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MLV WritesBlog of Monica Valentinelli, Writer & Content Consultant

Posts Tagged ‘reviews’


Posted on August 20, 2009 - by Monica Valentinelli

Writing Reviews Can Help You, Too!


Writing a review of someone else’s work is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to learn how to do. Teleporting out of my creative mindset to critique a book or a movie was pretty challenging, because it forced me to deconstruct how someone else put together a particular body of work. So [...]

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Posted on May 29, 2009 - by Monica Valentinelli

My Philosophy on Writers, Readers and Critics


After a very, busy week following my appearance at WisCon 2009, I felt it was time to sit down and share my philosophy toward other writers, readers and critics. In the past, two weeks I’ve met more new people on-and-offline than I have in the past year. Since many people are unfamiliar with me and [...]

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Posted on April 16, 2009 - by Monica Valentinelli

Review of www:wake by Robert Sawyer


www-wake-cover When I first started reading science fiction, I didn’t really like it at first. It wasn’t until I started reading Frank Herbert’s Dune that I enjoyed its possibilities. To me, science fiction is at its utmost best when it extrapolates and experiments, taking the “what could be’s” and turning them into “what if’s.”

www:wake by Robert Sawyer is that kind of a book. It takes a slice of our modern, everyday life and the topic on everyone’s mind — the internet. The first in a trilogy, this book is about a young, blind girl named Caitlin who wishes to see. Internet savvy, Caitlin travels from her Canadian homeland across an ocean to find her elusive sight.

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Posted on November 7, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Should you download getpaint.net? Free Image and Photo Editing Software


When William Aicher first told me about getpaint.net, I was pretty skeptical. “Free” doesn’t always mean “good” in my book, and free software tools are kind of hit-and-miss. I downloaded it anyway, thinking I’d give it a shot, and headed straight to their getpaint.net forums for some tutorials and how-tos.
It’s been years since I’ve worked [...]

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Posted on August 8, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

Pros and Cons of Writing Movie Reviews


Since Fridays usually end up being movie night in our neck of the woods, I thought I’d focus on the pros and cons of writing movie reviews and how–especially if you’ve never written one–they can help your writing.
When you sit down and write any sort of a review–be it a movie, book or even a [...]

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Posted on March 17, 2008 - by Matt M. McElroy

MLV Writes Movie Reviews


Monica has written tons of reviews and other material for FlamesRising.com over the last few years. As a fan of Horror & Dark Fantasy, her reviews are a welcome contribution to the website and fun to read.
Some of her movie reviews include:
The Fountain (Fantasy)
Blood & Iron (Hellboy)
Better Off Undead (Zombies)
Doctor Strange (Magic/Comics)
Serenity (Sci-Fi/Firefly)
Advent Children (Final [...]

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Posted on February 29, 2008 - by Matt M. McElroy

MLV Writes Game Reviews


As a contributor to FlamesRising.com Monica has had the chance to explore many worlds of Horror & Dark Fantasy in a variety of games. You can see from her Publications Page here on MLVWrites that she has also had the chance to write for a few of them.
Some of the games she has written reviews [...]

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Posted on February 14, 2008 - by Matt M. McElroy

MLV Writes Book Reviews (Fiction)


Monica has been a contributor to FlamesRising.com for several years. She has written a variety of news articles, essays, convention reports, licensed fiction and plenty of reviews.
Some highlights of her fiction reviews are:
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Ironside by Holly Black
Season of the Witch by Natasha Motert
Name on the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Shadowplay by Tad Williams
Prince [...]

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