2014 January Reading List

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson – A bit too literary for my taste. Not sci fi and quite different from what I usually read. Very depressing in several places, but the humor saves it some.  3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean – I don’t think I’ve read any historical romance since high school so I don’t have much to compare it to. They did get steamier than I remember. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean – I kind of enjoyed it more than the previous book in the series. Sadly, I came to the realization that I could never write anything like that because I lack the proper knowledge about the era and I don’t have the patience to write half a dozen pages long sex scenes. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean – I liked it less mostly because the main conflict and resolution don’t work for me, and also because at this point it’s obvious that all three books follow the same pattern and that becomes a little boring. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress – I picked this book up mostly because of the title, but it reminded me why I fell in love with sci fi in the first place. Well worth the read. 4/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress – This one didn’t work for me. I didn’t find one character to like, and the whole “forget the past, everything is for the future” preaching was too annoying, and not to mention stupid. I’d take Howey’s Wool over this any day even if the pace was maddening slow. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

The Mammoth Book of Steampunk by Sean Wallace – What is it about steampunk that makes it always about broken things rather than fixing things? And all of the stories were so bloody depressing. There’s something not quite right about a book when the only stories that stay with you in the end are those with same sex characters. It’s not like I haven’t read m/m and f/f before.  3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

Star rating system reminder:
1 star - you won't find any so it doesn't matter
2 stars - waste of time or unfinished book or both
3 stars - you won't be sorry for reading it, but you can just as well live without it
4 stars - it brings something special into your life
5 stars - brilliant, damn near perfect

Facebook and Twitter Giveaway

To celebrate the 1,500 Likes and 5,000 followers, I'm launching a small giveaway.

What do you have to do?

On Facebook:
1. Like my author page if you haven't already.
2. Like the post announcing the giveaway.
3. Share the post announcing the giveaway.
4. Comment on the post and tell me which of my English ebooks you would like to win.


On Twitter:
1. Follow my account if you haven't already.
2. Retweet my tweet announcing the giveaway.
3. Tweet: "The Impaler Legacy series, a vampire saga like no other, by Ioana Visan http://amazon.com/author/ioanavisan @weirdvision #vampires #paranormal"
4. Tweet me the title of one of my English ebooks that you would like to win.

Three random winners will be drawn for Facebook and three for Twitter and sent the desired ebook.

The giveaway ends on February 9.

Good luck!

Valentine's Day Ebook Giveaway 2014

The Impaler's Revenge is part of a giveaway organized by Moonrise Book Blog. Check out the titles and enter for a chance to win some great reads for Valentine's Day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bumerangul lui Zeeler. Antologie Gazeta SF 2014

"Bumerangul lui Zeeler. Antologie Gazeta SF 2014" (Zeeler's Bumerang. Gazeta SF Anthology 2014) was released today.

The anthology, edited by Alexandru Ioan Despina, includes 33 short stories that have been published in Gazeta SF, an online Romanian sci fi magazine, during its first three years of existence.

My short story "Alergand dupa o raza de soare" (Chasing a Ray of Sunshine) was especially written for Gazeta SF and appeared in issue no. 6 from June 2011. And yes, it's about a robot.

The anthology was released is a free ebook and can be downloaded here.

A new series in the works

Yes, another year, another major project in the works. The series is called Broken People, and it will include a novel and 10-12 short stories. The first short story is done, and the novel is about 80% completed so chances are good to have it finished on time. I can't wait for you to meet the characters from The Nightingale Circus.

My Fanfic Policy

I'm not George R. R. Martin or Anne Rice so very few people will be interested in this, but just for the record, I thought it would be good to state my opinion on fan fiction.

Now it would be pretty hypocritical of me to say no to fanfic after being part of over 400 RPG storylines in the past decade. Some was bad writing, some had cool ideas, some was decent writing, and some even had kick ass storylines started from down right evil ideas. Bottom of line, it was a lot of fun. And it wouldn't be right to take that away from my readers.

So, if you want to give one of my characters a backstory or take them on a new adventure, as long as you're not making any money out of it, feel free to do so. Have a blast, I mean it. They gave me a great time, and I want that for you too.

Oddly enough, I'd be less thrilled if you took one of the characters I wrote fan fiction for at some point or another, but for a proper reason. They have already survived going through my hands and being turned into what I needed them for my stories. If you did the same to them, they would become unrecognizable.

Just a bit of a warning: one can develop some really bad habits while writing fan fiction, I know I did. If your only goal is to have fun, by all means go ahead and write. If you want to improve your craft, don't.

Anyway, going back to the main topic, Max seems to have a lot of fans out there, and he deserves a story of his own. :) I'm lost in a different realm at the moment and I'll be stuck there for a while so he won't get it any time soon. If you do decide to write it, you might want to wait until spring when you might get a hint in which direction to go. ;)

I've got only one request: be nice if you play with them. They're people too, you know...