Final Review of the Year — Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger by K. C. Grifant

Cover image courtesy of 
Brigids Gate Press
Illustrated by Luke Spooner

Who remembers that old sci-fi western Wild Wild West, with Will Smith and Kevin Kline? Or if you’re really into ancient entertainment viewing, who remembers the TV series that inspired it? Well, if either of those versions of Wild Wild West were ever your cup of tea, then Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger will be a treat. 

Granted, this is less of a sci-fi story and more of a pulpy horror western, but the crossover vibes are similar. This is a plot-centric piece of storytelling with a touch of steampunk flavor for fans of, say… Supernatural. And I am a fan of Supernatural. 

Author K. C. Grifant has woven a tale of monster hunters, pleasantly diverse ones, in an alt western world that resonates with parallels to our own American wild West history. She creates sympathetic villains and morally gray heroes out for justice—for themselves— and against an underworld they have yet to understand for its horrific power. It’s not necessarily deep, but it’s well written and fun. A welcome diversion for fans of multi genre pulp fiction. 

I want to thank the author for providing this ARC to potential HWA readers. Click on the cover image for a link to Amazon.

Sing Our Bones Eternal -- A Darkly Poetic Mermaid Folktale

 

Cover Image courtesy of
author

Sing Our Bones eternal is a richly drawn fantasy where seafaring Bluebeards hunt mermaids to sacrifice to their god, a magical tree named Kilda who will grant favor for those sacrifices. Senga is the primary character, the daughter of one such hunter, and a hunter herself, although she’s going through a major identity crisis, believing that bewitching may have occurred to transform her from mermaid to human.

Abilene, a mermaid captured by Senga's family for the purpose of sacrifice, spends time with Senga while in captivity, and she is more than willing to convince Senga of the awful truth.

The author has a highly picturesque style of writing. The world these characters inhabit is drawn in splashy poetic—and often horrific detail. There’s no doubt that a lot of heart went into the telling of this story. It's a darkly detailed romantic fantasy that doesn’t shy away from themes of abuse, loss, sacrifice and sexual awakening, dressed in a folkloric world of mermaids and satyrs and werewolves.

But it can sometimes be hard to follow because of the rich style of writing. The story unfolds from multiple points of view that had me pausing to ratchet back, trying to remember who was who and what their connections were to the other characters in the story, and because of it, I often felt a bit disconnected from those characters. But for the right audience—that being dark romantic fantasy—this story is sure to entertain.

This is not the kind of story I normally choose, so take that into consideration when I rate this a four. It’s ultimately not my kind of story, but it’s well written on multiple levels, and I recognize that quality. I want to thank the author for providing this ARC.

Tap the cover image for a Goodreads link.

Reviewing Horror in November — A Short Story Collection, and Splatterpunk

 As a newer member of the HWA—Horror Writers Association—I have had the opportunity to access a boatload of ARCs from authors in hopes of getting attention to be considered for Brahms Stoker. This was a member perk that I wasn’t expecting, but I’ve taken advantage of it by trying to review as many as I can read. I’ve posted reviews of several, and I wish I could read faster. So, below are the ones I’ve finished for the month of November. Two great books for two different horror audiences.

Cover image courtesy of
Death Knell Press

First up is Impulses of a Necrotic Heart, a collection of short stories by Red Lagoe. I adored this collection of quick reads. The stories have a lot of heart, sometimes heartbreak, sometimes vengeful, sometimes with a dash of soul. They tackle subjects ranging from body horror specific to being women, to managing the loss of loved ones, to coming to terms with death to penance and retribution.

What more can I say about this collection of short stories except that they were nothing less than fantastic. Red Lagoe handles them with a delicate hand while not shying from the horrific aspects of every one.

Highly recommended reading, especially if you only have time for a snippet here and there. Five Stars.

You can purchase the book here.

Cover image courtesy of 
Black Void Publishing

Next up, a bloodbath of a book with a pair of Native American MCs. Churn the Soil by Steve Stred.

This is a police procedural with a gruesome horror backdrop, as we follow two characters, Office Brown and Nancy—a resident of an outlier settlement along the border of an Alaskan/Canadian No man's land. And it’s literally that—a no man's land, where the inhabitants of the settlement have come to accept their role as keepers of a stretch of clearing between them and the forest beyond it, even though they aren’t sure why. The clearing must be maintained, and no one is to set foot in the forest beyond it.

But someone does just that, a young girl who challenges the notion, then winds up dead in the most gruesome way. Border resident Nancy receives a spiritual calling to find answers, as does Officer Brown, who was once a member of the settlement as a child. The townsfolk don’t like police interference though, which makes investigation, with wildly supernatural elements in play, difficult.

Stred's writing style is succinct, short chapters that are easy to commit to, with enough pull at the end to draw you into 'just one more' chapter. He doesn’t rely on flowery prose which, for the most part is an effective and streamlined method of story telling here. This is the right kind of story for Stred's chosen writing style. Also, if you’re looking for something to read with a Native/indigenous connection, this can go on your list, as The Border is essentially an outlier indigenous community. Both Officer Brown and Nancy are of indigenous heritage, and I like the fact that Stred doesn’t lean heavy into tropes regarding that heritage. The horror touches on Hopi folklore without the intent of caricature.

This is a solid 3+ read for me, while not quite tipping into 4 territory. The gore is a plus. I like the main characters, although I wish we had a chance to go deeper into their psyches at times. There was one particular villainous twist that I saw coming, so that eventual reveal didn’t hit me like I wished it would have done. Also, because I brought it up so often in my reviews this year, it passes that Bechdel test. Not by much, but Nancy is a strong female character and that's always a plus for me. All in all, this was an imaginative and blood filled take on a monster from Hopi folklore.

You can purchase the book here.

 

Quick Book Review — I Died Too, But They Haven’t Buried Me Yet — by Ross Jeffery

Cover Image courtesy of Clash Books

Henry is an ass. I know, some book review sites will get their panties in a bunch (looking at you, Amazon) because I used a swear word, but Henry IS an ass, and every single character that inhabits Ross Jeffery’s story here would agree. Fuck, Henry would even agree. He is a seriously flawed MC; a misogynist, a homophobe and a past-his-prime ex-husband with some serious anger issues. So, if you don’t like seriously flawed main characters like Henry, this book won’t be for you. 

