Joshua P. Simon - The Accidental Author

I’ve posted a few times about how busy this year has been for me and so it is no surprise that for the first time in a few years I didn’t reach my goal of reading at least 50 books. The past few years I’ve gone well over that goal, but this year I probably won’t crack 40. Admittedly, a part of that is not only being busier with work and other responsibilities, but also I picked a few duds that I either didn’t finish, or simply took a long time to get through.

Anyway, my top ten below were all great reads and in every instance was one I couldn’t wait to get back to. Highly recommended.

10. Orson Scott Card – Ender’s Game

Lived up to the hype. I also read Speaker of the Dead which I greatly enjoyed, but this one was slightly more up my alley.


9. Terry Pratchett – Reaper Man


One of Pratchett’s better books that I’ve read so far. Still a little less than a third through his massive catalog.


8. Joe Abercrombie – Red Country

Awesome book. One of my favorite authors. Loved the setting and also the continuation of a great character from earlier books.


7. Robin Hobb – Assassin’s Quest

Don’t know why I only recently read this series, but I’m glad I finally did. I enjoyed it so much I’m currently reading the The Tawny Man trilogy as well.


6. Robin Hobb – Royal Assassin

The best of the first trilogy, IMO. The first book was interesting, but pretty slow at first, really only grabbing me until around the 60% mark. Royal Assassin had me hooked from the very beginning.


5. Tim O’Brien – The Things They Carried

Sobering stories that show the side of war rarely discussed in fiction or even in real life.


4. Matthew Stover – Caine’s Law

This whole series dominates the top of my list. Another author like Robin Hobb I wished I would have read sooner. Stover is now a fav of mine and Caine might be the baddest man I’ve ever read in fiction.


3. Matthew Stover – Caine Black Knife


2. Matthew Stover – Heroes Die


1. Matthew Stover – Blade of Tyshalle

Though I love the first book in the series quite a bit, this one was so different and interesting that it edged out Heroes Die for me.

So, what great books have you read this year?

I hope everyone has had or is having a happy holiday season. Things have been pretty crazy for me. My wife came down with the flu and all three of my kids picked up a bad cold that we’ve all shared with each other over the last week plus. Therefore, all of our original holiday plans ended up getting nixed. My wife and I went into scramble mode to make sure Christmas was still fun and special for the kids.

I’ve still been writing/editing, but because of this and just a really hectic December, I’m admittedly several weeks behind of where I wanted to be. Nowhere near panic mode, just eating into the lead time I like to maintain on my releases so things never get to panic territory.

Anyway, as I usually do every year, below are my top 10 favorite reads of the year (not necessarily 2014 releases)

10. Eric by Terry Pratchett


9. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson


8. The Cormorant by Chuck Wendig


7. The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons


6. The Road by Cormac McCarthy


5. The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks


4. The Martian by Andy Weir


3. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence


2. King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence


1. Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence


So, what are your thoughts? Read any good books lately? If so, share them in the comments.

As a child of the 80s, I grew up a big Schwarzenegger fan. I watched his movies over and over again (and still do today). As a result, I’ve developed quite a few favorites. I will freely admit that this list is not necessarily his best films, but instead the ones I enjoy the most.

One of my biggest criteria is how easy it is to quote the movie. And all Arnold movies are full of gems.

As a warning, the clips are NSFW due to language. Also, it was as struggle to find clips for some movies so that’s why they might not be from the better scenes in the film.

10. Running Man
A terribly cheesy movie, but Arnold can somehow make it entertaining.

9. Twins
Very underrated comedy. How is it possible to dislike anything with DeVito?


8. Kindergarden Cop


7. Pumping Iron
Part documentary/part movie, this is a must have for any Arnold fan and/or any bodybuilding fan.


6. True lies
The movie not only has the one liners, as did his 80’s movies, but it also benefits from better supporting star power and a higher budget than Arnold’s earlier films.


5. Conan the Destroyer
Yes, this movie pales in comparison to Conan the Barbarian. However, it came on ALL THE TIME when I was a kid, and I’ve grown to overlook its shortcomings (i.e. Wilt Chamberlin’s acting).


4. Predator
Never in the history of cinema has a movie been made with more testosterone than this one.


3. Terminator 2
One of the best action movies ever.


2. Commando
I absolutely love this movie. Practically every line of dialogue is a one-liner. So quotable.


1. Conan the Barbarian
Dark tone. Great bad guy. Great supporting characters (including a strong female lead). Memorable bits of dialogue (“What is good in life?”). Awesome fight scenes. One of my favorite movie scores of all time. Arnold making you believe he is Conan. What’s not to like?


So where did I go wrong? What are your favorites?

Disclaimer: This list may change in the future. This is my top ten sports movies at this point in time. Also, I’m well aware that Raging Bull is not on this list. Yes, I know its blasphemy, but I just don’t care for the film. Great individual performances, but the movie itself is boring.

10. The Wrestler 


Loved this movie. Well acted, depressing, and full of emotion.

9. North Dallas Forty


An extremely underrated film that never gets mentioned among the best sports movies. Another well acted, yet depressing movie. Notice a trend yet? Don’t worry, they all aren’t like that.

8. Pumping Iron


Once upon a time, I was heavily into bodybuilding. This movie was great then, and still is now. Besides the awesome physiques, the comedy from Arnold is classic.

7. Major League


Too many quotable scenes to mention. Just a fun movie.

6. White Men Can’t Jump


One of those movies that I heard quoted constantly in the 90s when playing pick-up games.

5. A League of their Own


Male or female. Young or old. Everyone loves this movie and with good reason.

