Ripples on the Pond

by Sebnem E. Sanders

A man infatuated with ivy. A woman pining for lost love. In a Turkish square, ancient buildings lament a devastating explosion. An unlikely friendship struck up with a homeless person. A journey to a magical place that once visited can never be found again. The camaraderie between the patients in a cancer ward. A writer who has lost his muse. A tragedy that leads to dementia.

These are just a few of seventy individual tales set in locations straddling continents, which portray war, love, hate, hope, greed, revenge, despair, humour, mystical happenings, fantasy, and so much more. Like ripples expanding on the surface of a pond to reach its banks, they converge in this anthology of flash fiction and short stories by Sebnem E. Sanders in her debut release.

Genres: Fantasy

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 4, 2017

About the author

Sebnem Erisen Sanders is a native of Istanbul, Turkey. Currently she lives on the eastern shores of the Southern Aegean where she dreams and writes Flash Fiction and Flash Poesy, as well as longer works of fiction. Her flash stories have been published on the Harper Collins Authonomy Blog, The Drabble, Sick Lit Magazine, Twisted Sister Lit Mag, Spelk Fiction, Three Drops from the Cauldron, The Bosphorus Review of Books and The Rye Whiskey Review. She has a completed manuscript, The Child of Heaven, and two works in progress, The Child of Passion and The Lost Child.

Her debut book, Ripples on the Pond, a collection of short and flash fiction stories, was published in December 2017.

More information can be found at her website where she publishes some of her work:

https://sebnemsanders.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sebnemsanders

Reviews

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ripples on the Pond is a fantastic collection of over seventy flash fiction and short stories ranging in genre but all dealing with the human experience. From friendship to love to loss to tragedy, these stories are beautifully written. While reading, I found my heart yearning to travel to the places described and wanting to experience what the world has to offer. Like the title implies, each story is a ripple on the pond of life, extending its reach and revealing truth.



Normally, I shy away from short story collections because I’m a novel reader but once I started reading Ripples on the Pond, I couldn’t stop. The writing is superb with its concise storytelling, yet I didn’t feel cheated by the length. Characters are fleshed out and given their moment to shine. When I finished and there were no more stories, I smiled to myself. This is one of those books I will be re-reading again and again. A must read!



My Rating: 5 stars



This review first appeared: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/si...

[Fran Macilvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ripples on the Pond" by Sebnem Sanders

I loved this collection of short stories: evocative, colourful and brimming with imagination. I wonder where Sanders gets her ideas from, and marvel at the level of detail she manages to cram onto the page. I've always loved short stories, and this collection is delicious. Thank you!

[Mary Enck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never found a collection of short stories that were as inspiring as Ripples On The Pond. I feel as if I have read a novel that took me from one life to another where the characters were one soul, reincarnated into many different lives. I traveled from one setting to another fully aware of a sense of ever changing place that was delightful. This was like reading chapters in a story of many people, each drawn as a portrait and defined as individuals, yet belonging in one story made of many. I shall treasure this book and now I have discovered how to enjoy this genre, I intend to try others but I suspect I will not so easily find more that I would enjoy as much as this one. I can only relate to some of the short stories written by Neil Gaiman as having such excellence.

[Kathryn Gauci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This remarkable compilation of short stories is quite different to anything I have read for a long time. Sebnem Sanders writes beautifully, often with an anthropmorphic slant that reminds me of the stories and plays of Classical Greece, yet with a modern voice. In these vignettes, nature can sometimes take on a life and voice of its own, immersing the reader in a world that is viewed from a different perspective. There is a also a deep sense of reflection in the writing style which I enjoyed and her stories make us think, but in a subtle and contemplative way. I look forward to reading more from this author. Highly recommended.

[D. Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ripples on the Pond is a mesmerizing collection of short stories. I was swept into Sanders’ imagination from the very first selection, Through the Wings of Time, and it ended up being a favorite. But that was only the beginning of this generous collection of 71 stories, all different, all exceptional reads and beautifully edited. The stories wade through numerous genres and topics including the whimsey of magic, the pain of loss, the marvel of friendship, and the cost of crime, to name a scant few. Sander’s range is remarkable and no two stories are alike, a feat considering the size of this collection.

Sanders is a native of Istanbul, Turkey, who now lives on the Southern Aegean, thus many of the stories have an international flavor that I enjoyed (and also made we want to travel). I love literature that transports me to different settings and cultures where the wide range of human experience and emotion feels so familiar – just another reason among many to dive into this read. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a wide variety of wonderfully crafted short stories.

[Victoria Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sebnem E. Sanders… tells the story to you, or – stories – where the plot changes direction all the time, the heroes expands the surfaces of the real world and all that, in turn, transforms YOU.

‘Ripples on the pond’ is the collection of 71 short stories, which portray war, love, hate, greed, betrayal, future and much more. I guess the name of the book is reflecting to ‘the ripples’ we are making in our everyday’s Pond called Earth.

71 stories – is way too much to share on my blog, that’s why I’ve picked only a couple to analyze:

Story 1
Virtual affair
I don’t know why, but it reminded me about my fellow blogger Ortenzia mostly because of her ‘travelling husband’.
The story: Emilia is bored because her husband John is never at home, unless it is Sunday. Then he’s busy with watching …movies and Playboy? (who knows what else the dude is watching). Emilia is starting blogging and writing career. She is making a lot of friends online: bloggers with Xxx and Yyy names.

ARE THEY REAL?

Yeaasss, Emilia. They ARE!

ARE THEY HOT?

That’s what we are going to find out in this story. And plus:

- how easy it is: to slip off from ‘Hey’ to ‘My love’;
- how quickly the real world changes to a virtual one;
- what kind of the affair is ‘more forgivable’: online or real?
- how to overcome the addiction to selfies?
…poor Emilia. A virtual life is called SO for a reason, people.

The rest of the review on my BLOG - https://raynotbradbury.com/2018/06/25...

[H.M. Holten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebnem e Sanders opens a world of poetry in Ripples on the Pond. The variety of flash-fiction stories spans wide and gives insight into different cultures and fates. The Mediterranean feel never leaves the reader. Sander induces the reader to wide seascapes, olive groves, and intriguing encounters with distinct characters. Highly recommended as an escape from everyday drabness.

[Kate Murdoch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful collection of short stories encompasses a span of human emotions, frailties and flaws as well as a wider perspective on what it means to be human. Sebnem Sanders examines loss, love, despair, joy as well as the philosophical picture of our place in the world and our relationship with nature. In ‘Selma of Soghut’ she explores transience and ageing, in ‘Shards of Glass’ the magical realism of another self performing shocking acts, and in ‘King of Hearts’ an unlikely friendship is struck between a dying man and a sick child.

I very much enjoyed the wisdom and observations in these stories along with their magic—there are unexpected twists and turns and always, a sensitivity and tenderness.

[Joanne Kendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ripples on the Pond will leave ripples on your heart

This is a perfect book to leave on the nightstand and read before sleep. Bedtime stories for the soul. These tales invoke emotions spanning from joyful to painful, and at times, feel deeply personal, as if the author has glimpsed inside your life. Ripples on the Pond will be a staple for me to pick up when I need a reminder of what is truly important in life.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eternal Ripples

A wonderful collection of short stories from Sebnem E. Sanders. Magical dreams and splendid fantasies mixed with a deep understanding of humanity. Beautiful.

[Paul Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, a confession, I cannot remember the last time I read a collection of short stories, Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury somehow sticks in my mind, and while I have enjoyed Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe and the like; I am, and probably will remain, for the most part, a novel reader. It was mere curiosity that found me asking to review this anthology.  Now, having said that I must also confess that Ripples on the Pond just might have me looking at the genre a bit more closely.  What I found, my peeps and fellow travelers, in Ripples on the Pond is a compelling collection of well crafted stories. Stories that evoke the gamut of human emotions and experiences; glimpses of love, joy, loss, and hope permeate the pages and like a pebble dropped into water, the stories leave ripples of humanity seeking truth and fulfillment. A brief example from Mummy's Torchlight:

Toby bowed, turned around, and left the building, his head bursting with thoughts. His hatred and vengeance had dissolved into sadness and pity, but mostly sadness…a feeling of loss. Something he'd have to live with for the rest of his life. He knew one thing for certain. He'd never return. Before he drove away from the Acacia Retreat, Toby held the torch tight in his hand. "I have confronted him, Mummy. I've done it for you and me. Rest in peace." On the way home, he stopped on an old wooden bridge and threw the torch into the mirror surfaced creek. He waited as the ripples extended outward and disappeared.

Time and again throughout the 71 stories, one comes up against harsh realities,  compassion, and much, much more that make us human. Entertainment and enlightenment are in store for you, dear reader.  5 stars

Blurb

A man infatuated with ivy. A woman pining for lost love. In a Turkish square, ancient buildings lament a devastating explosion. An unlikely friendship struck up with a homeless person. A journey to a magical place that once visited can never be found again. The camaraderie between the patients in a cancer ward. A writer who has lost his muse. A tragedy that leads to dementia. These are just a few of seventy individual tales set in locations straddling continents, which portray war, love, hate, hope, greed, revenge, despair, humour, mystical happenings, fantasy, and so much more. Like ripples expanding on the surface of a pond to reach its banks, they converge in this anthology of flash fiction and short stories by Sebnem E. Sanders in her debut release.

Short Bio

Sebnem E. Sanders is a native of Istanbul, Turkey. Currently she lives on the eastern shores of the Southern Aegean where she dreams and writes Flash Fiction and Flash Poesy, as well as longer works of fiction. Her flash stories have been published on the Harper Collins Authonomy Blog,  The Drabble, Sick Lit Magazine, Twisted Sister Lit Mag and Spelk Fiction. She has a completed manuscript, The Child of Heaven and two works in progress, The Child of Passion and The Lost Child.  Her collection of short and flash fiction stories, Ripples on the Pond, has been published in December 2017. Her stories have also been published in two Anthologies: Paws and Claws and One Million Project, Thriller Anthology. More information can be found at her website where she publishes some of her work: https://sebnemsanders.wordpress.com/         

[Jeanette Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book like this has to be in paperback form for me. That way, it's easy to dip in and out quickly and smoothly. I love having this book by my bedside ready for the nights when I want just a quick read before I settle down.

These short stories are indeed like ripples on a pond. They are almost cameos of a life of the character in each story, a ripple that goes outwards to effect either that person or those around, a momentary choice that can change the direction of a life. Ms Saunders is a short-story master; her gift of perfectly portraying just about anything from fantasy to historical, the weird and wonderful to the ordinary, that somehow under her 'pen' becomes extraordinary. She has great skill of being able to immediately draw the reader into the story under a short narrative, she understands and portrays all emotions that a human being can experience and you go with it. I've even shed a tear or two! This book is a joy; one that can't be rushed, but treasured and one that can be dipped into and read again and again.

[Angelika Rust]

I'm not going to rate this one, because I wouldn't know how. The writing is beautiful, intricate, but a good portion of the stories simply wasn't for me, in that they read more like non-fiction or philosophical essays than stories. I need stories to grab me and briefly transfer me into another world. The book does contain a few stories like that, but they felt too short, strangely unfinished, like they were really just the first couple of pages of what might well become a novel, if the author decides to take those characters further (Please do!). Or maybe it was just the fact that I simply didn't want them to end.

[Jim Heter · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book you will find many brief sketches, "flash fiction" creations written by Sebnem Sanders over the course of some months. Taken together they nicely fit the metaphor of "ripples on the pond," meaningful incidents in the lives of many people, the most common theme being a recovery of hope in one form or another, a step toward a more enlightened, philosophical attitude toward life. Sebnem clearly draws upon a wealth of personal experience as well as much thoughtful reflection in the creation of these stories, enabling her to quickly bring the characters and their circumstances to life and to resolve their situations realistically. A worthwhile read.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought a book along, to read, while on the white sands of the Gulf of Mexico. From Clearwater to Venice, Sebnem traveled along, telling stories the waves often whisper and the gulls cry out loud. This book is for those who oft think and find beauty in everything or yearn to live mindfully. Each story has you linger a bit longer, while waiting for a sunset... or perhaps you are the person anticipating the sun rise. A real treat! A fantastic beach read!

The read end date is a bit misleading, as I will treasure new stories this whole week, recklessly abandoned to my self... let each tale immerse into me, along with my tequila sunrise. What a true delight to read!

[Karen Eisenbrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 70 short fictions in this collection can be read and enjoyed one at a time, in any order; or one after the other in quick succession. They are stories of characters at a moment in time, when ripples of the past catch up to them or when they start a ripple that will touch another. Many of them are also little thought experiments, musing on love, loneliness, aging, home, and many other themes. Some have a melancholy tone, while others are humorous, erotic or creepy (or all three at once). It is easy to imagine them in conversation with each other, holding up various facets of the same theme. Recommended for readers who enjoy short fiction in a variety of genres.

[ChillwithabookAWARD With · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ripples on the Pond by Sebnem E Sanders has received a Chill with a Book Readers' Award.
www.chillwithabook.com

"A thoroughly entertaining book of short stories. The cancer ward story was particularly poignant."

"Well written."

Pauline Barclay
Founder of Chill with a Book Awards