Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "neil-schiller"

I met Neil Schiller through Bookpleasures, when I reviewed his book of short stories,Oblivious. I was so impressed by the collection that I just had to interview Neil and introduce him to you. If you like reading short stories based on real life issues, you'll absolutely love Neil's collection of moody, dark, short stories. Most of the stories in the collection revolve around loss, regret, misunderstandings, and relationships. All of them are insightful and reflect a side of life that we sometimes choose to ignore.



I have since discovered that Neil is quite an accomplished writer.

As well as agreeing to be interviewed on my blog, Neil will be giving away a copy of Oblivious to one lucky person who leaves a comment on my blog! This is truly an exceptional collection of short stories not to be missed.

Here are Neil's answers to my interview questions:


Is there a particular author, or book, that inspired you to start writing?

I’m not sure whether there was a single book that made me want to be a writer. There were certainly some that made me more serious about it. I read Orwell’s 1984 when I was seventeen – it was probably the first literary work I’d ever sought out and read for myself. Until then I’d read genre novels, mostly horror and some sci-fi, the usual male teenage reading list. I remember that book made a huge impression on me. The brutal honesty with which he tackles human weakness – where Winston Smith is determined he won’t give up the woman he loves and under torture he not only gives her up, he begins to hate her. I thought that was profound. Deeply depressing, but it just seemed like the kind of truth that most writers shy away from and it impressed me because he was brave enough to unearth the idea and to meet it head on.



When did you first discover your love of writing?


As long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be a writer. I don’t really know why. English was always my best subject at school, even from a young age. It could well be that realising this led me to writing as an ambition. I know when I was about six I copied out the first two or three pages of The Gingerbread Man into an exercise book and declared I’d written a book. I was a strange kid I suppose. It was around fifteen or sixteen that I started writing under my own steam and just found it a great way of ordering my thoughts and ideas, which otherwise always seemed a bit of a mess in my own head. I stuck with it as I seem to be a less dazed and confused person when I’m writing.


Do you have any tips for someone who is considering self-publishing their own book?


There are the obvious things about making sure it’s ready, getting it proof-read etc. But for me the most important thing would be to make sure you have realistic expectations. Don’t expect 10,000 sales on the day it goes up. If it’s good, it will sell, but it’s like pushing a car, it takes some time and effort to gain any momentum. You will have to try and promote it in some way, however against the grain that may seem, and even then the hours spent trying not to upset people by being too pushy on forums and discussion spaces may still only generate interest from a handful of people. It takes time and patience, and in my opinion you have to look on it as a start that you can hopefully build upon.


As well as writing fiction, you have written critical works on Charles Bukowski and Richard Brautigan.  What is it about those authors that made you decide to write about them?




I did a Masters degree in twentieth century literature and part of the course was a dissertation on any writer we wanted to cover. I couldn’t really think of anyone I would be able to write 20,000 to 30,000 words on. So I was poking around Waterstones and they had a section at the time for ‘Cult Fiction’. I’m always drawn to things that proclaim themselves to be cult, just because from experience I tend to like these things more than mainstream work. So I picked up Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Bukowski and just from reading the first couple of pages I was hooked. I think it’s just his deadpan style which is punctuated with moments of wistful beauty, and his unapologetic stoicism – those things struck a chord with me. He became my dissertation subject because I just found so much in his work that I had an opinion on and could commit to paper.

I discovered Brautigan in a similar way. I was in London for a meeting and I was reading A Clockwork Orange on the train. I finished it much more quickly than I expected and was left without anything to read on the way back. So again, I went into Waterstones and made a beeline for the ‘Cult Fiction’ section. I found A Confederate General from Big Sur and loved it. It reminded me of the Beats but with just enough of a postmodernist slant to make it quirky and funny and interesting. I love his insane use of imagery which seems so outlandish it shouldn’t work, and yet it does. His minimalism in particular was a huge influence on me. What blew me away though is this technique he uses of turning a metaphor into a literal descriptive. I’ve read all his work and some of it is incredible, and some of it actually isn’t very good in my opinion, but again, even in those inferior books there is so much going on that I found myself thinking I would probably never run out of things to say about him.


I read on your blog that you wrote The Haiku Diary in 2008.  Can you tell us a bit more about that and how it came about?


