My blog tour has begun. I’ll be adding each link into this post and pinning the post to the front page so you can check back and keep track of where I’ve been.

• Day 1: An interview with Donna Maree Hanson – how is Peacemaker different from Parrish Plessis?
• Day 2: Over at Fablecroft Publishing, I talk about how Joan of Arc influenced my thinking.
• Day 3: Paula Westons hosts me for a chat about where I got my worldbuilding ideas for PEACEMAKER and genre-blending and genre-bending.
• Day 3: Part Two: Skiffy and Fanty invite me to talk about my SUPERPOWER. Bet you can’t guess what it is!
• Day 4: I chat with Fi from The Bookish Outsider about picking character names and why I like SF.
• Day 5: Nuzaifa over at SAY IT WITH BOOKS asks me about my crazy ready influences.
• Day 6: Is a jaunt across to say hello to Diana Pharoah Francis to discuss how I turned a short story into a novel.
• Day 7: Is down to Tassie to visit Miss Cackle, i.e. Kate Gordon, for a chat about the female body image in speculative fiction.
• Day 8: Over at Champagne and Socks I ‘fess up about my love for Westerns.
• Day 9: Jason Fischer invited me to Fischblog to chat about my connection with the landscape.
• Day 10: At Chris Lampard’s Sustainable Money blog you can read the character notes for the novel. See the comic artist’s sketch of Nate Sixkiller.
• Day 11: Over at Mandy Wrangles’ foodie blog, I discuss my signature dish and the names of my main characters.
• Day 12: The tour visits one of our beloved staff members, Lisa, at Turning Pages where she interviews me about Virgin Jackson and shares her book review.
• Day 13: I talk with one of my BFF’s, Tansy Rayner Roberts, about Female Heroes and how I cried for a week.
• Day 14: Shelf Inflicted asks me 12 questions. Thanks Dan!
• Day 15: Over at Book Probe I talk to Braiden about the evolution of the story from comic to novel.
• Day 16: And then it’s a fly by to Coeur de Lion where Keith Stevenson interviews me about Peacemaker and my upcoming projects.
• Day 17: Then Lee at She Wolf Reads shares my top Eleven favourite SF movies and TV shows.
• Day 18: Narelle invites me to Kitty and Cadaver to talk about the Peacemaker comic.
• Day 19: At Tsana Reads and Reviews, Tsana interviews me about Dealbreaker (bk 2).
• Day 20: Book Mood Reviews has me over for a chat about the origins of Peacemaker.
• Day 21: Krista asks me about my birds
• Day 22: I gave my Top 5 Aussie Reads to the 42nd Parallel
• Day 23: And have a Yak to Belinda

Having recently feasted upon modern day cowboy series Justified (I’m up to season 4), I was interested to see whether Longmire could steal my affections. However, Walt Longmire is definitely not Ralen Givens.

He’s older, (occasionally) wiser, even more set in his ways, and twice as prickly. Walt is Ralen in ten or fifteen years time when life has kicked him around a bit more.

Longmire opens with some fairly standard country cop storylines and warms us into the characters slowly.

Right out of the gate though, the bolshy, displaced city cop role, fits Katee Sackoff like a glove. Bailey Chase (Saving Grace) gives deputy Branch Conolly’s character some brooding depths, and Louanne Stephens (Friday Night Lights) as Ruby the dispatcher, is outstanding in whichever role she plays.

Lou Diamond Phillips portrays the character of Henry Standing Bear, Walt’s best friend, and a man constantly trying to bridge the divide between the local townsfolk and the Native American community. Less interested in conciliation is (Zahn McClarnon) Chief Mathias of the Tribal Police on the Cheyene Reservation.

Because of the quality of these actors, I stayed through the first few episodes though I didn’t feel that the stories matched their acting potential. With three episodes left to go in series one, Longmire felt like it hit a rhythm. The over-arcing storyline that explores the tensions between the Cheyenne reservation and the rest of Absaroka county is the most interesting aspect of the series so far.

Walt’s grief after losing his wife and his battle against Branch to retain his position as Sheriff, also provides some inter-office conflict. And though Walt’s friendship with Henry Standing Bear is the lynchpin relationship in the series, the real prize is the land.

Even on the small screen, the countryside (sadly not Wyoming, but California and New Mexico) dominates the series in the same way that Texas pervaded Friday Night Lights. I’m looking forward to season 2 to see where the writers and Aussie actor, Robert Taylor, takes Walt Longmire. The trailer (below) tells us there’s a storm coming.  

Season 2

reviewed by Jamie Marriage

What is reality when all people see is artificial? What is control when all people have is submission? What is truth when all people know is a lie?

Graham Storrs doesn’t answer these questions, but he touches on them and attempts to reveal the morality of all-encompassing change.

Heaven is a Place on Earth is a speculative tale constructed around the idea of artificial reality and its impacts on humanity, concepts that aren’t simple imagination for us today. An upcoming vote seeks to bring all national network content under the control of local government, giving them the power to control, edit, and remove any information they find disagreeable. Written during a time when these issues are under hot debate, Storrs brings relevance to what is, at its core, a wonderful, action-packed and philosophical story.

Divided into four parts, the novel’s third person narrative alternates between Ginny, a struggling freelance composer, Rafe, a journalist attempting to return to the media world after a traumatic experience in his last case left him scarred and paranoid, and Della, corporate powerhouse and concerned friend of Ginny, just trying to keep her safe.

When Ginny delivers a mysterious package as a favour to a flirtatious acquaintance, she is quickly drawn into a world far beyond her comfort zone. Gone are the usual tired struggles for composing contracts, family squabbles, and unsatisfactory relationships, instead replaced with the struggle to stay out of prison—and alive—in a world where her every movement is trackable and every truth is a possible fabrication.

Interwoven with plots and sub-plots, Heaven is a Place on Earth pits Ginny against an anti-technology terrorist group, the Australian police force, and a consortium of international business owners chomping at the bit to have the new network control laws put in place for their own reasons. Storrs manages this complex interplay without leaving the reader confused, which is a grand feat in the circumstances.

Heaven is a Place on Earth is not a simple book, but it is a very fun book. It is a clever mix of conspiracy theory and technological speculation, with more than enough for fans of both genres. 

Buy the book on Amazon