I love seriously flawed main characters—I mean, I wouldn’t make the time to hang out with ones as belligerent as Henry, but I love to read about them with the hope that they will grow. There are other reasons to give Henry a chance. He's grieving over the loss of his daughter. Twelve years have passed since her disappearance, and the case is essentially closed. But Henry is still grieving, and the process involves burying pieces of her on the anniversary of that disappearance. Well, not pieces of her, per say, but pieces of his memories of her. Because Henry is guilt ridden. For whatever reason, he blames himself for what he has come to accept as her death. He is also coping with the help of a therapy group whose members are equally—and inadequately grieving over the deaths of loved ones. So, Henry is in good company. And his best friend Josh, also grieving over the loss of his wife, is a standup guy. His compassion and tolerance helps make up for Henry's lack of it. 

Henry's daughter Elsie comes back to haunt him in terrifying ways with the help of one new member of the grievance club, and he's not a friend but most certainly may be a foe preying on Henry’s guilt. Josh is the one who tries to save Henry from traveling deeper down the road of despair as he tries to justify the strange happenings that he too has witnessed. 

I’m liking a lot of elements of this story. Jeffery brings the horror to the table. He manages grief like a grief ninja, and there are moments when I found myself truly invested in what happens next. But the storytelling pace did feel uneven at times. There are moments that dragged for me, like the three pages of trepidation that it took for Josh to open a letter. Once we get there, Jeffery delivers, but those three page beforehand…like pulling a loose thread that has no end. It gets aggravating. And speaking of Josh, I felt like the storyline involving his grief was left incomplete. But Henry’s story is the main story, and it comes to a heartbreaking end. 

I have to admit that I was not as surprised by the ending as I hoped I would be. But it’s a logical ending, an appropriately tragic ending, and it affords the opportunity for a grieving character to grow where he needs to grow. Another strong point, the characters rang true to those above mentioned flaws. Jeffery knows how to create solid characters whose actions and words ring true. Anyway, I'm rating this one a 3.75, which bumps it to a 4 here. I’m holding back from a higher rating mostly because of those drawn out passages that delayed getting to the literal punch of the horror. But the horror bits, once we got there, were worth it. Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC.

Quick Book Review --The Girls in the Cabin by Caleb Stephens

Cover Image courtesy of Joffe Books

The Girls in the Cabin is a solid entry in the psychological horror/thriller realm with plenty of triggerry topics to be aware of, if you need mention of that. I'm going to try my best to avoid spoilers here, while touching on those potential triggers.

The gist of the story is this: A father and his two daughters, Emma (8) and Kayla (teenager) go on a camping trip after the death of their mother to cancer. The trip is an attempt to get past the loss and to bond as a family, but this is a challenge because of deeper, more complicated reasons. The girls have lost trust in their dad. Some reasons are legitimately his fault. Others are just a part of the grieving process, of losing their mom who is portrayed as the anchor of the family. And of course, a camping trip, the wilds...the youngest has an accident in the midst of a freak storm, and the only hope of saving her comes when they find refuge at a woman's home in the middle of nowhere. This is story one -- a grieving family trying to move on and to forgive each other in order to become a family again.

Then there's story two -- Clara, the owner of the house. Clara had an abusive upbringing that flags many triggers--rape, child abuse, domestic abuse, and author Stephens does not shy away from the details. She is broken, but she's a survivor--and maybe the friends and remaining family that she has is the glue that has kept her together. One of them is a confidante named Sydney, another girl who met with Clara when they were kids at a cabin in the woods. They formed a special bond during their childhood years, and Sydney grew to become Clara's protector--mostly from the awful men in Clara's life.

Enter Chris and his broken family into Clara's life where she still longs for the perfect family that was never hers to be had. Also enter, jaded and overprotective Sydney, and you have what could have been the makings of a romantic comedy. But this story is far from a romantic comedy, and the terror that awaits these two families comes together with increasing , graphic detail.

It's a tense and terrifying read, which is what it should be. Well done.

This may seem a weird criticism though, but I don't really like the book's title. Most of the story takes place on a dilapidated farm in a rundown, two story home. I guess it's true that these girls came together at a cabin during their childhood, but the cabin itself is from a memory and kind of insignificant. Maybe that's a whiny criticism on my part, but it still bugs me. A little.

Mental health issues also play a big part in this story (a trigger for some). Portraying mental health issues in horror can get tricky. It can come across as offensive for some, and while this story veers dangerously into cringey mental health issues territory (no spoilers on how here...), I'm happy to say that I felt like the author handled those issues with a fair level of compassion and understanding.

A solid, thriller with a lot of cringe worthy, tortuous horror. Oh, and one more thing. It passes the Bechdel test. Easily. It's amazing how often the horror I read seems to reach that bar.

Thanks to author Caleb Stephens and publisher Joffe Books for the ARC review copy of the book.

Prophet Reborn is a 2023 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Finalist in the Category of Christian Thriller!

So, this happened...

https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/prophet-reborn

I'm thrilled to announce that Prophet Reborn, the second book of the Perfect Prophet trilogy, has been recognized as a finalist in the 2023 Readers Favorite Book Awards under the category of Christian Thrillers. This is among the top 6 of the entrants in the category.

I haven't entered my books into many contests, so to place in one is pretty cool! Feel free to click on the link below the press release to read a Readers Fave review and to buy, and don't forget to check out the entire trilogy, including the final chapter, Perfect Sacrifices too!

Quick Book Review—What Doesn’t Kill You by Ken Brosky

 

Cover image courtesy of
Timber Ghost Press

This is a solid and imaginative piece of horror, maybe taking its inspiration from a creature in Greek mythology. The story begins with a very successful woman, responsible for creating a social media app called TheBuzz, returning home to her dead end town to give them a gift. Of course things turn incredibly bad quickly, once the gift — a statuesque female like creature with a beehive for a head, comes to life. 