Essentially it came about because I was working with someone whose father had recently died. He uncovered a diary in his personal effects that had been written in the 1940s when he was serving in North Africa as a young private. The guy I worked with was telling me how it was opening his eyes to a side of his father he had never known. I pondered about that for a few days, thinking about my two year old daughter and how there would probably be a side to me she’d never get to see as our relationship would always be defined in a particular way. I was also reading a lot of Haiku at the time, as part of the research on Brautigan and his Zen Buddhist influences. My partner bought me a book called The Haiku Year for Christmas as she knew I was enjoying reading Basho and Issa and because the book had contributions from Michael Stipe and Grant Lee Phillips – two musicians I admire. All those things kind of coalesced and I decided to record a year of my life, warts and all, for my daughter to look at when she’s older. I figured writing a Haiku a day would make me focus on what I was putting down, instead of rambling on about appointments at the dentist and really mundane things like that. It was never intended for publication. I put it up for the Kindle purely because I found self-promotion so difficult and I figured with poetry being a smaller product range than fiction, it might make my name more visible on listings.



I recently read and enjoyed your book of short stories Oblivious.  As I mentioned in my review of the book, two of the stories that caught my attention were ‘Trapped’ and ‘Half’.  They are very short.  ‘Trapped’ is only one sentence.  Tell us about the thought process behind including that as a short story. 


Brautigan wrote a story called ‘The Scarlatti Tilt’ which is two sentences long. I was blown away when I read it because the couple of dozen words he used were just so evocative it felt like a much fuller narrative. They just sort of bled off the page and I found myself constructing from them a fully formed, two or three thousand word story in my head. I saw from poking around the Webook forum that people were trying micro fiction, stories of no more than six words and because of that Brautigan story the idea really appealed to me. I wrote about twenty of them, some of them awful, some of them not so bad. I picked what seemed the best one to go into the collection just to see if I could get away with it. Initially, I was going to include two of them, but that seemed like I might be pushing it.

Which are your favourite stories from Oblivious and why?


It’s hard to say. Every time I look at them I have different opinions on whether they’re any good or not. I like the opening to ‘Brand Awareness’, just because I like writing about music and I was happy with the descriptions the songs inspired, but I don’t think the story as a whole is my favourite. I was pleased with the way ‘The Anarchist’ turned out, but the one that I probably like best is ‘A Long Winter’. I think the tone of that one is possibly the most consistent throughout. What surprises me is that other people who read it always pick as their favourites the ones that I don’t think are quite as strong, so what do I know?


Did you write Oblivious as a collection of stories, or were they stories you had written over the years?

Kind of both really. I always had a collection in mind but I wrote them over a long period and kept rotating things in and out. I pulled one or two stories at the last minute as they differed in tone to the others, so I guess I was focused on it working as a set of related pieces. 



Many of the stories in Oblivious feature protagonists who are lost or struggling in some way.  They are all very realistic.  Are any of the characters based on real people?


Yes. Some of them are fictionalised versions of experiences I’ve had, others are drawn from the experiences of people I know, or have known. The dialogue in particular is all based on actual dialogue of some sort – just because every time I tried to write dialogue from scratch I failed to give it any authenticity. Some of them started from anecdotes people told me, or I overheard. The central idea behind ‘The Anarchist’, for example, was an incident that someone I know had witnessed on a bus not long after the terrorist attacks in London. An Asian man got on with a bag and someone decided in their infinite wisdom that anyone who wasn’t white who was carrying a bag had to be suspicious. I put with that the image of a burnt out car which actually came from the person who bought my house from me and reported back, when I bumped into her, that her car had been set alight when a firework got caught underneath it. The rest of the story formed around those two things – I added in descriptions of the place I used to live and things I’d seen in restaurants when the pubs had let out etc.


Are any of the stories in Oblivious autobiographical in any way?


Yes, that was the starting point for some of them. I won’t admit to which ones, (although I have a horrible feeling some might be obvious), except to say that ‘You’ was written about the death of my grandfather when I was in my early twenties. I was so devastated by it at the time that the only way I could get my feelings straight was to write it out. It was originally written in first person but I changed it to a second person narrative after reading Bright Lights, Big City – I thought it might resonate with readers more that way, align it with their experiences of similar emotions.