4. Caddyshack


A great movie, but after watching it recently with my wife, I realize it is much more of a guy movie than I realized.

3. Hoosiers


Awesome performance by Gene Hackman. A touching and inspiring story.

2. Warrior


This movie really surprised me. I heard it was good before seeing it, but I didn’t expect it to be downright awesome. One of the few movies I’ve seen where I was fighting back tears at the end.

1. Rocky I

I’ve spoken of my love for Rocky man times already so I won’t do so again. However, I decided to only put the first movie (my favorite) on this list as the franchise would take up the top six spots for me.

Honorable Mentions: Field of Dreams, Jerry Mcguire, Cinderella Man, Million Dollar Baby, Necessary Roughness.

10. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Finally got around to this classic. Great read. I found the stories improved as the book went on.

9. In the Realm of the Wolf by David Gemmell

I finished my read of the Drenai Saga this year. Gemmell is definitely one of my favorite authors now. I can’t wait to read his other books.

8. Hyperion by Dan Simmons

This is such a weird book and actually took me a bit to get into. However, it is well worth the effort. Awesome originality. Will be reading the sequel shortly.

7. Passage at Arms by Glen Cook

It’s Glen Cook. That should be really all I need to say. Awesome Sci-fi military. Another book that starts a bit slow and really picks up as the story progresses.

6. The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson

I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this one. One of Sanderson’s better releases.

5. First Chronicles of Druss the Legend by David Gemmell

Possibly my favorite of the Drenai Saga as it had one of the better endings.

4. The Tyrant’s Law by Daniel Abraham

Each book in this series gets better and better. And thankfully, book four is scheduled for a 2014 release.

3. The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

Weeks is really coming into his own. I was sort of indifferent to the Night Angel Trilogy. This series (especially this book) has moved him up on my list of authors to keep track of.

2. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

A classic I’m glad I finally got around to reading. Worth every bit of praise it’s ever received. And now I fully understand why Heinlein fans hated the movie so much.

1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Another classic I finally got around to reading this year. Very original for its time and copied quite a bit since (Though none have done it so well). Full of heart and emotion. A must read.

I love top ten lists which is why I do them quite frequently. And since it’s Christmas time, today’s blog post only made sense.

I’m not including movies “set around” Christmas on this list. The list consists of only movies about Christmas. Therefore, Die Hard, Gremlins, etc, are not included because they are not specifically about Christmas (though I still do enjoy watching them over and over again).

10. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
I used to enjoy this special a lot more when I was younger. However, the more I watch it now the more I realize two things, Santa is a huge jerk and Rudolph’s dad (Donner), isn’t too far behind. Even at the end, they accept him only because his nose is useful…not because of who he is.

Regardless, Yukon Cornelius makes this still worthwhile which is why it made my list.

9. Elf
Will Ferrell in one of his best roles. A fun movie that is slowly becoming a must watch during the holidays.

8. A Christmas Story
A classic. Oddly enough, my favorite scene is probably not the one most people point to….

7. White Christmas

Tell me you didn’t at least chuckle at that.

6. Frosty the Snowman
One of the best holiday villains of all time. I use the “Busy Busy Busy” voice all year long actually.


5. Garfield Christmas Special
This is one that outside of me and my sister, few people ever reference. However, there is some classic quotable stuff. “Hey, kids!”


4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
How many people can make the villain the hero and you love him in either role? Dr. Seuss knew his stuff.


3. Mickey’s Christmas Carol
The best version of a classic story. So many great moments, but none beats Donald’s “I’ll be dog gone.”


2. A Charlie Brown Christmas
Depressing? Maybe. But I have a tendency to gravitate toward the depressing. I’ve always loved anything Charlie Brown. “Good grief” has been part of my vocabulary for decades because of him.


1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Easily one of the most quotable movies of all time. My family watches this every year together and every year we recite the lines. Yet, we laugh all the same.


Honorable Mention: Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas
A nice little story that doesn’t get talked about much. However, it holds a lot of good memories for me.

I’ve been blogging for around two years now, and I don’t really recall ever talking about my book sales. There are two reasons for this. One, my sales have never been what one would call great, rather they slowly and steadily creep upward with the occasional dip here and there. And two, I don’t want it to sound like I’m bragging or whining about my sales (or lack thereof).

However, I’m making an exception today because a strange thing happened a little over a month and a half ago on Amazon UK. I started selling really well.

Previously, I managed a few sales a week, and then I started slowly getting a few sales a day. The consistent sales allowed me to enter Amazon UK’s top 100 popularity lists. The higher I climbed, the better I sold due to this increased visibility which of course, helped me climb higher.

Anyway, for about a month and a half Rise and Fall has been in the Top 20 of the Historical Fantasy list, often in the Top 10. A few times, Steel and Sorrow and Trial and Glory have also managed to climb into the Top 20.

This past Monday, I hit a couple of pretty cool milestones. All three books in the Blood and Tears Trilogy were temporarily in the Top 20, and Rise and Fall claimed the number 1 spot for a few hours.

And yes, my wife took a screen shot below for proof. :)



So, really the point of this post is to say thanks to all those in the UK who’ve decided to try my books out and have been responsible for this nice spike in sales. I know it can end at any time so I’m simply enjoying it while it lasts.

I would like to quickly add that for those in the UK (or anywhere else for that matter) who have enjoyed any of books, please consider taking a minute or two and leave a short review at your place of purchase.

Also, if you found the Blood and Tears series enjoyable and satisfying, then please consider signing up for my mailing list. I plan to have several new releases in 2014 and the mailing list will be a good way to be made aware of them.

Thanks again!