A Review and a Preview

 I don't want this blog to become simply a "Hey! I wrote a book! Buy it NOW SHAM WOW!" type of experience.  

However, I must give credit and acknowledgement to those bloggers who take the time to read and review The Book of Helen.  Yesterday, I had company visit, a friend I hadn't seen in 15 years, who spent the summer with her husband and two of her five children, biking across country to raise money for Mercy Housing. I am in awe of her family's faith and the way they are living it out.  It was good to see her and it made Sunday a day of refreshment, as I always find seeing friends to be a source of great strengthening and joy. 

So it wasn't until the evening that I had time to really take in the review by Larry D of Acts of the Apostasy, or Karina Fabian's splash page on Fabian Space.  Larry D gave an honest appraisal of a rookie season book and I agree, I could have delved into the details of the historical period more.   They weren't what interested me but I am willing to be more deliberate in my next book, to make sure I anchor more of the story of the book in the gravel and bronze and wood of the place, and let less of it be monopolized by a single character's point of view.  

Historical fiction must deal with the details, and not merely story, otherwise it is simply period stylized fantasy fiction.   Because the characters I lived with were mythic in origin, I did not in the creation of the world around them, focus too intensively on the sinew of the time, but I never want to pull the reader out of the story.  I want them to feast on the experience, and that means serving up the whole meal of the arc of the tale, so I'm hitting the books harder for the Book of Penelope and hoping Larry D will be a beta reader for the next tale so his eagle eye can catch any momentary time slips in language.   I also love his phrase, Greek chick lit, as well as his exposition about some of the deeper themes touched on in the course of the book.  I hoped The Book of Helen would be about more than Helen stories, and based on his review, I succeeded. 

Karina Fabian is an accomplished prolific writer of fantasy, sci-fi and humor/horror. She is a writing machine with a quick wit and powerful Catholic imagination.  I have read her novella Greater Treasures, and enjoyed it immensely.  Vern the dragon detective caught between two worlds is a very enjoyable creature as the narrator.  She used my profile and synopsis to give a fellow Museitup author a push before publication.  Thank you.  

Both writers have lives outside of the internet (shocking I know), and I am grateful to each for giving of their time and space on the internet, to provide my book a little push in publicity and some thoughtful analysis before its slated publishing date of August 9th.  SHAM WOW SHERRY signing off.