You review books by independently published authors on your blog.  What do you like about reviewing books?


I love reviewing. Books, records and films mostly. I just enjoy the challenge of trying to articulate what you like, or don’t like, about something. I don’t articulate half as well verbally as I do in written form, so I think reviewing is my way of trying to compensate. On Webook I did a lot of fifty word film reviews and that was just great. It helped my writing enormously as it forces you to be economical and to strip off the excess from every single sentence. I’m an Amazon Vine reviewer, and I think I was asked to do that because I was bored one night and had a few drinks and reviewed just about every CD I could think of that I liked. The drinks resulted in me waxing lyrical again and again, but it seemed to work as I got a lot of helpful votes from other customers…


Who are your favourite authors and what is it about their writing that you like?

I mentioned Orwell, and he is one of my favourites just because he dealt with subjects in his work that, in my opinion, very few others have. Bukowski and Brautigan as mentioned above. I also like Raymond Carver who was a massive influence on Oblivious. His stories are so incredibly well observed, and I love his use of understatement. Gabriel García Márquez, just because the ending of One Hundred Years of Solitude was the best ending I’ve ever read, by far. Haruki Murakami – I love the surrealism in his work, the dreamlike quality to books like Sputnik Sweetheart and the seamless way he weaves this into realism. And Ken Kesey. I still think One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a contender for THE great American novel.



Is there a book you own that you’ve read more than once?



I haven’t read many books twice to be honest. Some of the Brautigan ones I reread just to be more familiar with them. I have read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values twice. The second time I seemed to struggle much less in understanding it – it is one hell of a dense book. I’ve also read The Great Gatsby twice, because the first time I wasn’t overly impressed and the way some people I knew were talking about it I suspected I must have missed something. I was right – the second time through I thought it was superb. I mustn’t have been paying attention.

What was the last book you read?



An indie book called The Girl with the Bomb Inside by Andy Conway. It was good. A little rough around the edges, but it seemed deliberately so. The author compared it to “a three minute punk song” and it did have that kind of feel about it. It made me think about why we expect books to be highly polished when we often accept music that hasn’t been quite so sanitised.

Are you reading a book at the moment?


Yes, another indie/small press book: Loisaida -- A New York Story by Marion Stein. It is just incredible. It’s almost like a literary successor to Hubert Selby Jr. with a myriad of different voices – all down and outs of one type or another in 1980s New York – but with a central narrative about a murder and a riot. It really is an amazing book, if it had been written twenty years ago it would probably be spoken of as a cult classic. Why this hasn’t been picked up by a mainstream publishing house I will just never be able to work out.

What do you think of ebooks?



When I first saw an ereader several years ago I thought it was just a fad. But the first time I used a Kindle that a friend of mine had, I was a total convert. I think ebooks are probably the future of reading. On the one hand they’ve made it much easier to self-publish, which I’m obviously happy about. But, of course, the downside is that anyone can self-publish easily now. I don’t mean that in a superior way – who am I to say I’m better than the next writer? What does concern me a little bit, though, is when I think back to some of the absolute rubbish I wrote when I was 17 or 18. At the time I was probably arrogant enough to think it was worthy of publication. In fact, I know I was because I sent some of it to publishers who, quite rightly, rejected it. If the Amazon platform had existed back in 1992 I shudder to think that I might have been stupid enough to put some of this stuff out. I’m guessing there are plenty of 17 or 18 year olds out there now who are in the same place I was back then, and with a few mouse clicks they could be setting themselves up for a big fall when, in fact, if they gave themselves time to develop they may become the truly great authors of the future.

How important are reviews for you as a writer?



Honest critiques of my work are very important. I genuinely want to know what people think of the things I’ve written. I don’t have a problem with them not liking it if they would kindly tell me why. I want to improve as a writer and feedback is absolutely critical in order for me to do that. Obviously it’s a minefield trying to pick through the comments you think can help and those that actually you just don’t agree with, but it’s a minefield worth navigating through. Reviews, as in Amazon reviews, are useful to help draw readers in, and I’m obviously happy when I get a good one, but that’s not the reason I write.

How do you go about choosing a cover for your books?



