Below are the latest (fabulous) reviews from today’s blog tour: day six of seven.
Tag: Northampton
Day 3 of my Serial Dater tour…
FREEBIE ALERT! My chick-lit novel eBook âThe Serial Daterâs Shopping Listâ is FREE Sunday, 23 Oct!
FREEBIE ALERT! Hello everyone. Iâm delighted to share with you that my chick-lit novel eBook âThe Serial Daterâs Shopping Listâ is FREE this Sunday, 23rd October! http://mybook.to/SerialDater
31 dates in 31 days â what could possibly go wrong? Isobel MacFarlane is a recently-turned-40 journalist who usually writes a technology column for a newspaper based in Northampton, England, but her somewhat-intimidating boss, William, has set her the task of meeting 31 men, via a local internet dating site, all within a month. Having an active, though fruitless, social life with her friend and âHealth & Beautyâ colleague Donna, she knows what she wants in a man, so creates a shopping list of dos and donâts, and starts ticking them off as she meets Mr Could Be Right Except For, Mr Not Bad, Mr Oh My Goodness and Mr Oh So Very Wrong.
Follow the ups (there are a few) and downs (there are many) of the dating process and intertwined with her experiences, get to know her colleague and family, including her niece Lola who, apart from being an amazing storyteller, can eat ambidextrously whilst wearing a Princess glove puppet on her right hand, and Baby, Williamâs non-too-healthy African Grey parrot.
If you enjoy this book, please do leave a review to encourage others to download it (for free or otherwise!).
I’m an independent author… your support means a lot to us indies!
Morgen’s story review no.171 â OxCrimes 27: Yrsa Sigurdardottirâs Black Sky
Todayâs book review of a single short story (the final story in the 27-story charity crime anthology OxCrimes collection) is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
I rarely read âproperâ books (paperbacks / hardbacks) and Iâd wanted to read this collection for a while so bought it as a paperback so I could sit and read at least one short story a day. (Iâm also writing short stories for competitions and submissions too and have sent three off in the last week!).
If youâd like your short story or writing guide reviewed, or to send me a book review of another authorâs book, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Being a writer and editor, I read and review books with both hats. If youâre a writer reading this review and found it useful, do let me know.
The OxCrimes Collection
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile Books have turned to crime in order to raise a further ÂŁ200,000 for Oxfam’s work. OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it will be launched in May. The stellar cast of contributors will include Mark Billingham, Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, Val McDermid, Peter James, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and a host of other compelling suspects. Profile Books have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (9781846684968) (2011).
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW and http://www.amazon.com/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW.
Review of Yrsa Sigurdardottirâs Black Sky
This is a relatively short story (23 standard book pages) so a relatively short reviewâŠ
I love short hooks (opening sentences should be hooks) and the especially liked the fourth line: âThe piteous voice sounded almost rusty, as if the radio waves had gathered dust on their long journey.â There then followed a lot of background / set-up information which was so detailed it was more in keeping with a novel, so much so that it slowed the pace too much and distracted me from the excellent beginning hook.
Where we are is drip-fed but that adds to the mystery, and on page four there is âdown on earthâ so we know weâre in space. On the next page we learn that the characters are on a space station, then on page six that theyâre on the moon.
What then follows is a mixture of interesting â albeit in places not overly relevant to the plot â description (which I skim read) before we learned the relevance of the piteous voices.
And now for writersâŠ
- When writing a past tense story, any time period in narration will be in the past so two examples from this story are âyears agoâ and âthree months agoâ whereas they should be âyears beforeâ and âthree months beforeâ. Dialogue is different as it is present tense so had the characters said either phrase then it / they would have been correct.
- I thought I had spotted a typo where the main character, Dixie, âswallows a small pileâ rather than âa small pillâ. The confusion lies where the narrator has only mentioned âmedicationâ, not âpillsâ specifically. This is where beta (test) readers come in so useful to point out anything that could be misconstrued (and / or hiring me as their / your editor!).
- There was just one dialogue pause âwellâ. If anyone wants to go back through these OxCrime reviews and let me know how many dialogue pause âwellâs there are and which stories don’t have any, I’ll reward you with a free online course of your choice. đ
- Another regular feature of these reviews is using names with different first letters (as itâs how we remember the characters best) and in this story the two main characters are Dixie and David. Although they look different on the page and are different genders, they are of similar lengths. I like the name Dixie, and David seemed a bit ordinary in comparison but then he is a rather bland character (no offence any Davidâs reading this!) so perhaps suited.
