photo of erin ampersand next to a street sign that reads "savage"

SPSFC4: My Semifinalist reviews

I’m one of the judges for this year’s Self-Published Science Fiction Contest. While I present my scores below, please note that I am part of a large team of judges, and the finalists will be decided by the combined vote of several teams of judges. So just because I liked or disliked a title, it […]

photo of erin ampersand next to a street sign that reads "savage"

SPSFC4 – Extra Quarterfinalist reads

The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest groups its entries into several judging pools at the start of the contest, each of which is assigned to a different team, each of whom selects several quarterfinalists and, eventually, two semifinalists. However, the contest also has what’s known as an “Escape Pod” option, where judges can look at books […]

LitRPG and Progression Fantasy I read in 2024

I enjoyed doing mini-reviews for all the LitRPG and Progression series I started reading last year, so I’m doing the same thing this year! This list includes only series that I started reading in 2023. So yes, of course I read the next Dungeon Crawler Carl and kept reading a lot of series I mentioned last […]

LitRPG and Progression Fantasy I read in 2023

After doing mini-reviews for all the SPSFC3 contestants’ books I read, I felt like I was remiss to not be doing any for my own genre! This list includes only series that I started reading in 2023. So yes, of course I read the next Dungeon Crawler Carl and the conclusion of the Cradle series, […]

SPSFC3 books worth finishing

I read a lot within the genre I write in – LitRPG – but I like to read a number of the entries in the SPSFC each year, partly as a chance to stretch my brain and partly to give indie authors a chance. I review any book I finish! Rather than give a star […]

LitRPG and GameLit with great women

As a LitRPG author myself, I read a lot of work from the genre, and I think about it quite a bit too. One weakness of the genre is, sadly, women. It’s actually uncommon for women to be actively treated poorly by popular authors. Most authors – especially the successful ones – are nice people […]