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Author: S.M. Carrière

When S.M. Carrière isn't brutally killing your favourite characters, she spends her time teaching martial arts, live streaming video games, and cuddling her cats. In other words, she spends her time teaching others to kill, streaming her digital kills, and cuddling furry murderers. Her most recent titles include 'Daughters of Britain' and 'Skylark.' https://www.smcarriere.com/
Nine Years Later – Revisiting Castlevania and Tragic Villains and Heroes

Nine Years Later – Revisiting Castlevania and Tragic Villains and Heroes

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Goodafterevenmorn, Readers!

Being chronically online has revealed some pretty awesome things (as well as absolute nonsense (covered previously)). For example, I discovered an entirely new to me Transformers show – Transformers Prime, which is a lot of fun. Also, fully available on YouTube, if you’re interested. Perhaps one day I’ll go through the show and point out its very funny rebuke of the Bayverse Optimus Prime. It’s probably very basic of me, but Optimus was always my favourite Cybertronian. But we’re not here to talk about that.

What I wanted to talk about was Castlevania. Let’s dive in!

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Get Thee to a Convention (If You Can)

Get Thee to a Convention (If You Can)

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A close up image of a mechanical typewriter.
Image by Patrik Houštecký from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

There is nothing to rant about this week. I have exhausted my disbelief and incredulity on the four issues I noticed last time. I have also not been on social media all that much since then. I’m gearing up for a SFF convention this weekend, and I am very far behind on that front, so I’m a little stressed.

I am, however, extremely grateful that conventions exists. They can be terribly scary and extremely stressful, but they’re also a really good time. At least, Can*Con is. If you’re trying to break into the writing world, finding conventions that focus on what you’re writing is a really, really good idea.

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The Literacy Crisis: Literary Devices

The Literacy Crisis: Literary Devices

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Last one… for now

Good Afterevenmorn, Readers!

This is the last of the rants related to my misguided venture back into social media (must try and market, you know?) that resulted in several eyebrow-raising arguments in the bookish corner of those spaces.

This last one is perhaps most forgivable, and could be chalked up to not paying attention in English class, and perhaps not being especially well read. Clearly the original poster was not aware of certain literary devices (and maybe English in general).

It still raised my brows, however. Let’s dive in.

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The Literacy Crisis: Dialogue Skimming

The Literacy Crisis: Dialogue Skimming

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Here we go again

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I am back again with more internet drama that I believe is all interconnected and all very much related to the current literacy crisis we are suffering. This time, it’s all about skimming. Specially, the revelation that all these social media “readers” are actually just skipping to the dialogue and reading only that. Let’s dive into this little nugget, shall we?

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The Literacy Crisis – Vocabulary

The Literacy Crisis – Vocabulary

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Me… yet again

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I have returned with the next issue of me yelling into the aether (the literacy crisis series), engendered by four simultaneous fights I witnessed on social media a couple of weeks ago. This one appears to be the most controversial, for reasons I cannot fathom.

Big words.

Let’s talk about it, shall we?

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The Literacy Crisis – Audiobooks

The Literacy Crisis – Audiobooks

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Me… yet again

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I made an attempt this past fortnight to return to social media. As a small author, it’s really important to make attempts at getting seen if I have any hope of selling my books. Social media is one of the best ways to do this, for better or worse. I’m not especially good at marketing myself or my stuff, so I was trying to use this past couple of weeks as an opportunity to observe and learn.

This might have been an error. In just a week and a half of returning to social media, I have stumbled across several topics in the bookish world that may have done irreparable harm to my blood pressure. And sense of optimism.

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Writing Anyway

Writing Anyway

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Good afterevenmorn Readers!

This is going to be a personal post, brought on by the various, incredibly depressing discussions around A.I. and artistic creation. As I’m primarily a writer, or, at least, I’m hoping to make a living as a writer. I draw and paint as well, but those are things I do mostly for me and I’m not trying to make a career of that. Perhaps more than one of you can relate to the state of, well, creation right now.

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Fiction Writers, Read Non-Fiction

Fiction Writers, Read Non-Fiction

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The priestess, a gold prosthetic eye, and a burnt city. This woman is begging for a story about here. Read about the discovery here.

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

This one is for the writers out there. Also, I’d like to remind all the writers out there that any writing advice should be taken with a large grain of salt, and while the title does make it seem like I’m commanding thee to read non-fiction, you don’t have to. Of course. I just find that I get most of my inspiration for my fiction from non-fiction.

Very specifically, archaeology… Especially for fantasy (but it has its place in science fiction, too, as you’ll see).

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Not This Again

Not This Again

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This swallow needs the world to know her thoughts. It’s me. I am the swallow.

Good afterevenmore, Readers!

First, my apologies for getting this to you late, instead of my usual morning post (also, please spare a thought for the editor, whose forbearance is bordering on legendary. Give him some kudos in the comments). I was away on holidays all last week and couldn’t get my usual writing in.

I wasn’t completely out of the world while on holidays. I did occasionally check social media… which might have been a mistake, because an old, old argument has begun once again. This isn’t one where I can understand both sides. This is one where I am firmly on one side, for very obvious reasons. There are several points to this argument, all of which stem from the same kind of thought process, and all of which I find exhausting.

But what argument, you ask? (I’m assuming) Ah! But the age old argument of the cost of stories.

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It’s Not That Deep – Silliness in Entertainment

It’s Not That Deep – Silliness in Entertainment

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Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I’m here to do something angsty, teenage me would be horrified by – defending “bad” entertainment. You know the ones – bad movies that are just a fun time to sit through, even if the only thing they have going for them is epic fight choreography, pulpy books with lead characters whose names are alliterations, and who rock their way through the pages with naught but their wry grins and cheesy one-liners. Video games that attempt a story, but fall short and yet are still really fun to play by virtue of their mechanics or visuals. All these “bad” movies, books and games, if done right, can actually be just what the doctor ordered.

Sometimes you need RPGs that inexplicably change direction to wallop the bad guys. Sometimes you need heroes with flowing locks and bare chests. Sometimes you need the weirdly gravelly-voiced maniac with a gun fetish who saves the day. Entertainment does not need to be deep. Sometimes, the exact thing it needs to be is silly — “Bad.”

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