- Be careful when using repetition. In this story there was âDavid ran his hand over the various switches. He tried two before he found the correct one and the two of them used their combined strength to nudge it into an open position.â Because switches are objects, the âthemâ could be easily construed as referring to the switches rather than David and Dixie, especially as the number in both cases is two.
Conclusion
This is the final story in the collection. Endings of any story, regardless of length, should provoke an emotion, e.g. âwowâ or âoh, OKâ. And while this one was somewhere in between, Iâm not a science fiction fan (although I enjoyed watching The Martian, which this reminded me of), for me it was the wrong story to have last. That said, the way it ended was fitting and well described so I can see why it was chosen.
And the book as a wholeâŠ
While reading this collection has been overall a very enjoyable experience, the (dare I say âpoorâ?) editing of many stories has spoilt some of my enjoyment, to the point of frustration. Many readers wouldnât notice or care, and I am, after all, reading this for review so I will be harsher than most, but with two people editing this collection, I would have thought that both of them would have gone over each story â as two of us are doing with a Crime and Publishment anthology we are putting together from over a dozen writers who have attended the four years it has been running â then they would be less room for error, most of which could have easily been picked up Buy one or other editor.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Thatâs the end of my reviews of this collection but I will be back next Tuesday with my review of Cat Call, a short story by Cynthia Leitich Smith.
*
Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey (âMorgen with an Eâ) is a freelance editor, online tutor, prolific blogger, 2015 Head Judge for the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition, RONE 2015 Judge.
As well as a teacher of creative writing (and writing-related I.T.) for her local county council and online, Morgen will be one of five tutors at the 2017 Crime & Publishment alongside crime authors Lin Anderson and Martina Cole!
Morgenâs first love is writing and she is a freelance author of numerous âdark and lightâ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter, Facebook along with many others (listed on her blogâs Contact page) and has created five online writing groups. She also runs a free monthly 100-word writing competition where you can win her online creative writing courses!
Her debut novel is the chick lit eBook The Serial Daterâs Shopping List ($0.99 / ÂŁ0.77) and she has nine others (mostly crime) in the works. She also has eight collections of short stories available (also $0.99 / ÂŁ0.77 each) â detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories.
She also helps other authors with an inexpensive freelance editing and critiquing service (free 1,000-word sample), and welcomes, and actively helps to promote, guest authors on her blog â see opportunities.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Related articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
- http://www.npr.org/sections/book-reviews
- http://www.lovereading.co.uk
- http://www.goodreads.com
- http://www.welovethisbook.com
- http://bookreviews.me.uk
- http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/reviews/list
- http://www.lrb.co.uk
- http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews
- http://www.ft.com/books
- http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-writing-book-reviews
Morgen’s story review no.170 â OxCrimes 26: John Connollyâs The Children of Dr Lyall
Todayâs book review of a single short story (the twenty-sixth in the 27-story charity crime anthology OxCrimes collection) is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
I rarely read âproperâ books (paperbacks / hardbacks) and Iâd wanted to read this collection for a while so bought it as a paperback so I could sit and read at least one short story a day. (Iâm also writing short stories for competitions and submissions too and have sent three off in the last week!).
If youâd like your short story or writing guide reviewed, or to send me a book review of another authorâs book, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Being a writer and editor, I read and review books with both hats. If youâre a writer reading this review and found it useful, do let me know.
The OxCrimes Collection
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile Books have turned to crime in order to raise a further ÂŁ200,000 for Oxfam’s work. OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it will be launched in May. The stellar cast of contributors will include Mark Billingham, Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, Val McDermid, Peter James, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and a host of other compelling suspects. Profile Books have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (9781846684968) (2011).
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW and http://www.amazon.com/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW.
Review of John Connollyâs The Children of Dr Lyall
This is a relatively short story (25 standard book pages) so a relatively short reviewâŠ
The beginnings of stories should either introduce us to the characters, set the time, or give us a sense of place. Here we have all three where we are in World War II, have a character Felder amid bombed streets, and soon learn that he is the criminal.
The next few pages are a lot of detail about his gang and a rival gang â the World War II version of the Krays but without any twins â and, for me, page six is where the story really starts and the rest â which I’m sure would have been enjoyed by fans of historical novels and detail â could have been done in a page.
