Check out my cover art for "Those With Guns!!" It was done by Delilah K. Stephans. My short story should be out next month. Is it just me or is the way better art than I could ever possibly expect for a short story?? :D

About my story:

An ex-soldier living on a space station has trouble dealing with her memories of war. She blows off steam riding her illegal bike.

One cop in particular outsmarts her, and she ends up sitting in jail, until one of her ex-soldier friends threatens to blow up the station if his demands aren’t met.

The cop lets her out of jail to help stop this and Jules’s one-woman journey to stop her friend begins.

Writing from the point of view of an African American... when you're not

I've been wanting to write a romance idea that occurred to me. I think it would be amazing.

The problem? The main, POV character is African American.

I'm not.

At first I thought, "Okay, that'll work. I've written from a man's point of view, surely it wouldn't be any harder to write from another's woman's, even if she's African American and I'm not."

But then I started to wonder.

I don't want to do a rotten job or be cultural offensive. I'm not a genius, just a writer.

I always enjoy trying to write from under someone else's skin, imagine other people's experiences and viewpoints. But I can't know how well it will turn out, or even IF it will turn out.

Is writing this character something I shouldn't even attempt? Or should I try, and see how it goes?

Any advice for the process (or research I should do), if I do attempt this story?

I read 69 books in 2011. My disclaimer is that some were re-reads and some weren't very long!


Highlights:

Finished Emma, by Jane Austen. I read it on my Kindle and it was wonderful!

Discovered Jim Butcher's Storm Front and sequels. :D :D

Read The Lady and Her Tiger, by Pat Derby. Intense non-fiction about animal training and animals in film. Fortunately, many things have changed.

Grand Sophy, by Georgette Heyer. I just love reading this famous author of Regency romance! :D I don't know how she can keep surprising me.

Read two new Alexander McCall Smith books. They are like warm chocolate for me. :)

One of my favorite re-reads was a Young Adult book called Lucy the Giant, by Sherri L. Smith. Lucy, a very large-for-her-age Alaskan teenager who lives with her drunken father, finds a new sort of family when she goes to work on a crab fishing boat with people who think she's an adult. But her old life follows her, and to really grow up she has to find a way to face it instead of running again.

Also re-read both beloved Watership Down books, a couple of Diana Wynne Jones fantasies (bliss!), some Jim Kjelgaard dog stories, any number of A. A. Fair mysteries (old but excellent, and very fast-paced!), and Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome's incomparable comedy.

Recent stories:


Jackson Bluffs (space opera / sci fi / Mars related): http://www.raygunrevival.com/890/

He Gave Me Coal (a Christmas romance, very short): http://www.everydayfiction.com/he-gave-me-coal-by-alice-m-roelke/

For those interested, this is what I wrote in my email announcement for Jackson Bluffs:

My story, Jackson Bluffs, by Alice M. Roelke, is up at Ray Gun Revival. :)

I wrote this story ages ago to go with my other Mars stories, which
were published in the old RGR years ago. I had sent this one to
"Space Westerns," however. They sent me an acceptance after a long
time, but never published it, so eventually I asked for it back.
(They're supposed to be back to publishing sometime next year, but in
the meantime I'm very glad my story found a home at RGR!) :-)

My other Mars stories are:

"Message to Mars" http://www.raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0046_2008_09.pdf
"Evergreen and Always"
(a Christmas story)
http://www.raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0049_2008_12.pdf
"Sky Voices" http://raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0054_2009.pdf
(All three of these are a bit angsty! The current one isn't.)

When I was younger I had a whole Mars-related timeline/universe in my
head and I loved playing with it, though I never seemed to get the BIG
one written! Some of this universe still persists for me and
influences my writing. Though I still don't know if I'll ever write
"the big one!" :)

Anyway, I'm very grateful that my fourth Mars-related story has a home
now, even though it's taken a few years. :)

And, after I talked with my mom about my short Christmas romance, I realized that I might have enough that didn't come through in the story (but that I thought had!), to create a whole novel out of it. And that would be an excellent Christmas present (belated, of course).


