Author: M. Edward McNally

Epic fantasy author M. Edward McNally is a North Carolinian of Irish/Mexican extraction. He has a Masters in English Lit from ISU and Russian/East European History from ASU. He grew up mostly in the Midwest along I-35 northbound (KS, IA, MN), and now resides in the scrub brush surrounding Phoenix AZ, where the scorpions and javelinas play. Learn more about Ed at his blog, and his Amazon author page.

One-star Reviews of the Hundred Greatest Novels: 75-51

Happy Friday the 13th everybody, and in honor of this spooky date…okay, it has nothing to do with the spooky date.

Instead, we now resume our regularly scheduled programming to count down The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time by Daniel S. Burt, accompanied by real one-star reviews from real readers. Last week we went from #100 to 76, so today we’ll take it to halftime.

Just to reiterate, I am not doing this to make fun of the reviewers, and actually there are more than a few reviews here I agree with completely. My only point, cheerfully offered, is to remind us all as authors that reviews (at least in this social media world), are nothing more than one reader’s opinion. And for absolutely any book ever written, someone is going to be of the opinion that it sucks eggs. Continue reading “One-star Reviews of the Hundred Greatest Novels: 75-51”

One-star Reviews of the Hundred Greatest Novels: 100-76

In my ongoing attempt to come up with something to say here every Friday, I am returning to a tried-and-true formula with which I believe I can squeeze out one solid month of columns. Yay, me. 😉

The formula is of course: One star reviews of classic literature. To that end, I will be working off the list found in The Novel 100: A Ranking of Greatest Novels All Time (2004), written by Daniel S. Burt. Continue reading “One-star Reviews of the Hundred Greatest Novels: 100-76”

A Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man.

I turned 40 this week (pipe down, I’m not fishing for B-day wishes, just pointing it out). In the grand tradition of turning the Big Four…Oh, it seemed like time to take stock, and to assemble a sort of personal inventory of the things I think I know about myself by this advanced age. The things I know about myself as a writer and reader, I mean. Who the heck wants to go down that dark path of a full-blown personal inventory, with the scratching trees and the slippery mud and what not? Continue reading “A Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man.”

Ed’s Casual Friday: Margaret Atwood on Time.

So why would I just reproduce a long poem by Margaret Atwood – Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” – in lieu of writing a whole new column on this Ed’s Casual Friday?

Well, first, because I’m a slacker at heart. But second, because I think it speaks to an issue that relatively few writers take into consideration whenever the inevitable “Trad vs. Indie” discussion comes up. Here is the thing all new writers should know: In the day-to-day life of a writer, Trad vs. Indie is a false distinction. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Margaret Atwood on Time.”