I’m an enthusiastic amateur photographer and between the ages of 21 and 30 I travelled a little bit around Europe and America – I made it as far as Japan once. So I have this big collection of arty (pretentious?) black and white photographs I took in Amsterdam, Vienna, New York, San Francisco etc. I’m using them for the covers, messing about with them in some free design software I downloaded until they look just about good enough to use. The cover for Oblivious is a photo I took in Venice – just as I was taking it some random bloke turned out of a doorway and started walking away from me, so he was captured in the shot by accident. The cover to The Haiku Diary was taken in Venice as well I think. I have a cover for my next book already even though it isn’t finished, and bizarrely the image I chose is informing the story. It was taken in Paris in the Musee D’Orsay – there’s this great big clock up on the mezzanine floor and you can look out through it. I took a photograph of it from the inside and, again, a couple of people walked into the shot at the last second. So I took it again, and the one with the people in it turned out better because they added a focal point, they’re just there in silhouette and give it a human element. It’s those photographs with random people in I’m drawn to for the covers because they seem to reflect some of the themes of isolation and endurance that I keep coming back to. Someone once told me my photographs have a dreamlike quality to them, and I suppose that’s part of it too: people caught in a dream of their own lives – if that doesn’t sound too pretentious...

What are you working on now?



I’m working on two things. One is a novel/novella called Hinterland which is very similar in style to the short stories in Oblivious, but with a more sustained narrative. I guess you could loosely categorise it as a sort of literary thriller (if such a thing exists). The other is a second collection of short stories, all about music in some form or another. That’s basically because the stories I stripped out of Oblivious are about music and I wanted to give them a home.

Where can people buy your books?

The Kindle formats are available on Amazon, with an epub version of Oblivious available on Goodreads. (I struggled with Smashwords formatting so I took them down from there and still do need to sort that out at some point). Oblivious is also available in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and direct from Createspace.

Amazon (Kindle):
Oblivious

The Haiku Diary

Goodreads (epub):

Oblivious

Paperback:

Oblivious at Amazon UK

Oblivious at Barnes & Noble

Oblivious at CreateSpace

Apart from your blog where people can read more about your work?


At the moment, that’s the main place to go. I am on some writing forums – Webook and YouWriteOn – so my new work is on there to try and gather feedback and comments as I go.



Thank you, Neil, for answering my questions

Remember, Neil is giving away a copy of Oblivious. All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this post. A random winner will be chosen on 1st May 2011. This is an international competition. Good luck!!

As a short story writer, I am thrilled to discover that there is such a thing as National Short Story Month! I found out today from my good friend and fellow author, Stacy Juba, who has a free short story available for download on Smashwords entitled, 'Laundry Day'. I've read some of Stacy's work and would encourage you all to download this story; it's bound to be good, she's a very talented writer.

The short story seems to be getting more popular these days because people live busy lives and often don't have the time or energy to really get into a novel. A good short story can be a really satisfying way to end the day. You can read a whole story in one sitting, without having to wonder what happens next, or worry about forgetting important facts by the time you next sit down to read it.

I am an avid reader as well as a writer, and I used to only read novels, but have recently been finding that I enjoy short stories and short story collections just as much.

I'm very happy that short stories seem to be making a come back because I love writing them as well as reading them.

To celebrate short story month, I thought I would recommend a few short stories and collections that I have read and enjoyed in recent years. I hope you will choose one or two of them to read. (I've included quotes from my reviews of the stories, you can read my full reviews on the relevant pages).

In no particular order:



With this short story, Michael Radcliffe is introducing the world of the Guardian's Apprentice, his fantasy novel... If you like books about witches, wizards, magic, curses etc., you will love this story. It kept me interested and I loved the little twists contained within it. Nisha wants to save her father, a powerful Wizard who is dying. Will she be able to find the stone that will cure him, and at what cost?



A skillfully written crime short story, taking a minor character from Darcia's Michael Sykora series of novels, and giving him the spotlight. Sean Riley is a man with a dark past and this story shows just what effect his past has had on the way he now lives his life. If you like crime fiction, you'll love the way Darcia Helle writes. This character oozes pure evil, and the dialogue-driven prose helps to give the reader the impression that they are a fly on the wall witnessing this brutal scene. Definitely not a story for the fainthearted!



