I reviewed a book once for him, called Striking Back from Down Under. It's available at
http://twilighttimesbooks.com/StrikingBack_ss1.html
You can read one of Bob's short stories there.
Bob always have something good on his newsletter. Check it out at httpt://mudsmith.net/bobbing.html
here's a link to january's Bobbing Around: http://mooramoora.org.au/bobrich/mudsmith/bobbing9-5.html
"With climate change in the news, I have done a new revision of Sleeper, Awake, the winner of the 2001 EPPIE Award for Science Fiction. "
I read and reviewed this one, and it was good stuff. The world building and character development were very strong, the plot tight, the action fast-paced and logical.
go here to read more about Bob Rich, mudsmith and wordsmith. http://mooramoora.org.au/bobrich/mudsmith/bobbing9-5.html#about
" Like all writing should be, Sleeper, Awake is about human emotion. Read this little snippet:"
- A sudden, loud booming noise made his head turn to the right. Ahead and about a hundred meters further out, a huge, blue-black shape surged out of the sea, rising far above Tamás's five meter height. Up, up the great whale soared, then the boy noted with horror that several smaller, but still very large shapes were attached on to her: to her tail, to a fin, to the end of the great sail on her back. These creatures were marked with black and white spots.
The whale turned at the top of her rise, and plunged head first back into the sea. A great plume of foam arose, marking her disappearance. Oh, the poor thing! Tamás thought, and changed direction toward the spot. By the time he got there, he could see no sign of the prey, or the pack of hunters. Saddened, he turned south once more.
Artif said, "Darling, that's life. Those orcas were hunting. They need food as much as you do."
"Surely, you're right. But that great, intelligent creature, to have to suffer like that!"
"We have no right to interfere in the workings of nature."
With his mind, he knew she was right. All the same, he wished he could have done something to help the whale, the victim, the sufferer. Sadly he traveled on, under the ever-wetting curtain of fine rain.
After perhaps another period, the gray world turned pink. First a wide, upwardly facing red sliver of a circle poked below the low clouds of the horizon. Soon, this sank into the sea, so that now a wide strip of fire with circular edges spanned sea and sky, at the edge of vision. A low-flying bright pink blanket lay low over a bright pink sea. A huge, brilliant double rainbow appeared, flying along with Tamás as he rhythmically rose and fell above the waves. He could not take his eyes from it, until he got a crick in his neck from looking to the side. The rainbow and its rosy background disappeared as the topmost tip of the sun drowned in the sea, but in his mind's eye the boy saw it for long after.
He flew on for a while, then ordered the camp down into the water. He landed on the flattened top, had a hot meal and a drink of chocken, then he tied on and settled for sleep. He turned himself face down, above the floating camp, in order to minimize the discomfort from the continuous drizzle.
He couldn't sleep for a long time, being kept awake by warring images of a rainbow sunset and a tortured whale, Nature at Her best and worst.
"The good news is that the book's publisher, Double Dragon e-books, is offering it at a price too low to resist, but only from their web site. And if you email me proof of purchase, you can have any of my other electronic titles for free."
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