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book reviews |
Two "What-If" short storiesA special treat this time, I am reviewing two, wonderful short stories in the “What-If” series by multi-volume, multi-genre author, David T. Wolf. Mr. Wolf introduces us to these short stories: A Disturbance in the Church — An android walks into a church and all hell breaks loose. Especially when he tells a young priest that he would like to confess his sins, be absolved and receive communion. The young priest is open to the idea, but his foul-mouthed superior is outraged. They decide (or are maneuvered into) a meeting with the bishop and even the cardinal. Their conclave also includes the inventor of the technology and, just to even things out, a rabbi. Finally, even the pope gets involved.  My review of A Disturbance in the Church: Superb writing! The author has crafted a marvelous tale that might not be all that far from reality. I agree with the Pope in this case. Without free will we are nothing more than robots. No offense meant, Hal. Hal? Do-over — What if you woke up one morning and discovered that you were your preteen self, but with all your present memories intact? What if this alternate science-fiction universe gave you the chance to undo the many things you regretted? To act on those opportunities you missed? What tragedies would you act to prevent? Given the chance, what would you change about your life--and the world?  My review of Do-over: I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It has an interesting premise that always intrigues me. Time travel is my favorite subgenre in science fiction. Do-over isn't exactly a time travel story but it is close enough for me. Returning to the past with knowledge of the future is classic, going back to "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". This story is easy to read and the parallel time frames cause interesting situations for the main character. 5 stars for me!  You can buy these books:
https://www.amazon.com/Disturbance-Church-short-story-David-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/-a-disturbance-in-the-church-and-other-stories https://www.amazon.com/Do-Over-What-If-Short-Story-David Wolf-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/-do-over-david-wolf You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/DaveWolf141 https://authordavidwolf.com [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/davidtwolfauthor https://www.facebook.com/mindclone www.instagram.com/wolfman141/ I have reviewed another of David Wolf’s books, Mindclone: https://www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/-mindclone-by-david-t-wolf Copyright © 2024 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introductions
18 Comments
10/6/2024 03:40:07 pm
One of the things I enjoy most about writing speculative fiction is exploring the what-if of it all. When I start off with an idea or a question, I usually don't know where it's going until I write it. Sometimes I'm as surprised as the reader with what emerges from my sentient fingertips!
Mark
10/7/2024 08:40:01 am
That precise question is the well that so many wonderful stories have come from. 10/7/2024 12:37:42 pm
When I was in my teens, I took a series of tests including the National Merit Scholarship test and one other, that had two main components: Math and English. My results placed me among the top 523 high school seniors in the US. (I was shocked.) My math skills were very strong, leading me to plan on becoming a mathematician. So when I was having problems with Calculus in my Freshman year in college, I was very frustrated. I spoke with my math professor, who gave me the best advice in my life: "You will never be a mathematician. My husband was a mathematician. You must be prepared to devote your entire life to it." I wasn't. So I switched to my other strength, English, which led me to my successful career as a copywriter, back in the MadMen era. (I even wrote a novel about that time, called Kassel's in Air.) And when I had trouble balancing my checkbook, I turned over all household accounting chores to my wife. Like Einstein, supposedly, I had problems with basic arithmetic.
Mark
10/7/2024 01:48:17 pm
Calculus threw you for a loop also. I loved my science and math classes in high school. When I took my first calculus class in college, I was shocked. None of it made sense to me. I got counseling from the teacher and he gave me a book he wrote. None of it helped. I wound up dropping the class. 10/7/2024 02:12:47 pm
Even while I had a full-time job as a copywriter at a big-time ad agency, I managed to launch my second career as a novelist. I penned several novels, stealing time both at my desk, and while on production trips, and when I could manage it, at home. After I retired, I was finally able to write full time. But writing has never actually filled my entire days. When I'm really on it, I can go for five or six hours or more in a day, but typically, I'll only spend an hour or two, then attend to all the other things in my life: socializing, reading, walking my dog, going to movies and concerts and out to dinner, etc. It's important to have a life!
Mark
10/7/2024 05:13:06 pm
An ad writer is an interesting occupation. I bet you were good at it. 10/7/2024 06:11:57 pm
Second question first: I read as a writer, so I question every motive, every plot twist in any book I read. My critical eye has been sharpened by the critiques I've received over the years from my writing group. It's helped me avoid the kinds of easy-outs writers sometimes resort to when certain things have to come together a certain way in order to make the plot work! I had a powerful lesson in this when I wrote my crime novel, A Murder Foretold. I had a great hook, and that hook remained, as did the title, but I ended up rewriting the book over and over again, not solving my plot problems until I had the bright idea of telling the story from the point of view of the killer.
Mark
10/7/2024 07:48:28 pm
I imagine that all of the reading and analyzing has gone a long way to make you a better writer. 10/7/2024 08:27:32 pm
First a correction: It's Nelson DeMille, of course!
Mark
10/8/2024 07:55:53 am
The love of writing and reading is powerful motivation. Some authors have told me they write to quiet the voices in their head. Not being a writer, I am not sure I understand. But I do like reading the results of good writing. 10/8/2024 01:05:21 pm
On my first day at college, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen since 6th Grade. He told me something that changed the course of my life. "I didn't think my grades were solid enough to gain admission, so I when I wrote my essay, I tried to make it as unusual, as unexpected as possible." I thought this was such a great idea that I put it into practice in my English class for essay assignments that the teacher popped on us with a prompt. One example: she said, "Write an essay on any word starting with the letter R." How the heck am I supposed to find an oblique way to do this? Aha! Write an essay on the letter R itself! Using this technique for these 50-minute assignments, I consistently scored either highest or second highest. And that's how I approached my advertising assignments once I entered that career path.
Mark
10/8/2024 02:38:16 pm
Brilliant strategy, Dave! I love it. 10/8/2024 05:34:14 pm
No and no. As someone who believes in science, I can't believe we're the only technologically advanced species in the universe. That said, I can't imagine our planet is the site for drive-by tourism from ETs. Explanations for these supposed sightings are too easily accounted for given human nature and our constant reaching for, and apparent need for stories. In some of us, that need is expressed in creating stories. Biographies. Myths. Or mysteries. Or science fiction. Or literature. Or conspiracy theories.
Mark
10/8/2024 07:07:11 pm
UFOs are the subject of much wonder and discussion, they have been appearing for so long and seem to be more common in some areas than others. No doubt they are more than weather balloons. What they are remains to be discovered. Some of them seem to be quite malevolent. Considering the reports of animal mutilation and apparent intense investigations of humans. Sorry I disappeared for a day. I’m in the middle of overseeing several audiobook productions at the same time. And other activities also intervened. Including working on blocking out a new novel. And in truth, I didn’t have an interesting answer to these questions! Everything in my life contributes to my writing. My work in advertising formed the basis for my novel, Kassel’s in Air.
Mark
10/13/2024 07:37:03 pm
I am glad you are okay. Audiobook production requires a lot of finetuning. 10/13/2024 08:54:34 pm
My very first cover was designed by my working partner, Larry Gilmour, based on my strong input. Later, I had this cover refined by Debbie, of TheCoverCollection.com, based in the UK. I have since worked with her on several versions of this cover, especially when there were translations into Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French and Japanese! Most of my other covers I designed myself, but I did have help on two others. My short story, A Disturbance in the Church, was significantly altered by sci-fi author Greg Juhn, who used Midjourney AI to make the very scary changes. My novel, The Final Millennium, was designed by a freelancer with significant input from me. He also did major work on my YA novel, The Darwin Project. It's hard to say how many drafts I went through. The ones I designed myself went through 3 or 4 different designs, plus tweaks. The pro versions went through a few refinements but not major changes.
Mark
10/14/2024 07:30:00 am
Having your books translated should improve your sales. Audio books are a great format to expand your readership also. Leave a Reply. |
Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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