More of a novelette, but still a quick read :)
A psychological thriller exploring schizophrenia and the unexplained bond between twins. It's a story that will have you glued to the page. The suspense is well constructed and made me want to continue reading until I found out what was happening. The story unravels bit by bit, slowly revealing the reasons behind the characters' behaviour. Beaudet drip feeds the information in the most effective way, with flashback scenes and high drama. A wonderfully entertaining story. I'd recommend it to everyone who likes a good suspenseful thriller.




(collection of short stories)
This is a book that will give you a fly on the wall look at ordinary lives and the common scars and ties that bind us. It will reveal to you the hidden side of life, the side most people will never reveal, and of which we are usually oblivious.





Those who love a good romance story will love 'A Valentine For Victoria'. It's a sweet story about how an unlikely couple fall in love. Apart from being a story about how love can blossom in unexpected ways, this story has more depth; it looks at the feelings of insecurity that come with loneliness, that can make us reach out to someone who may or may not be ideal... An underlying theme to this story seems to be 'never judge a book by its cover', and it reminds us that sometimes what we've been looking for has been there all along, but we just don't see it for one reason or another. An entertaining read.



A wonderful, well written story, about a young girl and her father, who doesn't always live up to her ideal. She has created a fantasy figure in her mind of what a real father should behave like. The mannequin in an expensive store looks just right for the part. One day, her world changes when a mystery man appears and challenges her view of the world. An insightful and interesting read.



A story that many will relate to. Dean is a 40 something sales rep who is tired of his humdrum life and job, and of the things in his life, like the road markers, that keep him hemmed in. He wants to break free. In the past he has had suicidal thoughts. We follow him on a ride along a dark highway as he deliberates about the consequences that would follow if he were to cross that line and end it all. His mind meanders like the twists and turns of the highway and McIntytre keeps the reader hooked with many a diversion in this skillfully structured short story. A recommended read.


(collection of stories)

'The Heroes and Other Stories'is a well composed collection of short stories. Kat Hausler has a wonderful talent for describing and portraying the nuances of human behaviour. For me this collection included absolute gems... Two stories in particular stood out for me, in that they grabbed my attention from the first page and would not let go: 'Peripeteia' and 'La Fee Noire'... I loved the ending of the first story 'What Makes Us Happy', a study of self-imposed loneliness; the ending is very fitting and thought-provoking, and that is one of the better stories in the collection too. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of short fiction. Many of the stories are so intricately detailed that I am sure I would enjoy reading them again and again. This is a promising debut from a talented author.



A man wakes up one day to find he has been changed into a large insect/beetle. The story follows his efforts to deal with this, and his family's reaction to the change. But it's not just a story about a man turning into a beetle, it's a clever way of writing about how a family would deal with the main breadwinner in the house becoming unable to work, and also on a wider scope, the way a family (and the world at large) reacts to someone who is disabled, or terminally ill... The once able and hard-working man, transformed into a beetle, is now rejected, and his family blame him for their financial situation and the fact that they cannot move to a smaller house, because they need to have a room to keep him in.
The descriptive quality of the writing is excellent, and although it is a sad and gruesome tale, it is also very funny in parts; I couldn't help laughing out loud a couple of times... The main thing that struck me, was that even though this story is nearly 100 years old, it is still totally relevant to today's world.



(collection of stories)

Tom Upton's talent seems to lie in being able to grab the reader's attention and draw them into the story, and most importantly to keep the reader's interest. There are many believeable and well-observed/developed characters in these tales... My personal favourites are, 'The Hanging Boy', which I felt was particularly insightful, and, 'Life Along the Okie-dokie Highway'...
I enjoyed reading this book and it's definitely a collection worth reading.



(collection of stories and plays)

This book is hilarious. If you like Woody Allen's humour I would highly recommend it. It's totally ridiculous, but brilliant at the same time — which sums up Woody Allen as a comedian. This is a book to make you laugh out loud. It's a collection of short essays, short plays and other strange observations... If you want a giggle you should pick up this book.



