Welcome to the blog of Mary Brock Jones, SF author.

I also have a website, here


I write science fiction. Some dark, some not so dark. Some short, some longer, some very long. Some have a happy ending, others definitely not.

I also write NZ historical romance novels.They always end happily, even if the journey can get quite bumpy.

It's a nice mix.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Moving and a kindle

Two big events have coincided in my life. We have moved house - yuck - and I now have a kindle. I ordered one of the new kindle paperwhites while we were in the States, and it has now arrived. This is my first excursion into e-books, and I'm still getting used to it. Biggest plus - the books are so much cheaper and accessible. Many titles are hard to find here in NZ, but now I just have to go onto Amazon, and seconds later they appear on my kindle. Second plus  - it's so portable and versatile. The light works great, so I can read in bed at night, and it's fits in my bag easily when I go out.
    I still like reading a Proper Book better, though. But I can't afford to read all the proper books I want to, given the cost of paperbacks here, or postage and currency conversion costs  if you order through Amazon. And now I can read all the stories of friends who are published on e-book only. So many treasures awaiting!
    As for the moving house, we've now managed to find most of the stuff we really really need. There are still boxes everywhere, but the new house has an honest-to-goodness office, so that is a big plus. But for the rest of it, for me moving house rates for down there with going to the dentist and public speaking. My arms are aching from packing things, carrying things and unpacking things. Why we accumulate so much stuff as we go through life is beyond me. One day, I might just learn how to throw stuff away - on second thoughts, nah, ain't gonna happen.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Music to write by

I have a new favourite album - or rather, two albums - by my latest find: the band Mumford and Sons.
It is a truism that life is a continuous cycle. Stay around long enough, and everything comes around again. I grew up in the years of folk. The Seekers got me through my senior college exams. The voices and words of  Joan Baez, Celtic, British and American folk, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Crosby, Stills, Nash and John Denver spun my teenage dreams . And now we have the folk tradition, but reinvented for today. Grittier, louder, more rocking. And I love it. Yay for Mumford and Sons. I now have both their albums on my play list, Babel and Sigh No More.   Plug into YouTube and search them out. They are also great performers. They reject that stupid tradition of musicians standing on stage looking like they are having their teeth pulled. Watch this live show and tell me you wouldn't have been jumping in the audience too! 
It's also introduced me to the new phenomenon of folk rock. Lots of fun, words that  mean something and that you can sing to, but with that driving edge of rock. Irresistable. Look out for the bands Fun and Dawes, and of course in a related vein, Florence and the Machines.
My son is horrified. What am I doing listening to his generations' music. They are good and I enjoy them, that's what. And they say things I want to hear. There is a future still.