Treasure Hunt

I had the following little adventure with my 5-year-old son yesterday (he’s recently discovered the magic of imagination)

Treasure Hunt

After fighting pirate hordes
That swept across our lawn,
We find among their broken swords
A map that’s crudely drawn.

“We must find all the treasure
Before the sun goes down,
Or else the scary Nightmare Moon
Will take over this town!”

We set off across the road
And look under the trees,
Guided by my five-year-old
When suddenly he sees:

A blue stone that’s a diamond
In our guide’s little hand;
Golden leaves are now gold leaf
That’s strewn across the land.

Brown stones are great ingots
Of purest Spanish gold,
Black pebbles are obsidian carved
From lava flows grown cold.

Our bounty’s brought to Mummy,
Displayed with gleaming pride;
When my son grins from ear to ear
Her smile is just as wide.

SuperversiveSF Livestream with special guests Dave Truesdale and Nick Cole

The next Superversive Livestream is happening at 3pm EST tomorrow, on the subject of the Hugo Award versus the Dragon Awards, and will feature Dave “Snowflake Slayer” Truesdale and not one but three Dragon Award Winners: Nick Cole, returning as a guest and our two regulars John C. Wright and Brian Niemeier. It’s sure to be an entertaining discussion, so Head over to SuperversiveSF and give us a listen!

Massive Discount on Selected Verse: Heroes and Wonders Paperback on Amazon Prime!

By chance I happened to notice that someone at Amazon has decided to offer paperbacks my second poetry collection at a massive discount for Amazon Prime members, from my location appearing to be priced below the cost of the ebook version, and at the same time eligible for free delivery. I have no idea how this came about, or how long this discount will apply, but anyone with an Amazon Prime membership thinking about grabbing a copy should use this window of opportunity. Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

 

As soon as I find out more, I will update this post.

A Confession and a Motivation

As promised, I would like to expand on something I glossed over in my interview on Catholic Geek Radio, but now that I look back on it, played a much larger part in my motivations as a writer than I realized. It concerns how I moved from one university to another. It is not something I am proud of – instead it is something I am grateful for, since reminding myself of it is an effective defence against pride. This post will involve some painful memories, so please bear with me. Continue reading

My appearance on the Catholic Geek Radio podcast

On this sombre day, I will briefly mention my appearance on the Catholic Geek Radio podcast, where we briefly discuss this sad anniversary before moving on to lighter topics, such as superversive fiction, my background as a writer and the hope and beauty I try to capture in my work. The interview was recorded three days ago and will be available to listen to at 7pm EST today. There was one subject in the interview that I glossed over, and subsequently realised was worth covering in some depth, so I will follow up with a blog post on that in the next few days.

Once it goes live, the interview will be available here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/webuiltthatnetwork/2016/09/11/the-catholic-geek-poetry-and-superversive-sf-with-ben-zwycky

 

Where does the wonder come from?

wedding2It is my fifteenth wedding anniversary today, here is this year’s poem:

Where does the wonder come from?

Where does the wonder come from
That fills me as I think of you?
The privilege I have to share your life,
And know you love to share mine, too?

What can I be, what can I see
And share with you to lift your soul?
What can I learn, how can I grow,
And through your pain with love console?

What does our Lord require of us,
We two upon a path for one?
To unify our hearts and toils;
To calmly rest, with glee to run,

With overflowing joy take flight
And soar up to the healing light
That guides us through the passing night
Aflame with glory, clothed in might.

In daily troubles, trials and tears
Through precious days, weeks, months and years,
Cling to Him and thus together
Bind by an unbreaking tether.

United we can go and face
All challenges along the race
To win the great eternal prize
That He has set before our eyes.

Dragon Award Winners!

The Dragon awards were handed out yesterday, with the following winners in each category:

Best Science Fiction Novel

Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm by John C. Wright

 

Best Fantasy Novel

Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia

 

Best Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel

The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett

 

Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel

Hell’s Foundations Quiver by David Weber

 

Best Alternate History Novel

League of Dragons by Naomi Novak

 

Best Apocalyptic Novel

Ctrl Alt Revolt! by Nick Cole

 

Best Horror Novel

Souldancer by Brian Niemeier

 

Best Comic Book

Ms. Marvel

 

Best Graphic Novel

The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman

 

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series

Game of Thrones – HBO

 

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Movie

The Martian

 

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy PC/Console Game

Fallout 4 by Bethesda Softworks

 

Best Science Fiction of Fantasy Mobile Game

Fallout Shelter by Bethesda Softworks

 

Best Science Fiction of Fantasy Board Game

Pandemic: Legacy by ZMan Games

 

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures/Collectible Card/Role Playing Game

Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (7th edition) by Chaosium Inc.

 

I’m glad to see four of my six picks won (all of whom I have had the honour of either chatting with online or meeting in person this year) and my congratulations go out to all of the winners, well deserved and may you all get a substantial boost in sales as a result.

In Defence of Motherhood

In stark contrast to the glowing review by Marina Fontaine, another review of Beyond the Mist appeared at the Publisher’s weekly website last week. The review contains a large number of spoilers and is a mixture of muted praise and sharp criticisms. Some of those criticisms claim that there are structural flaws in the storytelling and weak characterization. Perhaps those are justified, perhaps not, I am too close to the text to be able to be unbiased in that regard – I leave it to those who have read the book to decide if the reviewer is being fair. Other complaints seem to flow from political disagreements with the themes and concepts in the work. One issue in particular I would like to respond to without giving away too many spoilers. Continue reading