One of the more violent stories â a collection to suit all tastes â and although I would have liked more dialogue, the description is really good and I especially liked the following phrases:
- âwhich Felder discerned the breaking of fragile bones, like a quail being consumed behind closed lips.â
- âeven though the woman weighed little more than the clothing she woreâŠâ
- âFelder, Greaves and Knight: they sounded like a firm of solicitors, but they were just bottom-feeders.â
- âfall to the floor and crumble slowly like the desiccated form of an insect sucked dry by a spiderâ (wow!). The issue of crumble / crumple came up recently in one of my clientâs novels (John uses crumble correctly) and I pointed my client to http://www.marksouza.com/2011/10/a-small-pet-peeve-crumble-vs-crumple.
And now for writersâŠ
- As we have handful of the other stories, we have âany moreâ (quantity) where there should have been âanymoreâ (time). I think I also spotted an error when we have one character hearing himself (both names the same) elsewhere and although Iâm not convinced due to the supernatural element, I think it is incorrect.
- Iâve also previously remarked on the lack of section breaks, mostly where time has passed, but here they are correctly used for changing from one criminalâs point of view (still from the narrator but we switch main character from Felder to Knight).
- Using distinctive names is also something that comes up from time to time in my reviews and here we have Billy Hill and Blackie Harper. I have a Microsoft Word table that I use with my client editing, and my own work, to ensure that repeated first initials are limited. If any of you reading this would like it, let me know. My email address is morgen@morgenbailey.com.
- Iâve also mentioned before my bugbear for âstarted toâ / âbegan toâ when itâs used to indicate some action that isnât then interrupted, and in this story we had, âThe door began to open…â Itâs not interrupted so âThe door openedâ would have been fine. Thereâs also âhe began to trembleâ, âthe wall before him began to crackâ and âbegan to bleedâ.
- Speaking of bugbears, on the âwellâ count-o-meter, there was just one in this story. (see previous reviews for an explanation).
- I would have also chopped the firmly from âthe knife still clutched firmly in his right handâ where clutching indicates a firm hold.
Conclusion
A creepy story. Being the longest story in this collection, it was inevitable that they would be more detail (although in this case would have been suited more to a novel), but I would’ve liked the action â the meat of the story â to have come sooner. There was a lot to like though in the description and with a more thorough editing (especially chopping), it would have been all the more enjoyable.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I shall be back tomorrow with my review of Yrsa Sigurdardottirâs Black Sky, the twenty-seventh story in this collection.
*
Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey (âMorgen with an Eâ) is a freelance editor, online tutor, prolific blogger, 2015 Head Judge for the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition, RONE 2015 Judge.
As well as a teacher of creative writing (and writing-related I.T.) for her local county council and online, Morgen will be one of five tutors at the 2017 Crime & Publishment alongside crime authors Lin Anderson and Martina Cole!
Morgenâs first love is writing and she is a freelance author of numerous âdark and lightâ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter, Facebook along with many others (listed on her blogâs Contact page) and has created five online writing groups. She also runs a free monthly 100-word writing competition where you can win her online creative writing courses!
Her debut novel is the chick lit eBook The Serial Daterâs Shopping List ($0.99 / ÂŁ0.77) and she has nine others (mostly crime) in the works. She also has eight collections of short stories available (also $0.99 / ÂŁ0.77 each) â detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories.
She also helps other authors with an inexpensive freelance editing and critiquing service (free 1,000-word sample), and welcomes, and actively helps to promote, guest authors on her blog â see opportunities.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Related articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
- http://www.npr.org/sections/book-reviews
- http://www.lovereading.co.uk
- http://www.goodreads.com
- http://www.welovethisbook.com
- http://bookreviews.me.uk
- http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/reviews/list
- http://www.lrb.co.uk
- http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews
- http://www.ft.com/books
- http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-writing-book-reviews
Morgen’s story review no.169 â OxCrimes 25: Mark Billinghamâs Under the Mistletoe Last Night
Todayâs book review of a single short story (the twenty-fifth in the 27-story charity crime anthology OxCrimes collection) is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
I rarely read âproperâ books (paperbacks / hardbacks) and Iâd wanted to read this collection for a while so bought it as a paperback so I could sit and read at least one short story a day. (Iâm also writing short stories for competitions and submissions too and have sent three off in the last week!).
