Review of "Asha," short story by Kevis Hendrickson

Summary:

Asha is a 15-year old girl with the soul of a demon. She plans to wage war against heaven and hell using humanity as her main weapon. Asha begins the epic tale of the revenge of the dark goddess of demons!

Review:

I've read quite a few works by Hendrickson and this story certainly speaks for his ability to present interesting story lines move along at a nice clip.  I liked the protagonist.  She was an intriguing juxtaposition of human emotions and demon knowledge. 

And yet it's because I liked her that I found myself a little frustrated with the story.  I wanted to know more about her motives but all dialogue explanation remained frustratingly vague.  I learned more about the plot reading the summary than I did reading the story.  At no point in the story does Asha explain that she wants to wage a war or that humans will play an integral part in this war.  I don't expect an in-depth outline but I do need enough to put some of the pieces together.

But other than this the story is actually really, really good.  It's frustrating because it is good and as the reader I want to know what all that buildup was leading toward.  

Reviewed by Alain Gomez

3.5/5 stars

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And the Summer Slump Sets In

So it had to happen at some point.  It always does.  Book selling is cruel like that.  The very moment you start to think "Wow! My sales are really doing well!  At this rate I'll be buying that private island I've had my eye on in no time!"

Then the Summer season sets in.

But there's no need to panic.  Really.  It's just a cold reminder of what actually happens in your own life.  The weather is nice... you have some time off... you're on vacation... you're not reading...

Wait?  Not reading?  Oh yeah, I guess I'm not really. At least not as much as I do during the winter when the sun sets at 4:00pm and there's no reason to be outside.

But it doesn't change the sting of seeing your sales numbers drop like a rock to the bottom of the sales rank ocean.  This too shall pass.  Just keep publishing.  Avoid hitting the refresh button on your KDP window.  And know that places like Amazon are not broken.  They are simply going through the natural cycle of money-making life.

Review of "Born Again," a short story by P.J. Lincoln

Summary:

Beth Tanner has a secret. It's one she's kept from her husband, Jackson, for more than a decade of marriage. Now, a chance encounter with a device that allows your past to be viewed in full detail, Beth Tanner must confront her long ago transgressions.

Beth lives an ideal soccer-mom suburban lifestyle. It's a life she's grown accustomed to and she doesn't want to give it up. But Jackson needs to know the truth and that world she treasurers so much could be taken away.

Review:

A short piece with a quick, engaging plot that somehow feels lacking in the end.  Lincoln has some writing skills, no question there.  The opening scene to the story is quite good.  He immediately manages to create sympathetic characters with only a few short paragraphs.  Beth and Jackson are having the type of conversation that almost any person that has been in a long-term relationship could relate to.

The mysterious salesman and "life-sync" device piques your interest.  How does it work?  If I were in the same situation would I use it?  Would I want to use it?  You know, the classic Star Trek questions that make starship captains blatantly ignore the Prime Directive.

Thanks to the device, Beth's secret is blown and her dark past uncovered.  And that's when the story just sort of leaves you hanging.  There are too many questions, too many unknowns, and just not enough emotional resolution.  Yes, it's implied that things could be worked out between her and her husband.  But the decision seems to be reached with little more than a gasp of shock and a loving hug.

I don't necessarily think the story needs to be longer.  As a short story writer/reader, I don't always feel that more words is the solution to everything.  The conclusion to this story had the potential to be either touching or humorous.  Unfortunately neither really happened which produced a "meh" reaction.

All in all it's not a bad read.  The concept was good and I think Lincoln has some real raw talent showing through.  

3/5 stars

Reviewed by Alain Gomez

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Food for Thought

My dad, being the engineer that he is, always says that 5% or more is statistically significant.  So does it solidify my nerdiness if I said that more than 5% of my Netflix recommendations are documentaries?

What?  I like National Geographic!  And it's only a matter of time before Nova actually catches the Loch Ness monster on film.  What's really pathetic is I get hooked on these things late at night.

So the latest installment was "Jiro Dreams of Sushi."  If you haven't see it, go watch it now.  It's on Netflix instant watch.  It's about one of the world's best sushi chefs.  He runs a restaurant that has ten seats and his sushi starts at $300 a plate.  Crazy right?  But everyone who eats at his place says it's totally worth the money.  Customers have to book their spot a month in advance.

What's really interesting about the documentary is Jiro himself.  They talk a little about what goes into his sushi making but most of the film is about his work philosophies.  The man is completely focused on always bettering himself.  Here's a guy that is arguably top in his field and yet he is always striving for more.  This or that adjustment to make the flavor that much better.

It's just really refreshing to watch.  He doesn't care about being the best.  The man has ambition for his craft alone.  And what it really teaches you is to take pride in your work.  If you make a mistake, who cares?  It's just part of the learning process.