I have to start this review with a word of warning: you have to read with an open mind, and I would not recommend this collection of stories to anyone who is of a nervous disposition or who dislikes graphic descriptions of sex and violence, or who has an aversion to the use of swearwords. With that out of the way, I have to say that on the whole, I really enjoyed reading this collection. The author is a very talented writer and has a fantastic imagination. He has created many interesting and compelling tales... The stories are written about the darker side of life and some are frightening, some shocking. All the tales will make you think. Most, if not all, are controversial... definitely a book which you will want to read to the end.

And now, of course, I have to mention my own short story collections :)
I have three collections



A diverse collection of short stories, dealing with subjects such as love, luck, loss, and other things beginning with L (LOL).



A themed collection of stories. 7 stories, each one inspired by a different colour of the rainbow.



My latest collection. Contains ghost stories, love stories and even a bit of sci-fi :)


I hope you will find some short stories to enjoy, and perhaps you'll be persuaded, like I was, that short stories can be just as much fun to read as novels.

Happy National Short Story Month!!

That got your attention, didn't it? Well, I haven't won the Man Booker Prize for fiction... yet ;)



I have been awarded the "The Irresistibly Sweet Blog" Award, by my fellow author and blogger, the awesomely talented Jason McIntyre

Thank you, Jason, that's very "sweet" of you :)

The rules for accepting the award are as follows:

1) Thank and link to the person that nominated you.
2) Share 7 random facts about yourself.
3) Pass the award to 15 of your blogging buddies.
4) Notify the recipients.

Here's where you can find Jason's blog
I would highly recommend it as a very entertaining place to visit on the world wide web.

7 Random facts about me...

1. I am no good at writing lists of facts about me
2. I'm currently putting the final edits on my soon to be released novel, 'The Dream'
3. I like heavy metal music
4. I once acted as a defence lawyer for a celebrity's brother when I was a criminal solicitor, and met the said celebrity's mother (sorry, can't disclose who it was... client confidentiality)
5. Babies always seem to like me for some reason
6. I can knit
7. I can't swim


Here (in no particular order) are 15 more wonderful blogs I would recommend:

Darcia Helle -- A Word Please

Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick -- The Tale is The Thing

Lisette Brodey -- Molly Hacker

Neil Schiller

The Secret Writer

Julie Elizabeth Powell

Quentin R. Bufogle

Ann Mauren

Catherine Rose

Stacy Juba

Jen Knox

Paul Mansfield Keefe

Marty Beaudet -- By A Thread

Susan Helene Gottfried -- West Of Mars

Notes from an Alien

As most of you already know, I am a resident author at http://www.bestsellerbound.com a wonderful forum for readers and writers dedicated to bringing you the best in indie fiction.

We are very proud to announce that the first BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology is now published!



It's free to download from Smashwords in any format you choose.

Here's the link you need: BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology on Smashwords

It includes an exclusive new short story by me, 'Flames', which you won't find in any of my currently published collections.

The themes in the Anthology include: romance, mystery, fantasy, wizards, witches, music, torture

It's a very diverse collection sure to contain a story or two that you'll fall in love with whatever your taste. So, click the link and download your free copy, and don't forget to tell all your friends about it.

Here's a list of the story titles and authors:

Wish Upon A Star by Lainey Bancroft

Tears For Hesh by J. Michael Radcliffe

You Can Call Me Ari by Darcia Helle

Flames by Maria Savva

Minor Details by Jaleta Clegg

Ice Cream Man by Neil Schiller

No Eyes But Mine Shall See by Sharon E. Cathcart

The First Texas Twister by Magnolia Belle

Shadow Lantern by Gareth Lewis

Stained by Amy Saunders

We hope you'll enjoy the stories, please do let us know what you think!

Happy reading :)

Bestseller Bound Anthology by Darcia Helle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One of my short stories is featured in this collection, 'Flames'. My review does not include that story.



This is a diverse collection of stories, there's something for everyone in this anthology.



Wish Upon A Star by Lainey Bancroft

An insightful tale about a gifted singer who falls prey to the ravages of fame. Lainey is an author who understands the human psyche well.



Tears For Hesh by J. Michael Radcliffe

An entertaining fantasy tale, containing wizards, magic, curses, and spells. Hesh is a likeable character and I felt compassion for him. Well written with a tragic twist.



You Can Call Me Ari by Darcia Helle

A chilling, suspense story to keep you on the edge of your seat. By far the most vivid story in the collection. The descriptive quality of the writing pulls the reader in. Fans of Darcia's writing can be assured that even though this is just a short story it is just as scary as her novels!



