@tsukiseries@nichorra@bookstodon
Yeah, The Book Depository was a real loss in that regard. I haven't checked out these alternatives but they might be useful to someone.
Today's feature is Doc Savage paperbacks of the 1960s and '70s from Bantam Books. They're reprints from Doc Savage magazine, a pulp from the '30s and '40s published by Street and Smith. Nearly 90 percent of the initial Doc Savage stories were written by author Lester Dent. Kenneth Robeson was a house-name owned by Street and Smith.
Adventure awaits!
@DanJ@bookstodon
I'll be honest. My impression of Doc Savage is hearsay... I've yet to read his adventures.
Doc was a specimen of human perfection... seemingly physically and mentally superhuman to the average person, via training and education, but wholly human; akin to Batman.
Doc doesn't have a sidekick, but has trusted individuals he can count on for help. I'm unclear if these people commonly act as a team. I believe there's an old-school version of diversity among them.
I'm sure the motivation of Doc and his "team" aligned with the interests & nationalities of Allied forces from WWII. Doc's adversaries range from mystical & alien to earthly & megalomaniacal.
Superman & Captain America were likely partially inspired & created as Doc Plus, each with distinctly superhuman abilities.
Who to read if you're an Agatha Christie devotee, but have read all of her books (besides re-reading her books, of course)? The former is true of me, but the latter, not quite yet. I'm planning ahead.
I know to at least consider Sherlock Holmes, anyone in the Detection Club (which Christie co-founded), medieval mysteries like Brother Cadfael, etc. And yes, I've already read some of those here and there, especially Cadfael.
@theotherotherone@bookstodon Other Golden Age mysteries may work for you- Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver series has a middle-aged ex-governess detective, Freeman Wills Crofts has a polite policeman, Dorothy Sayers of course has an aristocrat. John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson is the classic for locked rooms (more stilted writing than Christie). The BL is republishing a lot of classic mysteries, search "British library crime classics" on Amazon (or wherever) and have a good browse.
Hi, I'm an as-of-yet unpublished YA author and high school math teacher who just joined Mastodon. I'm looking out for suggestions of who to follow in the writing/teaching community!
@weirdwriter I'm already following you! I'm very interested in accessibility. It's crazy that people don't always get it right for something as simple as ebooks.
I've posted this link before, but for someone else, I think.
I'm a heavy outliner - I include all/most of the little side conversations and bits and bobs in my outlines, because I find that with that complete an outline, I can get up to 5-8000 words in a writing day. (The link is ugly, I'm so sorry.)
I know a lot of pantsers and plantsers, but I'm not one of them.
@JoanGrey@golgaloth@bookstodon@amwriting Some helpful technique here. You weren’t mucking around when you said you Outline. This is nice thorough. I’m thinking for the sequel to my current novel I’m writing for Nano I’ll do this kind of outline. Maybe in a spreadsheet, which works well for my data-driven brain, though I do like the idea of an actual calendar and physical cards, so we’ll see. Perhaps a mixture of both. Cheers for sharing
I was pretty happy when I recently acquired an Eames chair & stool (reproduction/not an original - way too expensive), I was pretty pleased with the major improvement in my #reading#infrastructure.
But now, I feel I missed a chance for a proper upgrade.... [sighs]
@bookstodon I don't know how you all cure a reading slump, but I just loaded up on as many graphic novels as I can get for free. It usually works. Bonus: getting to read some new graphic novels!
@kimlockhartga@olliethewobbly@bookstodon I'm crashing this party to say Gemma Files, Christi Nogle, Kelly Link, Laird Barron, and John Langan all have absolutely spectacular short story collections.
And you may want to check out Morbidologies edited by Shane Douglas Keane & John F.D. Taff, & The Book of Queer Saints Vol 2 which both just came out and appear to be very promising anthologies.
Now that's exactly what I have always believed... My moral code in a nutshell, simple and to the point,with religion having nothing to do with it:
"What have I always believed?
That on the whole, and by and large, if a man lived properly, not according to what any priests said, but according to what seemed decent and honest inside, then it would, at the end, more or less, turn out all right." #SmallGods by #terrypratchett#discworld#discworldquotes@bookstodon#reading#religion#morality
I’ve gone back to an old #novel I’ve been writing for years- this time I’m getting it done! 😉
But, in doing so I have decided to change the prose text from past-tense to present-tense to give the #narrative some extra tension and forward drive.
It’s working out so far, but I’m not entirely convinced it’s the right thing to do. Most narratives are written in past-tense after all, so it might make my novel less inviting.
Oh, & here's an example of "readers don't care or notice" right here... I read Wasted & I didn't even remember any bits in 2nd person
Technique can help a story move faster but I don't think readers consciously notice or remember technique (unless they're writers/aspiring writers & even then once you get lost in the story... that stuff fades into the background)
@pretensesoup@rayckeith@bookstodon@amwriting This is very interesting, as I’ve always wondered what would be a particularly good reason to use second person, apart from aesthetic or simply to be different. This approach makes a lot of sense.
You've heard the saying "God laughs at your plans." Well, I had planned to go shopping on Saturday, at the biggest used book emporium I could find, but I got deathly ill late on Friday night and I'm just now crawling out of it.
So, today, we have chosen a vintage book shop owned by women (bonus points) and I hope they're ready for us. They have 80,000 used books and collectibles. "Jeeves, my shopping cart!" It's like letting us loose in a candy store.
I need to buy a gift for a family-of-friend. I am informed that they really like mystery stories, especially in historical settings, but are not fond of SFF.
I assume this means they have already read the obvious candidates, the Cadfaels and the like, or if they haven't then that's a conscious choice on their part which means I shouldn't buy them one of those.
What's a non-SFF mystery story you've enjoyed recently? Recommend me a book please!
@passenger@bookstodon For a historical detective series in a less common time and place setting, you could try Madhulika Liddle's Muzaffar Jang series. Set in Mughal Delhi. The author's sister is a published historian whose focus is Delhi, so the historicity is solid, and the lead is interesting