Robert Plamondon's Fiction – My Stories and Writing Tips. Copyright 2020-2026 by Robert Plamondon

Robert Plamondon’s Fiction

May 11, 2025October 5, 2022 by Robert Plamondon

I put my fiction writing tips in this blog and also talk about my stories. I have two complete novels out: One Survivor (a space opera) and Silver Buckshot (a romantic urban fantasy thriller with extra banter), and others in the works. This site talks about my stories and also about fiction writing in general. … Read more

What Did Chekhov Really Say About “Show, Don’t Tell”?

August 30, 2026 by Robert Plamondon

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. —Allegedly by Chekhov (but not really) Chekhov never said this. He especially didn’t say “don’t tell me the moon is shining.” That wouldn’t have made sense to him. This misunderstanding comes from a letter he wrote to his brother … Read more

Using Third-Person Objective Right: The Maltese Falcon

June 8, 2025 by Robert Plamondon

For some reason, perhaps a hatred of humanity, when people talk about third-person objective (“fly on the wall”) narration, they always lead with Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants. This is a lousy story. It reads more like an exercise, not one of Hemingway’s better efforts at all, so we’ve started off on the wrong foot. … Read more

Do You Need a First-Line Hook?

May 13, 2025 by Robert Plamondon

This question came up on Reddit this morning. Here’s my answer: Like most writing advice, “You have to have a first-line hook” is wisdom-adjacent while managing to be both wrong and imprecise. Does “first line” mean the first printed line or the first sentence? It’s wrong either way, but pointless ambiguity is a hallmark of … Read more

One Survivor

May 13, 2025May 11, 2025 by Robert Plamondon

by Robert Plamondon
Norton Creek Press, 258 pages, ISBN 0981928447.

Robert Plamondon’s novel is the kind of old-school SF adventure you love, with competent, strong-willed characters, believable technology, fast-paced action, humor, mystery, murder, betrayal, and a touch of the supernatural, all set against the backdrop of the ruined Terran Empire.

One Survivor will remind you of Heinlein’s early work, but with a depth of background more like Jack Vance. It pits fifteen-year-old Beverly di Mendoza against her parents’ murderers, on a backward planet whose inhabitants owe her nothing. With the help of two other teenagers and their battered space ship, Beverly survives the initial onslaughts and soon moves to the offensive.