If youâd like your short story or writing guide reviewed, or to send me a book review of another authorâs book, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Being a writer and editor, I read and review books with both hats. If youâre a writer reading this review and found it useful, do let me know.
The OxCrimes Collection
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile Books have turned to crime in order to raise a further ÂŁ200,000 for Oxfam’s work. OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it will be launched in May. The stellar cast of contributors will include Mark Billingham, Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, Val McDermid, Peter James, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and a host of other compelling suspects. Profile Books have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (9781846684968) (2011).
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW and http://www.amazon.com/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW.
Review of Mark Billinghamâs Under the Mistletoe Last Night
This is a short short story (13 standard book pages) so a short reviewâŠ
As with all good crime stories, we have a dead body in the opening scene. It is then left to Tom Thorne â Mark’s usual detective â to work out what happened and find the criminal, and I love his blasĂ© attitude: âChristmas Day was as good or bad a day to die as any other.â
Tom is a very dry individual, and I enjoyed the banter between him and the pathologist.
And now for writersâŠ
- Stephen King is notorious for his hatred of adverbs and one that could have been chopped in this story was âcrept slowlyâ because creeping is slow.
- The only other pick I had are that we have two surname starting with the same letter (Thorne and Turnbull) and there were two âwellâs as dialogue pauses. Readers of my previous reviews will know these are two of my bugbears.
- I guessed the ending to the story because there were few characters to choose from. If you are going to write a crime story where you don’t want the reader to guess the ending, add enough red herrings e.g. actions, plot points, or other characters who could be suspicious but turn out to be innocent.
Conclusion
A very entertaining story that got to the point very quickly, saw the action through, and concluded without any unnecessary faff in between. It only loses a point as I guessed the ending.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I shall be back tomorrow with my review of John Connollyâs The Children of Dr Lyall, the twenty-sixth story in this collection.
*
Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey (âMorgen with an Eâ) is a freelance editor, online tutor, prolific blogger, 2015 Head Judge for the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition, RONE 2015 Judge.
As well as a teacher of creative writing (and writing-related I.T.) for her local county council and online, Morgen will be one of five tutors at the 2017 Crime & Publishment alongside crime authors Lin Anderson and Martina Cole!
Morgenâs first love is writing and she is a freelance author of numerous âdark and lightâ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter, Facebook along with many others (listed on her blogâs Contact page) and has created five online writing groups. She also runs a free monthly 100-word writing competition where you can win her online creative writing courses!
Her debut novel is the chick lit eBook The Serial Daterâs Shopping List ($0.99 / ÂŁ0.77) and she has nine others (mostly crime) in the works. She also has eight collections of short stories available (also $0.99 / ÂŁ0.77 each) â detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories.
She also helps other authors with an inexpensive freelance editing and critiquing service (free 1,000-word sample), and welcomes, and actively helps to promote, guest authors on her blog â see opportunities.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Related articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
- http://www.npr.org/sections/book-reviews
- http://www.lovereading.co.uk
- http://www.goodreads.com
- http://www.welovethisbook.com
- http://bookreviews.me.uk
- http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/reviews/list
- http://www.lrb.co.uk
- http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews
- http://www.ft.com/books
- http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-writing-book-reviews
Morgen’s story review no.168 â OxCrimes 24: Phil Rickmanâs The House of Susan Lulham
Todayâs book review of a single short story (the twenty-fourth in the 27-story charity crime anthology OxCrimes collection) is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
I rarely read âproperâ books (paperbacks / hardbacks) and Iâd wanted to read this collection for a while so bought it as a paperback so I could sit and read at least one short story a day. (Iâm also writing short stories for competitions and submissions too and have sent three off in the last week!).
If youâd like your short story or writing guide reviewed, or to send me a book review of another authorâs book, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Being a writer and editor, I read and review books with both hats. If youâre a writer reading this review and found it useful, do let me know.
The OxCrimes Collection
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile Books have turned to crime in order to raise a further ÂŁ200,000 for Oxfam’s work. OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it will be launched in May. The stellar cast of contributors will include Mark Billingham, Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, Val McDermid, Peter James, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and a host of other compelling suspects. Profile Books have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (9781846684968) (2011).
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW and http://www.amazon.com/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW.
Review of Phil Rickmanâs The House of Susan Lulham
This is a relatively short story (23 standard book pages) so a relatively short reviewâŠ
Back to a third person story, this story has the feel of Poltergeist about it. The description of the surroundings was very vivid but it took me a while to get into the story. I felt that some of the characters were not introduced properly (as if I should know who they were already) and I had to guess who they were until more information was revealed, which often works but not in this case.
There were other times when I was given facts but I had to reread them as they didn’t make sense and this spoiled the enjoyment of the story. I read on, hoping that they would all make sense by the end and it did but felt like a struggle.
In a story of any length there should be phrases we like, and in this one I liked: âSophie worked for the sandstone bookend to Herefordâs city centre. The cathedral.â Apart from the faulty punctuation â should have been a colon instead of full stop after âcity centreâ, I loved the term ‘sandstone bookend’.
And now for writersâŠ
- There is a fine line between providing the reader with so much information that there is nothing left to imagine or not enough so they struggled picture what’s going on. As mentioned above, I took a while to work out the start because the plot was so sketchy.
- A big no-no in writing is to have a character stand in front of a mirror so we get to know what they look like and we had this in this story but it was only short and it did establish who the character was by what she was wearing, which at the time helped me work out who she was. We also have her later looking at herself in a computer screen. Sometimes, especially when the character is on their own, thereâs no way round it but better to have another character remark on what they look like as a comparison, e.g. they look paler than normal, or âOoh, I love your lipstick⊠a striking shade of red.â (especially poignant when itâs actually blood!).
- Deadlines are always a useful tool for pacing, and here our mirror-looking character as a couple of days to get rid of an unwanted spirit.
- Iâve mentioned before about character names starting with different first initials and here we have Susan and Sophie on neighbouring paragraphs. Although they look relatively different on the page, they are of similar length so if the characters were then split up it could be confusing to the reader as to which was which. There were also Merrily and Mahonie (I often find that M is the most popular beginning letter), Jonno and Jane, Watkins and Wells. Regardless of whether first or surnames, they should be distinguishable, and I couldn’t take the main character’s name, Merrily, seriously, which didn’t help.
- And finally⊠speaking of Wells, in this story there were 3 well’s used as pauses in dialogue, e.g. âWell, you wouldnât want them at home.â Wells are justified on some occasions but generally â like âermâs, if they can be left out and the passage is just as good (or better) then they can go⊠like anything we write. đ
Conclusion
This was a story that I struggled to get into, struggled to continue, and struggled to finish. While it has not put me off reading Phil Rickman again, it is one of my least favourite stories in this collection.
Rating: 2 out of 5.
I shall be back tomorrow with my review of Mark Billinghamâs Under the Mistletoe Last Night, the twenty-fifth story in this collection.
*
Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey (âMorgen with an Eâ) is a freelance editor, online tutor, prolific blogger, 2015 Head Judge for the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition, RONE 2015 Judge.
As well as a teacher of creative writing (and writing-related I.T.) for her local county council and online, Morgen will be one of five tutors at the 2017 Crime & Publishment alongside crime authors Lin Anderson and Martina Cole!
Morgenâs first love is writing and she is a freelance author of numerous âdark and lightâ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter, Facebook along with many others (listed on her blogâs Contact page) and has created five online writing groups. She also runs a free monthly 100-word writing competition where you can win her online creative writing courses!
Her debut novel is the chick lit eBook The Serial Daterâs Shopping List ($0.99 / ÂŁ0.77) and she has nine others (mostly crime) in the works. She also has eight collections of short stories available (also $0.99 / ÂŁ0.77 each) â detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories.
She also helps other authors with an inexpensive freelance editing and critiquing service (free 1,000-word sample), and welcomes, and actively helps to promote, guest authors on her blog â see opportunities.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Related articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
- http://www.npr.org/sections/book-reviews
- http://www.lovereading.co.uk
- http://www.goodreads.com
- http://www.welovethisbook.com
- http://bookreviews.me.uk
- http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/reviews/list
- http://www.lrb.co.uk
- http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews
- http://www.ft.com/books
- http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-writing-book-reviews
Morgen’s story review no.167 â OxCrimes 23: Alexander McCall Smithâs Trouble at the Institute for the Study of Forgiveness
Todayâs book review of a single short story (the twenty-third in the 27-story charity crime anthology OxCrimes collection) is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
I rarely read âproperâ books (paperbacks / hardbacks) and Iâd wanted to read this collection for a while so bought it as a paperback so I could sit and read at least one short story a day. (Iâm also writing short stories for competitions and submissions too and have sent three off in the last week!).
If youâd like your short story or writing guide reviewed, or to send me a book review of another authorâs book, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Being a writer and editor, I read and review books with both hats. If youâre a writer reading this review and found it useful, do let me know.
The OxCrimes Collection
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile Books have turned to crime in order to raise a further ÂŁ200,000 for Oxfam’s work. OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it will be launched in May. The stellar cast of contributors will include Mark Billingham, Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, Val McDermid, Peter James, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and a host of other compelling suspects. Profile Books have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (9781846684968) (2011).
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW and http://www.amazon.com/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW.
Review of Alexander McCall Smithâs Trouble at the Institute for the Study of Forgiveness
This is a short short story (15 standard book pages) so a short reviewâŠ
This is a first-person narrated story from someone who, on the first line, isn’t sure how he (or she, we don’t know yet) was âconsidered to be the countryâs foremost investigator of the crimes of academiaâ, which set the (highbrow) tone for the rest of the story.
There is quite a lot of set up before we get to the Institute â as we move from California to Seattle â but it’s entertaining nonetheless, and I especially loved the line âand the man who fixes your roof might be a bit hazy on the subjunctiveâ.
And now for writersâŠ
- Four pages in and we have our first (of four) âWellâs. Iâve mentioned this dialogue opening in many of my previous reviews so I wonât go into detail but like âerâ and âumâ, they should be limited to one character⊠if at all.
- We should use repetition cautiously. Here we have “there was something about the way in which he spoke that told me that he doubted my cover story. He looked at me in a bit amused, disbelieving way” with a Repps repetition of not only way but also that.
- As with many of the previous stories, there are no section breaks (blank line with the new section non-indented first paragraph)Â for time passing. It is a rule we should know as writers although if you were to submit the manuscript without section breaks then no one will reject your work for that reason. If you know it, however, it will look more professional if you break in the correct places: for time passing and switching of main character point of view.
- There arenât many typos in this collection but I spotted: “at the instance of the Dean⊠” which, I believe, should have been âinsistenceâ.
Conclusion
A slow-paced story that fans of Alexander McCall Smith will enjoy, but it was too slow and uneventful me.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I shall be back tomorrow with my review of Phil Rickmanâs The House of Susan Lulham, the twenty-fourth story in this collection.
*
Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey (âMorgen with an Eâ) is a freelance editor, online tutor, prolific blogger, 2015 Head Judge for the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition, RONE 2015 Judge.
As well as a teacher of creative writing (and writing-related I.T.) for her local county council and online, Morgen will be one of five tutors at the 2017 Crime & Publishment alongside crime authors Lin Anderson and Martina Cole!
Morgenâs first love is writing and she is a freelance author of numerous âdark and lightâ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter, Facebook along with many others (listed on her blogâs Contact page) and has created five online writing groups. She also runs a free monthly 100-word writing competition where you can win her online creative writing courses!
Her debut novel is the chick lit eBook The Serial Daterâs Shopping List ($0.99 / ÂŁ0.77) and she has nine others (mostly crime) in the works. She also has eight collections of short stories available (also $0.99 / ÂŁ0.77 each) â detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories.
She also helps other authors with an inexpensive freelance editing and critiquing service (free 1,000-word sample), and welcomes, and actively helps to promote, guest authors on her blog â see opportunities.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Related articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
- http://www.npr.org/sections/book-reviews
- http://www.lovereading.co.uk
- http://www.goodreads.com
- http://www.welovethisbook.com
- http://bookreviews.me.uk
- http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/reviews/list
- http://www.lrb.co.uk
- http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews
- http://www.ft.com/books
- http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-writing-book-reviews
*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each
but only until 3rd April! ***
You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you donât miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).
You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Daterâs Shopping List, various short story collections and writerâs block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.
I now run online courses â details on Courses â and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.
If you would like to send me a book review of another authorâs books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / womenâs novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.
Morgen’s story review no.166 â OxCrimes 22: Martyn Waitesâ Diagnosis: Murder
Todayâs book review of a single short story (the twenty-second in the 27-story charity crime anthology OxCrimes collection) is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
I rarely read âproperâ books (paperbacks / hardbacks) and Iâd wanted to read this collection for a while so bought it as a paperback so I could sit and read at least one short story a day. (Iâm also writing short stories for competitions and submissions too and have sent three off in the last week!).
