Kenneth Mark Hoover has sold over sixty short stories and articles. His fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Strange Horizons, and many other magazines and anthologies. His first novel, a dystopian SF called Fevreblau, was published by Five Star Press in 2005. He is a member of SFWA and HWA. …
My Schedule for ArmadilloCon 36, Austin, TX, July 25-27
Here's the latest attending schedule for my upcoming appearance at ArmadilloCon 36. Come see me in action! Twin Paradox Fri 5:00 PM-6:00 PM Conference Center Gibbons. A discussion of the twin paradox and how it affects the world today. Space Westerns Sat 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Room F Crider. Why are Westerns so good …
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My Elevator Pitch for the New Haxan Novel “Quaternity” and Other Philosophical Arguments on Recursive Genre
*Press elevator stop button. Cage jerks to a halt.* "I can sum the novel up pretty fast. Jorge Luis Borges said man will one day resign himself to new abominations, and that soon only bandits and soldiers will be left. Which is why I'm going to beat the living shit out of you right now." …
Conventions I will attend this year, and my other writing plans.
Here is a list of conventions I plan to attend this year, along with some other things I expect to get working in the pipeline: MidSouthCon March 22-24 I used to go to this con all the time in Memphis with the guys in my gaming group. Probably too late for me to get on …
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Attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, 2012
I made it to Worldcon in Chicago yesterday. So far it's been good even though I had to wake up at what, I forget now, 3:15 am? Had a little trouble with the plane trip from Dallas because we had to go back from the runway because there was a problem. After an hour wait …
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SWTOR Goes Free to Play
I suppose we kind of saw this coming but it was shocking news nonetheless. I view it this way. No gaming company goes f2p because they want to. If subscriptions are healthy and show a positive climb, then it escapes me why a company would decide to go f2p. It seems to me Bioware made …
My New Story! Lisetta Lawrence is a myopic graduate student with knobby knees and a troubled love life….
In the story "Tennessee Waltz" Lisetta Lawrence is the main character. Which is interesting because she was a secondary character from an unpublished novel. But I have know over the years there was more to her story that needed to be told. I am a writer. I talk about writing in this blog all the …
In Which I Opine (whine) about Joining Professional Writer Organizations
I have learned I am now eligible for membership in Western Writers of America. I already belong to the Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers of America. Therein lies the problem. Do I need to become a member of another professional writing organization? I am also eligible for the Mystery Writers of America. …
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The Saga of Ragnar Greenkirtle and the “graskinna” Loki
One of the things I like about being a writer is how I can do research about topics that interest me and use that information to generate story ideas. I have always been interested in Viking culture and when I read the Sagas I was taken with the voice used to tell their stories. Being …
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Violent Love and Quick Death with a Beautiful AI Construct in Star City, Russia
Mark here. My story "The Bonebreaker" has a strange germination. It grew out of my first novel Fevreblau in that I cherry-picked a few parts from the book and expanded them into a story. Writers do this a lot in case you didn't know. We write a story about a character and then we might …
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Love, Betrayal,and Recombinant DNA Gone Wrong in Cabo San Lucas
I remember when I first began to write the short story "Dead Reckoning" and the challenges I faced. The prompt came from a writing class I was taking at the time. They were talking about an exercise the teacher gave a year or so ago in which he wanted the students to write a scene …
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Island of Lost Souls (1933) – Censored Horror with Sex and Atmospheric Bestiality
The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of my favorite novels by H.G. Wells. Published in 1896 it has deep philosophical elements which Wells faces head on. It is arguably one of his least known, but best written, scientific romances. In 1933 the novel was adapted to film by Paramount Pictures. It starred Charles Laughton …
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Good Writing is Often a Question of Character
On the argument of Character vs. Plot I tend to side with the former. I think a story with a strong character connects faster with readers than a plot-driven story. Then again the strongest story is one in which both character and plot are very strong and work together. There are always counter-examples where this …
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Reading Outside Your Genre Even if it Kills You
There are lots of ways to get better at writing. Sitting down and writing more is one of the more obvious. Another helpful way is to read a lot, and read often. That is also obvious. If you write science fiction you should read a lot of science fiction. If you write romance you should …
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SWTOR is fastest selling game in MMO history…and it’s only Week 4
Star Wars: The Old Republic has sold two million physical copies in four weeks, outselling all other MMOs and expansions. What amazes me is these are only physical copies. Which means people going down to Target or Best Buy or whatever and picking up the game. This is how I bought my game. It's how …
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SWTOR: Casual fun with glowbats in the classic mythos of Star Wars
I am enjoying Star Wars: The Old Republic quite a lot. I have been looking for an MMO since I quit Eve Online a while back, and bailed on World of Warcraft after the disastrous Cataclysm expansion. I think I have found my MMO at last. I am a casual gamer. Period. I can't and …
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Woot! My new science fiction story “Tennessee Waltz” is available from Argo Navis. Hope you guys enjoy it! :)
Tennessee Waltz “Mark Hoover is a writer who never hesitates to go deep, to try to find the core of what it means to be human and take a good hard look. If he has to stare down a nightmare or two along the way, well, that’s just fine.” —Richard Parks, author of the Lord …
Yay! Free Argo Navis Bookmarks!
Argo Navis Publishing will be adding new content over the coming months and years. Please bookmark them and follow them on Twitter @ArgoNavisMedia for the latest updates. In the meantime here are bookmarks for you to share and link with. Thanks!
My SW:TOR Consular Sage: Gaella
I have had the opportunity over the past couple of days to squeeze in some play on Star Wars: The Old Republic. There's a lot I have to say about this game, some good some bad. For the most part it is good. It is very story-oriented, which is what you expect from Bioware. As …
“Alpenglow” – New Haxan Story Coming Soon. Woot!
My new Haxan story "Alpenglow" will be released soon from Argo Navis Publishing. This is a dark fantasy/horror story about the Old West. An ancient trapper named Cesar Coffin comes unannounced out of Taos into the grinding maelstrom of Haxan. He has fresh scalps...and an even darker secret hidden in the fragments of his soul. …
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Hoover's Corner 