The only way to survive this queen and her protective drones is to literally kill her. Because, according to successful businesswoman Emma, your perseverance in killing the thing proves you’re special. It proves that you have what it takes to break free of the strangling hold of a small town like Seven Sisters and to transform into something bigger than your weaknesses, into something successful. 

But as you might guess, killing this monster isn’t easy. It regenerates in a unique way, and if you do succeed in “killing it," be prepared for the truly unexpected consequences. Bee careful what you wish for… see what I did there? (I’ll show myself out…)

You can find a copy of What Doesn't Kill You at AMAZON or direct from the publisher, TIMBER GHOST PRESS. 

The Threads Guy and the Problem with We the People on Social Media

Social media is a thing these days, especially with the likes of the Muskrat gumming up the works, and Dorsey keeping his fingers in the pie, and the Zuckster challenging the status quo. And that's not even touching on the likes of Mastadon or Hive or TikTok or, Insert-A-Platform-Here. It’s too much, to be honest, especially when having a social media presence, in some form or other, is necessary. Because I am a writer. And an introvert. That second one doesn’t bode well for a promoter of books, but I do what I can.

So, when the great social media wars broke out, where Musk promised to make all sorts of horrendous changes to Twitter (“X”) once he acquired it, and has been fulfilling that promise ever since, I was one of millions who scrambled to find that new place to inhabit, to maybe find some like minded readers and writers (and viewers and screenwriters) to support each other, to keep track of the writing world and to maybe sell some books.

But that’s not how social media works, is it. Social media inevitably wants to take that turn down the unlit path to show us the seedy underbelly of its existence—the antisocial network. And that underbelly is vast and ravenous and bloated. Or so it seems. I’m going to remain positive and suggest that none of us want to go there, knowing full well that maybe pieces of us do if for no reason than to peek, to say that we've seen what can’t be unseen, to experience the reprehensible. And whether we've accepted this sad truth or not, I'm willing to bet money that most of us have had to, at some point, deal with it.

Recent case in point, the Threads Guy. I’m not going to officially name the Threads Guy. Let’s face it, we've all had bad days including myself with this particular encounter. But the Threads Guy reached out with a promise:

The Threads Guy wanted to do something charitable for his fellow writers in the community, in part to gain some followers, no doubt,  but hey, that’s the catch 22 of the social media writing community—support other writers, but hopefully gain something in return. What Threads Guy is giving away is pretty common in the writing community, a chance to post your book on his thread, free advertising of sorts! And the slim chance that he will be interested enough to buy it, maybe review it.

I’ve posted things like this, but never with the promise to buy one or two. I prefer to pay it forward once in a while by checking out an author's work without teasing anyone with the promise that I will. But I’ve hosted a few ShamelessPromo days inviting authors to list their books and repost others in the list. Like I said, it’s a common thing. So I followed Threads Guy and I posted a book with a thanks, if he happened to decide to buy it. I did it hastily, amidst a rough week of personal things going down, but I posted it and moved on.

Needless to say, Threads Guy wasn’t happy with my post. I didn’t lead with a teaser to what the book was about, and legit my bad. I was rushed when I posted, distracted to get out the door on time. It doesn’t matter. It happened, and I missed an opportunity, and oh well. That should have been the end of it. Except for that little bit of passive aggressiveness at the end. “They're really not difficult rules." Clearly, I had complicated Threads Guy's day. 

It irked me, that little finger wag. It really did. Not because he wasn’t going to RT my post, I don’t have time to worry about that. The dude gave his reason, and that was fair enough. But, "they’re really not difficult rules." Why was that necessary? I brushed it off and moved on. 

But Threads Guy followed up about his ruined day with a separate post…

This one really did irritate me because I knew he might not be speaking about me specifically, but I was definitely one of the ones to provide the ruin of his day. So I unfollowed the guy and responded in kind—wrong turn #1 on my part, but, I had had a long day once I saw it, a long couple of months to be honest, and I hoped to give him something to think about. 

That didn’t go well... In fact, Mr. Nice Guy showed his underbelly, where his charitable act of reposting the work of other writers came down to HIS effing RULES. He decided that my angry volley in return was because he refused to repost me, because he assumed that I thought I should get special treatment, when in reality I was just irked that he felt the need to reprimand me by reminding me that "it’s not that hard."

I still don’t think Mr. Nice Charitable Threads Guy gets it, as is highlighted by the maniacal laughter and the suggestion for me to grow up. Maybe I don’t get it, but really…nah. At minimum, I would have taken the time to say, sorry for your loss. 

But there's a chance that he’s right about my need to grow up because, while I’m mature enough to block out Threads Guy's identity, I can’t unsee the irony in how those simple green cross outs resemble a dick.

Be kind, people. Or at least try. I know, sometimes it’s hard. It’s the effort that counts.

A Very Brief Review of Mr. Jacobs vs. the Demonic Clowns...(a very long titled book)

 

Cover Image courtesy of 
Evil Cookie Publishing

Thank you NetGalley, Evil Cookie Publishing and the author for providing this ARC.

Mr. Jacobs is a plot centric novella that focuses on the actions of the outlandish Mr. Jacobs and his happenstance crew trying to save the world from a takeover by the Unnamed Shadowlord through the possession of a few hapless party clowns. It sounds like fun, right? And it is fun, to a certain degree. If you’re a fan of the exploits of a Doctor Who type of lead, or a Dirk Gently genius, or the novels of Christopher Moore or Craig McLay, then you might indeed enjoy this story.

But there’s not a lot of depth to these characters. They are arguably quirky, but we don’t get to know them or feel for them in a deeper sense. You may say that comedy isn’t designed for that, but I disagree. In my mind, a character facing an external challenge, like saving the world, still needs to face an internal challenge too, like coming to terms with his or her own beliefs or fears. Hence, the three rating for me. But it passes the Bechdel test—something that’s been lingering at the back of my mind all year so far, so thank you for scratching that itch.

Also, the ARC draft I read was riddled with pushed together wordslikethis. Sometimes this happens with advanced copies of books, so I tried not to let it influence my rating. But if these errors shouldn’t be the case, I want the publishers to be aware of it. Thanks for the read!

Find access to the book here

Brief Book Review -- Bunny by Mona Awad

Cover Image courtesy of Penguin Books

First, cudos to Mona Awad for stepping up to the plate and challenging the tech industry over using her material to train AI to write things. I'm in full support of this author's challenge. Now, about the novel Bunny...

This is the second time I'm writing this review because the first one didn't post at B&N --thanks, nook app. I "love" starting over.

But hey, I did like this book. It's confusing as heck because of the trippy things that happen--the main character Smackie, an English grad student with a huge inferiority complex, is also a highly unreliable narrator. But her imagination kicks in big time as she bleeds out her tale of woe while trying to fit in with the rich girls on campus, who reach out to include her after several semesters of treating her like an other.

And she is an other--the horror elements are a fantastic and bizarre flip to a Stepford Wives ideal, but the love story, the real love story that makes Samantha the "other", is the reason to keep reading. You could argue that there are similarities to plenty of stories out there, such as Mean Girls or Heathers (movies are stories too), or the obvious nods to Alice in her Wonderland. But the telling of this bunny horror fairytale is weird and unique and original in a good way, too.

Check it out horror fans. You can find Bunny pretty much wherever books are sold, but you should also check it out at  Bookshop.org if you want to support indie bookstores. And who doesn't love an indie bookstore?

More of the Incessant Push for AI

 And why? The tech industry seems to be deaf to the shouts of many creatives with regard to the multitude of concerns that come with unleashing this AI dragon that they so desperately want us to hail as the biggest thing since...ever... Or maybe since Hydra. I don't know, but I'm not buying it. The promotional push is everywhere, thanks to algorithms that no one wants in their lives (Yes, Target. I bought a package of diapers. It was for one baby shower. I don't need your ads at EVERY internet turn, pushing diapers on me).

As a writer, I find my Facebook feed filled with sponsored ads that the algorithms have decided I need for the latest and greatest software that will "write the stories for me." But I don't want the software to write the stories for me--where is the goddamned challenge in that? 

Also, as a screenplay finalist in a handful of script competitions, I got this promotional doozy in my email.

The tone deaf sponsors of this abomination of a competition have since removed it and apologized to the greater screenwriting community (aka the WGA) after one day's worth of backlash, and I applaud my fellow screenwriters for getting the job done.

But the problem is that someone thought it was a good idea in the first place. Someone thought it was a good idea to push the envelope, to sell us on the necessity of AI to "be creative for us." I have gone through the ads in my feed, I've taken the time to click on the little corner icon that brings up the menu where you can choose the option, DON'T SHOW THIS AD AGAIN and DON'T SHOW ADS SIMILAR TO THIS AGAIN, and STILL they keep coming. Okay, fine, I say. If they're going to keep coming, I will leave snarky remarks in the threads just to piss them off, because I want them--and everyone--to know that they can stop selling me shit that I don't want or need. That will make a difference, right? They'll read those comments and discern my discontent, right???

Okay, huge assumption on my part. Wishful thinking, yeah. But you would think, with the snarky feedback and the social media posts that I have made in support of the WGA and against the use of AI in the creative world...you would think that the algorithms would get the hint. But I get it. I am a target audience when it comes to pushing AI writing software. That part of the equation is not going to change.

What I REALLY don't need though is a baked goods company trying to sell me on the benefits of AI in my life. That's right, Wolferman's Bakery, that sells breakfast muffins and pastries sent me a newsletter eblast about using AI to better improve my life. Wolferman's Bakery wants me to think hard on that, and since they asked for opinions on that topic, I decided I would oblige.

This is what I had to say:

I’m not sure why I’m getting a newsletter in support of AI from a baked goods seller (or floral arranger—who knows, because the email came from Wolferman's but the address is 1800flowers…), but whatever… Your email blast found its way to the wrong inbox. You see, I am a writer, a book author, a screenwriter, and I’m not as enamored with the onslaught of promotional advertising being shoved in my face left and right as our money grubbing tech bros hoped I would be.

A good number of writer types are in agreement with my stand as is evidenced by the current Writers Strike, where key components of the agreement, that the AMPTP refuses to recognize, address the usage and implementation of AI in a highly creative field. Add to that the growing number of writers and artists who are filing lawsuits over the vast amount of material that AI has trained on without author/artist consent to create “new” art, “new” stories. Background actors are being scanned for features and TV and being paid a day's wage so that studios can use their images "in perpetuity" without a say as to how those images are used, and without further compensation.

At minimum, there needs to be serious regulation put into place. There needs to be clear rules regarding copyright and compensation, because AI training on the artistic endeavors of others—for the sake of selling their AI technology to the masses and to corporate entities—is clearly a violation of fair use in my opinion.

So no, I am not super excited by this new technology. I have had the opportunity to read a few AI examples in the creative writing field, and to be honest they are monstrosities. And derivative. And I know, you might say that I'm biased, and yes I am, but seriously. They were that bad. And I get it to some degree—artists who don’t make a lot of money, who are trying to get their material out there on a budget, might cave to the cost effective use of AI to self publish a book or to have it read by an AI voice, or to push past the block, or to have it create some artistically rendered book cover. I get that. But you lose something when you rely on artificial intelligence to do the work for you. You lose the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from the work. And you fail to support the artistic talents of others. Because writing, at least, isn’t about writing another story like the last story. It’s about putting your heart and soul into a story to learn about yourself and to create something special that speaks to you. That you hope will speak to others.

So, no. I am not in support of AI like the tech industry hoped I would be. But thanks for asking.

Anyway, thanks for entertaining me by reading this rant. Also, don't buy books from robot authors.

Short Book Review: Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins -- Another book to (cough) leave behind

 I thought I was going to blog about my kid's graduation from college this month and the random drunk dude who crashed the party, and maybe I'll get to that. I've jotted down enough handwritten notes about it that could conceivably infuriate, bore or amuse any potential readers. But I'm still a bit enraged by that whole incident, and I don't want to have my fingers fly across this keyboard to unleash my anger upon the innocent. Maybe another day. It would be a long blog, and I don't want to lose my audience.

Instead, I'll share this short, angry review of this book; Left Behind, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.

Image courtesy of www.tynedale.com

You may say to yourself, this book is over 25 years old! It's proven its success as a series, in movies and TV. Over a million copies sold! Why review it now? All of these things are true. It doesn't matter what I think, because the authors and publishers of this book have reaped their reward. The Christian public has spoken.

That doesn't make it any less of an awful book. My mom gave me this book -- about 25 years ago, and I promised to get to it. And I did, now...because back then the book didn't appeal to me. But now, having written my own trilogy of a religion infused horror/thriller, I thought maybe it was time to read up on more books that defined the Christian thriller genre, and this first book is one of those Christian fiction game changers. In all honesty, I didn't expect to love this book. My Perfect Prophet trilogy has a bit of a religious backdrop, but it's not designed or intended to convert anyone whereas I had a feeling that Left Behind was hoping for that end.

And it does hope for that end, absolutely. But it's also just badly written, in my opinion. It's okay, I can say that. The authors have received plenty of money, I'm sure, to prove me otherwise. Maybe my own books are worse--I don't know--but...I had a hard time fighting a numbness brought on from reading this book. 

I have to admit that the cliffhanger ending was a welcome twist. It helps explain why everyone so easily dismisses who the obvious villain is, whether you’re familiar with interpretations of the book of Revelations or not. That having been said, I cannot dismiss all the things that made this book a real chore to read. Buck Williams is such a cliché, but I sort of like him. He’s the most proactive character of the piece. But every character is a cardboard cutout, superficial person to the point where I failed to sympathize with them. Rayford Steele, the pilot who finds God, is an arrogant ass. The woman he’s thinking about, Hattie—who he’s never touched, although he wants to (as told to us in the very first paragraph of the book), is vapid and superficial too.

And let’s not talk about how this book utilizes women in light of the Bechdel test. I know, I keep bringing up that test lately in my reviews, but I can’t avoid it here. It’s that bad. I had hope for Steele’s daughter, but the book ultimately failed her too.

The book is indeed preachy—look, it can’t not be, given the subject matter. I get that. But it got repetitive fast. It’s an easy read. I blew through this book, not because of the heart pounding action but because the overly repetitive parts were skim-worthy.

I did not like this book. Sorry. I rated it 2 stars out of 5, and that's being generous. But the plot was a plot, so I guess that has to count for something. Plus, over one million books sold! I don't know, maybe the 25th anniversary edition has been revised and edited. I can only hope.

And that's it. That's the review. I won't heap on more anger and bitterness with that drunk party crasher at my son's grad party. Maybe next time.

And if you like religious tinged horror fiction, maybe give the Perfect Prophet series a try. I can only pray for better reviews than this one. It's a risky suggestion, I know. But hey, you get the entire eBook trilogy for the price of one Left Behind!

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfect-prophet-diane-m-johnson/1129393450

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prophet-reborn-diane-m-johnson/1137467727?ean=9781098314477

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfect-sacrifices-diane-m-johnson/1143268447?ean=9781667890999

The AI Experiment

I’m not an A-list writer. I’m happy with the ideas I parlay into scripts and novels, and I aspire to make a decent living from it, sure. But I’m also an introvert comfortable in her own introvert skin, and I don’t spend a lot of time investing in the marketing aspect of the business. I get decent reviews for my books and hit the upper echelon of script entrants who make it to the finalist lists often, but I don’t make a lot of money from it. I work a “real job” for a living, and what I make from writing versus what I spend would clearly put me in debt if it was my sole source of income. I’m also not into podcasts or audiobooks, so I’ve never seriously considered converting my novels to an audiobook format.

But I’ve recently come to the conclusion that it would be foolish to dismiss the audiobook audience. We all have busy lives, and reading, while arguably beneficial to both mind and soul, is time consuming. It’s not designed for multitasking, while audiobooks allow us to listen and drive, or listen and mow the lawn above the roar of the machine’s motor, with headphones or earbuds in place. So, I decided to look into the transfer of book to audiobook and found that to do it properly is…expensive.

Here, you can revisit my opening paragraph that outlines how I don’t make a lot of money. The cost of creating an audiobook—a good audiobook—involves talent. It involves narrators who do their jobs well, and who should be paid a decent wage to do it. But that’s a difficult cost to swallow for an Independent Author (IA, not AI) who is already spending their negative cashflow on things like professional book review sites (Kirkus isn’t free) or the “opportunity” to get honest reviews through NetGalley or other review sites for a fee—by offering your book to readers for free (And those readers love free books—but they don’t always reciprocate with a review…).

(Image found on Twitter
no copyright infringement intended)

Enter the rapidly growing technology of AI or, if you live in a cave, Artificial Intelligence. The technology is among the list of things that the WGA (Writers Guild of America) is currently striking over, and with good reason. Computers are learning to make art, write stories and read in surprisingly accurate likenesses of real people at an exponential rate. It’s currently a point of contention in the book publishing world too, as using credible sounding AI voices to narrate books puts real people out of a job. But back in November of 2022, the technology was being utilized by lay people as a cool thing to play with. 

Soon, I began wondering if having an audiobook available might be a good idea, especially for the visually impaired who would benefit from access to more narrated books in their lives; because everything has some catch-22 built into it, and I found a reasonably priced audiobook package through BookBaby that would convert my books to audiobooks using AI voices. My first novel, The Schoharie, was my experiment. Needless to say, I was disappointed and I regret that experiment. 

BookBaby uses Speechki for its audiobook conversions, and I had reservations from the start. The fervor over AI wasn’t at a fever pitch yet, but there were rumblings. BookBaby and Speechki give their AI narrators names – like Derek Torres—and my first thought was, well that’s kind of deceptive… I told them that I didn’t want to follow through with the order unless it was clear to the buyer that the voice was indeed AI generated. BookBaby assured me that an AI disclaimer would appear on the cover image of the book, and it does. I’m not going to delve into my disappointment with BookBaby’s review and rejection policies during the audiobook’s conversion except to say that maybe it soured me more over the process on a personal level, but in the end, I felt like the conversion was a waste of my money. Lesson learned from that experiment.