Minor Details by Jaleta Clegg

A humourous tale about two teenage girls, one of whom can't spell. This leads to an unfortunate turn of events (or, fortunate, depending on how you look at it!) A fun read.



Ice Cream Man by Neil Schiller

Having read and enjoyed Neil's collection of short stories Oblivious, I was not disappointed by this story. It contains the same moody feel as much of his writing. It is in essence a poignant story of disappointment.



No Eyes But Mine Shall See by Sharon E. Cathcart

Sharon Cathcart sets the scene well in this heartbreaking story of a love denied. I liked the descriptive quality of the writing. Much of the story is written in the form of a letter that will never be read, making it all the more heartrending.



The First Texas Twister by Magnolia Belle

A fun and entertaining tale about how the Wild West collided with Native American culture to create the first tornado.



Shadow Lantern by Gareth Lewis

An interesting concept. A short story told entirely through dialogue with no narrative. At first, I didn't think it would work, and must admit to being a bit confused as to which character was speaking at times. By the end, however, I found myself entertained by this fantasy tale.



Stained by Amy Saunders

I hadn't read any of Amy's work before this short story, but now I will be seeking out more of her writing. I was very impressed by the way the author deals with the main character's emotions after a traumatic event. The tale is enthralling and the ending is moving. All believable characters.



All in all, this is a great collection and a wonderful way to introduce readers to some very talented independent authors.



View all my reviews

My short story collection, Fusion is now available as an ebook on Barnes and Noble, for those of you that like Nook books :)

Click here to purchase the Nook version of 'Fusion':

Fusion at B&N

Here is a list of the story titles:

1. Only time can divide us (you can read an excerpt from this story here:Excerpt on Goodreads)
2. Untold Crimes
3. There but for the grace of God
4. The last time he saw her
5. A vicious circle
6. Me and my dictionary (read a fun introduction to the main character in this story, here: Meet Giles)
7. Waiting on a Train
8. Justice for Ernie
9. Cold calling
10. Make hay while the sun shines
11. The legacy
12. Hope springs eternal
13. The reunion
14. Something new
15. Obsession
16. Visions
17. A Virtual Affair
18. Till death do us part
19. Seize the Day
20. One woman’s stand
21. The Time Machine
22. The Valentine’s card (Read the whole story on Bookbuzzr, here: The Valentine's Card)

And, in case you missed it, I did post a blog a while back about the inspiration behind some of the stories in the collection. Click here to read it: Inspiration behind Fusion

The ebook version of 'Fusion', whether you buy it on B&N, Amazon, or Smashwords, also contains bonus material by a few of my favourite indie authors:

A short story 'Soft Like Snow' by Jen Knox, from her collection, To Begin Again
An excerpt from the story, 'Inside Out', by Neil Schiller, from his collection, Oblivious
A short story by Darcia Helle, called 'Wilted Brown Eyes'
'Smoke Break' by Susan Helene Gottfried, from ShapeShifter : The Demo Tapes -- Year 1
An excerpt from, 'East meets West', by Jason McIntyre, from his soon to be released short story collection, 'Black Light of Day'.

The idea behind including this bonus material is that you can get a taste of other indie writers' work and maybe go on to purchase one of their books. I would highly recommend all of the above
writers.

Remember, 'Fusion', along with some of my other kindle books, is available for just $0.99/£0.86 at Amazon until the end of this month!

I've just finished reading an advance copy of 'The Shelter', a short story by James Everington, and it made me realise that I know so many talented writers through connecting on Goodreads, Twitter, BestsellerBound.com etc., but most if not all of them are still unknown to the book buying public.

James Everington is one of those writers who makes me want to keep reading... he keeps the story flowing and moving, making the reader curious to find out what happens next.





I would encourage you to check out his short story collection, The Other Room, and make sure you grab a copy of his creepy story 'The Shelter' as soon as it's published!

Some other notable independent authors that you mustn't miss, are:

Darcia Helle
Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
Ami Blackwelder
Neil Schiller
Jen Knox
Julie Elizabeth Powell
Quentin R. Bufogle
Stacy Juba
Jason McIntyre
Lisette Brodey
Andrew Blackman
Bill See
Tom Gahan
Mark McKenna

This is by no means an exhaustive list, I'm sure I've missed out some of my favourites.

