Blogs / Reviews
Book Review of Hans Waldemar Remembers Normandy by Aubrey Taylor
This is a short novelette about a former Nazi soldier now living in the US with his family. It ends leaving the hope of redemption not yet fulfilled. It’s modern times, so he’s in his nineties. His great granddaughter asks him to come to her school and share his experiences in the war. The story starts with Waldi, as he’s known, dreaming of his time in Germany, but most of the story is the interaction between Waldi and his family and the classroom presentation…
Book Review of The Hidden Saboteur by Charles Besondy
This is a story of redemption. One man coming to Christ and one man returning to God. There are some powerful Christian messages in this book. Overall, it’s a good read…
Do Readers Care about Point of View?
Lately, I’ve read a lot of books with different variations of point of view. There are the traditional private eye novels that are always first person. I’ve read third-person point of view. No surprise. There are novels with multiple first-person points of view – by chapter. Multiple third-person points of view, usually by chapter, but not always. And those with the protagonist as first person and the antagonist as third person…
Book Review of His To Love by Z. Peabody
There is redemption in this long novella, but I feel the redemption has already happened to the two main characters as they are both Christians. The story is a romance. I’m not sure the sub-genre, (and there are no categories listed on Amazon) but those of you more familiar may recognize it. Anyway, we might vaguely say both Sophia and Griffin are redeemed when they finally come together…
My Writing Technique: Scene Ahead Blog on ACFW
Some writers are plotters. They write a detailed outline of the entire story before writing a scene. Some writers are pantsers. They write with no outline and no idea where they are going. I started as a plotter. I wrote a wonderful ten-chapter outline for my first book. But when the book ended up being thirty chapters, that was the end of outlining. However, I also found I could not just plow ahead with no idea where I was going. I came up with a process that is a combination of the two extremes. It’s a technique I call scene ahead…
Book Review of The Hay Bale by Priscilla Bettis
A short review for a short story. Only 34 pages total. The theme of vengeance runs throughout the story, though it’s not obvious until the end. This is a horror story written in the vein of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. Not quite that quality, but “The Lottery” is one of the all-time great short stories. The Hay Bale is dark, creepy, and disturbing. Everything one wants in a horror story…
