In an earlier post, I mentioned that some readers don’t pay too much attention to book covers. I believe that to be the case with Temp Girl by Stephanie Bond. Her cover with cool tag line invites a reader’s interest. Then there is the other side of the coin. I received an alert from Brendan Detzner about the publication of this short story (it wasn’t described as a short story in the alert). I have been entertained by Detzner writings for a long time and, even more important, they spurred my son’s interest in reading. With a title like Hot Chicks Infected With Stomach Parasites, there was no way I was not going to read it and then post some comments. A provocative title like this dares the reader to ignore it. (Yep, I know about the earlier double negative. Dare to break the rules).
Temporary Relationships
Great News! Temp Girl is another daily serial novel by Stephanie Bond. An earlier serial novel, Coma Girl put this author at the top of my TBR file every time I receive an alert of her latest publication. This has got to be interesting to bloggers who try to post meaningful or interesting stuff daily. I liked her comment asking for a bit of tolerance for minor typos because she was going from daily creative production to publication. For the intolerant, she offered an email address where a reader can deposit feelings of discomfort. It looks like we can look forward to a six-part story. Join the fun and let’s see how December awards satisfactory conclusions to characters who have been good. I am sure even characters who have been naughty will find some redemption.
Nicola Is Your Friend … Really?
Wicked Secret by Valerie Keogh really contains a wicked secret. There is the main murder mystery. Who did it? That is not the wicked secret. There is a secondary and much more entertaining secondary murder mystery. Who did it? That is not the wicked secret either. The perpetrators of the two murders hoped their identities were secret, but those identities were not wicked secrets. Nicola, an abrasive almost psychic, a person who had helped the police solve gruesome crimes in the past, had a really wicked secret. My challenge will be to present an idea of what the book is about without revealing the secret. It is an interesting secret and should support reader interest in this novel as well as follow up novels.
FFfAW: Reverse assumptions
After a wasted week dealing with a confrontational commentator, I want to get back into the swing of things with this reblog.
My comments below are addressed to incoming university students.
Note the swings from a hint darkness to its complete opposite “happy … big plans” then to normal routine “daily lives” then to a final line of utter evil. All of this done with few yet meaningful words.
Fun reading and a nice piece of writing.
This week’s photo prompt is provided by Grant-Sud. Thank you Grand-Sud for our photo prompt!
Stood in his usual place, Todd decided to observe what was going on around him. This was something he did daily, and so people had started to ignore the fact he looked like some suicidal teen about to jump.
Jumping was the last thing on his mind. Todd was a very happy individual and he had bigger plans.
They look like ants, scurrying about their daily lives in a busy way.
Todd enjoyed the feeling of power that standing over them gave him. Although, he did often wonder whether boiling water would kill them too.
Less suicidal and more homicidal.
Written for flash fiction for aspiring writers
The Good, The Bad, The Better
I received Chase & Chloe by Simone Elise as an Advance Read Copy (ARC) and was asked to read and review it by 12 July 2017. With about four days to read it, I thought this would be easy but not so. It took me four days because it was a unique reading experience for me. I haven’t previously read a novel I both liked and disliked so much. The parts I liked, I liked a lot. The parts I disliked grated on all kinds of sensibilities. This would be a good novel for a book club discussion but might require a referee when discussions became heated. There was a disclaimer that is probably standard on ARC that there might be typos or grammar errors that would be corrected before final printing. I only found one error, a typo, in which the word “one” was used when the word “own” was needed. I was impressed with the mechanical accuracy of my copy. I divided the content into three parts as far as my interest. These divisions are mine, not the authors. Part I sets parameters, introduces characters, and hints at overall plot. Part II bored and sometimes offended me. Once I started Part III this turned into an I-can’t-put-it-down story and continued until the final two chapters. Then it returned to its Part II style but at that point, I didn’t care. I was happy with what I had read
FFfAW: The unwanted
Note the NEXT to the last line. It seems there might be power in non-reading. But we will be overrun with snakes.
Stop a dystopian future overrun with snakes. Read a book.
This week’s photo prompt is provided by Kecia Spartin. Thank you Kecia!
The pet shop owner sold every single kind of pet that you could think of. It was a very popular place to go, but nobody ever seemed to leave with a snake.
“Why do people not buy snakes?”
The owner patted his young son on the head. “They are afraid.”
“Why?”
“It all started with the Bible. You know, how Eve was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit by a snake. The modern day equivalent would be the use of snakes as evil things in Harry Potter. Nobody buys these things simply because they believe everything they read.”
“Damn shame.”
Written for flash fiction for aspiring writers
Visit the Bookstore; Don’t Go Downstairs
One of the first things a reader might note in You by Caroline Kepnes is the cover endorsement by Stephen King. It is a very strong endorsement; it is not on the back cover or in the first few pages preceding a table of contents; no, there it is on the front cover as it serves up a very strong endorsement of the talent of Kepnes. I kept this in mind as I read and found the endorsement, unlike many, to be completely appropriate even without the many references that Kepnes makes to King throughout the novel. By themselves, these references are clever and fun.
