. Savanah’s status among her own people is shrinking and her relationship with Grace is beginning to fray. When Amalyn and Savanah are sent to Europe as spokespersons for the synthetic foods Savanah developed, th

  I know I'm going to get slammed for this review, but I got to be honest. This one really didn't capture my imagination. I liked the idea of an America littered with our outdated religious beliefs, but I found this book bloodthirsty and rambling. Sorry, Neil.  In the end, it felt a little pointless. Maybe that's what Gaiman's saying about religion in the first place. 3 out of 5 stars 

Writing Deep Point Of View: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall My rating: 5 of 5 stars Improve Your Reader's Experience Immediately Deep POV puts your reader inside your story in the main character’s head—just where they want to be. The technique involves understanding how to fool the subconscious with language to create that engrossing reading experience. As with all of Raven Hall’s writing books, the advice is simple, clear, and actionable. You can incorporate these techniques in your writing immediately and improve how your story is perceived. View all my reviews Euphonics For Writers: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall My rating: 5 of 5 stars We are used to thinking about the subtle shades of meaning different words for the same thing possess. Could part of the difference between homonyms be the sounds that make up these words? The science of euphonics proposes that the sounds used to pronounce words create different emot