A Tale of Too Many Podcasts
Too many podcasts, not enough phone space.
Kell Shaw - Urban Fantasy Author
Urban fantasy author Kell Shaw. Grab a free standalone Cambion Chronicles story.
Latest posts
The RIB: A Spark From Embers by Kaylea Prime (SPFBO-XI)
Sadie Sheldon, a young woman who dreams of adventure, travels to another world to find it, accompanied by a mysterious young man.
Clark Ashton Smith and Zothique, illuminated by a dim and tarnished sun
A look at the writings of Clark Ashton Smith and the dark world of Zothique
The RIB: The Atlantis Grail #1: Qualify by Vera Nazarian
Earth is doomed. To survive, Gwen Lark has to enter a life or death tournament to save her family by winning the chance to immigrate to another planet.
The RIB: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
James Stark is back in town, after eleven years of being exiled to Hell. And he's pissed. Time for revenge against the so-called friends who banished him there. One by one.
My Mother's Friend's UFO Sighting
A few weeks ago, I went to visit my mother, who lives in northern New South Wales, Australia. Tweed Heads is like the retirement capital of the universe. Maybe like Florida, for those American readers, but much more low-key. (I am not sure where one retires to in the UK, as all the beaches appear to be pebbly, which would surely hurt one’s feet.) Anyway, it’s the land of sandy beaches, clubs with…
The RIB: A Demon to Save Me by HS Kallinger
I have this love/hate relationship with LGBT fiction. Either it's too sugary sweet for me, or so bitter and miserable that I want to lie in bed with the covers pulled over my head and not turn another page. I was trying to describe this to a friend, and they explained the concept of queer fiction being ‘hug-boxing' – as in everything is bright and shiny with rainbows – or scab-pulling, where it…
The RIB: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews
Imagine waking up in your favourite fantasy world. Except, what if it's Game of Thrones? And what would you do? Try to warn Ned? “Don't take the job!” Help Tyrion? Try not to change the plot? Except portal fantasy is deliberately designed to allow outsiders to mess around with the plot, ever since there was A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In Lost in Austen, a television miniseries,…
The RIB: Threads of Memory by Richard Fierce (SPFBO XI)
This is a crisply written book. It’s short and pacy, and I loved how it got straight to the action. (It's also another entrant in the SPFBO XI contest .) Amara is a seamstress, and a threadwitch, with the ability to awaken memories in cloth. This means that someone could use a cloak or jacket to listen to memories or impressions of the past wearer, something that could be of interest in a world…
The RIB: An Unlikely Coven by AM Kvita
This is the first novel by AM Kvita. Overall, fun, a touch of cozy, with queer found family tropes. I had some world-building hang-ups, but it's more of a character piece. Our protagonist, Joan Greenwood, comes from the ruling witch family of New York, and yet she's got a distant relationship with them. While Joan can channel magic, she can't shape the magic into spells, which makes her useless in…