Greetings, Aenya fans! I have decided to do something different for my upcoming project. I am releasing a production diary, starting with this one, because I am eager to share all the exciting news regarding The Magiq of Aenya. So what is 'The Magiq of Aenya'? It's the fourth book in the ongoing Aenya series... Continue Reading →
All I ever asked for was a writing desk, but my father (God rest his soul) didn't want to buy one for me despite spending tens of thousands on lavish antique furniture to fill his million-dollar mansions. Since I was six, I impressed upon him my obsession—my need—to become an author, but he didn't care... Continue Reading →
In this exciting matchup, I pit legendary authors against one another to see who comes out on top! Yessiree, folks, step right up for the fight of the century. In one corner, we've got legendary suspense author of over sixty-five books and counting, Stephen King, and his novella, The Body. And in the opposite corner,... Continue Reading →
After reading and reviewing Cloud Cuckoo Land, my best book of 2023, I knew I had to pick up another of Anthony Doerr's books. This time, I figured, why not the book that won him the Pulitzer? In true Doerr fashion, All the Light We Cannot See is a masterclass in poetry. Every sentence sings.... Continue Reading →
If you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, or anything outside the humanities field, chances are you'll benefit from a college degree. But woe to you whose heart is set on becoming an author, a musician, a visual artist, or any pursuit whose area of study depends on an arbitrary grading system... Continue Reading →
David Sedaris would like you to know that nudists are ugly and weird and should probably know better. At least, that’s the impression he gives, if his book, Naked, is any indication. It’s crass, low-brow comedy—and a sneaky way for him to make fun of fat people just for being fat because, hey, they’re naked,... Continue Reading →
While I love the idea-driven, philosophically oriented science fiction authors of the 50s and '60s, the likes of which include Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clark, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, and Isaac Asimov---I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by the first in Asimov's Foundation series. I truly, truly wanted to love... Continue Reading →
It's sad that social media always appeals to our basest instincts. It's why YouTubers make millions---YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!---and why Amazon authors find success writing ENF (Embarrassed Naked Female), harem, and dinosaur erotica. Unfortunately, my readers have fallen into the same trap with my latest book, The Feral Girl, but in reverse. They buy... Continue Reading →
No matter how advanced artificial intelligence becomes---even after a thousand years of quantum computing---novels written by AI will never be worth anyone's time because fiction isn't a math problem to be solved. Storytelling is the greatest form of human expression. It's how we share our lived experiences, our fears, our pain, our aspirations. But a... Continue Reading →
What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? Harper Lee's masterpiece and only true novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, has been analyzed to death by critics and is quintessential reading for any middle school English class. How Lee manages to write with such pathos, conviction, and storytelling skill without ever having... Continue Reading →
FINALLY!!! After a three-year-long wait, the short video I asked my daughter to help me produce is complete! "The King's Sacrifice" is based on the fairytale intro that appears at the novel's start. All of the art was done by Jasmine (save for the tower and the map), who has greatly improved since she started... Continue Reading →
Every streaming service wants to make the next Game of Thrones. Barring the last two seasons' abysmal ratings, George R.R. Martin's book-based drama had studios the world over greening with envy, and because of that, viewers have been subjected to a flood of poorly conceived imitations the likes of which we haven't seen since the... Continue Reading →
Writing is hard and storytelling is even harder. It is a fool's errand paved with heartache and disappointment and oddly placed metaphors. So, if you're dreaming big, wanting to see your name appear at Barnes & Noble next to the big shots of the literary world, do yourself a favor and step away from the... Continue Reading →
I have thoughts. No surprise, I know, but being an oh-so-special lover of words, my thoughts tend to be stubborn things. They stick to my brain like molasses and refuse to go away. Unfortunately, we live in a time when having thoughts can be dangerous. Expressing an opinion---any opinion, really---is like strolling through a minefield.... Continue Reading →
I sit (virtually) with my artistic conspirator and college-attending daughter, Jasmine, to discuss one of our favorite pieces of fiction, Howl's Moving Castle, comparing Diana Wynne Jones's original fantasy novel with Hayao Miyazaki's cinematic interpretation. We also get into anime in general and the differences between Western and Japanese storytelling. Love Studio Ghibli? Or books... Continue Reading →
I am going to try and keep this short and to the point, so forgive my rant, but I am furious at the moment because Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Amazon have all pretty much shat over my name. By mere association, my work of twenty years has been chucked into the junk bin of... Continue Reading →
I normally don't make YouTube reviews, but I couldn't help but share this stunning, beautifully illustrated hardback edition of Michael Ende's The NeverEnding Story, one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. In case you didn't know, The Folio Society is for people who, like myself, adore physical books and tactile treasures in general (not just... Continue Reading →
"The book was better" always gets thrown around when readers compare a movie to its novel counterpart. And I admit that, with few exceptions, the novel version is superior. The reasons for this are many. Transitioning a story from one medium to another is often like translating a pun into another language. What works in... Continue Reading →
After finishing Coraline, my 13-year-old daughter begged me to read it. I told her I would if she would agree to discuss it on my podcast, Story Matters. And, I am happy to say, Coraline was a real treat. Despite skewing towards younger readers, there's a lot here for older fantasy fans to enjoy. As... Continue Reading →
I finally got around to reading one of this generation's most beloved and successful fantasy authors: Brandon Sanderson. Is the guy all he's cracked up to be, at least judging by his debut novel, Mistborn? While I found much of the book a bit too formulaic for my tastes—we are treated, yet again, to another... Continue Reading →
In case you've been wondering, rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. (Pretty sure I stole that line from somewhere . . .) But annnyway, I am still around and kicking, though it's been forever since my last update. The year 2023, for me at least, has been crazier than 2020. My eldest daughter... Continue Reading →
R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War starts as a typical coming-of-age fantasy about a girl from humble beginnings who discovers she has special powers. Despite a cliched beginning, the first chapter had me hooked, as it's probably the best bit of writing in the novel --- not surprising given the knock-them-dead-from-page-one nature of publishing today. The... Continue Reading →
Arthur Alimonos, my father, passed away in March of this year at the age of ninety after having lived an amazing life. Twelve years ago, he asked me to share his story with the world. This is Part II of that story, where he journeys from his homeland in war-ravaged Greece to the shores of... Continue Reading →
Everything old is new again! Nostalgia sells, and like any good business, Hollywood is banking on your childhood like never before. Instead of the innovative storytelling we grew up with in the '80s, we are inundated with sequels, prequels, remakes, and reboots. Disney gave us new Star Wars, Amazon's Rings of Power brought us back... Continue Reading →
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (what a name!) centers around an apocalyptic, end-of-the-world scenario involving a super-flu that wipes out most of humanity. It's a more concise and grounded version of Stephen King's The Stand, and was of particular interest to me given our post-COVID world. Mandel weaves a complex narrative with multiple... Continue Reading →
After ninety years on this Earth, my father passed away in March of this year. Here, I share the remarkable life of Arthur Alimonos as he tells it, beginning in 1933 in the little-known village of Magoula, Greece. Having lost his father to tuberculosis at age five, Arthur struggled to survive in a family of... Continue Reading →
Ο μπαμπάς δεν είναι εδώ. Η μητέρα μου ήρθε με αυτή τη γραμμή καθώς φτάσαμε. Ο μπαμπάς δεν είναι εδώ, μπήκε καθώς περπατούσαμε στο διώροφο όπου ζούσε ακόμα με τον πατέρα μου πριν από μια εβδομάδα. Τον είδα στο φέρετρό του στην κηδεία, περιτριγυρισμένο από τις επιχρυσωμένες εικόνες των Ορθοδόξων Αγίων, αλλά καθώς πλησίαζα το άκαμπτο... Continue Reading →
Dad's not here. My mother came up with that line as we arrived. Dad's not here, she intoned as we walked into the duplex where she'd still lived with my father a week ago. I saw him in his casket at the funeral, surrounded by the gilded icons of the Orthodox Saints, but as I... Continue Reading →
In today's exciting podcast, I sit down with Stephen Swartz to discuss his semi-biographical novel, A Girl Called Wolf. It's the harrowing true survival tale of an Inuit girl named Anuka (a fan and friend I've known for many years through Facebook) and the rare indie book deserving more attention. Then in true Story Matters... Continue Reading →
We were wrong about the future. Everyone had it wrong, in fact. The fears instilled in us from 80s and 90s films like The Terminator and The Matrix were off the mark. AI isn't going to kill us and it won't turn us into slaves (or batteries). But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be afraid... Continue Reading →
It's been a long time since I've read a book this good, and I couldn't be more thrilled. This book restores my faith in fiction and reminds me why I wanted to become a writer in the first place. It's a story that, quite frankly, I wish I could have written. Silly as the title... Continue Reading →
Amazon ads? Scam. Bookbub? Allauthor? Awesomegang? Scam. Scam. Scam! What about review sites like Goodreads? IndieReader? Kirkus? All scams. I have spent the past several years trying to game the indie scene, but it simply does NOT work. Having wasted God knows how much money, I've had to rationalize these expenditures, telling myself it's a long-term... Continue Reading →
The indie publishing industry is an embattled landscape of scams, schemers, dashed dreams, and desperation. Thanks to Amazon and the advent of POD printing, we are inundated with dreck novels by would-be authors, while the truly rare, standout storyteller often goes unnoticed.
In today's lighthearted episode of the Story Matters podcast, I read some of the ridiculous, absurd, frustrating, enlightening, and inspiring mail I've received over the past month. A guy who can't spell the word "you" wants to be a published author. Another person tells me he's going to write fan fiction based on Aenya, and... Continue Reading →
In today's podcast, Heather and I discuss Chinese novelist Cixin Liu's Hugo award-winning, The Three-Body Problem, a book President Barack Obama called "wildly imaginative." The Three-Body Problem is a welcome foray into the hard science fiction genre. When it comes to astronomy, mathematics, and the forefront of scientific theory, Liu knows his stuff. His ideas... Continue Reading →
While it may not be the popular opinion to hold, like most things on social media, and especially for every frothing-at-the-mouth critic on YouTube, hatred for Amazon's "The Rings of Power" has reached a fever pitch and is entirely overblown. Is it a great show? Not really, no. Is it worthy of Tolkien's masterpiece? Certainly... Continue Reading →
Noora's song features prominently in The Princess of Aenya. When Radia goes on the run, disguised as a serving girl named Noora, she sings her song in the Cosmos Theater, only to have the wilting flowers on the tables bloom. She sings it once more near the end of the story, before her gruesome confrontation... Continue Reading →
Guess what, fellow fans? I have been invited to showcase the books in the Aenya Series at the annual Sunshine State Book Festival on Friday, January 27th, and Saturday the 28th. So if you want to meet me in person, to talk about Aenya or storytelling in general, and if you'd like to pick up... Continue Reading →
Christmastime is here again, and what better story to celebrate the holidays than Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol? No, wait. Actually, we're doing Lois Lowry's The Giver, a classic tale of the original giver of gifts, Santa himself . . . Actually, no, this dystopian novel has little to do with Old Saint Nick. But,... Continue Reading →
Finally!!! My pal Heather returns from her long hiatus in the Phantom Zone to talk to me about Stephen King's final (let's hope) book in his The Dark Tower series, The Wind Through the Keyhole. We then veer into a bunch of crazy tangents (as is par for the course) with subjects ranging from AI... Continue Reading →
Hey, Aenya fans! The long wait is over . . . The Feral Girl: Gamer Edition for your Kindle-enabled device is finally HERE. What you get: Included in The Feral Girl: Gamer Edition for Kindle, you get Thelana's heart-wrenching origin story and prequel to Ages of Aenya, over 30 beautiful illustrations with many new, full-color art... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, the best forms of storytelling come from the most unexpected places. After months of reading books and watching shows that have left me feeling cold and empty, it's great to be reminded of what powerful writing can do. But in this case, the story was delivered through the medium of a broadway musical. I... Continue Reading →
OK, I've dissected enough of other people's books on my podcast. Now it's my turn. That's right, folks, it's time I get to toot my own horn. So here is your introduction to Aenya, a world blending the best of fantasy and science fiction. The books in the Aenya Series have possessed me for over... Continue Reading →
Fairy Tale is Stephen King’s okayest novel to date. Maybe he's gotten tired after 75 years on this planet, having written a whopping sixty-five books (wow, sixty-five!!!), but his most recent release just feels bland and uninspired. While Charlie Reade, his one and only protagonist (a bit sparse for a 600-page novel), is likable enough, there’s nothing particularly... Continue Reading →
I know it’s cliche, but I am going to say it anyway: I can’t believe how time flies! I can’t believe that I wrote this review TEN YEARS AGO!!! But still, even after all that time, I have yet to read anything quite as impressive or impactful.
No review of Cloud Atlas could do it justice. I should just type the title in bold, followed by four stars. Hell, I’d like to change my rating system to give it five. Yes, it’s that good, a work of literary genius that transcends genre. Unfortunately, the cover sure as hell doesn’t do the book any favors. I get the impression that the artist didn’t know what to do, so he just Googled a bunch of cloud imagery and Photoshopped them together. The back flap states, Mitchell is, clearly, a genius, and while I typically hate this kind of more-often-than-not false praise, I can’t help but echo the sentiment. Few writers have intimidated me like this guy has. Cloud Atlas is on a whole other level, brilliantly written and conceived, deeply textured, and so meaningful you could base an entire religion around it. And yet, I am neither bitter…
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"Is life a meritocracy?" Does being good at something inevitably lead to success, or is success more dependent on luck: who you know and where you are born? This question keeps me up most nights, gives me anxiety, and makes me walk around my neighborhood when everyone else is asleep. In my latest podcast, I... Continue Reading →
When I was first introduced to Midjourney, I nearly panicked. I panicked for the sake of my daughter, who endeavors to become a professional artist someday, and for artists the world over, many of whom I work with to promote the Aenya series. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), I found both Midjourney and Dall-E quite... Continue Reading →
Nothing but blackened teeth? Eww . . . gross. Maybe someone should see a dentist. Oh, but wait, this isn't a story about dentistry; it's a horror novella set in modern-day Japan featuring the titular monster, a "Geisha" ghost with awful oral hygiene. All kidding aside, newcomer Cassandra Khaw gets a big A+ for this... Continue Reading →
The Art of Storytelling 
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