If youâd like your short story or writing guide reviewed, or to send me a book review of another authorâs book, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Being a writer and editor, I read and review books with both hats. If youâre a writer reading this review and found it useful, do let me know.
The OxCrimes Collection
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile Books have turned to crime in order to raise a further ÂŁ200,000 for Oxfam’s work. OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it will be launched in May. The stellar cast of contributors will include Mark Billingham, Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, Val McDermid, Peter James, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and a host of other compelling suspects. Profile Books have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (9781846684968) (2011).
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW and http://www.amazon.com/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW.
Review of Martyn Waitesâ Diagnosis: Murder
This is a short short story (11 standard book pages) so a short reviewâŠ
As with all good stories, we are thrown into the action at the beginning as the main character learns he has cancer. We then follow what happens as he gets his affairs in order, as recommended by his doctor, and being a crime collection we know thereâs going to be one and sure enough, he aims to get revenge on someone who has done him wrong.
And now for writersâŠ
- A clichĂ©d ending in this kind of story can go one of two ways, the least enjoyable being the most obvious and unfortunately this did, and was, just that. When writing your ending, I’d recommend picking half a dozen (if you can get that many) and then go with the seventh; the one your reader wonât have thought of and wouldnât expect, although it still has to work, i.e. you canât include characters a to d then have the murderer as character e.
- Speaking of clichĂ©s â or rather a phrase that seems to have been doing the rounds so long that is fast becoming a clichĂ©, which I wish it wasn’t â we have a âto be honestâ.
Conclusion
A very enjoyable story dampened only by the foreseeable ending.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I shall be back tomorrow with my review of Alexander McCall Smithâs Trouble at the Institute for the Study of Forgiveness, the twenty-third story in this collection.
*
Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey (âMorgen with an Eâ) is a freelance editor, online tutor, prolific blogger, 2015 Head Judge for the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition, RONE 2015 Judge.
As well as a teacher of creative writing (and writing-related I.T.) for her local county council and online, Morgen will be one of five tutors at the 2017 Crime & Publishment alongside crime authors Lin Anderson and Martina Cole!
Morgenâs first love is writing and she is a freelance author of numerous âdark and lightâ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter, Facebook along with many others (listed on her blogâs Contact page) and has created five online writing groups. She also runs a free monthly 100-word writing competition where you can win her online creative writing courses!
Her debut novel is the chick lit eBook The Serial Daterâs Shopping List ($0.99 / ÂŁ0.77) and she has nine others (mostly crime) in the works. She also has eight collections of short stories available (also $0.99 / ÂŁ0.77 each) â detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories.
She also helps other authors with an inexpensive freelance editing and critiquing service (free 1,000-word sample), and welcomes, and actively helps to promote, guest authors on her blog â see opportunities.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Related articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
- http://www.npr.org/sections/book-reviews
- http://www.lovereading.co.uk
- http://www.goodreads.com
- http://www.welovethisbook.com
- http://bookreviews.me.uk
- http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/reviews/list
- http://www.lrb.co.uk
- http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews
- http://www.ft.com/books
- http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-writing-book-reviews
*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each
but only until 3rd April! ***
You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you donât miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).
You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Daterâs Shopping List, various short story collections and writerâs block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.
I now run online courses â details on Courses â and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.
If you would like to send me a book review of another authorâs books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / womenâs novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.
Morgen’s story review no.165 â OxCrimes 21: Ann Cleevesâ The Spinster
Todayâs book review of a single short story (the twenty-first in the 27-story charity crime anthology OxCrimes collection) is brought to you by yours truly, Morgen Bailey.
I rarely read âproperâ books (paperbacks / hardbacks) and Iâd wanted to read this collection for a while so bought it as a paperback so I could sit and read at least one short story a day. (Iâm also writing short stories for competitions and submissions too and have sent three off in the last week!).
If youâd like your short story or writing guide reviewed, or to send me a book review of another authorâs book, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Being a writer and editor, I read and review books with both hats. If youâre a writer reading this review and found it useful, do let me know.
The OxCrimes Collection
For 2014, Oxfam and Profile Books have turned to crime in order to raise a further ÂŁ200,000 for Oxfam’s work. OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it will be launched in May. The stellar cast of contributors will include Mark Billingham, Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, Val McDermid, Peter James, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and a host of other compelling suspects. Profile Books have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (9781846684968) (2011).
This collection is available via http://www.amazon.co.uk/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW and http://www.amazon.com/OxCrimes-Introduced-Ian-Rankin-Ox-Tales-ebook/dp/B00IJKJTXW.
Review of Ann Cleevesâ The Spinster
This is a short short story (9 standard book pages) so a short reviewâŠ
From the off, this has a Vera and Shetland feel to it with its âpeaty soilâ and âcroft land towards the seaâ, and we are indeed based on the Scottish island of Shetland.
The story starts with our main character Joan struggling to concentrate when a neighbour is building a house nearby. We then switch to Joan reminiscing about the 1970s. We should always feel empathy with a nice characters and I certainly do with Joan.
And now for writers…
- A regular feature of these reviews is talking about ensuring that the reader knows which character is being talked about when âheâ or âsheâ is used. Here we have reference to an American woman and then âshe had the curtains closedâ when it actually refers to Joan rather than her American customer, something that should have been picked up in the editing process.
- As well as missing section breaks for time passing, there are also several missing commas. As crops up in these reviews, and those who know me â especially those who have been edited by me â will know that Iâm a fan of commas. They have a very important role to play, and often nowhere more so than in dialogue. A perfect example from this story is, âWould you know anything about that Joan?â As it stands, Jimmy Perez â Annâs detective in this and the Shetland stories â would be asking Joan whether she knows anything about herself or another Joan. Put a comma between âthatâ and âJoanâ â which is what we should have â and he is asking whether she knows anything about the topic he has been talking about (a murder). As you see, a comma can change so much.
- When writing in past tense, you should be careful when referring to previous times. Here we correctly have âtwo years beforeâ rather than âtwo years agoâ as I often see.
- Regular readers to these reviews would know that I recommend avoiding charactersâ names starting with the same letter, and the only thing I would have changed about this story is having Joan and James as well as the seasoned detective Jimmy. (There was also Annie, Edie and Mackie⊠all ending âieâ). The only odd one out being the neighbour, Stuart.
Conclusion
A very well-written story, as I would expect from Ann, with exquisite description, especially where the main character, Joan, is knitting, and I loved the comparison between men and seabirds jostling for position. We should learn something from the stories we are read and I certainly did here, and I love love loved the ending. This would certainly make a whole episode and perhaps itâll be a new novel one day. đ
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I shall be back tomorrow with my review of Martyn Waitesâ Diagnosis: Murder, the twenty-second story in this collection.
*
Based in Northamptonshire, England, Morgen Bailey (âMorgen with an Eâ) is a freelance editor, online tutor, prolific blogger, 2015 Head Judge for the annual H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, Head Judge for the NLG Flash Fiction Competition, RONE 2015 Judge.
As well as a teacher of creative writing (and writing-related I.T.) for her local county council and online, Morgen will be one of five tutors at the 2017 Crime & Publishment alongside crime authors Lin Anderson and Martina Cole!
Morgenâs first love is writing and she is a freelance author of numerous âdark and lightâ short stories, novels, articles, and very occasional dabbler of poetry. Like her, her blog, https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, is consumed by all things literary. She is also active on Twitter, Facebook along with many others (listed on her blogâs Contact page) and has created five online writing groups. She also runs a free monthly 100-word writing competition where you can win her online creative writing courses!
Her debut novel is the chick lit eBook The Serial Daterâs Shopping List ($0.99 / ÂŁ0.77) and she has nine others (mostly crime) in the works. She also has eight collections of short stories available (also $0.99 / ÂŁ0.77 each) â detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories.
She also helps other authors with an inexpensive freelance editing and critiquing service (free 1,000-word sample), and welcomes, and actively helps to promote, guest authors on her blog â see opportunities.
***
If you would like to send me a book review, see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog.
Related articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_review
- http://www.npr.org/sections/book-reviews
- http://www.lovereading.co.uk
- http://www.goodreads.com
- http://www.welovethisbook.com
- http://bookreviews.me.uk
- http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/reviews/list
- http://www.lrb.co.uk
- http://www.theguardian.com/books/books+tone/reviews
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews
- http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews
- http://www.ft.com/books
- http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-writing-book-reviews
*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each
but only until 3rd April! ***
You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you donât miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).
You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Daterâs Shopping List, various short story collections and writerâs block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.
I now run online courses â details on Courses â and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.
If you would like to send me a book review of another authorâs books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / womenâs novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.