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Showing posts from September, 2018

Book Review: Ripley Patton's "Ghost Hand"

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Blogger’s Note: I know I promised the second entry about things I learned about putting together an anthology, but the bug we’ve been fighting turned into bronchitis, possibly bordering on pneumonia. So we’re both on heavy antibiotics which does not make for very sensible thinking or analyzing, much less writing. So please bear with us and hope you enjoy this latest book review. We hope to be back in the saddle very soon. Thank you. "Ghost Hand" is a thrilling ride into a modern day reality, so like our everyday one, but with a twist... some people have 'Ghost Limbs'. It feels like the author took the concept of 'phantom limb syndrome', when someone suffers the loss of a limb yet still feels the missing appendage, and then made it into something more tangible in a unique way. The characters are born with what would have been a missing limb, except the limb IS there, only it's glowing and almost intangible at times. And sometimes, they seem t

Book Review: Cher'ley Grogg's "The Secret In Grandma's Trunk"

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*Blogger's Note: I know I promised to continue about our experiences with creating our first anthology, but massive colds have been kicking us around.  Hope to get back to that subject next week.  Until then, here's another book review.  Enjoy* This was my first venture into the writing of Miss Grogg and I have to say I was quite pleased.  This tale took me down the winding passages of my own childhood memories involving friends, relatives, and grandparents (who I sorely miss). The story begins with Brandon having to move into his little brother's room, because his elderly great-grandmother is coming to live with his family.  Brandon is not happy about this and even resentful.  But we quickly see the conflicting emotions within him early on when he first meets his great-grandmother who is full of spunk and not one to be pushed around in spite of her advanced age.  But in addition to that fiery spirit she brings an old fashioned trunk that captivates not only Br

Things I Learned Writing An Anthology - Part I

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Last night Helen and I finished the final story for our upcoming anthology!      Thank you!  Thank you!  You're all being too kind.  But today's post is not to talk about the anthology itself, as much as what went into making it.  How did it differ from writing full-length novels?  Was it easier?  Was it harder? What was the process like?  Where did we get all the stories for it, etc.?       Well, for starters, coming up with a decent number of stories was and wasn't hard really.  Helen had been writing stories long before e-books and well before I tried my hand at penning a tale.  I can easily say I learned so much from her earlier attempts at getting published, and let me tell you she got damn close to seeing some of her work in print.  But, that's a tale for another entry.       What I want to say is that I learned a lot about what to expect when I decided to try  going the traditional published route.  Although in my case, I started shortly after the