REVIEW: The Religious Test

The Religious Test by Damon Linker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This read like a long (very long) introduction to some other book which never seemed to materialize. And the animosity to the "new atheists" (as he kept referring to Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, et al) had me wondering if they threw a party and neglected to invite him. He seemed to bear them quite a grudge.

Another good pass at the ms by an editor might have helped to tighten the prose--there were definitely long bits that seemed to plod along. Still, despite its shortcomings it proved a serviceable apologetic for the moderate cause.



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Queerteen Press

The YA Imprint of JMS Books, Queerteen Press is up and running. Check it out!

Science Friction Review

Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown by Michael Shermer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Michael Shermer likes his statistics. Man, this book is full of lists and numbers and comparisons ad infinitum between lists and numbers (there is actually an entire chapter just discussing lists!).



I expected to like this much more than I did. Making it to the end was something of an endurance contest. For the most part, Shermer presents compelling arguments, but he engages in too much begging of questions (e.g., "we've evolved for monogamy") without even entertaining the possibility that there might be some dissent. And, hey, I just read another book ("Sex at Dawn"--highly recommended) that spends two hundred pages debunking that assertion.



He also devotes a great deal of time in apologetics for Stephen Jay Gould and Napoleon Chagon (the latter of whom is also discussed in "Sex at Dawn"), which simply did not interest me. Yeah, science is a petty political minefield like every other human endeavor--go figure--now get back to informing me about science...



My favorite parts were all at the beginning: Psychic for a day, the kerphlaple over "Brights", and the Darwinian implications of the Mutiny on the Bounty. So, basically I can recommend the first hundred or so pages... After that, you're on your own.



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A Hundred Little Lies September Giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Hundred Little Lies

by Jon Wilson

Giveaway ends September 30, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Memorial Day Rebate/Sale at All Romance eBooks

From the COO at ARe: "We are offering a 50% Rebate on all purchase made via Paypal or Credit Card between 12:01 am on 5/28/11 and 11:59 pm on 5/30/11 (US/Central)."

The Webstore is here.

So, while the prices are the same, for every dollar you spend, you get 50 cents toward your next purchase. This is a nice little incentive, and it’s going on NOW through Monday night. Me, the old print only dinosaur, may even finally try an ebook...

Obsidian Man Giveway (PRINT COPY)

The publisher, JMS Books, is having a drawing/giveaway for my new book, The Obsidian Man.  You can enter over at Goodreads.  If you are a friend or family member (you know who I'm looking at!) who is considering buying the book, I can't stress how easy it is to enter, and how excellent your chances are of winning when a contest like this is for a book from a new author like myself (it certainly won't be the one-in-seventeen-gazillion odds you'd face for a new Stephanie Meyers book).

It's the Little Things...

I am (naturally) a big fan of Victor Banis, so I read with pleasure this article about him at Queer magazine Online.   They chose him as May's Author of the Month.  Well deserved--he's not only a pioneer, but a damned good writer, too.  However, I will admit my favorite part was when he mentioned my novel.  (He also wrote the back cover blurb for A Hundred Little Lies).

Read the article yourself and, better yet, buy a Banis Book (perhaps his autobiography Spine Intact, Some Creases). 

The Woman Who Wouldn't by Gene Wilder

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A slight novel (more of a novella really) with a strangely dissociative fairy-tale ending. It might have been a moving piece had Wilder not indulged himself in that way. Still not bad, and worth a read (and it won't take long).



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The Obsidian Man Released

My second novel, a YA fantasy entitled The Obsidian Man, was just released from JMS Books. I spent many hours trying to update my LGBT Bookshelf page (or, is it GLBT Bookshelf? So many letters so little time).

The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Rinehart is something like comfort food for me, but this was perhaps my least favorite of her novels. She is well-known as the queen of "If only I had known then..." mysteries, and this one played that card again and again. So many times the action was prolonged because people refused to tell one another what they knew for the most incomprehensible reasons. Ugh. It was quite a slog to actually reach the end.



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Free Book Drawing Winners

On March 29th I posted a guest blog over at Michele N Lisa, and asked for suggestions re: a domainname for myself since obviously www.jonwilson.com was taken.  I said I'd draw at least one name randomly for a win and then either draw another random or pick someone's suggestion and give them a free book too.

Well, just to keep you in suspense a bit longer...  I want to thank everyone for commenting here or at MNL or sending me an email.  The response was so phenomenal that everyone's odds got to 1-in-5!  (Which is actually better than I expected.)

The random winner is luciatea01@hotmail.com (altho he/she technically cheated and entered twice!)

I also decided to send the second copy to kellyscraps@gmail.com because I hope to use her suggestion.

So, I need you both to send me shipping info (and just a warning I will be sending these as cheaplyinexpensively as possible, even unto utilizing sled-dogs and carrier pidgeons).  If I haven't heard from you in a couple days I'll hit you with emails and then, after a few more days, pick someone else!

Thanks again to everyone who wrote in by whichever means.

P.S. -  There are currently two reviews of the book over on Goodreads.

BIG NEWS!!!

It's official, Carol and I are getting married! I know, I know, I swore I wouldn't ever go down that road again after last time. But the fact is she's pregnant! That's right, we're expecting #3! Jon Jr and Little Flobus might finally get that sister they've been hoping for (in case you haven't been keeping up on developments, the specialist finally did declare Flobus officially male after his second birthday).

Anyway, no date's been set yet. Stay tuned for updates as we iron things out. Her father has still vowed to kill me and of course my folks don't want me to marry out of the faith--so we may just elope, but dear Carol has her heart set on a big ceremony down at the VFW Hall. I'll let you know in plenty of time!

Happy April 1st!

Guest Blogging at Michelle N Jeff

From "No Blog" to "Guest Blog" in a week's time...

http://michelenjeff-reviews.blogspot.com/

Check it out!

Excerpt

There is a "Hundred Little Lies" excerpt over at http://glfictionexcerpts.blogspot.com

Cradling Diotima’s Child

There are a lot of sweet moments that derive from getting a book published. There’s that happy thrill of hearing a publisher actually wants it. There’s the sort of weird kick you get when you glimpse the drafts of cover art (usually—at least in my case—the first time you ever see your creation interpreted through the eyes of someone else). There’s even the fun pain of hearing from an editor that certain parts of your opus are not quite what they could be... But, for me, nothing could quite compare with holding that book—the actual book!—in my hands for the first time.

Do you think this was what happened to Plato? Someone nailed his pamphlet to the wall of the gymnasium, inspiring the dialogue between Diotima and Socrates in The Symposium? No? Me neither.

But I tell you, the feeling is sweet!

The First Thing...

So, despite numerous grumblings promising otherwise, I am starting a blog.  You heard it here first, on my blog...

My thought is, I'll use it as a website until I can see about...Wait for it!...A website.

All my advisors (meaning the people that I pester with questions until they answer me just to get some peace) say I should buy a domain name, specifically my domain name, but surprise! jonwilson.com is taken.  So, I am trying to decide on a second choice.  I'm torn between jonwilsonbooks.com or jonwilsononline.com.  I could also do jonwilson.(something other than com like .info or .us).  But those same smart people who say I should buy a domain name say I should stick with .com if at all possible.  Heavy dramatic sigh.

Y'know, I could try and use this conundrum to my advantage...   MichelenJeff Reviews and More is looking for guest bloggers and I am trying to spur some (any) interest in my book and I have some free copies to give away...  I could have a drawing!  S'matter of fact I think I will...!  Details to follow...