Author Archives: John Walters

Book Review:  The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021 Edited by John Joseph Adams and Veronica Roth

This collection has a different tone than the other best of the year collection I recently read and reviewed, The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Volume 2 edited by Jonathan Straham, and it’s not just that it includes fantasy. The selection … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Prodigal” in SFS Stories

My short story “Prodigal” has just appeared in Issue #8 of the magazine SFS Stories. The theme of this issue is “Tales of Time.” You can find a copy on Amazon at this link.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Book Review:  Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956 by Anne Applebaum

This book is a heavy read; that applies to the physical weight of the book as well as the subject matter. It deals with the attempts of the Soviet Union to bring Eastern Europe into subjugation after World War II. … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Keep Doing What You’re Doing

Often we create resolutions for the New Year because we are convinced that changes need to be made in our lives. Perhaps something is not right; something is out of kilter. We resolve to do whatever needs to be done … Continue reading

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Christmas Gift for My Blog Followers

As a Christmas gift to readers, I have enrolled electronic editions of some of my books and stories in the Smashwords End of Year Sale, which runs through January 1st. Complete books are half price, marked down from $3.99 to … Continue reading

Posted in Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Books Make Great Gifts

After Thanksgiving has come and gone, people commence a search for holiday gifts for family members, relatives, friends, acquaintances, in-laws, outlaws, colleagues, and sometimes total strangers. If you’re looking for fun, sophisticated, lively, intense, flamboyant, and otherwise variegated literary fare, … Continue reading

Posted in Reading | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Days It Doesn’t Happen

Every writer has a different approach to the process of putting words on paper. Some who write long novels or major works of nonfiction prepare backgrounds or research for months or even years and then binge-write until the work is … Continue reading

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review:  The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Volume 2 Edited by Jonathan Straham

This is the second year of Strahan’s new best of the year science fiction anthology series, one that he has deliberately modeled after the late Gardner Dozois’s classic decades-long series. (Strahan acknowledges Dozois in the introduction.) With all respect to … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review:  Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

The two books of Colson Whitehead’s that I have read previous to this one, The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, have been exciting and original works of fiction, and both, incidentally, have won the Pulitzer Prize. Along with his … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review:  Forever Young: A Memoir by Hayley Mills

Although I was significantly younger than either of them, my two biggest film star crushes when I was a child were Judy Garland and Hayley Mills. Judy Garland, of course, I knew as the vulnerable but determined young woman wandering … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment