DoodleBug > Recent Status Updates

I'm more than halfway through this one and it is...frustrating. The continueal repetition of how the parasite works, the lack of emotional intensity, the shallow story telling, the continual skip to new characters... Ugh. I'd really like to enjoy the story. Sadly, the author has done everything in her power to diminish any real enjoyment.

"Chase the Dark" by Pippa DaCosta

Eh.

"A Drive in the Country" by Craig Schaefer

Holy cow. Best short story I've read in a while. Definitely a 5-star-er.

"Valentine Blues" by James A. Hunter

I really wanted to like this. Truly. It just DRAGGED.

"Family Business" by Rob Cornell

Boring. Skimmed partway through, then gave up and skipped the rest.

Angry Spark by Al K. Line

Sigh. I jinxed myself by liking the last story. This one SUCKED. I should've known by the corny pen name that it would be crap. Skipped it after the first page or so was just horribly written. Maybe there's a good story in there. I'll never know because I do not have the patience for shitty writing.

Hard Row by Ambrose Ibsen.

Another not bad story with writing that needed a good polish. The dialogue was sharp and crisp, though, so all in all, the stories are getting better, if the protags are the same ol same ol.

"Dance of the Dead" by Sonya Bateman

Not bad at all. The hero had too many powers (Double Mumbo Jumbo) and the writing faltered at times, but overall, it was a decent read.

"The Black Door" by Domino Finn.

Great story. Well-structured. Poorly written.

On a side note, I quit reading the first book in the accompanying series because the protagonist was an arrogant prick. Same problem (same protag) in this story, but it's toned down a hair.

Got not even halfway through the first scene of the first story, "The Bull Demon King" by J.A. Cipriano, and wow. I had to skim the rest of the story. It was HORRIBLE.

Please let the rest of the stories not be that bad...

(12% done)

Got not even halfway through the first scene of the first story, "The Bull Demon King" by J.A. Cipriano, and wow. I had to skim the rest of the story. It was HORRIBLE.

Please let the rest of the stories not be that bad...

Got not even halfway through the first scene of the first story, "The Bull Demon King" by J.A. Cipriano, and wow. I had to skim the rest of the story. It was HORRIBLE.

Please let the rest of the stories not be that bad...

Stopping at not quite the midpoint to read something else for a while. I love this, truly. Each scene is a mini-short story. Very well written, very evocative, and even a little creepy. (It's hard to creep me out.) But it's just so long!

Just finished the first chapter, and I can say flat out that I'm not impressed. The writing is tepid, bland even, and we've already been hit with Liberal Virtue Signalling. There's no sense of tension or emotion, even with the hint that Ella, the daughter, is "sick." It's just very flat, a pale imitation of Sarah Addision Allen's works, and I'm not sure it's worth continuing.

Setting this one aside for a little while. It's messing up my ability to write fiction.

Wow, the detail.

Ponderous pacing. Seriously, it's slow. So many details, most of them completely unnecessary to the story. I know the author is headed somewhere good. Right now, I'm having a hard time filtering through the sheer amount of stuff to get there.

Got through the introduction and discovered this isn't what I need to be reading right now for research. Will come back to it later.

I've been reading this for about a week or so now. No idea what page I'm on.

Often cherry picks and distorts data to make a point. Misinformation, sleight of hand. Seems deceitful.