Here's why, and it’s not what you might think. First, the conversion is still expensive, especially for Independent Authors who might not have the money. If you can justify the cost of creating an audiobook, aim for real people who can inject the right amount of emotion to your words. The Speechki AI conversion failed to add the right inflection throughout my book – especially when it came to dialogue lines that were questions and…I don’t know. Maybe that’s a good thing, because if AI can’t add the right inflections to achieve the right emotional punch, then we still have a way of telling the difference between a human voice and an AI one. I don’t know how long that difference might last though, and I’m not enthused about the potential to have that line erased.

But let’s address the simple fact that AI is already an important part of our lives. We have Alexa and Siri, and we don’t think twice about asking them for directions or the weather. Although, the endless promotional ads enticing me to sit back and chat with an AI generated therapist is just…creepy as fuck! Stop it! I may be an introvert, but I’m not that hard up for friends. Back on track, though—we don’t think twice about using autocorrect or Grammarly as writing tools. But on that note, autocorrect irritates the hell out of me. I don’t use the word duck as regularly as it thinks I do, and if I do, it’s usually a mistake that it doesn’t correct. And Grammarly…I downloaded it once, then said nope, and deleted it the next day. It ruined the flow of thoughts spilling out of me, and I already write and correct things in spurts.

Anyway, those are some things to think about regarding the future of books and art and movies with AI. I haven’t even touched on the insane level of digital actor replacements being used by deepfakes. It’s a lot to comprehend, a lot to keep watch on, a lot to worry about. Artists already struggle when it come to being compensated for their work. They let some of it slide because of their passion for that work. They don’t need Artificial Intelligence replacing them because of some formula. Screenwriters in particular are confronted with the notion that their scripts should adhere to some “formula,” but in reality, it’s the rulebreakers that take the audience by surprise.

My AI narrated audiobook version of The Schoharie is currently available exclusively through BookBaby. As of the date of this blog entry, the audiobook version hasn’t made one cent. 

And I’m okay with that.

Book Review -- A House With Good Bones, by T. Kingfisher -- A Horror Comedy Delight

 

Cover Image courtesy of
Tor Nightfire

Do you note how NetGalley asks if you would recommend this book to others? Well, I was talking about and recommending this book before I was finished with it. It’s horror lite, most certainly. But it’s clever and funny and well worth the read. I was reading this, also, upon a visit home to my mom after a bit of a health scare. My mom lives in my grandparents old house in a rather rural neighborhood. Her best friend is a gardener and bird enthusiast, and vultures are a common sighting. So maybe it was karma that led me to this book.

I’m also still viewing the world of entertainment with that Bechdel test lingering at the back of my mind, and T Kingfisher passes that metric without out batting an eyelash. Sam is a bug scientist. She's single, and while the story has a potential love interest in Phil the handyman, Phil is far from the center of attention. Because Mom has been acting weird. Sam needs to know what’s up because the house, that had once been filled with the bright eclectic flavor of her mom, has slowly returned to the "nice and normal" ambiance of Sam's grandmother who, in hindsight, turns out to have been not very nice at all in her quest for normalcy. Also, the local witch down the road has a haven for vultures, and those vultures are very keen on giving attention to Sam's mom's house.

As strange and suspicious events continue to unfold, involving a lack of bugs in the garden and mom's insistence to adhere to grandma's outdated ways, Sam embarks on an investigation that unravels a few unsettling truths about her family history that author Kingfisher masterfully connects to some outrageously true history connected to L. Ron Hubbard.

It’s such a clever and creative little horror story, with how it weaves the seemingly unrelated horror elements into a cohesive whole by the end. I want to give spoilers so bad with this, but I’ll refrain. Suffice to say that it gets five stars and is near guaranteed to entertain.

Free Reads On NetGalley, Plus a Review on Piñata, by Leopoldo Gout

If you aren’t familiar with it, NetGalley is great. It's an opportunity for writers to get their work out to readers for free in order to coax honest reviews of their recently published (or soon to be published) work. It’s an opportunity for readers to get a free look at new books by both new and established writers before the general reading audience sees it.

Of course there’s a catch. Readers are expected to leave a rating or review of the book. But this isn’t like Goodreads, where there's that chance of a new author giving you what for if the review isn’t what they want to hear. No, NetGalley is a trusted intermediary in that process. There's no chat room where author and reviewer might virtually bump into each other. NetGalley is the barrier between the two, giving the reader the chance to give an honest opinion and the author a chance to garner thoughtful feedback for themselves and, potentially, more readers.

I've prefaced this blog with a pitch for NetGalley for two reasons. First, I am going to review a newly released horror novel, Piñata, by Leopoldo Gout. I found it on NetGalley. Second, I'm pitching my own new release, Perfect Sacrifices, which isn’t currently on NetGalley, but will be soon. Perfect Sacrifices is book three of the Perfect Prophet series, and you can find books one and two (Prophet Reborn) on NetGalley for a limited time, starting now. I am so happy with the completed third book, and I hope horror readers will love it. But it needs reviews before people will consider it, and there is a bit of backstory that comes easier if you’re familiar with the first two books. Perfect Prophet and Prophet Reborn have decent professional reviews, but it's the regular reader reviews that people look for. The more, the merrier. So please feel free to check out and review Perfect Prophet and Prophet Reborn for free at NetGalley for the next three months. You can post those reviews elsewhere too, if you want to make an author happy. Here's a link where you can sign up or login if you’re already a member…

https://www.netgalley.com/auth/login

And here’s a link to Perfect Prophet  and Prophet Reborn specifically…

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/?text=Diane+M.+Johnson

Onto the real reason you’re here, a review on Piñata by Leopoldo Gout.

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/267318

First, thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC of this intriguing horror novel. I’m a sucker for horror with cultural or historical roots, and Piñata easily fills that bill. Also, I picked this book up on the tail end of reading a book that failed the Bechdel test, and that metric is still at the back of my mind, so… This book has several female main characters who talk to each other about things beyond the men in their lives. Bravo, Mr. Gout. You passed the test!

I enjoyed this horror piece, about a Mexican descended family from NY who travel to Mexico because of mom's work as an architect. It doubles as an opportunity for the woman's school age daughters to get a taste of their heritage but, teenage girls being who they are, it doesn’t end well. But the teenage apathy isn’t the worst of the family’s problems. The mom, Carmen, is a woman in a male dominated field, and the site that her firm is helping renovate into a hotel is an old church with a dark historical past.

The near decimation of the Mexican indigenous population at the hands of conquistadors and Spanish missionaries has left a centuries old stain on this location of the world, and the history and cultural relevance of the piñata is at its core. Once part of Nahua rituals of death and rebirth, it has now become a party favor, a mockery of its original importance and meaning. Until Carmen's youngest daughter Luna shows up and introduces herself to the long silenced spirits of the past who seek revenge. Luna becomes a sort of conduit for those vengeful spirits in a way that that little girl in the movie Poltergeist was used by the voices on a static filled TV. Sort of. I’m not going to provide any more possible spoilers except to say that the idea that Poltergeist uses—the gentrification over sacred land, is an easy comparison.

I enjoyed the book, most definitely, although the build to the horrific end was a little slower than I would have preferred. The slow build pulls the rating down maybe more than it should. I don’t know, maybe it was the writing style that was fine…but it didn’t quite fill me with the looming terror that I felt it should have. Until the end. It ramped up quickly by the last quarter of the book.

At the tail end of Women's History month--A book that fails the Bechdel test

Cover image courtesy of
Sterling and Stone

And look, I understand that not every piece of reading or viewing entertainment out there needs to pass this simple test, but the lead character of Once Upon a Crime by Nolan King is a woman. You would think the author would be able to give her a female friend, and you would think that—as a cop—she could find things to discuss with that other female besides men. I’m not being nit picky here, and if you don’t know what the Bechdel test is, look it up. Also, the victims of this cop thriller are all women, stalked by a serial killer with an obsession for Grimms' fairytales. 

Anyway, we could argue about the specifics of the Bechdel test: 1) The story needs two "featured" women (Chelsea Sullivan is the only featured one, even though her detective partner has a mom and ex girlfriend who make a brief appearance to be concerned about…the new girl in his life…), 2) Those "featured women" need to have at least one brief conversation together (Chelsea's only brief conversation is with a librarian near the end of the story, and she's not a featured character), and 3) that conversation between two "featured" women has to be about anything other than a man (if we’re counting the partner's mom and ex girlfriend, well they’re discussing him and his love life, so—fail). 

But hey, as detective thrillers go, this story was… okay. If you're a fan of TV shows like Bones, Castle, Big Sky, where there are two detective partners tracking down crime while flirting with the potential that they are meant for each other (by denying it at every turn), this story might be for you.

COVER REVEAL for the final book in the Perfect Prophet series, COMING SOON

Two Reviews for the Price of One: Representing Diversity in Time for Black History Month, Plus Another Shoutout to the Work of Stephen Graham Jones

 Hey, it's Black History Month! And I was fortunate to receive an ARC of The Black Guy Dies First from Saga Press. This nonfiction book on the history of Black people in horror cinema drops February 7th, 2023, and it's a perfect reading choice for anyone looking to fill up on a little cultural history relevant to the month.

Do you know what else drops on February 7th? Book two of the Lake Witch trilogy, Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones. I teased this review back in October, and the release date is here! So enjoy the review.

The Black Guy Dies First is a great reading choice for the Black History month of February. Don't Fear the Reaper is a great one too, because it's set during a freaking blizzard--much like the weather we've been having across the country. Either title is a great choice, really. Enjoy!

Cover Image courtesy of Saga Press

First of all, thank you Saga Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title in the nick of time before Black History month.  Timing is everything. I felt a little pressured to finish this one quickly because of it and, well... here it is; a relevant review in time for a relevant month to post it. Anyway, on to the review!

When I got the mailer asking if I was interested in this title, I was beside myself. I mean, what a title! Being a bit of a movie person AND a bit of a horror person, that title meant something. I laughed because of the sad in-joke that it represents--because it's true. I was also invested, because I have an interest in horror movies in general. I know about the significance of  Duane Jones in Night of the Living Dead, I've seen the Candyman films, I'm more than familiar with the Scary Movie memes and I know who Yaphett Kotto is. And The Shining, well that's the movie that cemented my relationship with horror.

Needless to say, all of these iconic movies and people are discussed, along with Jordan Peele--of course. And if you know the in-joke of the title, or just a passing knowledge of why I've mentioned the short list above, then this book may be for you. Authors Coleman and Harris take a deeper dive into the history of Black creatives in the horror genre. They do it with humor, with wit and with a sometimes uncomfortable level of snark, but hey, it is what it is. Honest snark. They're allowed a little bit of room for snark.

Either way, it's a great title to add to your shelf if you're a movie history or horror buff of any kind. I highly recommend it. 4 Stars.

Cover Image courtesy of Saga Press

I’m tearing myself apart trying to decide how to rate this latest installment of the Lake Witch Trilogy by Stephen Graham Jones because, in the movies at least, the sequel rarely stands up to the first one. There are arguable exceptions, of course. Aliens over Alien tracks for me. The Empire Strikes Back, for many a Star Wars fan (although my #1 will always be A New Hope, and Rogue One comes out ahead of Empire for me…). The Godfather Two, apparently, although the one I remember best is the first. That second Lord of the Rings, I guess…

But I'm going down a rabbit hole, and siting examples that aren’t technically in the horror genre to boot. Except for the Alien franchise. I should site Jaws, because it’s relevant to this story, and there isn’t one Jaws sequel that compares to the original. And Predator, well…the recent prequel Prey is the only one to best it, imo—and it surpasses the original by far.

Anyway, back to this review. It's a fast paced, non-stop slasher fest, more so than the first one, because that's what sequels aspire to do; there's that need to top that previous installment with more explosions, more car chases—or in this case, more splashy ways to bring out the guts and gore.

And I envision Jones standing there before the challenge, much Iike his main character Jade, giving his audience a curt nod of the head that says, "Bring it on, man. Bring it."  But don’t expect to dive into this book without reading the first one. It's easy to get lost even if you have read My Heart is a Chainsaw. In fact, I’d say it's mandatory reading. Regardless.

What I like about Don’t Fear The Reaper:

1) Dark Mill South. He's big. He's an admirable addition to the list of horror slasher icons, and his back story teaches us a little bit about that Native American history our U.S. education system likes to gloss over (or ignore). And the hook for a hand, well… any basic horror fan should know what that is a nod to. You don’t have to say his name, we know it.

2) Jones' strong suit is his ability to put us inside a character’s head—inside their skin, I guess. A suitable way to say it here, especially. It's not only Jade's eyes we're seeing through this time, and that can get tricky. But Jones is great at it. He's proven time and again, for me, that he knows how to give depth to his characters.

3) The creative, slashery ways people die is right on the mark, and the "rules" involving who dies and who doesn’t keep with the slasher tradition while playing with if there even should be rules, Scream style.

4) The beginning of this sequel gives clarity to the ending of My Heart is a Chainsaw, something I really needed. Also, the relationship Jade has with her mother—or lack of one, is addressed. Thank you! And the ending to this book is more satisfying, more complete for me

There is a lot going on in this book though. There's the slasher story, the revenge story, the ghost story, a spirit animal story. They all overlap, and it can get confusing. It’s that frenzy of making the sequel something bigger to outdo the first story, so be prepared. I feel like My Heart is a Chainsaw had more heart, it focusing on Jade and Jade alone. In Reaper, she no longer has that massive chip on her shoulder. She’s grown. What makes this story its own is the way the traumatic experience from Chainsaw has settled into the rest of the survivors, changing them forever in the wake of yet another slasher gone wild. Except this time, the slasher has a clear identity…or maybe not.

Yeah, it’s still a 5 star read…Maybe a 4.6. And Yes, I’m still looking forward to the final book. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

William Martell Has a Lot to Say About Writing-- -- A Short Book Review for Screenwriters...or Any Writer

Great Book for Writers

Let’s face it, there is no void in the category of writing tutorials, and there are plenty of titles that your writing friends tell you is the 'Bible’ of writing/screenwriting how to books. You have some of those titles on your shelves: Trottier, Field, Mamet, King, Vogler, that cat one…my favorite is William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade. I've even got that Lajos Egri one that I will always wonder if I’m pronouncing right, and there's a good chance that I've just spelled wrong…

The point is that there are a lot of books, and as writers, we can’t read them all (well we could, but who wants to…) Still, there are times when we need a quick refresher, or even a fresh perspective on organizing our writing journey, and Bill Martell fills that bill.

Martell offers nothing really new here, in fact, he emphasizes that there’s nothing really new with any of the writing how to's out there, and I tend to agree. So, what he's done in this book in particular is to focus on why an outlining process is important and how defining a theme helps bring it all together. He eventually breaks down the film Ghost to work through the idea of a theme.

He also mentions a lot of those other books and he emphasizes that what's important is to find the method that works for you. He packs a lot of information into this little book—it's down and dirty, and the occasional typo proves it. But it's valuable information. It's a fantastic substitute for the struggling writer on a budget, and I highly recommend it.

You can find William Martell's books at Amazon. 

First Review of 2023 and why that's kinda, sorta a lie

Hello Everyone, and Happy 2023! Seriously, let's make Happy happen. I am posting a review here of a book that I read and technically reviewed back in November. But I neglected to post the review here because, you know. Busyness. Is that even a word? I don't care. Because my first blog post of the year is here and done, and that makes me happy. 

So, here it is, The Delve by Dan Fitzgerald... Get ready for some fantasy, TTRPG action romance, because that's what this book is all about. It's a niche audience for sure. But then again, so is horror. So, here's the review:

Well written on multiple levels. 

First, I need to disclose up front that this is not a book I would normally read. I like some fantasy, but I’m not a regular reader of TT/LitRPG or Erotica in general, so I’m not the best audience. But I see a request for ARC reads in the social media reader community, and I sometimes pay it forward with an honest review. Plus, it’s good to pick something up that’s out of your comfort zone once in a while. You never know, you might find a real gem. 

So, the Delve takes us to a world populated by races of furry beings known as the Maer and the Timon who are at war with the hairless skinf*ckers known as humans. It’s a traditional fantasy world full of medieval battles, dragons and sci-fi tech, and our heroes are tasked with a mission to see what’s going down at a brightstone mine gone dark and run by the Timon. 

Author Fitzgerald gets right into the action with our Maer heroes Ygland, Ardo and Aene who are confronted by dragon like monsters and their ultimate foes, a band of humans led by a mage intent on sabotage. They eventually meet up with Skiti and Laanda, two major characters representing the Timon. Laanda is the Timon queen and a worthy warrior to boot. 

The action sequences are a strong point in this story. Also, strong pacing, and well defined characters. Each character is distinct in personality, and they work well together as a team. There is conflict between the ways of the Maer and the Timon that creates adequate dramatic tension. 

Author Fitzgerald warns us at the start that the sex scenes in this story are graphic. And yes, he gets pretty detailed. The knight Ygland and his squire Ardo have a dominant/submissive relationship, and they express their physical affection for each other often. I’m not a huge fan of erotica, but in the context of their characters and their relationship, showing it to some degree makes sense. I was convinced of their true feelings for each other. 

There are also a couple of bondage scenes in other relationships. For me, they didn’t always feel necessary to the plot, but then again I’m not a huge fan of erotica. Also keep in mind that nothing in terms of the sexual activities of the characters was ever non consensual. Still, I wasn’t fully convinced of the attraction between some of the characters that led to the sex, in particular, one character’s attraction to a villain based on eye contact. I wasn’t convinced of the almost immediate level of trust between the two, considering the villain's crimes. 

The Delve itself represents the character Igland's quest to be heralded as a proper knight and hero before being put to rest in an almost sacrificial way by his people. He's all about tradition until the time comes when he understands the real sacrifices he’s making by upholding those traditions. There’s a worthwhile love story at the heart of the decisions he needs to make, and yet it doesn’t deter from the action of the delve itself. 

I was confused by a couple of tangents at the bitter end of the story that felt more relevant to our own recent events rather than what was going on in the actual story. But they were minor. The Delve is a solid read, great world building and character building, and plenty of erotica for the fan of it.