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http://dariospeaks.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/on-honesty-and-self-censorship/ My friend who is a great author, editor and publisher posted the above blog this morning which really got me thinking. One, I’m a bit shocked that writers are really afraid of government surveillance to that degree. While I think it’s definitely a bad road we’re going down, I don’t think there’s a danger […]

I have a tendency to walk away from most cons saying “that was the most fun I had at a con in my life!”  Well, I’m not certain anything can actually top Dragon*Con 2012, the last year where Anne McCaffrey’s Worlds had its own track, and I had the privilege of really dialing in the […]

Well then, I’ve been super quiet on my blog which I’ve made an excuse before a couple of weeks ago, but things have just escalated more in life. First I was super sick over the new year, then I took a vacation to Maui, and then finally last weekend was RustyCon in Seattle (more on […]

  It’s hard to believe that Flying Sparks is midway through its 7th issue, with art being complete for issue 8 and writing half done for issue 9. It seems like just yesterday that I was uploading my first image to appear on the website August 23, 2010. I assume most folk who follow this […]

Well then, this is fast becoming a book review blog, though that’s not my intention. I just have a lot of books I feel like commenting on lately! Today I tackle Only Superhuman, by Christopher Bennett. I picked up this book based on a limited interaction with Mr.Bennett, in which I asked about a picture […]

Well, I’m going to hang with the family and eat food, watch my kid open presents and… oh, you didn’t mean what I’m doing for Christmas as in the mundane Christmas festivities? You meant what’s going on in the Jon Del Arroz wondrous world of writing. Well then… Flying Sparks Probably most of you care […]

Been quiet on my blog lately, will address that in a later post. For now… Are you looking for Christmas gifts? Well then, support some great writers, why don’t you? This week I’m making a big push to support authors I both love personally and professionally. These are all books that came out in 2013, […]

So, Ender’s Game. I recently reread the book so I could watch the movie, and like the nerd I am, point out where every little scene “got it wrong.” This was one of my favorite science fiction books of my youth, shaping my interest in military SF and space opera along with the epic TV […]

(Picture above: The State of Comics panel. I’m on the far right, moderating) This was my first Con-Volution in Burlingame, CA, and the second that these folk have put on. My reflections are going to be from a guest experience, and only attending one of the three days of the con (which was not my […]

Almost halfway through the new issue, check it out. http://flyingsparkscomic.com/archive/issue-7-page-10/ In other news, finally started reading Robert Jordan’s final chapter of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light. I am considering doing a post of my whole reaction to the series, since I’ve spent so much time in it, recently rereading the whole thing so […]

http://flyingsparkscomic.com/archive/issue-7-page-9/ New page of Flying Sparks is up! Don’t forget to check it out.  I’ve been a bit quiet the last couple weeks. And that means I’ve not been doing much reading OR writing, which is a bummer on that level, but there’s a GREAT reason for it.   And here he is! He’s keeping […]

Been doing mostly posts with reviews/promotions lately, but I have to with friends so active in the field. Channel Zilch is reviewed below, spoiler free for you. If it sounds like your cup of tea, you can get it on amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1940581907?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1940581907&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2 Channel Zilch by Doug Sharp is a book that defies expectations all the […]

Well then, I’ve been asked to do a little promoting for my friends at Zharmae Press, and with a story in one of these anthologies myself, I’m happy to do so. Even were I not in one, I’d still post this up. They’re really good people and it’s always good to support indie press,. They’ve […]

http://flyingsparkscomic.com/archive/issue-7-page-5/ Our lovely comic page of the week. Thanks again  Jethro Morales and Shannon Perkins on artistic duties.  I’ve always stated that I love the character moments where two of my characters really start to build something between each other or change, beyond what you see in a lot of superhero comics. In my early issues, […]

Not everything you read in a slush pile is negative. It’s hard not to get jaded when reading, a lot of the time, because you see the same mistakes repeatedly. But even some mistakes can give you an epiphany about your own writing that don’t click until you see it. I’ve heard it said a […]

Some of you may know that I do slush pile reading for speculative short stories. I am the first set of eyes that reads your story, and determines whether the editors should bother reading it. Since I’m going to be doing this work for the foreseeable future, I thought it may be handy to post […]

A friend of mine is sick, and it reminded me of the first time I truly recall being sick, and spending time on my back. I was probably 10 years old or so, and had a late onset of the chicken pox. It was pretty miserable. I was itchy, crabby, splotchy, everything associated with it. […]

http://flyingsparkscomic.com/archive/issue-7-page-4/ A splash page, but a pretty one.  Hey…I can post pictures here too, so I’m gonna!   But do check out the link, and the whole comic. It’s a good story, I promise. And so many more pages of this pretty art!    

I was asked by a reader, “How many words do you write per day?” Quick answer is: I wish I were that regimented! It’d certainly make my time tables easier to determine. Long answer:  It depends on what I’m doing. 1. When it comes to writing comics: I always outline an issue first when I’m […]

For those who don’t follow the comic, each wednesday I post up a new page, and so I might as well add another place to let everyone know. http://flyingsparkscomic.com/archive/issue-7-page-3/   Here’s the current page. For those who are following, they’ll see a lot of characters and storylines converging together here. I’m not saying the series […]

I’m about 40% through my first revision of my first novel, tentatively titled Starcrossed, and I started thinking about potential interesting topics along the lines of editing and revision. This part of the process is both the most challenging and rewarding part of writing, so I’m happy to pass on what I’ve learned. Novel revision is […]

I was asked today to fill out a survey for a publisher, and one of the questions was about favorite books. I won’t reprint the entire survey since I’m sure they intend to use it, but thought this was interesting. Now my top two books stay the same pretty regularly. I know this because they’re the […]

Hi, I’m Jon Del Arroz. You might remember me from such comics as: If-X, Back Row Presents, Flying Sparks. You may also know me from my short fiction in Zharmae Publishing’s anthology, The Irony of Survival. If you happen upon a TARDIS and go even further back, you’ll find my band aprilsrain  (you can search for that on iTunes), which […]