Review Roundup: June 27th - July 22nd

Hey, what with my vacation, I let this get away from me. Well, no more! If you've been impatiently waiting for an update on what's been going on at my review blog, One Man's Pony Ramblings, then wonder no more! Here comes nearly a month's worth of what you missed, including both the usual mix of reviews and commentary, and guest posts from while I was gone! You'll definitely want to give the latter a look, if you haven't already; there's a great mix of material in there, a little bit of something for everyone. Without further adieu, here's what's been posted on my blog in the past few weeks:

Monday, June 27, 2016: Gimmick Stories

Pascoite looks at a few common literary gimmicks, such as epistolary writing and dialogue-only stories, and discusses how best to use them.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016: How To Read A Review

Anonymous offers a few suggestions on how to get the most out of your friendly neighborhood fanfic reviewer--or pretty much any other reviewer, for that matter.

Friday, July 1, 2016: Writing Collaboratively

Richard gives some advice for how to work on a collaborative story, including both technical (using various google doc features to their best benefit) and social (how to cooperate with other writers) recommendations.

Monday, July 4, 2016: Author Analysis: Twilight Snarkle (Part One)

Icy Shake goes through FiMFic author Twilight Snarkle's oeuvre, from beginning to end, looking at how he's developed as a writer...

Wednesday, July 6, 2016: Author Analysis: Twilight Snarkle (Part Two)

...and does so with such delicious depth and attention to detail that one post just isn't enough to hold all the analytical goodness!

INTERMISSION

Here, let me take a moment to again thank this year's crop of guest columnists. There's a bevy of excellent advice and commentary here, I'm sure you'll agree, and it's always nice to be able to take a couple of weeks off while I'm on vacation. You don't realize how much of a time commitment a blog like mine is until you get away from it for a while! I'm grateful to all of these fine folk for not only letting me have that time to relax, but also for providing me with such wonderfully high-quality material to share while I did so.

END INTERMISSION

Monday, July 11, 2016: Fandom Classics Part 170: Insomnia

My review of Pale Horse's tale of Celestia-l angst.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016: Mini-Reviews Round 141

Short reviews of Best Friends, Too, by shortskirtsandexplosions; A Toast to Friendship, by Esle Ynopemos; and Still Life, by SugarPesticide

Friday, July 15, 2016: Fandom Classics Part 171: The Assassination of Twilight Sparkle

My review of Rated Ponystar's story of a ruler betrayed by the ponies she loved, and of the grieving process that entailed.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016: Mini-Reviews Round 142

Short reviews of The Only Day, by naturalbornderpy; Special Relativity, by Melon Hunter; and I'll See You to Shore, by Educated Guess.

Friday, July 22, 2016: First Sentences in (Fan)Fiction the 12th

My never-ending (but extremely irregular) search for great first sentences continues!