Bad books, great reviews! (If I do say so myself)

Sometime in April of 2007, I sent the Globe a copy of my review of Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Sixty Days and Counting, thinking I just might find a paying market for my ever-so-humble opinions.

As weeks without a reply turned into months, I more or less forgot about it until October of last year, when I received an email from the Globe saying the editor understood I might be interested in reviewing science fiction and fantasy, and would I be interested in taking a crack at Gregory Maguire's latest "Oz" novel, A Lion Among Men.

Would I be interested! Needless to say, I replied in the affirmative and, a few days later, received a copy of the book by courier. 10 days after that, I filed what I thought was the final copy, hating every word of it.

To make the proverbial long short short, publication took longer than I (or my editor) expected, as the Globe proceded to re-vamp its book section. I kept checking, but not until January did I hear from them, just as I was mentally preparing myself to make enquiries. And the actual review appeared in the January 23rd issue, essentially marking my debut as a professional writer.

Not quite two months down the line, I'm posting it to my own site. If you haven't read it before, it's now locatedhere.

Also, this item, about a renewal of interest in the works of Ayn Rand, prompted me to re-visit my review of Atlas Shrugged. A slightly modified version is available in the latest issue of True North Perspective.