Fantasy Book Critic Changes

As you may or may not know, last Sunday I announced HERE that I was no longer writing reviews or conducting interviews for Fantasy Book Critic. Because of that decision, I’m making a few changes to the blog that readers should be aware of:

1) I’ve hired a couple of writers to contribute reviews and interviews to Fantasy Book Critic, and I’m currently talking with a couple of others who have expressed interest. If anyone else is interested, I’m still taking inquiries HERE. I'm also up for reprinting articles, and I'm actually posting an essay next Wednesday, August 20th on The Joys of Fantasy & Romance :) The hope is to get enough writers contributing, so even though I’m no longer reviewing or interviewing, the blog will still be updated regularly. For now, you can check out the biographies of Fantasy Book Critic’s two newest contributors Fábio Fernandes & Jacques Barcia:

Fábio Fernandes, 42, is a writer living in São Paulo, Brazil. Also a journalist and translator, he is responsible for the Brazilian translations of several prominent SF novels including Neuromancer, Snow Crash, and A Clockwork Orange. He has published more than two dozen stories in fanzines and magazines in Brazil, Portugal, and Romania. Currently working as a Creative Writing teacher in the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Fernandes also published a non-fiction book on the work of William Gibson, “A Construção do Imaginário Cyber” (in Portuguese). He just finished his first SF novel, “Back in the USSR” and is currently writing short stories in English and starting what may be his first English-written novel. He can also be found at his English-language blog, Post-Weird Thoughts, which he shares with Brazilian writer Jacques Barcia. Fernandes also reviews fiction for The Fix among others.

Jacques Barcia, 30, is a Brazilian technology journalist, weird fiction writer and editor of the magazines Terra Incognita and Kaliopes. He has a short story published in Romania and writes for the blog Post-Weird Thoughts with Fábio Fernandes. Jacques is currently working on some short stories along with his first novel, both in English. He lives in Recife.

2) Instead of continuing with the “Currently Reading” and “On the Horizon” widgets on the right sidebar, I’m posting “Notable Releases”. Basically, every week I’m putting up four new titles that I believe are notable releases for the current month. Each widget will have a direct link to more information about the title, so don’t be shy :) As far as the Currently Reading/On the Horizon portion of the blog, I will periodically post updates that inform the reader what Liviu, Fábio, Jacques, et cetera, are currently working on…

3) Next Thursday, August 21st, I’m starting a new feature that I’m calling ‘Overlooked Titles’. In a nutshell, I always seem to miss a few releases that should have been covered in the monthly spotlights or received books that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with, so those will be covered in this new spotlight.

Speaking of spotlights, besides the main Monthly Spotlight that will be posted at the beginning of each month, I will occasionally do a full spotlight for select titles that I believe need greater attention, or just weren’t properly conveyed in the short blurbs included in the monthlies. To get a better example of what I’m talking about, you can check out my recent spotlight HERE for the graphic novel adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s “The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword”.

Another new feature I’m planning on starting next week—Friday, August 22nd to be exact—will focus on upcoming speculative fiction titles that I’m personally anticipating…

4) For those who don’t know, I use to work in the music industry prior to Fantasy Book Critic, searching for new talent, reviewing albums and so on. While I’ve been out of the industry for a while now, I still receive several albums for preview every week and have decided to share some of what has been catching my ear recently. So later today I will be posting my inaugural “Song of the Week”, and will hope to continue posting songs on a weekly, or even daily, basis :) I love music as much as I love reading/writing, so I hope this little feature will give you a taste of what I like and maybe even introduce readers to a few artists they haven’t heard before…

I have a few other ideas percolating, time permitting, but those are the four main changes so far. I’m always open to suggestions/criticisms, so feel free to leave a comment or email me :) Thanks for reading and much love & respect…