Review of "Mandy Marries a Muslim," short story by Aliya Anjum

Summary:

Mandy 22, breaks the news to her mother that a Muslim from Pakistan has asked her to marry him. Carol, 46, is a strong Baptist woman who has raised Mandy by herself, after her husband's untimely death. She is dead against the idea of her only daughter marrying a Muzlim man. She tells Mandy to stay away from those terrorist Muzlims. Zafar's family also opposes the match, since his mother had already chosen a bride for him in Pakistan.

Mandy and Zafar met during college in her home state of Texas, where he had come to study from Pakistan. The two get married, ignoring their families protests.

When both set of parents meet for the first time, it leads to surprising discoveries for everyone.

Review:

This is the second story I have reviewed for this author.  Both times I read her work I was left with a feeling that the story was unpolished and and possibly unfinished.

Anjum's clear strength as an author is presenting compelling protagonist concepts.  For example, in this story we have Mandy, a Baptist, who is in love with Zafar, a Muslim.  Both families are, of course, against the match due to stereotypes and misconceptions they have formed about each others' cultures.  So it's kind of a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.  Interesting, right?

So there's this set up that's ripe for conflict and emotional exploration but none of that really happens.  Every single barrier is surpassed a little too easily which makes it feel like there's no character development even though you know that's not what the author wanted to come across.  Anjum frequently throws in lines to announce large passages of time ("four months went by") and I couldn't help but feel like she missed out on some prime opportunities to play up the distress Mandy and Zafar feel over their families not getting along.

There are significant grammatical errors in the story and the redeeming factors being the potential for extremely charming characters.  And what's frustrating is that a story like this is the kind that needs to be told because there's a powerful message underneath.  

2.5/5 stars

Reviewed by Alain Gomez

Buy this story on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

For the Self-Employed Author

Well it's tax season.  Ick.  There's nothing quite so emotionally draining as handing all your hard-earned money off to the government.  Yes, loved ones could pass away.  But that's a different type of grief from what you experience bottoming out your car in a pothole that no one has bothered to fix with said tax dollars.

But I digress.

One thing short story authors really struggle with is money spent on cover art.  When cracking out a new story every week or month, it's simply not practical to spend $300 on every cover unless you're making gobs of money from some other job that you have.

BUT... good quality cover art can make you money.  People are shallow.  I'm shallow.  You're shallow.  Do you really want to spend $2.99 on a romance with a cover that looks like this?

No.

Would you spend money on a book that had a cover that looked like this?

Come on.  He's wearing a loin cloth!  How could any woman resist that?

Point being that while the story inside may be the same, your assumptions going in and even your very decision to buy the story is based off a one second glance at the cover.  So this is not something to just gloss over, even for a short story you plan on selling at 99 cents.

And on top of that, cover art can be a tax write-off.  If you're making enough in sales to merit reporting it to the government, any expenses you have as a self-employed author can give you a reduction in taxes.

Note: I'm not a tax professional.  You should definitely consult with yours about this.

All I want to point out is the bigger picture.  Don't immediately think, "Oh there's no way I can afford a $75 cover for this story."  Consider all the aspects.  If you're writing the story anyway and publishing it as an ebook, it will be up for sale forever.  Giving the story a professional front will increase the likelihood that someone will buy.  Cover art is not just a superflous expense, it's an office supply and, therefore, a potential tax write-off.  As a writer it's part of your business.

Review of "An Arranged Marriage," short story by Aliva Anjum

Summary:
Based on true events in the life of four women Physicians in the US.

23-year old Reem, married 31-year old Iftikhar, in an arranged marriage. Arriving in America after marriage, she had hoped of a joyous, beautiful life. However, Reem soon discovered, that everything about Iftikhar was a lie.

Read the story of her suffering and eventual triumph, in the land of opportunity.

Review:
This story is a diamond in the rough.  There's a very powerful and rich message but it's covered up by choppy pacing and editing issues.

The story is told stream of consciousness style from the point of view of a young woman named Reem.  There's not much in the way of description but you eventually learn that she's in medical school, smart and very career driven.

Most of the story takes place as Reem takes her oath to become a United States citizen.  I felt that the setting was perfect for such a piece.  It's exactly the type of place one would become so reflective of one's life.  The problem is that her "memories" are very disjointed.  Sometimes it's a flash to the past other times it's something that is currently going on.  Which is probably an accurate representation of how we really think about things but it makes for a confusing read.

There are a number of grammatical issues as well.  I make a point to only bring this up in reviews if it detracts from the reading experience (it did).  The author would switch points of view frequently.  It would go from first person, to limited third person, to the omniscient third person and back again.

However, the storyline is so compelling that I couldn't help but be absorbed from beginning to end.  So there's a lot of raw talent here.  The writing just needs to be raked over by an editor or two.  But worth keeping an eye on this author.

3/5 stars
Reviewed by Alain Gomez


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