SOME NICE REVIEWS THIS WEEK

I'm always so grateful for reviews, whether they're left by readers on Amazon and Goodreads, or posted on blogs and review sites.  Reviews are hard to write. I don't think I've ever written a decent review in my life, because it's so hard for me to capture the story along with my response to that story. So when someone goes to the trouble to write a thoughtful and often powerful review, I'm kind of blown away. For one thing, I could never write that well. And here they are, WRITING about my WRITING.  It hurts my head to think about it very much.  :) 


Reviews are gifts. That's how I think of them. And this week I received two wonderful gifts, one for The Girl with the Cat Tattoo, and one for Made of Stars, both 5-star reviews, and both wonderful and wonderfully written. Both stories are very dear to my heart, so I think when you get this kind of response to them...well, it's extra special. 

The first review is from Short Fiction Spotlight, a site that reviews short stories. Like me, a lot of writers love to write short stories. Unfortunately, the short story format isn't embraced by readers. I hope that changes at some point, and I still keep thinking that short stories would be great for reading on phones while people are waiting in line, or waiting in the dentist office. Some sharp little phone app that you can open and read a sharp little short story.  I think price is one of the issues with short stories. We have to charge .99. Can't charge less, And .99 might sound like a lot for a short story, but the writer gets .35.

The review for The Girl with the Cat Tattoo is from Romance Around the Corner. 
This is the book that horrified the two agents I sent it to. One agent said it was the weirdest thing she'd ever read. I still scratch my head about that response, but I think when any idea slams into such resistance, it's always especially nice to get such positive feedback once the book is finally made available. Because how can a writer not be full of doubt when a story gets slammed by the gatekeepers?  But as soon as someone tells me I can't do something... that just makes me all the more determined to do it. I suppose it's childish, but I basically want to prove them wrong and prove myself right. 

City of the Lost by Stephen Blackmoore

I'm so excited about this book.  I read an early version several years ago and LOVED  it. LOVED it.  Stephen Blackmoore has voice. He has darkness.  He has humor.  And he has heart. 

And to give you an idea of Stephen's voice, here's a little excerpt from his short story, World's Greatest Dad, taken from the Deadly Treats Halloween anthology. Below that, some early reviews of City of the Lost (release date January 3).

***

By the time Franklin Delacorte wakes up, he's been dead six hours.

He's confused, disoriented.  Wondering why he's naked and surrounded by multi-colored candles in the middle of a crypt. 

He sits up, wobbles a bit.  Steadies himself on the top of the stone sarcophagus he's been lying on.  Yellow light gutters through the room, throwing scattered shadows along the stone wall. 

The candles are a little unnerving.  Scented.  Vanilla, spice, potpourri.  It smells like his grandmother's house. 

"Dude," someone says behind him.  "You so have to see this." 

Franklin looks to the door at a vaguely familiar teenager.  Can't quite place him.  Pimples, greasy hair, wearing an old army jacket.  A cigarette dangles on the kid's bottom lip, his mouth hanging open.  After a moment the cigarette falls to the floor. 

and a little later....

Franklin sits in the back of Billy's busted up Cougar, the body bag from the morgue wrapped around his waist.  The Cougar would be a classic car if it wasn't mostly rust with an engine that sounds like a wood chipper.  Billy keeps working on it, but it never seems to get any better.

"This is what I get for busting my butt to keep you boys out of trouble.  Didn't you learn a thing in Sunday school?  Like don't play with the forces of the devil?"

"Jeez, dad, we said we were sorry," Jake says.

Franklin's a little worried.  He's seen movies.  He knows how this sort of thing turns out.  "I don't even want to know how you did it, but I swear if I start gnawing on brains I'm gonna start with yours."  

World's Greatest Dad, Stephen Blackmoore

***

Praise for City of the Lost:

Review

"The gritty streets of CITY OF THE LOST are filled with snappy dialog, and fascinating characters, as well as a rollercoaster of a plot that doesn't slow down from beginning to end. This is the zombie crime novel we didn't know we were all waiting for."
- Seanan McGuire, author of DISCOUNT ARMAGEDDON

"CITY OF THE LOST is the best kind of paranormal noir: gritty, breakneck- paced, and impossible to put down. Joe Sunday is a new antihero to watch, and the next installment can't come soon enough."
- Caitlin Kittredge, author of THE IRON THORN

"Bruja, demons, bloodsuckers, the living dead and bucketloads of bloody magic - you'll find all of those in CITY OF THE LOST, but the real magic is how Blackmoore deftly breathes secret supernatural life into the City of Angels. This is an auspicious debut that's at turns violent, hilarious, and tragic. Can't wait make a return trip to Blackmoore's voodoo version of L.A."
- Chuck Wendig, author of BLACKBIRDS

"For a debut author, Stephen Blackmoore knows perfectly well how to snatch up his readers and barrel away with them from page one. In Joe Sunday, he's created the perfect hard-boiled anti-hero - an inexorable protagonist who's short on tongue-wagging and long on visceral brutality, yet is totally sympathetic due to his singular narrative voice. Oh, yeah. He's also dead. CITY OF THE LOST is one hell of a fast and thoroughly enjoyable ride. The perfect book for fans of crime noir, urban fantasy, and horror. One of my favorite reads of the year."
- John Hornor Jacobs, author of SOUTHERN GODS

"The funhouse reflection of L.A. Blackmoore conjures is at once vibrant, seedy, and mysterious - streets so mean, they feel as though plucked straight from Chandler's DT nightmares. CITY OF THE LOST effortlessly blends the grit with the fantastical, and paints a world in which magic is to be feared - but not nearly so much as the people behind it."
- Chris F. Holm, author of DEAD HARVEST