John A. Underwood

Inspirations

The Voidstrider books are pulp. They’re meant to evoke the same experience as the old stuff, the Lensman books of E.E. Smith for example. (Roger Jon Grey got his name partially from “Gray Roger,” villain of Triplanetary. And that’s one of the dozens upon dozens of easter eggs in the series.) Those books, if you’veContinue reading “Inspirations”

Musing on Worldbuilding

One goal of the Voidstrider books is creating a universe I can play in for decades to come. The central story of the Saga, as it currently stands and as it is planned out, chronicles humanity’s turbulent expansion into that larger stage. It’s an origin story, I guess. When I first started, the idea wasContinue reading “Musing on Worldbuilding”

Finishing Vorkosigan

I recently finished my re-read of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga (which in some cases was a first read). The series is an incredible achievement – sweeping space opera, generational family saga, the occasional comedy of manners … it’s a remarkable sequence of tales. When Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, the chronological final volumeContinue reading “Finishing Vorkosigan”

Read an Ebook Week

The Smashwords Read an Ebook Week sale starts today! You can find all sorts of discounted prices at that link, thousands of ’em. Seriously. Thousands. You can browse the sale with a number of filters, seeing only FREE books or $0.99 books or by discount percentage or by length … you know how search filtersContinue reading “Read an Ebook Week”

Hey, Look at the Moon

A couple months ago I decided to get into a new hobby. The weather here hasn’t been terribly cooperative with my desire to sit outside of an evening for hours on end, but last night was … bearable. I’ve added a few items to my overall kit, and last night I played around with someContinue reading “Hey, Look at the Moon”

Update from the Road

Syd and I are on vacation this week. It’s a much-needed break from work and winter. We’re staying in the weirdest house, which I’ll describe in some future post, but for now I just wanted to note a couple of things. But first, take a look at this mind-boggling sand-sculpture we came across yesterday eveningContinue reading “Update from the Road”