I would encourage you to try reading some of the above authors' books... you won't be disappointed.

I have a lot of fun making trailers for my books. I've posted mine here on Goodreads, so you can have a look if you like :)
When I first heard about people making trailers for books, I thought it would never catch on, after all a book is not a movie, a book trailer can never really give you a glimpse of what is inside the book, or can it??
I have found that recently some authors have been very inventive with their book trailers, so I thought I would point out a few that have caught my eye over the past year or so.
I really do believe now that book trailers can help with promoting books. They can entertain and inform about the book content.

I haven't read all of the books that the below trailers are advertising but those that I haven't read are on my to-read list!

(I haven't figured out a way to embed the videos into my blog, so I've just added links to the YouTube pages here. Click on the titles to watch the trailer.)

Oblivious by Neil Schiller

I like this trailer because it is a bit different to the usual trailers out there. It doesn't have background music, and includes a few quotes from a few short stories in the collection.


Caraliza by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick

This video really caught my eye and makes me want to read the book. It's very creepy and I love the sound effects and the way the author has set the scene for the story with the trailer.


Into The Light by Darcia Helle

I like this trailer because it's fun and reflects the humour in the book, while also giving the reader an idea as to the story line.


Musical Chairs by Jen Knox

This was one of the first book trailers I saw and I like this one because the author is actually reading the start of the book, and as it is a memoir it's nice that she appears in the trailer. This really made me want to read the book.

33 Days by Bill See

The author Bill See gives a tour of the LA music scene. The book 33 Days is a memoir about a touring band in the '80s and this video really does a great job in introducing the book to potential readers.

Breathing Into Stone by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick

I like this trailer as it is original and really reminded me of the book.




I hope you'll enjoy looking at the trailers that I've picked out.

I'd be interested to hear from authors and readers about your thoughts on book trailers in general.

Do they make you want to read a book? Do you have any favourite book trailers?

The BestsellerBound Anthologies, Volumes 1 & 2 are now both FREE on Amazon Kindle!

Get your copies by clicking the links below:

Volume 1 on Amazon US

Volume 2 on Amazon US

Volume 1 on Amazon UK

Volume 2 is still priced at 86p on Amazon UK, but we are hopeful it will be available free in the near future. UK readers can download a free kindle version from Smashwords.com

Here are the list of contents:

Volume 1:
Wish Upon A Star by Lainey Bancroft
Tears For Hesh by J. Michael Radcliffe
You Can Call Me Ari by Darcia Helle
Flames by Maria Savva
Minor Details by Jaleta Clegg
Ice Cream Man by Neil Schiller
No Eyes But Mine Shall See by Sharon E. Cathcart
The First Texas Twister by Magnolia Belle
Shadow Lantern by Gareth Lewis
Stained by Amy Saunders

Volume 2:
1. What Was Lost by James Sophi
2. The Art of Breathing by Jaime McDougall
3. Soul Windows by Jaleta Clegg
4. I Didn't Know His Name by Darcia Helle
5. Red Route by James Everington
6. Make A Wish by Susan Helene Gottfried
7. The Last Chance Motel and Mausoleum by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
8. Isolation by Maria Savva
9. Beyond The Green Hills by Tom Gahan
10. From Joy We Come, Unto Joy We Return by Ami Blackwelder

I've just seen an email saying that 7th-13th November 2011 is National Short Story Week in the UK. The website associated with that email has a list of recommended reads for National Short Story Week. The list is, frankly, predictable and boring (sorry). It includes 'classics' and books published by big publishing companies. In my opinion, those books have enough publicity; we don't need a Short Story Week to promote them. We do, however, need to have a Short Story Week that celebrates up and coming talent, and hard working Independent and self-published writers. Those writers DO need extra publicity because their books are often ignored.

Here's an alternative list of short stories and anthologies recommended by me. I urge you to read these authors. Many of them have now become good friends of mine, but that is NOT the only reason I am promoting them. I simply LOVE their writing, and I only got to know them AFTER reading their work. There are some seriously good stories here. Click on the book covers for more details:















The following are my own short story collections: