The Sun Zebra by R. Garcia - Book Review

The Sun Zebra by R. Garcia is a collection of stories told by a father about his young daughter and their daily antics. Five stories about extraordinary circumstances and the meaning behind them.

Garcia's writing captures the reader. I was drawn right into the story and was surprised with the outcome. The family connection I felt was strong but very natural. The characters felt real, flawed, beautiful, and surprising.

The stories were a little bit too soap-boxy. The morals were point blank told to the reader. Granted, there was a lot of showing, a lot of stark, sweet moments, but the telling would creep back in and I was honestly frustrated. The stories touched me; they hit a nerve, but they would have snuck even deeper into my heart and mind if I was left thinking about them instead of being told what to think.

One note about the cover art: stunning, simply stunning.

R. Garcia parodied Poe in a very clever way. He showed what it's like to have the mind of a child. I really can't wait for more from this author. In the end, the stories were thoroughly enjoyable. I never wanted to stop reading, and I was left with a smile on my face.

I received this book from the author for review.

True Colors and Other Short Stories by Michelle Davidson Argyle - Book Review

True Colors by Michelle Davidson Argyle is a stunning collection of literary short stories and poems self-published by the author.

 I found the imagery to be absolutely stark, the language fluid and convoluted in a beautiful way, and the stories natural and inviting in their life-like portrayal. Michelle brings the reader directly into the stories with colors and emotions and dialogue.

The symbolic meanings behind a lot of her metaphors are clear but strong. Water is a constant among her stories, among other things, but it didn't ever feel overused, it was always new. Also, fish slip in and out of the stories; a slimy, slick connection bringing color and life in the form of metaphors and similes. The book is connected as a whole, but each story stands on its own equally as well.

There were a few of the stories that I felt were too confusing. They felt like poems offered in prose form and just didn't hit me right. But then there were stories I wanted to curl up in, disappearing inside them for the next few days.

My favorite was Enclosures with a close second on Clover.

You can find the book here: 
Amazon (paperback)  
Amazon (Kindle ebook) 
Amazon UK (Kindle ebook) 
Barnes & Noble (Nook ebook) 
Smashwords (all formats)

And you can find Michelle here:
http://www.michelledavidsonargyle.com/

P.S. Michelle's ebooks are all on sale for $0.99 in December!

Getting to Know You and My WiPs

First a question for all you readers. I'm going to host an internet meme, which is basically where I blog something, you all blog the same type of thing, and then you put your links on here so we can all share. I'll be doing it weekly for the next while, I don't know how long it will last. It will involve getting to know each other through saying things about ourselves pertaining to a particular topic. (Like what kind of pets have you owned?)

The question is...should it be 'Three Things Thursdays' or 'Five Things Fridays'? My dilemma is that three things are easier to come up with, but most people don't blog on Thursdays. (And I'm stuck on the alliteration so that can't change.) So state your opinion, and if that includes a different alliterative idea, go for it!

Ok, onto my works in progress. I've had this bar to the right ------> for a while now. It indicates that I'm 107% finished. I'm pretty proud of that. I told myself I would write five short stories in two months, and I did. And you know what? With each one I got better.

I really enjoy writing short stories. Because they are so small they give me a sense of accomplishment while I'm in the middle of writing a novel. Otherwise I feel bogged down by the fact that I'll never, ever finish. So I pull an idea out of my insanely busy head and type it up. A lot of my short stories come from inspiration around me. Like people I see on the train or in a coffee shop. They are always character driven. And they tend to run just one or two pages long.

Now I need to take this pile of short stories I have, really fix a few up, and start submitting to magazines. Anybody have any advice on that?