Author Archives: Lee J. Russell

I’m just getting the first feedback from my Alpha-readers about ‘Evil Eye’. One lady told me today that it is well written, fun and moves along at a good pace, with an obvious link for a Book 2, which she would also like to read – “You should feel proud of yourself,” she said –Continue reading “First Alpha-reader feedback about “Evil Eye”…”

Have you ever wondered how the planets formed? Now you can see for yourself with the updates that are starting to come through from the New Horizons probe’s flyby of Ultima Thule… “We’re looking at one of the first building blocks that came together to form the planets and moons,” says Jeffrey Moore, a researchContinue reading “Hav you ever wondered how the planets formed? …”

My latest author vlog is now up on my YouTube channel – today I explain how you can use a digital voice recorder and YouTube to automatically convert your spoken word into text – take a look at https://youtu.be/DZnVoV3Qt0c The DVR I’m using is a Sony ICD PX370. The lavalier lapel mic is an unbrandedContinue reading “Using a digital voice recorder and YouTube to automatically convert your spoken word into text…”

Back in August I announced that I had finished the first draft of ‘Evil Eye’, and like all writers I immediately started work on improving that copy. ‘Evil Eye’ is my third novel and I’m getting used to that process of polishing and embellishing my work, but this time around I was thrown by someContinue reading “I’ve now printed the first 4 alpha copies of ‘Evil Eye – A Lissa Blackwood Thriller’…”

Just finished reading “Hospital Station” by James White – first published in 1967, an auspicious year! I had a strong sense of déjà vu from the first short story in this collection, but the others were new to me. What stands out in this sci fi book is that although it is set in space,Continue reading ““Hospital Station” by James White – first published in 1967…”

“How I Learned to Live with Climate Change” On 8/12/18 the BBC reported that “Attempts to incorporate a key scientific study into global climate talks in Poland have failed” – these talks are known as “COP24”, the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – see the BBCContinue reading ““How I Learned to Live with Climate Change”…”

An insightful quote from Chris Gavaler on theguardian.com :   “… when readers who are biased against SF read the word ‘airlock’, their negative assumptions kick in – ‘Oh, it’s that kind of story’ – and they begin reading poorly. So, no, SF doesn’t really make you stupid. It’s more that if you’re stupid enoughContinue reading ““… if you’re stupid enough to be biased against SF you will read SF stupidly…””

I enjoyed this interesting article from the BBC about the international diversification of sci-fi: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20181203-what-our-science-fiction-says-about-us Nothing ever stays the same and it is very good for the genre to bring in new ideas and new voices. On the other hand we are seeing an increasingly aggressive China and Russia exerting themselves militarily in several regionsContinue reading “the international diversification of sci-fi…”

I’ve just read a good article about “The 10 Rules of Writing Large Casts of Characters” by K.M. Weiland on https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/large-casts-of-characters/ This always seems to trip me up and I found this to be a helpful summary of some things to think about – it’s worth taking a look at… #authorlee #amwriting

I’ve just shared a new vlog about ‘Evil Eye – A Lissa Blackwood Thriller’ on YouTube – take a look at https://youtu.be/JnADVherxXg In the vlog I talk about 2 large changes that I’m making to the story. Firstly I’m removing the references to Brexit – the plot of this book isn’t driven by that andContinue reading “Latest vlog about “Evil Eye – A Lissa Blackwood Thriller”…”