In other news, I am REALLY getting frustrated with my S-L-O-W connection and old computer access. I'm about ready to swear off both until I can do better!

In other-other news, I'm really getting somewhere with my Regency romance, "Laurie's Painter." It's over 30,000 words now. I love Regency, never thought I would be able to write it, but am feeling hopeful for this story to work out.

Also, I still can't get Blogger to stop turning my tags and titles into sanskrit, so once again, this entry is without. >:(

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (contains spoilers!)

Too long.

Too many explosions and slow motion running bits.

Not as funny as the first one.

Awkward scenes with Robert Downey Jr. in drag.

Gratuitous naked Stephen Fry scene. (And I like Stephen Fry: he played Jeeves! But no. Just... NO.)

Sherlock's childhood nickname.

Despite all of this, I enjoyed the movie a lot. Some parts made me want to groan, or I thought were all wrong, but other parts made me laugh out loud.

I enjoy this series reboot of Sherlock Holmes: action-y, fast-paced buddy films that show a more vulnerable and neurotic side of Holmes than many people dare.

I love Jude Law as the perpetually exasperated but still loyal and caring Watson.

I adored the gypsy woman who featured in this film and thought she was so cool!

I loved the way the film used the Falls in the confrontation between Moriarty and Holmes, twisting it and making it its own.

And I loved the ending!

I do think this movie strayed slightly at times from buddy films and into "we hint at more," which I didn't really like. This could just be my interpretation, however, and I was able to ignore those (possible) bits and enjoy the movie as a buddy film. Though sometimes I had to try quite hard.

The teenage girls in the seats behind me giggled when Holmes and Watson "had" to dance together, but I wanted to grind my teeth. It seemed completely historically inaccurate that two men could dance together at a political function and use it as cover to inconspicuously converse and spy! (If anything, they should've been standing on the sidelines drinking punch.)

Obviously there were other historical inaccuracies as well, but mostly they felt like stretching a point to create a steampunk effect, not completely ignoring history.

Would I recommend it? Not unless you liked the first, and in that case, don't hold your expectations quite as high.

For the third film, I certainly hope it won't be longer, even more special-effects oriented, etc. etc.

I predict that, following canon, Watson's wife will have died (natural causes?), and he will be grief-stricken. Holmes reappears, hijinx ensue while they track down and try to avoid being killed by Moran. And explosions. Lots and lots of explosions.

Cheap LED Flashlight

Free Ebook Contest

"The Space Station Murders," by A. M. Roelke

So, my SF/mystery/buddy story novella "The Space Station Murders," by A.M. Roelke (20,000 words) came out in May this year. I'm allowed to give out several promo copies per year for contests. I haven't done a lot of that so I'd like to catch up now.

I'll give out THREE copies, drawing to be held on Dec. 27. I'll pick who gets it with a random number generator, no favoritism or special answers needed. Just comment and let me know you want a copy. If only three people comment, each will get a copy.

If you win, I'll need your email address so I can send you a copy in one of these three formats:

PDF
EPUB
PRC

*edit* Very sorry! I had said RTF but actually it's PDF. The other available formats are correct. :)

(This is my email address, if you'd rather not post yours publically: amroelke AT gmail.com. You only need to email me if you win! If you'd rather post your email for quicker correspondence, that works as well. It's really up to you.)

I'd suggest, before commenting, that you read the two Amazon.com reviews to see if the story interests you: The Space Station Murders--on Amazon (Reviews here.)

Or read the beginning of the story here: The Space Station Murders--from the publisher (Excerpt here.)

Or, you can read the review that compares me to Robert Heinlein.

P.S. If you're a book reviewer and would rather have a review copy than enter a contest, just contact me about who you are and where you'd post a review. I'd also need you to let me know your email address and which format you'd prefer (of the three I have available).

News

* MuseItUp just accepted my Young Adult Christian Fantasy story The Girl and the Dragon. :D




* I completed NaNoWriMo 2011:

I didn't get as much written on my latest (romance) project as I wanted to, but I did get something written. Also got through the crucial scene that's held me back from finishing my SF/detective novel for several years now.



* And I have cover art for my YA fantasy romance novel, Watch Over Me: